"Monk" v4.0 - Free League edition Conversion of an Iconic T2k Character

 “Me, I’m a grease monkey. That’s why they call me “Monk” – I keep the Hum Vee purring and the LAV-25 limping along (so far). I guess I’ve always loved engines, which is why I’m so good at them…” 

– T2k v1.0 Play Manual, page 7.

I think Monk is a good place to start for conversion because although every group needs a mechanic and backup driver, it's not necessarily a role that many players are going to jump at in a military-based game. I've also noticed there's a subtle nod to Monk in the nicknames suggested for the Mechanic Archetype, so it seems to almost be a sign. And who doesn't have a soft spot for the kid... right?

So let's convert him, falling back on that Archetype when necessary as we're not going the full Lifepath route.

Converting "Monk" to Free League / 4th edition

Basic nationality, rank, and other core aspects are easy enough to decide on. Monk is technically only capable of being a Specialist if we follow the Mechanic archetype guideline but is described as being a sergeant, which is likely just possible with lifepath development. I'm not fussed too much, rank also has very little bearing in the latest edition.

American, US Army Specialist

Moral Code:                    TBA, this isn't really called out in the original narrative

Buddy:                            TBA and/or pick one of the other "iconic" v1.0/2.2 characters (TBA) 

Big Dream:                      Keep the Humvee and the LAV-25 running until we get back home 

Attributes and skills are converted using the guidelines from the Referee's Manual pages 107-110. 

This is his starting converted Attribute & Skill breakdown:

Attributes & Skills

Strength (STR)                B    1d10 

    CLOSE COMBAT          D   1d6     Martial Arts       

Agility (AGL)                    A    1d12    

    DRIVING                       D    1d6    Racer

    RANGED COMBAT       D    1d6    Rifle

    MOBILITY                     D    1d6    Diver, Pitcher

    

Intelligence (INT)            C    1d8  

    TECH                           C    1d8    Computers, Mechanic

    SURVIVAL                    D    1d6    Scrounger

Empathy (EMP)              C    1d8    

    PERSUASION             B   1d10   Linguist

My initial version of Monk converts across to a character with a lot of low-level skills and specialties compared to a character built with the Archetype method. Also, as the primary attribute for various skills shifts in Free League edition (notably STR and AGL swapping around for Ranged Combat and Mechanic moving from STR based to INT based), Monk's attribute spread doesn't make a lot of sense actually. 

Compared to an Archetype build, the conversion translates into the same 1 A, 1 B, and 2 C level attributes. The suggested primary attribute for his closest Archetype is INT, however, not AGL or STR. Sure, AGL makes sense if he's more a driver than a mechanic (potentially a useful option as mechanic skill seems to be somewhat downplayed in this later edition - see later post), but I think STR and INT need to be swapped to align with the original concept - as the attributes stand, this initial attempt at conversion seems more of a brawler style of character who is less mechanic and more a traditional "Wheelman" however.

Monk seems to have one extra skill due to Language: English converting to PERSUASION B (Linguist) which doesn't really fit and is outside the Mechanic Archetype's suggested cores skills. In addition, he has only one level C skill which is TECH, although he does have two specialties for it and overall seems to have a lot of specialties - a total of 9 compared to a starting Archetype-based character's usual single specialty. Sure, I can see PERSUASION being useful for haggling but I'd suggest switching the B with the C of TECH at least, if not dropping it to D or losing it entirely and bumping up DRIVING or SURVIVAL (Scrounger) to C instead. 

In terms of the specialties, if I had to choose only one I'd stick to Mechanic, but otherwise, it seems reasonable to drop to only 3: Mechanic, Racer, and Scrounger seem the most applicable. Of course, this is a converted character, so it's not unreasonable just to keep all the specialties if your Referee is not worried about balance.

So revised to fit the Archetype better this becomes:

Attributes & Skills

Strength (STR)                C    1d8 

    CLOSE COMBAT          D   1d6        

Agility (AGL)                    B    1d10    

    DRIVING                       C    1d8    Racer

    RANGED COMBAT       D    1d6   

    MOBILITY                     D    1d6    

    

Intelligence (INT)            A    1d12  

    TECH                           B    1d10  Mechanic

    SURVIVAL                   C    1d6    Scrounger

Empathy (EMP)              C    1d8   

So with the attributes reordered and skills added, it's easy enough to sort out the Hit and Stress Capacity. Given we're basing him on the Mechanic archetype, his CUF (Coolness Under Fire) is only a D (1d6). I'm not going to delve into this further now, maybe in a later post dealing with combat and/or survival. 

Hit Capacity:                    5

Stress Capacity:              5        

Coolness Under Fire:      D    1d6

 

So now equipment and gear, previously a big part of v2.2 and earlier editions. Like most other military characters, Monk starts with a standard helmet and flak armor so let's add those and then roll 1d6 for radiation or take the average rounded down. Again, let's leave Radiation for now and return to it in it's own post as compared to my previous article analysis it seems a lot simpler than in earlier editions. 

Armor

    Head    Kevlar Helmet    1

    Arms

    Torso    Flak Jacket        1

    Legs

Radiation

    Permanent                   3

That's actually mostly done now, let's just add his specific gear, weapons and make a note of any group equipment he carries or has been assigned - it's worth noting at this point that earlier edition T2k characters can have a lot of gear/resources compared to their Free League / 4th edition counterparts.

Gear

• Fatigues
• Backpack
• Thermal fatigues
• Personal medkit
• Vehicle tools
• Flashlight
• Protective mask (gas mask)
• Small tent

Weapons 

• M4A1 Carbine with 6 reloads 
• 6 frag grenades
• 2 smoke grenades 
• Large wrench (as a club)

Group Equipment

• Case of 5.56N ammo (840 rounds in magazines) & 180 loose 5.56N rounds 
• Dirtbike with half a tank of fuel
• AN/PRC-77 portable backpack radio 
• Small alcohol still

There's nothing extraordinary here, except noting that a converted Monk has quite a few more pieces of equipment than an archetype-generated character, and the extra reloads, the whole case of ammo, and the bulk of loose rounds provide him with an equivalent small fortune in Free League terms. His original concept has an M117 carbine, but this converts across easily enough to an M4A1 without needing specific treatment so I haven't looked at the weapon conversion rules yet. I've thrown in a dirt bike because I gave Monk a motorcycle in one of my earlier worked examples for the v2.2 travel rules. 

