Research and Planning for SpecForce Write-Ups

[Mamatried]

[RyanDarkstar]

Not sure if it'll help, but this subject keeps reminding me of G.I. Joe with Primary and Secondary Military Specialties. For example:

[Mamatried]

@RyanDarkstar

That's not bad, is very much how I see this actually.

We have a sapper, a combat enginner, who became special operation forces/special forces.
He became a specialist infantryman, still hving his sapper skills, he is now above and beyond the run of he mill sapper and infantryman

he then specializes further in heavy weapons, and may end up as the gunner in a heavy spedial oeprations armor unit.

Now if we take the primary: Sapper
and let him a Infantry and a infiltration secondary, we now have a very saboteur type.

maybe his primary was infantly and his secondary was pilot and enginner then we could see a special ops pilot, fully capable in ground combat, very much like inferno squad.

we could have a logistics primary
with a sapper, infiltration seconsadry etc etc.


One good thing to maybe look at is the Planetary Defense forces write up in the adventues journals we have in tools.


This a quick write up
Basic Training

Add to Template/Character

Attribute
+1 Strength

Skills
+2 Blaster
+2 Running
+1 Brawling
+1 Climbing/Jumping
+1 Dodge
+1 First Aid
+1 Search

Occupational training

Infantry-
+1 Strength
+1 Dexterity

+1 Survival
+1 Tactics

+1 Blaster
+1 Running
+1 Brawling
+1 Climbing/Jumping
+1 Dodge
+1 First Aid
+1 Search

Medical-

+1 Knowledge
+1 Technical

+1 Dodge
+1 Running
+1 Alien Species
+1 Survival
+2 Lifting
+1D First Aid

Security-

+1 Strength
+1 Perception

+2 Law Enforcement
+1 Melee Combat
+1 Blaster
+1 Running
+1 Brawling
+1 Dodge
+1 First Aid
+1 Search

Transportation-

+1 Mechanical
+1 Technical

+1 Blaster
+1 Survival
+1 Tactics
+1 Lifting
+2 Repulsorlift Repair
+1D Repulsorlift Operation

Add one or more of thise to the template/character and viola most if not all major special forces and special operations units will have their basic skills covered, from then it is easier to give various units some specialized skills

[Mamatried]

Special Forces (Generic) TIE Pilot
7D skills (all to mechanical)
+ basic pdf training, + security pdf occupation training

DEXTERITY:3D+2
Blaster 4D+1
Brawling Parry
Dodge 3D+2
Melee Combat 4D
Missile Weapons
Run 4D+1

KNOWLEDGE: 2D+1
Alien Species
Languages
law Enforcement 3D
Planetary Systems
Survival
Tactics

MECHANICAL: 4D
Repulsorlift Operation 5D
Sensors 5D
Space Transports 5D
Starfighter Piloting 6D
Starship Gunnery 5D
Starship Shields 5D

PERCEPTION: 3D+1
Bargain
Command
Gambling
Search 3D+2

STRENGTH: 3D+1
Brawling 4D
Climbing/Jumping 3D+2
Stamina

TECHNICAL: 2D+1
Computer Programming/ Repair
First Aid 3D
Starfighter Repair
Starship Weapons Repair

Added Normal 7D skills (Mechanical skills focus)
As a pilot it is assumed his training would be in the trasport branch.
he thus decides on going into an infantry specialzation for added ground combat skills.

he thus begins his special forces training
( Still using the PDF write up from Adv journal issue 3, pg 128. Found in tools/library)

His basic training increases his strength
And he recives special operations basic training and adds the following
Attribute
+1 Strength
Skills
+2 Blaster
+2 Running
+1 Brawling
+1 Climbing/Jumping
+1 Dodge
+1 First Aid
+1 Search

Becuse he is a pilot, he decides to go into the security field, this including infiltration etc.
He now moves to his second phase of training, here he is given his "specilaization"

he chooses the security branch
and adds the following: Increases strength and Perceptiom.
Recieving Relevant skills.

Security-
+1 Strength
+1 Perception

+2 Law Enforcement
+1 Melee Combat
+1 Blaster
+1 Running
+1 Brawling
+1 Dodge
+1 First Aid
+1 Search

He is now ready to serve as a pilot/driver for a special ops/special forces team.

