MudEaters - RPG Campaign in Great War

The finale to the series of adventures will be an attack on enemy positions. The long-awaited order finally arrives and when the evening approaches, the soldiers take their positions in the trenches. Before them lies half a kilometer of no man's land, and after that - the enemies' fortifications.

The time between the jumping out of the trenches and the attack on the Germans will be filled with a couple of adventure ideas, played out as retrospections.

We dedicate this
campaign to the victims of war.

The Authors

The order of attack is given. A wave of soldiers emerges from the trenches, struggling through the wire obstacles, wading in the mud. For now, they move in silence, under the cover of darkness - their goal to reach as far as they can before the enemy realizes it's an attack.

In these circumstances the players look back at what happened two weeks before the offensive. They were sent out for a night patrol and they were supposed to replace their comrades at a small outpost, about 200 meters from the enemy lines. It was their first mission in the no man's land.

Just like today, they moved during the night, in silence. They walked for the first 50 meters, but after that a flare appeared and shed some light on the surroundings. The team throws themselves on the ground, and after a while start to crawl.

In a bomb crater, one of the players stumbles upon a dead soldier's body. He can't recognize, whether the, drenched in mud, uniform belongs to a friend or foe. He has the impression, however, that the soldier's wide open eyes stare right at him.

At this point it would be a good idea to intensify the feeling of dread - when thousands of people die at the front, a single dead man can sometimes be much more frightening.

Crawling further towards the outpost, the team can come across other surprises. A rustle of unknown origin may suddenly alert them. A rustle? Yet there are hardly any plants here.

They will also arrive at an enemies' plane wreck. At the pilot's side they will find a map on which their and the enemies' positions will be marked.

Further yet there is only%u2026 a dud. The large bomb has fallen into the deep mud and misfired. Its detonation would wake up everyone in the vicinity. The problem is that one of the player characters has literally spotted it with his hand, and now doesn't know what to do.

The unexploded bomb isn't dangerous itself, but the team, while discussing what to do next will find out%u2026 that they have got lost.

The players are lying face down in the mud and are sure neither where they have come from nor which way should they go. Both directions seem equally good. Or maybe they will misjudge the situation and crawl in parallel with the trench lines?

Eventually they will arrive at a huge bomb crater that serves as a makeshift outpost. The players will literally step into it (or rather fall into it).

However, a surprise awaits them here: the outpost is abandoned. Yet the players are supposed to replace the soldiers residing here. What's happened to them? Have they been captured? Or maybe they have deserted? The only trace of the soldiers is a still warm cup with weak chicory coffee.
How will the players act? There is no time left to go all the way back during this night.

The dawn would welcome them before they
have reached the trenches. They will have to wait for another day.

When they look at the pilot's map - if they have taken it - in the daylight, they will discover%u2026 that their outpost is marked on it. Near the little 'cross', the pilot has drawn, however, a question mark. What does it mean?

During the day there's no chance of walking out of the outpost. It's too close to the enemy. There may be snipers around, so the team has to wait for the nightfall.

What will the players' decision be? To turn back? Or to wait for a patrol to replace them during the next night?

1. Should they decide to go back, on their way they will come across an enemy sniper. If they defeat him in silence, or take him as a captive, they will be able to return to the trenches without any problems. But should the sniper make any noise, i.e. fire a shot, the sky will suddenly be illuminated by a flare. A firefight will commence, coming from both sides of the battlefield. A misguided missile will hit the recently abandoned post. If they decide to make a run for it, they are likely to get wounded. It will be wiser to lie down through the rest of the day, pretending to be dead and then crawl back to their trenches during the night.

2. The players decide to wait for the replacement, but a nasty surprise lies in store for them. At night, they will notice the patrol that's supposed to relieve them. But it will approach from the enemy's direction. So are they players' allies or not? The players will be under the impression that they hear whispers in their native language. They will probably delay any action. Then, when the soldiers get nearer, the players will notice that these are indeed their allies.

But.. as soon as the troops reach the outpost, it will turn out there's something wrong with their eyes. They seem dead, like the eyes of the corpse the team has stumbled upon on their way here. Also, they don't have any firearms on them, only bayonets. Before the players have time to react in any way, their supposed allies will attack them with the bayonets. What's going on?
At the last second the proper patrol shall arrive to help the team. Have the attacking soldiers gone crazy? Are these the same people the players are supposed to replace? Remember: the real patrol will seem suspicious to our players.

And one last thing: should any shots be fired during the fight at the post, a firefight between the trenches will commence. This time, however, a missile won't hit the outpost. The way back to their people will be like the one described in point 1.

