Weird War
Encyclopedia
Weird Wars is a series of horror
role-playing game
s set during past and future wars and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. The original release, Weird War II: Blood on the Rhine was set during World War II
, and utilized the D20 System
. The second release, Tour of Darkness was set during the Vietnam War
and employed the Savage Worlds
rules set.
A third release, also for Savage Worlds, Necropolis was set in the future on a war torn planet.
soldiers during the Second World War. The setting presents a supernatural element, and characters face (and drive) haunted vehicles, fight mutant
Nazi soldiers and investigate the supernatural. Heroes who face the supernatural can be offered membership in the Office of Supernatural Investigations (OSI), which then allows them to take the OSI Chaplain and OSI Adept Prestige Classes (which grant access to Divine and Arcane Magic respectively). Magic is handled differently in this setting than in other d20 settings, being cast by means of Runes and causing Fatigue to the caster.
Hitler and his Nazis have their own magic-users: Blood Mages, who can be amongst the toughest foes the players will face.
Blood Mages are essentially Adepts of Evil Alignment, which grants them the power to draw upon the 'innate evil' of places such as Death Camps and battlefield
s. Because the only difference between a Blood Mage and an Adept is Alignment, it is possible to play an Allied Blood Mage, though not recommended, as both the OSI and the Sons of Solomon (a secret organization devoted to hiding the supernatural) will come after them if they are discovered.
Magic is low-powered in this setting; Mages only receive spells of up to 5th level, and the only offensive powers in their arsenal are Magic Missile and Cloudkill, which blend in better with the chaos of the battlefield, mimicking bullets and clouds of poison gas respectively.
The books in the setting are:
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s set during past and future wars and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. The original release, Weird War II: Blood on the Rhine was set during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and utilized the D20 System
D20 System
The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...
. The second release, Tour of Darkness was set during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and employed the Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds is an award-winning, universal generic, role-playing game and miniatures wargame, written by Shane Lacy Hensley, and published by Great White Games doing business as Pinnacle Entertainment Group...
rules set.
A third release, also for Savage Worlds, Necropolis was set in the future on a war torn planet.
Setting
In the original Weird War II, players play as AlliedAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
soldiers during the Second World War. The setting presents a supernatural element, and characters face (and drive) haunted vehicles, fight mutant
Mutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
Nazi soldiers and investigate the supernatural. Heroes who face the supernatural can be offered membership in the Office of Supernatural Investigations (OSI), which then allows them to take the OSI Chaplain and OSI Adept Prestige Classes (which grant access to Divine and Arcane Magic respectively). Magic is handled differently in this setting than in other d20 settings, being cast by means of Runes and causing Fatigue to the caster.
Hitler and his Nazis have their own magic-users: Blood Mages, who can be amongst the toughest foes the players will face.
Blood Mages are essentially Adepts of Evil Alignment, which grants them the power to draw upon the 'innate evil' of places such as Death Camps and battlefield
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
s. Because the only difference between a Blood Mage and an Adept is Alignment, it is possible to play an Allied Blood Mage, though not recommended, as both the OSI and the Sons of Solomon (a secret organization devoted to hiding the supernatural) will come after them if they are discovered.
Magic is low-powered in this setting; Mages only receive spells of up to 5th level, and the only offensive powers in their arsenal are Magic Missile and Cloudkill, which blend in better with the chaos of the battlefield, mimicking bullets and clouds of poison gas respectively.
The books in the setting are:
- Blood on the Rhine - the Core rulebook
- Afrika Korpse - Sourcebook for Africa and Egypt
- Dead From Above - Sourcebook for aircraft and several flying monsters
- Horrors of Weird War Two - Beastiary, expanding the list of monsters from Blood on the Rhine and the various Sourcebooks
- Land of the Rising Dead - Sourcebook for the Pacific Theatre
- Hell in the Hedgerows - Adventure book, containing three adventures
- Hell Freezes Over - Sourcebook for the Russian Front