Character Building.

[The Artist Formerly]

Because of the wide array of settings, enviroments, character types and time periods, character building can be a trickey prospect for many players. Even still there are a few basic concepts and ideas you want to carry with you, where ever you go, when ever you go there.

The first thing to do is talk with your GM. Ask some questions and get some feed back going. That way she'll be able to tell the story she wants to and you'll have a playing piece that you are both comfortable with and fits well into the story.

With that out of the way, the next thing to do is get your dice warmed up. As a player, I like to let my dice do the talking. I rarely start out with a notion of what I'm going to play, prefering to roll up the attributes and work from there. But that's not always the way things work for everyone. Sometimes you really want to play a VT pilot, but that PP of 8 is in your way. Again, here's a spot where chatting with your GM will help. She might allow you to drop a point from another score to edge yourself into where you need to be to make flight school. Or perhaps let you swap scores from one attribute to another so you can make it in. Or number of other arrangements might be made so that your inner VT pilot can come out.

With your attributes set and your OCC in sight, the next thing to realize is that a good character build is done by playing to one's strengths. If you go with the dice before OCC approch then you want to match the OCC to the attribute strengths. For example if you have a skill bonus due to a higher IQ attribute, then you want to look for a OCC that grants as many skills as you can get or taking a class that grants access to those lower base profficeny skills (like those trickey but very nessicarry Espionage skills or the demolitions skills). A high PP score screams out for those who are fully profficent with the Cyclone because then you get to add your PP bonus to your leap dodge. A high PS is pretty much it's own reward, but any character who will find themselves in just CVR-3 alot of the time would benifit from such a attribute. A freedom fighter/merc or nomad-scout who might often find themselves having to use their knuckles to gain information and respect would be a prime canidate.

Now skill building. Every VT pilot comes with the same basic skill set. Every Freedom Fighter has the same basic skill set. It's your choice of the optional core skills (such as the exact two machines that a VT pilot has Mecha combat with) and the use of one's "other" skill choices. Now while it's tempting to grab a few skills from a number of sources and try and make a character who can "do it all", you just won't get enough skills to cover every or even most of the major likely problems you're going to run up against. So build a character who excells in one or two sub-fields. Talk with the other players, so that they too will specialize somewhat and that you aren't overlapping.

Of equal importanace in this stage is to select skills that are approprate to the enviroments you're going to playing in. While a VT pilot in Sentinels and Invid Invasion are the same in theory, in practice, they are two wildly differant characters. A Sentinels Character has a much better chance of using "pilot space shuttle" then the Invasion character. Meanwhile, the Invasion character could very well be needed to pilot a motorized boat of some sort.

Fine tuning. Now that you've got your generalized areas of expertise down, it's time to fine tune. There are some skills that can give a player an edge that transcend OCC and Attributes. No character of any military oreintation should ever begin play without Radio Basic. It lets you communicate with other players in ways alot of your opposition can't even detect, and those who can detect it (have radios) can't decipher. A thing like Morse Code is entirely meaningless to a Zentraedi commander. Even if they note what is going on (humans are using radio transmissions to communicate in some sort of code based on transmission pulses) he would have no frame of reference to decipher it. Morse code is entierly arbritrary in it's form. The same idea as Navajo code talkers during the second world war. Mix in a little encryption (just incase the other side tries to "extract" some information from someone else in the know) and for all the science and power that the Robotech Masters were able to render unto their various militaries, they won't have a fricken clue what's going down.

There are other such skills, though they are less useful then Radio Basic. First up is boxing. Over done to the max, I agree. But there is a reason for that. That reason is the extra attack it garners for the character. Figure in the parry, dodge and fall roll bump, the bonus PS and SDC PLUS the special auto-knock out ability and you a pretty good skill to add to any character who is going to be using violence to solve problems. Now characters with limited access to the mecha combat skills will really find this skill pays off. While it's value is questionable when competing with other characters who have access to boxing (because they probably have it too), it really helps out when dealing with stat block opponets. Typical Zents antagonists, Bioroid pilots and Shock Troopers, the rank and file of the opposition's troops, are represented as numbers. When building a character to battle these opponets, you need to be thinking towards offsetting or besting those numbers. Mecha Combat Basic gives a reduced number of abilities and attacks, where as the alien forces are all genetically programed masters of their machines. You have to improvise solutions to offset that advantage. Boxing is one such componet of that solution.

