Need some help creating a couple of NPCs

[Leitz]

Hey all, my first post. I could use some help in creating a couple of NPCs connected to my 5th ed teen hero. One NPC is a former Green Beret with a medical discharge for a back injury. He's fit, but can't do normal Green Beret stuff. He's not a DNPC, but I want to have an idea for him as he is often the man my PC turns to for man type advice. The other is a DNPC, the PC's girlfriend. She is 16, like him, and she is mute. I haven't played HERO/Champions for a long time, and could use some ideas so the NPCs aren't run of the mill. Everything will have to be approved by the DM, and I tend to write fiction around my characters.

 

Any ideas for skills, ads, disads? I've got the 5e rulebook, so I can read up on anything you point me to.

[Pattern Ghost]

DNPCs don't need stats from the player. That's the GM's job, if they're needed at all. (Not everything needs to be statted out in Hero.) You can just give the GM the backstory for the DNPC. So, the female DNPC can be sketched out for the GM narratively. I'd check with the GM on what level of detail they require there. For many GMs, what you've given is plenty to provide enough character hooks for play.

 

The stats for the Green Beret likewise are up to the GM, not the player normally. So, first thing I'd do is talk to the GM about the character in terms of their role in your PC's story and how they'd fit in the game.

 

That said, I'll tell you what I know about Green Beret types, having served in the Army in my misspent youth, and known a few along the way. This is all very second hand, and an actual Green Beret will likely counter most of this, so take it all with a grain of salt. The first time I ran into Green Berets in the Army was during language school. NCO students ran barracks details, and PT. Most of the SF guys were easy to get along with, personable, and . . . ohmyhgodnoisoneofthemrunningPTtoday??? . . . yeah, physically, these guys were all beasts. I hated running with them.  Army physical training is based primarily on calisthenics and running. Endurance is valued over physical power in the military, because you have to have enough juice left to fight when you get where you're going. That aside, most of these guys were there picking up their second or third language. So, if your NPC has a functioning mind, "can't do normal Green Beret stuff," may need to be more refined as a descriptor. These guys are intelligent, and highly, highly trained. You can do a search for something like "what do Green Berets do" to get details on what the current or more recent doctrine is. A quick glance I did shows that things have changed drastically since the late 80s in that regard, so I'm a bit dated there.

 

However, I can safely say they're going to have a HUGE chunk of the Hero System skills list. I'll just list everything I think every Green Beret should have on their skills list. I wouldn't recommend trying to pick up every skill here for an NPC build, though. Just focus on a few the character excels in and let the rest be under "PS: Special Forces Soldier," or something. (Note: I'm using 4th Edition, b/c I don't know where my FRED went. Skills are basically the same, and this list will be too long anyway.) I bolded the skills I think should be mandatory-ish. Most of these are common soldiering skills that SF guys usually have at a higher level.

 

Skills - Combat:

Probably a few Combat Skill levels. Will be trained in hand to hand combat, but bulk of skills will be with modern weapons.

Martial Arts: I'd drop 15-20 points on maneuvers, including some type of strike, a disarm, and a grappling technique as a minimum.

Ranged Skill levels: These offset range penalties.

Weapon Familiarities: Modern Military Weapons and Knives should cover it. Improvised if the campaign uses it.

I'd probably load out something like this for Combat skill levels:

 +2 with Ranged Combat (10 pts)

 +2 with Martial Arts (6 pts)

This might not seem like a lot for a Green Beret -- and it may not be -- but things will get expensive fast, to I wouldn't go too much more here.

 

Adventuring Skills:

Animal Handler - Possible, but probably unusual/unlikely

Demolitions  - Possibly, and would suggest taking at least a Familiarity (FAM) with it

Disguise - Possibly, based on ability to blend in with local cultures, a FAM would work here too

Electronics - If taking Demolitions, I'd take it too, at same or lesser level

Gambling - unlikely, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Lip Reading - unlikely, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Mechanics - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Mimicry - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Navigation - Yes

Shadowing - Yes

Survival - Yes, and I'd pick at least two terrains/biomes

Ventriloquist - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Weaponsmith - Yes, for military small arms

Bugging - Possibly, but not likely

Computer Programming - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Concealment - Yes

Criminology - Possibly, depending on team's role

Cryptography - REMF job

Deduction - Possibly, depending on team's role

Forensic Medicine - Unlikely, but might justify it based on team's or character's role

Inventor - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Paramedic - Yes, all soldiers have basic life saving training and all infantry and SF have advanced life saving training

