200X, Poland.
Post systemic change, pre joining EU. Leszek Miller’s the prime minister, and he’s working hard filling all the stools with his friends. As above so below - nepotism and corruption are pretty much commonplace on every level. Jan Paweł II is the pope, and we don’t yet know that he’s friends with every conservative pedophile under the sun. Warsaw is a gravity well to which greedily consumes all funding, starving the countryside, and showing nothing for it. Young adults travel there in search of a more lucrative life, only to be met with record high apartment prices and a lungful of air pollution.
Poland has about 100 capes. Half are settled in big cities, earning a living taking bribes from the mafia.
The other half, inexplicably, are settled in Małepole Większe, a village in Wielkopolska. In a population of 500, about 1 in 10 have superpowers.
Basic facts:
The local paper is called Głos Małepolski, has 4 pages, and is passionately put together by a one woman team. Currently, the paper’s main interest is an escaped cow, which has been avoiding capture of the village’s most brilliant superheroes for weeks by hiding itself in yet unharvested wheat fields and enacting guerilla warfare on tractors and farming equipment. The paper can milk about 50 thousand words of flowery prose out of any development in the case.
Since the late 80s stories of UFO encounters have been circulating the village. Due to some of them being less than pleasant (they hijacked and crashed a car once), the locals tend to be distrustful of extraterrestrials. Except, of course, Egzox, the little green guy left behind by his brothers, who settled down, accepted the word of Christ, and found himself a good woman. They’re planning a wedding for autumn and we all wholeheartedly hope his side of the family doesn’t show.
During the communist era a local palace, built around 3 centuries ago by a noble who owned Małepole, was converted into communal housing, which were then later privatized during the systemic change. The noble, whose ghost is now bound by a warlock renter in a place he once ruled, is mildly miffed about it.
A group of local youths organize races of tuned out maluchs in the forest. The local police force - one officer - is very dedicated to stopping them, but all he has to his name is a single bike. The track record is -1.2 seconds, with time manipulation being the current meta.
Urząd Gminy [Commune Office]
Under the polish law as it existed in 200X, there was no upper limit to the number of terms one wójt, the administrative officer of a gmina, could serve. As many other places in the country, Małepole Większe, and the larger Małepolskie gmina, has been ruled by one man ever since the systemic change - Rudolf Kłos. In that time he has successfully filled every important position with his friends, made his extended family win every local tender, and fulfilled none of his campaign promises. Despite that, he wins every election, because no one else can be bothered to run in one.
Wants: To get through the upcoming election without any major issues. Should be easy enough, as long as no one gets in the way.
Example Urząd Gminy capes:
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| This is essentially how all wójts look in this country |
Wójt Rudolf Kłos
During the systemic change, he discovered a power deep within his genetic code - Perfect Adaptation. No matter the environment, type of damage, or political system, he needs just one combat turn to perfectly adapt to the situation at hand [if he’s underwater he grows fins; if he’s on fire his skin turns to stone; if he’s under capitalism he turns into a centre right free market conservative, so on].
Ms Pola Kielochówna
Economics student, assigned here for her internship. She can perform liberal haruspexy - by gutting tax machines, landlines or computers, she can predict the future, as long as it concerns investing, large corporations or corruption scandals. Her success rate is about 8-in-10, which is at least 8 times better than any other student of her department.
Parafia im. Św Jana Chrzciciela [Saint John the Baptist’s Parish]
Ran by the parish priest Borys Kocurek, Małepole Większe born and raised. His past is shrouded in mystery - he went off to a seminary at 19, then disappeared for half his life, and returned to his home village suddenly after the previous parish priest was eaten by vampires [common occurrence post systemic change; a lot of them lost their job after USSR collapsed and had to resort to extreme measures to survive]. The parish flourished since his return: many new shrines were built near local roads, the graveyard was modernized, and all vampires were eventually hunted down. Kocurek is currently aided in his duties by 2 vicars, as well as the parish hostess.
The mass is held on Sundays at 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30. No matter your standing with this faction, you are expected to attend.
Wants: To renovate and modernize the church. Of course, as the only local construction company is in Wójt's pocket, it might first necessitate a regime change.
Example Parafia capes:
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| I had to contain my hatred of the catholics for so long to sketch him |
Parish Priest Kocurek
Shrewd and greedy, but generally well-respected and liked. Can rotate between a wide selection of superpowers by praying to various christian Saints.
Św Krzysztof - immunity to car accidents.
Św Antoni z Padwy - summon any lost item within the 10 km radius.
Św Franciszek z Asyżu - animals never attack the user. Advantage in combat against hunters.
Św Pius X - advantage against mariavits.
Św Barbara - resistance to explosions. +2 to reaction rolls when meeting miners.
Św Mikołaj - +2 to sneaking, lockpicking, and so on, BUT the user can never steal, and has to leave a gift behind.
