Quote from: rik-km;566095Sure... such as what?  

The fact it's got a big list of guns; or the that it is has rules of Air Combat Maneouvers; or that it really does offer a very fluid means of modelling modern warfare....  oh I could go on forever....

Hey Rik! I'm a huge enthusiast of modern-day ass-kicking games, and I'm seriously considering picking up The Company.

You mentioned a fairly extensive military hardware list, and I do have a couple of questions.

Do you cover surveillance technology? I have a couple of awesome modern-day action RPGs that I end up not playing a lot because the tech chapter is hopelessly outdated, and I no longer have the time and inclination to do research the way I'd like to.

And, is there a dedicated systen for unarmed martial arts (beyond, say, "Unarmed Combat 95% - you rule at punching people")? I considered cooking up one for BRP using something similar to MRQII/Legend's Combat Maneuvers (aka RQ6's Special Effects).

Also, how easy would it be to plug back classic RQ hit locations?

Quote from: rik-km;566405Don't worry I'm not thinking of you in that way at all.  But I have a feeling your solution is going to be far better than mine :-)

When I was developing The Company, I'd just finished a long contract where I'd spent quite a bit of time working on various Air Defense systems.  

So at the back of my mind was missiles - there must be Surface to Air missiles; but then there must also be ways for pilots to avoid such missiles.

From there it went, if we've got surface to air, then there must be air to air; after that it all kind of spiraled out of control to include close in gun fire.

At one point I remembr walking up a hill close to where I live, plotting max rate turns with my hands and trying to work out shooting solutions...  

Totally barking :-)

Rik K-M

Heh! Sounds familiar!

I read the Boyd biography, and the wheels in my head started churning. I started from the other end - WWI dogfighting, then progressed through WWII, then finally the modern stuff, with BVR, FLIR, RADAR and the rest. But I was swooping my hands around, estimating turn rates too. Barking fits it quite nicely!

-clash

Quote from: The Butcher;566407I do have a couple of questions.

Do you cover surveillance technology?


And, is there a dedicated systen for unarmed martial arts (beyond, say, "Unarmed Combat 95% - you rule at punching people")? I considered cooking up one for BRP using something similar to MRQII/Legend's Combat Maneuvers (aka RQ6's Special Effects).

Also, how easy would it be to plug back classic RQ hit locations?

Hi,

Well to answer your last question first - easy although there are hit locations in The Company - it is an optional rule.  Used for calculating major wound locations and also for when choosing where to put the bullet when sniping.  

e.g:  

"Major arm - muscle, tendon and/or bone damage so severe that either the arm is severed completely from body or must be removed later. Lose one extra Hit Point per round from blood loss. Automatically drop any held items. Possibility of going into shock (Roll 1D6 – Odds: no shock. Evens: heart stops as per #8). Lose 2 points of DEX and 2 STR permanently. Gripping items now only possible via a prosthetic. To calculate which arm is hit roll 1D6 – Odds: left arm. Evens: right arm."


Now for the first question - yes there is surveilance kit in The Company  - covert bugs, laser microphones, TEMPEST voltage clamps, radio scanners, battle field RADAR troop dectection systems etc...

I have expanded this out a little for the Red Book - where I've got sniper detection systems, snake cameras, pole cameras and of course my personal fave Through-Wall Imaging Systems.

Hopefully this may appeal as being a bit state of the art?  

Sadly, when it comes to your second question - there is no dedicated martial arts combat.  I did toy with the idea of doing this, but I couldn't think of how to do it and retain the fast-flow of the D100 games engine.  However I keep being asked for such combat; so I really am considering developing something.

Hope all this helps.

Rik K-M

Quote from: rik-km;566440Hi,

Well to answer your last question first - easy although there are hit locations in The Company - it is an optional rule.  Used for calculating major wound locations and also for when choosing where to put the bullet when sniping.  

e.g:  

"Major arm - muscle, tendon and/or bone damage so severe that either the arm is severed completely from body or must be removed later. Lose one extra Hit Point per round from blood loss. Automatically drop any held items. Possibility of going into shock (Roll 1D6 – Odds: no shock. Evens: heart stops as per #8). Lose 2 points of DEX and 2 STR permanently. Gripping items now only possible via a prosthetic. To calculate which arm is hit roll 1D6 – Odds: left arm. Evens: right arm."


Now for the first question - yes there is surveilance kit in The Company  - covert bugs, laser microphones, TEMPEST voltage clamps, radio scanners, battle field RADAR troop dectection systems etc...

I have expanded this out a little for the Red Book - where I've got sniper detection systems, snake cameras, pole cameras and of course my personal fave Through-Wall Imaging Systems.

Hopefully this may appeal as being a bit state of the art?  

Sadly, when it comes to your second question - there is no dedicated martial arts combat.  I did toy with the idea of doing this, but I couldn't think of how to do it and retain the fast-flow of the D100 games engine.  However I keep being asked for such combat; so I really am considering developing something.

Hope all this helps.

Rik K-M

The Red Book sounds awesome, please let us know here when it can be ordered or pre-ordered because I'll be all over it. Also, I think a small supp on close/hand-to-hand/martial arts combat would be pretty cool as a possible add-on for GMs wanting to plug that in. It would be great for a Jason Bourne style espionage level campaign as well. I've even thought of doing a Burn Notice style campaign with The Company, and the hand-to-hand expansion would fit nicely in that.

