And welcome to Day 16 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. Today we’ve been tasked with having an RPG chat about ‘Overcome’. This was another topic that I struggled with a little bit (I’ve already got tomorrow’s topic in mind). But eventually I decided to talk about something that comes with the phrase “We shall overcome”. This has been the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement and the symbol of resistance against injustice worldwide.
The theme of resistance, and eventually rebellion, has been prevalent in different forms of literature, movies, and yes, games. What plot points can be used by GMs in a roleplaying game campaign? I’d like to list some possible ideas that can be used in different genres.
The Player Characters are the suppliers- The players are smugglers, gun-runners, run an underground railroad, helping a charitable organization or agents of a certain government. Perhaps they are tasked with getting weapons, information, aid, supplies into an area that is currently under a rebellious conflict. Are they trying to get their cargo past the government, the rebels, both?
Wrong Place at the Wrong Time- The players find themselves at ground zero of a resistance turned rebellion in a certain location. Perhaps it was the only port they could get to or this was where their supplier was located. Perhaps the players have a family member/contact/employer/etc. that they need to get out before they get caught up in this sudden mess.
Have Gun Will Travel- What if the players are mercenaries being paid top dollar by the government, the rebels, a third party or ??? Getting things done efficiently, quickly or without knowing who paid the characters may come into play when certain tasks need to be completed.
We Are the Rebellion- Did the party witness a grave injustice and decided to do something about it? Do they strike while the iron is hot and quickly launch a rebellion? Or do they try to follow the lead from the People’s Front of Judea (or was that the Judean People’s Front?) and try to get the population to rise up by posting different messages through the region? Would it work? I mean, apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Which leads us to…
I may have been on the losing side but not the wrong side- What happens after a rebellion fails? Will the players find themselves hunted or exiled? If they were fighting for their homeland, will they ever see it again? Or will they pick up the pieces and start new somewhere else?
Are We the Baddies?- Perhaps the players are a part of a military or government organization that the people are rebelling against. What happens if the players suddenly realize who they work for are the oppressors? Did they see something that was wrong that made them question their participation? If so, what do they do about it? Quickly join the rebels or try to work from within to sabotage the efforts of the oppressors?
I’m sure there are a few more plot points that a GM could use following the rebellion theme. But I’m overcome (giggle) with the amount of stuff I was able to pull out of this topic. Is there one that I could have brought up? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.