Let's Talk About War as a Backdrop to Adventure

[Reynard]

I was listening to a podcast this morning that was covering the post WW1 struggle between Britain and Russia over who got to control Persia/Iran. They talked about the companies trying to secure oil rights, mercenaries, and then other folks doing archaeology etc. It got me thinking about how war makes a good backdrop to a campaign, even (or potentially especially) when the campaign is not actually about soldiers and fighting the war. So i thought it would be fun to talk about.

The Galactic Civil War in Star Wars. The War of the Lance. A couple world wars here on Earth. There are lots of examples of settings and milieus defined by war, and I think those wars offer an interesting twist on adventures without requiring those campaigns be "military" campaigns. Imagine investigating Cthulhu cults in occupied Paris, or hunting for a lost pay caravan in Solamnia. Trying to take advantage of the chaos of war, while staying out of the fight and avoiding trouble with all sides can be great fun.

Have you played in or run campaigns in war zones that were not about the war? What did you do? How did it go?

 

[payn]

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a treasure hunt while the civil war rages on around them.

Have you played in or run campaigns in war zones that were not about the war? What did you do? How did it go?

During a Pirates of Drinax sandbox Traveller campaign, I wrote a scenario about the travellers needing to rescue a noble's son who decided to play mercenary. Two factions are warring over a planet. Traffic is allowed through the system and for neutral parties to bring supplies. Going to the planet though, is another story. The travellers have to find a way down to get the noble kid out of there. Pose as medics? Pose as mercs? There are a lot of options.

Players love it. Feels very special ops spy adventure.

 

[Reynard]

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a treasure hunt while the civil war rages on around them.

During a Pirates of Drinax sandbox Traveller campaign, I wrote a scenario about the travellers needing to rescue a noble's son who decided to play mercenary. Two factions are warring over a planet. Traffic is allowed through the system and for neutral parties to bring supplies. Going to the planet though, is another story. The travellers have to find a way down to get the noble kid out of there. Pose as medics? Pose as mercs? There are a lot of options.

Players love it. Feels very special ops spy adventure.

Very cool. Did they succeed?

 

[aco175]

Star Wars comes to mind. The original one with Han doing his thing and Luke wanting to join the rebellion. Chewie just chilling out. OB1 getting dragged out of retirement. Even Lord of the Rings has this element.

 

[Reynard]

Star Wars comes to mind. The original one with Han doing his thing and Luke wanting to join the rebellion. Chewie just chilling out. OB1 getting dragged out of retirement. Even Lord of the Rings has this element.

Both of those things have dealing with the war as the primary focus of the narratives.

 

[sevenbastard]

I ran a campaign in a low fantasy world version of the 30 year war. Players were not soldiers but mercenary style adventures it was Good, The Bad and the Ugly, or Kelly's Heroes style adventures.

The 100 year war is another good setting with France ravaged by war and plague.

 

[dragoner]

At the signing of the peace treaty of Tau Ceti the prime minister Sato of Earth came dressed as if for a funeral, and when asked she said briefly:

"Weapons are tools of misfortune, war destroys the creativity of people, and where armies onece camped, only nettles grow. Every victory should be mourned as a funeral."

 

[payn]

Very cool. Did they succeed?

I have run it twice. One group decided to get to the planet by posing as medical team. The other posed as mercs signed up for the fight. Both had complications but only the ones that posed as mercs got shot at directly lol. Each group got the noble's kid out of there because he found out playing soldier wasnt very fun.

 

[billd91]

We've done a couple of war campaigns in D&D, but most of the adventuring was done while involved in the war (rescuing important prisoners, assassinating an enemy general, recovering an artifact weapon for our side, etc).

But a couple of Gamehole Cons ago I did play in a one-shot Call of Cthulhu game set during WWII. Specifically, half the table were playing members of the NKVD, the other half British intelligence (plus a Polish officer in exile). The Soviets were dealing with some nasty stuff in Leningrad (during the siege) and we were inserted to help them. A cult was trying to summon Ithaqua amid the chaos of the encircled city and we were the ones who had to figure out what was going on and stop it.
We failed. The weather and climate typical of the Arctic Circle moved south down the globe.