Comments on: The German Point of View

By: GreenOsprey

GreenOsprey — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:22:46 +0000

Talking of how the setting would work, I’ve mentioned in the past that I might find it difficult to play a game where the heroes work for a ‘evil’ power, but after watching ‘The Eagle Has Landed’, my view has changed somewhat.

The main German characters come across as being ‘good’ – what with the rescue of the Jewish Girl by Michael Caine’s character (Kurt Steiner) – even though it put him in line for treason charges, or the rescue by a German Soldier of a little girl, falling into the river. It shows you a character can be good in a corrupt society.

Che mentioned a few other films – which I cannot remember at the time, that showed german soldiers standing out from the norm.

By: BlackFalcon

BlackFalcon — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:15:07 +0000

I don’t think there is much to worry about in a campaign focused on Germany. Putting that aside, however, there is nothing stopping a GM running a campaign with a focus on a different faction or national power. We are simply STARTING with Germany because it’s a fresh treatment of WWII and alternates to stop viewing all German citizens as both Nazi and evil.

From the perspective of Germany, however, there is plenty of fuel to keep a campaign burning. Using Brandenburg-X, the magickal war is introduced. Even without it, there will be resistant factions in each nation that the Third Reich conquers. Campaigns can also span the theatres of war: western front, eastern front, balkan front, desert front, and even the Pacific front.

To my mind there are a few obvious campaigns I would run in the setting, each in order to build Dark Reich further. The first is probably Brandenburg-X, which has profound effect on the world; next comes the military campaign of soldiers from 1939 until 1946, when the Kalterkrieg descends; third would be the civilian campaign, perhaps featuring occupied resistance fighters in Britain, France or Poland. From there I would branch into other nations at different periods. I think that would keep a group busy for a few months, if not years. And let’s be honest, few groups are that diligent.

By: Rev

Rev — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:58:04 +0000

From my hazy remeberance of my history lessons, I think I am right in saying that after a while, the main professional soldier in the Wehrmact (?) felt as if they were a second class soldier, as more and more support went in to the SS – better kit, any soldiers that met with the requirements to join (Member of the Nazi party, arran race, etc).

I’m sure that a few months on the Russian front would also sway the mind of a soldier into feeling not of warmth towards the ruling class.

You are right in this being a sea of shades of grey – and the worry is that if the forces of ‘good’ within the German state are fighting back, how far can they push before the authorities decide to remove them – with a state looking into magic, who they check workers using magical checks, trying to remove dangers to the status quo?

And how would you manage a party of characters who are all have a questionable moral code? In reality, not all Germans were nazis, and the same can be said with what is happenning in Zimbabwe – Only a small group do the crimes, but many more go along with the crime, turning a blind eye – and such causes a state to get a certain name.

My worry is finding enough sub groups within the state that can allow a roleplay campaign to survive. And the more powerful the state gets, the harder it is for a group ‘anti’ to the leadership to survive and stay below the radar.