Anyone with some RL experience of the military out there?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Any of you grunts want to stat soldiers based on your basic training? I guess I'm reluctant to "beef" up soldiers with a lot of multiclassing But giving sergeants Soldier levels makes as much sense as giving them Charismatic levels. Hmm...

Tough Soldier (Strong Ordinary 1/Tough Ordinary 1): CR 1; Medium Humanoid (human); HD 1d8+1d10+4, hp 14, Mas 14, Init +2, Spd 25 ft., Def 20 (+2 Dex, +2 class, +6 tactical vest); BAB +1, Grap +3, Atk assault rifle +3 ranged (2d8); S/R 5 ft./5 ft.; AL military unit or varies; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; AP 0, Rep +0; Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8.
Occupation: Military (class skills: Climb, Knowledge (tactics); bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency)
Skills: Climb +1*, Drive +3, Hide +0*, Intimidate +1, Jump -2*, Listen +1, Knowledge (tactics) +3, Profession +3, Spot +2, Swim -7*.
Feats: Armor Proficiency (light, medium), Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Possessions: as 1st world soldier.

I think this is a more accurate representation of a "green" soldier. Now to do higher level and heroic versions. Also works great with some kinds of mutations, IMO

Plus combat veteran (NCO), charismatic sergeant (NCO) and so forth.

It provides basic advanced classes that will lead to the other prestige classes provided in the base Blood and Guts book.

Sorry, but making every soldier take specific AdCs and PrCs doesn't thrill me. A lot of the time I'm just looking for mooks rather than "real characters" (tm). Real characters are the heroes and main villains.

I don't use Spycraft but I did take a few things from the book, like chase rules and about 10 pieces of equipment. Some Spycraft fans wrote a huge list of NPCs here: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=804&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

They're nice, but the profusion of classes make me glad I play D20 Modern instead.

 

[crueldespot]

Smct

I have been in the military for 13 years- first enlisted and then as an officer via OCS (officer candidate school). I am now in the national guard.

Here is a resource you might find useful: This is a link to the SMCT (soldier's manual of common tasks). There are the skills that every soldier is supposed to know, regardless of their MOS (military occupational specialty). http://smct.armystudyguide.com/Skill_Level_1-AUG2003/index.html

However, it isn't necessary to provide a skill rank for all of these tasks. Many of them do not translate into D20 modern skills. There is no D20 modern skill for using a radio, for example. There are skills for repairing a radio, or building a radio, but in the game they assume that anyone can turn a radio on and talk on it. In reality, it takes hours to teach a soldier how to set up and communicate with a SINCGARS, but in game terms, who cares? The same goes for the task to use chemical protective gear, how to dig a fox hole (yes, there is more than just shoveling dirt, you need a grenade sump, sector stakes, etc) and others. The military spends a lot of time training us how to do things that D20 modern characters can do automatically.

The most important skills that do translate into D20 modern are "navigate" and "first aid." Each soldier in basic training must pass a test that requires them to demonstrate hands-on proficiency in evaluating a casualty, applying a dressing, tying a tourniquet, splinting a fracture, and other first aid tasks. Every soldier should have at least one rank in first aid.

In officer pre-commisioning training, a great deal of time is spent learning land-navigation: How to get from one spot to another using a map and compass. NCOs (sergeants) must also learn land-nav as a part of their training. Every officer and NCO should have at least one rank in navigation.

As far as weapon proficiencies go, every soldier should have personal firearms feat. As far as advanced or exotic proficiencies go, many soldiers barely get "familiarization" on most of these weapons, and rarely practice them. Tankers should have the proficiency for their tank weapons, infantry soldiers will have the proficiency for their assigned weapon- machine gun, grenade launcher, or whatnot. Sure, most any soldier can pick up an AT-4 rocket launcher or M203, but without a lot of practice they are not likely to hit anything- as reflected in the -4 non-proficiency penalty.

 

[dpmcalister]

Off Topic

OFF TOPIC

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!"

Or perhaps it's just that being in the military means it's sometimes easier to find other gamers... says the ex-Royal Air Force Corporal

Seriously, I don't know about other nations, but the UK militaries have thriving wargames and roleplaying associations that have their own conventions and the like. You can find more information about the Royal Air Force Wargaming Association at www.rafwa.org.uk

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I have been in the military for 13 years- first enlisted and then as an officer via OCS (officer candidate school). I am now in the national guard.

Here is a resource you might find useful: This is a link to the SMCT (soldier's manual of common tasks). There are the skills that every soldier is supposed to know, regardless of their MOS (military occupational specialty). http://smct.armystudyguide.com/Skill_Level_1-AUG2003/index.html

However, it isn't necessary to provide a skill rank for all of these tasks. Many of them do not translate into D20 modern skills. There is no D20 modern skill for using a radio, for example. There are skills for repairing a radio, or building a radio, but in the game they assume that anyone can turn a radio on and talk on it. In reality, it takes hours to teach a soldier how to set up and communicate with a SINCGARS, but in game terms, who cares?

I assume anyone familiar with the radio (eg anyone whose background includes military training) could do it without a skill check
But oh man... Treat Injury? Navigate? Head hurting. Must read document. Speaking of which, did that document "talk to you"? I heard a spoken advertisement for college upon opening it, which is not a great thing when you have a dial-up connection. Anyway I saved the web file, and hopefully won't have to deal with the sound file again.

As far as weapon proficiencies go, every soldier should have personal firearms feat. As far as advanced or exotic proficiencies go, many soldiers barely get "familiarization" on most of these weapons, and rarely practice them. Tankers should have the proficiency for their tank weapons, infantry soldiers will have the proficiency for their assigned weapon- machine gun, grenade launcher, or whatnot. Sure, most any soldier can pick up an AT-4 rocket launcher or M203, but without a lot of practice they are not likely to hit anything- as reflected in the -4 non-proficiency penalty.

Considering it's an area of effect attack and you need to aim at a Defense value of 10, the only point of the feat is to be able to shoot at targets that are further away.

I'm assuming, however, that the soldier has actually fired a rocket or grenade launcher before, however. (Otherwise I guess it would get messy.)

 

[ragboy]

I assume anyone familiar with the radio (eg anyone whose background includes military training) could do it without a skill check

You would think so, but the procedure is really a combination of skills, depending on what you're trying to communicate. If you're using a SINGARS radio, there's a configuration/use component just for the radio, then depending on your message, you could use Navigation (plotting a fire mission, sending a report on the enemy), Encryption (coding or decoding), general radio procedures, etc. I'd make it more based on the story situation, since the standard military radio lingo adds a lot of flavor to roleplaying. But there are situations where a mistake on the radio translates to mistakes on the battlefield and people die as a result.

But oh man... Treat Injury? Navigate?

Treat Injury, especially for combat units, became a priority starting in the 80's. And really, the combat soldier is taught how to stabilize an injured comrade until the medic can get there (and how to assist a medic, should he/she need it). Stuff like general first aid all the way up to administering an IV (painful class), is covered. In game terms, it would probably equate to about half of what the Treat Injury skill covers.... actually, even less. You can stabilize a dying character... So, I'd say that a common line soldier probably would not have Treat Injury as a class skill. Performing it untrained or taking cross-class ranks is probably accurate. Of course, the 'soldier' advanced class is probably a misnomer...but we've talked about that already.
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