CoC and medals

[Nightbreed24]

I collect military and civilian medals from the Habsburg era and was wondering the other day about how awards would fit into CoC. Investigators could very well be decorated with domestic or even foreign awards in secret for foiling the machinations of the Mythos: various civilian decorations or chivalric orders. Not to mention if the games take place immediately after of even during a conflict and the investigators were or are soldiers of an army.

Let's say we have a Great War veteran Marine NCO with a Navy Cross, a WW1 Victory Medal with various battle clasps and a French Croix de Guerre. He could've been wounded too, but since the Purple Heart was only established in '32, he would only have a Wound Chevron. Said marine would surely get a boost to his Credit Rating if he would were them. But how much? I don't want to hand out +50% bonuses.

[nclarke]

In the post WW1 period I'm not sure how much of a boost it would be for a US citizen to parade around wearing his medals. There are usually regulations stating when and under what conditions medals as opposed to ribbons can be worn.

In Europe there was very much a different feeling and almost every male of military age would have been in the armed forces so medals or ribbons (which are mostly unintelligible to civilians) might not have had any benefit. The converse likely when attending a reunion of church service where medals were worn. With so many dead surviving males would have stood out should they not be wearing medals.

I remember an episode of the British Dad's Army comedy set in the 40's where one of the characters turns up for church parade wearing a medal for valour which the pompous unit leader believes shows him up. He decides future church parades/services are to be medal-less.

[wombat1]

I would think it would depend on the ranking or importance of the medal. To use the example in the original post, the Navy Cross is one of the most important medals the service can bestow. The recipient might well receive a significant boost for that; I wouldn't think that 10% is out of line. The campaign, victory, or service medals go to everyone who is located in a theater. They might be handled simply by awarding an extra experience check, similar to a successful use of the skill in play. There are other perks, too. Perhaps an interesting contact becomes available, leading to an increased income. Perhaps Chandler Christy, or Norman Rockwell paints a portrait. Has no effect in play, but is a neat roleplaying cookie to hand out.

N. Clarke is correct--American civilians do not seem to often wear medals other than in highly specific contexts--the patriotic holidays, at parades, and at the veterans' associations. At the present time there is no prohibition against doing so (assuming one is entitled to the medals in question); it simply isn't done. But in the game context, Credit Rating is as much about what the community knows about you, as what you display, so is is quite possible that the holder of a DSC, or Navy Cross, and certainly the holder of a Medal of Honor, would acquire a better reputation for it in the community.

[Roucheau]

In addition, Americans have always had a deep abiding distrust of its standing army and thus after every war, we disband all but a small cadre to make sure the Army can't take over while no one is looking. It was not uncommon to see signs in towns that happen to be co-located with military installations to say derogatory things like "Dogs and soldiers keep off the grass." I would have to agree with wombat1 that unless you had one of the major awards that he mentions, your credit rating is unlikely to improve. The only exception I can think of is in small towns where the local 'hero' would get maybe a small (+5%) boost. However, within the Veteran's community, such things would be very important and could provide as much as a +25% boost, especially for holders of the Medal of Honor.

[Nightbreed24]

Thanks for all the information, you guys are great! Maybe it wasn't a good idea to choose an American Marine as an example, but I was thinking, since this is an American RPG, I should stick to it. But what about veterans of other countries like Great Britain, France or Germany?

I know, that my country had several veteran organizations and that Admiral Horthy established the Vitézi Rend - Order of Gallantry in English - in the year 1920 for veterans, who received the required medals in WW1. The members gained the honorific title vitéz, a badge, a diploma and some even received land, although it was pretty scarce back then. My neighbor lady was born in the '30s and told me, that there was an Order member in her village, who received some land. But it was on a steep hill and they joked a lot about it. They told the rather unfortunate man, that the only thing he should plant there are walnut trees, because the fruit would fall off and roll down to the foot of the hill when ripe.

You can read about the Order here:

http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/vitez.html

[wombat1]

All that said, I cannot remember the last time I saw military decorations worn on civilian dress in the United States outside of a Veterans of Foreign Wars, or Disabled American Veterans or American Legion function.

