Let's say characters are leaders or members of armies. What sort of adventures do you run for them?

The dangerous raid to take out a key installation is one...scouting and assassination missions...the side trek to get that key artifact/spell/weapon...setting up ambushes and tactical maneuvering in general. I'm sure there are lots of others.

What game supplements have covered this and what ideas are in them?

Any general thoughts on running battles and their before and after for players playing characters on a traditional model?

Bonus points for simple mechanics for integrating what the characters do in scene with the broader ebb and flow of the conflict.

One of my favorite sessions of Aces In Spades involved finding a piano. See, the Major was an excellent and fervent pianist, and the outgoing Supply Officer sold the harp of the OC piano for a truckload of toilet paper... Anyways, the new Supply Officer had to find one, along with a few men to drive the truck and hoist in the piano, in the ruins of a French town too near the front lines. There they were confronted by murderous cannibalistic deserters who were living in the rubble...

In other words, it's fun to go outside the box, too.

Awesome game!

-clash

There's this bank behind the German lines and it's full of Nazi™ gold, but there's these tiger tanks see...

Quote from: mhensleyThere's this bank behind the German lines and it's full of Nazi™ gold, but there's these tiger tanks see...

Yes!

-clash

Here's another one from Aces In Spades:

The Squadron Commander goes off on leave, handing over the reigns to the senior Flight Leader, a PC. It comes to the acting commander's notice that another Flight Leader is probably inflating his kills, claiming far more when he's on solo patrol than with his Flight. This comes to a head when he comes back after a solo flight, all shot up, after claiming to have strafed a German aerodrome and shot down four Germans. The Acting Commander sends a recon flight out to investigate. Meanwhile, the mechanics report that the shot groupings are curiously tight for shots at a speeding aeroplane. The Acting Commander questions the suspect Flight Leader who claims he probably got lost, and may have hit a different aerodrome. The recon flight never returns. The Acting Squadron Commander grounds the other Flight Leader and sends out his own Flight to find out the truth...

-clash

Quote from: mhensleyThere's this bank behind the German lines and it's full of Nazi™ gold, but there's these tiger tanks see...

Kelly's Heroes works.

Staying in the same timeframe, there's also Catch 22... they could run oddball missions for Milo Minderbender.

Quote from: CalithenaBonus points for simple mechanics for integrating what the characters do in scene with the broader ebb and flow of the conflict.

We (Small Niche Games) are about to release a WWII Allied commando/French Resistance scenario for d20 Modern.  It focuses on tropes (blowing a bridge, dodging the Gestapo, rescuing soldiers, liberating a village, etc.).  There are several encounters that involve mass combat, but I tried to put the focus more on what the characters are doing during the scene, usually with different objectives (secure the bridge, take out the machine gunners in the 2nd story window, stop the tank, etc.).

BTW, we're looking for (PDF) reviewers.  If anyone is interested, drop me a PM.

Pete

Quote from: flyingmiceOne of my favorite sessions of Aces In Spades involved finding a piano.

That's brilliant, clash.  Seriously.  

Pete

Quote from: pspahnThat's brilliant, clash.  Seriously.  

Pete

THanks, Pete! It was a blast to run.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceTHanks, Pete! It was a blast to run.

-clash

I bet.  The cool thing is that would make a really good straight historical scenario as well.  It seems like just the sort of vain, bullshit order a CO would give to his squad.  Just substitute the cannibals with Nazi stragglers.  

Pete

I'm an avid Twilight 2000 gamer.

There's literally hundreds of plots we've used, that range from farce to pathos. From the Russian anti-tank explosive dog* that was confused between which side's tank it wanted to run under to the wounded little girl stuck in the minefield while we desperately tried to get her out before realising there was a sniper out there too.

If you can give me a better idea of your setting, I can give you a few of our plot hooks, settings and encounter ideas.

(*These actually existed in WW2)

I was going to run a WW2 Long Range Desert Group game using Savage Worlds rules over at big purple, but nobody was interested
 
Amongst the things I had pencilled in for the group apart from raiding, scouting & pathfinding were search & rescue of missing aircrew / soldiers / other special forces teams, taxi work for spies or the SAS, liasion with the local desert tribesmen and being an early irregular unit in a regular army, a side order of political Justifying their Own Existance, Not Getting Disbanded and Acquiring Equipment from friendly forces.

What I'm looking for:

- Fantasy armies, which include a party of adventurers, one or more of whom are the commanding officers of the armies in question.

- It's OK if the commanders do totally unrealistic things like ride off on special scouting missions that are too important or dangerous to leave to anyone else. King Conan riding off to save the world in Hour of the Dragon or Kirk beaming down instead of just sending 40 redshirts to take care of it are totally fine models here.

