Recruitment: Consular Operations, SOFD-Delta + James Bond + Shadowrun Options

[TheOneRonin]

Greetings all. I'm starting this thread to gauge interest in a game I'm thinking about running. The basic premise is this:

The characters are all CAS Consular Operations operatives who are tasked with a long-term, deep cover mission that requires them to pose and behave as Shadowrunners. The game is going to be set mostly along the CAS Gulf coast area, and will be using 4th edition rules.

The kicker is, I have house rules for a LOT of things. Mostly, those rules center around firearms, armor, and combat. Plus I use thresholds way more than dice pool penalties for tests.

So if that doesn't scare you away, and this sounds interesting, let me know. I've got 5 slots to fill, and I want the team to have all of it's bases covered. Later on this week, I'll post my character gen rules, and then will probably give everyone until the middle of next week to write up their characters. So go ahead and sound off!

[Fortune]

Hmmmmm. I've got a hankering to make a Jayne type character. :)

[Galedeep]

Oh, that's just not right. I so totally would have called Jayne, except you took it.

*sigh*

I guess I'll go for the Wash, Mal, or Operative type then. Since you took the GOOD one. Jerk.

;)

Color me interested.

[TheOneRonin]

LOL...I really like Firefly too, but I'll probably be heading in a bit different direction. Think Rainbow 6 + Bourne Identity. Highly trained operatives who work for the gubmint and get an assignment to play "Shadowrunner" for an undisclosed amount of time.

That having been said, Jayne's personality and delivery would certainly be a fantastic addition to the game.

[Galedeep]

Heh heh, yeah, I was kidding...mostly. A physad based on the Operative might be fun, though. I'll see and get back to you. ;)

[Ol' Scratch]

Sounds like it could be a lot of fun! Do you have a link or list of your house rules, or what kind of character creation guidelines you'd be using?

[Fresno Bob]

I'll throw in a character

[Cthulhudreams]

I'll toss in a character if you'll let me, some sort of ?/Hacker thing.

Personality really depends on some other factors: How 'gritty' is the idea you are tossing out? James bond is a pretty fluffy source and I'm not familiar with the other material you are proposing.

Edit: Err, wait, yes I am. Rainbow Six the novel? Bourne identify is a bit grittier than james bond I suppose

But jayne as an undercover mercenary, while hilarious is.. well... hilarious ;)

So whats the tone?

[TheOneRonin]

Nice to see this generating some interest. Let me see if I can answer some of the basic questions posed here.

As far as tone, this is going to be a very gritty game. Much more gritty than James Bond, so that was probably a poor choice for the title. The characters will all come from a Special Operations/SEAL/Delta/CIA field agent type background. Your primary training has been in counter-terror, both on the tactical-assault level, and on the intel-gathering, deep cover level. When I think about the skill sets and professional training, I see Jason Bourne, The Unit, Mission Impossible, etc. And yeah, if you've read Tom Clancy, Rainbow Six the novel is close. Those guys were more of reaction/SWAT type force. I'm looking for people that can move in, blend in with the enemy, gain his trust, then bring his operation down from the inside. John Clark from Clancy's books (specifically Without Remorse) is a great example.

While you will all be highly trained professionals, I'm not going to put any real restrictions on character background and personalities. You will HAVE to be able to work well with a team, and, because of the nature of the mission, your character shouldn't have a spouse or children. The brass isn't going to put family people on a 2+ year deep cover assignment.

As for character generation rules, here are some of the basics:

Character Generation:
600 BPs, 300 BPs max on Mental and Physical Attributes.

Metatypes:
Ork, Elf, or Dwarf costs 25 BPs.
Trolls won't be allowed for this game.

Attributes
Attributes cost 10 BPs up to 1 less than the normal racial maximum.
The point of normal racial maximum costs 25 points.


