Trinity Universe: Darkling Two-Zero OOC

[ProfPotts]

Okay - so here's the OOC thread for the game. Character backgrounds here, please (along with all the usual nonsense players feel compelled to bring up in OOC threads ::rolleyes ::tongue ::wink ::biggrin ).

[ProfPotts]

Okay, having looked over the four character sheets I printed out the other day, I've come up with the following:

Damanor & Prince of Boredom have both listed the Class-based AC bonus under 'Natural AC' - it should be under 'Misc' (since Natural AC specifically deals with being tougher than usual - & that's not what the Class bonus grants baseline characters).

Ezekiel has missed his Class-based Reflex save bonus.

Ezekiel & Brilyn both have the wrong Skills listed as 'Cross-Class' (or not) - in Brilyn's case his Skill point total is also incorrect (perhaps as a result of the incorrect CCs - I haven't checked).

Ezekiel & Brilyn have both missed the Cipher [shadowy Past] Feat off their sheets.

Damanor has an Alignment listed on his sheet - the Aberrant game doesn't use Alignments.

Apart from those few points, everything looks fine (unless anyone else has spotted anything?). A couple of the selected Feats are from D20 Modern & not the PHB 3.5 or Aberrant D20, but they're both acceptable, so that's not a problem.

[ProfPotts]

It's a start and all... But uh.. Help would be appriciated... I know there's stuff to finish yet.. trust me..

Okay Malkboy, theres a few things I've noticed at first glance:

You're a point over on your Ability Scores (you only get 25 points to play with, & scores above 14 cost extra).

Your Class-based save bonuses should be listed in the 'base' column, not the 'misc' column.

Not all your character's Skills are cross-class Skills (see the list I originally posted).

As a human you start with two Feats at level one - you only have one listed (on top of those you get for 'free': Negotiator & Cipher [shadowy Past]). I'd suggest that the ability to competantly use a weapon may come in handy - what with the Directive being a paramilitary group & all... Just MHO though... ::wink

[Damanor]

I've corrected the problems you mentioned - thanks for clearing up my confusion. I also switched the "Persian" language family to "Romance Languages", since Malkboy didn't choose that as one of his. (I think you said each point was a language family, rather than a language.)

http://dndonlinegames.com/testvb/view.php?id=4822

Here's a question for you: For now, I've got Profession: Tabloid Reporter, but I think Craft: Writing might be more appropriate. On your overview of the classes, you have Craft as a cross-class skill for Investigators, rather than a class skill; from what I've seen, it's usually a class skill. Am I just confused? ::confused

[malkboy]

Don't forget that mine's still a work in progress... I made a slight miscalculation and have skill points to spend (I left all the Cross Class boxes checked with only my in class skills listed.. DOH)

For Speak Languages is it the Language Group or a single language that you choose from..(right now I have it as 1 rank= 1 language like d20 Modern seems to say).. and uh.. well still gotta pick out a weapon.. I was looking at the Nova handgun.. (for the irony of it and all..)

Another question... how much of our equiptment list are we buying.. and how much is provided for us.. (I know some police forces provide certain items)

[ProfPotts]

On your overview of the classes, you have Craft as a cross-class skill for Investigators, rather than a class skill; from what I've seen, it's usually a class skill. Am I just confused?

Not confused, just wrong - my list of the Investigator Class Skills is correct (I honestly thought this was a rhetorical question on your part when you first asked it... ::rolleyes ).

For Speak Languages is it the Language Group or a single language that you choose from?

Extra languages from a high Intelligence are single languages (e.g. French or Japanese), each rank in the Speak Language Skill provides an entire language group (like Romance languages, or Slavic languages).

[ProfPotts]

The Directive

What is The Directive?

Essentially The Directive is a multi-national police force set up to combat Nova-related crime & threats towards member nations. In essence it is similar to America’s FBI – with jurisdiction over a specific area of law, but with wide & sweeping powers to enforce that law. It also bears some resemblance to the CIA – since The Directive tends towards secrecy & espionage more than most police agencies do.

Who are the member nations?

In the order they signed up to The Directive:

The Russian Confederation

The United Kingdom

Japan

The United States

Germany

Rumour suggests that the next member nation may well be China

Blue & Whites

The Directive is known publicly for its blue & white paramilitary uniforms – dark blue SWAT-style jumpsuits with white shoulders, & matching blue berets. Directive agents also often don uniform jackets – dark blue with ‘Directive’ clearly spelt out across the back & the left breast in bold white letters – similar in form & function to the ‘FBI’ jackets which agents of that organisation wear to identify themselves in arrest situations.

