Underground Resistance Campaign

[khantroll]

My group is about to start a new Pathfinder campaign, and the setting will be an underground resistance. In a way, I'm striving for Nazi Germany meets Sonic SatAM. I'm posting this thread, basically wondering the following:

1.) Has anyone here run something like this before? What was it like?

2.) If so, any tips?

3.) Can anybody think of any modules that are similar, or could be worked in? Espionage, guerilla warfare, anything that might work against that backdrop is a fine solution. I'll homebrew it if I have to, but I don't really want to (I'm with maps).

I've already worked out adapting the Crown of Shadows from Midnight, but all the other adventures for Midnight are really more about Heroes Vs. the Shadow.

Thanks in advance for any input anyone has.

 

[Grogg of the North]

How much magic is in the world? Because you'll run into the problem of divination magic. If the resistance poses a threat, why hasn't The State just divined where they are and blast them with hellfire? If the resistance isn't worth the effort, then you can run into having your players become demotivated.

That was a problem the group I'm in ran into not too long ago. There was a mageocracy and the only resistance group we were able to link up with was small and spent most of their time hiding in a temple that stopped their divinations. When we realized that restoring the kingdom to its former glory rested squarely on our PCs shoulders, without any kind of support, we quickly became disheartened and started contemplating fleeing across the sea and starting our lives over in a new land.

That isn't to say it can't be done. You just have to be careful with how its presented. The choices and actions the PCs take must be important if they're going to feel empowered. They don't have to be all powerful, just let them feel like their actions are making some kind of impact.

Also, if they're resistance fighters just keep in the back of your head that your players may choose death over defeat, blindly ignoring an obvious alternative or escape. If the PCs feel like they're backed into a corner they may get ready for a doomed last stand leaving you the choice of either introducing new characters or coming up with an implausible way for them to survive.

I hope this helps.

 

[khantroll]

Thanks, Grogg. As much as I hate to admit it, I hadn't even thought about divination magic later on. At the beginning, The State isn't going to care too much (who would, first level characters and all), but a little while later...yeah, I'll have to come up with an excuse for that.

I figure in the beginning, they'll have missions that will be useful to the resistance, but won't be all that direct. Courier service, guard duty, etc. Later on, the adventures will revolve more around direct confrontation with The State's forces, such as defending resistance strong hold, getting supplies to blockaded areas, and assaulting enemy outposts. At the end, they'll have to find a way to take the fight to the enemy leaders.

Support will be available, but tightly controlled. All along the way, they'll have the opportunity to draw beings to their cause, but most of these creatures will only be able to help in some round about way.

The point of this is, in a way, to teach them to run. When I picture this in my head, I'm seeing a sort of running gun battle, where perhaps even at the mid level, the State knows who they are and they become targets, forcing them to run.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Well, one way to get around the divination is for the underground to be literally underground. Lots of rock or some obscure mineral disrupts magic or something like that. It happens in Star Trek with their sensors often enough.

What do you mean by running gun battle? The party will be forced to change bases often? Kinda like the rebel alliance in Star Wars?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Divination magic can easily be "blocked" by other gods, holy sites and items, sure not all the time but enough. Another simple fix, a mask, a cloak... You just have to make sure your logic on why divination magic can't help is know to your players, for the first time they fail to get a blessing, is the time something can go wrong.

Other reason for a resistance to work, those in power are too power hungry. Sure henchman 3 has been given the task of killing the resistance but how does henchman 2 feel about that? Think about structure of your "villain" group; Air Core vs Army vs SS vs Civilian government vs Church vs etc.

Targets! Is it just the killing of the "villains", destroying supplies, writing stuff on walls, getting people out of the country, etc. Have a list of targets your players can pick from, it makes them part of the world.

Also, think abut "down time", what rumors and gossip is going around that the players can pickup. You may want to create a flow chart here; players hear a rumor, do they confirm it (yes or no), do they background check it (yes or no), do they find clues (yes or no), do they follow-up on clues (yes or no), is this a trap (yes or no)...Hogan had people on the inside and always verified!

 

[khantroll]

Grogg: Yes, sort of like the Rebel Alliance. It's similar in that the PCs won't have a permanently safe base, and that the enemy has significantly better firepower and equipment. The difference is that it won't be a vacuum; at later parts of the story, they will have to deal with outside influences (both pro and con).

