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RUSSIA Empire. Enigma. Epic. By S. John Ross Additional Material by Romas Buivydas, Graeme Davis, Steffan O'Sullivan and Brian J. Underhill Edited by Spike Y Jones and Susan Pinsonneault, with Mike Hurst Cover by Gene Seabolt, based on a concept by S. John Ross Illustrated by Heather Bruton, Eric Hotz and Ramón Perez GURPS System Design by Steve Jackson Scott Haring, Managing Editor Page Layout and Typography by Amy J. Valleau Graphic Design and Production by Carol M. Burrell and Gene Seabolt Production Assistance by David Hanshaw Print Buying by Monica Stephens Art Direction by Carol M. Burrell Woody Eblom, Sales Manager Playtesters: Captain Button, Graeme Davis, Kenneth Hite, Dean Kimes, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Michael Rake Special Thanks to: Tim Driscoll, for laughing at the good bits; Scott Maykrantz, for bringing "opinionated" to the level of art; Dan Smith, for his encouragement and unique good humor; Moose Jasman, for studying Russian history at just the right time; and to Ivan Grozny, for being such a criminally insane, despotic villain — every book needs one. This book is dedicated to the memory of Reader's Haven, the finest bookshop ever to go out of business in Havelock, North Carolina, and to the garners there, for "putting the quarter into John." GURPS and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. GURPS Russia, Pyramid and Illuminati Online and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPS Russia is copyright © 1998 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 1-55634-258-6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEVE JACKSON GAMES CONTENTS 4 Location and Layout 18 JOB TABLE 41 INTRODUCTION Russian Proverbs 19 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 4 TECHNOLOGY, EQUIPMENT AND OTHER CITIES 20 WEAPONS 42 About GURPS 4 Kiev 20 Armor 42 Self-Consciousness and Xenophobia 21 1 MOTHER RUSSIA 5 Weaponry 42 Novgorod 22 Transportation 43 THE RUSSIAN VILLAGE 6 Vodka! 22 St. Petersburg 23 EQUIPMENT 43 Location And Layout 6 The Moscow Open Market 23 Money 44 The Izba 6 The Russian Public Baths 23 Units of Measure 45 Old Russia 6 The Family 7 GEOGRAPHY 24 3. RUSSIAN Hospitality 7 Overview 24 A Note On Accuracy 7 The Forest 25 HISTORY 46 Everyday Life 8 The Veche 25 PROLOGUE: SLAVS AND Diet 8 The Steppe 27 VARANGIANS 47 Capitalist Russia 8 Waterways 27 ys 47 The Mountains 28 Foes of the Eastern Sla CITY LIFE IN OLD RUSSIA 9 The Slavic Tribes 47 28 Urban Layout 9 CLIMATE Varangian Domination 48 Events and Scenes 9 Climate Beyond Moscow 28 THE RUS AND KIEV 48 Terms of Endearment 9 Wind 29 Early Slavic Settlements 10 Winter Rules 29 YEARS OF EARLY GROWTH 49 Dragoon Villages 11 Skaters in Advanced Combat 31 Olga's Revenge 49 The Great Adventure 49 SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 12 2. RUSSIANS 32 VLADIMIR 50 The Kholop 12 Point Cost 32 Peasant Movement 12 Baptism and Dvoeverie 50 The Muzhik 13 APPEARANCE 33 The Dnieper Settlements 50 The Merchant 13 NAMES 33 The Varangians 50 The Boyar 13 Typical Russian Names 33 THE LATTER DAYS OF Second-Hand Views 13 KIEVAN RUSSIA 51 The Clergy 14 CHARACTER TYPES 34 Oleg's Poliudie 51 The Nobility 14 ADVANTAGES 37 Grigory Karpovich Kotoshikhin 14 THE MONGOLS ARRIVE 52 NEW ADVANTAGES 37 Other Classes 16 Early Battles 52 DISADVANTAGES 38 THE COSSACKS 16 The Early Steppelanders 52 SKILLS 39 Mongol Rule 53 Cossack Society 16 Russian Flora and Fauna 16 NEW SKILLS 40 THE HEART AWAKENING 54 40 MOSCOW 18 WEALTH AND STATUS Dmitri Donskoy 54 Raids Against Constantinople 54 THE CLIMAX 55 Christianity Comes to Russia 55 THE MUSCOVITE ERA 56 The Mongols at War 56 Ivan Grozny 57 Alexander Nevsky and the Baltic Crusade 57 Smutno Vremya 59 Ivan Kalita 59 Ivan the Terrible and Western Europe 60 Ivan's Insanity 60 Ivan's Justification 61 Dmitri's Death 62 The First Romanovs 63 THE BEGINNING OF THE END 63 Peter's Youth 63 Azov and the Grand Embassy 63 The End of Medieval Russia 65 Freedom's End: the Ulozhenie 65 2 CONTENTS RUSSIAN TIMELINE 66 Stenka Razin 67 Law and Order Under Tsar Alexis I 70 MAP OF KIEVAN RUSSIA 70 Harsh Punishment 71 MAP OF MONGOL RUSSIA 7 1 Silver and Gold 72 The Holy Synod 72 4. RELIGION 73 RUSSIAN ORTHODOXY 74 Church History 74 Real-World Religion 74 The Russian Calendar 74 The Value of Cyrillic 75 Church Organization 76 Christ and the Kenotic Ideal 76 Beliefs 77 Fasting 77 Picture Histories: Icons 78 Avvakum 78 THE SLAVIC EARTH-CULT 79 Tsar Zmedyed (King Bear) Russian Gods and Spirits 79 PROMINENT PEOPLE 97 110 Vodyanye (Water Spirit) 110 Dancing Bears 79 Baba Yaga the Bony-Legged 97 Ghosts in the Bathhouse 79 Zalozhniy (The Unhallowed Dead) 110 Fire and Vermin 97 Zmei (Russian Dragon) 111 Other Religions 80 Baba Yaga 98 Pagan Ceremonies and Festivals . 