Hotwar CTD011 Print Friendly

“Cold War? Hell, it was a Hot War.
”
Robert S. McNamara,
US Secretary for Defence, 1961 - 1968
“Oh, where are you coming from,

soldier, gaunt soldier,
With weapons beyond any reach
of my mind,
With weapons so deadly the world
must grow older
And die in its tracks,
if it does not turn kind?”
Stephen Vincent Benet,
‘Song For Three Soldiers’, 1940
C r e d i t s
WRITING & GAME DESIGN: Malcolm Craig
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Paul Bourne
ILLUSTRATION: Paul Bourne
PHOTOGRAPHY: Paul Bourne, Malcolm Craig
EDITING & SUB-EDITING: Stephen Hickey, Chris Perrin, Joe Murphy
PROOFREADING: Shevaun Frazier, Andrew Kenrick, Dom Mooney
PLAYTESTING: David Arthur, Michael Atkinson, Chris Bennett, Paulo Bongiovanni,

Andrew Cunningham, Morgan Davie, Steve Dempsey, Scott Dorward, Robert Earley-
Clark, Alex Fradera, Shevaun Frazier, Neil Gow, Stephen Hickey, Jan-Christophe
Hoogendoorn, William Hume, Wai Kien, Stuart McIntyre, James Mullen, Chris
Peterson, Dave Pickson, Richard Poole, Blair Rhodes, Derek Robertson, Simon
Rogers, Neil Smith, Karen Twelves, Alan Twigg, Kat Urbaniak, Scott van der Valk,
Graham Walmsley
LEGAL STUFF: © 2008 Contested Ground Studios. All rights reserved. Reproduc-
tion without the permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except
for the purposes of reviews. Any similarities to people, places, situations or
institutions, etc. (without satirical intent or for the purposes of historical
accuracy) are purely coincidental.
DISCLAIMER: Hot War is a game for mature gamers. The views expressed in this book
do not necessarily represent the views of the staff of Contested Ground Studios.
CONTESTED GROUND STUDIOS

www.contestedground.co.uk
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C o n t e n t s
Foreword 004 Creating A Dice Pool 101
Bringing In Hidden Agendas 102
CHAPTER 1: Bringing In Traits 103
INTRODUCTION Bringing In Relationships 104
Other Factors 106
Introduction 008 Synopsis Of Dice Pool Creation 107
Structure and History 009 Rolling The Dice 107
Source Fiction & Cold War Ethics 010 Consequences 110
The Built Artefacts of the Cold War 011 Telling The Story Of The Conflict 114
In Conclusion 012 Crisis Points 116
Stuff You Need To Play 014 Additional Rules 119
Glossary of Terms 015 Some Useful Hints and Tips For GMs 122
Creating & Using NPCs 131
CHAPTER 2: Sample Detailed NPCs 136
THE HOT WAR Sample Monsters 138
The Beginning of War 017 CHAPTER 5:

The London Battles 024 ORGANISATIONS
1 Week to 12 Months After 026
Welcome To Hell 039 Civil Organisations 146
A Secret History 040 Military Organisations 150
The Special Situations Group (SSG) 043 Police & Para-military Organisations 154
CHAPTER 3: CHAPTER 6:
CREATING GAMES & CHARACTERS LONDON & BEYOND
Game & Character Creation 052 Under London 160

Closed & Open Games 056 Locations Within Central London 165
What Is A Closed Game? 056 Locations Within Greater London 168
What Is An Open Game? 057 Locations Near London 170
Game Creation 058
Character Creation 071 CHAPTER 7:
Beginning Character Creation 072 APPENDICES
Assigning Attributes 073
Creating Traits 074 Mediography 178
Creating Hidden Agendas 077 Useful Websites 187
Relationships 082 Game Aids 188
The Experience Scene 084 A Player’s Primer To Hot War 189
Character Creation Summary 087 Game Creation Sheet 190
Pre-generated Characters 089 Character Sheet 191
Simple NPC Sheet 192
CHAPTER 4: Detailed NPC Sheet 193
PLAYING THE GAME Pre-written Game Creation Sheets 194
Scenes & Scene Framing 096 Afterword 198

Possible Scene Locations 097
Conflict Resolution 098 Index 200
-003-
F
Cold
o r e w o r d
Hot War is something of a follow-on from a previous game of mine,
City. Cold City took place in Berlin in 1950. Player characters were
part of a multi-national agency hunting down monsters and technology left
over from German experiments during World War Two. Hot War extrapolates this
time line even further, though it is not a direct sequel.
In our own history, the victorious Allies made abundant use of German wartime
advances and the people who made those advances possible. Wernher von Braun
was perhaps the most famous of these, helping to power the US space pro-
gramme. This game posits that there were other secret technologies developed
after the war. Just as the V2 led to the ballistic missiles that both sides
in the Cold War aimed at each other, these other, twisted technologies would
have been developed into powerful weapons.
If the Cold War had involved secret weapons capable of creating ‘monsters’,
that could drag ‘things’ through time and space and breach the walls of our
reality, what would happen if the Cold War suddenly went hot? This is the
scenario that Hot War presents. The game imagines a world where the Cuban
Missile Crisis precipitated a global war, a war that everyone expected to be
fought with nuclear weapons. Indeed, nuclear weapons were used, but stranger,
even more diabolical technologies were brought into play as well.
The game takes place in the South of England, one year after the terrible
events of the War. The struggle for survival is ongoing, factionalism and
xenophobia are rife and life is hard and brutal. As if this were not dif-
ficult enough, the survivors must deal with the horrors that were used as
weapons during the war.
Hot War focuses on one small area of this devastated world, the city of Lon-
don and the surrounding area. This choice is deliberate - it allows greater
emphasis on key issues and provides for a greater feeling of both claustro-
phobia and isolation. What has happened in the wider world is of little im-
portance to the survivors, so you will find scant detail on anything outside
London and the Home Counties.
What you will find in these pages is a rich environment, primed with possibil-
ity, conflict and hundreds of ideas for creating vivid, engaging stories. This
is coupled with a game system that focuses on what is important to Hot War:
relationships, paranoia, factionalism, betrayal and very human stories.
Cheers
Malcolm
-004-
CITIZENS OF
LONDON
THAT TERRORISTS
IT HAS COME TO THE ATTENTION OF THE AUTHORITIES
CALLING THEMSELVES THE CITIZEN
S DEFENCE ARMY ARE ACTIVE IN
THIS AREA.
ESENTING THEMSELVES AS A
SHOULD YOU BE APPROACHED BY ANYONE REPR
MEMBER OF THIS ILLEGAL ORGANI
SATION YOU SHOULD REPORT THEIR
L STATISTICS TO AN APPROPRIATE
NAME, APPEARANCE AND OTHER VITA
CIVIL OR MILITARY AUTHORITY.
ACTS OF VIOLENT AGGRESSION
THIS ORGANISATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
ORCES AND AGAINST THE LAW-ABIDING
AGAINST HER MAJESTY’S ARMED F
E YOUR DUTY TO ASSIST THE LEGA
L
PEOPLE OF LONDON. IT IS THEREFOR
E INDIVIDUALS WITH ALL DUE SPEED.
AUTHORITIES IN APPREHENDING THES
S ACTIVITIES TAKING PLACE IN

IF YOU BELIEVE THERE ARE SUSPICIOU
YOUR AREA, REPORT THEM AT ONC
E TO AN APPROPRIATE CIVIL OR
MILITARY AUTHORITY.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Smithson’s iconic image of the Houses of Parliament taken in the winter of 1963.
C H A P T E R 1 : I N T R O D U C T I O N
P rofile
BURLINGTON/SUBTERFUGE
Below Corsham in rural Wiltshire lies the largest underground bunker in the
UK. Going by many names during its lifetime, this subterranean town was known
as BURLINGTON in the early 1960s and SUBTERFUGE prior to that. It started
life as an underground factory during World War Two, producing aircraft
parts and other essential materials (one of many ‘shadow factories’ scattered
around Britain). In the Cold War, it was massively expanded and re-modelled
as an emergency HQ in the event of a nuclear attack.
The entire facility could house up to 4,000 people in its miles of tunnels and
hundreds of rooms, feeding them in huge canteens, allowing them to sleep in
vast dormitories, all safely nestled 120 feet below the ground. The builders
even included a replica of a traditional English pub to make people feel a
bit more at home. The main problem with BURLINGTON was that, in the event of
a nuclear war, it was considered doubtful that the Government and military
leaders would have the time to reach the bunker - as the facility was 100
miles from London. That being the case, the entire effort was something of
a costly white elephant.
In Hot War, rumours about BURLINGTON are bound to have been circulating for
some time and it is distinctly possible that it is being used for ongoing,
secret projects investigating twisted technology, perhaps at levels beyond
that to which the SSG is privy. Or, it lies abandoned, but containing some
interesting or important secrets in its maze of passageways. Maybe someone
or something else has decided to make it their home...
-007-
I n t r o d u c t i o n
In October of 1962, the Cold War went hot as tensions rose over Soviet
nuclear missiles based in Cuba. The War that followed was not just an atomic
apocalypse. Sciences developed in Germany during the World War Two and hidden
away by Britain, France, the USA and the USSR were unleashed during the war.
These sciences were twisted and dark, fusing technology, madness and the oc-
cult. They ripped holes in reality, birthed horrific monsters, drove men and
women beyond sanity and laid waste to continents.
Hot War is a game about those who survived, their relationships and motives,
their fear and paranoia. All of this takes place in the city of London,
England in the freezing winter of 1963, one year after the war. Life has been
altered forever. The population is massively reduced, essential services are
virtually non-existent, and food and other products are subject to draconian
rationing measures. Both inside and outside the borders of the city, horrible
things are happening.
Stepping into this situation are the characters about whom you, as a group,
will be telling stories. The characters belong to an organisation named the
Special Situations Group (SSG). The SSG is made up of military, police and
civilian personnel and have the unenviable task of hunting down monsters,
those who create them, and more mundane enemies of London. Each person who
takes on the role of an individual character is designated as a player. More
information on the creation of these characters can be found starting on
page 71.
However, the SSG (like London itself) is torn apart by factionalism, self-
interest and bigotry. The military, the government, the police and dozens
of others groups are all struggling for supremacy in the post-war world,
fighting over the scraps and jealously backstabbing each other for the most
important discoveries. Each of the characters will belong to one of these
factions and will have their own hidden agendas to pursue.
One person in the game will be designated the Game Moderator (GM). Together,
the GM and the players will work out what kind of game they want to play and
what and who might be involved in it. The players will create characters
to be their representatives in the game and may work with the GM to define
antagonists and allies.
The GM has two additional jobs. First, they initiate (or ‘frame’) scenes
which will collectively tell the story that everyone talked about at the very
-008-
beginning of the game. How these scenes work and how conflicts are resolved
is discussed starting on page 96.
Secondly, the GM takes on the role of the antagonists who stand in the way of
the characters and the allies who try to help the characters along the way.
As the story progresses, the characters will change, evolve and resolve the
things that motivate them (known as hidden agendas) and the relationships
they have with other characters. Characters may die or leave the game, but
the story should always be full of excitement, intrigue and conflict.
Structure and History

It is my hope that Hot War will provide entertainment both from reading the
text and through playing the game. It is a piece of work that combines many
threads of my own personal interests: the Cold War, hidden buildings, myste-
rious locations, bizarre technologies, horror fiction and modern history.
The book offers setting information, both factual and fictional, through-
out the text. By now, you will have noticed that the chapters begin with a
poster, advising of some aspect of life within the setting. This is accom-
panied by a short profile of an interesting location somewhere in Britain,
a location that was, in some way, important to the conduct of the Cold War.
These profiles offer factual information, but also discuss in brief how their
existence might have affected the game setting. They may be goals, hazards
or explanations.
Much of the history of the War is implicit, rather than explicit. There are
no time lines, no lengthy essays on the history of the battles that took
place. My intention is to offer history via in-game artefacts: diary entries,
posters, memos and scraps of reports. While these give detail and insight,
this approach also leaves a lot of space for groups to develop the history
and setting through their own fiction created during play.
This point is vital: the history of the War and its aftermath are yours to
create. I have provided no ‘right’ answers, only different interpretations
of what occurred. Consider the information in this book as a framework upon
which to build your own details. Through game and character creation, the
group will create facts about the war and the setting, making it unique.
-009-
The Cold War was (and remains) a fascinating and absorbing period in hu-
man history. The development of apocalyptic technologies, plus the will and
ability to use them, created an atmosphere that is unparalleled in terms of
its scope and longevity. Hot War builds upon what existed in our own world,
positing a further layer of even more warped technology unleashing destruc-
tive forces beyond even the horror of the nuclear bomb.
Whereas in our world, the ultimate tools of destruction were never used on a
mass scale, in the world of Hot War both nuclear and otherworldly weapons saw
action in a War that nobody wanted to fight. The twisted technology talked
about in this book takes its influence from many sources. Its fictional
origin is in Nazi Germany, but there are factual elements that have exerted
influence as well: atomic bomb projects and the work of organisations as the
Ahnenerbe, for example. Quasi-fictional sources and conspiracy bring their
influence to bear. The Cold War was a period where the conspiracy theory
truly came of age and flourished in fertile soil.
Conspiracies and wild theories relating to German experiments and terrifying

new technologies, secret Soviet cities, CIA mind control tests and hidden
labs around the world doing unspeakable things to living subjects, all played
their part in the Cold War conspiracy debate.
Source Fiction & Cold War Ethics

Fiction also played a part in the creation and evolution of Hot War. Post-
apocalyptic speculative fiction has a strong tradition, reaching back for
well over a century. Hot War treads something of a middle ground between what
Brian Aldiss described (somewhat unfairly) as the “cosy catastrophe”* fiction
of John Wyndham and the utterly devastated worlds depicted in novels such as
On The Beach by Nevil Shute.
The term “cosy catastrophe” as used by Aldiss is something of a misnomer,

even though it often enters into discussion of works like Wyndham’s. The
novel Day of the Triffids and its depiction of a desolate London, presents a
situation that is far from cosy. The protagonist is forced into unpalatable
situations, witnesses brutality and downright evil acts and has to come to
terms with a radically altered way of existence. Hot War attempts to capture
elements of this. It does not venture into a world of leather clad neo-bar-
barians in motorised chariots, clutching crossbows, but it does aim to depict
a world that has been changed in important and significant ways.
-010-
The cause of these changes, the War, does not have an assigned ‘aggressor’
in the game, as written, the apportioning of ‘blame’ for starting the war is
left as a blank slate. If, during the course of a game, this comes up, then
individuals groups should feel free to make up their own history in this
regard. Certainly, the main ‘enemy’ for the people of Britain is the USSR.
Whether the Soviets would, in our real world, have actually invaded the UK is
a matter of some contention and beyond the scope of this discussion.
However, no side was innocent in their development of nuclear weapons (and

therefore in their use of the fictional twisted technology). In the game fic-
tion, Britain, France, the USA and the USSR all had programmes to develop the
technology ‘liberated’ from Germany at the end of World War Two. The amoral-
ity of these decisions parallel the real-world development of nuclear weapons
by these same nations. If one side is perceived to have an edge in weapons
technology, why should the other not seek parity? This leads back into the
discussion of fictional sources for, as Charles Stross points out**, the Cold
War was, by its nature, a Lovecraftian situation. H P Lovecraft wrote stories
where man was essentially powerless in the face of universal horrors that he
could not possible comprehend. Like the protagonists of The Call of Cthulhu,
the average man in the street during the Cold War was utterly powerless and
doomed to be tossed about by death-dealing forces.
The Built Artefacts of the Cold War

One of the lasting legacies of the Cold War is the buildings it left behind.
The UK is dotted with numerous relics from this time, both on the ground
and under it. Some were re-used from World War Two, others were specially
constructed during the period. The nature of these places and my fascination
with them was another spur to write Hot War.
During the course of reading this book, you will find mention of many loca-
tions, secret and otherwise. The vast majority of these are real and did
exist as presented. One of my hopes in giving an (albeit limited) account of
these locations is that it will encourage others to delve deeper into the
vast body of work that has been generated about such places in the UK. Whether
it is simply out of curiosity or to add flavour and colour to Hot War games,
it would be great to think that this book had excited someone’s interest.
Today, many Cold War locations are disused and have been converted to other
purposes or they are shrouded in secrecy and security. Organisations such as
-011-
Subterranea Britannica have dedicated themselves to cataloguing and photo-

graphing a vast range of installations. Their attention to detail, historical
research and dedication to their subject should be acknowledged and I would
recommend them for further research.***
However, in the world of Hot War the bunkers and tunnels, ‘shadow factories’
and airbases have assumed an even greater importance as places of security
and refuge. By necessity, I have only detailed the nature and in-game uses of
a handful of the locations that exist in London and the surrounding area.
In Conclusion
It is my sincere hope that Hot War provides both an interesting and informa-
tive read, accompanied by absorbing and enjoyable games. There are a variety
of resources available on-line to support this. The Contested Ground Studios
website has a dedicated Hot War area, containing some useful downloads and a
constantly updated library of links. You will find accounts of actual play,
which I would encourage you to add to. There is also the Hot War Wiki, a user
updatable library of people, places and events. Feel free to add anything
generated during games to this wiki, as it will all be hugely beneficial to
others.
Finally, for any questions, queries and thoughts that cannot be answered
by the website, wiki or forums, please do feel free to email me at:
hotwar@contestedground.co.uk
*Brian Aldiss, ‘Billion Year Spree: A History of Science Fiction’

**Charles Stross, ‘The Atrocity Archives’
***More information is available at www.subbrit.org.uk
-012-
Subject #624/b/a2 aquired in the
tunnel between Baker Street &
Regent’s Park Tube Stations.
Subject was wounded during
capture and died shortly after.
St u f f You Need To Play

In order to set up a game of Hot War, there are a few things that the
group will need to have in hand. In the back of this book, you will find a
variety of play sheets. These are handy to have during the game, although
you can always just use blank paper to write everything down. If you’re us-
ing the sheets, you can either photocopy the ones from the back of the book
or download PDF versions from the Contested Ground Studios website. These
sheets include:
GAME CREATION SHEET - used by everyone to note down details of the game you
will be playing
CHARACTER SHEET - used by players to note down the details of their character
SIMPLE AND DETAILED NON-PLAYER CHARACTER SHEETS - used by the Game Moderator
to note down information about the various people and things that will be
met in the game
THE PLAYER’S PRIMER - details the most important facts about the setting
and is useful for everyone
Having blank paper and pens or pencils to hand for noting down things is also
very handy. It is also likely that there will be a number of changes to character
and NPC sheets during play, so writing on them in pencil is probably best.
You will also need to have a number of ten sided dice available for resolv-
ing conflicts. At least two of these should be of a distinctive colour that
is easily picked out amongst the other dice. If you do not have any of these
dice, they are readily available from hobby games shops and many on-line
retailers. Chessex* is a particularly good source of dice on-line in the USA
and worldwide. For UK and European readers, Leisure Games** in London offers
an excellent on-line ordering service.
You might also want to make a recording of your sessions for future reference
or so that you can submit it for inclusion in the actual play resources of
the CGS website. Do not feel bashful about sharing your play experiences with
others! For submitting recordings, MP3 format is best. Please send an email
to hotwar@contestedground.co.uk prior to sending the audio files.
*Chessex Limited, www.chessex.com

**Leisure Games - www.leisuregames.com
-014-
Glossary o f t e r m s
The following glossary lists some terms that you will find used through-
out Hot War. If you have played similar games before, then some of these terms
might be familiar to you. If you have not played a game like Hot War before,
then this will help understanding of key game terms.
Attributes: Three things that broadly describe a character’s capabilities.

They are Action (which describes how good the character is at doing anything
physical, from running to shooting a gun), Influence (which describes how
good the character is at intimidation, persuasion or defiance) and Insight
(which describes how intelligent, well educated or capable of reasoning a
character is)
Conflict: A conflict is defined as a situation where two or more parties have

goals that are opposed.
Conflict Resolution: The means by which a conflict is resolved. Participants

will create a dice pool (see below) and will compare those dice to the dice
pool of one or more sides in the conflict. You win by rolling more dice of
a higher number than the opposition. Following conflicts, characters will
change. These changes are known as consequences. Conflict resolution is dis-
cussed in full, beginning on page 98.
Consequences: Consequences are the positive or negative outcomes from a con-

flict. Regardless of success or failure in a conflict, characters will always
evolve and change, to a greater or lesser degree. This is defined is through
choosing consequences. Consequences are discussed in full on page 110.
D10: A D10 is a die with ten sides, numbered from zero to nine (with zero
always representing the number 10). These are used in Hot War as randomis-
ers during the conflict resolution process. D10s are available from game and
hobby shops.
Dice Pool: A dice pool is a fistful of one or more D10 (see above) that is
rolled as part of the conflict resolution process. Generally speaking, the
more dice you have in your pool, compared to your opposition, the greater
your chance of achieving your stated goal.
Game Moderator (GM): The GM in a game of Hot War plays the part of the adver-
saries and allies of the player characters (see below). The GM also frames
individual scenes (see below) and arbitrates in rules decisions.
-015-
Hidden Agenda: A character’s secret motivation or a set of orders that has

a powerful influence on their actions. They also provide bonus dice if and
when they are brought into play.
Narration: Narration is what takes place at the end of the conflict resolu-
tion process. One person has authority to begin narration and generally tell
a brief story of what happened in the conflict, what the outcome was and what
the fallout is.
Non-player Character (NPC): NPCs are the people whom the Player Characters
will meet during the course of the game.
Player Character (PC): Everyone but the GM will play the role of a PC. PCs are
individual characters who are the protagonists of the stories you tell with
Hot War. Their story is the focus of the game. PCs are defined by a variety
of means, laid out in detail starting on page 71.
Relationship: A numerical representation of bonds between a character and

other people or organisations.
Scene: A situation, outlined by the GM, that contains the following: Charac-
ter (in the form of PCs and perhaps NPCs), context (what is the scene about,
what is going on here) and place (the setting and environment).
Scene Framing: The process of outlining a scene, saying where it takes place,
what is happening and who is involved. This is handled by the GM in most cas-
es, but can also be handled by the players in certain, specialised cases.
Success Level: In a conflict, the success level is how well a character has
succeeded compared to her opposition. The success level is used to determine
what the consequences arising from a conflict will be.
Trait: A skill, talent, quirk, failing, ability or disability that says some-
thing about a Player Character or Non-player Character. Traits give extra
dice in conflict resolution.
-016-
0317-5482 (M.S.3.) The War Office,
16th October 1963 London, S.W.1.
WAR OFFICE NEWS BULLETIN

A substantial group of illegal refugees have been found
hiding in the Shoreditch area. The Army removed the illegal
refugees thanks to the vigilance of concerned local citizens.
The general public are urged to report any sightings of
refugees at once to the appropriate authorities.
The Navy engaged in a bombardment of the Hastings area,

successfully wiping out a nest of Soviet Mobile Biological
Weapons that threatened to advance on London.
Concerned members of the public apprehended a sniper in the

Pimlico area. Members of the general public are reminded
that enemy forces should be placed into the custody of the
appropriate authorities. Vigilante activity, such as hanging
or stoning, will be subject to investigation and punishment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tampering with this notice is a crime punishable by arrest.
--------------------------------------------------------
A civilian injured during an incident in Clerkenwell.
The individual has since been quarantined, pending de-briefing and processing.
C H A P T E R 2 : T H E H O T W A R
P rofile
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE),
Aldermaston
In 1950, the former airfield at Aldermaston, Berkshire, was designated to
become the main base for the development of Britain’s independent nuclear
deterrent. It was here that the British atomic, and later thermonuclear,
weapons were created and maintained. While the Atomic Energy Research Estab-
lishment (AERE) at Harwell concentrated on the power applications of nuclear
technology, Aldermaston was first and foremost a centre of weapons develop-
ment.
The AWRE also maintained subsidiary sites at Burghfield (also in Berkshire),

Foulness Island on the Essex coast and at Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast.
All of these sites could easily have been co-opted into twisted technology
programmes, especially the lonely and isolated Orford Ness with its strange
‘pagoda’ structures for the testing of detonation systems.
Like so many other notable locations, the AWRE would have been high on the
list for targeting during a nuclear war due to its vital position in the UK
deterrence system. Whether this came to pass in the time line of Hot War re-
mains unknown. Suffice to say, expeditions out of London, into the wilds the
Home Counties have become, could yield startling and valuable discoveries.
Or they could simply lead to suffering and death.
-019-
The beginning of wAr : A diArY

----------Day 1----------
Dear Diary,
Mr Browning seemed very pleased with the new advertisements in the Sun-
day papers. Looks like we might be able to afford that holiday to the
Lake District after all! Mum and Dad seem to be enjoying their new house
in Morecambe. I think the sea air will do Mum a power of good, just what
the doctor ordered.
Seems the Americans and the Russians are having a set to again! From
what we heard on the wireless, the Russians have been setting up an army
in Cuba, ready to invade the USA. From what the papers are saying, they
have got missiles there as well. Like all these things, it’ll blow over.
I remember when dad was flying in the Berlin airlift, everyone said the
‘balloon would go up’ over that one, but nothing ever came of it.
----------Day 2----------
Dear Diary,
Dad won a local bowling club trophy at his first outing. Good for him, I
always knew the old boy still had it in him. He also said that the RAF
had been on the blower, apparently they’re saying that some of the old
gang might need to be called up in the near future. Dad is furious as all
hell, said he gave twenty years to the Air Force and that’s all they’re
damn well getting from him!
Eric was called back from leave early as well. Still, can’t say I’d be too
miffed at that. Lucky blighter gets to zoom around in a Lightning half
the time. All the girls at the pub are swooning over him every time he’s
back. Dad always did say that’s how he got mum!
-020-
----------Day 3----------
Dear Diary,
It’s all going off here, I can tell you. There’s been Army lorries going
by all day. Non-stop, morning until night. Mrs Waltham says they’re going
up to the ‘establishment’ at Porton, says that they are doing all sorts
of ‘top secret’ things up there. Hah! She even says they test A-Bombs
there! Twaddle!
Loads of jets flying about all day too. Look like Vulcans and Victors,
dirty great white things. Fighter jets as well. I bet Eric is having a
whale of a time, zooming about up there! Fantastic!
----------Day 4----------
Dear Diary,
Curiouser and curiouser (to steal a noted phrase). The wireless has gone
all weird and Mr Briggs across the way says he’s getting nothing on his
television. Some strange lightning storms high up in the sky. Mrs Dingle
even says she saw a “black hole” open up right up there in the clouds!
And the phones have gone haywire, to boot. Everyone’s saying they’ll be
putting in a stern complaint to the GPO about this. Quite right too.
----------Day 5----------
Dear Diary,
We got a wireless message from the PM this morning. He said that “hostili-
ties have commenced between the USA and the USSR and that Britain would
be honouring her NATO pledge” whatever that might mean.
-021-
----------Day 6----------
Dear Diary,
Things have gone a bit horrible here. We’ve had load of people stream-
ing through the village. Some say that the Russians have been landing on
the East Coast and all sorts of horrible stuff! Some of them are quite
delirious, screaming about deformed soldiers and things stalking across
the countryside.
Wireless is completely useless, not a chirrup out of it. There’s been a

lot of rumours about A-Bombs being dropped on Sheffield and Birmingham!
A-Bombs, if you can believe it. On Sheffield! What rot.
----------Day 7----------
Dear Diary,
Can’t write too much, on the move. And the military types are taking away
writing materials from anyone they see scribbling stuff down. There was a
huge flash from the direction of Porton the other night. This morning, saw
at least two Vulcans coming in low overhead, streaming fire out of their
back ends. Not sure if they made it. No word from Mum or Dad. Or Eric.
----------Day 8----------
Dear Diary,
The last day has been sheer nightmare. We’re heading towards London, along
with thousands of other people. Every time anyone hears a noise, they all
dive for cover like the entire Red Army has arrived. Lots of madness and
nonsense. Women all hysterical about hellish creatures with guns killing
everything. Huge explosion off in the direction we’re heading as well.
Not so sure this is such a good idea.
-022-
----------Day 9----------
Dear Diary,
Our little band of ‘refugees’ has gone. I fell in with a verger from some
church or other after we were attacked in the night. Have no idea what in
the name of God it was, but women and children were slaughtered. Must have
been Russian paratroopers or something. We’re trying to get to London, but
the verger is in a terrible state. It’s a job just to keep him quiet at
times. In the darkness you can see ‘things’ stalking the landscape, just
off in the distance, fuzzy.
Found a whole column of people burned and withered. Skirted round them,
as I thought it looked like an A-Bomb had been dropped in the area. Must
keep my resolve up.
----------Day 10----------
Dear Diary,
London is hell. Bits of it are like when the Blitz was on. Someone dropped
a pretty huge bomb to the north, everything just black rubble. The verger
ran off screaming last night. Guess the poor sod just couldn’t take it any
more. Need to keep telling myself I’m made of sterner stuff.
Some army chaps were pretty rough with me, seems they’re trying to keep
people out. Blagged my way in, using dads old RAF number and stuff he
told me, kid them on I was a forces chap in civvies. Seemed to work, they
told me to head for Whitehall and report there for duty. It’s a funny old
world.
[Diary found and transcribed after recovery during routine sweep and clear
mission in Clerkenwell]
-023-
The London BAttles: A JournAlist’s Record

(unpublished)
Beginning
Soviet troops, waging their fiercest assault yet on the capital, pushed
into London today, bringing the fighting in the South to a new level.
Although only a few Soviet troops have entered London, thousands more are
poised to follow. They have occupied the Downs overlooking the capital,
and it appears that the only thing that prevented them from storming the
city was the knowledge that casualties would be heavy because many British
soldiers are clearly willing to fight to the death.
The war for London has turned into a vicious block-by-block street brawl.
Teams of Soviet snipers entered central buildings in London today and
fired on our soldiers throughout the day. Casualties were said to be heavy
on both sides as our soldiers fought back ferociously, but there was no
reliable accounting of casualties on either side.
The hulks of several of our tanks - some with troops still in them -
smouldered near Hounslow Underground Station, where much of the heaviest
fighting has taken place.
“I know only one thing,” said a government man, “Today there were hun-
dreds of victims on both sides.”
Middle
The assault on London intensified today when troops surrounded as many as

7,000 Soviet Mobile Biological Weapons who had been lured into the Isle
of Dogs and began to bombard them with grenades, mortars and automatic
weapons fire.
The Soviet monstrosities, who began their attack on Tuesday with the clear
intent of winning a notable victory, unleashed their fiercest assault yet in
the capital. There was no way to accurately assess the casualties today.
Information from the spreading battlefield was sporadic, lurid and almost
impossible to verify. Early in the evening there were reports that the
Soviets were withdrawing from the centre of the city. Later accounts sug-
gested that the fighting had not diminished.
-024-
“Nothing here will ever be normal again,” said Pvt. Ronald Thwaite, 23,
standing in front of the Great Ormond Street hospital, where he had taken
a badly wounded fellow soldier. “The palace is gone now,” Private Thwaite
said, referring to Buckingham Palace “It’s just walls. There are just
walls everywhere. But none of them are connected.”
On one wall, at 57 Barons Street, there is a red mailbox. There is no

door, no windows, no roof, no floor. Just a mailbox, with two letters to
someone who is never going to be home again. As long as there is a build-
ing left to hide a rogue biological, no one will be safe in London. That
is why the soldiers stationed here call it “the coffin.”
End
Disoriented people wander aimlessly along dusty, cratered streets through

the rubbish of civilisation: broken furniture, a child’s sweater, twisted
girders, a woman’s wig, charred dolls, felled street lamps. Severed elec-
trical and telephone wires jangle like some weird mutant spiders in a
chill wind.
An old man, grizzled and dazed, sits in a ruined house reading a newspaper
from three months ago. A 63-year-old woman named Irene, in rags and an
unravelling wool hat, is trying to hang clothes washed in water from a
ditch on a little line made of yarn.
“What can we do but try to live?” she said, showing a toothless mouth and
swollen gums, nearly white with anaemia and infection. “I’m alone, all
alone.”
Her apartment house on Princelet Street, near the hulking wreck of the
Spitalfields Market, burned after constant attack by twisted creatures
at the end of October. The roof has fallen in, the floors are gone, the
plaster is burned off the interior walls.
Where does she live? Irene giggles strangely. “In the earth,” she said,
pointing to the cellar, a dank and pestilential chamber of smelly mat-
tresses lit by two smoking candles.
Her neighbour, another bent old Cockney woman, hacked away at a small
branch with a dull axe. They ignore the artillery booming not far to the
south, where many Soviet forces fight on.
-025-
1 week After:
Directive, Medical Guidance
E M E R G E N C Y M E D I C A L D I C TAT E 1 0 - a
November 5th, 1962
AUTHORITY TO REMIT DOCUMENT
Medical personnel dealing with those who have

sustained injuries should be aware of the
following categories of casualty.
Each casualty MUST be categorised

appropriately in order to save valuable
resources and time. Non-compliance with this
categorisation procedure will result in
disciplinary action.
*Category 1*
Those with minor abrasions, minor broken
bones, burns covering less than 10% of body
area. Treatment should be undertaken by
auxiliary personnel engaged in non-vital work.
*Category 2*
Those with serious, but not life
threatening wounds, serious (but not
resulting in need for amputation) broken
bones, burns covering between 10 and 50% of the
body, and men and women of working age with
injuries that would not impair their ability
to work. Treatment should be undertaken by
medical professionals using available
resources.
*Category 3*
Those suffering blindness, cranial trauma,
stomach trauma, amputated limbs, burns
covering more than 50% of body area,
substantial blood loss and those requiring
surgery lasting longer than one hour. These
cases should be placed in a designated HOLDING
AREA. Police and military authorities will
take action to ease the suffering of these
casualties.
-026-
1 Month After:
Poster, Notification of Restrictions
R E S T R IC T IO N S N O T IC E
---------------------------------
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE REMINDED THAT THE---FOLL--- --------------
OWING
RULES ARE
----PERMANENTLY IN FORCE--- -
UNTIL SUCH TIMES AS THE RESPONSIBL
E CIV IL OR MILITARY AUTHORITY
APPROVES THEIR REPLACEMENT
---------------------------
YOU AND EVERY MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY MUST CARR--- -------------------
Y YOUR IDENTIFICATION PAPERS
AND RATION CARD ON YOUR PERSON
AT ALL TIMES
-
ANY PERSON, REGARDLESS OF AGE, WHO IS OUT
SIDE THEIR HOME OR
APPROVED FACILITY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF SEEN 7 PM AND 7AM WITHOUT PROVIDING
PROOF OF LAWFUL OR OFFICIAL BUSINESS WILL
BE ARRESTED
-
LOOTING, DISOBEDIENCE OF CIVIL OR MILITA
OF ASSAULT ON CIVIL OR MILITA
RY AUTHORITIES, ANY FORM
RY AUTHORITIES MAY BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE
PUNISHMENT BY SHOOTING AT THE DISC
RETION OF A RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL
-
FAILURE TO REPORT SIGHTINGS OF SUSPICIOUS INDIVI
BY WITHDRAWAL OF RATION CAR
DUALS IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE
DS FOR ALL FAMILY MEMBERS
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

