History TabletopGame / CosmopolRetribution

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'''Tropes in this System:'''

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'''Character Tropes:'''

* WrenchWench Maus, who being UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} nominally qualifies as HotGypsyWoman (sort of).
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"Why am I here?

- Keller of the ''Zero One''

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''Retribution'' is the third setting in the {{Cosmopol}} [[TabletopRPG RPG]] universe, taking place roughly fifteen years after the introduction of the first setting.

* {{Roma}}: A minority ethnic group living in Neustadt's ''Unterstadt''. They are known for making their living as "modders" and mechanics, and are one of the few groups aware of the [[HumanoidAbomination several kinds of Nasty]] living in the lower levels of the city.

* WrenchWench Maus, who being {{Roma}} nominally qualifies as HotGypsyWoman (sort of).

After a genetically-engineered [[Ubermensch Neohuman]] [[PuttingOnTheReich government]] based in [[CruelBritannia England]] has seized much of Europe, Neustadt finds itself split between these forces and the equally cruel, [[FantasticRacism anti-"Gene Job"]] Mechanist government and finds itself the key prize whose taking will mean a decisive turn in the war.

Attempting to free the city, sometimes against crushing odds, is the [[LaResistance Zero One]]... who have now found that the Assembly and the Mechanists are not their only problems.

* {{Rebel Leader}}, {{Gadgeteer Genius}} and [[TheCracker computer hacker]] Keller is a {{So Called Coward}} and {{Badass Pacifist}} who appears in ''Retribution''. After seeming to have been {{Put On A Bus}} during ''Reckoning'', he returns in ''Retribution'' having undergone considerable {{Character Development}}, including {{Taking a Level in Badass}} and undergoing an {{Expository Hairstyle Change}}. A German national with influent English skills, he is known for [[BuffySpeak his characteristic style of speech]]. He's [[BattleCouple involved]] with the {{Ambiguously Jewish}} {{Tsundere}} {{Action Girl}} Barrett.

* {{Wrench Wench}} Maus, who being {{Roma}} nominally qualifies as {{Hot Gypsy Woman}} (sort of).

* {{Rebel Leader}}, {{Gadgeteer Genius}} and [[TheCracker computer hacker]] Keller is a {{So Called Coward}} and {{Badass Pacifist}} who appears in ''Retribution'' after {{Taking a Level in Badass}} and undergoing an {{Expository Hairstyle Change}}. A German national with influent English skills, he is known for [[BuffySpeak his characteristic style of speech]]. He's [[BattleCouple involved]] with the rather [[Tsundere fiery]], {{Ambiguously Jewish}} Barrett.

'''In-Game Character Tropes:'''
* {{Ambiguously Jewish}}: Barrett.
* {{Battle Couple}}: This is arguably Keller and Barrett in ''Retribution''.
* {{Buffy Speak}}: Keller when he speaks English.
* {{Hot Gypsy Woman}}: Averted with Maus. Though she is indeed {{Roma}}, she's a {{Wrench Wench}}, wears tank tops and cargo pants and prefers the fairer sex.
** She's still hot.
* {{Tsundere}}: Barrett.
* {{Wrench Wench}}: Maus

The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.
- {{Ayn Rand}}

Cosmopol is a utopia to some, a dystopian to others - anything you want can be yours... but if you fail, it means you're a bad person.
- Dreia Melinkoff

''Cosmopol'' is a {{Tabletop RPG}} setting by Dreia Melinkoff.

It is set in an alternate timeline where the {{Great Depression}} (and thus the rise of {{Those Wacky Nazis}}) never happened, and for the hundred years after, history, politics and technology evolved in a different direction.

Most of the action takes place in the North American city of [[CityOfAdventure Cosmopol]] or its [[GermanExpressionism gloomy European counterpart]], [[CityNoir Neustadt]].

