Author Topic: Pilot Cards: New School Meets Old School (Read 24133 times)

Mendrugo · « **Reply #240 on:** 21 March 2019, 18:14:51 »

Shin Yodama

A Sho-sa on Luthien, he was assigned to ride herd on Takashi in the Dragon's Claws. He pilots a Phoenix Hawk, and has an excellent P/G of 1/1. With Sixth Sense and Extra Edge, it's a clear match for Combat Intuition and Lucky.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #241 on:** 22 March 2019, 05:05:23 »

Genyosha commander Tai-sa Narimasa Asano

He pilots a Hatamoto-chi with a P/G of 2/2. As seems the norm for unit commanders, his TN of 2+ for Tactics gives him Tactical Genius, while his three points of Edge suggests Lucky.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #242 on:** 22 March 2019, 05:26:46 »

Coordinator Takashi Kurita

The Mack Daddy of the Samurai set, Takashi's 4/4 P/G is pretty respectable at age 82. Noted as an excellent tactician, he gets the standard Tactical Genius. His second ability comes from the "Leashed Dragon" scenario - Berserker. He can go into a berserker rage, getting a -2 TN on physical attacks and a +1 TN on ranged attacks. All units under his command also go berserk if they fail a PSR check. In this state, they have to charge the nearest enemy and engage it in physical combat.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #243 on:** 22 March 2019, 05:35:44 »

Morgan Kell

On Luthien, his age (66) is showing, and his -1/0 G/P have slipped to a mere 1/1.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #244 on:** 22 March 2019, 19:31:07 »

Jaime Wolf

Here, he's a 1/1, implying that he kills enough Nova Cats on Luthien to reach his 0/0 stats, as seen in Null Set. He still gets Tactical Genius (with a TN of 2+ in tactics) and Natural Grace, though this character writeup gives him Wealthy and Well Equipped instead of Natural Aptitude ('Mech Piloting). (Unexpectedly, Jaime's also apparently a crack field medic, with a TN of 1+ in Medtech.)

Daryk · « **Reply #245 on:** 23 March 2019, 09:08:03 »

Looking good so far... :thumbsup:

Mendrugo · « **Reply #246 on:** 23 March 2019, 14:02:58 »

Smoke Jaguar saKhan Dorian Wirth

Riding a Dire Wolf (configuration not specified), he rocks a P/G of 1/1. His MechWarrior stats give him a TN of 3+ for Tactics and a TN of 2+ for Strategy, so Tactical Genius applies. He also has 4 points of Edge, and has the "Extra Edge" attribute, so with six SPA points to spend, he has 3 points of Lucky.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #247 on:** 23 March 2019, 14:46:05 »

Severen Leroux, Khan of the Nova Cats

With P/G at 1/1, he gets 7 SPA points to accommodate both Tactical Genius (his MW stats give him "Natural Aptitude (Tactics)") and Ride the Wash - a very expensive (4 point) aerospace-based SPA that lets him try to crash enemy planes using his jetwash. Not only is he noted for his anti-fighter skills (taking out three Fire Mandrill fighters in his first combat), but his use of the tactic might be what kept getting him in trouble throughout his career, since I'd guess that it's the moral equivalent of initiating physical attacks for a MechWarrior.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #248 on:** 23 March 2019, 15:21:06 »

Nova Cat saKhan Lucian Carns

Also with a P/G of 1/1, he rides a Gargoyle. His "Sixth Sense" gives him Combat Intuition, and his Extra Edge brings his Edge total to 4, giving him 3 points of Lucky.

Daryk · « **Reply #249 on:** 23 March 2019, 18:17:56 »

Very minor point: "unshakeable" is usually UK usage. In the US, it's usually "unshakable". One of those centre vs. center things...

Mendrugo · « **Reply #250 on:** 23 March 2019, 18:58:06 »

The spelling is the same in his Era Report 3052 profile.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #251 on:** 23 March 2019, 23:05:53 »

Moving on to The Fall of Terra

WoB Precentor Martial Trent Arian

His G/P are 2/3, and he pilots a Grand Crusader. His Tactics TN is 4+, his Strategy TN is 2+, and his Leadership is 3+, so Tactical Genius seems probable. (Most of the top commanders seem to get this.) In addition, it's noted that "he misses nothing that goes on around him," so Eagle's Eyes works. In addition, the WoB troops would have the technical know-how to get Human TRO to round out the 6 SPA points.

Daryk · « **Reply #252 on:** 23 March 2019, 23:51:34 »

Rog on the ER, no worries!