Another handy physical skill, especially for characters who aren't going to be needing to get physical all the time is Gymnastics. For one skill selection, you gain five skills, a fall roll bump, two one point stat bumps and bonus SDC. For example, in building a REF field scientist, skills like prowl and climb aren't key to the character. However, as part of a strike team, it's likely those two skills especially, will figure into the game at some point. Reasonably profficent at the two skills, especially if you can swap the climb check for climb rope. "Hey, you climb up there and then lower a rope." This allows the Field Scientist to focus his skill selections on his areas of expertise, and still staying relivant to the rest of the team.

Mechanical and Electronic skills are always welcomed. Even if your group has a BME or equivelant among their numbers, the ability to fix or build stuff is always handy. Invasion characters can barter the use of their automotive mechanics skill on a farm tractor in exchange for food/information/a place to sleep, no matter which area of the world you're playing in. Radio basic and basic electronics to rework or repair a damaged radio has more appilcations then I could name. Even just basic Carpentry can pay off big to the right clients. A family or village might have a hard time keeping quiet about a mecha using stranger who passes through their town. Having something you can offer them (that doesn't cost you anything but time a 25 point xp and a little role playing) can make it worth their while to not mention you next time an Invid patrol stops by looking for resistance members.

Weapon profficenies. It's easy to go nuts on these things, and their are so many of them. However in a game dominated by 40 foot tall transforming robot-jets, they can be less then effective in many cases. The trick with WPs is to keep them relivant. Unless you're riding a machine with melee weapons, are a Mecha-su-dai gladiator or the like, Ancient WPs are going to be real limited in usefulness. That is, with two exceptions. WP knife and WP blunt. Knives are such a handy tool to have anyway, and the ability to quietly pick off a sentry among other uses makes WP Knife a good investment for characters who expect to be boots on the ground (rather then riding in Mecha). Similarly, I can't think of many fights in any of the games or game systems I've had where there wasn't some blunt object one could use for bludgeoning someone else with.

In the realm of modern proffiencies, we have alot more options and a much bigger chance of having a weapon your character doesn't know how to use well or not having the guns he or she does know. The most simple answer is to look at your starting equipment choices and pick wps that match those. Pick other WPs that give you skills with the most common weapons. E-rifle, pistol and E-pistol are all great choices. The Gallant H-90 is so omni-present for characters connected to the REF or set in the Invid Invasion setting that you won't likely go wrong with that one either. After that things get a little dicey. WP Assault rifle is solid choice. AK-47s and it's various clones are all over the place. The most manufactured weapon in the history of firearms, it's easy to maintain (or rather lack of maintainace is of little consequence to that weapon) and it's ammo is plentiful. Plus the skill gives you the use of the Wolverine and the M-16. However, a assault rifle is a weapon of war, a man killer, and it may be of limited use when facing off with the Robotech Masters of SE Asia.

Finally, now that you have your skills picked out, use the skills to help write a back story for your character, to get a sense of whom he or she is. The character, as opposed to the player, pursued these skills for a reason beyond dice modifiers and game advantage. Part of your job as a player is to fill those reasons and thoughts in. That's how we take a list of abilities and math statistics and turn them into roleplaying tools.

[Colonel Wolfe]

Nice Eassay, very focused toward Post-invid setting, but Breaks things down nicely.

[The Artist Formerly]

Now I'm going to walk you through this with one of my characters I just built for an Invid Invasion game.

First the rules.

Having spoken to the GM, she informs me that 1) South East Asia is our core setting (RotM of course). 2) No military OCCs. No REF, ASC or EBSIS based characters. 3) No Aliens.

