Why are Merc Special Forces...not so special?

[SirLitimus]

Designing an OCC for a merc spec ops trooper either for hire, or already employed by a faction (Triax, NG, etc). In reading the merc handbook, they don't seem to be very good. I mean, they are lacking military etiquette, climbing and swimming, very little to no bonuses to attributes, demolitions, and a primary MOS specialty. I mean, gosh, they can't even SWIM?!?!?

Now, in Rifter #25, there is a wonderfully written section on how to create a realistic spec ops OCC. The problem with that is it really does not apply to a Rifts Chaos or post-apocalypse world setting; only for modern operations.

So, what's the best build y'all had done for a top-of-the-line? Or, do I just ask the GM and talk about what goes and what makes sense to add?

Or, do I get creative for a Rifter creation?

[Curbludgeon]

If one looks past a few things the Paratrooper is usually the way to go. The actual parachute use is incidental, and some object to the class granting a blanket immunity to fear, so maybe change the name if desired. The advantage of the class is that outside a couple of Heroes Unlimited Supersoldier abilities, the Paratrooper is the only way to make Aimed\Called shots while moving without penalty which doesn't place further limitations on types of movement, available weapons, or species of character.

The book which contains the Paratrooper also details a boot camp, which grants some bonuses upon completion. I'd consider adopting a houserule which maybe shaves a little off the top, and grants Military Etiquette. Lots of military-themed classes similarly lack the skill, so perhaps instead it can just be granted as a freebie.

As an alternative to Paratrooper, the Advanced Training Modules found in Coalition Heroes of Humanity incentivize taking multiple specializations in exchange for future skill advancement. They're best used as either a single Module, or multiple in conjunction with eligible classes which gain as few skills in future levels as possible. I have yet to look and see which OCCs that turns out to be. The MOS options of the Coalition Commando, Special Forces, and RCSG might not be subject to the exchange in skills Advanced Training otherwise requires, and so the Chinese Geo-Front takes on them seem noteworthy.

[Nekira Sudacne]

If you are referring to Rifts Mercenaries, the answer is age. The book is over 20 years old and has not been updated for power creep or changes in design standards. Back when it was written OOC bonus to attributes were exceptionally rare and the vast majority of OCC's had none, also military etiquette as a skill didn't exist yet.

As for lacking swimming and climbing, yea that is just a design oversight.

[Orin J.]

the special forces get a LOT of related skill slots to fill for a combat class, and it's pretty easy to slot climbing and swimming in there, but the best advantage it gets is that it's allowed to pick hand to hand commando as listed in CWC, which is a GREAT advantage to have.

that aside, yes it's from an older book and can look less flashy.

[Dustin Fireblade]

The Paratrooper is your answer.

You get 10 related skills to select/build out what you want to do starting at 1st level, followed by 8 more in the future. Select your 10 at 1st level, then look at the Advanced Training options from Heroes of Humanity (they are available to non-CS nations)

[Blue_Lion]

The occ is in a book that was published 30 years ago. (1994) The way occs are written has changed, many old occs need to be updated to RUE format. I would look at the updated Triax occs in rifter 55 (PA commando, or intellegence agent.) or CS commando/SF classes.

Me personally I despise the paratrooper occ. It just reeks of the airborne(non combat MOS) feel about being airborne makes you SF without actually being so. Claims to be Navy seal, airborne, ranger and marries all rolled into one but the occ skills do not match that.

Navy seals and rangers are stealth classes and the occ lacks occ prowl skill(the occ skills need to cover the primary job/rolls of the occ without occ related choices.). airborne is any soldier trained to jump out of an aircraft.(airborn as a whole can cook, medics, drive armored vehicles, photographers, mechanics, signal operators.) The airborne corps includes so much that while it sounds cool just means they can jump out of airplanes. -Marines are similar they include allot of different roles from pilots to infantry, just to vague of a title.

They paratrooper occ do make good airborne infantry but other than CS most nations in NA do not do large scale long range operations that is the bread and butter of airborne so I do not see anyone that would be training specialist for airborne opps. For small scale elite forces jet packs(or flying PA) would be more likely for use than parachutes.

They also have the I jump out of a plane so I am fearless thing, that airborne believe about themselves.

[greydin25]

You can always use the USAF Spec Ops OCC in the Rifter #47.

[Fenris2020]

Power creep in the newer books is the answer.
That said, the Mercenary book version isn't a weak class, it just isn't spectacular.

