Gearkrieg 1 Roleplaying Supplement

GEARKRIEG 1 ROLEPLAYING SUPPLEMENT

Trapped! Jack awoke to the cold shock of water on his.face. His head spun as $he if just had a night on the town and his vision was blurry. The ~UUCOUSsounds ofthe Amazonian jungle . were oddly mufled, but audible. He briefly took comfort in the fact that his ears were at least working properly - until he actually started to listen to what he was hearing. “Good morning Herr Memphis,” an all-tooTfamiliar voice hissed from in front of him. “It is good to see that the drug b efects are finally wearing ofl We were worried that you might remain unconscious and miss out on a demonstration of Doktor Hempell b latest scientific triumph.. . ’’

Daring heroes, brutal thugs and mastermind villains confront one another for the future of civilization as a world-wide war rages around them. This is the world of Gear Krieg, a roleplaying game of two-fisted pulp action from the creators of Heavy Gear, the Jovian Chronicles, and Tribe 8! This sourcebook features: Extensive guidelines and tips for adventuring in the pulp- style Modern Age; Design notes and suggested backgrounds for both heroic and villainous characters; Dozens of dataSample files on famous heroes,file sidekicks, henchmen and villains; A headquarter generator to provide both heroes and villains with proper housing; New perks, flaws and superscience gadgets.

Gear Krieg: Heroes & Villains is a supplement to the Gear Krieg Roleplaying Game.

www.dp9.com

I Sample file Fiction: Heroes of the Modern Age .... 4-5 Naming Conventions ...... 19 Sidebar: Alternate ldenteties ...... 19 Original Concept ADVENTURES...... 6 New Perks and Flaws ...... 20 John Bindas. Hajj Nasri Andreas. Lloyd D. Pulp Plotting 101 ...... 7 Skill Uses ...... 21 Jessee. Richard Meaden. Ken Winland. Sidebar: Tactics Skill ...... 21 Dave Graham Danger ...... 8 c INGS OF A PULPHERO Writing Sidebar: Script Immunity ...... 8 ...... 22 James Maliszewski Writer Adventure Rewards ...... What Makes a Hero? ...... 23

John Buckmaster Additional Writing Sidebar: Import . of Being Earnest .... 9 Pulp Conventions ...... 23 Scott Lette Additional Writing Pulp Plots and Plot Elements ...... 9 Heroic Motivations ...... 23 Tom McGrenery Additional Writing ...... 9 Esteban Oceana Additional Writing Give Me Shelter Chris Upchurch Additional Writing A Penny Short and a Day Late ...... 10 Part of the Team ...... 25

Marc-Alexandre Vezina Senior Editor The Garnemaster’s Responsibility .. 25 Wunji Lau Additional Editing Breaking and Entering ...... 11 Heroic Archetypes ...... 25 Pierre Ouellette Creative Director Capture the Flag ...... 11 The Hero ...... 25 Production The Sidekick ...... 25 Pierre Ouellette Art DirectorlDesigner Damsel in Distress ...... 12 The Support Character ...... 26 Jean-Franpois Fortier Layout Artist This Belongs in a Museum ...... 12 Heroic Campaigns ...... 26 Kieran J Yanner Illustrator Marc Ouellette Computer Illustrator Strangers in a Strange Land ...... 13 Independent Heroes ...... Alain Gadbois Modeler/Photographer Consulting Detectives ...... 13 Government-Sponsored ...... 27 /Cover Photo Escort Service ...... 13 Allies Armed Forces ...... 27 Marcel Bastien Modeler On the Run ...... 14 League of Nations ....

Administration A Friend in Need ...... 14 Sample Heroes ...... 28 Robert Dubois Sales & UninvitedSample Guess ...... file 14 The Canuck ...... 28 Marketing Manager Contract Negociations ...... 15 Gunnery Sergeant Charles Recker . 30 Silhouette Chandler’s Revenge ...... 15 Henri Maupassant ...... 32

Gene Marcil System Designer Sidebar: Design Note . Noah Crenet ...... Stephane I. Matis System Designer Diplomatic Overtures ...... 16 Tor Ulfrsteinn ...... 34 Marc-Alexandre VezinaSystem Developer Amnesia ...... 16 Nolan Malley ...... 36

Special Thanks Missing Persons ...... Paolo Marino. Peter Anspach Hold the Line ...... 17 INGS OF A PULPVILLAIN ... 38

The Quest ...... 17 Becoming a Villain ......

What Happened? ...... 17 Motivations Redux ...... 39

Hazard Pay ...... 18 The Devil is in the Details ...... 40

Character Design Tools ...... 18 Behaviors ...... 40 Character Types ...... 18

Background ...... 18 Sidebar: The Coup against FDR ..... 41

2 Resistance Base 8-22 ...... 74 Villainous Archetypes ...... 42 Produced & Published by The Crime Lord ...... 42 The Old House ......

