A True Daughter of Terra (A WoBM MechWarrior)

[Maelwys]

So as part of Deathknight69's WoBM Characters I decided to make a WoB Militia MechWarrior. I'm trying to keep it as book legal as possible, but I will make a few adjustments to the chargen process (but ones that are in the rules!).

So the first adjustment is that I'm looking at an older character, so I'm going to change the starting age from 21 to 30, so the character will have 5900 XP, rather than the standard 5000. I'm also going to be using the "Random Life Event Rolls" from the Companion.

So away we go.

Affiliation first. The idea I have for this character is sort of a ambassador to the Protectorate March, a member of the 39th Division, so sort of a showcase type of character. The public face of the WoB during the Jihad among the Protectorate. Pretty much any IS affiliation would do for starters, but I think I'll do something unique, so I'm going to stick with someone from the Terran system, and an actual Terran Terran!

Attributes
STR 100
BOD 100
REF 150
DEX 150
INT 200
WIL 150
CHA 50
EDG -150

Traits
Connections 175
Equipped 230
Rank 50
Reputation 50
Wealth 110

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -150
Compulsion/Paranoid -50
Enemy -100
Enemy/ComStar -100
Impatient -50

Skills
Acting 5
Art 5
Communications/Conventional 10
Interest/Terran History 10
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 25
Interest/Writings of the Master 15
Language/English 45
Language/Mandarin 35
Language/Japanese 20
Leadership 5
Negotiation 20
Perception 5
Protocol/CapCon 5
Protocol/Word of Blake 10
Technician/Any +10

So there we go.  1140 XP spent on just the Affiliations and Universal points. So interesting tidbits. That EDG score isn't incorrect. Being a Terran is apparently unlucky. Who knew? Equipped and Wealth have a nice start, as do the Enemy traits (man. Not only do you get one for being WoB, but you also get one just for the general WoB/CS Affiliation. Making friends in all the wrong places! On the plus side, the skills are nice as well, with enough languages that moving around to various planets in the Protectorate shouldn't cause too many problems.

More to come after dinner I think. I'm going to try to get this done quickly rather than dragging it out over a week.

[Maelwys]

Alright, so up next is the Stage 1 Module: Early Childhood. I'm looking for a reasonably intelligent, well to do character. Not royalty, but nothing where I'm going to have to be buying off the illiterate trait either. So White Collar it is.

Attributes
STR 50
BOD 50
REF 150
DEX 150
INT 275
WIL 100
CHA 125
EDG -100

Traits
Connections 175
Equipped 310
Extra Income 50
Rank 50
Reputation 100
Wealth 210 (Prerequisite: +3 in either Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -150
Compulsion/Paranoid -50
Enemy -100
Enemy -100
Enemy/ComStar -100
Glass Jaw -50
Impatient -50

Skills
Acting 5
Art 20
Communications/Conventional 10
Interest/Terran History 20
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 25
Interest/Writings of the Master 15
Language/English 50
Language/Japanese 20
Language/Mandarin 35
Leadership 5
Negotiation 20
Perception 10
Protocol/CapCon 5
Protocol/Word of Blake 15
Technician/Any +10

Rolled a 10 (modified) on the life path rolls. I like my shard dice, but I've got a few points of modifiers (I assume CS/WoB counts in the Successor State/IS Clan Affiliation) so even an average roll would net a few points. (Honestly the first time I did this character to test it out, when I rolled I wound up with over 1000 additional XP for the character, so the Event Roll rule can really skew things across the party depending on how things go).

The White Collar life path helps out a little. Another point of wealth and another chunk of Equipped helps out. The Interest skills are round out, and the Art skill is a good way to set the character apart from others. Attributes are sort of up and down at this point, nothing too special, other than that Edge (The first time I did this character, by the time I got to the optimization stage, EDG was still at -5 ).

Age 10, and the character already has 300 points of enemies...

[Maelwys]

Life Module Stage 2. I'm going for a slightly more rounded, less "Kill everything right away" kind of character, so I'm going to go with a Prep school to highlight some early WoB education, rather than the Military School. That's not to say the Military School is bad. Its actually pretty good, I'm just looking for something slightly different this time around. Another bonus of the Prep School is 160 points of Flex XP, rather than the 40 of the Military School.

Attributes
STR 50
BOD 50
REF 150
DEX 150
INT 275
WIL 100
CHA 185
EDG 80

Traits
Connections 215
Equipped 390
Extra Income 70
Gregarious 20
Rank 50
Reputation 100
Wealth 310 (Prerequisite: +3 Points of Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -150
Compulsion/Paranoid -50
Enemy -100
Enemy -100
Enemy/ComStar -100
Glass Jaw -50
Impatient -50

Skills
Acting 5
Archery 20
Art 20
Communications/Conventional 10
Computers 25
Interest/Any 20
Interest/Terran History 40
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 55
Interest/Writings of the Master 15
Language/English 50
Language/Japanese 20
Language/Mandarin 55
Leadership 5
Melee Weapons 15
MedTech 10
Negotiation 20
Perception 10
Protocol/CapCon 5
Protocol/Word of Blake 55
Technician/Any 10

Prerequisite: May not have Illiterate or have taken Back Woods/Fugitive Life Modules.

