Command at 5th level

[Tolwyn]

Hello,

I'm leading an Earthforce based Campaign and one of my players reached 5th level. Because he showed some ability for command, I wanted to give him a ship.
My question is, what EA ship could a 5th level charakter command?
Are there any guidelines I could go after?`

Thank you in advance.

 

[Balance]

I would assume that in most naval forces he'd be a 2nd in command for quite a while, then be given a ship... Likely an older, smaller one.

Of course, for an RPG situation it may make sense to give him something a bit more reasonable. Any sort of smaller 'scout' type ship where his acquired crew won't be quite so overpowering to the rest of the group.

Or, if it make sense and seems interesting, saddle him with 'care' of an old, slow Dilgar War era cruiser that seems like more work than fun, then find a justification for him to have authority to borrow a White Star as the real reward...

 

[LoneStranger]

You'd probably want to start him off in charge of an Olympus or Artemis, one of the smaller ships to start off with. There's also the Tethys, although in that case there won't be much more than cargo inspections and holding off raiders until better ships show up. Basically those three are the best choices to work with to see how he does in command, then you can work him up to some of the larger ships.

 

[Tolwyn]

A which level should a charakter command a Hyperion?

I think I'll think of giving him an Oracle, Artemis or Olympus, perhaps I'll look after the Oracle export cruiser from AOG's Dilgar War and convert it.

What is about commanding fighters? When can a charakter command a root, a wing or a squadron?

 

[lastbesthope]

What is about commanding fighters? When can a charakter command a root, a wing or a squadron?

Well Sinclair is only 8th levcel in the core book, and 10 years before that he was in charge of a squadron of Furies at the Line. but then they may have been pushed for officers by that point in the war. Still, I;m on to something.

Keffer is 5th level pilot officer in the Season 2 book. And he gets put in charge of his wing after the loss of the old leader in "A Distant Star.

Hope that helps.

LBH

 

[Balance]

I think a lot of this kind of thing depends on how closely a game designer and GM want to link levels and ranks. I generally lean towards not doing so, in which case you might have low level characters as admirals.

 

[LoneStranger]

One thing I've seen that I believe in most cases is that people get promoted to their level of incompetence. What that means is they go up the ranks somewhere until they can't find a way to hit that next level, to achieve that next promotion. Ususally the people that make the young Admirals are either A: put in command after a war that went badly or B: that good at what they do.

This means just watch the guy in command of the ship and see what he does.

 

[Tolwyn]

That's the way it works in Germany, you get promoted for being more incompetend then the others.
We call it Gescheidl Prinzip. :wink:

 

[LoneStranger]

Oh I have such great faith in the German Armed Forces now.

Actually that sounds like American intelligence services, nevermind.

 

[lastbesthope]

American intelligence

What we have here children is a common example of an oxymoron :lol:

LBH

 

[LoneStranger]

I'm sure it's more like <your country here> intelligence as the actual oxymoron.

 

[lastbesthope]

Heard a great quote from Kiss Kiss Bang BAng on the TV today

"Do you know what you'd find if you look up 'idiot' in the dictionary?"
"(Hesitantly) A picture of me?"
"No, the definition of an idiot, which is what you are!"

:lol:

LBH

 

[EricRoss]

here is the rough system I am using for Earthforce officers. I base their rank on their Officer Class levels:

Class Lvl---rank (Marine rank in brackets)
lvl 1---Ensign (2nd Lt)
lvl 2---Lieutenant JG (1st Lt)
lvl 3---Lieutenant (Capt)---flight leader or ship department head
lvl 5---Lt Commander (Major)---Ship or squadron Executive Officer (XO)
lvl 7---Commander (LtColonel)---possible ship Command (Colassal II or smaller)
lvl 9---Captain (Colonel)---Command of any ship (except Posidon)
lvl 12---Brigaier General
lvl 15---Major General
lvl 18---Lieutenant General
lvl 20---General

 

[frobisher]

I'd be very wary of linking rank to level (actually I'd be wary of using levels, but that's just me... ). Characters in active play will make, what, 8 or 9 levels in a game year. No one goes from Ensign to Captain in a year...

The only thing I would say is that at level 1, you're likely to be an Ensign, and there after you really have to convince your GM.

Eric's rank table should be taken as the minimum level at which the GM should let the character attain those ranks, but common sense should prevail.

 

[EricRoss]

It should be noted that the GM sets the time-table in my system. If the GM says it is six months of boring patrol before you see any action and earn more XP, then that is what happens. I have been known to strech a game out to one level per game year, so all things considered, that would put a player in command of a ship at around 7-9 years of active service, which I have seen in the US Navy, so it is possible.

 

[lastbesthope]

The GM is God, unless Ivanova is playing, which could make the Open Day interesting :lol:

LBH

 

[EricRoss]

Indeed :twisted:

 

[EricRoss]

Having just purchased the Earth Force Campaign book, I have read and recommend the promotion system they have listed. I can't say too much due to copyrights, but it is tied to the background for starting rank, so a gwell written background could lead to a higher starting rank, then it can be taken year by year by the GM.

Now with that system, ifa player wanted to write up an Earth Force fleet officer that was in the Minbari War (even just the last year), it would be possible, using the background system, that they could start off the game in 2258 as a high ranking officer around Lieutenant Commander to Captain. Some would say that this should not be allowed, but having served with some officers in the military that were not as competent as others it makes some sense to me.

I mean you could have a second or third level character that is in command of a Hyperion cruiser, they are not as skilled as Sheridan, but heck who is?

 

[Morden]

Warlock class. Seriously. Give him one of the best ships in the fleet. Just don't tell him that Earthforce considers the ship and it's crew expendable.

Make this more of a curse than anything else. Put them on an ongoing mission that is likely to get them killed sooner of later. Or, put some other command crew in there who severely dislike them for some reason.

 

[frobisher]

Warlock class. Seriously. Give him one of the best ships in the fleet. Just don't tell him that Earthforce considers the ship and it's crew expendable.

Then they wouldn't give him a Warlock... :roll: They aren't expendible - they are in very, very short supply. You need to pull a lot of rank and favours to get one ("Each Night I Dream of Home").

An Omega - slightly different matter. A Shadow Omega is what you want for a poisoned chalice... :twisted: