Anyone with some RL experience of the military out there?

[Turanil]

Well, I know that some of the Enworlders are, or have been in the military. I have a simple question:

I am currently making two NPCs stat-blocks documents (see links below), and of course these will also include soldiers and police NPCs. Now, while making a soldier for D&D doesn't require much thinking, doing a bunch of soldier and police stat-blocks for d20 Modern requires more thoughts. In short, I have no idea about what could be the classes and levels of soldiers, commandos, cops, detectives, etc. I have no idea what skills and feats they would likely get to make credible NPCs. So if someone has some clues, I would be glad to know.

Thanks,

 

[swordsmasher]

Yeah, I did my time. (Mobile Com; I served in kosovo and saw some action).

Anyway, i found that the closest thing to real life was the soldier class presented in star wars rpg.

for d20 modern, (isn't there already a soldier advanced class? or PRC? I can't remember). anyway, it would be easy to convert.

kc

 

[Ranger REG]

For d20 Modern, there is a list of Ordinaries (aka NPCs) that include police officer stats, starting on page 275. SWAT and Undercover cops can be found in the Menace Manual.

 

[sinmissing]

my experience is this,
your green soldier's physical sklls (climb, jump) will be higher than their shooting/fighting skills. A green, will probably have endurance before weapon focus.

your typical butterball (2nd lt.) will have a higher administration-like, knowledge history (military), and physical skills, than tactical knowledge.

In short, new soldiers are usually just strong then/and tough
Veteran lifers are more likely to be dedicated/charismatic than strong/tough
offiers try to tend toward charismatic, but tend toward smart/dedicated
NCOs keep on with tough, but usually add in some dedicated/charismatic

course your commando types almost always mix tough and fast.

 

[Dwarven Godfather]

My experience in the military!!!

I served in "Desert Storm" as not a grunt but logistical support. The Experience has I explained it to a ground pounder who said he was in the Desert longer which was not true. Is that the U.S. Army has it's logistical support and we go into the front lines first to establish an area for the equipment to come into so that the ground pounders have a place to send their equipment to and get their supplies from.
The soldier should be done up the way the character classes are in Modern or OGL where there is a base class that has vocations (Specialties). We were soldiers first then we had our Occupational Specialties which I was a forklift driver/unloaded and loaded the Transportation equipement for the Ground pounders this is how it is in all our branches of service.
Live of a soldier is the same as a civilian except we also get up early on the morning and do physical exercises at the crack of dawn. When you are out in the field our protecting the country it is completely different is where your hours could be 12 hours on 12 hours off unless you are in the elite services where they are doing their jobs 24 hours a day, but maybe that is why theygo through extensive training as well.

 

[swordsmasher]

I Live of a soldier is the same as a civilian except we also get up early on the morning and do physical exercises at the crack of dawn. When you are out in the field our protecting the country it is completely different is where your hours could be 12 hours on 12 hours off unless you are in the elite services where they are doing their jobs 24 hours a day, but maybe that is why theygo through extensive training as well.

Man..in Kosovo we were pulling 22 hour shifts 4 days a week for several weeks. Nothing like stalking the bad guys for 22 hours only to have the freaking LT say "Negative..pull back." Get your MRE, your 2 Cups of coffee, whatever sleep you can get (maybe change your socks) and back out to stalk the bad guys again. Gotta love Special Forces.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

A regular first world soldier:

Soldier (Strong Ordinary 1/Fast Ordinary 1): CR 1; Medium Humanoid (human), HD 2d8+2; hp 11; Mas 13; Init +1; Spd 25 ft.; Defense 21 (+1 Dex, +4 class, +6 tactical vest), touch 15, flat-footed 20; BAB +1; Grap +1; Atk assault rifle +2 ranged (2d8); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; AL varies; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 11, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 8.
Occupation: Military (bonus class skills: Hide, Move Silently; bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency)
Skills: Climb –1*, Hide –2*, Jump –1*, Listen +1, Move Silently –2*, Spot +1, Survival +1
Languages: English (literate, native)
Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium), Personal Firearms Proficiency
Possessions: M16 rifle with attached illuminator, 8 boxes of ammunition with tracers (30 rounds each), Glock 9 mm pistol, 2 magazines of ammunition (17 rounds each), fatigues and jacket, GPS gear, communication gear, survival gear.

