How to begin a war-based campaign?

[Hairfoot]

This may have been addressed, but one way to guide the PCs to greatness is to have them subordinate to an NPC.

Perhaps they are press-ganged into a unit with a tough commander, who notes their skill and promotes them or brings them to the attention of a general.

Or you could have one of the PCs persecuted for a particular reason (religion, race, ethnicity), which would give the PCs a chance to show off their skills (martial and social) in defence of a party member.

 

[ronin]

We just finished up a "war" campaign of sorts and it was alot of fun. Our DM set us up as part of a mercenary organization that had some history behind it. We started the game at level 4 under the premise that we have been training with this organization for the past 2 or 3 years. Classes started out with 100 or so and ended up being around 4 or 5 teams of 4-5 PC/ NPCs each.

The organization was primarily a good one that basically would align itself with countries that were being invaded/ oppressed by another country. We had a home base where we could return to for items, research, info, etc but the organization gave us assigments as they desired. These started out as large battle support but eventually turned into our party becoming a highly specialized strike force assigned to the king and his general of the defending nation in a massive war. It was one of the better campaigns I've been involved in, lots of fun!

 

[3catcircus]

You don't mention whether they are "refugee" civilians or the remnants of a decimated military unit.

Take a cue from the opening scenario from Twilight:2000 - they are remnants of a military unit that has been routed. They are fleeing the battlefield and meet up with other members of their own or allied military units. They can attempt to fight their enemies, join the locale populace, or try and get home.

Even though it was from a modern military game, it'll still work for a medieval game.

Another really cool cue is to take from 1632, the novel (series) by Eric Flint, where local people ally themselves with the time-and-space displaced residents of a W.Va. town that ends up in Thuringia during the Thirty Year's War. The locals are refugees from the mercenaries and armies that pretty much rape, pillage and plunder. If for no other reason than to get a taste of what medieval warfare during this time was like, get this book and read it (the descriptions of a particular mercenary making his camp follower "wife" carry his bedframe from location to location while they march and the description of the handiwork of mercenaries on a local peasant family to discover whether or not they have any valuables really give you a taste of how brutal armies should be.)

 

[DM-Rocco]

So eventually, the world will be rampant with war beneath the surface of the earth and the PCs will be great heroes leading armies to defend the forces of good and preventing the forces of evil from conquering the world below and taking the surface lands at their leisure.

However, at first, they are refugees coming to a large city in hope of something better.

Aaaaand, that's where I'm stuck. How do I go from refugees to recognized leaders? How do I make it interesting instead of someone finding them, seeing that they're better than the others and skilled in combat and use them for minor missions until giving them forces of their own? Heck, I'm completely at a loss atm of what missions would be good to start off...

Any help/ideas/suggestions would be much appreciated!

As part of the hook, if they are refugees coming in from a war torn part of the country, it would be feasible to assume that they would join some sort of resistance force, be it the army or freedom fighters. Then, have thier leader or commander fall in one of the first contacts with the enemy and one or all of the PCs end up saving the day. This gives them instant hero status in the eyes of the resistance and aids then in the future when you set them up later to be heros of the city/country/nation.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

Oh, then this should be a lot of fun. I'll talk about what I did for my last game (which shared a similar theme).

Let's come up with the face of the forces of evil. He/she/it should be maniacal and powerful, but with some pretty understandable motivations alongside his main goal (money, revenge, love, rivalry). For his major underlings, give each one a stance or a variation of his main ideals.

So, say you've got a demon leader who wants to destroy the kingdoms of good that banished him 1000 years ago. Some of his head guys could be a half-demon who wants to break the opressive regime of the good kingdoms that keep his kind down. Another could be a sorcerer who wishes to take power and create a magical utopia and incidentally bring his wife back from the dead. The third could be a demon warrior who just wants to kill everyone-especially the sorcerer-but he's acting as a sort of mentor to his 'little brother' the half-demon.

Next we can come up with some of the forces of good. I'm going to cheat here a little and use what I know about my players to come up with ideas.

So, on the other side we have the descendants of the dwarven paladin who sealed away the demon in the first place. They've got a king protected by a group of holy nights. The big demon wants them dead because of the insult. Also, the king is directly responsible for the death of the sorcerer's wife.

Now, we've got the ruins of the kingdom that's already been blasted to bits. Now, their princess is still alive due entirely to the work of that evil sorcerer, who is actually her brother in law. But this kingdom has been totally wrecked unnecessarally by the half-demon, he used to live there and was nearly killed. He really wants the princess and the remainder of the royal family dead.

