Military Themed Campaign Advice?

[reiella]

I'm considering running a military/mission themed campaign soonish, and I'm just curious about others who have done so and their experiences.

I've already gotten a suggestion in that writing up a Code of Conduct beforehand is a Good Idea.

My world is a bit high magic, but in terms of actual spellcasters in the group. Initially I'm leaning towards no arcane, as the military in question usually 'pays to train' (I'm thinking comparative to the ROTC programs we have now)aspiring warwizards with the near omni-prevalent wizard's guild. Cleric-wise could work, although, it would most likly be limited to a very stringent subset of the deities (almost certainly one of the War domain holders). And most likly, the cleric would have to 'go through' the same base-level of training as the rest of the group (above and beyond their own church training).

The nation isn't 'heavily magically inclined', it's a simple dynasty state that's been ruled well, so the people like it, so it won't have 'glass ceilings' for any lack of magical talent (divine or arcane).

In the past 50 or so years, the only actual warfare that came about was when chromatic dragons attacked pretty much everyone, so the military serves more as a 'police-force' and 'self-defense force' from the Nasties that want to kill everyone normally.

 

[Kazuel]

If your world is high in magic, don't limit the group to no arcane. The military does not send in groups unprepared. To be effective, you need to maximize for group dynamics. Specialization is the way to go. I'm not sure how many players you have but a group of five, your going to want something like this.

Fighter or Barbarian
Rogue
Wizard or Sorceror
Cleric or Druid
Archer Ranger or Archer Fighter

Each person needs a clearly defined role and must be good at that role. Also, in the PC group, leadership is paramount. Everyone's imput is important, but a clear chain of command would go along way. I'd also make hide and sneak a class skill of everyone involved. Either read some books on military tactics or play Ghost Recon or SOCOM.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ingram]

You may want to nail down the military motive for the group. Are they scouts? Part of a main body of troops? Who has the right to give them orders, and what is the chain of command? Are there unit morale issues? Are the players involved in military politics (believe me, this is a major aspect of military life...)? What kind of penalties are there for breaking a code of conduct?

M.P. types would be involved in tracking down those that had broken the code. Engineers would be interested in local resources. Merc's want to loot towns and baggage trains...etc etc.

Are there women in the front line forces? Are other races permitted / required to hold certain positions?

Sounds like fun, keep posting.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Mercenaries (AEG) and Battle Magic (Mongoose) might be of interest to you.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Complete Warrior has suggestions for running military/mercenary campaigns, complete with tables for randomly generating missions that the PCs could be sent out on. It also has a section that describes how magic would effect the battlefield in a war. Pretty interesting stuff.

 

[reiella]

You may want to nail down the military motive for the group. Are they scouts? Part of a main body of troops? Who has the right to give them orders, and what is the chain of command? Are there unit morale issues? Are the players involved in military politics (believe me, this is a major aspect of military life...)? What kind of penalties are there for breaking a code of conduct?

M.P. types would be involved in tracking down those that had broken the code. Engineers would be interested in local resources. Merc's want to loot towns and baggage trains...etc etc.

Are there women in the front line forces? Are other races permitted / required to hold certain positions?

Sounds like fun, keep posting.

I'm thinking more of a General Irregular/Situational Operations group. They would be part of a 'larger' group of troops, but the majority of the game will be irregular operations and not involving more than their 'small unit'.

Military Politics will probably come up, although alot of that depends on how much I want to emulate the promotion system/regulations .

I was initially planning on most of the group being enlisted, but I'm a bit flexible on that.

Most likly, penalties for breach of Code of Conduct would be primarily Pay Deductions, Demotion, and possible Discharge (would should result in the pc being effectively retired, imo). And of course, it would go on their record for any promotion consideration.

There would women allowed in front lines, and any race could join (although it is primarily human). I don't plan to empose a glass ceiling for any such groups however, it'd bit but isn't my idea of fun.

I guess as a group general goal, it'd be closer to Mercenery (Multi-task/Multi-goal).

Some of the tasks/goals I had intended to run the group through were escort duty, small town problem-solving (ie, in town, something has been attacking livestock, resolve), surgical strike, and retrieval (people, items, etc).
And yea, I know a couple of the tasks are rather 'bad' jobs.

