The conspiracy theorists were right about Nazis surviving, but their imagination didn’t come close to the real truth. The ideology of the Third Reich (Nazi Germany, 1933 to 1945) survived, but not because specific individuals were given safe haven by sympathetic organizations. No, it “survived” because the strength of the Nazi mythology bled over into the Strange, creating a recursion where Germany won World War II and went on to create an empire that rules most of the planet (or, in this case, the parts of the planet that exist within the limited world of the Eleventh Reich).
The Eleventh Reich is typified by rampant military glorification, mandatory military enlistment, extreme racism, scientific research unrestrained by ethics or morality, fascination with biblical magic talismans, and extreme paranoia in an environment where anyone could be called out as an enemy of the state for any reason. Out of fear, most of the populace goes along to get along, while high-ranking officials glory in their power, authority, and moral freefall by “ascending” to a state beyond death.
By any measure, the Eleventh Reich is a horrible place. Recursors who find themselves here should avoid staying more than a day, because the Schutzstaffel (the paramilitary police, also known as the SS) apparently have a method to identify intruders to their land, as well as a way to zero in on a recursor’s current location relatively quickly.
The foci that player characters can choose in the Eleventh Reich—as well as any foci that are dragged into the recursion—are modified by the recursion’s context, as appropriate. For example, if someone chooses Integrates Weaponry, replace all connections to Ruk and Ruk features (such as the True Code) with connections to the Eleventh Reich and its features (such as “adherence to Nazi science”).
Even in the Eleventh Reich, where everything runs on time like a well-oiled machine (or else), disparate governing bureaus feud for the favor of the Führer. The primary players include the scientists of the Wissenschaftsbüro, the historians of the Schule der Archäologie, and the Schutzstaffel (SS). And of course, though no one wants to admit it to the office of the Führer, there are also hints that a real Resistance exists, in spite of everything.
Nazi ideologues are happy to explain how the Eleventh Reich finally came to pass because of a triumph of superior science. The bureau responsible for promulgating and directing research is the Wissenschaftsbüro. It is contained in several adjacent buildings, which house support staff (including the weapon engineers and lab scientists who actually do the research), parts, prototypes, chemicals, human subjects, and the science labs where the edges of weapon tech and human performance are explored daily.
Weapon engineer: level 2; long-range pistol attack inflicts 5 points of damage
Generalfeldmarschall Dietrich commands the bureau. The Generalfeldmarschall is a scientist by training, though she rarely gets time in any of the labs sponsored by her department, which goes double since she stepped into her current role. The previous head of the bureau, an ascended Übermensch, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Dietrich is certain that the Shule der Archäologie is responsible. She is considering ascending herself, but not before she gets to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her superior’s unannounced absence.
Generalfeldmarschall Katja Dietrich: level 5; Armor 1; long-range pistol attack inflicts 5 points of damage; carries a death mask artifact
The Weapons Lab focuses on projectiles, particle beams, poisons, chemical weapons with especially nasty characteristics, and more. When weapons are perfected, they are moved from development into production, and these facilities also lie under the Weapons Lab umbrella. The lab is kept secure by a company of soldiers armed with Heckler & Koch HK416 rifles, and backed up by one or two soldiers driving war walkers.
Eleventh Reich soldier: level 3; Armor 2; long-range HK416 rifle attack inflicts 5 points of damage
War walker (driven): level 5, Speed defense as level 6 due to mechanized shield; Armor 4; long-range attack inflicts 8 points of damage
Sometimes weapons are tested on pigs or goats, but final tests are always conducted on live human subjects, which are usually drawn from nearby prisons—or, in a pinch, from experimental subjects who haven’t yet been assigned a trial in the Human Performance lab.
Generalleutnant Emmerich heads the Weapons Lab. He was the staunchest of Reich supporters until the SS took his daughter into custody on a trumped-up charge, and her life was ended in the very lab where her father had put in so many years. Outwardly, Emmerich retains his apparent loyalty, but he has secretly reached out to the Resistance.
Generalleutnant Werner Emmerich: level 3, tasks related to weapon development as level 6; long-range pistol attack inflicts 5 points of damage
Research from the Human Performance Lab was partly responsible for the breakthrough that led to ascension and Übermenschen. However, the complete procedure for ascension required a rare bit of cross-departmental cooperation between the Wissenschaftsbüro and the Schule der Archäologie, whose application of a magical relic in their archives, called the “Holy Grail,” made the process possible. Prior to that, neither group on its own could produce an Übermensch with an appropriately long lifespan, great strength and resistance to harm, and, especially important, an intact mind.
