Help with character creation: Military scientist - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Help with character creation: Military scientist

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
richterbelmont10
Oct 04, 2011 21:45:14
Hi. I’ve never played d20 Modern before. But I have d20 RPG experience in D&D 3.5, Star Wars RCR, and Star Wars Saga Edition.

My friend is going to try to GM for the first time. He wants to run a post-apocalyptic campaign using d20 Modern. I think we’re using the Apocalypse expansion. He’s never played d20 Modern either. We’re all d20 Modern noobs.

I want to make a character that’s similar to Will Smith’s character in the movie "I Am Legend." He was a military scientist looking for a cure to a disease that decimated the population, killing almost everyone and turning a small percentage into horrible mutants.

I’ve looked at the base classes briefly and I find that the Strong, Fast, and Tough heroes have the lamest talents. They seem very bland to me. What's up with that? The Smart hero seems to have the most useful talents.

Any idea where I should start?

#2
kronos182
Oct 05, 2011 6:58:30 Well for a scientist you want Smart Hero definitely, then invest in skills like knowledge (chemistry), (biology), (botony), (earth sciences), (physical sciences), and various crafts like (pharmaceutical), (chemical), maybe even (electrical) or (mechanical)? those are great for post apoc for making things like explosives, knowing if an animal, or mutant version of it will be safe to eat, and studying minerals found to be used in whatever you want. also skills like Treat Injury. if going more medical, also pick up feats like Surgery to help heal people or for dissecting a fixing up those battered folks from mutant attacks. Also Educated for a bonus to knowledge checks, and Medical Expert for a bonus on Craft (pharmaceutical) and Treat Injury.

Oh.. and some ranks in Survival is always good too.

Possible Advanced classes (which are like prestige classes) to take are Field Scientist or Field Medic, depending on what you're going for exactly.
#3
richterbelmont10
Oct 11, 2011 18:46:06 I'd also like some combat abilities. Which feats, talents, or classes would you recommend?
#4
riberbero
Oct 12, 2011 13:19:40 Well, in the movie Will uses a sniper rifle. I would recommend the Personal and Advanced Firearms Proficiency feats. Far Shot and Dead Aim would also prove useful. Actually, all firearms specific feats could prove useful... .
#5
richterbelmont10
Oct 16, 2011 20:54:06
Well, in the movie Will uses a sniper rifle. I would recommend the Personal and Advanced Firearms Proficiency feats. Far Shot and Dead Aim would also prove useful. Actually, all firearms specific feats could prove useful... .

Ok thanks. The only thing I don't like about Dead Aim is it requires a full-round action for only a +2 bonus. Point Blank Shot would be better, as it grants +1 to attack and damage.

EDIT: Can you "aim" in d20 Modern?

#6
riberbero
Oct 22, 2011 3:56:10 Sure. You can aim specific pieces of equipment, every weapon or object has its own hardness and hit points (this is what you use the Repair skill for). In d20 Future they also present new rules for hitting and damaging cybernetic and mecha parts, as well as new critical rules tables for them. Sadly, there are no official rules for specific limb hits in the official Rulebook. There are rules for readying an action or attack, wich is also fun. If you happen to find or come up with a good homebrew rule for limbs loss, I would really be interested in it, too.
#7
riberbero
Oct 22, 2011 4:56:20
This is my own attempt at making a table for localized limb hits. I made this very quickly and without much attention, so it could be somewhat unbalancing.

LIMB HIT LOCATIONS TABLE
Every time a character makes a melee or ranged attack, he rolls 1d6 before attempting his attack roll. The result indicates the limb that the character is aiming at. If Massive Damage is inflicted to a specific limb, the target also incurs in special penalties, as described below. Remember that objects, as well as cybernetic parts, have their own hardness and hit points.