Alright. A few Prerequisites have popped up (Actually that one next to wealth showed up last stage, I just forgot to write it down), but they're pretty much ignorable at this point. Another nice roll netted 200 points to spend, which advanced Wealth above the Prerequisite and advanced Edge to something positive (since I know what's coming up, I know its not going to STAY positive for very long, but for right now it is).

The skills are slowly creeping up. I would've liked to have spent the flex points on more points, but I was worried about the EDG score, so half of them went in there. Still, if you were so inclined you could easily get 5 skills at 30 points. (Stage 2 restricts you to spending no more than 35 flex points per skill).

You may have noticed one of the Interests and the Technician skill are still labeled "Any." That's simply because I haven't decided what those skills are going to be yet.

The character is now 16, with 4090 XP left to spend.

[Maelwys]

Next up, Stage 3. Higher Education. And only the Military Academy will do. She may be on some public relations posters, but she's still a member of the Militia. Fluffwise, this probably means Sandhurst Royal Military College. Ruleswise, its the generic Military Academy at 830 XP. I'll be taking the Basic Training and the MechWarrior Fields. I'm going to skip the Special Forces field, but its always a possibility for others. I will however be taking OCS.

Attributes
STR 100
BOD 150
REF 375 (Prereq: 4)
DEX 150 (Prereq: 4)
INT 275 (Prereq: 3)
WIL 200 (Prereq: 3)
CHA 385
EDG 45

Traits
Connections 265
Equipped 590
Extra Income 70
Gregarious 20
Rank 500
Reputation 150
Vehicle 100
Wealth 410 (Prerequisite: +3 Points of Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -50
Compulsion/Paranoid -50
Enemy -100
Enemy -100
Enemy/ComStar -100
Glass Jaw -50
Impatient -50

Skills
Acting 5
Administration 30
Archery 20
Art 20
Career/Soldier 30
Communications/Conventional 10
Computers 25
Gunnery/Mech 30
Interest/Any 20
Interest/Military History 15
Interest/Terran History 40
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 55
Interest/Writings of the Master 15
Language/English 50
Language/Japanese 20
Language/Mandarin 55
Leadership 55
Martial Arts 30
Melee Weapons 45
MedTech 40
Navigation/Ground 30
Negotiation 20
Perception 10
Piloting/Mech 30
Protocol/CapCon 5
Protocol/Word of Blake 125
Sensor Operations 30
Small Arms 30
Swimming 15
Tactics/Land 30
Technician/Any 40
Training 30
Prerequisite: May not have Illiterate or have taken Back Woods/Fugitive Life Modules. Must be atleast Rank O1, and must have Basic Training.

Another nice roll nets me 400 points extra on this stage (that and the modifier for it being military schooling). Most of those points went to pump up various attributes (-200 EDG for OCS hurts) while other points went to trying to soften some of the flaws. Hard to be a shining beacon of humanity for the WoB when Compulsions are popping up all over the place. 2350 XP left. Stage 4 Life Paths are next. Going to try to fit in 2 of them with what I have left.

Though that will probably be tomorrow, since my bookkeeping seems a little messed up and I'm going to have to go over the numbers to make sure I haven't flubbed anything anywhere :)

[Maelwys]

My math was surprisingly spot on, so added another layer before I went to bed. The first Stage 4 Life Module. Since I'm not focusing on fighting, and the 39th Division spends its time roaming around the Protectorate, I figured the WoB Service module was a worthwhile choice. So away we go...

Attributes
STR 100
BOD 150
REF 375 (Prereq: 4)
DEX 200 (Prereq: 4)
INT 350 (Prereq: 3)
WIL 200 (Prereq: 3)
CHA 360
EDG 95

Traits
Combat Sense 75
Connections 265
Equipped 760
Extra Income 70
Gregarious 20
Rank 570
Reputation 150
Tech Empathy 35
Vehicle 100
Wealth 410 (Prerequisite: +3 Points of Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -50
Compulsion/Paranoid -50
Compulsion/Hatred of ComStar -75
Compulsion/Hatred of Clans -100
Enemy -100
Enemy -100
Enemy/ComStar -100
Glass Jaw -50
Impatient -50
In For Life

Skills
Language/Mandarin 55
Language/English 50
Language/Japanese 45
Perception 35
Protocol/Word of Blake 160
Protocol/CapCon 25
Administration 70
Leadership 55
Negotiation 20
Training 30
Swimming 15
Art 20
Career/Soldier 30
Interest/Terran History 40
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 105
Interest/Writings of the Master 15
Interest/Any 20
Interest/Military History 15
Communications/Conventional 95
Communications/HPG 55
Computers 95
Cryptography 25
Gunnery/Mech 70
Piloting/Mech 70
Sensor Operations 70
Tactics/Land 70
Acting 5
Interrogation 40
Archery 20
Martial Arts 75
Melee Weapons 45
MedTech 40
Navigation/Ground 30
Small Arms 30
Technician/Any 40

Prerequisite: May not have Illiterate or have taken Back Woods/Fugitive Life Modules. Must be atleast Rank O1, and must have Basic Training. Must have a WoB/CS Affiliation. Cannot have any of the following traits above the lowest possible level: Lost Limb, Poor Hearing, Poor Vision, TDS.