First Thoughts on Free League / 4th edition Conversion 

Like the v2.2 version, this Monk is intended as a pretty green / “Novice” level support character – he’s a decent mechanic and capable driver but not very skilled at much else except standing watch while the grunts sleep. Without additional development, he may be better used as a somewhat just more than generic background NPC to streamline play or a backup or sidekick character if the part splits and you want to keep the players involved.

A few general observations to test for future conversions:

• Core Attributes don't necessarily correlate - the most obvious change from T2k v2.2 is that whereas in the earlier edition a lot of essential skills relied on STR, this has been evened out in the FL / v4.0.

• The LANGUAGE skill doesn't really covert across well and just seems to create a glut of patients with skill in PERSUASION for no real reason. I'd consider dropping this unless the patient is multilingual and or has more of an intelligence background or "Face" role.  

• Specialties are differently geared in FL / v4.0 - their role is similar but they seemingly cost a lot more XP (equivalent to increasing a skill from D to C). It looks like v2.2 characters are likely to have a lot more Specialties because of how the long skill list translates across to the simpler FL / v4.0 equivalents. I've reduced this character's options a lot which streamlines things, but there's a significant drop in characterisation and to some extent capability.

• Not sure how the combat-relevant characteristics convert across so let's come back to that.

• v2.2 can seemingly have a *lot* more gear than their FL / v4.0 counterparts - as one poster on the Fria Ligan forum has noted, the standard character whether Archetype or Lifepath has very little in the way of "standard gear" although there are perhaps a few reasons for this. Added to this, the excess cash equivalent that can be pooled amongst the group to purchase additional soft-skinned vehicles and supplies is notably absent. I like the shift to small arms ammo as a barter currency, however.   

"Monk" FL / v4.0 Conversion Complete 

I'll link to a Google Drive final character sheet for "Monk" FL / v4.0 - this is based on the fillable PDF by Fenhorn over on the Fria Ligan forums and will paste in an image version here for reference.

Suggested Variants

"Tank"

This is essentially "Monk" re-envisaged as a tanker or self-propelled artillery crewman, not dissimilar to the way he originally converted and an amalgam of the artillery and armor variants for the original v2.2 version. Big Dream needs to be changed to something more protective of the group as a whole and I'd suggest dropping his rank down to Private First Class. He's more a driver than a primary gunner and only a passable mechanic. I've recalculated HIt Capacity & Stress Capacity included but increase CUF to C as this shifts across to more of a Gunner archetype but is really more a hybrid. Let's keep the same accumulated Radiation for simplicity.

Strength (STR)                A    1d12 

    HEAVY WEAPONS      C    1d8     Any one specialty other than Launcher Crew

    STAMINA                      D    1d6    

Agility (AGL)                    B    1d10    

    DRIVING                       B    1d10    Tanker

    RANGED COMBAT       C    1d8    

    

Intelligence (INT)            C    1d8  

    RECON                        D    1d6    Forward Observer

    TECH                           D    1d6    

Empathy (EMP)              C    1d8    

Hit Capacity:                    6

Stress Capacity:              4        

Coolness Under Fire:      C    1d8

Basic gear and weapons can stay as a crewman the same unless you want to have a character hefting around a dismounted MG in which case the HEAVY WEAPONS specialty is obvious, but this concept is more a driver or loader hence the Forward Observer specialty. Easy enough to tweak to be an M113 APC and/or mortar carrier driver if the group has that vehicle or an M2/M3 Bradley crewman likely now dismounted.

"Abbot"

An older, grimmer but necessarily wiser version of the younger "Monk" above, perhaps one that made it back home to the US after escaping Poland. Bump him up to Sergeant earned in the field, but notice the reduced STR, lower EMP, and frailty from age and burnout to compensate for the extra experience and gain in CUF. This is a more world-weary field mechanic who has picked up a lot of decent tricks as a survivor (reflected in the additional Specialties closer to the initially converted version above), evolving past a mere "grease monkey" to become an expert able to keep anything vital to the group running. His dreams have changed and his moral code may well have shifted from his experiences as a survivor...

Strength (STR)                 D   1d6 

    CLOSE COMBAT          C   1d8     Martial Arts        

Agility (AGL)                    B    1d10    

    DRIVING                       B    1d8    Biker, Racer

    RANGED COMBAT      C    1d6    Rifleman

    MOBILITY                     C    1d6    Pitcher     

    

Intelligence (INT)            A    1d12  

    TECH                           A    1d12  Computer, Electrician, Mechanic

    SURVIVAL                   B    1d6    Scrounger

Empathy (EMP)              D    1d6   

Hit Capacity:                    4

Stress Capacity:              4        

Coolness Under Fire:      B    1d6

I'd leave his gear unchanged overall although perhaps replace the ammo crate with a collection of spare parts bartered or more likely scrounged from his travels across the ruined landscape. Easy enough to advance "Tank" above similarly accounting for age in terms of attributes and capacities but maybe more of a focus on a second Heavy Weapon specialty (probably Machinegun for use when dismounted) and then Blacksmith / Gunsmith than Computer / Electrician. Cook and Quartermaster might suit better than Scrounger. 

What To Do When You're (Still) On Your Own... On the Absence of Iconic T2k Characters in T2k:FL

T2k Free League "Soldiers in the Rain"

So the long-awaited "Ammo Box" arrived last week and I've been slowly working my way through it, digesting the contents, and trying to work out how to approach this somewhat 4th edition... it's looking very different mechanically, more streamlined is my first impression, so much so I might redo the "20 Quick Rule Rules Questions..." as a way of getting to grips with things. Overall it looks promising - I'm trying to judge it without being coloured by the strong personalities on the forums, but I'm reserving judgment until I've had a good look at the components and worked out how it all fits together for me. 

