Grunt NPC stats

[simontmn]

Grunt Stats - The general approach of T20 seems to be that the PCs are just regular Joes, nothing special. The NPC stats at the back, all for 6th level, support this.
For a more cinematic game where the PCs are exceptional ("heroes"), I suggest the following level distributions among NPC combat troops (Army, Marines etc), going by rank.
E = Enlisted rank (eg private, corporal)
O= Officer rank (eg lieutenant, captain)
_________________________________

RANK TYPICAL/ELITE NPC LEVEL
E1 1/2
E2 2/3
E3 3/4
E4 4/5
E5 5/5
E6 6/7

O1 2/3
O2 3/4
O3 4/5
O4 5/6
O5 6/7
O6 7/8

A PC group is likely to encounter enemy soldiers in Squads or Sections of 6-10 personnel. For a typical 8-person squad I suggest the following.

TYPICAL SQUAD COMPOSITION (8 persons)

SUPPORT UNIT: 6 E1, 1 E2, 1 E3
COMBAT UNIT: 4 E1, 2 E2, 1 E3, 1 E4
CRACK UNIT (ELITE): AS COMBAT UNIT
SPECIAL FORCES UNIT (ELITE): 3 E1, 2 E2, 1 E3, 1 E4, 1 O1

Unlucky PCs may encounter Platoons of 3-6 Squads, typically 4. A Platoon will typically be headed by an Officer of 01 or O2 rank, supported by a senior noncommissioned officer of E4 or E5 rank.

Some quick & dirty Generic Grunt Stats:

TABLE 1: HIGH TECH Army, Scout or Rogue (d8)

Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Stamina Lifeblood
----- ------------ ---- ---- ---- ------- -----
1 +0 +2 +0 +2 5 10-12 (d3+9)
2 +1 +3 +0 +3 10
3 +2 +3 +1 +3 15
4 +3 +4 +1 +4 20
5 +3 +4 +1 +4 25
6 +4 +5 +2 +5 30
7 +5 +5 +2 +5 35
8 +6/+1 +6 +2 +6 40
9 +6/+1 +6 +3 +6 45
10 +7/+2 +7 +3 +7 50
11 +8/+3 +7 +3 +7 55
12 +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 60
13 +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 65
14 +10/+5 +9 +4 +9 70
15 +11/+6/+1 +9 +5 +9 75
16 +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 80
17 +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 85
18 +13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +11 90
19 +14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +11 95
20 +15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +12 100

Typical gear: Combat Chameleon Armour-12 (AR 7 AC 19), gauss rifle (RoF 1/4/10, rng 96m, dam 2d12 (x2) mag 40r), medkit, com.

TABLE 2: High Tech Marines or Mercenary (d10)
Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Stamina Lifeblood
----- ------------ ---- ---- ---- ------- -------
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 6 11-13 (d3+10)
2 +2 +3 +0 +0 12
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 18
4 +4 +4 +1 +1 24
5 +5 +4 +1 +1 30
6 +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 36
7 +7/+2 +5 +2 +2 42
8 +8/+3 +6 +2 +2 48
9 +9/+4 +6 +3 +3 54
10 +10/+5 +7 +3 +3 60
11 +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +3 66
12 +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +4 72
13 +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +4 78
14 +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +4 84
15 +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +5 90
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +5 96
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5 102
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +6 108
19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +6 114
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +6 120

Typical gear: combat chameleon armour-14 (AR 8 AC 22), gauss rifle, medkit, com, 4 grenades

 

[justacaveman]

I give PC's 2 advantages over NPC's.

+1 Lifeblood per Character Level.

PC Luck cards. A reroll earned for exceptional roleplaying etc.. 1 awarded by the group to best player of the session, 1 awarded by GM's whim. Only 1 reroll usable per character each session.

 

[simontmn]

Originally posted by LordRhys:
I give PC's 2 advantages over NPC's.

+1 Lifeblood per Character Level.

PC Luck cards. A reroll earned for exceptional roleplaying etc.. 1 awarded by the group to best player of the session, 1 awarded by GM's whim. Only 1 reroll usable per character each session.

Maybe it's my D&D and TNE background, but I like the PCs to be higher level than the grunt NPCS. Of course Traveller allows for a broad range of genres - running a Buck Rogers or Star Wars type sci-fi game, the Elite Imperial Stormtroopers need to be blastable by the heroes, so making them 2nd-3rd level Marines, and the PCs 5th-7th level, gets the right feel. In a more realistic sf game, or a crime-caper type game, having most people be of similar level to the PCs would be fine.

 

[justacaveman]

Sounds good.

I give the PC's a slight advantage over equal level NPC's, but most of their opponents should be quite a bit lower in level.

However, a hit from a Gauss Rifle wielded by a Level 2 Marine hurts just as much as if he was 10th Level (He just won't hit as often.).

 

[Ross Heenan]

I like your idea of +1 lifeblood per level for characters but as for npc's , I think they,ve been pretty much covered in "76 Gunmen" TAS