Scott Ruggels

I cover maintenance and such as part of the background play. Costs are part of the general cost of living and field maintenance is what people do in the evenings while sitting around the camp fire. So I acknowledge it in the narrative but don't make it a big thing.
 

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
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Many years ago now... meaning before 6e happened, I did an analysis of Golden Age characters. This involved reading all the Golden Age comics I could lay my hands on.

The main conclusion I drew was that most Golden Age characters were incredibly cookie cutter, and that the key difference wasn't their skills or characteristics, but their powers.

So the differences between Batman, Sandman, Green Arrow and Green Lantern were those between the Utility Belt, the Gas Gun (and mask), a bow and fancy arrows, and an Awesome Magic Ring. Otherwise, they were pretty much interchangeable.

Better yet, in their first adventures, the differences between those weren't all that significant in point terms.

Ultimately, I built them all from one single template. I called it "Generico". I even had disadvantages based on this generic character.

It was surprising to me how well this worked. Yes, Superman and the Flash didn't look much like Generico once I had finished with them, but it was still a useful starting point.

The only major character I couldn't work out was the Spectre - but he was a notable outlier even back then.

I can play whatever but I prefer Hero as GM.

It only goes one way man. Only one way.
 
That said in my Hero campain its a human world. 
Last time I had a multi species dnd campain furries were not invented yet and annimal dudes were just miniotaurs and gnolls and stuff. 

Ooooh, I want these! Just the ticket for keeping the noisy neighbors in line.
 

The problem is not that we have no interest, the problem is that the younger gamers will. This Forum is clattering in the slow lanes on three cylinders, because we have fewer and fewer players.  D&D will just acquire more.  We have a new thread that’s turning out that Hero is no longer people’s go to system for gaming. For better it for worse, where goes D&D, the hobby follows.  

Interesting analysis of the One D&D push for their VTT. 
 
 

New way to hold a two handed weapon, more of a boxing stance, than wrapping yourself around the weapon, traditionally. 
https://youtube.com/shorts/-hbPbirzgco?feature=share

countdown to the Artemis 1 launch. 

If I'm planning on running the game, it's usually (Fantasy) Hero, or occasionally, Traveller. If someone else is running the game, then it can be just about anything.
 
I'm a player in a D&D 5e game right now, but it's kind of an odd experience. I'm seen as an expert on the system even though I've never run it, mainly because I don't thing anyone other than the GM has any roleplaying experience whatsoever (I believe they were all born in the 1990s--my FH campaign's older than a lot of them). I've ended up providing most of them with sets of dice*, and I've brought over a bunch of cheap mechanical pencils so that they don't keep on borrowing mine. And I've ended up digging a bunch of maps from a couple of Kickstarters out of storage so that we can plot stuff on the table. The first session was a little rough, as I think that I had the only copy of a PHB at the table. Thankfully, that was fixed by the second session, and I believe everyone has one now. I'm having as much fun watching others discover the hobby as I am roleplaying my character.
 
*I had been buying blind packs of dice from a few online retailers for a little while now, and I would set aside any sets that didn't appeal to me.  I brought those, along with the remnants of a couple of bags of Pound-O-DIce that my old group had split up several years ago, and let them have at it. I know a few have been bitten by the dice bug, as they've since acquired more sets on their own.

Flashpoint. They've done an animated version of the actual story, run a version (sort of) in the CW Flash, threatened to do it with the Wonder Woman sequel, and apparently based their entire pre-merger reboot of the DCEU on it in the Flash movie. They desperately need to move on.

You wouldn't have liked the 5g plan they were going to do which became the new legacies that no one likes.
 
My issue as a reader was continuity. I just had to stop reading DC because they had ten history reboots that only rebooted part of their line and not the other. It's why their characters have new ethnic backgrounds, new sexual orientations, histories that make no sense, fan fiction type romances, new personalities that don't go with what went before, and Tom King writing alternative takes on heroes that are just bad.
 
 THE HUMAN TARGET DOES NOT INVESTIGATE ANYTHING, YOU STUPID CLOWN!!!!!
 
 It's like picking up the latest book in a novel series and finding the main character is not a white 6'4" 250 pound ex-army major who has decided to wonder America and the world to pick up hot chicks when he can and punch bullies as a hobby, but has become a Nigerian millionaire solving problems on his family estate and flirting with the gardener while his mother harasses him.
CES    

countdown to the Artemis 1 launch. 

One thing to keep in mind is that vs the type of foes that were actually encountered in the real world the weapons did a lot less damage than in the game.  Unlike in a game, historically the only real opponents people in the Middle Ages faced were other humans. Humans during that time period where actually smaller than they are today, and in the game, characters are even larger.  That means the average sword was not doing anywhere near max damage.  
 