Wow. That CS/WoB Service is quite interesting. You get some Combat skills, and skills for your fields, so you can feel safe taking it even if you're going for a combat orientated character. There are also some really nice technical skills in it, so you character can do more than just hit the other person with a brick.

The character is actually feeling kind of complete, which is a good thing. Plenty of Interests, including one that's still open for choosing. An Art skill, so the character can have a hobby. The ability to function as a soldier and fighting the good fight for the WoB. Not to mention doing things other than fighting. Its an interesting skill list.

On the negative side my roll for extra XP netted me a big goose egg. I didn't lose any, so I'm not too upset.

Sorry about the change in the skill order. I thought alphabetical order would be the way to go, but it was too much to keep track of, flipping back and forth between the alphabetical list here, and the way its arranged on the excel worksheet I use. So I just rearranged them to match the excel sheet, that way I can check them quicker.

Nearing the end. One more Stage 4 Life Module I think, since I'm down to 1450 XP. I could stop here, but the character is only 24, and since I set an age of 30, I want to atleast get a little closer to that.

[Maelwys]

Right, hoped I could finish up the last module tonight and post it so everyone could see where we are at pre-Optimization, but the stupid time change caught up with me.

And since I'm at the final module and the last of the flex points and the last of the points from the "Random Life event rolls" I'm kind of waffling where to go. "Ahhh! Its the last of the points where should I put them? I could get this or that, or that one over there...do I dare try for Fast Learner? Am I going to be able to get the `Mech I want? Do I try to cheese out a skill? Attributes are good right?"

So yeah. These last points may take a while :)

So thoughts, comments, questions, concerns?

[Nerroth]

Have you decided which part of Terra your character originally hails from?


Also, one thing I was wondering about is what your character might do should she survive long enough to see out the end of the Jihad. Say, if she was covered by the amnesty handed out to rank-and-file Blakists, and took the opportunity to re-invent herself as a devotee of Devlin Stone's ideals by signing up to the RAF. How would the details in Field Manual: 3085 governing the adoption of an early Republic affiliation be handled in this case?

[Maelwys]

Have you decided which part of Terra your character originally hails from?

I was thinking perhaps a Chinese descent. Maybe not from China exactly, but someplace with a Chinese history to it, such as San Francisco, to explain the ability in Mandarin, and the training in CapCon protocol. Though even that is sort of iffy. After all, you can find blonde, blue-eyed Capellans. But it was a thought.

Also, one thing I was wondering about is what your character might do should she survive long enough to see out the end of the Jihad. Say, if she was covered by the amnesty handed out to rank-and-file Blakists, and took the opportunity to re-invent herself as a devotee of Devlin Stone's ideals by signing up to the RAF. How would the details in Field Manual: 3085 governing the adoption of an early Republic affiliation be handled in this case?

It definitely conjures some interesting possibilities. I was thinking about doing her background as a Coalition/Stone briefing, perhaps pointing out the possibilities as using her as a public face for a "reformed" WoB member since she's high-profile and popular in the former Protectorate worlds. Have her put on a "Notify Lear if captured" type of list. It could work if played out as disillusioned by the WoB because of the MD or something and a strong wish for a Terran Hegemony-like system.

How that would work out rules-wise? I think it would be pretty easy. There are a couple of ways I could do it I suppose. I could simply do it the way I'm currently doing it, and then spend a bunch of points at the end on Protocol/RotS. I could kind of do a split affiliation, where at the beginning I give myself both the Terran and the WoB AND the RotS affiliation (since they're add-ons), and then whenever I'm told to buy something with the "Affiliation" tag, decide whether it goes to the RotS or WoB. Or during the final parts of chargen, I could "buy" a few points of bad reputation to symbolize being a former member of the WoB, and use those points to buy Republic Affiliation skills and traits.

[Maelwys]

Alright, so the Jihad is happening, so obvious a TOD:IS isn't out of the question. Last stage for the character.

Attributes
STR 100
BOD 150
REF 425 (Prereq: 4)
DEX 200 (Prereq: 4)
INT 350 (Prereq: 3)
WIL 200 (Prereq: 3)
CHA 360
EDG 145

Traits
Combat Sense 75
Connections 290
Equipped 760
Extra Income 70
Gregarious 20
Rank 620
Reputation 150
Tech Empathy 35
Vehicle 250
Wealth 500 (Prerequisite: +3 Points of Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -50
Compulsion/Paranoid -50
Compulsion/Hatred of ComStar -75
Compulsion/Hatred of Clans -100
Compulsion/Addiction -50
Enemy -100
Enemy -100
Enemy/ComStar -100
Glass Jaw -50
Impatient -50
In For Life -100

Skills
Language/Mandarin 55
Language/English 65
Language/Japanese 45
Perception 55
Protocol/Word of Blake 200
Protocol/CapCon 25
Administration 70
Leadership 70
Negotiation 20
Training 30
Swimming 20
Art 20
Career/Soldier 80
Interest/Terran History 40
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 105
Interest/Writings of the Master 15
Interest/Any 20
Interest/Military History 15
Communications/Conventional 95
Communications/HPG 55
Computers 95
Cryptography 25
Gunnery/Mech 120
Piloting/Mech 120
Sensor Operations 95
Tactics/Land 95
Acting 10
Interrogation 40
Archery 20
Martial Arts 150
Melee Weapons 70
MedTech 60
Navigation/Ground 40
Small Arms 55
Technician/Any 40

