Open thread for discussing team roles, character concepts, etc.

I've provided blank character sheets in the usual space for those of you who've already joined.  These are slight modifications of the one Rae uses for his T2k games.

You'll note that I've kept rads on the sheet.  This is intentional.  Everyone begins with zero rads (unless you really want some free ones at game start), but you may take some during play as you encounter alien space junk.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:37, Sat 01 Nov 2014.

Also, as I noted to Spartan in PM, I'm not wedded to the fixed four-year terms for character creation.  If you want to take a career path that the existing life path mechanics don't adequately represent, I'm perfectly willing to negotiate.

Guys, go ahead and start kicking character concepts around in this thread, if you don't mind.  This may help deconflict skill sets.

Also, don't feel like the team has to have all bases covered by PCs.  I can easily add a couple of round-out NPCs for any critical skills that you guys don't select.

Right now I'm looking at a comms/electronics guy with a smattering of combat skills.  Details soon.

I have a idea in my head for a linguist build using the Government Agent career path  - possibly DGSE - so also with some combat skills and possibly some sneaking around skills. Nothing fleshed out or set in stone yet though (I won't get near my rule books until tomorrow)
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Sat 01 Nov 2014.

I'm probably going with a female, Polish, GROM officer.  I had been thinking Electronics/Computer focus, but I can look at other options if you've got your eye on that Keys.

Great, a hot Pole. How is this not to be a sexspionage game, again?

I'm kind of struggling to come up with a realistic sciency-combat character setup. I'm also don't have the strongest foundation in the hard sciences (although I did score a 6 on the Anticipated IB bio test in high school) and I'm not sure how helpful a soft science will be in this game.

Here are a couple of ideas. Which one is the least unrealistic?

1. A guy who studied physics/astrophysics at the Naval Academy (is that even a major there?) and then went on to qualify for the SEALs.

2. Same as #1 but majored in some sort of advanced IT.

3. A guy who worked forensics for the FBI, applied for the HRT on a dare, and got in.

4. Same as #3 but a behavioral/forensic psychologist instead of forensics.

5. A combat controller who dug aircraft so much he went back and got his pilot certs then got recruited by the CIA to run black ops aviation.

6. Same as #5 but starting as pararescue.

Whoever it ends up being, he will have had a first hand UFO experience at some point during his life.

-

I'm looking at a guy that starts TACP, transitions to the Joint Communication Unit (I'll build a draft career guide for it), steps out for an undergrad degree in  electrical engineering, then returns to the JCU.  One of his interests is theories of how to build an internet in space, how time lag would work for comms, etc...

To be clear, every PC does not need to be sciency (and as a semi-reformed English major, I won't be throwing an overdose of hard science into the narration).  With the task force's intelligence mission and the need to operate covertly, soft skills and stealth/B&E capability are going to be critical too.



Completely valid, and physics is a major at USNA (http://www.usna.edu/Academics/Majors-and-Courses/).  Note that, although astro is not a major, they probably have a few astro courses - the Navy has been in the astronomy business a lot longer than the Air Force (or even the Army Air Corps) because it's fundamental to navigation at sea.



These would certainly cover some of the investigative/soft skills.



If the team has a PC pilot, those points won't be wasted.  If no PC is an aviator, that won't be an impediment.  This is one place where the narrative will adapt quite readily to the team's capabilities.



Medical skills are never wasted in a game like this.

Thanks for narrowing it down for me. ;)

That Ancient Aliens guy would be hilarious if so many people didn't actually buy wholesale into the cockamamie bullshit he peddles. I guess I should give the guy some credit, though. Despite having only a very loose grasp of basic science, history, anthropology, and archaeology, he's managed to parley his lack of education into a career, C-list celebrity status, and internet memehood.

Good thing you don't need any degrees in order to become a professional pseudoscientist.

-
This message was last edited by the player at 01:03, Sun 02 Nov 2014.

Sounds like a lot of levels in Electronics.  Are you planning to on taking Computer in conjunction?

Probably a reasonable level in computer, but I'm not looking to build a master hacker.

