The Second Battle of Britain

[BoloOfEarth]

In my S-Squad Champions game, the heroes have been dealing with an alien invasion. The invaders are the Kaldaren Empire; extraneous details under spoiler if you're interested. To date, they have destroyed the ISS, taken the UNTIL station (Gateway; since retaken by Earth forces), and launched salvos of nuclear missiles at Earth cities.

 

 

They're relatively small as interstellar empires go (just 3 star systems), strongly caste-based and made up mainly of two races: the Kalten (mentalists, all occupying the upper castes and aristocracy) and the Dorak (incredible engineers, all in the lower castes). The Dorak vastly outnumber the Kalten, but are kept under control through the Kalten's mental powers. The Kaldarens have a reputation as periodically aggressive, and thanks to the Dorak, have considerable space-faring technology.

 

One of the princes (all somewhat modeled after the brothers in the movie Stardust) is trying to bump off his brothers through proxies, including Earth supers, in a push to remove competition for the throne when the Emperor dies. Since he's a politician, he engineered a war with Earth and maneuvered his brothers onto the front lines in that war.

 

One prince was captured by the heroes and put into Stronghold, but later killed by Grond (mind-controlled by a Kalten officer during a supposed "rescue" attempt). Another prince was killed when the heroes set off a briefcase nuke in an alien communications relay station that was serving as an ersatz command post. A third prince, the eldest, is commanding the fleet's flagship and a fourth, a scientist type with little desire to rule, has recently been pulled into the conflict.

 

The aliens' current goal is to engineer a virus that is either lethal to humans (but not to Kaldarens) or else makes humans highly susceptible to their ruling class' mental powers. However, to do this they need plenty of test subjects handy, so they are establishing a foothold on Earth. This is also the politician-prince’s excuse to put the scientist-prince into the danger zone; he is to oversee the creation of the virus. Because of the scientist-prince’s nature, he’s actually trying to find a non-genocidal bioweapon. But that may not be readily apparent to the heroes.

 

 

 

The upcoming adventure involves the aliens establishing a foothold on Earth to use humans as test subjects for a bioweapon. There will be two strike carriers present -- one serving as a command post, the other doing double-duty as a medical ship and research lab -- along with plenty of gunships, troop transports, fighters, etc. There should be enough force there to give several superhero teams combined reason to pause.

 

The site chosen for this foothold is England. (My apologies in advance to our British posters.) The PC heroes will initially be in another star system and won't return to Earth until 3-4 days after the assault force lands. Upon their return, they’ll need to go to England and behind enemy lines, sneak onto one of the strike carriers, and kidnap/capture one of the princes to hopefully talk him into helping them end the war.

 

Now all I need to do is flesh out the details, and that’s where I’m asking for some help. More to come in a moment.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

The bulk of the troops will come in underwater (in fairly large ships), so the foothold should probably not be too far inland. It needs to be a decent-sized population center, not necessarily someplace as big as London, but big enough to deter humanity from going nuclear to wipe out the alien forces in one fell swoop. The goal isn’t to take and hold the entire island, just one portion of it they can hold long enough to use some locals as test subjects. So where would be a good place for that? (Keep in mind that I’m not above putting it in a place that was chosen simply because “so-and-so got a speeding ticket there once.”)

 

Also, I want to set the mood for the heroes as they sneak behind enemy lines. I imagine they’ll see alien fighters dogfighting with RAF Tornados, Typhoons, and Harriers; hover tanks and alien shocktroopers fighting Challenger II tanks and soldiers; occasional large alien spacecraft or British attack helicopters flying overhead. Battle-damaged buildings; burned-out or shot-up cars, trucks, and tanks; bodies of dead soldiers and police; refugees attempting to leave the area. Anything I’m missing here?

 

I don’t want this to take too long (only a session or two) so I don’t want too many combat encounters. Plus, the heroes aren’t there to defeat the aliens by brute force. But I’d like to have a few situations where the heroes can use their noncombat powers (healing, illusions, megascale teleportation, luck powers, life force detection, sciences and gadgeteering) to help British troops or innocents caught in the crossfire.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

A final note: This is not for a very dark campaign, though there should be at least a modicum of realism. Best analogy would be a bronze-age comics type of alien invasion, something that takes place over a handful of issues and is then dealt with by the heroes and goes away. So I want to keep dead bodies and widespread devastation to a relative minimum, though there should be enough to underscore the magnitude of what the heroes are up against.