Of course, many missions require undercover work, & appropriate clothing.

The Badge

Like most official agencies The Directive has its own badge – a blue shield with a white stripe down the centre, one large black five-pointed star in the centre, & six smaller black five-pointed stars around that. Agents are issued badges & ID cards which they get to flash when they want the local police (or anyone else) to co-operate.

Powers

No, not Quantum powers… ::rolleyes Legal powers. Directive agents are empowered to investigate any & all Nova-related activity & crime within the borders of member nations. They can make legal searches without requiring a warrant (if they can prove reasonable cause), make arrests, requisition the aid of local authorities, investigate private records, place private citizens under surveillance, & carry a whole host of dangerous weaponry – in pursuit of their duties (naturally).

‘Nova-related’ includes Novas themselves, Nova-involved organisations (from cults to street gangs to corporations), Nova-derived drugs (like Mite dealers), & (if we’re being honest) anything else they can swing.

Missions

Like the classic ‘alphabet soup’ agencies (FBI, CIA, KGB, MI5, etc.) most of the work of The Directive is pretty dull sifting through raw data – reading media reports, reports from other agencies, looking at satellite photos, etc. – pretty boring stuff. Luckily, the PCs aren’t average Directive agents, they’re field agents – the guys who actually go out & do stuff (whether it’s Bond-stylie, or Mulder-stylie, is up to them).

The Directive has several threat levels:

Alpha – no threat: standard procedure

Beta – potential threat: increased surveillance, increased collection of data

Gamma – subject of concern: round-the-clock surveillance, plan contingencies, assign reaction teams

Omega – definite threat (baseline): alert national security force (i.e. local police), assign & deploy appropriate reaction teams

Titan – definite threat (Nova): alert national security force, assign & deploy appropriate reaction teams, alert Directive superiors

Every known Nova on the planet is under some level of Directive surveillance, as are various Nova-involved organisations – although this ‘surveillance’ may be little more than keeping track of relevant media reports. The PCs are usually involved at the ‘reaction team’ level or higher – when people are needed on the ground to get things done.

Secrecy

Although an officially sanctioned agency The Directive protects the identities of its agents (hence the Cipher Feat all PCs start with). Although most agents will use their own names when in the field, their records aren’t generally publicly available. Agents with higher levels of Cipher actually develop entire false personas – these are usually long-term undercover operatives.

Equipment

The Directive can get the best for its agents, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will. Certain items, such as Eclipsidol, are limited in both available amounts, & when they will be authorised to be used. Just because the agency has its own surveillance satellites, doesn’t mean the PCs get to play with them without a damn good reason – the agency’s resources are, after all, being used for a lot more than just the PCs’ missions, no matter how important they may seem to the characters involved.

Generally speaking the cheaper an item, the more chance it’ll be available on request. The character’s Wealth bonus helps to determine what equipment they can get their grubbies on. The Backing tier of Background Feats greatly improves the amount of equipment available to a character (rank, as they say, has its privileges). Wealth checks for requisitioned equipment don't reduce the character's Wealth bonus (as normal Wealth checks do) - unless the item is lost or damaged beyond repair (in which case the character loses Wealth to reflect docked pay). Of course, requisitioned equipment needs to be returned after a mission.

Standard Issue

Field agents get the following as standard issue items:

Uniform jumpsuit (including boots, gloves, beret, belts, holsters, pouches, etc.)

Uniform jacket

Tactical earpiece radio (scrambled)

Satellite-based mobile phone with GPS (scrambled)

Badge & biometric photo-ID card

Display glasses

Light undercover shirt

Light Armour

Concealable

AC +2 / nonprof’ +1

Max. Dex. Bonus +7

Armour penalty -0

Speed 30 feet

Weight 2 lbs

Viper dart pistol

Damage – special

Range increment 30 ft

Rate of Fire - Semi-automatic

Magazine – box 12

Size – small

Weight 3 lb

Viper ammunition (usual issue)

