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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Battlecry! / Genres of War

Behind Enemy Lines

Source Battlecry! pg. 198
Finally, in some war campaigns the player characters are far behind enemy lines, and a big friendly army is little more than a wistful dream. In these cases, the protagonists might be spies or commandos sent into enemy territory, either for one important job or as a long-term infiltration. They might be resistance fighters, trying to throw out some hostile occupying force. Or perhaps they’re guerrillas, hidden deep in a forest or cavern, and coming out to strike at the enemy. These stories can also intersect with the other genres presented, either temporarily or long-term—perhaps the protagonists are infiltrating the enemy’s front-line army, or perhaps the war hasn’t quite started yet but will any minute now.

Stories set behind enemy lines have a great deal in common with espionage and even crime stories. In all cases, the heroes are in a deeply hostile and dangerous environment. It doesn’t matter how powerful the player characters are; if they remain out in the open long enough, then the enemy can and will destroy them. Their only hope of survival lies in stealth and secrecy. They might act openly for a little while, but how to escape before enemy reinforcements show up will be a part of every mission’s planning—except, perhaps, the last.

Stories set behind enemy lines will usually be a bit darker and more morally complex than frontline stories, even if they tend to be less directly violent. For this narrative to work, the enemy can’t be faceless monsters or soulless undead. They’re people, to be manipulated or beguiled or killed as appropriate. Some might be evil monsters, but others may well be somewhat sympathetic, servants of their country right or wrong.

More optimistic stories of this stripe might end with a popular revolution and will allow the player characters to convert the more sympathetic of their foes to their side. More cynical narratives play out like a horror campaign, allies dropping one by one in the face of an implacable security state, the heroes trying to strike one last desperate blow before they too are captured and killed at dawn.