Return to Castle Wolfenstein + Weird War II rules for Savage Worlds

Back in 2013 I wrote about Pinnacle’s Weird War II for Savage Worlds and noted that if I ever ran it, I’d lean hard on Return to Castle Wolfenstein for the visuals and tone. More than a decade later, that still feels like the right call.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (and its spiritual predecessors) already does a lot of the heavy lifting for the “Weird War” genre. Nazi occult research, undead soldiers, secret projects buried in castles and laboratories, elite special units operating behind the lines - it’s all right there. The game’s atmosphere of grim, pulp-tinged horror fits the Savage Worlds version of Weird War II almost perfectly.

What the Weird War II book adds is the mechanical framework and the broader campaign tools. The Office of Special Investigations concept, the mission generator, the nationality-specific Edges, and the scaling from personal combat up to vehicles and artillery give you a complete system for running those kinds of missions. Pair that with the look and feel of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and you have a ready-made campaign style: small teams of Allied operatives sent into the dark corners of the war to stop projects that should never have been started.

Then there is modifying some of the bigger events of World War II like what if Operation Overlord failed as I outlined here. 

The overlap is natural. Both sources love the idea that the real war is only part of the story, and that something far worse is being cooked up in the shadows. Return to Castle Wolfenstein supplies the imagery and the set pieces. Weird War II supplies the rules that let you play it at the table without having to invent everything from scratch.

I’ve always thought the combination would work especially well for shorter, mission-focused campaigns rather than a grand sweeping war story. Although that could work too. One or two operatives (or a small squad) dropped into a castle, a research facility, or a ruined village with a clear objective and a ticking clock. That keeps the pulp energy high and plays to the strengths of both the video game and the RPG.

More than ten years on, I still think it’s one of the better “plug and play” pairings in the hobby. The pieces were already sitting there waiting to be put together. In fact Castle Wolfenstein aleady does it as an arc melding mystical and horror with mechanical.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten – The Best Zombie RPG for Beer & Pretzels Games

BRAINS!

Now that I have your attention, just who does not like the zombie genre? Not many people considering the obsession with zombies on TV and at the box office (although I am protesting World War Z).

Now if you do not like them get the hell outta here. Zombies are cool! In RPG land there are a few good choices for zombie horror survival, but for me I would probably settle on using All Flesh Must be Eaten (fans shorten it to AFMBE). A second choice would be to use Savage Worlds and use the Weird War campaign setting and modify it from there. The Savage Worlds rule system would be perfect for zombie adventures using Weird War II rules as I like the feeling of the supplement and they sanded off the rough edges compared to the previous installment. Lastly, there is also Battlefield Evolution with the Apocalypse Z supplement, but bear in mind that is a tabletop battle miniatures game first and foremost.

Released in 1999 AFMBE is still the standard for zombie RPGs out there. With a number of supplements the line is well supported. While there are other systems, I think All Flesh Must Be Eaten does the best job of capturing the feel of the genre. The rules are not cumbersome (or crunchy) which might be off putting to some gamers but I like the ability to use it in many types of settings from traditional end of the world trope "Rise of the Walking Dead", to voodoo zombie lords "Dawn of the Zombie Lords" to space alien zombies "They Came from Beyond", to name but a few. Seriously, if you are a GM and you cannot come up with SOMETHING in this genre, it is time to hang up your GM screen.

 Of course you can't go wrong with the classic "end of the world" zombie trope! 'Murica!!!!

Back to characters: three basic types (Norms, Survivors and Inspired) each with their own built in advantages (for the most part). Six stats on a point system and away you go. Grab some qualities and drawbacks (here is where I think Savage Worlds is better) and you are off. Also in the character creation chapter I especially like the Archetypes section as it gives a good feel of the tone of the design of the system.

Equipment and vehicles are well handled and I also like the sections for different types of zombies (Apocalypse Z does this as well). For a game with only one really defining monster some variation is needed and with the system presented it is simple to do so: take the base profile and add to it for variation. Boom, done.

One thing I did not like (I have the revised edition so I cannot speak to the original) is the graphic design. I like the look and feel but a lot of it looks like it was low-res quality scans, making it look a bit muddy. Even if they are not, that is how it looked. Shame in an otherwise fine presentation.

In closing I recommend the game. I cannot imagine playing All Flesh Must Be Eaten for really long periods of time but I can certainly see it for a beer and pretzels type of gaming. Anyone else out there with thoughts on this RPG?

Brainnnnssss anyone?