27TH NOVEMBER, 1962
------------------------------------------
R E S T R IC T IO N S N O --- --------
T IC E
-027-
2 Months After:
Report, Civil Authority Measures
The War Office

London SW1
DATE: 28/12/62
REPORT: File No. 1254/62/b/9
Today (28 December), I approved the execution by

firing squad of seven looters apprehended by an
armed police squad in the area of Covent Garden.
They had, according to reports, found a cache of
alcohol and were attempting to abscond with said
comestibles without offering due notification to
the authorities.
We took into custody a band of Russian

paratroopers who, according to statements from
the single English speaker amongst them, been
living off the land in the South Downs area.
They had ventured into London in search of
shelter. As per standard procedure, the officer
and senior NCO were executed by firing squad
forthwith.
Four army personnel were found killed in the

area of Finchley High Street. The cause of
death was said to be repeated and violent
bayoneting.
McNab P.C. (Capt.)
-028-
3 Months After:
Debriefing, Survivors Reaching London From The North
-029-
4 Months After:
Personal Notes, A Doctor Warns On Scurvy
And it seems that scurvy is low on

Aside from all the other things we
the list of official priorities.
have to deal with, the two that
have really been problematic lately
Another major problem are the
are scurvy and terrible character
poor souls who are suffering
disorders.
from character disorders brought
on by the, traumas of war. Most of
The people just cannot get enough
them don t have physical injuries,
vitamin C, so aside from the problems
so no one bloody cares about
of malnutrition and disease, we
the poor sods. Most of them can
have that to contend with. I have
barely even feed themselves, so
tried to encourage the medical
they just get ,left to starve. Some
personnel to form foraging parties to
of them can t even comprehend
go out to the marshes and beaches
any more and end up getting shot ,
to collect cochlearia, or scurvy-
, , by the Army because they won t
grass is it s known by some. It s
obey orders or wander around
plentiful in the estuary, but everyone
after the curfew.
is just too terrified to venture out.
Bloody tragedy.
-030-
5 Months After:
Memo, Abandoning the North
M E M O R A N D
U M
- M O S T S E C R E T -
DESTROY AFTER ACKNOWLEDGEM

ENT
It is bec omi ng inc rea sin gly
obv iou s tha t we
can not con tin ue any att emp
t to con tro l the
cou ntr y bey ond the imm edi
ate Lon don /Sou th
Ess ex/N ort h Ken t are a. Reg
ard ing are as nor th
of Lut on as any thi ng oth er
tha n los t is she er
fol ly.
In ord er to eng age in via ble

rec ons tru cti on
within London, we must con
serve our res our ces
(bot h mil ita ry and civ il)
int o a sma ll are a.
Arm y and pol ice los ses in are
as bey ond the
Hom e Cou nti es can not be cou
nte nan ced and
pun iti ve exp edi tio ns int o
the se are as mus t
cea se. It mus t als o be ass ume
d tha t the re are
no siz eab le pop ula tio n cen
tre s ext ant bey ond
the Lon don are a.
Evidence shows that the con

tinuing trickle of
ref uge es fro m the Nor th is
now mad e up mos tly
of inf ect ees and dis gui sed
inf ilt rat ors . The
def enc e for ces mus t tak e all
ava ila ble ste ps
to pre ven t fur the r inc urs
ion s.
I sub mit tha t the se mea sur
es, how eve r
unp ala tab le the mig ht be,
are the onl y mea ns
by whi ch we can ens ure our
sur viv al.
In add iti on,
I thi nk tha t thi s bit sho uld
be cro sse d out to
see p peo pre gue ssi ng wha t
the hel l is goi ng
on.
A9/7 /q/12
-031-
6 Months After:
Memo, On Transport
-032-
7 Months After:
Poster, Advertisement For Seamen
-033-
8 Months After:
Poster, Civil Authority Notification
A U T H O R I T Y N O T I CE
CIVIL
ARE REMINDED THAT
RESIDENTS OF ALL AREAS
drunk unless
water should not be
TED,
APPROPRIATELY TREATREATMENT.
I.E.: THROUGH BOILING OR CHEMICAL
OR WASHING PURPOSES
BE USED FOR DRINKING
RIVER THAMES SHOULD NOT SE.
THE
S OF CONTRACTING COMMUNICABLE DISEA
DUES TO THE CHANCE
T BE
NAL AND WASTE MUS
TEM IS NON-FUNCTIO
ED THAT THE SEWAGE SYS .
PLEA SE BE REM IND
EVER POSSIBLE
INTO THE RIVER WHERE
DISCHARGED DIRECTLY chemicals
dr in ki ng wa te r & water purification
Clean lable at your
are being made avaiTION CENTRE.
BOROUGH DISTRIBU M BOROUGH TO BOROUG
H.
ICLES WILL VARY FRO
THE AVAILABILITY OF THESE ART
SUPPLIES WILL BE
ALLY TAPPING WATER
ANY INDIVIDUAL FOUND ILLEG
SHOT WITHOUT TRIAL.POLICE OR MILITARY

AUTHORITY
BY THE APPROPRIATE
OTHER VERMIN, PLE

ASE VISIT
BITTEN BY RATS OR
BER OF YOUR FAMILY ARE TE LY .
IF YOU MEM MEDIA
H MEDICAL OFFICER IM
OR ANY
YOU LOCAL BOROUG
ON ABOUT
NG OF, OR INFORMATI
INDED THAT ANY SIGHTI
YOU ARE ALSO ONCE AGAIN REM AL WEAPONS SHOULD BE
PAS SED
SOVIET MOBILE BIOLOGIC MILITARY OR POLICE
AUTHORITY.
THE NEAREST CIVIL,
WITHOUT HESITATION TO
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

JUNE 28TH, 1963
-034-
9 Months After:
Poster, Means Of Dealing With Refugees
-035-
R
A
W
Memo, Regarding Refugee Internment Camps
Memo
of
for the purpose
rnment, camps, y internment
Re: Refugee inte e Thames Estuar
T
desirables in th
refugees and un
rrent volume of
es place the cu
O
Current estimat
llowing levels:
camps at the fo
H
city
percent of capa
................. 400
Canvey Island:... 0 percent of ca
pacity
.................. 70
E
Cliffe:............... percent of capa

city
................. 700
Isle of Sheppey:. ent of capacity
H
pe rc
a:............... 150 ty. Current
Southend-on-Se asonable capaci
-036-
d beyond any re one year.
T
camps are fille ible for at least

of the current s will be imposs
be apparent, all e creation of ne
w ca mp
As will doubtless indicate that th
resource levels lation by some
Months After:
manpower and e interned popu

2 :
rve to reduce th ing the camp

d Cliffe should se ees from breach
e of Sheppey an d prevent intern
outbreaks at Isl tain vigilance an
Recent cholera careful to main
st, however, be
degree. We mu
r seas will
perimeters. pected that faire
R
lems, as it is ex
th further prob
ll present us wi
rds next year wi the continent
E
m
The spring onwa es, estimated to
be fro
r influx of refuge and Navy to take
matters
result in anothe
T
to allow the Army

come advisable
rther, it may be
P
y fu
lations swell an
Should the popu
hands.
A
into their own

10
H
C
11 Months After:
Memo, Army HQ Directive
Directive from the desk of Lt. Gen. T G M Fulton,

Officer Commanding, London & Thames Military Region
To all senior personnel:
Over the last week, I have been affording myself the opportunity
to chat with our boys on the ground, with NCOs, junior officers
and senior personnel. I came away from these discussions with
several impressions:
i) Morale amongst the ranks remains good. The increased

rations for soldiers and their dependants have put an end to the
grumbling of three months ago.
ii) Our efforts to replace equipment and manufacture new

stocks of ammunition are not moving as fast as I, or the men on
the ground, would like. We must move faster on this in order to
counter the continuing threat of Soviet Biologicals.
iii) Our relations with the Royal Navy have deteriorated markedly
since my last review. Although we must foster good relations, it
is imperative that the Army, and the Army alone, retains its
position as the cornerstone of our military might.
iv) Those assigned guard duty at internment camps are suffering

an increased rate of fatigue, higher levels of malingering and
shirking and a general lack of discipline. Officers in command
must take a sterner line with these men.
v) Our vehicular capabilities have decreased markedly since

my last review. According to the Quartermaster-in-Chief, we
currently have the following vehicles fully capable in the London
and Thames area:
5 Centurion tanks
42 Humber Pigs
36 Saracens
108 assorted light vehicles
It is vital that we retain a viable mobile force, despite the

spares and fuel situation. It is also vital that we redouble our
efforts to encourage civilians with valuable mechanical skills to
join the ranks.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for you

continued hard work in the name of the Army, Britain and Her
Majesty.
God Save The Queen.
____________________Fulton
-037-
12 Months After:
Letter, Welcome To The Special Situations Group
SPECIAL SITUATIONS GROUP

DOWN STREET HQ, LONDON, W1
Welcome to the Special Situations Group. You have been given a great
opportunity to serve the nation and your final selection means that you are
considered to have skills and abilities of use to the Group.
During the course of your work, you will be exposed to many hazards.
However, you will be well rewarded by a grateful Government. You and
your dependants will receive increased rations and assigned living quarters
in central London.
The parcel you have received from the Quartermaster-in- Chief should
contain the following items:
1 (one) waterproof smock, green

1 (one) field uniform (nature determined by supplies)
2 (two) emergency ration packs
3 (three) packets cigarettes or pouches tobacco
1 (one) pistol, Webley or Browning, per availability
20 (twenty) rounds of ammunition for above
1 (one) revised set identity papers
You should now report to the Duty Officer for assignment to an

Operational Field Unit.
-038-
We l c o m e T o H e l l
People around the world were only too aware of the threat posed by
nuclear Armageddon. Cold War posturing, brinkmanship, puffed-up military pa-
rades, wars by proxy and boastful national pride all did their part. However,
the public was not aware of the hidden apocalypse science.
By mutual consent, the erstwhile allies of Britain, France, the USA and the
USSR kept what they had found in secret German facilities after World War
Two hidden from view. All the while, they fought an ‘Underground War’ in the
shadows. They never talked about the frantic attempts to utilise the technol-
ogy and discover what the other side had in its arsenal.
While the public worried about atomic weapons, intercontinental bombers and
fledgling missile programmes, the true danger lay in the destruction that
could be unleashed by twisted technology.
Then on October 27th, 1962, the world ended.
Nobody is clear why, or how. The Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing and
tension was high. But to this day, there is no agreement over who fired the
first shots, who decided to unleash Hell.
Wireless and telephone reports trickled in from the Continent as mushroom

clouds rose over Berlin, Warsaw and Paris. The reports talked of other
things, of black masses moving across the land, of hordes of seemingly un-
killable soldiers, of holes appearing in the sky. Then the continent stopped
talking. All communications disappeared behind waves of static.
Most people expected the flash and wind of nuclear weapons. Few ever even
dreamed of the Other Weapons. Flotillas of Soviet landing ships appeared off
the East Coast of the UK. The valiant British defenders were never briefed on
who or what those ships might carry. All the while, the country was being pep-
pered by nuclear bombs. Miraculously, London never suffered a direct hit.
The countryside became a battlefield. Whatever the landing ships and aircraft
unleashed swept down lanes and over dales. Britain fought back in kind. But
things started to go wrong. Command and control started to falter, commu-
nications broke down, and discipline wavered. All communications north of
Newcastle stopped. Then the RAF carried out it’s most controversial mission
since Dresden. Someone ordered the crew of a remaining Vulcan to drop a YEL-
LOW SUN nuclear bomb on the research facility at Porton Down.
-039-
Thus was born the infamous Operation INDIGO DIAMOND. It was later assumed
that something had gone horribly, terribly wrong at Porton. The reputation
of the RAF would be irrevocably damaged from then on.
Now there is only Hell. And Hell is right here.
A S e c r e t H i s t o r y
From the end of World War Two, the Cold War waxed and waned. Spies
plied their secretive trades, proxy armies fought in little known jungles and
the superpowers built up their arsenals.
Everyone knew about the atomic bomb. Then there was the hydrogen bomb and
the birth of the thermonuclear age. Bombers designed to drop these weapons
were rolled out in front of an appreciative public: the Valiant, the B-36,
the Tu-95, all displayed in their deadly majesty. In labs across the world,
engineers and scientists laboured for their respective sides. Some of them
had known another master, Nazi Germany. Their new countries overlooked their
previous affiliations out of necessity. Despite the secrecy, despite the
security, the public knew about this.
Ultimately, nuclear missiles and strategic bombers were a cover. An apoca-

lyptically destructive force, but a cover for the darker underbelly of the
Cold War.
The public never knew about the hellish creations of that twisted technology,
of things warped from human flesh, corpses facing the guns for a second time,
or creatures from other places.
All of this was kept beyond secret and all the nations who shared in the
spoils feared what the other was doing. America, Britain, France and the USSR
all held tight to their own scraps and fragments of a greater knowledge.
Every single one perpetuated the lines of research that had started years
before.
Those who had experienced the results of those technologies during the war
were either brought in to the fold, quietly sidelined, or simply made to
disappear. The science was too appalling for the public ever to know.
-040-
Experiments bordered on the religious, sometimes straying over that border.

The scientists and scholars went further, revelling in the hideous results
of their work. Like the nuclear scientists, they convinced themselves they
were working for peace.
There were negotiations between the Great Powers, clandestine meetings in

Vienna, Casablanca and Sarajevo. Each side was too fearful of giving the
other an edge, not wishing to give up anything that might disadvantage them
in the twisted arms race. Vague treaties were mooted, accommodations were
tentatively reached, but nothing was ever made concrete. Nothing ever made
a difference.
All the sides knew that the first strike would involve strange creations and
barely controlled machinery, things that would win the fight without dev-
astating the battlefield. Or so they thought. The USSR reacted to American
missile deployments in Turkey by placing its own missiles in Cuba. The world
was not aware of the other weapons that were in play: The Servitors, the gate
machines, the weaponry of despair.
October 27th, 1962. The weaponry is unleashed. The island nation of Britain
found itself directly in the line of the first assaults. The land was raped
by swarms of things from the blackest nightmares. Holes opened in the sky
and everything changed. And everything started to go wrong. Then the nuclear
bombs started to fall. The realisation that the twisted technology was not
winning the war caused someone, somewhere, to hit the button.
But not all the bombs were dropped by the enemy, Soviet bombers started drop-
ping their payloads on their own territory. Britain, France and the USA did
the same. It was the only defence. The world went into blackout as the dark
creatures swarmed and bombs fell.
-041-
The collapse of Tower Bridge captured by Pvt. R. Francis whilst on watch.
This photograph has since been deemed as classified due the nature of the collapse.
T he Special Situations Group (SSG)

For some tasks in post-war London, the armed forces are considered
too unsubtle, the police not suitably supported and civilians lacking in
training. These tasks include the sensitive matter of collating informa-
tion on twisted technology, tracking down infiltrators and spies, hunting
notable creatures and finding better ways to kill them, investigating ‘un-
usual occurrences’ and so forth. To cover these eventualities, and more,
the Special Situations Group (SSG) was organised.
The SSG came into existence by Government decree a few months after the
outbreak of war, when the situation in London and the south stabilised to a
certain extent and the authorities could turn their eyes towards something
more than the most basic fundamentals of survival. As the Government reor-
ganised itself, the nature of the apocalypse that had befallen the world
was brought into sharper relief for many people. It was decided that, in
the short-term at least, specialist units should be set up to deal with
the situations arising out of the horror.
Thus was born the SSG, which was formed with a core of Metropolitan and
City of London police officers reinforced with scientists, military per-
sonnel and other specialists. The group immediately became one of the
key units fighting any monstrosities that infiltrated London. The first
encounters indicated that many times, there would be human involvement,
so the purview of the SSG was expanded to include hunting for spies, ter-
rorists, traitors and capturing technology and monsters for analysis.
The actual scope of SSG operations remains relatively vague and cross-ju-
risdictional flare-ups often occur between them, the armed forces and the
police forces. Some of the areas that the SSG are tasked to investigate
are distinctly ephemeral, such as the hunting down of ‘terrorists’, a group
described in very vague terms: “any individual or group of persons who are
engaged in, or conspiring to engage in, activities detrimental to the good
order and running of the state.” Needless to say, many SSG personnel find
the ‘terrorism’ mandate particularly hard to deal with.
The Personnel of the SSG

Those who now find themselves working in the dangerous environment of the
SSG are drawn from many walks of life. The attraction of better rations and
a secure place to sleep proved to be an irresistible draw for some, others
-043-
did it out of a sense of duty while others ‘volunteered’ because they were
ordered to by superiors.
In the main, the agents of the SSG can be grouped into three backgrounds:
military, police and civilian. Military personnel are seconded from the Army,
Navy and RAF and retain their rank and privileges. The armed forces have
a deep and abiding interest in the work of the SSG, seeing any discover-
ies that they might make in the light of combat and war experience. Police
personnel, in a similar way to their military counterparts, are seconded and
retain their previous rank. They come from all branches of the constabulary,
some having volunteered for duties with the SSG, others forced against their
will.
The most diverse group are the civilians. Included in this group are indi-
viduals who work for the government (from civil servants to the remnants
of the secret intelligence agencies), scientists and medical professionals,
tradesmen (such as carpenters, welders, fitters and so forth), former sewer
and Tube maintenance personnel (whose knowledge of subterranean London is
highly valued) and even former taxi drivers (who have a detailed, encyclo-
paedic knowledge of the streets of London).
The Structure of the SSG

The SSG is divided into three ‘divisions’ each with distinct tasks and areas
of responsibility:
‘A’ Division - Senior command elements and political liaison personnel, ar-
mourers, maintainers and stores personnel.
‘B’ Division - ‘The Back Room Boys’, scientists and other personnel who do
not venture in to the field but who carry out research, experimentation and
bureaucratic tasks in a number of fixed locations.
‘C’ Division - Teams of field agents, the ones who actually do the dirty work
of the SSG out in the streets and sewers of London and beyond. The field
agents are assigned to Operational Field Units (OFUs) of between three and
six individuals, depending on the task they assigned to carry out.
Obviously, ‘C’ Division is the most visible element of the SSG and is what
most people imagine when they think of the group.
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The personnel of ‘A’ division are often ridiculed behind their backs for be-
ing desk-bound armchair warriors who spend their entire time trying to avoid
getting involved with one of the OFUs.
The Powers of the SSG

It comes as a surprise to some, but the vast majority of the powers associ-
ated with SSG have come about through precedent and convention, rather than
through any formal laying down of the laws under which the group operates.
They do have nominal police powers of arrest and detention, as well as au-
thority to carry firearms, which they are permitted to use as circumstances
mandate.
However, the extent of these powers is extremely vague: detention periods are
ill-defined, the hows and whens of firearm use is a huge grey area and the
actual cross-over of responsibility between the group and other elements of
law enforcement and the military is not entirely clear.
And all of this leads to conflicts with other organisations. The military and
police often see the SSG as encroaching on their turf, despite the fact that
they must contribute resources to it. Various scientific organisations such
as BERB see the equipment and manpower siphoned off into the Group as waste-
ful at best, downright negligent and harmful at worst. And various political
factions see the SSG as a potential whipping boy for the failures of the
incumbent Government and a tool to exercise political pressure.
Factionalism In The SSG

The main, and indeed overwhelming, problem that the SSG suffers from is ex-
treme factionalism. It is a mirror for the overall situation in London, with
each faction engaging in complex power struggles. These factions see the SSG
as a base upon which to build power for the future. It has the possibility
of growing and expanding into a major force, or it could simply slide into
obscurity and oblivion once its job is done and society has returned to some-
thing approaching normality.
What this means is that everyone in the SSG is doing something that hinders
the good working of the group. Some will be seeking to sabotage the reputa-
tions of other organisations, some will be seeking to grab all the glory for
-045-
themselves, still others will be trying to spirit away interesting technology

or specimens. The list of hidden agendas is limited only by the number of
people working for the group.
Consequently, the SSG is nowhere near as effective as it could be. But, de-
spite this, they are the only group dedicated to what they do, as no single
organisation would trust any other organisation to carry out the important
work on their own. The SSG’s existence is therefore a necessity, but that
does not stop all the wrangling, disinformation, sabotage and backstabbing.
GOVERNMENT
The incumbent government desperately wants to hold on to its position for as
long as possible, both during and after the current crisis. Maintaining the
current status quo is top priority for anyone associated with the government
faction and preventing the military gaining an upper hand in the SSG is also
something they are working hard to avoid.
POLITICAL OPPOSITION TO THE GOVERNMENT

Those who are in political opposition to the Government see the SSG as a
mean to dig up dirt, to embarrass the administration and snaffle up scraps of
power. The remaining opposition parties are generally disparate and pretty
factionalised themselves, with only the rather despicable Union Movement hav-
ing much of a popular power base.
TERRORISTS AND OTHER UNDERGROUND FACTIONS

There are many who oppose the Government, military and police through peace-
ful and violent means. From pro-refugee protesters to anti-rationing groups,
many seem to have got their hands on weapons and explosives, while others
seek to effect change through negotiation or protest. In addition to this,
many groups have also placed sympathetic individuals into the SSG. They
could be police officers who see the diminution of their traditional role
as servants of the public as a terrible betrayal by the government. They
might be scientists, secretly disillusioned with the conduct of the war and
the aftermath. They might be military officers sympathetic to the plight of
ordinary people. The choices are many and varied.
-046-
ARMY
The Army wants to consolidate its power as the most important force in the
land. It also desperately wants to get one over on the Navy, particularly
its dominance in power generation. If the Army can work out easier and more
efficient ways of eliminating or using the monsters, it could expand out into
the country once more to make use of forests and coal fields to fire up old
power stations, all under Army control.
NAVY
The Navy still views itself as ‘the Senior Service’, having the primary role
in protecting Britain from further attack. Frivolous Army use of valuable
fuel could be put to better use in increasing patrols by Navy vessels and
expanding the activities of the Navy-sponsored fishing fleet. They also know
full well that the benighted RAF still has a stockpile of nuclear weapons and
wants to get hold of them through whatever means possible in order to use
them against continuing threats.
RAF
The RAF desperately wants to rehabilitate it’s unfairly damaged reputation
and be seen doing something for the good of the people. It is engaged in a
subtle propaganda campaign, trying to win personnel from the equally detested
BERB over to its cause, in the hope that is can become a repository of sci-
entific knowledge on twisted technology. They are also very keen to retain
control of the remaining stocks of nuclear weapons.
POLICE
The consolidated post-war police, made up of the former City of London, Met-
ropolitan and British Transport police force (see page 154 for more detail),
takes the view that the SSG is a bit too loose in its application of the law
and has assumed powers that should rightfully remain within the remit of the
proper authorities, i.e. the police. As they have a fairly large body of
personnel within the SSG, they have considerable influence and seek to limit
the violence exhibited by the group. It would be preferable, from the police
point of view, if the entire operation were brought firmly under the control
of the formal arms of the law.
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INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES (SIS, etc.)

The old intelligence agencies of the Government, MI5 and MI6, exert a shadowy
and little recognised influence in the SSG. It is not entirely clear whose
side the ‘spies’ are on, if indeed they are on anyone’s side. Those on the
outside strongly suspect that the intelligence agencies are riddled with
moles and Soviet agents left over from the war. Regardless, those whose trade
was subterfuge and subversion are rarely trusted.
AMERICAN FORCES
The tiny American forces contingent in the UK (mainly made up of United
States Air Force personnel) would desperately love to find out what the situ-
ation back in the USA is. They see the outwardly altruistic involvement in
the SSG as a means of infiltrating the British armed forces through turncoats
and traitors. The RAF and the Navy are the prime targets of this, as one has
control of the remaining aviation in the UK, the other controls shipping.
Changing policy in one of these forces would help the US cause immensely.
BERB
Despite the decimation of the British Experimental Rocket Bureau during the
war, a goodly number of scientists from the Bureau (including the much ma-
ligned head of the organisation, simply known as ‘The Professor’) escaped the
devastation of Porton Down and made their way to London. As public knowledge
of what the BERB, the military and the Government had been up to at Porton
spread, the BERB became the main target of ire, as scientists were blamed for
all the ills that had befallen Britain. BERB wants to continue its research
and prevent new twisted technology discoveries from falling into the hands
of the military.
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One of nine images recovered from a camera found under
Battersea, in what is now known as ‘Site 87’.
The subjects in the photograph have yet to be neutralised.
C H A P T E R 3 : C R E A T I N G G A M E S & C H A R A C T E R S
P rofile
Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE),
Harwell
Located in Oxfordshire, at the former RAF Harwell, the AERE was first es-
tablished in 1946 and manned by some of the best and the brightest in the
fields of physics, chemistry and engineering. It sought to further the use of
nuclear fission technology for the purpose of generating power.
The AERE was, for many years, at the forefront of atomic and nuclear re-
search, bringing into existence the first fully operational reactor in
Western Europe, and (in the mid to late 1950s) engaging in intensive fusion
research as part of the ZETA project.
Extrapolating from these projects, and given the ample power and security
available at the site (although it was far from leak or spy proof), much
darker experiments could also have taken place. The ZETA fusion experiments,
abruptly halted, may have had more sinister undertones that the scientists
working on it were forbidden to talk about. Why exactly would so much power
be needed? Surely not every one of the reactors at the AERE was required
for the stated research purposes? What secrets lay hidden under the old RAF
base? Certain parts of the government and military may be very keen to see
what can be scavenged from the facilities. If it was not utterly destroyed
during the War, that is.
-051-
Game & Character Creation

The first session of playing Hot War is going to be taken up decid-
ing what the tone of the game will be like, what the situation is going to
be for the characters, who they might meet and some scenes that will come
into future sessions. Then players will set about creating their characters.
Finally, every player gets to set up a scene for their character that tells
everyone in the group a little bit about their experiences. All of this might
take a bit of time, so after it all, it’s best to relax, maybe talk a little
about all the stuff the group has created and think about what the game has
in store.
It is important to remember that players (the people taking the roles of

characters in the game world) have things to do that are quite different from
stuff that the characters (the fictional people that they are taking the role
of) have to do.
Everyone that is taking part in the game has different responsibilities and
different things that they can do to make the game great for all the people
involved. Here’s a breakdown of some of the things that everyone who is tak-
ing part in the game should be doing or thinking about:
In...Collaborative Game Creation

PLAYERS
Take part in the creation of the game situation.
Help and support others.
Each player should be ready to contribute scene ideas by describing photo-
graphs.
GM
Give some background to the world but also let the players have the Players
Primer, this book and other materials.
Note down all the ideas that are suggested and accepted.
Make sure everyone has a chance to contribute and remember to contribute
ideas yourself.
-052-
In...Character Creation
PLAYERS
Create suitable, engaging characters that they want to play and help other
people create characters that they want to play.
Contribute to the tapestry of the game with snippets about the character, the
environment, their traits, agendas and relationships.
Start to learn about how the conflict resolution system functions in play.
CHARACTERS
Will be involved in a scene which says something about their experiences dur-
ing the War and establishes a fact about the War.
GM
Present information about the environment and situation that will help play-
ers to create their characters.
Give guidance on what is and isn’t allowed in terms of traits, agendas and
relationships.
Contribute to the creation of characters by helping players with queries and
giving suggestions.
Show how the GM takes the role of adversity during the experience scenes.
NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
Support or oppose the actions of the players characters in experience
scenes.
In...The Long Term

PLAYERS
Use hidden agendas and work towards resolving them.
Support the goals of other players.
Assist the GM by giving ideas for scenes, people and events.
CHARACTERS
Work towards resolving their hidden agendas.
Build relationships with other PCs and NPCs.
Evolve as a person, change and grow.
-053-
GM
Create and present scenes, situations and conflicts to the players.
Develop and expand upon the game’s setting, taking into account the contribu-
tions of the players.
Identify what the players want from the game, through their actions and through
their characters. Take this information on board and use it in the game.
Support, oppose and engage with the characters.
In...Individual Sessions
PLAYERS
Play the characters!
Respond to and encourage the play of others.
Help drive the play towards meaningful conflicts.
Use narration when successful in conflicts, but be aware of the limitations
of narration, such as the GM gets to reveal the secrets of NPCs, but you can
ask for them.
Accept changes to the character through consequences.
CHARACTERS
Try to meet the challenges that have been set them.
Try to survive in this horrible world.
Try to build relationships.
GM
Provide adversity in the form of challenging situations and NPCs.
Reveal information when it is asked for through narration.
(Don’t block the reveal if the conflict went against the NPC)
Use narration when successful in conflicts, but be aware of the limitations
of narration.
(Put important character decisions in the hands of players)
Will all want something from the PCs.
Give information about the world.
Allow the establishment of relationships, both positive and negative.
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In...Crisis Points & Hidden Agenda Resolutions

PLAYERS
Frame a scene that says what you want about the situation the character finds
themselves in.
Let the scene focus on the character who has hit a crisis point or who is
resolving a hidden agenda.
Contribute to the scene through complications or positive effects, but allow the
player who framed it to have authority over what is happening. (see page 106)
CHARACTERS
Resolve a physical or mental crisis (crisis point) or resolve one of their
hidden agendas.
GM
Support the player who has framed the scene.
Suggest possible courses of action or means of resolution.
Will be there to support the story of the main character.
Before getting started with creating characters for a game of Hot War, every-
one who is taking part should pitch in to thrash out what the game is going to
be like, what the tone will be and certain elements of how it will be played.
This requires a few stages, but there are plenty of thoughts, examples and
advice interspersed through the text.
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Closed & O p e n G a m e s
There are two ways to use all of the dark secrets, hidden agendas and
mysterious histories that characters in Hot War can have. In an ‘open’ game,
players are aware of each other’s secrets, while in a ‘closed’ game this
information is unknown to the players at the beginning of the game.
What is a closed game?

Put simply, a closed game is one in which the players are unaware of the
hidden agendas of any characters other than their own. They may develop an
inkling of what these are as the story develops, but at the start, they will
have no clues as to the hidden motivations of the other characters.
Character creation should still be a collaborative, communal process but

there will be certain elements that remain outside the sphere of group dis-
cussion. Hidden Agendas are the very obvious elements, where each player will
decide the agendas for their character with the GM. Players may also choose
to keep elements of their character’s histories secret from each other (al-
though the GM should be aware of these).
Closed games are ideally suited for those groups who want to have that real
feeling of not knowing exactly what the other characters are up to and what
their motivations are. There is also the excitement of exploring and deci-
phering the motivations of a character, both in character and as a player.
Like completing a tricky clue in a crossword puzzle, the sudden realisation,
and potential revealing of the hidden agenda of another character can provide
great satisfaction and rewarding moments of play.
However, the closed game does place a lot of responsibility on the shoulders
of the GM, as she is the only figure at the table to have full knowledge of
all the characters secrets. The GM must have a thorough understanding of
what it is that the hidden agendas represent and how they feed into what the
individual players want from the game experience. This requires much discus-
sion.
When embarking upon a closed game, it would certainly be helpful to the GM if

she takes some time after game creation to pull her thoughts together, study the
characters and all the many things which stem from the game creation process.
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This is even more important in a closed game than in an open game, as there
is a greater responsibility on the part of the GM for bringing elements such
as hidden agendas in to play.
In Hot War, the division of roles within a closed game is very much sets
the GM up as the holder of ultimate authority over the story. Much of the
responsibility for bringing conflicts into play lies with the GM. However,
each player should be aware that he or she should be bringing conflicts into
play in a manner which enhances the overall story.
What is an open game?

