Well if I pick the Cussler books back up I may have to stop short of the newer "kids" books.  My brain has already taken it the "Spy Kids" route which makes me skeptical.

No it doesn’t go the spy kids route. It’s more like Clive’s son is writing the portions of the book the kids are in. You can see a difference in the writing. Plus timeline wise Dirk and Al are getting old. So instead of Dirk getting his ass beat to hell its his son getting beat to hell. The daughter doesn’t get her ass kicked too often.

Anyhow the later books are just as good as the older ones.

So is there anyone who is ready to go that has not posted in the Mission Briefing thread yet?

So far we have:

Jack
Sinjin
Hunter
James
and Wen

That it so far of the PC's. I was hoping more people would finish their characters.

Of course in most RPOL games you only get about 50% of the people who send an RTJ to a brand new game/setting to actually end up playing in that game.

I think I can.. I think I can!

Get 'r done!

Just an FYI. As the GM I try to give everyone a chance to post before posting again. I think with the posting frequency everyone has been doing I’ll go a week.

So I’ll get something up for sure tomorrow or Wednesday.

Yeah I try and keep the posting pretty round-robin myself.  I realize I owe James a response, but RL has been busy doing job hunting things.  I will try and get it in later today.

One If the things as a GM i don’t like is what I call ‘posting diehera’.

Basically 2 or more players are involved in a character interaction conversation and two of the players go back and forth without allowing the 3rd, 4th or 5th player to chime in. The reason this is a nitpick is this occurred to me as a player. I posted right before I left for work, where I did not have access to the internet or my cell phone. In the 16 hours I was away from home two players had gone back and forth for a while page and a half. When I asked them about it they didn’t give a fuck and the GM didn’t give a shit either so I left that game.

I've an issue with that from both sides. No, I can't be on 24/7, but that doesn't mean two characters in my game can spend a page and a half in a single conversation. It's only marginally better to have the conversation in PM and then post it in toto when the two are done.
As the GM, I'm the only one authorized to lay track for the story, and monopolizing the posting can easily develop into a choo choo

Of course the other side of it is when you get that player that won't post for a week and everyone is waiting on them and the game comes to a complete stoo.

Yeah well I’m not beyond murdering the character of a player who hasn’t posted and won’t respond to my PMs.

Glad that isn't me.....

Unless the murder is especially gruesome, morose, or affecting. Going out in a blaze of glory has been overdone, but there are so many other underrated ways to go out in a dramatic fashion that there should be something for everyone, there.

I hope I covered mostly everything in my last post.

Of course one thing I like about GMing is you never know what a player is going to ask for.

I have a new schtick my gal ill want to try and eat endangered animals so Emperor Penguin could be a good meal.

I hear penguin doesn’t taste that good.

Also do we want UNIT to have standard issued weapons and tactical gear? Basically instead of each player figuring out 5000 worth of weapons I’d just make a list of what you can pick. This way everyone would the same pistol/rifle/SMG/shotgun and ammo. Yes there can be variations of the rifle.

I thought Smythe might idiosyncratically use the same weapon, and no other, all the time. Nothing unusual, just always using a specific weapon.
That, and a tendency to avoid gunplay, those will be his two idiosyncrasies. Always using a Walther PPK, the tendency to avoid gunplay, and a passion for playing Go. John's THREE idiosyncrasies will be always using a Walther PPK, the tendency to avoid gunplay, a passion for playing Go, and an inability to finish a list. Among John's idiosyncrasies there will be always using a Walther PPK, the tendency to avoid gunplay, a passion for playing Go, and an inability to finish a list.

In reply to Darkside Trooper (msg # 209):

Certainly seems like having standard issue weapons would make sense for the troops.

Having more latitude to choose weapons also makes sense for the spies.

Maybe we could get weapons at a discount if we choose standard issue but have to pay full price if we choose individually?

For James, it's his trusty m1911 and an AK-47 that he picked up during his escape from the Hanoi Hilton.  And a knife.  Or three.

Ok so whatever I kit out Ralph Jenden with will be mostly standard for straight up combat.

I might start an equipment thread that will include the code to use so you can copy/paste into your equipment sheets.

I was talking about this game to a buddy of mine who used to be a Class 3 dealer and he put together a list of "Cool ass guns" that were available in our timeline (up to and including 1980) and I decided to share it here.

Tabuk Iraqi produced 7.62 x 39 AKM with a knockoff Dragonov style stock, 24-inch barrel, and rail for optics. Full auto capable, 30-round magazine, and often with a folding bipod. 1978

APS A Soviet underwater assault rifle firing a 5.66mm fin stabilized dart to 1200 fps out to about 30 yards underwater, 600 rounds per minute, with a 27-round magazine. 1975

Beretta M92 9mm 1975

Beretta M93r 9mm 1979 (essentially an M9/M92 capable of 3rd burst fire)

CZ 75 9mm 1976

SIG Sauer P220 1975

Steyr GB 9mm 1974

FN Barracuda .357 magnum revolver 1974

IMBEL M973 Brazilian knock-off M1911A1 in 9mm with a 9-roound magazine. 1973

SPP1 Russian 4.7 x 39 underwater firing pistol. 1971

HK P11 underwater pistol in 7.62 x 36mm. 1976

MAC 10 1970

MAC 11 1971

AK74 series 1978

Steyr AUG series 1978

Mossberg 590 12 gauge pump 1975

Winchester Model 1300 12 gauge pump 1978

Franchi SPAS 12 semi/pump 12 gauge combat shotgun 1979

Zastava M70 Yugoslavian AKM knock-off, not completely compatible with AKM. 1970

Valmet M76 series based on AKM. 1976

Zastava M76 Yugoslavian Dragonov knock-off, not completely compatible. 1976

Norinco M79 Red Chinese produced Dragonov knock off. 1979

Parker Hale M82 Sniper Rifle 7.62 NATO Britain 1972

PSL Romanian, Dragonov-like 7.62 x 54 rifle based on the RPK receiver. 1972

Ruger Mini 14 .223 Remington 1973 (weapon of choice for the A-Team)

Armalite AR 18 5.56mm 1969

M16 series 5.56mm 1963

Dragonov SVD 1963

FN FNC 5.56mm 1966

FN FAL 7.62N 1953 (The Brits call their semi-auto version the SLR. Officially the L1A1)

PM 63 Poland, 9mm Makarov, a heavy pistol sized SMG. 1965

M134 Miniugun 1963

HK 21 7.62 NATO LMG 1963

HK G3 series 7.62 NATO 1963

HK MP5 9mm 1965

HK MP5 SD3 integrally suppressed 1975

VZ 61 Scorpion .32 acp machine pistol 1961

China Lake 3 shot pump action 40mm grenade launcher 1968

PM 63 Romanian AKM knock-off with folding stock and vertical forward grip. 1963

M40 sniper rifle 7.62 NATO 1966

M21 Sniper Rifle version of the M14 1969

Stoner 63 multi-role weapon system 5.56mm 1963

S&W Model 76 9mm SMG 1967

Cool.  Especially the underwater weapons.

In reply to Jack Random (msg # 214):

Awesome list!

I was looking at the variants of the MP-5 that were available in 1980 (they are quite a few), after watching an episode of The Man in The High Castle where in one scene the Nazi's were armed with MP-5's (but soon got mowed down but a bunch of US freedom fighters using WWII era firearms).

I am kinda bummed the Milkor MGL isn't quite available in 1980 (designed but not produced until 1983), but completely forgot about the China Lake.

A lot of personal favorites there.  The Russian underwater rifle was known to have some serious feed issues, but the underwater pistols were pretty K.I.S.S.