Need inspiration for a short T:2013 scenario

[cavtroop]

So looks like I'll be getting a few people together this weekend and some other times through March for a short 2-3 session 'campaign'. Problem is, I am completely bonking on ideas.

Ideally, I'd like an idea that I can run with for 2 or 3 sessions of gaming, and then expand on if interest remains high and turn it into a campaign. Some quick ideas I'm toying around with (some I've seen here on this board, others pulled from various places):

1. Embassy guards and staff on the run after their embassy gets ransacked. Probably place this one in Africa. Whats the short term goal though (for those 2-3 sessions) that isn't just 'run for your life'? Maybe 'find, protect and get the ambassador [an npc?] to the nearest friendly city for evacuation? This options lets characters be of almost any background (civilian lifepath from 2013) as embassy support staff, or even dependents that survive the ransacking etc.

2. typical 'good luck you're on your own'? Based on a modified version of the V1 timeline in the Kalisz area?

3. Run the group in the 'pirates of the vistula' book?

4. Something in the USA - 'Kidnapped' maybe? The group is contacted as they come off the boat from Europe, shipped down to FLA to begin the mission? This would be a military group, of course.

Mostly, every idea I come up with is kinda 'meh' to me what fun ideas do you guys have? I'd like to keep some kind of 'after the bomb' feel which is a little tough in a short timespan (2-3 sessions). I don't want it to feel just like a 'military action movie'. Thanks!

[simonmark6]

Something I've been toying with is:

Whale Wars

The players are the crew of the Sea Shepherd 3 which is shadowing the Japanese Whaling fleet in the South Pacific when the bombs go off. Their kit is all working but the rest of the world goes black. After a few days a radio signal is intercepted telling the Japanese fleet of the disaster and recalling them.

The problem for the Sea Shepherd 3 is that she has short legs and was relying of a refuelling from a friendly ship that will never come. She needs to intercept and board at least one whaling ship to steal supplies and fuel. The Japanese Fleet has a mother ship that can replenish any losses or they can hit the mother ship if they are very lucky.

If they pull off the heist they are faced with three vengeful whalers and a mothership in a cat and mouse game back to New Zealand. Once there they should be safe, but what has happened to the rest of the world?

[Cdnwolf]

The last remaining bridge over a major river is a vital supply route for an upcoming offensive. Since there are no more aircraft capable of destroying it, the group has to go down river by canoe (limiting the amount of supplies they have) and figure out a way to destroy it.

[Neal5x5]

The adventure I ran at Gengis Con might be of interest to you. The setting was eastern Germany and the heroes are facing down a large Russian force bent on taking a bridge crossing the Elbe river at Torgau. The NATO command is preparing to defend Torgau and the heroes are assigned a spot on the west bank of the Elbe. While preparing, the heroes encounter a group of nuns that run an orphanage for blind children. They also meet some of the local color interested in stealing thier vehicle, and failing that get an offer to recover hidden cases of schnapps from an abandoned monestary. In the end, the heroes learn that the defense of Torgau was actually a ruse to get the Russians to mass for an assault and make themselves a target for a tactical nuke, which the heroes now get to run for thier lives from. Oh yeah, the heroes have to decide between rescuing the nuns and blind orphans and risking thier own wealth and safety.

[rcaf_777]

How about a squad battles over a

Water Well
Gas Station
High feature (used for artillery spoting)
Sniper Hunt
Oil Well
Storage Tank(Water or Gas)

[cavtroop]

Thanks for the ideas, some good ones here. The one with the blind orphanage is particularly disturbing

I have an inkling one of my PCs will want to play a displaced civilian of some kind, so purely military scenarios won't work well with that. But building on some of these ideas, we could have survivors of one small town that have banded together are running out of some critical resource - water, gas, ammo, batteries, etc. and have heard that a town some 30 miles away may have some to barter. The scenario could revolve around them travelling there, bartering, getting stabbed in the back, dealing with marauders, etc.

Keep em coming in, adventure seeds are always good to hoard

[Tegyrius]

Originally Posted by cavtroop

So looks like I'll be getting a few people together this weekend and some other times through March for a short 2-3 session 'campaign'. Problem is, I am completely bonking on ideas.

Ideally, I'd like an idea that I can run with for 2 or 3 sessions of gaming, and then expand on if interest remains high and turn it into a campaign. Some quick ideas I'm toying around with (some I've seen here on this board, others pulled from various places):

I used two scenarios when I was running demos at conventions.

The first involved the U.S. forces stuck in Kurdistan after the withdrawal from points south. PCs were mostly Army with an embedded reporter/paramedic and a local interpreter. They were a recon team retasked with making a rendezvous with one of the last flyable C-130s in theatre. Officially, they were picking up the final disbursement of mail from the States, a token morale boost from higher. This was a cover for the actual mission, which was the final disbursement of medical supplies from the States and a sealed packet of intel and orders for the brigade commander. There were three phases: get to the drop zone, secure it and pick up the drop, and get back to friendly lines.