It's halftime in the Arizona-UCLA game so I thought I'd pop in and ask a couple of questions.

I've decided to go the following route for my PC:

James Choi (Korean-American)

1st term undergrad (4 years, switched from pre-med to pre-law)
2nd term law school (3 years; didn't take the bar)
3rd term federal law enforcement [FBI Academy at Quantico, then desk agent] (2 years)*
4th term FBI field agent (4 years)
5th term FBI Hostage Rescue Team (x years)**

*Is it OK to shorten terms? I'm confident that I can justify the shorter terms in his backstory. I'm also thinking that his tenure in HRT is cut short after a shooting incident, at which point your agency steps in and makes him an offer he can't refuse.

I've ended up with a build which gives me a solid investigator type with decent but not exceptional pistol and unarmed martial arts capabilities.

**I'm not sure what to do for skills here. There's no anti-terror/SWAT skills in the BYB- no OD Delta or DEVGRU or GSG-9 or anything like that. The closest equivalency in my mind is Special Forces but the starting skill list includes AUTOGUN, PARACHUTE, and SURVIVAL, none of which really seem to fit the mission of the HRT. May I replace those three skills with more mission appropriate ones?

Thanks.

-

Yep.  As long as it fits the real-world events you're trying to model, I have no problem with adjusting term lengths.



Absolutely.  Alternatively - and this is only an offering, not a mandate:


This message was last edited by the GM at 11:15, Sun 02 Nov 2014.

Ok, in that case I'll go deep on computers and focus on penetration and exploitation.

OK, after trying a few options I've got a build for a former French military non com (Fusiliers Marin Commandos) who's recruited into the DGSE after leaving the service (5 terms, 2 military using Force Recon career path per BYB and 3 Govt agent). Key skill sets are Stealth, Observation, and Intrusion plus decent Small Arms (rifle) and good Ground Vehicle (Wheeled). In addition to excellent English, he has native level French and Good in one other language (either Arabic or Spanish, undecided which at the moment - am leaning towards Arabic as the more likely option although as Spanish and French are in the same group I could get a better proficiency in Spanish for the same point expenditure).

Any thoughts / comments / concerns?  Anywhere that I'm overlapping with anyone else?

Concept looks good.  Arabic is likely to be more useful than Spanish for at least the initial couple of story arcs.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:42, Sun 02 Nov 2014.

Based on current discussion in this thread and PMs, it looks like we have:

• Polish GROM intel operator and team leader
• French DGSE scout
• American FBI investigator
• American TACP/JCU comms and electronics specialist

(Capsule summaries are my interpretation.)

I haven't heard from any of the RL gaming buddies I've invited, nor have I gotten an RTJ from dcoda.  I think this is a solid core, though, so I'm inclined to move forward rather than waiting for additional hypothetical players.  I'll plan on rounding out the team with one or two NPCs for medical support and whatever other skill set you think may be desirable.

(Update: dcoda tossed me an RTJ this evening so now you are five.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:45, Mon 03 Nov 2014.

OK, so my DGSE dude is now doing an Undergrad as one of his terms and as I'm not feeling that the character is the sort who would go for a hard science degree I'm looking at psychology as being in character.

Looking at the skill lists, it seems to me most appropriate skills to model a psychology degree would be persuasion and biology (already undergrad skills), and interrogation (not an undergrad skill). Do those seem appropriate and if so can I allocate points from that term to Interrogation? Or are there other skills that would be a better representation?

Completely appropriate. Biology is what this system usually uses for pharmacology, IIRC.

Also, yes on adding Interrogation to the undergrad list.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:43, Tue 04 Nov 2014.

When I stop running ambulance calls today, I'm going to mod Dacovetti's sheet to reflect Spanish language skill and wife to avoid some skill overlap.

Watch out for the ebolas.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 21):

Cheers. Oh, BTW, my guy is going to be called Sébastien Durand.

Got it.  Sadly, the system won't take the accented "é" in character name strings.

I wasn't sure if NPC puppeting NPCs was necessary or permitted so I lightly tossed the ball back into your court, sir GM. I hope that was OK.

