It is the year 1942. War has been raging across the world since the invasion of China by Japan in 1937, and the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939. Countless countries have fallen, but none of the belligerents are any closer to definitive, final victory. With no end in sight, desperation has set in. All of the embattled powers have delved into the most esoteric, fringe minds at their disposal to devise for them new means and weaponry with which to wage and hopefully win this war. British druids smite German aircraft from the skies with lightning, highly-advanced German fighting machines lumber across the battlefield, Soviet bio-armor soldiers slice open enemy tanks with mere motions of their pincers, American super-soldiers jolt across the sky and bring the fight to the enemy like superheroes out of comic books. But with such awesome power being brought to the field, has Pandora's Box already been opened? What sort of a world will be left for the victors?
About the Game
Hello there and welcome to Secrets of War. This will be a pulpish military RP set during the Second World War, although with science fiction and fantasy elements. Inspirations include things like Wolfenstein, Dust Tactics, the comic Uber, Secrets of the Third Reich, Indiana Jones, Captain America, AE-WW2, and Weird War II. The first operation will be set in late 1942 and will take place in the Middle-East, dealing with a fictitious struggle between Allied and Axis agents over long abandoned crusader castles lining the Levant and the supposed secrets they contain. Depending on how things go, the RP may shift further along the timeline and to other theaters and operations. As the years go on, real history and this setting's history diverge quite a lot, and increasingly advanced weapons are brought to the field, with others revealing themselves to be dead ends and abandoned outright.
Players have the choice of making characters serving the Allies -or- Axis. They can also be non-affiliated sorts, such as mercenaries, mavericks, opportunists, or just the plain ol' unlucky ordinary folk caught up in the middle of all this mess.
Each nation has its own assorted super weapon and super soldier projects. While the Germans have some nasty things up their sleeves for sure, they by no means have a monopoly on the super-science and the occult. I'll give brief summaries of some of the major players below, although these are not to be taken as all-inclusive.
Nations
Through highly secretive means, American scientists have some how devised what has been dubbed by the press the "super serum." However, interestingly, it is not that the substance imbues its subjects with its powers, it merely unlocks something already found latent within them. The lucky ones end up with capabilities remarkably similar to those used by the protagonists of superhero comics, and have fittingly enough themselves been named superheroes, or "supes" for short.
Within the "supes" exist two further categories, the "icons" and the "reals." Icons are those selected for presentation to the public and receive constant media coverage, through propagandistic films, comics and radio shows. They are most immediately recognizable through their gaudy, flashy costumes. Such individuals, however, make up a very small proportion of Uncle Sam's superhero forces.
The majority are the aforementioned "reals." As it turns out, being able to sear off people's flesh, or turn them inside out, or make spines of chitin explode from inside of them, or countless other rather grisly fates, makes the public uneasy and is of sketchy legality. Those with more brutal, less presentable powers find themselves among the "reals." You won't hear about them on the radio, see them on the screen, or ever pick up comic books about them at the store. Aside from the mutants and the freaks, there's no way to tell them apart from an ordinary US soldier until they start flinging fireballs or throwing tanks. The "reals" are generally a really bad time for any poor Axis goon unlucky enough to get in their way.
Famous aviator, aerospace engineer, entrepreneur and film maker Howard Hughes has also made his presence known. Determined to in some way to contribute to the Allied war effort, he has been in some way or another responsible for the invention of an increasingly vast array of technological marvels that quickly find themselves in US military service. His most famed gift to the US servicemen is the H-42 "Hell's Angel" rocket pack, which is by now a common sight across all theaters in which the US is engaged. His H-6 "Zoomer" rocket fighters roar through the skies, although have attracted numerous detractors, who balk that these flying machines are much too dangerous and impractical for usage. The Hughes H-4 Hercules has been accepted into service and is becoming ever more commonplace.
While the Empire’s program of locating and recruiting druids paid off, chief among their successes being their harnessing of the powers of nature for many tasks such as altering the weather to hinder German plans or to summon air elementals to aid the RAF during the Battle of Britain, this was been met with consternation by many within high command. As a predominantly Christian nation, the very real powers these druids wield of their supposedly false religion has thrown too much into question. Information about the druids has consequently been kept in utmost secrecy for fear of the impact it would have on society at large for this reason. Regardless of these controversies, His Majesty's Royal Druid Corps have served the Empire splendidly and faithfully thus far. Rumors abound about their operations at the highly secretive military site established upon and around Stonehenge, although nothing conclusive is yet known.