Tranquilizer – 2D4 non-lethal to baselines, none to Novas

Nova tranquilizer – 2D4 to baselines, 2D4 non-lethal to Novas

Moxinoqauntamine – 4D8 or 2D8 to baselines, -4 or -2 to power checks for Novas

One handgun of choice (with ammunition)

Concealed shoulder holster (for handgun)

Concealed waistband holster (for Viper)

Penlight

Notebook computer + cellular modem (encrypted)

PDA

Handcuffs

Motor pool unmarked vehicle (for team – either a sedan, a SUV, or a minivan)

The vehicle will contain:

- Evidence kits

- Electrical tool kit

- Mechanical tool kit

- Medical kit

- Fire extinguisher

- Battery floodlight

- Nova restraints

- Zip-ties

- Cobra dart rifle

Damage – special

Range increment 90 ft

Rate of Fire - Semi-automatic

Magazine – 2x box 10

Size – large

Weight 8 lb

- Cobra ammunition (the damage for this matches that of the Viper – the dosage is the same in either case, the Cobra just has a superior range)

Note: the Viper dart pistol resembles a small automatic handgun with a broad grip (the magazine is of a ‘double-stacked’ design), whilst the Cobra rifle looks similar to a high-tech sniper piece. The Cobra is kept locked in a metal security box in the team's vehicle.

Both fire syringe-like projectiles via an electric pulse which ignites the projectile’s solid chemical propellant. The dart’s needle-tip is a special hardened alloy which is sharp enough (when combined with the propellant force of the gun) to piece even the skin of most Novas – Novas with Damage Reduction, however, are too tough for the darts to puncture. However, the projectile’s plastic body is designed to flatten when it hits the target – leaving no more than a bruise, even on baselines.

The specially blended tranquilizers which go into standard issue darts have been developed to be so effective that they allow the target no save against their effects – the darts can be loaded with other chemicals & drugs, but these allow their normal saves (such as with Mox darts, which are also standard-issue).

Magazines are usually loaded with only a single type of dart, & are both colour & tactile coded for easy & quick identification.

The Cobra is designed as a tactical sniper weapon, & has a selector switch to choose between its twin bullpup-mounted (side-by-side) box magazines. It also mounts an integral telescopic electro-optical scope & laser sight / rangefinder which (when used) increases the weapon’s effective range increment to 135 ft, & adds a +1 equipment bonus on attack rolls.

The ammunition for both weapons is caseless, & both guns count as being both visually & audible suppressed (DC 15 to notice them being fired).

The agent's 'display glasses' look like a pair of shades, but incorporate an advanced HUD system - they can be used as night-vision optics, display data (from linked devices - such as an agent's computer or phone), & can 'pixilate' an agent's vision (the so-called 'beer goggles' effect which is used to help resist certain Mega-Charismatic Nova's influence, but which impairs certain visually-based Skill checks as well).

Project Utopia

The Directive’s authority, much to its annoyance, does not cover Project Utopia & its employees. Thanks to their United Nations mandate, the Project, its holdings, & its personnel aren’t subject to the usual internal laws of individual nations – in essence the Project has diplomatic immunity. This doesn’t mean they’re above the law – just that The Directive tells its agents to tread carefully when dealing with Utopians. The flip side of this, however, is that The Directive, on occasion, gets to ‘pull rank’ on Project personnel – since the United Nations’ own authority is limited within individual countries.

[Prince of Boredom]

Thanks for the rundown Prof, good info ::thumbsup. As always, though, it has provided the catalyst for some questions.

1) Are employees of the Directive strictly Directive employees, or are they 'on loan' from their respective countries similar organizations (ie. CIA, MI-5, etc)? I guess the best real world example I can think of is something like a NATO assignment for us military types; we are working for NATO, but when the tour is up we go back to our respective military services.

2) Will you assign the team leader (as it would realistically happen) or would you prefer for us to make that decision amongst ourselves?

3) Will we be operating in a particular member country, or will we be more like a worldwide reaction force (may affect some people's language choices)?

4) Are there automatic versions of the Viper pistol or Cobra rifle?

5) If not (and this is for everyone), should I look at reallocating my feats? My initial understanding was that we would be trying to take down novas with conventional weapons, and I felt that automatic weapons with the burst fire feat would be extremely useful for that purpose. However, if these are going to be our primary weapons, I might want to look at making my character more proficient and lethal with them.

6) When (and how) do you want us to requisition equipment (ie. in this thread or via pm)? Do you want us to do it as a team, or individually?

