[Targan]

During the European phase of my last campaign the main motivation of most of the American characters was to get back to the US. It just seemed natural for the players and for me playing the major NPCs that they would want desperately to get home, especially as by the second half of 2000 it was clear that America's war in Europe was pretty much over.

Once the party got back to the CONUS the motivations of the PCs and major NPCs in the party became more complicated. Some of the characters had a pretty good idea of just how ruined the USA was before they arrived home but some of the more naive characters were shocked at the situation in the US once they arrived home and became quite depressed.

Many soldiers were allowed to leave the military once they got back to the States but the characters in Major Po's group were never given that option. Po was a master manipulator and suggested (or allowed some to believe) that those under his command would not only eventually be allowed to try to find their loved ones but also would be assisted in doing so. He never made any explicit guarantees of course.

Fear kept many of Po's troops from trying to leave, especially the disgruntled ones. I have no doubt that he would have had them killed had they tried to desert (basically because they knew too much). Those in Po's inner circle didn't seem interested in leaving, I believe for one or all of three reasons: 1- power and Po's amazing ability to gather and project it; 2 - duty and the fact that one way or another Po was able to get things done; and 3 - the fact that Po owned and controlled The Blanket (a bizarre, possibly alien manufactured, artifact) which apparently could heal injuries, impairments and afflictions of any kind and may have even provided the user with effective immortality.

Had Po ever gone completely rogue (say, trying to make off with a large portion of the NYC gold reserves) I think some of his troops more loyal to MilGov would have at least turned him in or even tried to stage an assassination or a coup.

Obviously my campaign was unlike many "standard" T2K campaigns but I think the character motivations during the European phase would hold true in many if not most campaigns. The "grass is greener" mentality would motivate many soldiers to go to great lengths to get back "home", at least if only to see whether "home" still existed or had been turned into a glowing glass depression in the ground.