Prerequisite: May not have Illiterate or have taken Back Woods/Fugitive Life Modules. Must be atleast Rank O1, and must have Basic Training. Must have a WoB/CS Affiliation. Cannot have any of the following traits above the lowest possible level: Lost Limb, Poor Hearing, Poor Vision, TDS. Must have 1 Military Skill Field

So there we have it. 650 XP left, not really enough for another Module, so we're going to stop here, at the age of 27. The attributes are a little low in places (and not quite meeting all the PreReqs), but I'm pretty happy with the skills and attributes (though I'm going to try to remove the Compulsions of course).

Only got 60 points from the Random Event roll, which helped boost a few skills, but nothing spectacular. There were alot of ways to go at the end, but I went with something simpler.

Up next, I'll show what the character looks like after optimizing and meeting the PreReqs.

[Nerroth]

I was thinking perhaps a Chinese descent. Maybe not from China exactly, but someplace with a Chinese history to it, such as San Francisco, to explain the ability in Mandarin, and the training in CapCon protocol. Though even that is sort of iffy. After all, you can find blonde, blue-eyed Capellans. But it was a thought.

I was about to suggest Hong Kong, but that is more Cantonese than Mandarin.

Maybe Taipei? (It would be a good hub for transport across East Asia, which might have helped her keep both her Mandarin and Japanese levels up.)

It definitely conjures some interesting possibilities. I was thinking about doing her background as a Coalition/Stone briefing, perhaps pointing out the possibilities as using her as a public face for a "reformed" WoB member since she's high-profile and popular in the former Protectorate worlds. Have her put on a "Notify Lear if captured" type of list. It could work if played out as disillusioned by the WoB because of the MD or something and a strong wish for a Terran Hegemony-like system.

How that would work out rules-wise? I think it would be pretty easy. There are a couple of ways I could do it I suppose. I could simply do it the way I'm currently doing it, and then spend a bunch of points at the end on Protocol/RotS. I could kind of do a split affiliation, where at the beginning I give myself both the Terran and the WoB AND the RotS affiliation (since they're add-ons), and then whenever I'm told to buy something with the "Affiliation" tag, decide whether it goes to the RotS or WoB. Or during the final parts of chargen, I could "buy" a few points of bad reputation to symbolize being a former member of the WoB, and use those points to buy Republic Affiliation skills and traits.

Interesting idea about having her profile presented as a Terran Protectorate/Republic of the Sphere document. She could be a good case study of what kind of line the Republic was willing to draw in terms of integrating former Blakists into the RAF (or into some other type of service, public or otherwise).

[Maelwys]

I was about to suggest Hong Kong, but that is more Cantonese than Mandarin.

Maybe Taipei? (It would be a good hub for transport across East Asia, which might have helped her keep both her Mandarin and Japanese levels up.)

Its a possibility, or the Japanese could be from training once she joined the WoB and they started to take Combine worlds for the Protectorate.

Interesting idea about having her profile presented as a Terran Protectorate/Republic of the Sphere document. She could be a good case study of what kind of line the Republic was willing to draw in terms of integrating former Blakists into the RAF (or into some other type of service, public or otherwise).

Yeah, it sort of came to me the other night. It would be an interesting way to detail it, rather than a simple bio. The biggest issue of course is the timing.  Since there isn't set year for the game, I can really go in any direction.

[Maelwys]

So the Optimization process is pretty easy (frankly, I'm not sure why the Optimization is optional, I think it would be better than "Okay, so your Compulsion/Addiction Nicotine is at -50 points, giving you a 0 level trait!"). Simply subtract any points over the highest value you can achieve with your attributes, skills and positive traits, and put those points back into your pool (Any skills that are reduced to 0 points this way, such as having only 10 points in a skill, and optimized to 0, are lost). For your negative traits that aren't fully activated (such as a Compulsion at -50) or that are in between levels (Such as a compulsion at -150) subtract additional points until you reach the next level of the trait.

So if you have rank at 620, you would subtact 20 points from it to bring it to 600, then add 20 points to your pool. If you had a Compulsion at -150, you would subtract 50 points to bring it to -200, and add 50 points to your pool.