'''Settings include:'''
* {{Century of Progress}}: a bright world, a golden age... anything you want can be yours, for a price.
* {{Cosmopol Reckoning}}: no golden age can last forever. Ecological catastrophe, social upheaval, collapse of the world economy and collapse of the infrastructure add new challenges for the characters.
* {{Cosmopol Retribution}}: new powers rise and cities come under siege as ideas fight ideas and buried secrets come to light.
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* {{Bio Punk}}: Genetic engineering takes place in the background of the first two settings, then center stage in ''Retribution''.
* {{City of Adventure}}: Either of the two cities presently described in the three settings
* {{City Noir}}: Cosmopol's street level and Undercity... and ''all'' of Neustadt.
* {{Cool Airship}}: All of the ships made by Stahl Luftschifftechnik qualify as this.
* {{Code Name}}: Most characters will have a nickname or callsign they use in their "Night Job".
* {{The Cracker}}: Arguably the most powerful character type.
* {{Diesel Punk}}: ''And how.'' Crams as much 1920s-30s {{Zeerust}} {{schizo tech}} into one setting as the author seems to be able to fit.
* {{Everybody Smokes}}: More, you gain temporary boosts to a number of attributes by smoking. The only penalty is against your income and self-discipline if you become addicted.
* {{Fantastic Racism}}: In ''Reckoning'', there is widespread discrimination against [[GattacaBabies "gene jobs"]], which in ''Retribution'' erupts into [[FinalSolution attempted genocide]] (and brings about the titular retribution).

* {{Homemade Inventions}}: A major point of the game. And in ''Reckoning'' and thereafter, the very economy is based on it.
* {{Kafka Komedy}}: Everyday life in Neustadt
* {{La Resistance}}: The {{Playful Hacker}} organization ''Zero One'' militarizes into this in ''Retribution''

* {{Motherly Scientist}}: This would be Dr. Taryn Stone.

* {{Playful Hacker}}: The ''Zero One'' are a whole brotherhood of them.
* {{Privately Owned Society}}: Both Cosmopol and Neustadt, up until ''Retribution''.
* {{Objectivism}}: The dominant philosophy of the universe.

* {{The Roaring Twenties}}: The world has been stuck here for a hundred years, while progress marches on.
* {{Robot Master}}: Dr. Taryn Stone again.

* {{Technology Porn}}: Somewhat averted. The world is as advanced as our normal one, but the tech ''looks'' like 1930s technology.
* {{Took A Level In Badass}}: Several characters do this as of ''Retribution''... the alternative would be to die.

* {{What Measure is a Non Super}}: Grappled with in ''Retribution''. And how.
* {{Zeerust}}: The Future will be Art Deco.
* {{Zeppelins from Another World}}: Arguably averted in that the giant robots and mile high skyscrapers would establish this as an alternate future.

* {{Buffy Speak}}: Keller. Partly justified in that he is not a native English speaker.
** Hand me the twisty thing. The thing which twists.
*** Averted in ''Retribution'', as much of this arc takes place in his native Germany.
* {{Code Name}}: The rule for "night jobbers"
** Dieter Kohl - Keller
** Tsuritsa Zima - Maus
** Tatyana Silova - Titan
** Alexander Blake - Shine
** Dava Gruenwald - Barrett
* {{Germanic Depressives}}: Keller.
* {{Genre Savvy}}: Characters commonly reference (in an oblique fashion) the popular culture of our universe.
** This will go over as well as a cowboy serial set in outer space. I give it twelve or thirteen.

* {{Snark Knight}}: Keller.
* {{Took A Level in Badass}}: Keller. After being the snarky, combat-incompetent hacker and often {{The Load}} during the first two settings, he returns in ''Retribution'' as ''a cell leader in {{La Resistance}}''... complete with an {{Expository Hairstyle Change}}.
* {{TropeMobile}}: Keller's motorcycle, named "Kafka". Also qualifies as {{The Alleged Car}}.
** "Why did I name my motor cycle Kafka, you ask? What kind of question is that? I had to file my renewal in QUADRUPLICATE... I need this too?"