The time for sneaking is over. The enemy already knows (possibly thanks to his own patrols or snipers) that an attack is coming. Flares will light up the sky, soldiers will quicken their steps, and even start to run when the enemy's artillery begins firing.

Once again we look back at the previous events. A couple of weeks ago the team was stationed at the rear. Numerous squads had set up their camps in a beautiful forest area. The team was given a task of escorting two captives to the command post - they are suspected of being German spies.

The road leads through a forest and it will probably take a couple of hours to cross it. The captives are armless. One of them will try to talk to the players. He may try to refer to some memories of one of the players. He will speak English.

It will turn out that he had studied in the United States for two years. That was before the war. He was going to become a lawyer. He will try to appeal to each of the players. He might talk about studies, sport, girls. Maybe he even studied in one-of-the-player's hometown?

The captive is not only friendly and amusing, but also a good talker. Evidently he tries to make his captors recall some pleasant memories. He will be like a letter from home. As it will turn out he remembers many things from the US better than the players do.

Should he earn someone's trust, he will reveal to him a secret: the other captive is a psychopath. They were together in the trenches. The man was completely mad. He was quiet (indeed he never says a word), and brutal. The other soldiers supposedly caught him eating human flesh. For this he got a detention and was destined for a penal battalion.

If the player shares this knowledge with the rest of the team, all of them will start to notice the strange, suspicious acing of the captive soldier. Should they deliver him to the headquarters? Or maybe just leave him dead from a shot in the forest?

Their discussion will suddenly be interrupted by an air raid. Enemy's bombs, won't hit the target, but they'll plow through the forest, ravaging the ground around the team. The captive-psycho will take advantage of the chaos and try to flee. He will quickly jump between the trees, too dense to take a shot. The team should try to catch him, but what to do with the other one?

1. Should they leave the captive with one of the players, after over a dozen of minutes of chasing they will finally catch the runaway. The problem is%u2026 that they won't be able to find the way out of the forest.

And what about the player guarding the captive? Well%u2026 The nice captive will turn out to be the real psycho (this scene will exclude one of the players from the rest of the game session). He will attack his captor, for example, while asking for a cigarette. A struggle will take place.

The psycho will grab one of the soldier's grenades and leave it at his feet. He, himself, will manage to take cover just in time to survive the explosion. The player won't die, but he'll be gravely wounded. He will also witness something dreadful: the psychopath will crawl towards the wounded, take his bayonet and on his chest carve three letters: R I P. What happens next? See point 3.

2. If the players take the captive with them for the chase, they will have some hard time finding their way in the forest, but after more than a dozen minutes will catch the runaway. He will struggle hard, and the only way to calm him down will be to stun him. Anyway: the players are lost, and the dawn approaches rapidly. Half an hour of walking through the forest, and it will get dark. In the gloom, the team will stumble upon a deserted forester's lodge. It isn't on their maps. Go to point 4.

3. The players wander through the forest, and already in darkness stumble upon the abandoned forester's lodge. With them is the captive-psycho (at least that's what they think), and their companion (or two companions) has stayed with the other one. But where exactly are they? How to find their comrade? Maybe the rest have already continued their way towards the headquarters?

Anyway, they shouldn't leave the lodge before dawn. After it isn't dark anymore they can search for a way out of the forest. They'll be able to make something to eat and drink. A fire will be lit in the fireplace, an idyllic atmosphere will fill the room. They have to, however, keep an eye on the 'dangerous' captive. Should anybody decide to ask him why he ran, or show him any kindness - i.e. give "this son of a gun" a cup of coffee, the captive will appreciate the good will and return it with a story. It turns out that he isn't the psycho.

It's the other one - the nice captive, whom they left with their teammate by the road. This soldier isn't even a spy. He was caught by the players' allies while escorting the psychopath to the court-martial. The escort consisted of exactly the same number of people as the players' team. Most of them died however during a fight with the American patrol. He himself lost consciousness before he got the chance to explain who the other captive was. And later he was scared, because the psychopath promised him that they'd escape together if only he remained silent. And should he choose to betray him, he will die as soon as the night sets in. The psycho is supposed to have the habit of carving the letters: R I P on the chests of his victims.

What's next? Will the players believe the captive? Is he telling the truth or just trying to sway them? Will the real psychopath decide to attack the lodge and take out the players one by one? After all he now has a weapon, and feels all the more confident.

At night, a grenade will explode near the lodge. If the players decide to step outside, someone will begin shooting at them from behind the trees. Possibly some of the soldiers will get hurt. If they try to catch the shooter, a stressful sneaking among the trees awaits them. Every rustle, every broken twig or a startled animal will frighten them.