Skills
Skill groups cost 5 points, and may be purchased up to rating 5.
Individual Skills cost 2 BPs per die, and one of them can be brought to 6, three of them to 5, and all others capped at 4.
Specializations cost 1 BP

Knowledge/Language Skills are available free as normal (Logic x3 + Intuition x3) and can be purchased at the rate of 1 BP per point of Knowledge skill (keeping with the skills at half-cost model).

Wealth and Resources:
Lifestyle purchases are not necessary. The characters will have a house or apartment that Uncle Sam pays for, but they won't be seeing it for the duration of the mission. The "lifestyle" that the characters will be living in during the mission is something they will have to arrange once they have boots on the ground.

Do not spend money on equipment. That will be issued out at the beginning of the mission. You should, however, make a list of the equipment that the character most often uses/carries. You'll probably be able to request most of what you will need before the mission starts.

Cyber/Bio up to Beta grade is available. You'll need special dispensation from me for Delta grade stuff. Also, there is no other availability cap on Cyber/Bio.

For every 1 BP you spend on resources, you get 7000 nuyen.

Spend all of your resources. Any money left over evaporates. You will, however, all receive some "startup cred" before the mission begins.


I've changed the nuyen cost and effects of some pieces of cyber/bio, and I've changed the cost of many of the physad abilities. I use a version of Blakkie's Excel character generator that I would be happy to e-mail out to everyone who needs it. Also, if someone has a place they can host it, that would be even better.


Don't worry about contacts either. You guys will be in deep cover, and won't have access to any of the people you regularly work with, so Contacts will be something you form after your boots hit the ground.

I'll post more of my house rules once I have them more organized. And don't worry, if you've put together your character and my house rules have an unintended effect, I'll let you compensate. I won't consider a character sheet finalized until I've given everyone all of my house rules.


Also, if you need to contact me outside of the forums, you can catch me on AIM under the handle TheOneRonin, or you can e-mail me at chris.louviere@iem.com.

Please feel free to post any questions you might have about the game in this thread.

[Cthulhudreams]

If one had a previous existence in CAS, it would be *highly unwise* to contact anyone from said previous existence wouldn't it?

So Contacts are a bit of a moot point?

Edit: Also, availability, any limitations? Standard game, can wave some bigger 'ware around?

[TheOneRonin]

I'll try my best to clarify some of this stuff, but it will all make a lot more sense once the game starts and you guys get your mission briefing.

[TheOneRonin]

Just a small note...I have the PDFs of Augmentation and Street Magic. I haven't really gotten intimate with all of those rules/options/gear choices yet, but I would be willing to consider them if you have an interest. I'll probably handle them on a case by case basis.

[TheOneRonin]

Here are my house rules for Armor. They tend to make a bit more sense when you pair them up with the revised firearm stats:

There are 4 types of armor categories

#1: Armored Clothing
#2: Armored Vests
#3: Body Armor
#4: Implanted Armor


Armored Clothing consists of advanced Kevlar material woven into common garments, offering a semi-sufficient level of protection against smaller caliber handgun rounds. While highly concealable, this armor normally does not have the thickness to absorb the majority of the energy delivered by most ammunition, so blunt trauma is very likely and can even be severe when delivered by ammunition like the 10mm Auto or 12 gauge slug. Use double the ballistic rating when determining whether a hit is Physical or Stun damage, but use the base ballistic rating when rolling the damage resistance test. This type of armor can be worn by anyone without penalty. Note that the modification to the Ballistic rating from a weapon's AP is added after the doubling.

Examples:
Securetech Clothing: 2/0 [full body, + head w/hood]
Securetech Long Coat: 3/0 [full body]
Securetech Jacket: 4/1 [torso+arms only]



Armored Vests are made out of the same material as armored clothing, but are designed to offer much better protection and energy dissipation. Vests can be concealed by clothing, however all but the lowest rating vest can be noticed by anyone who knows what he/she is looking for.