This is not a very OP character, but there a totla of +1D attribute and various total Dice in skills.
I think however this is a good starting point, elaborate on the trainings here, but use this old to make other and
more elite special forces templates, write ups and cheracters

In no way do I see this a qualified special forces soldier, but I do see how this PDF write up can be used
as a mold to base the training on. Added skills, maybe added values, with some allowing a +1D , a +1D+1 etc.
I found this to be ver good for giving a character som basic military training, and thus can be used for advance training
following the mold.


Kink to Adv journal in tools:
https://www.rancorpit.com/forums/downloads/Adventurers%20Journal/Adventurers%20Journal%203-020119-2page.pdf

[Naaman]

The stats I'm working on are for NPCs. They have a pretty broad skill set in the 4D to 6D range.

When I get to my computer, I'll post the baseline trooper to give an idea of what my thoughts are on how to format the varieties of troop types.

[Naaman]

Here is the bare bones SpecForce trooper that I have come up with based on my readings so far. Sources include RoE, Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, 2R&E, and my current interpretation of the meanings of dice values as given on page 207 of 2R&E.

Baseline SpecForce Trooper (Human)

DEXTERITY 2D+2
Blaster 5D
Brawling Parry 4D
Dodge 4D+2
Grenade 4D+2
Melee Combat 4D
Melee Parry 4D
Missile Weapons 4D
Running 4D+2
Vehicle Blasters 4D

KNOWLEDGE 2D+1
Bureaucracy: Chain of Command 3D
Intimidation 4D
Survival 5D
Tactics 5D
Willpower 4D+2

MECHANICAL 2D
Communications 4D
Repulsorlift Operation 2D+2
Repulsorlift Operation: Glider 4D
Sensors 4D

PERCEPTION 2D+2
Command 3D+2
Hide 4D
Search 4D
Sneak 4D

STRENGTH 3D
Brawling 4D+2
Climbing/Jumping 4D
Lifting 5D
Stamina 6D
Swimming 3D+1

TECHNICAL 2D+1
Blaster Repair 4D
Demolitions 3D+1
First Aid 4D

Move: 10
Force Sensitive? No
Character Points: 1D+2
Force Points: 0

[Naaman]

What you see above is not representational of any of the given SpecForce disciplines. Rather, it serves as a template or starting point which shows the minimum standards that any SpecForce commander can expect from his troops.

In other words, if a particular mission requires any/all of those skills up to those levels, then a commander knows that he can send ANY SpecForce operator or unit on that mission, even if they specialize in something else.

The philosophy behind these stats comes from what I have experienced in the military:

Special operations personnel are soldiers first and they lack nothing with respect to basic soldiering skills (the skills on the template above represent what I feel are basic soldiering skills. Most soldiers will not have all of them at 4D or better: most soldiers will have many of those skills at 3D). All soldiers will have more skills than these, though (generally, the additional skills will be in the 4D range, while the familiarized skills will be in the 2D+ or 3D range).

Generally speaking, each discipline will have a few specializations added to it (such as a relevant specialization of tactics, a specialization of command for their particular discipline, etc) as well as other skills that express their area of focus (such as increasing the demolitions skill for engineers or (A) Medicine for medics, etc).

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

I would quote you to make this more coherent, but that's a little more complex of a task than is practicle on my phone at the moment.

I think that the idea of "ideal" vs "available" is something we agree on.

This is why I've put up the baseline trooper. Essentially, a SpecForce element can perform basic military functions proportionate to its size (or even one eschelon or scale up in many cases).

But I'm wondering if all the environmental training should be "add on" skills rather than a unique element under Alliance Command. In other words, ALL the SpecForce in a given area have unit-level training (rather than "school house" training) to round out their skill set for operations in their primary AoR.

This ties into what I was saying earlier about AO specialization.

Concerning VBSS, I went with the Coasties over the Marines or SEALs as a reference because actual Marine units do more than VBSS (amphibious assaults, underwater demo, etc.) and finding detailed information on that particular mission type is harder when it's only one of several capabilities. But I do agree: the SpaceOps are essentially Marines.

I think some confusion may be coming from the use of the word "attached." Your reference to MPs kinda helps to clarify things a little bit. In MP land, there are "infantry MPs" who are members of an infantry battalion. The aren't "attached" but rather actually belong to that commander. Those MPs have nothing to do with law enforcement during peace time or in garrison. They are fully integrated into the infanty unit to provide specialized skills (detainee operations, force protection, route security, etc.). They fall nowhere into a "military police chain of command" but rather are disposed by the battalion commander to whom they answer directly. The first officer in their chain of command, for example, would be an infantry officer at the battalion level.

