Author Topic: Jolt Character Generation (Read 759 times)

CroakerDogBoy · « **on:** May 26, 2009, 03:59:35 PM »

Here is where we will work out what you will be when you grow up.

jolt · « **Reply #1 on:** May 29, 2009, 03:38:37 PM »

I've decided to go with the Chinese nationalist. I don't know how much info the GURP's books give on the Chinese but here are a few pertinent facts:

April, 1927: Civil War breaks out between the Nationalist and the Communists. Nationalists have the initial supper hand but suffer the most casualties during WWII giving the Communists the upper hand. The fighting would stop in May of 1950 but, to this day, no armistice or Peace Treaty has ever been declared.

September, 1931: Japanese invade Manchuria. Sporadic fighting would go on for years.

July, 1937: Japan launches full invasion of China. Nationalists and Communists put aside differences (mostly) to present a (mostly) unified front. Chiang Kai-shek initially refused to fight alongside the Communists but was forced to by his generals.

Uniforms: varied wildly in style and color. Rank insignia was placed on a colored patch (based on your branch) which was always worn on the collars.

Weapons and equipment: imported from almost every industrial nation in the world; particularly the US, Soviet Union and Great Britain.

Military Branches:
General Staff (gold)
Infantry (red)
Cavalry (yellow)
Artillery (blue)
Engineers (white)
Commisariat (dark red - administration and planning of troops and supplies)
Medical (green)
Military Police (pink)
Supply Train (black - actually transporting supplies and reinforcements, typically directly into combat zones)

Officer Ranks: (hihest rank to lowest)
Field Marshal (T'e Shang-chiang)
Senior General (I-chi Shiang-chiang)
General (Ehr-chi Shiang-chiang)
Lieutenant General (Chung-chiang)
Major General (Shao-chiang) -odd that it's below Lie. Gen.
Colonel (Shang-hsaio)
Lieutenant Colonel (Chung-hsaio)
Major (Shao-hsaio)
Captain (Shang-wei)
Lieutenant (Chung-wei)
2^nd Lieutenant (Shao-wei)
Warrant Officer (Chun-wei)

Enlisted Ranks: (highest to lowest)
Color Sergeant (Shang-shih)
Sergeant (Chung-shih)
Corporal (Hsia-shih)
Lance Corporal (Shang-teng Ping) -obviously a different meaning than Western armies
Private-trained (I-teng Ping)
Private-untrained (Ehr-teng Ping)

Sorry to ramble on but I didn't know how much info you had or needed.

I'm thinking either Engineer or Supply Train for branch and I'd like to be at least a Lance Corporal but no higher than Color Sergeant (I don't want to be an officer).

jolt

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #2 on:** May 29, 2009, 03:40:35 PM »

AH! You are in luck as I am just reading GURPS China. I guess I should have added that to the list of source materials.

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #3 on:** May 29, 2009, 03:45:27 PM »

Ok. So you will be one of Chiang Kai-Shek's men. You will start with the free 20 point disadvantage Extremely Hazardous Duty.

You can start at Lance Corporal. That would be a 5 point advantage.

jolt · « **Reply #4 on:** May 29, 2009, 03:48:42 PM »

I had both GURP's China and Japan at one time. I thought those books dealt more with Ancient times than modern though my memory could certainly be faulty.

I'm (slowly) reading through GURP's 3 but I don't have any of the WWII books.

jolt

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #5 on:** May 29, 2009, 03:53:32 PM »

Gurps China has a great deal on ancient times, but the timeline is very thorough(as GURPS tends to be) and covers up to modern day. It is also helpful for dealing with possible orientations, religion, greetings etc. As well as adding to possible weirdness that may be encountered later.

jolt · « **Reply #6 on:** May 29, 2009, 04:37:57 PM »

Okay, I'm going to go with Engineer as my military branch.