I'm still working on numbers. I have to write up a turn for Last War tonight and tomorrow is dinner with widowed mom. I might be ready by the weekend but, if not, during the weekend for sure.

-

No rush.  We've had one more join tonight and I really need to start cranking on a freelance assignment, so we'll do a slow rolling start as people's bios get nailed down.

I'm heading to OBX this weekend.  Nice reference!

Enjoy!  My wife and I went there on our honeymoon and the Pelican was one of the culinary high points of the trip.  I'm not above giving places like that a little hat tip when I can work them into my writing.

Due to commitments outside pretendy-fun-time-internet-land, I probably won't have much chance to respond to posts or PMs until Sunday.  Please don't take silence as any sort of GM disapproval or disengagement.

FYI, I have added a note about secondary activities to the character creation thread.

It looks like the five established PCs are it for now.  I'll add an NPC medic to round out the team.

Once bios are finalized, please don't forget to post 'em in the [Meta] Character Profiles thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:27, Tue 11 Nov 2014.

Well, shit.

For those who aren't aware, my father's dealing with a couple of different flavors of cancer.  He's not been handling his chemotherapy's side-effects all that well lately.  I just received notification that, based on a couple of events tonight and at his doctor's orders, he's being transported via ambulance to the hospital.  It sounds like just a transport call rather than something requiring immediate intervention, so I don't think this is going to go all rodeo tonight.  However, I wanted to give y'all a heads-up in case I'm wrong and I have to do some unexpected travel in the next few days.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:44, Tue 11 Nov 2014.

Sorry to hear this Teg.  Cancer sucks.  Sending you and your father our very best wishes.
-C&C plus Scout Dog

I second that, GM.  I hope that your father's condition improves.  Do what you need to do RL and come back to us when you can.

Sorry Dude :(

Sorry to hear that Tegyrius. Hope everything goes well for your father.

Thank you for the concern and support, all.  Current status appears to be reaction to the chemo, a particularly virulent sinus infection, and some dehyrdation.  He's being kept on IV fluids and antibiotics and isn't in much shape to talk, so all my info is secondhand, but I'm not hearing anything that leads me to expect an additional downturn at this time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:52, Tue 11 Nov 2014.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 38):

Good to hear!

Feeling better, Keys? I've had walking pneumonia a couple of times and it ain't no picnic.

@Teg: Our PCs are currently totally unarmed, correct? Would they have been allowed to keep a carry piece with them?

-

For this assignment, sidearms are authorized unless otherwise stated. They would have been locked down on your flights in due to safety regs but returned upon disembarkation. Jimmy, specifically, would have his issued sidearm and any issued BUG, as his jurisdiction is pretty much any US soil anywhere on the planet.

In reply to James Choi (msg # 40):

Getting there, thanks!  Antibiotics are my friends right now.  Hopefully I can get back to work by Sunday.

Dcoda has located a character sheet typo.  Tac Missile should be under Agility, not Strength.  Oops.

It's not an easy fix on the sheet either.  I'm probably going to go with a straight column replacement similar to this.

STR: 9
-Armed Martial Arts: 0
-Autogun: 5
-Grenade Launcher: 0
-Heavy Gun: 8
-Mechanic: 4
-Small Arms (Rifle): 2
-Thrown Weapons: 1
-Unarmed Martial Arts: 3

CON: 7
-Riding: 2
-Small Watercraft: 2
-Swimming: 1

AGL: 4
-Ground Vehicle (Tracked): 2
-Ground Vehicle (Wheeled): 2
-Stealth: 1
-Tac Missile: 2

EDU: 4
Electronics: 1
Medical (Trauma Aid): 1

CHA: 2
-Instruction: 3
-Language (English): 10
-Language (Spanish): 10
-Leadership: 1
-Persuasion: 1

INT: 4
-Navigation: 1
-Observation: 1
-Scrounging: 1
-Survival: 2

If it's awkward to fix couldn't we just leave it where it is but adjust our skill level to the correct value? And make a note in case anyone wants to use XP to boost it later?

