Spence

Now I am bit out of date here, but in broad strokes this is fast overview of how things work.
 
In Basic training every sailor receives a very basic introduction to the overall Navy.  This includes basic structure as well as an intro to shipboard life and very basic critical skills such as general shipboard firefighting and damage control.
 
From basic most sailors will then go on to their Rating’s A School.  Ratings are how the Navy defines a person’s job.  The list of ratings has changed over time as technology has changed.  Some Ratings have been retired and some are “new”.  Over time some have even been combined.  But for our purposes think of the Rating as a person’s career field.
 
After A School a sailor will either go directly to their assignment or they will go to a C School.  A C School addresses a specific specialty.  A particular aircraft type, ship type or system depending.  DC (Damage Controlman) is a Rate as is HT (Hull Technician).  Both utilize welding as a skill, but with different emphasis. 
 
And then there are a laundry list of specialized training schools.  Shipboard Firefighting and Aircraft Firefighting are two specialized schools that concentrate on, well firefighting. 
 
I don’t see your templates as being for someone out of boot, but rather someone that has spent a few years in. 

No problem, feel free. 
I would change the term "metal working" to "Structures".   It's a little more accurate since they do more than just the metal parts and are responsible for the entire structure.
 
 

It's really a shocker when discussing supers. 
 
But I employ the trope in any genre as appropriate.  By appropriate I mean when it follows the story and serves a purpose in the story.  It's hard for heroes to stage a dramatic rescue or equally dramatic escape if the concept of capture is off the table.

Well I blame it on general lack of reading (and reading comprehension) plus the overwhelming contamination of RPG’s by computer gaming’s so called CRPG’s and their “cheat codes” and “walk throughs”. 
 
Game’dom is rife with “discussions” of how the purpose of a GM/DM is simply player fulfillment and to basically let them run wild with lots of don’ts.   As a DM/GM you can NEVER have the PC’s face capture or defeat.  You should never actually have a storyline or even imagine that the players stick to the game they agreed to play.  Basically GM/DMs are servant drudges for the munchkins of gaming and one I simply reject as idiocy.
 
It is really sad and a real blow to RPG’s. 
 
I only game with a small circle of players now and my demo/con games had really fallen off even before Covid.  I had planned to restart demo’s this year, but that kinda stalled….

I have years ago and we had a great time.  We had all read the books such as Howard Pyle's Men of Iron and Mary Stewart’s trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment) as well as the classics about King Arthur and the Round Table.
 
And most importantly we saw the movies like MGM’s 1952 Ivanhoe, Universals 1952 The Black Shield of Falworth and the Warner Brothers 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood.  They may not have been “realistic” and portrayed a cinematic Hollywood adventure take on it, but they were a lot of fun clicked right into roleplaying adventure. 
 
Great times.
 
We tried again in the early 2000’s and it was a disaster.  No one had even heard of the source material and of course reading is just not done today, especially “novels”.   Everyone was all about “da loot’in” and “da a’kill’in”. 
 
Oh, well I can remember the good times….

I use the Marines in their traditional roles as specialized shipboard and amphibious (but from space) combat troops. Since firing normal weapons can be as deadly to themselves as the enemy, they are also proficient with blades suitable for confined spaces (Cutlass, Short Sword, etc.) and non-penetrating weapons such as shotguns and other firearms with frangible rounds. 

I've had players like that. But as a friend and fellow GM said, that's not their call. Players seem to forget that the GM is supposed to have fun too. Letting the players run amok and tear the GM's hard work apart isn't fun for the GM.
 
I've taken a hard line with some people, reiterating that I as the GM have the final say, so don't wave the *bleep*ing rulebook at me. That's unfortunate, and I don't like having to do it, but sometimes it just can't be avoided.

I use the Marines in their traditional roles as specialized shipboard and amphibious (but from space) combat troops. Since firing normal weapons can be as deadly to themselves as the enemy, they are also proficient with blades suitable for confined spaces (Cutlass, Short Sword, etc.) and non-penetrating weapons such as shotguns and other firearms with frangible rounds. 

I have years ago and we had a great time.  We had all read the books such as Howard Pyle's Men of Iron and Mary Stewart’s trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment) as well as the classics about King Arthur and the Round Table.
 
