OOC: TANGO DOWN! (pre-game thread), Azerbaijan: SpecOps/Merc work... Options

[A Clockwork Lime]

I'm not saying that having another rigger would be bad, just that we do have a rigger (contrary to an assumption a lot of people were making).

I do still have to agree that a hermetic or other magician capable of conjuring elementals (such as an Elven Path Magician) would be the best compliment for the team. Sure, conjuring them in the field is a bitch, but the nice thing about hermetics is that they can conjure (repeatedly) before the mission, cranking up dozens upon dozens of services, for their full compliment of elementals and have them ready at a moments notice with no risk of Drain in the field (thus letting them focus more on offensive spells). But this is just turning into a bit of a rant. :)

So my vote's on a combat-oriented magician first, a heavy weapons and gunnery specialist second, and another ground-based combat rigger third.

On a side note, we do already have a Demolitionist and Engineer. :)

[A Clockwork Lime]

By the way, can someone either explain to me or point to the direct link for Raygun's modified rules on body armor? All I see when I click on the Armor link on his menu is information cut-and-pasted directly from technical manuals and nothing about the rules thereof.

[Shadow]

Ok My mistake, I was simply going off of what Ronin posted as the team makeup, and I must have missed Gob, sorry buddy. So a Full combat mage is what I am hearing as what the teams needs.


As for the kink, as Fortune would say....

Linkage

As fa as I know he only has alternate rules for Firearms and none for armor. Though they may be hidded someplace other than his 'rules' section. While I am a big fan of raygun, I only use a couple of his rules.

[A Clockwork Lime]

Hmm. I've just always heard people saying that Raygun's overpowered (by Shadowrun standards -- a 12M pistol?) firearms are "balanced" by his armor rules. I've just never been able to find those on his site, so I was curious. :)

[gobogen]

[BGMFH]

[Panzergeist]

I would be glad to play a hermetic. I was just thinking of being an adversary shaman so I could get +2 to combat and elemental manipulation spells, which seems to be what we need the most. But I'll go with whatever the team wants.

[A Clockwork Lime]

Hermetics can gain bonuses, too. Earth Elemental Mages (not Aspected Elementalists) gain +2 dice with Manipulation Spells and Earth Elementals and -1 die with Detection Spells and Air Elementals, whereas Fire Elemental Mages gain +2 dice with Combat Spells and Fire Elementals and -1 with Illusion Spells and Water Elementals. etc. The info can be found in the beginning of Magic in the Shadows.

If you really want to go with an Adversary Shaman, it's your choice and you have to play a character you're going to love. I just think that for purposes of diversity and to make the team well-rounded, a Hermetic or Path Magician (capable of summoning nature spirits and elementals) would be best.

If I could pick or choose any type of magician to have in the group, it would definitely be an Elven mage on the Path of the Warrior. +1 die with Combat Spells, another +1 die to Combat Spells in Winter and/or with 72 hours of Groundhog's Day and/or while in hills or mountains, and the ability to summon all elementals except Air Elementals, but gaining +2 dice for the ability to summon nature Spirits of the Land in its place. The only drawback is that you suffer -1 on Illusion spells (which our Medic seems to be covering) and you "have" to take a Combat Skill at Rating 4 or higher -- oh, the agony. :)

Summary: At least +1 die for Combat Spells and often more in a lot of places we'd be traveling, ability to summon a host of elementals beforehand in addition to summoning Spirits of the Land (that's Desert, Mountain, Prarie, and Forest Spirits, all of which have Concealment, Movement, and Guard powers in addition to being powerful combatants) in the field, and naturally attuned to being a merc. Sweet deal all around.

But that's just me. :D Again, you have to play what you're going to enjoy.

[Digital Heroin]

I'm still of the belief we have magic covered. We have a shaman to deal with spirits, astral and all that nasty... and we've got six people with guns to cover combat. A combat focused mage would only add firepower, while one of the adepts would add another person who can pull a trigger, or get up close and quiet, which for my money is more valuable for a low key approach. You can't exactly hide a fireball, neh?

[A Clockwork Lime]

I'm pretty sure a Mage can pull a trigger and maneuver quietly (it only takes two or three spells to have combat covered; that leaves a bunch of Spell Points open for other spells), too. Not to mention all the other things they can do. They're way more versatile than an adept, and again... you can never have too much magic. It's not like D&D where they only have 4 hit points, either.

A sneaky guy with an insane weapons skill or two isn't that vital when everyone's combat and stealth oriented.

The best part about magicians is that they can imbue their abilities on others (like those who need to be sneaky but aren't, yet need to get on sight undetected in order to do something within their field). Adepts can't.

[Digital Heroin]

To be frank, it sound like this mage (when Panzer isn't waffling over what to make him) is going to be something less than stealthy. Advesary shamans beserk after all, and that's exactly what we -don't- need in a crunchtime situation.

