Warehouse 23

Warehouse 23
Creator(s)	Doc Bubonic
System(s)	GURPS
Genre(s)	Modern

The global power balance teeters on the brink of chaos. We touch too much too soon. We discover things we were never meant to comprehend: Relics created by the whim of mad genius, or aliens, or gods - or godlike DEMONS... substances so potent that a handful could destroy our world, computers so subtle that no network is secure from their manipulation, sorceries dark enough to annihilate the purest soul. Somewhere, those with true Power have built a facility to imprison these forces... for proper study. For our own good. To insure order. Until THEY decide to unleash them. THEY know WE aren't yet ready for the contents of Warehouse 23. But are THEY? Inside the Warehouse, you might wonder just who - or WHAT - could dare consider itself a master of such power. - GURPS Warehouse 23 campaign book

Origins of the Warehouse

The Gurps Warehouse 23 book is based on the Warehouse scene in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark where the Ark of the covenant is wheeled into a warehouse filled with huge wooden crates. That scene inspired people think about what else is being stored at that mysterious warehouse. Among the works the works to come out of this evocative scene are Secret Contents of a Certain Government Warehouse Version 0.1 and the GURPS Warehouse 23 supplement.

Docbubonic's Warehouse 23

The Warehouse 23 setting is based off of the GURPS book. I’ve taken the concept presented in the book and built my own setting out of it, so the book isn’t necessary for this game. The book has very little information useful to players.

The game takes place in the modern world. For most people in this setting, the game world looks the same as the real world. However, beneath this game world’s normal facade lies a different world, it’s a world where the unimaginable happens. Magic, aliens, super tech, psychics, and other weirdness exist.

Characters can know of the truth of the world or not. They can have exotic backgrounds or mundane backgrounds. The one thing characters do need is a reason for the warehouse to hire them. The warehouse hires people for one of two reasons. Either the character is useful to the Warehouse or the Warehouse wants to keep them under control.

All characters will possess a secret that is very dangerous and fill out an application form. If people knew what the secret was, they could be imprisoned, killed or suffer immensely. This secret is not to be shared with other players and can’t be posted in the thread. If through roleplaying a character finds out the secret of another character, then they’ll get rewarded for their efforts. The application form is a questionnaire of sorts to help flesh out characters.

Documents

Operations Manual

Warehouse 23 Application

Character Creation Guidelines

TG Games

• Room for Rent: First Warehouse 23 game ran back in 2004. The system was GURPS 3rd edition. The characters were 0 point GURPS characters with unlimited disadvantages. The game revolved around the group clearing out a section of the Warehouse infested with Santabots.

• Innocent When You Dream Second Warehouse 23 game. It introduced the Special Operations Department that plays a major part in the proceeding Warehouse games. The game used GURPS 3rd edition.

• Took off to the land of Nod Third Warehouse 23 game. One of the most successful of the Warehouse 23 games. The game used GURPS 4th edition rules.

• A Nickel's Worth of Dreams Fourth game in the somewhat ongoing campaign. The game used the PDQ Truth and Justice rule set.

• Half Forgotten Dreams Fifth game, GURPS 4th Edition.

• Any way out of this dream? Sixth game, GURPS 4th Edition

Recommended Reading

• Declare - Tim Powers A supernatural spy thriller about occult espionage in the Cold War.

• The Illuminatus! Trilogy - Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson A trilogy of books made up of The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, and Leviathan. A trilogy of conspiracy laden novels that pointed out the number 23 enigma among many other noteworthy ideas.

• Laundry Files - Charles Stross Starting with the Atrocity Archives these books detail a British Government agency charged with protecting the world from extra-dimensional horrors.