Level IIA vest: 3/1, no penalties [torso only]
Level II vest: 6/2, no penalties [torso only]
Level IIIA vest: 9/3, no penalties [torso only]




Body armor is non-concealable armor designed for military scale combat. It includes a series of ceramic ballistic-plate inserts that are designed to stop rifle fire in addition to stopping most other smaller caliber rounds. This armor also hampers movement somewhat.

Level III: 12/4, no penalties [torso, arms only]
Level IVA: 18/6, -1 die to agility tests [full coverage]
Level IV: 24/8, -2 dice to agility tests [full coverage]
Level V: 30/10, -4 dice to agility tests [full coverage]



Implanted armor

This type of armor comes in two categories. Dermal Plating/Sheathing and Orthoskin.

Dermal Plating/Sheathing consists of hard plastic and metal fibers bonded/woven into the users skin. This type of armor is very resistant to ballistic and impact threats, but doesn't completely cover the whole body, thus it is not generally as effective as worn armor. However, it is still highly resilient, and direct hits on the protected areas are usually 100% stopped.

Game Rules: Attacks with AP reduction never lower the rating of Dermal Plating/Sheathing. Also, dice from Plating/Sheathing are added directly to the rating of armor worn, and use that total to determine whether or not an attack does Physical or Stun damage. Dermal plating has thicker masses of fiber, but leaves many gaps. Sheathing has more entire coverage, but has less thickness and thus less impact protection.

Dermal Plating
-Class I: +2 Ballistic/+3 Impact
-Class II: +4 Ballistic/+6 Impact
-Class III: +6 Ballistic/+9 Impact

Dermal Sheathing
-Class I: +4 Ballistic/+2 Impact
-Class II: +6 Ballistic/+4 Impact
-Class III: +8 Ballistic/+6 Impact



Orthoskin is much less invasive, and the implant is completely unnoticeable without a medical examination. However, it is less protective than Dermal Plating/Sheathing, and is subject to rating reduction from AP attacks. Like Dermal Plating/Sheathing, add the rating of Orthoskin directly to the rating of worn armor to determine if an attack does physical or stun damage

Orthoskin
-Tier I: +1 body for dmg resist, +1 Ballistic/+1 Impact
-Tier II: +1 body for dmg resist, +2 Ballistic/+2 Impact
-Tier III: +1 body for dmg resist, +3 Ballistic/+3 Impact

[Fortune]

You must have really rewritten the firearms system if people can reasonably wear 30 points of armor. :eek:

[Ol' Scratch]

This really does sound more and more interesting. Two questions, though:

1. Did I read you right? We're free to be from different organizations and backgrounds as long as it would be logical choices for such a cross-organization operation? Or were the SEAL/Delta/CIA/etc. bits just an example of who we might work for but has yet to be decided? If the former, are they only going to be pulling from CAS organizations or is it a national or even international operation? (I'm not quit sure what "consular" means in this context.)

2. How does the gear assignments work with fetishes, geasa and foci (and especially the latter's bonding requirements)? I was leaning towards submitting an idea for a special ops combat sorcerer type of character, so that's a pretty important consideration for me.

[Galedeep]

Can't wait to read the rest. I have my fellow finished up for the most part, but he relies pretty heavily on slinging guns, heh heh. Oh, and as for equipment; though he's all about some in-your-face badassery, there were points left over to make him a relatively skilled hacker as well. Would programs and such that are twinked out be considered equipment, or should I sacrifice some of his precious 'ware to get them?

[TheOneRonin]

[TheOneRonin]

[TheOneRonin]

[TheOneRonin]

When putting your characters together, keep in mind a few things:

1. Your Job = Gather Intel and Deal with Badguys. That means you need to be part spy and part John Wayne. Everyone in ConsOps has the tactical competency to be a SWAT shooter, and can pull off "undercover cop" shit. If you can't do those things, ConsOps doesn't want you.

2. Generalize/Specialize. For this to work, you guys have to do both. You should have a core set of skills that lets you shoot, move, and communicate. Everyone should have some firearms skill, Athletics, some social skills, and perception, at the very least. You should also have something that separates you from the rest of your team. Either a skillset that the others do not have, or a skillset that is leaps and bounds better than the rest.

