Something a la Doctor Strange pre-incident and becoming a wizard/ tony stark? I wouldn't mind As for the Ulema title, that simply means that he has a profound and deep knowledge of the Quran and is an expert in religious studies. However, knowledge does not mean adherence to it, so.... yeah, he can be quite lax in his faith. Also, I imagined him as a medic who entered the military to have access to better equipment, helping those who stand to protect those who cannot defend themselves so that even more people do not have to suffer what he had suffered in his youth. I was inspired by the Selected Reserve: civilian experts (lawiers, engineers, doctors, etc...) who reinforce the military with their expertise in time of need. Because of their skills, when they don their uniforms, they all have Commissioned Officer rank... So yes, I could be a squad leader but before putting it in stone I would like to know more about the mission we are going to participate in: I, personally, imagined this squad like a group of 'equals' taking decisions together.. That sound awesome! I like that idea! For simplicity sake, couldn't we use the k9 Antipode's stats for the Sakt's one by simply saying that I, wanting to take my loyal companion in combat to always having someone watching my back/helping in SAR mission, bio-modified him/her?
That sounds really awesome and yeah, makes sense if my "tohaa drug" usage wears down the symbiont. This reinforces the idea that the symbiont is there to take the brunt of physical damage of all kinds for the Tohaa warrior - both bullets and the toxicity. At some point it will require regeneration. My idea for game balancing this would be to allow my character to avoid the usual toxic consequences of the drugs (and gain the bonuses they normally confer) but in turn it forces a cooldown on the symbiont after too much drug use, which makes me lose all the symbiont bonuses (e.g. those the Sakiel armour grants). That's excellent and definitely getting a Surda or two would be something I'd like. If like you said later on each of us had some kind of a "bio-drone", it could be really cool thematically. Also Surda has the pheroware "BTS flamethrower" breath (Pulzar) which will be great vs Antipodes. . . . . . Definitely, I don't want to go the Gao-Rael Sniper / Nikoul route, much rather Sakiel / Sukeul / MSV2 Spitfire Gao Rael way. Special forces operator, the first one in the stack on the wall, breaching. Sounds good. I could produce the ammo I need for my own "viral" tactics or infuse some of the regular ammo with glass ampules containing the viral payload that shatter on impact and round deformation, for example. . . . . . Shoot me a PM whenever you're ready.
@inane.imp . . . And "Fulgor Rifle" it is. . .!! Wild Antipodes and OTHER "Nasty Critter" of Planet Dawn (really, is contending with Paradiso AND the Morat Homeworld as "Finalizer for SHITTIER Deathworld of The Galaxy"!!!) can shrug and ignore hail of bullets, but as Non-Sentient / Semi-Sentient "Beasts" (SINGLE Antipode "Lone Wolf" = Dumb Dog // Triplet of Phero-Linked Pack = CUNNING Human Hunter-Killer !!!) they fear and flee Fire!! If You go for "Cybenetic Temporary Assets" we could say that "Burn-Chips" could be slotted into the dedicated "Dataport" of Your Brain, equally useful Rule-Wise, as Combat Drug Dermal Patches, but (INSTEAD of troubling fellow squadmates "Dashing Desert Prince" or "Brother Artichokehead" for "Cooking" some Methhead Stuff) as a competent Praxis Hacker, You "Write" them on Your own. . .!! . . . . @Ashen_Seeker Your Sakt Tadeer Pet (Pets??) will be AS YOU WANT; K9 Stats or other, we will check what is normally available (there are Rules for Pheromone Controlled Antipodes NOT ONLY on Ariadnan Manual, but in the Merc Handbook too). . . Your "Spitfire" (as the other Characters "History Background Wargear") could be a little "More Customized" as the "Off-The Barrack-Rack" Guns taken prior a mission. . . Judging on Khawarji's Runihura geneenhancement, something a little more "Heavier BUT Lethal" kind of "Support Fire" squad machinegun (maybe with Bourak made "Smartscopes" and a "Gyro-Stabilized Fore-Handle") could be interesting. . . The STATS of the Weapon will be WHATEVER is available for the Player Characters; VISUALLY they will be Ariadnan Made Guns, but "Enhanced" with Nomad / Haqq / Tohaa / Submondo "Perks". . . . . . . . @inane.imp Fulgor will be VISUALLY a "FN Assault Rifle" like the one employed by Dawn Infantry, but with 2-3 "Banana Clips" taped together (to represent the MULTI Ammo Option) and a "Gardener Bug-Repellant Mini-Hose" made of flame resistant material mounted underneath the Gun Barrell, and filled with noxious "Praxis Cocktail Special" kind of flamer stuff. . . Your "Spitfire" would be an OVERSIZED "Fabrique National Minimi" LMG (like one employed by NATO Infantry, Shortened Barrell version) as visual cues goes on; the one employed by the Marvel Character of "Wintersoldier" Bucky Barnes during "Infinity War / Endgame" movies. . .