Looking at it from the perspective you offer makes me think that there needs to be at a minimum, a "generic" SpecForce discipline that forms the core of SpecForce operations, and then, if using all of what is printed in RoE, those units would function like MPs in an infantry battalion.

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

So, the quote you posted is a reference to MPs being taken control of by a higher command within the MP chain of command.

In other words, the MP's boss' boss' boss selects a company for garrison enforcement.

What I was saying about infantry MP's is that their actual duty assignment is under the command of an infantry officer. Military police are (can function as) cops or soldiers, but their duty assignment dictates which. A duty assignment is not the same as a functional rotation in this case, so I can see where the confusion comes in.

The two cases here are not comparable, to put it simply.

I'm open minded to the sector/system thing, but primarily on the condition that I can be convinced that a majority of planets in a system/sector have like environments with no seasons. Or that if one planet in a system is urban (or not) then they all are (or are not).

[Naaman]

Also, just to be clear, the baseline trooper that I posted doesn't actually exist in my or the WEG's SWU.

If you look at RoE in the section on types of missions, you'll see that all SpecForce disciplines perform all of the missions, even though some units are optimized for certain mission types.

This (and other passages, such as references to Pathfinders getting the "basic" SpecForce hand to hand training) is what informs my notion of a "baseline" skill set common to all SpecForce.

This baseline is the template to which the specialty skills are added before you can say that a soldier is a member of Rebel SpecForces. Does that make sense?

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

I think we may be talking past each other here.

Concerning the thing on MP battalions, the point there was to illustrate that an MP company is analogous to an infantry battalion. So an MP battalion is somewhat like a Corps. The battalion itself is composed of several companies, each of which is wholly independent as an operational force: a company of MPs has a complete complement of commo techs, medics, mechanics, supply staff, admin staff, cooks, etc. That is to say, MP companies can function independent of a battalion and company commanders have everything they need to accomplish a mission, should one present itself. This was offered in contrast to the infantry which contains all its support personnel at the battalion level, so a company of infantry is not a complete operational force on its own.

Of course, that's how Americans do it with MPs. Now, if we use MPs as the analogy, there is additional training available to MPs such as SRT (SWAT training), PSD (VIP protection), dog handler, investigations, traffic, etc. Some of this training can be had with unit level approval, and others of it requires Army-level approval.

But, there are things that ALL MPs can do, even if some of them have more specialized training than others. At the end of the day, every soldier in a certain regiment must have a certain skill set in common with all other soldiers in that regiment. That "baseline skillset" is what qualifies the soldier as a member of that regiment.

Every special forces branch I am aware of has a qualification course that is common to all applicants. Specialized training (whether it's sniper training or HALO or scuba or whatever) comes later.

As for environmental specialists, I feel that the designers underestimate the versatility of a soldier. Or maybe it's just humans. But a soldier will function anywhere, no excuses. There is literally no need to have your toughest, most alpha of alpha males "specialize" according to environment. They can handle whatever is thrown at them.

That said, I do see a place for (for example) quarrens as aquatic environment specialists... but they would be at a serious disadvantage in the desert. But humans (with technological assistance) can function in the same capacity as a quarren under water (maybe not to the same level, but mission capable) and just fine in shallower waters while having no problem in the desert (sweat glands, and all that).

So species indiginous to a type of environment might form a highly focused specialized element, but it seems more reasonable to me that their specialty would only be relevant in a minority of cases, and that most of their fighting would happen wherever their numbers were needed, regardless of what their specialty is.

For that reason, there needs to be a standard in place with respect to the difference between a regular army soldier and a SpecForce soldier. I don't get the impression that gang warriors are suddenly conscripted into the Alliance and given no training, but rather just sent on "missions" in their native environments.

[Naaman]

One last thing, IMO, the heavy weapons specialists have absolutely got to go. It's an absurd notion that an individual SpecForce operator would be deficient on any commonly employed crew served weapon.

I can see converting HWS into some kind of field artillery or otherwise specialized weapons element, though.

Perhaps they could function like "mortar platoon."