Xtian Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hi to you all! This is the first post about a project I'm working about with some friendz of mine. I usually play Hero's settings since 1991 and I'm currently GMing a Champion campaign. Now, we (me and my players) want to add some usable and ready-to-play information on Italy and Italian scenarios in general hero genres and subgenres. I call it "The Italian Connection". Some one want to help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection I posted some pics of Italy in a thread in Non Gaming Discussion and have more to add. There is one Italian based poster on the boards as well. Post a call out to him or send a Private Mail or e-mail to Solomon. What sort of info do you need ? Example Vatican City is in Rome and is its own state. It is where the Pope lives. or Venice is situated in a lagoon and is made up of various islands such as Burano (the fishermans isle) and Murano (the glass blowers island). It hosts Carnival in february and the Venice Film Festival in early September oir late August. Similarly the cathedral in Assissi holds the mortal remains of St Francis. If you can be a bit more specific I can help further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection * With a bang and a puff of smoke, Solomon materializes, unable to resist the Call of the Tribble * Hullo, Xtian! Nice to see a fellow countryman here. So, what's this "connection" project of yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Hi to Solomon and Death tribble. We (me and my players) talked about this project for a complete sourcebook/campaign book in great style, but for a quick appetizer (and to understand all the faces of an italian setting) we think it will be interesting a demo article for Digital Hero , where we can explain some of the main features of the setting itself. For now we don't have any response from Digitall Hero, so we want to start with a couple of information and settings based on Italy ground. Italy is a very old country with thousand years of history (I'm Italian, and I know it ). You can set a lot of campaigns from Champions to Dark Champions to Pulp Hero. Think about the mists and magic of Venice. The conspirations and secret organizations of black magic in Torin. A national team of super heroes placed in Rome with a secret base under the Colosseum. The misteries and powers of the Vatican. And more, the tens families of the Mafia organization and their counterpart: the DIA (Anti-mafia Investigation Division), the Sismi, the Italian Secret Service, the European Police Force and many, many more. Although a lot of people mkes some error (from the mob families relations to the exact coverage of Italian governament infra-structure). For now I want to start with some information about campaign possibilities. -The first and important setting is a Dark Champions one. I'm afraid of this but Italy is (in)famous know for the Mafia. A campaign of this type will be a really black, white and grey one. With the Good one against the Bad ones and few Grey element in the middle. -A champions campaign is also interesting becouse the relation between the States of European community. From a couple of years is started a project of European Police Force (something more military than Interpol) which have the scope of resolve all European "problems". It can be evolved in a super-agent (or super-hero) setting. -A Pulp hero campaign is also possible in the terms of a Call of Cthulhu one. With the Vatican and it's secrets ( The DaVinci Code docet ) its alla possible! What about an organization born to fight an evil ancient society of necromancers, patrocinated by Vatican? These are only few possibilities. What you think about? Did you ever play adventure placed in Italy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tribe Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Great to see this in the works. I've had a superhero setting in Venice for thepast few years and it's a great location, although being an Australian who has visited Italy only once (for two weeks no less!) I'm sure I've stuffed up a lot of the details. My game is a 4-colour super hero campaign called Dawnstars and was originally an EU-backed team but is now pretty much independent. Their base was first based on Giudecca, but it was burnt down and blown up. The second base was just an office off San Marco Square, and the current one is a kind of embarrassing ex-aircraft carrier which is anchored off Lido and is seen as an eye sore. Our game has had relations between the polizia and Carabinieri, political families but no actual mafia connections as yet (since Venice is north and isn't supposed to have as many mafia-connections - although corruption amongst bureacrats has been hammed up a bit). I've had influences from Donna Leon books and Inspector Montalbano tv series/books. Pretty limited but I love Italy. I'm going back there in December so I can get a refresher. So any information on this thread will be greedily taken up by me. I'm be ready to read. Cheers Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Great to see this in the works. I've had a superhero setting in