just looking for some ideas for a session

[nuulak]

I started my first homebrew GURPS campaign and had what I would consider a good first session.

The issue that I am running into is that I am trying to live up to the first session and hit a bit of a writing block.

The idea of the campaign is that the players are stuck in current day except mages run the goverment. The city they live in is extremely militaristic. Bordering on martial regime/law. The players consist of a homeless mage with amnesia, an active soldier, a discharged soldier, a pickposket living off of the poor cause stealing from a mage sucks.

So in the first session we had an airship (yes I know final fantasy rip off) that brought a festival to town, well one of the local goverment tried to detain a rogue mage and started a brawl in the middle of the square where the players made a decision call and went full auto downing the mage and his superior officer.
There is more events that lead past that but at the end they are snatched by the local resistance group. Bagged and gagged and then informed that they joined the resistance.

I know for the active soldier has a major dilemna by gunning down his superior and defecting inadvertenly. If you have any suggestions I will flesh it out from there.

Thank you.

[benz72]

Does the resistance have mages of their own? can they wipe/control/geas the soldier to work for their side? (if they can, why don't they do that to lot's of people?)

Can he have a tie in the resistance that is stronger than his loyalty to his job?
wife, brother, dad? forcing him to choose?

What are the resistors upset with precisely? what are the mages doing about the resistance? Why should the other PCs care?

[Purple Haze]

Your setting is both complicated and unusual, you've given us the smallest sketch of it, I wouldn't know where to begin, we have less information than even the players have.

[martin_rook]

Did they join the resistance or just a resistance movement? Or is this "resistance" actually a secret faction within the government that's plotting a coup?

Either way, if the players are likely to want to go along with the resistance, maybe give them a simple mission to pull off that'll prove their loyalty without giving them much to divulge to the authorities if they're caught. If the players are more likely to have second thoughts about throwing in with the folks who blindfolded and kidnapped them, then have government agents (searching for the PCs due to their recent actions) locate the resistance cell's location. The PCs can try to escape with the resistance, but they'd also have a chance to turn themselves back over to the authorities if they're more comfortable doing that. Of course, the the gov'ment gets ahold of them, they'll probably wish they'd stayed with the rebels.

[Nymdok]

First of all dont worry about 'living up' to the first session. Do the prep work and play the game, the good stuff follows from this :)

Beginings are great, but all begining and no middle or end gets old quick. Start structuring/outlineing some plot threads so that your players can measure progress and feedback ideas to you that will help you develop both the gameworld and allow them to develop thier characters.

So from your post I dont know that I have a full grasp of your world, but I would offer these humble tips.


I would think Resistance/Revolution generally involves these aspects:

Funding and Supply - Steal, Beg For money, make promises to wealthy or like minded people about their place in the new regime.

Research and Armament - Im assuming that Magery gives the current Government some sizeable advantage. Developing weapons and defences against magery might be something your group would be interested in. To develop this counter-mage tech, you'll need know-how (sages, professors, scientists etc), materials (amge weapons may need to be built of obscure or difficult to acquire items), testing (either by abducting test subjects or open exploratory conflicts).

Destabalization of the Current Government : Disrupt the Government organization. Whatever the major functions of the Governement are, disrupt those. That includes Mail, Utilities, Defense, Police, whatever the government does, oppose it. This opposition can take many forms. Anything from freeing political prisoners to swell your ranks to 'turning' beurocrats to help idle/table/ kill legislation that is unfavorable to the resistance.

Secure Public Opinion - Im not sure what the correct quote is or even who said it, but I remember reading something like 'The people are the sea in which the revolution swims.' If you eventually hope to overthrow these mages, your going to need the support of the people. Willing contributors and activists when possible, pacified opposers when you must. This involves active recruitment and neutralizing threats at an increasingly large local level. Keep in mind that normally the people who want to see a government overthrown in violent revolution are generally percieved as criminals by the existing government and may in fact be unsavory, but useful, people.

So with these 'adventure touchstones' we can then begin to shape up a few adventure stories.

The Cradle - The players must develop a technology that will allow for Scry-Resistant meeting places so that the resistance can meet with some sense of security and increase their ability to organize.

Resistance intelligence has reported that a possible Scry-Guard liquid can be brewed from rodent remains properly recovered from giant pitcher-plants in the phillipenes. The only person who could possibly know how to concoct such an elixir is an antiques dealer and amature historian located in Kansas.

Travel to Kansas, kidnap/convert buisness man.
Travel to Phillipenes with NPC to locate reagents. Battle governemtn agents in hot pursuit.
Return to Resistance cell.


Hows that?
Nymdok

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by nuulak

The idea of the campaign is that the players are stuck in current day except mages run the government. The city they live in is extremely militaristic. Bordering on martial regime/law. The players consist of a homeless mage with amnesia, an active soldier, a discharged soldier, a pickpocket living off of the poor cause stealing from a mage sucks.

So in the first session we had an airship (yes I know final fantasy rip off) that brought a festival to town, well one of the local government tried to detain a rogue mage and started a brawl in the middle of the square where the players made a decision call and went full auto downing the mage and his superior officer.
There is more events that lead past that but at the end they are snatched by the local resistance group. Bagged and gagged and then informed that they joined the resistance.

I know for the active soldier has a major dilemma by gunning down his superior and defecting inadvertently. If you have any suggestions I will flesh it out from there.

Thank you.

Unless there are credible witnesses that can place the PC soldier at the scene of the crime as one of the trigger pullers, you can leave that up in the air for the players. If the PCs have been identified you can their photos in the news papers and on broadcast media (TV or its equivalent.)

If you want them to return to their 'normal' lives just have the newspapers report that things happened, but there are no details OR have them report that the shooters were caught and have the scapegoat's photos in the paper.

You could complicate things by having the scapegoats people the PCs know (like dependents) and now they have to save their friends/relatives.