TEXT: K A I S E R ’ S  G A T E :  A D V E N T U R E S  &  A R C H E T Y P E S   
  A Savage Worlds adventure by Bryan Hitchcock 
   
   1 
  The Savage World of Kaiser’s Gate 
  This game references the Savage Worlds game 
  system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment 
  Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds 
  and all associated logos and trademarks are 
  copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. 
  Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no rep-
  resentation or warranty as to the quality, via-
  bility, or suitability for purpose of this product. 
  To make the most of this adventure, you 
  will need a copy of the Savage Worlds 
  Deluxe Edition as well as the Kaiser’s Gate 
  setting book. 
  Kaiser’s Gate combines the adventure 
  and magic of high fantasy with the vast 
  conflict of World War One. Created by 
  Mike Lafferty, Kaiser’s Gate is now avail-
  able for Savage Worlds in print or PDF. 
  #1: Boots on the Ground 
  Welcome to the first of the Adventures & 
  Archetypes series for Kaiser’s Gate. Each 
  adventure in this series explores a differ-
  ent aspect of the setting with pre-made 
  characters. In addition, each adventure 
  provides a new piece of gear or a new foe 
  to use in your Kaiser’s Gate adventures. 
  Boots on the Ground is a Novice rank 
  adventure for Savage Worlds characters. 
  Players take the roles of a newly trained 
  German spellbinder squad with orders to 
  take out the Russian command apparatus 
  during the battle of Tannenberg at the 
  end of August 1914. They are members 
  of the 13th Landwehr Division, a com-
  mando unit for Spellbinders. 
  Overview of the Action 
  The battle of Tannenberg was a tremen-
  dous victory for the German military at 
  the beginning of the war. In Kaiser’s 
  Gate, the player characters have a key role 
  in winning the battle and disrupting Rus-
  sian communications. 
  The first thing they need to do is make 
  their way across the farmlands around the 
  town. The plan is to send the spellbinder 
  strike force in to take out the Russian 
  command post on the southeast of town, 
  while the main German force moved in 
  from the west. 
  Next, the squad must penetrate the Rus-
  sian defenses where the wall around the 
  town had crumbled. Here they risk get-
  ting bogged down in shootouts with an 
  ever growing number of Russian soldiers. 
  If they make it past the wall and into 
  town, they can assault the town hall, 
  where the Russian command has estab-
  lished its base. The squad’s resilience and 
  creativity will be tested when they learn 
  that the enemy is lead by a creature out of 
  Russian myth, a Fext. 
  Under the Hood 
  Magic in Kaiser’s Gate: Spellbinding 
  Kaiser’s Gate does not use Power Points. 
  Instead, casters roll Spellbinding skill 
  with a target equal to the Power Point 
  cost of the spell or 4, whichever is higher. 
  If he rolls over four, but under the target, 
  he is still casting the spell and can be in-
  terrupted by being Shaken or wounded. 
  A roll of 1 on the Spellbinding die makes 
  the caster Shaken, unless he spends a 
  benny to re-roll. A 1 on both the Spell-
  binding die and the Wild Die earns the 
  caster a point of fatigue, as well as Shaken 
  status. He may spend a benny to re-roll, 
  removing the Shaken status, but he still 
  suffers a level of fatigue. 
  Cantrips in Kaiser’s Gate allow a spell-
  binder to perform Tricks by rolling Spell-
  binding skill instead of Agility or Smarts. 
  The target may oppose with Agility or 
  Smarts at the GM’s discretion. 
  Tear Gas Grenades 
  Range: 5/10/20, Large Burst, Vigor 
  check at -2 or become Shaken, effect lasts 
  3 rounds, victims cannot attempt to re-
  cover until they leave the cloud.  
  Tear gas saw its first use during World 
  War I, and with the aid of magic from 
  beyond the portals, the Russian have it 
  early on in the world of Kaiser’s Gate. 
  The Russian soldiers in this adventure are 
  equipped with a tear gas grenade, and 
  they will not hesitate to deploy the gas to 
  slow and debilitate the enemy. 
  Be prepared for your squad to acquire 
  some grenades from fallen foes. A smart 
  team will deploy them against the Russian 
  command center. They will need every 
  trick to defeat the Fext and his soldiers.  
  Scene 1 
  The squad has orders to make their way 
  through the fields and orchards to the 
  southeast of Tannenberg and assault a 
  weak point in the town wall. This is a trek 
  of two hours in the darkness before 
  dawn. The terrain is cultivated, but bears 
  the occasional ditch or small creek.  
  To arrive successfully, each squad mem-
  ber must accomplish a Dramatic Task. In 
  this case, the -2 to checks is due to dark-
  ness. If the characters cooperate, like us-
  ing magic to create a light source or cast 
  Boost on the Notice skill for each other, 
  they can eliminate the usual -2 for Dra-
  matic Tasks. Cooperation also allows the 
  member with the best Stealth (probably 
  Kraus) to make a roll each round to cover 
  the entire team. Otherwise, each soldier 
  has five rounds to make it to town before 
  the group’s approach is noted. Each fail-
  ure denotes a Russian sentry who has 
  