The US has generously agreed to provide the British with some of their super serum, although shipments have been limited due to the u-boats terrorizing the Atlantic sea-lanes. There is also speculation that the US purposefully holds onto as much of this miraculous substance for themselves as they can, presumably to maintain their dominance in this area. No strong evidence of these perhaps paranoid claims can be produced, however.
Project Griffin is among Britain's more glittering successes in the field of super-science, but also a source of much controversy. Project Griffin has yielded the world's first personal stealth generator. Seeing the potential of these machines, the British immediately began forming specialized commando and spy forces outfitted with these devices and armed with prototype De Lisle carbines. While effective, problems quickly set in. The users of the Griffin devices often develop what has been termed "Griffin psychosis." It begins with paranoia, with users insisting on keeping themselves invisible as often as possible, and soon grows to them becoming violently enraged when ever be seen. This in turn leads to a form of disassociation where, knowing they are both some of the most dangerous men and women in the Empire, and also quite impossible to track or apprehend, they take on increasingly criminal behavior, without any regard for consequences.
"Porton Down" is a name increasingly whispered among circles. Many stories spread about what goes on behind the closed doors of what may well be one of the UK's most secretive military research facilities. For starters, Churchill's threats about the employment of chemical and biological weapons in the event of an invasion of the United Kingdom don't appear to be bluffs. More concerningly, there are rumors that entire levels of the facility have had to be sealed off and forgotten out of necessity. What is known for certain is that ever large military convoys are sighted headed in Porton Down's direction by the general populace.
German scientists have made enormous strides in technology, yielding ever more potent power sources. While the exact nature and origin of these staggeringly advanced engines for now eludes the Allies, what is known for certain is that they have exploited these advances to render previously implausibly sophisticated and energy intensive machinery quite possible.
The Germans have finally started to to sober up from their victory induced daze as Operation Barbarossa grinds to a halt. The offensive has fallen very much so short of expectations, and obvious deficiencies have been revealed in their present equipment and tactics. Consequently, the drawing boards were once again brought out and dusted off.
The most pressing issue they were faced with was that of Soviet armored superiority. While the T-34 and KV-1 were comparatively seldom encountered early into the war, the Germans could not at this time muster anything equal to either machine. Outside of the obvious issue superiority of armor and armament, another issue was that of numerical superiority. Both the vehicles and crew were available in such numbers that they were expendable. Germany could never afford such reckless usage of manpower. These future designs of the Germans thus called for a new breed of fighting machine. A fighting machine that not only was capable of matching, or better yet surpassing, the Soviet threat, but also one that could be crewed by only one man, allowing personnel trained in piloting such machines to be spread out in greater numbers than the usual five per one tank. "Projekt Ritterbruder" produced two separate but related revolutionary new families of weapons: The Panzerklein and the Gehenpanzer.
Panzerklein, initially code-named "Salza", refers to a series of roughly man-sized powered suits which were conceived of with the aim of providing the protection and firepower of a tank to an individual soldier. While a Panzerklein certainly cannot shrug off a direct hit from a tank in most circumstances, it offers enough protection to render most threats under a tank in scale ineffectual and the augmented strength afforded by the suit has facilitated the development of larger infantry use anti-tank weapons, among other weaponry. Multiply the threat posed by a lone Panzerklein soldier with such a weapon by the firepower of a squadron of such machines, and their threat to armor becomes readily apparent. When employed for anti-infantry purposes, they are the stuff of nightmares.