Forgot to ADD. . . Ariadnan Guns (but with ELITE "Human Sphere"kind of Hitech Ammo) as for a Game based on Planet Dawn, EVERY reload that You found (Friend's Ammo Boxes / Felled Enemies Clip Pouches) will be for Ariadnan Cartridge "Vintage Guns" (and NOT the WEIRDNESS of the "Miniaturized Railgun Machinepistols shooting Liquid Metal shaped by Mag-Barrells" that was hinted by some of Corvus Belli staff). . . Even Garrisons of Pan-Oceanian "Mining Corp Security" or Yujingese "People Workers' Militia" would follow this trend. . . Ariadnan Game = Ariadnan Firearms. . . . .!!!
Want to do a rapid check. . . Merc Fireteam of 10 (good to be easily carried everywhere with one of the VTOLS that the Minotaurs own, as they have an Hypertech Air-Carrier that could go ANYWHERE the Cold Seas of Ariadna are !!!) of "Roughly" Human Size: 4 Players. . . + 6 different "Pet, Beasts and Drones" @Golem2God is STILL choosing an ideal Character for His style; could have 0 "Pets" or even 2 (Antipodes) = (0-2) @Ashen_Seeker "Sakt Tadeer", could be EVEN a Puma Bigcat IN ARMOUR and/or with Cyber Enhancements = (1-2) @Nuada Airgetlam , I think that we settled for a SINGLE "Customized" Surda Symbiobeast = (1) @inane.imp , could fill as needed the remaining quota with all manner of Drone Remotes; while the "Shirow's styled Arachnobot" could be cool, MAYBE for Anti-Antipode Mission / Wilderness Patrols could be interesting to field a "Feral Cyber Beast" (shape like "Cetus" of A.L.E.P.H. / "Team Sirius" of O12) = (1-3) . . . . . Work In Progress. . .
For "Combat Roles", a quick check. . . @inane.imp is primarily a "Combat Hacker" but clearly more rugged than usual, thanks to "Morlock Cyberfreak Parts"; working in Tandem with His Drones could use to big effect the Ariadnan Version of a "Nomad Fulgur" (Combirifle + Light Flamer); could be wise to invest in some sort of 40mm. Grenade Launcher (small or big) to launch dedicated "Repeater Antenna" Warheads. . . @Ashen_Seeker is a powerful Khawarji "Special Forces Officer" and "Field Medic" too; could employ the Runihura enhancements (Superjump !!) to cover long stretches of road and/or climb buildings to find optimized position to fire the Spitfire; some sort of "Teseum High % Alloy" version of an Haqqislamite Scimitar + some sort of "Medium Range Pistol" (Chain-Colt + Long Range Singleshot Underneath ???) could, in a pinch , make Him quite lethal in Close Combat. . . @Nuada Airgetlam is ANOTHER "Field Paramedic" but when Battle is joined, surely will "Pump" His Symbiosuit with Speed-Enhancer Combat Drugs and ferociously charge entrenched foes, who will find themselves subjected to ALL manner of "Vicious VIRAL Nastyness" from Boarding Shotgun Slugs (like TOXIC Versions of "Shotgun Stun Shells") and, even worse, the 40mm. Grenade Launcher Underneath (that will act as a "Swarm Grenade" with many nice Toxic+Vicious+Whatever Effect); a Viral Long Dagger (that could be "filled" with all manners of "Interesting Pharmaceutics") could be used along a "Big Handcannon Revolver" to deliver, EVEN at LONG Ranges, some nice "Syringe Bullets" with Toxic Ammo. . . . . . . . @Golem2God still working on His Character ideas and concept; have signaled Him that a "Stealth Scout with Heavy Snipergun" is PRECISELY what the Group lacks. . . . . !!!
So your are a Sakiel that has moved on from the main Tohaa forces at Paradiso and struck off into the Human Sphere? Would this mean that you are a Kerail Preceptor since you have a Symbio-Beast?
In this case I guess it's not who you ARE but what specialized Symbiont / modules for it you wear. I'm a Tohaa warrior in a Sakiel symbiont who also seems to have the Tohaa variant of "Antipode Controlling Device" on him? I'm not an out and out dedicated K-9 unit policeman, I'm a SWAT dude who has a service dog with him.
That fits the Tohaa Kerail Preceptor description. The first profession in Tohaa history. They are used for emergency services, surveying, animal research, law enforcement and military applications. You can read about it here: https://human-sphere.com/index.php?title=Kerail I think it fits your guy's description to a tee.
OK, that indeed seems to fit "a guy who does biotech magic with his Symbiont and his Surda / Symbiomate / Symbiobomb critters". It's all Corahtar then, eh?