Mendrugo · « **Reply #253 on:** 24 March 2019, 07:35:15 »

Adept Adelle Kearny

Acting commander of the remnants of the 201st Division, Edelle is noted to be "a natural tactician." However, her MechWarrior stats give her a TN of 8+, so Tactical Genius seems out of reach. Rather, most of her bio plays up her seduction, for which she has a MW TN of 1+. To my mind, that gives her Antagonizer - drawing the enemies into an ambush. Iron Will rounds out the 4 SPA points, which will be especially helpful in the third North American campaign linked scenario, which actually uses morale rules.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #254 on:** 24 March 2019, 08:03:32 »

Shadow Lancer commander Precentor Suzanne Mulvanery

With a relatively weak G/P of 3/4, Suzanne's strengths are in strategy, tactics, and bureaucracy. With a TN of 3+ in Tactics, Tactical Genius applies. She also has the MechWarrior trait of Combat Sense, so Combat Intuition brings her SPA point count up to 6.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #255 on:** 24 March 2019, 08:32:09 »

Demi-Precentor Sharon Gardbaum

She runs a Champion with G/P of 3/4. (3/4 seems to be the standard for people who got ComGuard training. I mean, that's better than the 8/8 that came out of Meistmorn, but after doing the 1/1 Clanners from Luthien, these guys fail to match up.)

Her specialty is Linguistics, which doesn't really translate ( ;)) into any particular SPA.

Her Tactics TN 6+ is borderline, but still gives her Tactical Genius. The last point goes to Forward Observer, since there are some Arrow IV units in the British Isles campaign.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #256 on:** 24 March 2019, 08:59:36 »

Precentor John Christopher, commander of Task Force Steel.

With a 4/4 and a WHM-7M Warhammer, he was chosen for Steel because of his knowledge of the terrain in the British Isles. Lacking significant tactical sense (TN 7+), Terrain Master (Forest Ranger) would apply. (Especially since he's drawn to look like the Sheriff of Nottingham...and was born in Nottingham.) Melee Specialist rounds out his SPA, since his Unarmed Combat TN is 7+.

Major Headcase · « **Reply #257 on:** 24 March 2019, 09:35:03 »

Very cool!
I might have mixed up the SPAs a little myself and not always tailored them so specific to the mechs piloted, just for flavor! 😁
Is there a template you use to male these quickly? I'd love to make some form my own homemade units!!

Mendrugo · « **Reply #258 on:** 24 March 2019, 11:13:09 »

I generally try to model the SPAs on the character's fluff. Only if there's nothing that matches do I start looking at their rides for inspiration. Since a lot of the featured characters are unit commanders, Tactical Genius does come up more than its fair share, I admit.

I scanned in one of the new pilot cards and worked it over in Photoshop to make a blank template at 300 DPI, sized to print at the same size as the regular cards (nine per 8.5 x 11 sheet). The JPEG is attached - I can e-mail the .PSD file upon request.

Greatclub · « **Reply #259 on:** 24 March 2019, 13:48:23 »

Quote from: Mendrugo on 17 March 2019, 18:37:48

Lori Kalmar-Carlyle

Slight upgrades to ride and stats, and a promotion to Captain. Plus the newly-hyphenated last name.

Field Manual Mercenaries has her skill 2 with jumping jack and sharpshooter.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #260 on:** 24 March 2019, 15:54:32 »

The gunnery of 4 was from her stats in Day of Heroes, reflecting her skill level against the Jade Falcons on Pandora. She appears to have improved between Pandora and Hesperus II.

Thanks to multiple entries, we can see characters grow over time. The abilities I assigned her best fit her as a Mech Apprentice from Sigurd. Jumping Jack would be of little use in her Locust. I didn’t see anything in her bios to suggest different skills, but can see how the author of FM:Mercs felt those would fit her Shadow Hawk later on.

Greatclub · « **Reply #261 on:** 24 March 2019, 16:02:19 »

Quote from: Mendrugo on 24 March 2019, 15:54:32

I didn’t see anything in her bios to suggest different skills, but can see how the author of FM:Mercs felt those would fit her Shadow Hawk later on.

No kid, she had that shadow hawk for ~25 years, and the locust for 5 or less.

Mendrugo · « **Reply #262 on:** 25 March 2019, 08:31:43 »

The question remains - to what extent are SPAs locked in for the life of the pilot? Do they just get 2, 4, or 6 points to assign to whatever best fits their current ride, or do they remain stuck with skills learned early in their careers?

Looking at the MechCommander 2 system, you had to pick skills for your pilots as they leveled up, and you were stuck with those for the rest of the game - unable to go back and re-select.

There's even one case in the cards I've done where the pilot hates his current ride and feels his skills are better suited to a different 'Mech, so I gave him skills that would have worked well in his old ride, but are useless in his current one.

There's some evidence that SPAs can change over the life of the character, but I hadn't seen any indication in the RPG biop fluff that Lori was a great jumper or gunner, so it didn't seem that she'd gone out of her way to supplant her starting set of SPAs, which were Locust and Sigurd-specific.

Daryk · « **Reply #263 on:** 25 March 2019, 10:44:05 »

With AToW, once you've paid for an SPA, you've got it for life. Of course, most of the pilots you've listed wouldn't qualify for any SPAs (the prerequisites are steep, and often include high Attribute scores, certain Traits, and/or a high Skill level).

Minnow · « **Reply #264 on:** 25 March 2019, 14:45:12 »

Quote from: Mendrugo on 20 February 2019, 13:17:09

Piet Nichols

Hey Mendrugo, loving the cards. Looking at Piet Nichols card you gave him Jumping Jack and he is riding a PHX-1K (no jumpjets!!) :D