Prohibition

Eighteenth Amendment - Prohibition of Intoxicating and Arcane Liquors

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, the exportation thereof from, or the consumption for magickal purposes within the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage, magickal or other otherwise arcane purposes, is hereby prohibited.

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The Wets blame the Drys for cutting off their sanity-saving liquor.The Drys say the Wets brought it on themselves, consorting with devils and their diabolic alcohol. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but it's clear that the Changes didn't start until after the Civil War.

History

Decades after the Civil War, in towns surrounding the battlefields, a number of people started... Changing. In Fredrick, Maryland alone, hundreds of adults and over a thousand children were marked and Changed. Some were subtle; men grew taller and thinner, their ears elongating to fine tips. Others faced horrible fates from the Change; their bones and teeth cracked as they grew and reshaped themselves and their skin turned into a gray, leathery hide. Children, who were affected much more frequently than adults, stopped growing taller altogether. Most continued to grow out, broader and denser than all but the strongest humans. The rest remained in an adolescent state their whole lives, of both mind and body.

As the residents and governments of these areas struggled to comprehend these mutated persons that were still their ilk, the reports of other mysterious happenings increased exponentially. Formerly decent men and women near battlefield areas fled their former lives and disappeared. Murders and other violence acts increased. Phantom soldiers were seen moving across the battlefields of thirty years' past. Events that would be considered miracles if they didn't occur in such dark times were commonplace. Cries of witchcraft were abound, and more than a few people were hanged. Alcohol and denial seemed to be the only things in great supply as the townsfolk struggled to maintain their hold on sanity.

The United States government, foreseeing the chaos that could erupt if the country saw these occurrences as epidemic, quickly and quietly scattered many of the Changed and hid them across the country. They suppressed, dismissed, or rationalized the stories coming out of affected towns. The stories America had heard of "Changed" people were explained away as a rare but non-contagious virus. For a short time, it seemed that they had established control. The numbers of the Changed were increasing, though, and more and more acts of witchcraft were taking place. The lid was on, but the truth was brimming under the surface.

It finally burst out to the United States at large in 1895, from a source that no one expected. The Anti-Saloon League, a slow-growing movement supporting the prohibition of alcohol, had recently been founded as a national organization. Led by the Reverend Howard Hyde Russell, superintendent of the organization, speeches and proclamations came from chapters of the Anti-Saloon League across America...

"...and these Changed, as they have been called, have been claimed by the Devil himself!"
"...a ghost of the fallen within them, soldiers from the war... they are possessed!"
"...can be fought out of the body, can be resisted by God-fearing folk like you and I..."
"Vile alcohol loosens the hold they have over their bodies, and vile alcohol turns them over to the Devil, into the monsters that they are..."
"... these heathen must be destroyed!"

The Changed

While the Anti-Saloon League's information was tainted with hatred and religious nonsense, it was essentially correct. Spirits of the soldiers killed in battle, just now venturing from the sites of their deaths, were possessing people's bodies. Most could fight off the intrusions, but those whose minds were weak or unfocused were easy targets; when drunk, a person was especially susceptible to possession from the dead. One would soon regain control over their body, but the spirit would always be inside them, imprisoned and fighting to regain command.

Once possessed, the spirit could do little until the victim again lost control. This usually meant getting intoxicated enough for the spirit to take command. While in authority of the body, the spirit was obsessed with completing some action left unfinished in its life. Benevolent spirits looked around aimlessly for loved ones or helped others in need, trying to atone for their war crimes. Other spirits chose darker pursuits, looking to avenge their deaths or to jealously cause pain to the living. The spirits could command sorcerous powers, throwing fire, flying, and becoming invisible to complete their post-death objectives.

When possessed, a person's body would slowly change shape, presumably reflecting some aspect of the world the spirits dwelled in. The demeanor of the spirit resulted in bodies resembling anything from horrible, disfigured monsters to beautiful, mythic beings.

Many of the Changed quickly learned that, by consuming alcohol, they could bridge a connection between the spirit and themselves, harnessing its awesome powers for a short time. More alcohol would allow for stronger sorcery. This was extremely dangerous, however, as too much alcohol would allow the spirits to again take control of them until they regained sobriety. Whether the spirit was malevolent or not, taking a backseat in their own bodies was something that terrified every one of the Changed.

The Changed that were resistant (or not allowed) to drink alcohol soon found without releasing some of the spirits' power through sorcery, the spirit would eventually build up enough power to suddenly and overwhelmingly dominate them. They risked losing control for days, weeks, or even months - much longer amounts of time than even those Changed who were continually drunk. It was clear that all Changed, even the children, would need alcohol to maintain a delicate balance between control and being controlled.

Today

It is 1926. Prohibition has been ratified into national law for almost seven years. The Anti-Saloon League's revelations shocked a nation still healing years after the Civil War. That shock slowly turned into support for the outlawing of alcohol.