Św Erazm - immunity to accidental drownings. [Erazm is the patron of sailors, so if someone tries to drown you on purpose it’s a bit outside his jurisdiction]
Soon-to-be-Św Jan Paweł II - his most secret and well-guarded technique… We might never find out its true nature.
Vicar Cabański
Częstochowa’s most promising witch hunter trainee, delegated to Małepole Większe so that Priest Kocurek can iron out his neurotic tendencies. Is skilled in many techniques, for example: by hammering a nail into a witch’s footstep he can pierce her feet; or he can take on people’s suffering by leaving a raw egg by their bedside, and then eating it in the morning.
Małepolskie Koło Gospodyń Wiejskich [Małepole’s Rural Housewives’ Association]
KGW are self-governing, self-organizing groups started by women, usually in small towns or villages, with the goals of supporting children and families; developing women’s entrepreneurship; and upholding folkloric traditions. The Małepole Większe KGW in particular focuses heavily on the last point, putting a lot of emphasis on the organization of local dożynki, the harvest festival, and outperforming every other nearby KGW in folk dances, songs, and wreath weaving.
[Wreath weaving side tangent: at the end of every harvest each member of KGW weaves a wreath made from plants harvested in their household, as a personal sign of that house’s relationship with God. The wreath is then kept in the house through winter, granting good luck and fertility, and then burned in the spring. Buying a wreath rather than making one is HIGHLY IMPROPER, and PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. Or, well, it is in Małepole Większe, at least. Trading one wreath for another is acceptable, but you’re on thin fucking ice.]
Want: To EXCEL among all the other local villages. To achieve it, the village would, obviously, need a STRONG LEADER willing to make some REAL CHANGE - like throwing all those teenagers in the woods into a cell, and gunning down all the wild dogs running around.
Example KGW capes:
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| I ran out of steam after 2 portraits, yes |
Mrs Strządałowa
The Association’s ruthless leader, enforcing strict moral values by ostracizing anyone who doesn’t conform. Years of folk singing brought her lungs to the limits of human biology - she can survive on one breath for hours, and unleash powerful screams capable of bringing down walls. It’s not even a superpower, Polish moms can just do that.
Biedronka
Poland’s leading supermarket chain. The Małepole Większe location opened merely 2 years ago. The memory of the opening day with free balloons and special sales is still fresh in all of our minds, as is the time when Biedronka’s private riot squad gunned down their first shoplifter.
Want: To destroy the local grocery shop, and ensure all the locals buy exclusively at their supermarket. Unfortunately, the shop’s owner - Mrs Szcześniakowa - is related to the Wójt. Which is only an issue as long as he’s actually in power, of course.
Example Biedronka capes:
Magdalena Kasak
Regional manager. As a devout reader of ‘Najwyższy CZAS!’, she has the power to Buy Anything. As long as she gets the owner’s agreement, and can afford it with the cash she has on her person, at least. Not limited to physical objects. She didn’t use to be Magdalena Kasak, but she bought the name at some point. It’s impossible to say how much of her personality and history, if any, is “natural” rather than purchased.
Patodeweloperka
Private cop. His name is a really asynchronous joke but that’s just because he’s from the future - don’t worry, you’ll get it in 10 years. Can grow walls out of the ground, and move existing walls with his mind. Incapable of destroying walls on ideological ground.
Małepolskie Koło Łowieckie [Małepole’s Hunters’ Association]
Local branch of the national hunter association, keeping the local forests safe by allowing rich businessmen from abroad to hunt the local cryptids and monsters for a fee. Haunted by the threat of Małepole forests being turned into a national park. Fortunately, since 2001 the local government has the full right to veto any decisions related to creation or expansion of national parks. The Wójt in his great kindness has elected to do so every time, as the lack of profit from tourist hunters would, obviously, impact the local community greatly. The fact that they all rent rooms in his motel is just a nice bonus.
Want: To shake off all the nasty rumors about their association, and expand their operations. Unfortunately, the cut of the business the Wójt takes has only been growing larger as of late - rumors have it they might be planning a move in the upcoming election.
Example MKŁ capes:
Mrs Ziembiańskowa
Can turn anything she touches into a wild boar. The boar can selectively retain any qualities of the original object - a stereo player boar could still play music, a gun boar could cough up bullets, a dead body will still have all the same wounds [and not look suspicious at all to the police!]. The boars have no innate loyalty to Mrs Ziembiańskowa.
Mr Ziembiański
Victim of a secret american supersoldier program [Leszek Miller approved testing on polish citizens as a “matter of national security"], his marksmanship abilities grow proportionally to the percentage of alcohol in his bloodstream. Witnesses report he can bend bullets such that they hit their marks even when they hide behind trees, or even walls. His decision making suffers all the same.