Venice for thepast few years and it's a great location, although being an Australian who has visited Italy only once (for two weeks no less!) I'm sure I've stuffed up a lot of the details. My game is a 4-colour super hero campaign called Dawnstars and was originally an EU-backed team but is now pretty much independent. Their base was first based on Giudecca, but it was burnt down and blown up. The second base was just an office off San Marco Square, and the current one is a kind of embarrassing ex-aircraft carrier which is anchored off Lido and is seen as an eye sore. Our game has had relations between the polizia and Carabinieri, political families but no actual mafia connections as yet (since Venice is north and isn't supposed to have as many mafia-connections - although corruption amongst bureacrats has been hammed up a bit). I've had influences from Donna Leon books and Inspector Montalbano tv series/books. Pretty limited but I love Italy. I'm going back there in December so I can get a refresher. So any information on this thread will be greedily taken up by me. I'm be ready to read. Cheers Ben Gooood! Nice to see a real Italy fan. Venice is one of the most interesting and complex city in Italy. Although its history (do you know of the political importance of the city in the dark age? It was one of the biggest naval forces in the world, like Great Britain later) it always have a "mystic" influence. Venice have two differet aspect: -The first one is the commercial/tourist one. With as little bit of decadence. It's an old city, know for its monuments, its canals, the master of glass manipulation, the tourist hordes, and a fabulous concert of Pink Floyd some years ago ( ). Decedence aspect depends on the fact tha venice is built over tens of little islands connected with bridges. So the space in finished several years ago. This make Venice one of the most expansive city in Italy (to buy a house). People who lives there is old family meber or extremely well-off. (In some places near most important monumet the ground can cost $10-15.000 per mq. venice is also famous for his Lido and for the "festival del cinema di Venezia". An international movie contest which assemble the "creme de la creme" on internationa jet-set. When your talking of venice you talk about a wonderfull city, always fulled of turist coming from all over the world, powerfull politician wich arrived for relax and comliness, famous movie star on the beach, and expensive hotels with great architecture. Venice is also famous for the Bora. A really cold wind that cause a lot of problemi in winter and for the "acqua alta" problem: (when hte tide of see become to growth piazza San Marco is filled of salt water. Even a meter of gap. In this case people walking for the city over wood path assembled in the city. But it occurs few times ) -The other aspect is the "mystic" one. Venice is alway Venice. A strange, wonderfull place where the border between normal and "strange" are really thin. There are legends about the magical mysteries of the city, growthed on the secret passage UNDER the the hoses, from an island to another. All the historical famous personalities of Venice are "strange" (Think about Casanova). And strange fact occurs there, some are single events ( the "Red death" of E. A. Poe is an example) other are frequently (like the world famous carnival, the Carnevale di Venezia ). In other words Venis is Magic place, where the magic in real term word is more present. Other think you have to know about Italy: Frome few years the Carabinieri corp is became a military force (with a great disappoinment of Polizia, the police force). Between the two forces are conflict and rivalry (only professional and nothing more than joke, but...). They call each other Cugini (cousins). The mob is less present in the north, but is not missing. Only limited. Unfortunately a little criminal world exist in all great city (even in the north) and in every place where the money flow is bigger. Venice is less touched from this aspect but... Who knows? If you are interested in, the anti-mafia inter.force department is called D.I.A (Divisione Anti Mafia). The italian secret service in the Sismi. Ah! Please don't use those strange names for italin people which I alway see in comics and rpg manuals:idjit: . Have a nice game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Other stuffs for Tribe: If you need more detailed information let me know. I know that the information above was "famous" so if need something else... I'm here. Even for your next holiday in Italy. Do you think about ravenna? It's more little then venice but nice and cheaper. And is world famous for its mosaics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection How far back in Italy's past are you planning to go for ideas? I think you could do some pretty cool stuff involving the Roman Empire. Maybe Caligula was an immortal vampire... