kato13
09-10-2008, 05:16 AM
DeaconR 09-06-2008, 09:02 AM How many people have played or had players who started their characters out with civilian origins in the game? One of the most interesting games I had started out like this.
One of my players (a woman--women sometimes come up with the most interesting character backgrounds) played a character who began the game as a business executive, volunteered for service in Royal Navy Intelligence after London was bombed, was recruited by MI6 after that. She started out though in Merc 2000 as the 'money' in two sessions, one set in Africa and the other in Ukraine. I let her have Henryk Rapacki as a contact in Poland as one example, one of the politicians in "Allegheny Uprising" as another.
Another character played a medical doctor who was recruited by the CDC. I really liked these players because they were willing to play characters that had a certain vulnerability to the TW2000 environment; they had to be particularly cunning and avoid the more violent encounters when possible. A lot of the elements of the game that I like--survival, scavenging, foraging, negotiation, spying, building up resources--were really focused on in this game as a result of this.
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Targan 09-06-2008, 09:17 AM The player in my campaign who has suffered the highest number of PC deaths (he's onto his fourth PC now, USN Lt Cdr HD Black, still playing through his pre-game) generated a non-military PC for character number two. He played Wolfgang Heckler, a German who had been a tow truck driver, salvager, gun runner, body builder, Jui Jutsu practitioner and Wotan cultist. When Heckler met Major's Po's party he was in the company of two fellow salvagers, Walter and Big Karl, who were East German Army deserters and were, like Heckler, body builders and Wotan cultists. The trio were driving around in a VW Kombi van with a trailer both of which were packed to the gunalls with spares, fuel, ammo and salvage. It all had a heavy homoerotic feel to it I have to say.
Heckler had a fascinating skill set, much lighter on military-type combat skills than most PCs in my campaign. He died in a high speed motorcycle accident (lost control when he hit a big puddle and slid into a flock of sheep). Big Karl died in a riverine gun battle on the Vistula. Only Walter survived from that group and he stayed with the train at the end of the Going Home module.
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Mohoender 09-06-2008, 10:36 AM The last character I played was named Joan van Horn (an american of dutch decent). He did 1 term as undergraduate university, 2 in grad school with a language specialty, and 1 as a Ph.D professor teaching dutch, french and swedish. While an undergraduate he joined the AFROTR and entered the reserve after it.
When the war started he was sent to europe as a translator and a liaison officer. Before game time, he was considered to have got one more term as an active officer (still not very much in frontline). When, evacuation was underway he chose to remain in Europe and help the dutch army. He was not always the best when in combat but his team member looked after him especially as he had added a few German and Russian to his language skills. His combat skills were improving so. You learn all about being careful when you want to survive with such character. He was 34 years old (each term in grad school were counted as two years each).
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Gen.Lee 09-06-2008, 11:46 AM I've certainly enjoyed having or making PCs that combined civilian backgrounds with wartime careers. They can be much more rounded, and can fill gaps in a party's abilities very easily. In groups I play in, at least a quarter to a half of the players will generate combat monsters (spelled Ranger/SEAL/ninja/whatever), so ex-civilians won't bring down the group's combat ability too much.
As for women and interesting backgrounds, I concur, but I cannot think of any from Twilight or Merc games right now.
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Law0369 09-06-2008, 01:21 PM God bless your munchkiness Targen you are great.
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Hangfire7 09-06-2008, 04:42 PM I love playing civi characters or even support personel. They force you as Mo said to be much more careful. They also allow you to do things beyond the norm.
I remember over a dozen years ago I rolled up a downed naval aviatior who was an AWACs crewman. He was light on equipment and combat skills, but a crackerjack electronics specialist and com man. He also had an ear for some languages.
Or an AF type who was a meteorologist, this helped him and the group greatly that winter.
Although, I think one of the next PCs Ido will be a regular farm/ranch kid from the Western US. Hmmm Law you are from Eastern Or, thats cattle country, maybe I'll roll up a PC using you as the model ;)
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simonmark6 09-06-2008, 04:49 PM If you're using LAW as a template, I hope the ranch had big damn horses!
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Law0369 09-06-2008, 09:27 PM Me as a ranch kid?
I spent every summer from 1976 to 1988 with my cousins and grandparents on a ranch in eastern oregon right on the other side of the fence from the boardman chemical depot. My grandfather was a marksmanship instructor during WWII. He got sick right after infantry school training up with 4th ID. He was left behind and trained the next two divisions . bye the time it was his turn to go the war was over.Well him and my grandmothers crazy brother only know as "Tinker" trained us in the ways of the world from marksmanship,horsebackriding to fishing and hunting. We used to have open fights to settle things. (Thats how they did it back in virginia where he grew up) Made us hard and we fought as a group 13 cousins. I learned to hunt with a 03 springfield and a remington 870 shot gun. we hunted to eat and for the thirll of it. I drove cars in the high desert there at age 10 and same with motocycles.(I own a Harley now just bought it!) My first pistol was a surplus .38 cal aircrew weapon. I carried it where ever i went. We lived free and ran hard. could never do the things we did back then today too many rules. but it did breed me. I remember my grandfather making us hunt birds in formation through the wheat fields . only years later did i know it was team and squad formations for movement to contact.I later found out that crazy "Tinker" was a hero .7th ID in korea and two tours in Nam one as a combat engineer with 1st ID and one with the green berets up on the DMZ. So I had a good life growing up very supportive and all the good things. so you can go from there..........
