Anyone else get the feeling that the barrel sizes and weapon ranges on all our sheets seem like they're all over the place?
@ArmorPlated I concur, I dont think people realize how big 20mm autocannons are. Thats the stuff they put on IFVs, or as a primary cannon for modern day fighter jets. That shit tears apart vehicles, nevermind what it does to the people inside them. Probably won't kill a tank- if you hit it dead on from the front anyway, but other IFVs, fighter jets, humvee equivalents? They're going down like people sliding into your DMs.
Also hi, interested and writing a character application
Yeah, historically the only thing that's had a solid number was the Gunners' railguns. Everything else is either based on what I remembered from the last time, or independently extrapolated. When everything else on my to do list is done I'll try and at least mostly standardize everything.
@vietmyke, good to see you. I look forward to what you'll come up with. I'll leave reviewing your Walker CS until then, though, so that I don't delay these ones any longer.
@Athol, I've been mulling it over for a few days. Truth be told, the Walker's riiiight on the border of what I'm comfortable allowing. But you did build in significant weaknesses. I
may ask you to tweak it a little, later on down the line if it's necessary. But for now I'm willing to extend the benefit of the doubt and give it a shot. You're good to go, just bear in mind the weaknesses inherent in the design. On a player note, and not a GM note, I might bring back a character that's somewhat similar. If I do I'll talk with you, I don't want to step on any toes.
@UltimoScorp, I'd like it if you could flesh Ruby out a little. I don't need anything drastic, but things are a little barebones right now. Especially with her history. Do that for me, and we should be good to go.
@Norik, Natalie's history still makes reference to her rank at E3. Otherwise, we should be good to go.
@Raider Dog, looks much better. I think we're good to go.
@ArmorPlated, I truthfully haven't really thought how to balance this sort of machine. For the moment, I'll allow it as long as you can clarify for me how many drones it gets. Just remember the inherent weaknesses not just of the Walker, but of the character. Ground-based Walker combat is
less demanding, physically, but it's still not going to feel great for someone like that. Especially not when they eventually have to maneuver in space. Like Athol, I may ask you to tweak a few things down the line depending on how things go.
@Selvariabell We're closer. Age works much, much better. History is closer, too, but still just a little off. I've been thinking about it for a few days, and this is my suggestion.
The Federation represents most of Earth, but its constituent states do maintain some autonomy within its rules. Similarly, PMCs do exist in some form just not the same way as they do now. And around fifteen to twenty years ago, neither the Ark Union nor the Federation has as developed a space fleet. The
Federation, as a whole, would be unlikely to work with a PMC to solve a problem. But a constituent country that founded a colony might, if they needed it solved quickly.
So my suggestion is that the Richthofen and Churchill Corporation had a reputation for acting in the gray area, out in space. Nothing criminal enough to bring the hammer down on them, but sketchy enough to make working with them a problem. So the Red Guard commandeered a smaller, scientific or residential colony established by a smaller Federation member state. For whatever reason, the situation needed to be resolved quickly so the nation cut a deal with the PMC. Handle it, and be absorbed into the member state's military rather than face any criminal proceedings. That way it could be absorbed as part of the nation's military, where the Federation wouldn't really do anything of the sort. Eun herself later was transferred to the Federation's Walker Corp, since the Federation Armed Forces draw in part from any standing member state militaries. I should note, though, that PMC wouldn't have access to Walkers. When they handled the Red Guard, they would still be using conventional weapons.
Her old unit would just be background details; cameo appearances, maybe, but the focus of this game is on the Horizon garrison. They're not really a resource she'd be able to draw on. But handled in that manner, they could still be a part of her history.
The only real sticking point, still, is her Walker. Variants on the Raptor don't exist yet. The program was highly experimental, most of its development kept close to the chest, and its flagship model only justs tarted rolling off the mass production line. I would
highly suggest switching it to a Scout, if you want to keep a similar level of maneuverability. Or a Warrior, if you wanted a little more versatility. But a Raptor variant would not exist yet. Later down the line, it'd be possible. But not at this point in time.
Sheet is much closer, just needs a little more tweaking. I don't want to stifle your creativity, but I do need to make sure it meshes with the setting and focus of the game.
@CaptainSully I hate to be blunt, but there's... A lot here that doesn't work. Starting from the top, there's nothing presently in his backstory that would indicate why he's an officer. It's a relatively simple issue, but worth noting for consistency. The issues get bigger from there. First of all, the exact nature of his dual role as a research and combat pilot is... Tenuous. That's not to say a similar concept isn't present, but one is generally
either doing test piloting
or combat duty. At least in peacetime. When things kick into gear that will get a little muddied, but it's not a duality that would really be present the way you describe from the get-go. Another relatively small issue, since it could be tweaked to reflect how it has otherwise been handled.
After that is where we get into the meat of the problems. To be frank, you've made him over-the-top good as a pilot. From a GM perspective, it's simply excessive. There are no
advanced combat tactics for him to know, because there isn't any history of Walker-to-Walker combat to draw on. It's extremely unlikely to be familiar, and skilled, in every potential theater of Walker combat because few people have practically
trained in all of them. Especially seeing as the Walker Corp hasn't had an air-capable Walker until extremely recently. The third listed skill, however, is where suspension of disbelief goes right out the window. No one exceeds the reaction times of a Walker. That's simply not within the realm of possibility. You would have to be faster than a military grade computer a century, give or take a few decades, more advanced than what's currently available. The Walkers themselves may not be as proportionally fast as a person, but a pilot is never going to outstrip its ability to keep up. Put excessive demand on its capabilities? Sure, but that's simply ignoring the recommended limitations of your Walker and not pilot reaction times. It happens to people that pilot older Warriors not infrequently.
And it continues into history. I will not approve a character expressed as being better than literally anyone that came before him. Is it possible? Sure. Someone, somewhere, by definition has to have the highest raw scores. But it's not going to be a PC. It
wouldn't be a PC, anyway, considering that it would almost certainly be one of the original Walker test pilots. Pilots whom, it must be noted, where the ones that helped develop the ideas for the Raptor Program. The Program, as alluded to when I went over it with Selvaria, was
very close to R&D's chest until they started field testing it. Attempts to insert a PC as the most important factor in creating such an important part of the lore is a major red flag.
His Walker has about as many issues. AI are not in use on Walkers, what limited AI technology
is in use has not been applied to such a small military scale. That extends into other issues with the design, but that's key to clear up right away. Its primary weapon is not setting appropriate, either; railguns are not in use on something so small. A Scout that can use a rifle that approaches something similar is
extremely experimental, and comes with substantial drawbacks just to make it possible. And needs a Warrior-use reactor to power it. The only
other design that may come into play, similarly, uses coils and not rails at the
Warrior scale and still comes with equally substantial drawbacks. Automated PD systems aren't in use on Walkers, either. On a Gunner, perhaps. But smaller models use head vulcans to accomplish much the same effect. Its stealth technology far exceeds what would be applied to Walkers at this time, too. Not to mention that even if the thermal dampeners did work, it wouldn't work that way. Anyone on the other end of an imager would still see a Walker shaped reading at a different temperature. It's really, really hard to completely hide a giant robot.
This is longer-winded than I really wanted to be, but truthfully this is a sheet that will need a lot of work to fit into the setting.