But one component I'd hoped for is missing - pre-generated characters. And yes I know people have mixed feelings about them, but for the prior edition and starting point of T2k v2.2, I think they have a place and I've outlined my reasoning in the original blog article.

There's a sort of "half-way" attempt in the form of Archetypes, and I can see why they have done this and it has merit but these aren't what I would consider "Starter Kit" level friendly or immediately usable as sidekick style characters to round out a small starting party, unfortunately. 

So let's start with a few comments and ideas.

Hey, these Archetypes look Familiar...

So I'm working my way through Chapter 2: Player Characters and after a tantalising mention of Archetypes vs Life Path character creation then the basics of what is what, it hits me on page 20, a summary of the Archetype method followed by the first of the various Archetypes, the Civilian.

Not bad. Upfront we have a non-military character option (admittedly they are in alphabetical order). Sets the scene that this is not just military and encourages a more mixed party, expanding play style options.

But rather than being an actual pre-generated character, it's really only a template to follow. 

Oh hang on, there's a small paragraph on page 19 that I almost missed that uses the Archetype rules to make a Grunt (2nd option, page 23) that is the example "Private Ronson" filled in as a character sheet on page 21. OK, so we have a pre-genrated basic soldier, probably the easiest example and not very imaginative but I guess that shows how quick the system is and I think that's fair.

Hmmm. OK. 

<flicks through the Player's Manual to see if he's missing something>

Nope, that's it. Only the one pre-generated character and one that could basically be simulated by just using a basic NPC with combat stats and equipment. I'm feeling a bit disappointed it wasn't one of the less obvious options and seems like a wasted opportunity - of course, I am somewhat biased because of how I would prefer to run a campaign. But for a beginning group, especially of only a few players, it would seem good to have a few worked through examples that can be used "out of the box". 

Or is that "Out of the Crate"?

Back to the other templates... I mean Archetypes, of which there are another eight - another new civilian concept, "the Kid",  which is a welcome addition to the previously heavily weighted military origin options in earlier editions:

• The Civilian 
• The Grunt
• The Gunner
• The Kid
• The Mechanic
• The Medic
• The Officer
• The Operator
• The Spook  

Apart from the two civilians and the Spook (basically a spy template unsurprisingly), I feel struck by how close they are to the pregen characters I developed a few years ago now, although I gave them different names: the Wheelman (Mechanic), the Heavy (Gunner), the Doctor (Medic), the Major (Officer) and the Scout (Operator). The Engineer character I created (based on a test character I use to try out new systems) would seem initially to be a variant of the Mechanic archetype as that's where the Combat Engineer specialty is suggested (a bit clunky) but I think the Grunt or Heavy probably fits better for the specific character concept I had in mind.

I'm *not* claiming I invented these roles or archetypes - they're pretty standard and easy to derive from the prior editions or any of the various post-apocalyptic/military media representations but it's amusing to see how close they are to my list or the similar classes in Operation White Box that I actually based my core pregens on. I think their inclusion gives a bit of structure to how players might think about building a group. They're not quite "classes" like in other systems but there is the comment that players should probably pick different archetypes to provide the variety needed in the group.

For each Archetype, there are some suggested variations and options other than the recommended favoured Attribute (pick a Specialty from a list of three, roleplaying choices (cosmetic, moral code,  goal, relationships, how you met the group), and basic weapon differences) but the resulting output still looks like it's going to be pretty bland.

A Missed Opportunity?

Don't get me wrong, I like the archetypes as a concept - they would seem particularly useful for introducing players that may only be familiar with a very class-based, core d20 rollover mechanic game.  

But they aren't worked examples or pregens and I think that would have been useful.

I just think these could have easily taken it a bit further - give us an example character for each of the Archetypes with a few variation suggestions and a bit of a backstory to make them usable as sidekicks and starting supporting cast with minimal GM effort - as mentioned in my original pregen post, this is what we did for the Grogs supplement for Ars Magica 5th edition and subsequent books,  and I think it was a good nod towards providing a resource usable easily by GMs.

I don't always like a lot of "fluff" and character fiction in games - there was a particular RPG publisher and lines where this was taken to the extreme to be sure - but I did like the original "iconic" characters scattered through the worked examples of the first two and a bit editions.

The Challenge

So I think what my "Ammo Box" needs first off is some pre-gen characters, readily able to be personalised, so a group can hit the ground running, particularly if there are only a few players and the majority are coming from other non Year Zero systems.

Rather than just complain about it, I'm going to do something about it and generate some, either converting my existing pregens and maybe some others to the Free League mechanics (using the guidelines I've just found in the back of the Referee's Manual, pages 106-107) and/or designing them using the Life Path (or Archetype) method. 

As I did originally, I think I'll start with Monk...

 

 

For When You're On Your Own (YOYO) - More pre-generated characters!

So despite my intentions to have a break from Twilight: 2000 material, a recent post on the little-visited Twilight: 2000 subreddit prompted me to post this in response.

A while back I lamented the lack of pregenerated character for Twilight: 2000 as a potential barrier to adoption of the setting and the game by new players and presented six pregen "archetypes" to help provide inspiration and fill out a small party with some core roles if needed:

The Wheelman

The Heavy

The Scout

The Doctor

The Engineer

The Major

I had developed v1.0 versions of "Monk" and "Bobby Lee" based on the example characters in the rulebooks, then updated them to v2.2 ("the Wheelman" and "the Scout") and added in the other four archetypes as I had only limited information on the rest of the named characters, but I didn't have the time or inclination to develop all the characters mentioned in the example fiction.

But it turns out a Reddit user known as "u/wbgamer" has now done exactly this according to his post.

He's created a great resource of pre-generated characters in my view for both new and old players and referees alike. Apparently, he saw my original v1.0 characters on my old blog "My Life as a Grog" and felt inspired enough to complete the set!