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Also' date=' I want to set the mood for the heroes as they sneak behind enemy lines. I imagine they’ll see alien fighters dogfighting with RAF Tornados, Typhoons, and Harriers; hover tanks and alien shocktroopers fighting Challenger II tanks and soldiers; occasional large alien spacecraft or British attack helicopters flying overhead. Battle-damaged buildings; burned-out or shot-up cars, trucks, and tanks; bodies of dead soldiers and police; refugees attempting to leave the area. Anything I’m missing here?[/quote']

 

Well, the UK is a member of NATO, so you're likely to see forces from other member nations as well as the British.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Do you have any English heroes? The right hero in the right place could change things around like the UNknown Soldier.

CES

[Clonus]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Go with Brighton and Hove. Population is about a quarter million, it's a coastal urban area, and it's England's most popular seaside resort.

[death tribble]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

WHAT ???!!!!!

 

We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, in the streets and in the country, we will never surrender.

[Cygnia]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Destroy Cardiff. All the cool aliens do that.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Well' date=' the UK is a member of NATO, so you're likely to see forces from other member nations as well as the British.[/quote']

 

Yep. I should have included them. Thanks for reminding me.

 

Do you have any English heroes? The right hero in the right place could change things around like the UNknown Soldier.

CES

 

Yes. By the time the PCs arrive I imagine the British (and other European) heroes would be run ragged, and one or two lower-powered ones might have gotten captured by overwhelming forces. (I considered having one playing possum to get taken to the "mother ships," and the unwitting PCs "rescuing" him, but they'd probably invite him along, and I don't want that.) But I plan to highlight a British hero fighting against incredible odds, maybe accepting a bit of the PCs help before telling them, "now go off and do your job, I've got this. Good luck and Godspeed."

 

WHAT ???!!!!!

 

We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, in the streets and in the country, we will never surrender.

 

Exactly why I chose England. That'll teach those aliens.

 

Go with Brighton and Hove. Population is about a quarter million' date=' it's a coastal urban area, and it's England's most popular seaside resort.[/quote']

Destroy Cardiff. All the cool aliens do that.

 

Oooo... choices, choices. Both are the right size, and Brighton / Hove are close enough to London to make people think that is the alien's goal. But they're also close enough to London to make it easier for any heroes there to help keep the aliens from establishing a foothold. Then again, the powers-that-be might keep a tighter rein on the heroes at first, expecting to need them in the defense of London.

 

As minor side concerns, if I go with Brighton or Hove, I could have some annoying tourists the heroes rescue and have to deal with. If the aliens invade Cardiff, I can title this adventure arc "Save the Wales."

[freakboy6117]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

if you did use Brighton and Hove the royal pavilion would be an ideal location for a aristocratic alien overlords to seize as a HQ.

 

 

heres some other local land marks that might make for good locations.

 

one thing that might make for a good encounter if the heroes come in on foot to avoid detection is to help a band of civilians turned resistance fighters possibly with a few of the famous residents of Brighton on hand to add colour Harry Harrison Jeff noon and Dave Gibbons all live there alternatively aging punk rocker captain sensible or eccentric former boxer Chris Eubank would be excellent choices for leaders of a plucky band of resistance fighters dodging alien patrols in the tight winding streets of the lanes shopping district.

 

finally if you want to split up the two main craft

 

the university of Sussex campus would make a good location for the science/medical ship.

 

thanks for the inspiration to get back to writing up the interstellar war and UK super level special forces group for my UK hero project i really need to get my UNIT package deals and so forth finished

[assault]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Destroy Cardiff. All the cool aliens do that.

 

Agreed. Cardiff is traditional.

[shugotenshi]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Destroy Cardiff. All the cool aliens do that.

Please don't, I rather like my house not on fire and not reduced to rubble and dust. I also prefer myself to alive, it has become a lifestyle for me. Becoming a slave to an alien overlord, would also inconvenience me =\

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Please don't' date=' I rather like my house not on fire and not reduced to rubble and dust. I also prefer myself to alive, it has become a lifestyle for me. Becoming a slave to an alien overlord, would also inconvenience me =\[/quote']

 

It might not be all bad. You could be exposed to an alien bioweapon and develop superpowers!

