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Longcat
2010-02-01, 07:42 PM
Hello all,
I'm going to have to DM an upcoming Star Wars:Saga game for my group, and I was wondering how I could incorporate the plot from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The reasons why I'm ripping of a plotline from a game are:
a) It's (IMO) one of the best and emotional moving storylines
b) None of my players have played the game
c) I'm an utterly uncreative person, and I only DM because I've been bribed with fantastic cooking. :smalltongue:

That said, I think I could use some help in getting the narration right, because I actually want to provide my players with a pleasureable gaming experience, instead of just hardcore-railroading them.

For those who still intend to play CoD:MW2, this post may contain major spoilers. You have been warned!

Here's the MW2 storyline, adapted to the SW universe:

The campaign will take place somewhere in the Legacy era, during an alternative timeline sometime after the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty. The players will be part of a special ops team similar to TF141, operating in secret missions for the New Republic. After a staged terrorist attack on a major Imperial Civilian spaceport led by a disgruntled Imperial General(referred to hereafter as "Vorakam"), evidence is planted linking the attack to the New Republic. The players, in the meantime, are tasked with retrieving a McGuffin, which turns out to be a communication module for the Republic Fleet.
Shortly thereafter, the Empire launches a massive retaliation strike against the Republic, bypassing their defenses due to having the aforementioned McGuffin already cracked. The Republic forces struggle, and are threatened to be overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, the players begin their search for evidence incriminating Vorakam, and their search leads them to Ryloth, a planet on the outer rim famous for its black market. Chasing down the arms dealer who supplied the terrorist attack, they find out that there's one person who Vorakam would go out of his way to capture. Said person is being held on Kessel, an Imperial penitentiary planet. After freeing him, they discover that he's in fact the Jedi character's former master.
Knowing of an experimental super weapon (based loosely on the Mass Shadow Generator from KotoR), they capture it and use it to disable the Imperial fleet above Coruscant, slightly evening the odds.
Meanwhile, the Bothan spy network has narrowed down Vorakam's hiding places: a safehouse on Nar Shaddaa, and an abandoned spaceport on Ord Mantell. Admiral Schäfer, the leader of TF141, recommends a split-up to target both hideouts. After retrieving information from one of the hideouts incriminating Schäfer of collaborating with Vorakam, he betrays TF141 and kills all members of the respective team. The players, while on the other planet, learn of the betrayal and narrowly escape their pursuers.
From there, it's up to them: They can either flee, convince the Republic of Schaefer's betrayal (not likely), or bargain with Vorakam to gain revenge on Schaefer.


Here are the characters for the campaign:

The campaign will start at L4, with the players importing their characters from my previous campaign:
-Human Soldier2/Jedi2 ("Ex-Mandalorian")
-Human Jedi4 (Dark Force user, "Dathomiri witch")
-Replica Droid Scout2/Scoundrel2 ("Heavy weapons guy")
-Human Scout2/Soldier2 ("Sniper")

The Mandalorian wishes to exchange his character with a Jedi, so therefore his old character takes the part of PFC Allen during the first session.


As for the session planning, here's what I've got so far:
Session 1:

I wish to split this session into two parts: The first part will be the assault on the spaceport, with everyone but the Mandalorian getting a premade replacement character for reasons detailed below. The Mandalorian is an elite member of TF141, and is sent on an undercover mission to monitor the movements of Admiral Vorakam, a former Imperial commander unhappy with the status quo. In order to gain his trust, he will have to accompany him on a terrorist mission to shake up the "weak" government. Together with a small strike force (consisting of the premade characters), they massacre many civilians, and before fleeing, Vorakam shoots the Mandalorian, while revealing that he knew he was a spy all along.

Jump to the second part: The PCs are briefed by Admiral Schaefer, their commanding officer, about the Bastion incident and their friend's death. The Imperial Remnant accuses the Galactic Alliance of acts of terrorism, and diplomatic meetings are taking place all over the galaxy. The players are then tasked with retrieving a McGuffin from a Republic spacefraft gone AWOL somewhere around the galaxy. Discovering the downed spacecraft on a nearby planet, they trace the McGuffin back to an Imperial outpost, where they eventually manage to retrieve it.

