Switch Theme:

How do I make good lore for game ? (Modern Failed state setting South America Civil War))  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in ca
Fresh-Faced New User




I'm doing a modern setting with special forces and meceranies opearting in a failed third world state during a civil war..

idk , lets just give a rough estimate..

Like for example...

SOCOM 2 or MW2... (The Favela gak)

you're sending an intervention force to support local government forces against Narco style communist terrorists in the vain of the FARC in Brazil during a Civil War between the Government and anti paramilitary..

There has been a coup , any suggestions on a proper follow up to that

Also how would I create custom stats for certain factions , is there a site that lists stats for d20 style factions for rule sets on how to play modern games and the factions that can assembled with them with hitpoints and everything (sorry if I don't make sense saying this , again I'm new to this and I have very poor understanding of math..)

anyways , once again thank you.. and have a good day
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




To develop your lore, you need to answer questions such as the following -

1.) Why does the intervention force care about the civil war? Is it a mercenary group? If so, who hired them, and why? Is it another country's military? Why does that other country care enough about what's going on in your civil war to risk losing troops (who might be very well trained) and equipment? How big is the intervention force? Are they expected to take an active hand in the fighting? Or are they primarily military advisors (who might engage in limited combat)? How motivated are the members of the intervention force? It's not their country, after all.
2.) Who's backing the terrorists? How open is the backing, and how involved is it? Are they openly shipping arms to the terrorists? Are they providing deniable safe havens in their own country that their own military can never quite seem to find (probably requires a neighbor as the backer; ex: Venezuela's support of Colombia's rebels)? Or is it all secret?
3.) What does the common citizen think of the government? What does he or she think of the terrorists? What do the government and the terrorists think of the common citizen? Which social groups tend to be more favorably inclined toward the government, and which toward the terrorists?
4.) Who performed the coup? Was it supporters of the terrorists? Was it a rogue army unit? Was it the majority of the army? Why did it happen, and how difficult was it to pull off? What does the coup think of the intervention force, and what does the intervention force think of the coup?
5.) How bad is the corruption on both sides?
6.) How are the terrorists getting their troops? Are common citizens joining them? Or are the terrorists kidnapping kids, indoctrinating them, and then handing them an assault rifle?


Anything d20 related probably doesn't really belong in this thread, since it's an RPG, and this is one of the miniatures sections of the forum. You might have better luck with that question in the section of the forum that covers RPGs.
   
Made in gb
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

Eumerin wrote:
To develop your lore, you need to answer questions such as the following -

1.) Why does the intervention force care about the civil war? Is it a mercenary group? If so, who hired them, and why? Is it another country's military? Why does that other country care enough about what's going on in your civil war to risk losing troops (who might be very well trained) and equipment? How big is the intervention force? Are they expected to take an active hand in the fighting? Or are they primarily military advisors (who might engage in limited combat)? How motivated are the members of the intervention force? It's not their country, after all.
2.) Who's backing the terrorists? How open is the backing, and how involved is it? Are they openly shipping arms to the terrorists? Are they providing deniable safe havens in their own country that their own military can never quite seem to find (probably requires a neighbor as the backer; ex: Venezuela's support of Colombia's rebels)? Or is it all secret?
3.) What does the common citizen think of the government? What does he or she think of the terrorists? What do the government and the terrorists think of the common citizen? Which social groups tend to be more favorably inclined toward the government, and which toward the terrorists?
4.) Who performed the coup? Was it supporters of the terrorists? Was it a rogue army unit? Was it the majority of the army? Why did it happen, and how difficult was it to pull off? What does the coup think of the intervention force, and what does the intervention force think of the coup?
5.) How bad is the corruption on both sides?
6.) How are the terrorists getting their troops? Are common citizens joining them? Or are the terrorists kidnapping kids, indoctrinating them, and then handing them an assault rifle?


Anything d20 related probably doesn't really belong in this thread, since it's an RPG, and this is one of the miniatures sections of the forum. You might have better luck with that question in the section of the forum that covers RPGs.


on top these fine questions:


7) How has the international community responded to the coup? Did the old government have the backing of the US or USSR? Or is it the new government that is backed by a superpower, which is now supporting the intervention? Is the country now under some sort of sanctions or embargo?

8) Is the active intervention force the only international players? are the nations neighbours sending troops across the border to attack rebels in the failed state? Does a major power have a base in the country, and sends out sweeps to secure its own safety?