 

(Come to think of it, that would make a great origin.)

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Please don't' date=' I rather like my house not on fire and not reduced to rubble and dust. I also prefer myself to alive, it has become a lifestyle for me. Becoming a slave to an alien overlord, would also inconvenience me =\[/quote']

 

It might not be all bad. You could be exposed to an alien bioweapon and develop superpowers!

 

Great idea, IJ! So, Shugotenshi, if I do set the alien foothold in Cardiff, what powers do you want? (Don't worry, I won't reveal your secret ID to the PC heroes.)

 

(Edit: BTW, I must spread rep before giving to IndianaJoe3 again. Sorry.)

[shugotenshi]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Definetely growth powers! Though I am also a fan of sonic powers too

 

Please someone arrange an invasion of Earth and the destruction of Cardiff for Xmas, I want super powers!

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Definetely growth powers! Though I am also a fan of sonic powers too

 

How about growth with sonic-related side effects? (Pulling mass from another dimension requires energy pulled from ambient sound and vibrations, so turning on Growth causes a momentary silence field. The more ambient noise, the bigger he can become. And the mass lost from turning off Growth releases energy in the form of a sonic blast, initially as a burst but with practice this could be directed.) Should I keep the name Shugotenshi for this character?

 

Please someone arrange an invasion of Earth and the destruction of Cardiff for Xmas, I want super powers!

 

Don't worry, I won't destroy the place. Just a little... forced urban renewal.

 

Gotta admit, I appreciate the irony of aliens trying to find a way to subjugate humans, and instead creating the tools for the aliens' own destruction.

[shugotenshi]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

I have a long way to go, you guys seem to find inspiration for your games in every comment and thread. It is really quite amazing how creative people can be =).

 

Oh, the user name is a nickname a Japanese friend of mine gave me. I knew it would probably not be picked and I was not in the mood to try more common names.

 

Hmm, I like Behemoth for a growth character, though maybe a sound based name would be better. Resonance sounds good

Try not to get me killed too much, I am quite touched you would add a random forum noob to your campaign heh.

[freakboy6117]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Hmm if you like the idea of alien bio-weapon leads to supers it would be worth you checking out the wildcard universe anthology series there all based on that premise the weapon is detonated in New York in the 40s and results in generations of super heroes mutants and its fun though a little dark and best of all its all based on a group of sci-fi authors superhero role-playing seasons.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

I have a long way to go' date=' you guys seem to find inspiration for your games in every comment and thread. It is really quite amazing how creative people can be =).[/quote']

 

You can find game inspiration in darn near anything. When you're walking through a hotel lobby and start mapping out a combat there in your head, you know you're a lost cause.

 

Resonance sounds good

Try not to get me killed too much, I am quite touched you would add a random forum noob to your campaign heh.

 

Resonance it is. Not to worry, the hero team has a healer. And I'm always looking for new NPCs (powered and non) to put in guest appearances.

 

For instance, I plan for death tribble to show up as a normal British soldier, bashing an alien with his rifle butt, saying "We'll fight them in the air" (WHAM!) "We'll fight them on the beaches!" (CRACK!) "We'll fight them in the streets!" (BAM!) "We'll kick their bloody arses!" (THUD!)

 

Hmm if you like the idea of alien bio-weapon leads to supers it would be worth you checking out the wildcard universe anthology series

 

I'm very familiar with it. (Somewhere on my bookshelves are the first half-dozen of the series.) I don't want to have the bio-weapon's superpowered creations be too widespread (don't want Cardiff to become Mutant Central) but a few new supers could be an amusing side effect.

[death tribble]

Re: The Second Battle of Britain

 

Have you seen Quatermass and the Pit ?

Basically the Martians came to Earth and experimented on early humans and one of the ships crashed and stayed buried near what becomes a tube station. However the whole area has an evil reputation. People see and hear things and thus the name Hobs End, Hob being an old name for the Devil. The ship itself is capable of broadcasting psychic energy and that is what eventually happens leaving a massive energy figure looming up over London.