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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 57386" data-attributes="member: 812">The behaviour of an army can depend not only on the professionalism of the army but also the causes of the war in the first place. A simple war of conquest may not stir up the kinds of emotions that a war of racial or cultural retribution, such as what happened in Rwanda or Bosnia recently.But any war is a terrifying experience that traumatizes those who go through it, victims and soldiers alike. Len Deighton has a great comment in his novel Bomber: "In war, there are no victors or losers. There are only those who die and those who survive." Or as Glen Cook puts it: "Soldiers live. And wonder why."As Humanophile notes, soldiers aren't Good People. I would instead say that it's very difficult to be a Good Person when you spend your life surrounded by horror and suffering. Armies in my campaigns are filled with a variety of people, some who try to do the Right Thing and some who revel in the freedom to injure.But I do try to lay bare the consequences of what happens -- both at a national and a personal level. I find a good way to personalize these horrors is through family -- my PCs often run across family groups where conflict has torn them apart -- even if they're on the same side the pain they've gone through has broken down a lot of the bonds that would normally be there.In one incident, the party met with a rebel leader whose daughter had been kidnapped by occupying troops. The PCs rescued her and the rest of the captives (and annihilated the occupation company) -- but she'd been raped by her captors and her father cast her out of the family because of her dishonour. Now she works for the intelligence arm of the occupying power, and has served up her own father to their agents.People rarely behave rationally, even less so when their surroundings have become unstable and frightening. They try to punish themselves for their perceived misdeeds, they strike out at those they care about most and they cannot allow themselves happiness.I'm rambling. War sucks, anyway. But it does make for great stories.</blockquote>

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