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Here's a basic question about strength/endurance requirements for a Special Ops character focused in hostage rescue.


Ragitsu

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Have you taken a look at the Long Term Endurance rules?

 

That could help you figure out how much end you'd need to have and figuring out the STR should be simple.

 

One of the characters I used to play in a Spec-Ops game had 15 STR and 25 End and I think he could accomplish what you suggested.

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Have you taken a look at the Long Term Endurance rules?

 

That could help you figure out how much end you'd need to have and figuring out the STR should be simple.

 

One of the characters I used to play in a Spec-Ops game had 15 STR and 25 End and I think he could accomplish what you suggested.

 

How high was his adjusted movement speed?

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A big part of it is relative to how you define normal bystanders and mooks.

 

If you use the templates for normals and assume most bystanders and crooks don't rise above "skilled" then...

 

I would go with ST 15, CN 15, EN 30, and SN 30.

 

A simple answer would be to use the "competent normal" template and add the relevant skills / skill levels from DC.

 

Except... don't add the characteristics included in the packages.

 

If you want them to be "Hollywood" commandos, bump their speed to 4 and tack on AF skills and the like.

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A big part of it is relative to how you define normal bystanders and mooks.

 

If you use the templates for normals and assume most bystanders and crooks don't rise above "skilled" then...

 

I would go with ST 15, CN 15, EN 30, and SN 30.

 

A simple answer would be to use the "competent normal" template and add the relevant skills / skill levels from DC.

 

Except... don't add the characteristics included in the packages.

 

If you want them to be "Hollywood" commandos, bump their speed to 4 and tack on AF skills and the like.

 

I might have missed the rules, so please educate me on this: how does hot weather adversely affect Long Term Fatigue? This needs to be factored in to cover worst case scenarios (such as lugging someone through Burmese bush or Saharan wasteland).

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I might have missed the rules, so please educate me on this: how does hot weather adversely affect Long Term Fatigue? This needs to be factored in to cover worst case scenarios (such as lugging someone through Burmese bush or Saharan wasteland).

The Long Term Endurance rules are not affected by those kinds of factors. Rather, the regular endurance rules, which are impacted by such factors, serve as the base for LTE calculations.

 

"If END use is consistent Turn after Turn for a long period of time, the character should compare the amount of END he used in a Turn to his REC. If the END used in a Turn is less than half the character’s REC, he loses no LTE. If the character uses greater than half his REC, then he begins losing LTE, as indicated by the Long-Term

Endurance Table."

 

So, even without factoring in heat, a character with 15 strength who is carrying full kit and his comrade in full kit (3 Endurance) at a reasonable rate of 10 meters per phase (1 Endurance) at a speed of 3 (total of 12 endurance per phase) who has a relatively high recovery of 8 will use 4 endurance per turn. That means he will -- without LTE in play -- run out of endurance (presuming 40 endurance) in ten turns -- which is every two minutes. Walk two minutes, stop for a 15 second breather, walk two minutes....

 

Still, because the endurance spent is half (or less) of the recovery, the character isn't paying long term endurance. If he reduces his speed to 2 and maintains a pace of 10 meters per action phase he doesn't generate an END deficit per turn (he's spending 8 and recovering 8). Such a character could *theoretically* maintain that stately pace with his friend on his back for a significant period of time without any LTE loss -- or stopping.

 

Except, how hot is it?

 

Because, as the temperature level raises above whatever you decide the comfort zone is, the loss of Recovery and Endurance increases per temperature level with pens being imposed every 20 Minutes: In other words, the longer he goes without resting the worse it gets -- I would require the character to stop and rest every 20 minutes to avoid the penalty.

 

The assumed comfort zone (temperature level 0) is 50-80 degrees farenheit. Each temperature level increase above that (10-20 degrees F) imposes a -1 penalty to recovery AND endurance per 20 minutes of exposure. In the rainy season the Amazon is temp level 0. In the hot season it is temp level 1-2 depending on how harsh you are in defining a temperature. I think using 20 degrees farenheit per temp level and calling it +1 temp level is sufficient because...

 

6E2: "The Temperature Level rules assume the characters are active. Resting lowers the Temperature Level by 1. In other words, it’s a good idea to rest in the heat, but staying still and not moving in the cold can make things worse."

 

AND

 

"Being wet shifts the Temperature Level down one — it’s helpful in a hot climate but bad in a cold one."

 

The first rule forces a little realism into our eternal trooper with an 8 Recovery. He either stops to rest or incurs 1 LTE per 20 minutes. Unless he stays in the water and gets the added bonus of "being wet." However, staying in the water in a jungle probably means leaches, water snakes, crocs, or pirhana or some such.

 

LTE can be incredibly restrictive. In my mind, its real purpose is to force players to make more realistic choices to avoid it (or suffer its consequences due to heroic exertions) Ergo, drop your speed to 2, maintain a slow pace, and rest periodically. That will work even if your Recovery is only 6 (which would be what an otherwise 8 recovery would drop to in such heat). If your Recovery is 8 you could, at speed 2, move at around 20 meters per phase and still zero out -- if you stop to rest.

 

However, if you want to force the character to only move at night... go with 10 degree increments for temperature levels. If they were to lose 1-2 endurance per 20 minutes (even if they rest) they would be losing 3-6 LTE per hour of movement by traveling at day instead of night. With a 40 END that would be they could only carry their friend 6-10 hours before being forced to rest.

 

That too, depending on how you want the story to play out, could be be a useful mechanical way to impact the narrative.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The Long Term Endurance rules are not affected by those kinds of factors. Rather, the regular endurance rules, which are impacted by such factors, serve as the base for LTE calculations.

 

"If END use is consistent Turn after Turn for a long period of time, the character should compare the amount of END he used in a Turn to his REC. If the END used in a Turn is less than half the character’s REC, he loses no LTE. If the character uses greater than half his REC, then he begins losing LTE, as indicated by the Long-Term

Endurance Table."

 

So, even without factoring in heat, a character with 15 strength who is carrying full kit and his comrade in full kit (3 Endurance) at a reasonable rate of 10 meters per phase (1 Endurance) at a speed of 3 (total of 12 endurance per phase) who has a relatively high recovery of 8 will use 4 endurance per turn. That means he will -- without LTE in play -- run out of endurance (presuming 40 endurance) in ten turns -- which is every two minutes. Walk two minutes, stop for a 15 second breather, walk two minutes....

 

Still, because the endurance spent is half (or less) of the recovery, the character isn't paying long term endurance. If he reduces his speed to 2 and maintains a pace of 10 meters per action phase he doesn't generate an END deficit per turn (he's spending 8 and recovering 8). Such a character could *theoretically* maintain that stately pace with his friend on his back for a significant period of time without any LTE loss -- or stopping.

 

 

I think you meant 12 END per Turn, not per Phase.

I didn't realize you included END Recovered when determining how much END was spent per turn.  I thought, per your example, the character would be using 12 END per turn, which is more than his Recovery of 8 and thus would be burning LTE.  Guess I always misunderstood that rule.

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