I'm considering using the Irregular/Situational Operation groups in the world as more of a task situated to handle 'fringe' region troubles.

 

[Theocrat]

Stroun Military Campaign

Hi all-
I too am planning on running a Military Campaign. I've been in the planning stages for a bit, and then after last nights game I'm stepping it up immediately. I have AEG Empire for the Mass Combat rules that I'll be using, Eden's Field of Blood (haven't read it enough to use for this games mass combat), Complete Warrior, Minitures HB and others.
I'm having all the players be members of the military by them being required to take a level of Soldier (modified Legionnie from AEG Merc), at 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, etc. This is to represent the military training, handle their promotions, and other military training. If wiz/sor's want I'll let them take a level of Warmage and not Soldier.
I too am planing on having them be 'special ops.' This seems like the easiest route. Many of the options can come from CW as it has several idea generators in the back. AD&D 2e Combat & Tactics might have some ideas as well - but I've forgoten - and will have to check as well.

I'm not certain why the code of conduct is really needed? Are you thinking that they won't or will do something wrong?

I'm hoping to see more on this!

 

[reiella]

I'm not certain why the code of conduct is really needed? Are you thinking that they won't or will do something wrong?

Well, the reason I have for a Code of Conduct is two fold (at least to me initially). Firstly, to enforce the military climate/environment. And secondly, to be fair in the same way that the 'standard of conduct' should be understood between DM and Player for a Paladin.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

A basic rule of military discipline is: "Do whatever a superior officer tells you or else."

The average party being an unruly lot, they will likely initially having a hard time swallowing that, but it's a good idea to reinforce that from the start. Disobeying a superior officer is mutiny or insubordination, and historically was usually a hanging offence. Let them witness an NPC get hanged for this, and it will help them get in the mood...

If you use historical armies as a model, they will have an officer as a superior. This is usually a noble who has bought his commission. Note that actual competence is entirely optional - especially since there wasn't any real war in the last 50 years. You might want to pick a PC as the officer, but it's probably more fun to use a green leutnant as an NPC who gives out all sorts of ill thought out commands.

The trick for the PCs here is to give him all sorts of sensible suggestions on how to proceed - while making him think that they were his own ideas in the first place. Let them watch him get promoted for his "heroic deeds" while they do the hard work...

After this, you have the non-commissioned officers - these are ordinary (non-noble) troopers who have been promoted for competence. These include seargeants and corporals. Make sure you pick a player for this role who has displayed leadership qualities at the gaming table at the past. Some basic diplomacy and skill in "officer handling" is very useful here, too - they want simple, straightforward commands from their officers, like "take that hill", that allow them to work out the details themselves. This is a good thing - they are usually far more competent at tactics than junior officers (and many senior officers, too!). What a seargeant dreads the most is an officer who can't make up his mind!

Below that you have the rank-and-file soldiers, usually privates. They fight to survive and protect the life of their buddies. They aren't supposed to worry about the bigger picture - just do what they are told.

You might want to give clerics, wizards, and other people with extraordinary powers special ranks to show their status - "chaplain" for clerics, "specialists" or "warmage" for wizards and sorcerers, and so on. They are still supposed to do what a superior officer tells them, but a good officer listens to things that they know a lot about (a bad officer, naturally, ignores everything they say). Oh, and they usually get paid more, too...

Incidentally, you might want to buy the latest Discworld novel, "Monstrous Regiment", which offers you some great insights into historical military life!

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I'm not certain why the code of conduct is really needed? Are you thinking that they won't or will do something wrong?

What, do you think they won't?

PCs tend to be an unruly lot - just like most military recruits throughout history (being young and away from home for the first time...). Holding military law in their face might be the best way for them to learn to behave...

Incidentally, I just thought about something for my last post - if the chaplain is a member of a well-established and highly respected religion, you might allow him to remove the officer from duty on reason of insanity. Or you might not. And even if you do, the chaplain had better have a damn good reason for it.

(In modern times, the senior medical officers can sometimes do that - and clerics are probably the closest equivalent in D&D...)