Then, we've got the mostly farmer kingdom to the south with their druid/priest leader. The demon warrior and the big demon want to burn it all because it's under the control of a good aligned nature diety they really hate. The demon warrior has a special torture picked out for their leader. The half-demon likes these guys. They're the ones who gave him a chance. He'd like to just convert them if possible, especially the druid/priest, whom he owes his life.

The next step would be a bit of politics in the kingdoms of good. The farmers don't want to give shelter to the refugees because they're going to bring trouble with them. But they'll help any other way. The paladins are willing to help, but need more time to mobilize.

Now, if I was still feeling ambitious, I'd throw in one or two more of the major kingdoms for inspiration. When the players got in, I'd give a little explanation of what was going down, what I wanted out of their characters, and what I just wrote above. Once they started fixing on some stuff, we'd expand that a little bit, but they'd be required to have one very strong connection to one of the NPCs on the list.

From there, the stage, set and tone should flow. The party is assembled, and based off of who they like and dislike, their foes are set and the initial goals are put forth.

 

[Tonguez]

A couple of years ago a whole thread of 'war scenarios' was posted here I kept some and repost them here for your perusla and use

1The PCs live in a village which is attacked by deserters from the war
2 or The PCs village is attacked by enemy forces

3 The PCs surprisingly fend them off, but now have to hunt the survivors (if any).

4 However a messenger runs back to the village warning that the enemy is now regrouping and healing before heading back their way! They must move everyone out, and find a new place, fast!

5.Find the other survivors before the enemy does,
The enemy is scouring the area with war dogs/monsters (IMC I use Velociraptors!!) killing any survivors they find - the PCs may need to fight to save a captured tribesman

6. establish a safe camp (perhaps an old abandoned village site/ancestral cave/ruin)
7. They reach the safe camp only to find it infested with monster X (Vermin, Goblins, OwlBears) which the PCs need to clean out - or find another site

8. defend themselves as they try and survive the enemy occupation and/or
The villagers need to build a camp, fortify the area, collect weapons, hunt and gather food, keep everyone happy (this is the Roleplaying session) - throw in whatever random encounter you like
eg 8a the few remaining pigs the tribe has are going missing - it is discovered that they are being stolen by monster Y that lives under the new camp or

8b The camp's food source goes (Maybe an accidental fire), PCs must find a new source of food (Perhaps even hunting down monsters to eat).

9. recapture their home village
The tribesman are trained and the PCs ready to make an attack against the invaders and drive them out.

Other Missions
Steal the Enemy god (Major Artifact giving +5 Morale Bonus to their attacks) - PCs need to sneak into the enemy camp and steal/destroy the artifact

Release the Prisoners - Enemy has capture a VIP, the PCs go in and rescue him (imc the VIP was an old man and now crippled. He asked the PCs to kill him instead - very tragic)

Defend the Pass - PCs and a band of 100 warriors sent to fortify and defend the Mountain Pass

Call out the Champions

Peace Negotiations - (Non-combat) PCs are members of the delegation meeting with the enemy forces to make call a truce

The shaman or a PC (His apprentice?) recieves some visions; first, that their forces are dieing/going to die. The second reveals the whereabouts of some item/weapon/whatever which must be retrieved, then gotten into the hands of the most able warrior of the tribe (This weapon one of the PCs could eventually inherit, when they become powerful enough to be considered the highest level member of the party). It's guarded by traps, and perhaps some puzzles.

The refugees, still depending on the PCs, are approached by new inhabitants of the area, an enemy to their enemy, or to some whom they have had skirmishes in the past. The PCs then become the spokesmen, trying to negotiate trading terms, or perhaps have these new 'allies' help their tribe defeat the enemy

One of the females gives birth to a child that is half fiend, tiefling (Whatever race they happen to be), half-dragon, or somesuch. The Shaman could leave what to do about the child up to the PCs, as a test of their character, or they may need to negotiate what to do about it.

The Pcs now have to figure out Why the female gave birth to a 'tainted' baby. Is there such a creature in the hills? Some dirty secret of the tribe?

The PCs, as further bastions of the war effort, look to make deals with a monster near by, convincing it to help them (Mr. Ettin, if you go to the front lines, we'll give you a goat every month).

Monsters. Just monsters. Maybe some stirges are building a nest nearby (it's breeding season), or something similar with giant ants.