The twelve v2.2 characters are linked to a Google Docs zip file of PDFs of the "advanced" Excel character sheet developed by Marc on the Juhulin forums that include character portraits and some background notes, with an accompanying "Notes" file with suggestions for the group's backstory and vehicles (LAV-25 and HMMW M1029), weapons and other equipment they share in common at the beginning of the default Escape from Kalisz campaign scenario.

I hereby salute you, good sir!

For those interested in the breakdown, the characters are:

• Alvarez (support - electronics, fluent Spanish, secondary combat medic)
• Anderson (sergeant, 49yo, speaks Russian and has contacts)
• Bobbi Lee (MP not ranger but scout and rifleman; see also my version) 
• Carson (truck-driver for LAV-25, crack shot)
• Gordon (former construction engineer and combat engineer support) 
• Griffith (supply sergeant, scrounger and wheeled driver)
• Jefferson (reservist, tank gunner and heavy weapons)
• Jones (Welsh SAS / sniper with Polish and German, stealth and combat)
• Major (prior enlisted combatant, now older officer; see also my version)
• Monk (drafted pre-war mechanic support character, see also my version)
• Toye (captain, typical infantry combat officer)
• Wood (not actually a medic just "the closest thing")

u/wbgamer's "Design Notes" for his iconic Escape from Kalisz Party

Note: the zip file and PDFs are private documents initially but accessible upon requesting permission and being approved by the author. I'd be happy to mirror host the files here and will contact the creator to check what he's comfortable in sharing soon or if he has any issues with the screenshots.

The Same, but Different?

So that's great, but what's the difference between u/wbgamer's characters and my pregens?

I mean you already have my pregens, what more do you need right... right?

Well, it really depends what you're looking for, as I think the two sets of pre-generated characters are not only both useful but also complementary. Sure, we both present versions of "Monk" and "Bobbi-Lee" (which intentionally vary only slightly in end result according to u/wbgamer although Bobbi Lee is a very different build as he explains in the "Design Notes") and both groups have a "Major" but the two sets follow different design philosophies there are enough differences to comment on.

"Monk" character sheet by u/wbgamer

Group #1

My half-dozen characters were designed to be *supplementary* to an existing small group, ie. for a game with 3-4 players with their own individual characters who need or want some more developed NPCs than the standard NEVE / 2 card mooks, villagers and adversaries of the basic game with their set Attributes, Assets and random motivations.

As a set they allow for most of the core roles of a Twilight: 2000 group stranded in post-WW3 Poland to survive, covering the major threats: food, breakdowns, disease, injury and social interaction. Probably I should have included a scrounger but I made a decision not to partly because Scrounging is a very rare skill limited to only a few career terms (as u/wbgamer notes) and because despite the setting's emphasis, there are no workable rules for scrounging presented (a significant omission - I'd suggest the rules from the Other Dust RPG could be readily adapted).

They are also designed to be readily modified to give some basic builds and variants for new players that don't want to spend too much time on learning character generation, as inspiration for more proficient players or to provide a quick replacement or fill-in character when a primary character meets a grisly end or the group realise that they need more than a single-digit Mechanic Asset for the grease-monkey that's been tagging along and driving their 5-ton truck as a cardboard cut-out.

Group #2

u/wbgamer's characters, however, are a whole pre-generated group, ready to run as a unit and designed to function as a unit with the group assets and history to match. In that sense, his approach is more traditional providing the elements of a party for the initial campaign, much like the "iconic party" of a certain draconian spear derivative campaign for a particular original fantasy role-playing game. Sure, 12 characters may sound like a lot to run, but at least you have the option of choosing from the whole gang ready to go, there's an available specialist for all the major non-combat threats (including a scrounger) and the Referee can handle a couple of the others that provide key roles if they're looking for a more cinematic approach.

Unlike my archetypes, a backstory is provided for the individuals and for the group as a whole, adding to the limited background presented in Escape from Kalisz and fleshing out the world just that little bit more. I think this helps give this set of characters an edge for a Referee kicking off a Twilight: 2000 game for a beginning group of younger players that may have never played the game before - they can just jump straight in and not only explore the mechanics readily but also have suggested interpersonal relationships from the get go. They don't need to get bogged down in character creation which some people find overly complicated.

The group's shared equipment seems quite reasonable without being overpowered and matches the canonical LAV-25 / HMMV combination from the original v1.0 boxed set. This is an aspect I hadn't considered previously but provides an example to use as inspiration for your own player group or similar remnant groups from the US 5th Infantry Division.

Final Comments

I think u/wbgamer's pre-generated characters are a great contribution to the non-canon resources of the game, helping lower a significant barrier I believe exists for new players adopting T2k - the relative complexity and time sink of character creation. I like the way the dozen have been designed to interact as a group, their shared resources and their common backstory - they could even be used as a rival group to your game's player group and a source of potential allies or replacements.












 

Twilight: 2000 Character Creation Spreadsheet - Starting Packages

While creating the various pre-generated characters for my proposed T2k v2.2 "starter kit", I came across the rather large stumbling block of the dense text in the "Careers" section of the corebook. The layout and length of this section make it difficult to work out which careers are useful to progress particular skills when aiming for a particular "archetype" build eg "the Heavy", "the Scout", or "the Wheelman" or targeting a particular Asset for a character. 

I then invested time creating a Google Sheet spreadsheet with what I think are useful tables and resources - the various tabs cover Archetypes, determining When War Breaks Out (maximum terms), Background / Education / Basic Training, US Army careers, US Marine careers and Civilian careers to date - I've so far not covered the other branches or non-US careers other than Basic Training for the most common forces in the default dstarting area (German, Polish, Soviet, UK) given the amount of work required and the non-US careers are mostly just minor variations of existing US careers.

Background, Education and Basic Training 

This first skills tab collates all the "core" parts of the Skill selection for character creation, listing which skills are Background, Education, Basic Training or allowed as Secondary Activity choices. 