As you may have already guessed, an open game is one in which all of the par-
ticipants are aware of the hidden agendas and other secrets of all characters
taking part. As we will see, there are advantages and disadvantages to this
in terms of ongoing play.
The process of creating characters for an open game should, by its very
nature, involve a great deal of collaboration and co-operation between play-
ers. Knowledge of hidden agendas gives players powerful tools to bring con-
flict and tension into the ongoing story by ‘pushing the buttons’ of other
participant’s characters.
An open game requires trust amongst the group that the players will use
the information at hand to advance the story, rather than use it purely to
advance their own character and agendas. Whilst hidden agendas are vitally
important to the story and to the individual characters, the agendas of one
character should not be allowed to dominate the story.
The open game does, to a great extent, take a lot of weight from the shoulders
of the GM. Rather than one person being aware of the hidden secrets round the
table, there are many who are aware, so they can all use this to improve the
flow of play and the story being told.
Within an open game, there is a certain ‘blurring’ of the line between the
traditional GM/player roles. While there is still a GM, some of the responsi-
bility for driving play is devolved from the GM onto the other participants
round the table. As they have full knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses
and hidden secrets of the characters in play, participants should use this
knowledge to push the game on, to bring issues into scenes and enhance the
experience of everyone around the table.
-057-
The role of the GM should, always, be to challenge the characters and provide
antagonism (through NPCs and situations) and adversity. Everyone round the
table can and should contribute to this, players should not hold back from
saying “Wouldn’t it be cool if...”
Players should be abundantly aware that a large part of the responsibility

for creating the story, bringing elements of the game into play and so on,
lies with them and not just the GM.
G a m e C r e a t i o n
Before the group creates the characters whose stories the game will
revolve around, but after having a chat about open and closed games, everyone
needs to collaboratively make a few more decisions. This is easily handled
by following the stages given in the following guidelines.
Nobody should be sidelined nor should their concepts be discarded without a

fruitful discussion of the value of the ideas by everyone at the table. This
must include ideas put forward by the GM as well as ideas put forward by
players. Even discarded ideas should be noted down, as they may turn out to
be useful and valuable at some point in the future.
It is also worth noting that this stage should not pre-plot the game in too
much detail and write the story before it actually comes out in play. This
process allows the game to be painted in broad strokes and gives everyone the
chance to have their input into that. Too much detail at this point makes the
game less exciting and less of an adventure.
Tone
Hot War does deal with serious, grim issues. However, the actual tone of the
game is very much dependant on what an individual group feels is appropriate
and what they are comfortable with. ‘Tone’ is simply a way of defining what
the game will be like in terms of darkness and horror. Along with each tone
are listed a few films or television series that evoke such a tone. If you
are unfamiliar with an of these, then a quick look at an on-line reference
such as Wikipedia or the Internet Movie Database would provide a good start-
ing point.
-058-
THE ‘QUALITY BBC DRAMA’ TONE

Strong characterisation and difficult personal situations are the hallmarks
of this particular tone. Scenes should be powerful and dramatic, but can
often be quite low key and subtle.
Inspirations: ‘Doomwatch’ (TV series), ‘Edge of Darkness’ (TV series), ‘The

Quatermass Experiment’ (TV series), ‘Quatermass & The Pit’ (TV series)
THE ‘POST-APOCALYPSE’ TONE

Taking its cues from the post-apocalypse films that first appeared in the
1970’s onwards, this tone should emphasise action and adventure, but will
also put the characters in situations with powerful moral or ethical dilem-
mas.
Inspirations: ‘28 Weeks Later’ (film), ‘Escape From New York’ (film), I Am
Legend (book), The Omega Man (film)
THE ‘BRITISH CATASTROPHE’ TONE

Typified by the work of authors such as John Wyndham, this tone is quite nar-
row in its scope and focuses on the travails and troubles of a small set of
individuals. There is little concern for the overall big picture (although
this is not true in every single case), but instead has greater concern with
the development of the characters involved.
Inspirations: ‘The Day The Earth Caught Fire’ (film), ‘The Day of the
Triffids’ (book and film), Quatermass (TV series)
THE ‘DARK HORROR’ TONE

This tone focuses very strongly on the sheer horror and desperation of the
situation at hand. It does not have to necessarily be gory or bloody, but it
certainly can be if the situation calls for it. Dark horror would focus on
the most horrible aspects of the setting and they way it affects the lives
of those thrust into the situation.
Inspirations: ‘Creep’ (film), ‘Death Line’ (film), ‘Threads’ (film)
-059-
What are the characters doing?

This is a simple question, but one that has great impact on the way the game
will run. What does everyone at the table want to happen in the game? What
will the main thrust of the activities of their characters be? What events
would the GM like to see occur and affect the characters? There are many op-
tions here, depending on what everyone wants.
Some groups may decide that they would like to have a game where the charac-
ters are heavily involved in physically hunting down monsters (this could be
‘mission based’, with assignments handed down on a regular basis).
The GM should, in the main, act as a ‘chairperson’ in this situation. She

should be taking on board what the players want from the game and reacting
to what they say. However, the GM should also be aware that things she wishes
to see in the game should also have an effect and should take an equal part
in the discussion.
Examples:
The characters will be working undercover to bring down a local politician who is trying to build a power
base of his own in one of the outlying boroughs of London.
The characters are tasked with investigating and hunting ‘something’ or someone that has been killing
and kidnapping children in the Southwark area of the city.
The characters get involved in a devious Navy plot to steal a nuclear weapon from the RAF.
The characters are effectively secret policemen, charged with monitoring and suppressing seditious
elements and security threats. They do a lot of undercover work, trying to ingratiate themselves with
the worst-off elements of society.
There is also the chance, here, for players to start thinking about what they
would like their characters to be, to come up with a basic concept or idea.
Who are the antagonists?

This is a chance for players to pipe up about the opposition they would like
to see in the game, what they might be doing and what they are like.
-061-
As always, this should be in fairly broad-brush terms, with the GM fleshing

out the antagonists and creating appropriate stats for them during pre-game
preparation.
Antagonists will be returned to during the character creation process (on

page 82), so everyone should throw things in that they really want to see and
to have their characters come into conflict with.
Examples:
A power hungry local politician with pretensions to greatness.
A British soldier who was captured by the Soviet GK-11 Field Regiment during the early days of the
war and subject to experimentation and torture. He now manifests strange powers and uncontrollable
madnesses.
A cabal of Navy officers who see the use of a nuclear weapon as a way to solve the problem of Soviet
gate technology still active north of London, once and for all.
A cabal of military men and dock workers, colluding to control the black market in food and medicine.
A Soviet agent who is working to gain control of the London’s criminal underworld as a way of undermin-
ing the Government.
Who else is involved?

Who else will be encountered during the course of the game? Are there
friends, allies, old enemies, family members, lovers or colleagues who will
pop up in the course of the story?
This does not have to be an exhaustive list and, of course, new characters
will pop up in the game, be created on the fly or re-appear from previous
games. However, this gives the opportunity for participants to say “This
person is important to me and I would like to see them in the game at some
point”.
Like antagonists, these ‘other people’ will be encountered again during

character creation (on page 82), so everyone is really encouraged to create
people that they really want to encounter in the story.
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Examples:
A kindly, elderly local doctor who has a deep and abiding concern for the people of his borough.
The distraught and near-hysterical mother of a missing child.
A Fleet Air Arm pilot who is very suspicious of his superiors and their intentions. He has warm relations
with RAF personnel.
A charismatic, but deranged, religious leader, preaching from a battered soap box in Speakers’ Corner.
A character’s aging and very ill mother.
What scenes do we want to see?

This is an opportunity for the players to suggest scenes that they would like
to see in the game, with one restriction: scenes must be described in the
form of a black and white photograph. They have to be a stark, frozen moment
in time, captured on film.
So, the scene can contain background, foreground, people, light, dark, ac-
tion, quiet, but only things that can be captured by a photograph. This pre-
vents the pre-telling of the story and allows the GM to blend the suggestions
of the players into scenes she frames during the game.
Examples:
The photograph shows a street crowded with people, their faces twisted in anger and fear. Mothers hold
children close to them. Many people are carrying stout sticks and hefting broken bricks.
The photograph shows a manhole cover with blood pooling around it. The characters are all in the shot,
their faces in shadow so it is hard to tell who is who. It is obviously dark and the only light comes from
a hand-held lamp.
The photograph shows the deck of a Navy motor gun boat, moving slowly up the Thames. Something is
hidden beneath tarpaulins and a number of senior Naval officers are clustered in the small cabin.
The photograph shows a large safe, its door lies open. Money, in bundles of notes, fills the safe. There
is no-one in the shot.
-063-
The photograph is taken from high up, looking down through a chain link fence into what was a school
playground. People sit chewing on body parts.
The photograph shows The Mall, during a street celebration of some description. Ragged people are
standing by the side of the road, holding tattered flags. Their faces are frozen in horror as Admiralty
Arch explodes, sending deadly shrapnel flying.
The photograph shows a street scene in front of a row of terraced houses. A young woman is pushing
a rusty pram in the foreground. The front window of one house is absolutely filled with faces pressed
against the glass, screaming in terror. The passers-by are oblivious.
The photograph shows a dingy basement pub, filled with people who are laughing and smiling as they
watch a man tell a joke. On closer inspection it is clear that almost everyone in the shot has a deformity,
such as radiation burns of missing limbs. Crypto-fascist posters hang in the background.
Each player should suggest one or two photographs which the GM can then in-
corporate into the ongoing story. As the game progresses and the scene pho-
tographs get used up, the GM should ask the players for further suggestions,
based on what they would like to see in the game.
How long do we want the game to last?

Is this game going to be a one off, maybe played out over one or two ses-
sions of game time? Is it planned to be longer, maybe four or five sessions
of play? Perhaps everyone wants the game length to be open ended, coming to
a conclusion when everyone feels the stories of their characters have been
told to their satisfaction.
Everyone should feel comfortable about the length of game they will be play-
ing. A game is a commitment of peoples valuable time, so nobody should feel
compelled to give up more time than they feel is fun for them.
The length of the game can also have in impact on the Hidden Agendas that
each character will have. Without going into too much detail at this stage,
each hidden agenda will be ‘rated’, telling you how many times it can be used
before it must come to some form of conclusion (either in a positive for
negative way for the character). You can turn to page 77 for more information
on how Hidden Agendas and their ratings work.
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Once all of the required information has been drawn together, the entire
group should feel satisfied that they have created a good foundation on which
to build an engaging and satisfying game. Through suggestions from players
and the nature of the characters they have created, the GM should be aware
of what everyone wants from the game. The players should also be aware of
what the GM wants from the game through her participation in the discussions.
There should have been equal opportunity to throw ideas into the ring and
have contributions taken on board.
As a final note to this section, it is important that the creation process

does not go in to too much detail at this stage. The majority of the detail
should come out during play, as the result of conflicts and the contributions
made by the GM and players. Plotting too far in advance can result in the GM
telling the story she wants to tell, rather than everyone creating a story
in which their characters are protagonists who’s choices make a difference
to what is taking place.
In other words, do not pre-judge the game; do not write the story prior to
the game being played. Do use the framework to create games that are fun for
everyone round the table.
If you’re planning on running a single-session game, perhaps at a games con-

vention or similar event, then it might be useful to work out the details
that the creation process elicits beforehand. To help with this, you’ll find
a selection of pre-filled game creation sheets in the appendices (see page
194). If you’re short of time, then one of these can be grabbed in order to
provide the basis for a game.
Example:
Caroline, Debbie, Joe and Stephen have decided to start playing a game of Hot War. As Stephen has read
most of the book and feels that he can take on the role of the Game Moderator, everyone agrees he
should step into the role.
Stephen: So, first off, we need to decide what the tone of the game is going to be.
Debbie: What does ‘tone’ mean in relation to the game?
Stephen: Well, the book says it’s best to think in terms of cinematic, television or literary styles. So, we
can have a ‘BBC drama’ tone, like old black and white series like the Quatermass programmes...
-065-
Joe: Could we make it a touch like old film noir movies, like ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘The Third Man’?
Just thinking in terms of the morality and stuff.
Stephen: Yep, we could do it like that.
Caroline: Hmm, I’m not that familiar with those films. Do I need to have watched all of this to play the
game?
Debbie: No, not at all.
Stephen: That’s true. Anyway, there’s a sample list of tones here in the book, perhaps you’d all like to
have a look through them and see if one takes your fancy?
Joe: Sure.
Debbie: I’m liking the idea of a post-apocalyptic film noir type game, as long as Caroline doesn’t mind?
Caroline: No, as long as you guys can point me in the right direction, that seems fine.
Stephen: Cool, so I’ll put down the tone as ‘Post-apocalyptic noir’. Now, can anyone think of any indi-
vidual words or phrases that sum up the kind of things we see in our tone?
Caroline: Desolation, desperation, hopelessness. Things like that.
Joe: Yeah, absolutely. I’m seeing rain-drenched alleyways littered with rubbish and rubble. Perhaps
during the autumn?
Stephen: Hmmm...well, the game text actually says that it takes place in the winter...
Debbie: Autumn could have some nice images in it though: leaves falling in parks, watery sunsets and
stuff. I like it.
Stephen: Oh, I’ve no problems with it, just musing out loud. I’d like to throw in ‘betrayal’. I can see a lot
of that coming out of what we’ve discussed.
Caroline: And bureaucracy and how it drives us nuts. Even thought the world has gone to hell, there are
still bureaucrats who stick to the rules! I don’t want to have big scenes where we have to go through
lots of stuff filling out forms, but I’d like to have stuff in there that shows even people doing our kind of
job have to deal with that kind of thing.
Joe: Nice!
-066-
Stephen: Good one. Any other suggestions?
Debbie: None from me just now.
Joe: Not at the moment.
Caroline: Nope, not for now.
Stephen: OK, so that means we have ‘desolation’, ‘desperation’, ‘hopelessness’ ‘rain drenched alley-
ways’, ‘autumn in London’, ‘betrayal’ and ‘bureaucracy’ as touchstones for the moment. We can always
add to them as we go along. The next bit is to decide what it is the characters are doing. This basically
means we decide what the main thrust of the adventures is going to be. Personally, I like the idea that
we’re involved in investigating something really big that could have a major impact on the situation in
London, maybe even a bigger area. Any thoughts on that?
Joe: Hmm...something big sounds good, maybe some kind of secret weapon that everyone is searching
for.
Caroline: Yeah, but not a weapon like a gun, maybe a weapon that has something to do with words,
codes and language?
Debbie: That sounds good. Maybe there is something hidden in certain transcripts or messages that acts
as a weapon of some kind. I don’t known. Stephen, you’re going to have to run this game, does that sound
like something you could work with?
Stephen: Sounds good to me! So what we have is the investigation into something that is really big and
significant, a weapon that relates to codes and language, with stuff hidden in radio messages, tape
recording and transcripts. I like that.
Caroline: I feel that’s giving me an idea for a character already!
Stephen: Grand, now, we have to think about who the antagonists are going to be.
Debbie: Soviet military intelligence, without a doubt. One of those three letter acronym groups.
Joe: I think the GRU were the military guys.
Stephen: Well, there might be remnants of them scattered about England, hiding out and trying to report
back home or still carry out their orders. But yeah, having the GRU as big bad guys could work. I’d also
like to see some monstrous involvement here, but not in the sense of shambling horrors and stuff.
-067-
Caroline: How about someone who worked on the ‘weapon’ just before the war, but has been changed
by it? Maybe he or she has developed some sort of monstrous powers because of the weapon? Perhaps
that’s the side effect?
Joe: Perhaps everyone is hunting this person and they are becoming more desperate? So, the Special
Situations Group, the Army, the Navy, the Americans, everyone and their dog is trying to get hold of them.
I’d like to see some shambling horrors, actually, but not too much.
Stephen: Well, we can always bring some of that kind of stuff in. I like the concept of the former sci-
entist who got changed by their own experiments. Not sure what the ‘powers’ might be, but I can work
on that. So, now we have to think about who else is going to be present in the game. Are there any other
people we really want to see coming in to it? From what we’ve talked about already there should certain
be some overly officious superiors with the SSG who cause trouble. Reports in triplicate and all that.
Debbie: Undoubtedly. Someone should have it in for us, but not be overly antagonistic, just bureaucratic.
I think they should be military desk-jockeys, those kind of characters are always good for being stuffy
bureaucrats!
Joe: Not a total stereotype, though. I think they should be a bureaucrat, but maybe they challenge the
stereotype somehow. I’d like to see former Soviet soldiers come in to it. Maybe veterans who are now in
POW or internment camps, the kind of guys that give us information in exchange for a can of Spam.
Caroline: I like the idea of having peoples families involved, if the characters have families. I’m certainly
thinking that mine might.
Stephen: That’s all cool stuff, duly noted. Just a couple of bits to do now. Are there any scenes that you
would really like to see come up in the game?
Joe: How do you mean?
Stephen: Well, think of it like a black and white photograph, are there any particular moments you’d
really love to see come into the game. Like, maybe, a scene in an old abandoned grain silo, or a scene
where you revisit places from you past life and stuff. That kind of thing. Describe it as a moment in time,
captured in a single instant
Joe: Right, got you. I’m thinking of a grainy photo of the River Thames, with Battersea power station in
the background. There’s a small rowing boat on the water and there are four people in it. Three of the
people are our characters, but we can’t make out who the fourth person is.
Stephen: Yeah, that sounds cool. Anyone else?
-068-
Caroline: Well, this kind of focuses on whatever character I might have, but there is a young boy kneel-
ing on the ground and my character is being handed a pistol by a grimy, unpleasant looking man.
Stephen: Harsh!
Debbie: It’s probably a cliché, but I can see a dimly lit Underground station. The light is very poor and
the photo is fuzzy, but there is a gun battle going on, the photo has captured the flash of a revolver being
fired.
Stephen: OK, that’s a good little selection we have going on there. Finally, how long do we want the
game to last? This will influence some of the stuff in character creation, like rating your hidden agen-
das. It can go from one session to as long as you want. Myself, I’m kind of keen not to be GMing for more
than a few weeks.
Caroline: Well, how about we say the game will be four sessions, as we’re playing once a week.
Joe: That sounds fine, we can always extend it out by a session or two if things are going really well and
there’s some other story stuff we want to bring in. Debbie?
Debbie: No objections from me.
Stephen: Excellent, that suits me fine. Well, that’s us done with the basic game prep, so now we can kick
into creating characters and I can start making up some of the NPCs.
-069-
Test subject #34521 during our third
series of physiological examinations.
Lab assistant Reeves was injured

during the procedure.
Testing will continue indefinitely.

Ch a r a c t e r C r e a t i o n
The heart of any Hot War game is engaging characters, people whose sto-
ries everyone round the table is invested in. This chapter gives the means by
which these protagonists can be created by looking at the different aspects
of Hot War characters and what they mean in the context of the game. This
section also offers numerous examples to aid in your own creations.
Players should create characters which satisfy them and give them opportu-
nities to take part in a story which is enjoyable for them and the other
participants. Character creation discussions around the table should be free
flowing with connections between characters established, even at this early
stage. Depending on whether the game is open or closed, discussion may in-
clude hidden agendas and secret parts of the characters’ pasts.
What Makes A Character?

Any character is made up of four core elements. These elements are attri-
butes, traits, hidden agendas and relationships.
ATTRIBUTES
Characters have three attributes: Action, Influence and Insight. Action tells
us how they interact with the world in physical terms, their tenacity when
things get rough and their fighting skills, reflexes and combat experience.
Influence shows us how capable they are at interacting with the world around
them through their social skills, by their reputation as a maniac, their
suave sophistication or keen understanding of blackmail. Insight measures how
they interact with the world around them through applied intellect, knowledge
or experience.
For player characters, all of these attributes are rated on a scale from one
to five, with one being the lowest and five the highest.
TRAITS
Traits are skills, talents, quirks or characteristics that make the character
a unique individual. They can cover a huge range of things, from the ability
to fire a gun to the fact that the character is always unlucky in love. One
thing to note about traits is that they do not always have to be positive
things, they can also be negative.
-071-
HIDDEN AGENDAS
Hidden Agendas define a character’s motivations in Hot War. They are the
stuff which drives the character on, things that really matter to the char-
acter or instructions from a higher authority.
Agendas come in two kinds, factional and personal. A factional hidden agenda
is a command or order from a higher authority, whether it be the government,
military organisation or some other group to which the character reports. A
personal hidden agenda is something that is, as the name suggests, deeply
personal to the character, something that they wish to resolve themselves.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships between the characters in Hot War can be a powerful force. They
can help in a positive way, but can also lead to betrayal and backstabbing.
During the process of character creation, the players will decide with whom
they have relationships with, be it other players’ characters, factions or
people beyond the SSG, and assign a numerical value based upon this deci-
sion.
Beginning Character Creation

First off, everyone round the table (apart from the GM) should come up with a
basic concept for their character. This can be as simple as a few scribbled
words, a couple of sentences or even a paragraph of description. However, it
is best not to go into too much detail at this stage, as much of the charac-
ter will evolve and grow during the creation process and, most importantly,
through play.
Example:
Now that they have gone through the game creation process, Caroline, Debbie, Joe and Stephen are now
ready to create the characters they will be playing. As Stephen has taken the role of the GM, he won’t be
creating a character himself, but will still be able to kibbitz and comment as characters are created. He
can also use this time to create some of the NPCs that will be encountered during the game.
Caroline has decided that she would like to play a military type, a Royal Navy officer who has been as-
signed to the SSG. She says he is called Geoffrey Beaumont and is a Lieutenant Commander. That’s all
she wants to say about him for now.
-072-
Debbie muses on the possibilities and decides to play someone who is a bit at odds with Beaumont, a
young chap called Watson, who’s a bit of crook and is being forced to work for the SSG on behalf of the
Army, who caught him stealing.
Joe wants to play someone solid, reliable and trustworthy, so he plumps for a policeman, a London
bobby who now finds himself engaged in far stranger work than he ever imagined. He decides to call
him Bob Neames.
Assigning Attributes
Each of the three attributes start at a level of one. The highest level that
an individual can reach in any attribute is five. So, normal people will have
attributes that range from one (very, very poor) to five (exceptional).
Each character also gets five additional points to spend on attributes,

though none may go above five
Example
Caroline wants Beaumont to be a bit on the deranged side, having been badly affected by the War. But
he still retains his cool, easy charm and winning smile. She says that he will have very low Insight,
not because he is stupid, but because his mental faculties are a bit scrambled by everything that
has gone on.
Action: 3 Influence: 4 Insight: 1
Debbie sees Watson as someone who is not afraid of a fight, if it comes down to it, but would rather
talk his way out of a situation. However, he never went to school, so he is not very well educated or
knowledgeable.
Joe has been thinking about Neames and figures that he is probably a bit older than the other two
characters and probably even more tired of everything that has gone on. He has seen a lot and there is
a weariness about him that bows his shoulders and furrows his brow. Still, he is not a stupid man, nor is
he lacking in the ability to deal with people face to face.
-073-
Creating Traits
The next step after choosing attributes for the characters is creating their
traits. Traits are a way to measure and say more about what the character is
like as a person, what their skills and talents might be and how their past
experiences have influenced them as people.
Traits have the potential to be both positive and negative. A positive trait
is something that is useful to the character in their life. A negative trait
is something that can potentially disadvantage the character or cause them
trouble, mental problems or physical issues.
During the character creation process, each player can choose three positive
and two negative traits for their character.
Creating appropriate traits is a challenging, but rewarding experience for

players. There is a definite ‘sweet spot’ to hit when coming up with effective
traits. They should neither be too broad so they apply to almost every situa-
tion, nor should they be terribly narrow and only applicable to certain well-
defined situations. In addition, traits that actually say something about the
character and give a real feel for what they are like as a person are great,
helping to give everyone an insight into what the character is like.
Open discussion of traits can be beneficial and everyone at the table should
contribute to the process. One person might come up with a suggestion that is
too broad, but a comment from another participant might transform the broad
suggestion into a perfect trait. Also, traits ideas that are discarded by one
person might prove to be ideal for another character.
The examples below are marked as either positive (+) or negative (-) depend-
ing on whether they tend to be more negative or more positive.
Example Traits for...
...characters with academic experience

Clinical detachment (-)
Guilty of participating in abominable experiments (-)
Has a keenly analytical brain (+)
I am well regarded in academia (+)
Knowledge of twisted technology experiments (+)
My reputation in academic circles is somewhat tarnished (-)
-074-
...characters with bureaucratic experience

Does everything by the book (-)
Extremely bureaucratic and officious (-)
Obsession with small details (+)
Paragraph, clause, section, I know them all (+)
Susceptible to charm and persuasion (-)
Works very well under extreme pressure (+)
...characters with combat experience
Commander who knows how to give orders and motivate men (+)
Hard as nails (+)
Injured and not as tough as he once was (-)
Sickened by the violence (-)
Stubborn and sticks to plans, no matter what (-)
Unlikely to be ambushed (+)
...characters with espionage experience
Burned by treachery (-)
Can’t trust anyone (-)
Has gone too far out into the cold (-)
Knows how, and when, to run (+)
Mr Man, blends in to the background (+)
Polyglot. Speaks several languages (+)
...characters with police experience
Can spot trouble at a glance (+)
Heavy-handed (-)
The law is the law (-)
Works happily in a hierarchy (+)
...characters with political experience
Contacts within the political system (+)
Enemies within the political system (-)
Evasive (+)
Politically astute (+)
Politically naive and unworldly (-)
...characters with physical disabilities
Appearance elicits sympathy from others (+)
Deafened by artillery (-)
Limp slows me down (-)
My missing right arm makes me very strong with my left (+)
Near-sighted and requires glasses at all times (-)
People under-estimate me (+)
-075-
...characters with psychological problems

Arrogant and considers him/her self better than others (-)
Bigoted and hates foreigners - all foreigners (-)
Hates him/herself, did many brutal things during the war (-)
I’ll never stop hunting you (+)
No compunctions about killing people (+)
Obsessive/compulsive about people following him/her (+)
...characters with a troubled history

Back street brawler (+)
Because of the War, I now feel no revulsion (+)
Can’t stand bullies (+)
Everybody is capable of evil (-)
I trust nobody but myself (-)
Saw too much horror during the War (-)
...characters who have generalised traits

Cheerful optimist who is often surprised (+)
Far too trusting for his/her own good (-)
Impulsive and likely to jump in with both feet (-)
Intimate knowledge of the local area (+)
Likeable and fun to be around (+)
Talk the hind leg off of a donkey (-)
The above list should give a good idea of the range traits can cover, both
negative and positive. When creating traits for your character, consider what
the character is like and what you want them to be and create traits than
make the character a person.
Examples:
Caroline has been thinking hard about what traits to give Beaumont. Taking into account the facts she
has already established about the character, that he is a military man and is charming but slightly off
his rocker, he gets the following traits:
I cover up my mistakes (+)

Handsome and popular (+)
Well drilled in weapons (+)
Hates himself for what he has done (-)
Irrational and easily spooked (-)
-076-
Debbie is working through the details of Watson in her mind, trying to get an angle on what would be the
best traits to say something about him. He is a bit of a rogue, but can be a bit of charmer when he wants
to be. Given his background, it is likely he can handle himself in combat as well.
Brimming with the confidence of youth (+)

Always wise to the scam (+)
Trying to be responsible now (+)
Doesn’t think things through (-)
Fond of the drink (-)
Joe has a pretty strong idea of what he wants Neames to be like. He is sickened by the ongoing violence
and degradation that he sees all around him in the city of his birth. At the same time, he has a seething
hatred and desire for revenge that Joe has not yet worked out. So Neames gets the following traits:
“Copper” is just another word for someone who knows what shits people are (+)
This is where I grew up (+)
I’m going to take revenge (+)
I’ve taken one too many beatings (-)
My anger sometimes gets the better of me (-)
Creating Hidden Agendas

