0076 - Approaching Dobrodzien - The Framework

0930 30 JUL 2000
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"The team was really excited to think we may be approaching friendlies. Finally we had a chance of meeting someone who wouldn't open fire at the drop of a hat. Maybe they still would, you never know these days, but still it was a chance."

After a week of running, hiding and killing, the group is approaching Dobrodzien. From the Module "The Black Madonna" (GDW 0505, 1985), we know that Dobrodzien is the home of B Troop, 1/116th ACR (Idaho National Guard), led by Captain Molly Warren. Please keep in mind, however, that is something that we know and the characters do not,

What this effectively means is that the characters will not necessarily ride into town and begin a round of greetings and hugs. The world is just a little bit too dangerous for that.

In addition, we should probably generate a little bit more information about the town, as the description in the module is a not very specific on the conditions within the town. Thankfully there are ways and means to get more information, Wikipedia, for example (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobrodzie%C5%84). Google maps will also help us get a rough idea of the layout.

In 2006, the town had a population of approximately 4,200 people. The town is bilingual with approximately 25% of the population having a knowledge of German. The town is relatively intact but has suffered from marauder attacks and I will assume that with drafts and such, the current population is approximately 3,200. Assuming 10% of the population is armed, this would leave a militia of approximately 320. Not bad for a town of this size.

Seeing the reception that B troop has gotten, we can assume that the town is open to contact. The settlement crisis is clear, as there are threats of bandit attacks, one of which B Troop defeated when the returned to the town. Since the town seems to have a certain autonomy, we can assume that there is an independent council leading the town and that Captain Warren also has a seat on that council.

Now there is the matter of the wall. According to the description in the module, the town has a wall. Unfortunately there are no signs of a medieval wall, meaning the town must have improvised something in the mean time. As the town population has shrunk a bit, they would probably concentrate in the town center, around the church and town market. Luckily there is a lot of flat ground around the town, so they would have good fields of fire. We will have to draw up a map, based on the google maps data.

Then there is the issue of Captain Warren. We know that something traumatic happened to here when she was a prisoner. We do not need to elaborate and I personally, do not condone anything of that nature and do not allow such actions in my games. That being said, it is part of the back story and we know that Captain Warren has an aversion to Russians. To add the roleplay element, 2D6 must be rolled each time Captain Warren has contact with Russian soldiers. On a 10+ there is a bad reaction. A DM of +2 is added if Captain Warren or her unit was actively engaged in combat with the Russians. The DM is +3 if the Russians in question are prisoners.

This may be interesting for Potato, being the only Russian in the group. We will see.

So, the framework is finished and now we need a map.