In the meantime the psycho will enter the forester's lodge and kill the other captive. If any players are still there, he will also try to kill them.

If, despite the explosion, the players decide not to leave the lodge, the psychopath will set it on fire. While the wooden house is burning, and the team step outside, he will launch at them like a wounded animal.

4. All players have taken refuge in the forester's lodge. There they can make something to eat and drink. A fire will be lit in the fireplace, an idyllic atmosphere will fill the room. They have to, however, keep an eye on the 'dangerous' captive. The other one - the talkative - will gladly help. He will convince them that he can, for example, chop some wood. Of course in the company of one of the players. As soon as he gets an ax, or a piece of wood - he will attack his guardian, detonating a grenade that will injure the player. He will carve the letters R I P on his chest and disappear into the forest. It will then turn out that this 'friendly' captive was the real psychopath. The wounded player will be excluded from the rest of the scenario. Should the players rush outside, they will be shot at from behind the trees.

If they leave somebody with the second captive inside, he will tell him his story. He will reveal that he is no spy. He was caught by the players' allies while escorting the psychopath to the court-martial. The escort consisted of exactly the same number of people as the players' team. Most of them died, however, during a fight with the American patrol. He himself lost consciousness before he got the chance to explain who the other captive was. And later he was scared, because the psychopath promised him that they'd escape together if only he remains silent. And should he choose to betray him, he will die as soon as the night sets in. The psycho is supposed to have the habit of carving the letters: R I P on the chests of his victims.

What's next? If the team (or at least a part of it) try to catch the shooter, a stressful sneaking among the trees awaits them. Every rustle, every broken twig or a startled animal will frighten them.

In the meantime the psycho will enter the forester's lodge and kill the other captive. If any players are still there, he will also try to kill them.

If, despite the explosion, the players decide not to leave the lodge, the psychopath will set it on fire. While the wooden house is burning, and the team step outside, he will launch at them like a wounded animal.

Under heavy fire of artillery missiles nobody tries to stay quiet anymore. The advancing soldiers, to pluck up courage, or because of being terrified, scream their lungs out. They run through the muddy ground, under the fire of the snipers. The players pass the remains of the outpost from the first scenario - a missile has hit it (either now or during the first scenario).

Yet another retrospection. They run further while gas-filled projectiles explode above their heads. Someone shouts the command "put on your masks!".

Their first furlough since landing in Europe. The team live in not so large a hotel in Paris. Almost all rooms are occupied by soldiers. The players have to stay together in a room for two, so either they sleep together on the beds, or someone takes the floor. Paris is a place secluded from the sad reality of war. Beautiful dames, and elegant lords walk through the streets. Shop exhibitions astonish the passersby. The only thing that reminds these people of the ongoing war is various colors of soldiers' uniforms, filling the streets.

The players spend their night in one of the cabarets. The air is filled with the smoke of cigars and cigarettes, people drink lots of alcohol.

The girls are dancing and some un-funny announcer tells jokes. At last, the main star of the evening walks onto the stage - Pola de Frances. Her lyric voice overpowers the soldiers. As it turns out, one of them catches her eye. They have a talk at another table. On that night he doesn't come back to the hotel with the rest of the team. He arrives in the morning, totally in love

He convinces the players to watch her show again this evening. This time however%u2026 somebody else catches her eye. Some Australian. The player's awe is so great that he cannot acknowledge "losing" Pola. The whole team are slightly drunk, the adrenaline sets in. The Australian has some buddies with him. Should the players remain calm, one of the Australians will come to their table and ask the players why they are staring at Pola. A fight will commence.

Should the players visit the Australians' table first, they will achieve the same outcome.

Either way - one of the Australians dies that night (he might hit a corner of the table with his head), and both groups of soldiers will end up in police custody.

In the morning an officer will come over to tell them that a court-martial awaits them and that on the next day they shall be escorted to the barracks. In the evening, however, yet another surprise lies in store for them. Pola will arrive at the custody and plead with the police to let her talk to the "beloved" player. In private she will share her concerns with the soldier, but - and here the Game Master must be very tactful - she will start inquiring the player about various details. What's the name of their commander, where are they stationed, where have they served, what's the size of their unit, what were their plans, orders, etc%u2026

In other words - any information she can get, but in an extremely subtle way. The player might not know too much, but he will admit that they have been supposed to go to the front (where the campaign takes place) and that they are going to launch an offensive. If he asks Pola why she wants to know all of that, she shall answer that she has connections in the American headquarters and that she might be able to help them get out of the prison without a court-martial. After all it was the Australians who started the fight, and the resulting death was an accident.

