Post originally by AscentStudios at 2004-11-10 09:46:06
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I think the Great War is a prime - if underused - period for horror gaming. Not quite Victorian, not quite Cthulu's 20's, it seems to be overlooked most of the time. But considering the horrific nature of the period itself - Spanish flu wiping out millions, the unexpected evolution of war on a global scale, and of weapons of mass destruction such as mustard gas and the machine gun - I think it is fertile ground.
One of my all-time favorite gaming books is Wraith: The Great War, a historical Wraith: The Oblivion setting that came right at the end of that line's lifespan. I think it does an excellent job of introducing the readers to the horrors of the time, and generates a lot of potential hooks for horror gaming in the period. The descriptions of barbed-wire zombies reminds me a lot of the drones that wander the battlefields of the Shadowlands, endlessly repeating the horrific deaths they suffered in the diseased trenches and gassed fields. Highly recommended if you're looking to play during this time.
Post originally by Edward McEneely at 2004-11-10 10:43:11
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Actually, plenty of non-European troops fought on the Western front, including over a million men from the British Indian Army and French Spahis from the Colonial Forces.
Post originally by Cassander at 2004-11-10 17:14:08
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As with the subject line. This film really was just another version of the boring "bunch of people together killed one-by-one by supernatural horror" film, with Jamie Bell as the final girl. There really wasn't anything interesting in the "plot" or "characterisation" or even the film's setting. Besides, for a film about the First World War, it didn't seem to recognise there was much mileage in the war itself; "The Trench" was a far more tense film and it didn't have any supernatural elements.
At least "The Bunker" had a character redemption and a surprise survivor.
P.S. Quinn's furs are actually a goat-skin jerkin, standard issue to the British army in winter, when greatcoats were in short supply. You would get heat-stroke trying to do strenuous exercise in one of them in anything but the coldest weather.
Post originally by Sabermane at 2004-11-11 00:46:34
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You're right on the Great War. I still say that was the best setting for Wraith possible. Never got a chance to play it, but was certainly interested, even with the terrible system and world that could have been better developed.
Post originally by Edward McEneely at 2004-11-11 10:03:02
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Well, I decided not to get into the irony of the million-strong Indian Army vs. the 100,000 man BEF, and I preferred minority to "non-White". I'm not sure what the correct term is, really.
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