Need to Know Basis: The PCs

[M-Type]

As the title might suggest, when the players are starting out in (v1) Escape from Kalisz, what information would they know? They'd know about the Summer 2000 push, because they just lived that. In Black Madonna it mentions the chance of some PCs being veterans of the Battle of Czestochowa, but I'm talking in a larger scale.

What would they know about CONUS, the war, the 'big picture'. I would hope they knew CONUS got nuked, but then it hit me that it'd be a bit of a downer for morale. Or it could make them fight harder...

It'd be something else when they finally pull into Norfolk and all they're greeted by is ruins and a pall of smoke hanging over the continent. Where'd the US of A go?

How have you spun this in your games?

[natehale1971]

Originally Posted by M-Type

As the title might suggest, when the players are starting out in (v1) Escape from Kalisz, what information would they know? They'd know about the Summer 2000 push, because they just lived that. In Black Madonna it mentions the chance of some PCs being veterans of the Battle of Czestochowa, but I'm talking in a larger scale.

What would they know about CONUS, the war, the 'big picture'. I would hope they knew CONUS got nuked, but then it hit me that it'd be a bit of a downer for morale. Or it could make them fight harder...

It'd be something else when they finally pull into Norfolk and all they're greeted by is ruins and a pall of smoke hanging over the continent. Where'd the US of A go?

How have you spun this in your games?

In our game we had alot of things that the PCs knew or didn't due to their own experences...

Such as a member of our group who grew up on a farm, who along with three of his brothers all joined up when the war started... his mother wrote him letters non-stop and informed him ofthe CivGov seizure of their farm in the aftermath of the nuclear exchanges.

Another member of the group was a believer that the US had become a facist state where relious minoirites like him were being rounded up (he was a very vocal athiest), and that the letters saying that the farm had been seized and it was all just MilGov propaganda. of course the guy was an officer who felt his rank gave him the ability to do what ever he wanted, inculding making fun of and treatig anyone who believed in God (like the farm kid) really badly. The other PCs wanted to frag the asshat, but the farm kid kept them from doing it...

it's all up to what the character's own person background would have them know. be it family letters from home, or their own personal biases about what is happening back at home. did they have regular letters that kept them updated on the homefront? then they would know alot about what was happening back stateside until the mail service stopped.

are they someone who feels like a slighted miniority? then they have their worse nightmares going on back home...

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by M-Type

As the title might suggest, when the players are starting out in (v1) Escape from Kalisz, what information would they know? They'd know about the Summer 2000 push, because they just lived that. In Black Madonna it mentions the chance of some PCs being veterans of the Battle of Czestochowa, but I'm talking in a larger scale.

What would they know about CONUS, the war, the 'big picture'. I would hope they knew CONUS got nuked, but then it hit me that it'd be a bit of a downer for morale. Or it could make them fight harder...

It'd be something else when they finally pull into Norfolk and all they're greeted by is ruins and a pall of smoke hanging over the continent. Where'd the US of A go?

How have you spun this in your games?

The few times I have played, the knowledge of the PC's depended on the GM. OF COURSE, they knew of the Russian attack on China, Europe. They knew of the use of tac-nukes in Europe. They would know SOMETHING was wrong with the USN, due to very slow resupply from US. They would KNOW, as you put it, about the Summer 2000 offensive. They would know about nukes on US soil IF the unit had replacement soldiers that had been shipped to Europe after TDM.

After these items, it depended on the GM. What kind of world he had in mind when running the Escape from Kalisz. IF the unit escapes the destruction of 5ID, then it depends on which direction they head as to what they learn from the locals, captured Warsaw Pact soldiers, captured intellegence, over heard commo from NATO, etc., etc.

I never played in a "Black Madonna" scenario. All I can remember is a very bleak world, where the need for food, water, fuel, and other supplies were more important than what was happening in "the outside world". The troops I was assigned to were shell shocked to say the least. They just survived the destruction of 5ID. An unheard of order from CIC 5ID, "You are on your own".

In my reading of history, NO American unit had EVER been given that kind of order. The closest I can recall is during the Invasion of the Philippenes by Japan. Some survivors heard of the surrender of Corregedor, but never this. They probably heard from Phillipene troops that MacArthur swore "I shall return".

Even during the Battle of the Bulge, no American unit was given an order like this. Fall back, yes. Slow the Germans down as best you can, yes. Hold in place, as in the stand of the 101st Airborne in Bastogne, yes. Conflicting orders, do this, do that, do the other, sure.

During the darkest days of the American Revolution, after the loss of New York, the retreat across New Jersey, the loss of Philadelphia, the arrival at Valley Forge with NO supplies of any sort. Not one unit was given this order.

During the War of 1812, the militia in charge of defending Washington, DC was smashed by the British Army. Yes the survivors fled. Yes Washington fell to the British. And the war went on.

During some of the huge losses by the Army of the Potomic during the American Civil War, after Fredricksburg, Chancelersville, Bull Run, Second Bull Run, and others, the Union Army would retreat, yes. It was almost shattered in some instances, yes. But never "You are on your own".

So the set of circumstances following the destruction of 5ID really makes you scratch your head.

But I digress. The units I was assigned to in the game were trying their best to survive, regroup, and prepare to take on the enemy one day in the future.

My $0.02

Mike

[M-Type]

I can dig it. I'll definitely look at the player's Months in Combat to see if we have any replacements that could fill others in on the goings-on of 'home', and/or what's left of it.

I plan on making all the players Privates or PFCs, with limited NCO or Officer support, as to really play on the "You're on your own" factor. What does this mean? Should we find some officers? Should we, y'know, get the hell out of Dodge? We aren't ready to think for ourselves!

I created a 'GMPC' who happens to be a radioman. He can be a good middleman for adding an air of chaos (Confusing radio orders, jammed communications, etc).

