I, personally, have been going about T2k all wrong.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

See, for years I've had the mindset that T2k should be about the whoosh of antitank missiles, eating MREs in some miserable ruined suburb of Lodz while trying to quietly brew up enough fuel to get your Humvee back to the jump off point, desperately scavenging brass because it is literally money in most places, staring in gape-jawed wonder at a functional helicopter with attendant fuel barrels because holy shit that may be the last aircraft in the world, and so on.

Nosir.

I have been doing it dead wrong.

I started watching The Blacklist and setting aside the mannequin-like performances of everyone else on the show, James Spader chews up scenery and is so campy and is obviously the only person having any fun with the show both within and without.

For those who don't know, his character, Raymond "Red" Reddington is a former intelligence agent who went "off the reservation" decades ago and was branded a major terror threat, international criminal, etc. and was put at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list. One day he simply walks into FBI headquarters in Washington DC and surrenders, and cuts a deal: all his years of very dark and dirty dealings have given him access to some of the most dangerous criminal and terror threats in the world, threats so bad (like, existential threats against the safety of not just the nation but whole nations at once) the FBI keeps their existences classified (the titular list): Reddington has intimate knowledge of how these people have moved and do move and dribbles out information to the FBI a little at a time in exchange for a huge amount of latitude in his comings and goings. He's not in prison, there's no sanction against his ongoing "businesses" and so forth.

That is a guy who should be driving player-characters in T2k.

I mean, picture this...just bear with me...

Don't start the game in the trenches of the Kalisz pocket. Instead, GM dialog over what happened in Europe, and explain that the party is finally home. Weary, faced with the seeming impossible task of finding their way in a country that has been smashed to bits, what are they to do?

Then they meet this dapper fellow...



...who, intriguingly enough, has full dossiers on the characters activities in Europe, their pre-war military careers, and so forth and he offers them work in exchange for whatever creature comforts they seem to want. They're ex-military now and officially "off the books", and he explains to them that he needs the particular kind of crowbar that they represent to pry open various closed doors across the devastated US. He realizes you can get much with a kind word but you can get more with a kind word and a team of commandos. If the characters take him up, he takes them to a small airfield in the Virginia countryside where there sits an ex-USAF Gulfstream - with four AIM-9s hanging from the wings, and an F16's Radome in place of the Gulfstream's "usual" nose-cone. And apparently loaded with enough avgas to just sit there hot-and-ready, waiting for his return with the characters.

Red explains that his position pre-war was far less tenable, but that he has always believed that "crises" don't exist - merely opportunities. Since he has considerable investments throughout the world he has a keen interest in seeing the world right itself, and the characters can have a hand in assisting him.

This is the kind of NPC foil that can drive players crazy: he'll do things that are seemingly inimical to everything that seems "right" - like having the players accompany him as muscle on a short jaunt from Key West to Cuba to deliver two dozen Hellfire missiles, which (all things considered) would be a highly treasonous act...but he exchanges them for an experimental antibiotic that will save the life of an important senator's daughter, as well as tens of thousands of others once it's replicated back in the States. He's got access to things that would have been rare before the bombs fell (like a seemingly endless supply of avgas, a hardened laptop, a satellite phone that works, etc.), and access to people in the DIA, CIA, CivGov and MilGov, all of whom are willing to listen to him.

He's an information broker, as well as someone who trades in hard goods, and may seem to put the character's lives at risk but never, ever reneges on his relationship with them. Likewise he is enigmatic, and doesn't reveal too much about his pre-war existence beyond what tantalizing bits the GM might want to dispense. He's like a cross between an off-the-grid James Bond and Gandalf, always appearing whenever and wherever it seems least likely...

That's the kind of T2k game I want to run next time I start one up.

...

*=The USN and USAF use modified Gulfstreams for testing radar sets and other types of flying electronics, there's no reason a guy as resourceful as Red wouldn't just pull some strings to get one as a fast mover for going from A to B, and have some contracting work done to finish out the plumbing necessary to haul a few "bad guy discouragement" devices along.

[Targan]

My last campaign had very much this kind of vibe. I could tell stories for hours about Major Anthony Po, his merry band of renegades and his delightful "Target Zero" doctrine.

[Tegyrius]

I am intrigued by your concepts and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

- C.

[Cdnwolf]

Love the show. Such a departure from his normal type of character for Spader.

Love your concept too. But does he work for the MILGOV or CIVGOV.... or someone else.....

