IC Thread.Mercenary Coalition is a planned FG of mine where players essentially work together on 'instanced' missions so they can buy better gear, level up, and go on harder missions. At its bare essence. Players can also buy vehicles of many kinds.
Air/Space vehicles allow the person to specialize more: Pilots, driving the fighters/small flying vehicles, can still act as the soldiers in the 'meat' of the game yet can also participate with their vehicle when possible. From providing support to the people on the ground to helping in a 'stage' of the mission before the ground team goes in.
Large space vehicles, such as corvettes and up, allow the owners to become Captains. While these people can't participate as soldiers, their ship should more than make up for it.
So people can use their personal funds earned from missions to buy new things and become captains/pilots/better soldiers, and the group can use communal funds to buy, well, communal items. Even doing things such as buying a ship with the group's money then choosing someone as Captain.
Buut that's not really the premise of this post. Right now is a test run for a single mission in Mercenary Coalition. There may be more connected missions after this if I don't think I have conclusive information from this test run, but the point of this is to do one mission so I can determine how possible this is for me to do. Along with acquiring feedback to the various systems, as this is my most "mechanic-y" game yet.
So, without further ado, let's explain the relevant mechanics.
SkillsSkills are wide-reaching and one can be increased per level. You can have a max of 5 in any given skill.
- Sidearms: Aiming weapons such as pistols, etc.
- Marksmanship: Aiming sniper rifles and other long range weapons.
- Rifles: Aiming weapons such as assault rifles and other 'standard' guns.
- Heavy Weapons: Aiming explosive weaponry, machine guns, etc.
- Martial Arts: Effectiveness of hand-to-hand combat. Also affects any melee weapons.
- Emplacements: Aiming large weapon emplacements such as turrets.
- Stealth: Skill in avoiding detection from nearby entities.
- Attitude: AkA "Disguise" - how well a character can blend in and "act natural"
- Diplomacy: Convincing others, bluffing, general conversational-related skill.
- Medical: Skill with first aid.
- Electronics: Hacking and other electronic-related things.
- Mechanics: General know-how with most kinds of machinery
- Driving: Skill in driving ground vehicles.
- Piloting - Manuevering: Affects general mobility when piloting any kind of air/space vehicle.
- Piloting - Attack: Affects accuracy when attacking using air/space vehicles.
- Piloting - Evasion: Affects evasion of hostile actions when using air/space vehicles.
- Agility: Affects general mobility.
- Toughness: General survivability of a character. +20 max HP per level.
CombatCombat is resolved with a 'system' most similar to a RTD. I have a D10, you have modifiers from both skills and the situation. Weapons and armors have damage types that they're most effective at dealing/blocking, and armors are also weak to certain damage types.
You say "Attack that energy-shielded guy with my beam rifle." I say "Well, this beam rifle's heat damage is effective against the energy shield's weakness to heat damage, and this particular weakness means that the beam rifle ignores the energy shield." I roll a D10 + situation modifiers to determine whether or not you hit, then I roll for damage.
MortalityWhile I'm not
particularly effective at reasonable mortality, it'll definitely be present. The aim of Mercenary Coalition is that mortality is easy if you're not careful. If you let yourself get outnumbered and outgunned, there's a decent chance someone's going to die. Hopefully.
When someone dies, they can make a new character from scratch and immediately re-enter the game, but for the purposes of this test run, dying just means you're out of the mission.
CharactersFirst, characters have the usual stuff - background/appearance, but that's completely optional. Then there's two mechanic-related items when creating a character: Their +1 skill and talent.
The +1 skill is a single skill that, when the character is created, has an extra point (making that skill '1' while the rest are all at '0'). The talent is basically there to allow for more specialized characters, and can be whatever you want. Talents represent an area not specifically covered by any of the skills (although it can still be something that a skill would affect) that your character is skilled in. When doing things related to their talent, players will get a bonus.
But in the Test Run,
you'll start with 4 skillpoints that can go wherever you want.Oh, and there is one more thing.
Whether the character is a Soldier or a Captain. Captains won't really be seeing much action at the beginning of the game, so I wouldn't recommend immediately making one. Since anyone can permanently move from their former role to a Captain at any point. But Soldiers fight on the ground (or on the floor or in space. Really they just fight in person.) while Captains captain the larger spaceships.