Quote from: Sigmund;566861The Red Book sounds awesome, please let us know here when it can be ordered or pre-ordered because I'll be all over it. Also, I think a small supp on close/hand-to-hand/martial arts combat would be pretty cool as a possible add-on for GMs wanting to plug that in. It would be great for a Jason Bourne style espionage level campaign as well. I've even thought of doing a Burn Notice style campaign with The Company, and the hand-to-hand expansion would fit nicely in that.

Well it is currently being proof-read, and then when that is finished it will go for layout...  

Which is code for saying its up to the publisher at D101 to set the release schedule...  I'm just the writer ;-)


As to your idea about a quick and dirty hand to hand suppliment, I will see... I think I can see how to make it work.


The Burn notice idea sounds interesting - although when it comes to espionage, well I am probably not the right person to write about it.

Rik K-M

Quote from: rik-km;566904The Burn notice idea sounds interesting - although when it comes to espionage, well I am probably not the right person to write about it.

Rik K-M

This sounds like a good idea to me.

if you decide to do this definitely contact me and I will help however I am able. I have a group of players who love the genre and are solid playtesters (they've playtested a lot of published games--not just mine--and give excellent feedback). Can recommend a ton of resources for understanding different government agencies. I also have some experience with the genre through terror network. One thing you should know, there is a game based on burn notice called blow back. I haven't played it, i believe it may be more of a storygame (but I could be wrong).

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;566908This sounds like a good idea to me.

if you decide to do this definitely contact me and I will help however I am able. I have a group of players who love the genre and are solid playtesters (they've playtested a lot of published games--not just mine--and give excellent feedback). Can recommend a ton of resources for understanding different government agencies. I also have some experience with the genre through terror network. One thing you should know, there is a game based on burn notice called blow back. I haven't played it, i believe it may be more of a storygame (but I could be wrong).

It looks like boulet might be a little closer to it's development, perhaps he'd be willing to chime in about what Blow Back is like. Still, I think I'd rather play the game using the tried and true D101 version of the BRP rules (in other words, one of my fav systems ).

It does look like a Story Game though... on cursory reading of the site it looks like it might be more or less similar to Fiasco and Technoir. That's not entirely bad, I like both of those games, but I'd like to also play this using an RPG as well. I had been thinking of using GD3, but for Burn Notice specifically i think the heavier crunch of The Company plus some add-ons might be better for me.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;566908This sounds like a good idea to me.

if you decide to do this definitely contact me and I will help however I am able. I have a group of players who love the genre and are solid playtesters (they've playtested a lot of published games--not just mine--and give excellent feedback). Can recommend a ton of resources for understanding different government agencies. I also have some experience with the genre through terror network. One thing you should know, there is a game based on burn notice called blow back. I haven't played it, i believe it may be more of a storygame (but I could be wrong).

You can do worse than to take Brendan up on this Rik, Terror Network and his Roman espionage game Servants of Gaius are both damn awesome.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;566908This sounds like a good idea to me.

if you decide to do this definitely contact me and I will help however I am able. I have a group of players who love the genre and are solid playtesters (they've playtested a lot of published games--not just mine--and give excellent feedback). Can recommend a ton of resources for understanding different government agencies. I also have some experience with the genre through terror network. One thing you should know, there is a game based on burn notice called blow back. I haven't played it, i believe it may be more of a storygame (but I could be wrong).

I'll put it to The Publisher and see what he says about it...

Rik K-M

Quote from: Sigmund;566919Roman espionage game

Wait, someone did this? We need an index of games summed up by "three words of awesome".

Quote from: The Traveller;566948Wait, someone did this? We need an index of games summed up by "three words of awesome".

Roman espionage, intrigue and mystery: Servants of Gaius

Quote from: The Butcher;566407Hey Rik! I'm a huge enthusiast of modern-day ass-kicking games, and I'm seriously considering picking up The Company.

Do yourself a favour and buy the book. Especially the hardcover. It's a thing of beauty in my opinion (the next best cover to Traveller's minimal black). Very stylish. The writing is good (although, sorry Rik, the proofing could have been better). All you need is there for a good solid start. Although Rik's bringing out a supplement (The Red Book), good scenarios are what I think the game needs for support.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;566954Roman espionage, intrigue and mystery: Servants of Gaius

Woah! That looks amazing...!

That is my holiday reading sorted.  

Been thinking more about your espionage offer, my suggestion is to pitch it to Newt at d101.  My guess is he will bite.  He knows I can't write anything more than the basic elements, which are included with The Company - such as pavement artists, penetration specialists etc...

And I know it is an area he wants to explore.

Rik K-M

Quote from: Halloween Jack;566320Idunno. When I was a kid, a big part of Shadowrun's appeal was the "gear shopping," but I don't care so much for the actual nuts and bolts of real military hardware.

It may be that the general popularity of systems wherein there are 12 handguns on the equipment list (and meaningful differences from one to another) is not what it was--but Shadowrun and the 40k games are pretty popular.

It could be that it's a lot less work for designers to make crunchy gun-porn material in a sci-fi/fantasy milieu than in a fairly real-world setting.

Dogs of W*A*R (based on BoL) takes the lighter approach that you don't need every weapon on earth to be included in the rulebook - just a generalised list. My thought was that guys n gals who like military-style rpgs have their favourite handguns and will just say that their generic heavy pistol is a Desert Eagle or whatever. But, on reflection, I do think military gamers like to have their favourite guns specifically listed in the rules (although you're gonna upset someone because you can't include 'em all).

Quote from: Simon W;567149I do think military gamers like to have their favourite guns specifically listed in the rules (although you're gonna upset someone because you can't include 'em all).

Tell me about it  14 days before the first "why isn't my gun listed" complaint.

Rik-KM