Security Systems - Possibly, depending on team's role

Systems Operation - Possibly, depending on team's role

Tactics - Yes

Tracking - Possibly, depending on role

Acrobatics - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Breakfall - Yes, part of jump training, combatives training, so used in different contexts

Climbing - Yes

Contortionist - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Combat Driving - Strong maybe, will be trained in driving under adverse conditions for sure, but whether to the level of RPG combat driving, wouldn't be a generalized skill

Combat Pilot - Unlikely, unless from prior career

Lockpicking - Yes

Riding - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Sleight of Hand - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Stealth - Yes

Acting - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Bureaucracy - Strong possibility to have points here, increasing with rank

Bribery - Possibly, as it can be useful in some cultures

Conversation - Strong possibility

High Society - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF; some will be better at rubbing shoulders with the brass than others, though, so possible. Officers might consider taking it.

Interrogation - Possibly, though this also falls under its own MOS

Oratory - Possibly, as SF frequently train others, so a star trainer may have some points here

Persuasion - Possibly

Seduction - Not a core skill, would leave off unless based on character background outside of SF

Trading - Strong possibility

Teamwork - Yes

 

Transport Familiarites should include military light ground vehicles, and parachuting at a minimum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pattern Ghost]

I forgot about Talents earlier. I don't think any particular Talent is endemic to all SF soldiers, but I'd say the most common would be Lightsleep. It'd probably be appropriate to take one or two Talents to add flavor to the character, and give them something unique.

[Scott Ruggels]

 Wouldn't the Green Beret be a "Contact"?

 

The Mute Girlfriend could be quite interesting. She probably still wants her opinions known at least to her friends, and might become one of the fastest texter in her social group. She might also pursue other interests like art or writing as a channel for self expression. The problem with a lot of "disabled" Characters as they become ":saintly, but we all have our flaws.  Does she follow gossip? Is she an online troll, because no one would suspect the silent girl? A lot of GMs make the DNPC Girlfriend a Damsel in Distress, but, what if she was the instigator, due to something she posted online? 

[Pattern Ghost]

Contact seems like a good fit for the Green Beret. Hard to picture as a DNPC because the character has extensive knowledge that's useful for the PC as well as their own network of contacts, which is something I forgot that I was going to list earlier. These guys are in a brotherhood, and usually have large numbers of contacts within their community, even in retirement.

[Scott Ruggels]

5 minutes ago, Pattern Ghost said:

These guys are in a brotherhood, and usually have large numbers of contacts within their community, even in retirement.

 

God Yes.  This extended through the Re-enactment Community. A LOT of prior Service types joined re-enactment groups in the nineties and the early oughts.  So many contcts, but the club was able to restore a pre-ww2 Coastal Artillery Gun in San Francisco, asking around the Artillery community, and found spare parts for a T-34/85. The institutional knowledge was breathtaking.

[Leitz]

43 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

 Wouldn't the Green Beret be a "Contact"?

 

The Mute Girlfriend could be quite interesting. She probably still wants her opinions known at least to her friends, and might become one of the fastest texter in her social group. She might also pursue other interests like art or writing as a channel for self expression. The problem with a lot of "disabled" Characters as they become ":saintly, but we all have our flaws.  Does she follow gossip? Is she an online troll, because no one would suspect the silent girl? A lot of GMs make the DNPC Girlfriend a Damsel in Distress, but, what if she was the instigator, due to something she posted online? 

 

Ohh...I love your ideas for the girlfriend! So far she ispretty saintly, with the exception of being a bit forward with the PC. Her explination is that she was afraid to lose him, as he's the only guy who has ever paid attention to her. Even that is a bit limited since the grandad she lives with is a pastor, and none to keen on forward behavior. Of course, he was young once, too. I really like the idea of finding other avenues for self-expression. My thought was that she'd want to go to college, but no idea for what. I'm kind of blah about going to college for art, since most who do so quit creating art. College seems to kill a lot of enthusiasm for creativity. But self-expression is a great idea.

 

The Green Beret is less of a contact, more of an off-screen thing. I do a lot of fiction around the games, often more than gaming itself. In this case, the GB is advising the PC on how to ask the girl's grandad if he can court his grandaughter, and how to plan for having a family.

 

In other news, the game is set in an alternate 1987, so texting and internet is a bit limited.  

[Leitz]

The DM is letting me help with the (D)NPC creation because I want to understand the process a bit more. Everything goes back to him for review or change. I sometimes run a "Holiday Season" game on another forum, and am considering what to run this year. HERO is an option, but I'm not sure that I understand it well enough yet. The games are always pretty basic; they begin on 1 Dec (sometimes earlier, for chargen) and end on 1 Feb (hard stop), so I plot for what can be done in that timeframe.