For example, everyone should have First Aid. But the team Medic should be able to do anything up to major heart surgery.

Or you might have one character that is ESPECIALLY skilled in Interrogation/HUMINT.

You might even have someone from a heavy Law Enforcement background that has a lot of experience dealing with the Criminal Underworld.

[TheOneRonin]

[TheOneRonin]

Skill set guidance:

Here is an example of how you guys should be building your characters. The following text comes from the US Army's webiste and lists skills and requirements for a Special Forces Medical Sergeant.

[Galedeep]

Here's Saturday thus far. Edits to come.

[ Spoiler ]

Character Name: Saturday Boukman Johnson, “Brimstone�
Profession: Special Ops Bokor
Sex: Male

Build Points Max: 600
Build Points Used: 600

Nuyen:
Build points spent on Nuyen(28)
Nuyen: 196000

Race:
Race:Dwarf
Build points spent on Race (25)
Race Notes:
Dwarf: Natural Thermographic Vision and +2 dice for Body tests to resist pathogens and toxins

Initiation Grade 3 (30)
Channeling, Masking, Extended Masking

Attributes:
Build points spent on Attributes (290)
Attributes: (min/current/max)
Agility 1 / 4 / 6
Body 2 / 5 / 7
Reaction 1 / 2 / 5
Strength 3 / 4 / 8
Charisma 1 / 5 / 6
Intuition 1 / 4 / 6
Logic 1 / 3 / 6
Willpower 2 / 5 / 7
Essence 1 / 6 / 6
Magic 1 / 8 / 9
Edge 1 / 3 / 6

Derived Attributes:
Initiative 6
Memory 8
Composure 10
Judge Intentions 9
Lift/Carry 9

Walking Rate (m/turn): 8
Running Rate (m/turn): 20
Swim Rate (m/turn): 4
Lift w/out test (kg/lbs): 40/88
Overhead Lift w/out test (kg/lbs): 20/44

Condition Monitors:
Physical Track: 11
Stun Track: 11

Active SKILLS:
Build points spent on Active Skills:(182)
Group: Conjuring (Mag) RANK 4 3 in group, Banishing, Binding, Summoning
Group: Sorcery (Mag) RANK 5 3 in group, Counterspelling, Ritual Spellcasting, Spellcasting
Group: Influence (Cha) RANK 3 4 in group, Con, Etiquette, Leadership, Negotiation
Group: Outdoors (Int) RANK 4 3 in group, Navigation, Survival, Tracking
Group: Athletics (Str) RANK 4 4 in group, Climbing, Gymnastics, Running, Swimming
Blades (Agi) RANK 4 Specialization: Swords
Unarmed Combat (Agi) RANK 3 Specialization: Martial Arts
Automatics (Agi) RANK 4 Specialization: Assault Rifles
Longarms (Agi) RANK 2 Specialization: Hunting Rifles
Pistols (Agi) RANK 4 Specialization: Semi-automatics
Infiltration (Agi) RANK 4 Specialization: Urban
First Aid (Log) RANK 2 Specialization: Trauma
Assensing (Int) RANK 6 Specialization: Metahuman Aura Reading
Astral Combat (Wil) RANK 4 Specialization: Blade Foci
Perception (Int) RANK 3 Specialization: Visual

Knowledge SKILLS:
professional Security Procedures RANK:4
professional Security Tactics RANK:4
language Japanese Speak/Read/Write RANK:3
academic Magic Theory and Traditions Hermetic RANK:3
academic Magic Theory and Traditions Voodoo RANK:5
academic Magic Theory and Traditions Spirits RANK:2

Native Language: (free)
English

Qualities:

Positive Qualities:
Magician Special Quality (15 points)
Mentor Spirit – Dark King (+2 perception, +2 assensing, +2 spirits of man, -1 damage resistance tests) (5)
Astral Chameleon (5)