Yeah, it shouldnt be a big deal

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
until you guys develop blaster bomb technology

---

.

”Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?”


”An error in my character sheet?”


"Do you know what OCD is?"

Yes... yes, I do.

Honestly, I was looking up Swimming (Hannah is from Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes) and well, I had to ask Tegyrius about Tac Missiles since it was the entry right below it.

EDIT:  Oh, and here is the updated skill area of the sheet.  Figured that I caused the issue.  So, I might as well see if I could help with the solution as well.  Obviously, the individual values for each person are not filled in...

---

======================================++ ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS ++=====================================

Strength :  XX                     Constitution :  XX                 Agility :  XX

Aircraft Mechanic    :  -/-        Climbing             :  -/-        Acrobatics           :  -/-
Archery              :  -/-        Combat Engineer      :  -/-        Forgery              :  -/-
Armed Martial Arts   :  -/-        Damage Control       :  -/-        Grnd Veh(Motorcycle) :  -/-
Autogun              :  -/-        Parachute            :  -/-        Grnd Veh(Tracked)    :  -/-
Grenade Launcher     :  -/-        Riding               :  -/-        Grnd Veh(Wheeled)    :  -/-
Heavy Artillery      :  -/-        Scuba                :  -/-        Gunsmith             :  -/-
Heavy Gun            :  -/-        Small Watercraft     :  -/-        Hovercraft           :  -/-
Mechanic             :  -/-        Swimming             :  -/-        Intrusion            :  -/-
Small Arms (Pistol)  :  -/-                                           Machinist            :  -/-
Small Arms (Rifle)   :  -/-        Charisma : XX                      Pilot (Fixed-Wing)   :  -/-
Thrown Weapon        :  -/-                                           Pilot (Rotary-Wing)  :  -/-
Unarmed Martial Arts :  -/-        Disguise             :  -/-        Snow Skiing          :  -/-
                                   Instruction          :  -/-        Stealth              :  -/-
Education :  XX                    Interrogation        :  -/-        Tactical Missile     :  -/-
                                   Language (English)   : Native      Warhead              :  -/-
Biology              :  -/-        Language (-)         :  -/-
Chemistry            :  -/-        Language (-)         :  -/-        Intelligence :  XX
Civil Engineer       :  -/-        Language (-)         :
Computer             :  -/-        Language (-)         :             Farming              :  -/-
Electronics          :  -/-        Leadership           :  -/-        Forward Observer     :  -/-
Excavation           :  -/-        Persuasion           :  -/-        Navigation           :  -/-
Geology              :  -/-                                           Observation          :  -/-
Medical (Diagnosis)  :  -/-                                           Scrounging           :  -/-
Medical (Trauma Aid) :  -/-                                           Survival             :  -/-
Medical (Surgery)    :  -/-                                           Tracking             :  -/-
Metallurgy           :  -/-
Meteorology          :  -/-
Physics              :  -/-

---

This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Sun 16 Nov 2014.

ZOMG so much entertainment.  Both of you, take a bonus XP for making me literally laugh out loud (and I mean "literally" in the correct sense, not like kids these days who use "literally" for "figuratively..." get off my language lawn, ya damn punks...).

If I'm reading various sites correctly the AN94 has a unique* system that's designed to reduce recoil on the second shot when firing a two shot burst. Would that allow a two shot burst to both count as aimed shots in game terms?

(* Allegedly)

I'd say so.  Paul Mulcahy's stats give it a ROF of 2/5, which seems the best way to model it in this system.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:59, Sun 16 Nov 2014.

In the interest of speed, once Durand has indicated his readiness to step up, I'll make a set of Small Arms and other skill checks for each of you and notify you of the general outcome via PM.  You can narrate your character's shoothouse run however you want, subject to that set of rolls.  Does that work for everyone?  I think this will go faster than actually playing it out as six sequential full combats.

ETA: The setup here is that everyone goes into the shoothouse blind for the first run, so you won't be with Bannon in the control booth until you've completed your own run.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:18, Tue 18 Nov 2014.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 52):

Works for me...

