Berlin '61 - Has anyone seen this?

[Atgxtg]

Originally Posted by PK Games

One of the sourcebooks I want to write for it is just an espionage hand book on how to run the game as mainly a spy thriller with very little or no magic in it.

Just wonding, but how much work would be needed to pull that off? Could the game be used as a espionage RPG now? Is it that you need more rules, or just the info on agencies and cold war stuff?

From my experience, I found that CoC soucebooks are fairly useful for modern gaming/espionage once you take out the Mythos nasties. Chaosium's Bermuda Triangle supplement is practically invaluable for running espionage adventures in the Carribean in the style of the James Bond novels. Something like 90% of the book is real world info like maps, countires, currencies and the like.

How much of Berlin 61 would be useful for other systems or types of gaming. The setting really has a lot of potential.

[PK Games]

About 40% of the book (60 pages or so) covers equipment from the time (including a exchange rate chart for various nations involved in Berlinin 1961, but base prices are in american dollars fo rmy ease LOL), agencies, background on Berlin, a time line, rules that are not horror/magic specific but just game concerns (encumbrance, what pulp is, minion rules, and so forth), some key locations (with pictures), a couple of maps (working on getting better ones for later books), and information on 11 agencies (including CIA, Gehlen, Stasi, KGB, GRU, US Army, and others).

The chapters on Essence (Chapter 3) and Magic (Chapter 4) are the only two real chapters that would be "horror/magic" specific while the Game Masters Chapter (Chapter 9) is about 50-60% material for the actual horror setting (monsters, pantheon and god information and so forth).

Truth be told, the only things I would do in a Espionage Sourcebook would be put stats of generic encounters, adventure guidelines and rules for Gadgets and Gizmos (the Mad Science rules in Berlin '61 could work in a nutshell, but thier flavor has the whole insanity and whack job touch to them). Maybe even a starting scenario and a "World of Espionage '61 Guide" covering major events of the early 60s, how the agencies interact and stuff like that.

As is Berlin '61 works as a sourcebook for Berlin centric adventures set during that time frame.

Id be more then glad to work on a compilation book to help create that setting option in more detail if anyone was interested in pursuing it as well.

[Enpeze]

Is there an adventure included? Or planned? I would love to see a good spy story ala "the third man" etc. (connections to the mythos are not really necessary for my liking...just a plain spy adventure) I think there are not many inprint games out there which have such a theme.

[PK Games]

If this is the direction people prefer the game to go in, then it will probably be what happens. The original intent of the setting was two things. One I spent the summer in Berlin and was fascinated by its history, especially the pre-wall years and I wanted to play a game that began before the wall went up, but during the adventure the wall was built. (it did originally go up over night).

Second I wanted to play CoC and not have my players know it was CoC. So the original book was meant to throw off the players and have them think we were playing cold war espionage and just have them wind up getting eaten by mythos monsters.

I personally would rather the game be mainly pulp-noir-espionage with the horror being mainly mad science, mad men and serial killers hiding amongst the backwall of the cold war and espionage world.

Even in my normal CoC games I always had my PCs involved in normal everyday adventures, like solving normal crimes, dealing with everyday events and then about every 3 or 4 adventures cuaght up in mythios crap.

[drohem]

Originally Posted by PK Games

I personally would rather the game be mainly pulp-noir-espionage with the horror being mainly mad science, mad men and serial killers hiding amongst the backwall of the cold war and espionage world.

I would be very interested in this type of campaign/setting.

[PK Games]

Originally Posted by drohem

I would be very interested in this type of campaign/setting.

Hmm then I will shift focus for a supplement for B61 that covers just espionage and spy stuff. It will be designed so it can be used as a supplement to the mythos style horror for B61 or just Early Cold War espionage hi-jinx.

Should be fun to write.

Anyone else interested in this setting of this style?

[Triff]

SPy stuff with a bit of the occult sounds like a good mix!

SGL.

[Enpeze]

Yes. And very important is IMO the support of the whole setting with some good ready to play spy adventures.
Its not that I am against the mythos or such. I even think that some subtile links to occultism and horror could spice the setting up.

But what I dont find very appealing is that the big enemy are again the outer gods and not the "other political fraction". This is detracting from the focus and I fear it would be degrading Berlin to nothing more than another Delta Green variant.

[Triff]

Originally Posted by Enpeze

Yes. And very important is IMO the support of the whole setting with some good ready to play spy adventures.
Its not that I am against the mythos or such. I even think that some subtile links to occultism and horror could spice the setting up.

But what I dont find very appealing is that the big enemy are again the outer gods and not the "other political fraction". This is detracting from the focus and I fear it would be degrading Berlin to nothing more than another Delta Green variant.

I'm also in favour of the occult part not having too much of a Lovecraftian flavour, but being something researched by the other side. Some summonings gone wrong could also be fun though.

SGL.

[PK Games]

Actually while the mythos-rip off deities are the primary "evil" in the world the actual bad guys for Berlin '61 were to be the governemnt agencies. It was all about various agencies and organizations trying to use mythos related artifacts, powers, rituals and what not to attain thier political goals.