I read a massive article in Dragon and Dungeon about a githyanki invasion on the homeworld of the pcs. It was an old article and fairly interesting, and it got me thinking.

What kind of adventures (including themes etc) would you run if there was a setting wide war in your campaign. It really doesn't matter what genre you are using, but what kind game would it be. (Imagine UA set during a world war)

I'm not talking about the clash between good and evil - and the pcs talking sides. I'm talking about a war with more vague reasons behind it. I'm also not talking about the aftermath of a great war - Midnight for instance - I'm talking about setting a campaign during this massive war.

What are the possible ramnifications of war on such a massive scale on the campaign. I'm looking for stuff other than the scarcity of supplies etc. Someone once said of war that it "disrupts the mudanity of normal life" (or something like that), what could this mean in a rpg.

There is no build up to the war - the campaign begins a couple of hundred years into the war. The motives of both parties of this conflict should be appealing to the pcs and hence taking sides should be a difficult decision. Also, the focus of the campaign should not really be about resolving the war, but surviving it.

Regards,
David R

I think you need to be clarifying a few things in this thread... like first of all, your question is very broad "how would you run adventures during a war"; yet after that you end up narrowing it yourself, and apparently answering your own question leaving the rest of us with nothing to say?

I mean, do you want people to comment on the theme of "war" in general, or do you want game advice on ideas for your specific idea, that you detailed?  Or is it more like you want help to flesh out how you could do something you've only thought through halfway so far, and want help with the other half?

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditI think you need to be clarifying a few things in this thread... like first of all, your question is very broad "how would you run adventures during a war"; yet after that you end up narrowing it yourself, and apparently answering your own question leaving the rest of us with nothing to say?

I mean, do you want people to comment on the theme of "war" in general, or do you want game advice on ideas for your specific idea, that you detailed?  Or is it more like you want help to flesh out how you could do something you've only thought through halfway so far, and want help with the other half?

RPGPundit

You're right.

I think game ideas about my specific idea is what this thread should be about.

Okay to recap.

What kind of adventures could you run during a time of war? Keeping in mind that the pcs should not be trying to end the war, which is beyond the scope of the campaign.

Regards,
David R

Smuggling medical supplies.  During total war, even the tiniest things become precious.  Even a single cycle of penicillin could make canny PCs rich as Croesus (and just as dead.)

I would cast the PCs as a team of bonepickers, going from battlefield to battlefield on the frontier, digging up useful items the armies leave behind when they withdraw.  They could come across a medic's kit, filled to bursting with forgotten treasures like morphine, sterile gauze, iodine and penicillin.

All of those goods are controlled substances.  If the authorities find out they have them, it's off to the front.  If they find out how the PCs got them, it's off to the gallows.

The PCs have to skirt the very edge of the underworld, not getting so deep they end up dead at the hands of proper villains, yet deep enough to unload the drugs and make enough cash to get out of Dodge.

Good ideas fonkaygarry -and something that appeals to my more cynical side.

But how would one sustain an altruistic campaign, without the pcs becoming jaded - or is this the natural consequence of using war as a theme/setting?

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David Rthe campaign begins a couple of hundred years into the war.

I find it unlikely that a war could be sustained for such a length of time, at least not at full scale. You'ld run out of resources to support a campaign, food, people, equipment. Two nations could be hostile for that long certainly but they wouldn't be able to sustain open warfare for such a length of time, unless it was at a very low level.

I suppose in a fantasy setting that magic could offset some of the effects of attrition, what with healing magic, raise dead, animate dead and the like you could keep people in the field longer, but feeding them is still an issue.

Also if the war has been going for 200+ years why are the PCs going to be able to resolve the conflict that no one else has for such a long time?

Quote from: BagpussI find it unlikely that a war could be sustained for such a length of time, at least not at full scale. You'ld run out of resources to support a campaign, food, people, equipment. Two nations could be hostile for that long certainly but they wouldn't be able to sustain open warfare for such a length of time, unless it was at a very low level.

I suppose in a fantasy setting that magic could offset some of the effects of attrition, what with healing magic, raise dead, animate dead and the like you could keep people in the field longer, but feeding them is still an issue.

Also if the war has been going for 200+ years why are the PCs going to be able to resolve the conflict that no one else has for such a long time?

Very true. My original post is extremely vague. What I was trying to convey was a setting in a perpetual state of war. Conflict is the only thing that the pcs have ever known. They grew up with it. They live it every single day of their lives. Sieges, battles etc are extremely common in this setting -whatever the genre.

The whole world/system is in flames with no endgame in sight. Troops from various factions rampaging around causing death and destruction. There is no oasis of peace anywhere in this setting.

Hope I've cleared things up

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RThere is no oasis of peace anywhere in this setting.

This I find hard to believe, even during the World Wars we have had there have been several "oasis of peace" for example mainland USA during World War II, it wasn't in the range of enemy bombers and while it was still effected by war the chance of civilians being killed was slim. Even the UK if you weren't living near a major population centre or manufacturing facility while you were effected by the war it could be pretty peaceful. Without some 'safe' areas you can't farm the food, or build the equipment to support an army in the field.