Background, Education & Basic Training Summary Spreadsheet tab(derived from T2k v2.2 pages 19-20, 30-31, 35

A few notes on the notation and layout of the spreadsheet (used across all tabs):

• Prerequisites by Skill are listed where applicable
• Skills are grouped by Attribute
• Skills in bold are core "Basic Training Skills" for Military careers
• A numerical value denotes the skill levels granting by 1st career
• A "x" denotes that the Skill is available, a "-" indicates unavailable
• Comments are provided in the right hand most cell

The resolution of the above image won't be enough to see the detail (you'll have to go to the actual spreadsheet tab for that) but I think you'll be able to appreciate the following patterns if you kmnow that the columns in order left to right are Background, Secondary, various Education careers, Military Academy and then the starting Basic Training packages:

• STR based combat skills are mainly from military basic training or academy
• (Aircraft) Mechanic is only available from Technical education, not Background or Secondary
• AGL based skills are mainly Technical education or Background, other than Ground Vehicle: Wheeled
• CON and INT based skills are nearly exclusively found in Background and Secondary 
• Unsurprisingly EDU based skills all depend on specific Education careers except Medical: Trauma Aid
• CHR based skills are scattered across the various columns 

The patterns above become relevant, as for some builds it's the early choices that assist with prerequisites for later careers, Asset specialisation and knowing which Secondary Skills are and are not available at the start of character creation, thus guiding later choices from actual career packages. 

Likewise, organising the skills by Attribute (rather than alphabetically in the corebook on pages 48-49 or in the appendix pages 264-65) gives a better idea on how to choose skills that will work to realise a particular character concept. This isn't to encourage min-maxing per se (although I admit the tables do assist this as a by-product) but help reduce player disappointment and frustration at character creation given the time investment needed to generate a playable character.

Next Steps   

There's a lot more to the spreadsheet than just the "starting packages", but I hope by posting this veteran and new players alike will find character creation easier. In subsequent posts I'll talk about archetypes as a means of streamlining character creation and an optional method for simplifying determining starting age and maximum terms. 

Oh the Humanity! (A summary Vehicle Card for a Human in Twilight: 2000)

I created this "Vehicle Card" as a shorthand resource for some of the posts / articles about the "mini-games" in T2k v2.2 so I could compare vehicles and horses/mules to a "human on foot".

Although somewhat whimsical initially, it actually proved quite useful to have as a reference - it doesn't replace a character sheet to be sure but for abstracted overland travel and discussions about how the mechanics of the game fits and/or creates the atmosphere and setting it works well.

Twilight: 2000 v2.2 PreGen "The Major"

Think a female version of Tom Hanks in "Saving Private Ryan".

"The Major" Lt. Col Johnette Miller, 45-year-old infantry tactician

Attributes

STR 7 CON 5 AGL 3 EDU 6 CHA 8 INT 8
Age 45; Weight: 81kg Load: 36 kg Rads: 40

Combat

Init: 5 Melee: 1 Throw: 28 m
Head: 10 Chest: 36 Abdo: 24
R Arm: 24 L Arm: 24 R Leg: 24 L Leg: 24

Skills

STR Armed Martial Arts 0 / 7
STR Autogun 0 / 7
STR Grenade Launcher 2 / 9
STR Small Arms: Rifle 5 / 12 (Experienced)
STR Thrown Weapon 1 / 8
STR Unarmed Martial Arts 1 / 8

CON Swimming 1 / 6

AGL Ground Vehicle: Wheeled 3 / 6
AGL Tac Missile 0 / 3

CHA English 10 / 18 (Elite+)
CHA Instruction 2 / 10
CHA Language: Russian 4 / 12 (Experienced)
CHA Leadership 7 / 15 (Elite)
CHA Persuasion 7 / 15 (Elite)

INT Forward Observer 4 / 12 (Experienced)
INT Observation 2 / 10
INT Navigation 4 / 12 (Experienced)
INT Survival 2 / 10


Equipment

Allowance: $50,000 unspent
Gold Pieces: $5000 max in cache

Basic Load (US): US army fatigues, pack, shelter half, gas mask, combat webbing (ALICE); sleeping bag, flashlight, personal medical kit, thermal US army fatigues.

Armor: Kevlar helmet & Kevlar vest

Weapon: M16A2 assault rifle

• 6 x 5.56N 30-round magazines, 180 loose 5.56N rounds

Bayonet

6 frag grenades
2 smoke grenades

Cache

Extra equipment that cannot be reasonably carried or stowed in a vehicle.

Design Notes

Concept: dedicated commander, tactician and group "face", studied philosophy before enlisting.

Role: this build focuses on INT and CHR based "soft skills", providing "Elite" level Assets for Leadership and Persuasion with some facility with speaking Russian, while having secondary capabilities as a forward observer and navigator that are part of the officer role. There's some capacity to act as an instructor, secondary point observer and hunter mixed in with reasonable combat skills, including "Experienced" level Asset using mounted grenade launchers.

Variants:

• TOW Gunner: rather than Grenade Launcher 2, swap to Tac Missile 2. This may be useful in an early game if the group has a supply of missiles, but scarcity becomes an issue and grenade launchers and their ammunition are in more plentiful supply.

“B-Troop” Variant: technically this character would outrank Captain Molly Warren if part of a US force, so shift to French, UK or another allied nationality with minimal change except for changing the default languages and personal weapon. Lose the basic US skills (Armed Martial Arts 0 and Tac Missile 0) and consider shifting Russian to Polish if German or Austrian origin.

Design Calculations

Method: 36 points rolled; Init roll 5, Rads roll 4; 1 x age loss of AGL

Background: Ground Vehicle: Wheeled, Language: Russian x2, Survival
6 Term(s):  Undergraduate, Military Academy, Infantry (Officer) x4
Secondary Activities: Observation x2, Small Arms x2, STR+1, CON+1
War Term: 1x Infantry (Officer, x2 skills)
Promotions: 3 (Leadership x3)
Aging rolls: 1 failed Agility (4 to 3)

Contacts: 1x academic, 12 military (5 foreign)

Equipment: given the relatively huge amount of equipment allowance granted by officer status and 5 military terms, this character can essentially purchase their own "command" HumVee ($10,000 if Wear 2, $5000 if Wear 4 or even less if in worse condition) to complement the group's core starting vehicle. I'd suggest it be armed with not just a heavy MG but preferably a Mk19 grenade launcher accessed by a ring mount from the commander's seat as required.

