Adventure Ideas.

[weswood]

Another thread that I hope takes off enough to warrant a sticky, this time modifications to existing adventures or fresh new ideas.

Free City of Krakow: LT Schaeffer can be saved by a competent medic, he's not dead yet. This can give the players an NPC who has some combat experience to advise them, if they're not former military/combat vets.

The party is contracted by the Ormo or a merchant to clean a parking garage of squatters. The squatters turn out to be a doctor treating the locals, and sundry mercenary types hanging out in the outer city. What turns into a simple job can turn into a battle, or gain the players local allies.

In my version of the Free City, no long arms are allowed in the Old City (the walled in area), only side arms. Also, only vehicles with passes issued by the Rada are allowed in that area. An enterprising merchant has cleared the rubble from a large area and will provide space to park visitor's vehicles within an armed compound for a price.

Pirates of the Vistula: I've never been convinced of the whole diesel tug converted to steam thing. Why would a diesel tug have that hige smokestack in the middle of the ship? So I thought for years, just make it an old refurbished steam tug. Lately I've been thinking, why a tugboat, if the mission is to rescue a bunch of people? Why not a steam paddlewheeler, such as what might have been seen in the late 1800's? Cabins for more people, it could probably push a barge if one was needed, the party could have sleeping quarters and Mark Twain would be proud.

[Abbott Shaull]

Would any paddle boat have survived in Poland. I mean after two World Wars and what not...

[simonmark6]

There's at least one paddle boat operating on the Vistula, it's called the "Legenda" and runs from the Wawel Castle in Krakow on tours. I'm not sure if it's a steamboat or an oil driven one that uses the paddles for romantic reasons, it looks very clean for a steam driven vehicle.

[HorseSoldier]

The first couple T2K campaigns I ran were kind of cut and dried on questions of good guys versus bad guys -- NATO in the white hats, marauders (who were always Soviet deserters anyway) and WP in the black hats.

The last time I ran Kalisz/Black Madonna/Krakow, though, I tried to make things more nuanced and complicated. One way I did this was have another group of the survivors from 5th ID (one of several actually) on the same basic line of march as the PCs. This particular group was under the leadership of a talented officer who'd gone all Colonel Kurtz about things and were somewhere between marauders and "Aguirre, Wrath of God."

The PCs initially didn't really know how to react when they'd find burned out farms with 5.56mm brass and MRE wrappers on the ground and raped, robbed and murdered locals, since they had the expectation that US/NATO were the good guys. There were pragmatic dimensions to it too -- locals who wouldn't do business with them and informed on them to local Polish and even Soviet troops, heavy enemy patrolling trying to run down the 5th ID marauders, etc. It eventually built up to the PCs deciding they had to do something, if only to get the heat off their backs as well.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

The first couple T2K campaigns I ran were kind of cut and dried on questions of good guys versus bad guys -- NATO in the white hats, marauders (who were always Soviet deserters anyway) and WP in the black hats.

The last time I ran Kalisz/Black Madonna/Krakow, though, I tried to make things more nuanced and complicated. One way I did this was have another group of the survivors from 5th ID (one of several actually) on the same basic line of march as the PCs. This particular group was under the leadership of a talented officer who'd gone all Colonel Kurtz about things and were somewhere between marauders and "Aguirre, Wrath of God."

The PCs initially didn't really know how to react when they'd find burned out farms with 5.56mm brass and MRE wrappers on the ground and raped, robbed and murdered locals, since they had the expectation that US/NATO were the good guys. There were pragmatic dimensions to it too -- locals who wouldn't do business with them and informed on them to local Polish and even Soviet troops, heavy enemy patrolling trying to run down the 5th ID marauders, etc. It eventually built up to the PCs deciding they had to do something, if only to get the heat off their backs as well.

I've used an encounter (not a whole adventure) like this on several player groups -- the US troops that had gone marauder vs. Soviet Spetsnaz troops that have gone over to NATO. The player group happens upon them in the middle of a firefight between each other, and I drop subtle little hints that things may not be what they seem.

[Abbott Shaull]

Now that would be interesting. Having a group from the 5th MD that trying to survive and they happen to run into one of the probably many groups that turned to marauding after the Division was over run. We know a small group made it way to Warsaw, so not too far fetch there would be others who were working on their own.

River paddle boat on one of the major rivers in Europe or on the Mississippi would be cool.

I would find it far fetch that Spetsnaz unit would switch over to NATO. I would see them going more native, much like brass fear any Special Operational unit might if they are left in the field too long. One of the many reasons along with stress of their job why many times while they are in the field operationally they are rotated out.

One has to remember Spetsnaz like other units, the Officers still do most functions, even though it consider treasonable act, many of the troop are trained such things as map reading and how to do radio calls. So as such if a unit was left without no officers, I can see a senior NCO if they were in contact with NATO troop or behind their lines, making a deal real quick, so not have his unit executed as spies at worse (remember they have NATO uniforms and weapon with them) or made prisoners of war for the duration if they had dump the equipment.

Then again if you were playing in Alaska, Hawaii, Korea, Western Canada, or Washington/Idaho you could throw this in to spice things up with a Spetsnaz unit turned to the US/Canadian or local government where they are employed to kill/capture other Soviet troops or to train the local population. Or have one in the middle Texas...

One has to remember these troop get extra heavy dose of indoctrination from the Party and Military which is double whammy, on the regular basis that would make some of the stunts they would do Basic Training look like a puppet play that they really were.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by weswood

Free City of Krakow: LT Schaeffer can be saved by a competent medic, he's not dead yet. This can give the players an NPC who has some combat experience to advise them, if they're not former military/combat vets.

This is exactly what happened in my long-running campaign. As a GM I was quite happy to let Schaeffer die as the module suggests he will, but the CO of the PCs' unit was (then Captain) Anthony Po, a former ER doctor. Of all the characters best able to save Schaeffer's life, Po was right up there. Schaffer was pretty messed up for the rest of his life but hey, he was alive. Although if my memory serves me correctly Po later had Schaeffer executed. Typical.