The team is approaching the town of Zloczew. Like any other town in Poland (or anywhere east of the German Border), they will assumed that the town is occupied, probably by unfriendly folks too. Referring to the Escape from Kalisz Adventure booklet, we can learn that it is indeed occupied by the wrong type of people:
When the Soviet 124th Division was routed on the Sieradz-Kalisz road, many of the stragglers fled back to Zloczew and began an orgy of looting and pillaging. Many civilians were killed or molested and much of the town was burned that night. When a captain arrived the next morning, he began restoring order and reorganizing the troops. Many of them slipped away into the woods south of town rather than go into battle again, but most of them followed orders. They realized that they were foreigners in a land that their rampage of the previous night had made more foreign than ever, and they would have to stick together to survive.
The town officials demanded justice, but the captain took them aside and asked them how he was expected to deliver it. Was he supposed to have all his men shoot themselves? They were all guilty.
There are now 200 soldiers in the town under command of the captain. The townspeople hate them intensely. Most of the soldiers have only what they carried with them, and many had thrown away their rifles when they ran away. The captain has ordered all the arms and ammunition in town seized, and this almost caused an uprising. Now the population is both frightened of what will happen to them if the Soviets leave them without weapons and aching for revenge.
From Beginning Adventure: Escape from Kalisz Page 7.
Now comes the challenge to differentiate between what YOU know and what the CHARACTERS know. Take a step back and assume only the role of the GM. The characters are approaching the town. There is smoke from the recent fires still rising above the town and the presence of Soviet soldiers cannot be missed. They know, however, nothing about the political situation in the town.
I have modified my NPC generator to create 200 stragglers while also modifying their chances to have a weapon and the weapon type. This means some have civilian weapons or no weapons at all. This reflects the captain confiscating the weapons from the population.
The leader of the group, a Veteran NPC can then become our captain. A random Russian name generator also helps here too:
Captain Ignatyev Yuriy (Yura) Filippovich
Veteran (Initiative: 4, Attributes: 7, Assets: 13, UCD: 4)
Motivation:
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Wise: The NPC is very wise, and always exhibits good judgment and offers sound advice.
Moderately sociable: The NPC will have a strong sense of duty and loyalty to the group he belongs to.
Hits:
OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -1 Initiative
OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -2 Initiative
Note: initiative modifiers are culmulative.
Main Weapon: AKR with 4 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 20 loose rounds
Melee Weapon: Spear
Grenades: Fragmentation Grenade[]
Equipment: Kevlar Helmet, Kevlar Vest, Combat Webbing, Pack, Sleeping Bag, Gas Mask,
Food: 3kg of Domestic Food and 2kg of Wild Food
The motivation does seem to fit the person described in the text above. He is aware of the situation he and his men are in and will try to make the most of it. He does seem more of a talker than a fighter.
Unlike Sieradz, the town will not have an overt military presence like 3 T-80s sitting around the edge of the city. This is a promising sign that might encourage the characters to approach a little closer.
We rolled up on Zloczew slowly. I saw some of them scurry when they say us but no one took us under fire immediately, which was a refreshing feeling. The few we saw seemed to be the poster children for ragged. They had bits of uniform and mixed equipment, both NATO and WP as well as a lot of civilian gear. Some had no weapons at all, but you never know if they do not have it or just don't have it with them. There were a lot, I have to admit that.
We stopped about 50m from a "barrier" that was nothing more than a semi-trailer resting on its side. Klasha approached to within 20m and requested to speak to the commander. A few minutes later, an older captain came around the barrier: He was pushin' 60 at least and had probably been retired and brought back in to serve the Motherland. He had a slight paunch and a receding hair line in full retreat. His AKR was slung and he appearently wanted to talk.
Based on the description of the events of the past few days, the last thing the captain needs now is another firefight. He has men without weapons or with hunting rifles and a lack of heavy weapons. This all combines to mean that the characters can approach the town and attempt to negotiate for safe passage through the town. Just to make sure, we can ask the GME.
[GME: Is Captain Filippovich open to negotiation - Chaos Rank 5 - Somewhat Likely (65%) - 69% - Errr..... No]
OK, so that puts a cramp in the plans. Hopefully he will not try to violently stop the characters.
[GME: Will Captain Filippovich use violence to stop the characters - Chaos Rank 5 - Unlikely (35%) - 71% - No]
This makes it very difficult. Will he just let them through then?
[GME: Will Captain Filippovich let the characters pass through the town - Chaos Rank 5 - 50/50 (50%) - 64% - No]
OK, now the GME has put us in a difficult situation. The captain is not willing to negotiate or let the characters pass through but also not willing to use violence. Now we need to step back and look at the situation. The characters only see a portion of the troops available to the captain and we can assume he has armed them appropriately with the weapons he has available. This means that it may be possible for the Captain to bluff his way through,
[GME: Will Captain Filippovich attempt to bluff in order to keep the characters out of the town - Chaos Rank 5 - Likely (75%) - 60% - Yes]
Now we know what he is up to, the question is why? Maybe he fears the characters could help the townspeople.
[GME: Is Captain Filippovich afraid the characters will ally with the townspeople against his men - Chaos Rank 5 - Somewhat Likely (65%) - 86% - No]
We have reached our five question limit. Time to put on the thinking cap. We need to consider the description of the town, the motivation of the NPC and the questions that we have asked. The captain restored order here after the troops had their way with the town. The townspeople hate him and his men. He confiscated the weapons to arm his men and prevent resistance. He is not will to let the characters pass nor is he willing to negotiate. He will not use violence and will prefer to bluff instead. He does not fear the characters will help the townspeople against his men, Maybe he should, Maybe the townspeople will try to contact the characters. One final question then.
[GME: Will the townspeople attempt to enlist the characters in their struggle - Chaos Rank 5 - 50/50 (50%) - 4% - Extraordinary yes. ]
This is going to be interesting. Maybe Marshall can tell us what happened.
Klasha was busy jawin' with that Soviet captain when I saw movement in the windows behind them. I was about to shout out a warning when several white sheets unrolled behind them. There were several words in Polish that I could not read, but one said "help" and I understood that just fine. I saw Klasha tense up when she noticed them. She hurriedly finished the conversation with the Captain and came back to the vehicles. When she got close enough, she said the sheets say "rape", "murder" and "help". Things were about to go south, I could feel it,
The captain turned and noticed the sheets. He barked a command and several of his men ran toward the offending houses before the sound of doors being kicked in were heard.
Violence is about to occur.
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