Gehenpanzers (lit. "Walking armor") are a family of legged vehicles (some varieties are also outfitted with arms), ranging in size from standing above tank height to rather colossal designs. They are capable of carrying heavier weapons than most tanks and are just as armored. While revolutionary, they have not fully replaced tanks, which remain the mainstay of Germany's armored forces. The chief issue is that of production. While a considerable amount were built by the war's end, priority remained with the comparatively less sophisticated tanks, as well as their cousins, the Panzerkleins. Mobility is also a problem. While issues with speed were anticipated and responded to by outfitting the Gehenpanzers with feet-mounted deployable tracks with which to glide across the battlefield, it was quickly appreciated that employing this for operational movement put too much strain on this system, often breaking it outright. Consequently movement between battlezones has become quite reliant on trains and other heavy vehicles, which greatly limit their availability.
However, in 1942, the full potential of both of these revolutionary new machines is far from reached, and they have not shown much of their future promise at this time. They are only beginning to see trial service in a handful of elite formations.
Project "Zinnsoldat" is also worthy of note. To the surprise and horror of their enemies, Germany has been fielding increasingly large numbers of super-soldiers surgically inter-meshed with increasingly advanced machinery. As far as Allied intelligence has discerned, the Third Reich has some how secured for itself the aid of a talented scientist who alleges himself to be the latest descendant of the infamous Victor Frankenstein. The veracity of these rumors matter little when the products of this research pose a prominent threat to Allied military forces. These mechanical supermen are among the few things the Axis can field that are capable of fighting US superheroes in man-to-man combat.
There are, of course, persistent rumors that the Nazis have also been delving into the occult, with a particular interest in unlocking the secrets of "rune magic." If they are indeed capable of such things, their own sorcerers appear to be kept even more secretly than even their British counterparts.
When the Bolsheviks rose to power in Russia, they had not only gained a nation, but the entirety of its secret documents as well. Among these archives was a wealth of documentation on the Tunguska event of 1908. As it turned out, what had caused the explosion was no meteor, but was instead an alien spacecraft which had crash-landed in that area. The Communist government proved eager to investigate, more than partly fueled by a yearning to give themselves any advantage over the perpetual threat posed by world capitalism.
The pay-offs for their curiosity were many, varied, and, for the most part, highly classified. The most well-known boon of their research are the suits of bio-armor that now equip much of their forces. These alien weapons consist of a beastly, crustacean-like outer shell and a soft inner space that adapts to the anatomy of its pilot, even if human, as they learned. These suits come in various forms; most are humanoid, some not so humanoid, some human-sized, some gargantuan. All of them, as the Axis forces have learned since their first combat encounters with them during the Battle of Stalingrad, are extremely dangerous. The extent of these bio-armor forces are a well-kept secret, and estimates of their true numbers are greatly varied and unreliable. Some tension has grown between the Western Allies and the Soviets over the latter's refusal to be more cooperative with information exchange, although they just as quickly point out that the former two have not shared any of their own super-weapons with them.
To avoid friendly fire incidents from fellow Red Army soldiers, unfamiliar with and horrified by these Soviet bio-armor troopers, their carapaces are often painted classic Russian green, with white stripes and red stars featuring prominently on their shells.
Another product of this research are a uniquely Soviet variety of super-soldier. Emerging from Soviet labs and onto the battlefields of Eastern Europe come the Soviet Psi-Soldati. They are immediately recognizable by the purplish tinge to their flesh and their unusually lengthy proportions. The most common speculation holds them to be some sort of alien-human hybrid, but the truth of this program is yet another thing the Soviet government keeps frustratingly close to its chest.
To the great but ineffectual concern of those in the Vatican, Italy increasingly distances itself from Christianity and returns to its Roman roots. The old gods have been rediscovered and thrust upon the population, and with them the accompanying traditions, superstitions and rituals of those times. The Fascist state has for the most part proven adept at suppressing dissenting voices, as it has with other enemies of its agenda. However, this sudden, dramatic transition was not Mussolini's doing, who is himself an atheist, but rather the machinations of an ancient, secretive society known as Novum Lumen. Novum Lumen has waited in the shadows for centuries and long committed itself to the rebirth of the Roman Empire. This occultist society became an obvious ally of the Fascists, who themselves proclaim Italy as the modern successor of the Empire, and had already sought its emulation through the ideology of romanitas.