The lab scientists test all manner of genetic manipulations, exposure to exotic radiations and chemicals, and mental stimulation techniques in hopes of pushing human performance. Of course, the price of science requires a sacrifice—in this case, the sacrifice of live human subjects. Rejects and failed experiments are many, and while some live on in shattered husks of their former selves, most die and are disposed of in secret bunkers beneath the bureau.
Lab scientist: level 3, tasks related to science as level 5
Cooperation with the Schule der Archäologie is essentially a thing of the past now that the Human Performance Lab is under the command of Generalleutnant Helene Meyer. She presses forward without any “magic props” (as Meyer calls them) to get in the way of pure science. As much as the Übermensch program is considered a success, Meyer (and, frankly, almost everyone) would prefer a process that conferred all the advantages of the current program but didn’t render the subject undead.
Generalleutnant Helene Meyer: level 4, tasks related to science as level 6
Rumors of how many mythological objects reside in the archives of the Schule der Archäologie far exceed the actual number of relics stored there. And of those, only a small number are understood well enough to be used to the benefit of the Eleventh Reich on even a limited basis. The fact is that many relics and mythological objects, especially those deemed “holy,” have a tendency to misbehave in Nazi hands.
In addition to the archives (a series of level 7 vaults within a larger protected vault), the school hosts a university-grade library, occult classes, and a large museum where artifacts without dangerous or magical properties are kept on display for the greater glory of the Reich.
Each major mythological object is assigned a unique circle of acolytes and one head curator. The curator and acolytes use hard-won magical techniques of protection each day they bring forth from the archives an object to study and master. But magic isn’t a science, and no matter the safeguards, the school loses one or two research acolytes every month to a curse, leaking spell, or psychic residue.
Eternal life is just one of the secrets supposedly held by the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, it is also a powerful and stubborn relic unwilling to give up its secrets to the Reich. It has a tendency to turn anyone who drinks from it into a walking corpse no different than a zombie. In fact, that’s still what happens to those who have not first been prepared with a series of technological adjuvants in the form of surgically implanted wiring, resistors, and related tech installed by the Wissenschaftsbüro. (This explains why the stable of zombies housed by the Schule der Archäologie is so large.) Those who receive the proper preparation and drink from the Holy Grail “ascend” and become Übermensch.
Zombie: level 3, Speed defense as level 2; health 12. If an attack would reduce the zombie’s health to 0, it does so only if the number rolled in the attack was even; otherwise, the zombie’s health is reduced to 1 instead
The man in charge of discovering the secrets of the Holy Grail is called Dakota by his friends (or, at the very least, those hoping to curry favor with him). The Rittmeister is credited with salvaging the relic for the Reich, following one of his archeological expeditions to the east. He finally ascended once all the kinks were worked out of the process. Afterward, finding that he no longer needed to sleep, he was able to accelerate his research on the Grail and a few other objects under his direct purview, including the Armor of Karna and the Spear of Longinus.
Rittmeister “Dakota” Hanssen (Übermensch): level 6, Speed defense as level 4, tasks related to archaeology and feats of strength and toughness as level 8; health 70; melee attack inflicts 7 points of damage; carries Sessho-seki splinter artifact
This elaborate suit of armor, called the Kavacha or the Armor of Karna, supposedly protects the wearer from both mundane and supernatural attacks. And indeed, whenever an innocent human lab rat is forced into the armor, the wearer is able to survive all manner of attacks, even direct fire from a tank. But whenever the Kavacha is taken from the archives and used by a legitimate officer of the Reich, something goes wrong, and the wearer inevitably perishes, though the duration before death increases with each sacrifice. The Rittmeister publicly says that it’s only a matter of time until the Armor of Karna becomes conditioned enough so that anyone of the Reich can safely use it. Privately, he doubts that, which is why he loans the armor out only to his political enemies stupid enough to accept gifts from him.
What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? It’s sort of like asking what happens when someone wielding the Spear of Longinus attacks a target wearing the Armor of Karna. Supposedly, the Spear of Longinus can wound anything, even gods. Perhaps wisely (for the moment), the Eleventh Reich has decided not to test that directly, and is instead working on reliable ways to prevent an officer of the Reich from turning into a burning pillar of fire upon grasping the spear’s shaft. Some of the human test subjects managed to escape this fate, but they all had to be destroyed with poison gas before they realized the potency of the weapon in their hands.
The SS is housed in many different structures in Welthauptstadt Germania. The largest part of the SS is its armed soldiers, the Waffen-SS. Regular soldiers and citizens alike fear them, because the normal rules (such as they are) don’t apply to Waffen-SS soldiers on a mission. They serve both as army units and as police in the Eleventh Reich.
