Authors Note: I wanted to do something fitting for Memorial Day while still maintaining respect for those who have served in our country’s military and for those who have fought and died for our country. So this installment of There’s an Adventure in That! is going to be a little bit different. Things will return to their normal schedule next week.
One of the most visceral songs pertaining to war I’ve ever heard was Carbon Leaf’s The War Was in Color off of their 2006 album Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat. It tells the story of a young boy who found a box of his grandfather’s old things from the war. The grandfather begins to tell stories, explaining to his grandson that the photos in the box cannot begin to capture the truth of the matter and that “the war was in color.” At the end of the song, we find out that the grandfather never knew his grandson, having been killed in action before he even got to meet his son. He asks what good his sacrifice did, and wishing for “a world full of color” for the grandson he never got to meet.
When I think about the story this song tells, my mind is drawn instantly to Saving Private Ryan. A unit of soldiers risks everything, striking deep into enemy territory in order to make sure a paratrooper, the only surviving brother of several enlisted is brought back home safely. Putting the PCs into this kind of situation can evoke a lot of emotional response from the players. Put them in the unenviable position of having to penetrate enemy lines to extract one of their own who is there only because command screwed up and he was dropped where he should never have been. He’s separated from the rest of his unit, has no way of contacting any support, and could be wounded. Command does not want to send his family a flag for whatever reason. Maybe, like in the film he’s the only surviving member of a family of soldiers. Maybe he has information vital to the success of further missions and they don’t want to risk it falling into enemy hands. Maybe he’s the child of a powerful politician or general. Regardless, he needs to be brought home and it falls to the PCs to make sure that happens, no matter what it may cost them.
I don’t know that it’s necessary to go into any sort of greater detail than that. You can really take this kind of story and fit it into any kind of war time scenario. World War II is a great choice with a heavy focus on mobile warfare and mechanized infantry. Much earlier and you lose the chance of a soldier being separated from his unit in such a way as to become trapped behind enemy lines. Other armed conflicts past World War II are certainly feasible as well. Alternatively, you could easily set this in a fantasy or a science fiction or even a non-Earth based modern setting if you want to steer away from historical wars. The rescue can take any form. Maybe their ally is behind enemy lines but has so far managed to avoid capture. Maybe he’s already a POW and needs to be broken out of a stronghold. Maybe he’s safe for now but stuck in an area that is right in the middle of the enemy advance. Whatever challenges you feel comfortable throwing at the PCs are the order of the day.
I’m of two minds how to run a game like this. My mind immediately goes to GODLIKE, which was the advent of Greg Stolze’s One Roll Engine. It is a game designed to tell stories during war time. It is gritty, unforgiving, and fast. Character death is an ever present concern and can come in a single roll of the dice. The game is designed to have the PCs be what are known as “talents,” or people exhibiting superhuman powers, and while the game doesn’t necessarily lose anything by not including them, it can explain why the PCs have been chosen to go after this soldier, or even why rescuing the soldier is so darn important. Maybe his power is crucial to an operation that is going to happen later in the campaign and it was only through a command SNAFU that he was included in the operation responsible for separating him from allied forces. It also makes the PCs a little bit more survivable as they have powers that can protect them from some harm. It also allows the GM to throw some super powered enemies at the PCs without feeling too badly about it. With a system like this, players will be forced to have their characters make sacrifices as part and parcel of playing the game. Dice rolls will go against them. They will be hurt and possibly killed. The rules are there to provide a sense of urgency when characters do get hurt. Even if you’re playing with talents, they’re certainly not invincible. With this system, you are probably best served by sticking with the World War II setting, but a little bit of tweaking can make it fit with other settings. Or you could instead use Wild Talents if you want to go into a different genre of game such as fantasy or science fiction. It uses the same basic rules in a slightly more robust engine.
The other way I could see the game being run is with a more narrative focus, such as FATE. While this system is not nearly as gritty or “realistic” as GODLIKE is in terms of game play, the focus on character interactions and meaningful outcomes from dice rolls can really take this kind of story in interesting directions. And since FATE is so readily adaptable, you don’t have to worry about setting. You can run this story in any setting or genre you desire. The other key difference with this kind of game versus one more focused on mechanics is that the sacrifices the characters make will be on the players to make. When handled correctly, these sacrifices can have much more meaning and impact than a sacrifice the player made because of a situation his character was put into by a rule. It’s not for every group, but if they can handle it, it can create some powerful moments at the table.
Again, I would stay away from games that focus on “heroic action” such as the more recent editions of Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. Age of Rebellion from Fantasy Flight Games is a possibility, but keep in mind that Star Wars is – at it’s core – a much more heroic and cinematic type of story. Gritty can certainly be done with it, and Fantasy Flight Games’ Narrative Dice is definitely the way to go, but it does need to be handled with a certain finesse to work. Beyond that I don’t know that there really is a right or wrong system to run this game in. It really comes down to the kind of feeling you want to evoke at the table and how you want to explore the themes of war and self-sacrifice.
Ben Erickson