  A D V E N T U R E  # 1 :  B O O T S  O N  T H E  G R O U N D   
   
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  grown suspicious, making a Notice check 
  at -2 each round. Deal them in to initia-
  tive. If any of the soldiers notice the 
  squad, or a team member does not obtain 
  five successes in five turns, go immediate-
  ly to Scene 2. 
  RUSSIAN SOLDIERS 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit 
  d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6 
  Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d6, Notice 
  d4, Shooting d6, Stealth d6  
  Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5 
  Hindrance: Loyal 
  Edge: Combat Reflexes 
  Gear: 
  Knife 
  (Str+d4), 
  Rifle 
  (2d8, 
  24/48/96, 8 shots), one tear gas grenade 
  Scene 2 
  If the squad is discovered before they all 
  make it to the wall, assume each member 
  who did not make it is 6” away from the 
  wall for each success they are short of the 
  five required. For example, if Hugo 
  Deitrich has accumulated only one suc-
  cess before one of his squadmates is spot-
  ted by a guard, Hugo is 24” from the wall. 
  There should be some cover and the 
  Germans may want to proceed forward at 
  a crawl. Or they may try a charge… 
  The wall is manned by Russian soldiers, 
  one per player, who have piled stones on 
  their side of the wall. This allows them to 
  fire from superior cover over the 6’ wall. 
  There is a crumbled portion of the wall 
  that can be passed through as Difficult 
  Ground. The section of wall to each side 
  can be leaped with an Agility check as 
  part of movement. The rest of the wall 
  must be climbed.  
  If the squad makes it to the wall without 
  being spotted, they can hear the guards 
  arguing about the state of the battle.  The 
  squad must succeed on a final Stealth 
  check against the guards’ group Notice 
  check to take the guards by surprise.  
  Once one squad member is past the wall, 
  a new Russian soldier will arrive on the 
  scene at the end of each round in which 
  shots were fired. Assume NPCs find at 
  least minor cover after each shot. 
  Encourage your players to include 
  cover in the narration of their 
  characters’ actions.  
  If all the Russian soldiers are slain 
  at the end of a round, no more 
  will appear for a few moments. 
  This gives the squad an oppor-
  tunity to move on the town hall, 
  beginning Scene 3.  
  Scene 3 
  The command center is in a walled 
  yard behind the town hall building. 
  The defending Russian command-
  er, General Karloff, is here with a 
  small camp and a handful of staff. 
  The walls help conceal the squad’s 
  approach. There is a 1”gate in the 
  side from which the squad ap-
  proaches, though it is padlocked 
  and guarded. 
  Within the 15” x 20” yard are six 
  Russian soldiers and their undead 
  leader. There is decent cover be-
  hind a set of marble pillars and 
  benches at the center, or the trees 
  that line the inside of the wall. 
  The squad has 5 minutes (50 
  rounds) from the beginning of 
  combat to accomplish their mis-
  sion before a platoon of Russian 
  soldiers arrives to reinforce the 
  command post. 
  Wrap Up 
  Investigating the commander’s pa-
  pers reveals a notebook with the 
  Russian communication codes! 
  Historical Disclaimer 
  The Battle of Tannenberg was a real event 
  where thousands of men died. The Rus-
  sian army, mis-led by two Generals, was 
  badly defeated by the Germans. As near 
  as I can tell, there was no “good” side of 
  the 1st World War, except the side of 
  each person’s nation and monarch. 
  Kaiser’s Gate, as a roleplaying setting, 
  seeks to foster exciting games and cele-
  brate the heroism of soldiers, without 
  looking too deeply at the motives of their 
  leaders. Perhaps in romanticizing WWI 
  with gryphons, magic, and dragons, we 
  can keep the memory of these men alive. 
  It’s another way to remember the past, 
  that we might not repeat it. 
  Any resemblance these adventures have to 
  reality is tribute to the people who lived it. 
  For deviations, defamations, and anachro-
  nisms, you have only me to blame.  
  GENERAL KARLOFF, FEXT (WC) 
  Undead Warlord: General Karloff died dur-
  ing the Russo-Japanese war. But in 1910, a Rus-
  sian necromancer raised the general from death, 
  to prove the value of his magic to the Czar. The 
  necromancer did not survive the experience, as 
  General Karloff was none too happy to be raised 
  into un-life. He found himself reborn as a crea-
  ture out of Russian legend. 
  The Czar ordered the necromancer raised and 
  the process repeated to create more fext. General 
  Karloff is typical, but Skills and Edges may vary. 
  Fext are undead creatures rumored to have led 
  Russia in many battles during the 30 years war of 
  the 17th century. These creatures are invulnerable 
  to anything but glass, so your squad is going to 
  have to adapt and improvise very quickly. En-
  courage the use of cantrips to create advantages 
  for the squad. The environment is covered in 
  broken glass from the fighting. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, 
  Strength d6, Vigor d8 
  Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Intimidation 
  d8, Knowledge: Battle d8, Notice d8, Shooting 
  d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6 
  Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 8 
  Gear: Cutlass (Str+d6), Luger (Range: 12/24/48, 
  Damage: 2d6) 
  Special Abilities 
  Command 
  Invulnerability: Fext can only be harmed 
  by glass. They may be Shaken by other attacks, 
  but never wounded. 
  Level Headed 
  Two-Fisted 
  Undead: +2 Toughness; +2 to recover from be-
  ing Shaken; called shots do no extra. No wound 
  penalties. 
  
