[Grim Tales/Modern/D&D] Fire and Fury - accepting alts (6/6)

[Insight]

Ian Raines, Systems Expert

IAN RAINES
SMART 5 (Bgd: Academic)

ABILITY SCORES
STR 10
DEX 13
CON 10
INT 18
WIS 10
CHA 15

OTHER STUFF
BAB +2
DEF 13
HP 22
REP +2
FORT +1
REF +2
WILL +3
Allegiances: Gaining Knowledge, Science, Intellect

DESCRIPTION
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 135 lbs.
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian/Anglo-Saxon
Eyes: Green
Hair: Lt. Brown

SKILLS
Core Skills: Craft - Mechanical, Craft - Pharm, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Knowledge - Chem, Knowledge - Computers, Knowledge - Cryptology, Prof - Cryptologist, Research, Speak Language.

Skill Ranks/Bonuses:
Craft - Mechanical (7) +13, Craft - Pharm (5) +11, Decipher Script (8) +12, Disable Device (8) +12, Drive (4) +5, Knowledge - Chem (6) +13, Knowledge - Computers (6) +13, Knowledge - Cryptology (8) +15, Knowledge - World Cultures (3) +10, Prof - Cryptologist (8) +8, Research (8) +12, Search (4) +8, Speak Language (see below).

Languages Known:
Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, English (Native), French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

FEATS
Dodge, Personal Firearms, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot.

TALENTS
Exploit Weakness, Linguist, Plan.

GEAR
To be determined.

BRIEF HISTORY
At age 10, youngest to win Youth Prize for Cryptology from the International Association for Cryptologic Research.
At age 18, graduated with dual Bach Science in Theoretical Mathematics and Chemistry from MIT
At age 19, graduated with Bach Arts in Linguistics from MIT
At age 20, hired as consultant by Dept of Defense Intelligence
At age 20, graduated with Masters Science in Computer Science from George Washington Univ
At age 21, graduated with Masters Science in Biochem from George Washington Univ
(This section still under construction)

 

[Mavnn]

Insight, Ian looks to only be 4th level - we're starting at 5th . Hope you're not too dissappointed.

I suppose I should have warned people that I don't normally have much time at the weekend. I have also, in a fit of competance, left my book at home today. I'll have a look over things at lunch though and see if I can spot anything from memory and answer some questions.

Mr. Prez, I got your mail. Unfortunately a native guide wouldn't work at this point (although slots might become available down the line). The best I can recommend without Grim Tales is to take a look at the Modern SRD and generate a 5th level modern character. I would recommend using the system Insight outlines above to choose 'Core skills' rather than having class skills that change each level.

That probably made no sense to you - feel free to ask questions...

 

[Mavnn]

Lets have a skim... I won't catch everything as I don't have the books to hand, but here goes:

[B]Name:[/B] Jude Lawson 'Law'
[B]Class:[/B] Strong 1/Dedicated 4
[B]Race:[/B] Human
[B]Size:[/B] Medium
[B]Gender:[/B] Male
[B]Alleigences:[/B] The Mission, His Men, Democracy 

[B]Str:[/B] 12 +1      [B]Level:[/B] 5        [B]XP:[/B] XXXX
[B]Dex:[/B] 14 +2      [B]BAB:[/B] +4         [B]HP:[/B] 24+ (d8+4d6+10)
[B]Con:[/B] 14 +2      [B]Grapple:[/B] +5     [B]Current HP:[/B] 34/34
[B]Int:[/B] 14 +2      [B]Speed:[/B] 30'      [B]Defense:[/B] +4
[B]Wis:[/B] 15 +2      [B]Init:[/B] +2        [B]Reputation:[/B] +3
[B]Cha:[/B] 12 +1      [B]ACP:[/B] -2         [B]Action Pts:[/B] 5

                   [B]Base  Def  Armor Shld   Dex  Size   Nat  Misc  Total[/B]
[B]Armor:[/B]          10    +4   +4    +0    +2    +0    +0    +0    16
[B]Touch:[/B] 16              [B]Flatfooted:[/B] 14

[COLOR=White][b]Do Defense & Armor get added together or is it one or the other?[/b]

Both get added[/COLOR]

                         [B]Base   Mod  Misc  Total[/B]
[B]Fort:[/B]                  3    +2    +2     +7
[B]Ref:[/B]                   1    +2    +0     +3
[B]Will:[/B]                  2    +2    +2     +6

[B]Weapon                  Attack   Damage     Critical     Range[/B]
Heavy Pistol                 +8     2d8        20 SA         40'
Assault Rifle                +8     2d8        20 SA/BF/FA   90'
MW Combat Knife	             +6     1d4        19+          melee  
Grenade                      +8     ?d?        20 10' rad   

[COLOR=White][b]Do you need a special feat to use an assault rifle?[/b]

Nope, you're fine.[/COLOR]

[B]Languages:[/B] English

[B]Background:[/B] Healer (former EMT)

[B]Talents:[/B] 
  [b][u]Extreme Effort[/u]:[/b] +2 on Strength checks 1/day.
  [b][u]Insight (x)[/u]:[/b] +3 on all checks involving this skill.
  [b][u]Zen Focus[/u]:[/b] Add Wisdom modifier to ranged attack rolls.