Twilight: 2000 v2.2 PreGen "The Engineer"

The Twilight War’s version of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tropic Thunder character, perhaps lacking the controversial pigmentation alteration, but channelling Old Man Henderson, and never without an obligatory half-chewed cigar. 

Sgt. Jack "Jarkman" deVries, 37-year-old Male American explosives specialist

Attributes

STR 7 CON 10 AGL 6 EDU 4 CHA 2 INT 4
Age: 37, Weight: 84kg Load: 51kg Rads: 40

Combat

Init: 5 Melee: 4 Throw: 28 m
Head: 20 Chest: 51 Abdo: 34
R Arm: 34 L Arm: 34 R Leg: 34 L Leg: 34

Skills

STR Armed Martial Arts 0 / 7
STR Autogun 0 / 7
STR Grenade Launcher 5 / 12 (Experienced)
STR Small Arms: Rifle 6 / 13 (Veteran)

STR Small Arms: Pistol 1 / 8

STR Thrown Weapon 4 / 11
STR Unarmed Martial Arts 6 / 13 (Veteran)

CON Combat Engineer 2 / 12 (Experienced)
CON Riding 4 / 14 (Veteran)
CON Swimming 2 / 12

AGL Ground Vehicle: Wheeled 2 / 8
AGL Intrusion 4 / 10
AGL Tac Missile 0 / 6

CHA English 10 / 12 (Experienced)

INT Survival 2 / 6

EDU Construction 1 / 5
EDU Excavation 1 / 5


Equipment

Allowance: $15k spent
Gold Pieces: $2465

Basic Load (US): US army fatigues, pack, shelter half, gas mask, combat webbing (ALICE); sleeping bag, flashlight, personal medical kit, thermal US army fatigues –15kg

Armor: Kevlar helmet & Kevlar vest

Weapon: Semi-automatic shotgun with modified M203 fitted beneath

• 6 x 12 gauge magazines (7 brass rounds each) + 180 loose 12 gauge brass rounds
• 12 40mm HE grenades / 4 40mm ILLUM grenades / 4 40mm CHEM grenades

Hatchet

6 frag grenades
2 HC smoke grenades
4 irritant gas grenades

0.5km Hand radio
Lockpick tools
4x binoculars

Pack Mule, “Annie” with Cart

Hits: 40 Meat: 70 kg
Tr Mov: 20/20 (Cart 5) Com Mov: 10/20 (Cart 2)/40 (Cart na)
Feed: 10kg + graze Load: 80kg + 0.5 ton Weight: 300kg + 0.25 ton

Packsaddle, horse tack

10kg MRE food
70kg wild food

1 case 12 gauge (240 brass rounds)

1 case 40mm HE grenades (60 grenades left)
1 case 40mm CHEM grenades (40 grenades left)
1 case 40mm ILLUM grenades (40 grenades left)

1 case frag grenades (30 grenades)
1 case HC smoke grenades (16 grenades)
1 case irritant gas grenades (12 grenades left)

60mm Mortar disassembled into 3 sections

• 12 60mm HE mortar rounds
• 12 60mm ILLUM mortar rounds
• 12 60mm WP mortar rounds

Engineer’s Demolitions Kit

• 1 case of dynamite (100 sticks)
• 1 case of plastic explosive (20 blocks)
• 1 case of 2 anti-tank mines
• 1 case of 6 directional mines

Design Notes

Concept: a cranky bastard that blows things up a lot. Simple.

Background: I always create a variant of Jarkman for every game system, partly out of nostalgia but also to familiarise myself with the mechanics of character creation. I try to avoid the whole "Mary Sue" trap, but this build is perhaps less a template than an incarnation of one of my own characters, so apologies. One of his recurring characteristics is he has a stubborn mule companion or equivalent - the original Jarkman was actually created as a 3E Planescape harquebuser "muleteer" and was to have a pack diakka instead of a mule, but the concept has become tightly linked to the character.
Role: shotguns, grenades, demolitions and (indirect) fire support with mortars as required (but requires a separate forward observer). There’s nothing particularly subtle about his role but essentially his speciality is breaking up groups or tactically altering the battlefield with grenades or mortar fire. A secondary (close-combat) fighter, his support roles include lock-picking, animal care and even as a somewhat poor backup driver.

See also Challenge #34 article "Mobile Artillery - Mortars", p6-7 (available on the FFE T2k v1.0 CD-ROM).

Variants:

• “B-Troop” Variant: minimal changes required other than cosmetic or flavour, this build can be shifted to Dutch, German or another allied nationality with minimal change except for changing the default languages and personal weapon. Lose the basic US skills (Armed Martial Arts 0 and Tac Missile 0).

• Forger: adding Forgery 2 requires a drop to Intrusion 2 and adds some low-level criminal versatility but suffers due to low INT unless flipped with AGL which isn't recommended. Rebuilding as a criminal specialist would be a more preferable option.

• Sneakier: a sneakier version with better proficiency with his mandatory hatchet would require refocusing on Ranger terms to gain Armed Martial Arts and he is technically eligible. This would increase his stealth and close-combat ability but at the expense of demolitions and grenade skills - he’s cunning to be sure but a sneaky type is just not really the loudmouthed character I've always envisaged.

Method: 32 point allocation, Init rolled as 4 +1 for Criminal; Rads rolled a 4; -1 AGL due to age
Background:  Riding x2, Small Arms, Unarmed Martial Arts
4 Terms: 2 x Criminal (no prison); 1 Enlisted Infantry, Combat Engineer
War Term: Combat Engineer (2x skills)
Secondary Activities: STR+1, Swimming, Survival 2
Promotions: 5th (Sergeant, Combat Engineer)
Contacts: 2 criminal (1 foreign), 2 military, 1 specialist (Combat Engineer)

Equipment: Semiautomatic shotgun as a personal weapon with custom fitted M203 beneath and a hatchet instead of a bayonet.













