About scenarios, adventures and campaigns

[Rainbow Six]

Afternoon chaps,

A few suggestions / comments (sorry, slightly late to this thread)

1. The People Smuggler NPC Contact

An interesting character / contact for players might be a German criminal / black marketeer living along the border of the Dead Zone who makes a healthy living smuggling people/ items in to (and out of) France in exchange for payment (in the Year 2000 such payment is more likely to take the form of gold, jewelery, or barter goods rather than cash obviously). Such a character is likely to have connections with the DGSE, German BND, and perhaps American Intelligence (CIA or DIA). He (or she) would command a band of criminals / smugglers, some of whom may have had experience of crossing the Inner German Border (I think there is a German term called Grenzganger which originates in Cold War times, and refers to such people).


2. French interference in British affairs

Everything that Marc said to Catalonia could equally apply to parts of the British Isles that have declared their independence from the British Government. As I've mentioned before, in my T2K World I have an independent Scotland joining the Franco Belgian Union, with French troops and aircraft subsequently being stationed in Scotland; HMG are furious about this but realistically are unable to do anything (except vent their anger at the French Ambassador to the UK). Additionally, I'd imagine various DGSE cells active in the UK, some providing extremely covert support to various marauder groups, with the goal of keeping the UK Government too destabilised to interfere in French expansion plans.


3 Recovering the National Treasure seed, in this case The Honours of Scotland (basically a Scottish version of the Black Madonna)

The Honours of Scotland are also known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, and are normally kept in Edinburgh Castle. Any faction wishing to claim to be the legitimate Government of Scotland would have its cause boosted significantly if it possessed the Honours of Scotland

In this scenario, the Honours were removed from the Castle by a detachment of Scots Guards in the days immediately before the nuclear attack on the UK and hidden in a remote location somewhere in Scotland (my option is Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, but they could just as easily be down a coal mine somewhere). The Guards were attacked by marauders on their way back to Government controlled territory, and most of those who knew the location of the hiding place were killed in the nuclear attack or the chaos that followed.

A survivor of the original Guards detachment has just been found, and the Scottish Government is launching a mission to recover the Honours.

However, an MI5 spy in the Scottish Government has alerted HMG, who are also sending a team to recover the Honours, as they feel that possessing them would enhance their claim that Scotland was still part of the UK.

Unknown to the Scots, the French also have the information, and have a DGSE team also looking for the Honours for their own purposes if an additional twist is required.

(If the GM wishes, with a few tweaks the Honours of Scotland can be replaced with the British Crown Jewels).

[Badbru]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Welcome on board Slappy

Seconded. Welcome Slappy.

You ruled out the idea of territorial conquest. I disagree.

Actually, no I didn't. I merely can't see the reason for expanding further beyond a geographical feature like a major river when you expanded towards that feature in the first place so that you could stay safe and secure behind it. I cannot see the point of territorial conquest north and east of the Rhine. I do not rule out territorial conquest for France however. The very move to the Rhine was territorial conquest,-to establish a strong geographical border. Furthermore RDF Sourcebook suggests that France is expanding their influence in the Iran-Iraq region (Gulf states,yes?) Further I would have them reasserting their former African empire from Algeria right around the West coast of Africa to Cameroon and beyond. Would the Diamond trade in the Congo still be valued in the T2K world? Franco Belgian Union don't forget.

France may not look at Germany for strict territorial expension but it could very well hope to form some kind of federation with several Landers (especially the non-catholic ones). Germany still retain several valuable mineral ressources.

By "Landers" do you mean Belgium & Netherlands etc? And, Germany's valuable mineral resources would be greatly coveted, by Germany.

Moreover, France would need some kind of safe route to Poland.

"Like", maybe, "want" I could even see, but "need"? I'm less convinced that they would "need" a safe route to Poland, and would it have to be a land route?, passing through Germany?

