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Military Rank costs


Tanis Frey

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I am starting a game for a 5 gamers who never played the Champions system before.

 

One player envisions his character as a human/alien hybrid clone experiment.  How much would you charge the character for Membership in the US Air Force and to hold Rank in it?  Just going to make him an enlisted member.

 

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I am starting a game for a 5 gamers who never played the Champions system before.

 

One player envisions his character as a human/alien hybrid clone experiment.  How much would you charge the character for Membership in the US Air Force and to hold Rank in it?  Just going to make him an enlisted member.

He needs a Social COmplication: Subject to Orders, and very probably a Hunted (Watched.)

 

If human-alien clone hybrid experiments are not common and have militarily useful abilities, they are most probably going to make him an officer.

 

He should probably have a Professional Skill: Airman, and may have other Skills from military training such as Familiarity: Small Arms, or Tactics. Or Bureaucratics.

 

Personally, I wouldn't charge points for "rank" as such. Getting to dine at the Officer's Club doesn't strike me as worth any points.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

and an Air Force Surplus palindromedary

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If an enlisted member, I wouldn't charge points in it unless he's an upper-echelon enlisted (like chief master sergeant).  And even that might only be worth a point.

 

If, as Lucius says, he should be an officer, then I'd consider what benefits he might get in-game from his rank.  If it's giving him access to military intelligence or resources (e.g. he can request an airstrike or have a military drone check something out), perhaps 3 points might be in order.

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Before a real answer can be given we'd need to know the in game intent.  You get what you pay for and all that.

 

(referencing CC)

 

If being an Airforce airman or officer is just cosmetic and not intended to be more than occasional color I'd say:

Perk, Fringe Benefit: (Airforce Officer/Enlisted) - 1

Social Complication  (Infrequent, minor) - 5

 

If the player is OK with and can handle his character actually being in the Airforce, i.e. always being told where to go and what to do then:

Perk, Fringe Benefit: (Airforce Officer/Enlisted) - 5

Perk Security Clearance - 5

Social Complication (Airforce Officer/Enlisted)(Very Frequent, major) - 20

 

I have met very few players that wanted to actually play an active military character in a supers game, they usually want a cool uniform and access to resources without being under orders.  We have usually solved the conflict with making them ex-military who have recently left the service and are still maintaining contacts.  This would change the Perk to Contacts and maybe a couple Favors.

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FWIW the cost structure in Hero Designer is 0 points for Airman, 1 point for Corporal/Senior Airman*, 2 points for Sergeant, and 3+ for the officer ranks. For Master Sergeants I'd go with 4 or 5 points, as they generally have a lot more practical authority than your average Lieutenant.

 

But as noted above, it really depends on when & how you think it's going to come up. If it's just a bit of color or background, it's probably not worth more than a point or two. If he wants to be able whistle up a drone strike when needed, it might be more useful to build that as a Contact, Access or even Resource Points.

 

* As an Army guy, I'm not sure if Senior Airman counts as an NCO the way Corporal does in the ground services?

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I've always felt that the perk point cost kicked in if the storyline in question focused on the military. The team of PCs is a special forces military unit? There's perks to being the "top dog." If they're high enough rank that they can draw on military resources in some way: perk it. Otherwise, as has been suggested, it's really more appropriate to work it in as Contacts, Favors, and the Social Limitation. Sooner or later, you've drawn watch after all, and can't head out with the rest of the team without getting in some serious stink.

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