And most importantly we saw the movies like MGM’s 1952 Ivanhoe, Universals 1952 The Black Shield of Falworth and the Warner Brothers 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood.  They may not have been “realistic” and portrayed a cinematic Hollywood adventure take on it, but they were a lot of fun clicked right into roleplaying adventure. 
 
Great times.
 
We tried again in the early 2000’s and it was a disaster.  No one had even heard of the source material and of course reading is just not done today, especially “novels”.   Everyone was all about “da loot’in” and “da a’kill’in”. 
 
Oh, well I can remember the good times….

Hell, even I’m not crazy enough to argue with a Navy man.  
      But my fellow cooks and dishwashers did also teach me how to say  “Mas Cervesas!” “Mas Tequila!”  “Gracias” and “Por favor.“.  Along with every curse word in Spanish. 

Hey there.  As an American and retired Navy man I can say that is not true.  I have been all over the world and can swear to the truth that we could successfully order beer and booze in every country we made port.
 
So there

The manuscript for Western Hero is at Hero HQ and being worked over, with a new cover being created for it.  I don't know any realistic release date but I hope it will be out by Christmas.  This is to be an official Hero Games product, not a Hall of Champions fan bit or self pub job like my other work.
 
I have a few release ideas set up for it, when it hits the shelves including an adventure module.  As I get more news and information I'll pass it along here.  So stay tuned, pardner.
 

For the Navy the ships security force gets the "combat" training as well as station security.  I also tried to stay RPG generic instead of too much detail.  Broad strokes for playing the game.
 
Spec Ops types like the SEALs are their own category and should, IMO not be lumped into the conventional templates.   I really don't know how much the various team skill sets blur together these days, SEALs, Raiders, Rangers etc.  Or if they even use the same names for the Army and Marines.  Out of my wheelhouse you could say.

Awesome!  That's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.  🙂
 
 
Yep... it's AFSC in the Air Force   
 
I was USAF from 1988-1992, so in theory I'd be the one to write that... but they've added two weeks of, I'm told, actual combat arms training.  When I went through we learned how to shoot AR-15's chambered down to actual .22 caliber, with one day for classroom training and one day at the range.  
 
But I'll give it a go.

I spent a tour in the Army as an 11B and then went Navy where I retired as an ATC.
 
I would suggest renaming the Basic Military Template to Basic Army/Marine Template.
Then create two new templates called Basic Navy Template and Basic Airforce Template.
 
For the Basic Navy Template I’d suggest something like
3     Climbing
3     Paramedic  
2     Survival
3     Electronics/Mechanics/Navigation/Systems Operation (pick one)
2     KS: Enemy Forces 8-
2     KS: Theater Operations 11-
2     KS: Military Procedure 11-
2     PS: Damage Control 11-
2     PS: Fire Fighting 11-
2     PS: Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine (pick one) 11-
2     PS: Welder/Metal Working/Electrician/Electronics/Seamanship (pick one) 11-
2     WF: Small Arms
 
Total Cost:  27
 
I’m a 5th ed players so that is where I grabbed the costs.
Someone familiar with the Airforce would need to speak to that template.   But what the Navy needs is a large step away from what the Army or Marines need, especially combat arms.
And one last thing, the Navy doesn’t use the term MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), they use Rates (a descriptive occupational designation such as AT = Aviation Electronics Technician, ET = Electronics Technician, MM = Machinist Mate which are then narrowed into sub-specialties by the NEC (Navy Enlisted Classification).   An AT works on aircraft electronics (radios, radar, acoustic, etc) and an AT’s NEC identifies exactly which type of aircraft or system they specialize in.

I spent a tour in the Army as an 11B and then went Navy where I retired as an ATC.
 
I would suggest renaming the Basic Military Template to Basic Army/Marine Template.
Then create two new templates called Basic Navy Template and Basic Airforce Template.
 
