Living In Poland
 

So folks...if you have questions/requests....

I work here in Warsaw.....been here 7 years so familiar with many of the places....and was a really big fan of Twilight: 2000 back in the days....did an actual drive to Kalisz and the local neighborhoods that were in the starter map....took some pics and such....just so I have that "Yes, I know what it actually looks like response :)"

Have fun...enjoy your Easter Holiday...

Dyderich,
Would love to see those pictures...

Pics
 

Will have to find the comp I put them on...and do some digging :P

A pronunciation guide?

I just guess that Kalisz is pronounced Kah-eez.

Yeah, I'm always looking for good Poland pics too and haven't made it out to Kalisz yet.


I can help with this a bit.

Kalisz is Kah-leezj.

C's are pronounced ts.
J's are pronounced y.
dz is J ( as in dzem - which is 'jem' aka Jam, the fruit spread you put on toast)
L's with the slash are w.
W's are V's.

Lodz is WOO-DJ
Wroclaw is Vrotswaf.

PS: Photobucket link

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...psjaggjwmb.jpg

You could well be called up to help everyone with V1 and the T2K timeline to get the names correct for the starting points of the forces as the breakout of the 5th begins.

I love your photo album too. Teutonic castles are always cool.

Polish is an amazing language.

Przystanek - Shu-stan-eck. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/przystanek

As difficult as Polish is to pronounce, I've found that an amazing number of Poles speak English. Also most people here are are extremely gracious and helpful in learning Polish. They know their language is difficult and help you learn it, which is not the case in many languages (I'm pretty sure they spit on you in Moscow if you don't speak perfect Russian).

For TW2K Refs I would proffer:

1) Poland is lousy with Castles. Google "Trail of the Eagles' Nest". There are 25 castles between Częstochowa and Krakow, which are amazing. And then there are the Teutonic castles of the north, and castles across Silesia. LOTS... OF.... CASTLES and palaces here.

2) 90% of all Polish food in your game should probably be zupa i cheb (soup and bread). :)

3) Change your weather often in game. We had hail today and blue sky 30 minute later. If you don't like the weather in Poland, just wait 15 minutes.

So, like the UK then?

Hmmm. I've had it in mind to someday run a "settling down" campaign, in which the PCs decide to spend the winter (or longer) in a village. I wonder if having a castle would sweeten the deal?

Are castles usually very close to villages/small towns, within them, or out of town?

It's a mix, but usually the real castles are on high ground when possible and the nearby village or town will be on half a klick or more away on flat land.

Here's a picture I took at one of the castles that shows the basic location and the names of many of the castles between Krakow and Częstochowa. It could be useful if you are looking to run a game in that part of Poland.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...psdy8l6m8u.jpg

You mean half a klick, correct? That makes sense - historically castles have been used to control the surrounding area and placing them on high ground makes them more visible to the peasants.

Yes, 500 meters. Some of the closer castle pairs have tunnels that connect them. They might be 2 to 5 kilometers apart. Mirow and Bobolice are one such pair that have a tunnel.

Now, to be fair, most of the castles are ruins, in the time of T2K. Poland did not have much of a tourism industry under Communism, nor did it have much in the way of spare funds for refurbishing ruins.

For example, the two mentioned above, Bobolice & Mirow are (indeed) close; less than 4000 ft apart. However, by the end of the 18th century, both were roofless ruins. Mirow is a still ruin; Bobolice was bought privately in 1999 renovated starting in 2004. go to the sites to see pics)

• Bobolice Castle
• Mirow Castle

Still, they are built on local high ground, and have partial stone walls - just fine for stopping bullets (if not rain and now).

The tunnel between them is legendary - as is a treasure and a couple of ghosts.

This place actually has some fun aspects to it:

The players can build a cabin or renovate an uncomfortable room and stay in the castle as a strong point. It is on a local high ground, with fingers of stone reaching into the sky. The wind will make all kinds of eerie noise.

You can have peculiar things happen -

Someone on watch in the middle of a dark (and stormy) night sees a young lady in a white dress who wanders off and disappears after a brief but confusing conversation in Polish (especially if the character does not speak Polish). She cannot be found; inquiries in village the next day, get the villagers exchanging glances, and then one explains the legend...

Villagers having fun with the Americans? Or something supernatural? (Or just never bother to explain).

Is there a tunnel? You can mention the legend, and see how much time you can get you players to expend on searching the cellars. Or, maybe there is a tunnel - legends can be true, after all. From which end can it be found?

Is there something to a witch guarding something in the tunnel? Can you intrigue your players into looking into it? Can they find things to make them unsure - is that doorway carved in stone deep underground and blocked by stone just a carving, or is there something behind it? How much effort do your players want to expend to find out?

Is the rumored treasure real? You can have the villagers ask how the search for the treasure is going, whether they can help (for pay), what will they do with the treasure if they find it...

The villagers can be playing with the Americans as a local joke (having been poking around in the ruins for a century and not finding anything). Farmers have to find something to do in winter. :)

Or is there truth to the legend of the treasure? (But then, how was it not found?

(Thank you, internet, for bringing all kinds of minor detail of far away places right to my screen.)

Uncle Ted

Thanks. Also, castles would be reliant on the surrounding community for food and supplies outside of a war.

This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I now want to add to a "Let's settle down" campaign that I'd like to run someday! Thanks for the ideas!