MODIPHIUS ADVENT CALENDAR - 18th DECEMBER
It's a challenge developing villains for World War Two - you already have the Nazi's who were about as evil as they come. So how do you create true evil and make it stand out?
I think Ken Hite's words for the Keeper's Guide really help so here's some short excerpts that I think sum it up very well and I'd encourage you to read it in full if you're running wartime adventures. In other games, you can use the Nazis as targets, as orcs, as notches on your gun barrel. But in Call of Cthulhu, you are playing a horror game. And horror depends on real emotions, and real fears, not video game violence. It is up to the Keeper to portray even the Gestapo as human beings. Provide evidence or moments of the Nazis’ humanity during the investigation: an overheard joke, or a doodle in the corner of a memo. If the investigators machine-gun the SS guards (even for good and sufficient reason), the guards should die as humans die, not topple like ninepins or stunt men. Showing the Nazis’ humanity is important, but not in order to be “fair” to the Gestapo or even the Wehrmacht. It is crucially important because if the Nazis aren’t human, then their crimes aren’t human, either. Suddenly their 20 million victims weren’t murdered by humans, but instead were killed by a freak amoral accident, or died of a plague spread by orcs. The Nazis did monstrous things, but they were humans, and their monstrosity was human monstrosity. As Lovecraft put it, first mankind “become[s] as the Great Old Ones,” then the Old Ones “teach them new ways to shout and kill.” —at the core of the universe is something so appalling, so incomprehensible, so alien, that it can’t tell you apart from Adolf Hitler. After all, you’re both human. With the Black Sun we deliberately set out to create these graphic novel villains that were intent on bringing about a terrible future. The organisation is so obsessed with its true purpose that it provides the opportunity for it's rival, Nachtwolfe to gain great influence with the Nazi leadership. Black Sun command truly terrible power, and in the forthcoming feature film you'll discover they have little regard for even German forces. On the battlefield you'll be using Canon's and Masters to lead Servitors, various summoned Mythos creatures, abominations and more. Der Tote will be guarding the Priors if they appear, whilst Black Sun Troopers will make up the rest of the force. Check out the first reveal of the Black Sun troopers sculpt on the right! To get 20% off the Black Sun Nazi Villains miniatures set use the discount code: 291WDJIKLHWE |
Black Sun Trooper Sculpt |