After all, the Polish community of France is really important (my ex-wife family is still sending present there every year and that is more a rule than anything else to Poles) and among our major politician's names are the Poniatovskis. Among their ancestors you'll find the last king of Poland, and the Marshall Josef Poniatovski (1st Empire). I also just realized that another major french politician family is of major Polish descent (Kosciusco-Morizet). One of their ancestor is Tadeus Kosciuszko (a Polish and American hero from the war of independence and from the Polish uprising of 1794: directed against Russia). With Poland in such terrible situation (and all other contenders virtually gone) I would not be surprised to see the French attempting to create some new Polish states (such as the Duchy of Warsaw). And if you want to add some history to that one of our king had been king of Poland. Actually, in a T2K Poland, France hold many Polish symbols that could be as important as the Black Madona.

[rcaf_777]

Here I adventure I am working on about a recovery of a Liberty Ship

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by Badbru

Seconded. Welcome Slappy.

Actually, no I didn't. I merely can't see the reason for expanding further beyond a geographical feature like a major river when you expanded towards that feature in the first place so that you could stay safe and secure behind it. I cannot see the point of territorial conquest north and east of the Rhine. I do not rule out territorial conquest for France however. The very move to the Rhine was territorial conquest,-to establish a strong geographical border. Furthermore RDF Sourcebook suggests that France is expanding their influence in the Iran-Iraq region (Gulf states,yes?) Further I would have them reasserting their former African empire from Algeria right around the West coast of Africa to Cameroon and beyond. Would the Diamond trade in the Congo still be valued in the T2K world? Franco Belgian Union don't forget.

I misunderstood you, sorry. I disagree entirely with the RDF book and see this to be more than unrealistic. An alliance with EAU and Oman is likely but that's it. IMO the suez canal is closed. For Algeria, not a Chance! (too painful for the French). Moreover, I expect France to be at war with Algeria, Algerian conducting an active piracy similar to that existing today in Somalia. However, they would possibly build a type of commonwealth including Morocco (if it survived), Tunisia (almost sure), Senegal, Cameroon, Gabon, Madagascar...

[/QUOTE]
By "Landers" do you mean Belgium & Netherlands etc? And, Germany's valuable mineral resources would be greatly coveted, by Germany.
[/QUOTE]

I shouldn't have put an "s" to this. I simply mean the Länder of Germany (Saxony, Westphalia...). For the ressources part will be coveted by Germany I'm sure but large part of Germany are unproperly protected. I'm not saying that this will be an easy task for the French. On this matter, possibilities are almost endless. As Marc said it's open to a scenaria and it will depend on how well this operation is conducted. Don't forget that France and Germany have been collaborating a lot and the French involvement doesn't have to be an invasion.

[/QUOTE]
"Like", maybe, "want" I could even see, but "need"? I'm less convinced that they would "need" a safe route to Poland, and would it have to be a land route?, passing through Germany?[/QUOTE]

They might not want it and leave Poland alone of course. However, if they start thinking of it, it will be a land route and air corridor going through Germany. There is no other choice as a sea route appears to be less reliable (IMO).

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

Afternoon chaps,

A few suggestions / comments (sorry, slightly late to this thread)

It's not late, Rainbow. And nice seeds! I'm enjoying this thread. Keep them coming! I've found here some good ideas for possible future games.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by rcaf_777

Here I adventure I am working on about a recovery of a Liberty Ship

Your adventure has aroused my curiosity about the Liberty Ships. I've post some deckplans I've found interesting in the "About maps..." thread. Perhaps you will find them useful four your adventure.

[jturfitt]

I don't if they are still there, but back in the late 70s when I was working as a deckhand on towboats there were a couple of dozen of them mothballed at Corpus Christi, TX.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by jturfitt

I don't if they are still there, but back in the late 70s when I was working as a deckhand on towboats there were a couple of dozen of them mothballed at Corpus Christi, TX.

It seems that some of them could be doing their last service:

pwd_br_v3400_0423.pdf

[Marc]

Mail Delivery Service.

