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Futuristic UEEF Marines - OOC Thread

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Sherwood Sherwood I just had a brainstorm I thought I'd write down. I think I've pinned down a nickname, birth name, call sign, and background if it meets everyone's approval?

UEEF Nickname: "Doo'fus"
Real name: M'arkie

Notes: M'arkie is a born nerd and loner literally dragged from his laboratory to serve the Marines on the front lines. The eternal dork, he was shoehorned into a life he never asked for nor wanted. Meek M'arkie is the laughing stock of Marine Technical Officers among those who know of him. Not only has he never led troops, he has never even seen live combat. To outside eyes, there is nothing cool or macho about him, so why have him?

The bears are a traditional people. They usually leave the science to the females. He was used to being teased by his fellow bears, but it came to really enjoy the company of humans. Until he ran into the bullies and hazers. That's when things changed and not for the better.

Idea: A victim of constant hazing from his soldier counterparts, "Doo'fus" has been transferred from team to team to team. Our game squad will be his 15th. No one wants him and he knows it.

How is he taking it? To quote Egon from Ghostbusters, "I feel like the floor of a taxi cab."

This is not because he isn't trying; he's trying with all he has - there is simply no room for nerds along the elite soldiers of the Marines. Or so he believes. Will our team prove different?

Even his call sign, "Fuzzy Wuzzy," was pinned on him by his peers. And why not? He never fought back against his squadmates. It is far from the call sign he would have chosen for himself, "Galileo," modeled after one of his favorite scientists and his beloved fictitous quartet of turtles.

"Doo'fus" never meant to be a soldier. His loves lie in science, computers, the martial arts, and of course, comic books and cartoons (a gift collection from the only other nerd he ever met in the Marines). All of these subjects tickle the child inside of him and leave him wanting to know more.

Left on his own, his hobbies also include taking care of his plants, studying philosophy, and practicing artificial intelligence on the side. Plants, like his fellow droid "Honey," never judge or tease him. They let him be himself.

But ever since the Marines had a shortfall of science officers for the front lines, "Doo'fus" has since taken on the additional duties of heavy gunner, armory specialist, and overall firearms tinkerer.

At first, "Doo'fus" didn't like guns at all. But the longer he got to know them and the people who use them, he began to see why they were popular along with the peace and sense of responsibility they often brought their owners. Since then, the genius-level bear finds working with firearms simple, even relaxing.

Unlike his officer counterparts, he lives out of a giant storage container in one of the hangar bays, one of the few places large enough for him and a place where people rarely bother him. Whenever he gets transferred from one spot to another, they just pick up his container and ship it to another vessel. Just yesterday, it landed inside the MacArthur.

M'arkie a.k.a. "Doo'fus" doesn't expect things will be any different from his new team. Is he wrong?

Thoughts, folks? Think you would like to play alongside a guy like this?
 
That nickname seems a little harsh, but the Marines are not exactly kind to those that don't fit in. It is your character to play.
 
That nickname seems a little harsh, but the Marines are not exactly kind to those that don't fit in. It is your character to play.
Precisely. It's not the kind of nickname anybody would want to keep. Maybe folks can help him find a new one? That would strengthen his bond to the team. =)
 
It's mainly there as a role-playing exercise in team-building and opportunity for character growth, but if folks aren't feeling it, I can change it up. =)

But if they are up for it, then in the end, I think it'll probably provide everyone a better understanding of each other and warmer, more familiar feelings all around - just what a team needs to rely on each other. =)

Edit: Again, whatever folks are in the mood for. I just read what Psychie's character wisely put into motion with her pet-related bonding questions and thought I'd take it up a notch. =)
 
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Well, hopefully your new squad can come up with a better nickname than doofus. How is your character coming along? Not trying to rush you; we should still have a person or two adding to the team in a bit if my real life gaming group can get a move on and get some characters of their own made up
 
Sherwood Sherwood

Ah... Let me see here. What else... Let's start with this? (Part 1 of 2)

1. Honey. She's clearly not finished. You have plans for her (which tells me she is definitely in the game. Hooray!), but (as always) I want you and I (and anyone else interested) on the same page. Are these elements O.K. with you?

1a. Like R2-D2 (and like in Psychie's Robotech game where I first created her), I've never thought of Honey as a combat unit. She's only about the size of a basketball. In Psychie's game, I think she had a small short-range laser (1D4 M.D. maximum, had S.D.C. settings) to fend off pests that come in the night when the party was sleeping or as a welding torch. She had some armor (50 M.D. max?) to keep her from getting one-shotted and the ability to detect incoming danger from a reasonable but not long distance (she was open to being sniped). I don't remember if she had automatic dodge or not; I just knew that when danger arose, she could act as an alarm and make herself scarce.