Junior Military Officer (Smart Hero 3/Strong Hero 3): CR 6; Medium Humanoid (human), HD 3d6+3d8+6; hp 32; Mas 12; Init +0; Spd 25 ft.; Defense 18 (+3 class, +5 light-duty vest), touch 13, flat-footed 18; BAB +4; Grap +5; Atk assault rifle +4 ranged (2d8) or sidearm +4 ranged (2d6) or brawl +6 melee (1d6+2 nonlethal); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; AL varies; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +4; AP 3; Rep +1; Str 13, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 10.
Occupation: Military (class skills: Hide, Knowledge (tactics), bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency)
Skills: Climb +2, Computer Use +3, Concentration +3, Craft (structural) +3, Demolitions +4, Diplomacy +2, Drive +1, Hide +7, Intimidate +2, Jump +2, Knowledge (business) +3, Knowledge (current events) +4, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (tactics) +17, Move Silently –1, Navigate +4, Profession +7, Repair +3, Spot +3, Survival +3, Swim +0.
Languages: English (literate, native)
Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium), Brawl, Educated (Knowledge [history] and Knowledge [tactics]), Endurance, Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Talents (Smart Hero): Plan, Savant (Knowledge [tactics]).
Talents (Strong Hero): Extreme Effort, Melee Smash.
Possessions: M16 rifle with attached illuminator, 6 to 8 boxes of ammunition with tracers (30 rounds each), Beretta 9 mm pistol, 2 magazines of ammunition (15 rounds each), fatigues and jacket, GPS gear, communication gear, survival gear, 4 frag grenades.

The above officer has the training given at Quantico. He has Extreme Effort to do the "fireman" carry and Craft (structural) since he has to be able to build a bridge from scratch. No, he's not actually a Marine, but despite weeks of searching I could find no good information on how a regular Army Officer is trained. All the material I found wanted to focus on elite units like the Marines. I think this is close enough, though.

Commando (Fast Hero 3/Strong Hero 4/Soldier 3): CR 10; Medium Humanoid (human), HD 7d8+3d10+20; hp 71; Mas 14; Init +6; Spd 35 ft.; Defense 26 (+2 Dex, +9 class, +5 light-duty vest), touch 21, flat-footed 24; BAB +8; Grap +10; Atk assault rifle +12/+7 ranged (2d8+2) or combat martial arts +10/+5 melee (1d4+4) or combat knife +10/+5 melee (1d4+4/19-20) or grenade +10 ranged; Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA weapon focus (assault rifle), weapon specialization (assault rifle); AL varies; SV Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +4; AP 5; Rep +1; Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 8.
Occupation: Military (class skills: Knowledge (tactics), Survival; bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency)
Skills: Climb +2, Craft (structural) +3, Demolitions +4, Hide +8, Intimidate +0, Investigate +2, Jump +0, Knowledge (current events) +2, Knowledge (tactics) +9, Move Silently +6, Navigate +4, Profession +9, Sense Motive +2, Spot +4, Survival +14, Treat Injury +3, Tumble +0.
Languages: English (literate, native), Spanish (literate, spoken)
Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium), Athletic, Burst Fire, Combat Martial Arts, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Stealthy
Talents (Fast Hero): Improved Increased Speed, Increased Speed
Talents (Strong Hero): Improved Melee Smash, Melee Smash
Possessions: mastercraft (+1 hit) assault rifle with illuminator and infra-red scope, 8 magazines (30 rounds each), sidearm, 2 magazine (15 rounds each), 4 fragmentation grenade, fatigues, fatigue jacket, medical kit, assorted gear.

I had to do a lot of research to get this guy to have the appropriate skills (and got virtually no help from real military buffs, either).

He represents a Green Beret, other special op forces get somewhat different training (eg SAS and Spetsnaz). I ran out of skill points; keeping these guys at 10th-level or below was pretty hard. Most of the skill choices should be obvious, but he has Investigate because he might have to take fingerprints or something similar, Sense Motive during training (you have to train green soldiers and you get help from "mountain men" but if you choose an "enemy" mountain men you get thrown out of that part of traiing) and Tumble because you're taught to parachute. PS you have to know at least one other language to be a Green Beret; I think some elites requite you to know two additional languages.

This is an unresearched, less elite commando.

Commando (Fast Hero 2/Strong Hero 2/Soldier 2): CR 6; Medium Humanoid (human), HD 4d8+2d10+6; hp 38; Mas 14; Init +3; Spd 30 ft.; Defense 25 (+2 Dex, +8 class, +5 light-duty vest), touch 21, flat-footed 16; BAB +4; Grap +5; Atk MP5 +8 ranged (2d6+2) or Glock 17 +8 ranged (2d6) or combat knife +5 melee (1d4+2) or rifle-butt +5 melee (1d6+2) or unarmed strike +5 melee (1d3+2, nonlethal); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA weapon focus (MP5), weapon specialization (MP5); AL military unit; SV Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +1; AP 3; Rep +0; Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 8.
Occupation: Military (bonus class skills: Knowledge (tactics), Survival; bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency)
Skills: Climb +1, Demolitions +3, Hide +7, Intimidate +1, Jump –2, Knowledge (tactics) +10, Listen +8, Move Silently +5, Spot +8, Survival +8, Swim –5.
Languages: choose one (literate, native)
Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium), Athletic, Endurance, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Stealthy
Talents (Fast Hero): Increased Speed
Talents (Strong Hero): Melee Smash
Possessions: MP5 with illuminator, 8 magazines, Glock 17, 2 magazines, tactical vest, camo compact (skill bonus not applied).

