Non-occult missions in a time of revolution

So my Zweihander group wants a Flames of Freedom campaign next. I've fixed the weapons, cleaned up the historical errors, came up with my own occult issues (I never use material that the players get with the core rules), dumped the secret societies, and gathered scores of occult scenarios. The PCs will not be using magic.

What I'm looking is for non-occult missions. There's a dearth of period scenarios. The PCs will be bounty-men, basically mercenaries collecting pay for specific tasks; I'm thinking that such missions should be more inland, as occult missions usually involve urban settings. I'm re-watching Turn, which might help a little.

But I'm not coming up with much in the way of non-occult scenarios other than the tired 'hunt bandits, deal with wild animals' which are done to death. Any ideas?
 

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MGibster

Legend
Most authorities aren't so keen on people avoiding paying their taxes. So how about a group of smugglers operating in a remote area? It's been really hard catching these smugglers because they're so darned popular with the locals. Even some of the local government officials are being bribed into looking the other way. Since the central government can't count on local authorities to take care of the problem, enter the PCs. Once the smugglers/locals know what the PCs are up to, maybe they'll try to bribe the PCs?

How about a dispute between two minor lords or a piece of territory that has changed hands between the two families during the last few centuries. The PCs are sent to find definitive proof of which family owns the property to hopefully put an end to the petty squabbling. The PCs will be able to play kingmaker here.

The PCs have been tasked with protecting a very unpopular tax collector as he plies his trade in a district that has been hit hard by famine and hardship. The tax collection is determined to meet his goals but you can't get blood from a turnip.
 

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow
Colonist want to move in on a newly liberated piece of land, only problem is that the land is already being resettled by native allies.- PCs need to make a choice
 

Emirikol

Adventurer
I'd recommend gaining inspiration from the 1e TOP SECRET missions list and adapt to Flames of Freedom /Colonial Gothic.
For additional ideas, randomly roll a few skills and careers/professions/THREATS and improvise ideas.
Lastly, pick an actual event or personage or two from the era you are going to run your game and sprinkle that in as backdrop.
Example:
Random Location:
Sleepy Hollow/Hudson River, 1776
Random Skill Test Ideas: (d20), Skullduggery, Interrogation
Random Threat Inspiration: Timber Wolf, Tax Collector
Mission Idea: (53): "Passing Secret Information: discovering and relaying the data obtained from penetration of a group. Information obtained must be heretofore undiscovered. It may be verbal or material."
Random Historical Person: Phillis Wheatley (Black Poet): During the Revolutionary War, Wheatley composed a poem for George Washington in which she wrote: "One century scarce perform'd its destined round/ When Gallic powers Columbia's fury found; And so may you, whoever dares disgrace/ The land of freedom's heaven-defended race!”

Put some ideas together on who the message needs to go to, how it will get there, what obstacles are in the way, etc.