1b. I roleplayed Honey (a benefit provided by Psychie). R2-D2 is far smarter than Honey (who is basically a "Bit" from the original Tron movie. Able to say "Yes" and "No" and that was it but her actions were much louder than her words). She wasn't even an AI but what Mass Effect would call a VI (Virtual Intelligence) and one that basically hung around and helped out in ways a big 8-foot-plus bear would need (for example, she had a set of mini "magic hands" like the Valkyrie which allowed her to perform fine-detail tasks that Karbarrans were too large-digited to be capable of.

1c. In this game, she could act as a small astromech (if you like the Star Wars term) capable of showing holographic images along with audio, storing data and small amounts of scientific samples, could record data (perhaps she could record our battles and important mission-based data to show to our superiors?). She is able to act on her own and perform simple tasks.

1d. M'arkie (his true name) doesn't have Robot-related Skills. That's Onni's department. However, M'arkie is one hell of a computer expert (but doesn't hack). He "dabbles" in artificial intelligence as a hobby to give him something else to keep him interested and create holographic personalities to keep him company. He keeps hard back-ups of Honey's hardware in case she gets damaged. If she does though, she has to take her to somebody to get her body repaired (unless you say the Vehicle Armorer Skill, which he has, can do it). I think that about covers Honey. What do you think? Do you want me to make a write-up of her?

More in a few moments.
 
(Part 2 of 2) Sherwood Sherwood

2. The Karbarran War-shovel. M'arkie lost the ability to use Paired Weapons when I switched him from Hand to Hand: Commando to Jeet Kune Do 2.0.. I think the idea of making one-handed E-clip-powered mini-shovels went pretty much out with that. He also lacks W.P. Blunt.. I guess I don't see much reason for him to carry one of those giant shovels around with him. It would only come in handy as a digging tool for his archeology-related or botany-related stuff and how often will that come up, right? As a hand-to-hand weapon, I think he's more into greatswords (which, given his size, he can probably wield one-handed? Your call, of course). I could see him with an O-Daichi (basically a greatsword-sized katana). I think it would be kind of dumb to not also have some kind of vibro-knife or two. When is a knife not handy, right?

3. M'arkie's side story. Again, I am willing to keep or drop his entire background involving him needing a welcoming party to give him guts and self-confidence if folks don't think it would be fun to roleplay. I'm not going for spotlight and folks might want to just concentrate on the game's missions instead. As the least-combat capable member of the group (I'm holding no illusions here), M'arkie will soon figure out that in order for him to do what he does, he'll likely be relying more on the party than the party relying on him. In the terms of James Cameron's Aliens, M'arkie sees himself as something of a Bishop able to perform Drake and Vasquez-like duties but not to the level of true STORM-trained Marines (his second-highest 2d6 roll was a 14 followed by a 10. A P.P. of 20 is probably as good as he is getting at 1st level). But yeah, keep or lose the side-mission of him fitting in? Above all, I want the people playing this game to be having fun. It's up to you and them. Just let me know. =)

4. His starting equipment. I've given him the standard gear, rifle, and sidearm provided to the (admittedly human) Marine Technical Officer. No bear armor, no heavy weapons, etc.. Is that what you want him to start with?

And finally (unless I can think of something else), 5. Weapon upgrade ideas. Here are a few ideas I thought might work for his small weapon improvements. Keep or toss these as you will or maybe keep them for later levels. Do you mind if he starts with a few of these?

A. Scope/sight upgrades. +1 to Strike with the addition of a mounted and sighted scope with a few tweaks for better accuracy (Nerd Alert: like auto-lighting red dots that shine just enough light to be seen without having to be adjusted. Wouldn't that be cool?).

B. Fine-tuned triggers. +1 to Strike. (I have yet to meet a firearm enthusiast that didn't love a sweet trigger or hate a bad, mushy trigger.)

C. Quick-draw holsters/properly set two-point slings adding a +1 to Initiative. (These bonuses do not stack. So you can't draw one firearm for a +1 then draw another to stack an additional +1 for the next Round of combat.)

D. Custom grips (+1 or +2 to Saving Throws involving accidentally dropping the weapon especially during combat/being disarmed. Plus, they're really comfortable and fit better in the hand).

E. Beam weapon light alterations. Tweak the color of the lasers to either be a little harder to see or much easier to see (shoot rainbow lasers?). No bonuses, but it might make it harder to be spotted if your weapon is firing dark-grey lasers instead of some brighter color.

F. Ammo upgrade. 5-10% more ammunition per magazine/E-clip. Because having an extra Strike roll is better than having one less. =)

G. I could also get into using non-stock ammunition (hollow points, tracer rounds, Dragon's Breath shotgun rounds, armor piercing, etc.) to add an additional flat 1d6 damage until one ran out and has to resort to stock ammo.

