The Last Days of the Red Diamond

[Tegyrius]

My weeknight D&D5 group is drawing to the end of a campaign that's been running for over four years. With our DM clearly needing some time out from behind the screen, I have been contemplating a Twilight: 2000 run for them. One is a T2k veteran but the other three have no experience with it save for a single one-shot I ran for them last year.

Because the majority of the group is unfamiliar with the system, the setting, and most aspects of military service, I am thinking about running a prelude arc to set the stage. The excellent Death of a Division handout provides enough detail to play through the 5th Infantry Division's final weeks before its last stand at Kalisz. Starting the campaign around late June would allow the players time to experience action as part of a larger formation, with the support and resources that implies, and then the growing realization that the noose is drawing tight. The inevitable death of the division will provide a marked contrast between "before" and "after," emphasizing what they've lost.

(As an aside, I suspect the author of that document is a forum member, but I can find attribution in neither the text nor the metadata, and the URL is similarly anonymous.)

To provide some degree of normal PC autonomy, I will probably steer the players toward building the core of a recon or cav scout team. This would still have them operating under orders, but they'd have more freedom to problem-solve and free-roam than if they were line troops. They'll also have a number of faceless NPCs to whom they can become attached before the inevitable deaths begin.

The PCs will have limited plot immunity until the end of the breakout and the beginning of the normal Escape from Kalisz scenario (though I'm not certain if I will actually tell them about this). Their unit's NPCs and the troops around them will serve as ablative armor during the prelude, enabling them to learn the system and the tactics that work best in it while not punishing them too harshly for poor choices during the learning process.

Playing through the actual breakout will put them in the position of choosing what stuff to grab as everything comes apart. This should simplify the character creation process because they won't have to play Spreadsheets & Supply Lists with equipment purchase. They'll start the prelude sequence with issued gear and a small number of personal choice and characterization items, and finish the breakout with whatever they were smart, fast, and ruthless enough to load and keep.

Input?

- C.