Here’s another idea for this thread. This seed could be useful as a campaign or as an adventure idea and can be easily situated in any part of the Twilight world, with independence of the timeline used. The playing characters, some of theme with military experience, have constituted a kind of association for the delivery of messages and packets for a pay. And they live for what they manage to get from this work. The name of the company could be something similar to “Anderson, Àvila, Pokrosky and Associates, Package and Mail delivery”. If thought as a campaign, the group could be a group of enterprising veterans, who, for one reason or another, are now free of their military obligations towards their respective armies. Perhaps they have decided that the war is over for them and that is about time to take care about themselves and try to survive at their own. My idea is not as like what was depicted in “The Postman”, the David Brine’s book. So, I prefer the characters not to be devoted to community as a public service. Instead, I prefer them to be some kind on independent, neutral group with a clear and unmistakable motto: “We always deliver the mail”

If conceived as a campaign, I think that the GM must begin choosing an interesting geographical area with different and sometimes confronted communities. An area with cantonments, warlords, independent farmers, etc, could be interesting. The initial area could be limited in extension, but with open possibilities to extent the mail service to other territories if the group succeeds.

Ideally, the discretion, safety, neutrality and integrity of the service could provide interesting and assorted missions from different customers. And this qualities would be the best guarantees for the company for not to fall under the boot of an annoyed and powerful customer, perhaps a warlord angry because an important message not delivered or because the suspicion that the rivals are using the company for their own messages. So, the group will be walking in the grey, narrow and not often clear line of the “neutrality”.

For this campaign to be possible, the customers must think that their messages and packages are more secure with “Anderson, Àvila, Pokrosky and associates” that with their own people. So one of the goals of the campaign is to work to get this image. From the first, easy contracts issued by common villagers to the desperate agent whose only choice is to rely in the services offered by the characters to send a vital message. The best weapons: a good information network, discrete methods to contact with the costumers, local knowledge of the area…

The group could elaborate a price list depending of the assignment, the size and weight of the package and the way to deliver it and the danger of the possible route…And of course, the number of special and strange delivers that a GM can arrange has no limits.
Well, I know that this campaign could have some unrealistic features, but it could be funny anyway. It can be as open as you want and, with time and good work, perhaps your group (perhaps against its own will) ends playing a major role in the balance of power of a region. A different campaign for the Twilight:2000 environment.

As a alternative, you can introduce a mail delivery grop like the one depicted above as a NPCs, working in the same area where your players are living.

[Mohoender]

Marc

I don't know if you have watched "Dark Angel" 1st season. The main character is doing exactly that in a post-EMP Seattle. Can be interesting for inspiration. 2nd season is not that interesting (IMO).

[Marc]

Ei!
I don't know what is "Dark Angel"... I will whisper it to Saint Google...

[Targan]

Mmm. Dark Angel. Jessica Alba. She REALLY needs my phone number, poor thing.

[Krejcik]

When in doubt of an adventure: Zombie survival.

[TiggerCCW UK]

The first time my PC's ran across zombies it gave them a real shock. They were exploring an abandoned Soviet maintenance depot when they opened the wrong door.....

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by Targan

Mmm. Dark Angel. Jessica Alba. She REALLY needs my phone number, poor thing.

Unlike for Carla Bruni, you'll have to come after me Targan.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

2nd season is not that interesting (IMO).

Not! That! Interesting!?
It had everything that could be possibly needed - Jessica Alba!

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Not! That! Interesting!?
It had everything that could be possibly needed - Jessica Alba!

Right on brutha.

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Not! That! Interesting!?
It had everything that could be possibly needed - Jessica Alba!

LOL! I must have been out of my mind

[Marc]

The word "cantonment" used in Twilight:2000 admit a somehow freely interpretation by the GM and it could be an interesting point to consider as an adventure or campaign. In this same forum, the structure and the work of a cantonment have been discussed. For sure, in different parts of the world, the cantonment of military units would find different formulas. Even in nearly geographical areas, factors like the nationality of the troops and the civilian population, available resources, relationship with other neighboring areas (cantonments or not), personality of the civilian and military leaders, the previous ownership of weapons by the civilians, the presence of of possible external threats... etc. would produce important differences.