9) the coup has happened, its leaders are now in control of the state apparatus.....now what? are the leaders politically united? do they share a common ideological goal they are now trying to enact, or were they united only by opposition to the previous government? If the latter, how disunified are they now? Are factions within the local government scheming against one another, either politically or militarily?

10) What is the intervention trying to achieve? what is their goal? are they trying to prop up the new government? are they trying to secure some critical resource, like oil, a nuclear power plant, or a major air or naval base site? Or are they their to contain and defeat a insurgency they feel is a threat to their own security (ie a "breeding ground for terrorists") Does the intervention favour certain elements of the government that are more pliable and willing to work for them? Do all the countries contributing to the intervention have the same goals? IS one nation seeking to secure their investment in the new government in exchange for trade concessions, while another is focused on catching international criminals within the insurgency? Is their a unified chain of command, or are different national elements under their own authority with limited co-operation (like in Somalia in the early 90s, where the US army was working independently of the UN backed malayian and pakistani forces, leading to the Black Hawk Down fiasco)?

11) does the intervention have international backing? Is is a diverse multi-national effort with broad support form the UN? Is almost entirely drawn form one major power, with a token sprinkling of other countries troops present as a fig leaf of "unity?" Or is it in the country without international support?

12) how much freedom of action does the Intervention force have? are they tightly controlled by external agencies and rules of engagement that limit what weaponry they can use and how they can use it (I.e. no airstrikes, limited drone cover, no heavy weapons other than the odd MG, etc), or can they flatten half the favela with carpet bombing without drawing too much ire? how does this affect the insurgents? are they fighting in manner that tries not to draw the attention of the circling gunships, or are the happy to Engauge in all out warfare with the intervention force with no worries?


13) How unified are the insurgents? are they the loyal supporters of the previous regime, still operating under the control of a deposed head of state? or are they a dozen separate movements, unified only in thier mutual dislike of the current government and as likely to fight each other as the government/intervention forces (ie communist revolutionaries vs old regime supporters vs anarchists vs narco gangs)? Do they have a "respectable" political wing that the government can interact and negotiate with (ie a "Sinn Féin" for the local IRA)?

14) what is the insurgents desired end state? are they fighting for greater representation/ending of oppression (or the ending of "opression") of a group within the nation (ie, the farmers who've been kicked off their land for oil drilling, or the oppressed workers toiling for captialists pigs)? Are they seeking to overthrow the goverment totally, or just force a change in policy(removal of foreign imperialists who are dictating national policy for their gain, greater inclusion of the hill people into the government, etc)? is their criminality a means to an political end, or an end itself (ie growing drugs for pure profit vs growing drugs to fund the war on imperialists)?


answering these questions, and the questions that fall out of them, will give you a much clearer idea of the setting and areas where the conflict will generate scenarios for combat missions.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/05/19 06:04:09


To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
The Blades of Ruin 2,000pts Watch Company Rho 1650pts
 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





My general advice for rules: find aspects of games that you like and take bits and pieces from each to make it your own. Make up your own rules to make it work within your world. Don't try to jam an existing ruleset within your world.

Roleplaying games are an obvious inspiration for D20 combat. Sounds like Infinity could be a good starting point too. If you want a more Warhammer lean to it... Necromunda is basically the favelas of 40K.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

How do you make good lore?

There are two ways:
1. Read history, think deeply about history, and then steal the history and change the names.

2. Find lore you like, pick it into pieces, take the pieces you like, merge them all together with new names and specs; and call it done.


Look at how some of the biggest wargame IP in the world does it, Star Wars, Marvel, and 40k/WHFB..... they change the names to protect the innocent; and steal liberally.

Do. The. Same. Innovation is over-rated.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

 Easy E wrote:
How do you make good lore?

There are two ways:
1. Read history, think deeply about history, and then steal the history and change the names.

2. Find lore you like, pick it into pieces, take the pieces you like, merge them all together with new names and specs; and call it done.


Look at how some of the biggest wargame IP in the world does it, Star Wars, Marvel, and 40k/WHFB..... they change the names to protect the innocent; and steal liberally.

Do. The. Same. Innovation is over-rated.


Truer words were never spoken.

I would underline, read history (and current events), read Killing Pablo (Escobar), read the War at the End of the World. Read the Thomas Caroll Affair, it's not a great book but one of the very few around about Guyana and its issues. Don't slavishly recreate history, but take what makes for a better story.

