Quick help with a scenario

[KLM]

Their APC runs on a mine, so it is burning at the moment.
They have reasonable "beans&bullets", but otherwise they
are on their own. Throw in a small mercenary/high tech bandit
attack next to the minefield...

Maybe a storm can come handy, to prevent aerial extraction,
or prevent PAs to fly. Otherwise I would say keep mechanised
forces minimum - a Terror-trooper or two is fine, but SAMASes,
sky cycles, or giant robots are bad for the "horror" genre.

Maybe check the movie "R-Point" (Korean) and "Beast of War"
(This one in itself can provide a good story, especially for
CS characters).

Adios
KLM

[Rimmer]

Actually had this problem a little while ago, wanted the PC's (all CS) to be weakened, but not dead, but still have enough resources to handle the rest of the game, so i had them bombed in a "freindley fire" incident, they got hammered a bit, but couldn't fire back without killing there own guys, eventually got it sorted, but not before being weakened down to where i wanted them. Further allong, the PC's got a commendation for there restraint and cool heads, but found out that the incident was no accident.

[Noon]

Now, I have a great adventure all mapped out for the second 'episode' of the campaign, a nice supernatural thriller where the unit flees for their lives across the North American wilderness at night. Of course, they will probably do something completely different and surprise me, but that's how these things go.

Dude, they are never going to go for this. Running away is like saying 'I'm a big loser at playing Rifts'. Players hate to do this sort of stuff...they aren't going to be unpredictable and do something different...their going to be very predictable and fight to the death.

Another predictable thing GM's do is ignore this, because they think they have the magic to pull this off. And in much the same way as the players, they don't want to back down on the issue.

I'd really recommend that the players are pursuing some sort of foe, while at the same time being pursued by the supernatural menace. That way they will feel they are chasing something rather than running away.

a) Outside CS territory (although reasonably close is fine)
b) Weakened/under strength (probably a prerequisite for all the running away I hope they will do)

a: A hurricane or something blows them off course while their in flying transports.
b: Just tell them their MDC is now at X amount. Hell, your not going to allow any chance of getting out of that damage...trying to give the impression that they can is just creating an illusion.

The way to give them control of the situation is at a player level, by saying - your MDC is dropped to X amount, but you can decide it was beaten even lower if you want.

Despite what you think, players will often beat up their own characters worse than a killer GM would. Most of them will probably drop their MDC even lower, just to show that they can handle it still!

[Kagashi]

Why not introduce an alien illness which cripples their attributes (does not kill em mind you). Everybody effected is -2 attacks, -5 Strike, parry, dodge, and init. They all cant sleep and are frequently vomiting (no helmets unless they want to drown in their own puke). This would be a good time for them to roll under their PE attribute (d20) to see if they get sick or not. Is the illness air born, or did "Cookie" cook something wrong? Is the sickness magically induced? or is it something as simple as a Simvan Cold (just makes the Simvan a little irratated and conjested) but is deathly ill to humans?

[Killer Cyborg]

Now, I have a great adventure all mapped out for the second 'episode' of the campaign, a nice supernatural thriller where the unit flees for their lives across the North American wilderness at night. Of course, they will probably do something completely different and surprise me, but that's how these things go.

Dude, they are never going to go for this. Running away is like saying 'I'm a big loser at playing Rifts'. Players hate to do this sort of stuff...they aren't going to be unpredictable and do something different...their going to be very predictable and fight to the death.

My group got tired of constantly rolling up new characters, so we adapted.
In Rifts, there is always something bigger and badder than you, so running away is often a very good option.

The way to give them control of the situation is at a player level, by saying - your MDC is dropped to X amount, but you can decide it was beaten even lower if you want.

Despite what you think, players will often beat up their own characters worse than a killer GM would. Most of them will probably drop their MDC even lower, just to show that they can handle it still!

I've seen players like this, but most of the ones I've played with would prefer to take the minimum damage.

[Killer Cyborg]

Here are some more ideas:

1. They're on a training exercise and are assigned lighter than normal gear for the duration. They get lost and wander outside of the designated area (maybe an NPC has the map and compass...)

2. They're assigned to bodyguard a diplomat who is meeting with a group of D-Bees, or the Black Market, or whatever. The party has to go in only lightly armed (or unarmed) as a sign of good faith, but things go wrong.

