BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat

BattleTech Game Systems => A Time of War => Topic started by: bblaney on 15 August 2014, 07:36:04

Title: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: bblaney on 15 August 2014, 07:36:04
Ok, I believe this is something that could be made into a part of training, with some requirements of course.

Any thoughts on a module to emulate this?
Title: Re: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: monbvol on 15 August 2014, 19:28:08
I always got the impression that the Gunslinger program was more for already trained/established pilots that are making a name for themselves/otherwise standing out from their peers and thus felt deserving of even more specialized training and greater prestige.

So for general thoughts I'd actually go ahead and call it a Stage 4 Module, requiring Military Academy or some serious contacts and maybe at least one Tour of Duty and Good Reputation 1.

XP rewards I'd focus mostly on the obvious with some XP tossed to the often overlooked skills of Sensor Operations and Navigation/Land in particular and possibly toss a few at some traits.

I may think on this more to see about making a more full fledged module.
Title: Re: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: Diamondshark on 15 August 2014, 20:05:56
I definitely want to see this become a real module--I have a character who is a gunslinger, and I would love to be able to go back and flesh him out a bit more.
Title: Re: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: guardiandashi on 16 August 2014, 00:20:45
Ok, I believe this is something that could be made into a part of training, with some requirements of course.

Any thoughts on a module to emulate this?

I thought the gunslinger program was similar to the top gun as depicted in the movie of the same name, basically you take people who have completed primary education /training, then do at least 1 ToD, then do gunslinger (which I would make a stage 4 program just because) and then ....
Title: Re: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: Archangel on 16 August 2014, 23:25:17
In addition to hand-picked elite MechWarrior candidates from various SLDF units, the Gunslinger program also accepted some of the top SLDF MechWarrior pilot graduates as well, including a young Aleksandr Kerensky.  (Probably because they were less stuck in their ways and had less to unlearn.)

In addition to relearning how to pilot a BattleMech, the one-year program including training in various other fields such as Oriental Martial philosophies and advanced neural-thought technology.

In some ways it could be compared to the training received by candidates attempting to join elite special forces units such as DEST or Death Commandos (with their military training focused on their MechWarrior skills of course) in order to hone their skills to a razor's edge.
Title: Re: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: Maelwys on 17 August 2014, 04:16:07
I think the biggest issue would be how much XP to award to piloting and gunnery. Too little and its going to just get thrown back into the pool come optimization, and too much could potentially unbalance things (though 0 sum on life paths might handle that a bit).

I'd also suggest Custom Vehicle instead of providing points in Vehicle.

Some points in Interest/Martial Philosophy.

If they're combat active, maybe Enemy of some type (A Ronin that's out for their blood) or a member of the SLDF who doesn't think the player is that special.

If you really wanted to push things, you could give them a chance to purchase one of the Special Talents (or whatever they're called) outside the normal progression of things.
Title: Re: Star League Gunslinger Program
Post by: YingJanshi on 17 August 2014, 14:37:27
If you really wanted to push things, you could give them a chance to purchase one of the Special Talents (or whatever they're called) outside the normal progression of things.


Actually...that might be better than putting XP into Gunnery/Piloting. Make the XP rewards from the module have to go to purchasing an SPA.