Chris Goodwin

These are military templates, converted to 6th edition from my "Global Task Force Omega vs. the World Terror Front" Danger International game.  
 
I haven't run any of these through Hero Designer, so there may be errors.  And there may be straight up military errors as well; feedback and corrections from other prior service members here are welcomed.  
 
(The document is here and that's what I'll keep most up to date.)  
 
Military Hero
Adapted from GTFO vs. WTF.  Any errors are mine; any assistance correcting them is appreciated!  
 
Stat Blocks
Choose one from the spreadsheet.  
 
Total Cost:  65 points
 
Skills
Everyone gets the Basic Military Template.  
 
Basic Military Template
3     Breakfall
3     Climbing
3     Concealment
1     Paramedic 8-
1     Stealth 8-
3     Survival
1     KS: Enemy Forces 8-
2     KS: Theater Operations 11-
2     KS: Military Procedure 11-
2     PS: Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine 11-
4     WF: Small Arms, Light Machine Guns, Handheld Grenade Launchers
5     +1 with Ranged Combat
 
Total Cost:  30 
 
The Basic Military Template represents a typical combat-oriented troop, especially one that comes out of US Army basic training or US Marine Corps boot camp.  
 
The Background Skills listed above are as follows:
 
KS: Enemy Forces.  This refers to the general training military members receive about the forces of countries that are opposed to the US.  These will usually refer to Russia, China, North Korea, and various Middle Eastern or Central American countries.  Coming out of basic training, a character typically has an 8- in this skill; AIT, A-school, or tech school will move this up to 11-, and will usually specialize in forces based in whatever theater the individual is ultimately assigned to.  
 
KS: Theater Operations.  This refers to specific operational knowledge of the theater the individual will ultimately be assigned to, and refers as much to unwritten rules and customs as it does to anything learned in a classroom.  "FNGs" or "newbies" straight out of secondary training might not have this skill at all, or if they do it will be at 8-.  
 
KS: Military Procedure.  This includes general knowledge about the military the individual learns in basic and secondary training.  It usually refers more specifically to the individual's home service, but most characters will learn a fair amount about other services, especially regarding their officer ranks and when to salute.  Any character coming out of secondary training should have this at 11-; most characters will have 11- in this by the time they complete basic training. 
 
PS: Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine.  This represents the character's day to day ability to function as a professionally trained member of their branch.  It includes things like drilling/marching, the wearing of the uniform, grooming standards, military bearing, and so forth.  Career military members might have this at 12- or 13-.  
 
Taking one stat block and the Basic Military Template puts a character at 95 total points.
 
Everyone also gets up to 15 points worth of options from the Personal Skills Template:
 
Personal Skills Template
Options:
 
5     Additional Skill +1
3     One of:  Brawling (Talent: +1d6 HA), Additional Skill, or Skill Enhancer
2     KS: _____ (interest or academic study) 11-
2     PS: _____ (hobby or past job skill) 11-
1     One of:  Language (1 point) or Weapon Familiarity (choice)
2     Additional Skills or Characteristics (choice)
 
This template is largely optional, and represents skills, knowledges, or abilities the character may have brought with them from their time before enlisting.  Sometimes these will prove helpful to the character in their MOS.  If the character doesn't take these specific skills, they may spend up to 15 points on similar items, or ignore them entirely.  
 
Stopping here leaves the character at 110 points, assuming they spend the full 15 points from the Personal Skills Template.
 
MOS's
The most expensive MOS package is the Navy Seal at 45 points, bringing the character to a total of 155 points.  Decide how many total points characters will be (150-175, depending on the campaign).
 
Everyone gets at least one MOS.
 
11B
MOS 11B refers to an Army infantryman.  In the Army, every soldier is considered infantry at their core; the Basic Military template above refers to a bog standard infantryman.  The following MOS templates represent other MOS's that are often assigned to infantry platoons.  
 
