Back in the old forum I posted a concept of a Mercenary Character I thought would be cool. I have been continuing to think of concepts that interest me so figured I would share them with you.
Here is the post from the last forum: After really enjoying the games I have been having recently with Limited Insertion and the TAG Line event I have been thinking about TAGS, Pilots and Hackers and my imagination has run wild from there. I begun thinking of a Mercenary character, a TAG pilot without a TAG. Those big robot mofos are expensive and it makes sense to me that you are going to have talented Mercenary pilots who have their rides shot out from under them. But how can someone get a TAG? Well if you are in the right place at the right time you might be lucky enough to see a Pilot get "Expelled" and hijack their ride, or just "Possess" a remote TAG and go crazy. A person in possession of a Hacking device could make both of those things happen? So I bought a ticket on this train of thought and here is what I got from it. Please leave me any feedback and suggestions. "Poltergeist" - Points 25 0.5 SWC (?? Totally up for debate ??) SK or LI / Cube / Irregular MOV 4-4 / CC 12 / BS 11 / PH 10 / WIP 13 / ARM 1 / BTS 3 / W 1 / S 1 / AVA 1 Equipment: HD+ Special Skills: Pilot, CH: Mimitism, Inferior Infliltration Weapons: Boarding Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher, Pistol, Knife Ok, time for some explanations. Firstly the name is mainly evocative of a ghost that can possess and take over you, making your greatest strength into your greatest weakness. Sadly this is a vein tapped often but could be a thematic link to the Nomads and a Spektr specifically. Secondly the concept is for a pilot to be able to take over the empty shells of enemy TAGs. This would mean a few things. 1) Once inside a TAG Poltergeist would lose all hacking ability, after all the Geist inside his comlog is too busy suppressing the TAG's firewalls to be used to offensively/defensively. 2) Only human TAGs with Pilots would be eligible for this, no jumping into a CA or Tohaa TAG. Somethings the hacking programs just can't overcome. 3) Could not get into TAGs that have an "Operator". Iggy's HI component is vital to the TAG so you can't just hang your ARM 1 body in the centre of mass and expect it to work. 4) To get into an enemy TAG would require a Short Order (or Long if it is considered too easy) to get into the enemy TAG. I would say this would be at (WIP)...OR at (WIP + 3 for HD+ minus the BTS of TAG profile) The first means you are getting in most of the time with WIP 13, but the latter means that to get into Scarface's Ramhorn you would be at roll of 11 (WIP 17 minus BTS 6). Same for the O-Yoroi. I prefer the second but would need to explain it better than I can right now too make it easy to understand. I wanted to have something other than a Sniper Rifle. There are many options for Merc Sniper Rifles so no need to try to jam into that niche. Took the combo of the Boarding Shotgun and Adhesive Launcher from the Loup Garou, as I think it is a cool little combo and doesn't rely on something too exotic like Viral ammo. Also reinforces the ability to stop/restrict TAGs with the Gluegun. I would love to have something like a cross between a HD+ and a KD but with limited functionality, something with Redrum, Cybermask, Expel and Overlord. But that makes it tricky gamewise so just went with Hacking Device + as it has the needed Cybermask, Expel and Overlord and you can sub in Brainblast for Redrum. This lets him be all tricksy with Cybermask and make daring dashes across open ground to get to where he needs to be to trap a TAG while also having the skills to push out a pilot. Good thing he managed to get a HD+ from some Nomad fella. Mimitism and Inferior Infiltration are to help him get a little higher up the board and make him that little bit more dangerous with his Zone of Control. Also represents him being good at hiding to add to his mandatory mercenary mystery. Statline is there to be a pretty basic Line Infantry, actually it is pretty much a mix of a Ghulam/Aguacile with one less CC and instead a bump up in the BTS due to being a hacker. Would be tempted to drop his BS too 10 if the points ended up being too low. Tried to compare it to an Interventor (HD+ and BS for 24 points) but too many variables to be sure the points good or not. Didn't want him too armoured, as some of the TAGs can be a little cramped and Leifeld-like shoulder pads could be problematic there. Simple and hardened flight suit should work well enough. Modelwise, I would want a bit of a pick-n-mix style, give him a Spektr helmet, but with an Anaconda bodysuit and maybe boots and gauntlet/comlog from