Basically, I'm imagining a play situation like this: you're the King of Aquilonia and you've taken the field at the head of your armies, along with your wizard and a cunning corsair from the south; or, you're the Captain of the Ebon Company and your army's been hired to oppose the armies of a terrible immortal sorcerer-king and his twelve lich lieutenants, along with your two company wizards, your company doctor-historian, and your bad-ass lieutenant.

I want to find ways to run man-to-man adventures of the traditional kind that integrate with a larger, fairly simple combat system. The large-scale rewards are easy: you get bonuses on the final battle roll for successful scouting missions, or maybe circumvent battle if that's what you want to do. What I'm hoping for are some ideas for the kinds of scenes/goals I might include along the way.

These include straight-up fights in the middle of the larger battle ("Boys! We need to take that hill!"), which would then get your army e.g. a +1 if you won and -1 if you lost the attempt. And it includes scouting missions and side quests and ambushes and clever terrain setups and all that stuff. Just wanting to find stuff for players to do, if you know what I mean.

Quote from: CalithenaI want to find ways to run man-to-man adventures of the traditional kind that integrate with a larger, fairly simple combat system. The large-scale rewards are easy: you get bonuses on the final battle roll for successful scouting missions, or maybe circumvent battle if that's what you want to do. What I'm hoping for are some ideas for the kinds of scenes/goals I might include along the way.

Couple of thoughts (I'm doing a military-ish game at the moment)

1. Rob from the best: history. There are all kinds of great real-life battle situations that involve a great deal of the personalities involved. Also: in the past, having the General ride out with his troops apparently did happen (c.f. Alexander The Great). I don't think The General (whichever general) went on scouting missions, but he did get into serious action.

Inward-looking events / scenarios:

2. There's a lot of opportunity in things like logistics or personnel problems. If your army (like a lot of them) scavenges as it goes, then you might have to strike a balance between keeping your people fed and managing the looting of the surrounding (enemy, probably) civilians. Logistics have probably decided more outcomes than tactical brilliance, so adding this dimension could help give things a realistic flavor.

3. Inter-group rivalry. If you're the general, you probably have a set of NPC's who lead main battle groups, and you probably have a headache dealing with conflicts between elite troops v. the masses, or the calvary expecting special rations, or whatever. Keeping morale high would be key to pursuing a successful campaign.

4. The Political Officer -- the Emporer (if the PC's are the General) or the Clergy (if they're the Emporerer) sends a really... problematic "political" officer to oversee the campaign. Maybe he's just a pain in the ass. Maybe he's really a traitor... either way, they have to manage him until they can prove he's really a problem and then send him to the enemy lines via catapult.

Outward Looking:

1. Personalities -- Alies and Enemies. In many cases, the opposing generals (and their subordinates and concubines, etc.) could play a role, even if at a distance. There could also be meetings with allies or potential allies (neutral parties, mercenary troups, possible turn-coats, etc.) If you set up a rich set people on the sidelines, your players could gain advantage by convincing them to join forces.

And maybe going into a dungeon for a pot of gold to pay the required bribe would work as well.

A sub-category of this is "We need to secure safe passage through your enchanted forest / monster-infested wilderness / underground cave network / etc." where the PC's have to negotiate with a mystical or elemental force (or a bunch of ... ugh... elves) to get their army through.

2. They've Got A Super Weapon: Inteligence indicates that the opposing force is developing a Wizard / Magic Ring / Tomb Full of Undead Hordes / Whatever, and an elite strike force is necessary to go behind enemy to take out the research station / archeological dig / etc. before the weapon is realized.

Another version of this would be assassination of a particularly vicious or capable commander.

3. Prisoner Rescue: One of the enemies's commanders has been convicted of treason. If you can rescue him before his execution, you've got a hugely valuable ally

Cheers,
-E.

Quote from: pspahnWe (Small Niche Games) are about to release a WWII Allied commando/French Resistance scenario for d20 Modern.  It focuses on tropes (blowing a bridge, dodging the Gestapo, rescuing soldiers, liberating a village, etc.).  There are several encounters that involve mass combat, but I tried to put the focus more on what the characters are doing during the scene, usually with different objectives (secure the bridge, take out the machine gunners in the 2nd story window, stop the tank, etc.).

BTW, we're looking for (PDF) reviewers.  If anyone is interested, drop me a PM.

Pete

Just a followup--the game has been released as Operation Jedburgh, based (loosely) on the real Jedburgh commandos from WWII.  If anyone is interested, here is the link.

http://www.pigames.net/store/product_info.php?cPath=43_48&products_id=279

Plus, Mike Montesa just posted some GREAT tips for running a military game here:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=7316782#post7316782

Pete