7) Same question for standard wealth checks.

8) Has anyone thought of a codename/callsign? Do we want to have some theme ("Mr Pink? Why do I have to be Mr. Pink?") or just have everyone come up with something on their own?

[brilyn]

Help me out here.

I have Computer Use, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Demolitions, Disable Device, Heal, Investigate, Knowledge (any), Profession, Repair, Research, Search, Speak Language listed as my Class Skills.

I didn't delete all the default skills cause I just didn't.

I also only spent points on Class Skills.

By my count, I've spent 36 skill points.

Base skill points for Scholar is 28, plus (2x4) for intelligence = 36.

Have added in the feat. ::smile

[ezekiel]

I corrected the sheet, CC skills just weren't unchecked for skills I had no ranks in. I'm still wondering about the callsign. Lady White? Miss Black?

Here's the background that was on the sheet:

Tisha-Rani Petrovich was born in the suburbs of Saint Petersburg in 1985. Her parents were practicing muslims and raised her in accordance to their faith. They weren't fundamentalists however and Tisha was free to worship as she chose, leading a happy, fulfilled childhood. She war a hijab (veil) during most of her teens but eventually dropped out of the habit as her training for gymnastics competitions (a sport she took up in early childhood) increased. Training which her family could barely support.

Scouts for the Federal'naia Sluzhba Bezopasnosti = Federal Security Service (FSB) eventually spotted her and, after an evaluation period to assess her intellect and disposition as well as her physical talents, recruited her into the service. The FSB offered a "scholarship" into a "sports college" when she was only 16; a scholarship which allowed her parents to live comfortably as Tisha-Rani was trained in various methods of the FSB.

After two years of training she was transferred to the Alfa branch of the FSB, a special operations unit. This unit has taken part in virtually all hostage rescue operations in Russia since its formation. During this time, no hostages have been injured and no operation has failed. Those operation which Alfa did not participate in (local authorities usually have jurisdiction over which team is used) oftentimes ended tragically, notably with the deaths of the hostages. Her training continued and she started partaking in some special operations for the service. Most notably she was present at the Moscow Theatre hostage situation of 2002. During the stakeout where the Chechnyan sovereignists claimed to have methods of detecting novas and would blow the building if any were to approach, she managed to enter covertly into the building and dispose of two guards. This allowed her partner, and explosives expert, to come in and proceed with the disarment of several explosive devices. Unfortunately the Kremlin pushed for immediate action which led to the use of knockout gas before Alfa's operation was to be completed. The use of gas in such an enclosed environment led to the deaths of over a hundred hostages. She received a commendation for her actions which quite possibly saved the Theatre from even greater disaster. Despite this she felt disgusted at the lack of communication between the FSB and the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has its own special units) which led to the disaster. In protest she refused her medal which led to the Directive taking notice of her. After a year's observation and "tests" (though Tisha never knew she was being tested) the Directive finally approached her with an offer to join a special, international Intelligence agency...

For reference click here

[ProfPotts]

Help me out here.

I have Computer Use, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Demolitions, Disable Device, Heal, Investigate, Knowledge (any), Profession, Repair, Research, Search, Speak Language listed as my Class Skills.

I didn't delete all the default skills cause I just didn't.

I also only spent points on Class Skills.

By my count, I've spent 36 skill points.

Base skill points for Scholar is 28, plus (2x4) for intelligence = 36.

Yeah - it looks fine now. When I printed out a copy the CC Skill checks were all over the place, which resulted in 40 Skill Points being listed as the total on the sheet. If you're saying you didn't update the thing, then I have no idea what happened. ::confused

1) Are employees of the Directive strictly Directive employees, or are they 'on loan' from their respective countries similar organizations (ie. CIA, MI-5, etc)? I guess the best real world example I can think of is something like a NATO assignment for us military types; we are working for NATO, but when the tour is up we go back to our respective military services.

Yes they are Directive employees, no they are not 'on loan'. No-one applies to join the Directive - they are selected, then approached with an offer. The best of the best (or, more to the point - those who fit the profile). Ezekiel's background is a good example of a Directive agent's recruitment.

2) Will you assign the team leader (as it would realistically happen) or would you prefer for us to make that decision amongst ourselves?

