[rcaf_777]

From the Gateway to the Spanish Main

If the players have been captured, the following tells what possessions the players still have with them. Percentages indicate the percentage chance that the players still retain this item.

BDU, Boots, Wallet 100%
Personal Items 80%
Mess Kit, Helmet 50%
Lighter, Mask 40%
Med Kit, LBE 20%
Hidden Items 10%

BDU: Battle Dress Uniform: Shirt, Pants, Underwear. Wallet: I.D. card, dog tags, pictures of family, and 1D6 U.S. Dollars.

Personal Items: Rings, bracelets, and other jewelery not to exceed $25 value.

Mess Kit: A two-piece plate and bowl, with a knife (dull), fork, and spoon, all made of aluminum.

Lighter: Zippo style lighter with minimal alcohol fuel.

Mask: M17A1 gas mask, no spare filters and no agent antidotes.

Medical Kit: Individual battle dressing, pressure dressing.

LBE (Load Bearing Equipment): Belt, suspenders, two ammunition pouches (empty), entrenching tools case (empty), poncho, and a canteen.

Hidden Items: Pocket knife with blade under 2", compass, escape map of last battle area, ect.

Remember that the players have been taken prisoner and repeatedly frisked for weapons. The mess kit knife is useless as a weapon, and the fork prongs are too soft, but the spoon might be sharpened for use as a weapon. What the players won't have are any firearms (they were prisoners, after all), bayonets, grenades, explosives, poisons, knives sharper than butter knives or longer than two inches, entrenching tools, or other tools that could be used as weapons, anything that could be a weapon such as a club or quarter staff, nor will they have large amounts of cash or jewellery. Human nature (read "greed") of the various guards will have seen to that. Fancy multi-function wristwatches are also likely to have disappeared into a guard's pocket. Of course, it is illegal to shake down prisoners for personal gain, but it will happen anyway. Some items may surprise the characters. The Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War permits them to retain personal protective items such as helmets and protective masks. POW camps do occasionally get bombed by mistake and poison chemicals drift where the wind takes them. The referee would be very remiss to permit the players to keep body armour such as the Kevlar vest because these items cross over that invisible divide between protection from the threat of an attacker into the realm of items useful in escape attempts.