RolesThere are 3 roles - Soldier, Pilot, and Captain. I already explained some of this in the prior section, but I'll do it again:
Soldiers are the main role. They fight in person at the actual missions and do most of the legwork.
Captains are more of a support role. They head large ships that usually aid the soldiers in appropiate missions, and occasionally work directly with the soldiers in certain missions. A captain can 'own' a single large spaceship, that only they can captain. A spaceship can also only have one captain.
Pilots are a secondary role to either Soldiers or Captains. Any Soldier/Captain can become a pilot. Pilots, like Captains, 'own' a small vehicle, such as a fighter or gunship, that they can bring into appropriate missions. A pilot can actually have multiple vehicles, but a vehicle can only have one pilot.
MissionsMissions are usually part of a mission series, which are series of connected missions that must be completed in order, and once you start a series, you have to complete it in order to gain the reward. While not present in the test run, in the intended game, players choose a new mission when ready, and I, the GM, choose a certain amount of players depending on the mission to participate as the Ground Team.
The Ground Team usually has 5 soldiers in it, maybe more, maybe less. They're the ones trying to accomplish the objectives.
Then there's Support. Anyone not in the Ground Team is onsidered Support. Support pilots and Captains are still allowed to bring their vessels into the field as long as it's appropiate (you shouldn't bring a dreadnought to a stealth mission). Support Players are also allowed to enter the field as crew of a captained ship.
Support Players also can do things such as offer tactical advice and bring in things from their personal inventories/the group inventory to aid the ground team. Things brought in from a personal/the group inventory have to be brought in manually into the field, however.
So if the Support Team wants to drop in a mech, a pilot/Captain has to put that on their shuttle/ship/whatever and bring it to the field. There may be a service that can be paid to do this for them, but that's not decided on and won't be present in the test run.
The Support Team also won't really be present in the test run. Since this immediately starts at the mission, there won't be anything for a Support Team to contribute other than tactical advice. Which you can do if you want.
Setting/Tech LevelThe setting of Mercenary Coalition is, first off, it's sci-fi. It takes place over a 3-way galactic war between 3 entities that the players aim to profit from. I'd say it's fairly standard soft sci-fi. You have power armor, space ships, energy shields, and more. Feel free to ask about this some more if you need more info.
Okay, I may have forgotten to list some relevant mechanics, so point that out if I did. Once characters are created, I'll start going over choosing equipment. Vehicles won't be present here, so don't bother with that.
Character Creation SheetCharacter's Name:
Role: (Soldier or Captain; Soldiers can become pilots later)
Skills: (4 skillpoints available)
Talent: (Any topic/concept that this person is talented in)
OPTIONAL
Appearance:
Background:
Mission InfoThe mission takes place on a station. The Republic of Garsof is paying you to acquire information from an Alliance military shipping station orbiting their capital planet. Specifically, they need data regarding the whereabouts of a large shipment of extremely expensive stealth tech. Your task is to either capture the Station's Captain alive, or to find the station's Datacore and take the data directly off of that.
Entry will be via a stolen Alliance shuttlecraft. Before capture, the shuttle was intended to dock at the station with a maintenance crew. If you wish, we can provide you with basic security identification and clothing allowing you to masquerade as the maintenance crew, but this won't get you very close to either the datacore or the captain. Going via this route also has the disadvantage of being unable to bring any serious weaponry or armor.
If you wish to go in guns blazing,m that's also possible. You are free to bring whatever equipment from your supply that you deem necessary into the shuttle, but as soon as you're seen in the station, you'll have to start firing.
Security presence on the station isn't particularly extensive, but is still fair, considering this station does hold some fairly important data onboard. There will be routine patrols and once spotted, you'll have a
lot of security personnel chasing you. Furthermore, once detected, you'll have to be quick to retrieve what you came in for and leave before planetary defenses can find and lock onto your shuttle.
