Downton Abbey Goes to War - A Savage Worlds Weird War 1 Actual Play

Disclaimer:  This blog post may forever change your perspective on several key characters from Downton Abbey.  There is also a mild (but very dated) spoiler.  You've been warned!

Last Days of the War

As I write this post, the Savage Worlds Weird War One Kickstarter is closing in on the $50,000 mark with just four days to go.  It's been a great campaign so far, rocketing far beyond the initial goal of $8,000, and tearing through stretch goals and add-ons.  To my friends who are history fans, horror gamers, or Savage Worlds enthusiasts, if you are even thinking a little about jumping in on this one, time is running out!  

To celebrate the last forty-eight hours of Weird War One, I wanted to do something special: a live Actual Play video on G+ Hangouts On Air.  So I put out the call to arms, and asked for brave souls to do battle against the forces of the Kaiser.  

The call was answered!  

This Tuesday, at 8:30pm EST, I will be joined by +andrew lyon, +Craig McCullough, +Darcy Ross, +Michael Diamond, and my lovely wife +Jennifer Walls for a very special Weird Wars One event…

… Downton Abbey Goes to War!

As always, there are going to be a couple options for viewing this event:

• Watch us LIVE on G+ Hangouts On Air and contribute to the conversation through the Q&A app!
• Watch us on YouTube at your own leisure!

But before you watch, feel free to check out a few "behind the scenes" features for our game.

An Atypical Masterpiece Theater

My original concept for this adventure can be found on an earlier blog post, but in a nutshell, Tuesday is going to feel like The Red Baron meets Bioshock Infinite meets Downton Abbey.

The Downton Abbey characters were each built using just two books:

• Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorers Edition
• Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion

No spoilers just yet, but I thought it would be fun to share the builds for all five of the characters beforehand, and show just how easy it is to create anything using Savage Worlds.  

Please note that each character was built as Seasoned, with 20 experience points to start (four Advances).  For Power Points, I set the Campaign Power Level at Pulp Heroes, which means that act character only gets 15 Power Points to start.  

Mrs. Patmore, the Butcher of Yorkshire

• Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6
• Charisma 0, Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 5
• Hindrances:
• Ruthless (Major)
• Big Mouth
• All Thumbs
• Edges
• Arcane Background: Super Powers
• Ambidextrous
• Two-Fisted
• Skills
• Fighting d10
• Throwing d10
• Notice d8
• Cooking d8
• Climbing d6
• Stealth d8
• Powers
• Super Edge
• Super Attribute: Strength
• Uncanny Reflexes (+8)
• Awareness
• Gear:  Brodie helmet, canteen, bottle of brandy, matches, box of cigars, 4 cleavers (Str +d6 damage, range 3/6/12), 8 kitchen knives (Str +d4 damage, range 3/6/12)

Mr. Bates, the Violent Valet

• Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d8
• Charisma 0, Pace 4, Parry 5, Toughness 8(2)
• Hindrances:
• Lame
• Pacifist (Minor)
• Stubborn
• Edges
• Arcane Background: Super Powers
• Brave
• Nerves of Steel
• Skills
• Fighting d6
• Shooting d8
• Intimidation d8
• Notice d6
• Streetwise d6
• Lockpicking d6
• Knowledge: Battle d4
• Tracking d8
• Piloting d6
• Powers
• Intimidating Stare ("Stun," medium burst template, strong)
• Intimidating Swagger ("Damage Field," 2 levels, armor piercing, permanent)
• Super Attribute: Smarts
• Super Attribute: Spirit
• Super Skill: Tracking
• Gear:  Brodie helmet, flack jacket, canteen, Knobby Cane (Str +d8 damage), Webley Revolver, 60 bullets.

Mr. Carson, the Brassbound Butler

• Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d12, Vigor d8
• Charisma 0, Pace 6, Parry 6, Toughness 13(3)
• Hindrances:
• Monologuer 
• Doubting Thomas
• Cautious
• Edges
• Arcane Background: Super Powers
• Brawny
• Skills
• Fighting d8
• Shooting d10
• Butlering d4
• Notice d4
• Repair d4
• Driving d6
• Climbing d6
• Powers
• Suit:  Mr. Carson wears a suit of brass and steel clockwork armor.  Super powers only work when suit is worn.
• The Butler's Fearsome Fist ("Attack, Melee", 2 levels, one arm, Str +2d6 damage)
• The Butler's Mighty Maxim ("Attack, Ranged", 2 levels, lethal, ROF 2, 3d6 damage, armor piercing)
• Toughness (2 levels)
• Armor (3 levels)
• Super Attribute:  Strength
• Gear:  Backpack with 2 tuxedos (1 regular size, 1 that fits suit), bowler hat (Str +d4 damage if thrown, 3/6/12 range)

The Dauntless Dowager Countess

• Agility d4, Smarts d12, Spirit d10, Strength d4, Vigor d6
• Charisma 2, Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 5
• Hindrances:
• Arrogant
• Hard of Hearing
• Bad Eyes
• Edges
• Arcane Background: Super Powers
• Noble
• Linguist
• Skills
• Fighting d4
• Healing d8
• Persuasion d8
• Notice d10
• Taunt d10
• Knowledge History d6
• Powers
• Ageless 
• Mind Reading (Mind Rider)
• Telekinesis (2 levels)
• Telepathy
• Deflection (2 levels)
• Gear:  Rugged khaki dress, Umbrella Sword (Str +d6 damage), first aid kit, bag of butterscotch candies, bear trap.