Also having a homeland at least partly unspoiled gives you something to fight for.

Quote from: BagpussThis I find hard to believe, even during the World Wars we have had there have been several "oasis of peace" for example mainland USA during World War II, it wasn't in the range of enemy bombers and while it was still effected by war the chance of civilians being killed was slim. Even the UK if you weren't living near a major population centre or manufacturing facility while you were effected by the war it could be pretty peaceful. Without some 'safe' areas you can't farm the food, or build the equipment to support an army in the field.

Also having a homeland at least partly unspoiled gives you something to fight for.

This is what I am looking for. There will always be some areas nearly untouched by the wars that have engulfed the setting. The pcs could possibly be from these areas. Maybe these areas are nuetral territories so to speak. Perhaps adventures could be about the pcs trying desperately to protect the land from being drawn into the conflict.

It's details like this that I'm looking for.

Regards,
David R

Your origninal post made it sound like the PC's grew up on the front line, or at least in an area that is frequently raided. I think this is unlikely, but they could have certainly grown up in a more stable region and still be touched by war.

Most will have lost a relative, rationing and being evacuated to the country (leaving their parents behind) all effected children growing up in the UK during World War II. You need to consider the draft or compulsory national service, when they come of age (some children lied about their age to sign up sooner than they would be legally allowed). Perhaps they have grown up reading comics or hearing bards songs, about how glorious war is and being fed propoganda about how well "our boys" are doing, then they sign up or get drafted and find the situation is nothing like what they saw in the news reels.

For actually running a war campaign I think "Heroes of Battle" is a good book, particularly if you are doing it in a fantasy setting, but it's basic ideas can be applied to any setting (just I wouldn't buy the book if you aren't doing a fantasy war).

The draft, rationing, propaganda...good stuff, Bagpuss. I'm thinking about running a war campaign after I've run a couple of other things - haven't thought of a genre yet - and I'm just gathering ideas. I suppose I could do some research on the subject -which I will of course - but for the time being, I want ideas from gamers who have actually run/played  something like this. Details are important in my games, and that's what I'm looking for. Stuff drawn from movies, books and other games etc is much appreciated.

Regards,
David R

Well, the perpetual war bit sounds like a good Orwellian bit.

You asked about altruism, but I'm afraid I'll be of no help here as I always liked playing villains (hell, it's a good chunk of the reason I like GMing so much). I have to say I was going to go with arms smuggling, but something about smuggling medical supplies sounds so much cooler.

Altruistic smuggling:

Child smuggling.  War orphans swell the ranks of orphanages to bursting, many thousands simply die in the streets.  The State is far too busy repelling offensives and breaking strikes to organize any sort of comprehensive welfare program.  When times grow dire, press gangs draft entire legions of child soldiers: minesweepers and drug-fueled assault brigades.

To keep these masses contained, the State issues a law: no unregistered (read orphaned) child may leave the confines of the Frontier provinces.

Beyond the Frontier, entire cities have mobilized underground waystations to move these forgotten kids from the horrors of the Front to better lives on farms and in church schools.  There's even a little money for the suicidal fools who defy the law to get those kids to safety.

Hopefully that's a little more altruistic.  Still a deadly, paranoid setting, but I think that's a function of nonstop total war.

Quote from: beejazzWell, the perpetual war bit sounds like a good Orwellian bit.

Orwellian is pretty much the way how the campaign whatever the genre should go. I was thinking altruistic because I'm sure that's how the players would want to play it. Hard boiled characters trying to do the right thing .

QuoteOriginally posted by fonkaygarry:
Altruistic smuggling:

Child smuggling. War orphans swell the ranks of orphanages to bursting, many thousands simply die in the streets. The State is far too busy repelling offensives and breaking strikes to organize any sort of comprehensive welfare program. When times grow dire, press gangs draft entire legions of child soldiers: minesweepers and drug-fueled assault brigades.

To keep these masses contained, the State issues a law: no unregistered (read orphaned) child may leave the confines of the Frontier provinces.

Beyond the Frontier, entire cities have mobilized underground waystations to move these forgotten kids from the horrors of the Front to better lives on farms and in church schools. There's even a little money for the suicidal fools who defy the law to get those kids to safety.

Very nice. I think you have given me an interesting bit of setting detail. The adult pcs could themselves have been once children who had passed through these underground waystations and are now in the business, so too speak.

With this idea, I'm thinking maybe I should try out an alt history WW2 setting, although fantasy and scifi is still on the table.

Regards,
David R

QuoteThe adult pcs could themselves have been once children who had passed through these underground waystations and are now in the business, so too speak.

Brilliant idea.  That background would give the right players all the motivation they'd need to get their charges to safety.  That and, you know, human decency (but we'd be fools to expect that from PCs.

I think an Eastern Front from Hell would be a great setting.  Both sides are dug in, neither can give an inch or the lines will collapse all the way to their respective captiols.

You'd have to fiddle with the geography and technology to make sure that the war wouldn't be settled at sea or with air power.

Fantasy might do the trick with extraplanar invaders.

I'd do something like this myself, but I just rediscovered Shadows Over Mystara and the hunger to kill things and take their stuff is strong in me.