Once you have the data or captain, you are to leave via the shuttle you came in on. Assuming you didn't take too long, the shuttle's ID and cover should provide you enough time to reach hyperspace before they realize you're inside. If they do realize, there are two possible consequences. If you have the captain on board, you won't be able to reach hyperspace due to scrambling systems on nearby security stations, and you will be boarded with excessive force. If you don't have the captain on board, planetary defenses will fire on you and immediately destroy your unshielded shuttle. Both spell death for your team.
The only intel you're being provided with is a rough idea of where to find your objectives. You will be docking at an available docking port, at the top level. The datacore is located on the bottom level, and the Captain's quarters at the second level. The Captain and Datacore will likely be both covered by security, but 2nd level is closer to security and has more chokepoints from the elevator to the captain's quarters.
CharactersCharacter's Name: John Nix
Role: Soldier
Skills: Martial Arts [1], Stealth [1], Agility [1], Marksmanship[1]
Talent: Knife Combat
Appearance: Short, wiry, with a messy mop of black hair and hardscrabble stubble. Brown skin, blue eyes.
Background: Used to be an enforcer for a small cartel, got wiped out. Changed employers, specialising in either long distance hits or up close and personal executions. Decided to join a mercenary crew for better pay, and more excitement.
Character's Name: Johnny Marte
Role: Captain
Skills: Electronics [1] Mechanics [1] Piloting - Maneuvering [1] Piloting - Evasion [1]
Talent: Evasive Maneuvers
OPTIONAL
Appearance: A tall, blond man, with a perpetual grin and a generally laid-back appearance.
Background: Marte was a two-bit smuggler, running low-level contraband from system to system in a cheap shuttle. He didn't make a fortune, but he didn't have to answer to anybody, and he got to choose his own hours. Unfortunately, a handful of pirates ambushed him on a routine run, crippling his shuttle and preparing to board. A few Good Samaritans drove them off, but Marte was only barely able to slowboat his ship back to port. Unable to repair his crippled blockade runner, Johnny was forced to join a mercenary crew as a pilot.
Character's Name:Braccek O'Hare
Role:Soldier
Skills: Toughness [1] Mechanics [2] Electronics [1]
Talent: Holding their liquor
Appearance:A tall, stocky man with graying brown hair.
Background:A engineer that's been around the universe and back. At least, he thinks he does, hard to tell with all the alcohol in his system. Joined the Mercenary Crew for the sights, money and because it's the first thing that popped up when he searched "Job"
Character's Name: Judith Galven
Role: Soldier
Skills: Martial Arts [2], Agility [2]
Talent: Not easily frightened
Appearance: In her late 20's, with braided black hair and violet eyes. In combat, she tends to mod beamswords to have a longer blade and a more frightening appearance.
Background: Julie was found on a space space colony following a raid and mecha attack by the [least scrupulous galactic entity]. Her parents, the leaders of a local underground anti-government were gunned down in a hallway with Julie close behind. After the raid was over, paramedics and independent news reporters found her stabbing the corpse of a [least scrupulous galactic entity] soldier who'd died of poison nanites (which, by her genetics, she was immune to), used by the anti-government organization to try and halt the raid at the cost of several dozen civilian lives.
She grew up in a foster family and learned to conceal her hatred of those who killed her parents, but in truth, she came to hate anyone who'd fight and kill for a living, including her parents. Thus she became a mercenary in order to kill other mercenaries.
(Just let me know if you want to modify this)
Character's Name: Sveila
Role: Soldiers
Skills: (4 skillpoints available)
Martial Arts
Heavy Weapons
Stealth
Agility
Talent: Flame-throwers ?
OPTIONAL
Appearance:
Sveila is in her mid 20's with pale skin and a tall and thin build, like she's been stretched out.
Dark brown eyes and a pair of raven black pigtails.
Background:
Born in a successful family, Sveila grow up a normal child until a fire took her mother leaving her unharmed but with a live long love of fire.
A short career in fire service ended with the start of coup against the local government.
As the coup changed in a prolonged and bloody civil war Sveila found a job as a "fire officer" for a criminal gang.As the years passed she started to burn more than just empty warehouses becoming known as "the cremationer".
For now, Sveila's flame-thrower talent will apply to plasma throwers.
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Topic: Mercenary Coalition Test Run: "Brute Inquiry"- OOC Thread (Read 2005 times)