History is full of incidents which are directly related with the coexistence between militaries and civilians. That could be especially true if soldiers, for any reason, do not understand the idiosyncrasy of the local population, and they don’t care about it. In some cases, these incidents raised and evolved toward riots and open revolts which have become important chapters in the history of some nations. With the passage of the time, the nations usually tend to paint these incidents with political colors and terms like patriotism or national pride. But things often are simpler. Accidental deaths while trying to exercise extreme control of the population, starvation caused by an unbalanced distribution of the food with the soldiers, the nuisances of martial law, favoritisms towards the most loyal civilian collaborators, unnecessary humiliations caused by militaries assuming police functions, obligatory recruitment for an unpopular conflict… All this factors can build a potential explosive situation waiting for the spark.

So here’s the seed. It could happen in a small village (or a group of villages and farms) in any place you want. Eventually, the arrival of a military unit (national or foreign, at your choice) is considered by the inhabitants as a true bless against the danger of the bands of marauders or as a new hope to solve a long lasting conflict about land resources against a neighboring, aggressive village. The council or any kind of civilian authority makes a deal with the commander of the military unit. The details of the agreement are left to the GM (and the players if they can/must assist to the meetings).And a cantonment is established. At the beginning everyone seems happy with the deal. But situation gets worse with time… Then, apply any or some of the factors mentioned above to raise uneasiness among the inhabitants.

If played as a campaign, perhaps the GM will want to keep things “grey”, as real life. There’s no need to turn the campaign into a fight between good an evil. Nor the civilians neither the soldiers would be a homogeneous group. Inside the same group would be different opinions about the way the things must go. Some people just will want to survive the next winter. Others would look for their own benefit, regardless of all the rest. Others would have an ideal about how the things must be in the future and would fight for it. Elaborated NPC would be a great help. The GM could consider to restrict the availability of weapons to the playing characters to make the campaign more challenging (military authorities have restricted the access to small arms for the civilians, capitalizing the use of the force). Good, pre-generated NPC’s relevant personalities would be important.

If played as a single adventure, the GM could choose a more violent way to lead the villagers to a revolt. Secret meetings to make plans about how to get the weapons, rescue possible hostages and regain control of the village…

[Mohoender]

Hello Marc

As a starting point I'll use the true stories of villages I have lived in.

I) In the first village, a group of soldiers brutaly set up a form of cantonment. The commander and some of its troops (preferably the most brutal) take control of a small castle just outside the village. In the meantime, patrols and small units are dispatched to the village itself in order to control the population.

Civilians leaders are arrested (mayor, priest...) and brought to the castle serving as HQ. The main door in the cave has been reinforced and it serves as a room for torture (some of it is carried out only for the sadistic pleasure of the commander, some is carried out with true purpose). In RL that occured during WW2 and the door is still there.

Food is confiscated and the villagers are pushed to force labor, working all day for the benefit of the military unit. A few weapons have been hided by the villager but this is insufficient. However, stories have been known for years about a cache of military equipments that has been constituted several years ago in the area (at the beginning of the war, during the last war...). In RL that cache dates back to WW1; that's too old for our purpose but I'm sure you'll find a way. It's time to get a hand on them if the population wants to survive. Hopefully, everyone pretty much know of the aproximative location of this cache (and nobody revealed that already) because of a small spring which had been running red for years.

Several things are to be done, nevertheless:
- Meetings have to be organized without the occupying troops being alerted.
- The population must access the cache which is on the land of the castle serving as HQ to the ennemy commander. Something like 300 meters from the castle; enjoy .
- Finding the access door will need some heavy work as it is burried unnder woodland.
- What about the hided equipments? The spring running red reveals that at least part of it is rusting. It is also known that a fair amount of explosive and ammunitions have been hided there with the weapon and that might render digging dangerous . However, it is sure that some heavy equipments (vehicles and artillery pieces) had been burried there and that can make the bounty even more valuable.

In RL, I perfectly know where that cache is but I never dared to dig. The story is saying that artillery pieces (75mm guns model 1897 probably) had been burried there with ammunitions, hand weapons and carriage. However, the obvious rusting of that equipment doesn't encourage me to carry out any research.

II) In the second village, the situation is very different as the occupying force is well accepted by the population (at least at the beginning and in appearence). However, a group among the villager decides to resist and they organize in small cells (freedom fighters or terrorists depending on whom you are talking too).

They use the sewage system as weapon cache and they bring weapon through an hold, hided, underground passage that runs from the valley to the village castle. They have started to take some action but they are still waiting for the right moment to start a general uprising.

