A Truck Driving Campaign

“Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"And I'm about to put the hammer down." 

                - Convoy (C.W. McCall, 1975)

 

I was minding my own business yesterday morning when the lyrics of a song began to play on repeat in my mind.  This was no ordinary earworm though, it was “Convoy”.  As I listened to the introduction play over-and-over-and-over-and-over in my head, I began to think, or try to think about anything else besides the opening lines of the song (which, for some reason, were the only part my brain wanted to hear). 

My mind drifted and I started to remember the whole CB radio craze and “outlaw” themes that were popular back in the ‘70s.  There have been dozens of movies and TV shows (The Highwayman, BJ and the Bear, White Line Fever, Black Dog, and Convoy) that heavily featured, touched on, or helped shape the romanticized image of the “Cowboy Trucker”. 

But what the hell was I supposed to do with this? 

Any game with a modernized setting that includes vehicle rules would probably work so I wouldn’t have to use Car Wars or Atomic Highway unless I wanted to.  And the story itself could be something less post-apocalyptic than “Mad Max” or “Death Race” but still a bit higher up the violence scale than “Smokey and the Bandit”.

And then they came to me… I hereby present a small handful of basic adventure seeds using Cowboy Trucker themes.

Delivery Boys

Deep in the desert of the American Southwest, a criminal gang holds a nearly indomitable stranglehold over a long stretch of highway, extorting prohibitive tolls from anyone who would dare travel on their roads.  Local Law Enforcement is “on the take” and actively interferes with any investigation undertaken by higher authorities.  The player characters are recruited to deliver a time-sensitive McGuffin of some sort to a town on that stretch of road.  For whatever reason, the delivery cannot be flown in.  It absolutely has to be transported over land. 

One way or another, this cargo must reach its destination.  The lead car driven by one of the PCs will act as a lure, trying to draw attention away from the truck carrying the precious cargo.  The other drivers follow in a pair of rigs manned by one or more PCs (or NPCs as applicable).  The McGuffin is carried in one truck while the other will serve as a decoy to draw off any pursuers who don’t go after the lead car.  Chase scenes, vehicular combat, trucks ramming through roadblocks or each other, and highway gunfights galore break out as the party of adventurers tries to make their delivery. 

Wandering the Earth

This trope could be developed into Kwai Chang Caine in a tractor trailer, driving from town to town, righting wrongs and battling those who would prey upon weary travelers along the highway.  In this case, the truck is more a piece of the background, a means for getting the character from one place to another and not the primary focus of the story itself.

Maximum Overdrive

A lonely band of drivers must keep the highways safe for travelers.  Guided by magical road atlas that leads them to where they are needed most, these brave drivers must battle rival truckers possessed by demons at every stop.  These demons, using their fiendish gifts transform their powerful trucks into weapons of death and destruction. 

Riding Shotgun

Alternatively, this could be set in the Old West with stagecoaches standing in for the cars and big rigs with rooftop battles on the wagons, plowing through fields of cactuses, chases into twisting arroyos, Native American or Mexican bandito ambushes, corrupt Cavalry officers and so on. 

If you make the journey long enough, this sort of story could become a campaign in and of itself with different areas being held by different antagonists for your players to contend with.