Anyone with some RL experience of the military out there?

(Psi)SeveredHead said:
< snip > I don't think Tough fits the commandos. They already have Endurance and, honestly, aren't any tougher if you shoot them. (The trouble for their enemy, of course, is shooting them. Commandos try to use surprise, naturally.)

In d20 they would be, physical prowess = more HP. I've worked side by side with quite a few that were all about how much punishment (mental and physical) they could endure.

Is Tumble an appropriate skill for parachuting?

Not only appropriate, but necessary. Anyone who has been to a little town in georgia knows what I'm talking about. There are endless drills of falling, rolling to one side, slapping the ground at just the right time, and forcefullly grunting in order to "roll with the fall" just before impact.
 
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Is Tumble an appropriate skill for parachuting?

Officers - really Charismatic? Everything I read about training suggests the opposite. Are any of you here officers? That would clear this up fast, I believe.

What sort of armor? Light-duty vest? Tactical vest?

Tumble is perhaps the best skill followed by Balance. IIRC V for Victory in Dungeon 97 had some Parachuting rules and I'd be suprised if Blood and Guts didn't as well.

Yes, officers can be Charismatic, they can also be introverted pricks (same applies to NCO's). Patton definitely had several level of Charismatic :D. In assigning Charismatic and Smart levels to officers and NCOs think about your concept for the officer. Is he a military genius? Better go for Smart and maybe one or two levels of Charismatic. Is he a leader you'd follow into Hell? Go for Charismatic with one ore two levels of Smart.

For armor this how'd I'd rate them:

US Interceptor Body Armor w/ cermaic plates: Special Response Vest
US Interceptor Body Armor w/o ceramic plates: Light Duty Vest but with a +4 equipment bonus
US Flak Jacket: Concealable Vest but with a +3 equipment bonus

S'mon,
*US may be different, there seems less of a gap between officers & other ranks, although officers tend to be better educated, they may not inculcate the same mystique. I did know online one guy in the US who definitely had that mystique though, I think he was an officer in the US Coast Guard!

It depends alot on whether you're combat arms or not. The mystique of the officer is stronger there than in combat support or combat service support. The education gap between enlisted and officers has been greatly reduced in the last decade. It's becoming an unwritten rule that you need at least an Associates Degree to make Sergeant First Class and a Bachelor's for First Sergeant or Sergeant Major. Many enlisted personnel are entering the service with at least one year of college all the way to a Masters degree these days.

Up until recently the Coasties saw more combat yearly than any other branch of service (even if it was under Treasury and not Defense)
 

Tankers...

The following is based on my experience. I was in for 4 years. Spent 2 in Germany from 88-90 and the rest split between stateside and Saudi/Iraq in Desert Shield/Storm.

Tankers do basic training and advanced individual training (AIT) in one 15 week blast. So, coming out of training, they should have various physical skills, some weapons familiarization (qualify with .45/9mm and M16), map and radio skills, and some driving (though not much). I put general soldier skills (either trained or ingrained) at:

General Soldier Skills: Climb, Jump, Gamble, Bluff/Sense Motive, Intimidate, Knowledge (tactics), Knowledge (streetwise), Survival, Knowledge (popular culture), Hide, Listen, Spot, Search, Survival

Tankers break down like this:

Position - Where they 'sit' in the tank.
Rank - Typical rank for the position (though it's somewhat fluid)
Abilities - Important abilities for the position
Primary Skills - Skills that match their primary job.
Secondary Skills - Skills that match their other responsibilities
Primary Weapons - Weapons they're responsible for maintaining and qualifying with
Secondary Weapons - Weapons they may have qualified with in the past.
Tertiary Weapons - Weapons they have a familiarity with and may train on but don't have to qualify with.
Duties - Their typical responsibilities within the crew.