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Love your concept too. But does he work for the MILGOV or CIVGOV.... or someone else.....

"Yes."

[Raellus]

That sounds really cool. Seriously. I think that I would enjoy playing in that campaign. That said, I worry that that sort of mysterious mastermind archtype playing such a central role in the direction of the campaign might seriously hinder PC agency, making the players feel like pawns with little understanding or control over their own IG destiny. PC's, not NPCs, no matter how cool and charismatic, need to be the stars of the game. To make it the other way around is a recipe for a failed campaign.

I think that you could run a successful, long-lived campaign based around a central NPC, but it would definitely be a balancing act. Take away too much player agency, and Red might wake up with a frag underneath his cot.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I think that you could run a successful, long-lived campaign based around a central NPC, but it would definitely be a balancing act. Take away too much player agency, and Red might wake up with a frag underneath his cot.

Or you have Players feeling frustrated that their characters cannot achieve anything so they end up leaving the game.


I agree 100% with everything Raellus said but I wanted to stress the last part in particular. I've left games because of this situation - you start to feel that, no matter what they do, your PC's actions actually mean nothing and that you as a Player are only there for the GM's enjoyment and not for your own (or the others Players').

[swaghauler]

Reminds me of one of my bosses. He saw any strife as a chance to make money. He managed to get us this gig protecting young Christians traveling to Africa to help build schools and hospitals. That was my first contact with Boka Haram in Nigeria. Because of UN rules, our armament consisted of one Browning HighPower (with 1 spare mag) and one Egyptian Helwan Brigadier (with 2 spare mags),100 rounds of 9mm ball ammo, and two machetes. It was a very nerve wracking trip. My boss was real good at putting us into sketchy positions and then becoming unavailable when you needed him the most. I did learn that candy bars, those small "sampler" bottles of liquor you find in hotel room bars, and cheap Casio watches are a good way to "bribe" hostile Insurgents with impromptu checkpoints to let you pass unharmed. I haven't been back since.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Oh, sure, I understand the need for performing a balancing act. A guy like Reddington is best used as bookends and an occasional pop-in to the rare adventure, just to sort of set the characters on their way, then show up down the road to have a nice chat with them afterward, but to be completely enigmatic if he does show up in the middle of an adventure. Like, by disavowing any knowledge of the characters or their reason for being where they are. "I'm sorry, I haven't had the pleasure.", etc.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

Reminds me of one of my bosses. He saw any strife as a chance to make money. He managed to get us this gig protecting young Christians traveling to Africa to help build schools and hospitals. That was my first contact with Boka Haram in Nigeria. Because of UN rules, our armament consisted of one Browning HighPower (with 1 spare mag) and one Egyptian Helwan Brigadier (with 2 spare mags),100 rounds of 9mm ball ammo, and two machetes. It was a very nerve wracking trip. My boss was real good at putting us into sketchy positions and then becoming unavailable when you needed him the most. I did learn that candy bars, those small "sampler" bottles of liquor you find in hotel room bars, and cheap Casio watches are a good way to "bribe" hostile Insurgents with impromptu checkpoints to let you pass unharmed. I haven't been back since.

Dude... f*** that. You must have big, cast iron testes to have taken that gig.

[swaghauler]

Lack of foresight. Got convinced that we would be protected by the Nigerian army. we were north of Yola and Boka Haram hadn't even been existence for 6 months in 2002. Got paid $5K for 15 days. Knew things weren't going to go well when our transport didn't arrive like it should. We had to "rebarter" our transportation. The guns were "purchased" in country by my partner Mike from a UN connected "friend" he had in country. There were strict UN guidelines on weapons in the region because of the UN Convention against Recruiting, Use, or Financing of Mercenaries (Resolution 44/34). I found that when we ran into the Insurgents (at 2 different rural checkpoints) I could get them to "bicker" among themselves by throwing out little bottles of liquor, cigarettes, and candy bars. We would then just drive off. They were armed with mostly pistols (probably to blend in with the locals) but there were at least 1/2 a dozen of them. At the second "roadblock," they had a chain stretched across the road. When I got out and threw the candy bars, they became distracted. I dropped the chain and the "leader?" took offense. I handed him a Zippo lighter and my $30 Casio watch. That calmed him enough for me to get back in the Toyota van we were in. I handed him a small bottle of Vodka and we drove away with him still yelling at us. Scariest moment of my life. We got back to the airport a Abuja and I gave our guns and my Merrell hiking boots to Kalta (Cultia?) our guide. Poor guy was walking around with home made sandals. They weren't comfortable either. I burned them and bought a pair of the best boots I ever owned (Salewa) in Spain. I went back to the Sheriff's Department (I was on vacation there) and never worked for Dave again.