Sidebar: Pulp-era Stereotypes ...... 43 Baron Eisen's Flying Fortress ...... 78 5000 Iberville, Suite 332 MontrBal, Quebec, The Aristocrat ...... 44 Ice Station Walkurie ...... 80 Canada The Mad Scientist ...... 44 Stalingrad Sonderkommando Base .... 82 H2H 2S6 - The Mercenary ...... 45 Lord Blackstone's Redoubt ...... 84 All artwork02000-2002Dream Pod 9, Inc.

The Femme Fatale ...... Gear Krieg, Panzerkampfer, Silhouette and THE TRADE...... 86 all other names, logos and specific game terms are 0 Dream Pod 9, Inc. All Rights The Thug ...... 45 Gadgets and Devices ...... 87 Reserved.

Sample Villains and Henchmen .. Adventure Uses ...... Gear Krieg: Heroes & Villains, Gear Krieg, the Gear Krieg logo, Panzerkampfer and Freyja Follesdal-Ulfrsteinn ...... 46 Superscience ...... 87 Silhouette are trademarks of Dream Pod Lars Kiergard ...... 48 Sidebar: The Good Side of Failure , 88 9, Inc.

Morderprimas ...... 49 Signature Items ...... No part of this book may be reproduced Massimo Marchand ...... 50 Equipment ...... 88 without written permission from the pub- lisher, except for short excepts for review Maxwell Lambert ...... 52 Weapons ...... 93 purposes. Any similarities to characters, Natascha Gandossi ...... 54 Sidebar: Weapon Notes ...... 93 situations, institutions, corporations, etc. (without satirical intent) are strictly coinci- Shen Lo Hu ...... 55 Superscience Doomsday Devices ..... 94 dental. The use of the male gender through- Dr. Hans Sonderbar ...... 56 Index ...... 95 out this manual should in no way imply the exclusion of the female gender or suggest Wang Han ...... 58 that the game is intended exclusively for a Tien Lung ...... 60 male audience. It is our hope that the female garners will find this book just as in- William Haulm ...... 62 teresting as their male counterparts. Agent Zero ...... 64 Warning! Gear Krieg is a work of fiction in- SS Julius Hagan ...... 66 tended to be used in a game context only. It contains elements which may be deemed Sample file inappropriate for younger readers. Dream AND HEADQUARTERS...... 68 Pod 9, Inc. does not condone or encour- age the use of violence or weapons. Pa- The Role of Hideouts ...... 69 rental discretion is advised. Use in Adventures and Campaigns 69 Dream Pod 9 can also be reached through Sidebar: Adventure Locales ...... 69 the internet. Check the recgamesmecha and rec.games.miniatures.misc Sidebar: Exotica ...... newsgroups for support and information Designing Hideouts ...... 70 about Gear Krieg. You can also visit our Structures ...... 70 World Wide Web page at http:// www.dp9.com/ Typical Components ...... 70 Stock #DP9-513 Defenses ...... 70 Legal Deposit: October 2002

Other Components ...... 71 Bibliotheque Nationale du Quebec Sidebar: Sample Head. and Lairs .. 71 National Library of Canada

Table: Action Elements ...... 71 ISBN 1-894814-53-3 Printed in Canada The Golden Eagle ...... 72

3 Nazis. He had a hard time focus- ing, let alone remembering the se- quence of events that had led him once again into Colonel Kaufman's less-than-gentle care. "Again you amuse me, Herr Mem- phis," Kaufman was saying. "Doktor Hempel has often told me that I should simply kill you with a bullet to the brain. That has always seemed.. .unsporting somehow. It lacks a certain.. .I don't know what." Kaufman then smiled his thin, ca- daverous smile. "Besides, what Jack awoke to the cold shock of water on his face. His head spun as if he'd would be the point in killing you just had a night on the town and his vision was blurry. The raucous sounds before you had the opportunity to of the Amazonian jungle were oddly muffled, but audible. He briefly took view the true inauguration of the comfort in the fact that his hearing was at least working properly - until he Thousand Year Reich?" actually started to listen to what he was hearing. Jack grinned broadly. "And you said "Good morning Herr Memphis," an all-too-familiar voice hissed from in front you had no talent for humor." of him. "It is good to see that the drug's effects are finally wearing off. We Tom laughed again from behind his were worried that you might remain unconscious and miss out on a demon- friend's back. He was joined by stration of Doktor Hempel's latest scientific triumph." Hempel, whose nervous high- There was a short burst of high-pitched laughter from another direction. pitched giggle seemed incongruous From the echoes of the voices, Jack guessed they were in a sinkhole or a with the scientist's frightening ap- small cave or something like that. He couldn't get a good look around. His pearance. Jack's vision was still too vantage point was too limited and the drug - whatever it was - was still in blurry to make out Kaufman's reac- his system. Sample file tion, but he imagined it wasn't very forgiving. Of course, Kaufman and Jack strained to lift his head and turn in the direction of Colonel Kaufman's Hempel never saw eye to eye on voice. He could feel thick ropes binding him to someone behind. Tom? Yes. anything. Kaufman was a true Nazi, It had to be Tom, still out cold as usual. The two of them had been observ- a devout soldier of the Fatherland, ing Kaufman's camp from the safety of higher ground, which apparently while Hempel, on the other hand, hadn't been so safe after all. was more of a mercenary, serving "You're a real humanitarian, Kaufman," he croaked Nazism more for scientific funding than belief in the cause itself. Kaufman allowed himself a stage-laugh. "You see? This is precisely why I love you Amerikaners, Herr Memphis. You have such a wonderful sense of " En o u g h ! " K a u f m a n barked humor - even in the face of your own demise. I sometimes wish that I through gritted teeth. "I have en- possessed such a talent." joyed our little conversation, but I am afraid that it will soon be at an "I'd be happy to teach you," Jack deadpanned. "If you'd like to switch places end -as will you and your friend." with me, I'd gladly show you how to laugh in the face of death. I'm a very Jack could begin to make out his hands-on sort of teacher, you know." surroundings - he was in a cave, Jack heard a familiar chuckle from behind his back. Tom was awake after and there was something hanging all. Jack still had a difficult time remembering what had happened -how by chains over them. Something they had ended up here, tied back to back and surrounded by a horde of big.