Novum Lumen has been able to lend its expertise to the Italian state through numerous means. Through their continued dealings with the supernatural, they have kept track of many things long lost to history. Ancient Roman practices of divination, such as augury, have found themselves integrated into Italian intelligence agencies, if not always seamlessly. Novum Lumen has also held onto and maintained many of the Sibylline Books through its long history. Additionally they also carry on the ancient tradition of sorcery, even necromancy, and through it are able to harness lemures, restless spirits, to heed their beck and call.
Anticipating their future utility, the society has also secured for themselves mighty allies through their efforts to safeguard and ensure the survival of several breeds of creature long assumed to be only myth. Chief among these are the Verspilles, ancient creatures similar to werewolves that the Romans feared as a menace, but are now among their descendent's mightiest soldiers.
In terms of notable technological achievements, the Caproni Campini N.1 has managed to pull ahead of its inauspicious beginnings. With the help of German engineers, the Caproni Campini N.1 is gradually entering service as the world's first operational jet fighter. It promises to give the Regia Aeronautica a huge advantage over its contemporaries. Using some of the German's highly advanced power sources, experimentation with a wholly new weapon concept has ensued. The product of this work has been termed "raggio della morte ", or "the death ray."
It has long been held in legend that the gateway to Yomi, the land of the dead, can be somewhere found in the Shimane Prefecture, resting somewhere in the Iya area of Matsue. It is claimed that this entrance has at last been discovered, and that this is where the Empire of Japan's latest super-soldiers originate, although there are doubts and speculations. More likely, it is believed that these monstrous creatures that Japan now fields as part of her military originate with the deeply unsettling, highly unethical research done through initiatives such as Unit 731.
Regardless of the true origins of these beasts, they certainly exist. Answering to the euphemistically named "Office of National Intelligence", they bear the names and something of a resemblance to numerous monsters from Japanese mythology. The "Kappa" and "Oni" soldiers are among the most commonly encountered by US soldiers in the Pacific Theater, although numerous other varieties exist.
Amphibious, highly mobile, and extremely vicious, kappas are a threat to both land and sea based forces. They have ambushed numerous US warships from beneath the waves and left them adrift with all of their crew slaughtered or drowned.
True to their name, Oni are ogre-like entities with mountainous, muscular forms and incredible strength to match. They are able to carry crew serviced weaponry as ordinary armaments, and are devastating in close quarters combat. The Japanese have some how secured from the Germans several special purpose Panzerklein armors made specifically for Oni usage, rendering them even more deadly.
Rumors abound of ever larger, even more dangerous monsters the Japanese have at their disposal. These supposed colossal beasts are believed to be capable of leveling entire cities on their own, although how much of this is the product of a sensationalist media and a deeply demoralized public is uncertain.
As with many other nations, Japan has also dug into its hitherto ignored occultist elements of its society and began encouraging the revitalization of its own national forms of sorcery. Practitioners of Shinto magic have benefited greatly off of the patronage of the government.
As stated, these are not all-inclusive, are just demonstrative, and in reality all nations are to varying extents testing out basically everything they can. For instance, although there's no references to the US engaging in the occult in the above, you can be sure there's more than a few research initiatives delving into the arcane on their side of things. Additionally, just because a nation isn't on the list, doesn't mean you aren't allowed to play as a character hailing from it. If you wish to play as a soldier from Finland for instance, please do so. This is where an element of collaborative world-building comes into things, as you're free to make up your own details about the world. Wanna include some oddball super weapon program? Go for it. Got some mythological creature you wanna throw in that'd be lots of fun? Wicked! Of course, you need to run this stuff by me first, either in the OOC or PM, but chances are I'll like what you've got to offer me.
Character creation is actually pretty lenient, and chances are if you have an idea, it can probably be made to fit the RP in some way or another. This will either be handled by dropping me a PM so we can talk it out, or just submitting your character sheet and I'll check it out. As a follow on from this, you don't actually have to play as a super powered, magical, supernatural anything. You can play as a wholly ordinary guy with wholly ordinary equipment, and that's perfectly fine by me.
Finally, I feel it's worth mentioning that obviously there's some stuff you need to be mindful of and tactful about, given the subject matter. Some mature themes are a given, but please keep the site's rules and guidelines in mind at all times. So no overt racism, sexism, homophobia, and so on and so forth. As a final note, absolutely no glamorization or endorsement of any particular ideology or worldview is intended by anything I have written here.
