My first attempt at running a game for the WOW (Western Oregon Wargamers) was the Expendables 1.0. GURPS rules. The PCs were the crew of a starship traveling from system to system to explore worlds and determine whether they were suitable for colonization. They traveled in cold sleep (think ALIENS) between systems. Some were volunteers. Others were draftees. One PC was there because his entire backstory consisted of "the Senator found the videotapes." Two others spent a lot of time sending messages back to earth via the comm laser, trying to get their convictions overturned and seeking court orders that would either have them returned to earth or, failing that, obtain a restraining order agains the Captain and First Officer to keep them at least 100 yards away at all times.
The dropship pilot (again, think ALIENS) chose "Alcoholic" as one of his disadvantages. The first time he flew the team down to a planet, he critically failed his skill check. A second check allowed him to avoid a catastrophic crash. As soon as they were back on the ship, one PC beat him unconscious. Another PC (the team doctor) took that opportunity to have the pilot carried to the sickbay, where he implanted a remote-controlled "wondergland" into the pilot's body, a device which would dispense Sober-Up (Tm) drugs at the push of a button. From then on, any time they needed the pilot to fly them somewhere, he zapped him with the remote before they boarded the dropship.
Alas, my schemes to endanger the PCs lives were no match for the paranoia of the other players. So that campaign folded after a few sessions.
Expendables 2.0 was stolen from based on Stargate. Except instead of exploring alien worlds, they were using a dimensional portal to explore parallel earths. After the first game session, where they created characters ("No, Mike, your character with Physician-35 as his primary skill may not join the team. He's just been drafted as the President's personal physician. Yes, you were very clever to manage that. Come up with something else."), I laid down the law.
The gate could only remain open for 30 seconds at a time, and it took 3 days to recharge the capacitors that kept it open that long. They could not use vehicles or pack animals. They could take with them through the gate only what they could carry. So, no calling for reinforcements if they got into trouble, no quick and easy escapes from danger. I promised them that I wouldn't drop them into vacuum or an unbreathable or otherwise instantly lethal environment, but otherwise I made no promises.
The next week, at the beginning of the session, they handed me a SEVEN-PAGE, single-spaced, typed list of all the equipment they were carrying (every item's weight listed, with subtotals and a grand total). They had calculated exactly how much weight 12 characters (6 PCs and 6 NPC redshirts) could just barely manage to lift and stagger a few yards with, just long enough and far enough to get through the gate in 30 seconds.
The list started with a fully-inflated 12-man liferaft capable of floating while fully loaded and manned (in case of water landings). Each team member was clipped to it via a D-ring. Inside the raft, secured by netting, was enough gear for the whole team for a minimum of a week. This included rations, water, weapons, ammo, comm gear, tools, and on and on and on. They had shelter materials and clothing appropriate to everything from desert to arctic conditions. There was virtually nothing they might conceivably need that they didn't have (or at least something that would do in a pinch). Their SOP became: stagger through the gate, drop the raft, immediately check for imminent peril. Then determine which gear they needed and take that. Leave everything else in place to mark the gate's location.
I looked at this list and realized that in the battle of rules-lawyering GM vs rules-lawyering players, I'd just had my ass kicked. But fair was fair; they'd abided scrupulously by my rules, so I had no choice but to salute their superior cunning and let it stand. That campaign lasted a lot longer than the first one, and it was a lot of fun.