Hidden agendas are those secret desires, orders and motivating forces that
drive the character onwards. As has been mentioned before, they fall into two
types: Factional and Personal. Every character will have one of each type.
A Factional hidden agenda is something that the character has been ordered
to do by the government, military superiors or some other organisation that
can influence or exert power over the character. The Factional hidden agenda
has been assigned to them either before joining the SSG, or during their time
with the organisation and it is something they must strive to accomplish,
whether they like it or not. All Factional agendas must share one thing in
common: they must be imperative, they must compel the character to act, to do
something that will advance the agenda. Furthermore, they should be something
that their character either fully supports or resents. The character should
not have an ambivalent reaction to their factional hidden agenda.
-077-
Examples:
Bring senior military figures into the fold of our cause. We must have more support and more fire-power
in order to achieve our aims! (Citizens Defence Army, see page 154)
Find out who the leader of the Citizens Defence Army is, find him or her and kill them! (Government,
see page 146)
Foment major civil unrest! Get the people stirred up so the Government is forced into increasingly dra-
conian action that puts us in a good light! (The Union Movement, see page 148)
Make friends with some RAF boys and get them to give you the location of their remaining long-range
aircraft. We need to send a mission to America! (United States Combined European Command, see page
153)
Someone is spreading black propaganda amongst disaffected national servicemen, causing more and
more desertions. Hunt them down! (Army, see page 150)
A Personal hidden agenda is, as the name suggests, something that is far more
personal to the character and is, often times, something far more deep seated
than a Factional agenda. It can be a personal mission, a psychological compul-
sion or a dark secret that they must hide from the gaze of the world. Personal
agendas, unlike Factional agendas, do not have to be imperative but they must
be exciting to the player and must be achievable in the context of the game.
Examples:
Become a player in the East End black market, even if it means treading on others.
Find out what happened to me in the Zone of Alienation during the War.
I want to set up schooling to educate children. Without education, our society will simply fall further
into darkness.
The McFadyens are local gangsters in my manor and they’re making peoples lives a misery. I’m going to
use my position to take them down!
All hidden agendas should not only give the opportunity to bring some great
character stories into play, they should also be personality exciting and
interesting for the player of the character. Even better if they are also
exciting and interesting for everyone else round the table. You know you’ve
picked a good one when the rest of the table cheers.
-078-
When creating agendas the players must consider is how long the player wants
it to be before the agenda reaches some form of conclusion. This not only
tells everyone how long the agenda will be affecting the character, but also
says how many times the agenda can be used to influence conflicts before a
conclusion must be reached. This acts as a pacing mechanism within the game
and devolves much of the pacing responsibility on to the player.
Hidden agendas are to be rated as three, five or nine. So, a hidden agenda
rated at five can be used five times in conflict before it must reach some
form of conclusion (see page 120 for more on how this functions in play).
For single session games, setting both hidden agendas at three is often a
good idea. For longer games, setting the level of the agendas higher can be
good.
The lower the rating, the more powerful the agenda is in the short term.
An agenda rated at three will be small in scale and very immediate for the
character. Whereas an agenda rated at nine would be larger in scale, but less
immediate for the character. Agendas give bonus dice in a conflict, depend-
ing on their rating:
An agenda with a rating of three gives a bonus of 4 dice when it is brought

into a conflict
An agenda with a rating of five gives a bonus of 3 dice when it is brought

into a conflict.
An agenda with a rating of nine gives a bonus of 2 dice when it is brought

into a conflict.
A rating three agenda is powerful and likely to reach a conclusion pretty

fast, Whereas, a nine is more of a slow-burn, it is less powerful in the short
term, but gives more bonus dice in the long term.
Setting the rating also regulates how often the agenda gets used. As they are
powerful forces in a conflict, it’s advisable that players do not use them
willy-nilly, simply to have a better chance of gaining a successful outcome
in conflicts. Hidden agendas should only be used in situations where there
is a chance of using them to gain some sort of meaningful advancement. As a
hidden agenda can only be used once in any scene (see page 102 for more on
this), the level indicates how many scenes it will take before the agenda
is resolved.
-079-
The two agendas that a player selects for their character do not have to be
rated at the same level. Indeed, it could be the case that one can be at one
end of the spectrum (a three) and the other can be at the opposite end (a
nine).
Examples:
Beaumont quite obviously has strong ties with the Navy, so Caroline says his factional hidden agenda
will be something that is going to put the Navy in an even greater position of power. His personal hidden
agenda, however, is going to be something far more bizarre and messianic!
Factional Agenda: Suborn Army personnel working for the SSG and uncover their bloody secret fuel
dumps in the Estuary! Rating: 5
Personal Agenda: Gather as many refugees as possible, releasing them from camps if need be, and lead
them to a better life somewhere in the countryside. Rating: 9
Debbie has already established that the Army has Watson under its thumb by using the fact that his
father was in the Army for many years. They can play on this by saying that working to help the troops
is “..what your Dad would have wanted”. His personal agenda will be something more romantic and
small-scale.
Factional Agenda: Undermine the Navy monopoly in power generation, maybe even by sabotage!
Rating: 9
Personal Agenda: Get Mary Pike to marry me. Rating: 3
Joe has now decided that Neames is actually working for the British Experimental Rocket Bureau, be-
cause he believes that, even though science led to this mess, the scientists probably offer the best way
out of the spiral of violence and horror. An old friend from the Met put him in touch with BERB.
Factional Agenda: If you spot a monster, ID it and bring it back alive for tests! Rating: 3
Personal Agenda: I want to find redemption for the death of my family. Rating: 9
-080-
The remains of a Bayonet Trooper recovered from Wood Green. The subject is thought to have been killed by civilians.
Relationships
Loyalty, trust and friendship play a big part in Hot War. Are your fellow
team members in the SSG trying to subvert the organisation for other ends?
Are they in league with more sinister forces? What about the faction that
backs you? Do you trust their motivations? How loyal are you to that faction?
What about friends, family and loved ones? What kind of relationships do you
have with them?
In order to reflect this element, each PC will start the game with four or
more relationships. Each relationship describes a person or organisation that
the character has a bond with. At the outset, the character must have:
At least one relationship to another member of the team.
At least one relationship relating to the faction they are part of, which can
be with the faction as a whole or an individual within the faction.
At least one relationship to someone who is part of their private, personal

life: a close relative, friend, lover or companion.
At least one relationship with someone mentioned as an antagonist or ‘other

people’ during the game creation process.
On the character sheet, you’ll notice spaces for keeping track of rela-
tionships. There’s space for the name of the person or organisation the
relationship is with, the numerical value of the relationship, whether the
relationship is positive or negative and a space to write in a relationship
descriptor. The descriptor is just a short sentence describing the relation-
ship. There is one rule regarding this: the descriptor should state what the
character thinks the subject’s of the relationships opinion of them is.
Starting PCs have eight points to spread between the relationships that they
choose. Relationship levels can vary between zero and four, although no re-
lationship can start at zero, they start at a minimum of one. Relationships
can be positive or negative, and can change from one to the other during
the course of the game. A positive relationship is one of trust, loving and
nurturing. A negative relationship is one of distrust, bad feelings and
destruction. Positive relationships give a bonus to dice pools if they are
being used to support, empower or help someone, or to strengthen the bonds
of that existing relationship. Negative relationships give a bonus to dice
-082-
pools if they are being used to harm, disempower or bully, or if there is an

attempt to make the relationship less negative. Character must start with at
least three points in negative relationships.
Examples:
Some example relationship descriptors might be:
She knows I hit the bottle too hard
Frank thinks of me like a brother
I know Mary doesn’t love me as much as I love her
He doesn’t believe I can make anything of myself
They only want me around for my contacts
Relationship Meaning
0 Ambivalent or indifferent
1 Some emotional investment.
2 A definite attachment.
3 Real emotional energy.
4 A consuming relationship.
The players and GM should feel free to discuss the reasons for relationships,
offering hints and suggestions to each other and taking on board things
that other players might come up with in order to further develop their own
characters.
The post war period is one of fragility, violence and the struggle for sur-
vival. Therefore, people can behave irrationally, loyalties can waver and
break, paranoia can be rife. But, it is also good to have friends that you
can call upon in times of need. Having trustworthy colleagues, friends and
superiors can make things so much easier when faced with the horrors of day
to day life in 1963.
The process of creating relationships and the characters and groups that go
with them gives all participants a feel for the other people who inhabit the
world. It gives the GM and players useful tools for scenes, stories and situ-
ations and a ready made cast of characters to drawn upon.
-083-
Examples:
Debbie figures that Watson has a negative relationship at 1 with his team-mate Neames, giving the
descriptor “I worry he thinks I’m just an idiot kid”. She also states that he has a positive relationship
at 2 with Lawrence Cardy, an old Army friend of his dads. Cardy is the one who is his ‘controller’ in the
Army and she gives the descriptor “I know he wants me to be like my dad”. Watson also gets a negative
relationship at 2 with Sergeant Gudge, a stuffy, bureaucratic clerk in the SSG, a relationship that has
the descriptor “I bet he thinks I’m nicking stuff”. Finally, she adds a positive relationship at 3 with Mary
Pike, who he wishes to marry, appending the descriptor “I don’t know if she sees me as a long term
prospect”
Joe decides to spread the relationships that Neames has around a bit more, figuring that he doesn’t
have really strong ties with any one person. There’s young Watson, his team-mate, with the descrip-
tor “He must think I’m a stupid old fool”, which is a 1 point negative relationship. Then he also has
a 2 point positive relationship with Beaumont, his other team-mate, with the descriptor “With his
education, he must look down on me”. Then he establishes a 1 point positive relationship with the
BERB, stating that “I feel they don’t fully trust me yet”. His brother comes in to play, as yet un-
named, but with the words “he’s not sure I’m the same person any more” attached to him. This is a
2 point negative relationship. Finally, there are relationships with a couple of people in the area that
the characters will be operating in: there a thuggish goon (1 point negative relationship), with the
descriptor “I bet he still just thinks of me as a copper” and Dr Wilkinson who “Has known me since I
was a kid” (1 point positive relationship).
Caroline establishes a few relationships for Beaumont, putting 1 into a positive relationship with
Neames, with the attached descriptor “I worry he thinks I’m stuck up”. She then brings his old C.O in the
Navy into it, Vice-Admiral John James Newcastle, with a strong positive relationship, sitting at 3 and the
descriptor “He keeps his eye out for me, but I’m sure he worries”. Beaumont also has enemies within
the SSG, putting 3 points into a negative relationships with Major Boyd, adding the descriptor “I think he
sees me as a traitor”. His final relationship is with a single mother, Martha, whom he met while working
at the refugee camps. She has a young son named Charlie. She puts the final 1 point into this and the
words “Maybe she just sees me as a way out?”.
The Experience Scene

The Experience Scene is an element in the game that takes place between the
end of character creation and the beginning of the game proper. It is an
opportunity for players to create a scene that says something about their
characters, their background and how they came to be involved in the SSG.
When characters have been finalised, the Experience Scene for each character
can take place.
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The player of a particular character should decide what they want the scene
to be, when it takes place and which NPCs are involved. There are a few re-
strictions on this:
1) The scene must take place either during, or in the immediate aftermath of
the War, preferably in the first week, when the struggle for survival was at
its most brutal.
2) There must be conflict in the scene. This conflict can be whatever the
player chooses for their character.
3) What takes place in the scene should not result in the character either
being killed or prevent them from being part of the SSG.
4) The scene must establish a fact about the War. This can be something very
personal, such as the fate of the character’s home town or it can be large
scale, such as an event which affects many thousands of people. These facts
should be noted, collated and re-cycled back into the game.
Beyond this, the player is entirely at liberty to frame and create a scene
as they see fit. The player can designate who will play the role of NPCs
within the scene and who will be providing opposition in the conflict that
takes place. However, once the player has framed the basis of the scene, it
is the duty of the GM to bring in a meaty conflict that is really going make
the character act.
The player in question can bring whatever attribute and trait combination
they feel like into the scene, including negative traits. They roll their
pool against an opposition pool of 5 dice. However, each participant round
the table (excluding the player whose character is the focus of the scene)
can choose to either add or subtract a die from this pool. They can do this
for any reason: they think it would be better for the character to succeed/
fail, they thought a line of dialogue was particularly apt or they like some-
thing someone did in the scene. The only rule here is that the minimum dice
pool for the opposition is one die. If the character wins the conflict, then
they can take an additional positive trait that relates to what happened in
the conflict. If they lose the conflict, then they take an additional nega-
tive trait that relates to what took place in the conflict. See page 98 for
more detail on how to resolve conflicts. The exception to the normal rules
is that in an experience scene, the players whose scene it is always gets to
tell the story of the outcome, no matter if they succeed or fail.
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Examples:
Caroline has thought carefully about what kind of scene she’d like to have for Beaumont and states that
she is going to have one that outlines his derangement and lack of reasoning. A Soviet tank landing ship
containing some sort of esoteric portal device has beached itself in Romney Marsh on the South Coast.
Beaumont is leading a motley combat group of Navy personnel, Royal Marine and Army troops trying to
destroy it. The battle is going badly. Three Centurion tanks burn next to the sandbagged bunker that
Beaumont is commanding the battle from. Two Fleet Air Arm Hawker Hunter fighter bombers streak in
low, firing rockets into the ship.
At this point, Stephen states that he knows what the conflict is going to be all about. Beaumont is losing
his head and losing the battle. Men are screaming at him for direction, bodies are flying and he knows
that his superiors will run him through the mill if this goes wrong.
Caroline says that Beaumont is using Influence and adding the traits ‘I cover up my mistakes’ and ‘Hand-
some and charming’, totalling five dice in her pool. Going round the table, Stephen and Debbie decide
to add one die each to the opposition pool, whereas Joe decides to take a die away. This leaves the
opposition pool at six dice.
Caroline: 4, 6, 9, 10, 10
Opposition: 4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8
It’s a success for Beaumont and Caroline tells the story of the outcome, saying that the next we see of
him is on the banks of the Thames, somewhere in London, being decorated with the Military Medal by
an Admiral. In the background, plumes of smoke spiral into the air from the burning city. Beaumont
has covered up the fact that he behaved in an incompetent manner all the while gaining respect in the
eyes of his superiors. This scene establishes the fact that the British forces won a Pyrrhic victory at The
Battle of Romney Marsh. Beaumont also gains the positive trait ‘Decorated hero’.
Joe steps up, as he has an idea for a scene involving Neames.
The day after the first strike on Britain and having already lost many members of his family, Neames
fights his way up to Tring to make contact with his sister Alice and her son Cameron and make sure that
they’re all right. He finds their house empty and, searching through the town, discovers a commotion
on the high street.
Stephen steps in here and suggests that a group of soldiers are holding some civilians at gun point.
They’re being led by a young, frightened looking Army officer, who is holding a pistol and has Alice
and Cameron up against a wall. Other townsfolk have gathered around, and the air feels charged with
potential violence.
Joe has Neames step forward and demands to know what’s going on. The officer looks around at him,
his eyes wide and sweat running down his face. “I’ll not have any looting,” he says, his voice cracking.
Neames tells him that there’s obviously some mistake and tells him to calm down, but the officer just
repeats the phrase “I’ll not have any looting” over and over.
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Stephen suggests that a conflict is already presenting itself and there should definitely be a roll right
here to see what the outcome might be. He suggests that the arena might actually be Action, because of
the physical nature of what is going on here. Joe disagrees and says it’s more likely to be Influence that
comes in to play here. Agreement is reach that it’s going to be Influence.
Joe picks up three dice for Influence and another die for the trait “Copper” is just another word for
someone who knows what shits people are. That gives a total of four dice.
Everyone else round the table feels that failure would be far more dramatic than success, so they all add
one each to the opposition dice pool, giving a total of eight. The dice are rolled.
Joe: 3, 3, 7, 9
Opposition: 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10
Knowing that Neames has lost, Joe tells the story of what happens. Panicked by the situation, Cameron
starts to run. The officer, hand still shaking, sends a shot after him and misses. An almost audible sigh
of relief ripples through the gathered crowd. Then a calm settles over the officer, he takes more careful
aim and shoots again. Cameron jerks and falls to the ground.
The crowd erupts into violence. Neames grabs his sister and drags her to safety, abandoning the body of
her son. The fact is established that the Tring riots began with the murder of an Army officer at the hands
of an enraged mob of civilians. Neams also gains the negative trait ‘Distrusts the Army’.
Character Creation Summary

1. Concept
2. Attributes. Action, Influence and Insight all start at 1. You have five
additional points to spread amongst these, as you see fit. The highest any
attribute can be is five.
3. Traits. Choose three positive and two negative traits for the character.
4. Hidden agendas. Choose a Factional and Personal hidden agenda for the
character and choose a rating for both.
5. Relationships. Work out who the characters have relationships with and
to what level.
6. Experience scene. Each player should have the chance to frame and play
through an experience scene for their character.
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Entrance to quarantined Tube Station at Holborn.
Investigations into the 60 foot deep hole discovered in
the floor of the station are ongoing.
Pre-generated Character #1
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Smithson’s well known image of an unknown member of the British Army.
The photograph was taken during the first identification of the Zone of Alienation.
C H A P T E R 4 : P L A Y I N G T H E G A M E
P rofile
ROTOR Bunkers
After World War Two, it was patently obvious that the huge but by now ob-
solete CHAIN HOME radar network was not going to provide the protection it
once had. A new system was planned out and named ROTOR. Much of it would
be based upon the CHAIN HOME network with some new additions to the complex
of bunkers and installations. The most notable of these additions were the
Sector Operations Centre bunkers. These were the largest installations in
the entire network and served as command locations for the six air defence
sectors of the UK. They were located at Barnton Quarry (Edinburgh), Bawburgh
(Norfolk), Box (Wiltshire), Kelvedon Hatch (Essex), Langely Lane (Preston),
Shipton (North Yorkshire).
Needless to say, developments in jet propulsion, radar and weapons technol-

ogy rendered ROTOR obsolete only a short while after it was implemented. In
fact, the development of the Type 80 radar just a few short years away, which
offered both warning and control capability, made ROTOR obsolete and over
manned. However, the bunkers were retained and served a variety of differ-
ent purposes during the Cold War, including communications centres and local
government emergency facilities.
The underground facilities themselves were all quite large, having two or
three sub-surface levels and warrens of rooms dedicated to a variety of pur-
poses. Most, in their latter existence, also had small, emergency British
Broadcasting Corporation television studios.
In Hot War, these places would make interesting hideouts or locations for
dangerous experiments.
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This chapter gives the rules and mechanisms for playing out games set in the
world of Hot War. It covers setting up scenes, resolving conflicts, evolving
the characters and the creation and use of NPCs.
Scenes & Scene framing

The basic unit upon which stories are created in Hot War is the scene.
So, what exactly is a scene and who does what in them?
A scene is a situation that contains the following:
Character (in the form of PCs and perhaps NPCs)

Context (what the scene about, what is going on)
Place (the setting and environment)
Many scenes will also contain another vitally important element: conflict. It
should be noted, however, that not every scene must or will contain conflict.
Scenes can take place that simply establish character and place without con-
flict which requires rolling the dice. That being said, it is likely that
a majority of scenes WILL contain conflict, as it is conflict that really
drives the story and drives the evolution of the characters.
The way that scenes are set up in the game is through scene framing. Scene
framing is the basic outlining of where the scene takes place, who is in-
volved and what is going on. In Hot War, the GM has the task of framing in-
dividual scenes. This is a major part of their authority in the game. While
everyone round the table can suggest scenes they would like to see come up
during the game (as discussed on page 63), it is the job of the GM to bring
these scene into play, to outline them and to bring in the conflict (if there
is going to be conflict present in the scene).
While the GM has the responsibility to frame the scene and set up its basic
situation, the players have the authority to say what their characters are
doing in the scene, Once the GM has framed the scene, she should give all
players an opportunity to react by stating what their characters are doing
and how they are involved and make relevant comments about the scene. Players
should also feel free to throw in sights, sounds and smells that they feel
would enhance the scene.
When framing scenes, the GM must not let them meander along, one into another,
with no real distinction between them. Each scene should be individual, but
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should relate to the story as a whole. Knowing when to cut a scene and move
on to the next one is a vital skill for the group to develop. Anyone round
the table can suggest that a scene should end if they feel it has reached
a natural conclusion or is dragging on too long. This does not necessarily
mean that the scene has to end right there and then. Maybe others feel a
few more lines of dialogue or another small snippet of description would add
to the scene. Still, once one person has called for a scene to end, that’s
a pretty big sign that it should probably come to a conclusion in the very
near future.
In scenes that contain conflict, they will normally end once the narration
has been completed following the conflict resolution procedure. The GM should
also feel free to ask players if there are scenes that they would like to
see (in addition to using the scene setting photographs discussed on page
63). Suggestions from the players can be extremely helpful in guiding play
and might be a help if the GM is struggling to think of an appropriate scene
that might come next.
There are some situations where the players have the power to frame scenes.
These are the experience scene (which happens during character generation
and gives an insight into the past of the character, discussed on page 84),
a crisis point for a PC (where the consequences of a conflict have caused the
character to experience trauma of some kind, discussed on page 116) and the
resolution of a hidden agenda (where the character concludes the story of one
of their hidden agendas, discussed on page 120). However, in all other cases,
the GM has the ultimate authority to frame and set the scene.
Possible Scene Locations

On an old London Underground train
In a dark alley somewhere in the desolate London suburbs
In an illegal pub
At the riverside, somewhere in the Thames Estuary
In an ill-lit, filthy and overcrowded hospital ward
On an dirt strewn length of main road
At a once popular tourist destination such as the Natural History Museum
In a filthy, rotting, once grand flat
In the fuselage of a grounded aircraft at Heathrow airport
By an old public swimming pool, now bilious green with fungus
On a boat speeding down (or up) the Thames
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In a military bunker
In the middle of a bridge
An empty, broken-windowed office building
In a graveyard haunted by feral dogs
A former private school, now a teeming refugee centre
On one of the tiny, wooded islands in the Thames
On the platform of a Tube station
In the corridors and rooms of an old railway station hotel
On the grounds of the huge Cane Hill lunatic asylum
A long abandoned, pre-war construction site
In a cavernous inter-connector, where many sewers come together
On top of one of the tallest buildings in London
In a cell at one of London’s many prisons, such as Wandsworth
In a factory, kept running by the military
At a seedy brothel
In a fine old church
In the remnants of London zoo
In the middle of a railway line
At the gates of the Isle of Sheppey Internment Camp
The site of a massacre carried out by monsters
Under the bullet-riddled Nelsons Column in Trafalgar Square
The Botanic Gardens, now serving as greenhouses growing vegetables
By the gutted, burned out hull of a tank in the middle of a crossroads
Conflict R e s o l u t i o n
There are times in games of Hot War when the PCs will have differing
goals from NPCs or maybe even from each other. When this situation arises,
then the mechanics presented here are used to resolve those conflicts, to see
who is successful and what the consequences of success or failure are.
What is a conflict?
In the most basic of terms, a conflict is the situation described above. Two
or more individuals or groups have differing goals which need to be resolved
for the story to move along. A conflict does not have to be one that involves
violence, it simply must be a meaningful situation where both sides seek
different outcomes.
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The most important word in the above paragraph is meaningful. Conflicts

should never be about trivial things, rather they should seek to advance
the story, evolve the characters or both of these at the same time. In the
majority of circumstances, it will be obvious if something is worthy of being
called a conflict and the dice should be broken out.
Conflicts are also situations where something is being risked. In game terms,
this means attributes, traits and relationships. By bringing these into a
conflict, they are being put at risk of change. Change can be positive or
negative, depending on the outcome of the conflict. However, when a conflict
takes place, characters will always change as a result of it.
Examples:
The following is NOT considered a conflict:
Neames and Beaumont are arguing over whether to take rifles or sub-machineguns out on a patrol.
Although this is something that the characters are arguing over, it isn’t meaningful as it has no real in-
fluence on the story at hand. The choice of weapons and who gets to decide what they are isn’t important
enough to warrant a conflict. There is nothing being risked, nothing is really at stake.
The following IS considered a conflict:
Neames and Beaumont are arguing over the fate of an Army deserter they have come across in the
course of their duties. Neames thinks he should be handed over to the military so that they can ingrati-
ate themselves with the Army and wheedle information out of senior officers. Beaumont knows the man
will probably be shot or sent to a punishment battalion and thinks he should be let go.
This is a meaningful conflict. It involves a decision regarding the fate of an individual and highlights the
differing views and attitudes of the two characters. There are also risks for the characters, risks that
exist for both sides.
If there is doubt over whether a situation is a conflict or not, the ultimate

arbiter is the GM. She gets to make the final call on whether a situation
warrants use of conflict resolution and everyone round the table should re-
spect the decision. Open debate prior to this is encouraged (even mandated)
and everyone should feel free to voice their opinion in a reasonable manner.
However, the discussion should not be allowed to drag on for more than a
couple of minutes. If it threatens to derail the game, the GM should make a
call and this call should be respected. A perceived bad call by the GM can
be discussed in greater detail after the game.
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Before any dice are rolled, it should be clear as to what the conflict is
about. This does not mean that the sides involved must state explicitly what
they want, that would be akin to pre-judging the outcome. There should be
consensus about what the conflict relates to, what it is about and what the
risks might be.
Only when the dice are rolled and the outcome known, will we see who has
become the victor and what the actual outcome will be. Do not try to tell the
story of the outcome prior to the dice being rolled.
Example:
Stephen, still acting as GM, has framed a scene, outlining that Neames, Beaumont and Watson have been
stopped in a dimly lit, filthy backstreet in Shoreditch by an armed Army officer who is quite obviously on
the make. The officer wants to arrest them for behaving in an extremely suspicious manner in order to
take them back to HQ and nick their ration cards and valuables.
Stephen is playing the officer as very aggressive and antagonistic and everyone has agreed that there
is definitely a conflict. Joe has decided that Neames will not be taking part in the conflict and will be
standing back, looking on in worry at the potentially explosive argument. Caroline has stated that Beau-
mont is in full argument mode and really wants to get involved in the conflict. Debbie has decided that
Watson isn’t getting involved and is some way down the street, keeping lookout.
The Conflict Arena

An arena for conflict essentially decides what means will be used to resolve
the situation. There are three arenas, each of which relate to an attribute
possessed by PCs and NPCs. The arenas are as follows:
Physical - This means that Action will form the basis for the dice pool
Mental - This means that Insight will form the basis for the dice pool
Social - This means that Influence will form the basis for the dice pool
Which arena the conflict takes place in should be pretty obvious from the
outset, although there should be room to debate and discuss, albeit briefly.
It might be the case that someone will argue in favour of an arena where
their character is stronger, which is not an unreasonable position to take.
However, the arena used should be appropriate to what is going on, what has
already been played out in the scene and what the goals are.
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Example:
Now the group has to decide the arena for the conflict. Debbie suggests that physical presence might
be getting used to try and influence things: therefore, the Physical arena should be used. Caroline and
Stephen disagree, both saying that the conflict should still remain in the Social arena, using Influence.
Debbie sees the logic in this and the group agree that the conflict will use Influence.
Creating a Dice Pool

Once the reasons for the conflict have been decided and the arena for the
conflict worked out, everyone involved works to create the pool of dice they
will roll to determine the outcome. Creating a pool follows a few stages that
need some explanation. But, once you’ve created a pool a couple of times, it
is a very quick and intuitive process.
The basic platform upon which all pools are built is a single attribute,
determined by the conflict arena. As mentioned above, physical conflicts use
Action, mental conflicts use Insight and social conflicts use Influence.
Each person involved in the conflict should pick up a number of dice equal
to the attribute being used.
If the GM does not have a set of details created for NPCs in a given situa-
tion, then there a few guidelines for the number of dice to roll in off-the-
cuff situations:
If the opposition (either an individual or a group) are incompetent, idiotic,

cowed or otherwise not very capable, then the GM should simply pick up a pool
of three dice.
If the opposition are reasonably competent, experienced in such situations

or presents a moderately stern challenge, then the GM should simply pick up
a pool of five dice.
If the opposition are very competent, experienced, unafraid of the PCs or

have some form of advantage in the situation, then the GM should pick up a
pool of seven dice.
If the opposition present a very serious challenge to the PCs, have wide
ranging experience in the situation, are confident or otherwise highly ca-
pable, then the GM should pick up a pool of nine dice.
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Example:
Caroline picks up four dice, representing Beaumont’s Influence of four. Stephen has created some NPC
information about the Army officer (see page 131 for more on creating NPCs) and picks up three dice,
representing an Influence of three).
Bringing in Hidden Agendas

The next stage in creating the dice pool is to determine if hidden agendas can
be brought into play. Using a hidden agenda makes a powerful statement about
the conflict: it says that this conflict is very meaningful for the character
and could advance (or retard) the agenda in a significant way. Because a
hidden agenda can only be used a certain amount of times before it reaches a
point of resolution, bringing one into play should be considered seriously.
The GM frames scene that can challenge hidden agendas, but players should not
feel that they must use them every time it might be appropriate. Deciding on
when to use hidden agendas helps to pace the game.
Hidden agendas should not simply be brought in to a conflict only to gain a

mechanical advantage. They are powerful features and significant elements of
a character’s make-up and they should be treated as such
If a hidden agenda is brought into play, then it adds a number of dice ap-
propriate to its rating. So, if a player is bringing in an agenda rated at
nine, they get to add 2 dice to their pool.
Example:
Stephen knows that the officer has no hidden agenda in the situation outlined above, so makes no
changes to his dice pool for the moment. On the other hand, Caroline looks at the hidden agendas she
has created for Beaumont and thinks that his factional agenda “Find gullible individuals in the Army and
turn them into moles to increase Navy influence and knowledge.” might be appropriate here. This offi-
cer, while a pretty low level type, could be a useful route into the Army command structure. She decides
to bring Beaumont’s factional hidden agenda into play and therefore gets to add 3 dice to the pool.
The dice pools currently look like this:
Stephen (GM): 3 Caroline (Beaumont): 7
In this conflict, Beaumont already has a big advantage due to the fact that Caroline chose to bring in a
hidden agenda.
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It should be noted that only one hidden agenda per character can be brought
into play in any one conflict. Even if a character has two hidden agendas
that might be appropriate, only one can ever be brought in to the conflict.
In addition, as soon as a hidden agenda is brought into the conflict, one of
the boxes on the character sheet representing hidden agenda usage must be
crossed off.
Another important factor is that, especially in the case of factional hidden

agendas, the character may want to fight against what they have been ordered
to do. It may be interesting in terms of story and character development if
the hidden agenda is something they do not wish to do. In this case, the
player may be looking to bring in the hidden agenda in situations where the
chance of failure is high.
Bringing in Traits
When Traits are brought in to a conflict, they add one die each. So, if a
player chooses to use two of their characters traits, then they get to add
two dice to their pool. Trait use must follow one very important rule: Any
trait brought in to the conflict should be APPROPRIATE.
Bringing traits into a conflict which only have the most tenuous of links to
the situation at hand is frowned upon and discouraged by the group. If such
‘trait whoring’ is seen to happen at the table, then the other participants
are at liberty to raise the issue. Once the appropriateness of a trait has
been raised, if two or more participants agree that it is inappropriate, then
the trait cannot be used in this conflict.
And, just as the trait use itself must be appropriate, then objections to the
use of a trait must also be appropriate and reasonable.
Bringing a trait into a conflict means that it will be put at risk. In es-
sence, this means that the trait could be changed as the result of conflict
consequences. Winning the conflict means that the trait could be changed in
a positive way. Losing the conflict means that the trait could be changed in
a negative way. The only situation where a trait could be brought in and not
fundamentally changed in this manner is if the trait is ‘locked’ which means it
can be used without fear of change. Traits can only be locked as the result of
consequences (see page 110). The only consequence that can applied to a locked
trait is ‘unlocking’. PCs do not start the game with any locked traits.
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Both positive and negative traits add a die to the pool, but they are handled
in slightly different ways. Any dice for negative traits should use a die
that is easily recognisable. So, if all the dice in the pool are black, then
a negative trait die should be white or some other light colour. Using a
negative trait in a conflict still gives you an advantage like a positive
trait, but it can have negative outcomes for the character. This is discussed
in full on page 119.
Example:
Stephen looks at his pre-generated NPC notes for the Army chap and browses his Traits. Only one of
them seems appropriate for the moment, and it is: “Dedicated to getting rich”. Everyone round the table
agrees that this is a reasonable trait to bring into play on the part of the NPC.
Caroline takes a look through the traits that she created for Beaumont and decides to bring in the
positive trait of “Charming and highly likeable” and the negative trait of “His temper can sometimes
get the better of him”. Debbie speaks up, voicing the opinion that these traits seem somewhat mutually
exclusive and questions whether some Army type would really be susceptible to Beaumont’s charm?
Stephen agrees with this, so Caroline decides to use just the negative trait.
The dice pools currently look like this:
Bringing in Relationships
The next stage in assembling a dice pool is to bring in any relationships
that might be appropriate to the situation. Relationships can only be brought
in if they have a direct impact on the situation or if the conflict at hand
will influence the relationship. Positive relationships give a bonus to dice
pools if they are being used to support, empower or help a person or group,
or to strengthen the positive bonds of that existing relationship. Negative
relationships give a bonus to dice pools if they are being used to harm,
disempower or bully, or if there is an attempt to make the relationship less
negative.
Bringing a relationship into a conflict also puts it at risk. The relation-

ship is subject to positive and negative consequences just like traits.
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Relationships can benefit either side in a conflict, depending on who brings

the relationship into play. Work out who gets first chance to bring in a
relationship using the following rules:
With a positive relationship, the owner of the relationship always gets first
option on using the relationship.
Example:
Neames has collared Watson, who is on his way to an assignation with a local girl of dubious morals. Debbie de-
cides that she will initiate a conflict, representing the fact that Neames is trying to stop Watson. Joe assembles
his dice pool, but chooses not to bring in his relationship with Mary Pike, the girl Watson hopes to marry. Debbie
decides that she will bring in Watson’s positive relationship with Mary Pike. This represents Neames using the
relationship to persuade Watson not to jeopardise his chances just to get a one night stand.
With a negative relationship, participants other than the owner of the rela-
tionship always get first option on using the relationship.
Example:
Beaumont is having a set-to with Morely, a bullying work-gang leader who he has built up a sizeable
negative relationship with. Stephen, playing the role of Morely, would get the choice of using this nega-
tive trait under normal circumstances. But, as the conflict is with the object of the relationship, Caroline
can decide whether or not to use it to aid Beaumont’s chance of beating Morely up. She decides to use
the relationship, using the anger and resentment represented by the negative relationship.
There are crucial exceptions:
When the conflict is with the object of the relationship, the tables are
turned. If the owner is in direct conflict with someone with whom they have a
positive relationship, they always get last option on using the relationship.
If the owner is in direct conflict with someone with whom they have a negative
relationship, they always get first option on using the relationship.
In both cases, if the side with first choice does not choose to use the re-
lationship, then other participants in the conflict may use it.
A relationship can only be used once in a conflict, regardless of who actually

used it and there must be valid, appropriate reasons for using relationships.
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Example:
The players involved in the ongoing conflict discusses whether or not relationships are going to come
in to play. Looking at the various relationships that Beaumont has, Caroline suspects she might be able
to use the relationship that Beaumont has with Vice-Admiral Newcastle, bringing his name into things
and threatening dire retribution from the highest ranks of the Navy! This gives an additional 3 dice to the
pool. However, if things go wrong, then bringing in this relationships means that it is being put at risk.
At this stage, the dice pools look like this:
Other Factors
The final stage in creating a dice pool is to take into account social,
environmental or physical factors that could influence the outcome of the
conflict. Everyone round the table who is not taking part in the conflict is
allowed to add or subtract one die from the pool of any participant. In order
to do this, they must state a factor that is affecting the situation and why
it is affecting the individual they have chosen to aid or hinder.
The addition or subtraction of dice by other people round the table is an

important indicator of how they would like to see the story go, whether the
GM has set the difficulty level appropriately and reinforces the tone, genre
or drama.
Example:
Neither Watson nor Neames are involved in the conflict, so Joe and Debbie have the option to add or
subtract a die each from the pool of a participant. Joe thinks that the officer deserves a bit more of a
chance and opts to give a die to that pool. He states that there is a patrol of soldiers at the far end of
the street, giving the officer extra confidence. Debbie takes this idea and states that Beaumont has also
noticed the soldiers out of the corner of his eye, seeing that one of them has started to walk towards the
group. She takes a die away from Caroline’s pool.
At this stage, the dice pools look like this:
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Synopsis of Dice Pool Creation

1. Acknowledge that there is a conflict taking place and that dice should
be rolled.
2. Decide if the conflict falls into the Physical (Action), Mental (Insight)
or Social (Influence) arena.
3. Pick up a number of dice equal to the attribute being used.
4. Decide if any Hidden Agendas are being brought into play.
5. Decide if any traits can be brought into the conflict.
6. Can relationships be brought into the conflict?
7. Everyone not involved in the conflict can either add or subtract one die
from one pool.
Now it is time to roll the dice!
Rolling The Dice

