Post WW1 Central Asia ?

[committed hero]

Is there any interest in a BRP game set around 1920 or so? I'd like the party to be an archaeological expedition in Central Asia in the spirit of Aurel Stein, but there is room for White Russian and Bolo soldiers, Chinese bandits and warlords alike. And the Mythos!

[Zinoviev Letter]

That sounds interesting to me. I'll play, if you'll have me.

[committed hero]

Sure! Any idea of what sort of character you'd be interested in? Based on your handle I can speculate, however. If helps, one of the principal bogeymen will be a von Ungern-Sternberg analog....

[Zinoviev Letter]

I'm trying to make up my mind. There are so many interesting possibilities, in terms of political and ethnic factions. I'm trying to remember the details of the history of the region in the period but as I understand it:

China was a Republic, but a Republic dominated by competing warlords and foreign powers. In 1919 the Chinese Republic, or factions of it, controlled Mongolia. Meanwhile the Russian Civil War was in full swing. By the end of November 1919, the main White armies have been mostly crushed but there core has fallen back to Crimea and fortified itself there and other White forces still control large parts of Siberia and the Far East of Russia. There are still expeditionary forces from a dozen foreign powers fighting on the White side. Most notable amongst the players are the Japanese, who sent 70,000 troops to Russia and control large parts of China and Manchuria.

So we have Russian Reds in the ascendancy, the remnants of the White forces, the Chinese and potentially the Japanese all involved, plus various Mongolian factions. In the real world Ungern von Sternberg managed to wrest control from the Chinese in 1921, only to himself be defeated by the Mongolians themselves, with Soviet assistance. Presumably all of this part will be different in your game, but the actual history does give a picture of the forces trying to exert influence in the region.

I was thinking perhaps of a disgruntled White officer turned refugee. Or perhaps a more mysterious Russian with Bolshevik sympathies. Do you have any preferences?

[committed hero]

I was thinking perhaps of a disgruntled White officer turned refugee. Or perhaps a more mysterious Russian with Bolshevik sympathies. Do you have any preferences?

Probably the White officer, since it sets up a conflict between erstwhile allies that might turn to the Mythos for victory. But it's your character.

[Zinoviev Letter]

Well then, I'll go with a thick-moustached former White officer, a minor nobleman embittered by defeat at the hands of a bunch of uppity peasants and labourers. He can maybe act as a kind of guard or fixer for the expedition.

Is there any particular way you want characters generated - a particular on-line dice roller, houserules, whatever? Also, are there any other players lined up so far?

[committed hero]

Well, that seems to be an issue. If there is no interest here we can try and scare up folks for elsewhere....

[Zinoviev Letter]

Sounds good to me.

[Cyrus]

The setting is intruiging, but I've not played CoC, or even a PBEM, and most of the posts here make little sense to me... Given that, the very fact that I'm posting here surely expresses a high level of committment (or naivety). What do you think?

[committed hero]

Well, if you've played an rpg you are probably OK. This would be a game played right here in this forum; take a look at some of the others listed here to see how it goes.

[Zinoviev Letter]

Any progress on finding other players?

[Morko]

This game really souds interesting and if you need some players i could be one...

[committed hero]

Sure! I'd like 3 players but I can deal with 2.

[lady legba]

I think this sounds like fun and am interested in joining.

Having said that I am new to online gaming. I have played paper and pencil CoC 5th ed. and D20. I have also played Rifts, AD&D 2nd. ed, D20 D&D 3rd ed, Dead Lands, Over the Edge, and WoD.

If you don't mind a newbie to forum gaming, I would like to join.

Thanks!

[Morko]

Good. When we are going start this game?

[committed hero]

Anyone who's interested is welcome. No problem for self-described newbies.

I would like an idea of character concepts if that's possible. Just to figure out how to begin.

Academic types are invited along for an expedition to locate and catalog (OK, loot) Silk Road sites in the western Gobi. Military types and guides are needed to assist the expedition's passage through the oasis cities along the way. This part of China is as stable as a country of several hundred million enduring civil war can be. There is a warlord in charge, certainly, but Sinkiang is so far from anywhere important that no one cares over much about what happens there.

I imagine the action will start in Kashgar, the city that most travelers head for after traversing the passes through the Karakorams. The British consulate there has a stolid reputation, and spies in every bazaars from here to Tunhuang.