Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 TemplaTua Sep 24, 2015 18:28:11	Ok so my recently created campaign draws inspiration from Archer Vice (spoilers)   Essentially the players are drafted into a militia at 3rd level, in a war between kingdoms (let's just say they are defending France from a German/Prussian invasion) The city they are protecting falls immediately, and they are forced to desert with a group of refugees. They have already made it past this part of the adventure.   I have decided to modify the rest of the adventure so that they head to a fortress town to the North, and there they meet a baron who is preparing to reclaim the fallen city. With his massive army he is able to retake the city with minimal effort, as many of the soldiers appear to not be there.   The "german" lord who invaded the land is executed by the emperor for his failures, this angers the local population, and with the backing of the "french" army and the baron from the fortress town, they secede and rebel against the emperor. They should be successful and overthrow the emperor, leading to the formation of several small, indpendent kingdoms.   Plot twist! It turns out that the original army belonged to the baron, and that he made a deal with the "german" lord to use a combined force under somewhat of a false flag operation to make it look like "german" troops overtook their city, the baron's troops then retreated under the rouse of conquering further inland, but circled back around to reclaim the city under the new "french" banner. The German lord was not really executed, it was his body double or something like that, but the entire idea was for the "french" to inspire a "german" rebellion in one of the wealthiest and most populous states to overthrow the empire and instill a more franco-friendly system of government.   TL;DR: The players get caught in the middle of a staged war for independence where one country is trying to break up an empire.   My question is: how could I involve my players in the war? I don't want them to just be mercenaries who are told to smash this for gold. Basically I am just looking for basic character hooks/major plot points, I can work with just about anything.   Thanks guys, I understand this is long, but any help is greatly appreciated
#2 Ralif_Redhammer Sep 25, 2015 7:37:40	Hahahah, nice choice of inspiration!   I think that the first step is to look at what motivates your PCs and why they’d care. Maybe all they care about is gold. But if there’s something more than that, they’ll be more invested in the outcome. Maybe the enemy does something to cheese them off. Or the enemy forces have some magic item they want.    As far as running the actual war, I tend to put all the fighting soldiers in the background, so the PCs aren’t stuck sitting around while stuff happens around them. Make a series of encounters, choices, and events. Almost like a sandbox adventure. Maybe they see a secret flanking maneuver, but then over there is the enemy force’s champion. So they pick where they go and this in turn shapes the battle.    But then I throw in timed events that will happen no matter where they are. If it’s a siege battle, at a set point a section of the walls collapses. Or the enemies reveal their dragon ally.   Another thing I like to do is throw in skill challenges and role-playing sections, to balance out the tension of the battle, so it's not all-combat all the time. Maybe one of their allies is trapped under a destroyed catapult, and they need to figure out how to lift it. Or moments like the scene in Return of the King when it’s just Gandalf and Pippin talking.
#3 ChelseaNH Sep 25, 2015 16:13:54	If I understand correctly, the question is, why do your French soldier PCs care about what happens to the German empire?  Because it sounds like the bulk of the fighting takes place in Germany.
#4 BRJN Sep 25, 2015 17:17:55	A straight-up war between Great Powers is already complex; you don't need a secret treason plot involved too.   The German invasion of Belgium (1914) might provide the PCs reasons to get into the fight: the Imperial German Army took hostages, burnt historic libraries, confiscated food supplies, and generally treated the civilian populace of Belgium like unwanted pests who were in the way.  Many people play D&D for the chance to be a Hero; getting their favorite NPCs out of the army's path, or a counter-attack against some especially obnoxious Special Police officer, would qualify.  Setting up a Resistance and maintaining links to the outside world would be worthwhile, too (but require players who are less action-oriented).
#5 Danny_Montanny Sep 28, 2015 6:10:31	So your PCs come from a country that is engaged in a war with a neighboring nation. They're stationed at a border city that comes under attack and their forces are overwhelmed. They desert (so not under order) and head North. Is this where you're at right now?    Then you add on that the the aggressor German country has a plot within their hierarchy to overthrow their Emperor to end the war? How deep does the plot go? I'd assume the Fench monarchy would know all of the details, and the Baron is acting under order, right? My big question is... What kind of leader would let his citizens take the brunt of this attack in order to set up the dissent in his enemie's land? Especially not knowing that it would even work. Not only that, but he uses his own troops to spearhead the tactic. So you have French troops under the guise as Germans to slaughter French troops and militia so that possibly the German Emperor might do something to incite his people to revolt? If the French people found out about this, he'd likely have a revolution on his own hands. Seems like a slippery slope.   Depending on the details, the PCs might feel like the Baron is evil for killing his own countrymen for a ploy that might not even pay off. This is all assuming the PCs and the soldiers stationed at Border Town didn't know about the plot. Which your initial post makes me think exactly that. You've got some major political details to hammer out before you can really go on.
#6 Gediablo Oct 08, 2015 7:42:22	The real question is  - do they have an alternative to taking part in the war or to stick together as a group? This can quickly become a bit weird if say the Barde is totally against war and just want to see the workd, the rogue is all about dungeons and treasure, the barbarian wants to kill Orcs and the Wizard is just out for magic power. I suggest the players have something at stake here. The homes and lives of their family and friends. Their reputation/honor. An enemy they hate is terrorising the lands. Fulfilling a prophecy. They don't all to have the same motivation, but if you steer it into the the direction, where it is related to why each of their characters actually decided to go on adventuring instead of staying at safe at home - then they would want to stay together as a group and get involved into the adventure.   - You could have a person rob them of their gold, gear and honor - no matter of alignment and background of each player in the group they would want to get even with that person. - A player character decent from noble background (maybe without their knowledge), and have a legitimate claim to the throne of power.