[HorseSoldier]

With version 1.0 character generation you need to also look at the time in combat numbers for the PCs. The last time I ran a campaign, the PCs included one guy whose numbers matched up with being being in the European war from about day one, and another guy who got really lucky on his attribute rolls whose time in combat lined up with not having made it into uniform and combat until after the TDM.

They would know about nukes on US soil IF the unit had replacement soldiers that had been shipped to Europe after TDM.

As a unit slated for participation in the summer offensive, I'm inclined to think 5th ID would have had priority for replacement personnel coming in from CONUS, so in that sense 5th ID as a group probably had a better big picture than most US units. Given how soldiers talk, and how important eye-witness accounts would be in an era when radio, other media, and mail is spotty to non-existent, I'd expect pretty much everyone in the division to have a decent sort of overview of conditions in CONUS. (With some disinformation thrown in as well if the details ever became important.)

[M-Type]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

...(With some disinformation thrown in as well if the details ever became important.)

Hmmm, sounds like I might whip up a 'lil rumor table...

[natehale1971]

Rumor mill tables are really good idea. one of the d20 modern games that I had played in, had a modern day setting game book with a table that covered the kinds of things you'd have heard at various locales and settings. it was really killer of just how diffrent the rumor mills you'd have depending on the location and social status of said circles...

having a rumor mill table for each of the groups (field officers, company officers, senior NCOS and NCOs and lower-ranked enlisted) would be good idea so you'd have diferent 'truths' that would be traded around... as well as some of the really nasty 'falsehoods' as well. General Officers and Colonel levels would have a much better view of the 'big picture' of what's happening, and especially the spilt between CivGov and MilGov... some lower ranked personnel wouldn't know that there was a spilt... ditto with the average citizen back home who's not being 'infringed' upon.

that was how we played it in our game. that the CivGov/MilGov spilt wasn't readly known... just that there was some 'funky' stuff going on with how the Martial Law was being done bak home...

SSG Wheeler (a farm kid) whose family owned a pretty large family-owned farm, and his mother wrote him and his brothers every week, thus letting him get a good view of just what was going on pre-TDM and just how different things were post-TDM. Especially when the government types first showed up to 'oversee' the farm, then how they were taking a more hands on 'management' of the farm operations... and the last letter was that the 'government people' had thrown them out of their family home and that they where now staying in the "tent city" that had been set up for all the refugees whom were working the fields. That FEMA was upset that they couldn't do more because "Pa and Grandpa both being veterans, they can't really order them around... but they have turned us out of the house. Gran isn't doing so well... the tents aren't very warm and her joints are hurting really bad... she can't work as hard as the others and the FEMA people are raelly getting quite rude."

Characters with family whom would "be more in the know" like those whose parent or realitive was a high-ranking state or local official might now a bit more.

it's really all up to their social circle... and the rumor mill table makes alot of sense in that manner. Heck, it gives me an idea to try and make something like that up myself...

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

With version 1.0 character generation you need to also look at the time in combat numbers for the PCs. The last time I ran a campaign, the PCs included one guy whose numbers matched up with being being in the European war from about day one, and another guy who got really lucky on his attribute rolls whose time in combat lined up with not having made it into uniform and combat until after the TDM.

Well, those "months in combat" don't have to be continuous. There could be plenty of time for a PC to be in a rest camp, in a hospital, in a rear unit or HQ. Plenty of units had no action for months-- especially in the winter of 1999-2000m, IMO.

[Legbreaker]

Very true. In some cases months in combat could even refer to time way back in Vietnam (there's an example in the rule books - Sgt Anderson I think?)

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by mikeo80

So the set of circumstances following the destruction of 5ID really makes you scratch your head.

The way I read it, 5th ID HQ was being overrun as the message was broadcast. The Commander already knew his Division was disintegrating and the perimeter penetrated in many places - there was no saving anything more than a handful of small and isolated units at that stage.
No reinforcements were available, no relief force within several hundred kilometres, no air or naval support, no chance of escape. The only real difference between the 5th ID and an overrun unit half a century earlier is the commander was able to speak to his troops and acknowledge it was all over.

With regard to knowledge of "world" events, it's a tough one really. As others have mentioned, reinforcements may have brought word from home or possibly other theatres (nothing newer than 6 months old though in my opinion due to the difficulties in transportation over long distances), some radio broadcasts may have been heard (although you can bet the enemy would have set up their own version of the Tokyo Rose to spread disinformation), and some newsletters and the like might be available, but these probably printed locally and might contain little more than rumours themselves.

For every truth there's certain to be a hundred falsehoods. Some of them will be positive ("Chicago wasn't nuked and the President has set up a new government there") or very, very bad ("radiation levels are so bad in Denver that everyone who hasn't already died has become a mutant zombie"). Some rumours, even true ones will be just too far fetched to be believed (Soviets in Texas for example).

Here's a few relevant threads.
http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=1380
http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=1094
http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=3797

It might be worth reading a few post apoc stories to see how they handle the subject. Some such as "The Road" and "Wolf & Iron" are fairly vague on detail, giving the impression that the last days of civilisation were rather chaotic - both those books keep the cause of the fall unclear, the characters making a few guesses but not really knowing.

[M-Type]

Excellent, thanks for the links.

I was thinking about making a rumor table for Enlisted/Officer, as stated above, and give each players a roll on the table for their rank right after character creation.

Everyone will have a 'nugget' of information they've heard 'From a guy over in 2nd Brigade...etc'. They can then use this info to decide their movements during the titular breakout from Kalisz.

And if two players get the same rumor...even better! Having more people voicing its 'truths' will make it harder to debunk.

I'll also check Time in Combat to see who's the new meat that will know more information about CONUS.