  A D V E N T U R E S  &  A R C H E T Y P E S :  P L A Y E R  C H A R A C T E R S   
   
   
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  HUGO DEITRICH (WC) 
  Calculating Fire-binder: The first time Hugo Deitrich cast a fire spellbinding the magic was too powerful for him to control. 
  By the time his instructors could save him, he had hideous burns on his face and upper body. Wielding the magic was such a 
  thrill, that Deitrich could not resist the allure in spite of his painful injuries. He dedicated himself to mastering the techniques of 
  spellbinding until he could fully control his natural talent. Now he is a powerful offensive spellbinder in service to the Kaiser. 
  Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6  
  Skills: Fighting d4, Healing d4, Notice d8 (+2), Shooting d4, Spellbinding d10, Stealth d4, Survival d6, Taunt d6  
  Charisma: -2; Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5 
  Hindrances: Cautious (m), Ugly (m), Vengeful (M) 
  Edges: AB: Spellbinding – Fire Magic, Alertness 
  Spells: Novice: Cantrips (Fire), Bolt, Damage Field (with fire trappings) 
  Gear: Knife (Str+d4), Lucifer Brand Cigarette Lighter, Tobacco & Papers  
  TOBIAS BERGMANN (WC) 
  Mad Warlock: Bergmann studied the Svaldon Madness school out of spite and was one of it’s first graduates for the Kaiser’s 
  army. It also drove him irretrievably insane. Too valuable an asset to leave in a hospital, the squad must deal with Bergman’s 
  outbursts and conversations with shadows because, once the shooting starts his Stun with madness trappings can keep an enemy 
  force reeling while the heavy hitters like Reinhard close in. Bergmann uses his Two-Fisted Edge to fire Madness spells by waving 
  his dagger in his main hand and firing his Luger or throwing a grenade with his off hand at -2. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6  
  Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d6, Shooting d8, Spellbinding d8, Stealth d6, Survival d4, Throw d6  
  Charisma: 0; Pace: 5 (d4); Parry: 5; Toughness: 6 
  Hindrances: Big Mouth (m), Delusional (M), Obese (m) 
  Edges: AB: Spellbinding – Svaldon Madness, Two-Fisted 
  Spells: Novice: Cantrips (Sound), Conceal Arcana, Madness (Confusion) 
  Gear: Dagger (Str+d4), Luger (2d6, 12/24/48, Semi-auto), 3 Potato Mashers (Hand Grenades, 3d6-1) 
  MATTHIAS KRAUS (WC) 
  Sneaky Spy: Kraus always knew he was meant to be a spy. His curiosity often brought trouble, but just as often, it provided 
  him with the dirty secrets he needed to keep from being punished. It was only natural that he pursue his gifts in service to the Kai-
  ser. The subtle art of Svaldon spy magic proved a perfect fit. Kraus will try to keep his head down while scouting or during battle, 
  providing support with his cantrips. Once the Russian command is secured, it’s his job to gather intelligence for command. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6  
  Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d4, Investigation d4, Lockpicking d6, Notice d6, Shooting d4, Spellbinding d6, 
  Stealth d8, Survival d4  
  Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5 
  Hindrances: Curious (M), Greedy (m), Habit (m) 
  Edges: AB: Spellbinding – Svaldon Spying, Thief 
  Spells: Novice: Cantrips (Shadow), Silence (Obscure v. hearing), Detect/Conceal Arcana 
  Gear: Binoculars, Luger (2d6, 12/24/48, Semi-auto), Survival Knife (Str+d4) 
  