When goals have been set and the dice pools created, it is time to actually
roll the dice and determine the outcomes. Who will succeed? Who will fail?
How will it affect the story? How will it affect the characters involved?
Each participant should take the pool of dice they have created and roll
them (if more than two people are involved in the conflict, use the rules on
multiple person conflicts on page 108). Make sure each pool is kept separate
from other pools. Do not get the dice all mixed up!
So how does this work? Everyone rolls their dice and looks to see who has
rolled the highest number. In order to gain victory you must roll higher
numbers than the numbers rolled by the opposition. The more dice that are
higher than an opponents number, the better. The amount of higher dice is
known as the level of success.
If both sides have rolled the same highest number, look to see if one side has
more of that number than the other side. Remove dice of the same number on
a one for one basis until only one side is left with any of that particular
number. So, if Allison rolled 2, 4, 7, 10, 10, 10 and John rolled 4, 5, 6,
6, 10, then one 10 from each side would be removed, leaving the dice look-
ing like this: Allison: 2, 4, 7, 10, 10 and John: 4, 5, 6, 6. Allison would
therefore have three dice higher than John, making her the winner with a
level of success of three.
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Example:
Stephen and Caroline roll their dice pools and come up with the following results:
Stephen (GM): 1, 2, 2, 4, 4
Caroline (Beaumont): 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9
The highest number gained for the officer is 4, whereas Caroline rolled a 9. Caroline rolled a rather impressive
five dice higher than the highest result for the officer. Caroline is the victor in this situation.
Interpreting the Dice

As previously mentioned, in order to achieve your goal, you are looking to
get dice which are higher than the highest number rolled by the opposition.
If there are more than two participants involved in the conflict, more than
one character might gain success but only one character can be termed the
victor. It is important to note that the term ‘victor’ can only be applied
to the person who gains the greatest amount of success.
Example:
Because Caroline rolled five dice higher than Stephen’s 4 she is successful and is termed the victor. She
will receive additional rewards.
Once the victor is determined, it is important to note their level of suc-

cess because it will help determine the consequences that result from the
conflict. If, however, the highest die rolled is a negative trait die, please
refer to the rules for the use of negative traits on page 119.
Example:
Caroline got five successes in her roll against the officers. This translates to five ‘points’ that can be
spent on consequences.
But what if more than two people are involved in the conflict?
There will sometimes be occasions when PCs actively want to work together to
have a better chance of succeeding at a single goal or multiple people may be
involved in the same conflict. In the first case, if it is agreed that two or
more PCs are working together and they have a common goal, they can add their
dice pools together. This, however, is subject to a few additional rules.
-108-
One PC must be designated as the ‘acting’ character. This character can bring
in attributes, traits (both positive and negative), hidden agendas and trust
to their pool. All other PCs taking part in the conflict are designated
‘supporting’ characters and they can add to the pool with their attributes
and traits. They may not, however, bring their own hidden agendas into the
situation. They are permitted to bring Tools into the situation, subject to
the normal rules about appropriateness.
All participants may be subject to consequences as part of the outcome of the

conflict. In the case of victory, it is the player of the acting character
who has authority over the assignment of consequences.
Example:
Beaumont, Neames and Watson are faced with the terrifying form of a rogue Soviet Servitor as they
sneak through the ruined lanes of Shoreditch. This pulverising wave of blackness threatens to engulf
and kill them all. Caroline suggests that they co-operate against the monster in order to have a better
chance of defeating it. Joe and Debbie agree to this plan.
Beaumont is designated the acting character, which makes Neames and Watson the supporting charac-
ters. Beaumont has an Action of 3 and Caroline adds to the pool two appropriate traits. Watson also has
an Action of 3, but no traits that are seen as appropriate, so Debbie gives Caroline three dice. Neames
has an Action of 2 and Joe brings in two appropriate traits. So, he gives Caroline 4 dice.
Working as a group, the PCs now have a pool of 12 dice to roll against the servitor.
The PCs win against the monster and Caroline is in charge of assigning the consequences and controlling
the story of what happened.
However, there may also be times when there are multiple participants in a
conflict, with no co-operation between the sides. If this is the case, the
victor is the defined as the participant who gets the best result on the dice
out of everyone involved.
Once the victor has been decided, the level of success (and therefore the
number of consequence points that can be allocated) is determined by deciding
who the victor was in adversity with and seeing how many successes they had
against them. If the victor was in adversity with more than one participant,
then the number of successes is determined by seeing which adversary they
were most successful against.
-109-
The victor then has the right to tell the story of what happened in the con-
flict and spend consequence points as they see fit.
Example:
Beaumont, Neames and Watson are all having a raging argument, which also involves Mary, Watson’s
wife-to-be. All four participants want different things, but not all of them are in adversity with each
other.
Everyone grabs dice pools to roll in order to resolve the conflict. The dice turn out like this:
Caroline (Beaumont): 3, 5, 7, 9, 10
Debbie (Neames): 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
Joe (Watson): 2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 7, 10
Steve (GM, playing Mary): 1, 5, 5, 5, 6
Caroline is the victor in situation. She and Joe both had 10s as their highest number, but removing those,
Caroline had a 9, where Joe only had a 7, so Caroline wins.
Beaumont was in adversity with both Mary and Neames. Looking at the dice, this shows that 1 success
was achieved against Neames but 3 successes were achieved against Mary. Therefore, Caroline has 3
points to spend on consequences as a result of the conflict.
Consequences
Consequences arise from success or failure and are used to change and develop
characters.
To determine how many points can be spent on consequences, look at the level
of success. The winning participants may then apply a number of points equal
to their level of success.
The number of successes gained equate to points that can be spent on positive
consequences for those who were successful, negative consequences for those
on the losing side or a combination of the two. It is not just the victor
(the participant with the greatest number of successes) who gets to decide
what the consequences are. Everyone who was successful can spend their points
on buying positive consequences for their own characters or can spend points
buying failure consequences for those on the losing side.
-110-
Obviously, consequences must logically stem from what happened in the con-
flict and what the various sides were attempting to achieve. Both players and
GMs are bound by this rule and all participants around the table should feel
free to speak up if they feel that the consequence system is being abused for
advantage or misused in any way.
Consequences are chosen from the table below.
POINTS POSITIVE NEGATIVE

COST CONSEQUENCES CONSEQUENCES
1 Change a negative trait to a Change a positive trait to a

positive trait negative trait
Lock a trait Gain a negative trait for this

session only
Gain a new positive
relationship at 1 Gain a new negative relationship
at 1
Increase a positive
relationship or reduce a Unlock a trait
negative relationship by 1
Reduce a positive relationship or
increase a negative relationship
by 1
2 Increase an attribute by 1 Decrease an attribute by 1
Gain a new positive trait Gain a new negative trait
Lose a negative trait Lose a positive trait
3 Reduce a negative relationship Reduce an attribute to zero

to zero
Reduce a positive relationship
to zero
-111-
Seditionist found guilty of anti-British sentiments.
Sentence of execution carried out at Canvey Island
Internment Camp.
Definitions of Consequences
Increase/decrease an attribute by 1: The attribute that was used in the con-
flict can be permanently increased or decreased by one point. The maximum
level that any attribute can be increased to is five and an attribute can not
be permanently increased by more than one point. If an attribute has been
decreased, it can be brought back up by spending positive consequence points
gained in a subsequent conflict.
Gain a new positive/negative trait: A new positive or negative trait, ap-

propriate to what happened in the conflict, can be added to the character
sheet. A character may only have a maximum of nine traits in total at any
one time.
Gain a negative trait for this session only: This trait is temporary and only
lasts until the end of this session of play, when it is removed.
Lose a positive/negative trait: An unlocked positive or negative trait that

was used in the conflict must be removed from the character sheet.
Change a positive/negative trait: An unlocked positive trait will be made

negative and vice versa.
Lock a positive/negative trait: Locking a trait means that it can be used

in a conflict without potentially being deleted or flipped as a result of
consequences.
Unlock a positive/negative trait: Unlocking a trait means that it can be af-

fected by the results of a conflict and can potentially be deleted or flipped
as a result of consequences.
Reduce an attribute to zero: The attribute that was used in the conflict must
immediately be reduced to a level of zero. This will trigger a crisis point
(see below).
Gain a new relationship: A new relationship at level 1 can be added.
Increase/decrease a relationship: A relationship that has been brought in to

the conflict may be increased or decreased in level.
-113-
Example:
As Beaumont was successful in the conflict, Caroline gets to decide the consequences for both sides.
This means that she can assign 5 points worth of consequences (because her level of success was 5)
chosen from the table above.
She decides to assign positive consequences first and chooses to change the negative trait “His temper
sometimes gets the better of him” to a positive trait, taking 1 of her points. She also chooses to increase
Influence by one, costing 2 points.
Moving on to the officer, Caroline looks at the failure consequences and decides to spend her 2 remain-
ing points on reducing the officers Influence by one.
Telling the Story of The Conflict

At the end of each conflict resolution, there comes a period when the story
of what has happened needs to be told. The duty of telling this story falls
to the participant who was the victor in the conflict. Alternatively, the
victor can nominate another person round the table to tell the story. Remem-
ber, the victor is the person with the greatest level of success at the end
of conflict resolution.
The victor should describe the outcome of the conflict, taking into account
the conflict arena, the traits and the relationships that were brought in to
play. However, just because the victor has narration rights at the end of a
conflict does not mean that others round the table cannot contribute.
The victor is encouraged to ask others to add to the description of the out-
come, perhaps adding in little bits of colour regarding their own characters,
but the victor is the ‘gatekeeper’ of what is established through narration.
Everyone round the table has the right to contribute, but the victor is the
final arbiter of what is included, what detail is added and whose characters’
actions are featured in the narration.
There are areas where, if the victor is a player, rather than the GM, they
must tread carefully. They should not make statements of fact about things
that they may have found or discovered as part of the conflict.
-114-
Example:
A player may not narrate the following: “...and the briefcase contains the secret plans that show us
exactly where the hidden bunker is.”
However, they are totally at liberty to narrate the following: “...and the briefcase contains sheaves of
papers and a couple of tatty manilla folders.”
The example above tells the GM that the players thinks the information they
were trying to find is contained in these papers. At this point, the GM
should be as forthcoming as possible and react to what the player obviously
wants from the situation. If the conflict was all about getting this impor-
tant piece of information, then not giving it to the players invalidates
the entire thing. However, it is the GM who gets to say exactly what the
information is.
Players are not allowed to make statements of fact about NPCs the GM has
brought into the scene. On the flip side of this, the GM must never make
statements of fact about the PCs. Only the player can make a decision about
his or her character and what they are like, what they feel and what they
are doing.
Example:
A player may not narrate the following: “...and the strange man in the black coat is an undercover Soviet
agent who is wanted by the Army for assassinating several of their officers”
However, the may narrate the following: “...and the strange man in the black coat obviously had some-
thing sinister to hide, which he reveals to us, as we really wanted to find out what the hell he was
doing.”
In the example, the player is saying “I want to know something sinister about
this man” which the GM should respect and reveal information about the man.
Maybe he was a secret agent. Maybe he was up to something else?
The GM being forbidden from making statements of fact about PCs is covered
in this example:
-115-
Example:
The GM may not narrate the following: “...and accidentally shooting the small boy who was with the
black marketeer causes you to feel immense grief for the next week.”
The GM may narrate the following, though: “...and one of your bullets accidentally hits the small boy
who was with the black marketeer, grievously wounding him. How does this make you feel?”
Crisis Points
Whenever an attribute reaches zero for a PC or an NPC, this triggers a crisis
point. Attributes can reach zero through a series of consequences or through
a major failure where consequences immediately drop the attribute to zero.
The nature of the crisis point differs according to the attribute that has
been reduced.
When Action reaches zero, this means that the PC or NPC has suffered serious
physical trauma, injury or perhaps even death.
When Influence reaches zero, this means that the PC or NPC has tipped over
the edge into madness, catatonia, has lost their social abilities, willpower
or some other serious mental injury.
When Insight reaches zero, this means that the PC or NPC has lost their rea-
soning ability, their intelligence or knowledge or has been pushed to a state
of extreme confusion and self-doubt.
When a PC or NPC reaches a crisis point, the choices open to their player
depend on the nature of the crisis point. Action hitting zero may well indi-
cate that the character has died as a result of violence meted out during a
conflict. In the case of PCs, there is always the possibility to retire the
character. If the character is to be retired, then the very next scene should
take the form of an epilogue for the character. This epilogue is totally
under the control of the player whose character has suffered the crisis. They
should tell the story of how the characters career with the SSG ended in an
appropriate fashion.
It might be the case that a player does not feel that the character is quite
ready to be retired, that they have more to offer to the ongoing story. This
is perfectly acceptable, but there are a few rules to follow.
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Characters who have hit a crisis point can take no further active part in
conflicts (for the moment). The player can still talk about what their char-
acter is doing in scenes, but the character cannot act.
The character must have a scene, in the near future, where their crisis is
resolved. This scene is entirely up to the player and could involve hospital
treatment for a seriously injured character, psychiatric help for a character
who has been pushed over the brink of madness or the character, their brains
scrambled and their wits scattered, lock themselves away with their books and
papers for an extended period of time trying to unscramble their brains.
If the player chooses to have the character return, the attribute that was
at zero can be brought up to half (rounding down, with a minimum of one) its
original level.
The character must also lose a positive trait that was used in the conflict
that precipitated the crisis point. If no positive traits were used by the
character, then choose one which is most appropriate to what happened in the
conflict. Lastly, the character must gain a negative trait related to their
crisis point and the situation that precipitated it.
Example:
During a particularly violent scene in the tunnels of the London Underground, Neames was seriously
injured and had his Action reduced to zero, necessitating a crisis point scene. Joe decides to let the other
players engage in a follow up the scene in the underground before having his crisis point scene.
When his turn comes, Joe says that the scene takes place in a grimy, worn down apartment in Central
London that the SSG use for injured members. He colours the scene with the groans of the injured and
introduces Dr Farrell, a former paediatrician who now works for the SSG. The doctor attends to Neames
with care and consideration, obviously frustrated at the lack of supplies and the poor conditions that
hinder her work in healing the injured.
Joe decides to remove the positive trait “This is where I grew up”, because Neames no longer feels
confident that he understands London and its people. To replace it, Joe comes up with the negative trait
“The tunnels terrify me”. He also now returns Neames’ Action to half of the original level, which puts
it at one.
The scene is concluded with Neames hobbling from the makeshift ward, still injured and needing atten-
tion, but determined to rejoin his brothers in arms. Dr Farrell watches from the stairs, shaking her head.
Perhaps we may meet her again in the future?
-117-
NPCs And Crisis Points

Obviously, Hot War is about the stories of the PCs and NPCs are secondary to
those stories. NPCs (see page 131) will not have crisis point scenes though.
NPCs take consequences in exactly the same fashion as PCs.
Apply consequences for both success and failure to an NPC as would be the
case for a PC. If they have attributes reduced to zero, then the following
guidelines apply:
Action: The NPC is killed or otherwise mortally wounded, seriously injured,

disabled or some other appropriate physical outcome.
Influence: The NPC is driven insane, comes under the thrall of the PCs, loses
any sense of purpose or self, has their willpower destroyed or some other
appropriate outcome.
Insight: The intelligence and knowledge of the NPC is obliterated, scattered

or given up wholly to the PCs, perhaps through interrogation or intimida-
tion.
Example:
Beaumont, Neames and Watson have been involved in a shootout in the tunnels of the Underground (the
same shootout that so grievously injured Neames in the example above).
As part of the scene, Beaumont gunned down a soldier with his service revolver, spending 3 points on
negative consequences to reduce the soldiers Action to zero.
It is narrated that the soldier is killed stone dead, stopped in his tracks by the bullets from Beaumont’s
Webley.
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Ad d i t i o n a l R u l e s
Bringing Tools Into Conflicts
Sometimes, a character, whether that be a PC or an NPC, will bring a tool
into a conflict. A tool can be a weapon, a document, a person, a photograph
or any one of thousands of possibilities. If someone does bring one of these
tools into the conflict, they can claim a bonus of two dice to their pool.
However, there are a few restrictions:
Any tool must be appropriate, reasonable and have a discernible impact on

the conflict. In addition, only one tool can be brought into a conflict by
one character.
Anyone in the group can exercise veto on things being brought in to a con-
flict, even on things that the GM bring in on behalf of her NPCs. Once someone
raises doubt about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the tool, it
requires another participant to agree in order for the veto to be enacted.
Examples:
Watson is trying to intimidate an SSG clerk into handing over some significant information. Debbie says
that she would like to bring a tool into play, and states that as part of the intimidation, Watson has drawn
his silenced pistol and laid it casually on the desk, in full view of the clerk. Everyone agrees that this
is appropriate, reasonable and would have a discernible impact on the conflict, so Debbie gets to add
another two dice to her pool.
Beaumont is in conflict with an RAF officer who has him pinned against a wall, threatening to strangle
him. Caroline says that Beaumont fumbles a picture of his children from his wallet and attempts to use
it in his efforts to win over the thug. Joe pipes up that he doesn’t really think that the photo would have
much on an impact on an officer brutalised by the effects of war. Stephen agrees with this, so the use of
the photo is vetoed and Caroline does not gain the two bonus dice for bringing in a tool.
The Role of Negative Traits

On page 101 we looked at how to assemble a dice pool and mentioned that bring-
ing in a negative Trait requires that you use a distinctively coloured die.
If the die (or dice) representing a negative Trait (or Traits) ends up as the
highest number in the pool, then something bad related to that negative Trait
-119-
will take place. This happens even in the event of a success, but represents
an embarrassing slip-up, a minor faux-pas or small physical inconvenience.
In addition, if both sides (or more, if there are multiple participants)

are using negative Traits and the negative Trait dice come up as the high-
est numbers, then both sides have something bad associated with those Traits
happen to them. Obviously, Traits only affect those characters who brought
them in to the conflict.
Example:
Watson is involved in a conflict and Debbie chooses to bring in the negative trait “Doesn’t think things through”
to get an additional die in her pool. The conflict is based on Insight and takes place during a long scene where
Watson is attempting to tail what he thinks is a Soviet officer through the back streets of London.
When the dice are rolled, Watson wins the conflict. However, the highest number rolled was a 10 and this
came up on the die that represented the negative trait. This means that although Watson has succeeded
in tracking the Soviet officer successfully, something has gone awry during the process.
Debbie thinks on this and suggests that although the tail was successful and Watson has discovered the
safe house where the officer is living, this has led poor Watson into the territory of a particularly violent
local gang. He only realises this when he sees warning signs against strangers plastered on the dirty
walls. Then he starts worrying.
Resolving Hidden Agendas

As the game progresses and Hidden Agendas get used in various scenes, there
will be an obvious progression towards the resolution of the agendas, for
good or for ill. The rating of a hidden agenda denotes how many conflicts
the agenda can be brought in to before it MUST be resolved. A rating of five
indicates that it can be used in five conflicts before it must be resolved,
a rating of nine indicates that it can be used in nine conflicts before it
must be resolved and so on.
Each character sheet has spaces for noting a character’s hidden agendas, the
rating of the agenda and whether or not the use of an agenda was successful in
a particular instance. Each time an agenda is used, one box should either have
a plus (‘+’) or minus (‘-’) symbol written in to it. A plus symbol indicates
that the agenda was used in a conflict where the character succeeded, while
a minus symbol indicates that the agenda was used in a conflict where the
character failed.
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Once a number of boxes equal to the rating of the hidden agenda have been
filled, the agenda has reached a resolution point. If the majority of the
boxes have plus symbols in them, then the agenda can be resolved success-
fully. If the majority of the boxes have minus symbols in them, then the
agenda will be resolved unsuccessfully. One important thing to note is that
a successful resolution may not be desirable, particularly in the case of
factional agendas. Perhaps the character totally disagrees with the stric-
tures that the agenda has placed upon them, maybe their views on the faction
have changed over time?
In a subsequent scene (though not necessarily the most immediate scene) this
player has the authority to frame a scene. See page 96 for more on scenes and
scene framing. The scene should be something of an epilogue for the agenda:
how does it finally work out, who is involved, what are the repercussions?
In the case of resolving an agenda positively, each negative against the

agenda represents a complication to its resolution. These complications can
be introduced in to the narrative by other people at the table. Participants
should take turns to introduce complications and the players who is resolving
the agenda should have the chance to incorporate them into the narrative.
In the case of resolving an agenda negatively, each positive against the

agenda represents something good that comes out of it. Just like negatives,
these good things are introduced, one at a time, by other participants. Once
the resolution scene has taken place, then play can revert back to normal.
Now, the player must remove the hidden agenda from their character sheet. It
has been resolved and no longer plays a major part in the characters life. In
the case of a factional hidden agenda, the player may now choose to receive
a new hidden agenda from whatever group or organisation they report to. This
can be a follow-on from the previous agenda, something entirely new, some-
thing that has been inspired by events in the game and so on. In the case of
a new personal hidden agenda, it must be inspired by something that has taken
place within the story so far.
When picking a new agenda, it must be of a different rating than the one it
is replacing. So, if a personal hidden agenda rated at nine has just been
resolved, the new personal hidden agenda must be either a three or a five.
Only when an agenda has cycled through the three different ratings are things
reset and the player is free to choose any level for a new hidden agenda.
-121-
Example:
During character creation, Debbie chose the personal hidden agenda of ‘Get Mary Pike to marry me’
for Watson. The agenda had a rating of 3. During the course of the game, the agenda gets used in three
conflicts. Two of these represent success for Watson, but one conflict was a failure. The agenda has now
reached its rating and must be resolved.
Debbie chooses to wait for a couple of scenes to allow the flow of play to continue, then asks for the
resolution scene. She frames the scene saying it takes place outside of an abandoned underground sta-
tion where Mary, her family and many other people now live. Watson takes her by the hand and halting
asks if she will marry him if he can find a vicar who will perform the ceremony. Because the majority of
uses of the agenda were successes, then Mary is going to say yes. However, there was a failure, which
allows someone else round the table to bring in a complication for the situation.
Joe pipes up and suggests that although Mary and Watson are now engaged to be married, but that
Mary’s mother is dead set against it. She is appalled that her daughter is marrying a no-good ruffian like
Watson and she will do everything in her power to ruin the marriage. However, what actually happens
could be revealed in future games.
Debbie must now choose a new personal hidden agenda to replace the old one. The complication has
given her an idea and choose the simple agenda of ‘I want Mary’s family to accept me’, rated at 5.
It may be the case that, by a certain point in the game, it is clear that a
hidden agenda is heading towards a positive or negative outcome. The hidden
agenda should not be resolved until all boxes have been filled with plus or
minus signs, as each of these little symbols can have an effect on the outcome
of the hidden agenda and the story as a whole.
Some Useful Hints and Tips For GMs

To round off this particular section of the book, here are 10 thoughts on
how, as a GM, to make your Hot War games really go with a bang.
START THEM OFF IN MEDIAS RES

Get the game going with a bang by dropping characters straight in to a con-
flict. Pick something from the game creation session that really jumps out at
you and throw the characters into it. The conflict could well be relatively
minor in the larger scheme of things, but start off with some action and pace.
A somewhat traditional way to start off a Hot War game is with the briefing
from a senior officer at SSG HQ. If you want to have this scene, then great,
but do not start the game with it, make it a flashback in the second scene.
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GIVE THE PLAYERS WHAT THEY WANT

You should never hold back on information, especially during the narration
at the end of a conflict. If the PCs have been victorious in a conflict, give
the players what they wanted out of it. Do not demean their contribution or
risk spoiling the game by not letting the players accomplish their goals.
If the players have said “We want to discover this” as part of the conflict,
and they succeed, let them discover it. You are not telling the players your
story, you creating a story together using the framework you all created at
the start of the game.
LOOK AT THE CHARACTER SHEETS

Do not ignore what the players have written down on their character sheets.
Everything there is important information about what the players want for
their characters and want to see in the story. Make a note of the hidden
agendas for each character so that you can frame scenes that give the players
opportunities to bring them into play. Look at how trust is set between the
characters so you can push and pull the relationships and give the players
the chance to do the same.
BRING THE CONFLICT

Never be shy about bringing in scenes laden with potential conflict, as these
are the ones that will most often create the most drama, excitement, tension
and character development. However, also be aware that sometimes a rest scene,
one without conflict, is needed to help the dramatic flow of the game.
MAKE THINGS MEANINGFUL

If you bring conflict into a scene, then it should be meaningful. The char-
acters should evolve and the story should develop as a result of meaningful
conflicts. There should be decisions to make that actually affect the story
being told, not just decisions for the sake of decisions.
PLAY ANTAGONISTS HARD

Antagonists in Hot War, whether they be monstrous or human, are not going to
roll over and give up at the slightest challenge. Major antagonists will have
their own hidden agendas, motivations and goals, so play them as such! Even
minor NPCs are people or things with their own desires. Antagonists should
never be a pushover, but neither should they be so extraordinarily difficult
that the PCs have no hope of winning a conflict against them. Even if they
have to pool their resources and struggle with every fibre of their being,
the PCs should always have a chance. But making the antagonists tough and
capable will make victory all the sweeter.
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PLAY ALLIES AS USEFUL

If the PCs are going to have allies in the game, they should be useful. If
the players want to get information from allies, then be forthcoming with the
information. Allies are not antagonists and they should not be obstructing
the characters and making things difficult for them. When they do make it
difficult for them, then the players should realise that there is something
behind this and investigate.
ENRICH THE ENVIRONMENT

Post-war London is a fascinating, richly textured environment. Bring this
into your games through descriptions of places, people and things. Detail
the sights, sounds and smells of a place or situation, but do not overdo it.
Nothing is guaranteed to knock the drive and pace out of a situation like a
10-minute discourse on the varying textures apparent in the shawls of refugee
women.
HAVE SOME SCENES IN MIND

Before siting down at the table to play, think about a handful of scenes and
locations that would be cool to have in the game. Scribble down some notes,
maybe a few NPCs for the scenes. Having an idea of locations can help the
game zip along.
KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP

Sometimes, the GM should just stop talking and let the players contribute.
When framing scenes, make the scene rich, bring all the good stuff to the
table, but stop and let the players pitch in about what their characters are
doing, how they are reacting to the situation, how they feel about it and
what other things they might like to be brought into the scene. Knowing when
to shut up is a valuable GMing skill that should not be underestimated. The
game is not just the GM telling her story. It is a collaborative activity,
where everyone has the right to input into the game.
YOU ARE A PLAYER, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE

Finally, although the game text makes the distinction between the player
and GM roles in Hot War, when you get down to it, everyone in the game is a
player. The GM is not ‘better’ than the other players, she simply has a dif-
ferent role within the game, with a little more responsibility for certain
things. However, it is not the responsibility of the GM to ‘bring the fun’.
It is the responsibility of everyone round the table to make the game fun
and engaging.
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Example of Play
Returning to the story of Beaumont, Neames and Watson, we find them on the banks of the Thames, next
to a badly mangled Royal Navy speedboat.
Stephen: OK, so we’ll start the scene with the guys, plus the German refugee girl, on the bank. The ruin
of Hungerford Bridge is behind and it’s dark. There is only the light of the moon.
Debbie: Well, Watson’s keen as mustard to get the hell out of here, the Navy must be around some-
where.
Joe: Neames is keeping the girl close by, not letting her out of his sight, not for a moment. In fact, he’ll
take her by the hand, to make sure she doesn’t wander off.
Stephen: There’s the crunch of boots nearby.
Caroline: I have a horrible feeling about this, it’s Commander Rankine, isn’t it?
Stephen: Sure is, looking a bit more dishevelled and agitated than usual, looks really harassed. “Chase
is over for the lot of you, the girl goes back to the camp and the photographs come with me. Right?”
Joe: I don’t think I’ll be standing for this. “Take the photos if you like, but there’s no way the girl goes
back.”
Debbie: Hey, I’m wanting the photos! Rankine isn’t going to get them if I can help it. Actually, I’m turning
and running! I want to get the photos to my Army guys.
Caroline: What? You treacherous little shit! Watson, I mean, not you personally!
Debbie: Heh, I know! But come on, you knew he’d turn eventually.
Caroline: Right, Beaumont is drawing his revolver.
Stephen: OK, I think we actually have a couple of conflicts going. There’s one between Neames and
Rankine, yes? And certainly another between Watson and Beaumont.
Joe: That sounds pretty fair.
Debbie: Yep, fine by me.
Caroline: Sure, no problems with that.
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Stephen: Let’s get dice pools sorted then. We’ll do Rankine and Neames first and this is definitely the
social arena, unless Neames is getting violent?
Joe: No, don’t want to risk the girl getting harmed, that’s the last thing I want to happen. Anyway, if this
is social, then I get three dice for my Influence and I am certainly bringing in my personal agenda about
finding redemption for the death of my family. The girl reminds Neames of his daughter, I want her kept
safe. That gives me six dice to start with.
Stephen: Well, you’ve met Rankine before and he’s a pretty persuasive type, his Influence is four. He’s
got no hidden agenda in play here though, so might be at a disadvantage.
Joe: That suits me just fine! I’m bringing in the positive traits of “’Copper’ is just another word for
someone who knows what shits people are” and “I’m going to take revenge”. The first one is locked, by
the way.
Debbie: I’m not sure about the revenge thing, why would that come in to this?
Joe: It’s all about his family, the girl represents something that he can redeem himself with.
Debbie: Yeah, but that’s already mixed in with your agenda, I don’t think the trait really works here.
Caroline: To be honest, I agree with that, I don’t think there is a strong enough reason to bring it in.
Joe: No worries, but would his negative trait “Sometimes my temper gets the better of me” apply
then?
Stephen: I think so, if you want to risk it.
Joe: Yeah, and I want to bring in the relationship I’ve established with the girl. It’s only at one, but I want
to make the bond stronger if I get through this. That gives me another die. I’ve got nine in total.
Stephen: Rankine’s traits of “Unswerving devotion to duty”, “I don’t back down” and “Xenophobic arse-
hole” are all coming in to play. Funnily enough, that last one is a negative trait! I don’t think I can really
bring in any relationships here, to be honest.
Joe: Cool, that’s us then?
Stephen: Yep. Caroline? Debs? You want to sort yours out?
Caroline: Yeah, Watson is going down!
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Debbie: We’ll see! He’s a tricky little devil! This is in the physical arena?
Caroline: I’d say so! Beaumont has an Action of 3...
Debbie: So does Watson! And the photographs and plans that we found easily allow me to bring in my
hidden agenda of “Undermine the Navy monopoly in power generation, maybe even by sabotage!”, be-
cause we already know they relate to that weird Soviet ship and their plans to get the nuclear reactor
on it going again. Hah!
Caroline: Damn, I don’t really have an agenda that can come in here. Oh well...
Stephen: Does your agenda about refugees not come in, because of the girl?
Caroline: Actually, I don’t think so, because this conflict isn’t to do with her, it’s all about Watson steal-
ing the stuff. So, no. But there are traits I can bring in! I’m going to use “I cover up my mistakes” because
I let Watson carry the stuff, “Well drilled in weapons” because I’m using my revolver and “Irrational and
easily spooked”, because this is a shoot first and ask questions later situation. All of those are unlocked.
Oh, and I’m bringing in a “thing” in the shape of the revolver.
Debbie: Blimey, that’s a few traits. The only ones I can really bring in are “Brimming with the confidence
of youth” and “Doesn’t think things through”. Oh, and my relationship with Beaumont, which is at two,
because he was kind of becoming a bit of a big brother figure! That means I’m on 10 dice, because
Beaumont has a relationship of two with me.
Caroline: Treachery! So that’s me on eight dice. Maybe not looking so good.
Stephen: Well, you never know until the dice are rolled! Speaking of which, let’s get that done. Roll
away!
Caroline: I got 1, 2, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9
Debbie: Uh oh, this is not looking at all good, my highest is a seven! That’s terrible! I got 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5,
5, 7, 7, 7. Now that’s bad luck!
Caroline: Looks like Watson might be going down!
Stephen: Well, for Rankine, I rolled 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10.
Joe: Yes! I got 2, 3, 4, 4, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10. So, the nine and the ten that we both get cancel each other out.
That leaves your highest number at 6 and I get three numbers higher than that! Result! Other than the
fact that the 10 was my negative trait die. Hmmm.
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Stephen: Cool, well, for Neames anyway, not so much for Rankine. So, that means Caroline, you’ve got
5 points to spend on consequences for the conflict against Watson. And Joe, you’ve 3 points to spend on
consequences for Neames against Rankine. Caroline, you want to go first as you get authority over the
narration for your conflict?
Caroline: Sure. Debbie, you want to chip in at any time with stuff you think Watson is doing?
Debbie: yeah, I have a couple of things I’d like to see. But what do the consequences work out as?
Caroline: OK, well as I was intending to shoot Watson, I’m going to spend 3 points on taking his Action
down to zero, that’s a crisis point. Any objections?
Debbie: No, none at all. We can work out what happens to him in the end after we get all of the narration
and stuff sorted. In fact, I have an idea of what might take place.
Caroline: Right, and for Beaumont, I’m just going to use the 2 remaining points to get a new positive trait,
which I’m going to call ‘Shoots to kill’.
Stephen: That all seems pretty fair.
Caroline: What happens is that as Watson starts running, Beaumont is torn between Rankine and him,
but decides to concentrate on Watson. He brings out his revolver and levels it at him, shouting to stop
and that he’ll never get away.
Debbie: Watson was just ignoring him and trying to dodge around old bollards and stuff, clutching the
papers and photos to his chest, head down.
Caroline: Nice. Beaumont fires the first round over his head, but it obviously has no effect, so the next
one is aimed between his shoulder blades, but it misses as well. But the next one doesn’t, it gets Watson
right in the back, pitching him forward onto his face.
Joe: Perhaps the photos and plans get scattered everywhere, with a few falling in the water?
Caroline: Yes, no problem. Debs, you got anything?
Debbie: Just that Watson is bleeding heavily, blood is streaming from his mouth and he’s still trying to
crawl away. I’ll work out what his crisis point scene is in a moment.
Stephen: Nice work, what about the thing with Rankine, Joe?
Joe: Right, so Neames is getting really hot under the collar about Rankine, he’s shuffled the girl behind him,
she’s really scared. It looks like they might come to blows, when Beaumont starts firing at Watson.
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Stephen: I think Rankine will be a bit taken aback by this and steps away slightly. He says “The girl goes
back to the camp, fat man.”
Joe: Hey, he’s not fat, just husky! Neames is making the point that Rankine will have to go through him
to get the girl, and I don’t think he’s willing to do that. For once, Rankine decides to back off and not go
by the book. So, for consequences, I’m putting Neames’ relationship with the girl up by one, which costs
1 point and spending the other two points on increasing Influence by one. But, because his negative
trait ‘My temper sometimes gets the better of me’ was his highest, he totally loses it, screaming into
Rankine’s face, spittle flying everywhere and he just about raises his fists to the man. It’s exactly what
he didn’t want to happen in front of the girl.
Stephen: That’s fine, yes. Rankine backs off, looking at you in disgust and wipes spittle from his face,
spitting on the ground in front of you. Then he just turns and walks away, looks back once, and then
keeps walking. Oh, and you get to tick off one box for your personal hidden agenda.
Caroline: And the little girl should take Neames’ hand again and squeeze it tightly.
Joe: Aha, yeah, good stuff.
Stephen: I think that concludes that particular scene then, unless anyone has anything else they would
like to add? No? Right, Debbie, you want to move in to the crisis point scene for Watson? Or would you
prefer to leave it for a scene or two?
Debbie: Nope, I’m quite happy to have that happen next, I’ve got a good idea of what I’d like to take place.
So, Watson is dead, that’s pretty certain. I think I’ve got what I want out of his story. The rest of the team
has taken the body back to Down Street Station, that OK?
Caroline: That seems fine.
Debbie: Later on, some Army guys have come to retrieve the body and the final scene really takes place
at a canal leading off the Thames. It’s choked with rubbish, rusted machinery and things. The Army guys
strip the body and throw it into the canal. Captain Hellingley, who was the one who got him involved in
this, goes through his pockets and finds a pictures of Watson’s dad in Army uniform. He looks at it for a
moment, then throws it into the water as well. The last thing we see is like a tracking shot of Watson’s
body floating down the canal, accompanied by the sodden picture of his father.
Joe: Harsh! But very interesting, I wasn’t sure what you were going to do with him there, but that’s a
pretty cool ending.
Stephen: Yeah, good stuff. Shall we finish there for tonight and give Debbie some time to come up with
a new character?
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Study by Smithson of male refugee, Southwark, September, 1963.
Cr e a t i n g & Using NPC