77​
DEFINITION OF AGENT MISSIONS
1​
Assassination-The elimination of a human target from the scene by reducing the target's life level to zero. An ultra-clean assassination uses only one blow or shot; a clean assassination uses more than one blow or shot.; and a messy assassination describes the event when harm or death results to characters besides the target.
2​
Mugging-To injure or harm a human target by reducing its Life Level. A clean mugging reduces the target's life; but does not kill the target; a messy mugging is when target is killed or non-target characters are harmed or killed during the mugging.
3​
Defection Protection-The transporting of a human target from one location to a destination without the target being assassinated, being captured by adversaries, or escaping/disappearing.
4​
Blackmail-To threaten a human target with public exposure or criminal prosecution for the purpose of gaining payment. The agent must first place the target in a potentially incriminating situation and then threaten to expose with pictures, stolen objects, recordings, etc.
5​
Extortion-To obtain something from a human target by force or by some means of illegal ingenuity. Blackmail or mugging tactics can be used.
6​
Kidnapping-To capture and hold a human target until a ransom is paid
7​
Arson-To burn a structure or vehicle.
8​
Bombing-To use an explosive against a structure or vehicle; or. incidentally. as a means of assassination.
9​
Prison Break-In-To enter a prison to either rescue or eliminate a human target within,
10​
Jail Break-In-The same as a prison break-in, except that it occurs at a Jail rather than a prison.
11​
Rescue-To remove, without assassination, a human target from his place of captivity to somewhere else (excluding jails or prisons).
12​
Hijacking-To steal a vehicle in order to loot its cargo.
13​
Sky jacking-To force an air vehicle to land someplace other than its intended destination.
14​
Piracy-To steal a water vehicle or to steal from one; in the looser sense of the definition, most crimes on the high seas can be considered as piracy.
15​
Transportation of Goods-To transport an object target from a given location to a destination.
16​
Stealing-To remove an object target from its location.
17​
Clean stealing is done Without the assassination or mugging of someone; messy stealing involves theft where someone is harmed or killed.
18​
Use of Counterfeit Money-To give to someone counterfeit currency or to replace authentic currency with counterfeit currency in some manner, usually through buying or depositing it in a bank.
19​
Breaking and Entering-The act of breaking open and entering a locked/secured structure or vehicle.
20​
Desensitizing Alarms: to render any or all warning devices inoperative.
21​
Lying by Assignment-To tell specific falsehoods to a chosen human target.
22​
Tailing -To follow or keep watch on a human target no matter where they go over a series of moves.
23​
Surveillance-To stake out a specific location and watch for selected human or object targets.
24​
Communication: To send or deliver a message to a selected human target.
25​
Full Investigation: to collect all the possible information about a selected human target by tailing surveillance. and by using contacts.
26​
Collecting Data: Recording the events of a mission and all the agent finds out.
27​
Lab work: use of scientific or technological means to get information.
28​
Freeze/destroy accounts or Counterfeiting to produce illegitimate currency or cryptocurrency for gain or to undermine a person or organization.
29​
Selling-To give a specific good or service in return for monetary payment.
30​
Elimination of Target-To eliminate by any means necessary.
31​
Harming-To mug, wound, gas, or forcibly direct harm on any target.
32​
Appraising: calculating the value of an object or job.
33​
Setting Prices: calculating the price of an object or job that has been appraised. A usual price is the value of the item or job plus profit.
34​
Accounting: keeping track of all the monetary records of an agent or agency.
35​
Collecting Data: recording the events of a mission and all that the agent finds out.
36​
Sentencing: serving as a judge in the field, outside a court law.
37​
Executing: enforcing or carrying out a sentence in the field.
38​
Assigning: directing an agent to perform a specific job or task.
39​
Selling: giving a specific good or service in return for monetary payment.
40​
Contracting: making deals between parties, especially for assassination.
41​
Counterfeiting: copying item(s), with the intent to cheat someone or organization out of property or money.
42​
Forging: producing an item, not necessarily a copy, to deceive for unfair or unlawful gain.
43​
Estimating Costs: calculating the approximate amount paid or required in payment for a purchase.
44​
Estimating Job Time: calculating the approximate amount of time a job took or will take to perform.
45​
Manufacturing: inventing and/or producing a finished item, usually by an industrial method. It can also mean to make by hand.
46​
Analyzing: separating, for examination and interpretation, a whole item, compound, or problem into its component parts. To state the results of such a study is also part of the analysis.
47​
Duplicating: making an identical copy of an original item or performing an identical function. Duplication is not intended to defraud as counterfeiting is.
48​
Sabotaging Industry: deliberately damaging property or spoiling a process so that productivity is obstructed or functioning is abnormal.
49​
Infiltrating: entering or joining a group or order to better understand it or discover its true objectives and aims. Foreign agency group infiltration pertains to organizations of a hostile or non-hostile government, whether of police, espionage, governmental, or other function.
50​
Infiltrating: entering or joining a group or order to better understand it or discover its true objectives and aims. Political group infiltration pertains to foreign or domestic political organizations, activist groups, terrorist groups, and extremist/elitist groups and includes political-religious and religious cults.
51​
Infiltrating: entering or joining a group or order to better understand it or discover its true objectives and aims. Criminal group infiltration applies to organized crime associations, smuggling rings, and criminal "brotherhoods," highly organized gangs, etc. Student group infiltration pertains to organizations of politically active foreign or domestic college or university students (and often faculty) involved in subversive or anti-establishment activity, terrorism, etc.
52​
Infiltrating: entering or joining a group or order to better understand it or discover its true objectives and aims. Street gang infiltration applies to the penetration of a large, organized urban gang young persons (possibly with adult leadership) involved in drug dealing, killing, extortion, and other criminal activities.
53​
Passing Secret Information: discovering and relaying the d data obtained from penetration of a group. Information obtained must be heretofore undiscovered. It may be verbal or material. Transmission may be by telephone, radio, written message, etc.
54​
Identifying Group Leaders: discovering and relaying, by message or in person, the principal leaders of a group. These identities must have been previously unknown or suspected, and data must be detailed. It should include photographs or sketches, descriptions, names, background information, and so forth, as appropriate.
55​
Revealing Secret Plans: transmitting, by any means, plans an important nature which the penetrated group wishes to keep secret, and by so doing either preventing the successful fulfillment of the plans or revealing the true nature the group, or both.
56​
Disabling Major Group Function: destroying individuals or equipment physically, mentally, or otherwise, or making some important plan, purpose, aim, or goal of the penetrated group known, so as to result in the group being incapable adequately functioning in the area for a period time commensurate with the overall nature the group. Disablement must be for some very important purpose or for a period of time not less than one month.
57​
Subverting a Group: altering the infiltrated group by the agent's presence so as to make it much less dangerous, change its purposes to more acceptable areas, or actually become a tool of the agent's masters.
58​
Destroying a Group: causing the infiltrated group to disband, fall apart due to discord or pressure, be broken up by government, police, or public activity, or to physically disable it by destroying individuals and/or material objects. Destruction should be permanent, although a similar group under a different name or identity might thereafter be formed. Revealing information can lead to destruction of a group.
59​
Protecting (Body Guard): preventing or reducing loss of life of a human target. The prevention of assassination, mugging, or kidnapping of a human target is a bodyguard's job. The human target is to be kept from harm and injury.
60​
Protecting from Blackmail: guarding a human target from public exposure or criminal prosecution for the purpose of gaining payment.
61​
Protecting from Extortion: guarding a human target from giving something up by force or by some means illegal activity.
62​
Guard Duty: preventing an object target from harm or loss. Arson, bombing, theft, and illegal entry are to be prevented when an agent is on guard duty.
63​
Prison Escape: escaping from inside a prison, alone or with others. A prison breakout can occur simultaneously with a prison break-in.
64​
Jail Escape: escaping from inside a jail, alone or with others. A jail breakout can occur simultaneously with a jail break-in.
65​
Preventing Rescue: guarding a human target from being removed, without assassination, from a place captivity to somewhere else (excluding jail or prison) .
66​
Preventing Hijack: guarding a vehicle and its cargo from being stolen.
67​
Preventing Skyjack: guarding an air vehicle from being forced to land someplace other than its intended destination.
68​
Preventing Piracy: guarding a water vehicle from being stolen or stolen from. Also, guarding against any crime on the high seas can be considered preventing piracy.
69​
Locating Stolen Goods: finding illegally taken object targets by searching for them.
70​
Detecting/Tracing Counterfeit Currency: discovering and following the trail of copied money to its source.
71​
Installing Alarms: setting in place a warning device and adjusting/testing it for use.
72​
Losing Shadow: ridding oneself or another human target who has been followed and kept watch no matter where oneself or another has gone.
73​
Evading Surveillance: cleverly escaping or avoiding a stakeout at a specific location where human targets have been watching for selected human or object targets.
74​
Preventing Communication: keeping a message from being sent or delivered to a selected human target .
75​
Preventing Full Investigation: keeping one or more human targets from collecting all the possible information about a selected human target by tailing, surveillance, and using contacts.
76​
CLASSIFIED
77​
CLASSIFIED
 