I know the English wear decorations on more occasions than in the US or in Europe, but I will let the English members of the site, of whom there are many, explain the rules themselves. This website appears to discuss when decorations may appropriately be worn with civilian dress:

http://www.blacktieguide.com/Supplem...ecorations.htm

Here is the appropriate U.S. Army regulation as of 2012:

"Army. Army Regulation 670-1, paragraph 30-6, says that former members of the Army (including active duty, reserves, or Army National Guard), may wear medals on "appropriate" civilian clothing on Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, and Armed Forces Day, as well as at "formal occasions of ceremony and social functions of a military nature." "Appropriate" civilian clothes includes clothes designed for veteran and patriotic organizations, such as VFW or American Legion uniforms. You can wear either the full-size or miniture-size medals. You should place the medals and decorations in approximately the same location and in the same manner as for the Army uniform, so they look similar to medals worn on the Army uniform."

The U.S. Navy specifically refers to evening dress or formal wear, and also to rosettes and lapel pins:

"Navy. The Navy Uniform Regulations, Chapter 6, paragraph 61002, subparagraph 7 includes the requirements for wearing Navy decorations on civilian clothes. The regulation authorizes the wear of miniture medals and Miniature Breast Insignia on civilian evening dress (white tie) or civilian dinner dress (black tie) in the same manner as for dinner dress jackets. For non-dress-up affairs, you may wear miniature replicas of ribbons made in the form of lapel buttons, or ribbons made in rosette form, on the left lapel of civilian clothes. You may also wear miniature distinguished marksmanship and pistol shot badges as a lapel pin or as part of a tie clasp on civilian clothing."

Given your interests, you may find this website interesting in any event: http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/
It lists all of the possible choices, showing the ones that have lapel pins as well.

[HJ]

I don't think that wearing your ribbons would affect your credit rating as a whole but it would certainly affect it in your transactions with people who were say in the same campaign for example or if it is an officers' medal and you are talking to someone who was a private. The final positive or negative effect would obviously be dependent on the view taken by the other person, ie whether they had been a loyal soldier or a (monocled) mutineer for example.

There have also been cases of people wearing a false set of ribbons \ medals and pretending to be SAS veterans for example in order to either impress others or as some form of con.

[rylehNC]

In Gaslight and classic era British games, I treat both awards and membership in heraldic orders as a bonus to Credit Rating. After all, a number of characters will have abbreviations added to their name.

[Necrothesp]

In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries it is (and always was) rare to wear decorations in civilian clothes. There are two exceptions to this: (a) at remembrance parades and memorial services (b) at formal dinners and balls, usually attended in evening dress, where the invitation states "decorations to be worn". Of course, you can wear decorations with any uniform, not only military uniform or the uniform of the service you were a member of when you received them, so they were legitimately worn by policemen, firemen, ambulancemen, hotel and cinema doormen, nightwatchmen, diplomats and colonial officials (when in formal uniform), scoutmasters etc. Wearing them at any other time would be considered bad form.

Of course, in Britain and the Commonwealth, one receives letters after one's name if one has been decorated, and these can be freely used (although it is bad form to use them yourself in informal situations). Until relatively recently most people would know exactly what these letters represented and would quite probably recognise the ribbons if they were worn, so it is probably reasonable to give someone a Credit Rating bonus if the other person is aware that they are a decorated veteran. One notorious murderer, Neville Heath, often claimed he held a rank and decorations he did not (and was convicted for wearing uniforms and decorations to which he was not entitled - quite a serious offence at that time) because he was treated deferentially because of it.

[Necrothesp]

I don't think that wearing your ribbons would affect your credit rating as a whole but it would certainly affect it in your transactions with people who were say in the same campaign for example or if it is an officers' medal and you are talking to someone who was a private. The final positive or negative effect would obviously be dependent on the view taken by the other person, ie whether they had been a loyal soldier or a (monocled) mutineer for example.

Depends when you wore them. Between the wars and for a couple of decades after World War II most people would treat you with respect if they were aware you had served in the forces, even more if they knew you'd seen action, even more still if they knew you'd been decorated. It was a bigger issue then than now and people were far more aware of what it meant.