One of the key GM roles in Hot War is bringing interesting non-player
characters to the table. NPCs can be friendly, ambivalent or antagonistic,
s
but whatever the case, it is the GMs duty to make them real.
To make life easier for the GM, the game incorporates many things that will
give ideas for NPCs that can be brought in to challenge the characters.
Whether they are friends, relatives, old enemies, rival agents, if the group
has been through the game and character creation processes, there will al-
ready be at least a handful of solid ideas for NPCs ready to be made flesh.
Some things that could give rise to NPCs might be:
The collaborative game creation process: During the creation process de-
tailed on pages 58 to 65, there are ample opportunities for NPCs to either
be hinted at, sketched out or almost fully realised. What antagonists were
discussed? What other people did the group want to see in the game? Are there
any organisations mentioned that NPCs might work for?
Relationships: By their very nature, the creation of relationships for the

PCs will give rise to a good number of NPCs. Players should be encouraged
to give their input into the creation of these NPCs, fleshing them out and
deciding what they might be like in game terms.
The Experience Scene: What NPCs were featured in the experience scenes for
the characters? What were their relationships with the character? Did they
survive? Is there a chance that they might be in London in the winter of 1963,
ready to help or hinder the character?
Hidden Agendas: These are big flags for the GM. They say “I want this to be
involved in the story of my character!” Do the hidden agendas mention spe-
cific people or organisations? What hints do they give about who these people
might be? How will they act towards the character?
On a very basic level, any NPC will be interested in one of four things in
relation to the characters:
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1) They want the PCs to help them out in some way
Example:
Mrs McIntosh knows the PCs are looking into a series of deaths in the Kilburn area and comes to them
asking if they can help find her missing nine year old daughter.
2) They want to help the PCs in some way
Example:
Davey Winston is an enthusiastic young lad who knows the local Tube tunnels like the back of his hand.
He admires the PCs and wants to show them safely through the tunnels.
3) They want to oppose the PCs in some way
Example:
Agatha Pegg is a minor government official who works in the rationing department. She has been se-
cretly selling off tinned foods to black marketeers and now that the PCs have arrived on the scene, she
will do everything she can to be unhelpful and bureaucratic.
4) They want to use the PCs in some way
Example:
Commander Frost of the Royal Navy wants to get rid of certain elements in the refugee population he
has to look after. He uses the PCs as stooges, trying to get them to unwittingly start a riot so he can
crack down on the camp.
So, there are already basic NPC building blocks there to start with. But,
as GM, you will also want to add your own stamp to the people and creatures
who inhabit London. What follows are guidelines for creating both simple and
detailed NPCs using the same characteristics (attributes, traits, relation-
ships and for detailed NPCs, hidden agendas) as player characters.
There is one very important question to ask when creating any NPC: Is this
NPC a monster?
This is a very important question. A monster does not have to be some horrible
creature created in a British or Soviet lab, monsters can be people who have
done despicable things. The only thing that defines a monster is that they
have lost part of what it means to be a human.
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A human being who can be described as a monster has often chosen the path to
become a vile and despicable individual.
If the NPC is a ‘monster’ (by whichever definition you choose) then they gain
an extra two points which are added to their attributes, plus an additional
positive and an additional negative trait.
Simple NPCs
A simple NPC is, as the name might suggest, less fully fleshed out than a key
antagonist, an important contact or often met superior. They are the hench-
men, the lackeys, the minor contacts, the drunks in the illegal pub
These characters can either be prepared beforehand or created on the fly,

depending on what is happening in the game. The procedure for creating simple
NPCs is the same whether or not they are off the cuff or pre-written.
To create a simple NPC quickly, first off roll a single D10 and consult the
table below. This will tell you what the attributes for the NPC are.
ROLL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Attribute:
ACTION 3 2 3 4 2 2 2 3 4 1
INFLUENCE 3 3 2 2 4 2 2 3 3 4
INSIGHT 2 3 3 2 2 4 2 3 1 3
Fill these results in to an empty space in the simple NPC record sheet.
You will probably have an idea who this person is, a refugee, a hidebound
Army officer or a crippled war-veteran. Let this guide you in selecting some
traits for the character. All simple NPCs have 2 positive and one negative
trait. Do not feel you have to come up with these straight away, you can come
up with them in a conflict, as and when necessary, if you so desire. But, if
you do come up with a trait in a conflict, remember to note it down on the
sheet, just in case it is needed for future reference.
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Simple NPCs have three points to be spent on relationships and these can be
assigned as the GM or players see fit.
And that is your simple NPC.
You can create a bunch of these prior to play and, if you need one, just
select the first one on the sheet. Or, if someone mentions a name and it is
likely that they will come up in a scene, then scribble down that name on one
of the pre-generated NPCs.
Groups of Simple NPCs

Say that you want a simple NPC to actually represent a group of characters,
perhaps a gang of profiteering thugs, or a patrol of twitchy, nervous sol-
diers. That is also fairly easy to handle.
Simply roll for attributes as you would for a standard NPC, then add one at-
tribute point for each additional member of the group, up to a maximum of four
additional points. Think about what the main thrust of the group is and add
the majority of points into the attribute that reflects this major concern.
Simple NPC groups also get two additional positive traits. Again, these can
be thought up prior to the game or created on the fly, during a conflict.
Types of Simple NPCs
Frightened young soldier

A mob of hungry Londoners
A refugee in hiding
A local politician in a position of power
Imperturbable Thames Estuary trawler man
Determined elderly lady
War-blinded schoolchild
Gang of young thugs
Professional rat-catcher
Local gravedigger
Antagonistic civil servant
Disguised Soviet officer
Taciturn American Air Force officer
Disillusioned RAF pilot
Selfish black-marketeer
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Off-duty squad of soldiers

Upstanding Royal Navy officer
Anxious Army deserter
Bitter and lonely old man
Armed local vigilantes
Child begging from passers-by
A firebrand campaigner for the Union Movement
Suspicious and sneaky Citizens Defence Army member
Detailed NPCs
Detailed NPCs are created in broadly the same way as a PC. They are the major
antagonists, the monsters, the close friends, mortal enemies and immediate
superiors that the characters might have.
ATTRIBUTES
All three attributes start at one and you have five additional points (seven
if the NPC can be defined as a monster) to spend increasing them. Not all of
these points have to be spent, if you wish to have detailed NPCs with lesser
attributes. Bear in mind, though, that this represents the maximum total at-
tribute points that a detailed NPC may have.
TRAITS
Detailed NPCs have three positive and two negative traits (or four positive
and three negative traits if they can be defined as a monster). These can
either be created prior to play or, like simple NPCs, created on the fly
during a conflict.
RELATIONSHIPS
Detailed NPCs can have up to six points to spend in relationships, in exactly
the same manner as PCs.
HIDDEN AGENDAS
Just like characters, detailed NPCs have hidden agendas that drive them and
give them their motivation. Unlike characters, though, they might not have a
factional hidden agenda as appropriate to the character. If the NPC does not
have a factional agenda, they can be assigned two personal hidden agendas.
Whatever the case, the character can have no more than two agendas.
Write all of this down on the detailed NPC sheet that you will find at the
back of this book.
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Sample Detailed NPCs

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER TREVOR BARLOW, RN
A dedicated, efficient naval officer, Barlow is just the kind of man that
the military want involved in the refugee camps. His devotion to duty and
experience in the Channel Battles of November ‘62 mean that the Admirals in
charge place great store in this young man. He also has an intense dislike of
‘foreigners’ and enthusiastically takes part in the rounding up of refugees
and their transportation to the camps.
ACTION: 3
INFLUENCE: 3
INSIGHT: 2
TRAITS
A fine, upstanding officer (+)
Skilled in the art of brown-nosing (+)
Not afraid to do what is necessary (+)
Thinks very highly of himself (-)
Looks down on others (-)
RELATIONSHIPS
Vice-Admiral Farthing, “Is he just using me for his own political ends?” 3, (+)
Major Keith Youngman, “I’m sure he wants to destroy me” 2 (-)
The Camp Inmates, “The foreign rabble hate and fear me, which is good” 1 (-)
HIDDEN AGENDAS
Factional: Oust the ‘old guard’ from their position and institute a new,
stronger command structure that meets the needs of the current crisis!
Personal: Keep his ‘harem’ of young refugee women a secret.
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MRS IRENE JOYCE

A housewife prior to the War, Irene contented herself with her family and
home. Her political views were those of her overbearingly Conservative
husband, a discontented, miserable little man (who, it was remarked to his
fury, looked a lot like Clement Atlee). The events of October 1962 changed
everything. Now she finds herself standing against the state that her husband
once supported so vociferously. Mrs Joyce leads a highly active cell of the
Citizens Defence Army (see page 154), assassinating authority figures and
bombing military positions.
ACTION: 2
INFLUENCE: 4
INSIGHT: 2
TRAITS
A recurring, hacking cough (-)
A steely resolve (+)
Concern for her family (+)
Nice cup of tea and a chat (+)
Seething hatred of the Government (-)
RELATIONSHIPS
Her sons, “Will they think I’m a terrorist?” 3 (+)
Her CDA cell, “They have doubts about our future direction” 2 (+)
Anthony Straight, a local Union Movement firebrand, “I think he knows about me” -2 (-)
HIDDEN AGENDAS
Factional: Move the CDA cell away from violence and towards helping communi-
ties rebuild in a positive fashion!
Personal: Secure the release from National Service of her sons.
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S a m p l e M o n s t e r s
BAYONET TROOPS (simple NPC)
Know to have infiltrated London early in the War, the Bayonet Troops became
so named for the vicious matter in which they stabbed their victims to death.
Their appearance, at a distance, seems normal. Up close, they seem to have
too many joints in their arms and legs and their rough uniforms bunch and sag
in all the wrong places. Their faces are shrouded by what look like combined
gas-masks and helmets that contain a greenish, pressurised vapour.
The Bayonet Troopers are known to always operate in squads or packs and
seemingly prefer to carry out their business during the hours of darkness.
Several have been captured alive, but they soon die once their helmets have
been removed. With strangely child-like faces and tiny, gasping mouths, they
present a disturbing sight.
Scientists have concluded that the Bayonet Troops are, essentially, a dispos-
able assault weapon. They seem unable to feed themselves, simply hunting and
killing until they die of starvation. This raises a vital question that is
perplexing the Government and military: if they live such short lives, why
are they still being encountered?
The information below refers to a squad of five Bayonet Troops, who are con-
sidered to be simple NPCs.
ACTION: 9
INFLUENCE: 2
INSIGHT: 4
TRAITS
They will follow their mission until death (+)
One weapon, but they know how to use it (+)
Strange joints make them surprisingly agile (+)
Can move very swiftly when they want to (+)
Tactically astute (+)
Single-minded (-)
They need the gas to remain alive (-)
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CREEPS (simple NPC)
The Creeps are an enigma. Dressed in Soviet uniforms and gabbling in broken
Russian, they seem to have no allegiance to their supposed masters, attacking
anything and everything with maniacal intensity.
They look, at first glance, to be fairly human. Their skin is pasty and dry,
with the appearance of a disease such as psoriasis or eczema. Every Creep
that has been subject to autopsy has been shown to have electrodes running
from the base of the neck into the brain. Connected to this is a long, anten-
nae like wire which runs down the right side of the body, under the skin.
What purpose this serves has not been discerned.
Creeps still appear in large numbers and are possessed of great cunning and
animalistic intelligence. Strangely, there have also been encounters with
monsters that bear a very strong similarity to the Creeps, only clad in Brit-
ish-issue clothing. The profile below represents a solitary Creep.
ACTION: 5
INFLUENCE: 2
INSIGHT: 3
TRAITS
Offputting smell (+)
Smarter than it looks (+)
Tenacious in combat (+)
Constantly chattering (-)
Diseased (-)
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THE FEAR (simple NPC)

As part of their experiments designed to find better ways to sow discord in their
enemies, the Soviets developed the means to ‘summon’ what the more religiously
inclined scientists referred to as ‘fear demons’. They called these things
‘koschei’, after the old Russian folk-tales of an evil, menacing figure.
Koschei are non-corporeal until they come across fear and loathing. The
greater the fear, the more they manifest ... and then they begin to feed.
The experiments revolved around insinuating a mole into an isolated or closed

community (often a remote GULAG camp). The plant then engineers situations
where fear and mistrust manifests itself - by whispers and insinuations.
Those guys who always look well-fed? I heard they might be spies....- Yevgeny
over there, you know he wants to kill you, right? You heard what his did on
those other camps...
The koschei are then summoned and insinuated into the enclosed environment.
At this stage, they are still non-corporeal, but eventually, the level of
fear will rise to such an extent that they manifest and feed, eviscerating
someone and feeding on their raw fear.
ACTION: 5
INFLUENCE: 3
INSIGHT: 2
TRAITS
Instinctive Hunter of Fear (+)
Form of Shadow (+)
Ice Cold Talons to the Soul (+)
Hatred of Light (-)
Slowly Floating (-)
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RUNNERS (simple NPC)
They are nightmares made real. Runners appeared early in the War, despatched
from ships and gates to tear through defensive cordons. Roughly seven to
eight feet across and resembling nothing less than huge, bony spiders, they
are horrific to behold.
Their ‘head’, a swivelling protuberance slung under the body, is arrayed with
a battery of dull yellow eyes and other, more mysterious, sensory organs.
Their ‘jaws’ can open up like a flower, expanding out to grasp and suck,
exposing row upon row of endlessly renewing, shark-like teeth. The number of
limbs a Runner exhibits varies between six and ten. The front two legs always
have a subsidiary use as manipulatory appendages.
A disturbing discovery about the Runners was the transmitting equipment

grafted into the very bodies of some specimens. Wires run directly from the
sensory head to the transmitters, sending images, sound and other information
directly back to...where?
There are still many of these creatures hiding in the ruins, scuttling across
the countryside or picking their way through underground tunnels. Their sav-
age nature, speed and durability have made them a lasting menace.
ACTION: 7
INFLUENCE: 1
INSIGHT: 2
TRAITS
Astonishingly fast (+)
Inhuman sensory capabilities (+)
Naturally be-weaponed (+)
Many-legged (-)
Single minded in pursuit (-)
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SERVITORS (simple NPC)
Horrible, flowing, wavering black masses that crush and pulverise everything
in their path, the so-called Servitors are painful to look at and terribly
hard to destroy. Even more than that, no one has yet been able to figure out
what the Servitors actually are or even what they are constituted from.
It is fairly certain that the Servitors do not come from our world. Rumours
are rife that British scientists knew about these creatures and were attempt-
ing to develop them as weapons of war. Nobody in the scientific establishment
is saying anything. A nuclear bomb that exploded on the South Coast is said
to have been set off purposely to destroy a massive Servitor wave heading for
London, but solid information on this is scarce.
The creatures (which may or may not be ‘alive’) can still be encountered in
the countryside, moving at random (or so people think) across the land. They
have also been sighted in the London Underground, flowing through the tun-
nels, pushing waves of squealing, terrified rats before them.
The following represents a single, moderately sized Servitor. A Servitor is

a pretty nasty creature to throw against characters, so it is up to the GM to
decide exactly how it might be destroyed or driven off. It is also up to the
GM to come up with negative traits that might be appropriate to the Servitor,
as these are likely to be situational and environmental, rather than directly
belonging to the monster itself.
ACTION: 8
INFLUENCE: 1(?)
INSIGHT: 1(?)
TRAITS
A pulverising wave of blackness (+)
Seemingly unafraid of anything (+)
The silence is terrifying (+)
-142-
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Unknown subject trapped in a goods
container at Newham Docks by SSG.
The container is to be moved to a secure

location and the subject held, pending
examination.
C H A P T E R 5 : O R G A N I S A T I O N S
P rofile
Spadeadam
Located in the wilderness of Cumbria in the far north of England, Spadeadam
came into existence in 1957, when Britain was researching her own ballistic
missile and space programme. Engine test rigs, giant concrete firing stands
and many ancillary buildings were constructed to support the testing stages
of the Blue Streak missile programme, before the missiles were sent to
Woomera in Australia for actual launching.
The site also had another interesting part to play in the Cold War, as the
site of what would have been Britain’s silo-launched missile systems. Test
bores were sunk to determine the suitability of the rock strata for the con-
struction of underground launch facilities. The tests came to naught, the
silos were never built and Britain’s nuclear deterrent was left as bomber-
launched and, later, submarine launched weaponry.
In the late 1970s, Spadeadam was taken over by the Royal Air Force as an
electronic warfare test range, finding a new lease of life as the massive
concrete rocket structures on Greymare Hill were abandoned and forgotten.
Spadeadam has, for decades, been a place of secrecy and mystery. In the
context of Hot War, the Blue Streak tests could have acted as reasonably
deniable cover for other projects. The isolated location would be ideal for
research into twisted technology, and the construction of facilities could
easily be covered up by the massive construction projects involved in Blue
Streak. A mission to the far north would be stupendously dangerous, if not
deadly.
-145-
Ci v i l O r g a n i s a t i o n s
British Experimental Rocket Bureau
Blamed in no small way for many of the catastrophes that have befallen Brit-
ain and the world, the BERB carries on through the sheer bloody-mindedness
of its brilliant but antagonistic leader, The Professor.
Whatever happened at Porton Down Chemical & Biological Defence Establishment

during the War is assumed to have been the fault of the Bureau. By extension,
blame for the Windscale Disaster (although it had nothing to do with BERB,
but rather with other scientific groups interfering in matters they did not
fully understand) is also laid at their door. Consequently, their name is
mud and very few would be brave enough to admit to membership in this ill-
starred organisation.
Those who were not at Porton during the INDIGO DIAMOND operation and those
who have managed to find their way south from Spadeadam have created a new
niche for themselves in post-war London, occupying the abandoned Underground
station and former World War Two Railway Executive control centre at Down
Street. Here, they probe into the mysteries of the Soviet attack and analyse
esoteric technologies brought to light by the SSG and other organisations.
The Government
Clinging on to what remains of power through the pre-war Emergency Powers
Act, the government of Harold MacMillan has only the most tenuous grip on
events in London and the Southeast. A slight nudge one way or the other could
cause the government to fall. It is well known that some elements of the armed
forces would be only too keen to step in and exercise greater control, were
the opportunity to arise.
The nature of the situation being what it is, the Government is a far more
slimline organisation that during its pre-war days. At its head stands the
enfeebled and troubled figure of the Prime Minister. Below him, the business
of government is divided amongst three main departments: the Ministry of Food
(with responsibility for food and water supplies, sea and river transport and
public health), the War Office (with responsibility for the armed forces,
the police and fire services and certain aspects of refugee management and
-146-
settlement) and the Ministry of Public Building & Works (responsible for re-
building programmes, roads, railways and certain aspects of refugee manage-
ment and settlement).
The three departments are engaged in constant turf war over resources, man-
power and Prime Ministerial favour. This only serves to set back the attempt
to rebuild and improve the lives of the survivors. In a desperate attempt
to shore up public opinion and demonstrate that the government is nominally
in charge, the politicians have even taken to wheeling out the elderly, ill
Sir Winston Churchill, still a hero to many. Some view this as a cruelty to
the aged, ex-Prime Minister, forcing him to undertake walkabouts in ravaged
parts of London, a sick re-enactment of his morale boosting tours during
World War Two.
The Trades Unions

Not to be confused with the crypto-fascist Union Movement (see below), the
remnants of the pre-war unions are still active in some areas. Some have
thrown themselves wholeheartedly behind the reconstruction efforts, while
some protest against the Draconian methods of the incumbent Government. With
the Army being a major power in the land, such activism is necessarily small-
scale, but protests and sabotage are on the increase.
More worryingly for the powers that be is the emerging evidence that various
hard line unionists are assisting extant elements of the Soviet forces in
the UK. Such evidence is slight, but a number of safe-houses have been dis-
covered by the SSG, containing both known trades union activists and Soviet
(particularly KGB) personnel.
There are also numerous trades union elements that are active in local re-
construction projects, using the expertise of their members and the bonds of
membership and brotherhood to provide a base for community activities. While
the aims are altruistic, an increasingly paranoid government still keeps a
beady eye on most of the larger or more vocal groups, just to be on the safe
side.
-147-
The Union Movement

A populist, right-wing group (and not to be confused with trades unions)
that grew from the pre-World War Two British Union of Fascists, the Union
Movement is unashamedly nationalistic and virulently anti-refugee. Led by
the charismatic Sir Oswald Mosley, the movement advocates the ‘shipping out’
not only of refugees, but anyone who does not fit in with their xenophobic,
racist creed (such as Afro-Caribbean and Asian Britons).
In these times of stress and crisis, their simple message, appealing to the
basest human instincts has won them a sizeable, if not huge, following. One
of the main planks of their manifesto is the oft heard cry of “Food for Brit-
ons, not for foreigners!”. Even the harsh regime of the internment camps is
opposed by the majority of the movement. They would rather see the refugees
shoved aboard rusting cargo ships at gunpoint and taken back to continental
Europe.
The other main thrust of their ambition is the view that Britain, despite
being in a sorry state at the moment, is well placed to be the ruling power
in Europe at some point in the future. They claim that concentrating on
re-building the military power of Britain, maybe even at the cost of basic
comfort for many, is a sacrifice worth making. They hold ambitions of a
resurgent military sweeping onto the continent and creating a new, British
controlled European state.
The sad fact is that the Union Movement is gaining supporters on a daily
basis. Their clever rhetoric and simplistic, base appeal have struck a chord
with many living in the chaos and ruin of post-War London. Even members of
the armed forces, blinded by the thought of increased influence, are begin-
ning to come under the sway of Mosley and his cohorts.
-148-
Military Organisations
The Army
Now the foremost military power in the land (although the Royal Navy tries
to dispute this), the British Army is not what it once was, though it still
remains the most significant armed formation in the British Isles. The losses
of the first weeks of the war destroyed many of the famous old regiments
while those stationed overseas in Germany and further afield were never heard
from again.
Large numbers of Army personnel are conscripts, National Servicemen who were
due to be released from unwilling service, back into their old civilian jobs.
The War changed all that. They now find themselves in the forces without
limit of time, disgruntled soldiers in a decaying military. The profession-
als view the ‘Nats’ as grumbling grousers who could do with a sharp dose of
discipline to get them back into line. To this end, desertions from the Army
a regular occurrence and most infractions of military law are now punished
by the old techniques of flogging and the gallows.
Still, the Army is a significant power, having what some would describe as
undue sway with the Government, dictating the use of many emergency powers
and laws. Its power is further enabled by the early seizure of large stocks
of fuel during the first days of the War. Although the stocks are drasti-
cally limited (and declining with every passing day), the Army can maintain a
reasonable number of armoured vehicles in the south of England for some time.
Pigs and Saracens are a fairly common sight on the streets of London, their
battered green shells showing the scars of conflict with things the soldiers
were never trained to fight.
The Royal Air Force (RAF)

The RAF is an organisation in steep decline. Its role in the war and its sub-
sequent loss of most of its power has made the Air Force a shadow of its for-
mer self. Without enough fuel for its remaining aircraft, there is precious
little role for it. The squadrons and wings are now reduced to a few ad-hoc
formations with a mish-mash of airworthy craft and trained personnel.
-150-
The RAF today flies the occasional Canberra photo-recon mission out across
the English Channel to try and ascertain what is going on in Europe. The mis-
sions are deeply unpopular with the remaining pilots. The higher echelons of
command are more concerned with maintaining the organisation as something of
an independent force, rather than be subsumed into the ranks of the ascendant
army. It is therefore attempting to re-invent itself as a specialist techni-
cal unit, probing into the mysteries of the twisted technology and fighting
a counter-productive turf war with the BERB.
Those in government have sought to exclude the RAF from the decision mak-
ing process and command structure, apparently in a vain attempt to distance
themselves from the horrors of INDIGO DIAMOND. The other armed services are
complicit in this, effectively reducing the RAF to the status of outsider.
In many ways, this is inordinately foolish, as the RAF still maintains a
reasonable manpower level and access to some vital supplies such as ammuni-
tion, fuel and spare parts.
The Royal Navy (RN)

Hit hard during the nuclear attacks, the RN lost many of its most significant
surface assets very early on and, in the present, can field little in the
way of heavy combat units. Like the army, however, they did manage to secure
reasonable fuel supplies, mainly through the proximity of coastal oil storage
depots to several of their untouched bases. Concentrating their resources
and vessels in the south, they have established themselves as the front line
against any further incursions from the Continent.
The Navy also has a massive bargaining chip in the form of the nuclear subma-
rine HMS Dreadnought (see page 167). Tied up in the Thames, she is one of the
few reliable sources of electrical power that does not rely on dwindling fuel
stocks. The cruiser HMS Belfast also sits on the Thames as a mobile artillery
battery, loosing off rounds into Greater London when fire support is required
by Royal Marine units (and grudgingly, at the request of the Army). However,
she is slowly succumbing to a lack of repair facilities.
The Navy also has another powerful asset in the form of Chief of the Defence
Staff, Admiral of The Fleet, Earl Mountbatten. Even in these troubled times,
Mountbatten still favours the Navy and does everything in his power to ensure
it gets the best of treatment.
-151-
Needless to say, the other arms of the military look less than favourably on
this preferential treatment.
The majority of the RN forces are concentrated into its small boat flotil-
las, composite units combining Motor Gun Boats (MGBs), Motor Torpedo Boats
(MTBs), landing craft, training boats and converted civilian vessels. Larger
vessels are just too costly in terms of the amount of fuel and maintenance
they require. Indeed, the Navy maintains only one big ship in a state of
something approaching readiness.
Soviet Forces
The majority of Soviet forces ending up in the UK were either paratroops
dropped in as part of largely unsuccessful attempts to capture key instal-
lations, or troops associated with the monstrous twisted technology assault
forces. Neither of these corps amounted to more than a few thousand men and
women and large numbers perished in the early days of the invasion. Very
limited support was landed, in the forms of tanks, when it was realised that
London had been missed almost entirely by nuclear weapons and the monstrous
forces would need some heavy backup.
In the present day, the remaining Soviet troops are reduced to skulking
bands, hiding out in remote areas or attempting to live normal lives, claim-
ing to be West German, Polish or even Dutch refugees. A good number, though,
continue to fight the war. Most of these are associated with one of the vari-
ous special agencies involved in the twisted technology programmes, such as
the KGB or GK-11.
The hope of many of the hold-outs is that they will be able to re-establish
contact with the Motherland and obtain new orders or report back their find-
ings. Some of the more action oriented groups have been carrying on guerilla
warfare or attempting to infiltrate London itself. Some of these have been
assisted in their infiltrations by KGB spies in the British establishment,
some of whom have now attained positions of considerable power and influence
in the post-war regime.
-152-
United States Combined European Command

(USCEC)
A small, dishevelled and dispirited group of men and women, USCEC is torn
apart by in-fighting, inter-service rivalry and a lack of news from the USA.
The organisation is made up of former diplomatic staff, members of the United
States Air Force (from bases such as Bentwaters and Upper Heyford), intel-
ligence agents and other military personnel.
With precious little in the way of long-term plans, USCEC farms out its
people to the British Government, to the military and even to the SSG in order
to have some sense of purpose and drive. The Command also serves as a point of
contact between American citizens stranded in London and the British authori-
ties, arranging for identity papers, ration cards and places to live.
Relations between USCEC and the Government are, however, getting a little
strained. A cabal within USCEC have taken it upon themselves to help what
they consider unfairly treated refugees. To this end, they provide false
American identities (usually taken from American citizens who have died or
gone missing) and arrange for the usual British paperwork through their nor-
mal channels. The Government knows this is going on, but due to incompetence
and in-fighting, finds it very hard to stop.
The American HQ in St James’ Square is, therefore, a popular destination for

the weary, desperate and frightened. Consequently, there are British troops
and police officers constantly hanging around the area to try and pick up
‘undesirables’ and pack them off to the internment camps.
-153-
P olice & Para-military

organisations
The Citizens Defence Army
Regarded by the military, police and Government as terrorists and seen by
many in the general population as either freedom fighters or gung-ho, heav-
ily armed do-gooders, the Citizens Defence Army (CDA) seeks to relieve what
they see as increasing oppression of the people by the authorities. They also
have a very vocal strand who wish to bring an end to the incarceration and
maltreatment of refugees.
The CDA operates on classic, underground paramilitary lines, with small

cells scattered around the London area. Each cell has little to no knowl-
edge of the whereabouts and activities of other cells, receiving orders
and information from a cadre of senior members who appear and disappear on
an infrequent basis. There is speculation that this cadre is having a lot
of difficulty exercising control over the more militant cells. A recent
rash of bombings against military personnel has been taken as a sign that
there might be a sizeable faction that is beyond control. Or, the bombings
could easily be part of an approved wider campaign by the CDA against the
authorities.
Amongst refugees, even those with resident alien status, support for the
CDA is widespread, even though their attempts to liberate large numbers of
refugees have met with dismal failure. In truth, very little is known about
the group, other than the fact that they are getting training in weapons from
somewhere and have access to both firearms and explosives. Rumour has it that
a large number of Army deserters have swollen the ranks of the CDA
London Police
Before the war, the policing of London was carried out by three forces. The
City of London Police patrolled the ‘square mile’, the financial and gov-
ernment heart of the city. The Metropolitan Police patrolled all of London
outside of this area. Finally, the British Transport Police had their beat on
the Underground Railway, railway stations and other transport hubs.
-154-
Post-war, the emergency powers enacted by the government consolidated all

of the individual forces and commands into one structure, simply titled
the London Police. Prior to the war, the average bobby on the beat carried
nothing more deadly than the standard issue truncheon that had been the
hallmark of officers of the law since the time of Sir Robert Peel. As the
state of emergency wore on, the police were issued firearms in order to
maintain public order, prevent looting and carry out the duties of capital
punishment. Old Lee-Enfield rifles and Webley revolvers were broken out of
the mothballs and handed out to officers who now found their duties greatly
expanded.
One year on, the police are still armed. Their uniforms are darned, patched
and worn, but the buttons and badges still shine. No longer is it a common
sight to see a single constable proceeding down the road, greeting passers-by
with a hearty “Evening all!”. Police officers now move around in groups of
at least three, all of them carrying their battered Lee-Enfields. The pub-
lic perception of the police has also changed quite markedly. Their role in
suppressing civil disturbances during the dark months after the outbreak of
war and their part in the notorious ‘flying squads’ that dished out summary
justice to those suspected of crimes have made them less trusted, less well
respected, more feared.
And within the organisation itself, there are schisms, factions and petty
squabbles. The senior officers of the old Metropolitan Police see themselves
as the senior division within the new, unitary service. Offers from the other
two groups disagree. The heads of the three old services were given joint
control of policing in the city, with predictable results. Only the respected
hand of Colonel Sir Arthur Young has prevented the situation becoming even
more fraught. Even so, the fights and factions still cause problems: for
example, some members of the rank and file feel that only former Transport
Police officers should have to patrol the Tube. Such is the nature of life
in London.
GK-11 Field Regiment

