Role-playing in the Stellar Imperium

General Notes

Several factors need to be addressed concerning role-playing members of the Stellar Guard, which need to be dealt with whether the group is playing Ground or Naval Force members. The first is the obvious question, "why should we be the big, bad Imperium? We want to be the underdog, because they're always right and they get all the glory." Well, the Imperium ain't the Empire from Star Wars. They don't rule by fear, nor do they go around blowing up peaceful planets. In fact, several of the races conquered by the Imperium are rather unpleasant folks, who would be doing the same if they hadn't run into the Imperium first. Players in the Imperium can be as compassionate or ruthless as they like; either is acceptable, depending on the unit's leader. If the GM and players like tough, moral questions, then the Imperium provides loads of opportunity. If not, the players can be given "clean" missions where the players don't have to think about the consequences of their actions and can blow stuff up.

Another player question with this type of campaign is "how does a small unit get any glory if they're fighting in these big divisions and corps?" Players like to think that their characters are making a difference in the game world, at least a little. But how do you do that in something like the Stellar Guard? Simple; just succeed. Success gets noticed, and leaders look to their most successful subordinates when they need something tough done. The players don't need to have hot new mecha (ala Gundam) to make a difference. Rather, if they win their battles, the higher ups notice and will give them more and more important assignments. Important means difficult, as well as critical. But why do higher ups know about the PCs? Well, they may not. But it the characters are succeeding, then their battalion is succeeding, and that's helping their regiment and division succeed, and generals do notice when divisions keep getting the job done. Of course, some officers are big enough to pass credit on to where its due (the characters), so generals might really take notice. Check out Harold Coyle's book Team Yankee for some interesting ideas along this line, plus an excellent look at the dirty side of modern combat.

There are two types of campaign here; the overall role-playing campaign, and the military campaigns that take place within that role-playing campaign.  A military campaign refers to the actions in and around one particular system, sometimes one particular series of battles if the system is contested for a long period of time.  A standard Imperium military campaign goes like this:  problem identified, system blockaded, troops arrive, troops land, troops engage enemy ground forces, troops destroy enemy ground forces and take critical locations, troops leave, blockade lifted.  That's just what the Imperium's trying to do; the other guy gets to do stuff as well, and that's the GM's job.

On a more practical note, the type of campaign needs to be addressed. The best place to look for campaign ideas is (gasp) history books. That's right, read through the histories of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Age of Imperialism. Look at some of the things that the British especially had to do in their colonial possessions. If you're looking for an example of the classic colonial war, the guerilla war, look up the  history of Vietnam.  If you're looking to challenge your players both tactically and morally, a Vietnam-type campaign will do it. Just be careful to let them win; Vietnam really couldn't be won, given the political situation, and that's no fun to be a part of.

There are three basic types of campaigns:

Trouble on the Frontier: this is the most basic type of Stellar Imperium campaign. Basically, the players spend their time fighting down rebellions and invading colonies on the frontier of an Imperium sector. This applies to both Ground and Space Force characters, since both arms of the service have their own jobs to do in these missions. This campaign can also be a starting point for the other two campaign types.

Rebellion!: You can guess what this type of campaign means-civil war in the Imperium, and the players are (or can be) right in the middle of it. Work up to open warfare with some cloak and dagger stuff: secret societies contact various characters, trying to get them to cooperate; raids on weapons depots and other military installations; mysterious disappearances of several high military commanders. When the players are ready (or looking the other way), blow things open. If the players stay loyal, they can expect plenty of fighting: their opponents know all the procedures and tactics, plus they know exactly where they are at the start of the rebellion. Any loyalist units that fight well will be thrown into the fray again and again. If the players do a bang-up job on the cloak and dagger phase, then make the rebels weaker than they otherwise would be as a reward. If the players drop the ball, give the rebels all the aces. If the players defect, then they have to fight with little real support (great for messing with players who are used to limping back to base in half-destroyed mecha; that doesn't work now) against a numerically superior enemy. This is the stuff of Star Wars, especially if the Imperium gets more repressive to combat the rebellion.

Oh, you're in charge here?: Another campaign option, this one introduces that time-honored foil to a powerful enemy: a new alien race with unknown capabilities and real high technology. This should result in some fighting (what fun would it be if it didn't?), but it doesn't have to be a total bloodbath (witness all sorts of anime aliens, esp. Macross types). Add in some of the cloak and dagger from the other campaigns, and this could be very interesting for players.