End of Session 1

Session 2

Some time after the retrieval of the McGuffin, multiple Alliance worlds are under attack, their fleets crippled due to grand scale sabotage enabled by the McGuffin. The Imperial army, led by Admiral Vorakam, declare war upon the Alliance. His hand in the matter unknown to the public, he manipulated the government into a war for vengeance.

With their only witness dead, TF141 starts to look for evidence in order to uncover Vorakam's plan. A trace leads them to Ryloth, where one of the major criminal cartels resides. The cartel is being led by a crime lord who formerly worked for the Empire, and has information on Vorakam. After capturing and interrogating him, the players find out about a prisoner on Kessel, who is a nemesis of Vorakam.

End of Session 2

Session 3

Figuring that the war could be stopped by exposing Vorakam's treachery, Admiral Schaefer sends TF141 to Kessel, in order to extract the prisoner. Kessel is heavily guarded by the Imperial flett, and the players have to figure out a way of landing there. The actual prison compound is also guarded by elite ground troops.

Fighting their way through the Imperial army, the eventually reach the prisoner, who turns out to be a Jedi master known to the two Jedi characters. While waiting for their extraction, several "accidental" bombings occur.

End of Session 3


I'm going to post additional session plannings later, but right now, I'm rather tired. If you've got any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

Update: Added in Session 3

mr.fizzypop
2010-02-01, 08:56 PM
In your "No Russian" equivalent level, what keeps the players from shooting Makarcv Vorakam?

Longcat
2010-02-01, 09:20 PM
In your "No Russian" equivalent level, what keeps the players from shooting Makarcv Vorakam?

A non-standard "Game-Over" screen saying "Your cover has been blown. Don't fire on Vorakam's squad"? :smalltongue:

Seriously, though, the regular squad members should have little incentive to kill him, as he is their leader. As for the Mandalorian, he'll be on a mission to earn Vorakam's trust, and if he intentionally screws that up, he'll end up either dead, facing court martial, or be on the run.

chiasaur11
2010-02-01, 09:51 PM
Wait. The game with a plot compared, quite unfavorably, to Red Dawn in numerous gaming journals is one of the best, most emotionally involving plots you've ever seen?

Huh. Takes all sorts.

I think the last bits a tad weak in ways.

Basically, you're forced into teaming up with one of two equally bad dudes to achieve token vengeance on the other bad. Either way, unsatisfactory, unless it's pulled off really well. So, keep that in mind.

Asbestos
2010-02-02, 03:27 AM
Wait. The game with a plot compared, quite unfavorably, to Red Dawn in numerous gaming journals is one of the best, most emotionally involving plots you've ever seen?

Personally I found Red Dawn to be much more emotionally moving.

Also, I found MWF2 to be waaaaay railroady, which makes sense with it being a video game, but to the point where I was like "why, why would I ever associate with ----?!" And "that's the response they have?"

So... watch out, is all I'm saying. Your players might still want the world to have some heroics in it and there may be unforeseen consequences.

Dervag
2010-02-02, 08:27 AM
In and of itself, all you've got is "bad guys stage false flag operation to maneuver X into attacking Y, good guys loyal to Y must figure out the situation, reveal the treachery, and stop the war."

There are so many, many ways to plot this that aren't effectively identical to a popular video game. Especially since some of your players probably already know the plot, and will try something clever and plot savvy like shooting the murdering fiend as he strolls through an airport killing dozens of innocent people. That would have derailed the entire plot, and if you give your players a gun to point at the murdering fiend's back, then there's no way to guarantee that they won't use it.

You can do better than this.

The real key, of course, is always to make sure that all parties involved have logical motivations and only do things they would reasonably expect to work. This was a problem with Modern Warfare 2, especially with the Russian invasion of the US. That shouldn't even have been possible without a great deal of preparatory naval work and diplomacy that the Russians didn't do in-game.