For stats I'll go with 11, 12, 12, 11 (60 pts)

Name: 夫獨异 Fu Duyi
Birthday: January 22^nd, 1917 (I can change this if it's an issue)
Astrological Associations: Yang Fire Dragon

Advantages:
Rank-Lance Corporal (5)

Disadvantages:
Extrememly Hazardous Duty (-*)

Quirks: (-5 total)
Haven't come up with them yet

Assuming I take another -30 of disadvantages (the max), and my math hasn't completely failed me, that will leave me with 40 points to buy advantages and skills, correct?

jolt

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #7 on:** May 29, 2009, 04:43:21 PM »

I believe you are correct.

jolt · « **Reply #8 on:** June 01, 2009, 01:24:37 PM »

Do any of the WWII book have any additional skills or (dis)advantages not listed in GURP's lite?

jolt

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #9 on:** June 01, 2009, 01:32:33 PM »

They don't have new ones, but they do categorize them with nationality, and give examples of them. However, the Compendium I has many new ones that are used in the WW2 books.

I'm pretty pleased with the coverage of advantages and disadvantages with this system overall, adding Compendium I into the mix.

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #10 on:** June 01, 2009, 01:33:59 PM »

And don't worry about getting it, we can work through Char gen together the way I am doing with Celedor. I don't want you to have to buy a bunch of books and make it on your own.

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #11 on:** June 01, 2009, 01:35:50 PM »

Also, you get 40 points of disadvantages over and above the Hazardous duty. That is a given disadvantage that everyone gets, so you get the points but are allowed more over and above.

jolt · « **Reply #12 on:** June 01, 2009, 02:45:34 PM »

I think then the most important place to start would be those skills that an Engineer would have to have in wartime. I'm guessing, though you may have more accurate info, that Engineers would have two main tasks (in addition to the normal soldiering skills): build things for your own troops to use (bridges, rail track, depots, etc.) and sabotaging those same things so the enemy can't. Is that more or less accurate?

Metagame thinking here: I notice all of our characters are different nationalities with different base languages. How important is it for us to have a shared language we can all speak? Or should I not worry about that for now?

More metagame thinking: When you say things like, "Before things start getting weird", do you mean:

*Alternate history weird
*X-Files weird
*Rifts weird
*^{You're not cleared for this response} weird

So the Hazardous duty doesn't count towards the 50 points allowed? Do we still get the points for it or is it considered a zero point disad for wartime?

jolt

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #13 on:** June 01, 2009, 03:10:37 PM »

With the WW2 books, it's hazardous duty and another 40 points of disadvantages. You still get the points for it.

Engineers tend to have Engineer skill, Demolitions, and Explosive Ordinance Disposal. I am not certain about a Chinese engineer as they would not have the more formalized training that a Combat Engineer would have for the more developed nations.

Don't worry about languages. You may meet, you may never meet. You may all just get a piece of the elephant. And if you do need another language, then that's what experience points are for.

Before things start getting weird, means D. All of the above.

jolt · « **Reply #14 on:** June 01, 2009, 03:42:03 PM »

What's the cost category of Explosive Ordinance Disposal? That one's not in the lite rulebook.

I also thought I saw you mention the Soldier skill somewhere else; what does that skill cover?

jolt

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #15 on:** June 01, 2009, 04:07:38 PM »

Soldier skill is a catchall to cover the fact that soldiers in basic learn bits and pieces of many different skills, only enough to do their job. For instance radio communication. They won't have the real skill, but they should be able to use a radio if necessary. It's in the WW2 rulebook. Essentially they broke tactics and strategy into Tactics, Operations and Strategy.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal is out of Compendium I

The breakdown is:

Explosive Ordnance Disposal: Mental/Hard Default: Demolition - 4
Soldier Mental/Average Defaults to: IQ-5 or Tactics -5
Tactics Mental/Hard Defaults to IQ-6 or Soldier-6 or Operations -6
Operations Mental/Hard Defaults to IQ-6, Tactics-6 or Strategy-6
Strategy Mental/Hard Defaults to IQ-6 or Operations-6

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #16 on:** June 01, 2009, 09:19:21 PM »

Here is a list of all advantages, disadvantages and skills (except for the WW2 skills I already listed). Might come in handy. http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/img/Adv-Dis-Skills.pdf

CroakerDogBoy · « **Reply #17 on:** June 11, 2009, 01:53:19 PM »

So any ideas yet?

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Author Topic: Jolt Character Generation (Read 759 times)