somewhere else. I would love to give the model Booty, but that adds too much potential variation (how is he going to fit that ARM 5 body into a tag?) For funsies... Some say that he is the son of a Merovignian Merchant Lord... Some say that he became a war-orphan during the Commercial Conflicts... Some say that he refuses to work with Haqqislam forces that deal with the Druze... Some say that he got his distinctive Spectr helmet from the body of his Hacking instructor... Some say that he looks just like Bob from Accounting... Some say that he has rigged his cybermask to flash a skull over his face with every shot of his shotgun. Some say he can make a Jotum do a cartwheel... Some say he is a puppet dancing to the Black Hand's strings... ...all we know is he's called the Poltergeist. For serious... "So the brains back at HQ wrote up a profile for this newbie and they wanted me to pass it onto you lot so you know what you are up against. Let's see, they think he is of "Merovingian decent" so probably one of those froggy buggers. Looks like they think he wised up early and got off that dirtball but got caught up with the Haqqs and Nomads. Eh, out of the pan and into the fire for this one? From there looks like he went full Merc, probably with of those Anaconda units you see on Dawn. Story as old as time, eh lads? They don't have anything solid as to why he is running without a ride at the moment but in multiple flashpoints he has actually left the battlefield with TAGs from the opposing forces, including a...what the hell, that can't be right? Says he left an engagement in Svalaheim in a freaking Jotum. This must be a mistake, those are Remote Activated, how is he running off with one of those? Hang-on, there is some footage here...shit the Jotum is gunning down those ORCs it and then legging it. Wait...rewind, there you can see the Jotum holding something in it's shield hand...do not tell me he picked himself up... Ok, so he has some tricks. Not going to deny that, but that isn't going to do squat against the nastiest sons of bitches the HEXAS has to offer, right? He can't see us, and he won't see that bullet with his name on it. But for the love of all that is holy make sure that bullet gets him before he picks up another one of our TAGs. And for crying out loud, quit referring to him as 'Casper' in your reports, it isn't funny, just use his proper designation 'Poltergeist' alright." - [Lead Tactical Operative John Grist, Strategic Security Division of the Hexahedron before Operation: Blind Frog and the loss of a DRAGÕES TAG unit and support to a suspected Nomad force.]
Ok, now the reason I have resurrected this type of thread is I have been wanting to create a specialised Authorised Bounty Hunter, and the release of Ikari and StarCo have just got my mind all whipped up. "Springer" - Points 20 0 SWC LI / Cube / Irregular MOV 4-4 / CC 14 / BS 12 / PH 11 / WIP 13 / ARM 1 / BTS 3 / W 1 / S 1 / AVA 1 Equipment: Auxbot w/ Adhesive Launcher Special Skills: Booty L2 - Stealth Weapons: Adhesive Launcher, Stun Pistol, Knife While I am currently hip deep in Ikari at the moment, I would like this guy to actually be a somewhat good guy, so probably going to need to keep him more Merc Availability and more of an Irregular ABH. His g-sync'd Auxbot will stop him being able to be duo'd with other ABHs as well. His core concept is that of ABH crossed with Mayanet Star. Think of Dog the Bounty Hunter...in space concept and you are most of the way there. Reality TV in an ever dangerous vocation, catching the scum of the human sphere with only your g-sync'd Auxbox (retrofitted to be both Cameraman and Backup) beside you. Whether it is part of his contract, or to make things a little harder, Springer always brings them in alive. To do this he needs the right tools, such as his trusty Adhesive Launcher. I considered adding a Akrylat-Kanone but it doesn't quite fit with how he would obtain one, and it is a bit much of a spread to have the +3 zone. His Auxbot carried the same weaponry as well, which works well when Springer flushes out his prey into a trap. Pretty much looking at Adhesive Launcher instead of a Boarding Shotgun, upped PH by 1, and gave him an Auxbot. Considered adding 360 visor to the Auxbot to represent the Aerocam rule for warcors but it was getting a bit messy there. Haven't really got a good pricing idea for an Auxbot with a weapon that isn't a template. At most it is bumping your attempt to glue someone from B1 to B2 if you both target it, and if you play your cards right you will only be facing a FtF roll on one of those shots. I would like to add "Marksman" to the Auxbot but haven't really committed to that idea just yet. -Insert Flavour Text Here-