[B]Feats:[/B] Armor Proficiency (all), Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), 
Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Personal Firearms Proficiency, 
Point-Blank Shot, Heroic Surge, Great Fortitude, Iron Will

[B]Skill Points:[/B] 00       [B]Max Ranks:[/B] 4/2
[B]Skills                   Ranks  Mod  Misc  Total[/B]
  Craft (pharmeceutical)      0    +0    +0    +0
  Diplomacy                   0    +0    +0    +0
  Heal                        0    +0    +0    +0
  Knowledge (medicine)        0    +0    +0    +0
  skill name                  0    +0    +0    +0
  skill name                  0    +0    +0    +0
  skill name                  0    +0    +0    +0
  skill name                  0    +0    +0    +0
  skill name                  0    +0    +0    +0
  skill name                  0    +0    +0    +0

[COLOR=White][b]Yo! How do skills work? The Grim Tales book isn't entirely 
clear on this unless I'm looking in the wrong spot. It says 3-5 from back ground 
(check), 3 from class (uhh... where?), and 3 chosen (no problem there). Where 
are the class skills? Based on Attribute?[/b]

Hopefully Insight's post above has answered your questions - if not, give a yell 
and we'll see what we can do. Short recap: You get the skills from your background, 
1 Craft, 1 Profession, 1 Knowledge and 3 skills of your choice. These 9-10 skills 
count as your 'Core' skills (the same as class skills in Modern/DnD except they stay 
the same regardless of class).[/color]

[B]Equipment:                 Weight[/B] 
  Heavy Pistol                  5 lbs
  Assault Rifle                10 lbs
  Light Armor                   4 lbs
  (2) Grenades                  2 lbs
  hands free radio              0 lbs
  low-light goggles             0 lbs
  minicomp                      0 lbs


[B]Total Weight:[/B] 00. lbs      [B]Wealth:[/B] +?

                           [B]Lgt   Med   Hvy   Lift  Push[/B]
[B]Max Weight:[/B]             ??   ???   ???   ???   ?,???

[B]Age:[/B] 27
[B]Height:[/B] 5'10"
[B]Weight:[/B] 177 lbs
[B]Eyes:[/B] brown
[B]Hair:[/B] black
[B]Skin:[/B] brown

[B]Appearance:[/B] small african american man. Not particularly striking in any 
way at all. Moves purposely.

[B]Background:[/B] Former emergency medical technician. Tired of the life and 
needed a change. When the gulf war conflict emerged, he joined the Marine Corps. 
He's since shifted over to the Army as an officer and completed his Ranger 
training... though as he was never in command of a Ranger unit, he can't wear 
the badge.

[color=white]Just a reminder that when you use the 'code' tag, the lines no longer
wrap automatically. Manual line breaks are your friend :)[/color]

 

[Mavnn]

Right! On to the next.

Looking good in general. Same caveat about lack of book, yada yada...

Sgt. Timo Kovinnen

Statistics:
STR 10/±0 (costs 2)
<snip>
WIS 16/+3 (costs 10)

- Flat-footed +6 Shouldn't this be +7?

Attacks:
With only +3 BAB and no STR bonus you're not meeting the +4 Melee Attack 'Soldier' requirement. See comments below as well.
-Unarmed/Grapple +3/1d4 non-lethal/bludgeoning/Crit.20
-Improvised weapon +3/1 D/1-2 T/1d3 S/1d4 M/1d6 L bludgeoning/Crit.20/Rang. 10ft.
-Masterwork Combat Knife +3/1d4 piercing/Crit 20/Range 10ft


Skills:
Heal +4 I think you calculated these when you were planning an 18 WIS: all of the WIS related skills look one too high unless I'm missing something. I haven't listed the rest
Jump* +4 Where did the bonus come from?
Listen +4 (+10 to avoid surprise) +3 and +6, surely?

