PC's starting game as outlaws -- any ideas?

[lingshu8]

I'm toying with an idea for a new RPG campaign where all of the PCs start as outlaws. Not necessarily bad guys -- perhaps they were framed by corrupt officials, or killed someone in self-defense or in defense of another, or they were soldiers who refused orders to massacre civilians, etc, etc. I'll let the players decide their own backstories. The only restriction will be that they begin the game on the wrong side of the law. Once they are in the game sandbox, they will be free to remain outlaws, or try to clear their name, or seek amnesty (and risk betrayal and death from corrupt officials), or whatever.

Right from the beginning, the characters can't just swagger into the local tavern. They have to travel in disguise, lay low, work through contact networks, etc.

So has anyone ever run a game like this? Any suggestions on how to play it? Are there any published games/adventures that follow kind of setup? I guess the various Robin Hood RPGs (Fantasy Hero, Lionheart, GURPS Robin Hood) are obvious examples.

 

[aco175]

Sounds a lot like Robin Hood. Characters could be good guys in a bad system. Some villages could even harbor them for a while if the king's guards only come through every few days or something. An isolated inn near the outskirts could be a secret meeting place for the underground.

Some side adventures can be to clear out the mines that are now used for a secret base. An old windmill or wizard tower has a ghost or such preventing the group from using that building as a good lookout. Prison break could include some of the helpful npcs that the party may like or need. The always good time of busting into the castle to free them right before the hangman's noose tightens is cool.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sounds like a heck of a fun set-up, if tough on resource-intensive characters like wizards.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Lots of potential for fun!

You may have a problem with inter-party conflict if alignments differ! Especially when it comes to target selection. Good guys who were framed (or whatever) may wish to limit their raids to the forces they oppose, while those without such moral foibles may not be so picky. Depending on how you evaluate your own DMing skills, you may wish to impose alignment restrictions. If you can handle it, though, you may have some real dramatic potential.

Maintaining supplies for many classes besides the Wizards will be key. If they can't make it or forage for it, they'll have to buy or steal it.

 

[Stormonu]

Sounds somewhat like an A-team sort of set-up . Star Wars (as rebels or wanted smugglers ala Han Solo) could also be used for ideas, as could Robin Hood, as others suggested.

I've run this sort of campaign before (as a robin-hood-esque campaign) and been in such a campaign before (being mistaken for a band of notorious pirates), and I will say that I found it helpful not to overtly involve "the law" until about 5th level.

This meant that at 1st-4th level, there was always the background threat of the law taking an interest in them if they did something overt (walk into the local Sheriff's office, rob a bank, etc.), but for the most part the characters could concentrate on whatever adventure was currently underway.

However, from 5th level onward, the law took an interest in them; it started with guards recognizing them and attempting to take them in during downtime, to a semi-competent bounty hunter or two confronting them when their guard was down, and evolved into a determined law official who'd taken a special interest in bringing them in, so the characters would want to beat a hasty retreat at his appearance (as generally they were already spent on resources when he'd catch up to them). In the latter game I played in, the "law" caught us and made us work for them to pay off our debt to society.

Of course, if the characters are otherwise innocent, you also can have the evolving metaplot of them trying to clear their names.

 

[S'mon]

It will feel very different if the group start with a unified backstory, A-Team style, compared to if they are a ragtag band thrown together by circumstance, Blake's-7 style. The malevolence or benevolence of Authority will also have a big impact on play, from the Rule-of-Law USA in A-Team to the totalitarian dystopia of Blake's 7. Some tropes remain consistent though, eg the obsessed 'professional' who hunts the PCs, the Colonel Decker/Travis figure. To be a continuing character the 'professional' needs to be mostly kept off-screen and accompanied by overwhelming force when he does appear. It's not necessary that he be personally very powerful in the Darth Vader style, though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Good breakdown.

 

[Wycen]

Although we officially haven't ended the campaign, we recently came to a point where continuing a Warhammer 40k game would require either a vote or some sort of adoption of a common goal for the group. We escaped from the Inquisition for having alien tech in our possession, but in the process our ship is very nearly shot to hell.

From my point of view which I will reveal to my group when we start talking about the game again after Thanksgiving, what has gone on so far is a perfect prelude to the real game. We've bonded over sweat and battle, have a common "enemy" and now we know what the rest of the party is capable of and willing to do.

I guess what I'm saying is that until you start playing the bonds between players and characters may not be automatically set, but will gel after time.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

You may have a problem with inter-party conflict if alignments differ!

This sort of thing seems like the biggest potential pitfall to me. If I were running this game I would require the players to create a group template to ensure that the party won't implode on itself.

 

[Umbran]

You know, I'm playing in such a game right now, but hadn't really thought about it in those terms.

It is a Star Wars game, set back in Old Republic times, just after the Jedi Civil War. The Jedi have had their collective butts handed to them by the Sith, and the Order has largely collapsed. One not-terribly-exemplary Jedi Knight who survived gathered up a bunch of young force sensitives (the PCs), intending to teach them and rebuild the Jedi Order.

The Knight has gotten himself captured, of course, leaving the PCs to fend for themselves in a galaxy where every authority (be they Sith, Dark Jedi, or Republic) pretty much hates them just for what they are.

And yes, the alignment (or at least the outlook) issue is important. One of the PCs in our group is... well, damned unlikeable and not exactly someone we trust. While nobody's going to outright kill her (she is one of the combat monsters in the party), she's at great risk of not having her bacon pulled out of the fire if she ever needs it. We'd go farther out of our way for he ex -Sith apprentice (the only one of us with Dark Side points) than for her...