I also take this time to add any points needed to attributes to bring them up to meet the Prerequisites as well as adding in the points for Aging, and buying back additional XP by purchasing additional negative traits (which modified the Enemy Traits)

Attributes
STR 100
BOD 200
REF 400 (Prereq: 4)
DEX 400 (Prereq: 4)
INT 400 (Prereq: 3)
WIL 300 (Prereq: 3)
CHA 400
EDG 100

Traits
Connections 200
Equipped 700
Rank 600
Reputation 100
Vehicle 200
Wealth 500 (Prerequisite: +3 Points of Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Distrust of Non-Terrans -100
Compulsion/Paranoid -100
Compulsion/Hatred of ComStar -100
Compulsion/Hatred of Clans -100
Compulsion/Addiction -100
Enemy -200
Enemy -300
Enemy/ComStar -300
Glass Jaw -300
Impatient -100
In For Life -300

Skills
Language/Mandarin 50
Language/English 50
Language/Japanese 30
Perception 50
Protocol/Word of Blake 170
Protocol/CapCon 20
Administration 50
Leadership 50
Negotiation 20
Training 30
Swimming 20
Art 20
Career/Soldier 80
Interest/Terran History 30
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 80
Interest/Any 20
Communications/Conventional 80
Communications/HPG 50
Computers 80
Cryptography 20
Gunnery/Mech 120
Piloting/Mech 120
Sensor Operations 80
Tactics/Land 80
Interrogation 30
Archery 20
Martial Arts 120
Melee Weapons 50
MedTech 50
Navigation/Ground 50
Small Arms 50
Technician/Any 30

Three skills dropped completely. Interest/Writings of the Master, Acting and Interest/Terran History. I'm probably going to buy those back with the points I spent, but by the rules they're reduced to 0 at this point, so I didn't want to confuse things. Several positive traits simply disappeared, in a couple of cases never even coming close to reaching the minimum needed.

On the other hand, I gained about 1400 XP back to pay for additions to the character. In other words, about 25% of the points for the character, I gained back in this step. Glass Jaw and In For Life were a major part of those. Most of those points will be going to attributes to bump them up to something respectable, but you can also use them to buy Traits, buy off negative traits (such as Glass Jaw..most of the points I got from it from Optimization will be used to get rid of it), and improve skills.

[Maelwys]

Alright, so I was a little off on points. When I factored in the 500 "extra" (technically, it could've been 590, but that would've brought its own problems), it was closer to 1900 points gotten back from optimization, with 2500 total to spend with the remainders after the Modules were bought.  No major changes, but some interesting tidbits here and there to talk about.

Attributes
STR 400
BOD 400
REF 700 (Prereq: 4)
DEX 600 (Prereq: 4)
INT 500 (Prereq: 3)
WIL 400 (Prereq: 3)
CHA 600
EDG 200

Traits
Connections 200
Equipped 800
Implant/Prosthetic 200
Rank 600
Reputation 100
Vehicle 200
Wealth 500 (Prerequisite: +3 Points of Wealth or Property)

Compulsion/Hatred of ComStar -100
Compulsion/Hatred of Clans -100
Enemy -200
Enemy -300
Enemy/ComStar -300
In For Life -300

Skills
Language/Mandarin 50
Language/English 50
Language/Japanese 30
Perception 50
Protocol/Word of Blake 170
Protocol/CapCon 20
Administration 50
Leadership 50
Negotiation 20
Training 30
Swimming 30
Art 30
Career/Soldier 80
Interest/Terran History 30
Interest/Writings of Jerome Blake 80
Interesting Master's Writings 20
Interest/Any 20
Interesting/Military History 20
Communications/Conventional 80
Communications/HPG 50
Computers 80
Cryptography 20
Gunnery/Mech 120
Piloting/Mech 120
Sensor Operations 80
Tactics/Land 80
Acting 30
Interrogation 30
Archery 20
Martial Arts 120
Melee Weapons 50
MedTech 50
Navigation/Ground 50
Small Arms 50
Technician/Any 30

As you can see, Attributes and traits changed the most. Infact, skills almost didn't change at all, except for the return of a few that had been knocked out by optimization, and the increase in a few smaller ones. Its just the way I do characters, though a person could easily save a couple of hundred points and go wild on skills. I also still find the Implant rules kind of odd and not very specific. Did I have to spend 200 points on the Implant/Prosthetic trait to get the Cosmetic Enhancement I'm going to get, or could I have just spent 1 point of Wealth and purchased it? This way seems to stick closer to the rules, though it cost me an extra 100 points.

So next up is doing equipment, and then I'll follow that up in a day or so with the finished product, including spelling everything out, the pluses and minuses, background, `Mech, etc.

[Maelwys]

Alright, so we got gear to do. Oddly, its both simple and hard (more on that at the bottom). As a WoB character with 8 points of Equipped, I'm able to purchase equipment with a F/F/F rating (F/E/E for off Faction equipment), and 5 in Wealth lets me purchase up to 50,000 c-bills worth of equipment. Not bad at all really.

Vibro(Broad)sword
Vibroblade
(Broad)Sword
Knife
Mauser 1200 LSS
Sunbeam Laser Pistol
Helmet (WoB Armor Kit)
Suit (WoB Armor Kit)
Boots (WoB Armor Kit)
Gloves (WoB Armor Kit)
MechWarrior Combat Suit
Combat Neurohelmet
Plasteel Boots
Military Communicator
Noteputer
Rangefinder Binoculars
10 HC Power Packs
10 HC Micro Power Packs
2 HC Military Power Packs
Energy Weapon Kit
Basic Field Kit
Electronic Compass
Medical Kit
Plastiflesh Bandage
Medipack

Alright, so probably nothing too shocking in the list. I went for hightech, which can't be that shocking. But the character is also smart and knows that sometimes a regular knife is better than one that might run out of juice in the middle of the forest while she's trying to shave some kindling for a fire (huh. That's a thought. When vibroknives run out of power, are they just like regular knives statwise? I never really thought about it). The swords are mostly ceremonial. Can't you just imagine seeing her on a holovid in her WoB robes and a vibroblade Broadsword, a symbol of the WoB and the technology that the Successor States denied the Protectorate/former Hegemony Worlds when they destroyed the Star League (Both times!).