Roll Result                 Limb                      Massive Damage Effect*
1                                 Left leg                   Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run.
                                                                 Skills:-4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble.
2                                 Right leg                 Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run.
                                                                 Skills: -4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble.
3                                 Left arm                  Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty.
                                                                 Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim.
4                                 Right arm                Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty.
                                                                 Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim.
5                                 Torso                      Standard Massive Damage effect. Additionally, the target is
                                                                 bleeding, losing 1 hp every round (no save) until healed.
6                                 Head                       Limb is severed: The target must succeed on a Fort save with
                                                                 a DC of 20 or he is beheaded, as per a mortal strike.
*A successful DC 15 Fortitude save throw negates the effect.
#8
Rizzen9
Nov 22, 2011 18:36:15 If you want to be close to real i can giv esome info as im in the Army. First off, if I remember correctly it wasnt a sniper rifle it was an M16A4 or M4 with a scope. With that all soldiers get trained with the M16 in Basic, sometimes the M4 and later in the real Army they get further training with Scopes. With those two types of assault rifles they will get trained with CCO, Close Cobat Obtic or the Acog. Smith being a Cournal if i remember correctly, he will get training in anything he wants lol. Also with him being an Officer he would be trained with pistols, all officers get trained with the pistol, atleast all ive met. Radio Com training also is taught to all soldiers and officers get alot of practice atleast in my field of experiance. If you have any other questions let me know.
#9
AnimeSniper
Nov 22, 2011 21:06:06

This is my own attempt at making a table for localized limb hits. I made this very quickly and without much attention, so it could be somewhat unbalancing.

LIMB HIT LOCATIONS TABLE
Every time a character makes a melee or ranged attack, he rolls 1d6 before attempting his attack roll. The result indicates the limb that the character is aiming at. If Massive Damage is inflicted to a specific limb, the target also incurs in special penalties, as described below. Remember that objects, as well as cybernetic parts, have their own hardness and hit points.

Roll Result                 Limb                      Massive Damage Effect*
1                                 Left leg                   Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run.
                                                                 Skills:-4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble.
2                                 Right leg                 Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run.
                                                                 Skills: -4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble.
3                                 Left arm                  Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty.
                                                                 Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim.
4                                 Right arm                Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty.
                                                                 Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim.
5                                 Torso                      Standard Massive Damage effect. Additionally, the target is
                                                                 bleeding, losing 1 hp every round (no save) until healed.
6                                 Head                       Limb is severed: The target must succeed on a Fort save with
                                                                 a DC of 20 or he is beheaded, as per a mortal strike.
*A successful DC 15 Fortitude save throw negates the effect.

Those look decent so I'll snag them to add to the two docs aptly titled 'Called Shot Table' at 4pgs with my weapon addendeum on iron sights and scopes and the 'Random Hit Table' at 12pgs which I snagged from the old RE forum here... all which use a single d20 dice for the GM's roll.

The Random Hit Table is useful for those whole blind firing or spray & pray the PC and NPC's sometimes do and used with the Called shot table for the players