Negative Qualities:
Sensitive System (15) Rank 1
Spirit Bane – Spirits of Water (10) Rank 1
Geasa (Talisman) (10) Rank 1


Miscellaneous:

Spells:
Build Points spent on Spells (42)
Number of Spells Purchased: 14

Foci:
Build Points spent on Foci (13)
Number of Foci Points 13

Power Focus rating 4 100,000
Health Sustaining Focus rating 4 (Increase Reflexes Threshold 4) 40,000
Blade Weapon Focus rating 5 (Monofilament Sword/Machete) 50,000
Tooth Compartments (5) 1,000
Fetishes (5) 1,150


Saturday was born in New Orleans, one of the many children of the lower-class families, secreted away in the swamps and raised with few creature comforts. In fact, the only creature comforts he ever got was that time a snake made it into the house, past the dogs, and he got to play with it before it tried to suffocate him. Luckily, there was a sharp knife nearby. Really, make that TWO creature comforts; those new snakeskin boots his father made him were quite comfortable, and lasted a long, long time.

He was eighteen before he got his first CommLink, and another year passed before he moved out of the swamps. His father, a notorious, powerful Houngan, had trained his son in the faith, but it hadn’t taken. Saturday was a powerful Bokor himself, capable with his finely honed machete and spells, capable of lulling even the more powerful of the Loa with his praise and honorifics, but he didn’t revere them. They were tools to him, beings that, though powerful, depended on his ability to bring them into focus. They were equals, not gods, and he lived his life as his own man.

That lasted for a few years, until he began making enemies. The powerful Voodoo priests of the area didn’t like this renegade, and sent wave after wave of creatures, spirits, spells, and the faithful wielding all manner of firearms to put him down. He fended them off as best he could, retreating back to the swamps to live alone, hunted constantly, surviving as best he could.

That game of cat and mouse went on for years, until, eventually, he was forgotten. He wasn’t quite sure how long he had stayed in his self-imposed exil, hiding amongst the rotting trees and dangerous alligators, boas, and insects, but eventually, he realized he was no longer being targeted with spells, and the wildlife were leaving him alone. Pleased with this discovery, he set off North, taking his skills, his little wealth, and his powerful enchanted machete with him.

He did miserably. Though he was talented at living on nothing, he was used to the natural settings of the bayou; he wasn’t prepared for the overgrown forests of North Carolina. He managed to feed himself, but he wasn’t happy that far from his home, and the few people he met in the woods, he had to kill for some reason or another. One was a hermetic hermit, who wished Saturdays blade for himself; another was a fleeing criminal, looking to take whatever he could. Still another was just a hunter, mistaking the mud-covered, reed-draped dwarf for some sort of paracritter, and began shooting with wild abandon, pressing his attack in fear when Saturday begged him to stop.

Miserable, hating himself and wishing he was home, he met the Baron. As he slumped beneath a large pine, he stared off into the woods, and there he came, a tall, black figure, wearing a top hat jauntily on his head, a deaths-mask covering his face, and a coat and tails hanging off of his skeletal frame. Saturday did what he could to protect himself, but nothing affected the strange man, and slowly, he came to realize nothing he did would. The Baron spoke, coldly and coolly, explaining that, whether or not Saturday wished to revere the Loa, they thought well of him, and wanted him to succeed. To that end, he needed to learn a few things.

A month later, Saturday left the woods, heading for the queen city with a new array of talents and a new outlook on life. The stuffy hounfours and rituals of the voodoo clergy weren’t the only ways to commune with the Loa; they loved life, and those that lived it to the fullest. Dancing, singing, laughing; all of these fed them the feelings and joys that they craved, and that served well enough for those that could offer it to them.

Saturday signed up with the army at the urging of The Baron, telling him that that was were his skills were most useful, and that was where he would experience the most thrilling and exciting adventures, thus thrilling and exciting the spirits that lived vicariously through him. Though he was skeptical, he joined, and quickly found that whatever The Baron had heard, he’d never joined the army.