In a compromise between a increasingly scared public and civic leaders, the 18th Amendment was finally passed in 1919. It outlawed the alcohol that allowed spirits to possess people and use incredible powers while making no law altering the Changeds' status as citizens and human beings. Religious leaders and the Anti-Saloon League, the Drys, didn't get its wish in "destroying the heathen," but the Changed's lives are bad enough. Racism against them is rampant. The media has dubbed the adults "Elves" and "Orcs," and the children (some of which are over 40 years old now) "Gnomes" and "Dwarves," as though they were inhuman beings from myth and legend. There are rarely allowed to work at anything but the most menial jobs, and often are segregated into slums on the outskirts of cities.

Supporters of the Changed, known as the Wets, are an influential but waning influence in America. Woodrow Wilson was the last American president firmly in support of Changed rights and the legality of alcohol. He continued to champion the cause after his presidency, until he died under mysterious circumstances in 1924. With his death, the strongest support for the Changed faded. Wets continued to attempt to get the Changed livable wages and housing, but fought an uphill battle.

The Game

Prohibition Chicago. Thousands of Changed flocked to the city, hoping to find decent jobs and to create a community for themselves. Drys, led by the Chicago Chapter of the Anti-Saloon League, ceaselessly hunt down suppliers of alcohol to the Changed. The city is on the brink of martial law, with the Changed and their supporters facing off against police, Drys, and a populace increasingly hostile towards Wets. The tensions blow up regularly after murder sprees point back to alcohol-deprived Dwarves that finally succumbed to evil spirits. Neighborhood roundups of the Changed after a crime has been committed are routine, and vigilante justice often ends with a Orc or Elven body lying on a South Side street.

Through these dangerous times, the Wets fight back with their Changed sorcery and some unusual allies. Led by Orc Al Capone, parts of the criminal underworld have blossomed to supply the Changed with their much-needed alcohol, and the Chicago Police are finding it increasingly difficult to stop them. Whether motivated by compassion, a sense of duty to their Changed boss, or the enormous profits had by selling liquor to Wets, they are crucial to the Changed and their fight - when they can lay off each other's throats.

Orcs with tommy guns racing through Windy City streets. Citizens swelling the numbers of racist groups rather than help their own possessed kin. Pinstriped Elves brokering clandestine deals to keep their demons at bay. A desperate city declaring bloody war against alcohol at any cost. Ghosts of Confederate soldiers, stalking the streets to avenge their deaths seventy years past.

These are the Roaring '20's.

Characters

Characters are either the Changed or human Wets. At least one human in a gaming group would probably be a necessity for a 'face' to deal with the outside world.

Changed characters have immense powers at their disposal - when they've drank enough to connect the spirit and release some of the spectral power within them. If they drink too much, the spirit will slip past their willpower and take control of their bodies. If they've been sober too long, that spirit can build in power until it overwhelms them.

Every player making a Changed character would create both the person and the spirit that possesses their character. The player has to create a Fixation for the spirit to have, which is the reason that the spirit hasn't moved on in death. Whenever the Changed lose control of themselves, the spirit takes command and goes about working on their Fixation. Players might even make two character sheets, one for the possessed and one for the spirit. When a player fails for his character to retain control of himself, the spirit takes over, which is run by another player in the group.

System

The D20 System would be a natural choice, with its rules for fantasy races and magic. Substantial changes to the system would be needed, including a new magic character class for the Changed. D20 Rules for a lot of aspects of early 20th century life will probably be available at some point from the D20 conversion of Call of Cthulhu and/or Pinnacle's Weird Wars and Deadlands D20.

The Shadowrun system would also be a good choice. It already has metahumans in a post-19th century setting, and has a "realistic" combat system with firearms and other modern weapons and equipment.

Adventures

Spirits for the Spirits: After the Illinois government releases the National Guard on the city of Chicago, not a drop of alcohol is to be found. The player's Changed are getting desperate, feeling the dead soldiers inside of them clamoring to take control. Their mob contacts have smuggled a few cases of beer onto a ship coming into the docks. Can the players sneak - or shoot - their way through a locked-down Lake Michigan crawling with federal agents?

Dirty Politics: Al Capone's Wet Southsiders have never had much love for the anti-Changed gangs of the North Side, but the violence has intensified as of late. The players are tipped off on an ambush their South Side friends are planning against their rivals at a North Side restaurant. The problem is that an influential Alderman, who is a rare Wet defender that enjoys popular support, is planning on being at the same place to eat. The players must stop their own mob friends before they cause a gang massacre that will undoubtedly destroy the Alderman's reputation in city politics.

Union Dues: Red-haired women in a North Side neighborhood are being murdered by a Gnome - "the Babyfaced Slasher" - at an alarming rate. One every night for the last two weeks. The Changed's possessing spirit, a Union sergeant fixated on the woman who betrayed the location of his troops to the Confederates in 1857, has to be stopped. Can the players find the murderer and put an end to it before the cops round-up every Gnome in Wrigleyville?