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 richterbelmont10 Oct 04, 2011 21:45:14	Hi. I’ve never played d20 Modern before. But I have d20 RPG experience in D&D 3.5, Star Wars RCR, and Star Wars Saga Edition. My friend is going to try to GM for the first time. He wants to run a post-apocalyptic campaign using d20 Modern. I think we’re using the Apocalypse expansion. He’s never played d20 Modern either. We’re all d20 Modern noobs. I want to make a character that’s similar to Will Smith’s character in the movie "I Am Legend." He was a military scientist looking for a cure to a disease that decimated the population, killing almost everyone and turning a small percentage into horrible mutants. I’ve looked at the base classes briefly and I find that the Strong, Fast, and Tough heroes have the lamest talents. They seem very bland to me. What's up with that? The Smart hero seems to have the most useful talents. Any idea where I should start?
#2 kronos182 Oct 05, 2011 6:58:30	Well for a scientist you want Smart Hero definitely, then invest in skills like knowledge (chemistry), (biology), (botony), (earth sciences), (physical sciences), and various crafts like (pharmaceutical), (chemical), maybe even (electrical) or (mechanical)? those are great for post apoc for making things like explosives, knowing if an animal, or mutant version of it will be safe to eat, and studying minerals found to be used in whatever you want. also skills like Treat Injury. if going more medical, also pick up feats like Surgery to help heal people or for dissecting a fixing up those battered folks from mutant attacks. Also Educated for a bonus to knowledge checks, and Medical Expert for a bonus on Craft (pharmaceutical) and Treat Injury. Oh.. and some ranks in Survival is always good too. Possible Advanced classes (which are like prestige classes) to take are Field Scientist or Field Medic, depending on what you're going for exactly.
#3 richterbelmont10 Oct 11, 2011 18:46:06	I'd also like some combat abilities. Which feats, talents, or classes would you recommend?
#4 riberbero Oct 12, 2011 13:19:40	Well, in the movie Will uses a sniper rifle. I would recommend the Personal and Advanced Firearms Proficiency feats. Far Shot and Dead Aim would also prove useful. Actually, all firearms specific feats could prove useful... .
#5 richterbelmont10 Oct 16, 2011 20:54:06	Well, in the movie Will uses a sniper rifle. I would recommend the Personal and Advanced Firearms Proficiency feats. Far Shot and Dead Aim would also prove useful. Actually, all firearms specific feats could prove useful... . Ok thanks. The only thing I don't like about Dead Aim is it requires a full-round action for only a +2 bonus. Point Blank Shot would be better, as it grants +1 to attack and damage. EDIT: Can you "aim" in d20 Modern?
#6 riberbero Oct 22, 2011 3:56:10	Sure. You can aim specific pieces of equipment, every weapon or object has its own hardness and hit points (this is what you use the Repair skill for). In d20 Future they also present new rules for hitting and damaging cybernetic and mecha parts, as well as new critical rules tables for them. Sadly, there are no official rules for specific limb hits in the official Rulebook. There are rules for readying an action or attack, wich is also fun. If you happen to find or come up with a good homebrew rule for limbs loss, I would really be interested in it, too.
#7 riberbero Oct 22, 2011 4:56:20	This is my own attempt at making a table for localized limb hits. I made this very quickly and without much attention, so it could be somewhat unbalancing. LIMB HIT LOCATIONS TABLE Every time a character makes a melee or ranged attack, he rolls 1d6 before attempting his attack roll. The result indicates the limb that the character is aiming at. If Massive Damage is inflicted to a specific limb, the target also incurs in special penalties, as described below. Remember that objects, as well as cybernetic parts, have their own hardness and hit points. Roll Result Limb Massive Damage Effect* 1 Left leg Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run. Skills:-4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble. 2 Right leg Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run. Skills: -4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble. 3 Left arm Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty. Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim. 4 Right arm Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty. Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim. 5 Torso Standard Massive Damage effect. Additionally, the target is bleeding, losing 1 hp every round (no save) until healed. 6 Head Limb is severed: The target must succeed on a Fort save with a DC of 20 or he is beheaded, as per a mortal strike. *A successful DC 15 Fortitude save throw negates the effect.
#8 Rizzen9 Nov 22, 2011 18:36:15	If you want to be close to real i can giv esome info as im in the Army. First off, if I remember correctly it wasnt a sniper rifle it was an M16A4 or M4 with a scope. With that all soldiers get trained with the M16 in Basic, sometimes the M4 and later in the real Army they get further training with Scopes. With those two types of assault rifles they will get trained with CCO, Close Cobat Obtic or the Acog. Smith being a Cournal if i remember correctly, he will get training in anything he wants lol. Also with him being an Officer he would be trained with pistols, all officers get trained with the pistol, atleast all ive met. Radio Com training also is taught to all soldiers and officers get alot of practice atleast in my field of experiance. If you have any other questions let me know.
#9 AnimeSniper Nov 22, 2011 21:06:06	This is my own attempt at making a table for localized limb hits. I made this very quickly and without much attention, so it could be somewhat unbalancing. LIMB HIT LOCATIONS TABLE Every time a character makes a melee or ranged attack, he rolls 1d6 before attempting his attack roll. The result indicates the limb that the character is aiming at. If Massive Damage is inflicted to a specific limb, the target also incurs in special penalties, as described below. Remember that objects, as well as cybernetic parts, have their own hardness and hit points. Roll Result Limb Massive Damage Effect* 1 Left leg Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run. Skills:-4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble. 2 Right leg Limb is severed: speed drops to half normal, cannot run. Skills: -4 on Balance, Drive, Jump, Ride, Swim, Tumble. 3 Left arm Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty. Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim. 4 Right arm Limb is severed: BAB -4. Grapple suffers -6 penalty. Skills: -4 on Climb, Craft (all), Drive, Sleight of Hand, Swim. 5 Torso Standard Massive Damage effect. Additionally, the target is bleeding, losing 1 hp every round (no save) until healed. 6 Head Limb is severed: The target must succeed on a Fort save with a DC of 20 or he is beheaded, as per a mortal strike. *A successful DC 15 Fortitude save throw negates the effect. Those look decent so I'll snag them to add to the two docs aptly titled 'Called Shot Table' at 4pgs with my weapon addendeum on iron sights and scopes and the 'Random Hit Table' at 12pgs which I snagged from the old RE forum here... all which use a single d20 dice for the GM's roll. The Random Hit Table is useful for those whole blind firing or spray & pray the PC and NPC's sometimes do and used with the Called shot table for the players