The character with the highest Backing background Feat gets to have the highest rank & be team leader. If everyone has the same level, then all are of the same rank. As smart cookies all round, the team is expected to be able to work out issues of leadership on an as-needed basis, & with some level of professionalism & maturity. It would be of obvious common sense, for example, for the team to follow the orders of the most capable tactician in a combat situation - but maybe not when subtly questioning suspects when undercover.

If that's still not enough, then presume that the character with the highest Charisma is the most natural leader.

3) Will we be operating in a particular member country, or will we be more like a worldwide reaction force (may affect some people's language choices)?

The first mission will be in the USA, but after that they could be in any member country. I'm planning to make the first mission a pretty tough 'baptism by fire', so characters who survive will in all likelyhood gain at least one level by the end of it.

4) Are there automatic versions of the Viper pistol or Cobra rifle?

Nope.

5) If not (and this is for everyone), should I look at reallocating my feats? My initial understanding was that we would be trying to take down novas with conventional weapons, and I felt that automatic weapons with the burst fire feat would be extremely useful for that purpose. However, if these are going to be our primary weapons, I might want to look at making my character more proficient and lethal with them.

The two dart-guns aren't really meant to be the characters' 'primary weapons' as such. I've spent more time describing them because they don't exist in real life (if you want to know what a Glock 17, for example, is like then you can find out from books or internet sources, etc.). They're also unique to The Directive.

The Directive doesn't expect agents to use the dart guns exclusively, but they do offer more options than conventional weaponry - especially since The Directive has all sorts of chemicals & drugs it develops to throw at Novas. That doesn't mean that agents are expected to face-down rampaging Novas with tranq' darts, or try to take out hordes of Mite-crazed street gangs with semi-automatic weapons. The Directive is hardly a pacifist organisation after all!

BTW - trying to make a character more 'lethal' with a tranq' dart gun is kinda' missing the point... ::tongue

All agents are issued a Viper as well as a conventional handgun of choice - the equipment listed above is, after all, standard issue. The Directive isn't about to issue automatic weapons as standard to agents who are not trained in their proper use - gunning down a few dozen innocent bystanders whilst trying to apprehend Sloppy Joe isn't exactly the sort of result they're looking for. If your character is trained in their use, however, then he can pretty much take his pick of any real world firearms.

6) When (and how) do you want us to requisition equipment (ie. in this thread or via pm)? Do you want us to do it as a team, or individually?

Unless anyone has a damned good in-character reason for keeping secrets from their colleages, then I'd prefer to keep all such aspects of this game public.

As far as requistions are concerned the rule of thumb will be that if the character is trained in the use of the items requested, & they seem to be the sort of thing a Directive agent might need, then they'll get issued them with no rolls required. Obviously this isn't a license to request tactical nukes, eclipsidol, real living eufibre, a million dollors in used bank notes, a Directive 'super-van', or anything else similar - just an indication that if, for example, a character has forensic skills, then they can have forensic anaysis equipment available. The same goes for taking the various Armour Proficiency Feats & having armour issued - if you have the Feat, then you can get the armour - but you can't get, say, 'a prototype VARG' or anything. I hoping everyone can use a bit of common sense here... ::lookaround

7) Same question for standard wealth checks.

Again - unless it's absolutely vital for the character concept to keep knowledge of the character's private possessions secret, then just post them here.

8) Has anyone thought of a codename/callsign? Do we want to have some theme ("Mr Pink? Why do I have to be Mr. Pink?") or just have everyone come up with something on their own?

Up to you guys - the assumption of the game is that the characters have undergone most of their Directive training together as a team (probably the only 'surviving' members of that particular class - the ones who made the cut) - they know each other, & should be able to function as a team together.

[brilyn]

If you're saying you didn't update the thing, then I have no idea what happened.

Yup, didn't change a thing, points-wise. ::biggrin

Crazy. ::tongue

[malkboy]

Yup, didn't change a thing, points-wise.

Unless that one thing you changed counts.. ::tongue

Oh and Prof.. You said we couldn't requisition a "prototype VARG" if we didn't have the skills.. So maybe we can request a prototype VARG with a Pilot? ::devilangel

Any more recommendations on changes to Tyler? Anybody?

[ProfPotts]

Once all character sheets are finished, all equipment requisitioned, & all character backgrounds posted (come on guys - time to be all creative & stuff ::tongue ::wink ) we can get started on this one. I'm ready when you guys are.