He trained, drilled, and practiced his art for weeks upon weeks without ever hearing from The Baron again. It was a frustrating experience, one that he dealt with as best he could, learning to hide his impatience, learning to control his irritation and frustration. He was highly skilled, and though he wasn’t the fastest, or the strongest, he was still the best by dint of cleverness, intelligence, and occasionally, luck. His magic gave him an edge against the rest when it was allowed, and when it wasn’t, he led the platoon in survival exercises, and more than matched the top of the group in everything else. When the chance to move up to the Special Forces came, Saturday accepted. Though he had long since given up hearing from his mentor, the Loa from which he drew his name, he found this words had been accurate; he was talented, and lived the life of a Green Beret well, excelling at covert ops. He was trained for the Thaumaturgical specialty, using his magic to complement his innate skill, and proved himself to be quite a force when channeling the spirits, or firing spells at the enemy.

He performed well on mission after mission, gaining something of a reputation as a good man to have on the job, and learned the hard way to hide his magical gift from enemies; they knew the kind of firepower such people had, and often focused their energies on him when he ran in firing spells and causing spirits to possess the enemy blatantly. He learned the art of misdirection, training more heavily in firearms, decking himself out in armor and weaponry, and using more…subtle tactics. His performance improved dramatically.

Then The Baron showed up again. As he went in, exhausted, after just arriving back from a daunting mission and going through all of the interviews and reports he could stand, he lay on his back in his apartment, shut his eyes…and then opened them, leaping to his feet as the soft chuckle of The Baron echoed through the house.

“Thought I misled you, didn’t you, boy?� it asked softly, crooning in a nasal tone. The heavy footfalls of the Baron in his dancing shoes reverberated around in Saturdays skull, almost painful in intensity. “The Baron doesn’t make mistakes. He does precisely what he wants. You’re gonna be having some mighty interestin’ times ahead, and oh, don’t they make for watchin’! You cause some mighty fine spectacles, boy. Mighty fine.�

And then, silence. The presence receded, but left in its place a sense of destiny. Saturday smiled, took a few pain relief pills, and lay back in bed. Life was interesting, that was a fact, and if The Baron was excited…well, so was he.


Brimstone (a nickname earned from a few magic-illiterate team members he’d worked with in the past) is a practical dwarf, a pragmatic Bokor, or “Sorcerer for Hire� of the voodoo religion. He isn’t particularly devout, knowing his powers do not rely on faith, but merely use; they are inborn, and he doesn’t have to slavishly follow any particular tenets to keep his power. He follows the Loas with both hands, working dark arts and light arts, healing as well as raining death down upon those that oppose him or those he is ordered to destroy. Though he pays only lip service to the Loas, he does feel a certain kinship with the wild and mysterious Baron, and he is relatively certain that his survival to this point is dependant on The Barons occasional interference. Therefore, he doesn’t follow The Baron blindly; after all, a god of death and amusement isn’t one to always take at his word. However, he does respect him and his power, and believes that, for the moment, the being means him well.

Tradition Details:
Combat: Guardian
Detection: Water
Health: Man
Illusion: Illusion
Manipulation: Task
Drain: Willpower + Charisma
Voodoo is a possession tradition

[TheOneRonin]

CHARGEN UPDATE:

After thinking about it, I upped the BP allocation to 600 points.

Also, here is a list of skills/skill groups that everyone needs to have, and the minimum rating for such. I will allow certain exceptions on a case by case basis.


Athletics: 4
Close Combat: 3
Firearms: 5
Influence: 3
Outdoor: 4
Stealth: 4

[Ol' Scratch]

I'm liking this more and more. Not only for the concept but because of the amount of work and thought you've put into everything.

With all the information presented at present, I think I'm going to change my concept to an ork rigger and communications/electronic warfare specialist. Have a really nice background already worked up and will try and submit something in the next day or two once I hash him out a little better.