  A D V E N T U R E  # 1 :  B O O T S  O N  T H E  G R O U N D   
   
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  WOLFRAM REINHARD (WC) 
  Melee Mage: Reinhard is a shock trooper, always hoping to work into close range so he can hack his foes with his long sword. 
  He’s not very bright, but smart enough not to charge into enemy fire… unless he’s ordered to. He uses Boost on himself and the 
  person he knows best on the team (player’s choice) to improve Vigor and therefore Toughness. He’ll cast Smite on his long sword 
  just before melee. 
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6  
  Skills: Climbing d4, Fighting d8, Notice d4, Riding d4, Shooting d6, Spellbinding d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6  
  Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 8 (3) 
  Hindrances: Arrogant (M), Clueless (m), Loyal (m) 
  Edges: AB: Spellbinding – Svaldon Warrior-Mage, Brawny 
  Spells: Novice: Cantrips (Shadow), Boost, Smite 
  Gear: Luger (2d6, 12/24/48, Semi-auto), Long Sword (Str+d8), Plate Corselet (+3, 25 lb.) 
  ERICH MAHLER (WC) 
  Battle Healer: Mahler is a devoutly religious. Though he does not believe in inflicting harm, he is fiercely proud of his home-
  land and will not stand to see Germany dishonored. A pacifist, Mahler will not fire until fired upon, or under a direct order to 
  fire. Staying in cover is paramount when playing Mahler, as his true skill is ability to heal wounds. He will also contribute with 
  Light cantrips to trick the enemy and provide an advantage to his squad mates. 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6  
  Skills: Fighting d4, Healing d6, Notice d6, Riding d4, Shooting d6, Spellbinding d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6  
  Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5 
  Hindrances: Heroic (M), Pacifist (m), Stubborn (m) 
  Edges: AB: Spellbinding – Svaldon Healer, Healer  
  Spells: Novice: Cantrips (Light), Healing, Diagnosis (as Detect Arcana with medical trappings, used to diagnose dis-
  eases and any other ailments, including curses) 
  Gear: Crucifix, Luger (2d6, 12/24/48, Semi-auto), Medical Kit (+1 Healing, 4 uses) 
  ARNULF SCHMIDT (WC) 
  Odin-sworn Leader: Schmidt’s family turned to the old gods when the portals opened, and found the deities to be powerful al-
  lies ready to lend magic in exchange for service and worship. During battle, Schmidt often calls out to the All-father for protection 
  or aid as he casts boost to aid his comrades’ Shooting or Spellbinding. Odin demands a sacrifice at least once a month and 
  Schmidt will ritually gouge one eye of anyone he personally kills in battle, to let Odin know, “this one’s for you.” 
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6  
  Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d6, Shooting d6, Spellbinding d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6, Taunt d6  
  Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5  
  Hindrances: Bloodthirsty (M), Quirk (m), Vow (m) 
  Edges: AB: Spellbinding – Odin’s Gift, Command 
  Spells: Novice: Cantrips (Air), Boost, Deflection 
  Gear: Luger (2d6, 12/24/48, Semi-auto), Satchel of Runes, Whistle, Flask of Liquor
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds System (SWADE) [multi]/Kaisers Gate/Savage Worlds - Kaiser's Gate - AP1 - Boots on the Ground.pdf