I am on the final episode of Season One of Strike Back tonight and I have to say, it's pretty awesome.  I had to Google where it was filmed (mostly Cape Town it seems), because, having lived in South Africa, India, and the Caucasus, all of the sets were really believable.  I owned a Lada Niva for two years, so when I saw a pair of them in 'Chechnya' episodes, I was really stoked.  Production wise, these guys are spot on.  Thanks for turning me on to this!

Happy to share the addiction.  :)  I check iTunes about once a week, waiting for the third season to drop.  That show is a lot of my visual inspiration for this game... TF47's forward support team definitely deploys with a version of the Crib.

Cinemax has a bunch of "making of" clips on YouTube.  They're pretty awesome for several reasons, including the actors using their native accents instead of their character voices.

Okay, here's the shoothouse setup:



Some explanation: there are five hostile targets (T1-T5) and two no-shoots (NS1/NS2).

When the buzzer sounds, T1 and T2 will move as indicated by their red arrows.  T1 comes into view first.

Upon audible gunfire, NS1 begins moving as indicated by its green arrow.  It represents a fleeing civilian.

T3 is in motion in a circular patrol route as indicated by its yellow arrows.  It checks its starting room at the end of each cycle.

T4 will move into the hallway upon audible gunfire.  It will patrol the hallway back-and-forth until neutralized.

T5 and NS2 remain in the final room.  NS2 is being used as a meat-shield for T5.

Further individual details will be inbound in PMs shortly.

That was some very nice writing, as I've come to expect from this group.  :)

Bannon's plan for the night is solo runs, then paired runs, and finally a full-team evolution with all six of you in the shoothouse at once.  In the interest of narrative speed, I don't think we need to post out all of those.

If you want to play the final six-person run as a test combat, we can do a shooting montage for the paired runs and segue into that.  The combat turns will probably take us a couple of weeks to get through, as I need to slow down my own posting pace and devote some time to another project and some family stuff.

Alternately, we can montage through the non-shooting roleplaying parts of the rest of the night's work (yes, I did just verb "montage") and move into the briefing for Grey Cell's first mission before Thanksgiving.  That'll give us the long weekend for people to post briefing questions as their family commitments allow.

I'm good either way.  Tell me which would be more fun for you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:46, Fri 21 Nov 2014.

I'll roll with whatever y'all want to do. I enjoy writing with you all. You folks make me want to be sharp.

-

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 57):

I'm good with either option - as Rae said it's a pleasure to be part of this and I'm sure whatever we go with it'll work out well.

My preference would be to move into the first mission.  I really like way the shoot house is done and what we’ve got so far.  I think if we are going to put a few weeks’ worth of RPOL work into something, perhaps the stakes should be higher.  Plus the change of scenery may allow us to stretch our writing a bit more than a repeat scene in the shoot house will.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:06, Fri 21 Nov 2014.

Tegyrius already knows of my admiration for the writer William Gibson. In July, after finishing Neuromancer for probably the 10th time, I wrote a brief review of the novel on Amazon. It joined the hundreds already there and I thought nothing of it (the book was originally published in 1984). Well, last week, out of the blue, I received an e-mail notification that someone had commented on my review. It turned out to be a producer for the BBC's book club radio program asking me if I'd like to contribute a question pertaining to Neuromancer to be put to Mr. Gibson during an upcoming interview for their radio show. To make a long story short, I will be asking Mr. Gibson a question or two directly, over the phone, bright and early Wednesday morning. The show will be broadcast worldwide in February. Hopefully, my Q&A will make the cut.

I've always fantasized that something like this would happen, usually with a band asking me to go on the road with them after reading one of my album reviews, but this is pretty darn cool in itself. If you haven't read Neuromancer, I highly recommend it. It's widely credited with inventing the cyberpunk genre.

I'll let y'all know if and when my international broadcast debut goes down.

-

Congratulations, Raellus.  That is awesome news.  All your hard work reading sci-fi and fantasy paid off!

---

With respect to group shoot or moving on ... I am not strongly in favor of either option.  As the others have said, I am sure that the RP will be fun no matter what.

