[Marc]

The word "cantonment" used in Twilight:2000 admit a somehow freely interpretation by the GM and it could be an interesting point to consider as an adventure or campaign. In this same forum, the structure and the work of a cantonment have been discussed. For sure, in different parts of the world, the cantonment of military units would find different formulas. Even in nearly geographical areas, factors like the nationality of the troops and the civilian population, available resources, relationship with other neighboring areas (cantonments or not), personality of the civilian and military leaders, the previous ownership of weapons by the civilians, the presence of of possible external threats... etc. would produce important differences.

History is full of incidents which are directly related with the coexistence between militaries and civilians. That could be especially true if soldiers, for any reason, do not understand the idiosyncrasy of the local population, and they don’t care about it. In some cases, these incidents raised and evolved toward riots and open revolts which have become important chapters in the history of some nations. With the passage of the time, the nations usually tend to paint these incidents with political colors and terms like patriotism or national pride. But things often are simpler. Accidental deaths while trying to exercise extreme control of the population, starvation caused by an unbalanced distribution of the food with the soldiers, the nuisances of martial law, favoritisms towards the most loyal civilian collaborators, unnecessary humiliations caused by militaries assuming police functions, obligatory recruitment for an unpopular conflict… All this factors can build a potential explosive situation waiting for the spark.

So here’s the seed. It could happen in a small village (or a group of villages and farms) in any place you want. Eventually, the arrival of a military unit (national or foreign, at your choice) is considered by the inhabitants as a true bless against the danger of the bands of marauders or as a new hope to solve a long lasting conflict about land resources against a neighboring, aggressive village. The council or any kind of civilian authority makes a deal with the commander of the military unit. The details of the agreement are left to the GM (and the players if they can/must assist to the meetings).And a cantonment is established. At the beginning everyone seems happy with the deal. But situation gets worse with time… Then, apply any or some of the factors mentioned above to raise uneasiness among the inhabitants.

If played as a campaign, perhaps the GM will want to keep things “grey”, as real life. There’s no need to turn the campaign into a fight between good an evil. Nor the civilians neither the soldiers would be a homogeneous group. Inside the same group would be different opinions about the way the things must go. Some people just will want to survive the next winter. Others would look for their own benefit, regardless of all the rest. Others would have an ideal about how the things must be in the future and would fight for it. Elaborated NPC would be a great help. The GM could consider to restrict the availability of weapons to the playing characters to make the campaign more challenging (military authorities have restricted the access to small arms for the civilians, capitalizing the use of the force). Good, pre-generated NPC’s relevant personalities would be important.

If played as a single adventure, the GM could choose a more violent way to lead the villagers to a revolt. Secret meetings to make plans about how to get the weapons, rescue possible hostages and regain control of the village…