[brilyn]

I'll post my char background once I get home from work.

As for requisitioned gear, the standard issue stuff is fine by me. All investigative-y stuff seems to be covered.

Is forensic equipment outside our purview (I'm guessing this is covered by the Evidence Kit, but I'm just checking. ::smile )?

If not, I'd like to requisition some.

Is a medical kit sufficient for field surgery? If not, I'd like to requisition something that is.

Handgun of choice..... Well, I don't know a heck of alot about weaponry, so something along the lines of a Glock, or whatever would be a 'standard issue police force handgun'-type thing will do me just fine.

[brilyn]

ok, I lied about the char background.... I didn't have much time last night. I'll try and post it over the weekend.

[Damanor]

Here's the background for Karl:

Karl Schmidt was raised by his mother in Munich. His father, an American soldier, requested a transfer out of Germany when he discovered the pregnancy, and Karl has never met him. His mother was poor, working full-time to support her son, telling herself that her son's father would return. Karl struggled in school, but worked hard enough to earn the Keld scholarship to a University in Berlin. Showing an interest and talent for investigative journalism, Karl chose that as his major in honor of the man paying his bills, Heinrich Keld. He minored in Linguistics and Economics.

Keld became Karl's hero, inspiring him to work hard in his chosen fields in hope that he could one day work for the media magnate. He also became familiar with Keld's work, attempting to determine his motivations for different actions. Karl's economics studies led him to new ways of investigating his idol, and he accidentally discovered illegal ties to government officials in some of Keld's business interests. He wrote a letter to his idol, convinced that his hero could do no wrong, and the deception was the result of corruption at some lower level. Instead of receiving thanks, Karl lost his scholarship and was expelled from the school for supposedly cheating on a test.

Karl went to work at the only business that would hire a failed journalism student, the International N!quisitor in the N! network. Pretending to be the American writer Carl Smith, he published his findings in the tabloid, placing the blame on the middle managers under Keld. This story brought the attention of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the Federal Intelligence Service reporting to the Chancellor. Agents of the BND met with Karl to check his story. When he presented his proof to the government agents, they recruited him as a media consultant.

Partway through what would have been Karl's Junior year at the University, the Newsman scandal broke in Germany, and Keld was exposed for manipulating public opinion to suit his own ends. At the same time, Karl was given a government scholarship to continue his studies.

After his graduation, Karl was formally recruited by the BND, and he began training as a field agent. A short time later, Chancellor Galt gave the Directive unofficial support from the German government; because of his talent for languages and dialects, Karl was one of the first Germans transferred to the international organization, where he completed his training as an intelligence agent. He continues to write for the N!quisitor under the byline of Carl Smith, as the Directive finds it a useful cover for investigating unusual situations.

Karl's Character Sheet

[brilyn]

Sume was born to a middle-class family, and lived most his life quite well off. He had the techno-geek friends, and was very much a fan of 'loose and free' western society. Lacking direction in life, when going to college he decided that Philosophy and Archaeology were the way to go, though he had no idea how he would apply them in later life.

College brought with it a mix of people. New friends, better friends. Worse people. He saw the double-standards of the priviledged students, the disregard for society. Kids hurting themselves with drug use, with profanity. Even though society stood up and said 'No!' on their behalf, the people who surrouded him hurt themselves anyway. And passed it on.

Having spent his time getting his degree. Sume decided that he wished to make a difference to society. He knew he could 'do some good' if he applied to the police force.

His qualifications moved him towards the research and analytical aspect of things, and his sharp eyes made sure he was put forward for more crime-scene work, than crime-lab. Once his basic training was complete, he pushed his superiors to train him in more areas of work, so he could better serve and analyse. They concurred.

When the Nova phenomenon happened, Sume (like so many others) was in awe. But soon realised that this is not the first time this happened. The Greek Gods. The ancients Myths. The heros of Ancient Japan.

Was this a rebirth? Or evolution? Or a hoax......

Sume believes that such people need to be watched, and wary. For while there is a Hercules, or a Wong Fei-Hung, there are always those who will abuse their gifts for personal gain.