Hand: I've been working something similar to the idea of the government working against itself. From glory-hound soldiers to including a rogue general who wants to improve his station at the expense of the other generals.

Their first mission is going to be simple courier duty; basically, just to get them into the swing of things. I'm thinking that the next one will be to smuggle a resistance doctor out of one of the cities. After that, we'll switch gears and do a little sandboxing with the objective being that they convince The State that one of its regents has turned. At this point, should be about level 6 or 7, the State will try to mount a serious counter, which will be foiled by the aforementioned general meddling.

That's about what I've go so far, except for the basic "The resistance needs x, so you go to y".

How about biological warfare? Get the formerly escape doctor back into the lion's maw in order to cure a disease without getting caught?

 

[Grogg of the North]

As the PCs level up, you may be able to give them more control over the resistance and let them have more control over what they do. So after they survive the first few counters from the State, maybe they get promoted and are in charge of their own cell or even more!

Complete Warrior, if you have it, has some good advice on having PCs work with an army. Its definitily worth checking out.

 

[Wild Gazebo]

I love this type of campaign.

Years ago I had a renegade demon take over a large city. He then started shipping in more demons until the city was completely overrun. Enslaving the populous to build a huge obsidian tower, he was trying to move the entire city to hell through a massive magical construct.

My PCs were a mid to high level hiding in the sewers and underground trying to destroy the tower and kill as many of the demons as possible. It was a load of fun.

This can definitely work. Things to consider:

• The power and availability of divinations
• Make sure the PCs are self motivated
• The scope of the PCs resources and allies
• Making it clear how powerful encounters are

One of my biggest challenges was creating encounters that were well above the PCs challenge rating that were susceptible to guerrilla tactics or partial accomplishments. Many times I had to flat out tell them they were nearing a suicidal situation...as it wore on I got better at descriptions and shorthand.

One of the main things to consider in planning is allies. Are the PCs able to collect allies for their cause? If not, why not. One of the first things my PCs did was trying to conscript an army for their cause: this can be handled easily if they are already part of a bigger organization. That way many of there missions can be already planned out and organized for a bigger goal orchestrated by a leader.

Have fun with it!

 

[khantroll]

Sorry it's taken me to so long to get back to this thread, but I was going over Complete Warrior and making notes, as well as planning out my order of adventures.

WG: Divinations are surprisingly rare in our games anyway, and the State is devoting most of what it has to research (in vein of Nazi Occult experiments) and looking for a missing high ranking official.

Great minds think alike; they will be working for a resistance network, headed (in the beginning) by an Elven General and supported (covertly) by his government. The possibility of them raising an army Bolshevik-style is further sabotaged by the fact that, in this kingdom, the system works. The people are protected (from outside forces), trade is good, etc. The only problem is that it's a dictatorship, where you live, die, and suffer at the whim of the king.

In my group, we do a build night, which is a session dedicated entirely to PC building. During the one for this campaign, I did my best to stress that if they try to fight like adventurers instead of guerrilla forces, they WILL die. I think the first encounter (a squad of first level gnomish fighters with an iron golem in tow against 1st level pcs) will illustrate that point as well.

Like you say, if they can escape the golem and beat the patrol, then encounter completed. If they go toe to toe against the golem...well, as they say in Kodt, character sheets are cheap.

You give me hope though, because I've been worried about the usability of this premise past level 10.

By my figuring, the courier mission should take them to 3-5, then the doctor. Either before or after that, they'll do a prison break where either way, they're going to have a setback (I'm leery of details; one of my players strolls through here on occasion). Then, they'll be try to throw the government off by making it seem like one of the high ranking officials is a traitor, but that will backfire. I've also adapted Hour of the Knife into an adventure for this setting, replacing the Doppelgangers on one side with a resistance cell member gone rogue and State agents on the other. This will set them up for the first actual fight with upper level members of the State (think SS), and then into higher level play.

Sound like fun?

 

[Morrus]

:

1.) Has anyone here run something like this before? What was it like?

Indeed. We even published an entire adventure path based on that concept! Check out War of the Burning Sky!