Armourer/Mechanic Comms Demolitions Expert Driver Heavy Weapons Expert Leadership Marksman Medic Research/Intelligence  
Armourer/Mechanic
5     Gunsmith +1
5     Mechanic +1
2     +1 to one of the above
3     +1 with Crafting Skills
3     +3 STR (max 20)
 
Total Cost: 18
 
Comms and/or Hacking
5     Bugging +1
3     Computer Programming
7     Electronics +2
5     Security Systems +1
3     System Operation
2     KS: Electronic Surveillance
2     KS: Radio Communications 11-
3     +1 with Electronics & Security Skills
 
Total cost: 30
 
Demolitions expert
5     1d6 Luck
7     Demolitions +2
1     Electronics 8-
1     Lockpicking 8-
1     Mechanic 8-
3     PS: EOD 12-
10   +1 Overall Level
3     +3 EGO
3     +1 Enhanced Perception
 
Total cost: 34
 
Driver
2     Area Knowledge (area of operations) 11-
5     Combat Driving +1
1     Mechanic 8-
3     Navigation
1     PS: Loadmaster 8-
2     TF:  Wheeled Military Vehicles, Tracked Military Vehicles, Large Motorized Ground
 Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Motorized Ground Vehicles (choose two)
5     +1 with Ranged Combat
1     WF: Vehicle Mounted Weapons
 
Total Cost:  20 points
 
Heavy Weapons expert
3     Gunsmith
1     WF: Light Machine Guns
1     WF: Mortars
1     WF: Heavy Machine Guns
5     +1 with Ranged Combat
3     +1 with one of the above
6     +3 STR, +1 PD, +5 END, +2 STUN
 
Total Cost: 20 points
 
Interrogator
3     Interrogation
3     Persuasion
3     Charm
5     Language (4 points plus Literacy)
3     Streetwise
2     PS: Intelligence Collection 11-
4     +1 with Interaction Skills
3     +3 PRE (max 20)
3     Perk: Security Clearance
 
Total Cost: 29 points
 
Medic
4     Paramedic (full skill) +1
2     KS: Anatomy & Physiology 11-
3     KS: Emergency Medical Protocols 12-
3     PS: Diagnosis 12-
2     +1 DEX
6     +3 EGO
4     Movement Skill Levels:  +2 with Running
 
Total Cost:  24 points
 
Navy SEAL (combat plus underwater)
20 Commando Training
3 KS: Scuba
3 PS: Scuba Instructor
5 +1 with Ranged Combat
6 +6m Swimming
8 +2 CON, +3 EGO, +1 PD, +5 END, +2 STUN
 
Total Cost: 45 points
 
Pilot
2     Area Knowledge (area of operations) 11-
7     Combat Piloting +2
1     Mechanic 8-
3     Navigation
1     PS: Loadmaster 8-
2     TF:  Small Fixed Wing, Large Fixed Wing, Rotary (choose one)
5     +1 with Ranged Combat
1     WF: Vehicle Mounted Weapons
3     Rank (officer)
 
Total Cost:  25 points
 
Research/Intelligence
2     AK: (area of operations) 11-
5     Languages
3     Linguist
3     Scholar
3     Three KS's relating to enemy forces/disposition/techniques at 11-
3     +1 to Perception 
3     +3 INT
5     Speed Reading
3     Perk: Security Clearance
 
Total Cost:  30 points
 
Search and Rescue
As Medic, plus:
 
4     +2 to Survival Skill
3     PS: Parachuting 12-
3     +3 STR
2     +2m Running
1     +2m Swimming
 
Total Cost: 13 points
 
Stealth expert
2     +1 to Concealment +1
4     Full Stealth +1
2     WF: Bows/Crossbows
3     +1 with Bows/Crossbows
5     +1 with Ranged Combat
2     +2m Running
 
Total Cost:  18 points
 
Finally, one or more of the following (not MOS's, but official or unofficial additions to any of the above):
 
Leadership
2     PS: Leadership 11-
1     Rank
 
Gym Rat
10     +3 STR, +3 CON, +1 PD, +3 REC
 
Hand-to-hand Combat Expert
5     +1 with Hand-to-hand Combat
 
Lucky
5     1d6 Luck
 
Marksman
6     +2 with a Small Arms weapon group
 
Runner
2     +2m Running
2     +2 REC
4     Movement Skill Levels: +2 with Running
 
Weapons Expert
5     +1 with ranged combat
 
Tough
5     +2 PD, +1 ED, +1 REC, +2 STUN
 
Fast
10     +1 SPD
 
Cool
6     +3 PRE, +3 EGO
 
Primary MOS
5     +1 with Primary MOS Skills
 
MWR Specialist
3     Bureaucratics
3     Charm
3     Streetwise
2     KS: Mixology
2     KS: Who Knows Who
1     PS: Barber, Tailor, or similar 8- (from before service)
3     Well Connected
5     Contacts
 
(MWR = Morale, Welfare, and Recreation.  This usually refers to recreational facilities on base, but here it's used as an inside joke to refer to the unit's horse trader, dog robber, wheeler dealer; this person usually ends up serving drinks at parties and giving their buddies emergency haircuts at $5 a pop the night before an inspection.)