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection How far back in Italy's past are you planning to go for ideas? I think you could do some pretty cool stuff involving the Roman Empire. Maybe Caligula was an immortal vampire... Caligula was a MAD immortal vampire. An italian setting can have a lot of interesting "time windows". Think about a Rome empire ruled by a vampire? It sounds like a Gladiator and Blade mix. Think about how Rome is born and how the Empire was advanced. It was a culture gap. An evil undead organization involved? And how about the 2nd world war? The Reinessance? The Dark age? In Italy you can have all them! It can be interseting a Time Travel campaign I think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Caligula was a MAD immortal vampire. ... I thought about doing something like that here in Moscow with Stalin. Stalin is buried under these huge underground metal slabs. It's like they're worried he'll get out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection I thought about doing something like that here in Moscow with Stalin. Stalin is buried under these huge underground metal slabs. It's like they're worried he'll get out... Geeez... That's interesting. If I remember right even hei death circumstances was not clear, isn't it? Something like a death in the night and a very fast bury... Historically there aren't confirmations about the fact that Calicula burned Rome but legends are legends and all them have something real. But If Caligula was a vampire he couldn't started the light which destroy Rome. Vampere don't like fire very much. Probably it was an idea of the "heroes" to annilate the vampire plans... I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Geeez... That's interesting. If I remember right even hei death circumstances was not clear, isn't it? Something like a death in the night and a very fast bury... Historically there aren't confirmations about the fact that Calicula burned Rome but legends are legends and all them have something real. But If Caligula was a vampire he couldn't started the light which destroy Rome. Vampere don't like fire very much. Probably it was an idea of the "heroes" to annilate the vampire plans... I suppose. It's generally thought the Father of the Peoples (sic) died of natural causes, but Beria did engage in some funny stuff immediately after his death. Almost all the documents in Stalin's safe were burned. I have an image of Zombie Stalin bursting forth from the grave and going on a rampage. Maybe Rome could have been burned by some leftover Carthaginian vampire-hunters? I don't remember when Carthage was destroyed. But I'm pretty sure it was way before Caligula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection It's generally thought the Father of the Peoples (sic) died of natural causes' date=' but Beria did engage in some funny stuff immediately after his death. Almost all the documents in Stalin's safe were burned. I have an image of Zombie Stalin bursting forth from the grave and going on a rampage.[/quote'] What a horrible image! Maybe Rome could have been burned by some leftover Carthaginian vampire-hunters? I don't remember when Carthage was destroyed. But I'm pretty sure it was way before Caligula. Caligola died in 41 AC after 4 years or reign. In the 18 of october of the year 38 a fire destroied the Quartiere Emilio (a district of the capital). These are the facts. You must remember that, even if in the movies Rome was a stone and marble great city, in the poor quarter peoples lived in dilapidated wood buildings with no space from one to another. It were a fire dept but probably it was unsufficient for great fire... But in the game... All and nothing. If Caligola was a vampire and had planned to conquer the city transform all citizens it's probable that a group of vampire slayers could blocked the evil undead beings in a district and light fire to all corners to stop them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Caligola died in 41 AC after 4 years or reign. In the 18 of october of the year 38 a fire destroied the Quartiere Emilio (a district of the capital). These are the facts. You must remember that, even if in the movies Rome was a stone and marble great city, in the poor quarter peoples lived in dilapidated wood buildings with no space from one to another. It were a fire dept but probably it was unsufficient for great fire... But in the game... All and nothing. If Caligola was a vampire and had planned to conquer the city transform all citizens it's probable that a group of vampire slayers could blocked the evil undead beings in a district and light fire to all corners to stop them... Didn't he supposedly order his soldiers to fire arrows into the sea to kill Neptune? Perhaps we can posit some battle between Neptune-worshipping vampire hunter/paladins and the Forces of Darkness. What could you do with Il Duce? I know his grandaughter's alive. Maybe make her into a supervillain? (Though she is kind of cute.