Ground Forces

The difficulty in organizing military games is that most players want to play different types of characters. In most games, that's great, but it can be a hassle in a military game, where all of the characters need to be in the same unit. One solution, for short-run campaigns and one-shot adventures, is the task force or kampfgruppe. These improvised forces can contain infantry, armor, cavalry, you name it. Whatever it takes to get the job done is done. While these groups don't survive a campaign, they are useful tools for short-runs. Also, remember that templates give players some freedom to create different types of characters in the same unit, especially if the characters vary their background skill selections and how they expend their spare points.

IMHO, the best units for high-energy role-playing are the cavalry and special operations. Cavalry get a batch of fun toys, including flying, one-person mecha and rocket cycles. They also go wherever they're needed, allowing the GM great variation in the types of missions the unit gets. Special Operations are the bad boys and girls. Everybody wants to be "the best", and Spec Ops is it for the Ground Forces.  However, all of the possible unit types have good stories to tell, and that's the heart of good role-playing.

Space Forces

Here's the place for all of you Captain Kirk or Pete Mitchell (aka Maverick) wannabes. These are the guys and gals who go scooting around the stars, fighting white-knuckle battles without ever having to see a drop of blood. Ground troops see these people as glorified taxi drivers, but they don't complain a bit when a battleship keeps the enemy off of their transport, or some fighters keep the enemy away from their assault ship.

Ships do three basic things: snoop, defend, and attack. Snooping can include real exploration or simply checking up on systems to see how things are going. Note that this includes checking up on reports of trouble on a planet to see if its for real; a nice way to get your space forcers dirty for a change. Defending includes both defending planets and defending ships, especially supply ships and/or convoys. Here's where things get fun: you've got to sit back and watch as some massive force comes roaring in, because they could just fly right by you if you broke off from your charge. Attacking is what ships like to do: go blow the bejeezus out of somebody else. This could be clearing the way for a planetary invasion, intercepting an enemy fleet in deep space, or going after the other guy's supply ships and convoys. Plus, ships always get assigned to "show the flag" missions, where a ship or task group goes flying into a troubled region to "show Imperial resolve." That just means that the ships sit around until either the tension eases or somebody take a pot shot, and all heck breaks loose. Loads of fun; just ask the US Navy.

Hopefully, these ideas will get your creative juices going. This isn't an exhaustive list of the types of campaigns and adventures possible in the Stellar Imperium. Its a starting point, not an ending point. Hopefully, the end of the stories of the Stellar Imperium is a long way away.

 

Military Role-Playing

Since there isn't a GURPS Military to say a lot of this stuff, I'm going to put some of my own ideas in here.  First, military life is not all excitement or fun and games.  Military units do a lot of sitting around; "hurry up and wait," began life as a military expression.  Imperium troops see plenty of action, but there's still a lot of time spent doing not much; training replacements, traveling in hyper-light, preparing and cleaning equipment, that sort of thing.  Some players will really get into this, but most just want to cut to the chase.  

Units in combat situations see lots of action, but that's not always a good thing.  Enemies raid when the unit isn't expecting it, the unit gets hit by a counter-attack no one higher up saw coming, the players live in bad conditions; none of these are very fun, but all can be quite exciting.  The Imperium usually has a firepower and equipment superiority over whoever they fight, but the other guy has lots more troops.  This produces lots of tension, as the players valiantly fight to overcome long odd (numerically, at least).  Also, many of the heavy Imperium units don't have great combat endurance.  Unlike other games, laser-wielding units can't stay on the field forever; they run out of battery power for the lasers.  The Imperium likes to fight hard and fast, but that only works if the other guy gives up.  If not, the infantry are left holding positions that the big boys won but can't defend because their power cells are dry.

Stellar Force players don't have to deal with those issues, but they have their own.  Someone once described life on a military ship as "six months of boredom and one hour of stark terror."  This hasn't changed much, except its probably only one or two months of boredom per hour of terror.  Ships spend weeks at a time in hyper-light, where not much happens.  Big ships (carriers and battleships) spend most of their time tied up at space-docks until something major comes up; they're too expensive to operate otherwise.  Smaller ships stay active more, but that just means hopping from system to system, checking on things.  When a major campaign starts up, things get more active, but players shouldn't just jump from flashpoint to flashpoint.  If they do, start penalizing them in terms of low spare parts, bad food, bad intelligence and tired NPC crew.  If the players work up for a campaign, go on campaign, and then get to rest afterwards, then they should stay sharp; that's the way its supposed to be.  

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