Campaign mechanics..
We used the relevant map from our trusty 1926 Times atlas of the world, the usual 'kriegspiel' map moves ("but war starts at midnight..."), and a number of special rules for things like the oil game and the Megiddo/Ninth Gate side scenario (which was to be the Saturday night game). We also sent the Baron his copy of 'The Ninth Gate' and had the two other versions from the book printed off to send to whoever found them...
Oil Rules:
A line in the Sand - The Black Gold rules
Each 'bidder' has a pot of money, as specified in his brief. This is rumoured to be about $100m for each bidder.
This can be used to bid for one or more of the following six franchises, each of which has a weighted probability about the amount of oil that could be found there. '6' means a high probability of a lot of oil, a '1' means a low probability. These weightings are then used to influence the throw on 2D6, plus a fairly elastic 'randomiser' throw which could see the result halved or increased upto a factor of three. So in essence the odds are decided by the 1-6 scale, then there are two weighting factors applied. This will normally (c.65% of the time) move the odds up or down off of these weightings a little bit, though there is an outside chance it could throw up a massive upswing or downswing.
Owners of the six franchises are invited to negotiate with the oil barons, of which there are three known: Cedric Van Der Suds III (owner of S.O.A.P. oil), Texas Ted and Von Stauffenberg, CEO of Großdeutschen Ölgesellschaft, The Greater German Oil Corporation. Terms and conditions are entirely at the behest of the franchisee and bidders, and are binding. There may be others out there, but then again this is the Kriegspielers.....
Franchise Weighting (1 low, 6 high)
1. Hatay. 1
2. Palestine. 2
3. Syria. 2
4. S.Iraq. 4
5. Mosul. 5
6. Saudi Arabia. 6
Negotiations can start now, and bids can be submitted from move one onwards. It normally takes one additional move to decide the scale of finds. Revenues can range from oil revenues of $1m a month (the lowest) to $1m a day (the highest). There is no limit to number of high/low revenues that can uncovered. And goodness knows what toys you might afford with all that dosh!
The Ninth Gate scenario (thanks to Ted for putting this together)
Starting locations of the Books
1. As in the Novel, the Mad Baron starts the game with a copy of the book.
2. The second book is John Milton’s cottage in Buckinghamshire England. The reason for this is in the novel Aristide Torchia, the supposed printer of the book, is burnt at the stake with three books never recovered. In the novel there is links to the book being an inspiration for Milton’s Paradise lost, the book alludes that Torchia and Milton met. The young Milton was a recognised authority on ancient Hebrew, ergo...
3. The third book is in St Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt. The book was taken their by a monk who fled France in 1660, wanting to hide it where the inquisition would not be able to it reach obviously by 1920 things have changed. The clues here would be harder as they would need to find the name of the monk and research where he went.
Other possible (bogus) locations of the Book Genoa, Galileo was sent a copy and it was used to frame him. The Louvre, where Mazarin kept a copy after Torchias trial never destroying it, similar Gaston Duc De’Orleons kept his wife’s copy as they where mixed up in the Torchia cult in 1660s France. This way it could be located at any French chateau of your choosing. There is also the option to fit the Templar legend into the story either as a red herring or part of the plot.
4. For players who don’t find a book there is also the option of trying to locate the printers blocks. These are located in a workshop in Leiden in Holland which was the Calvinist printing centre in 17th century, the likely place to go in Europe to print anything heretical. The actual location is in a store house in Leiden University Museum.
The blocks provide you with a get out option, some can be defaced if needed so they are not able to print of a complete set. Also it is where an NPC can get a copy of the book if youneed them to move the senario along.
The Book
Three different copies are printed off from the novel. First one is sent to Der Baron, other two sent to the finding players. As in the novel, there is only one true copy, that has to be assembled from the three extant copies
Megiddo
....is the site that the books have to be taken to summon up the Devil
Megiddo was home to some unusual wildlife......
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May 21, 2024, 10:18:04 AM
January 23, 2012, 08:26:03 AM
