Military Based Campaign - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Military Based Campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
acheron22
Mar 22, 2009 19:02:56 So i'm running a new campaign for my players and it is going to be heavily military oriented. The characters are mainly warforged serving in an army. They are sent on missions and take part in missions. I've read the section in Complete Warrior that discusses this, but I'm still having some trouble.

After thinking through my campaign and all of the likely adventures, I've run into some problems. Firstly, there seems to be no real hook here. The CO gives an order, or the player's unit is designated a task, and they must carry it out or face the consequences. There doesn't seem to be any form of freedom that most other campaigns allow.

Did I not interpret something correctly? Any and all input would be great
#2
gregt_314
Mar 22, 2009 19:45:44 Hi! Having played/run both military campaigns and police procedural games, can I strongly recommend NOT running this kind of game unless all your players are at the same level of knowledge as you are? If you have real military experience, players who don't are going to be left feeling alienated by your command of jargon, procedure, and specific equipment. If you don't have that experience, but one of your players does, they're very likely going to frustrate yourself and other players by regularly remarking on how things would really be done.

This applies even for modern military experience vs fantasy armies - good ideas are good ideas, and most of what we do today is just as good an idea in the middle ages.

However, if you're all equally clueless or experienced, go for it. Here's some ideas for how to do stories:

* Make your players a single military unit, and make one of them the leader. Either do this by fiat, and have some of the drama be that they're not necessarily the best qualified, or have your players decide between them who the leader is. That player is the Sergeant, or whatever your comparable rank is.

Then have the unit given general objectives ("secure the area", "rescue the trapped soldiers", "defend the convoy") and leave the specifics of how they get it done up to the team. Make sure to play up the individual character arcs. You can get inspiration for this sort of story from just about any war movie ever, or from WW2-era comic books like The Losers or later clones like Sergeant Fury And His Howling Commandos.

* Make your players the commanders of the army and play the game at the tactical level, where they're directly assigning troops and responding to attacks.

* Have your players transferred all over the place to wherever seems like a good story; completely ignore military procedure as long as it makes a good story. Examples include the first Starship Troopers movie or the short-lived TV series Space: Above and Beyond.

* Have the story be about what's happening to your characters during their downtime. Focus on their rowdy adventures during their rec leave, their frequent stints AWOL, and their testosterone-fuelled brawls in the mess hall. Examples include Rome or M.A.S.H.

* Have the unit "lost behind enemy lines" or in a warzone where command structures have broken down. With no clear directives, they fight only to survive and return home. Examples include most Vietnam films; Platoon is a particular example.

* Set the whole game at boot camp, where the struggle is simply to graduate. Obstacles include thuggish fellow trainees, an openly malevolent drill sergeant, an oblivious officer corps, and a gruelling training regime. For examples, see the first half of Full Metal Jacket, or, on a lighter note, Stripes.

Hope some of these help!
#3
acheron22
Mar 23, 2009 19:30:30 we are all pretty much the same experience, which is no formal military experience.
do you have a recommendation as to what level the PC's should be made into their own unit?
and how do you work military rankings and ordering people around. Specifically: does the leadership feat make sense here?
#4
gregt_314
Mar 23, 2009 19:36:03
we are all pretty much the same experience, which is no formal military experience.
do you have a recommendation as to what level the PC's should be made into their own unit?
and how do you work military rankings and ordering people around. Specifically: does the leadership feat make sense here?

Whatever level you like. One theory of character level is not that it's a measure of raw power, but rather of the character's heroism; thus a lowly soldier can be anywhere from level 0 to level 29 with no one the wiser.

I'd personally not handle leadership mechanically; it produces a sense of entitlement in players that can get you into hot water later. Also by designating one character the leader mechanically you're marginalising everyone else; when it's only a roleplaying construct, it's clearer that all players are nevertheless just as important to the overall story.

How you handle "ordering people around" will depend on what kind of game you play. If they're lowly squaddies, it's not an issue, they don't order anyone around. If they're officers it's another kettle of fish. I think you need to decide what kind of stories you're doing before you start looking at command structure mechanics.
#5
acheron22
Mar 29, 2009 17:59:40 i've taken your advice and i'm not letting my players take leadership.

what i've decided on is a three part campaign. the first part involves standard warfare (World war 2 with a mix of standard medieval warfare). the characters help to conquer a nation. it's pretty straight forward. they know who their enemy is and their enemy knows who they are.