I've also got some 3rd-world soldiers, military engineers (okay, that was easy) and "combat medics".

 

[Turanil]

I've also got some 3rd-world soldiers, military engineers (okay, that was easy) and "combat medics".

Great! Thanks for your contribution.

I am going to add these NPCs to the 100 d20 modern NPCs Thread. Of course, the "3rd-world soldiers, military engineers, and combat medics" will be welcome!

 

[The Black Kestrel]

I'll add my two cents as well. I'm currently an Active duty intel analyst and ex-grunt. One thing in my experiences I've noted is they wide variety of skill soldiers bring with them from thier civilian lives. One of my lieutenants was a microbiologist and one of my troops was an electrical egineer. Don't limit yourself to just the Strong and Tough classes when designing enlisted. Those are great if you want to make infantry and scouts, but a military consists of more than just people paid to break stuff and kill people. Here are a couple of suggestions to help you along:

Combat Arms:
Infantry: Strong/Tough, Soldier AdC, Sniper or SpecOp PrC (both from the UA WE)
Cavalry: Tough/Fast (Dedicated possible as well), Infiltrator, Soldier
Tanker: Fast/ Dedicated
Artillery: Strong/Tough (Smart for higher level NCO's)

Combat Support
MP: Dedicated/Tough (Charismatic for MPI/CID), Investigator AdC
MI: Smart/ Tough (Dedicated or Charismatic for CI), Inestigator AdC
Medics: Dedicated/Smart or Tough, Field Medic AdC

I'm leaving off Combat Service Support since I don't have much experience in that area. Officers will generally have one or two levels of Smart Hero/ Charismatic Hero and at high levels may take the Mastermind PrC (UA WE again).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I'll add my two cents as well. I'm currently an Active duty intel analyst and ex-grunt. One thing in my experiences I've noted is they wide variety of skill soldiers bring with them from thier civilian lives. One of my lieutenants was a microbiologist and one of my troops was an electrical egineer. Don't limit yourself to just the Strong and Tough classes when designing enlisted. Those are great if you want to make infantry and scouts, but a military consists of more than just people paid to break stuff and kill people. Here are a couple of suggestions to help you along:[/qu8ote]

I agree with you (said something similar in a previous topic). If you had the soldiers line up and tell you what they did before they joined the army, you might get something like...

"Hi, my name is Joe and I'm a mechanic from Texas."
"My name is Anne and I'm a musician from New Orleans."

Etc... However, because they're so diverse, it does make "sttating" a "typical" soldier difficult. I was just working on the basics for these.

Any individual could have very different skills. In the French & Indian wars, for instance, farmer-mechanic-soldiers were very important in the first conquest of Quebec.

Combat Arms:
Infantry: Strong/Tough, Soldier AdC, Sniper or SpecOp PrC (both from the UA WE)

No Fast levels? I figured, since they use guns and spend a lot of time crawling from bush to bush hiding...

Cavalry: Tough/Fast (Dedicated possible as well), Infiltrator, Soldier

Do you mean armored cavalry, or old-style cavalry? Tough is a good choice precisely because of the Ride skill

Tanker: Fast/ Dedicated
Artillery: Strong/Tough (Smart for higher level NCO's)

Combat Support
MP: Dedicated/Tough (Charismatic for MPI/CID), Investigator AdC
MI: Smart/ Tough (Dedicated or Charismatic for CI), Inestigator AdC
Medics: Dedicated/Smart or Tough, Field Medic AdC

This is very useful. I especially like the MI... on an Alternity site I found a "template" for a military investigator I have to write up sometime.

I'm leaving off Combat Service Support since I don't have much experience in that area. Officers will generally have one or two levels of Smart Hero/ Charismatic Hero and at high levels may take the Mastermind PrC (UA WE again).

I gave the junior officer the Smart levels so he could have the Plan talent. Yeah, I know it's somewhat metagaming, but based on my research, tactical training is considered a lot more important than inspiring your soldiers (and leadership in the army meant tactics and communications, I believe).