Loader - Typically new or a soldier that's short, strong and fast.
Rank: Pvt - Spc
Abilities: STR, DEX, WIS
Primary Skills: Spot, Listen, Repair,
Secondary Skills: <Radio Use>, Drive, Navigate, Treat Injury
Primary Weapons: M240 (manual, vehicle mounted), M16, .45 pistol or 9mm
Secondary weapons:
Tertiary Weapons: Tank Main gun, M240 (fire control, vehicle mounted), .50 caliber (manual/scope assisted, vehicle mounted)
Duties
When not loading the main gun on a tank, the loader's main responsibilities include: Guard duty, care and feeding of ammo for all the weapons, supplying the tank with food, water, and other consumables, and assisting in maintenance of the tank. The loader is the only crewmember responsible for qualifying with the M16. Though no one must qualify with the M240 on the loader's hatch, the loader does get some experience with it during gunnery.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Driver - Typically a 2-4 year veteran. Driver's have to be less than 6'5" (I know because I'm 6'5" and just fit into the hatch).
Rank: PFC-Cpl
Abilities: STR, DEX, INT
Primary Skills: Drive, Repair, Spot, Listen
Secondary Skills: <Radio Use>, Navigate, Treat Injury, Hide
Primary Weapon: .45 or 9mm pistol
Secondary Weapons: M16, M240 (manual, vehicle mounted)
Tertiary Weapons: Tank Main gun, M240 (fire control, vehicle mounted), .50 caliber (manual/scope assisted, vehicle mounted)
Duties
The driver's main responsibility is to drive the tank. The driver is primarily responsible for maintenance of the entire tank, as well, though all crew members typically assist in this endeavour (big job). The driver also assists with guard duty, supplying the tank with ammo, food, water, and other consumables.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Gunner - Typically a veteran > 4 years.
Rank - Cpl - Staff Sgt
Abilities - INT, DEX, WIS/CHR
Primary Skills - Spot, Navigate, <radio use>, Knowledge (tactics), Computer Use
Secondary Skills - Drive, Treat Injury, Repair, Hide, Move Silently, Listen
Primary Weapons: Tank Main Gun, M240 (fire control, vehicle mounted), .45 or 9mm pistol
Secondary Weapon: M16, M240 (manual, vehicle mounted), .50 caliber (manual/scope assisted, vehicle mounted)
Duties
The gunner's primary responsibility is to shoot the main gun and the coaxially mounted M240 machine gun. Additionally, the gunner is typically left in charge of the tank when the tank commander is away, and is generally responsible for discipline of the crew and maintenance of the tank. The gunner is also responsible for the maintenance of the fire control system (a fairly simplistic computer and its supporting components). In situations where the tank commander is an officer, the gunner is typically the ranking NCO on the tank and is ultimately responsible for the crew.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Tank Commander - Typically a > 8 year veteran
Rank - Sgt - Sgt First Class or 2nd Lt - Colonel
Abilities - CHR, INT, WIS
Primary Skills: Knowledge (tactics), <Radio Use>, <Encryption>, Spot, Navigate, Diplomacy
Secondary Skills: Drive, Repair, Treat Injury, Hide, Move Silently, Listen
Primary Weapon: Tank Main Gun, .50 caliber (manual/scope assisted, vehicle mounted), M240 (fire control, vehicle mounted), .45 or 9mm pistol.
Secondary Weapons: M16, M240 (manual, vehicle mounted)
Duties
The tank commander is ultimately responsible for everything on the tank and everything her crew does. The tank commander role is to spot targets and lay the gunner on them, fire on targets with the main gun, coaxial mounted M240 machine gun, and the .50 caliber machine gun. He must also coordinate with/direct others in his platoon, company, battalion, and/or brigade via the radio (including calling in fire missions from air support and artillery), direct everyone in the tank over the intercom, navigate the tank through the terrain, and generally be a total bad@$$. Typically, green lieutenants are not total bad@$$'s, but follow the lead of their experienced NCO's to learn the skills needed to lead the tank and their platoon (at least the smart ones do).

Some random tanker trivia
Tank Platoon Make up:
1st Section
1 - Platoon Leader (1st or 2nd Lieutenant)
2 - Sergeant-Staff Sergeant
2nd Section
3 - Sergeant-Staff Sergeant
4 - Platoon Sergeant (Staff Sergeant or Sergeant First Class)
Tank Company Make up:
1st Platoon (4 tanks) White*
2nd Platoon (4 tanks) Blue
3rd Platoon (4 tanks) Red
6 - Company Commander's Tank (Captain, typically) Black
5 - Executive Officer's Tank (1st Lt, typically) Black

* This is the Platoon callsign on the radio. Thus, White One is the 1st Platoon Platoon leader's tank, Red Four is the 3rd Platoon Platoon Sergeant's tank, Black Six is the company commander's tank, etc.

Tank Battalions are somewhat fluid depending on the situation. They may have up to 4 tank companies or half tank half Bradley companies, or some combination. Typically, there's a Scout Platoon/Company made up of Bradleys and dismounted infantry, as well as a logistical company (Headquarters), with liasion with air support, artillery and other support services.

Training
The smallest 'operational' unit in a tank company is a single tank. The tank company is trained to operate at the individual tank, section (2 tanks), and platoon level at gunnery and the company/battalion/brigade/division/army level during field maneauvers.
EDIT: Also, the minimum crew for an M1A1/A2 is a TC, driver and loader....

Anyway. Hope this helps.
 
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Interesting. I think I will at some point make (for my 100 NPCs thread) a complete tank crew using the suggestions above. Are 3rd level characters appropriate?

I will do two crew variants actually. One modern, made of humans, and one futurist made of biodroids (that I could use for my weird campaign setting, a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi).

I will have to find a set of Tank stats as well, so everything is complete.

See that later in the Rogue Gallery forum...
 