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Didn't he supposedly order his soldiers to fire arrows into the sea to kill Neptune? Perhaps we can posit some battle between Neptune-worshipping vampire hunter/paladins and the Forces of Darkness. Well... I think it is a legend (even if Calligola was... strange). But we can consider this a way (it died 3 years later) to hide a failed assassination plot from the vampire slayers. I also think about a european organization project that an evil organization of undead vampire could exist in Rumania. It can be a modern reorganization of the old vampire survivors. They leaved Italy hunted by Cartagine hunters and sheltered in a remote mountain location. Then they growth and take the Vlad family name... What could you do with Il Duce? I know his grandaughter's alive. Maybe make her into a supervillain? (Though she is kind of cute.) well... She exist and she is a politician so I think is not usable to talk bad about her grandpa... Indeed the 2nd world war is an interesting period. In such terms it doesn't need of imaginations. Do you know that Hitler had an advanced weapon project? the Nazis were near to the atomic bomb. The only thing that stopped them was that the most important scientists were ebrew. Think about tha Duce was a personal friend of hitler and when he (Duce) was killed, Churchill arrived in Italy for 2 weeks of "Holidays" in the house of Mussolini. What he was searching for..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Well... I think it is a legend (even if Calligola was... strange). But we can consider this a way (it died 3 years later) to hide a failed assassination plot from the vampire slayers. I also think about a european organization project that an evil organization of undead vampire could exist in Rumania. It can be a modern reorganization of the old vampire survivors. They leaved Italy hunted by Cartagine hunters and sheltered in a remote mountain location. Then they growth and take the Vlad family name... well... She exist and she is a politician so I think is not usable to talk bad about her grandpa... Indeed the 2nd world war is an interesting period. In such terms it doesn't need of imaginations. Do you know that Hitler had an advanced weapon project? the Nazis were near to the atomic bomb. The only thing that stopped them was that the most important scientists were ebrew. Think about tha Duce was a personal friend of hitler and when he (Duce) was killed, Churchill arrived in Italy for 2 weeks of "Holidays" in the house of Mussolini. What he was searching for..? I like the vampires idea. Did Churchill really stay at Mussolini's place? I did not know that. (Perhaps there is something sinister up there in Salo.) I loved seeing Alyssandra (spelling?) Mussolini's election posters: "Vote for the party with the name Mussolini!" Anyway, I have another idea. If I recall correctly, Attila the Hun claimed he had Alexander the Great's sword, which made him unbeatable, and Emperor Constantine countered by saying he had a sword crafted from the One True Cross with magical powers. Maybe these artifacts were real? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection I like the vampires idea. Did Churchill really stay at Mussolini's place? I did not know that. (Perhaps there is something sinister up there in Salo.) Yes sir! Churchill did it. There were a lot of mysteries around the Salò republic. One of it is the (in)famous "Gold of Dongo" a little town near Salò. A great amount of gold from nazi and fascist bank disappeared in the early days after the end of war. Even some partisans disappeared during investigations on it. A tragedy. But real... I loved seeing Alyssandra (spelling?) Mussolini's election posters: "Vote for the party with the name Mussolini!" Anyway' date=' I have another idea. If I recall correctly, Attila the Hun claimed he had Alexander the Great's sword, which made him unbeatable, and Emperor Constantine countered by saying he had a sword crafted from the One True Cross with magical powers. Maybe these artifacts were real?[/quote'] the correct name is Alessandra (is sound like alexander but with double s and the "sea" word in the middle. like Aless se andra. Oh. i don't know. Now I will take some information about it). Sure they are. Well Emperor Constantine was located in a far away city, so it is not a strictly an "Italian affair" but it is the Rome Empire so... Take in present that the Bizantine side was the most rich of these culture. There were a lot of masters of arts that leave their country to find fortune and fame out there. So is probable that (with commercial or artistic wave) most of the relics were tranported there... And vampires too... In war battlefields the blod sucker rules! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection I like the vampires idea. Did Churchill really stay at Mussolini's place? I did not know that. (Perhaps there is something sinister up there in Salo.) Yes sir! Churchill did it. There were a lot of mysteries around the Salò republic. One of it is the (in)famous "Gold of Dongo" a little town near Salò. A great amount of gold from nazi and fascist bank disappeared in the early days after the end of war. Even some partisans disappeared during investigations on it. A tragedy. But real... I loved seeing Alyssandra (spelling?) Mussolini's election posters: "Vote for the party with the name Mussolini!" Anyway' date=' I have another idea. If I recall correctly, Attila the Hun claimed he had Alexander the Great's sword, which made him unbeatable, and Emperor Constantine countered by saying he had a sword crafted from the One True Cross with magical powers. Maybe these artifacts were real?