[Marcethus]

Tis easy to fix too. In fact many of the OCC's and RCC's in the books that predate RUE's release usually need a tweak or two. Hell even some of the OCC's in the RUE seem to have missed out on the update. (The Coalition core OCC's specifically.)

[green.nova343]

At the time that Rifts Mercenaries was originally published, there were only a handful of books that had been published, & of those only maybe 3 had any kind of O.C.C. that approximated the Special Forces O.C.C.:

• Rifts Main Book (the CS Military Specialist, which focused heavily on Espionage skills)
• World Book 5: Triax & the NGR (NGR had both the NGR Intelligence Officer and Intelligence Commando)
• Dimension Book 2: Phase World (Kreeghor Imperial Security Agent), except that I hesitate to truly add that one into the mix.

Looking over the O.C.C.s, it's actually pretty clear that the Special Forces O.C.C. used the CS Military Specialist as a template, rather than either NGR Intelligence O.C.C. In fairness, however, the NGR O.C.C.s were actually somewhat specialized. The Intelligence Officer is definitely focused more on spy-type operations (sort of a post-apocalyptic James Bond type), with the Commando approaching the kind of "Special Ops soldier" you're looking for. But in both cases, the NGR O.C.C.s are extremely specialized. They have more O.C.C. skills than the Special Forces or CS Military Specialist (19 for Officer/22 for Commando vs. 12 for Military Specialist/13 for Special Forces), but a lot less Related skills (5 each vs. 12 each) -- even excluding that they all have to pick some from a specific category (2 from Rogue/W.P. vs. 4/2 from Espionage), & the NGR don't even get Secondary skills until later (initial 2 @ 2nd level, where the CS & Special Forces start off with 8 & 6).

So the Special Forces & CS MIlitary Specialist allow for more customization from the player. And looking at not only the specific O.C.C. skills but also the available choices for Related skills, it's pretty obvious that the Special Forces was meant to be a more generic version of the CS Military Specialist, with the greater customization to reflect that a) they were coming from a "military tradition" other than the Coalition, & b) to recognize that in the Special Operations "family" there can be vast differences in the training & skillsets to the various "operators". Rangers <> Green Berets <> SEALS <> Delta <> GSG-9 <> Spetznaz, etc.

Now...

Having said that...

If you don't want to simply copy the newer CS "Special Ops" O.C.C.s from WB11: Coalition War Machine or SB4: Coalition Navy & want to update the Special Forces O.C.C. from Rifts Mercenaries, I would start with the updated CS Military Specialist from Rifts Ultimate Edition, but modify it thus:

• Changes for O.C.C. Skills:
  • For Language: Native Tongue 98%, replace "American" with whatever "native" tongue you want your soldier to have
  • Increase the bonus for Intelligence to +15%
  • Increase the bonus for Weapon Systems to +15%
  • Replace Pilot Hovercraft with Pilot Military: Tanks & APCS (same bonus)
• For the initial Related Skills selection, pick 3 espionage & any 7 other skills.
• Related Skills category changes:
  • Electrical: any (+5%)
  • Mechanical: any (+5%)
  • Military: reduce bonus to +10%
  • Physical: any
  • Rogue: increase bonus to +10%
• Secondary Skills are unchanged
• Equipment should combine those listed for the Special Forces O.C.C. & the CS Military Specialist. Obviously, they don't get a CS Spider-Skull Walker, unless they happened to "liberate" one from the CS, as their robot vehicle of choice, but they should their choice of a Robot Vehicle or PA suit.
• Note: these are changes to the CS Military Specialist listed on p. 235 of RUE. So if something isn't modified on this list, use the book listing.

That will still give you a character that resembles the CS Military Specialist it was modeled after, without being as specific as some of the other "Special Operations" O.C.C.s out there...which you can always adapt as needed if you prefer the "feel" of those O.C.C.s.

[Sambot]

Characters from certain locations do receive some common skills such as Language, Literacy and Math: Basic. There should be common skills based on occupation too. Military/Police should get Military Etiquette as a common skill. Probably Marching too.

[Grazzik]

Characters from certain locations do receive some common skills such as Language, Literacy and Math: Basic. There should be common skills based on occupation too. Military/Police should get Military Etiquette as a common skill. Probably Marching too.

Military Etiquette... Note: All soldiers have a fundamental knowledge of military etiquette (base skill 30% with no improvement), but this skill is much more complete...

So, any military (and I'd argue police) PC automatically gets this 30% without wasting a skill slot. No dice on Forced March though - that has to be a selected skill.