3. The party is sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate a group of raiders who have been threatening CS farms. The raiders are poorly equipped, so the party has to have similarly poor gear in order to fit in (I'd go with mostly SDC gear, but that's probably just me...)

[Kalinda]

Dude, they are never going to go for this. Running away is like saying 'I'm a big loser at playing Rifts'. Players hate to do this sort of stuff...they aren't going to be unpredictable and do something different...their going to be very predictable and fight to the death.

sweet jeez, your group must go through lots of characters.

outmatched is outmatched, some days your the Tiger and some days your the rabbit.

fighting to the death most of the time doesn't help the mission, the troops, or yourself and could cause more problems by not being alive to relay pertinent intel to the higher ups.

Then theres that whole bad idea of just being dead, you are dead a rather long time,and that tends to put a cramp in your sexlife.

Indeed.

I've had plenty of characters that ran away when overmatched. Did I like it? No! did I whine about it and demand that the GM only give us opponents that we could easily beat? Heck no! Did I come back later with a renewed determination to beat the opponent that sent me running? heck yes!

[Meesta Rod]

How aboout this:

Take and hold,

The group was ordered to maintain hold on a strategic location against an enemy, for example some bandits and raiders from the pecos empire. They have been in the middle of the fighting and have taken casualties and equipment and armour is showing signs of wear and tear throough almost continual battle.

The net result is that the players can have been fighting from an entrenched position, which is why they aren't dead, against large numbers of raiders from the pecos empire, or perhaps even simvan?, mounted on battered hovercycles.

The raiders would use the tactic of encircling the position and bombarding it with fire while moving at high speed, thus making it extremely difficult for the players to be resupplied, even by air as the drop location is so small the CS military could well end up supplying the enemy!

The net result is that the position is held and eventually the players recieve the order to withdraw to a mobile supply station. This is where they are moving and can bgin to encounter your plot line with lowered armour and munitions, for added fun you could also have the long range radio jammed or destroyed in the PA's, or if it is a backpack style thing carried by one of the men gun him and his radio down at some point, this makes it very diffcult for the players to be resupplied with weapons, armour, equipment and stores while maintaining that they have to go to the supply station as they don't know of anywhere else nearby that will service their needs.

The key here is communication: They are a military group and have the might of the military to call upon, take that tool away from them and they will have to solve any problems on their own, or have to run like lambs before whatever you decide to throw their way

Ergo: Your plot happens while they make the march to the supply depot, probably forcing themm away from it, like dangling a carrot infront of a donkey thoough they will err towards whenever the threat is not too much for them.

Just something from the top of my head.....

[KLM]

The movie "Beast of War" takes place in Afghanistan, during
the soviet occupation.

To keep the story short, soviet tanks devastate a village,
and on their way back, one of them takes a wrong
turn - which leads it into a rather large valley, with only
one way in or out.
The story then begins to unfold, with internal conflict
of the tank crew, and the chasing mudjahedin forces
(armed with small arms and a lone RPG which they cannot
really use) are also divided...
A great drama, thought the first 10 minutes are really
hard to watch.

Perfect for a cleansing operation by the CS...

Adios
KLM

[Nxla666]

Hey KLM, the movie you speak of was released as "The Beast" here in the States but, yes it was a good movie.

[KLM]

And frigtheningly appropriate for a CS campaign, IF
they are planned to go AWOL.

Adios
KLM

[Nxla666]

I was thinking of doing a CS military game along the lines of the movie "Platoon" set during the SoT.

[finn69]

how about being lost in bug territory? they have a way of wearing down armor and depleteing e-clips for an organized retreat. or not even being lost. they could be escorting some reaearch types observing the bugs and getting discovered too close to a hive works just as well.

[KLM]

I want a detailed report officer

Really, I am interested.

Adios
KLM

[Mack]

I really have to encourage destroying the long range radios. It's a great way to make the group quickly become alone in the wilderness. The other nifty part is that their helmet radios can still receive their commander's/base's transmissions (which can be used in a variety of ways) but they won't be able to reply.

"Attention all CS units... A unknown bandit force has been detected at XYZ (near the PC's). All units are to immediately fall back to position ABC... Boy's, if you can hear this, get the hell outta there..."

Plus... Since your bandits stole a bunch of CS equipment, your players may have to prove they're CS members and not bandits themselves.