The game is split into 6 weeks, with each session concerning one day of player action. You work Monday through Friday, and it’s unbecoming for a good catholic to act on Sunday - you’re left with Saturday for all capeshit activities.
The player’s goal is to support a candidate in winning the local election, or running on their own.
While players are free to enact whatever Schemes and Plans they want each week, the rough timeline for the village is:
Week 1: Harvest week. Farmers wish to finally address the escaped cow business.
Week 2: The youth celebrate the finale of the maluch racing season, the hunters tend to a visiting German investor.
Week 3: Last day to prepare for Dożynki, the local harvest festival. A lot of tying everything together at the last minute from every faction.
Week 4: Egzox’s wedding ceremony. You’re all invited, of course, as are his piece of shit alien relatives.
Week 5: Dożynki gminno parafialne; the harvest festival.
Week 6: Election day. If you did a good job, there should be nothing left to do by this point.
Some factions have their own goals to achieve on some days, others provide different missions depending on the day - you know how elfgames work, I don’t have to explain this to you.
Quick lesson on honorifics - in polish you very rarely address someone other than your immediate friends and colleagues as just “you”. This’d be even more extreme in a small village in the 2000s - everyone is Pan, Panna or Pani; Mr, Ms or Mrs. For priests, you use their clerical title instead. You could probably drop these when discussing someone in the third person, and not addressing them directly, but that’s also very situational. Two old women wouldn’t bother to Ms a younger lady when talking about her behind her back, but I can’t imagine them doing the same for the Wójt’s wife, for example. It’s a matter of respect. You also tend to use people’s surnames rather than their names, and the surname’s suffix changes based on who the person is due to deeply rooted patriarchal traditions:
for a man, the surname is unchanged, ex. Mr Kłos.
for a married woman, you add -owa to the end, ex. Pani Mrs Kłosowa, so a wife of Mr Kłos.
for an unmarried woman, you add -ówna to the end, ex. Kłosówna, so a daughter of Mr and Mrs Kłos. If the father’s surname ends with the letter ‘g’, the suffix is instead -anka, because ‘-gówna’ would be a rather unfortunate last name to have. Sometimes you also don’t add a suffix at all because it doesn’t sound right, and there is no way for me to explain why and how that is. It’s all vibes. Pure vibes.
Quick lesson on polish family structures - this is szwagierdom culture. Your brother-in-law, your szwagier, is your best friend in the entire world. Unless he sucks, of course, in which case you hate him, but you’re still culturally obligated to get drunk with him sometimes, or help him with handiwork when he needs it. The two tend to occur at the same time for efficiency’s sake.
Roll twice for your mother’s and father’s family names. If an entry specifies the family are farmers, you probably are one as well; otherwise you can do most any other job.
Adamczuk. Farmers. Related to the current maluch racing champion - Mrs Adamczukowa is still unsure why local teenagers treat her with such respect.
Basista. Related to the local school’s principal [and, simultaneously, one of its two [2] teachers].
Brański. Farmers. Have, like, 20 kids each.
Danylenko. Related to the local doctor. Own a Fancy Car [used Fiat Punto, 2002].
Gawęda. Some used to say their grandma is a witch, but nowadays we tend to not mention it to not get the priests mad.
Goik. Farmers. Own an orchard. Also, own 20 guard dogs. Will straight up kill you next time you steal their apples.
Kłos. Wójt’s family. Own the distillery, building company, grocery shop, and the motel.
Kocurek. Parish priest’s relatives. Not that religious so he put them in a real awkward position.
Kopytko. Related to the local police officer.
Jakubiak. Own a funeral home. Gingers.
Janasik. Goat farmers. Known for the goat smell.
Meyer. Related to one of the village’s two [2] teachers. Jewish.
Piecha. Farmers. Own a private fishing pond, which they happily share, as long as you bring żubrówka.
Rytel. Farmers. Małepole’s main egg dealers. Romani.
Sieg. Their father works in The City. Have a whole bunch of strange ideas.
Strządała. Farmers. Related to the leader of the local KGW
Szcześniak. Farmers. Local grocery shop owner’s cousins and siblings.
Wieterski. All of them are freakishly tall. Soon to be related to Egzox, the alien, by marriage.
Ziembiański. Farmers. MKŁ leaders’ family.
Zyzik. Farmers. Known for buying a new tractor 1 year ago.
[All of the above family names are in the singular male form for ease of use with the suffixes. I’m mentioning this because the more standard way to write them down would be the use of the plural form - Adamczykowie, Bariści, Brańscy - but I fear it’d straight up kill my potential anglophone players.]
Additionally, at character creation make a CHA check to see if you’re married [you can roll for your partner's family name on the table above].
If you’re not married, your additional goal for the campaign is to find yourself a good partner.
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| Platonic ideal of a good husband |