The ranged weaponry isn't too shocking either. The 1200 LSS is probably too big for normal use, but sometimes its nice to have a big gun around. The Sunbeam gives me a little bit more damage at the expensive or range and power efficiency, but I feel its worthwhile, and its a FWL weapon, so I can easily see it making it into the hands of the WoB in numbers.

The WoB Armor kit shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but its real pain to get normally, requiring a +8 to Equipped to purchase.

The MechWarrior Combat suit is expensive. Really expensive. But its what the WoB is suppose to take, so there we go.

The rest of the equipment is sort of what you'd expect, though I tried to take the smaller/lesser of two items (Such as the basic Field kit, rather than the Advanced version), so it could be fluffed as fitting in her cockpit better.

Alright, so back to the "Easy and Hard" to choose gear with a +8 Equipped trait. Its because so many possibilities open up for the character. Even with the +1 to Availability and Legality for Clantech items, many Clantech items (not the most recently created ones) remain possible for the character to purchase. Want a Medusa whip? No problem. Clan Pulse laser pistol? Heck, even the Clan Pulse laser RIFLE. No problem. Okay, you can't pick up the Clan armor kit, but do you want the Clan MechWarrior kit? You lose some armor protection, but you don't have to worry about being encumbered by the helmet. Its also 10,000 cheaper than the IS MechWarrior Combat suit.

I stuck with IS items, but I could've easily have gone Clan in a few cases. Which can feel sort of odd depending on just how far you go.

[Maelwys]

Attributes      
Str: 4
Bod: 4
Ref: 7
Dex: 6
Int: 5
Wil: 4
Cha: 6 (7)
Edg: 2

Traits
Attractive (from Prosthetics) +2 TP
Connections: +2 TP
Equipped: +8 TP
Implant/Prosthetic: +2 TP (Cosmetic Beauty Enhancement)
Rank: +6 TP (Demi-Precentor/Adept Level III)
Reputation: +1 TP
Vehicle: +2 TP (Light `Mech – GUR-6G Gurkha)
Wealth: +5 TP

Compulsion/Hatred of ComStar: -1 TP
Compulsion/Hatred of the Clans: -1TP
Enemy: -2 TP
Enemy: -3TP
Enemy/ComStar: -3 TP
In For Life (WoB): -3TP

Skills
Acting               Cha      +1(+2)
Administration            Int/Wil      +2
Archery               Dex      +0
Art/Drawing            Dex      +1
Career/Soldier            Int      +3
Communications/Conventional      Int      +3
Communications/HPG         Int      +2
Computers            Int      +3
Cryptography            Int/Wil      +0
Gunnery/`Mech            Rfl/Dex      +4
Interest/Military History      Int      +0
Interest/Terran History         Int      +1
Interest/Terran Hegemony Artists   Int      +0
Interest/The Master’s Writings      Int      +0
Interest/Writings of Blake      Int      +3
Interrogation            Wil/Cha      +1
Language/English         Int/Cha      +2
Language/Japanese         Int/Cha      +1
Language/Mandarin         Int/Cha      +2
Leadership            Wil/Cha      +2(+3)
Martial Arts            Rfl/Dex      +4
MedTech/General         Int      +2
Melee Weapons         Dex      +2
Navigation/Ground         Int      +2
Negotiation            Cha      +0(+1)
Perception            Int      +2
Piloting/`Mech            Rfl/Dex      +4
Protocol/CapCon         Wil/Cha      +0
Protocol/WoB            Wil/Cha      +5
Sensor Operations         Int/Wil      +3
Small Arms            Dex      +2
Swimming            Str      +1
Tactics/Land            Int/Wil      +3
Technician/Weapons         Dex/Int      +1
Training            Int/Cha      +1

Equipment
WoB Armor Kit (Helmet, Suit, Boots, Gloves)
MechWarrior Combat Suit
Combat Neuorhelmet
Plasteel Boots
Mauser 1200 LSS
Sunbeam Laser Pistol
Vibro (Broad)Sword
Vibroblade
(Broad)Sword
Knife
Military Communication
Noteputer
Rangefinder Binoculars
10 HC Power Packs
10 Micro Power Packs
2 HC Military Power Packs
Energy Weapon Kit
Basic Field Kit
Electronic Compass
Medical Kit
Plastiflesh Bandage
Medipack

Background
*****Top Secret: Eyes Only*****
Priority 1-B
Re: Known Word of Blake Personnel
***************************
<Attached to the file is a picture of an attractive young woman of Asian descent with long black hair. The picture is cropped and taken at a distance, but enough can be made out to reveal that the woman is an Adept in the Word of Blake. A small Epsilon pin reveals that she’s a MechWarrior as well>

Born on Terra not long after the climactic battle of Tukayyid, Adept Ling’s early life was a prosperous one, like many of Terra’s citizens. She grew up in a white collar family, which allowed her to attend a prestigious preparatory academy. Intelligence reports credit simple Word of Blake propaganda for her decision to join the Word, but her decision to join the True Believers seems to point to a deeper reason. Adept Ling excelled in her early schooling and easily gained acceptance to the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. She managed to ace her early classes and was selected for MechWarrior training and Officer Candidate School.