Some of the first Soviet personnel to come ashore with the initial waves dur-
ing the war were the mysterious troops of GK-11, the most secret scientific
intelligence organisation of USSR.
-155-
GK-11 was established shortly after World War Two in order to find, analyse
and make use of the Nazi twisted technology. They were, in many ways, the
direct analogue of BERB in the UK, only with far more power and influence.
Apparently beyond the control of the other organs of state security, they
operated with practically no oversight and no restrictions. It was GK-11 who
was responsible for the development of Soviet twisted technology weaponry and
were in the front line when the time came to use it in anger.
The Field Regiment was, as the name suggests, the unit responsible for han-
dling and controlling monsters and technology in the field. From the available
evidence, it appears that they grossly overestimated their ability to carry
out this role. The Regiment was partially decimated by its own weaponry, and
now exists in tiny pockets, trying to carry on the war as best it can.
-156-
The destruction of St. Paul’s
Cathedral during the initial days of
the war.
Photographer unknown.
C H A P T E R 6 : L O N D O N & B E Y O N D
P rofile
Windscale
Situated on the Irish Sea coast of Cumbria, Windscale has a storied and var-
ied history. Originally a World War Two Royal Ordnance Factory that produced
TNT and other explosives, Windscale became one of the most important and
notable sites involved in military and civil nuclear matters.
One of the principle early roles for Windscale was the production of weapons
grade plutonium for the British nuclear bomb programme. The site expanded
and grew, incorporating the MAGNOX reactor facility at next door Calder Hall.
Attention was focussed on the facility when, in October of 1957, a serious
fire broke out in one of the piles that produced plutonium. Although details
were never fully released at the time, the Windscale Fire was (and remains)
the most serious nuclear accident ever to have occurred in the UK.
In the race to produce a viable ‘British bomb’, environmental issues were

sidelined for many years, resulting in the discharge of radioactive waste
into the Irish Sea and the cover-up of many incidents that posed a threat to
public health.
As a prime target during any nuclear war, there is a reasonable likelihood

that the place is now a radioactive wasteland. However, there is always the
chance that the USSR would be more keen to secure the secrets of Sellafield
rather than destroy them outright. Assault by twisted technology means and
conventional forces could mean that the site may be relatively intact. Per-
haps it is held by Soviet forces? Perhaps it held out and represents a bas-
tion of technology, with the potential to reactivate the reactors at some
point? And, like many other places mentioned in this book, perhaps there are
deeper secrets...
-159-
London, by some kind of miracle, was spared the brunt of the nuclear at-
tack. Unreliable intermediate range ballistic missiles landed to the north,
while slow-moving strategic bombers were shot down in droves by the fighters
of the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. But, the city still suffered. The bombs that
landed north of the city irradiated and laid waste to huge tracts of land.
The creatures that emerged from landing craft on the east coast and appeared
from nowhere all across the country ravaged outlying areas until their eye
fell upon London.
Pitched battles through the city streets, artillery firing from parks and
tree-lined squares, tanks grinding and crushing their way through houses in
search of targets all took their toll. Fires burned and districts were gut-
ted. But London and some of its people survived the first days of war and
have, since then, established an existence, of sorts.
Large parts of the city are remarkably still as they once were. However, the
damage to the infrastructure: power, water and sewerage, have caused great
changes in the pattern of life. The population is also vastly reduced, hun-
dreds of thousands having been killed by radiation, fires, bullets, bombs
and creeping creatures. Under the Emergency Powers Acts, the remnants of the
government and the military now have control, attempting to maintain some
semblance of order amongst the rubble.
U n d e r L o n d o n
Between the asphalt of the streets and the clay far below, is another
London. A dark London, a twisted, confusing London. Now, in these troubled
times, it has become home, refuge and hiding place for many. But not all of
those below the ground have good intentions.
The ground beneath the capital is riddled with tunnels, sewers, pipes, cel-
lars, vaults and hidden rivers. The largest and most well known of all the
networks is the old London Underground Railway, affectionately known as ‘The
Tube’. In times of peace it was the largest underground railway network in
the world. In time of war, it provided shelter for thousands, allowed safe
communications and storage of secrets and treasures.
Almost as extensive in scale as the underground railway is the sewage net-

work, put in place by the great planner and engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette
in the mid to late 19th century. Lack of power and services have caused the
rapid breakdown of the sewer network - Bazalgette would doubtless turn white
-160-
with horror if he saw it now. The sewers are flooded, blocked, backing up,
emptying into the Thames, turning that great river back into the trough of
ordure that it was before he came onto the scene.
London was also plentifully supplied with underground spaces designed for
times of war. Citadels, bunkers and shelters are, while not on every street
corner, relatively commonplace in the city. The armed forces and authorities
have taken to these places with great enthusiasm, viewing them as far safer
and more secure than the above ground offices of Westminster and Whitehall.
Some of these were deeply secret places, hidden from public view. A scat-
tered handful were even more closely guarded than the rest, underground labs
built into abandoned underground stations, research facilities conducting
appalling experiments on the living. All part of the drive to use the twisted
technology.
The ill-lit chambers underground also provide somewhere for the enemies of
the people of London to hide, to prey on their victims, to plan and plot. One
of the key, and less well loved, roles for the SSG is to venture down into
these holes and, hunt down remnants of monster infestations, self-interested
bandits, fearful refugees and criminals of all kinds.
The Cabinet War Rooms

Beneath Horse Guards Road, in what was once the beating heart of the Govern-
ment machine, lie the buried War Rooms. Famous as the location from which
Churchill controlled the British effort during World War Two, they were
mostly abandoned during the post-World War Two period due to inadequacies in
their design.
Now, in these times of trouble and crisis, the old War Rooms have once again
become the centre of government. Despite their frailty in the face of air
attack, they do provide a safe and secure location where the business of
running the country (or, as much of the country as is left to control) can
be carried out in relative safety. A warren of low-ceilinged, humid concrete
rooms layered in peeling, institutional brown paint, this is the nerve centre
of what remains of the government.
The Prime Minister lives most of his life here, surrounded by layers of
advisers, both civil and military. The Army, Navy and police forces also
maintain a strong advisory presence here, although the RAF is notably
-161-
excluded from the inner sanctum of control. At any one time, there will be
200 to 300 people living and working in the labyrinth of rooms and corridors,
many of them fearing to ever venture out into the ravaged streets. Those who
do visit the bunker from the outside often comment on the unreal atmosphere
and seeming defiance of reality that pervades the lives of those who claim
responsibility for the continued existence of millions.
The Deep Level Shelters

Dug during World War Two as air raid shelters that could each accommodate
8,000 people, they were initially designed with the military in mind. Due to
the exigencies of war, the authorities generously allowed civilians access
during the endless air raids of the Blitz. After 1945, it was assumed that the
shelters each consisting of parallel three mile long tunnels, would be inte-
grated into a new, high speed line as part of the Tube. It never happened.
Other than the conversion of the shelter at Chancery Lane into a telephone
line switching nexus, the shelters were abandoned and ignored for nearly two
decades. Then the War came and suddenly, secure havens were in demand. The
Armed Forces quickly took control of most of the shelters and now use them
as barracks, secure stores and prisons.
They are generally foetid, horrible places: ill-lit, badly ventilated and
horribly humid. Most troops hate the shelters, despite the safety they of-
fer, and would rather be above ground, especially during the warmer months.
Very few can forget the tales of the Battle of Goodge Street, when swarms of
monsters infiltrated the shelter and adjoining tunnels, massacring nearly 200
soldiers in brutal close combat. Goodge Street now lies empty and abandoned,
a ghostly charnel house.
St. Pauls’ has also established a nasty reputation for itself. Officially
named ‘Intelligence Gathering Centre, St. Pauls’, it is widely known to be
an Army interrogation centre, squeezing information from refugees, Soviet
personnel and even the more tractable monsters. ‘The St. Pauls Hobble’ has
become an accepted term for the manner of walking someone exhibits after
recovering from broken knees or ankles.
Shelters exist near the following Underground stations: Clapham South,

Clapham Common, Clapham North, Stockwell, Oval, Goodge Street, Camden Town,
Belsize Park, Chancery Lane and St. Pauls’.
-162-
Down Street Station

One of the ‘ghost stations’ of the Tube, Down Street had a brief life before
being shut down and taken out of service. The old station did, however, see
use during World War Two as the secure, air-raid proof headquarters of the
Railway Executive. Once the conflict was over, the station was again locked
up and left to the rats and spiders.
Nowadays, Down Street bustles with activity once more, as it is the headquar-
ters and main operating base for the Special Situations Group. Armouries,
labs, sleeping quarters and briefing rooms have all been crammed into the
tunnels, on to the platforms, on the stairs, into every available space.
At the very top of the stairwell, at street level, local children and teenag-
ers are paid (in food and consumables) by the SSG to operate the big manual
pumps that supply fresh air to the station. Although it is laborious, boring
work, there is much competition between the local youngsters for shifts on
the pumps. Those personnel sequestered below ground are heartily glad of the
efforts of the spindly little kids on the pumps and fans.
Very few of the SSG people actually live in the station for any length of
time, the Group having commandeered a number of apartment buildings in the
immediate area for the purposes of housing. The limited electricity budget
allowed for the functioning of the SSG does not extend to ‘non-essential’
uses, so, like so many other places, the personnel have jury-rigged bicycle
dynamos to provide some lighting and to run the occasional, feeble electric
bar heater.
The Post Office Railway

A miniature version of the main Underground Railway system, the Post Office
Railway was originally intended to carry sacks of mail swiftly under London,
avoiding the congested traffic on the streets above. Going from west to east,
it runs for a little over six miles from the big sorting office at Paddington
to the delivery office in Whitechapel, with eight stations (Bird Street, Wim-
pole Street, Rathbone Place, New Oxford Street, Mount Pleasant, King Edward
Street and Liverpool Street) along the way.
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The little electric locomotives and their miniature rolling stock shuttled
tirelessly beneath the feet of Londoners until the War interrupted the de-
livery of the Royal Mail. Now they serve a somewhat different purpose, shut-
tling personnel across central London in relative security, if not in great
comfort. The tunnels and stations have been sealed off, so they represent one
of the more secure underground networks in the London area.
Technical services and control of the network is still provided by former

Post Office workers, but the entire thing now falls under the jurisdiction of
the Army, who bullied their way into controlling the network as soon as it
was discovered that it might be useful. They ‘generously’ allow the SSG to
use the lines at times, offering a swift and easy way to get from one side
of central London to the other.
The London Underground Railway Network

A vast network of tunnels and above ground lines running throughout London,
‘the Tube’ was the largest and most complex transport system of its kind in
the world. Mile upon mile of train and service tunnels, stations, switching
points and yards make up an underground maze that is impossible to patrol or
secure with any degree of certainty.
During the early days of the War, the Tube was used as an extemporised shel-
ter by thousands of frightened Londoners. As the fighting intensified, the
military attempted to make use of the tunnels to transport troops around the
city. The unreliability of power supplies and increasing numbers of attacks
by tunnel-dwelling monstrosities soon put a stop to that idea.
Since those dark days, the tunnels have been mostly abandoned, save for a few
that are used for storage, some that are still utilised to get from one place
to another or those that are now used (rarely) as permanent accommodations.
Many of the deep level tunnels and stations are flooded to their roofs as the
water table gradually re-asserts control.
The barricades surrounding central London are mirrored in the tunnels below,
with trains and other railway detritus used to block off the lines and prevent
horrible things getting into the core areas. They are seldom successful.
Rumour and fear surround the Tube. Legends that existed long before the War
have taken on whole new lives in light of the appalling circumstances of today.
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Everyone has heard the tales of those who entered the tunnels for shelter and
who never came out, resorting to cannibalism and murder to survive. Children
talk of the roving bands of soldiers, driven mad by their experiences, who
now wander the Underground slaying everyone they come across. Whispers abound
about strange goings on at Mornington Crescent station. The stories are end-
less, many of the monsters only too real.
Lo c a t i o n s W i t h i n C e n t r a l L o n d o n
The Admiralty Citadel
A brutal concrete blockhouse squatting in the heart of Government, the
Citadel is the headquarters of the Navy and, arguably, the most important
military command installation left in Britain.
Within the concrete walls, Navy personnel plan, plot and scheme, working out
how to use their dwindling resources to best effect. The Citadel is also the
heart of the Navy communications network. Clusters of jury-rigged radio masts
sprout from the ivy-covered roof and hardened telephone lines travel out to
key installations such as HMS Dreadnought.
The Citadel also serves a very practical military purpose. It was envisaged
as a redoubt in case of German invasions during World War Two and is provided
with loopholes and firing positions for resisting attack. These features,
coupled with its six metre thick concrete walls, make it one of the most
defensible positions in London.
The Navy also, somewhat childishly, refuses to allow the other services to
use any part of the Citadel. Army, RAF and police personnel are allowed in for
various meetings and conferences, but the permanent presence is exclusively
drawn from the Senior Service.
Barricades
More of a sop to the feelings of the people than any kind of real defence
against the threat of the monsters, ‘Barricades’ is the general term given
to the military cordon that wends its way around central London. Piles of
bricks, concrete blocks, disabled tanks, burned out buses, even gutted train
carriages are all pressed into service to provide the appearance of viable
defence.
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The barricades guard the chunk of London that includes the old Government and
financial districts and have created problems of their own. Londoners have
flooded into the central area, making it a stinking, over-populated ghetto
that just happens to contain the seat of civil and military power. Then
again, there are many who have a more realistic outlook on life and remain
where they are, knowing full well that the Barricades provide little in the
way of protection.
The southern limit of the Barricades is represented by the Thames embankment

at the old, dilapidated Houses of Parliament, where they turn north at the
remains of Hungerford Bridge (blown up during the War) and extend all the way
up through Trafalgar Square to Piccadily Circus. The streets heading into
Piccadily from the north are all blocked until the lines turns south down
Queens Walk, across St James’s Park, cutting down to meet the Thames once
more at Millbank.
HMS Belfast
Due to be stricken from the register and sent to suffer the final ignominy of
the breakers yard, Belfast was saved from her fate by the outbreak of war. On
detached duty when the balloon went up, she survived the apocalypse that be-
fell much of the RN. She sailed round the South Coast, finding major RN bases
to be nothing but radiation-spewing craters or monster-infested hell-holes.
Her arrival on the Thames was greeted with delight by the increasingly
desperate Admiralty and with cheers by ecstatic Londoners who saw her as a
grey-hulled saviour. Belfast now serves as an artillery platform, floating
naval base and a tender to the more numerous MGBs and MTBs. Fuel permitting,
she makes a rare sortie down the Thames Estuary to shell known infestation
concentrations, sometimes venturing as far north as Hull or as far along the
South Coast as Dover as part of a continued effort to control incursions com-
ing across the North Sea and English Channel.
Belfast relies on supplies of ammunition being brought in to the city by

army patrols and small craft sorties up and down the coast. The Navy does
not like to talk about exactly how many shells she still has on board, but
bombardments are becoming increasingly rare. The ship also badly needs ex-
tensive work in a fully equipped dockyard. Understandably, this is unlikely
to happen any time soon
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HMS Dreadnought
Once the technological pride of the Royal Navy, a vessel on the cutting edge
of nuclear technology, now she lies tied up on the bank of the Thames, her
hull streaked with rust and a crust of filth. Cables run from her tear-drop
hull to the shore, carrying the power generated by her reactor. Dreadnought
is now one of the only sources of reliable power in central London, guarded
with seeming paranoia by the Navy, slit-eyed Royal Marines watching over her
24 hours a day.
The boat presents a serious challenge for the Navy. Nuclear technicians
were few and far between before the War and those who maintain the precious
reactor have come to realise the value of their skills, bartering them for
improved rations and comparatively palatial accommodations. Ordinary sailors
and soldiers look upon the technicians and scientists as cynical opportunists
taking food from the mouths of children.
Everyone in London knows about Dreadnought and therefore everyone knows what
a tempting target she would make. Without her power, military and government
activities would be seriously compromised and the influence of the Navy, more
than anything, would see a sharp decline.
Yanktown
The area in and around St James has colloquially become known as ‘Yanktown’,
home to the small American community in London. Most of the US population are
diplomatic or military personnel caught in London during the war or those
lucky few who managed to make their way to the city from the various American
bases in England. There are also small numbers of former tourists, caught
short by the fighting.
Unlike other groups, the Americans have achieved a sizeable degree of inte-
gration with their British counterparts, with US military personnel allowed
to keep their weapons, mount guard and generally police the area in co-opera-
tion with the London police. The police and some of the other organisations
in positions of authority also turn a blind eye to the fact that the number
of ‘American citizens’ seems to be increasing at quite a rate. Everyone knows
full well that USCEC is sympathetic to the plight of the refugees and sits on
a large (but diminishing) supply of blank American passports.
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Refugees issued these passports can use them to gain British identity papers
and ration cards. Protests of a low-level kind flit back and forth between
the Government and St James’, sometimes leading to a degree of tension and
mistrust.
The buildings in the area are in generally good condition, kept clean and
tidy by their inhabitants. Overcrowding is a bit of a problem, especially
when one considers the number of refugees claiming to be American. The base-
ment of one of the buildings is known at the ‘Washington Club’, an informal
meeting house where British and US governmental, military and SSG personnel
can engage in ‘chit chat’ about pertinent topics.
L ocations Within greater London

The Dogs
Located a few miles downstream from central London, the Isle of Dogs was a
run down, deprived area even before the war. Since then, things have only
gotten worse.
The tangled streets, old warehouses, silos and dockyards are a nightmare for
the uninitiated to navigate, the destruction and decay of the fighting only
making things more confusing. All these dark places contribute to the area’s
evil reputation. It has become a haven for scavengers, psychos and creatures
of all kinds. Periodic Army and police patrols into the periphery try in
vain to root out some of the worst offenders, but it has little effect. The
occasional artillery shell lobbed into the area from elsewhere in the city
does little to help.
Round the edges there are a few people who refuse to leave, families who have
lived there for generations, truculent and miserable in their resistance to
change. Persuasion and force seem to offer little in the way of a solution,
so the authorities leave them to it, hoping that the sheer nastiness of the
area will eventually drive them out. Still, the hangers-on provide something
of an early warning service for the SSG. They keep their wits about them and
report anything too unusual to the Group in the hope of being rewarded with
a couple of tins of beans or a can of bully beef.
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Frogtown
In the immediate aftermath of the War, refugees flooded across the English
Channel. A large number of those initial arrivals were French and, if not
exactly welcomed, they were treated with greater care than subsequent arriv-
als. Those who came to London in those first weeks were granted ‘resident
alien’ status, giving them ration cards, identity papers and the right to
work. These are a small band compared to the seething masses in the intern-
ment camps.
The Government was not without its concerns, however. They ordered that an
area south of the Thames be designated as living space for the refugees,
taking over most of what was the borough of Southwark for the purpose.
The fact that Southwark was proving to be troublesome and hard to control
anyway just provided an additional spur to move the refugees in. They
were allowed to set up their own Vigilance Committees and given a small
number of firearms to defend the area. The Government considered its du-
ties fulfilled.
The area is now referred to, in the vernacular, as ‘Frogtown’, ‘Frog’ being a
mildly pejorative term for a French person. In reality, the initial settlers
provide little trouble for the authorities, contributing to the upkeep of
the borough with diligence and energy. Many of the people who came over were
farmers and fishermen, and they found their skills in great demand. A large
chunk of the fishing fleet is manned by men from Boulogne, Calais, Cherbourg
and Dieppe, and gardens, parks and open spaces have been taken over and in-
dustriously tilled as fields and allotments.
But there are troubles. Differences are spreading and growing. There are
those who see it as their duty to help their less fortunate countrymen, hid-
ing new refugees, providing fake identity and ration cards, helping them
avoid the attentions of the police and military. Others wish to maintain the
status quo and not upset their British hosts. Raids into the area by officers
of the law are becoming increasingly common and, recently, they find them-
selves sporadically resisted by radical elements in the community. Trouble
is most certainly brewing.
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Woolwich Arsenal
For centuries, the arsenal at Woolwich has been the key locations for weapons
development and production in Britain. The old brick sheds, storage bunkers
and workshops have seen many changes over the years: muskets and cannon giv-
ing way to automatic rifles and high velocity tank guns. While its overall
importance may have declined somewhat, Woolwich still retains a mystique and
place in the national history that few such establishments can match.
Unsurprisingly the arsenal is now one of the key Army bases in London, its
time-worn factories crowded with men and their equipment. The soldiers jeal-
ousy guard the ever diminishing stocks of cartridges, shells and explosives,
knowing full well that there is precious little capacity to make any more.
A few of the skilled artisans and scientists are still in residence, doing
their level best to do what they can to support increasingly panicked Army
demands. The calls for more supplies become ever more shrill as the invento-
ries run dry. Workers have resorted to the old methods of manufacture, making
gunpowder from what they can scavenge, even raiding film libraries for old
nitrocellulose stock to make extemporised and unreliable propellants.
In the meantime, the fortified arsenal is a place of paranoia and grim

determination. The gallows punishes those who do not follow orders or who
demonstrate cowardice.
Lo c a t i o n s Near London
Dengie Peninsula
On the East Coast, north of the Thames Estuary, lies the Dengie Peninsula, an
area once considered scenic and peaceful. Now the beaches, coves and marshes
are littered with the rusting detritus of war and death. The rotting hulks
of Soviet landing ships loom out of the mist. Many of those ships are not
entirely dead.
Things sometimes swarm from the guts of these grounded vessels, at other
times strange emanations and waves drift outwards. The entire area is blan-
keted by an unreal quiet, an atmosphere of doom and utmost desolation. Odd
burrows and pits dot the area, deeply rutted tracks made by inhuman feet
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head off into the countryside. The towns of the peninsula lie ghostly and
empty, with only the occasional light appearing in the abandoned buildings:
foolhardy scavengers or some of the desperate Soviet personnel still clinging
to life in the area.
The scavengers are there for the rumoured fuel and supplies that still remain
in the hulks, in the wrecked tanks and aircraft that are gradually sinking in
to the soft ground. Most of them are half-mad, either from the War or from
the life that they have chosen to live since then.
Then there are the inexplicable, freezing winds that sometimes blow from the
ships. Some have said that there are strange gates in the ships or mysterious
generators connected to lonely, dead places. Some say Siberia. Others say
elsewhere, even further away than the Arctic wastes of Russia.
The Internment Camps

Those who have managed to survive the holocaust that engulfed the European
continent or who have trekked to London from other parts of the UK. Those
who have made the arduous journey across the storm tossed North Sea or the
fog-bound English Channel. Those who expect a haven in southern England. They
are the disappointed.
What was a flood of refugees has slowed down somewhat since the initial,
horrible weeks of the War, but still they come on foot, in rowing boats, on
rafts, in decrepit steamers and rusting torpedo boats. Rather than receiving
a welcome, they are rounded up and hustled at gunpoint into the huge holding
pens and camps scattered around the marshy Thames Estuary. Under combined
Army and Navy command, they are a seething, dirty, rebellious mass of human-
ity. With the Government more concerned about looking after the remnants of
the British population, they have little care, time or resources for refu-
gees, no matter how pitiable their state or how horrific their experiences.
The camps are harsh places, with gaolers who have precious little love for
their charges and residents who prey upon the weak and helpless. Rumours con-
tinue to spiral out of the camps, rumours of cannibalism, of regular summary
executions and rampant brutality.
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CANVEY ISLAND CAMP

A low-lying island separated from the mainland by small creeks, Canvey is es-
sentially a transit camp, where refugees are held prior to being transferred
to one of the main camps at Cliffe, Sheppey or Southend. The majority of
dwellings on the island having been blown to smithereens during fighting in
the Estuary, the camp is little more than a big barbed wire enclosure with
little in the way of shelter beyond a few decrepit houses,
The camp itself is becoming more and more overcrowded as the other camps fill
up. Canvey is slowly transitioning from being a place where refugees are
sorted and processed to a place of permanent detention.
CLIFFE CAMP
The smallest of the four camps, but still massively overcrowded, Cliffe is
home to those refugees that the government considers useful, but has not
had time to fully process. Those who claim useful skills and professions are
often (but not always) sent to Cliffe where they wait amongst the marshes for
an interview that might never come.
The former village and the nearby cement works are now surrounded by fences
and barricades, cramming thousands into buildings that used to accommodate a
few hundred. From Cliffe, on a clear day, the refugees can look out across
the marshes and the estuary towards the other, larger camps of Canvey,
Sheppey and Southend, the latter permanently covered in a dirty brown haze
of smoke.
ISLE OF SHEPPEY CAMP

The first of the camps to be set up after the War, Sheppey is also the most
squalid and filthy. One of the scarcest commodities in the camp is fresh
water, a rarity in London itself and as precious as bullets in Sheppey. A
band of Belgian engineers have managed, with limited co-operation from the
RN, set up a small desalination plant that runs on power produced by intern-
ees pedalling their guts out on a series of bicycles hooked up to electrical
generators. Compared to the needs of the camp, the quantities produced are
tiny, but it does serve to supplement the meagre daily supplies brought in
by barge.
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA CAMP
A former seaside resort, a place for Londoners to visit at the weekend or
on holidays. Happy families, warm beer, fish and chips, and jellied eels.
-172-
No more. Much of the former resort finds itself surrounded by barbed wire
fences and barricades of rubble. Within the fences, families live in the
decaying, foul rooms of the houses and hotels, burning whatever they can
find to keep warm, pleading with the Army and Navy for more fresh water or
improved supplies of food.
Southend is the largest of the camps in terms of (assumed) population and,

to be fair, offers more substantial shelter than either Canvey or Sheppey.
That being said, life in the camp is just as harsh and unforgiving as in any
of the others.
The Sea Forts

Constructed during World War Two as part of the air defences for the Thames
Estuary and the London area, the Maunsell Sea Forts (named for their de-
signer, Guy Maunsell) have now been re-purposed as the first line against
anything that might attempt to attack London from the sea. The forts were
formerly divided between the Army and the Navy, but are now the sole respon-
sibility of the RN.
There are actually two distinct forms of fort: the former army forts being
radically different in construction from the navy versions. The Navy forts
(Rough Sands, Sunk Head, Tongue Sands and Knock John) are concrete and steel
platforms mounted on two thick legs which extend down to a flooded caisson
on the sea floor. Each of the army forts (Red Sands and Shivering Sands,
plus a third at Nore which was demolished due to a collision) consist of
a series of six linked steel towers, standing on tripodal legs sunk into
the seabed.
Now permanently manned (although not considered a prime posting), the forts
have all had their weaponry beefed up with extemporised guns salvaged from
wrecked RN vessels. They have been involved in numerous incidents, firing
on ships suspected of belonging to the ‘enemy’, loosing off rounds at shapes
in the fog, and sending small craft out to investigate mysteriously dead and
drifting hulks...
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The Zone of Alienation

To the north of London, spreading over the counties of Hertfordshire and Es-
sex, a strange place is gradually growing. Some would put this down to the
nuclear weapons that missed their targets and hit the area. Doubtless, this
is part of it, but others cite even stranger weapons that found their mark
here.
The Zone of Alienation is a forbidden place, marked on its Southern edge

by crude signs erected by the Army and police. In truth, there is precious
little they can do to prevent people venturing in to the area.
Colours in the zone can vary from intensely sharp hues not seen in nature to
washed out and feeble. Wildlife is subject to odd mutations and uncharacter-
istic behaviours. Time seems to pass strangely, speeding up and slowing down,
sometimes ceasing to have meaning at all. Roads lead back to themselves,
villages and towns are overgrown at tremendous rates and horrific visions
stalk the land.
The Zone, some would argue, is the focus of an increasing number of creatures
making incursions into London in search of prey or whatever it is that they
quest for. Unreliable sources also state that roaming units of soldiers can
sometimes be seen in the distance and the droning sound of aircraft heard
on the wind.
And the Zone is growing. There are no concrete estimates of how fast, but
everyone agrees that it is getting bigger, spreading its influence across
a broader swathe of the land. And nobody has the first idea of what to do
about it.
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F L O NDON !
PEOP L E O
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Female, thought to be 12 years old, taken in to
protective custody .
SSG operatives notified by subjects parents.
Subject removed to secure location.

C H A P T E R 7 : A P P E N D I C E S
P rofile
Fort Halstead
Originally one of the line of Victorian era ‘Palmerston’ forts along the
South Coast of England, Fort Halstead took on a new life in the 1930’s when
it was taken over by the Royal Armament Research Development Establishment
(RARDE) for research into anti-aircraft rockets.
RARDE was involved in the development of numerous weapons during World War
Two and, in the post-War period, was the site for nuclear weapons develop-
ment prior to the creation of the AWRE at Aldermaston (see page 19). Fort
Halstead continued to be a significant site for the creation of new weapons,
particularly explosives, even after the removal of nuclear weapons research.
This role continues right up to the present day, with the facility being a
worldwide centre of excellence for the analysis of explosives.
The Fort is another site that, in the time line of Hot War, would have been
ideal for carrying out experiments into captured twisted technology. Its
location near London would have made it easy for scientists to travel from
their researches to the seat of Government in a relatively inconspicuous
manner. The old Fort itself would have provided good cover in the event of
nuclear attack, protecting against blast and fallout. However, it would still
provide no protection against a direct hit.
Halstead is also close enough to London that the SSG could easily be tasked
with getting information, personnel and equipment from the site. However, it
is almost certain that they would not be the only ones with an interest in
the RARDE facility.
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Ap p e n d i x :
M e d i o g r a p h y
Films
12 MONKEYS
(Dir: Terry Gilliam, Wri: David Webb Peoples, Janet Peoples)
Strongly influenced by ‘La Jetee’ (see below), this is a typically Gilliam-
esque journey through insanity, bureaucracy and apocalyptic self-interest. A
wonderful influence for more absurdist games of Hot War.
20 MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE

(Dir: Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, Wri: Steve Roberts)
The feature-length version of what would become the ‘Max Headroom’ TV series,
‘20MITF’ is far darker in tone than the subsequent serialisation.
28 WEEKS LATER
(Dir: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Wri: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Rowan Joffe,
Enrique Lopez-Lavigne, Jesus Olmo)
Sequel to ‘28 Days Later’, ‘28 Weeks...’ is more in-keeping with Hot War than
its predecessor. The scenes in the abandoned London Underground are perfect
inspiration.
THE BED-SITTING ROOM

(Dir: Richard Lester, Wri: John Antrobus)
A bizarre little oddity of British cinema, rarely seen, ‘The Bed Sitting
Room’ is perhaps the strangest of all pieces of post-apocalyptic cinema.
Worth seeing for the almost surreal visuals and borderline-insane tone.
BRAZIL
(Dir: Terry Gilliam, Wri: Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown, Tom Stoppard)
A marvellously deranged take on the Orwellian dystopia, ‘Brazil’ manages to
brilliantly convey the insanity and bloody-mindedness of government bureau-
cracy in the face of crisis and catastrophe.
CHILDREN OF MEN
(Dir: Alfonso Cuaron, Wri: David Arata, Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Fergus, P. D.
James, Hawk Ostby, Timothy J. Sexton)
Wonderfully photographed and directed, ‘Children of Men’ is a tour de force
of modern SF cinema. The atmosphere and imagery of the Bexhill Camp and the
final battle scenes are key points to keep in mind for Hot War.
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CREEP
(Dir: Christopher Smith, Wri: Christopher Smith)
In essence, this is a modern re-telling of ‘Death Line’ (see below), but
perhaps not quite so accomplished. A small part of the action does, however,
take place in the abandoned Down Street Station and the notion of the secret
underground lab is very ‘Hot War’.
THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE

(Dir: Val Guest, Wri: Val Guest, Wolf Mankowitz)
One of the classic black and white British catastrophe movies, ‘TDTECF’ takes
a planet-threatening disaster (in this case the Earth beginning to fall into
the sun) and makes it very intimate, focusing on a small group of people,
their reactions and their lives as society and nature crumble around them.
Understated and well worth watching for the scenes of a desolate, devastated
London.
DEATH LINE
(Dir: Gary Sherman, Wri: Gary Sherman)
A minor classic of British horror, watch this for the atmospheric Underground
Railway sequences that could so easily be transposed (with a little altera-
tion) into the London of Hot War.
THE ELEMENT OF CRIME

(Dir: Lars von Trier, Wri: Lars von Trier, Niels Vorsel)
The first feature length film by Lars von Trier, it takes place in a Europe
that has been warped in a somewhat surreal fashion by some un-named disas-
ter. Social decay and surreal imagery are key points of this very worthwhile
film.
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

(Dir: John Carpenter, Wri: John Carpenter, Nick Castle)
One of the classic 80’s dystopian movies, it would be difficult to rate ‘Es-
cape From New York’ as a great film, but it is an effective one nonetheless.
The brutal nature of the mission Snake Plissken is sent on parallels similar
work that the SSG is required to conduct in Hot War.
FAHRENHEIT 451
(Dir: Francois Truffaut, Wri: Ray Bradbury, Jean-Louis Ricard, Francois
Truffaut)
The tale of Fireman Montag, who begins to question his place in a future so-
ciety dedicated to the elimination of knowledge has many aspects that could
be easily ported over into Hot War: The destruction of vast repositories of
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learning, the almost totalitarian government and the situation of a man who
comes to realise that what he is doing may not be in the best interests of
mankind.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

(Dir: Don Siegel, Wri: Richard Collins, Jack Finney, Daniel Mainwaring)
Cold War paranoia piece par excellance, IOTBS is the definitive ‘Red Scare’
parable. The themes of mistrust, deception and confusion in this movie play
a major part in Hot War.
LA JETEE
(Dir: Chris Marker, Wri: Chris Marker)
Only 28 minutes long and composed almost entirely of black and white still
photographs, ‘La Jetee’ considers a post-apocalypse experiment in time trav-
el. Terry Gilliam credited it as one of the central influences on ‘12 Mon-
keys’.
LE DERNIER COMBAT
(Dir: Luc Besson, Wri: Luc Besson, Pierre Jolivet)
The first film by a director who would go on to become a major figure, Le
Dernier Combat is a strange, hallucinatory, black & white, dialogue free
(apart from one or two sentences), post-apocalypse nightmare.
THE OMEGA MAN

(Dir: Boris Sagal, Wri: John William Corrington, Joyce H. Corrington, Richard
Matheson)
A not very faithful interpretation of Richard Mathesons ‘I Am Legend’, this
is still an entertaining slice of 1970s post-apocalyptic horror, with Charl-
ton Heston in typically rugged form.
SPLIT SECOND
(Dir: Tony Maylam, Ian Sharp, Wri: Gary Scott Thompson)
A cheap and cheerful tale of supernatural goings on an a near-future, flooded
London, Split Second could never be called a great film but its a mindlessly
entertaining one nonetheless.
STALKER
(Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky, Wri: Arkady and Boris Strugatsky)
It would be hard to deny that ‘The Zone’ in ‘Stalker’ was a substantial
influence on ‘The Zone of Alienation’ in this game. A wonderful series of
striking images, it’s not a film that is blessed with abundant action, but
it is intriguing and thought provoking.
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Television
1984
(Dir: Rudolph Cartier, Wri: Nigel Kneale, George Orwell)
A production that was openly criticised in the House of Commons for its stark
depiction of Orwell’s bleak future, this black and white BBC series is prob-
ably the best interpretation of the novel.
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS

(Dir: Ken Hannam, Wri: Douglas Livingstone, John Wyndham)
While the (albeit very limited) special effects in this 1981 BBC adaptation
of the John Wyndham novel may seem slightly risible to modern eyes, this is
nonetheless a worthy telling of the classic science fiction tale. The charac-
terisation and the visual cues of the deserted streets are great touchstones
for scenes in Hot War.
DR WHO :THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH

(Dir: Richard Martin, Wri: Terry Nation)
Despite the laughable science and sometimes hilarious special effects, this
tale of resistance in a devastated London does have some remarkably chilling
scenes. The eerie locations of abandoned warehouses and disused Underground
stations are particularly notable.
EDGE OF DARKNESS
(Dir: Martin Campbell, Wri: Troy Kennedy Martin)
One of the greatest pieces of television ever created, ‘Edge of Darkness’ is
another must see piece of work. Bob Peck turns in the best performance of
his career and the story of environmental Armageddon, nuclear secrets and
government cover-ups will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final
credits.
QUATERMASS
(Dir: Piers Haggard, Wri: Nigel Kneale)
The final Quatermass series, produced in the 1970s, sees the redoubtable Pro-
fessor moving through an England that is undergoing societal collapse in the
face of an unknown extra-terrestrial force. While not up to the exceptional
standards of the earlier series, it’s still worth having a look at.
THREADS
(Dir: Mick Jackson, Wri: Barry Hines)
Like ‘The War Game’ (see below) two decades before, ‘Threads’ is simple,
startling and shocking in its portrayal of a society in the aftermath of a
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nuclear attack. The horror, brutality and panic are all made readily appar-
ent in a very ordinary, realistic way that makes it all the more shocking.
Another ‘must see’.
THE WAR GAME

(Dir: Peter Watkins, Wri: Peter Watkins)
If you are going to look at one TV programme or film that influenced Hot War,
the ‘The War Game’ is it. Made by the BBC and then not shown for 19 years,
this simple black and white pseudo-documentary about the immediate lead up
to, and aftermath of, a nuclear war, is profoundly moving and disturbing in
all of its simplicity. A must watch and the masterpiece of Peter Watkins’
distinguished career.
Books (Fiction)
A SONG OF STONE
(Iain Banks)
The story of isolated groups of humanity (in this case, the ‘aristocrats’ and
the ‘soldiers’) dealing with the fallout of a bitter civil war.
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS

(John Wyndham)
The first of three novels in this fiction list that were key influences on
Hot War. At times gently pastoral, at other times brutally harsh, Day of
the Triffids is perhaps the best of the 1950’s and 60’s stream of English
catastrophe novels and manages to be both personal and hinting at greater
events, at the same time.
THE DROWNED WORLD

(J G Ballard)
From an early age, the vision of a tropical, flooded London exerted a fasci-
nation for me. Ballard paints a picture of regression and dissolution with a
vivid palette that seeps into the imagination.
EARTH ABIDES
(George R Stewart)
A subtle, pastoral tale of life after the collapse of humanity and the slow
recovery towards a new civilisation. A work of speculative fiction that re-
ally does transcend the imposed limitations of the genre.
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LOOKING FOR JAKE

(China Mieville)
An excellent collection of short stories by one of the most creative of the
current crop of British speculative fiction writers. The eponymous title
story in particular is full of stuff that could be appropriated for games
of Hot War.
LORD OF THE FLIES

(William Golding)
Hated by schoolchildren the world over for being drilled into their heads in
stuffy classrooms by droning teachers, ‘Lord of the Flies’ still remains a
fantastic portrait of a tiny society undergoing factionalisation, strife and
brutality, all themes which are key in Hot War.
MYTHS OF THE NEAR FUTURE

(J G Ballard)
Ballard was (and is) one of the great stylists of short fiction and this is a
personal favourite amongst his anthologies. In particular, ‘Theatre of War’
has been a profound and significant influence.
ON THE BEACH
(Nevil Shute)
Slow death in the aftermath of a nuclear conflict, Shutes novel is, like Hot
War, set in 1963, a year after the bombs fell. One of the great ‘post-bomb’
novels.
Books (Non-fiction)
CRISIS STABILITY AND NUCLEAR WAR
(Bruce G Blair and Kurt Gottfried, eds)
Only recommended if you have a very academic interest in the nature of the
Cold War balance of power and the preparations for, and in case of, nuclear
warfare.
HITLER’S SCIENTISTS: SCIENCE, WAR AND THE DEVIL’S PACT

(John Cornwell)
Looking at the development of German science from the late 19th century
through the post-World War Two period, this provides an insight into the
major personalities involved, both working for and against the regime of the
Third Reich.
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IN THE RUINS OF THE REICH

(Douglas Botting)
Despite the fact that it deals with Germany in the immediate aftermath of
World War Two, this is a book that paints a highly evocative picture of a
society trying to rebuild itself from the ashes of war.
LONDON’S DISUSED UNDERGROUND STATIONS

(J E Connor)
An interesting look at the many abandoned and disused stations that form a
hidden part of the London Underground network.
THE LONG PEACE

(John Lewis Gaddis)
A detailed analysis of the conduct of the Cold War by one of the foremost
authorities on the subject. Particularly good if you’re interested in why the
Cold War didn’t escalate into a nuclear confrontation.
THE SUBTERRANEAN RAILWAY

(Christian Wolmar)
A history of the construction, significance and impact of the London Under-
ground. Ranging from the engineering challenges to the influence of the rail-
way on the expansion of suburban London, it’s an engaging and useful read.
UNDERGROUND LONDON: TRAVELS BENEATH THE CITY STREETS

(Stephen Smith)
An interesting, but somewhat lightweight, tour of a selection of London’s
underground secrets. Interesting, but it does repeat as fact a few of the
many myths about certain underground places in the city.
THE UNDERGROWTH OF SCIENCE

(Walter Grazer)
Fascinating in its scope, of particular interest are the sections dealing
with science in the Third Reich and in the Soviet Union, showing the influ-
ence of politics, ideology and sheer wrong-headedness on scientific method
and practice.
WAR PLAN UK: THE MYTH OF CIVIL DEFENCE

(Duncan Campbell)
Extremely difficult to get hold of, War Plan UK was written by the noted
investigative journalist Duncan Campbell as an expose of the planning and
physical infrastructure that went in to Government policy regarding potential
nuclear war. Much of the information regarding the physical artefacts, such
as bunkers can now be read on a variety of websites.
-184-
Console & Computer Games

BIOSHOCK
(2K Boston/2K Australia)
Regarded as a great game by some and ‘Objectivist fol-de-rol’ by others,
Bioshock nonetheless offers some great visuals and (a few) interesting ideas.
The horrific effects of ‘man meddling with things he wasn’t meant to know’
are ripe for transporting into a Hot War game.
HELLGATE: LONDON
(Flagship Studios)
Mainly notable for the visuals associated with the appearance in London of a
horrifying portal to Hell, the game is probably too far into the direction of
a totally devastated city to be of much use, but the visuals are interesting
nonetheless.
RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN

(Insomniac Games)
Especially worth checking out for the background detail available on the
website, R:FoM has a remarkably detailed back story for what is, in essence,
a first person shooter. Some of the Chimera creatures in the game are not
unlike those that the Soviets may have unleashed on the UK in Hot War.
Role-playing Games
CALL OF CTHULHU
Chaosium Inc. (Sandy Petersen, et al)
The Grandfather of games that deal with twisted horrors form other dimen-
sions, CoC was the first RPG I ever played, so deserves mention here, if
only for that!
COLD CITY
Contested Ground Studios (Malcolm Craig)
Hot War stems from a previous game of mine, Cold City, which looked at a se-
cret multi-national task force hunting down monsters and technology in Cold
War Berlin. Hot War may or may not exist in the same time line as Cold City,
that is up to the reader. The basic mechanics from Cold City have been modi-
fied and evolved for use in Hot War.
-185-
COVENANT
Realms Publishing (Matt Machell)
Covenant exerted a direct influence on Hot War by the way in which it sets
up relationships between the characters and NPCs right at the start of the
game, setting really solid groundwork for excellent play.
DUST DEVILS
Chimera Creative (Matt Snyder)
Mechanics wise, Dust Devils was the first game to turn me on to things like
explicitly mandated player narration of outcomes, something for which I am
eternally thankful to Matt. If you are searching for a straight-up Western
game, look no further.
LIVING STEEL
Leading Edge Games (Barry Nakazono, et al)
A post-apocalypse game of a different stripe, Living Steel was undoubt-
edly hamstrung by a set of game mechanics renowned for their complexity and
near-impenetrability. However, the setting and background were wonderfully
realised and presented an intriguing take on the traditional post-apocalypse
setting.
SORCEROR
Adept Press (Ron Edwards)
A formative text for many of the current crop of small-press games, Cold City
owes Sorceror a debt, if only because the basic die rolling mechanics bears
a not unreasonable similarity to that of Sorceror. While the game shows its
age, it is still an object lesson in design principles.
TWILIGHT: 2000
GDW (Frank Chadwick et al)
The definitive 1980s ‘realist’ post-apocalypse RPG, T:2000 presented a semi-
realistic portrayal of nuclear war in Europe, with all the attendant destruc-
tion and horror that this would have entailed. While dated to modern eyes,
the game still holds up well as an attempt to offer a gritty, ‘real world’
setting.
-186-
Ap p e n d i x :
U s e f u l W e b s i t e s
ALSOS DIGITAL LIBRARY FOR NUCLEAR ISSUES
http://alsos.wlu.edu
ATOMIC WEAPONS ESTABLISHMENT

http://www.awe.co.uk
COLD WAR INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT

http://www.coldwarfiles.org
DERELICT LONDON
http://www.derelictlondon.com
FICTIONAL CITIES
http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/index.htm
LONDON UNDERGROUND MAP - 1960

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clivebillson/tube/1960.html
MAIL RAIL - THE POST OFFICE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY

http://www.mailrail.co.uk/
NETTLEDEN, LOOKING AT THE BURLINGTON BUNKER

http://www.chocolatechipdesign.co.uk/nettleden/burlington/index.shtml
PETER WATKINS, CREATOR OF ‘THE WAR GAME’

http://www.mnsi.net/~pwatkins/index.htm
PROTECT AND SURVIVE

http://www.cybertrn.demon.co.uk/atomic/
STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/sfs/new_page_1.htm
SUBTERRANEA BRITANNICA
http://www.subbrit.org.uk
UNDERGROUND HISTORY - DISUSED STATIONS ON THE LONDON UNDERGROUND

http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php
-187-
Ap p e n d i x :
G a m e A i d s
This appendix contains the following:
Player’s primer
Game creation sheet
Character sheet
Simple NPC sheet
Detailed NPC sheet
Pre-written game creation sheets
-188-
A Player’s Primer for Hot War

The game is set in London, England, during the winter of 1963.
In October of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis caused the world to be enveloped in war.
This war was conducted using nuclear weapons and ‘twisted technologies’ that bordered
on the occult.
These technologies were first created in Germany during World War Two and were se-
cretly plundered in the war’s aftermath
Since then, Britain, France, the USA and the USSR have all secretly worked to under-
stand and improve on these technologies.
Some examples of the technology are:
Human experimentation, where people are hideously warped and deformed

into creatures of nightmare.
Bringing entities through from ‘other places’, using ‘gates’ or ‘holes’

in space and time.
During the Hot War, Britain was subject to nuclear and twisted technology attack.
London was only straddled with nuclear weapons, but was the scene of vicious battles
involving Soviet twisted technology invasion forces.
There are now no communications from the North of England, Scotland, Ireland, conti-
nental Europe or anywhere else in the world.
The Government still has nominal control, but there is great factionalisation.
The civil authorities, the military, scientific agencies and police authorities are
all attempting to gain the upper hand in the re-building and survival process.
There are huge number of refugees from other parts of the UK and Europe held in
squalid camps in the Thames Estuary.
Food, fuel, clean water and other vital resources are all heavily rationed and con-
trolled by civil and military authorities.
The people are not gangs of leather-clad, neo-barbarians with crossbows!
Xenophobia, mistrust and outright racism are rife in London.
Characters in the game all work for the Special Situations Group (SSG), an organisation
that hunts down monsters, terrorists, spies and saboteurs.
The SSG is riddled with competing factions, all attempting to use and subvert it for
their own ends.
-189-
SPECIAL SITUATIONS GROUP Record Document 18/d6
GM:
Players:
Tone:
What are the characters doing?:
Who are the antagonists?
Who else is involved?:
Black & white photos:
How long will the game last?:

SPECIAL SITUATIONS GROUP
PARTICULARS
Identification Document 23/b5
1.a. Name: ________________________________________________

1.b. Concept: _____________________________________________
B
1.c. Faction: _____________________________________________
Original Current Original Current

2.a. Action: 2.b. Influence:
Original Current
2.c. Insight:
3.a.Factional Agenda: Rating Bonus

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Uses: □□□ □□□□□□ 3 5 □
9 □ □
3.b.Personal Agenda: Rating Bonus
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Uses: □□□ □□□□□□ 3 5 □
9 □ □
4. Traits: +/-? Locked? 5. Relationships: +/-? Rating
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______

____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________
This document subject to regulations laid down
in SSG Standard Operating Procedures Ch.1-5.
____________________ _____ _______
____________________
SPECIAL SITUATIONS GROUP Identification Document 21/g
1. Name: ________________________________________________
Original Current
2.a. Action: □ □
2.b. Influence: □ □
2.c. Insight: □ □
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______

____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
SPECIAL SITUATIONS GROUP Identification Document 21/g
1. Name: ________________________________________________
Original Current
2.a. Action: □ □
2.b. Influence: □ □
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______

____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________ _____ _______
____________________ _____ _______ ____________________
SIMPLE NPC RECORD SHEET

SPECIAL SITUATIONS GROUP Identification Document 21/h
PARTICULARS
1.a. Name: ________________________________________________
1.b. Faction: _____________________________________________
Original Current Original Current

2.a. Action: □ □ 2.b. Influence: □ □
Original Current
3.a.Factional Agenda:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3.b.Personal Agenda:
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________ _____ _____

____________________ _____ _____ ____________________
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________ _____ _____
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________ _____ _____
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________ _____ _____
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________ _____ _____
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________
____________________ _____ _____ ____________________ _____ _____
____________________
DETAILED NPC RECORD SHEET

b a s i l i s k
GM:
PLAYERS:
TONE: Post-apocalypse
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING?: People have started exploding across London. Literally.
It doesn’t seem like grenades or dynamite, nobody has reported detonations in the vicinity of the
poor victims. Something more sinister seems to be at work. Is this the work of some previously
unseen monster, some creature that has yet to be encountered by the SSG?
The frightened, half-starved people are starting to mutter about legendary creatures, the folk
tales are already spreading through the rubble strewn streets. Some of the more erudite members
of the public have attached the name ‘basilisk’ to the deaths. And the name has begun to stick.
A creature that can cause death simply by looking at its victim. How can such a creature be
defeated?
Given the nature of the problem, the SSG have had to call in the Army in order to provide a
little more firepower. The team will have to co-operate with grousing, annoyed Army personnel
who don’t see this job as their business.
WHO ARE THE ANTAGONISTS?: The Basilisk: The Basilisk is a sleeper weapon, designed to
come to life months after and attack, should that attack fail: A stay-behind of terrifying
potential. The Basilisk was activated by a small group of GRU (Soviet military intelligence)
agents who knew of its existence. It wiped them out as soon as it was activated. Some senior
Soviet personnel may know about it and how it came to be created. But, they will be very cagey
in talking about it.
Lieutenant Ernest Folland: The C.O. of the Army detachment. He has been promised a promotion if
he gets this sorted out quickly and with the minimum expenditure of men and equipment. He views
the SSG as nothing more that a bunch of yobs and cares little for their opinions or methods.
WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED?: Colonel Yevgeny Malinin: Recently surrendered to the Royal
Navy, Malinin was a member of GK-11 and knows all about the Basilisk. However, the Navy want
to keep him to themselves and wring every last drop of information out of him.
BLACK & WHITE PHOTOS:
HOW LONG WILL THE GAME LAST?:

h a n d s
GM:
PLAYERS:
Tone: Dark horror
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING?: Disembodied hands have started appearing all over London.
They carry out mysterious tasks, such as carrying on long-abandoned jobs. They creep into rooms
at night and touch people as they sleep, softly. They strangle and suffocate, whole swarms of
them sometimes descending upon people. Nowhere seems safe from the hands.
The SSG is in a state of uproar. The hands were initially found to be laughable. Not any more.
They are a serious and increasing problem. People are dying, panic is spreading. What to do?
The characters are one of many OFUs who have been assigned to the hands problem. It’s not just
the SSG. The military and various other groups are all competing to find out where they come
from, who (if anyone) is controlling them and how to eradicate the menace. Some would rather not
eradicate, some would rather find out how to control the hands...
WHO ARE THE ANTAGONISTS?: Major Warren Cripps: A battle-hardened army officer from the
Royal Engineers. He wants to find out how to control the hands and use them as a weapon. He is
also convinced that someone already controls them and the big scare is nothing but a cover up.
Ashley Bingham: A former MI-6 agent who now leads an OFU within the SSG. She is determined to
find out what is going on before anryone else and get that information back to a shadowy cabal
of intelligence officers who are ‘advising’ the Prime Minister. She is intelligent, resourceful
and has the backing of loyal SSG agents.
WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED?: Jeremy Updike: A postman prior to the War, Updike lost both
his hands during the fighting in London. He views the hands almost as objects of adoration.
In his unbalanced mind, they are a sign from God, a replacement for his own lost hands. His
fervour may prove to be a help or an hindrance.

M e m o r y
GM:
PLAYERS:
TONE: British catastrophe
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING?: At 11.11am, every day, small groups of people are losing
all their memories. They end up wandering, confused and frightened through streets that have
suddenly become unfamiliar and strange.
The memory loss doesn’t seem to have any pattern; random people are falling victim, regard-
less of age, sex or status. Those who have fallen victim are creating a burden for friends and
families. Some are taking extreme measures and leaving them in parts of the city, far away from
their homes.
More terrifying than any killer or twisted monster, the memory loss is casting a pall across
London.
Responsibility for dealing with the malaise does not solely lie with the SSG. Various groups
are clamouring for the glory and prestige of being the ones to solve the problem. The SSG are
not immune to this glory-hunting spirit and senior figures are more than keen that they improve
their profile by sorting things out.
WHO ARE THE ANTAGONISTS?: Dr Amelia Webb: A biochemist of some pre-War repute, Dr Webb is
also a jingoistic xenophobe with a particular hatred for continental Europeans. She is gathering
any refugees she can in order to conduct particularly reprehensible experiments on them in the
hope for finding a cure for the memory loss.
WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED?: Sheridan Browlow: His father, mother and brother have all been
afflicted by the malaise and Sheridan must take care of them all, providing for all their
needs. He is exhausted and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Nancy Carter: A local Union Movement activist who is using the terror caused by the memory
loss to stir up anti-government feeling.

p o l i t i c i a n
GM:
PLAYERS:
TONE: Quality BBC drama
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING?: A local politician, someone who was a nobody prior to
the war, is now attempting to set up their own personal fiefdom in one of the London boroughs.
Overcome with greed and determined to hold on to power as much as they can, they now run the
area with an iron fist. Backed by a cadre of thugs made up of former borough Traffic Wardens,
the politician lies to Government representatives, brutalises anyone who speaks up against the
incumbent local regime and uses the locals for personal gain and wealth.
Finally, someone in authority has taken notice of what is going on and the SSG have been tasked
to sort the situation out with a minimum of fuss. A big operation to resolve things would at-
tract undue attention and might show to the populace at large that the Government isn’t fully in
control of things in London. And what of the other problems that plague the area?
The characters have been sent in undercover to find out the truth behind what is going on and
resolve the situation as best they can. Some in authority believe there may be more going on
than first meets the eye.
WHO ARE THE ANTAGONISTS?: The Boss: Puffed up with a sense of his own importance and
significance, The Boss lords it over the ‘common people’ and lives a lavish lifestyle. Like all
of his kind, he is essentially a weakling and a coward.
The Wardens: Professing loyalty to The Boss, these former minor officials are secretly loyal
only to the Boss’ right-hand man. Were the winds to suddenly change they would doubtless switch
allegiances with alacrity.
WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED?: The Boss’ Wife: Comfortable in her lifestyle, but still chafing
against her social role as the first lady of the borough, she is conducting an illicit and
dangerous affair with her husband’s right-hand man.
The Dupuis Family: A family of refugees who have sought shelter in the borough, they will
come to the attention of the Wardens and the co-opted work-gangs and some point. M. Dupuis
takes care of the only item of value the family has: an heirloom gold pocket watch.

A f t e r w o r d
So, I hope by now, having got to this part of the book, that you’re
either playing Hot War or ready to go play.
What you’ve read is, like all the other games I’ve done before, centred
around things that fascinate me. It is my sincere hope that the fascination
and excitement that I feel about the subject matter is transmitted through
the written word. Strangely, for a game that originally started out as a
simple port of the Cold City mechanics into a new setting, it has evolved
into a game that is very different in tone, structure and play from its chilly
parent. And that, to me, is a great thing. The changes from that starting
point have come about because of the help and commitment of a huge number of
people, all offering advice, feedback and commentary on the various itera-
tions of the text.
No game is ever the work of one person acting alone. As the guy sitting
typing away on a laptop, it gives me a great sense of enjoyment to look at
the finalised text, the product of so many hours of work and the efforts of
so many people. And, of course, none of this would be possible without the
contribution of everyone involved in Contested Ground Studios.
The wonderful graphic design and art is all down to the amazingly talented
Paul Bourne, who always brings spectacular life to the written word. I’m
really very lucky to have a partner in these endeavours who cheerfully and
willingly takes the random ideas I have and turns them into books that really
evoke what the game is about.
For their outstanding contributions making the text more cohesive, easier to
read, cleaner or just plain better, I’d like to thank the following people:
Chris Bennett, Robert Bowell, Ben Clapperton, Steve Dempsey, David Donachie,
Per Fischer, Gareth Hanrahan, Jon Hodgson, Jeff Lower, Matt Machell, Dom
Mooney, Joe Murphy, Joshua A. C. Newman, Chris Perrin, Joe Prince, Blair
Rhodes, Derek Robertson, Alasdair Sinclair, Rich Stokes, Graham Walmsley and
John Wilson
I’d also like to extend extra special thanks to the following people for
efforts above and beyond the call of duty: Morgan Davie, Shevaun Frazier,
Neil Gow, Stephen Hickey, Gregor Hutton, Andrew Kenrick and Blair Rhodes.
Cheers
Malcolm
-198-
I N D E X
I n d e x
Admiralty Citadel 165
Army 47, 150, 157
Attributes 71, 73
Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) Harwell 51
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) Aldermaston 19
Barricades 165
British Experimental Rocket Bureau (BERB) 48, 146
Bully beef 92
Bunkers
Admiralty Citadel 165
BURLINGTON/SUBTERFUGE 7
Cabinet War Rooms, the 161
Deep level shelters 162
ROTOR 95
Burghfield (AWRE) 19
BURLINGTON/SUBTERFUGE 7
Canvey Island Internment Camp 172
Cabinet War Rooms, the 161
Character creation 71
Attributes 71, 73
Experience scene 84-87
Hidden agendas 72, 77-80
Relationships 72, 82-84
Traits 71, 74-77
Character sheet 191
Churchill, Winston 147
Citizens Defence Army (CDA), the 5, 154
Cliffe internment camp 172
Collaborative game creation 56-69
Consequences 110-114
Crisis points
NPCs and 118
PCs and 116-117
Cuban Missile Crisis 39
Deep level shelters 162
Dengie Peninsula 170-171
Detailed NPC sheet 193
Dice pools
Interpretation of results 108-110
Synopsis of creation 107
Dogs, the 168
Down Street Station 163
Executions 28, 112
Experience scenes 84-87
Fort Halstead 177
-200-
I N D E X
Foulness Island (AWRE) 19

Frogtown 169
Game creation sheet 190
GK-11 Field Regiment 155-156
Government 46, 146-147
Hidden agendas
Factional 77
NPCs and 135
Personal 78
Rating 79
Resolution of 120-122
Use in play 102-103
HMS Dreadnought 167
HMS Belfast 166
I.D. papers 27, 35, 199
INDIGO DIAMOND 39
Internment camps
Canvey Island camp 172
Cliffe camp 172
Isle of Sheppey camp 172
Southend-on-Sea camp 172
Isle of Dogs, the 168
Isle of Sheppey internment camp 172
London
Central 165-168
Greater 168-170
Near to 170-174
London Underground railway 164-165
MacMillan, Harold (Prime Minister) 146
Medical guidance 26
Mediography
Books, fiction 182-183
Books, non-fiction 183-184
Console and computer games 185
Films 178-180
Role-playing games 185-186
Television 181-182
Mental illness 30
Mosely, Sir Oswald 148
Mountbatten, Earl Louis 151
Narration 114-116
National servicemen 150
Non-player Characters (NPCs)
Creation 131-135
Detailed 135
Groups 134-135
Simple 133-134
Orford Ness (AWRE) 19
-201-
I N D E X
Organisations 146-156
Police and Para-military organisations 154-156
Porton Down 39
Post Office Railway Network, the 163-164
Ration cards 27, 35
Rats 49
Refugees 17, 31, 35, 130
Relationships
Creation of 82-84
NPCs and 134, 135
Use in conflicts 104-106
ROTOR bunkers 95
Royal Air Force 47, 150-151
Royal Navy 47, 151-152
Sample characters 89-91
Sample game creation sheets 194-197
Sample monsters 138-142
Sample NPCs 136-137
Scurvy 30
Scenes and Scene Framing 96-98
Sea forts 173
Simple NPC sheet 192
Spadeadam 145
Special Situations Group (SSG) 38, 43-48
Southend-on-Sea internment camp 172
Trades Unions 147
Traits
Gaining/Losing 111, 113
Locking/Unlocking 111, 113
Negative 74
Negative, use in play 119-120
Positive 74
Use in play 103-104
Tube, the: See ‘London Underground’ 164-165
Union Movement, the 148, 175
United States Combined European Command (USCEC) 153
Vehicles
Armoured 37
Gazogene 32
Underground trains 164-165
Water supplies 34
Windscale 159
Woolwich Arsenal 170
Yanktown 167-168
Zone of Alienation, the 174
-202-

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“Cold War? Hell, it was a Hot War.

“Oh, where are you coming from,

PLAYTESTING: David Arthur, Michael Atkinson, Chris Bennett, Paulo Bongiovanni,

CONTESTED GROUND STUDIOS

The Beginning of War 017 CHAPTER 5:

Game & Character Creation 052 Under London 160

Scenes & Scene Framing 096 Afterword 198

S ACTIVITIES TAKING PLACE IN

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Structure and History

Conspiracies and wild theories relating to German experiments and terrifying

Source Fiction & Cold War Ethics

The term “cosy catastrophe” as used by Aldiss is something of a misnomer,

However, no side was innocent in their development of nuclear weapons (and

The Built Artefacts of the Cold War

Subterranea Britannica have dedicated themselves to cataloguing and photo-

*Brian Aldiss, ‘Billion Year Spree: A History of Science Fiction’

St u f f You Need To Play

*Chessex Limited, www.chessex.com

Attributes: Three things that broadly describe a character’s capabilities.

Conflict: A conflict is defined as a situation where two or more parties have

Conflict Resolution: The means by which a conflict is resolved. Participants

Consequences: Consequences are the positive or negative outcomes from a con-

Hidden Agenda: A character’s secret motivation or a set of orders that has

Relationship: A numerical representation of bonds between a character and

WAR OFFICE NEWS BULLETIN

The Navy engaged in a bombardment of the Hastings area,

Concerned members of the public apprehended a sniper in the

The AWRE also maintained subsidiary sites at Burghfield (also in Berkshire),

The beginning of wAr : A diArY

Wireless is completely useless, not a chirrup out of it. There’s been a

The London BAttles: A JournAlist’s Record

The assault on London intensified today when troops surrounded as many as

On one wall, at 57 Barons Street, there is a red mailbox. There is no

Disoriented people wander aimlessly along dusty, cratered streets through

AUTHORITY TO REMIT DOCUMENT

Medical personnel dealing with those who have

Each casualty MUST be categorised

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

The War Office

Today (28 December), I approved the execution by

We took into custody a band of Russian

Four army personnel were found killed in the

McNab P.C. (Capt.)

And it seems that scurvy is low on

DESTROY AFTER ACKNOWLEDGEM

In ord er to eng age in via ble

Evidence shows that the con

SHOT WITHOUT TRIAL.POLICE OR MILITARY

OTHER VERMIN, PLE

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Memo, Regarding Refugee Internment Camps

Cliffe:............... percent of capa

camps are fille ible for at least

manpower and e interned popu

rve to reduce th ing the camp

to allow the Army

into their own

Directive from the desk of Lt. Gen. T G M Fulton,

To all senior personnel:

i) Morale amongst the ranks remains good. The increased

ii) Our efforts to replace equipment and manufacture new

iv) Those assigned guard duty at internment camps are suffering

v) Our vehicular capabilities have decreased markedly since