@Nuada Airgetlam . . . DO NOT BE fixed in the Wargame Miniature Roles. . . They are JUST a "Archetype for Career Ideas"; and as Tohaa Players' Guide is still NOT out, do not care about fitting into an Artificial Distinction. . . Be JUST the "Tohaa Player Character" that You find more amusing to play. . .!! . . . . . @Golem2God . . . Could we assume You take the roles of "Local Guide / Stealth Recon Ranger / Heavy Sniper" with Your Artail character?? I think that a couple of "K9 Antipodes" attack hounds would fit nicely Your character, anyway. . .
I guess we could use that as a place holder. As for Antipodes I don't think that would fit Arty's style. He just came to Dawn to visit someone then got caught up in this.
Re: the Antipodes. The other option is building a Biomorph pet using the rules in the Nomad sourcebook. I mean, they are kinda designed for that. I'm going to be that guy, just for a bit, and rain on everyone's parade for a moment. How many of us players have a good grasp on the rules? I know Nuada you've just started reading the rulebook. Golem and I are fairly experienced. I don't know about you Ashen? But... Infinity builds characters that are out of the box quite powerful and complex. Mooks die like chaff to even unoptimised semi-combat characters. Symbiont Armour is stupid strong. It has it's own wounds. This gives you 2 wounds on top of your base 5 wounds. With a campaign design that often allows you to let it recover between missions, you're going to be shrugging most incidental damage. For values of incidental damage that include a Combi Rifle burst to the chest. Sakiel Armour and a Viral Combi Rifle and as a Tohaa you're a really good frontline combat character. Maybe later down the track you might want something more, but that's a REALLY good build to start the game with. Runihara upgrades simply as stock from the Haqq sourcebook are bonkers. Superhuman Attributes on player characters are borderline broken if they're on an attribute you use regularly, Runihara get Super 2 AGI and Super 2 BRA. Honestly, anything based on a Khawaji build will be VERY strong in any combat role out of the blocks. Meanwhile, I'm fully aware that the Minators have a stupidly well outfitted armoury. So I'm fully expecting that on missions where we need a strong combat presence I'll be able to requisition combat REMs as required to meet our needs. Basic mods that I can complete in a workshop (ie. Feurbach Tsyklon rather than the stock Spitfite one) will rapidly allow me to customise them for whatever we need. So, before we add anything bespoke designed we're already really really really strong combat characters. Basically I'm appealing that we Keep It Simple. Otherwise we're going to get bogged down in trying to work out esoteric mechanics that don't have an easy solution. In a Play-by-post that's painful as it really slows down gameplay. So what I'm really saying is, before we start building things that we don't really understand how they'll work, take a look at the sourcebooks and see if something already exists that does what you want. Really, I just want to VR into a Lunokhod and blast some things with a HSG while staying in the comfort of a VTOL orbiting overhead. :)
I'm perfectly fine with dropping the pet idea and going just footmobile. I have zero experience with this particular system, but over two dozens of years with paper RPGs in general, so I already see more or less how strong my character seems to be.
I think you can keep the Symbio-beast just use the Nomads' biomorph-beast rules. Symbio-beasts are practically the same as nomads just with alien species. It will work out great.
Yeah, I'm not saying don't do cool stuff. I'm saying keep it as simple as possible when we do. I'm happy to walk through the Biomorph building rules. I've played a lot with building uplifts and Bio-modification and there's a lot of overlap.