A person attacking you with a sword was probably doing 1d6 +1.  That means the maximum damage they can do is 7 BODY.   DEF 8 armor means they cannot actually do any BODY.  Even a critical hit to the head (assuming hit locations are being used) only does 19 STUN to a character with wearing full plate and PD of 8.  The average damage from a long sword is 4.5 Body and 11.25 STUN.  This means the knight in full plate takes no damage form the average sword hitting him.   
 
It seems to me that the Hero System is actually fairly accurate as far as armor goes. The average knight in full plate is probably going to ignore somewhere around 90% of the attacks coming from a historically accurate opponent.  If he is facing something like Roland or Lancelot he is probably going to take more, but vs the ordinary foot soldier not much.  When you start throwing in 7-foot orcs with body like an Olympic weightlifter then they start taking more.   If you want armor to be as effective as historically was don’t throw opponents that are 4 times as strong.  
 

Torch ships possibly in my lifetime? 
 
 

Bumping for another Christmas.

I am leaning heavily toward increasing the defense of armor across the board.  Especially after seeing how well even stuff like cloth armor protects against attacks.  This makes melee tougher, but the entire point of armor is to prevent body damage.  Is Cloth armor really just 1 PD, 1 ED resistant defense?  Not in practice, its more like 3 or 4.  Plate armor is probably more than 8 as well.  The impact you still feel, but the body damage is unlikely to penetrate.
 
The weights are a bit off as well, in my research.  Too many people are doing actual blacksmithing to produce this stuff today and giving great information, not to mention all the historical research being done.

And older readers are more picky about what happens to their characters. They tend to drop books until something comes along to draw them back in.
CES

What I saw, to the limited extent I paid any attention...
--horrible art.  First and foremost.  SO bad that it completely disrupted any attempt to tell a story, at least for me.
--Continuity disruptions.  I think the big one for me was the death of Superman...only to bring him back in so many bizarre ways.
--The storylines I saw got to be beyond ridiculous, MUCH of the time.  

So, people are really going back to clunky OD&D OSRs as their “go tos”?  The whole reason Champions was so attractive was that it wasn’t D&D, with its classes and random character generation and funny dice. 

Well, that's why this guy some people hate so much is in charge.  His job is to change those toxic business policies, stupid marketing approaches, and self-destructive philosophies.  Nobody should bail out DC with government funds (like has happened in the past with banks and car companies), but putting someone ruthless and efficient in charge to save the company means more jobs for the future and maybe saving some businesses that were too stupid to run themselves well in the past.

He takes a lot of time to say what he has to say, but his content is very interesting.
 
My understanding of this video basically boils down to: Kids are buying comics made for kids in numbers far, far larger than adults are buying comics at all.  Too bad Marvel and DC decided they don't care about kids.  A scholastic reader Miles Morales comic has 10x the sales of any of the Marvel Spiderman titles, which shows that they may well buy superhero comics but they aren't being given many reasons too.
 
The YouTuber pitches the theory that both Marvel and DC decided to "age up" with their readers starting in the 90s and abandoned the traditional kid market.  That worked for a while but now we are at a point where 30 years of kids have grown up on Manga (which has tons of adult stuff but *also* has tons of stuff for 8 year olds).  Scholastic has pulled way ahead of both DC and Marvel.  The "big two" traditional publishers don't appear in the top 5 comic book sellers in the big bookstores (which according to this video is where all the growth in comic sales is)
 
So it sounds like third party takes (Like from Scholastic) on traditional comics are the only places these characters are still showing up for actual children.  Kids in 2022 appear to be reading a lot more manga & not a lot of Spiderman.  I know my life-long comic book addiction started when I was 7 years old & if its true that kids haven't been getting into stuff like that for 20 years.. no wonder comic sales are down.  I've seen enough Manga that was pretty cool that I can easily understand how if you got into that when you were in 1st or 2nd grade you might not feel a deep need to keep up on Spiderman anymore.  My Hero Academia, Naruto, and Dragonball seem way more popular than Batman among middleschool kids I run into.

I think it was a PC trying something silly & his GM went along with it part of the way.  If we are assuming Iron Man 3 was a Champions Session, "House Party Protocol" was Stark's player being cute and trying to make an army out of his backup suits/extra foci and some inventor rolls.  His GM let him get away with it once but declared that they all came apart if they took any damage or failed a dex roll.  He was then informed he wasn't allowed to do that anymore.
 
In later movies, he actually bought the Iron Legion as followers but they were usurped by Ultron.  He then appeared to give up on armies of troopers and went nanotech, AKA he re-spent his points and rolled the followers (along with a bunch of XP) into buying off his Foci limits entirely.  It looked like he had OIHID during Infinity Wars (He had to activate his chest unit, which Endgame showed us was removable) but by Endgame he didn't seem to have any limits at all anymore on using his Nanites.

I think realistic armor would mostly be an all-or-nothing affair. Either you bypass/penetrate and do damage, or you bounce harmlessly off. Bludgeons might transmit some impact through the armor; truly armor piercing weapons would just have a greater penetration chance.
 
How to model it effectively, I don't know. Maybe D&D was on the right track with AC.