Waffen-SS soldier: level 4; Armor 2; long-range HK416 rifle attack inflicts 5 points of damage
A recursive duplicate of Himmler still leads the SS in the Eleventh Reich. Referred to as the Reichsführer, Himmler is a dangerous lunatic feared by everyone— and not merely because he’s an ascended Übermensch. It’s also because he has no loyalty to anyone except the Führer. He’ll betray any trust, exploit any weakness, and trample over any principle if it advances him or the Reich. One of his most deeply held beliefs is the importance of racial purity, though his definition of “race” is loose enough that anyone can fall afoul of it when that suits his agenda.
Upon recently learning of recursors and alternate fictions, Himmler gained the spark. He isn’t quickened, but he directed the Wissenschaftsbüro and the Schule der Archäologie to create a method to detect odd “paradimensional energies that certain foreign spies radiate.” To provide them with raw material for their efforts, Himmler handed over a couple of OSR agents he captured. Now, he has a magic dowsing rod, fashioned from the spine of one of those agents, that alerts him whenever recursors visit the Eleventh Reich.
Reichsführer Himmler (Übermensch): level 6, Speed defense as level 4, tasks related to feats of strength and toughness as level 8, tasks related to deception and pleasant social interaction as level 7; health 70; melee attack inflicts 7 points of damage; carries a recursor dowsing rod artifact
No one except for Himmler and a few other high-ranking Reich officials know where the Office of the Führer is located. That’s because the office is in a secret bunker deep beneath Welthauptstadt Germania. “Visitors” usually interact with the Führer only electronically, not in person. That doesn’t stop him from giving monthly addresses, which are broadcast to every public and most private screens simultaneously. Viewers see a vigorous man in his prime, patriotically calling on them to keep their faith in the Fatherland alive. Most watchers come away with an appreciation of the Führer’s vitality and amazing public speaking skills.
In fact, the Führer has grown old, and radical steps had to be taken to keep him alive after a failed attempt at ascension. Now, the Führer is only a head frozen in a vat of supercooled fluid. Various wires, computers, and a few magic spells keep him conscious, if not necessarily alive. The image projected for public display is a triumph of puppetry that the head controls on a suitably impressive-looking set. The Führer can mentally manipulate the puppet as if it were real for an hour or so at a time, but only within the confines of the bunker.
In addition to the head and its support machinery, the Office of the Führer contains a support staff of specially selected Waffen-SS soldiers, including a couple in war walkers.
Under certain conditions, a ghostly parade is visible streaming down the Avenue of Splendors, apparently wearing military uniforms, but not those of the Reich. The see-through phantoms march to an unfamiliar tune, one that sends a shiver of fear through all loyal patriots.
The triumph of the Reich required investment in all manner of military machines, though many of them have since fallen into disrepair. To the west of the city lies a landfill that houses thousands of damaged, broken, or decommissioned tanks, planes, and odder wheeled, walking, and burrowing craft. New reports suggest that some of the old war machines might not be as dead as the military claimed.
A thief broke into the Schule der Archäologie’s archives, killed several guards, and made off with a number of relics interdicted for the danger they represent to the Reich. Clues regarding the identity of the thief are few, but the guards were shot by 9mm rounds and showed signs of having been attacked by some kind of bird of prey. The relics missing from the archives include Pandora’s Box, the Book of Thoth, and weathered clay chunks labeled the Tablets of Destiny.
Plans for the Führer’s bunker, including schematics, power sources, and its location, have been leaked. The Reich is in a secret uproar. Anyone who destroys the plans or returns them to safekeeping— and even better, leads officials to the capture of those responsible—will be made a hero.
Himmler warns that he’s discovered a network of foreign spies routinely penetrating the Eleventh Reich. Other officials wonder what foreign power these spies could represent, given the complete Nazi domination of the world. But Himmler insists the spies come from elsewhere and, to prove his point, has captured several, including a few saboteurs from an organization called “the Estate.”
The Reich is almost all-powerful. Almost. Even though resistors are nearly certain to eventually be caught by Waffen-SS or betrayed by an informer, a group of organized resistors persists in Welthauptstadt Germania. Using the symbol of a white rose, the Resistance prints and secretly distributes anti-Nazi literature. The Resistance also conducts less-publicized activities, such as attempts to shut down factories, free prisoners, and in at least one (failed) case, assassinate the Führer.
The Resistance operates in cells of two to five individuals that remain separate from other cells, so that if one group is compromised, the other groups remain safe. Given some of the technological (and magical) breakthroughs of the Reich, keeping activities secret is a difficult challenge.
One of the most successful cells is led by a woman who other Resistance members know as Lady Falcon. She has led several effective actions against the Reich and has risen to the top of the SS and Gestapo’s most-wanted lists. Lady Falcon is described as wearing a pearl-colored domino mask and has been seen with a pet falcon on one shoulder and a Luger 9mm holstered on her hip.
