Modern Adventurers in War Zones; war correspondents and mercenaries

Icelander · 09-18-2014, 07:36 AM

In connection with my ongoing campaign, I was curious about what sort of people PCs could meet in a warzone.* Both in GURPS terms and also in real-world terms, in that I'm trying to figure out what are common and plausible backgrounds for NPCs encountered.

Foreign and conflict zone correspondents
One of the most interesting groups are war correspondents, of course. Apart from those who arrive from Coalition countries or the US after everyone else leaves, and are embedded in MNF-I or USF-I units, what else exists?

Are there going to be hard-drinking war correspondents from lesser known news outlets having adventures, a la The Year of Living Dangerously?

How many war correspondents are actually Australian? I don't know why, but I always assume that in every group of bartenders and war correspondents, there will be at least one Australian. Is that way off?

Fortunately for gaming and fiction, real media assures me that there is such a thing as freelance war correspondents.

I'm quite interested in what their background tends to be. Where are most of them from? What skills useful to adventurers do they have in GURPS terms and where and how did they learn them?

What kind of Contacts can they plausibly provide? This role for a war correspondent is exceptionally well demonstrated by the character of Maddy Bowen in Blood Diamond (a case may be made for her advancing to full Ally).

Something that I wonder about is what companies are primarily paying them? For plausibility, who ought I have buying the writing, pictures, videos or research of freelance war correspondents?

There's Reuters, AP and AFP, of course. Are they paying enough for someone to survive, if he isn't a frequent contributor? And are they paying anyone who could be doing investigative reporting?

What are some non-English speaking news agencies that might buy articles that demand research and interviews?

If a given freelance war correspondent happened to be a native Polish-speaker who speaks French at Native (in GURPS terms) and English only at Accented, to whom could he most plausibly sell his articles?

Mercenaries
Private security contractors and even private military contractors are not mercenaries, in a very real legal sense, because they do not meet the international law definition for such. There will be plenty of contractors and some of them doing security work, yes, but those are not legally mercenaries.

On the other hand, if an entirely innocent organisation which is certainly not carrying out some diabolical scheme inimical to Goodness, Light, the PCs and the American Way, happened to need some honest-to-God, actual mercenaries, what would they find?

If we assume that any false positives, i.e. adventurous and not all-too-bright men who lied about their qualifications, are in the past for this hypothetical group, who might they have in their service now?

What is the background of someone who is prepared to pretend to be a contractor for a PSC or a PMC, but actually carry out illegal violent activities in the service of a criminal or sectarian agenda? And who brings a fairly high degree of technical know-how, as well as preferably some actual military experience, to the table?

An obvious recruit would be a less-than-principled member of a PSC or PMC, of course, in which case background would be identical to other contractors. But is there some background which would furnish a plausible mixture of high-quality training, sharp-end military experience and a subsequent career where someone knowledgable could know to approach the person for mercenary work?

Preferably, of course, for much less money than a former US or UK special operator would charge for something in that line.

I'm thinking about an elite force that are supposed to act as a cadre for what essentially amounts to a locally recruited militia, except that it's fairly lacking in religious or tribal loyalities and might just as well be described as a criminal gang. On the other hand, the organisers of this non-sectarian crime enterprise are well aware that local militias might object strongly to their activities and it would behoove them to have some very high-quality security at that time.

Is it entirely implausible and very much out of date to posit that veterans of the French Foreign Legion might conceivably possess some connections that might be leveraged into locating like-minded persons for recruitment?

What nations in the world might have bothered to train someone well 5-15 years ago in a variety of high-end military skills and even some security and espionage skills, but for whatever reason, cannot provide that person with the employment opportunities that he feels he deserves today?

*Apart from the locals and the soldiers of the combatants, obviously.

09-18-2014, 07:36 AM	#1
Icelander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Iceland*	Modern Adventurers in War Zones; war correspondents and mercenaries In connection with my ongoing campaign, I was curious about what sort of people PCs could meet in a warzone.* Both in GURPS terms and also in real-world terms, in that I'm trying to figure out what are common and plausible backgrounds for NPCs encountered. Foreign and conflict zone correspondents One of the most interesting groups are war correspondents, of course. Apart from those who arrive from Coalition countries or the US after everyone else leaves, and are embedded in MNF-I or USF-I units, what else exists? Are there going to be hard-drinking war correspondents from lesser known news outlets having adventures, a la The Year of Living Dangerously? How many war correspondents are actually Australian? I don't know why, but I always assume that in every group of bartenders and war correspondents, there will be at least one Australian. Is that way off? Fortunately for gaming and fiction, real media assures me that there is such a thing as freelance war correspondents. I'm quite interested in what their background tends to be. Where are most of them from? What skills useful to adventurers do they have in GURPS terms and where and how did they learn them? What kind of Contacts can they plausibly provide? This role for a war correspondent is exceptionally well demonstrated by the character of Maddy Bowen in Blood Diamond (a case may be made for her advancing to full Ally). Something that I wonder about is what companies are primarily paying them? For plausibility, who ought I have buying the writing, pictures, videos or research of freelance war correspondents? There's Reuters, AP and AFP, of course. Are they paying enough for someone to survive, if he isn't a frequent contributor? And are they paying anyone who could be doing investigative reporting? What are some non-English speaking news agencies that might buy articles that demand research and interviews? If a given freelance war correspondent happened to be a native Polish-speaker who speaks French at Native (in GURPS terms) and English only at Accented, to whom could he most plausibly sell his articles? Mercenaries Private security contractors and even private military contractors are not mercenaries, in a very real legal sense, because they do not meet the international law definition for such. There will be plenty of contractors and some of them doing security work, yes, but those are not legally mercenaries. On the other hand, if an entirely innocent organisation which is certainly not carrying out some diabolical scheme inimical to Goodness, Light, the PCs and the American Way, happened to need some honest-to-God, actual mercenaries, what would they find? If we assume that any false positives, i.e. adventurous and not all-too-bright men who lied about their qualifications, are in the past for this hypothetical group, who might they have in their service now? What is the background of someone who is prepared to pretend to be a contractor for a PSC or a PMC, but actually carry out illegal violent activities in the service of a criminal or sectarian agenda? And who brings a fairly high degree of technical know-how, as well as preferably some actual military experience, to the table? An obvious recruit would be a less-than-principled member of a PSC or PMC, of course, in which case background would be identical to other contractors. But is there some background which would furnish a plausible mixture of high-quality training, sharp-end military experience and a subsequent career where someone knowledgable could know to approach the person for mercenary work? Preferably, of course, for much less money than a former US or UK special operator would charge for something in that line. I'm thinking about an elite force that are supposed to act as a cadre for what essentially amounts to a locally recruited militia, except that it's fairly lacking in religious or tribal loyalities and might just as well be described as a criminal gang. On the other hand, the organisers of this non-sectarian crime enterprise are well aware that local militias might object strongly to their activities and it would behoove them to have some very high-quality security at that time. Is it entirely implausible and very much out of date to posit that veterans of the French Foreign Legion might conceivably possess some connections that might be leveraged into locating like-minded persons for recruitment? What nations in the world might have bothered to train someone well 5-15 years ago in a variety of high-end military skills and even some security and espionage skills, but for whatever reason, cannot provide that person with the employment opportunities that he feels he deserves today? *Apart from the locals and the soldiers of the combatants, obviously. __________________ Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!