[Prince of Boredom]

Background for Brian Courage:

Brian Courage was born on a small farm in rural Nebraska in late June of 1984. Growing up, Brian spent most of his free time working on the farm; tending the fields, feeding the livestock and milking the cows. At the age of 18, having graduated from high school, and having very little direction of where to go in the future, he joined the US Marine Corps. Having grown up performing hard physical labor and heaving few creature comforts, Brian excelled at basic training and advanced infantry school, earning distinguished graduate honors at both schools. Graduating from infantry school, Private Courage was assigned to an infantry platoon as a rifleman. Brian served with distinction for three years, proving himself time and again as a reliable, hardworking marine. His superiors recognized his qualities and recommended he apply for Force Recon.

Brain applied and, after the grueling indoctrination tests, was accepted as a member of the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. Brian continued to excel during various ‘classified’ operations at deep recon missions. He quickly made his way through the ranks, achieving the rank of SGT and assistant team leader by mid-2007. However, in late 2007, his career path was fundamentally changed. On a deep recon mission in South America, his team was alerted that their current target and a rival country had both hired Nova Elites to settle a border dispute, and that an American Embassy had been caught in the crossfire. As the only American forces in the area, his 6 man team was tasked with going in and rescuing any survivors. As the team approached the embassy, the amount of death and destruction the Novas had caused, and their obvious lack of consideration for innocents appalled SGT Courage. His team was able to rescue the majority of US personnel assigned to the embassy, but not without losing 2 of their own. During the solemn journey back to Camp Pendelton, Brian was contacted by an individual who told him he could make a difference in the world, monitoring Novas to try and prevent the atrocities he had seen.

The next week, Brian was discharged from the US Marine Corps and became an agent of the Directive.

Character Link: http://www.dndonlinegames.com/view.php?id=4243

Requested Items:

"Free' pistol: Beretta 93R

M16A2

Barret Light Fifty Sniper Rifle

Tactical Vest

[ProfPotts]

Still seem to be waiting on malkboy's background here...

[malkboy]

Still seem to be waiting on malkboy's background here...

←

Ten Fore.. I will be rewriting it today i found the notes but not the background.. Sorry prof

[malkboy]

Tyler Adams:

Tyler was born in the small English village of Hayfield. At a young age, it was apparant to everyone that he eloquent and good at getting what he wanted. In his teenage years he got a reputation as an actor and showman. But even more amazing was his ability to talk anybody into almost anything for very little in return. So it was no surprised that, despite that most of his skills weren't immediately lending to be in law enforcement, Tyler was accepted as a cadet at the local constabulary when he came of age.

When he first started training it brutalfor Tyler, however it only served to drive him towards his goals faster. While the rest of his skills were pretty much at par with the rest of the officers by the end of training, Tyler was well liked by all his superiors. As an officer, Tyler found himself often putting on different hats to appease his boss and the public. Tyler was so good at his job that he was quickly advancing in the ranks and became one of the top negotiators in all of England. Having refined his talents to be better suited towards law enforcement, Tyler was found to be well suited for the Directive and was rapidly approached to join.

(If Prof is okay with this, I'll go with it... Else it's a work in progress..)

Requisition List:

(explained as props for job) Cigarettes, 2 Lighters, Pack of Cards, Candy Bar (more in car)

LaFrance Nova 9mm handgun

Tactical Vest (Or just damn strong Kevlar)

Comm Unit jammed to a particular frequency for hostage taker/terror suspect (or other comm device for bad guy to reach negotiator)

[Alex Green]

WOW!!! Now that's a rocking first post.

[Prince of Boredom]

I must agree with Mr. Green on that count. AWESOME start, we'll have to see how many of us actually survive.

I' d like to make one request/recommendation. Coud everyone edit their background posts to include a link to their characters? Would make it helpful so we don't have to go digging through the old forum. Will do mine presently. Thanks.

[ezekiel]

Yeah that was a really, really great intro... ::blink

So let's get to it! 60minutes IC and one month OOC for me, we just might do it!! ::ninja

My character: http://www.dndonlinegames.com/view.php?id=4439

I've updated the equipment and armor (standard issue). I took an FN Five-Seven w/ suppressor and Laser sight as her sidearm. Basically a mean looking gun for her to look even meaner when she points it at someone asking for directions:

Ver iz ze nucleear bumb? I'll count to tree, I expect an answer by two...

[brilyn]

Cheers to Ezekial for reminding me about the d20 game.