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One of my players (a woman--women sometimes come up with the most interesting character backgrounds) played a character who began the game as a business executive, volunteered for service in Royal Navy Intelligence after London was bombed, was recruited by MI6 after that. She started out though in Merc 2000 as the 'money' in two sessions, one set in Africa and the other in Ukraine. I let her have Henryk Rapacki as a contact in Poland as one example, one of the politicians in "Allegheny Uprising" as another.
Another character played a medical doctor who was recruited by the CDC. I really liked these players because they were willing to play characters that had a certain vulnerability to the TW2000 environment; they had to be particularly cunning and avoid the more violent encounters when possible. A lot of the elements of the game that I like--survival, scavenging, foraging, negotiation, spying, building up resources--were really focused on in this game as a result of this.
********************
Targan 09-06-2008, 09:17 AM The player in my campaign who has suffered the highest number of PC deaths (he's onto his fourth PC now, USN Lt Cdr HD Black, still playing through his pre-game) generated a non-military PC for character number two. He played Wolfgang Heckler, a German who had been a tow truck driver, salvager, gun runner, body builder, Jui Jutsu practitioner and Wotan cultist. When Heckler met Major's Po's party he was in the company of two fellow salvagers, Walter and Big Karl, who were East German Army deserters and were, like Heckler, body builders and Wotan cultists. The trio were driving around in a VW Kombi van with a trailer both of which were packed to the gunalls with spares, fuel, ammo and salvage. It all had a heavy homoerotic feel to it I have to say.
Heckler had a fascinating skill set, much lighter on military-type combat skills than most PCs in my campaign. He died in a high speed motorcycle accident (lost control when he hit a big puddle and slid into a flock of sheep). Big Karl died in a riverine gun battle on the Vistula. Only Walter survived from that group and he stayed with the train at the end of the Going Home module.
********************
Mohoender 09-06-2008, 10:36 AM The last character I played was named Joan van Horn (an american of dutch decent). He did 1 term as undergraduate university, 2 in grad school with a language specialty, and 1 as a Ph.D professor teaching dutch, french and swedish. While an undergraduate he joined the AFROTR and entered the reserve after it.
When the war started he was sent to europe as a translator and a liaison officer. Before game time, he was considered to have got one more term as an active officer (still not very much in frontline). When, evacuation was underway he chose to remain in Europe and help the dutch army. He was not always the best when in combat but his team member looked after him especially as he had added a few German and Russian to his language skills. His combat skills were improving so. You learn all about being careful when you want to survive with such character. He was 34 years old (each term in grad school were counted as two years each).
********************
Gen.Lee 09-06-2008, 11:46 AM I've certainly enjoyed having or making PCs that combined civilian backgrounds with wartime careers. They can be much more rounded, and can fill gaps in a party's abilities very easily. In groups I play in, at least a quarter to a half of the players will generate combat monsters (spelled Ranger/SEAL/ninja/whatever), so ex-civilians won't bring down the group's combat ability too much.
As for women and interesting backgrounds, I concur, but I cannot think of any from Twilight or Merc games right now.
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Law0369 09-06-2008, 01:21 PM God bless your munchkiness Targen you are great.
********************
Hangfire7 09-06-2008, 04:42 PM I love playing civi characters or even support personel. They force you as Mo said to be much more careful. They also allow you to do things beyond the norm.
I remember over a dozen years ago I rolled up a downed naval aviatior who was an AWACs crewman. He was light on equipment and combat skills, but a crackerjack electronics specialist and com man. He also had an ear for some languages.
Or an AF type who was a meteorologist, this helped him and the group greatly that winter.
Although, I think one of the next PCs Ido will be a regular farm/ranch kid from the Western US. Hmmm Law you are from Eastern Or, thats cattle country, maybe I'll roll up a PC using you as the model ;)
********************
simonmark6 09-06-2008, 04:49 PM If you're using LAW as a template, I hope the ranch had big damn horses!
********************
Law0369 09-06-2008, 09:27 PM Me as a ranch kid?
I spent every summer from 1976 to 1988 with my cousins and grandparents on a ranch in eastern oregon right on the other side of the fence from the boardman chemical depot. My grandfather was a marksmanship instructor during WWII. He got sick right after infantry school training up with 4th ID. He was left behind and trained the next two divisions . bye the time it was his turn to go the war was over.Well him and my grandmothers crazy brother only know as "Tinker" trained us in the ways of the world from marksmanship,horsebackriding to fishing and hunting. We used to have open fights to settle things. (Thats how they did it back in virginia where he grew up) Made us hard and we fought as a group 13 cousins. I learned to hunt with a 03 springfield and a remington 870 shot gun. we hunted to eat and for the thirll of it. I drove cars in the high desert there at age 10 and same with motocycles.(I own a Harley now just bought it!) My first pistol was a surplus .38 cal aircrew weapon. I carried it where ever i went. We lived free and ran hard. could never do the things we did back then today too many rules. but it did breed me. I remember my grandfather making us hunt birds in formation through the wheat fields . only years later did i know it was team and squad formations for movement to contact.I later found out that crazy "Tinker" was a hero .7th ID in korea and two tours in Nam one as a combat engineer with 1st ID and one with the green berets up on the DMZ. So I had a good life growing up very supportive and all the good things. so you can go from there..........
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