Their Finest Hour- Magical Battle of Britain

The first half of this series looked at a lot of the historical facts of the Battle of Britain, and how they could be adapted for Their Finest Hour, a World War II setting for the Victoriana role-playing game. Last week we dipped our toes in the more fantastic side of the setting, but this week, we dive into the deep end to talk about magic. Fortunately for us, there is no end of weird magical folklore and conspiracies attached for World War II for us to play with.

In Victoriana’s 1850s setting, magic wanes from its strong, primal antediluvian origins. Miracles became spells practiced only by a learned few, as the industrial revolution spread across the world. By the Battle of Britain, radio, automobiles, telephones, electric lights, airplanes, and other conveniences take magic’s place.  Scientists, mystics, and priests strive to rediscover and recapture magic’s lost might, some by examining magical formula with modern scientific theories (such as Albert Einstein), and others by embracing tabooed occult practices (such as Alistair Crowley).

The Axis war effort seems to have overcome whatever universal law causes magic to dwindle. Refugees of the Blitzkrieg tell stories of magicians able to change the battlefield with ease, conjured creatures of legend, and sorcerous machines of war. None of the Allies know the source of this raw aetheric power and rumors spread quickly of its origins. Some of the rumors circulating through  England include:

-During the 1939 German expedition to Tibet, Nazi mystics learned ancient forgotten methods to harness Vril from an ascended Master in Shamballa known as “the King of the World”.

-Nazi musicologists discovered the potent mythic reality suggested by Wagner’s operas. Through their fanaticism and skill, trained spell singers (called Fächer) gain strength from Germanic myth cycles and Aryan folksongs.

-The Race Office of the SS bred magically adept children through the Lebensborn (fountain of life) project. SS officers kidnapped Polish and Russian children gifted with psychical abilities from occupied territories adding to their breeding stock.

Worried by the Axis’s magical superiority, Allied forces try to close the gap. Magical practices previously dismissed by the Guild, such as conjuration, become the subjects of careful study. Scientists and hermeticists exiled from their overrun countries add their expertise to the war effort. The Guild strives to harness Britain’s few magical resources and discover powerful treasures long lost. Some groups, such as the Ancient Order of Druids (of which Prime Minister Winston Churchill is a member), hope for a miracle from the past. Old legends say Avalon will appear when again England needs King Arthur, and when has their need been greater?

Magic in 1940

Victoriana gives their magic a great sense of the period through names. Because Their Finest Hour takes place 90 years later in the 1940, some of the terms seem a bit behind the times. Instead of magnetists empowered with magnetic abilities, psychics with psychical abilities sounds a bit more modern.

Likewise, Quintessence is fine for Englishmen, but magical energy is called Vril by the Nazis.

To reflect the waning power of magic plaguing the earth, all characters in Their Finest Hour have four pips on their Quintessence dice instead of six.

This series has been a blast to write. We’re heading into the end of the series with only three or four posts left to go. It’s been great diving into the setting, and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming adventure ideas post.

Their Finest Hour: The Subspecies at War

Like any fantasy world, Victoriana has fantasy races. Unlike most fantasy worlds, the fantasy races are considered distinct subspecies of humanity. Instead of rewriting all the subspecies entries in the Victoriana Rulebook, here are a few pieces of history mixed with the fantasy races in the setting of Their Finest Hour:

The British Army lost a great deal of vitally important equipment and supplies during the evacuation at Dunkirk. Tanks, artillery, antiaircraft guns, weapons, food, and ammunition etc, all lost on the European continent. In 1940, dwaven captains of industry united their efforts under the London Aircraft Production Group to coordinate their factories output for the good of the war effort. Under the leadership of Albert Stanley the Lord Ashfield, the LAPG cranked out ammunition, armored trucks, automotive parts and aircraft with incredible dwarf efficiency, managing to build an airplane an hour.

At the start of the war, the 601 Squadron RAF consisted almost entirely of Eldren aviators, many of which fought in the Great War. The squadron earned its nickname “The Millionaires Squadron” for selecting only pilots of good breeding and better means. Deaths and transfers inevitably pulled a more diverse selection of replacement pilots into the unit during the Battle of Britain.

The newly emerging technologies of the war provided gnome boffins ample opportunities to put their keen minds and hearty resolve to patriotic use. Gnome technicians kept nightly watch on England’s southern coast maintaining and manning radar stations. Gnome cryptographers and codebreakers at top secret Bletchley Park covertly deciphered the Enigma Machine encrypted messages of the Axis forces. Their efforts provided invaluable intelligence to the Allied War effort, first distributed under the codename BONIFACE, and later ULTRA. This research eventually led to the Conundrum Calculator (which calculated formulas essential to complicated thaumatergical equations) putting the British Army on a more even footing with German magic.