H. (And because, just like cars...) Custom paint job. Laser-etched stickers, phrases, flags, mottos, camouflage, you name it. Make this baby yours while letting everyone know who's got the coolest-looking piece on the battlefield.

I could go farther (quick-swap magazines, suppressors, flash-hiders, lasers that blind instead of damage, etc.) but that's probably enough, right?
 
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Hey Sherwood Sherwood , wouldn't the Karbarrans get WP Blunt as a racial skill the same way that the Paraxians get WP Spear and WP Shield, given how large of a role that the shoves have in their society? It is just a thought.
 
Thanks, Psychie Psychie I hadn't thought of that. =)

Hey, you're leading this troupe. What's your take on M'arkie's side-story, lady? Should I keep it or ditch it? I can have him start the game messed up or without the temporary hang-ups.
 
I am ok with it. I'm just trying to come up with how Pyrrah will deal with your character's nickname and his story.
 
Hey Sherwood Sherwood , wouldn't the Karbarrans get WP Blunt as a racial skill the same way that the Paraxians get WP Spear and WP Shield, given how large of a role that the shoves have in their society? It is just a thought.
I think that a WP that is more specific to the shovel is more in line. WP Karbarran War Shovel, since that weapon/tool is so intrinsic to the Karbarran culture.
 
I think that a WP that is more specific to the shovel is more in line. WP Karbarran War Shovel, since that weapon/tool is so intrinsic to the Karbarran culture.
Works for me!

And... did anyone else notice dear Psychie's choice of word-usage here? (incoming silliness! Duck!)

Hey Sherwood Sherwood , wouldn't the Karbarrans get WP Blunt as a racial skill the same way that the Paraxians get WP Spear and WP Shield, given how large of a role that the shoves have in their society? It is just a thought.
(bold and underline mine)

And here I thought the bears were a "polite society!" Who knew? Ha ha! =)
 
Man, I don't know if I want you playing a Bear Man now. If they are so rude to one another, what will they do to the rest of the team?

Lol just kidding. I'm only joining in the silly.
 
Man, I don't know if I want you playing a Bear Man now. If they are so rude to one another, what will they do to the rest of the team?

Lol just kidding. I'm only joining in the silly.
Ha ha ha! You get it! 8D
 
It could be worse, so don't complain! Only a really eagle-eyed Dannigan noticed that typo.
 
It's true! But now everyone else on RP Nation sees it too (JUST KIDDING!). Ha ha ha!

Sherwood? It seems implied, but you know of my deep love of clear communication and clarity between people - should I add W.P. Karbarran War-shovel to M'arkie?

Also, does this bring back the talk of one-handed E-clip-powered shovels? Not to mention that last brainstorm I had with Honey, the firearm upgrades (many of those are on Broadsword) and such. How do you want those handled?

And finally (then I must be off for Real Life): How much in credits does he start with AND (this one boggles my mind) how much can he lift and carry? Augmented P.S. of 37 and I'm getting two numbers and I can't decide which is correct (so at the risk of doing it wrong, ask the GM, right?).

These questions are really here just in case you were bored and had nothing to do for an hour or so, right? Hah!
 
Sherwood? It seems implied, but you know of my deep love of clear communication and clarity between people - should I add W.P. Karbarran War-shovel to M'arkie?
Yup. You have my official 'ok' to that skill.
Also, does this bring back the talk of one-handed E-clip-powered shovels? Not to mention that last brainstorm I had with Honey, the firearm upgrades (many of those are on Broadsword) and such. How do you want those handled?
No on the one-handed shovels, and I will have a brief write up for your bot soon. It will be armed with an equivalent of the pistol mode of the Gallant, giving it a light MDC/SDC blaster option, and around 50-ish MDC on its body. I'll get some speed and other info for you soon.
And finally (then I must be off for Real Life): How much in credits does he start with AND (this one boggles my mind) how much can he lift and carry? Augmented P.S. of 37 and I'm getting two numbers and I can't decide which is correct (so at the risk of doing it wrong, ask the GM, right?).
I'm working on an IC post at the moment, but I'll crack open the books to try and find a set answer for this question soon.
 
O.K. to all and thanks! I'm off to Real Life and will check here later.

For putting up with my hyperactivity, I give you all this wonderful highly-catchy ear-worm. Enjoy! Wheeee!

"Come along catch a Hefalump, sit with me on a muddy clump, we’ll sing a song of days gone by."
"Cosmo Sheldrake - Come Along"
 
Sherwood Sherwood (and anyone else interested). I think the name C'osmo sounds better than M'arkie for a nerdy science bear. Plus it kind of gives homage to Carl Sagan's stellar Cosmos series. Yeah. I'm going to change his name back to C'osmo. (Just C'osmo.)
 

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