Feats
Simple Weapons Proficiency- automatic
Armor Proficiency (Light and Medium)- automatic
Personal Firearms Proficiency- starting feat
Exotic Weapons Proficiency (Sniper Rifle)- starting feat
Far Shot- Dedicated bonus feat No book, but I thought Point Blank Shot was a Prereq? Not that it really matters, you can get the same feat selection overall without any problem...
Improved Aim (move up to 30ft without disrupting aim)- Dedicated bonus feat
Point Blank Shot- third level feat

Equipment
Ghille suit (+10 to Hide checks when the correct coloration, move action to change color, -4 to Dex based skills except Hide and melee attack rolls while wearing) Change to what colours? How many different environments can a single Ghille suit cover?
Gas mask Good catch, these should be standard issue for everyone. BTW, I don't have the Modern core rules (I am working from Grim Tales and 3.5). Any chance you could post the rules for gas masks?
Sako LRIW (Long Range Intervention Weapon) with integrated laser sight (+2 Att within 30ft), optical sights with selectable night vision (half range penalties when using the Aim action), silencer/flash suppressor (-4 to Spot and Listen checks to detect), bipod (can be used to Brace), 5 extra magazines + additional 50 rounds As a 'Huge' weapon, I believe the Sniper Rifle can only be used braced. I should have included the bipod in the description above.
Glock 2600 Holdout, 2 extra magazines
That's a lot of ammo in total... maybe not excessive, but definately a lot. I believe a magazine weighs in the region of 2lbs on average - remember encumbrance!

I've also added the laser sights to the default gun descriptions.

Background Information:
Appearance: With a compact frame, Timo is very fit and in excellent shape, but is no stronger than the average man.

This rings very wrong to me (especially with the Melee Attack bonus issue above). Either this guy is tiny or he can't be in good enough shape to be an olympic-level athlete and be 'no stronger than the average man.' Given the lack of Finnish midgets in NATO, I'd have to suggest raising his strength.

Second, I took the ammo load on the small pistol down to 11 to reduce the size and give a +2 to conceal. Let me know if there are any issues.

Yeah, that's fine, but you lose the burst fire as well.

 

[Mavnn]

Insight, I'll comment on Ian once you've upped him to level 5. Looking good and a very useful addition to the team so far, though.

 

[Insight]

Insight, Ian looks to only be 4th level - we're starting at 5th . Hope you're not too dissappointed.

Oops. Hehe. I'll level him one then.

 

[Bobitron]

Thanks, Mavnn. I'll go over this point by point ASAP.

 

[Bobitron]

1) Not meeting the BAB

Hmmm... I didn't catch that. I will have to balance out the stats to bring up his Str to 12 at minimum.

2) Defense

You are probably right, I need to go over all the math. I built the character once with different stats, so some other things will need adjustment as well (like skills).

3) Attacks

This should be solved when I bump his Str a bit.

4) Skills
You are correct about using an 18 Wis to build those bonuses, I'll readjust them.
Regarding the Jump bonus, it looks like I did not record the correct expendatures for my skill ranks, with only 47 of the 56 available on the sheet as it is. I need to go over them again. As for the Listen and Spot bonuses for detecting an ambush, I think the book (not with it now) words it as add your Will save to your skill check. I'm not sure if that should be just the bonus given by your class, or the Wis adjustment as well. Can you take a look at the wording and let me know what you think?

5)Feats
You are right, I'll adjust it.

6)Equipment
First, the Ghille suit. I honestly think these rules are unrealistic and unfair. I think that a suit should be designed for a particular environment, and if not (perhaps reversible?) two at the most. Changing the coloration would be much more than a move action, as well. I think the +10 bonus is fair if it matches the terrain, and the 'armor penalty' is a good balancer IMO. This gear is from d20 Modern, BTW.

Second, gas mask. This is from the SRD...

Gas Mask
This apparatus covers the face and connects to a chemical air filter canister to protect the lungs and eyes from toxic gases. It provides total protection from eye and lung irritants. The filter canister lasts for 12 hours of use. Changing a filter is a move action. The purchase DC for one extra filter canister is 6.

Third, weapons. That's cool about the rifle, I wasn't aware of the Huge thing re: bracing. Losing the burst fire feature from the pistol is A-OK by me. As for ammo, I can cut it down to keep my encumbrance down. I based that load off of a modern soldier on a long range patrol with an M4 or M16, where they would carry 7 mags (one in the weapon and 6 in two pouches) and another 4-6 additional. Since you noted we will be able to resupply, I can cut that back to just the initial 5 magazines without worrying about running out. At two pounds per mag, which sounds reasonable for ten rounds + magazine, that would be 10 pounds.

7) Background/build.

I'll raise his Str to meet the BAB requirement and bulk him up a bit.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[Ranger Rick]

I would like to add a demolition man. However, the +4 BAB or the +8 knowledge will be tricky to figure out. I can work out a character tomorrow.

 

[Mavnn]

OK, I'll reserve the place. And it's 32 pt buy, man! +4 attack bonus (not base attack) should be easy to come by!