I played with the first outline, but after bouncing it against Frank, I think we both agree it's flawed. So I'm going to scrap it and work up another outline. For anyone interested, here's what the first outline looks like:
Unthinkable
The keywords are "atompunk wands mythos." This is a little more on the gritty end of dieselpunk, but we're still looking at flying cars, raygun gothic architecture, unspeakable Lovecraftian horrors, and technomagical wands. The general pitch is that players are spies in Berlin in an alternate Cold War - one where the Nazis managed to crack an ancient code and develop the Azathoth bomb, a wunderwaffen that reduced Paris and Kursk to rubble and halted both the Allied and Russian advance; the Americans responded by dropping nuclear weapons on Japan, and the great powers agreed on an armistice - which settled into an uneasy peace, as Hitler and the highest members of the Nazi regime were surrendered to a joint tribunal for war crimes. Peace saw a much-reduced Germany as a buffer state between the West and the Eastern Bloc, Russia and the allies divving up Europe and various colonial properties between them.
But the world has changed. The world has been opened up to the alien intelligencies from beyond the stars, higher-dimensional overminds so vast that they see individual humans as unintelligent cells in greater organisms, one ant in the hill. Only superpowers with vast numbers of people can communicate with these entities on any level - essentially Russia, the United States, China, and the British Empire, which has by force and cunning has retained hold on India, Ireland, and its other colonies, and even bound the Commonwealth states of Canada and Australia closer through the transmogrified George VI, who has communicated with things beyond and come back...changed. With peace came hardship; the spinning-down of the great war machines and a resurgent plague of the Spanish Flu left a devastated Europe and brought on a Second Great Depression, as the survivors struggled to rebuild.
Yet from the darkness came a new optimism, a new light: wonders of technology to pave the way to a new, brighter future. The monolithic skyscrapers of Berlin hum with rocketbikes and flying Volkswagons, mammoth Azathoth reactors provide cheap, inexhaustible power for massive public infrastructure projects: electric lights, labor-saving automatons, cheaply-grown cabbages and overmuscled specially-bred cattle grown and harvested in factory farms; the rebuilt city has become the train capital of Europe, all organized by the vast complex of the Berlin Brain, a massive electromechanical thinking engine which controls the timetables of Europe...and every citizen of the least influence, from the factory-workers to the police to the executives in their floating aerodromes carries with them their personal torch or wand - a multifaceted tool that, depending on its construction and complexity. At its most simple, the torch provides light and heat, the burning Azathoth filament inexhaustible and unextinguishable in any rain provided the heavy batteries still provide a charge, able to start a campfire or help a housewife cook a chicken; more complex devices modulate the radiowaves, allowing the average man to check the time, instantly, wherever he goes, or tune in to the news channels, or even communicate with another torch if he knows their frequency. The most dangerous torches, of course, are much more than children's glow-toys or a working-man's link to the busy world - they are deadly weapons. The most advanced torches can emit rays that melt through steel, and emit force fields that can ward off artillery shells; with the right lenses and prisms they can even generate anti-gravitic forces...and perhaps other functions, which are classified and restricted to military models.
Welcome to 1957; the Azathoth Age.
But there is a dark undercurrent to these wonders, as the economy heats up again, and a new nationalism looks forward to enthusiasm to the Gate Race, the Great Powers striving to be the first to put a man on another world. Already, the alien intelligence the superpowers have received has made them aware of other worlds, which politicians see as the new colonies: endless resources and boundless breathing room, even for the most land-locked power. So Berlin is the city of intrigue, as superpowers scrabble for scientists and technological breakthroughs, ideologies clash in the shadows, rebels and counter-armies are prepped for unthinkable wars, Nazi war criminals hide under false names and false faces, and still there are deeper shadows...because Azathoth radiation is not quite as free and clean as everyone thinks. The light burns and warps, and reality and flesh mutates under its influence; the Corruption begins much like radiation sickness, but as the exposure increases the victims become something much less than human. Coupled with this physical degeneration is a mental one, as humans begin to grasp some of the alien concepts and truths behind the functions of wands and Azathoth torches...and they become aware of other powers, Ultrapowers, like Azathoth, but with very different capabilities and agendas...and there are the remnants of the last war, like blighted Paris, New Carcosa, a banned place where the strange yellow radiance never dims, and terrible things still lurk...
Opening Fiction (1-2k)
Setting (20k)
1) A Colder War
-- The Azathoth Bomb
-- The Second Great Depression
-- Race To The Stars
- The Azathoth Age
-- The Black Sciences
-- Torches and Wands
-- Flying Volkswagons
-- The Gate Race
-- Voices from the Aether
- Demipowers & Superpowers
-- Britain
--- Enigma
-- France
--- The Ruins of Paris: New Carcosa
--- The New Resistance & Old Collaborators
-- Eastern Bloc
--- Radio Free Europe
-- Germany
--- The Nuremburg Gang
In '44, Donitz quietly ousted Hitler and used one of the wunderwaffens to force an armistice, and later a peace; for this, he has become a complex figure, sometimes praised and reviled in the same breath. The Nazi part was officially dissolved, and most of the Nazi high command was given over to war crimes trials by an international tribunal. Of the "Nuremburg Gang," most were sentenced to life in prison or death by hanging; some committed suicide. Donitz was spared only because he made sure Hitler made it to the stands; Der Fuhrer ended up in prison, a pathetic caricature of himself, half-mad and half-broken mentally and physically from the ordeal. Throughout the world, he is still reviled as the architect of the war...and the Holocaust.
-- Italy
-- Netherlands
--- The King in Citron
After the war, the Dutch Resistance morphed into something else - a clandestine organization founded on an ancient, almost-forgotten mythology with ties to the German wunderwaffen that destroyed Paris.
-- Poland
-- Russia
-- United States
--- Arkham Belt/Naval Station Innsmouth
The center of American wand production, and the focal point of both the American Gate projects and similar concerns, this high-tech region in Massachusetts has been touched often by a peculiar knack for the weird physics beyond wands, and its native sons and daughters are present throughout the United States military and intelligence apparatus, often at quite high levels.
--- United Wand Corporation
- Ultrapowers
-- Nuclear Chaos
-- The Half-Life of Hastur
-- Mordiggan
-- The Old Ones
-- Colours Out of Space
Berlin (10-20k)
- Life After Wartime
- Post-War Economics: Schnapps & Cigarettes
- Transportation: Rocketbikes & Volkswagons
- Places to Be
- People to Know
- Players
-- BND
--- Werwolf and BDJ (Bund Deutscher Jugend)
-- CIA
-- NKVD
-- Mossad
-- ODESSA
Part of the peace treaty was the dismantling of the National Socialist party, the surrender of top officials for war crimes, and the partial dismantling and reconfiguration of the German military, with an emphasis on restrictions on traditional arms and munitions (which only means they focused more strongly on non-traditional arms and munitions). The lesser Nazi officers and officials largely escaped international justice, but are still sought out by parties that want them to answer for their crimes.
-- SDECE
-- SOE
- Things To Do
-- The Berlin Brain
-- Mossad Bounties
-- Nylon Nyarlathotep
-- Operation Bloodstone
-- Operation Paperclip
-- Paperwork
Forged papers, passports, etc. A thriving market.
Mechanics (20k)
- d%
-- Pseudo-percentile system; the player or MC rolls d100 and adds the target's skill, looking to roll OVER a target number. Simple tasks have a TN of 50; average tasks 75, difficult tasks 100.
On opposed tasks you and your opponent both roll, and the higher roll (plus skill + modifiers) wins out.
- Character Creation: Building Your Dossier
Players are given 50 points, to divvy up as they choose.
-- Name, Concept, Description
-- History (Sponsor, Packages, Annotations)
-- Attributes
-- Skills
-- Equipment
-- Bonus
- Sponsors
A character's sponsor represents their parent agency; which provides their base affiliation, Clearance level, equipment access, etc.) Average Sponsor-package is 20 points.
-- BND
-- CIA
-- NKVD
-- Mossad
-- ODESSA
-- SDECE
-- SOE
- Packages:
Like PACKS profiles, a combination of Skills and Equipment. Optional, but useful as a guideline and to speed up character generation. 10-20 points on average.
-- American
-- British
-- Civilian
-- Codetalker
-- Computer
-- French
-- German
-- Grunt
-- Hunter
-- Officer
-- Pilot
-- Programmer
-- Prostitute
-- Radioman
-- Resistance
-- Rocketman
-- Russian
-- Smuggler
-- Special Forces
-- Spy
-- Torchman
-- Wand Technician
- Annotations
Additional options that provide additional abilities and affiliations, though not necessarily extra skills. 5-10 points.
- Werwolf, Cover Identity, Clearance Level, Contacts, etc.
