ChalkLine's Desiderata

[ChalkLine]

Vehicle Wrecks.

First off, Matt Geisler has an awesome page on vehicle recovery and even creating post apocalyptic recycling infrastructure. If you want a sound but unique campaign economy you have to use this.

Everyone loves finding a wreck. Out come the spanners and the players descend on it like a horde of happy little locusts. Woe betide the mechanically-inept GM who has a player with an actual knowledge of working vehicles as the GM will totally misunderstand the players is sneakily building a land battleship with bits. Anyway, it's all good fun.

So, where is some good places to put wrecks?

I like to use what I call the "Fallout Method". Anyone who's ever played the fallout video games knows the devs tell stories with found objects. Just looking at and interacting with the objects builds a narrative that draws players into a story and makes the encounter memorable. "Tank in ditch" says nothing, but saying that beside the tank is some expended medical supplies and spent brass implies the crew fought a last ditch fight beside their stricken vehicle. A drag trail to another position then a sad vignette of some graves show where they didn't get away. The story now sticks in their minds. Usefully these landmarks are also good tactically, you'll hear the players say things like "we'll go back to the tank with the graves and go down the other road".

Apart from that, there has to be a reason why the wreck/derelict is left alone. As such, apart from the standard "abandoned in forest/swamp" encounter, I thought I'd put up some interesting wrecks that might test the problem solving and resources management skills of the players.


- Collapsed Bridge.
As with the M4 Sherman in the image, a heavy vehicle has proven too much for a bridge. Depending on how long it's been there the bridge may have become progressively more unstable. While periscopes, MGs, ammo, fuel and radios are probably gone the actual vehicle's engine and transmission, tracks/wheels etc are still there if they can get it off to say nothing of the perfectly good hull.
There are many ways to get this fellow off the bridge depending on how much work the PCs are prepared to do and players with a week can simply rebuild the bridge right under it.

- Into the Basement.
You need some set up for this. You have to be both in a town and you need an explosion, an untended IED that the players blow in place could be a good one. This brings down an adjacent wall and shows the backside of a vehicle sticking straight out of a basement at an angle where the driver tried to go through the building and went in, bringing much of the building down on the vehicle. Sadly, this is a war grave and the trapped crew couldn't get out. This does mean that while external features such as pintle weapons, smoke launchers and radio antenna are toast the base vehicle is fine. You just have to get it out.
Really, serious earthworks are called for here and if the major structure is still looming over it that needs supporting too. Digging out the rubble, packing in a ramp and shoring up the ruins here are a possible way to retrieve the carcass.

- Glub Glub.
Swimming vehicles don't always make it across. This amphibian rolled over in the river, the crew bailed out and it was swept along until it came up against something. To be blunt, this is going to be a big job not just to recover but to get going again as vehicles detest being submerged. For a start the open vehicle is half filled with stinking mud. Secondly as it's not on its wheels/tracks it resists being extracted, the players have to get lines onto it in such a way that they can right the vehicle, orient it toward the bank and then try and pull it out. Long hours in the river, places open and with little cover, can be expected here. Even just digging the bastard out to where it can be pulled out will take days as even just it sitting flush on the mud makes it almost impossible to recover because of the suction on the hull. However it is totally intact but you can write off the fuel.

- That's Suspicious . . .
This light vehicle is just sitting there in the long grass, looking like it was parked up and the occupants walked away. Well, they did but very carefully. The whole area is simply soaked in aerial mines that have deployed tens of little trip wires in all directions. Demining is up there in the "least fun in the world" category and this roller might not be worth recovering due to the fact you might not be sure you got all of them.

-Yeah, Nah.
This is a variation on the above. This vehicle has been penetrated and the biggest piece of unexploded ordnance the players have ever seen is sticking out of it. Something like a 120mm mortar round minimum, up to a huge honking "Tulip's" 240mm round has landed right next to it and the vehicle is half over the crater with the UXO sticking out.

- I'm Going To Kill That Bastard
A wonderful looking light armoured vehicle is seriously bogged but it looks like a day of work will get it out. It even has all its periscopes and antennas, which is a good sign.
Unfortunately it's in a disputed area and a hostile Observation Post uses it as a benchmark and they dislike people messing with it. First off, the OP crew have a forward observer and the players can expect them to expend either light mortar in 60mm range or automatic grenades on people playing with "their" vehicle. Second off, some annoying bugger with a marksman's rifle takes pot-shots at you if you come close to it from very long range. He moves after a shot or two to avoid counterfire but sure enough he knows it'll take you hours to get it out so he can have another crack at you. All the while the FO is bracketing you with that light artillery. Once you get close to the OP they get serious and the people they are working for counter attack from the flank.