Okay. First up, the Attributes. IQ:14 ME:12 MA:18 PS:7 PP:11 PE:9 PB:15 SPD:10

Looking down my list of choices, Freedom Fighter/Merc, Nomad Scout, Nonmilitary, Hightech Bandit, the other Merc OCC and the Urban Specialist, I figure I'd play the Freedom Fighter. Talking with the other players and the GM we reason out that the Mecha Su-dai leagues would be the spring board for all of this. So some ideas are starting to form in my head.

I start by finishing things off with the "optional ways to round out your character" Age: early teens (I pick 16 just because it's the first number listed). Family ties, Parents: Both taken by the Invid. "You Bastards!". I skipped the relationship to other characters bit (I don't have a clue what they rolling up), land of Origin (South East Asia, duh) and birth order. No siblings, the Invid took them too I decide. "You bastards!" Height and weight I come up with "short" and "skinny". With the low physical attributes, especially the PS, plus the short and skinny bit, I decide this character should be a female.

I take down the basic skills of the OCC. and start thinking things through. I fixate on the words "freedom fighter" and start planning from there. I upgrade to HTH Expert right out of the gate. I think about the Su-dai leagues and decide a good starting point would be as part of the technical/production crew. So I add Radio Scramblers, Survellince systems and TV/Video. four of sixteen spent.

Next I pick up Cooking, it helps me contribute to the group and gives me a skill I can use both for spying or intel operations in dealing with humans and adds some flavor, pardon the pun, to the character. I figure if I have extra skills left over, I see about bumping it up to proffesional quality. Going for HTH MA is more efficent and has more benifits, but this more fun. While I'm milling this about, it occurs to me that basic Electronics would payoff and make sense for someone invovled in the production side of the Su-Dai Leagues. Six of Sixteen spent.

One of the other players is making Freedom Fighter with a focus on long arms (sniper work) and sneaking, so I skip over that skill and I decide that I don't want any of the Mechanics skills either. That could be a bad choice, but I'm just not feeling it.

Taking my own advice, I go with Boxing and Gymnastics. Plus I add swimming, just because. Nine of Sixten spent.

Piloting. Well first thing I do is roll my starting vehicle. I come up with an AAT-30. So, I take pilot truck (small). I know I'll want to drive mecha at some point, but I am just cycloned out. So I take Pilot Battloid and the required Mecha Combat skill. I add in "Read Sensory" because it helps out with my "proffession" and my desire to pilot mecha. I know not having Navigation is going to work against me, but I can live with that, besides I really want to push that cooking skill. 13 of Sixteen spent.

Finishing touches, I add street wise and photography. They kind of fit my character concept. There are no WPs I want to add to my already impressive list (though I am thinking about the H-90 should I get the weapon). So with fifteen of sixteen spent, I smile, and bump my cooking skill. Happy day.

Since we are so near China, I grab out my copy of Mystic China to help capture the flavor. First up I use the name table. First roll is a 02. "Bai- White/pallid On it's own this would be concidered very unlucky, very dangerous name." Well, Eric's right, I do like that idea. So I stop there.

Now I have a character concept to fill in the back ground. My father was an ASC TC Recon Pilot assigned to the are. A Chinese man, when the ASC fell apart he holstered his guns so to speak, and went home to his village. My Character got a significant portion of her training from her father. However, when she was 13, the Invid rounded up everyone in the village and took them away. "You bastards!" Left on her own, she drifted in to a Su-Dai bar and was able, through luck, happenstance and hard work, was able to find work that didn't require her to lie on her back. But she's been biding her time. She wants to avenge herself on the Invid and their human lackeys. She's using her position within the Su-Dai Leagues to gather contacts, resources and the skills needed to kill Invid.

[The Artist Formerly]

Nice Eassay, very focused toward Post-invid setting, but Breaks things down nicely.

I'm a bit obsessed with that setting. It's also the toughest one to deal with in terms of skills. In the other settings, you can easily focus on what you want to do. If your Hover Tank's Glockenspiel breaks off, the ASC has a guy who can fix it for you (of course provided you get back to the ASC...). But in Invid Invasion, you got to find your own Mechanic or fix it yourself.

