In the measly year of 1959, the world was on the brink of yet another global conflict. At the heart of it all lies the solitary nation of Vietnam, brought to its knees by a vicious outcry for civil war. Ideology ruled the tides of battle, leaving many to drop dead in the harsh jungles of its once peaceful habitat. It became a struggle between the North and South: violent communist reformists battled against ruthless unitary presidential constitutional republic, backed mostly by international influences. With a taste for blood, the deployment of unimaginable machines saw warfare reach a turning point, highlighting the struggle between conventional engagement and unconventional means of battle. Nations all over the globe watched as the melting pot for chaos spiralled out of control, throwing global superpowers into the fray for personal gain and the suppression of opposing ideologies. Soon, the Vietnam War had been born, with thousands being swept up in its tidal inertia. Soldiers were brought in overseas to reinforce either the Northern or Southern combatants, training them, fighting and dying alongside them, only to see the horrors of war stain their cold, heartless skins. Men and women globally were no longer citizens, but killers, murderers and the juries of death itself. Every bullet became drenched in foreign and native blood. The jungles were set ablaze with fire; anguish ruled the streets of previously unheard cities. Fury became a language everyone understood, and suffering became one that everyone spoke.
Vietnam was not the same. As the Second World War ended in 1948, prolonged by internal and external battles beyond the crusade against fascism, the United States of America found itself in a precarious spot. Before the closure of the greatest conflict known to man, it had found itself a secondary adversary: the Soviet Union of Russia. In its waning years, the conflict saw the expansion of diesel, petrol and crude machinery built solely to destroy its opposition. Soon enough, vehicles were mounted onto varying chassis, brought with limbs and greater firepower. Harsh terrain was easier to overcome as battle tanks could simply clamber over them, one leg at a time. Firepower grew exponentially and the chants for further experimentation grew further. On the last month of the Second World War, a bloody engagement between the United States and Soviet Union broke out in Prague, disillusioned by their differences and urge to control previously German territories. Though it came to a close quickly, its legacy did not fade away. Politicians and citizens of America were now convinced the true enemy laid beyond the newly founded Iron Curtain, and soon the call to suppress the spread of Communism had begun. First came the swift belittlement of North Korea, maintaining an unstable democratic government on the peninsula. Yet in 1956, their fears spread to Vietnam, a once silent and oppressed member of the Allied Alliance. In 1958, military advisers were swapped out for trained soldiers, and battles between the Northern Vietnamese and the United States military soon became a reality. War had begun, allowing for a brutal showcase of unheard behemoths, mechs, infantrymen, aeronautical bombardment and death to take centre stage.
Welcome to Vietnam, how long will it take for you to break?
After that rather cheerful introduction, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a dieselpunk rendition of the Vietnam War, focusing on the weird, the wonderful and the downright terrifying inventions of the Dieselpunk World, showing a far slower progression into the modern world we know today. Stuck in this mechanical age, we're going to see a few strange allotments of warfare imprisoned within the jungles and marshlands of Vietnam, hopefully blending the familiar warfare we expect from the scenario with the slightly wacky outdated inventions seen before. The world is volatile, messy and sometimes alien to what we know from our own IRL counterparts. But enough talking about the dieselpunk aspect, rather I should explain the possibilities behind the story.
The characters we will be taking are members of an American/Coalition military force either recently sent to Vietnam or housing veterans of the theatre. These can include infantrymen, battletank crewmen, mechanics, as well as many secondary options such as pilots, door gunners and other dangerous roles. The main focus will be around a more universal role however, with wandering the heart of darkness being the main setting to see. The way in which the story may work could be the opportunities for open-ended missions, in which you can split into groups, write solo or fully collab on large or small engagements throughout the war, helping us gather universal experiences of grief, honour, violence and triumph. Now as this entails, there are obviously the opportunities to focus on the non-combatant lifestyle. Character interactions, relationships, rivalries, developments and arcs are hopefully going to be the focus of our journey, detailing how they react to the world they are plummeted into. Whether they maintain helicopters, aircraft and walkers, latch onto the flamethrowers or simply be the frontman to every ambush with their trust automatic rifle.
One thing to clear up is that male and female characters are allowed for all roles. Restricting it to one or the other could cause some limits to interactions and character designs in general, so hopefully we'll free ourselves up to more opportunities this way. Alongside this, there will probably end up being a later-game story that incorporates in. Some missions will help lead up to these. This could be some sort of Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness style pursuit, simple patrols or escalation of war with other international superpowers. We have some large possibilities, including (mostly later on in the story), desertion, trauma or loyalty to whatever cause they see fit. One question I received from someone included: 'Are warcrimes going to be available'? To this, I say 'Yes', because at the end of the day what war isn't complete without a few controversial actions here or there. Of course, alongside this there has to be the question of morality. Characters aren't bound to dubious questioning, however they aren't also bound to being righteous. Sometimes these differences in views on the war are what inspire the best interactions, flings, hatreds, romances etc. You get the picture.
For now, details on the potential "classes" will be discussed by us as a group. Whilst I don't disregard the idea of classes, I also want to add a certain flexibility between how classes mesh together. For example, a mechanic isn't shut out from infantry work, whereas a tank crewman isn't shut out from mechanics and engineering. As long as each thing is within a certain logical and understandable reasoning, I could see these non-class systems go ahead. Infantry roles would vary from the standards to expect: riflemen, machine gunners, engineers, grenadiers, designated marksmen, snipers, flamethrowers, radiomen etc. Tank crewmen also depends on what sort of mechanised battletank the character is in. Some are single-manned whilst others are piloted by a small crew, allowing for more flexibility with characters and scenarios you can settle them within. Secondary characters are acceptable as well. A secondary character is simply one that doesn't become your main focus, meaning they aren't necessarily persistent across every arc and your main driving force to write. These can include pilots, door gunners, officers and more down the pathway, having the potential to become essential NPCs or Characters further down the line. And with the open male-female slots, the opportunities only open further. Large character arcs even set within cities like Saigon could be explored, focusing on the out-of-action lifestyles of all these characters. These are all acceptable to me.
So far, specifics on character sheets will be saved for the OOC thread when it goes up. Hopefully you've found a spot of interest in this idea and I would love to answer any questions you have regarding the roleplay, the technology and other bits and bobs here. Also @Lady Selune is going to be the wonderful Co-GM . Hopefully this can take off and we'll see it go further! We have a discord server for OOC chatter set up if we can get some interest, and we'll see you guys in the jungles, streets and rivers of Vietnam very soon.
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