81 Koschei the Undying 100 7. THE RUSSIAN Pagan Priests and Wizards 81 Koschei the Undying 100 DVOEVERIE AS A DRAMATIC Grandfather Frost 101 CAMPAIGN 112 DEVICE 82 The Breath of Svyatagor 101 DECISIONS OF STYLE 113 The Bogatyrs 102 Pagan Trickery 82 Reality Level 113 A War of Faith 83 6. BESTIARY 103 Gaming Drunkenness 113 Fishing and Hunting 114 5. FANTASY NATURAL CREATURES 104 Campaign Setting 115 RUSSIA 84 Bear, Russian Brown 04 Friends & Foes 115 Boar, Wild 04 Who and Why . and Violence . 116 85 LOCATION IN FANTASY RUSSIA Cats 04 ADVENTURES 117 The Forest 85 Cattle and Oxen 04 A Word of Caution 85 Dogs 04 Prince Vladimir's Raiment Zagovori 86 Fox 04 (Historical) 117 The Underwater Realm 87 Fur-Bearers and Small Game 04 Into the Wild Country (Historical) . 118 The Land of the Dead 87 Lynx 05 The Skomorokhs (Historical) 118 The Thrice-Tenth Kingdom Mosquitoes 05 Enduring Legacy 118 (The Otherworld) 87 Prairie Viper 05 Boyar Peter Kraslov (Historical) .. 119 Vedomosti ROLEPLAYING FOLKLORE 89 Waterfowl 05 119 Wolf 05 The Arsonist (Historical) 120 Generosity 89 Wolverine 06 Crossover Campaigns 120 Respect 90 Pomestie (Historical) 121 SUPERNATURAL CREATURES 106 Misery 90 The Jealous Boyar (Fantasy) 122 Injustice 91 Chudo Yudo 106 Grandfather Frost (Fantasy) 122 RUSSIAN MAGIC 92 Domovye (House Spirit) 107 The Wolf-Knife (Fantasy) 123 The Firebird (Zhar Ptitsa) 107 92 Folk Magic The Grey Wolf 107 Magical Gifts 92 BIBLIOGRAPHY 124 Guardian Doll 107 New Spells 93 Leshiy (Forest Spirit) 107 Medieval Russia in RPGs 125 Passage to Peklo 93 Misery 108 Lycanthropy 94 Ovinnik (Barn Cat) 108 GLOSSARY 126 Christian Miracles 95 Rusalka (Water Nymph) 108 A Russian Vocabulary 126 MAGICAL OBJECTS FROM RUSSIAN Senmury 109 FOLKLORE 96 The Thumb-Sized Man 109 INDEX 127 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION About GURPS Steve Jackson Games is committed to GURPS Russia presents the Russian world from its beginnings in the 10th full support of the GURPS system. Our century to its new beginnings in the early 18th. It unfolds the history, folklore and address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin. daily life, not of the Imperial Age or of the Soviet Union, but of medieval Russia TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed. stamped envelope (SASE) any time you – a culture all but forgotten in the 20th century. To most Westerners, the word write us! Resources now available include: "Russia" is synonymous with Communism, nuclear war, competing space pro- Pyramid. Our bimonthly magazine grams and World War I-era farm machinery tending the fields of The People. includes new rules and articles for GURPS, as well as information on In To those readers, I bid a welcome to a world that just might surprise you with Nomine, Illuminati: New World Order, its depth of character. Russia isn't a nice place, not now and not then, but Russians Car Wars, Toon, Ogre Miniatures and themselves can be very kind. The lowliest peasant will offer you bread and salt more. It also covers top releases from other companies - Castle Falkenstein, Traveller, when you come through his door. If you're polite, he'll give you a seat on top of Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun and more. the stove and maybe get you drunk! He probably won't trust you, but if you had New supplements and adventures. been raised on stories of constant invasions and hatred by Mongols from the east, GURPS continues to grow, and we'll be Poles from the west and Turks from the south, you'd be leery of foreigners, too. happy to let you know what's new. A cur- rent catalog is available for an SASE. Or GURPS Russia provides sufficient information to play anything from a pagan check out our Web site (below). sorcerer in the days of early Christianity to a Cossack pirate in the days of Peter Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, the Great. If you favor politics and espionage, you'll enjoy the machinations of including us - but we do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all the Shuiskys and Romanovs in the dreaded Time of Troubles. If you're fond of GURPS releases, including this book, arc the dark side of humanity, you'll discover the black riders of the oprichnina – the always available from SJ Games; be sure Russian Inquisition of Ivan the Terrible. And if you like magic, you have a whole to include an SASE with your request. Or download them from the Web - see below. Otherworld to explore, beyond the Thrice-Nine Lands, where thunder heralds the Q&A.
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