I would agree with Lina though that we may want push on in the interest of pacing.

On the other hand, if we (and by that I mean Hannah and her player, really) need to get more of the crap rolls out of the Dice Roller so we can get to the good ones, then perhaps we should do some additional training exercises...:D

Nicely done, Rae!

I'm good for a montage then moving forward to a mission.  Of course I'm fine the other way, too!

Kick ass, Rae!  Any idea yet what you're going to ask him?

-----

Game-wise, it sounds like the consensus is to spend the weekend montaging and move forward with the mission briefing for your first op.  I have the briefing mostly written and ready to go but I need to do a little more research before I pull the trigger on it.  Feel free to jump scenes and times as you desire.  I'll put up the briefing on Sunday night.  In game time, it will occur on 17 March, immediately following the final integration exercise that establishes your readiness for field work.

I will award one bonus XP to each of you if you establish each other's team nicknames during this narrative.  :)

I wrote up and submitted five multi-part questions. The producer is supposed to call me Monday morning to discuss logistics. I suspect I'll know for sure after that conversation. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

-

Very awesome.  Neuromancer was great, but I think Burning Chrome and the Gernsback Continuum are actually my favorite things by Gibson.  Whenever I fly into Dulles and take one of those Plane Mates/People Mover things, I always think of Parker and the future that never quite was.

Kick some Devo on low in the background when you chat with him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf8OmnRIBvA  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Sat 22 Nov 2014.

Rae, that's awesome. I live here and I don't know anyone that has ever been on the BBC - well done!

Teg, for nicknames, are you looking for something like this:

Grandpa
Too Fast
Pimp Hand
The OC
Lefty
Splinters

or XCOM counterparts?

Lights Out, Omega, Nightmare
Blitz, Fast Lane
Mr. Clean, Spitfire, Strobe
Freestyle, Doc
Kitty, Sheriff
Collateral, Double Down

I think we definitely need to coordinate a bit in OOC for this.  No should get stuck with a name the absolutely hate.

The former is perhaps more accurate with regards to how callsigns or team nicknames are usually assigned IRL, but I do agree that you should have some veto rights over your own characters' nicknames.  :)

(Context for those of you who haven't played XCOM: the game assigns each trooper a random nickname [from a gender- and class-specific list] once they hit a certain rank.)

Further research pre-empted by a full day hammering on my current freelance assignment.  Briefing will go up Monday night.

Honestly, Hannah would be fine with any of the suggested ones for her (she deserves them, pretty much) - as long as 'Collateral' isn't shortened to 'Coco'.  I actually think that 'Double Down' is pretty good (though a bit of a mouthful).

I've been trying to come up with more suggestions for additional call signs, but have pretty much drawn a blank...

Couple of suggestions...am presuming Karolina's nationality and Hannah's Norwegian ancestry would come out in conversation.

Crewe
Painter
Leo / Leonardo

(Both on account of the fact that his parent unit is the Artists' Rifles).

Kowalska
Dancer.
As in Pole Dancer. Because she's Polish.
And quite nimble
And Durand thinks she looks hot enough to be a pole dancer
Granted, may not be appropriate for the team leader...

KK

Keke

Hannah
Valkyrie
Because of her Norwegian ancestry
And the fact she flies a helicopter. Reminds Durand of Apocalypse Now.

Sif / Lady Sif
Again ancestry related. There may be other Norse Goddesses that are more appropriate, but Durand wouldn't be looking this up on wiki - all he knows about Norse mythology he learned watching Thor movies and Sif was the character that created the most lasting...impression...on him

Drawn a blank on Mike and Jim so far...

Edit: And of course, the move reference should have been Apocalypse Now. Not Apocalypse Down. Or Blackhawk Now. Mind you, Durand probably saw the French version. Yep, that's my excuse...he saw the French version.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Mon 24 Nov 2014.

@Dave - I like "Painter" for Crewe, both for the unit reference and for the fact that he's not all that elegant with his CQB marksmanship...

Also, PC nicknames are not my decision, but I will admit I literally LOL'd at "Dancer" for Lina.