Of course, in Star Wars things are a little different, because Power X will generally have a realistic way to attack Y... but make sure that you don't wind up with enemies using plans so stupid that your players spend more time banging their heads on the wall than actually fighting.

kjones
2010-02-02, 10:33 AM
Personally I found Red Dawn to be much more emotionally moving.

Also, I found MWF2 to be waaaaay railroady, which makes sense with it being a video game, but to the point where I was like "why, why would I ever associate with ----?!" And "that's the response they have?"

So... watch out, is all I'm saying. Your players might still want the world to have some heroics in it and there may be unforeseen consequences.

WOOOOOOOOOLVERIIIIIIIIIIIINES!

Longcat
2010-02-02, 12:06 PM
@Red Dawn: Haven't seen the movie. I take it that it is worth watching?



Basically, you're forced into teaming up with one of two equally bad dudes to achieve token vengeance on the other bad. Either way, unsatisfactory, unless it's pulled off really well. So, keep that in mind.

By default, it's supposed to be a downer ending, unless the players can come up with a brilliant plan on their own. IMO, a happy end is something you have to work for, especially in a gritty crapsack world.


In and of itself, all you've got is "bad guys stage false flag operation to maneuver X into attacking Y, good guys loyal to Y must figure out the situation, reveal the treachery, and stop the war."

There are so many, many ways to plot this that aren't effectively identical to a popular video game. Especially since some of your players probably already know the plot, and will try something clever and plot savvy like shooting the murdering fiend as he strolls through an airport killing dozens of innocent people. That would have derailed the entire plot, and if you give your players a gun to point at the murdering fiend's back, then there's no way to guarantee that they won't use it.


I figured this much, and if they do decide to attack the Admiral, I will let them. However, their chances of defeating him in combat are slim (4 L4 characters without destiny points vs a L1X character), and if they are gunned down by Vorakam, the Imperials will still find the body of a Rebel covert operative amongst the carnage.
In fact, if it does turn out to be this way, the players will in fact feel directly responsible for the ensuing hilarity war.



You can do better than this.


Not sure I can... all the adventures I've DMed so far have been either Michael Bay action or George Martin politics. In the former, the players complain about the lack of RP, and in the latter, about the lack of a clear guideline and combat. Hence, I've decided it's Copycat time!



The real key, of course, is always to make sure that all parties involved have logical motivations and only do things they would reasonably expect to work. This was a problem with Modern Warfare 2, especially with the Russian invasion of the US. That shouldn't even have been possible without a great deal of preparatory naval work and diplomacy that the Russians didn't do in-game.


The way I see it, Russia in MW2 has been preparing for war with the US since the events of MW1, and were just looking for an excuse, which Makarov provided. In the game, Russia is run by the Ultranationalists, and war criminals like Zhakaev are revered as heroes.



Of course, in Star Wars things are a little different, because Power X will generally have a realistic way to attack Y... but make sure that you don't wind up with enemies using plans so stupid that your players spend more time banging their heads on the wall than actually fighting.

I hope that deactivating their early-warning system against hyperspace attacks sounds fairly reasonable.

Longcat
2010-02-02, 03:03 PM
Alright, I've updated the sessions and added #3. Thoughts?

Yora
2010-02-02, 04:37 PM
Combining SW:Saga and Modern Warfare 2
Hell, yeah!!!

I'm doing it the other way round. Playing a campaign similar to a Modern Warfare background, using the Saga rules.

We even played our first session last week, but I didn't make any real changes to the game yet, except for statting out weapons and armor.

Jay Mindbinder
2010-02-02, 07:31 PM
I like it. I'm a fan of the MW2 story, despite the criticism, and this seems like a really interesting idea. I'm interested in seeing how it turns out

Longcat
2010-02-03, 01:35 PM
@Yora: Are you the DM for the game? If so, do you still have some of the notes for the campaign? I don't mind if they're in German.

@Jay: Thanks, I'll keep you posted.


Well, the first game is coming up this Friday. I wonder how it will turn out.