Chain of Command

[Aldus Vertten]

Yesterday i started at last my first game. The pcs are members of the City Watch, and being half of my players the same ones i used to play SG with, they asked me if there were any rules for Chain of command.

In SG, you usually designed a Leader for the mission/team, and once per session he could give an order like he had the Pointman's Tactics ability, giving 1/5 of his Career Level as bonus. If somebody from the team didn't follow the order, he suffered a -2 morale penalty with all action die roll until the order was lifted.

At first i tought of using this as it's but later remembered the Captain's Battle Planning ability, and tought that it could be a nice fit for this. The Leader would be able to give an order, choosing any of the Battle Plans, once per session.

Any opinions?

[ThatBlastedSamophlange]

[Wolverine]

My first thought is, why not have one or more of the players take levels in Captain, or Keeper for a less combat oriented group?

Alternately, you could always make it into a Campaign Quality....

Chain of Command (Permanent)
The players all belong to a group or organization that utilizes a strict command structure, where those on the lower levels are expected to follow the orders of those above them. At the beginning of each session choose one PC as the group's leader. The leader gains Battle Planning I for the duration of the session. If the leader already has Battle Planning V, they gain an additional 2 battle plans.

Sound good?

[samsimilian]

good wiki stuff! i will use that

[Crafty_Alex]

I would use Renown to determine "rank" in this case, and have the player with the highest Renown level (in the case of a tie, the  highest TOTAL Renown) gain Battle Planning I. It's yet another thing that encourages players to spend Reputation and clearly designates who's in command

[Desertpuma]

I agree, Pat ... er Alex. ... Renown rocks for this!

[Aldus Vertten]

I would use Renown to determine "rank" in this case, and have the player with the highest Renown level (in the case of a tie, the  highest TOTAL Renown) gain Battle Planning I. It's yet another thing that encourages players to spend Reputation and clearly designates who's in command

Problem is that would be a long term solution. They start as a Watch unit from the beginning, and all have the very same starting Reputation... I thought about this for a while, especially after buying The Blackcloack Watch. Even made the renown table which i will probably use.

Renown Ranks
1.  Rookie
2.  Patrolman
3.  Senior Patrolman
4.  Watch Sergeant
5.  Staff Sergeant
6.  Lieutenant
7.  Detective Lieutenant
8.  Captain 
9.  Subcommander
10. Commander

What i liked about stargate rules was that i wasn't so powerful, just enough to give a some edge in a very important moment. It wasn't intrusive...

Giving Battle Planning as is to me seems on one side too powerful (once every combat) and in the other side too limited (only 2 plans...). if the group really want access to this kinf of power, they should really think about one of them taking levels in Captain.

I'm thinking of using Wolverine Campaign quality(CQ, nice), but limiting the use to 1/Scene or Session, and allowing to choose any plan...

[Mister Andersen]

Anyone with an Origin opton to buy cheap military ranks should probably lead