With their imposing muscular physiques, tough hides, and childlike loyalty, Ogres make terrific soldiers. After England declared war in 1939, so many patriotic male Ogres volunteered and were happily accepted into the British Army, it’s rare to see any of their kind in London. Female Ogres remain, able and ready for the work traditionally done by the men of their kind, such as loading and unloading cargo, construction, manufacturing, and security.

Beastfolk remain the backbone of the Communist Party of Great Britain, however the Party’s current antiwar stance after the German-Russian nonaggression pact of 1939, bothers patriotic members. The Party returns to antifascist ideology following the invasion of the Soviet Union in ’41. Beastfolk agitators and protesters fill out the ranks at the Party’s strikes and demonstrations, both to represent the common man and to put their claws to work if things get rough.

Despite their impressive trench fighting service record in the Great War, the British Army conscripted no halflings until Parliament amended the National Service (Armed Forces) Act. Originally, their short height disqualified all but the most unusually tall, and their short lifespans played havoc with military requirements.

Seeing England’s need of soldiers great and small, the Viscount Gort reformed the Bantam Battalions, units of halflings, short dwarves, beastfolk and gnomes, given a chance to fight for their country. A logistical nightmare for war production, the men of the Bantam Battalions have guns, uniforms, specialized equipment, even tanks, all produced for the efficient tactical use of soldiers less than four ft. three in. high.

The ubiquity of the internal combustion engine caught many Englishmen off guard. While some old cavalrymen argue the need for horses, the orcs of Great Britain quickly became experts on anything powered by fuel. Army truck drivers, tank crews, ambulances, fighter planes, if it has engine there is an orc ready to tinker or take off. Despite their aptitude, pilots in the RAF often blame orc mechanics for crashes due to old prejudices. Some mean spiritedly equate them with the gremlins which supposedly sabotage planes midflight.

So, the plan was to combine this week’s post with some ideas about magic. Oddly enough, there was too much history to cram in magic too. So next week, we’ll look at the Magical Battle of Britain.

Their Finest Hour- Class and Cash in the Battle of Britain

The class system of Victoriana wonderfully reflects the social structure of 1850s England, but does it belong in Their Finest hour? Does this system so central to Victoriana player characters have any relevance in a setting 90 years later? I think it does.

The Battle of Britain brings many opportunities for social classes to mingle, collide, and conspire. Both the chaos of war and the organization of the war effort brought  people of all classes, genders and nationalities together. Women stepped into new job opportunities and responsibilities on the home front. Men of all backgrounds fought side by side, depending on their brothers to stay alive. The diaspora of Europe sought a new chance to fight for their conquered countries.

Between military conscription, and the ever growing need of women workers for factories, upper-class households had to scale down to little if any servants. The classes all stood in line for rations (in fact some aristocratic families ate better under rationing), dug out survivors from destroyed houses, cared for each other’s children, and sought a good night sleep in the same bombs shelters. With all the social layers colliding in a national emergency, this is a perfect setting for Victoriana’s class system.

In the early 20^th century, World War I and the Great Depression wrecked the finances of many aristocrats. With lost lands, lost tenants, and new taxes, land owning aristocracy and massive county houses quickly vanished. Needing funds, destitute members of British nobility sought employment, sold heirlooms, and destroyed heavily taxed mansions to hold onto what little they can. After World War II, the British government, needing to reinforce their economy from war debts, heavily taxed estate inheritances, further degrading the most prestigious family fortunes.

On the other end, the Lower classes elevated by social reforms got better education, higher wages, healthcare and housing. Although issues of class still plague Great Britain today, these postwar changes in societal structure make World War II the last time Victoriana’s class system applies.

Starting Cash

Besides determining your place in society, class determines how much a player character can spend on starting equipment. Here is the cash available at character generation for each class, adjusted for the period.

Low Class: £4 x Wits; begin each adventure with Asset income

Middle Class: £15 x Wits; begin each adventure with 3s in pocket and Asset income

High Class: £35 x Wits; begin each adventure with 10s in pocket and Asset income

Income

Beyond Starting Cash, player characters should take the Asset “Income” for continual financial resources while adventuring. As in the Victoriana Core Rulebook, each class has its own entry and each entry contains three options for Income. The Income Assets are in 1940 pounds sterling.

Lower Class Income (2/5/10)

For two points, +3 pence at the start of each adventure

For five points, +2D* pence at the start of each adventure

For ten points, +2 shillings at the start of each adventure

*Roll two dice, that’s how many pennies. The same goes for shillings and pounds below.