At the end of the day, ask does this make for an interesting story (or game mechanic or whatever). Thinking about sanctions and such, where does it lead you in the public-facing part of the game world? Does it mean that faction A is scrambling for cash and equipment while faction B has anything they want thanks to their Superpower backers? Does it mean that a faction must avoid certain actions to prevent the wrath of the international community? Are there international reporters, UN observers, human right activists, foreign missionaries or other actors the players must avoid or placate?

And then ask the same about drug money, about CIA/KGB/spy money, about multinational corporation money. Would adding an oil or mining company with their own interests make things more interesting? Do you want to go pulpy with secret camps of Nazi war criminals or lost Native American civilizations? (I gather not but throwing this out as an option)

You want to set in South America, think about where. Would an island be easier than wedging your fictional country into the continent somewhere? Do would want to include real countries like Columbia, Venezuela and Brazil or would you rename all of the above? Would the smaller countries of central America fit better? What about the 3 northeast countries -Guyana (Formerly British Guyana), Surinam (formerly Dutch Guyana) and French Guyana (still a French possession)? 3 odd little non-Spanish/Portuguese countries that are part of the Amazon rainforest. For a while there the President of Surinam was a known drug smuggler. It's an interesting part of the world but there's not much info on them.

TL/DR look to the real world for ideas, but only use the ones that make for a better game.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/06/01 07:19:36


 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
 Easy E wrote:
How do you make good lore?

There are two ways:
1. Read history, think deeply about history, and then steal the history and change the names.

2. Find lore you like, pick it into pieces, take the pieces you like, merge them all together with new names and specs; and call it done.


Look at how some of the biggest wargame IP in the world does it, Star Wars, Marvel, and 40k/WHFB..... they change the names to protect the innocent; and steal liberally.

Do. The. Same. Innovation is over-rated.


Truer words were never spoken.

I would underline, read history (and current events), read Killing Pablo (Escobar), read the War at the End of the World. Read the Thomas Caroll Affair, it's not a great book but one of the very few around about Guyana and its issues. Don't slavishly recreate history, but take what makes for a better story.

At the end of the day, ask does this make for an interesting story (or game mechanic or whatever). Thinking about sanctions and such, where does it lead you in the public-facing part of the game world? Does it mean that faction A is scrambling for cash and equipment while faction B has anything they want thanks to their Superpower backers? Does it mean that a faction must avoid certain actions to prevent the wrath of the international community? Are there international reporters, UN observers, human right activists, foreign missionaries or other actors the players must avoid or placate?

And then ask the same about drug money, about CIA/KGB/spy money, about multinational corporation money. Would adding an oil or mining company with their own interests make things more interesting? Do you want to go pulpy with secret camps of Nazi war criminals or lost Native American civilizations? (I gather not but throwing this out as an option)

You want to set in South America, think about where. Would an island be easier than wedging your fictional country into the continent somewhere? Do would want to include real countries like Columbia, Venezuela and Brazil or would you rename all of the above? Would the smaller countries of central America fit better? What about the 3 northeast countries -Guyana (Formerly British Guyana), Surinam (formerly Dutch Guyana) and French Guyana (still a French possession)? 3 odd little non-Spanish/Portuguese countries that are part of the Amazon rainforest. For a while there the President of Surinam was a known drug smuggler. It's an interesting part of the world but there's not much info on them.

TL/DR look to the real world for ideas, but only use the ones that make for a better game.


I'll take note of it
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

The ispy podcast is another good resource.

https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/ispy/

Interviews and oral history with real spies and law enforcement.

 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
The ispy podcast is another good resource.

https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/ispy/

Interviews and oral history with real spies and law enforcement.


I'll listen to it thank you for the note
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

Hope you like, my other favorite podcast is Radio War Nerd.

Very eclectic discussions of wars past and present, the hosts have their biases, but are pretty clear about them and usually have something insightful to say.


https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/t687i-9b79d/War-Nerd-Radio-%E2%80%94-Subscriber-Feed-Podcast

 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




I'd use history. Especially Africa and S America. Real life provides all you'll need,
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



London

I would get AK47 republic, play a game and roll on the chart
https://www.peterpig.co.uk/rules.html

Probably first edition. Rather than me witter about it feel free to use the internet for reviews.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and for a different take I have run this for teams and they have found it thought provoking.

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/aftershock

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/15 13:13:11


 
   
 
Forum Index » Historical Miniature Games: WW1 to Modern
Go to: