The Professions of Arms

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: The Professions of Arms

 

Cramming could also be a fighter-type skill. With the new Fighting Skills in APGII, it could give you a skill with the weapon/armour/shield in question; with the "standard" combat rules, it could give you +1 2-pt. CSL, possibly Only For DCV +0.

 

Cramming itself would probably be sparring/hitting targets/defending against blows/acrobatics/atheletics/exercises.

[tancred]

Re: The Professions of Arms

 

We never did follow up on this idea did we?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks I need to follow up on laundry. We're out of saddle blankets.

 

The old RPG "The Fantasy Trip" had a system for earning money during off time.

It didn't have professional skills, of course, but the various professions did have skill requisites.

You made a roll for every week you worked at the job with a chance for a major success or major failure; consequences of those depended on the job.

I had actually started adapting it to my fantasy game before I switched to running PA.

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: The Professions of Arms

 

Oh yeah...*Beheads Teh Bunneh*

[Lucius]

Re: The Professions of Arms

 

I suppose a "jobs table" would have to be very setting dependent, but it might be possible to make one for "generic fantasy"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

the palindromedary still wants an elemental table of periodicals

[tancred]

Re: The Professions of Arms

 

Here's the generic jobs stuff I had put together for my old FH campaign.

None of it is very campaign-specific; most of it is swiped from The Fantasy Trip and adapted.

[Lucius]

M is for Martial Artist

 

DEX Based

 

Prerequisites: 10 pts in Martial Manuevers and any prerequisites for the discipline in question.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Prerequisite palindromdary

[Lucius]

N is for Ninja

 

Okay, that's bound to shake some opinions out of the woodwork.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

You know there would be a palindromedary here didn't you?

[Lucius]

N is for Ninja

 

Okay, that's bound to shake some opinions out of the woodwork.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

You know there would be a palindromedary here didn't you?

 

or not

 

Lucius Alexander

 

the palindromedary is sure there have been lots of posts, but we just can't see them because they hide so well

[NuSoardGraphite]

Ninja: A mixture of Assassin and Martial Artist. Their Professional Skill would assist them in evaluating the scene for the completion of a mission (in whatever form that took) and for general day to day operations of a Ninja training facility.

 

The essential skills for a Ninja are of course Stealth, Concealment, Acrobatics, Climbing and Contortionist. Weapon Familiarity with both Common Melee, Common Missile and specific ninja martial arts weapons (Kusari-gama, Kama, Kyoketsushogi, Climbing claws etc) and at least 10pts with some form of Ninjitsu. Disguise, Conversation, Seduction, Mimicry and Persuasion might be good for the ninja that prefers to infiltrate rather than to sneak. Seduction is especially important for female Kunoichi who seduce their targets and poison them in the throes of passion.

 

The professional skill could be complementary to any of these skills under the correct circumstances. The Ninja would sneak into the area in which his target resides. Observe the situation for some time (hours to days, depending on the complexity of the layout and the amount of pedestrian traffic). This initial assessment will help the ninja determine the method by which he or she will approach the target. The quality of the initial assessment roll can add a bonus to the stealth roll to approach, the concealment roll to hide from patrols, the conversation or persuasion roll to deal with unexpected pedestrians to convince them you belong there, and possibly the climbing and acrobatics roll to scale the walls and travel the rooftops having previously discovered the absolute best places to do so without fear of discovery.

[Lucius]

N is for Ninja

 

Okay, that's bound to shake some opinions out of the woodwork.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

You know there would be a palindromedary here didn't you?

 

.....Eventually.

 

Domo Arragotto, Nu Soard Graphite. I don't see much to quibble with in your analysis.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says, someone posted about ninja? where?

[Old Man]

Yeah, that was a really good writeup.  The ninjitsu package itself should have an emphasis on defensive maneuvers; ninjas were generally not supposed to go toe-to-toe with their adversaries if it could be avoided.  The emphasis would be on breaking contact and escaping, possibly after a disabling nerve strike.

 

If you want a more mythical ninja, you could start adding in alchemical and gadgeteering skills; ninjas were famous for poisons, smoke bombs, traps, water-walking and underwater breathing devices, climbing apparatuses, and so on.

[Lucius]

 

 

 

O is for Officer

 

Lucius Alexander

 

P is for Palindromedary Rider

[QuietusEmissary]

PS: Officer

Requires Tactics (for knowing what to do with the troops under his or her command), Oratory (for actually getting them to do it via heroically motivational speeches or the like), and a PS matching the soldiers to be led (so the Officer actually knows how to manage the particular soldiers). Persuasion would be good to pick up as well. PS: Officer represents the training and/or experience required to lead in combat. A successful roll should allow the Officer to gauge the morale of his or her soldiers, get a pretty good idea of the stats and abilities of a Unit (assuming the Mass Combat rules from Fantasy HERO are in use), identify military markings and colors, and coordinate his or her Unit with others in the same army.

 

Example of PS: Officer in use:

An Elf Marshal is leading a Unit of Elf Soldiers into battle. They charge toward a mass of goblins, and the Marshal makes a PS: Officer Roll to identify them, even from pretty far out, as Goblin Archers. He orders his troops to form a phalanx, and they are amply prepared for the barrage of arrows that rains down on them.

A brigade of goblins on wargs (because what else would goblins ride?) charge into the elves' army, and the Marshal's Unit begins to take casualties. Even before the Unit loses Readiness (Fantasy HERO p. 235), a PS: Officer Roll tells our hero that things are not going well and the morale of his soldiers is beginning to break. He charges into the fray with renewed vigor, cleaving a warg's head from its body before delivering an inspirational war cry, improving the Unit's Morale Roll as described on page 236 of Fantasy HERO.

The goblins' numbers begin to overwhelm the elven army, and the Units that comprise it begin to disengage one by one. The Marshal's Unit has withdrawn a bit due to casualties, but a PS: Officer Roll will allow them to successfully cover their allies' retreat with minimal risk to themselves.

 

Officer Template:

On a related note, when I am building an NPC to command a Unit or a group of other NPCs, I usually start by taking a normal member of that Unit or one of those combat NPCs and adding +1 to OCV and DCV (to represent combat experience and advanced training), as well as the Skills listed in the PS: Officer description and the Fringe Benefit: Military Rank Perk. I also often add an ability like the following:

 

Combat Leadership

Effects: Aid 2d6 (STR, PRE), Boost, SER (5), Expanded Effect (2 Elements; +1/2), AOE (16m Radius, Selective; +1) (30 Active Points); Requires a Tactics Skill Roll (-1/2), Only Aid Others (-1/2), Incantations (Throughout; -1/2), No Range (-1/2), Limited Power (Increased Characteristics only apply to combat effects, such as adding damage to a melee Attack or resisting Presence Attacks; -1/2)

Description: As long as the Officer is alive and within earshot of his troops, he can motivate them--whether through admiration, loyalty, or fear--to great feats of martial prowess. Different Characteristics can be added or substituted for the ones listed above. Examples include CON ("We can rest when we've cleansed this land of our foes!"), OCV ("Strike true!"), STUN ("Grit your teeth and push forward!"), or BODY ("No matter the cost, we will fight to the end!"). To simulate non-combat leadership abilities, such as the harsh commands of a slave-driver, change the Limited Power to only work outside of combat (in which case I would say it's worth -1 instead of -1/2) or remove it entirely.

Power Cost: 8

[Lucius]

 

P is for....

 

what is P for?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Drawing a blank for some reason

[QuietusEmissary]

Checking the Combat Occupations category on Wikipedia turns up:

Peltast: Ancient Greek javelin- and shield-wielding skirmishers. Seems a little obscure, though.

Pioneer (Military): Basically a sapper. Seems like kind of a cop-out for P but it's an option.

Powder Monkey: Carried gunpowder from a supply to cannons, usually on a ship. Might be too late-era for this.

Privateer: This one seems like it could work really well. Although historically anachronistic in fantasy-era settings, generic pirates do get used a lot, so government-backed pirates should be fine.

Several types of pilots and paratroopers: I'm just going to assume that's a "no".

 

And then while looking over all of that to post I realized that PIRATE begins with P. Of course! So that's definitely something.

 

Also Powder Monkey reminded me of the more general Porter, who in a military setting carries gear for other soldiers. A "profession of arms" in a very literal sense. A couple of literal senses, actually.

 

And that's all I got.

[Lucius]

Actually, peltast, pioneer, pirate, and porter, are all worth exploring.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary prefers professions like paladin, peltast, pioneer, pirate, porter, and even less probable professions that possess "p" in priormost position

[Lucius]

Q is for Quartermaster

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary was hoping Q would be for Questor

[Sundog]

R is for Reaver?

[Lucius]

PS: Reaver.

DEX Based.

 

Prerequisites: Weapon and Transport Familiarities

 

Reavers are raiders, either barbarians harassing the frontiers of a more settled culture or bandits from the borderlands between two nations, who approach by stealth, strike quickly, take what they want, and get the hell back out.

 

Uses may include: complementary to Concealment to find hastily hidden loot, or to Stealth to conceal an approach or one's tracks; to herd and drive cattle being rustled; to "case" a target and judge how well defended it is and/or how profitable it would be to raid.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

House of the Palindromedary

[Lucius]

S is for Sailor

or

S is for Seamanship

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary  says S is for Sailor but a Sailor is for the C

[Old Man]

Seamanship?  Not samurai or swordsman or spearman or sergeant-at-arms or sniper?

[Lucius]

 

Samurai was covered under Knight, and Swordsman and Spearman are basically Weapons Specialists.

 

Sniper might have possibilities to explore.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks Lucius picked Sailor because he envies their ability to tie knots.

[Lucius]

 

T is for Trapper

 

Characteristic: INT or DEX

 

Prerequisites: At least Familiarity with Security Systems, Tracking, Survival, usually an Area Knowledge.

 

Like Explorer or Forester, Trapper is not a combat-oriented Skill but makes a good background for some fighter type characters.

 

Examples of PS: Trapper in use

 

Our Heroes pause on a long wilderness trip to replenish supplies by hunting. The Trapper uses PS: Trapper as complementary to Tracking to find game trails that the archers and slingers can wait by to ambush passing game. Every two points the Trapper makes the roll by is one opportunity for the ranged combatants to get a close range shot at something edible.

 

Meanwhile the Trapper lays a number of snares, using PS:Trapper as complementary to Survival to see how much food is caught.

 

Then PS: Trapper is useful again in butchering the animals and saving the hides.

 

After reaching civilization, PS: Trapper is complementary with Trading to get a good price for the skins.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks it should be complementary to Perception to spot a trap in a wilderness setting.

[Lucius]

 

U is for Unicorn Cavalry?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

palindromedary cavalry

[Cancer]

Unguent, for aiding the recovery after a battle?