Before we go any further:

"Right guys, not a lot of time so here goes. Tisha, you take point, CQB is your thing, and you've done this before. Boss said there's booby-traps, and you're the best of us at finding them. I'll take OIC, second position. I'll cover the front with Tisha and her flank. Sume, you're next, you've got our left and right. Karl, you next, you've got targets of opportunity. Tyler, you've got rear guard. Based on the briefing, I'm assuming this is a free-fire zone, all contacts are considered tangos."

Someone care to translate that into english please?

I'm sure Sume understands it just fine. I sure as hell don't. ::tongue

[archer]

Cheers to Ezekial for reminding me about the d20 game.

Before we go any further:

Someone care to translate that into english please?

I'm sure Sume understands it just fine. I sure as hell don't.  ::tongue

←

Let me try to translate that for you, bud.

"Right guys, not a lot of time so here goes. Tisha, you take point, CQB is your thing, and you've done this before. Boss said there's booby-traps, and you're the best of us at finding them. I'll take OIC, second position. I'll cover the front with Tisha and her flank. Sume, you're next, you've got our left and right. Karl, you next, you've got targets of opportunity. Tyler, you've got rear guard. Based on the briefing, I'm assuming this is a free-fire zone, all contacts are considered tangos."

"Right guys, not a lot of time so here goes. Tisha, you take the lead position in line, because close-quarter battle is your thing, and you've done this before. Boss said there's booby-traps, and you're the best of us at finding them. I'll take Officer in Command, just behind you. I'll cover the front and Tisha's flank(sides). Sume, you're third in line, you will watch the left and right sides for enemies. Karl, you're next, you'll watch for any enemies we might miss and take care of them. Tyler, you watch out behind us. Based on the briefing, I'm assuming this is a war zone where anyone might shoot at us; so anyone and everyone we see are considered hostile enemies. Please shoot them."

Here's some definitions for anyone else that's confused.

OIC = Officer in Command.

Tango = Military parlance for terrorists, usually just means an enemy.

Free-Fire Zone = War zone...everybody is pretty much shooting at anything that remotely looks like something they don't like. Lots of gunfire, random and aimed.

CQB = Close Quarter Battle...also sometimes referred to as CQC, or Close Quarter Combat. Generally means fighting in an enclosed environment, such as a building.

[brilyn]

Thanks, I guessed about 1/2 of it correctly. ::smile

[archer]

Glad I could help. ::cool

[ProfPotts]

Okay, after a couple of weeks re-reading all the D20 stuff I own I'm ready (I think) to get this one rolling again.

One change: I've decided to use an Action Point variant rule based on some stuff in Unearthed Arcana.

Normal Action Points (from D20 Modern) are used to add a little to a D20 roll after seeing the number rolled, but before the result is described - obviously this isn't very practical in a play-by-forum set-up. However, some of the variants are quite nice, so...

Action Points

Each PC gets a finite number of Action Points (5 each at level 1, then 5 + ½ character level - rounded down - at each new level). Once spent Action Points are gone - they don't recharge (they're like one-shot magic items if you like).

Characters can spend a single Action Point as a free action to achieve one of the following effects:

Boost Defense - doubles the normal benefits of fighting defensively for one round.

Emulate Feat - can gain the benefit of a Feat the character doesn't have (but does have the prerequisites for) for one round.

Extra Attack - gains a single extra attack at character's highest attack bonus.

Improve Feat - doubles the normal numerical bonuses from a Feat the character has for one round.

Activate Class Feature - character can spend an Action Point to gain an extra use of a class feature which has a limited 'per day' number of uses.

Stablise - a dying character can spend an Action Point to become stable.

Characters can only spend one Action Point per round.

Most NPCs don't get Action Points - especially Novas (they balance the field just a little).

So... on with the show.

[Alex Green]

Hey Prof, is this in the same universe as the other games? I.e. if New York blows up will it affect the QZ types?

[ezekiel]

I'm pretty sure its a different universe, I think it was written in the first few posts of this thread if I remember correctly, or the thread that came before this official one.

[ProfPotts]

Yup - it's a different universe (conversions between the systems would break my brain... ::wink ).

[ezekiel]

Just a note, Damanor was last active in May and I'm not too sure about Malk's or Brilyn's current situation. Does that mean they're now wearing red shirts? ::wink

Course the sheets are online so if someone want to takeover Damanor's character or something maybe that can be done...characters only have one or two posts each at this point, they can still be developed through play. Just a thought...