Last edited:


Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator
Staff member
Supporter
How about running a gauntlet? We all know the basic form: PCs have to get from point A to Point B without getting killed. Yes, you've seen it before- The Warriors, Judgement Night, The Naked Prey, Surviving The Game, LotR, Escape from New York. Pheidippides’ run from the battle of Marathon.

It’s a versatile scenario I’ve run in multiple ways. Twice, I’ve used it to form a party in the first session of a campaign. Once, I had a party as caravan escorts delivering a princess to an arranged marriage that would end a war…and not only were there hostile forces tacking them, there was an assassin in their midst.

I had a variant on that princess scenario in which the party were escorting a diplomat on a mission to fend off a war, but the airship was attacked and crashed in a hostile wilderness. The diplomat was seriously injured, then succumbed to his wounds. The party’s job was then to somehow complete the diplomatic mission- delivering the message and treasure to the other ruler in time. Across hundreds of miles of mountainous, forested terrain, beset by enemies an wild creatures. (Game group folded before I could run it due to RW drama.)
 


I had a variant on that princess scenario in which the party were escorting a diplomat on a mission to fend off a war, but the airship was attacked and crashed in a hostile wilderness. The diplomat was seriously injured, then succumbed to his wounds. The party’s job was then to somehow complete the diplomatic mission- delivering the message and treasure to the other ruler in time. Across hundreds of miles of mountainous, forested terrain, beset by enemies an wild creatures. (Game group folded before I could run it due to RW drama.)

I can just hear my group. 'Boys, it's a long hard journey to deliver this treasure, filled with peril and danger. On the other hand, there's a brothel sixteen miles in the other direction..."
 

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