[Waratah]

I must have missed something in the character creation section of the book. Plus I'm more or less a newbie with SR.
How on earth do you get some many dice for a starting character, and is it really going to be too difficult to survive unless I'm pooling around 15 dice?
From what I understood, I could only use a maximum of 200bp on attributes, could either have 1 attribute at 6 or 2 at 5 then the rest at 4 or lower. Same limitation on maximums in the skills.
I've been drafting away and so far have gotten to this:
(The character is a cross between the special ops and the face)

B3 A4 R3 S4 C4 I3 L1 W4
My main skills come in the groups which maxed at level 4
So most of my dice pools are 7 or 8 dice.
I also haven't opted for boosting stats or skills via implants or magic (The character is actually a Mystic Adept)
Was actually thinking I'd made a fairly well rounded character and would be able to succeed at most of the tasks but after reading the posts here I get the impression I'm really going to struggle.

[Irian]

Honestly, I think it's impossible to create a good, well-rounded special ops soldier with 400Bp.

And no, how many dice you "need" depends on the group. If the whole group consists of powergamers, the GM will be forced to increase the difficulty, thus forcing you to start powergaming, too.  But in my groups, I much more prefer well-rounded characters over min-maxed characters who can roll 20 dice on a specific skill.

[Usda Beph]

Honestly, I think it's impossible to create a good, well-rounded special ops soldier with 400Bp.

And no, how many dice you "need" depends on the group. If the whole group consists of powergamers, the GM will be forced to increase the difficulty, thus forcing you to start powergaming, too.  But in my groups, I much more prefer well-rounded characters over min-maxed characters who can roll 20 dice on a specific skill.

Isn't the point of making a starting character for him/her to be kinda green? To my knowlege and memory (or lack there of) Special Forces are recruited out of the best of those graduating bootcamp and culled out of the fleet by PFT scores and Marksmanship scores.

A starting Runner SpecOps is a Green/boot/ Oprative so his skills won't be all that, compared to a Vet of sat 10 missions. I don't really think a SpecOps character should be allowed in a low/average power game. A single trained "Spook" is enough of a bad ass to wipe out a party of 10 green runners. Without using a slug thrower.

True Story time:
When I was a marine (311 Infantry) & we were in Oki. We had a battallion formation, The formation was to warn us that there was Marine Recon on liberty with us. "Do not joke with anyone you do not know!, DO NOT hold eye contact with anyone you do not know, finally DO NOT START A FIGHT WITH ANYONE YOU DO NOT KNOW. We do not want you coming back in a body bag."  This speech was given to everyone from the 1st Sgts to the boot Privates like me.

A SpecOps starting character should be a 600-700 BP starting character when everyone else is a 400. Not to mention that they should have free(government funded) Cyber eyes, ears, wired flexes Muscle enhancements, and reinforced bones. WHY? Because they are the baddest thing on a battlefield.

Training fact.
SpecOps final test is a LIVEOP. To graduate one needs to complete an extraction, or wetwork mission. Or so I was told.

SpecOps are not the stuff of starting characters. They are Prestige class material.

As for stats... Remember 3's are base normal. I personally might qualify as a 4 Bod/Str definitely when I work out a bit. But my reflexes/Agility are maybe a 2 (Tops). You'd want base 4s in all four of those abilities min to be even considered for SpecOps.

[Waratah]

Point taken.
I always considered that the character had room to grow.
Based on the sample characters in the book, it seemed like the skills and attributes were on par.
The description for the skill levels is what swayed me in the end, plus I really liked the flexibilty and potential the character has.

[Irian]

With 400BP, I would think, that a well-rounded soldier is possible (didn't try to build one, yet). Not a highly experienced veteran or officer, but not a green rookie, either. Of course, this is only possible if you accept, that such a character will tend to have many skills in the range of 1-3. Perhaps one could even bring in some special training (Parachuting, for example, or Explosives or basic Electronic Warfare or Gunnery...), but I wouldn't hope for the unstoppable sharpshooter :-)

[Usda Beph]

With 400BP, I would think, that a well-rounded soldier is possible (didn't try to build one, yet). Not a highly experienced veteran or officer, but not a green rookie, either. Of course, this is only possible if you accept, that such a character will tend to have many skills in the range of 1-3. Perhaps one could even bring in some special training (Parachuting, for example, or Explosives or basic Electronic Warfare or Gunnery...), but I wouldn't hope for the unstoppable sharpshooter :-)

Yeah with 400 BP you may a pretty good Boot private. and yeas we had alot of general knowedge about our craft, but we trained after we trained, and when we slepted we trained some more.

A 400pnt character could maybe qulaify to become SpecOps but to be one... No.