This does bring up an interesting point from those GMs running "Spy" or "Merc" campaigns. A large number (33) of countries have signed UN Resolution 44/34 (Great Britain, Russia, and the US being notable exceptions). This means that shipping in arms to a country, or getting your hands on indigenous arms inside the country, could be VERY problematic. If you get caught with said weapons; You could be charged with "war crimes" by the UN. Just something to consider for restricting weapons or equipment in your campaign.

[Silent Hunter UK]

I'm a fan of The Blacklist myself (we get "Luther Braxton" in the UK on Friday) and have actually used Megan Boone as a PB in Raellus' game at RPOL.

This sounds like a very interesting campaign idea and if I wasn't at my personal gaming limit, I'd seriously consider joining it.

[Olefin]

You could substitute him into the Allegheny Uprising and Kidnapped modules in place of the CivGov operative very easily - especially Allegheny Uprising with him wanting "certain sensitive information" stored in the cache they players have to find.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Reviving this thread because I missed Olefin's suggestion at the end the first time around: yes, that's exactly the kind of "goad" that Reddington should provide; he is neither Santa Claus nor Krampus to the party, not some kind of untouchable Mary Sue/Gary Stu for the whole party to lean on (ala Elminster in 2e AD&D forgotten realms, none of that BS).

Besides, anyone who's watched The Blacklist knows that Reddington can get his hands dirty - not in just a metaphorical sense - and is oftentimes as vulnerable if not more-so than the people around him.

[Silent Hunter UK]

Well, just over a month until Season 3 starts (a bit later in the UK, but we'll catch up). Be interesting to see what path it takes... and if it gives me ideas for Merc: 2020.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

Lack of foresight. Got convinced that we would be protected by the Nigerian army.

I thought it was more Nigerian "Army" rather than Nigerian Army.

[LT. Ox]

QUOTE=pmulcahy11b;66334]I thought it was more Nigerian "Army" rather than Nigerian Army.[/QUOTE]
If it is anything like the wonderfully trained and equipped Angolan group that passed for an Army in the seventies then you have my condolences. Oh did I forget motivated as well.
The only problem is just what the motivation was or is hmmmm 1970-71 damn that is getting on fifty years ago, and to all you smart people out there we had smokeless powder then and primers and even some automatic weapons

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by LT. Ox

1970-71 damn that is getting on fifty years ago, and to all you smart people out there we had smokeless powder then and primers and even some automatic weapons

Now you're making me feel old!

[LT. Ox]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Now you're making me feel old!

FORTY-TWO ??!!!!
Laugh your still fighting age my man, besides anyone who hides behind a MG does not get old till he is at least fifty.
Says the sneaky scout ranger that uses one oh fives as fishing lure’s

[Legbreaker]

HIDES!?
Machinegunners are priority targets for the bad guys! Especially the way I used it...

[firewalker]

hmmmm.

I can't say "I" persnaly would be intrested in this sort of conspiracy flaverd campain (well for not for t:2 proper)....but i am intruged by the alternit interpratation.

[unkated]

Originally Posted by Raellus

That said, I worry that that sort of mysterious mastermind archtype playing such a central role in the direction of the campaign might seriously hinder PC agency, making the players feel like pawns with little understanding or control over their own IG destiny.

This seems to come up a lot in the show - 'Red's only telling us this becasue he wants us to do x!'

Red is actually not quite the center of the show (though he is teh most interesting element); it's the FBI agent he wanted to get close to (which is why he gave himself up in the first place).

Originally Posted by Raellus

I think that you could run a successful, long-lived campaign based around a central NPC, but it would definitely be a balancing act. Take away too much player agency, and Red might wake up with a frag underneath his cot.

Red would carefully gauged that the PCs were at that point and not been in the cot - though no one would have seen him get out of it.

It is an amusing show.

Uncle Ted

[Silent Hunter UK]

Originally Posted by unkated

Red is actually not quite the center of the show (though he is teh most interesting element); it's the FBI agent he wanted to get close to (which is why he gave himself up in the first place).

Yes, one Elizabeth Keen, who ends up acquiring several levels of Small Arms (Rifle) during the course of the show.