A scenario seed for GODLIKE by Benjamin Baugh, (c) 2002.
Johnny Calhoun never wanted to go to war. He wanted to take over his dad’s plumbing business and marry his girlfriend Suzie. But he got drafted, and kissed his tearful mother goodbye. Now, our Johnny isn’t a big lad — just over the height requirement for infantry if you count his cowlick — and the only thing that stands out about him is his unruly, shocking red hair.
“Keep your head down, boy!” his pa said. “That mop of yours will make a good target otherwise.”
When he hit the European Theater, he was the smallest guy in his unit. With that and his red hair (now in an Army cut), he became the company’s lucky totem. Rub “Rabbit’s Foot” Johnny’s hair before wading into the shit and you might come out alive.
After a month, when the casualty reports were analyzed stateside by a logistical Hyperbrain, it was clear that some other agency beside pure chance was at work. Johnny’s unit had no fatalities, and only three casualties — all of which occurred off duty and away from action.
Section Two followed up on it at once.
Careful scrutiny found that anyone who rubbed Johnny’s head picked up some kind of ‘luck charge’ which averted certain death, or at least minimized injury. Johnny had no idea he was an actual lucky charm (though he certainly believed in his ‘luck of the Irish’), and beyond occasionally seeing something weird around known Talent soldiers (something he always took for granted, figuring everyone saw it), he was entirely normal.
Section Two began moving him around, especially into areas of heavy fighting, and many soldiers moving into the deadly house-to-house fighting in France owed him their lives. Johnny was always a bit bemused by the whole thing.
Everything was going swimmingly until Johnny’s jeep was ambushed by an Überkommando Squad and his handlers were killed. He was captured. A projective teleporter traveling with him (code name: Letter Home) managed to teleport a hastily scribbled note back to HQ before buying it. The Germans had The Rabbit’s Foot.
His lucky touch is enough to potentially unbalance operations in the whole sector. Retrieving (or as a last ditch, eliminating) him is now priority number one for the closest TOG team. And who might that be?
The Germans have him trussed up in the back of a truck and make good use of his lucky touch during the pursuit. The Germans should actually be less powerful than the players –when they can essentially shrug off death (once apiece) through unlikely circumstances, it can get as frustrating as hell.
And imagine putting the players in the position of having to kill poor Johnny to keep him from falling into German hands; can you say ‘moral crisis?’