Matthew Crawley, the Barrister of Bone

• Agility d10, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8
• Charisma -2, Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 8
• Hindrances:
• Vow (Major, destroy those that turned him undead)
• Ruthless (Minor)
• Distinct Appearance (Undead body)
• Edges
• Arcane Background: Super Powers
• First Strike
• Skills
• Fighting d10
• Shooting d10
• Knowledge Law: d6
• Notice d6
• Throwing d6
• Stealth d6
• Knowledge Battle: d4
• Powers
• Undead
• Chlorine Gas Rifle ("Attack, Ranged," 2 levels, area effect medium, lethal, range +2) 
• Gear:  Brodie helmet, Knuckle Duster Knife (Str +d6 damage), Webley Revolver, 60 rounds, Sharpened Entrenching Tool (Str +d6 damage)

The Unlucky Lady Mary

• Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d4, Vigor d6
• Charisma 0, Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 7(2)
• Hindrances:
• Bad Luck
• Anemic
• Mean
• Edges
• Arcane Background: Super Powers
• Noble
• Command
• Strong Willed
• Skills
• Taunt d10
• Persuasion d8
• Notice d6
• Fighting d4
• Shooting d8
• Riding d6
• Intimidation d6
• Powers
• Jinx (Improved Jinx)
• Malfunction (Area Effect)
• Her Lady's Maid ("Minion", summonable)
• Gear:  Pith helmet, fine khaki bulletproof dress (armor +2), Double Barrel Shotgun (1-3d6 damage, ROF 1-2), 20 shotgun shells, Derringer (2d6+1 damage), 10 bullets, brass knuckles (Str +d4)  

Get Our and Recruit!

If our little event sounds interesting to you, please watch, share, and invite others to check out the session.  Also, if you have any thoughts or suggestions beforehand, please let us know.

We will see you Tuesday!

Mr. Bates Goes to War - Getting Ready for Weird War I

(The perfect music for this blog post is "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" from the Bioshock: Infinite Soundtrack.)

If you thought Sea Lion Abbey would be my only role-playing blog post concerning Downton Abbey you were wrong.  I'm back, and ready to share more gaming love for the hit PBS Masterpiece Theater television show!  

Preparing for Weird War I 

Last night I found out that Pinnacle Entertainment Group is preparing to launch its next Kickstarter campaign: Weird War I.  If you've been living off the grid for the last decade, the folks at Pinnacle are the masterminds behind Savage Worlds, Deadlands, Rippers: Resurrected, and so many other awesome settings.  I'm a sucker for anything historical, and loved what Pinnacle did with both Weird Wars Rome and Weird War II.

World War I was a pivotal moment in world history, as it marked the violent end of Victorian era chivalry and the advent of the utter destruction brought about by 20th century war machines.  Trench warfare, air-to-air combat, zeppelin raids, poison gas, the devices of World War I were truly terrible, and their use would set the stage for World War II.  

For a complete and amazing historical experience about the Great War, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast does a tremendous job.  Blueprint for Armageddon (on iTunes) features 20-hours of incredible facts and details about the human experience during this revolutionary conflict.  

 

Whenever I come across a great Kickstarter for one of my favorite systems I look for a way to celebrate, spread the word, and do something unique.  This time could be really special, as it coincides with the last season of Downton Abbey, a TV show that takes place around the same time period!

Mr. Bates Goes to War

So here's the plan, and I'd love feedback and advice.  

[Disclaimer: I have not seen ANY preview materials for Weird War I.  This is solely MY crazy, deranged, way-too-far-over-the-top idea for a sweet RPG session.]

I want to set up and run an actual-play on G+ Hangouts On Air of something I'd like to call "Mr. Bates Goes to War."  If you don't know, Mr. John Bates is a character on Downton Abbey played by Brendan Coyle.  He's sort of a quiet, proper, British badass.  While several characters in Downton Abbey go off to serve in the Great War, Mr. Bates wasn't one of them, as he's a bit older (in his 50's).  But then I started thinking...

... what if Mr. Bates "did" go off to war?

... and what if he did so in a suit of steampunk armor?  

My initial adventure idea features Lady Mary Crawley (played by Michelle Dockery) assembling a crack team of the Abbey's most fearsome operatives, in order to smash the Kaiser's forces head on.  But Great Britain won't send it's best agents into the trenches without some wicked, weird-science tech: battle armor, gas guns, tesla-coil-powered hot tea pots, the works!  

Think of this as the Red Baron meets Bioshock Infinite meets The A-Team meets Masterpiece Theater.

Of course a cigar chewing, double-pistol wielding Lady Mary won't be alone.  I envision Mr. Bates wearing lightning generating shock gauntlets, Mr. Carson in a steampunk-mecha suit, and perhaps the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley (played by Maggie Smith) hovering above the battlefield as a flying, maxim-gun wielding head-in-a-jar.

This could be a good time!

Off to the Trenches

Here's where I would love some feedback.  I've got a couple weeks until the Kickstarter is in full swing, and I need to start making characters.  If anyone has any suggestions or advice as to how to build these crazy proper steampunk monstrosities, please share!  

Right now I'm torn on whether to draw from the Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion or the Super Powers Companion.  I could see either direction being awesome.

I'll also need to find a few players who A) have seen Downton Abbey and B) will be willing to give this G+ Hangout On Air a try.  If you find yourself in this mix, please let me know!