[gobogen]

I agree that we don't want to have someone berserking. On the other hand, I still favor magic, for its more varied possibilities. We already have a mage with improved invis and an assassination specialist, even my character will have good stealth and shooting. I don't think that having two guys who can go astral, summon, etc, is bad at all, more to the opposite. A big difference comes for spell defense and spell sustaining!!

[Chupacabras]

Hey Ronin (and everyone else),

I realise this is kind of late, but if you're still considering submissions for the last spot, I'd like to throw mine in.

My concept is for a Face character, specifically an Interpreter/Interrogator, someone to facilitate communication with the natives and take care of...conflict resolution...

...but don't worry, besides being a language/cultural expert he'll also know how to find the safety on a gun.

I'll flesh it out and try to send it in by tonight.

[A Clockwork Lime]

I believe Grey, our team leader, is exactly that style of character, too. :)

[Panzergeist]

Where the heck did you get that idea Heroin? Of course my mage will have stealth and improved invisibility.

[Beast of Revolut...]

I've never heard Panzer accused of lack of stealth. Quite the opposite in fact. He sometimes has to be begged to stand up and fight.

[Panzergeist]

Thanks for the glowing support buddy.

I would be happy to be a mage, provided you guys don't think that running out of elementals and not being able to summon more will be a problem.

[A Clockwork Lime]

Snag Talismongering as a Knowledge Skill and the summoning materials will be dirt cheap. Creating a temporary circle only requires a few nuyen, and you can do that in a couple of hours, so you could do it in the field if you absolutely had to when we make camp. But with proper preperation, that shouldn't be necessary very often except for prolonged time in the field.

[gobogen]

By the way, my character is a great complement to grey, as he has background in sociology and has done some spying for the CIA as well. He has Etiquette at 8 and the edge Aptitude Interrogation, cause he's an expert at getting information out of prisoners or other people on whom he might for example use drugs.

(where/in which book can I find info about drugs that make someone more talkative?... Also, I'd like to have chips with maps to put in my chipjacks, is this a Geography knowledge skill chip or what?)

[A Clockwork Lime]

Drugs can be found in the Chemicals & Drugs chapter of Man & Machine. Both Gamma-Scopolamine (in the main book) and Laes are really good for your style of character, though the latter one tends to be a wee bit difficult to acquire or brew.

And you want Mapsofts for the Maps (main book, Skillsofts section). :) My character should have quite of a few of those and has the capability to create them on site via his drones and an Orientation System.

[TheOneRonin]

All the discussion is great so far. Sorry I haven't been around to post much, but I've had a very busy weekend.

As for the ops you guys will be doing, let me see if I can give you a better feel for the missions you'll be executing.

On one hand, you guys will have to do some typical SF type missions, including recon, raids, maybe an extraction or two. These missions will probably take you into the field for days at a time, and you'll likely be on foot. But then you will have to do other things, like maybe destroying a covoy, or demo-ing an enemy camp. Then you will have missions that require you to blend in with the populace, doing legwork and other Spook type things. I wish I could give you guys more details, but I don't want to give away the whole deal.

Keep in mind that you guys are paid for your skills and flexibility. If Ares needed pure infantry work, they wouldn't hire you guys. They need a team that is super-flexible, and can do whatever it takes (including comandeering a tank or stealing a FedBoeing Eagle) to get the job done...no matter what that job is.

As for your characters, eveyone will have thier place and their moment to shine. I don't expect anyone to be sitting on the sidelines because there is nothing for their characters to do. And since this isn't a PnP game, feel free to split up if you have to. It shouldn't be any more difficult for me to handle two to four groups, since I'm not under a time constraint.

Chupacabras:
Sorry man, I would love to let you in, but there just isn't the space in this team. Hold on to that character, though, because you might just have a spot in my next one.

[Beast of Revolut...]

After careful consideration, I think Panzer's character is probably the best to round out the team. I don't know how much you guys have in the way of melee combat, but there seems to be a consensus that my ex-Shalin ex-marine character isn't what you need most.

[Chupacabras]

Oh well! Thanks anyway...

If you don't mind Ronin, can I go ahead and send you the character just the same? Maybe you could keep me on standby in case someone should drop out or somesuch?

-Chupa

[A Clockwork Lime]

Since we've been working together for quite a while, what do you guys say about us each investing a few points into some dead and/or rare language to use on the radio? It's a classic but valuable tactic for security, and adds a bit of coolness and cohesiveness to us as a team.

If so, feel free to offer up some suggestions. Navajo used to be used by a lot of Special Forces groups, but since the Awakening and the creation of the NAN, that's probably not as secure as it could be. Outer Mongolian, Aramaic, or maybe some obscure African language might be a good choice.

[Shadow]

Thats a good idea Clock... We probably couldn't find a language that is completly unused, but we could pick one that is hard to learn, I have heard Latin is very difficult, and it has the added benefit of sounding cool. But whatever anyone can some up with is cool.