[Colonel Wolfe]

Nice Eassay, very focused toward Post-invid setting, but Breaks things down nicely.

I'm a bit obsessed with that setting. It's also the toughest one to deal with in terms of skills. In the other settings, you can easily focus on what you want to do. If your Hover Tank's Glockenspiel breaks off, the ASC has a guy who can fix it for you (of course provided you get back to the ASC...). But in Invid Invasion, you got to find your own Mechanic or fix it yourself.

In any Pre-invasion setting has a full suppport staff and supplies. Much Like Rifts, a bad set of Kills, and No mechanic... your good as dead in a few short weeks....

yes, any PC based in that Time peirod has to have an Iron Will and the ability to keep hs Vehical goin with Balein Wire and duct tape....
Lunk must have had his hands full with 4 Veritechs and 4 Cyclones.... his Repair ability kept Team Bernard in buisness(as well as his impresive Kill record, for a foot soilder)... What bugs me thou... Scott single handedly Fires nearly 400 Missiles.... mostly using 20+ on 1 or 2 targets...

[The Artist Formerly]

Nice Eassay, very focused toward Post-invid setting, but Breaks things down nicely.

I'm a bit obsessed with that setting. It's also the toughest one to deal with in terms of skills. In the other settings, you can easily focus on what you want to do. If your Hover Tank's Glockenspiel breaks off, the ASC has a guy who can fix it for you (of course provided you get back to the ASC...). But in Invid Invasion, you got to find your own Mechanic or fix it yourself.

In any Pre-invasion setting has a full suppport staff and supplies. Much Like Rifts, a bad set of Kills, and No mechanic... your good as dead in a few short weeks....

yes, any PC based in that Time peirod has to have an Iron Will and the ability to keep hs Vehical goin with Balein Wire and duct tape....
Lunk must have had his hands full with 4 Veritechs and 4 Cyclones.... his Repair ability kept Team Bernard in buisness(as well as his impresive Kill record, for a foot soilder)... What bugs me thou... Scott single handedly Fires nearly 400 Missiles.... mostly using 20+ on 1 or 2 targets...

Well there is only one way to explain that. Highlander style. Two grown men walking around in Jeans and T-shirts suddenly each has a four foot long sword. Now where did they come from? So too was Lancer muling ammo for Scott's team.

[Shadyslug]

Taffy...I have got to game with you someday...because I make my characters based on the aspect of killing my entire group...and I really want to kill your PC because you put so much thought into it...

[Colonel Wolfe]

Well there is only one way to explain that. Highlander style. Two grown men walking around in Jeans and T-shirts suddenly each has a four foot long sword. Now where did they come from? So too was Lancer muling ammo for Scott's team.

Lancer Fired tons of RPG;s... but hardly was the Killer/ammo Waster Scott was(used 10 SRM's compared to nearly 400 form scott)... but Loved the RPGs/Mini-Missiles (47 in all).
Lamcer was not quite the Killer liek Rand and Scott... with only 26 confirmed kills in the Show.(not counting the 2 Friendly Kills)
a Breakdown of Pilot Kills and Ammo usage is here:

http://www.magicbicycle.net/alphavt/RTNGreports.html

[The Artist Formerly]

Taffy...I have got to game with you someday...because I make my characters based on the aspect of killing my entire group...and I really want to kill your PC because you put so much thought into it...

Make sure you come prepared, Taffy's take alot of killing. Besides, I've been known to frag on occassion.

[The Artist Formerly]

Well there is only one way to explain that. Highlander style. Two grown men walking around in Jeans and T-shirts suddenly each has a four foot long sword. Now where did they come from? So too was Lancer muling ammo for Scott's team.