[/quote'] the correct name is Alessandra (is sound like alexander but with double s and the "sea" word in the middle. like Aless se andra. Oh. i don't know. Now I will take some information about it). Sure they are. Well Emperor Constantine was located in a far away city, so it is not a strictly an "Italian affair" but it is the Rome Empire so... Take in present that the Bizantine side was the most rich of these culture. There were a lot of masters of arts that leave their country to find fortune and fame out there. So is probable that (with commercial or artistic wave) most of the relics were tranported there... And vampires too... In war battlefields the blod sucker rules! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection the correct name is Alessandra (is sound like alexander but with double s and the "sea" word in the middle. like Aless se andra. Oh. i don't know. Now I will take some information about it). Sure they are. Well Emperor Constantine was located in a far away city, so it is not a strictly an "Italian affair" but it is the Rome Empire so... Take in present that the Bizantine side was the most rich of these culture. There were a lot of masters of arts that leave their country to find fortune and fame out there. So is probable that (with commercial or artistic wave) most of the relics were tranported there... And vampires too... In war battlefields the blod sucker rules! By the way, the Djugashvili (Stalin) family is huge. His daughter Svetlana lives in the United States in the Midwest. One of his great-grandsons is a filmmaker in New York. The rest are mostly in Georgia I think. Anyway, perhaps the Fall of the Roman Empire had something to do with the vampires. Maybe they fled to Constantinople and continued to live an underground existance there, secretly manipulating politics in the Byzantine Emoire until the Ottomans took over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection By the way' date=' the Djugashvili (Stalin) family is huge. His daughter Svetlana lives in the United States in the Midwest. One of his great-grandsons is a filmmaker in New York. The rest are mostly in Georgia I think.[/quote'] Wow. I wonna see a stalin movie.... Anyway' date=' perhaps the Fall of the Roman Empire had something to do with the vampires. Maybe they fled to Constantinople and continued to live an underground existance there, secretly manipulating politics in the Byzantine Emoire until the Ottomans took over?[/quote'] It's possible. They are immortal. So they can wait long long time hidden in the dark. I think that it is also possible that the vampires taked different ways of escape. Some of them fled from Rome and arrived in Rumania find a good place to growth. Other traveled over the sea until Costantinple and join the new world ambient. Now different families lives in distant places but with a solid infrastructure. A global undead conspiration to rule the world of humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Here's another idea -- while off conquering Gaul, Julius Caesar comes across some dark temple in which he offers up his soul to some Dark Celtic God in exchange for becoming Emperor. Then, in out alternate timeline, Brutus, Marcus Antonius and Cassius are found ripped limb from limb just before the Ides of March... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Let me expand on that. Julius makes his dark pact and is not murdered but remains Emperor, empowered by dark forces. Since these forces are not Roman, but Celtic, in origin, this p*sses of the Roman Pantheon of gods. So from this point you have a great, long struggle for the soul of Rome between the Celtic and Roman supernatural forces and their human respresentatives, culminating perhaps in the Caligula fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Here's another idea -- while off conquering Gaul' date=' Julius Caesar comes across some dark temple in which he offers up his soul to some Dark Celtic God in exchange for becoming Emperor. Then, in out alternate timeline, Brutus, Marcus Antonius and Cassius are found ripped limb from limb just before the Ides of March...[/quote'] Mmmm... I don't know. I like Caesar as brilliant strategist. It takes Rome with a single platoon against the most powerfull and defended city. I think he MUST have the Emperor title. But his murder could be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtian Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Another interesting period is the Inquisition one. Even if Torquemada name is attached to Spain the origin are italian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestnik Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Re: The Italian Connection Another interesting period is the Inquisition one. Even if Torquemada name is attached to Spain the origin are italian And the Borgias! And maybe Dante really did go to Hell. This setting has real potential. Does the Vatican have a superhero team? Swiss Guard Man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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