Empire's Dawn

1 | Start

2 | “What-If Russia” — RPG Micro-Setting Failure of the Bolshevik coup, November 1917 ⸻ 1. Historical Break-Point • 28 Aug 1917 (OS): Kornilov’s attempted coup succeeds; Kerensky is arrested; the army occupies Petrograd. • 1 Sep 1917: A Committee of National Salvation recalls Nicholas II as constitutional monarch; a slim Duma majority imposes a “Charter of Limited Autocracy.” • 11 Nov 1917: Bolshevik leaders flee or are jailed; no October Revolution occurs. • 1918-20: Short, rural insurgencies are crushed; Russia signs a separate peace with Germany but retains Ukraine. • 1920s-50s: Rapid but uneven industrial growth; strong ties with Britain/France; no Hitler, no Cold War, no PRC. Use this as canon; everything else is table-generated. ⸻ 2. Core Themes • Autocracy vs Parliamentary reform • Rapid industrialisation & social dislocation • Scramble for influence in a Europe without Bolshevism or Nazism • Personal loyalty: Crown, Duma, Church, or People? ⸻ 3. Example Player Roles Role One-Sentence Pitch Starter Hook Okhrana Captain Czarist secret-police officer hunting Bolshevik émigrés in Paris Anarchists have stolen evidence of royal war crimes. Duma Reformist Young liberal deputy from Moscow Draft a land-reform bill before hardliners dissolve the session. Peasant Veteran Ex-shock-troop colonel (St. George’s Cross) returned to ruined village Local Soviets still organise at night—who funds them? Imperial Air-Corps Test Pilot Flying British-built biplanes over Poland Recon photos suggest German re-armament despite Versailles-like limits. American Industrial Adviser Ford syndicate engineer in Nizhny Tagil Sabotage in the rolling-mill threatens the five-year steel plan. Georgian Nationalist Tiflis lawyer navigating imperial courts Smuggle a petition to London before the Okhrana intercepts it. Socialist Agitator Underground SR (Social-Revolutionary) courier Break Bolshevik leader Trotsky out of a Siberian prison. White-Cross Nun Battlefield medic turned royal nurse The Tsar’s heir is ill—cure him or lose reformist leverage. ⸻ 4. High-Leverage Starting Locations 1. Winter Palace, Petrograd — nerve-centre of restored monarchy; intrigue in echoing halls. 2. Nevsky Prospekt Stock Exchange — financiers, war-bond sharks, foreign spies. 3. Putilov Works, Sestroretsk — giant armaments factory; strikes erupt weekly. 4. Kronstadt Naval Base — sailors remembered as 1905 mutineers, now heavily surveilled. 5. Tiflis Boulevards — cafés humming with Caucasian separatists and oil magnates. 6. Murmansk Arctic Railway Terminus — smugglers, British marines, and untapped nickel. 7. Irkutsk Exile Hub — thousands of political prisoners; rumors of gold in nearby taiga. 8. League of Nations, Geneva — Russia’s delegates fight for Ukraine’s recognition. ⸻ 5. Quick-Fire Adventure Seeds • A crate of British Enfield rifles vanishes en route to the Volga—was it peasants, Poles, or profiteers? • A liberal newspaper uncovers proof the Tsar knew of army atrocities in 1916—suppress or publish? • Germany’s Social Democrats court a Russo-French loan; monarchist die-hards plot to derail talks. • Dead bodies in Petrograd alleys bear strange Bolshevik leaflets printed in Chinese—Comintern 2.0? • A meteorite strikes near Tunguska; Siberian governor blocks foreign scientists—what is he hiding? • A White émigré playwright’s satire of the Tsar becomes a Parisian hit—secret police demand extradition. ⸻ 6. GM Toolbox • System-Agnostic: Fate Core (aspects for factions), GURPS Russia 3e, or pick a Powered-by-the-Apocalypse hack. • Tone Dial: Move from gritty espionage to political chamber drama by adjusting lethal combat or social conflict rules. • Faction Clock: Track four dials—Crown, Duma, Reds-in-Exile, Foreign Powers. Tick when PCs act; when any hits midnight, trigger regime crisis. • Historical Grounding: Keep real names/dates through 1920; after that, let player actions ripple—no need for elves or eldritch horrors unless you want them.