Middle Class Income (2/5/10)

For two points, + 2 shillings at the start of each adventure

For five points, + 2D shillings

For ten points, + £1 at the start of each adventure

Upper Class Income (2/5/10)

For two points, + £2 at the start of each adventure

For five points, +2D pounds at the start of each adventure

For ten points, +£16 at the start of each adventure

In case you were wondering, £1 in 1855 is roughly equivalent to £1 14s in 1940. Next week, we’ll finish up character creation for Their Finest Hour with a look at races and magic. I hope you’re enjoying this exploration of alternate Victoriana.

Their Finest Hour- Associations of Heroism on the Home Front

The setting of “Their Finest Hour” has the same abundance of riches as Victoriana, specifically a never ending supply of fantasy tropes and the historic events of World War II on which to build adventures. This sea of possibilities could drown some parties, but Associations throw out the life preserver of campaign themes. Associations bring characters together, introduce adventure hooks, and define campaign frames making everything clearer, sharper, and specific. Here are a couple Associations for Their Finest Hour:

Air Raid Precautions (ARP)

Faced with the threat of a war with Germany, the British government founded an organization called Air Raid Precautions in 1937, and local City Councils asked for volunteers to fill its ranks. Civilian men and women (some still teenagers, others too old for military service) joined taking responsibility for their towns and city streets.  ARP’s members enforce blackout procedures, coordinate aid and rescue, and lead their neighbors through the dangerous nights of the Blitz.

Citizens recognize ARP volunteers by their white armband (with ARP in black), gasmask, and steel helmet lettered to designate the wearer’s role in the organization (“W” for Warden, “SP” for stretcher party, “A” for ambulance drivers etc.). Wardens, knowing the area and occupants, ushered crowds into air raid shelters, reported damage, lead recovery and rescue missions until authorities arrived, and helped survivors get badly needed aid (food, water, housing etc.). Rescue Parties (helmet marked “R”) search rubble and bombed out buildings, dig out survivors, and demolish buildings made unsafe by bombing.  The youngest members, as young as 14, act as Messengers, (helmet marked “M”) reporting by bicycle to the local ARP Controller and bringing back instructions.

Teams helped wherever needed, reinforcing the overwhelmed ARP members of towns badly bombed, and braving dangerous terrain to find the lost.

Skills: Athletics, Dodge, Drive Automobile, Medicine, Might, Streetwise,

Privileges: Ear of the Street, Local Hero,

No. 65 Squadron RAF

In readiness of the constant attacks in Southern England, RAF scattered their squadrons along the coast, to intercept flights of German bombers. Swarms of Spitfires and Hurricanes daily fought the clouds of Messerschmitts protecting Hinkel He Bombers. Royal Air Force pilots stationed in the airfields of the southern coast fended off as many as 4 sorties a day. The dangers of flying and of enemy contact, led to heavy casualties. The RAF’s filled ranks with patriotic men of all classes, exiles of the European continent, and entire squadrons from the allied countries. The RAF Volunteer Reserve brought many lower and middle class men into the air, although the RAF’s reputation as a social club for daredevil upper class gentlemen remains.

From Hornchurch Airfield east of London the No. 65 Squadron awaits the call from Sector D HQ to fly for their country. As part of the No. 11 Group, the Squadron protects London from bombing runs. The pilots of the 65 fly brand new Spitfires, the sleek, fast-climbing fighter powered by the mysteriously powerful and advanced “Merlin” engine.

No. 65 Squadron consists of 12 planes and 18 pilots. A dedicated ground crew maintains each spitfire after every mission, rearming the eight machine guns, refueling tanks, repairing damage, and refilling the oxygen tanks.

Skills: Ad-hoc Repair, Aviation*, Craft (Air Craft), Gunnery**, Navigation, Perception,

Privileges: Military Commission, Hero

*Victoriana already has the Pilot group skill, but a broad “I can fly a plane” skill (Such as Aviation) might work better considering the various types of planes in the 1940s. 

**The Gunnery Skill was introduced in the sourcebook “Marvels of Science and Steampunk”

Every time I write out a new Association, I struggle because I want to throw out plot hooks. If anything, Associations are “character hooks” to draw in players, not plot hooks to draw in characters. Rest assured these adventure ideas will find their way to light later. These four Associations from this and last week will help us as we continue with character creation. They give a use a broad framework for characters for character generation. Next, we’re moving on to the Races of Victoriana and how we can adapt the systems Class Structure to World War II.