escort missions

jason taylor · 05-14-2018, 08:54 PM

Somewhere or other I read about a movie about a troop of samurai traveling through the West carrying a ceremonial sword as a gift to the US President. I don't remember the name of the movie and never saw it but I thought the idea intriguing.

But that brings up a foundation for this thread. What ideas do anyone have about escort missions?

Dalillama · 05-14-2018, 09:29 PM

No particular thoughts, but the movie is Red Sun, starring Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson. Worth a look if you like spaghetti Westerns.

jason taylor · 05-15-2018, 12:06 AM

Does anyone else have thoughts? Has anyone done an escort mission in a game?

The Colonel · 05-15-2018, 03:08 AM

Isn't that a FedEx quest? Unless the sword is sentient and keeps trying to wander off...?

Which is a key aspect of escort missions - whoever you are escorting has their own ideas, which can cause trouble over and above external parties trying to interfere. 3:10 to Yuma might be a good example if we stick with Westerns... if the fun of a FedEx quest is refused deliveries and missing recipients, absconding and otherwise misbehaving (annoying people, fiddling with things etc.) charges is the fun of escort missions.

"I was a shepherd to fools ... causelessly bold or afraid. They would not abide by my rules, yet they escaped. For I stayed." (Epitaph on a) Convoy Escort Rudyard Kipling

dcarson · 05-15-2018, 03:50 AM

Ran a convention game one shot where the party had been hired by a dragon with a injured wing to get him safely back to his mountain lair.

kdtipa · 05-15-2018, 10:29 AM

In addition to the subject of the escort having their own thoughts and possibly causing problems, the subject is also not a carefully crafted character with as much effectiveness in the campaign as possible. An ambush is much scarier because the person being escorted is much more likely to die than any of the "adventurers" that are used to that sort of danger. Or the sword is more likely to get stolen from under their noses. The subject of the escort is much more vulnerable than the Player Characters.

It's really a good way to make the players deal with something less than ideal if you have players that power-gamed their characters skillfully. You don't have to use GM fiat to say "sorry, your power doesn't work here" (which would be unfair really). You can just say "This person doesn't have layers of DR and cat-like reflexes... and if they die... you don't get paid" (or whatever motivation is working). The players suddenly have to scramble to solve the problem of keeping the weak subject safe.

I've had some luck with it in running games. And it's almost always fun to give the subject an interesting personality.

tshiggins · 05-18-2018, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Isn't that a FedEx quest? Unless the sword is sentient and keeps trying to wander off...?

(SNIP)

That's how it started out, and then the train got robbed and all but two of the escort samurai killed (Peacemakers vs. katanas).

The samurai in charge of the mission had to return to California and report events to the consulate. He ordered the other samurai (Mifune's character) to recover the sword.

Bronson's character just walked into the middle of the mess.

Dalillama · 05-18-2018, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tshiggins

That's how it started out, and then the train got robbed and all but two of the escort samurai killed (Peacemakers vs. katanas).

The samurai in charge of the mission had to return to California and report events to the consulate. He ordered the other samurai (Mifune's character) to recover the sword.

Bronson's character just walked into the middle of the mess.

Rather, he was one of the robbers, who was left for dead after the others betrayed him.

tanksoldier · 05-18-2018, 10:16 PM

Quote:

I remember a similar story from a supply sergeant at a US Army depot back during Desert Shield / Storm.

I worked in an Armor Bn’s S4 shop during DS/DS.

The HHC supply truck blew its engine just before the kickoff, was abandoned and never recovered.

Later, when we were doing all the paperwork and getting ready to redeploy back to Germany, I mentioned to the S4 that with everything listed as being on that truck... no wonder the engine blew up.

05-14-2018, 08:54 PM	#1
jason taylor Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Portland, Oregon	escort missions Somewhere or other I read about a movie about a troop of samurai traveling through the West carrying a ceremonial sword as a gift to the US President. I don't remember the name of the movie and never saw it but I thought the idea intriguing. But that brings up a foundation for this thread. What ideas do anyone have about escort missions? __________________ "The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison

05-14-2018, 09:29 PM	#2
Dalillama Join Date: Nov 2004	Re: escort missions No particular thoughts, but the movie is Red Sun, starring Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson. Worth a look if you like spaghetti Westerns.

05-15-2018, 12:06 AM	#3
jason taylor Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Portland, Oregon	Re: escort missions Does anyone else have thoughts? Has anyone done an escort mission in a game? __________________ "The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison

05-15-2018, 03:08 AM	#4
The Colonel Join Date: Jul 2006	Re: escort missions Isn't that a FedEx quest? Unless the sword is sentient and keeps trying to wander off...? Which is a key aspect of escort missions - whoever you are escorting has their own ideas, which can cause trouble over and above external parties trying to interfere. 3:10 to Yuma might be a good example if we stick with Westerns... if the fun of a FedEx quest is refused deliveries and missing recipients, absconding and otherwise misbehaving (annoying people, fiddling with things etc.) charges is the fun of escort missions. "I was a shepherd to fools ... causelessly bold or afraid. They would not abide by my rules, yet they escaped. For I stayed." (Epitaph on a) Convoy Escort Rudyard Kipling

05-15-2018, 03:50 AM	#5
dcarson Join Date: Mar 2008	Re: escort missions Ran a convention game one shot where the party had been hired by a dragon with a injured wing to get him safely back to his mountain lair.

05-15-2018, 10:29 AM	#6
kdtipa Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Southern New Hampshire	Re: escort missions In addition to the subject of the escort having their own thoughts and possibly causing problems, the subject is also not a carefully crafted character with as much effectiveness in the campaign as possible. An ambush is much scarier because the person being escorted is much more likely to die than any of the "adventurers" that are used to that sort of danger. Or the sword is more likely to get stolen from under their noses. The subject of the escort is much more vulnerable than the Player Characters. It's really a good way to make the players deal with something less than ideal if you have players that power-gamed their characters skillfully. You don't have to use GM fiat to say "sorry, your power doesn't work here" (which would be unfair really). You can just say "This person doesn't have layers of DR and cat-like reflexes... and if they die... you don't get paid" (or whatever motivation is working). The players suddenly have to scramble to solve the problem of keeping the weak subject safe. I've had some luck with it in running games. And it's almost always fun to give the subject an interesting personality.