Complications
The military works very hard at weeding out individuals with Complications, especially Physical, Psychological, or Social, that would tend to be disruptive to military discipline and unit cohesion.  That's not to say that some don't sneak through, but the character will likely have to work to keep them a secret.  
 
All active duty military characters will have the following Complications:
 
Distinctive Features: Uniform, Grooming, Military Bearing (conc.) Hunted: Branch of service (more pow, frequently, NCI, large group, watching) Social Complication: Subject to Orders   

Dr.Device is a good writer.  I recommend her story wholeheartedly!

A while back I managed to actually finish one on my writing projects. I tried to get it published, without success, and earlier this year posted it online. Someone recently made me realize I hadn't posted a link here, so, here's Lucid.
 
It's a YA superhero novel with a trans girl protagonist. Writing it is what made me finally realize/accept that I'm trans. I'm still trying to write more, so any feedback on what worked or didn't work would be helpful.
 
 

I would also include attacks that do knockback as something that may interupt

We use an interrupt style closer to D&D rules.  The interruption is not automatic.
*  If you're stunned - the spell is interrupted.
*  If your hands/arms are grabbed - the spell is interrupted.
*  If you're silenced and the spell has a verbal component - the spell is interrupted.
* For most damage scenarios the caster makes a CON or EGO roll at a -1 per 5 STUN or fraction thereof  (3 STUN is -1, 9 STUN is -2, 14 STUN is -3, etc.).

Power Skill is heavily dependent on GM interpretation or house rules.  From the 6e rules, p 86

 
 
I recall more detailed rules in an older edition that imposed pretty significant AP-based penalties to any modification using Power Skill.  The Tier rule would be a good campaign reason for Power Skill. Both of these highlight the question "how does the specific campaign use power skill".  My comments are taken from the assumption that the main, if not sole, use of Magic Skill in the specific game is to govern RSR on spells (assumed, but with no comments from eepjr indicating the wizard with no RSR limitations has a magic skill, I think a fair assumption), and that some spellcasters have RSR and others do not (which eepjr has stated).
 
 
Your suggestion (a really good one), which I just expanded on, works perfectly as ling as "no skill roll" means "I am so skilled that I am assumed to always make my roll", which seems reasonable for the context.  If a creature had some natural magical abilities, presupposing a skill roll may not be the best approach, although it could still be reasonable with the roll simulating the  creature also has less certain ability to tap into the magic that fuels its ability, even if it does not do so by training and skill, but by nature and instinct.
 
 

I voted "Sometimes" and agree with what Chris Goodwin says.
 
I also specifically add if you take knockback that moves your character that it stops incantations and gestures.  I can accept that during magical training that they will have practiced being hit, even repeatedly, without interrupting their incantations and gestures.
 
But I have a hard time picturing someone being so disciplined as to be able to continue such things after being walloped so hard that they're literally flying through the air some number of hexes. 
 
 

Why not power stunting your spells?  Unless it was explicitly disallowed, I would.  As a player I would buy it, and as a GM I would encourage it.  I've bought Power Skill for characters without a single RSR ability.  
 
Also, I've been mulling over a magic system that has characters starting out buying all spells with RSR at -1 per 5 at first, then letting them buy those down to -1 per 10, -1 per 20, and eventually buying it off completely to represent spell mastery.  In that case, characters could easily have some spells without RSR at all, and others that range throughout the difficulty levels.  (Edit to add)  I'm looking at a tiered difficulty, so the first tier you buy are at -1 per 5, and you can't start buying tier 2 until some amount of your tier 1 spells are at -1 per 10, then tier 3 at -1 per 5 once your tier 1 are at -1 per 20 and your tier 2 are -1 per 10.  I don't have it really worked out, though.