Both times I ran this, the PCs failed to survey the high ground around the drop zone, resulting in the C-130 being smoked by angry Iranians with SAMs. The bird crash-landed and the PCs recovered the survivors and the essential cargo, then ran like hell. I ran out of time for the final chase/evasion scene which would have climaxed with them getting back into friendly artillery range.

The second focused on Marines (and a Navy corpsman) stuck in western Africa. Intelligence or DSS personnel could have worked for this, too. They were the remnants of a mission sent in to pull out embassy personnel and American citizens from an unspecified nation. Their pickup never arrived because the nukes started flying, so they started walking. At the beginning of play, they'd made their way to Abidjan, the capitol of Cote d'Ivoire, which was the last functioning embassy known to them - though its radio had gone off the air a few weeks prior. The PCs were sent in to reconnoiter the city while the rest of their force laagered up with the civilians. Their objectives were to make contact with the embassy and to determine if any ships was in the port that the force could charter (or hijack) to get back across the Atlantic.

After making contact with hostile militia (introduction to the combat rules, easy enemies), they got to the embassy and found it had been overrun shortly after they received its last transmission. They made contact with a French intelligence agent who offered to help them out in exchange for getting him the hell out of Abidjan. Once they agreed, he briefed them on the recent rise of a warlord who'd been cementing his minions' loyalties through ritual cannibalism - preferably of foreigners. There was one functional ship in harbor, but it was under guard by the warlord's troops. The obvious path, which my players always took, was to take down the troops and fight off pursuit while the ship's crew - being kept on board - got the vessel under way. Then they'd sail down the coast, rendezvous with their force's main body, and head west.

If I were adapting this as a mini-campaign, I'd drop the French agent, forcing the PCs to do a little more intelligence-gathering to get a picture of just how bad things were in the city. I'd also have the ship's crew held hostage on shore or on board another non-functional vessel, requiring the PCs to execute a stealthy hostage rescue before raiding the ship.

- C.

[Apache6]

I've used this twice, it was inspired by old John Wayne movie, were the enemy were Apaches. A Maruader group has captured a women (or two). The family or friends are basicly average Joes, they know about a returned veteran Marine GySgt (or something) who they can pay to help them rescure her/them, but he will only go if they back him up.

Make one session the finding and hiring, one the recon and intell collection, and the third the raid to rescure the ladies and escape with them.

A different objective might be for the characters, to scout out a route to lead a bunch of non-combatants across a hostile landscape/away from a major battle.

[Adm.Lee]

At Origins last year, I ran a one-shot based out of Krakow. Buried in that book, there is mention of a USAF pilot being held in Myslenice. I had the DIA hire the PCs to go out and get him. Opposition was the local militia, especially a hard-core team that was actually holding him in a hotel/truck stop near the highway. I included the option to hire onto a merchant caravan heading that way. If things went too smoothly, I planned for an ambush by a Soviet outfit (roughly same size) on the way out-- they'd finally come to collect the pilot, too.

I allowed them time for shopping in Krakow before heading out, time for planning based on a town map, and then some recon. I set up a group of pregen NPCs, about half infantry or Ranger veterans, half combat-support or services troops, including medic and drivers; I included 1-2 HMMWVs and pickup trucks, depending on the number of players.

One group (11 players) tried a two-prong assault, which succeeded with moderate casualties to the diversionary/overwatch team.
The second group (4 players) went for infiltration instead, checking into the motel as caravan guards. Their recon also went badly, with a player getting arrested by the militia guards. They fought their way out so quickly that I set up the Soviet ambush on the way out, and nearly wiped them out.

I thought about running a follow-up: what mission was so important that the pilot was flying in the spring of 2000? Maybe next year, I'll delve into that.

[M-Type]

The way I generate 'missions', basically one-shots, is write down a number of different buzzwords (NATO, Warsaw Pact, Food, Tank, Bridge, etc), about 20-40, and throw them into the list randomizer on Random.org. I take the first 4 buzzwords and work out the details from that.

Pretty crude, but it gives a pretty good base from which to work off of. Here's an example:
Weapons
Radiation
Bridge
Convoy

The locals want to raid some long-abandoned Warsaw Pact/NATO caravan that is rumored to be filled with weapons, and is sitting dormant on the local bridge. But little do they know, the vehicles had passed through a hot area, and are still baking with radiation. The bridge also needs to be cleared for better trade traffic. What will the PCs do?

[Wolf sword]

How about this.
The PC have to set up a post/embassy for Mil gov (or Civ gov) in a town.
They have to travel to the town from HQ.
In the town they have to find a spot to set up the "embassy" and negotiate with the locals for them to join their side. Just to make thing more interesting have 2 or 3 powers "fighting" for control (see "A Fistful of Dollars) Have the other side trying to do the same thing.
The reason why this town is important is because it will serve as a waystation for a "regular" supply convoy of food, fuel, ammo. So they also have to set up a warehouse and refuel maintenance area.