Coolness Under Fire / Initiative

I always thought Recon could use some sort of "initiative" system. Believe it or not, I dreamed about it last night and it has been on my mind all day. I took my inspiration from Twilight 2000, Traveller 2300, Compendium of Contemporary Weapons, and a lot of hours sitting around the gaming table. I will post it below, but if you would like it in a Microsoft Word format, please email me at nicadaemus@hsnp.com and I'll be glad to forward it to you that way.

As it stands, Recon has no "initiative" system. To some players and MDs this may be fine. However, I believe that even in the real world, there are those that are "cool under fire" and act quicker and more effectively than others. To some degree, this is based on combat experience and natural aptitude. This system will attempt to reflect both aspects of this new attribute of Coolness Under Fire, or CUF for short.

The first step is to generate CUF. The primary method is to have each player roll 1d10. That number would be his CUF rating. I offer a couple of variants on that.

First, if you are creating a team of elite operators, such as SEALs or Special Forces and other RTs, you might want to skew the CUF upwards. Usually these guys are pretty cool in rough situations, otherwise they wouldn't be elite warriors. You can accomplish this by changing the CUF generation roll to 1d6+3.

The maximum CUF is 10. As my second variant, I don't reccomend any player be allowed to start with a 10 CUF. There are opportunities to improve it, and if you start out at the top of the ladder, you miss all the fun of climbing it. So, using method one, if a player rolls the "0" or "10" for his CUF, just let him re-roll. The second method does not offer the possibility of achieving a 10. Ten is also the highest CUF anybody can have.

Roll 1d10 (or alternately 1d6+3)

The CUF rating will determine the order of actions in combat. The MD will start counting down from 10, allowing players and NPCs to resolve their actions when their number comes up. If more than one character has an action on the same CUF number, the person with the higher Agility acts first. In the unlikely event they both have the same Agility, let them each roll a d10 (d6 or whatever is handy) and the high roll wins. If they are still tied, both actions happen simultaneously.

This system does not allow any randomness into determining the order of actions. If you want to introduce chance and luck, simply add a 1d6 roll to the CUF rating each round. Each player rolls "initiative" and adds it to his CUF. That way, even a lowly green VC might have a chance against the seasoned Force Recon guy. Either system works fine, depending on your tastes.

The standard system does not account for wounds affecting your CUF either. If you feel that you need this additional level of grit and realism, the system is easily adapted to it. Just reduce the CUF rating (temporarily of course, and adjust it upwards as the character heals) based on wound level. You could drop it by one for every wound, or drop it by one for every ten points of damage or some extrapolation thereof. Just remember, the more detail you want, the more record keeping it entails.

The rating is also how many wounds the individual can take before being incapacitated by shock. In order to overcome this shock, he must roll 1d10 vs. his CUF and achieve a number equal to or lower than it before he can take any further actions. Each additional wound afterwards will result in further shock which must be resisted in the same way. This will remain in effect for the duration of that combat (i.e. Sgt. Smith has a CUF of 5. He just took his fifth wound and successfully rolled under his CUF. However, that VC sniper has a real bead on him and hits him again. He must roll his CUF again vs. shock for this wound and any further this combat.).

NPC CUF RATINGS

Feel free to randomly generate CUF ratings for the enemy troops if you want, but I have assigned certain levels of ratings based on troop quality/experience. Please see the table and notes below.

1 - Green
3 - Experienced
5 - Veteran
7 - Hardened
9 - Elite
10 - Special

GREEN: These troops are fresh to combat and the art of war. They are easily routed and easily incapacitated. A good example would be VC militia, members recruited with no military experience. They are trained more in the ways of agriculture than warfare. For the US, this would be a recruit fresh out of bootcamp.

EXPERIENCED: These troops may have some training and have been under fire before. They still tend to be skittish and would rather make quick hit & run strikes than engage in a full fledged battle. Some VC militia and many main force VC would fit in this category. For the US, this would be a soldier who has already served some time in the military and has seen a little action either in country, or some other theater of operations.

VETERAN: The veteran knows what he is doing. He is beginning to grow confident under fire and knows what to expect when the lead starts flying. Some main force VC, a few VC militia, and most NVA regulars would fit in this category. For the US, someone who has served all or most of a tour of duty would fall into this category. This would be the minimum CUF for NPC elite troops.

HARDENED: These guys have been through alot. War is nothing new to them, and they have nerves of steel when under fire. It takes more than a few shots to keep them down. NCOs and officers of NVA regulars and some NVA regulars and elite VC will have this CUF rating. US NCOs and some officers will have this rating as well, along with members of elite RTs.

ELITE: The best of the best. These troops live for combat, or live in combat. They are so cool under fire, they can take a nap while artillery rains down and bullets zip by overhead. Just give them a good foxhole and a box of ammo for a pillow. These guys are the hard core, gung-ho, lifers and fanatics. The best of the sappers and commandos, the most experienced of the RTs. On the US side, the soldiers working for SOG would be a good example, or any elite warrior serving multiple tours of duty in combat. Troops like this are rare. They are either rotated home because they have been in contact so long, get burnt out and discharged, or, most likely, finally run out of luck and are killed or severly injured.

SPECIAL: A CUF of 10 should be reserved only for special NPCs, like a special bad guy. A soldier with a CUF of 10 is a combat machine that can continue to function under the worst of conditions. His resolve, willpower and abilities are inhuman.

IMPROVING CUF RATING

The main method of improving CUF ratings should be by combat experience. The more firefights you are in, the more comfortable you become with them. The players or MD should keep track of the numbers of firefights (and I mean real battles, not you shot a water buffalo that was blocking the road or took pot shots at a farmer out in the rice paddies) the players have been involved in. A real firefight is one in which the player was in imminent danger of losing his life.

After ten such engagements, the player rolls 1d10. If he rolls a number higher than his current CUF then it advances up one notch. If he misses it, he has to wait until he has survived another ten firefights to roll again. Optionally, the MD may advance a character one level automatically after each ten firefights until he achieves a CUF of 10 (unless he earns a burial plot first) or the MD may tweak the number of firefights required per roll. The main point should be, not everybody adapts to combat as quickly as the next guy. Some are naturals, and some have to struggle with it. One last option is that the MD should reserve the right to grant a level of CUF to somebody who has performed an extreme act of courage and bravery. Don't reward trigger happy foolhardiness with such an accolade.

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Published on: 2005-07-16 (633 reads)