–

Twilight: 2000 v2.2 PreGen "The Scout"

Bobbi Lee joined up with us back around Frankfurt-on-the-Oder and she’s walked point ever since. The Major says he’s never seen anyone with an eye for an ambush like she has. Well, he’s seen more than I have. All I know is that we’ve never gotten cracked with Bobbi Lee on point. She says it’s because her brothers used to take her coon hunting. Maybe. But I’ve got a feeling that Ranger scroll on her shoulder has something to do with it.

31 year old Female American ranger / scout

Attributes

STR 8 CON 5 AGL 6 EDU 2 CHA 4 INT 7
Age: 31; Weight: 73 kg Load: 33 kg Rads: 24

Combat

Init: 4 Melee: 3 Throw: 32 m
Head: 10 Chest: 39 Abdo: 26
R Arm: 26 L Arm: 26 R Leg: 26 L Leg: 26

Skills

STR Armed Martial Arts 0 / 8
STR Autogun 0 / 8
STR Grenade Launcher 0 / 8
STR Small Arms: Rifle 6 / 14 (Veteran)
STR Thrown Weapon 3 / 11 (Experienced)
STR Unarmed Martial Arts 4 / 12 (Experienced)

CON Parachute 2 / 7
CON Swimming 1 / 6

AGL Ground Vehicle: Wheeled 1 / 7
AGL Stealth 8 / 14
AGL Tac Missile 0 / 6

CHA English 10 / 14 (Veteran)

INT Observation 8 / 15 (Elite)
INT Navigation 1 / 8
INT Survival 3 / 10
INT Tracking 2 / 9

Equipment

Allowance: $8250 unspent
Gold Pieces: $1500 max

Basic Load (US): US army fatigues, pack, shelter half, gas mask, combat webbing (ALICE); sleeping bag, flashlight, personal medical kit, thermal US army fatigues.

Armor: Kevlar Helmet & Kevlar Vest

Weapon: M16A2 assault rifle

• 6 x 5.56N 30-round magazines, 180 loose 5.56N rounds

Bayonet

6 frag grenades
2 smoke grenades

Cache

Any items that cannot be reasonably carried or stowed in vehicles.

Design Notes

Concept: a good ol' southern girl that can spot a coin at 1000 yards.

Role: primary wilderness scout and “point” due to high Observation / INT and Stealth / AGL, she guarantees automatic success for all but the hardest ambush or encounter rolls. However, rather than just be a “hand wave” of the mechanic, is valid in a secondary role being as a sniper and support combatant.

Variants: 

• “B-Troop” Variant: minimal changes required other than cosmetic or flavour, this build can be shifted to another nationality with minimal change except for the loss of the extra base US skills (Armed Martial Arts 0 and Tac Missile 0) and starting weapon loadout.

• Marine Sniper: increase to Small Arms: Rifle 9, drop to Unarmed Martial Arts 2 and lose Tac Missile 0. Change basic training to Marine and her last (War) Term to Sniper. Her personal weapon becomes M21 sniper rifle and she carries an M231 submachinegun for closer quarters. See also the "Battlesight" article on zeroing rifles (Challenge #63, page 12).

• Knife Thrower: this close combat variant sacrifices Observation for proficiency with Armed Martial Arts and Thrown Weapon. Drop to Observation 4 and Unarmed Martial Arts 2, increase to Armed Martial Arts 4 and Thrown Weapon 5. Add a half-dozen knives, invert the frag grenade to smoke grenade ratio and change the M16A2 to a M177 carbine.

• Forward Observer: swap one (or more) of the later Ranger terms for Airborne Infantry, dropping to Observation 6, Stealth 6 and adding Forward Observer 4, keeping the other skills the same. This variant partners well with a "Heavy" character with a focus on Heavy Artillery or a Combat Engineer with a mortar.

“B-Troop” Variant - basically the same character mechanically as one of the options above but switching her background to West German or Austrian. This necessitates only flipping her main language and dropping the US default skills of Armed Martial Arts 0 and Tac Missile 0, and I'd suggest dropping to Thrown Weapon 1 to allow for English 2. Her weapon loadout shifts to a PSG1 sniper rifle and backup G11 submachinegun.

Design Calculations

Method: 32 point allocation method; Init roll 4

Background: Observation, Survival, Tracking, Unarmed Martial Arts
3 Term(s): Ranger x3
Secondary Activities: Observation x3
War Term: Ranger (regular x2 skills)
Promotions: nil

Contacts: 3 military (no foreign)

Equipment: consider a FAV-Warrior UAV (see Paul Mulcahy's pages, est $3,500 or optionally est $4,000 if a Wear value of 5 based on Challenge magazine stats) with a full tank of 60L of gasoline.

Background: Bobbi Lee is one of the original Play Manual example characters and used to illustrate similar examples in T2k v2.2. She’s noted as being a ranger, excellent at detecting ambushes, and uses a M16A2. She technically meets the criteria for Marine Corps entry but this basic build is regular US Army as though the fiction calls her a ranger, it's never mentioned she's a marine.

Her expertise in Unarmed Martial Arts is clearly demonstrated:

"One day everyone was out foraging, except for me. I was working on the LAV-25’s transmission. The story of my life. First thing I know there’s this Hungarian sergeant leaning under the LAV-25 and sticking a Makarov in my face. Beats me what he was doing this far north, but he was pretty skinny and raggedy looking, so I figure he was probably a deserter. Well, I was tired of working on the LAV-25 anyway. so I crawled out and stood up. 

About then Bobbi Lee got back to camp, and I guess she wasn’t expecting trouble, because it’s the only time I’ve ever seen her surprised. She dropped her M16, but then the Hungarian looked back at me. Wrong move. BobbiLee kicked him. She kicked him in the HEAD. She kicked him so hard she broke his neck. This I do not believe she learned coon hunting with her brothers."