@All - I have failed to specify how I wanted to use contacts in this game.  Allow me to rectify that.  During a mission brief, if you want to declare that you "know a guy" in the target area, simply state that ICly or OOCly and give me a brief description of that individual.  Then adjust the appropriate section of your character sheet, marking off one undefined contact and noting the newly-committed individual's name and concept/type.

If you want to activate a contact during an op, the same applies, but I may require an appropriate skill check for you to make contact with them.  If the skill check fails, that contact remains undefined (e.g., "1 U.S. military" instead of "Staff Sergeant Snuffy, USAF Security Forces").

Either way, only one contact activation per PC per mission unless otherwise stated.

I also like Painter for Crewe.  I'm actually ok with Dancer for Lina as well.  I figure she's been called a lot worse given her profession.

Tangentially relevant to this game:

http://vonaether.tumblr.com/po...-welcometohornyville

I'll get a decent post up tomorrow, but I had a few thoughts on call signs.

For Dacovetti, Dealer might work.  Michael looks like he has OCD, Howie Mandel is notorious for it and he was the host of Deal or No Deal.

For Seb, Bullfrog might work.  Given the American fascination with hating the French (yet loving Paris, weird...), I have no problem seeing Bannon dubbing a Frenchman a Frog, but given that Seb is a rather bad ass Frenchman worthy of fear, he wouldn't just call him any frog, but a "Bull Frog."

I'm a flexible on any and all suggestions.  If people want to post ahead, Michael will easily give up the media angle and move forward with the oil plan.  He can educate up quickly when necessary.

In totally unrelated news, I cashed my first pay check from the FASA Game Company as a freelance writer this weekend.  Woo-hoo!  You can see some of my work on the Demonworld page on their site.  I've written the three developer posts up so far.  And some stuff for the rulebooks when they come out.  A lot of credit goes to all of you guys here for helping me sharpen my chops so to speak.  Thanks!

I've penciled in Bullfrog and Dealer for now.  Let me know if those need to change.

Congrats on writing job!

Congratulations on being published!

I'm cool with Bullfrog...Durand wouldn't have any hang ups with it and would take it in the spirit intended.


How about shortening Double Down to either DD or Double D?

In every organization I have been a part of, that quote is exactly how one would end up with the nickname Coco.  :)

I might suggest "Square" as an option.  It is a shortening of "D-Squared" as an option to "Double D" and it still rolls off the tongue.

GM interjection for the planning:

I'm good with whichever insertion option you choose.  Splitting the team will give me the opportunity to a bit more of a slow burn with borderline-paranormal events.  Getting everyone in-country together will get us into the main op (and its revelations of alien involvement - which should come as an OOC surprise to no one) quicker.  Let me know which way you'd rather take the story.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:31, Mon 01 Dec 2014.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 80):

OOC I'm good either way.

IC Seb's obviously advocating the split team option - although he would rather not fly in without some sort of firearm in his possession - but wont have any major objections if final decision is a single insertion.

Congrats, Keys! That's awesome.

-

Yup.  Revel in it, man.  That first check is pretty awesome.  The only thing better is the first UPS box of contributor comp copies.  :)

And you never know where all your hard work will end up.  So keep plugging away!


This message was last edited by the player at 01:22, Tue 02 Dec 2014.

Damn!  What's the story behind that one?

A few years back, one of the guys on the board, maybe paganone if I recall correctly, was running a 2k13 game set in the Gulf with survivors escaping on a Dhow from Manama.  Manama was a routine destination for me at the time (the Radisson had a nice pool and a great Irish bar), so I stopped on the causeway and got a few shots for the game on the way over.  Of course the RPOL game didn't last half as long as the Arab Spring.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/a...0828_zpsada77ae0.jpg

http://i1113.photobucket.com/a...0832_zpsda861ded.jpg

That does my cold, shriveled little heart good.

And speaking of cold, shriveled little hearts, the Kickstarter for my current project is now live:

https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...h-anniversary-editio

Gonna try not to let it slow down our pace here, but if I have to reprioritize for a couple of weekends, y'all know why.