Ruminations for a campaign...

[Ted]

This isn't so much a pitch as me getting my thoughts out there for some eyes to look at this.

Set in modern day Boston, a spree of crimes related to a mysterious cult has managed to hit headlines- and the mayor's desk. Pieced together from officers chosen amongst the Boston Police Department, the FBI, and other law enforcement agencies, the Crime Response Task Force has been assembled.

Their mission: Investigate and stop the murders plaguing Boston.

Players are the agents of CRTF. Mostly police officers, detectives and other agents on loan from other agencies, the CRTF is relatively small, but dedicated.

Turns out the cult in question is one of many seeking to find a way to allow the denizens of Hell to access Earth. Heaven and Hell both have limited access to Earth, where Angels have been able to maintain dominance for eons. But now, Hell is coming close to a breakthrough.

After finding out the truth of the cult they've been tasked with stopping, the CRTF will be brought fully into the emerging conflict when they (The PCs) are invested with power- allowing them to take a more active role in the coming days.

The goal would be that these powers would eventually make the PCs principal players towards the end of the campaign. So to start, it would be fairly low-power, although PCs are law enforcement which makes them a bit above Average Joes, with the capability for them to get much stronger as it goes on.

Anyways guys, I'm hoping to hear some thoughts from you guys, and I should have more details after I get some sleep. I've gone and stayed up until 5AM again

[axlerowes]

I assuming this is going to be a live person table top game.

I wrote and  ran a "count down to the End of Days" campaign once, and it was the most popular one I have ever run.   But I have also run a number of these epic campaigns in which there are forces at work with a giant goal behind them, my last campaign was one such, and it flopped.  But I think that was bad GMing on my part, cause the plot was awesome. So if you are looking for advice on this campaign, I can tell you what worked for me and didn't work for me with my group.

I think you already solved  one of the major problems I had in my most recent campaign, in that you have decreased the possibility for intra-player conflict.  As the players are all cops on the job, and they are assigned a task.  So they are not likely to be turning on each other, or wandering off in different directions.  The problem with formal unit play however, is that one character can make a lot of the choices and all the character are confronted with the same problem which may not always require team work.  Some of my players felt left out as one player would go off information grabbing.  Put they all felt included and enjoyed shared threat scenes and stings or hiests.  What is your first game secession going to be?

Players are going to want sub-plots, missing daughter, personal political aspiration, maybe one studied to be priest but lost their faith and joined the police force so they could believe in something.  What are your players subplots thus far and how do they relate to the larger plot?

I have sometime have a problem with being too subtle.   Players are geeks too, they are going just as excited about the plot, and in my end of days plot, one player actually said "it is more fun if we know what all the demons names are what they represent".  How much do you plan to have the players know about the plot, and how are you going to reveal that information?

[Ted]

I assuming this is going to be a live person table top game.

Actually, I was planning on running this online, probably over IRC or similar.

I think you already solved  one of the major problems I had in my most recent campaign, in that you have decreased the possibility for intra-player conflict.  As the players are all cops on the job, and they are assigned a task.  So they are not likely to be turning on each other, or wandering off in different directions.  The problem with formal unit play however, is that one character can make a lot of the choices and all the character are confronted with the same problem which may not always require team work.

I'll definitely have to fiddle around with the command structure of CRTF to make sure that no player can boss the others around. I think a varied mix of sub-plots and intrigue not directly related to missions handed down from CRTF can help keep things fresh.[/quote]

  Some of my players felt left out as one player would go off information grabbing.  Put they all felt included and enjoyed shared threat scenes and stings or hiests.  What is your first game secession going to be?

First session will probably be the first major CRTF briefing where everyone is assembled and briefed on their overall mission and introduced to the major figures within CRTF. This may or may not also involve the first mission they run.

Players are going to want sub-plots, missing daughter, personal political aspiration, maybe one studied to be priest but lost their faith and joined the police force so they could believe in something.  What are your players subplots thus far and how do they relate to the larger plot?

I'm hoping that I can develop a strong cast of NPCs to help make CRTF a very tight-knit group. Doing so would allow me ample opportunity for sub-plots. Failing that, hopefully PCs have included some family and friends in their background, as well as good backstories to build on. Otherwise, there should be some great chances for factional intrigue, as Boston PD and other government agencies might try to exert control over CRTF once things start going down.

How much do you plan to have the players know about the plot, and how are you going to reveal that information?

Multiple figures from both sides of the conflict, angelic and demonic, will serve to flesh out the plot. In particular, the individual responsible for later granting them powers has a great deal to say. Otherwise, I'm hoping to allow other avenues of discovery.

[Ted]

CRTF:
Commander: Jack Reese (BPD Deputy Superintendent)
Second In Command: Kyle Diglado (BDP Captain)
FBI Adviser: Holly Birch (FBI Special Agent)
ATF Adviser: Grant Eddings (Retired ATF Special Agent)
Military Liaison: Lydecker Cain (Rank Classified)

Primarily taken from the ranks of the Boston Police Department, the Crime Response Task Force was formed by the command of the Mayor of Boston. Supported by the ATF, FBI, and other federal agencies including a few military advisers, CRTF has a great deal of resources at their disposal.

Facilities:
CRTF operates from a compound located within Cambridge, MA. Their main base of operations- jokingly christened 'R'lyeh' by the main IT guy- serves as a complete Police Station- along with specific accommodations requested by Commander Reese. Notably, R'lyeh is entirely devoid of departmental insignia of any sort. The armory is rumored to contain some military-grade weapons, and the forensics lab was definitely borrowed from the FBI. The garage is home to a few MIB style SUVs- blacked out Chevy Suburbans- as well as more traditional police force vehicles.

R'lyeh also features sparse living quarters- CRTF seems to be more than a full-time job.

Operations:
CRTF maintains military advisers due to the covert and sensitive nature of their mission. CRTF is paramilitary, and thus, investigations encompass both normal law enforcement activities related to investigations and operations that involve more direct actions. Players are likely to discover very quickly that their normal approaches to Law Enforcement won't be of much use here.

CRTF maintains two active teams responsible for undertaking missions. Team A (the PCs) are commanded directly by Kyle Diglado, while Team B is under Lydecker Cain.

[axlerowes]

sounds good as a set up, very straight forward and accessable. This all very complete and you haven't reached any choice points yet, what are you looking for advice on?