Mercenary: Expectations?
- Thread starter ssheftall
- Start date
I noticed a lot of people on the forums worrying about equipment such as Battle Dress over powering your characters. Combat is pretty lethal, I don' think it is really that big of a deal if your warrior type is wearing battle dress. Yes they will be the crews shield, but sooner or latter the DM will roll 3 6s on a laser pistol with a big effect and that character will end up on the operating table too. Besides combat isn't usually the most important thing.
BTW: If you have Battle Dress 2 and no Vacc Suit skill can you use a Vacc suit with out penalty?
BTW: If you have Battle Dress 2 and no Vacc Suit skill can you use a Vacc suit with out penalty?
dafrca said:
My last "in service" game was a full blown Marines in the 5FW game. PC's were cadre of a Regiment. 2 PC's per player, 6 players. Regimental CO, XO, RSM, RSO, RCMO, and 4 Plt Cdrs, plus two Staff NCO's.
Since I used MT, it was very easy to run the units as a mass combat.
serene_muse
Mongoose
First off, please please please please do not break core chargen with uber characters ala CT Book 4's advanced chargen. More options and details is fine though.
Cream of military equipment from CT on.
A simple mass combat system, say from the best of Book 4, Striker and other Traveller rulesets would be appreciated.
Mercenary tickets, both examples & also good guidelines & perhaps a system on how to come up with them on your own.
1-4 sample mercenary units ala the classic Battletech mercenary book, both unique to Traveller and classic mercenary tropes + a range of size & assets.
Cream of military equipment from CT on.
A simple mass combat system, say from the best of Book 4, Striker and other Traveller rulesets would be appreciated.
Mercenary tickets, both examples & also good guidelines & perhaps a system on how to come up with them on your own.
1-4 sample mercenary units ala the classic Battletech mercenary book, both unique to Traveller and classic mercenary tropes + a range of size & assets.
Stryker-Merc
Mongoose
I'm relatively new to this Forum but Traveller has been the game of interest whenever I've run an RPG campaign. And CT Book 4 helped provide the foundation for many of those campaigns.
I echo Serene-Muse's call for more background detail and examples - this would add enormous depth to the whole 'industry'. The Marches are as 'frontier' as you get and the plausability of using mercs to bolster (and even run) defences from both external and internal influences, was one of the interest points I loved when I first expanded the campaigns in the mid-80s. Remember, this was a time when superpowers squared up to each other, and we had journalists following real mercenary characters throughout the MMBA - so it was an interesting 'flipside' to the question of mercenary use.
More types of Merc 'Tickets' would be good to expand on the basic ones. A guide to the construction of those 'Tickets' would be handy - so as Serene-Muse said first, a system would be good to see. Inspirational ideas that cover everything from straight up-and-at-em combat, surveillance, close protection of VIPs, infiltaration/extraction, hostage rescue and asset (think impounded starship) recovery, right up to mega-corporation involvement... and even better if there's a few linked together to give readers the idea of a mini-campaign.
In an old campaign from a few years back, the PCs Merc outfit (PC Officers and NCO's leading a Platoon of NPCs) had some serious financial backing from the son of the late previous owner. While the 'Tickets' were still good and pulling in credits and reputation, the new owner, the son (NPC), was ramping up the rep and fame to make the whole unit a decent viable commercial acquisition. His early nest-egg to retire to Mora.... Things came to ahead when he floated the Platoon on the Regina Stock Exchange, and did some deals for product placement - the PCs rebelled at the idea of having to be seen, and filmed, drinking a branded soft drink while doing towerblock clearance in one of Efate's crowded cities! Half the players wanted to kill him, but one sensible mind took over, 'forced' the son to offer up all his shares at a knockdown price, and the Platoon acquired them in a lightning-fast deal sealed in the midst of a gunfight on the 23rd floor!
So, you can have some fun, while plying those Tickets...
I echo Serene-Muse's call for more background detail and examples - this would add enormous depth to the whole 'industry'. The Marches are as 'frontier' as you get and the plausability of using mercs to bolster (and even run) defences from both external and internal influences, was one of the interest points I loved when I first expanded the campaigns in the mid-80s. Remember, this was a time when superpowers squared up to each other, and we had journalists following real mercenary characters throughout the MMBA - so it was an interesting 'flipside' to the question of mercenary use.
More types of Merc 'Tickets' would be good to expand on the basic ones. A guide to the construction of those 'Tickets' would be handy - so as Serene-Muse said first, a system would be good to see. Inspirational ideas that cover everything from straight up-and-at-em combat, surveillance, close protection of VIPs, infiltaration/extraction, hostage rescue and asset (think impounded starship) recovery, right up to mega-corporation involvement... and even better if there's a few linked together to give readers the idea of a mini-campaign.
In an old campaign from a few years back, the PCs Merc outfit (PC Officers and NCO's leading a Platoon of NPCs) had some serious financial backing from the son of the late previous owner. While the 'Tickets' were still good and pulling in credits and reputation, the new owner, the son (NPC), was ramping up the rep and fame to make the whole unit a decent viable commercial acquisition. His early nest-egg to retire to Mora.... Things came to ahead when he floated the Platoon on the Regina Stock Exchange, and did some deals for product placement - the PCs rebelled at the idea of having to be seen, and filmed, drinking a branded soft drink while doing towerblock clearance in one of Efate's crowded cities! Half the players wanted to kill him, but one sensible mind took over, 'forced' the son to offer up all his shares at a knockdown price, and the Platoon acquired them in a lightning-fast deal sealed in the midst of a gunfight on the 23rd floor!
So, you can have some fun, while plying those Tickets...
dafrca said:But once I have placed my pre-order then what? :lol:Mongoose Steele said:I don't consider it teasing...I consider it "temptation advertising".
Daniel
It just becomes cruel. . .
collins355
Cosmic Mongoose
[lots of claims re LBB4/5 'breaking' the CT chargen]
I beg to differ. Statistically the Book 4/5 chargen doesn't break anything IF you play the survival rules as written (if you ignore the survival roll then complaining that you don't like the outcome of the whole process is rather strange) and if you play the INT+EDU limit on number of skills you can acquire. :!:
I hope MongTrav Mercenary makes the mercenary lifestyle more likely by making it pay. The problem with being a mercenary in Traveller has always been that if you are getting paid only ~2-3MCr for a ticket then lose a couple of grav vehicles and you're into negative territory.
I hope it clarifies whether the hirer normally pays travel expenses for the mercenary unit as part of the ticket.
I beg to differ. Statistically the Book 4/5 chargen doesn't break anything IF you play the survival rules as written (if you ignore the survival roll then complaining that you don't like the outcome of the whole process is rather strange) and if you play the INT+EDU limit on number of skills you can acquire. :!:
I hope MongTrav Mercenary makes the mercenary lifestyle more likely by making it pay. The problem with being a mercenary in Traveller has always been that if you are getting paid only ~2-3MCr for a ticket then lose a couple of grav vehicles and you're into negative territory.
I hope it clarifies whether the hirer normally pays travel expenses for the mercenary unit as part of the ticket.