Twilight: 2000 v2.2 PreGen "The Wheelman"

Monk, the rookie "Wheelman"

“Me, I’m a grease monkey. That’s why they call me “Monk” – I keep the Hum Vee purring and the LAV-25 limping along (so far). I guess I’ve always love engines, which is why I’m so good at them…” – T2k v1.0 Play Manual, page 7.

This is the first of my pregen characters - a basic rookie driver/mechanic archetype based on the iconic "Monk" character that can be varied to provide an enlisted armor or artillery character and built up from into a more experienced character if required.

Attributes

STR 7 CON 4 AGL 9 EDU 4 CHA 4 INT 6
Age: 23 Weight: 72 kg Load: 33 kg Rads: 30

Combat

Init: 5 Melee: x Throw: 28 m
Head: 8 Chest: 33 Abdo: 22
R Arm: 22 L Arm: 22 R Leg: 22 L Leg: 22

Skills

STR Armed Martial Arts 0 / 7
STR Autogun 0 / 7
STR Grenade Launcher 0 / 7
STR Mechanic 8 / 15 (Elite)
STR Small Arms: Rifle 2 / 9
STR Thrown Weapon 1 / 8
STR Unarmed Martial Arts 3 / 10

CON Swimming 2 / 6

AGL Ground Vehicle: Wheeled 4 / 13 (Veteran)
AGL Tac Missile 0 / 9

CHA English 10 / 14 (Veteran)

INT Scrounging 3 / 9
INT Survival 2 / 8

EDU Computer 3 / 7

Equipment

Allowance: $1700
Gold Pieces: $500

Basic Load (US): US army fatigues, pack, shelter half, gas mask, combat webbing (ALICE); sleeping bag, flashlight, personal medical kit, thermal US army fatigues. – 10.5kg

Armor: Kevlar Helmet & Kevlar (Ballistic Nylon) Vest – 4.5kg

Weapons: 

M177 carbine with bayonet (5.56N 5 3 1-Nil 3/4 20/30 3 7 40)

• 6 x 5.56N 30-round magazines, 180 loose 5,56N rounds
• 1 case 5.56N (840 rounds, 28 30-round magazines)

6 frag grenades
2 smoke grenades

Other:

Basic Tool Kit, Wheeled Vehicle Tools, Tracked Vehicle Tools

1/6km Manpack / Vehicular Radio – 5kg

Cache:

Small alcohol still – 70kg

Design Notes

Concept: a cheerful rookie that loves vehicles.

Role: Essentially as this is a very green / “Novice” level support character, the build is fairly one-dimensional – he’s a decent mechanic and capable driver but not very skilled at much else except standing watch while the grunts sleep. Lacking depth, he may be better used as a somewhat just more than generic background NPC to streamline play.

Background: “Monk” (no other name given) is based on the T2k v1.0 example character in the narrative of the original Play Manual, although few exact details are given except for his attribute TOT (72, so equivalent to 36 in v2.2) with a an INT of 11 and EDU of 8 (so 6 and 4 respectively), a remarkably low “Coolness Under Fire” (so assume an Init roll of 6), his relatively young age, and his limited combat experience (24 months). He’s technically capable of being an officer (as his INT + EDU is 7+) but is described as being a sergeant in TK2 v1.0, which is just possible in the later v2.2 rules, although this assumes the player rolled a 6 at the end of his first and only term.

Variants: these provide base characters for other base US army arms (Armor, Artillery):

• Expert: add another Term and therefore 4 skills - add a level to each of the 1st Term skills (Mechanic and Ground Vehicle: Wheeled) and a level in Machinist and Scrounging. A so-called Veteran character gains an additional 3 skills as per the Term Skill Levels table on page 30, T2k v2.2 - I'd suggest these be all spent on Mechanic.

• Armor: decrease Ground Vehicle: Wheeled 4 to 2 and add Ground Vehicle: Tracked 4. Drop to Mechanic 4 and lose Scrounging, add Autogun 2 and Heavy Gun 2. For a 3rd term, add 1 to Autogun and Heavy Gun, Mechanic 1 and Observation 1. The "Tankman" variant.

• Artillery: decrease Ground Vehicle: Wheeled 4 to 2 and add Ground Vehicle: Tracked 3. Drop to Mechanic 2 and add Autogun 2 and Heavy Artillery 4. For a 3rd term, add 1 to each of the 1st term skills and Forward Observer 1. 

“B-Troop” Variant, Otto "Gobby" Wadock - basically the same character mechanically as one of the options above but switching his background to West German or Austrian. This necessitates only flipping his main language and dropping the US default skills of Armed Martial Arts and Tac Missile, and I'd suggest Computer and Swimming should be dropped to allow for English 2. His weapon then shifts to a G11 sub-machinegun.

Suggestion: adding at least another term in Support Services and/or a civilian term in Mechanic or Truck Driver given his high AGL (adding 4 years to his, making him 25) before he enlists is probably necessary to give this stock character enough distinction for a viable PC and specialise in Ground Vehicle: Wheeled and Mechanic (or the equivalent Armor and Artillery arm skills) - he’s otherwise not interesting enough to be a viable player character option. Leaving him as he is he becomes just a meta-game justification for either ignoring maintenance checks or explaining who is driving while everyone else is firing weapons from a moving vehicle.

Design Calculations

Method: 36 point roll (based on stated TOT 72 from T2k v1.0); Init rolled as 6 -1 for Support Services; Rads rolled 3.

Background: Computer, Ground Vehicle: Wheeled, Swimming, Unarmed Martial Arts

1 Term: Support Arm
Secondary Activities: Survival
War Term: Support Arm (regular x2 skills)
Promotions: Sergeant (1st term)

Contacts: 1 military

Equipment: just the basics really. Add an over-sized wrench as a club because he’s a mechanic right?The extra allowance is probably best contributed to fuel, extra tools and/or a cargo or tanker trailer, given his overall support role.