Guide to Webstral's Scenarios

[Ironside]

Webstral, I enjoyed reading about the Silver Shogunate, but then I enjoy reading all your work. Many thanks!

[Webstral]

Ironside,

Thanks for the positive feedback.

Webstral

[Webstral]

State of Vermont & The Green Jackets

I received a request for more details about my work in New England. I'll provide what I have for the State of Vermont here:

[Webstral]

Silver Shogunate

I had a burst of creative insight in the car dropping the kids off at their grandparents. I dont have the time to work with this idea, but its worth setting down. (Besides, Im supposed to be working on Roadrunners.)

The Shogun in Nevada is opposed by a very modest resistance group that operates by exploiting his weaknesses. The Shogun has a force of light motorized infantry that he keeps constantly on the move as a means of providing security over his wide-spread domain. He taxes the surviving communities in Nevada (about 15% of the pre-war population) heavily to keep his force mobile. The Shogun basically is running a protection racket. His force has superior firepower, numbers, and operational mobility compared to the various marauder bands that wander into his zone of control. The troops are experienced urban combatants. They also do fairly well in the field under certain conditions. However, they are not very good at operating at any distance from the road or long-range rifle marksmanship. The Shogun has been attempting to grow this capability, but as of April, 2001 he hasnt had the success he would like.

A native resistance movement has sprung up. The insurgents are few in number, because there is very little left to support them. They are horse-mounted for mobility away from the roads controlled by the Shoguns forces. They use hunting rifles so they can fight without closing with the Shoguns superior forces. Most of their energies go to keeping the small force alive in the wilderness and negotiating contact and resupply with cantonments where the Shoguns kempetei, or secret police, control the town.

The player characters might be assigned to make contact with and arrange for logistical support of the resistance. Perhaps one mission will be to conduct a thorough recce of Nevada and the Shoguns operation so that what limited supply can be arranged can be used to greatest effect. This offers a chance to get the PCs out of their vehicles and onto horses.

[Canadian Army]

Here is a link that may be of some use:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Wolves

[Webstral]

This will be of more use in Thunder Empire than Silver Shogunate, but it's the kind of gold I've been looking for. Thanks!

[Olefin]

One thing that is so great about Twilight 2000 is that you can make so many different versions of it and all can be just as valid - from Webstral's US to mine to Chico's, but also embracing the Mad Max version of the US that Targan and Legbreaker imagine as well

[Webstral]

True that. All of the individualized approaches mean, though, that there's no hope of building a unified vision.

[Olefin]

Actually there is hope but it may be a fractured unified vision - by that I mean three viewpoints that could be built around as three viable alternatives

one would be a combo of mine, yours and Chico - a US where they are starting to come back from the disaster but with challenges to go - i.e. having to overcome the Shogun in NV, getting the AZ forces to work with MilGov to drive the Mexicans out finally and then combine to go after the Shogun possibly - etc. - but one where HW and Kidnapped's drought never occurs

another would be the Mad Max version of the US , which is in many ways is a harsher version of the canon timeline that has Howling Wildnerness and Kidnapped in it - basically a dead country and not much left of anything organized above something like Bartertown

a third could be a straight canon approach, using all of the material in Challenge along with perhaps voting on what path to go forward from there

it would require something like an agreement on who is the person or persons controlling the canon in each one, who would have to create a "Bible" of sorts similar to what we are doing - i.e. a framework you can build that new variation on for others to contribute into

[James Langham]

To be honest there are as many backgrounds as there are players. Fortunately we can all take good ideas from others.

[Olefin]

you are right James

even the canon isnt necessarily the canon for everyone - have heard of GM's who built whole campaigns without using Going Home for instance and just kept the US Army in Europe because that was more what they had in mind

or who start in the US with the Texas or NYC modules and never even have their players in Europe at all

and really in a lot of ways the canon is built to be modified and used as each GM wants to - even from the fact that there is no way any single group could ever play them all if you kept the timeline intact - you just cant be in every place at once (for one, unless you do what my GM did, you cant come home in Omega and play the Caribbean module - the timelines clash)

or go on Last Submarine and do Allegheny Uprising or the Ozarks module - again the timelines clash

thus really, short of the original authors coming back, any campaign by its very nature is completely individualistic and complete on its own

[Raellus]

This thread is about Webstral's T2K-verse.

Any discussion of a "Unified Vision" of T2K is, by its very nature, extremely divisive. Most of the hurt feelings, acrimony, and ungliness that have occured here during the forum's history have stemmed from people opining on what should or should not be considered canon. It's really not for any of us to say. We don't need to bring any of that drama to Web's thread so please take this stuff to another discussion forum.

[Webstral]

In fairness, I brought up the idea of a unified Twilight: 2000 vision. I should know better, shouldn't I Sigh. Thanks for playing good cop, Rae.

[Webstral]

While Im on the topic of Silver Shogunate, though, I had a good bad idea. The players go to great lengths to gather the best possible intelligence on the state of affairs in Nevada. They help the resistance develop plans for training and building their force as well as carrying the war to the Shogun. Perhaps an airship out of Colorado can make a drop of supplies out in the Nevada hinterlands. Then the Shogun makes common cause with Milgov. He gets to be governor-general of Nevada with Milgovs blessing in return for protecting road and rail traffic across Nevada. Some sort of system is worked out so that he has a certain latitude of action while effectively being enfeoffed to Milgov. The resistance doesnt go along with the new scheme, and the players are ordered to aid in the destruction of the resistance.

Sometimes, I'm not sure I like myself.

[Olefin]

Very very nice idea there Webstral about the Shogun allying with MilGov - very interesting - sort of making a deal with the devil in a way.

Oh and Raellus - didnt mean to be divisive in any way - just trying to address how hard it is to have any kind of unified vision of the game because of how individualistic each campaign can be - which by the way I think is one of the strengths of the game itself - and why it still has such a following years after the company issuing it folded.