When the player returns to his cell, he will remember that during his wonderful night with the singer she asked him questions in a similar vein. Only that then they didn't have to be rescued from the court-martial.

What will the players do? No guard will believe them. Neither will the escort, that's supposed to come in the morning. They can either escape from the custody in the night to catch the spying singer, or escape the escort in the morning (attacking their own comrades!), to expose Pola's true identity.

Should they decide not to do anything, a court awaits them. They have to feel the seriousness of the situation. Homicide, paradoxically, is punished by death on the front. The court, however, will exculpate them and send them to the trenches. And here the scenario ends.

If they decide to run away, they'll have very little time to accomplish their objective. Of course they can also just try to desert - which of course will end up with the team getting caught and sent back to the trenches.

The scenario ends in a similar way if they do not expose the spy in time.

Pola doesn't know that the players are searching for her.

That's why she will appear in the cabaret, as usual. Should the players enter the place in a normal way she will spot them, conclude the show and go backstage. If the players leave one of them in the dressing-room, her manager (as well as an operating contact) will attack the player securing the room.

During the struggle Pola will burst into the room and pull a revolver out of a drawer. She will take a shot at the player, and should she know that she cannot escape, she will commit suicide.

If the players aren't guarding the dressing-room, Pola will go there for her weapon and escape via the staff entrance. The team will notice the escape only by luck. A chase will commence now between of a few men after a lone woman, through the narrow alleys of Paris. At first no one will react, but after a while the passersby and the gendarmerie will try to stop the players. The situation will be bizarre, and the players will eventually notice it themselves.

As soon as they approach the girl in some alley, Pola will draw her gun and start firing. The last bullet she will keep for herself.

The team, of course, will be captured, but after more than a dozen hours of waiting and explaining a counterespionage officer will visit them. At first, he will criticize the players for interfering in other people's business. After that, however, he will congratulate them on getting rid of the spy, the army has been looking for for a long time.

A wave of soldiers, heavily thinned by the artillery and the toxic gas, finally nears the enemy trenches. Both sides of the conflict are now engaged in the firefight.
From the trenches the machine guns rattle, their holders shooting at random. Both your allies and the Germans suffer heavy casualties. Any moment now the fight will take a hand-to-hand approach and the most frightening part of the battle will commence - melee combat. This time, Game Master, we will, however, add a surprising twist to the scenario. Your team are no longer the attacking Americans. They take on the roles of these same young soldiers in German uniforms.
They now see, the American soldiers' frenzied assault on their trenches. You, the Game Master, have to make it clear to the players: the color of the uniform is meaningless. Young men, sometimes boys, on both sides of the front line have the same experiences, the same memories, dreams and fears. Just as your team of Americans running straight towards the German trenches do, and just as the German soldiers in their fortifications do.
English names aren't that different from the German ones. Let's take our team to the trenches then. All of the scenarios of this campaign might as well have been something that happened to the German soldiers. Only that instead of Paris, there was, for example, Berlin and the psychopath didn't study in the US, but in Germany, etc.
So now, shooting wildly, your squad awaits the furious attack of the Americans. Only a dozen meters left until they reach the trenches. "Fix%u2026 Bayonets!" someone issues the order. The adrenaline almost bursts the veins, and each moment a new body joins the fallen. Grenades are thrown, while the enemies' bayonets glitter in the darkness. One can feel the blood pulsing in his ears. It's strange, but despite the cannonade, they can all hear their own breathing. The world slows down%u2026

What are you doing here boys? In the tumult of many-thousand armies, single, personal dramas take place. There's room for fear, and little pleasures. A cup of hot coffee, and a visit to the cabaret. But the global warmachine doesn't care - it swallows and grinds everybody equally. Just like the toxic gas on the battlefield that with a change of wind may suddenly suffocate the allies. Bent over the staff maps, generals with rakish moustaches, and elegant uniforms, coolly decide who's to live or die. The pointer moves the human fates on the map.

Remember, Game Master, that you should show the brutality of melee combat in the trenches - bayonets, gun's butts and camp shovels. Ripped bellies, and burst brains, blood and intestines. When the players begin to feel the blood and ashes%u2026 change the sides again. Now, again, the players will take the roles of the American soldiers, who after a murderous passage through the no man's land, rush towards the enemies' trenches. The screams, hits, blood and fury.

You can finish the scenario whichever way you choose - with a victory, or defeat. It can be the squad's death, custody, or triumph. It might be the introduction to yet another campaign - the war, after all, will last for another one year.

Yet, in truth, war never ends. Each moment, from as long as mankind can remember, there are fightings somewhere in the world, and young men are sent to their deaths. To make them heroes, and to strip them of their humanity.