Lady Falcon: level 5, stealth tasks as level 6; Armor 1; long-range Luger attack inflicts 6 points of damage; has a level 3 trained war falcon
Many Eleventh Reich artifacts are slightly more powerful—and historically epic—than regular artifacts. For such artifacts, letting the GM determine how long they function is a better option than leaving depletion to random dice rolls.
Level: 1d6
Form: Gas mask with scarlet goggles
Effect: Wearer is immune to most poison gasses and attacks propagated by chemicals entering the eyes or lungs. The wearer can also see normally at night and through banks of fog, smoke, or clouds of obscuring airborne chemicals.
Depletion: —
Level: 1d6+2
Form: Bulky machine (similar to a typewriter) in a carrying case
Effect: This electromechanical rotor encryption machine can be used to encode and decrypt text messages (no depletion roll required). A percentage of Eleventh Reich enigma machines are enchanted. If an encrypted message created on such a machine is addressed to a specific individual and delivered to the target as a document, the target can read it normally, even though the message seems like gibberish to everyone else. If the message is phrased as a command, the target is compelled to do as the message asks.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Level: 1d6 +1
Origin: Eleventh Reich (emergent)
Law: Weird Science and/or Magic
Form: Wide-barreled pistol connected to backpack canister with hose
Effect: The wielder can select different chemical gasses, though some gas guns may come equipped with only one kind of cartridge. An attack projects a gas grenade up to a long distance and floods the area within immediate range of that point with the selected gas.
Depletion: 1 in 1d10
Level: 1d6+4
Form: Tarnished brass cup
Effect: A Nazi or other evildoer who drinks water from the cup is granted eternal life— by being converted into a mindless undead zombie. If the imbiber isn’t a Nazi (or isn’t otherwise an evil prick), the Grail might still covert him into a zombie because of the Nazi taint. On a roll of 1 or 2 on a d6, the drinker becomes a zombie. On a roll of 3 to 6, the Holy Grail heals all wounds, restores lost limbs, and cures any diseases and other negative conditions the imbiber might be suffering.
Depletion: —
GM Intrusion: the Holy Grail disappears, lost in another location in the Eleventh Reich or, possibly, in another recursion. Finding it again would require a quest.
Level: 1d6+4
Form: Breastplate and helm
Effect: Grants +2 to Armor in addition to the +3 to Armor that heavy armor usually provides. It doesn’t completely cover the wearer, but the suit’s protection applies to damage that often isn’t reduced by typical armor, such as heat, cold, and Intellect damage.
Depletion: — (GM Intrusion: the wearer’s heart is not pure enough to permit the wearing of the armor. If he continues to wear the Kavacha regardless, all subsequent attacks against him are treated as level 10 attacks.)
Level: 1d6
Form: Rod formed of the preserved upper spine and skull of a human, swaddled in circuitry
Effect: While one or more creatures not native to the recursion are present anywhere in the Eleventh Reich, the skull’s eye sockets glow red. The wielder can use the rod to learn the direction of the closest non-native in the recursion; it points to that target for the next hour (requires a depletion roll).
Depletion: 1 in 1d10
Level: 1d6+3
Form: A knife-shaped splinter of stone from a shattered statue
Effect: The stone splinter functions as a light weapon. If the wielder also calls on the splinter’s power, a hit inflicts 10 additional points of damage.
Depletion: 1–3 in 1d20
Level: 1d6+4
Form: Heavy spear
Effect: This heavy two-handed weapon inflicts 2 additional points of damage beyond the 6 points that heavy weapons usually inflict. A character hit by the spear also moves one step down the damage track.
Depletion: —
GM Intrusion: the wielder’s heart is not pure enough to permit the use of the spear. If he attempts to use it regardless, during each round in which he remains in direct or indirect contact with the shaft, he is subjected to a level 10 pyrotechnic attack.
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: Eleventh Reich (emergent)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Weaponized, motorized exoskeleton covering the wearer's body
Effect: The war walker serves as heavy armor but doesn't penalize a user's Pools; the walker is driven as much as worn. It grants +1 to Armor in addition to the +3 to Armor that heavy armor usually provides. Further, it is entirely sealed and has its own synthesized internal atmosphere, which protects against poison and chemical gasses and allows the wearer to operate in an airless environment for up to an hour. The suit's protection also applies against damage that often isn't reduced by typical armor, such as heat or cold damage (but not Intellect damage).
In addition, the wearer can deploy a shield that acts as an asset for Speed defense rolls, but that doesn't require the use of the wearer's hand.
Finally, the wearer gains a long-range gun attack that inflicts damage equal to the artifact level.
Depletion: —
GM Intrusion: At any time, the GM can rule that the armor has sustained enough damage to lose its atmospheric and environmental protections, that the mechanized exoskeleton that allows the war walker to be driven has been destroyed, or that the mounted gun has run out of ammunition.)