Alien.Colonial Marines Game

The Basics

This WIKI is the page for my PBP Alien Colonial Marines Frontier Wars game by Free League.

The PCs belong to the famous 33rd Marine Assault Unit (MAU), a well-equipped expeditionary force that stands ready in the Outer Veil to respond rapidly to a threat, a crisis or a war.

Serving onboard the Conestoga-class assault frigate USS Tamb’Itam one of the original dozen Cony’s built for the Corps—and is the oldest ship in the Gunfighters' (nickname of the 33rd MAU group) arsenal (same class of ship as the Sulaco from the Aliens movie)

You were returning from some mission to your main base at orbital Nebraska Station on the planet Anarcus Mon Colony in the star system Lruger 60 when something… bad… has happened.

Character Creation

CREATING YOUR MARINE How you create your Marine is explained in detail in this chapter. The summary below is a helpful overview. Grab a character sheet, a pencil, and follow these steps:

1. Decide together who in the group should be unit commander (Sergeant)

2. Choose your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).

3. Distribute 14 points amongst your attributes.

4. Distribute 10 points amongst your skills

5. Choose your MOS talent.

6. Roll for your field events.

7. Choose your rank.

8. Choose your name.

9. Decide on your appearance.

10. Decide on your Personal Agenda.

11. Choose your Buddy and Rival.

12. Get your gear and a signature item.

RECRUITMENT 101. In the Corps, the galaxy is your playground, and you get to see it all. Every assignment is a new planet, every mission is a new moon. You have trouble making friends? In the Corps, you will have no choice but to form life and death bonds with your squad—instant life buddies. Out of cash and worried about paying for that sleeping cage you rent? In the Corps, all that shit’s taken care of, baby. You’ve got room and board and all expenses covered—all courtesy of Colonial Administration. You earn money to send back home. Plus, you get to show the universe you are a goddamn patriot.

Still not convinced—I get it. What if I told you you’ll not only get all that, but also get to shoot one of these puppies—the M41A1 Pulse Rifle. Every rifleman gets one of their very own—go on, hold it. Feel the weight. She fires 10 millimeter explosive-tip caseless light armor piercing rounds and comes with her own over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher. You can really fuck up someone’s day with one of these. Sounds good, now, doesn’t it.

Military Occupational Specialist Specialty (MOS)
When the commander has been assigned, it’s time for everyone to choose their Military Occupational Specialty—MOS for short. Your MOS determines your exact job in the corps. You’ll find a number of MOS to choose from on page 54 and forward.

Talk to each other when selecting MOS. Look at the requirements of the standard four-man squad. It contains two fireteams, typically a Gun Team (a smartgunner and a comtech Marine) and a Rifle Team (two Marines who can select their MOS freely). One of those four will be designated squad leader. It is possible, also, that the section’s commander (a sergeant) might attach themselves to the squad, making five Marines in total. Squads can also be formed by swapping out one fireteam for an Assault, CBRN, or Recon Team.

Finally, it is also possible to create a Colonial Marine campaign that is focused on the two-man crew of a dropship, or the driver and gunner of an M577 APC or XT-37 FAV. The crew chief and AFV Marine specialties are provided for this.

THE COMMANDER: As the unit commander, you still need to choose a MOS. You won’t actually have this specific role any longer, but it determines your skill set based on what you did before you took command.

Your Military Occupational Specialty—MOS for short—determines what you do in the corps. In game terms, your MOS is a skill package that provides several skill choices. This MOS might be a rifleman, combat medic or smart gunner, for example. The specialties of AFV Marine and Dropship Crew Chief may only be suitable for vehicle-based games, however. You can find a selection of MOS below.

AFV Marine: When the squad gets itself in the shit, you are the one who has to come bail them out. You are part of the crew of a Marine armored fighting vehicle (AFV) such as an APC or tank. Whether driver or gunner, you share responsibility for your vehicle's maintenance and repair.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Agility

SKILLS: Piloting, Ranged Combat

TALENTS: All-Terrain Driver, Banter, Heavy Weapons, Overkill, Past the Limit

Assault Marines (Breacher): You are a combat specialist—trained for both major assaults and urban pacification. For crowd control, you carry stun batons, riot shields, and use rubber U1 ammo to subdue targets. You also use a big fucking rocket launcher to knock on doors. You are often paired with a comtech marine for the ultimate in badassery.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Strength

SKILLS: Ranged Combat, Close Combat

TALENTS: Banter, Subdue, Overkill, Past the Limit, Weapon Specialist (M5 RPG)

Automatic Riflemen (Smartgunner): Smartgunners are a breed apart. The M56A2 smart gun’s servo mount may keep it steady, but it takes muscle to withstand the kickback and stay on target. You are tough and dedicated to your role as an asskicker in battlefield fire support—your buddies flush out the bad guys and you blow them away.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Strength

SKILLS: Ranged Combat, Stamina

TALENTS: Banter, Machinegunner, Overkill, Past The Limit, Weapon Specialist (M56A2 Smart Gun)

Comtech Marine: It’s a modern battlefield—that means remote driven dropships, robot sentry guns, computer controlled bombs, and worse. You are a Comtech Marine—the squad’s tech spec—skilled with computer systems, radios, diagnostic and hacking devices. Comtechs are essential to any squad and play a significant role in Assault Marine and CBRN Specialist fireteams.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits

SKILLS: Comtech, Observation

TALENTS: Bypass, Banter, Overkill, Past the Limit, Remote

CBRN Specialist: You are trained to assess, contain, and quarantine chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. Part field scientist, part rifleman—you’re all Marine. Whether it’s a dirty bomb, viral outbreak, or some chemical that melts people’s faces off, you’re the one with the tools whose cool enough to hold their breath and handle it.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits

SKILLS: Observation, Heavy Machinery

TALENTS: Banter, Inquisitive, Nerves of Steel, Overkill, Weapon Specialist (M230 Incinerator)

Dedicated Marksman: You are a sniper. You wear a camouflage ghillie suit, blend into the background, and pick off enemy soldiers at long range with your M42A scope rifle. Most platoons employ one or two dedicated marksmen and their spotters. KEY ATTRIBUTE: Agility

SKILLS: Ranged Combat, Observation

TALENTS: Banter, Killer, Overkill, Past the Limit, Weapon Specialist (M42A Scope Rifle)

Dropship Crew Chief: You are the back-seat crewman of a dropship or gunship. On the ground you carry out maintenance, run pre-flight checks and handle loading and unloading. In-flight, you provide sensor and navigational data to the pilot and operate the weapon systems. The pilot might make the ship fly, but you make it go boom.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Strength

SKILLS: Comtech, Heavy Machinery

TALENTS: Banter, Fast Reflexes, Heavy Weapons, Overkill, Past the Limit

Forward Observer: The first one on the field—you scout ahead to silently take out enemies and secure advantage point to set up shots for either artillery or a dedicated marksman. An advanced rifleman, you use silenced motion detectors, full spectrum scopes, ghillie suits, and suppressed Pups to coordinate targets for either your sniper or an airstrike.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits

SKILLS: Observation, Mobility

TALENTS: Banter, Watchful, Stealthy, Remote, Hug the Dirt

Hospital Corpsman: You are still a rifleman—but you are one of the platoon’s combat medics, able to provide life-saving first aid and even emergency battlefield surgery if needed. Your squad tends to have your back because they know they’ll need you to patch them up when the shit starts flying.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Empathy

SKILLS: Medical Aid, Observation

TALENTS: Banter, Bodyguard, Hug the Dirt, Overkill, Past the Limit

Rifleman: As a rifleman, you’re always on the frontline— walking point and looking out for ambushes and traps. The uneducated say you’re just a grunt, but you are much more than that. Part scout and part assault trooper, you are the core of the Colonial Marines’ close combat forces.

KEY ATTRIBUTE: Agility

SKILLS: Survival, Mobility

TALENTS: Banter, Overkill, Past the Limit, Stealthy, Watchful

New Talents

These five talents are new and available only to Colonial Marines.

ALL-TERRAIN DRIVER
Almost anyone can drive a tractor or APC, but with this talent you have experience driving all-terrain vehicles over rough terrain whilst minimizing damage to the vehicle. You get a +2 modification to PILOTING when driving a wheeled or tracked vehicle built for off-road travel.

BYPASS
You have experience jury-rigging toolkits and using diagnostic devices to hack doors. You gain a +2 modification to the COMTECH skill when attempting to unlock a locked entryway.

HEAVY WEAPONS
The military uses a variety of heavy weapons, from plasma guns to tactical missiles and tank guns. You get a +2 modification to RANGED COMBAT when firing such weapons, and +2 to HEAVY MACHINERY when attempting to unjam or fix a heavy weapon.

HUG THE DIRT
With this talent you’re able to maximize cover from incoming ranged attacks when you’re down on the ground, forcing an attacker using a ranged weapon at MEDIUM range or more to take a –2 modification. Going prone does not require an action, but you can only do it on your own turn. Getting up is a fast action. This talent can be combined with the effects of cover.

REMOTE
You are qualified to set up, control and repair remote sentry guns and other remotely controlled battlefield devices, and to pilot remote vehicles and Pups. Receive +2 to COMTECH rolls to carry out these tasks. The correct equipment is needed in all cases. A portable uplink terminal, for example, is needed to remote pilot a dropship, EVAC fighter or APC.

Colonial Marines

Setting

Where do the PCs fit in a large and complex organization like the Marine Assault Unit? They are the members of a rifle squad in the 2nd platoon, Kilo Company. Their platoon commander is Lieutenant Maria Casados, assisted by her platoon sergeant, Staff Sergeant Szymborska. The platoon has a single android, named Roy, assigned as a technical specialist.

In a Colonial Marines campaign, the four- Marine squad provides a perfect roleplaying-sized unit. The squad is divided into a Rifle Team, consisting of a pair of riflemen, each armed with the M41 pulse rifle, and a Gun Team that consists of a machine gunner (armed with the M56 Smartgun) partnered with a rifleman. Two squads form a section, commanded by a sergeant, which means that if there are more than four players at the table, then the fifth player can take the role of the section commander (if possible) but for the first mission there could be a very mixed bag of different Colonial Marines or even non-Marines in the game.

Other Marines in the platoon can serve as replacement PCs should the players, um, lose theirs.

Secondary characters that the players make will fill out other squads.