- Some or many among the population are still collaborating with the military unit and all this activity must be hided to them as well. In RL, during WW2, the passage was revealed to the Germans by someone from the village. However, this occured only after several months (something like 18) while weapons had been smuggled right under their nose for all that time. The Germans suspected this but they had been unable to find that passage before that treason.
- Caches must be constituted in order to prepare for the general uprising.
- Small operations have to be carried out in order to justify some outside help or in order to keep the ennemy busy.
- Weapons have to be found for free or for a price.
- Meetings have to be organized and the population has to be pushed to rebel while it might not be that interested at the beginning.
Possibilities are endless.

[kcdusk]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Unlike for Carla Bruni, you'll have to come after me Targan.

Which well known female personality/horn bag/super model would best fit a good T2K film/telemovie??? And justify it ...

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Possibilities are endless.

Mmmm... the whole idea is gaining interest for me. Secret meetings, coordinated actions, getting the needed information... Full of opportunities to role-play. And a true challenge for both the group of players and the GM.

About the villages you've talked about, Mohoender, what was their approximated size in WW2? I'm trying to determine the "ideal" size to prepare a game.

One more possible variation. In the 17th century, one of the ways that the Spanish "Tercios" used to establish themselves as cantonments was following the "alojamiento" regime ("alojamiento" can be translated as accommodation). While in "alojamiento" regime, soldiers were direcly distributed among the homes of the inhabitats of the selected villages (one or more villages, depending of their sizes). It could be just for a one day, if the military unit was on its way to a disputed area, but it could be indefinitely in a difficult zone or near the front. In its better version, the "alojamiento" regime was agreed between civilian and military authorities. In the worst case, the owners of the house where the soldier was accommodated must keep him fed without receiving anything in exchange. Sadly, this method was normally used in villages and towns viewed as enemies or hostiles and the accommodation of the troops implied abuses and excesses. In the better form of "alojamiento" , a list was previoulsy negotiated, containing all the products that the family must supply to the "guest", with the agreement that the final expenditure will be covered by, for example, the king.

This type of cantonment could be an alternate setup for the same "revolt" seed.

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by Marc

About the villages you've talked about, Mohoender, what was their approximated size in WW2? I'm trying to determine the "ideal" size to prepare a game.

The first one was about 400-500 people. It had two castles. The smallest one (occupied by the Gestapo) standing 1 mile away from the center and the other standing at the center. It was (and still is) surrounded by deep forests running thourgh a small valley in between low hills.

The second one, is standing on top of a 400 meters high hill. It had a population of about 1000. but it is more difficult to control as it is full of small streets. Moreover, most of it can only be accessed by feet and there are only 4 roads going through it. It is also surrounded by deep forests and it is located at the bottom of a mountain range (going up to an average of 1200 meters with a peak at 1700).

[Marc]

And another approximation to the same seed is still possible. More suitable for a single-shot scenario or and small adventure. If we imagine the previous situation with the soldiers being accommodated in the houses if the civilians, we can arrange a group of characters being soldiers of the unit that has established the cantonment. Let’s suppose that a major revolt have been planned among the inhabitants of the village and that the unit’s commander is confident about his control of the population by fear and totally unaware about the imminent rebellion. Well, perhaps not all the inhabitants would participate in the riot, but let’s suppose the major part of the village’s population would do. And the revolt would begin by night, at a chosen hour, with each family with accommodated soldiers trying to kill their sleeping “guests� with any weapon available (knifes and other tools), with the objective to take the weapons and spread the revolt. The goal is trying to control the village by dawn. A “long knifes night�.

So, the characters could be doing some kind of night duty while the revolt is beginning. Or they could be awakened by some kind of suspicious noise while their hosts are going upstairs armed with everything they have found in home. After the first fight, while all the villages is awakening with the screams, cries and isolated shots, the player will find themselves in a village nearly controlled by the furious inhabitants (now armed with firearms), searching for revenge. The goal of the characters is up to the GM. Is still possible to regain control of the village? Is there any kind organized military resistance still standing in some point of the village? Or perhaps the better option is make their way out of the damned place?