Heroes without borders: sneaking into foreign countries

[RangerWickett]

I've long wondered about something that came up in a modern game I ran. If you want to sneak into a foreign country and have access to a private jet, what do you legally have to do, and what do you have wiggle room with? Like clearly the plane has to log a flight plan, but if you are landing at a private airfield, you could lie about who's on board, and thus avoid passport concerns.

Y'know, if like, for instance, you and your fellow adventurers were framed for a murder, but you really need to get into England to find Excalibur.

Or could you even land at a private airfield if you're coming from overseas?


Feel free to talk about similar situations in normal fantasy settings. How do countries interact with foreign travelers in a medieval style world? In something out of the Arabian Nights? In the Bronze Age Middle East?

 

[AllisterH]

It depends on WHAT country you're trying to fly into.

Flying into Britain? Home of the RADAR and arguably the second best air defense network in the world? NOT A CHANCE (I don't even think American's stealth bombers have been able to get past the network the Brits have in test flights/war games)

Flying into El Salvador? What's this about a flight plan?

As for more ancient kingdoms, it depends on how the borders of the kingdom/nation look.

For example, again using England, it's an island where there aren't that many natural ports so there are choke points that the English could use to maintain knowledge of who was getting into the country.

Similarly, China BUILT the great wall so that they could funnel people into a choke point so even though technically China has a huge border, thanks to the great wall, they had adequate defense versus western invasion (of course, the fact that the East had so many natural ports meant that the japanese pretty much had free rein over invading China.

 

[El Mahdi]

Similarly, China BUILT the great wall so that they could funnel people into a choke point so even though technically China has a huge border, thanks to the great wall, they had adequate defense versus western invasion (of course, the fact that the East had so many natural ports meant that the japanese pretty much had free rein over invading China.

Off topic, but I had to point out that the Great Wall does not defend China's western border. It was built in the north and runs generally east-west in order to defend the northern border from incursions by nomadic barbarian tribes (tribes from what we would today call Mongolia, along with a few other areas, including parts of Siberia). It's a common misrepresentation that it was built to defend against Western Barbarians.

 

[AllisterH]

Off topic, but I had to point out that the Great Wall does not defend China's western border. It was built in the north and runs generally east-west in order to defend the northern border from incursions by nomadic barbarian tribes (tribes from what we would today call Mongolia, along with a few other areas, including parts of Siberia). It's a common misrepresentation that it was built to defend against Western Barbarians.

Thanks, I always see to remember it as running North/South for some reason and people have corrected me before. That'll teach me to use my memory that's going (hey, Ive been around for 10 years now--I'm old as dirt!) when I have wikipedia around

Still, my point I hope still stands. In medieval times, it all depends on how accessible the borders of the country/kingdom are. If the country is protectet by mountain ranges to the north, the sea with only a couple of decent ports in the west and the south and the entry in the east is under a line of barracks/forts, even a small 5 man force will be detected.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Generally speaking, the best way to enter almost any country illegally is by sea. The USA is -probably- an exception to this but you seem to be interested in the UK.

If you are looking at the UK, a small boat from Europe can make it there although I would actually recommend stowing away on a larger vessel (or otherwise having an arrangement with the vessel's master so that you're "not there") and then swimming or, if this is for use in an RPG, using one of those diver's sleds (whatever they are called) to tow you to shore and remember to wear a full wetsuit with SCUBA gear.

Of course, having transport when you arrive is another issue. If an isolated beachside village has a car stolen and there is evidence that someone came ashore then you can almost guarantee that alarms will be raised across the country because of the risks of terrorism.

Departure could be a simple reversal of the process.

First world countries are a big problem but third world and many non-third world Asian countries are much, much easier.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

Double post

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

Small aircraft land at General Aviation fields every day, but they have to be designated international landing points. Some of these airports can be quite small, so there's no need to land at Heathrow, for example.

The pilot must file a flight plan that identifies the tail number, the passenger manifest, the estimated time of arrival, the purpose and duration of stay for each passenger and all the other stuff you need to have when you go through customs. The pilot is supposed to plan the flight so that he arrives during normal office hours for customs.

The pilot is responsible for ensuring that a customs verification teams can meet the plane if they need to. Otherwise, border agents will issue a report number and the pilot is free to disembark the passengers and cargo.

Beyond this, I would leave it up to your imagination how a party might subvert customs and/or convince a pilot to risk his livelihood. Some options might range from special forces methods of sky-diving to enter undetected to forged papers, including manifest and passports.

If I were the GM for this, I would let my players come up with something reasonable and just roll with it.

 

[Umbran]

Y'know, if like, for instance, you and your fellow adventurers were framed for a murder, but you really need to get into England to find Excalibur.

Or could you even land at a private airfield if you're coming from overseas?

I would imagine that sneaking into modern England would be easier by sea than by air. Either stow away on a large vessel, or get a small craft to come near shore, and get a couple zodiacs to take to land...

Feel free to talk about similar situations in normal fantasy settings. How do countries interact with foreign travelers in a medieval style world? In something out of the Arabian Nights? In the Bronze Age Middle East?

In the real Europe, I don't think there was much concern over the travel of most individuals. Traffic was regulated for armies, and for goods that might be taxed. But borders were not, as I recall it, patrolled or controlled to keep John Q Public from going from country A to country B.