After the academy, Adept Ling was assigned to the 39th Division (“Purity of Destiny”). Despite the Jihad being waged and her training as a `MechWarrior, Adept Ling’s early service in the Militia was more of a goodwill tour than a combat tour (though the 39th did patrol the Protectorate’s planets). Her facility with languages was put to good use, allowing her and the 39th to cross cultural barriers among the Protectorate Worlds, especially those with strong Capellan ties. She advanced quickly in the ranks, reaching the position of a commander of a Level III.

Adept Ling is a well-known figure in the Protectorate. Her looks and personality put her in the forefront of many of the 39th’s peacekeeping duties that involved former Capellan worlds. She was a member of the True Believer faction, and so may have become disillusioned with the radicalization of the Word by the Toyama and Manei Domini factions. If she can be found, and turned to the Coalition, we can use her in much the same way. The propaganda and intelligence coup of turning such a high-ranking member of the Word’s Militia would be immense, perhaps causing more members of the Militia to come forward. Priority should be given to any information regarding Adept Ling, and if she’s found, David Lear should be notified immediately.  (Care should be taken if Adept Ling is captured. Despite being a member of the Militia, and the 39th being a Militia formation, several of the 39th’s members received cybernetic upgrades. Any member of the 39th should be investigated thoroughly to ensure that they are not a Manei Domini In disguise. – DL)

[Maelwys]

Alright, the previous post was the final phase of the character. If I were doing her up as an actual character, I'd probably have gone over the background a few more times to expound upon/fix various details and the grammar. But for demonstration purposes its fine. :)

The character is pretty much entirely by the book. I think the only thing thing I "cheated" on was her `Mech. I rolled up the GUR-2G Gurkha on the ATOW vehicle chart, but since the new 3067 Record Sheets came out a while back I decided to roll a d4 to pick which exact variant of the Gurkha I took. Other than that, I believe its all strictly by the book (ATOW and Companion).

So how'd the character turn out?

The attributes look good. 4 is average according to ATOW, so she's ahead of the curve in most of the time. Reflexes and Charisma are high enough that they'll provide a link bonus to any skill that uses them. Luck is pretty low, but thankfully it doesn't act as a link attribute for any skills. Though she wants to stay away from any casinos. Not only is she likely to lose anything she takes to gamble, she's also likely to eat bad shrimp from the buffet.

Traits are...interesting. The Attractive trait comes from the implant taken with the Implant Trait. It works well with the character's background and provides some nice bonuses. The Connection trait is pretty low key, but could provide some useful info when tapped. Equipped and Wealth, well, we've already talked about them. After chargen they're not usually helpful, but the Companion adds rules for making them useful.

I think the Rank trait was the biggest surprise. 600 points, without spending any extra on them. That makes the character a Demi-Precentor/Adept, in charge of an entire Level III. Not bad. Kind of bigger than I was expecting, but not bad at all. Reputation provides a small bonus...she's known around. Maybe even shows up on a recruiting ad or two. 2 points in the vehicle trait and no Custom Vehicle points means I get a stock WoB design rolled from the Light `Mechs chart. I sort of cheated by rolling a second die to see which exact variant I got, which is a quick and simple way to make that chart a little bit more inclusive if you wished.

Negative traits...well, I got ride of some of the Compulsions, but left Hatred for the Clans and ComStar, since I figured they're pretty ingrained. The enemy traits are a killer though. I left them blank, but figure something like a level III commander from ComStar, a Capellan loyalist who didn't like her singing the praises of the Protectorate, and finally perhaps someone she cut off...in her Gurkha :) In for Life is a no brainer, though my guess is if the game is set in 3079+, that "In For Life (WoB)" is going to turn into an equivalent number of negative points in Dark Secret. :)

The skills seem like a massive list (they take up a page in the .docx I made). Between the link attribute bonus for Charisma, the bonus for the Attractive Trait, and the bonus for the Cosmetic Beauty Enhancement, those social skills can get a heck of a bonus. Her Combat skills are lacking a little bit (she'd only be a 4/4 when converted to the board game I believe), but surprisingly, her skill in Martial Arts was enough to push it into the Advanced Tier.  Still, she's got enough skills, and they're high enough that she'd be a welcome part of the team, and she can even do things outside of her `Mech, which is always a good thing. Just don't expect her to go all covert ops. She can transmit the data offworld, but you probably don't want her trying to sneak around an enemy camp.

Equipment we've talked about before, nothing's really changed, though its worth noting that I still have over 10,000 c-bills if I wished to purchase more equipment. I did find an oddity with regards to some items in the book like Medkits and MediPatches, but that's probably worth a whole other discussion.

Background..well, its a general idea without an exact game/timeline. It could use a going over or two, but it doesn't provide some interesting possibilities.

