The War Torn Vet.  A current or former soldier, they have similarities to The Fighter.  Arguably some of the moves…

The War Torn Vet.  A current or former soldier, they have similarities to The Fighter.  Arguably some of the moves…

The War Torn Vet.  A current or former soldier, they have similarities to The Fighter.  Arguably some of the moves could be selected by the Fighter during advancement.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jt14eraxx0yg4mk/TheWarTornVet.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jt14eraxx0yg4mk/TheWarTornVet.pdf?dl=0

5 thoughts on “The War Torn Vet.  A current or former soldier, they have similarities to The Fighter.  Arguably some of the moves…”

  1. I like the feel of it a lot.  A couple comments if you’re interested in feedback. 

    –Oldest Trick in the Book is a pretty neat idea, but I’m not sure of it’s value in actual play. The mention of the “six hours you need daily” and the -2 penalty while sleep-whatevering makes it feel unnecessarily mechanical.

    If you think about adventurers and the lives they lead, I bet few of them get a regular 6 hrs nightly, especially while in the field. I’d go with something entirely fiction-based, like: “You’ve mastered the art of half-sleeping while on watch, on the march, waiting, or even keeping up your end of a boring conversation. And even when full-on sleeping, you awake at the slightest disturbance.”

    –It’s a Small World: Minor, but it feels like it should have a roll to me. Like, chances are good (7+) that they’ll share food & stories & whatnot, but maybe with 10+ they’re willing to put things on the line.  And with a miss, perhaps they’ve got a beef with your or your old unit? 

    –War Stories: “…those around you are compelled to listen.”  Really?  So I could start a spinning a yarn in the middle of a fight and everyone would listen to me?  Or use it to stall the dragon?  I’m not sure this was your intent with the move… if not, maybe clarify.

    –I’ve Seen It Fall Apart Like This Before: I love this. Totally conjures up the whole SNAFU attitude.

    –Over-Prepared: I’d like to see this interface with adventuring gear and/or weight somehow.  As it is, it’s (apparently) 0-weight infinite adventuring gear with some risk involved. Simple fix: just say your kit has weight 2?

    –Squad Leader: I’d recommend limiting it to flat-out orders, not just advice.  Feels more like the barking sergeant that way.

    –Tactical Awareness: Why don’t they get the +1 forward?  Seems like an unnecessary tradeoff to me.  Also, maybe let them ask any question they like about the tactical situation?

    –Legend on the Field of Battle: I’m torn on this one. I think a lot of GMs allow this to happen anyhow based on the fiction and the nature of the enemy.  That doesn’t necessarily invalidate the move (because as I see it, this makes it predictable), but as a GM it would make me hesitate to let other characters do this.

    –Killer of Men and A Degree in Slaughter: following the standard playbooks’ as examples, these should be +1d4 and +1d8 damage.  But I’m guessing you intentionally switched to a flat modifier.

    –Weathering Blows: Hmm… I think I see where you’re going with this, but it’s not super clear. Maybe make it a 12+ result instead?  Sort of like the barbarian’s SMASH?

    –Old War Horses: Neat!  The way it’s presented is a bit confusing, but I like the possible outcomes. 

  3. I debated giving him the Fighter health, but for all the things the Vet has learned he’s older and more broken than the Fighter.  That two point drop was intentional. “War Torn” and all.

    I might switch it to +2 piercing.  One of the advanced moves lets you select multiple Versatile bonuses – it’s not 100% pointless as it stands, just restricted to a narrow build. 

    I like the idea of adding a two weight kit to justify the kinda-sorta-infinite prop machine.  As well as the rephrasing and de-mechanicizing of the awake while sleeping move.

    I’m going to rephrase “Legend” to “When you fight more than one opponent” and just generally make it less focused on mob combat (since mobs are often treated, mechanically, as one opponent anyway) and allow it to spread damage from specific target to specific target.

    Might move “Man At Arms” to the 2-5 list to make the room to rephrase “Old War Horses” without messing with the font size

    “Tactical” – strike all after “question” and insert “of your own.”

    The flat damage bonus is intentional.  I like that it is, statistically, 0.5 points of damage lower than the average roll and yet means almost certain death for the average enemy grunt.  The Vet should be terrifying in their efficiency, but not able to push anymore to the heights the Fighter might occasionally reach.

    Good idea for Squad Leader. 

    “War Stories” – You’re right Jeremy, in that the word “compelled” means something specific to the D&D / high-fantasy-RPG crowd that I didn’t intend here.  I’ll mull on some replacement terminology to indicate an extreme likelyhood to hear the old (wo)man out without making it required.  Maybe turn it into a CHA roll with a 10+ making them listen….

    These are all good recommendations, and when I get the computer with my draft version back and charged I’ll tweek the sheet and change the upload.  Thanks guys!

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