Lancer Fired tons of RPG;s... but hardly was the Killer/ammo Waster Scott was(used 10 SRM's compared to nearly 400 form scott)... but Loved the RPGs/Mini-Missiles (47 in all).
Lamcer was not quite the Killer liek Rand and Scott... with only 26 confirmed kills in the Show.(not counting the 2 Friendly Kills)
a Breakdown of Pilot Kills and Ammo usage is here:

http://www.magicbicycle.net/alphavt/RTNGreports.html

I'm tell you, highlander style.

[Colonel Wolfe]

I'm tell you, highlander style.

well... once lancer begins using the Cads to behead Scott and steal his Quickening... I'll have to agree.

[The Artist Formerly]

"Yeah yeah, enough flavor text, how much XP for the guy on bike?"

With your basic character mapped out, the next step is to work out how you do your business. In the gaming enviroment, that usually means gun play. Maxing out your damage potential to doesn't need to be your goal here. Especially if your not one of the character types who is terribly dependant on small arms for business. However, more often then not, there will times when your character will find himself sans mecha and he or she needs to be able to keep sucking air long enough to mount up.

This is especially handy when you think about how alot of these situations are "run the gauntlet" type games with your Destroid being the cheese at the end of the maze. The more capable you are out of your machine, the more options you have to work the game. There are tons of great storys that can be built without ever powering up a Protoculture driven reactor.

The biggest issue that a character will have to deal with is setting. RDF Characters won't likely be packing MDC weapons. At least not as small arms. They don't exist yet. And of course there are times when ASC and REF troops will find that MDC thowing rifles will actually work against them.

SDC Weapons.
For a side arm, there are three things that a PC wants to look at when selecting a gun. 1)Damage per round fired. 2) Round capacity of the weapon. 3) Availability of rounds.

These three things make the 9mm pistol the clear winner. The 9mm provides a great deal of tissue trama, lots of rounds in the clip and the 9mm round can be found just about anywhere. This choice is enhanced by the RDF's Auto-pistol (Wolfe Auto). From a varity of sources we can clearly see that this gun is all over the place so we don't have to worry about possession of this weapon IDing the character as RDF. Though it does mean that you'r serious and you may draw some attention for wearing it. Lots and lots of people and forces carry these things. This weapon is an excellent choice for Mecha pilots, light weight, easy to use, plenty of impressive damage, with burst and spray abilities. The power of a submachine gun in pistol. Similarly, any of the other 9mm pistols can work well in the same venue, but they aren't quiet as impressive. The Wolf Auto also makes the use of full on SMGs questionable. A few more rounds and/or a bit more damage, sure, but it's bigger and more noticable then the deadly Wolfe Auto.

If you find yourself need something more, a assault rifle, the obvious answer would be the M-35 Wolverine. With a 60 round clip AND an MDC thrower grenade launcher, it does grant a lot of versitility in the response the character can give. HOWEVER. It's distribution is more limited, meaning that packing it will rasie more then a few eye brows. The 4.45 caseless round is much more limited and has only been in production since the reconstruction era. Which you means more then likely you will have to pack all the ammo your going to use in with you. Anyone who's ever played Metal Gear knows that the ability to recover ammo from the opposition is a important quality if your going to have an extended gun battle.

Generally speaking I find the AK-47 to be a better choice for an assault rifle. RDF Destroid pilot, TC trooper or Cyclone rider all can make good use of this weapon. It will take abuse that many lesser guns wouldn't tolerate, maintainance is dirt simple, and ammo is ultra pentiful. The most manufactured weapon in the history of firearms you can find this gun or a clone anywhere in the world. The Kalasnikov is a fine weapon and it is omni-present that no one will so much as note it beyond "dude with gun". Perfect for going incogneto, and the gun still serves as very reliable combat rifle.

There is one more thing to concider. Style. Some weapons lack the advantages of the Wolfe Auto or the AK-47. But they are stylish. And there is something to be said for that. A revovler just doesn't provide the same benifits that pistol does. But still dropping a .44 mag in some anti-uni terrorist's face and telling him to go ahead, make you day has some style to it. The +1 bonus to strike is nice as well. However if you go that route, do take the steps of adding a speed loader to your personal arsenal to cut down reloading time. Style points can certainly work to your benifit, especially for characters like Mil. Specialists, GiMPs and those who need to generate a "persona" and a Reputation. Of course that can work against you too, Vash the Stampeed, so maybe having a second weapon you can use when you don't want attention is something to concider.