[FastJack]

Surviving the Cut is a great show on Discovery to give you an idea of SpecOps: Ranger School

[Waratah]

Based on what the core book says about the skill levels (Realistic or otherwise), the character got as far as veteran (level 4) in his training, a little short of spec ops.
I also realised that it was the covert ops sample character that I was basing my build off, combined with face, and not a spec ops build.
hehehehe.

[Frankie the Fomori]

Wow all about RL, i did not make it through my Selection (In one month of hell I lasted about 2 1/2 weeks). I took me 3 yrs in the Normal Army, made my strips, trained in Korea mostly Rucking my ass off, Took my team to every range we could find, i spent hours on the phone with other units to see of we could ride along with them, I weighed about 210-215 had about 11% body fat at the time, could run a 13.15 2 mile run, average about 100+ sit ups in two min, about 60-75 pushups in two min (I had a hard time getting these up, had to do about 2-300 a day so i could do a proper by regulation push up) I was in ADA, and ran the sentinel Radar system. With the help of two warrant and the contractors our teams became some of the best trained Air defense radar scouts in the Army shortly before Iraq kicked off. So i was well trained in all radio communication, trained above standard in all forms of land navigation, worked with several local Infantry units and got my squad tactics up to par, and even with all that i did not make it.

One of my first Privates who later served with me out of Ft Campbell after making his stripes, went through Ranger school, fell off a cliff nearly breaking his neck when his 80 pound ruck fell on his head while he was in the mountain stage.....well in the Army in most schools you are set up to succeed, not here chummers, my boy was washed right back to the beginning and because he felt he owed it to his soldiers who he took into Iraq he put himself through from the start making it his second time. I promise you he is above and beyond a talented soldier, I leaned on him hard when he first came in, he wears a silver star with Valor which he had gained down range and this school ate him up the first time around without a second thought. I guess same goes for me, Though i may not have been the best, I made sure i could lead from the front and i could not hang it out....just to physical, to mental, and once you get hurt (even a turned ankle) you start to crack. But i learned more about myself in that short month than at any moment in my life!

[Usda Beph]

Based on what the core book says about the skill levels (Realistic or otherwise), the character got as far as veteran (level 4) in his training, a little short of spec ops.
I also realised that it was the covert ops sample character that I was basing my build off, combined with face, and not a spec ops build.
hehehehe.

So more a spy than a Recon Gyrine?



Oh Drek! This is just fan-frelling-tastic. My whole party is so Frelling "Spooky" when the feces hits the horizontal impellar, I'm the only one who the bad guys are gonna see! A Sniper, A SpecOps and a CovOps/Face paired up with a Street Sammie! Vashta Nerada! thats what I'm teamed up with!

[Chaotic Insane]

Sniper (Codac), Face (JC), Tank (you), and I'd be more of a spook/second story thief than "spec ops." Aren't Spec Ops usually like... soldiers still? I'm more; while JC's sweet talking sentries/marks; sneak in, screw over the security systems and turn a couple cameras to conveniently stare at a wall, blue screen'o death some systems, maybe take out a couple guards quickly and quietly and hopefully not too noticeably, unlock the front door and RUN LIKE HELL before you trample me since I'm way down here.

[Usda Beph]

Sniper (Codac), Face (JC), Tank (you), and I'd be more of a spook/second story thief than "spec ops." Aren't Spec Ops usually like... soldiers still? I'm more; while JC's sweet talking sentries/marks; sneak in, screw over the security systems and turn a couple cameras to conveniently stare at a wall, blue screen'o death some systems, maybe take out a couple guards quickly and quietly and hopefully not too noticeably, unlock the front door and RUN LIKE HELL before you trample me since I'm way down here.

Codac(Hide and shoot... Nice Hat)
JC (Blah blah blah. Not working? Hide and shoot)
You (sneak sneak sneak. Detected Hde & shoot!)
Me(knock down wall knock down door Catch bullets) I need the party to chip in for some super armor to cover my Oysters with!

[Chaotic Insane]

Well hopefully between the three of us, everything's already dead, dying, or otherwise rendered casualty by the time you break and enter. You're the last resort. XD

[Usda Beph]

You're the last resort. XD

To quote Motown Scrapper, "That's no fun."

[Chaotic Insane]

You're the last resort. XD

To quote Motown Scrapper, "That's no fun."

He also thought Flurries were the best forces ever and so much fun. No matter how many times my assault mechs used them as terrain.

And you don't HAVE to just wait outside. Provided you can even fit IN the door without making your own you can stand behind JC and be the actual-threatening-because-he-isn't-at-all-but-thinks-he-is.