Your Role
This all well and good, but what will your characters actually be doing in the RP? The assumption is that your character will be either under the command of Europa Gruppe if Axis, or the Office of Unconventional Joint Action if Allied. They are roughly analogous organizations: Both seek to draw from across their respective alliances the most talented or otherwise notable soldiers they can and forge them into a coherent, viable force to conduct special operations across the world to support their particular war effort.
In the first operation, your objectives are as follows.
Allies - Operation Fisher King: You're essentially on security detail for now, defending the eggheads and archaeologists poking around in said castles. In particular you're encamped around Castle Montevoir. You've been there for about a month, and it's starting to get tedious. But your commanders seem to have been given reason to fear Axis intrusion on your operations. Quite a serious one, given you're the sorts of folks they have on-board. They have also been frustratingly vague about whatever it is they intend to find. As a bit of clarification, while this is nominally a British operation, the US and even USSR have committed some soldiers of their own to the Office of Unified Allied Operations task force.
Axis - Unternehmen Otto Rahn: You're what the other guys have been dreading for all these weeks. You are presently based in Axis-occupied Greece, but this will of course change. You are part of a small, dangerous strike team that will be using highly experimental transport aircraft to, it is hoped anyway, bypass Allied air defenses and slip right in. Your job is firstly to harass whatever it is they're doing. Secondly, there is reason to believe that the Holy Grail, which has thus far evaded the Reich in its own search for it with Otto Rahn's research and their expedition to Montsegur, could be situated in any of the sites that have taken Allied interest. If this is at all true, you are of course tasked with retrieving it and bringing it, or anything else benefiting the Axis war effort, back.
Rules
They're pretty straightforward and mostly consist of basic good conduct, as well as the forum's rules and guidelines. You probably don't need me to tell you that godmodding isn't a cool thing to do by now. In short, don't be a bitter lemon, be sweet like Tutti Frutti. Character sheets go in the main OOC until approved, where they are then put into the character tab.
If anything comes up, ask, or debate it in OOC. If it gets particularly heated, please take it to PM.
Finally, the character sheet can be found here.
Delete the bracketed notes as you see them. They shouldn't be on the character sheet by the time of submission. Also delete these lines too! Name: Age: Gender: Appearance: (Note 0: Picture or written description is fine.) Allegiance: (Note 1: Axis, Allied, Other) Nationality: (Note 2: With sufficient justification, you can be an Axis soldier from an Allied nation, or vice versa. There's always traitors!) Occupation/Service: Race: (Note 3: If you're a human, just put human. If you're a superhuman, put that here. If you're a robot, monster, cyborg, or whatever else you feel needs noting, put that here. This isn't for... you know, -that- kind of racial categorization!) Personality: History: (Note 4: Historical timeline is roughly the same up until the present year, so you're quite free to use actual historical events and so forth in your character's backstory. Eg. veteran of the French campaign, participated in the evacuation of Dunkirk, fought at Brest Fortress, or so on.) Abilities: (Note 5: Skills and powers go here.) Equipment: (Note 6: Includes stuff like weaponry, equipment, uniform, and even the vehicle you crew, if applicable.)
Feel free to add or alter sections as needed. This is the first CS I've written, so it might suck.
Additional Things (Handy!)
To help those who aren't so up to scratch on this stuff, here's a few links. List of WW2 era firearms. The site also has a lot of vehicles and other weapons elsewhere. A Pretty Straightforward Timeline. There are obviously many differences in this setting's version of events, but you can mostly rely on this timeline of real historical events to set you straight until 1942. Table of ranks. It's mostly written around the SS, but it has Wehrmacht, British and US ranks as well.
- Given the rather small turnout of Axis characters (there's literally only one so far), it has been decided that this RP will instead be Allies-focused. However, you are still free to make and play Axis characters if you wish. The intro post will be edited to reflect this over the coming hours/day. To clarify what is meant here, the assumption will be that the PCs are all OUJA affiliated, and the Axis will be, by and large, GM-handled. As said, I do not mind the odd Axis character or two, but I'm no longer aiming for the full team vs. team approach I had set out with. Non-affiliated/mercenary characters are still fine.