MDC Weapons

Things get a little dicey here. Alot of choices, a varity of qualities to concider. Ammo isn't an issue, but the power source can be. The odds of being able to take ammo from your opposition drops significantly. When using MDC weapons in SDC or light MDC combat you have to pay alot more attention to not only your target, but what's behind your target, less a shoot through kills someone you didn't intent or damage something you didn't want damaged.

In terms of overall performance, versitility and usefulness, no other weapon equals the Gallant H-90. Three differant damage settings, unlimited SDC rounds, burst and spray capable and a solid payload of MDC rounds in both modes. But it's pretty distintive and it uses Protoculture. Those two attributes aren't so good. Some characters start out with them, like the REF VT pilot, so make the best of it, get WP H-90 and enjoy the benifits of your side arm. People may remember you and the Invid will know where you are, but atleast you will have some style on your side.

A good choice all around is the Fal-2 or Koskov 47. It's damage solid, range is fair if a little limited for a rifle weapon, but it's packing 40 rounds per clip, spray and burst capable. Both versions are relitively (for MDC throwers) common, the Russians made theirs like they were going out of style and handed them out in the same fashion. Better still, you don't HAVE to use Protoculture to recharge them. As with any MDC thrower, packing it will draw attention, but that just marks you as a player, not nessicarrily someone that the EBSIS/GiMPs/Invid need to be informed about.

The ASC made a varity of weapons but only two of them really stand out as particularly note worthy. The Tri-laser with it's very heavy damage (for a E-pistol class weapon) is very note worthy. Having that pointed at your head has to be somewhat intimidating, and it will allow an armored foot soldier to even threaten mecha to some extent. Which means the pilot will likely just shoot you first, but hey nothing is perfect. The other weapon is the RFL-100. A small arm that lets you tap the machine gun rules. Nice.

Ultimately, your side arm is part of how you define your character. Players shouldn't be afraid of min-maxing in their selections of weapons. That's what military arms are all about. Minimizing the draw backs while maximizing the benifits to the individual soldier. Within the context of the game, some design team sat down and put together a weapon that would give the guy packing it as many advantages as possible. Take advantage of that.

[Jefffar]

As a GM I've always made it a policy to never let the rules get in the way of a fun and interesting game. This comes up most often in character creation. I often let characters take a few more skills, or skill that aren't typically available to their character if I feel it will make for a more interesting game.

Of course the player has to justify the tweaking to me in some way, either by taking a disdvantage or making a really cool background story.

I also tend to use "mook" rules in which unimportant NPCs have no bonuses, do half damage and have half MDC/SDC/HP because I want the PCs and the big bad NPCs to seem that much more impressive.

As a player . . . well I don't rememebr the last robotech game when I was responsible for only one sheet of paper.

[The Artist Formerly]

As a GM I've always made it a policy to never let the rules get in the way of a fun and interesting game. This comes up most often in character creation. I often let characters take a few more skills, or skill that aren't typically available to their character if I feel it will make for a more interesting game.

Of course the player has to justify the tweaking to me in some way, either by taking a disdvantage or making a really cool background story.

I also tend to use "mook" rules in which unimportant NPCs have no bonuses, do half damage and have half MDC/SDC/HP because I want the PCs and the big bad NPCs to seem that much more impressive.

As a player . . . well I don't rememebr the last robotech game when I was responsible for only one sheet of paper.

Yeah, I'm down with that. Anything that enhances the game, well, enhances the game. I allow WP H-90 and the pilot/Mecha Combat (Basic) Cyclone to anyone who wants it. Even BMEs. That prohibition didn't make any sense. Of course, my group loves to tinker and customize machines to get that optimal effect of personal playing style and character skills in *** kicking efforts.