Change Environment can be used to provide penalties to a lot of different Skills.  For instance, let's say I want to build a lock that is more difficult to pick.  Change Environment: -3 to Lockpicking Skill.  How about a nightingale floor, one that is built such that Stealth is difficult or impossible?  CE: -5 to Stealth rolls.  
 
In this case, it's providing a penalty to Magic Skill Rolls.  In the event there are spells that don't RSR: Magic Skill to cast, the GM needs to have some idea of how they're going to handle it.  I'm suggesting the same way you'd do an icy floor that requires a DEX Roll at -4, or an Acrobatics roll, or else you fall down.  
 
Actually, that's a good analogy.  Running doesn't normally RSR, but Change Environment can require you to make one or something bad happens.  Same with spells that don't Require A Skill Roll.  You still have to make a roll, and I can't imagine there not being the opportunity to buy some kind of Power Skill for magic even if the system itself doesn't RSR.  

There was a time when I would have hewed much closer to this, but in general my players have resisted Hit Locations and the complexity that goes along with it. I will say, it speeds up combat to not have to worry about it, especially when the creature is non-humanoid and has custom locations. So with that said, we don't play disabling or impairing generally either, although exceptionally I will have a player injured in this manner from a particularly egregious hit.
 
I like the half CON idea, although I am leaning toward BODY automatically interrupting. I may allow something along the lines of Resistance (from the optional wounding rules). Maybe For every point of resistance you have, up to half your body minus 1, you can still make an EGO (CON?) roll to power through. In my mind, if you take half your BODY in one shot I don't care what kind of control you have you are going to flinch and cry out (assuming the you are not just outright stunned).
 
Thanks for the input.

I found the other thread, here.  It was pointed out over there that per RAW, a single point past defenses from any attack (requiring an Attack Roll or Mental Attack Roll) is enough to disrupt Gestures and/or Incantations.  
 
Do with that what you will.
 
Edit to add:  To quote myself from that thread...
 
 
Bolding the above in my quote, even though I didn't bold it previously.  

I voted "sometimes." 
 
Basically I'm a "yes" but I don't want to rule out the occasional time where the attack might not be sufficient to do one of the following:
 
Any good hit will probably make the target stumble over their words as they hiss with pain. A shot to the stomach can knock enough wind out of someone that speech becomes difficult (at least.) A shot to the leg might knock someone off balance such that they throw out and arm to catch themselves, thereby disrupting the gestures.
 
But in a big, dramatic scene, where the caster just has to get the spell off, I might allow a "concentration check" based on the spell casters magic skill, modified for amount of damage actually taken.

Change Environment can do any of the following:
Apply penalties to affected characters Require affected characters to make a roll at penalties or something happens (i.e. make a DEX roll or fall prone) There have been at least a couple of rules questions asked to Steve Long specifically about Magic Skill Rolls.  I can't find any of them, but I remember asking him one myself (I might have actually brought it up to him in conversation), and the answer was: yes, that's a pretty neat idea.  (Here's one)
 
If we're getting into a magic system that allows some highly skilled practitioners to essentially buy off the RSR Limitation on some of their spells, because they're Just That Good, there are a couple of ways to go.  I'd leave it up to the GM; like Hugh, I would feel like it was unfair if I bought RSR off of some of my spells in order to reflect being highly skilled, only to have a few points worth of Change Environment require me to make the roll again.  On the other hand, it is a pretty neat idea, and well within the rules.  Change Environment is pretty GM-driven, so the GM will need to decide in the end.  
 
References: 
https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/93873-change-environment-for-power-disruption/ https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/94705-change-environment-requiring-a-roll-vs-penalties-only/ https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/93901-change-environment/ https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/93952-follow-up-to-change-environment-for-power-disruption/  

I've thought of different ideas for crits.  Like, choose from one of the following:
Maximum damage (the default) Choice of hit location Ignore some armor (maybe half, maybe all) Automatic impairing or disabling wound (making it an actual "critical hit" -- hitting something critical to the functioning of the opponent) Some other choice for the player (eye shot?  Cut off arm?) Luck roll (also triggering target's Unluck)  

I've thought of different ideas for crits.  Like, choose from one of the following:
Maximum damage (the default) Choice of hit location Ignore some armor (maybe half, maybe all) Automatic impairing or disabling wound (making it an actual "critical hit" -- hitting something critical to the functioning of the opponent) Some other choice for the player (eye shot?  Cut off arm?) Luck roll (also triggering target's Unluck)  

Very cool Chris!