For the Basic Navy Template I’d suggest something like
3     Climbing
3     Paramedic  
2     Survival
3     Electronics/Mechanics/Navigation/Systems Operation (pick one)
2     KS: Enemy Forces 8-
2     KS: Theater Operations 11-
2     KS: Military Procedure 11-
2     PS: Damage Control 11-
2     PS: Fire Fighting 11-
2     PS: Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine (pick one) 11-
2     PS: Welder/Metal Working/Electrician/Electronics/Seamanship (pick one) 11-
2     WF: Small Arms
 
Total Cost:  27
 
I’m a 5th ed players so that is where I grabbed the costs.
Someone familiar with the Airforce would need to speak to that template.   But what the Navy needs is a large step away from what the Army or Marines need, especially combat arms.
And one last thing, the Navy doesn’t use the term MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), they use Rates (a descriptive occupational designation such as AT = Aviation Electronics Technician, ET = Electronics Technician, MM = Machinist Mate which are then narrowed into sub-specialties by the NEC (Navy Enlisted Classification).   An AT works on aircraft electronics (radios, radar, acoustic, etc) and an AT’s NEC identifies exactly which type of aircraft or system they specialize in.

Another great cast. 
 
You should give classes on how to podcast.  Skipping live play podcasts (Which I have no interest in) the so called RPG podcasts I have listened to recently are embarrassingly painful. 
 
I have no idea of how much time it takes to prepare and produce this podcast, but I really wish you'd also do one on RPGs.

If you have not checked it out already, take a look at @Killer Shrike's web site. He has a ton of resources that can work well for a Low Powered Fantasy world. Also a good bit of advice on building magic systems with a bunch of examples of fully built systems. (Yes, I know it says High Fantasy, but the resources are appropriate to many genre)
 
http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/FantasyHERO.aspx
 
- E
 
 

The long and short of it is that in any fantasy setting, high or low, someone has to decide how magic works in that world.  Games like D&D build the restrictions into the rules by pre-designing spell lists and class restrictions that lock in their worlds magic.
 
For a Hero based game the GM is required to set those boundaries.  And I am not talking about anything in the build rules.  I am talking about world restrictions.
 
If the GM says all magic in this world is inward, a mage can only influence their own body.  Then anything like D&D spell slinging and magic items do not exist and cannot be built. 
 
If a GM says all magic in the world is enchanted items.  Then everything will center around magic weapons and magic items.
 
Once the "theory" of magic has been defined, then everyone can build to met those parameters. 
 
If the GM says the world has no spirits or undead, then no one will be able to build a Necromancer no matter how cool a player thinks it would be.  He could build some form of charlatan masquerading as a Necromancer, but not actually be one. 
 
Once you define "magic", then you can assign limitations and other rule'centric requirements.  But unlike most of the class/level games out there, core Hero does not have a prebuilt magic system.

That sounds like "character creation 101" to me.  But something that seems to never really be considered enough by most games or players.
 

I am interested in Disney+, but I won't subscribe until there are at least three Marvel (MCU) shows available to watch.
 
I am interested in HBO Max, but I won't subscribe until I can watch it through my Roku box.
 
In the mean time, I am content with Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The long and short of it is that in any fantasy setting, high or low, someone has to decide how magic works in that world.  Games like D&D build the restrictions into the rules by pre-designing spell lists and class restrictions that lock in their worlds magic.
 
For a Hero based game the GM is required to set those boundaries.  And I am not talking about anything in the build rules.  I am talking about world restrictions.
 
If the GM says all magic in this world is inward, a mage can only influence their own body.  Then anything like D&D spell slinging and magic items do not exist and cannot be built. 
 
If a GM says all magic in the world is enchanted items.  Then everything will center around magic weapons and magic items.
 
Once the "theory" of magic has been defined, then everyone can build to met those parameters. 
 
If the GM says the world has no spirits or undead, then no one will be able to build a Necromancer no matter how cool a player thinks it would be.  He could build some form of charlatan masquerading as a Necromancer, but not actually be one. 
 
Once you define "magic", then you can assign limitations and other rule'centric requirements.  But unlike most of the class/level games out there, core Hero does not have a prebuilt magic system.

Splintering badly may be an understatement. 
I am actually a bit happy with it.  I mean I am a little sad that am missing shows that sounded good, but the extra time I have picked up by not being able to see them means I am catching up on my reading. 
I haven't seen anything in the last ten fifteen years that was so great it impacted my life.  Even the "good" shows are OK, not something that makes me want to watch them over and over like movies used to.  
 
I will not subscribe to a zillion different streams. 
I will "rent" or "buy" a movie through a common service if I think it is really good.  But all it means when they place a show exclusively on a service like Disney+ or CBS All Access is that I will not see it. 
 
You don't miss what you can't see.