the second chapter revolves around a second county that is currently being invaded/subverted by a rival (of the players home country) nation. the problem now is that the invaded country's populace has split between the invader and the liberator. the pc's must find a way to reunify the country and convince or kill the remaining population. this chapter is supposed to raise some moral questions about right and wrong

the third chapter centers on the conquering of the malignant nation (the invader from the second chapter). this should be a tough fight. the characters are ordered on a highly unethical mission that should split them from their home nation. they become enemies of both nations and must survive in this hostile environment
#6
stupidmop
Mar 29, 2009 18:10:25 Do you have Heroes of Battle? That is probably the best resource you can get for this sort of campaign. For nothing else, it's a great read, and since it is not really geared for any specific edition you can use it no matter which system you plan on going with (it was written for 3e, but I use it for 4e campaigns).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 acheron22 Mar 22, 2009 19:02:56	So i'm running a new campaign for my players and it is going to be heavily military oriented. The characters are mainly warforged serving in an army. They are sent on missions and take part in missions. I've read the section in Complete Warrior that discusses this, but I'm still having some trouble. After thinking through my campaign and all of the likely adventures, I've run into some problems. Firstly, there seems to be no real hook here. The CO gives an order, or the player's unit is designated a task, and they must carry it out or face the consequences. There doesn't seem to be any form of freedom that most other campaigns allow. Did I not interpret something correctly? Any and all input would be great
#2 gregt_314 Mar 22, 2009 19:45:44	Hi! Having played/run both military campaigns and police procedural games, can I strongly recommend NOT running this kind of game unless all your players are at the same level of knowledge as you are? If you have real military experience, players who don't are going to be left feeling alienated by your command of jargon, procedure, and specific equipment. If you don't have that experience, but one of your players does, they're very likely going to frustrate yourself and other players by regularly remarking on how things would really be done. This applies even for modern military experience vs fantasy armies - good ideas are good ideas, and most of what we do today is just as good an idea in the middle ages. However, if you're all equally clueless or experienced, go for it. Here's some ideas for how to do stories: * Make your players a single military unit, and make one of them the leader. Either do this by fiat, and have some of the drama be that they're not necessarily the best qualified, or have your players decide between them who the leader is. That player is the Sergeant, or whatever your comparable rank is. Then have the unit given general objectives ("secure the area", "rescue the trapped soldiers", "defend the convoy") and leave the specifics of how they get it done up to the team. Make sure to play up the individual character arcs. You can get inspiration for this sort of story from just about any war movie ever, or from WW2-era comic books like The Losers or later clones like Sergeant Fury And His Howling Commandos. * Make your players the commanders of the army and play the game at the tactical level, where they're directly assigning troops and responding to attacks. * Have your players transferred all over the place to wherever seems like a good story; completely ignore military procedure as long as it makes a good story. Examples include the first Starship Troopers movie or the short-lived TV series Space: Above and Beyond. * Have the story be about what's happening to your characters during their downtime. Focus on their rowdy adventures during their rec leave, their frequent stints AWOL, and their testosterone-fuelled brawls in the mess hall. Examples include Rome or M.A.S.H. * Have the unit "lost behind enemy lines" or in a warzone where command structures have broken down. With no clear directives, they fight only to survive and return home. Examples include most Vietnam films; Platoon is a particular example. * Set the whole game at boot camp, where the struggle is simply to graduate. Obstacles include thuggish fellow trainees, an openly malevolent drill sergeant, an oblivious officer corps, and a gruelling training regime. For examples, see the first half of Full Metal Jacket, or, on a lighter note, Stripes. Hope some of these help!
#3 acheron22 Mar 23, 2009 19:30:30	we are all pretty much the same experience, which is no formal military experience. do you have a recommendation as to what level the PC's should be made into their own unit? and how do you work military rankings and ordering people around. Specifically: does the leadership feat make sense here?
#4 gregt_314 Mar 23, 2009 19:36:03	we are all pretty much the same experience, which is no formal military experience. do you have a recommendation as to what level the PC's should be made into their own unit? and how do you work military rankings and ordering people around. Specifically: does the leadership feat make sense here? Whatever level you like. One theory of character level is not that it's a measure of raw power, but rather of the character's heroism; thus a lowly soldier can be anywhere from level 0 to level 29 with no one the wiser. I'd personally not handle leadership mechanically; it produces a sense of entitlement in players that can get you into hot water later. Also by designating one character the leader mechanically you're marginalising everyone else; when it's only a roleplaying construct, it's clearer that all players are nevertheless just as important to the overall story. How you handle "ordering people around" will depend on what kind of game you play. If they're lowly squaddies, it's not an issue, they don't order anyone around. If they're officers it's another kettle of fish. I think you need to decide what kind of stories you're doing before you start looking at command structure mechanics.
#5 acheron22 Mar 29, 2009 17:59:40	i've taken your advice and i'm not letting my players take leadership. what i've decided on is a three part campaign. the first part involves standard warfare (World war 2 with a mix of standard medieval warfare). the characters help to conquer a nation. it's pretty straight forward. they know who their enemy is and their enemy knows who they are. the second chapter revolves around a second county that is currently being invaded/subverted by a rival (of the players home country) nation. the problem now is that the invaded country's populace has split between the invader and the liberator. the pc's must find a way to reunify the country and convince or kill the remaining population. this chapter is supposed to raise some moral questions about right and wrong the third chapter centers on the conquering of the malignant nation (the invader from the second chapter). this should be a tough fight. the characters are ordered on a highly unethical mission that should split them from their home nation. they become enemies of both nations and must survive in this hostile environment
#6 stupidmop Mar 29, 2009 18:10:25	Do you have Heroes of Battle? That is probably the best resource you can get for this sort of campaign. For nothing else, it's a great read, and since it is not really geared for any specific edition you can use it no matter which system you plan on going with (it was written for 3e, but I use it for 4e campaigns).