I've thought of different ideas for crits.  Like, choose from one of the following:
Maximum damage (the default) Choice of hit location Ignore some armor (maybe half, maybe all) Automatic impairing or disabling wound (making it an actual "critical hit" -- hitting something critical to the functioning of the opponent) Some other choice for the player (eye shot?  Cut off arm?) Luck roll (also triggering target's Unluck)  

I've thought of different ideas for crits.  Like, choose from one of the following:
Maximum damage (the default) Choice of hit location Ignore some armor (maybe half, maybe all) Automatic impairing or disabling wound (making it an actual "critical hit" -- hitting something critical to the functioning of the opponent) Some other choice for the player (eye shot?  Cut off arm?) Luck roll (also triggering target's Unluck)  

I am currently running a low fantasy campaign that has no magic. It’s working quite well. 

Every time we reason from effect we're going Doylist.  Why should this be different?

Every time we reason from effect we're going Doylist.  Why should this be different?

Every time we reason from effect we're going Doylist.  Why should this be different?

I don't want to derail this too far, but that's actually one of the reasons supers isn't really my bag.
 
The guy with electrical powers could make an absolute killing as a remote location welder.  The guy with Telekinesis can launch satellites-- the list goes on and on.  Why they would prefer to put on masks and slug the crap out of other people who put on masks is a bit baffling to me, so much so that my supers-universe (I run supers; my players like them more than I do) is filled with "minor powers" who do precisely that:  monetize their amazing abilities as opposed to getting hospitalized with them. 
 
 

Random other thing.
 
As with so many super powers, a person with this would have no need to be a villain if it were effectively permanent. They could be wealthy just by setting up a clinic and charging $10-40k a pop.
 
But, like I said, a lot of powers have similar issues.

I'm heavily on the "It depends on the campaign" side of things.
 
It also depends on the likely duration based on the the reversal condition. Which makes me consider that reversal conditions should probably be figured somehow into the cost of transformation, but that's a different discussion.
 
If it's going to be reversed by the end of the session, I'd call it cosmetic in any except a very heavy role-playing campaign, and maybe only more then, if the characters have reason to believe it's long-term or permanent. 
 
So, let's assume it's long-term or effectively permanent.
 
For a game where where non-combat time and role-playing are important, and this is take seriously at all, then this is at minimum a minor, and more realistically a major transformation. IndianaJoe3 mentions social limitations, but the biggest imposed limitation here is going to be gender dysphoria. That could be written up as a psychological limitation, a social limitation, or a combination. It could also be argued as a physical limitation, but that might be a stretch.
 
And gender dysphoria is very real, and, depending on the person can be crippling. I, luckily, never had a severe dose of it, but I have friends who have. Bought realistically, the lims involved could easily top 20 or thirty points. 
 
And of course, it wouldn't aways be lims added. For a transgender person who hasn't started transitioning yet, it could easily remove a slough of lims. If they have started transitioning, it would depend on what exactly the transform did to them. If it just goes off your genes, swaps some chromosomes, and rebuilds you, I personally would be fine with it. If it's some metaphysical reversal, where I end up physically a trans guy at the equivalent stage of physical transition, I burn down the world to get the reversal or take pretty savage revenge if it's not possible. 
 
I'm pretty confident for most non-transgender people,  a permanent change would not be a small thing. It would upend their lives and sense of self. Played realistically the affected person would be more like my second reaction above. They would need to find the reversal. It would consume much of their life until they did. So, in a serious, RP heavy campaign, I really see it as a major transform.
 
To the recognizability issue, that is variable, but generally the change would probably make pretty big differences. For the closest real-world equivalent of a boy-girl gun, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), results vary from, "yeah, she's looks a little more feminine now" to "There's no way that's the same person." Especially with trans women, because a lot of the changes testosterone makes to the body (height, build, facial features), are at to the bone, and thus not as subject to the kind of changes that HRT can make. An actual boy-girl gun wouldn't be subject to those limitations, so, big, big, changes (on average). Anecdotally, recently while grocery shopping, I ran across some people I gamed with for  8-10 hours every week for years, and they didn't recognize me, even when looking straight at me. And I started HRT really late in life and didn't get the full benefits a younger person would have gotten.