Shadows over Shanghai
ChalkLine's Pulp Call of Cthulhu campaign set in Shanghai, 1937.
Player Characters
Hauptmann Ulbrecht von Bernhard, played by Asen_G.
SQNLDR Algie Carmichael ex WW1 Australian Flying Corp, DFC, played by Iskallor.
Maw Jia-seng, played by Caudex.
Sam(uel) Norris, played by bandos.
Poruchik Nikolai Piotor Sergeyevich Malakov, played by MonsterMash.
Edna (Edie) O’Malley, played by Deamon.
Dorje Yongten Rinpoche, played by Nick the Lemming.
Komvzvoda Vladislav Simonov, played by Mikko Kauppinen.
Ash Wutherstrum, played by John Samuel.
Inactive Player Characters
Sam Barrows, played by ncc2010.
'Calico' Jack Dubois, played by Kid Entropy.
Non Player Characters
Campaign Setup
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 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
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.
Common Weapons in the Shanghai Area
fortunes
- Dorje Mr Ji happily calculates. He has many tables, charts and a funky little wooden thing that looks like a cross between an abacus and a colour wheel. After ten minutes he says "Ahh. Qi Men Dun Jia is always good, I remember when I was young I had to leave out bits like 'your son will be a great flyer' because aeroplanes had not been invented! Ha ha! Now is time for your fortune!"
"You will not always be a monk."
"You have travelled only a fraction of the distance you must go."
"You must show the people that they are following the wrong path."
"Only you can tell which tree holds the fruit."
"You will very soon be seriously hurt."
He looks up at Dorje with smiling eyes and says "This last I will help you with! We must protect the Celestial Stem, and move it through the doorway." He looks among his materials and takes out a pen and an ink stone. He gets a small piece of rice paper and quickly draws a complex and beautiful Chinese character with bold, decisive strokes. It is unfamiliar to everyone there.
"Put this inside your robe and carry it, you will know when you no longer need it as it will tell you. I do this because my great aunt was helped by your people long ago. Long ago."
He smiles and hands Dorje the paper.
"Next please."