[Acolyte]

She'd be a 3/3 by my math. TN 8 1 link above 7 and 4 skill gives a total of +5. To convert, TN 8 -5 = 3. At least that's how we've played it.
   - Shane

[Maelwys]

Ah, I wasn't sure if the link attribute bonus counted or not. When I'm more awake I'll have to reread and see :)

[guardiandashi]

even though the BOOK doesn't say anythign about it I think it was paul who said its not supposed to apply for p/g when I asked

[Acolyte]

Well, if they want the same results from the same die roll, it kind of has to.

   - Shane

[BirdofPrey]

Okay, you can't pick up the Clan armor kit, but do you want the Clan MechWarrior kit? You lose some armor protection, but you don't have to worry about being encumbered by the helmet. Its also 10,000 cheaper than the IS MechWarrior Combat suit.

Personally, I am partial to the combat suit since it can be sealed.

even though the BOOK doesn't say anythign about it I think it was paul who said its not supposed to apply for p/g when I asked

I think I remember that, though I think some groups ignore that.

[Maelwys]

Personally, I am partial to the combat suit since it can be sealed.

Well, the helmet can. I'm not sure about the rest of it. The Clan Neurohelmet used to be sealable and had its own communicator back in 3rd edition. Kind of strange that it lost that ability, but I guess they wanted a reason for the lightweight and lack of encumbering or perception modifiers.

Then again, I also find it sort of interesting that the main MW kit for ComStar and the WoB is the MechWarrior Combat Suit rather than the "Clan" cooling suit, since you'd think the CS and WoB equipment would be based on the Star League version...but oh well. Maybe they switched over for better armor :)

[BirdofPrey]

Well, the helmet can. I'm not sure about the rest of it. The Clan Neurohelmet used to be sealable and had its own communicator back in 3rd edition. Kind of strange that it lost that ability, but I guess they wanted a reason for the lightweight and lack of encumbering or perception modifiers.

Damn, I think I might need to ask about that.  I had assumed the suit and helmet acted in a similar fashion to a flight suit: if you have all the parts, you can get an airtight seal across the whole suit.  If not, sucks to be you.

Frankly it strikes me as strange there isn't a space combat suit or somesuch in case of hostile environment/vacuum combat.  I am pretty sure you can't just substitute an ASF flight suit.

Then again, I also find it sort of interesting that the main MW kit for ComStar and the WoB is the MechWarrior Combat Suit rather than the "Clan" cooling suit, since you'd think the CS and WoB equipment would be based on the Star League version...but oh well. Maybe they switched over for better armor :)

Well both seem to perform the same function, just the C* one has more armor.  I assumed the one ComStar and WoB were using WAS the SL suit and the Clans had an improved design.

[Maelwys]

Damn, I think I might need to ask about that.  I had assumed the suit and helmet acted in a similar fashion to a flight suit: if you have all the parts, you can get an airtight seal across the whole suit.  If not, sucks to be you.

Frankly it strikes me as strange there isn't a space combat suit or somesuch in case of hostile environment/vacuum combat.  I am pretty sure you can't just substitute an ASF flight suit.

 Well both seem to perform the same function, just the C* one has more armor.  I assumed the one ComStar and WoB were using WAS the SL suit and the Clans had an improved design.

The original Star League suit could seal the entire suit if you were wearing the right boots and gloves, IIRC, but I don't think that's ever made it into the RPG. Not to mention its soft of hard to see that when the color plates make it look like atleast part of the suit design is a fishnet-like structure :)

I'd assume that if the entire suit could be sealed then it would be mentioned, like it is for the aerospace suit. My guess is any questions about it will be answered with "Whatever works for your game."

[guardiandashi]

the clan mw suit?

ok reread mw 2nd edition companion
in that version it does not specifically say if the MWCS is full environmental or not cooling yes, limited armor yes

the std neural helmet has no major special features
the combat neural helmet and the clan neural helmets are self sealing, and contain a 1 hr air supply

lostech the mw 3rd edition suppliment
says explicity that the mechwarrior combat is NOT an environmental suit

however the advanced neuralhelmets do have their 1hr+ air supply and are self sealing

so what I would have to say is the standard mwcs and likely the clan mechwarrior cooling suits are likely NOT sealable suits like the aerospace pilot suit

looking at the atow kit (pg 294-295)
basic mw vest, helmet, shorts, and plasteel boots = 13kg, 90g

the mechwarrior combat suit seems to be armor ratings 2/5/1/3 10kg, and 1/4/0/2 on the arms and legs
the full kit suit, helmet, and plasteel boots 18kg

the clan suit is
2/2/1/1 and 1/1/1/1 for arms and legs but only weighs 2 kg
common full kit suit, helmet, and boots would weigh 7kg

the fighter pilots suit is 2/3/2/2 covers the torso arms and legs, and weighs 7 kg (the full suit including helmet, suit boots and gloves is ~15.5kg

[Maelwys]

Oh, I know. Most likely they aren't able to be sealed by the strictest ruleset. I was just commenting that the original fluff for the SLDF Cooling suit let it be sealed, so if a player really wanted a suit that sealed during a game, I could see them making a case for it.