@inane.imp Go on with "Biomorphs" BOTH for the "Surda Symbiont" of @Nuada Airgetlam and the "Cyber-Sakt" of @Ashen_Seeker . . . After all I will be a VERY poor GM if I don't use a Player who have coprehension of some Rules BETTER than mine. . .!! . . . . . Honestly I was INSISTING on 4 PC + 6 NPC "Pets + Drones" because the Merc Handbook insist a lot on 10-units strong Fireteams. . . And as the Morlock Rigger was YET designed to act as "Controller" of 1-3 Remotes then I thought to fill-up. . . Also, in the same Manual there is the "Pheromone Control Bioimplant" that allow (with POORLY understood "reverse-engineered" Antipode Genetech) a Player Character to act as "Packmaster" (A.K.A. "Dominant Head" !!) of an unit composed of P.C. and TWO "Antipode Lone Wolves". . . I figured that the same could apply to Haqqislamite-borne "Endangered Totem Animal" rejuvenation projects, and ESPECIALLY to Tohaa Symbiobeasts (as Antipode Tri-Packs are REALLY a result of ANCIENT Tohaa meddling; WH40K-Eldar styled. . .!!). . . . . . . . So @Golem2God said (as is HIS right; His Character to create amusing for HIM, NOT mine "Pregen" to handle as a "Uncaring Deus-Ex Machina" Gamemaster): "No Pets for Me, please!!!" That's PERFECTLY O.K. for Me. . .!! So we would discuss the EVENTUAL idea of having the OTHER Player Character filling the "10 Unit" strong Fireteam with THEIR "Biomorph Pets & Remotes". . . 6 "Void Spots" means that @inane.imp could have 2 Remotes (of WHATSOEVER denominations; Ariadnan Traktor Muls, Haqqislamite "Army Surplus" ones and the WIDE collection of Nomad Drones, ESPECIALLY the Bakunin Zonds, that really He PROBABLY started scratch-build at Teenager High School days, as "Schoolyear Finals Science Project" !!!); swapping "Standard Guns" with "Mission Useful Ones" would be a 5mins. operations, done EVEN on Battlefield Conditions under Enemy Fire, with just an "Hydrospanner and a Sonic Screwdriver" (BONUS GM AWARD for who catch the reference !!). . . . . . . . @Ashen_Seeker could have 2 "Cyber Sakts"; as an INTERESTING link to generic Gameworld Universe Lore these could be AS WELL the same "Mother & Cub" slaughtered by a stupidly dastard Panoceanian Tycoon during a "Safari Hunting Trip" in Bourak, where (at the time) "Hunter Guide" Knauf went (by WILLINGLY taking the bait of Hexa Operative Emily) totally savage-beating-the-crap out. . . Maybe Ashen's mysterious "Desert Lord Patron" had the poor corpses CONFISCATED to the SEVERELY FINED Pan-O Bastard (as endangered "Apex" Animals, NOT the allotted "Old Males" that was O.K. to Hunt and Bag !!) and had those Cryogenically Frozen and sent to New Knossos Island (Minotaurs HQ, Volcanic Archipelago on the Seas outside the Border Seas between Rodina and Merovingian Borders) to be SOMEHOW "brought back" to SOME SEMBLANCE of Life, and gift-given to His "Prized Pupil" to care. . .!! The Mother-Sakt grievous wounds would have needed a SEVERE Cybernetic Reconstruction (so will be essentially a "Full-Body Conversion Greatcat" with Cyberlimbs and Armourplates) while the Young Cub-Sakt would have been subjected to "Forced Gene-Growth" in TOHAA "Bacta Cylinders" (another BONUS GM AWARD for who catch the reference !!) and will be ESSENTIALLY a "Limited Regeneration Runihura Panther". . . . . . . . @Nuada Airgetlam could have "Pheromone-Linked" in a similar fashion the LAST 2 "Pets & Remotes" needed to round up the 10 "Men" strong Team; as Surda stats are NOT on Manuals, there could be a BIG Armoured One (a "Rhino-Triceratop" horned faceplate kind) that will act as "Stron-As-An-Ox" beast of burden (BAGGAGE YAY!!!) and a smaller, sleek "Nighthound" customized for Stealth Patrols and silently flanking the Packmaster to surprise Enemies during engagements (Quick, Nimble, Climbing Plus, Superjump) . . . . . All this "K9 Seraglio" would fit in a "Minotaur VTOL" (Ariadnan Army Transport chassis, where Nomad Tech-Savants put Haqqislamite Tilt-Reactors and Cyber-Commands "salvaged" from the Bourak Desert Ranger Airships); that "Mobile Base of Operations" would NOT even need Organic Crew; a couple of "H.I.V.E.M.I.N.D. Humanoid Drones" at the Cloches, and 2-3 more to act as Door-Gunners & Cargo-Crews (Karakuri stats, but MORE primitive-looking ; imagine "Chappie" from Humandroid of Neill Blomkampf's movie) that could be "Remotely" commanded by the Minotaurs A.I. or (if mission parameters dictate "Arachne Radio Silence") Comlog-Slaved to the Morlock Hacker Geist. . . . . . . . What do You think of this "Proposal" of mine of a Self-Contained, Fully-Autonomous "Special Force Unit" that will act TOTALLY independant from Minotaurs Brigade "Chain-Of-Command". . . . .???
It is not me specifically it just I don't think Arty wants to have/take care of an animal in his current situation. Not in his character. That may change down the line but we will see. If it was me in there I might take a beast if I could command/control it well enough that it did what I wanted it to do.
No Problem at all. . . The fact is that WAS a previous idea, but with the numbers of "Servo-NPC" discussed beforehand than We have what it was. . . Reiterate there that Your Character that You created and submitted by PM to Me I consider rather PERFECT for synergy with the rest of the group and, after ANY Player has done a review and discussed "Intra-Players" eventual details, we could go for FINALIZING all the rest and start planning first sessions of the Games. . . . . . . . Working YET on some "Rough Character Concepts" for ANY of the Character; will be OBVIOUSLY subjected to the PLAYERS final decisions. . .