Turanil said:
Interesting. I think I will at some point make (for my 100 NPCs thread) a complete tank crew using the suggestions above. Are 3rd level characters appropriate?
I would say up to 2nd for a fresh soldier (including 2nd Lieutenants), 3rd-5th for a ~4 year veteran, and variable for those higher than that. Sergeant First Class' typically have 15-20 years in service and have been tankers the entire time. They are the true bad@$$ tankers. They're also the last 'combat' sergeants. After that, you're a Master or First Sergeant and on into Sergeant Majors where you start to get that gut and fly a desk.

Turanil said:
I will do two crew variants actually. One modern, made of humans, and one futurist made of biodroids (that I could use for my weird campaign setting, a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi).

I will have to find a set of Tank stats as well, so everything is complete.

See that later in the Rogue Gallery forum...
Ooo. Biodroids sound cool. RE: Hammers Slammers and Ogre for some futuristic tanking stuff. The M1A1/2 stats in d20 Modern are pretty bunk, but of course, they weren't designed for tank-on-tank action in mind. I can help out on any of these. I just perused your d100 NPC's. Great start.
 

Turanil,
I have been a little busy recently, so I would like to apologize for not replying in a while. In the next week I should have some Pilot NPCs for you (at least what I think a pilot would be like). I will be making them with the Blood and Guts books though (think that is the best military supplement you can find)
Also in the discussion about body armor, I would recommend getting the Modern Dispatch Weekly emag. The first issue has a special rule about converting modern body armor into both Def Bonus and DR. Basically, I think the kevlar vest our troops wear would be Tactical Vests with Medium Ceramic inserts. It would come out to something like a +3 Defense Bonus for trained, with a DR of 4/6 (Ballistic) with a 0 Max Dex modifier. Very good stuff in my opinion.

Salcor
 

Salcor said:
Turanil,
I have been a little busy recently, so I would like to apologize for not replying in a while. In the next week I should have some Pilot NPCs for you (at least what I think a pilot would be like). I will be making them with the Blood and Guts books though (think that is the best military supplement you can find)

Great! If you can put your Pilot NPCs into the d20 Modern NPCs thread (Rogue Gallery forum) that would be nice of you. I don't mind that they are made with Blood & Guts books. However, in this case it would be nice if someone without these books can nonetheless use the stat-blocks easily.
 

There is one minor thing that you guys are kind of overlooking...

Degree of professionalism.

You've got good ol' Lunchmeat Larry, who sits around with his thumb stuck somewhere, doesn't care about bettering himself, getting better at his job, and just rides out his time. Sure, he picks up the skills he needs and has to improve to stay in, but otherwise, he doesn't really care. He might go up in levels, but his focus is on other things, from what he wants to do when he gets out of the armed services, to whatever sideline he has.

Then Joe Snuffy, who takes his military service seriously. He works to improve himself and his skill, and tries to do his best at his job. He might take some cross training, and even some combat lifesaving skills. He'll go up in levels, but his "edge" is unhoned. He's in it for the long haul, but still...

Then you've got Mr Highspeed who throws everything he's got into it. He crosstrains in whatever MOS someone will teach him, takes every school in the lists, goes to summer camp at Benning and Bragg if he gets the chance, does Air Assault as soon as possible, volunteers for everything. Even if he doesn't get much rank very fast, he's still the best he can be. He piggybacks on ranges with other units to become skilled in weaponry, pushes himself physically on the weekends and on his time off.

All three of these guys like to drink, and maybe even get in fights outside of duty time, in the field, the three of them are definately distinct, and in combat, all three of them are completely different animals.

That means, if you are up to the extra work, you might want to create 3 different "templates" or maybe just generic NPC's, based off of professionalism of the guy in question.

Now, I found a way to match up the weaponry with feats...

Military Weaponry (feat): Allows the character to be proficient with the common weapons of the military that they are enlisted in. In the US Army, this would be: M-9 pistol, M-16A2 Assault Rifle, M-249 SAW, M2A2 .50 Cal, AT-4 rocket, M203 Grenade Launcher.

I also allow the body armor to be worn with the profiecent bonus by characters with a military background,

And I agree, the military vehicle hardness and HP are bunk. The M1A1, as written, can be taken out by 2 guys firing M-4's at it with burst fire.

(My experience is 10 years, working with various branches of the military, and providing "consultant" work after I was put out due to line of duty injuries. I was a section sargeant during Desert Storm, and a squad leader during Panama. Bosnia I was team NCOIC, and Kosovo, I was a civilian "advisor" for certian things.)
 

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

It seems that every second Enworlder claims to be ex-military. Whether or not any of them actually are, of course, is anyone's guess. 'Tis the nature of the internet: "Pretend to be all that you can be!"
 
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Atom Again said:
It seems that every second Enworlder claims to be ex-military. Whether or not any of them actually are, of course, is anyone's guess. 'Tis the nature of the internet: "Pretend to be all that you can be!"

I think RPGs attract proportionally more people who are also interested in the military life - not everyone is Comic Store Guy. :)
 

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