Shadows over Shanghai
ChalkLine's Pulp Call of Cthulhu campaign set in Shanghai, 1937.
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Player Characters[edit]
SQNLDR Algie Carmichael ex WW1 Australian Flying Corp, DFC, played by Iskallor.
Hauptmann Ulbrecht von Bernhard, played by Asen_G.
François du Gard, played by Baron Greystone.
Maw Jia-seng, played by Caudex.
Poruchik Nikolai Piotor Sergeyevich Malakov, played by MonsterMash.
Edna (Edie) O’Malley, played by Deamon.
Komvzvoda Vladislav Simonov, played by Mikko Kauppinen.
Yip Fan, played by NexusI
Madame Wu, a Shanghai antiquarian, played by Desert Fox
Inactive Player Characters
Sam Barrows, played by ncc2010.
'Calico' Jack Dubois, played by Kid Entropy.
Ash Wutherstrum, played by John Samuel.
Dorje Yongten Rinpoche, played by Nick the Lemming.
Sam(uel) Norris, played by bandos.
Eight Peng[edit]
- http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y322/iskallor/shanghaiFreight-1.jpg
- http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y322/iskallor/8peng-1.jpg
- http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/aerom.htm
'Eight Peng' (lucky 8, Peng= a magical fish that turns into a bird)
- General characteristics
*Crew: 2 *Capacity: 12-14 passengers/2000kg? *Length: 49 ft 4 in (15.04 m) *Wingspan: 103 ft (31.62 m) *Height: 18 ft 9 in (5.72 m) *Wing area: 1,397 sq. ft (129.8 m²) *Empty weight: 8,720 lb (3,955 kg) *Loaded weight: 14,334 lb (6508 kg) *Powerplant: 2× Liberty 12A, 400 hp (kW) each
- Performance
Range: 830 mi (1335 km)
- Armament forward cockpit
- Lewis MG(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p31mw0WPGrk&feature=fvsr) - Few wooden baseball bats and 2 rifles.
Non Player Characters[edit]
Levi. Owner of the Vienna Club, and Edie's and Maw's boss. A nice man from Vienna who migrated to Shanghai during the Nazi persecution of the Austrian Jews. Levi has no passport.
Mr Ji. A rather odd elderly fortune teller who lives in the docks area north of The Bund. Mr Ji may be more than he seems.
It appears nobody knows a Chen Lee, but a quick look informs you that he has a telephone and his listed address is a pricey location on The Bund, not the usual place you'd find a Chinese name unless it's a well connected family.
Mister Feng, he is a nothing, fortunately. Not with the Greens or the Reds so there is no one to be angered. Nonetheless he is not without his own and he fights hard and dirty." stealer of our shipment of guns...
Campaign Setup[edit]
Important Reference Sites:
The campaign is set in early March, 1937, just five months before the eruption of the brutal Second Sino-Japanese War.
This war was in fact an ongoing encroachment that had started long before March '37, and Japan had overrun all of Manchuria and many other Chinese areas. In this time the tension is slowly building towards breaking point, especially in Shanghai where the first horrific major battle will be fought.
The writing is on the wall for those willing to see, and all of Shanghai is tense and there's an extra edge to the deals and the brawls in the back streets, there's an extra edge to the dealing between the various nationalities, groups and cliques, and there's an extra desperation to the all night partying on the Bund. The hammer is about to fall, and everyone knows it will fall. But no one knows quite just when.
The average temperatures are 13ºc during the day, dropping to 4ºc at night; comfortable weather for jackets and coats but a bit chilly for shirtsleeves. The humidity is average for this weather, and there's only half as much rainfall as will be the case in just two months time. So, in summary, cool and dry with occasional showers and the odd rainstorm (there are an average of 9 wet days in March).
Notes[edit]
Ammunition
At some point players will probably wish to shoot someone, this being a common player past-time.
It should be noted that at this time China is awash with a myriad of weaponry, and nearly all of them do not use each other's ammunition. China in 1937 was a vast country with a small industrial output, something foreign countries had a vested interest in maintaining. This meant that China, wishing to be self reliant, needed to buy weapons overseas. This would usually result in a medium consignment of modern weaponry arriving before foreign pressure - alarmed by Chinese armament - would put a stop to it. The ephemeral nature of the quartermasters (and their organisations) would cause the next order to be a different style of weapon which was to be 'the new standard'. Of course, this never happened.
In the Shanghai area the vast array of nationalities have all brought their own weapons, and their own ammunition, with them. The Chinese generally use German weapons and ammunition, which must make some sort of distorted sense because Germany was otherwise the only nation not strongly represented in the concessions!
A good rule of thumb is the ammunition of a certain weapon will only fit in the other weapons of its nationality; thus German rifles will all chamber German bullets. Light and medium machine guns usually use rifle bullets.
Pistols, however, are a real problem.
The most common Chinese pistol is the 'Broomhandle' Mauser C96, which fires a small bullet with a big cartridge; the German 7.62mm Mauser. This is considered a '9mm/.38' for damage and firing characteristics as it is essentially a 'hot load'. Other German pistols probably fire the 9mm that everyone else uses for their 9mm - apart from the Italians. And the Japanese. Confused yet?
It's best to not assume your weapon will chamber another weapon's ammunition, and ask the GM first.