- It has been decided that you can play as characters controlling NPC forces, although keep it reasonable. Squads of mooks are the norm, but if sufficiently justified, larger forces are also accepted. If you want to play as a character with NPC minions, such as a necromancer with zombies or what have you, this is also allowed. This also covers NPC crewmen for tanks and other vehicles, if you choose to play such a character. I'll probably update the CS to have a field dealing with this when I get around to revising the intro, but for now just handle it on your own in any way you feel makes sense.
I'll get cracking on a character much quickly. Think I'm pretty settled on an American for now but being a soviet still sounds like a grand old time. Either way just restating my interest before I head to bed.
@Hans von LekHere's a CS for you. Hopefully it's an acceptable character
Name: Major Karl Baumann
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Appearance: Karl is an older man, with creases marking his face, rounded spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose, and greying brown hair atop his head. His eyes are a piercing water blue, and show much of the age and wisdom Karl has at his disposal. He is very average in both height and weight, not standing out in either regard. He wears the field uniform of a German Major, the peaked cap on his head likely giving him away as a target of importance.
Allegiance: Axis
Nationality: German
Occupation/Service: German Officer, Occult/archeological historian
Race: Human
Personality: A man of history and the arcane, Karl is obsessed with unlocking the secrets of human history, almost to the detriment of all else. He's quick to hop onto even the slightest rumor, in hopes of making a massive discovery. In regards to those under his command, he treats them fairly well, though he won't hesitate to instill harsh punishments for those who destroy any relics or artifacts. He also has a particular taste for hunting down relics of the Abrahamic religions.
History: Born in 1896, Karl grew up surrounded by history and lore. His father ran a museum dedicated to the ancient world and its secrets, and Karl was quick to fall in love with it. As he grew, his knowledge of ancient civilizations, religions, and cultures flourished, eventually taking him to an esteemed college. However, his college life was cut short, as the Great War had begun in Europe. Karl was conscripted into the Officer's Academy due to his high birth and upbringing, and served on the front lines throughout much of the war, ending it with the rank of Oberleutnant. With the Treaty of Versailles severely impacting the German military, Karl was forced to leave the service, taking up the job of running his father's museum, after his father had retired. Unfortunately, the Great Depression hit Germany soon afterward, which forced the eventual shutdown of Karl's museum. He was forced to sell off many of the artifacts from the displays, in order to provide enough money to feed his family. When the National-Socialists and Adolf Hitler rose to power in the early 1930s, and began to rebuild the military, Karl was offered a renewed officer's commission at the rank of Major, due to his dedication in serving during the Great War. With his knowledge of history, religion, and the occult, Karl was assigned to assist in running various archeological operations and missions, and this eventually led him to be placed as an officer in a mission in the Middle East, to help search for ancient artifacts lost in the Crusades of old.
Abilities: A skilled leader and combatant, Karl has much experience as a field officer and soldier. Though he does not possess any supernatural or technological abilities above the norm, he has much experience recognizing the sorcery and magic of the various Allied nations, and the natives of many occupied and invaded countries.
Equipment: German Major's Uniform, Walther P38 pistol, MP40 submachine gun, binoculars, radio, staff car for transport
Considering this is a WW2 RP are females still in the same position as they were during the original WW2? Or with the growing need for roles to be filled as the war grows more beleaguered would women be filling more roles?
Considering this is a WW2 RP are females still in the same position as they were during the original WW2? Or with the growing need for roles to be filled as the war grows more beleaguered would women be filling more roles?
I've just been running off the assumption of any fantasy media/RP in the idea that in some sense females are just as capable and willing to do battle and do do battle right from the get go. Its just that most don't because scientifically, men are more aggressive and drawn to war. Something like that
Also, if there can't be any females around, that's going to royally fuck up one of my character ideas >_>
I am doing a US born African American woman called "The Gladiatrix" Who uses a specially made bow that helps her fire focused energy arrows with a amplified reflex system and adrenal glands.
Can't wait to see what all of you guys are working on! I don't intend to get the IC going for a bit, so you're not racing against any particular deadline.