4 “In just a few minutes, Herr Mem- For once, Jack had no idea what to It was now Kaufman’s turn to giggle phis, you will make history. Your say. Kaufman continued, his expres- -and it was not a pretty sight. The name will be forever joined with the sion almost sad. throaty laugh was quite different triumph of German superscience.” than Hempel’s, savage and cruel. “In this Modern Age in which we live, “I’m honored.” so much is uncertain. It was always “Perhaps you are right, Herr Mem- reassuring to know that I could phis. Perhaps I do have a sense of ”You should be. I do doubt your sin- count on you and your companions humor, after all.” He suppressed cerity, but it is of no consequence. to turn up, as you Americans say, another giggle. “Farewell. Or per- All that matters is that soon this cave like a bad penny. Now that your haps I should say Adeus instead.” - and the countryside for kilome- death lies before me, I cannot help Without another word, Kaufman ters around it - will be no more, but wonder what that means for the and his entourage tromped out of thanks to Doktor Hempel’s radio-en- predictable world I have come to the cave. ergetic bomb.‘I know. Perhaps we are entering a Jack seethed with rage. “I can’t Jack tried to keep his poker face new stage of history...” believe I fell for his ‘honorable en- but couldn’t stop his jaw from Kaufman smiled again. “Yes. Con- emy’ line,” he muttered. “I must be clenching. Kaufman’s twisted grin sider that, Herr Memphis. With the the biggest fool in the world.” grew wide, revealing his long, fang- detonation of this bomb -and your like teeth. “I am pleased to see you “Nah,” answered Tom from behind death along with it - a new Atomic recognize the significance of this his back, “you just can’t help believ- Age may be dawning, with the discovery. ” ing that even a bum like Kaufman Reich as its premier power!” has a good day now and again. No “But you couldn’t,’’ Tom blurted. “Don’t be so sure of that, Kaufman.” shame in that. You know it’s being “You don’t have -“ Jack yelled back at him, desperate willing to give even a rankvillain like “Enough radium? Is that what your to say something - and to delay Kaufman the benefit of the doubt vaunted OSS believes? I had be- being left alone in this cave with no that makes you better than him. lieved that your British allies might obvious means of escape. Without that kind of optimism, I don’t have actually taught you something think we’d have been able to ac- “Please,” the Colonel replied, “no about intelligence gathering. A pity. complish have of what we have in more words. They cannot possibly There is little glory in overcoming an the past few years.” equalSample the sublimity of filethis moment. incompetent enemy.” They will only spoil it in my mind. I Tom paused, and then struggled Kaufman turned his back to Jack would rather remember you as an against his bonds. “Now, not to and along with Hempel and his equal, a worthy opponent who pro- seem pushy, but could you maybe guards walked further up a crude vided me with a welcome diversion quit crying in your milk and maybe earthen ramp. He paused, then from the drudgery of warfare rather figure out how to get out of here?” quickly turned around again to face than as a sad, pathetic man trying the bound pair. “Believe me when I to prolong his last minutes through say that I will miss these little chats subterfuge. You are a better man we have had over the years. As con- than that.” founding as your incessant escapes Jack gaped. It wasn’t every day he were, I did derive a certain comfort got a compliment from his oldest in them, as if they confirmed that the and most nefarious rival. Then be- world does operate according to a latedly, he realized he was being plan. As certain as the sunrise, Jack toyed with, and grimaced. Memphis would always be able to find a way to defer his death to yet another day.”