Bureau des Affaires Extraordinaires (2)

I will soon have the pleasure of launching the second season of my other DWAITAS campaign, Le Bureau des Affaires Extraordinaires, set in 1900 Paris (see this previous post for more details about the main characters and the historical background). 

Since we don’t get to play as often as with the one-on-one Lady Penelope’s Odyssey, I’ve decided that each season of the Bureau will comprise four episodes – think of it as a returning mini-series J. So here are the blurbs for the first season.

Season 1: Fin de Siècle

Le Bal des Ardents: All over Paris, people are going out in flames!  The agents of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs investigate these mysterious spontaneous combustions – and end up uncovering a psychic alien infestation which could threaten the whole planet. Paris brûle-t-il?

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra: Mysterious phenomena are disrupting the rehearsals and performances at the glorious Opéra de Paris. Could there be a resident Phantom – just like in the famous-but-yet-unwritten novel?  Our heroes are sent to investigate, pour l’amour de l’art.

The Praetorians: Investigating Aunt Cordelia’s mysterious disappearance, our heroes uncover the mad schemes of the Baron d’Arcier, armaments magnate and personal enemy of Philippine – and face his invincible praetorian guard of Cybermen! Légion étrangère, indeed.

History In Motion: While the Parisian Universal Exhibition of 1900 is going in full swing, our heroes are trying to track down the partially cyber-converted Baron d’Arcier, now known as the Baron d’Acier. And they must act quickly, for History itself is hanging in the balance…

At the conclusion of this first season, the historical background of the campaign gave way to a full-blown continuum divergence, resulting in the following uchronia: after the Président de la République succumbed to a cardiac arrest, French government fell into the hands of Général de la Hire, after what was essentially a legal military coup and the Universal Exhibition came to an abrupt (and very symbolic) end. France now prepares itself to enter the new century under the auspices of war and steel. 

As for the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs (a government-sanctioned organization à la Torchwood), our heroes were first tempted to “go rogue” – but finally decided to stay on. Whatever the 20^th century holds in store, someone has to protect Paris (and the planet) from the unknown menaces of the Rift…  Not to mention the fact that Aunt Cordelia, their mentor from the future, has disappeared. Could she (and her whole timeline) have been erased from existence by the temporal divergence?

As they say in Torchwood: Everything Changes…