- Attributes
Four attributes, with two sub-attributes each. Players start out with 0 in each attribute; they can increase this a step by paying 3 point per step (i.e. 3 points for 40, 6 points for 60, 9 points for 70, 12 points for 75, 15 points for 78, +3 points for each +1 thereafter). The player can then divide the points among the sub-attributes however they like. So, for example, a character with Physical 75 could have Stamina 70 and Strength 5. Attributes add 1/10 of their rating as a bonus to any skill linked to them. (Stamina 70 == +7 bonus to Stamina linked skills; Strength 5 == +0 bonus to Strength-linked skills).
Sub-attributes can be bought up independently at 1 point per step, but are still capped by the Attribute rating.
-- Physical
- Stamina
- Strength
-- Mental
- Intellect
- Intuition
-- Social
- Charisma
- Empathy
-- Essence
- Corruption
- Gnosis
Essence is a special attribute, connected with wandtech, alien lore, and mental and physical degeneration. High Corruption causes sickness and mutation, but improved relationship with alien beings and resistance to wand-based weapons; high Gnosis causes mental illness, but bonuses making, modifying, and using wandtech and other alien technologies.
-- Skills
Skills are a fixed list of general skills that apply to all characters - Martial Combat, Medicine, Firearms, etc. While the list is fixed, specialities are open. So for example Language is a skill, but you choose the speciality (specific language); same with Pilot (vehicle), academic knowledge, etc. As with Attributes, skills are bought in steps (i.e. 1 points for 40, 2 points for 60, 3 points for 70, 4 points for 75, 5 points for 78, +1 point for each +1 thereafter).
--- When Not to Roll
If your skill is >= the TN, you don't need to roll; you succeed automatically. For many skills, like Language, the magic number is TN 50 - at Language 50, you're assumed to be fluent in a language. Characters at skill 100 or above are considered masters.
- Equipment
Cost is denoted in Deutschecreds (DCs) - other currencies float around Europe, but this is what they mainly use in Berlin, though there's a thriving grey market in American dollars and British pounds; physical bills and coins have largely been replaced by small crystal pyramids which can be attached to a torch for ease of access and safekeeping. Some gear is restricted access to certain Sponsors or those with higher Access Levels (part of Annotations) - Eastern Bloc tend to have easier access to low-level torches, but a harder time getting blue jeans, and may have to settle for a Hover-Trabant instead of a Flying Volkswagon. 1 point = 500 DCs, equivalent to US 1957 dollar for pricing.
-- Clothing
-- Weapons
-- Armor
-- Tools
-- Goods
-- Medicine
-- Vehicles
-- Torches and Wands
- Improving Your Character
-- Experience
-- Training
Characters improve either through experience in the field (XP, awarded every session) or through specific training courses offered through their Sponsor or an independent course through a university - this lets PCs start a new session with a reasonable skill level. Getting to a non-amateur level of skill is relatively cheap, mastering a skill is expensive. Costs in XP are same as during character generation.
- Systems (KISS)
-- Combat
--- Quick, inaccurate, deadly
All actions happen in the same time; players declare their actions, roll their skills. Most of these will be opposition rolls; success means you deal damage.
-- Damage & Healing
--- Dying is easy, healing is long
Pseudo-percentile health system - everybody starts at 100 Health, damage on a successful hit is d100 + modifier from weapon/armor. Quick and deadly, even by Shadowrun standards. Healing, by contrast, is long: 5% per day of rest, 10% with proper medical care.
--- Drugs (DX10?)
-- Movement
-- Wands, Torches, & Files
A "file" in this parlance is equivalent to a Mythos tome; these can increase Gnosis directly (to your attribute cap). Likewise, exposure to Azathoth radiation sources can increase Corruption directly. Unique among sub-attributes, Gnosis and Corruption can also be /reduced/ using XP, representing treatment to combat the physical and mental effects of exposure.
First Exposure: On first exposure to a source of Corruption/Gnosis, the character's Essence increases a step (0 to 40); Essence can be subsequently increased either by spending XP, or by maximizing a sub-attribute - if there is ever a point where the character would gain more Gnosis or Corruption but cannot because their Essence is too low, their Essence increases a step instead (40->60, 60->70, 70->75, 75->78, +1 for each beyond that).
--- Types
--- Effects
--- Corruption
--- Gnosis
--- Other Sources of Exposure
--- Sample Files
--- Sample Wands
- The Black Dossier: Gamemaster Resources
-- Sample NPCs & Contacs
--- Police
--- Criminals
--- Foos
--- Ghouls
--- Guard Dogs
--- Military
--- Spies
-- Dark Secrets
--- The Atlantic Empire
--- The Boys in Brazil
--- Cykranosh
--- The Hollow Earth
--- New Soviet Man
--- Operation Unthinkable
--- Project Koschei
--- Wonderwaffe
-- Story Seeds
