Government Conspiracies

So you have a mortal PC who you want to join the military. We’ll let us get started. To begin with you have recruiters that your character needs to go speak to before making a decision, unless you have already chosen a branch of service you want your character to be in (if so skip to the ASVAP).

·         US Army & Army Reserves

·         US Nave & Navy Reserves

·         US Airforce & Airforce Reserves

·         US Marine Corps & Reserves

·         National Guard

·         Air National Guard

·         Coast Guard

Each of these offices will have a trained recruiter that will speak with your character and help you make the right choice and join their branch of service. While speaking with each recruiter your character will be given the opportunity as they are persuaded into choosing one of the branches of service. (So yes a PC can end up a marine when they were thinking about the air force. Dam them and their cool uniforms)

So let us take the ASVAP (Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery). Now this test is designed to assist not only your character but also the military branch you are enlisting into, provide viable options for a job focus. This test can be taken up to three times at 30 day intervals before you must wait six months before attempting for a fourth time. After which your character is considered not military material.

The results of the ASVAP is broken down between your GT (General Technical) score and Line scores. To begin with your GT must score above a 32 which in game terms equals one success on an Intelligence + Academics. The more success the more jobs will be available to your character. To make things simple we are just going to have one roll.

If your Character fails this roll three times, there is the option of the recruiter jingle. It is when the recruiter makes some phone calls and the next thing you know your character a few weeks later passed the ASVAP.

Breaking down jobs by type within the military:

Your success show you what your character can do within the military. Certain Jobs within the military you cannot join to do, you must earn the opportunity to do (will cover that later in this section). At this point the recruiter will schedule you for your visit to M.E.P.S. (Military Entrance Processing Station) it is here that your character is physically assessed for their ability to join (unless you took a flaw or have something in your characters background that would prevent enlistment, the character will make it).

After spending the day getting poked, prodded and tested, your character will then be sat before a civilian admin who will pull up all of your test results and give you a list of what is available to you from the chosen branch.

How this chart works is quite simple. Whatever your character scored on their ASVAP and bellow is what is available to them. A score of two means everything under 1 and 2 is available as a job field option to your character. (The Navy, Marines, and Air Force all do job acquisition different than the Army, but we are creating a standard system to use for simplicity sake)

Army and Marines have similar jobs, while the Airforce and Navy tend to have different jobs, just as the Coast guard is also different. Combat jobs are frontline jobs that could get your character shot at and or attacked.

Combat jobs for the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard: SF, Pilot, Search and Rescue, Medic, E.O.D., Police, Prison Guard, Driver.

Combat jobs for the Army and Marines: “Everyone is Infantry / Rifleman first and for most, everything else is just a hobby.” ~ Drill SGT

Wait you want to become an officer your character will need to either have a college education and or join a ROTC program at a university, to obtain a direct commission into a military branch. (Will get into this more later) For your commissioning score you will roll Intelligence + Skill focus.  Note: your character must have a minimum of a 3 in the Skill focus area of choice to reflect being educated.

So you have completed college and are ready to be commissioned as an officer. Unless your character is a scientist, engineer, lawyer, Chaplain, medical they won’t have as much of a choice of what field they will be getting commissioned into. That means the Story Teller can look at your roll and choose a job for your character if they so choose. The Cadet will choose three possible jobs and from their they can pray to the Story Teller gods of old and ask that mercy be shown upon them, as they are given their job.

Training: This is a template that will be added to your mortal pc. The points given are experience points that will have designated areas you can place them into. If you do not use the experience points, then you will lose them. The points show what your character has learned and physically has gained during training.

Basic training:

Mental: 4 xp that can be spent on: academics, investigation, medicine, politics, craft

Physical: 22 xp that can be spent on: Brawl 1, Drive 1, Firearms 1, Weaponry 1, Athletics 1, Stealth 1, and Survival 1. Any points left over can be spread between Firearms, Athletics, Stealth, and Survival.

Social: 6 xp that can be spent on intimidation, persuasion empathy, and subterfuge

Any points left over are lost.

AIT (Advanced Individual Training)

After completing basic training your character then moves on to their job training. (Certain jobs take longer than other jobs to be trained on, and or have additional focused training)

Pg 17 – 19 of DoW covers the information needed of skill specialties gained by certain jobs within the army. Navy, Airforce, Marines all have something similar that gives a character focus within the job field of choice.

Cavalry Scout, and Marine Recon I would reference pg 19 in DoW to get a better understand of their training and what skills your character will gain if you chose that job area as your focus.

Infantry, Tankers, and Cavalry Scouts all go through OSUT training. This training is BASIC and AIT all at the same time. Infantry and Tanker get 16 weeks while Cavalry Scouts do 18 weeks of training. This does not include any additional schools they may have signed up for to gain additional training in. To include Airborne training, Air Assault training, Pathfinder, SEERS training, Ranger school, or SF.

Medics AIT is an additional 16 weeks of training after 10 weeks of basic training.

Every recruit signs a contract for so many years to serve in the military. That means after training is complete. Military intelligence must sign up for a 5 year contract while a MP only has to sign up for 3 years minimum. Though infantry and drivers need only agree to 2 years. But wait there is more. Each contract means you have agreed to 8 years of service. This means that after your active time you must complete the inactive time in the reserves to complete your 8 years.

This means a reservist or National Guard are signing up for 8 years of reserve time up front. They can go active if they desire, but most do this just for college money and nothing more. Few realize that they can and will be deployed in the case of war and environment emergencies (National Guard that is).

Officers get the basic training skill boosts, then they get a version of the military job training also. After that they are just over paid privates learning about the military. But wait there is also more. Commissioned officers must serve 6 years active before going inactive.

Jag officers do 2 years military school before they ever get to their first unit as a Captain. Chaplains do not do basic training in the same way as everyone else. They instead train in Athletics, drive, and survival. Having only 6 xp in the physical realm. While they instead obtain 14 xp for Social skills and 12 in mental skills. Chaplains do not fire weapons. (ref: pg 19 DoW)

Officer then advance according to Time in Grade and merit (how much others like them). Politics, Persuasion, and expression 3 for the rank of Major. To obtain higher than an O4 rank you must have academics (or skills focus) 4, showing advanced scholastic training.

Before you Character can become an NCO they must have a minimum of resolve, stamina, composure, wits 3, willpower 6 and skills at 3 in persuasion, expression, intimidation and a specialty in leadership for those three social skills.

Ref pg 22 for warrant officers in DoW. The only time this is different is for Army and Marine Pilots. They are recruited into the ranks of warrant upon passing a special screen at enlistment.

Retirement means you completed 20-35 years in the military. That is great now your character has not only survived probable combat but also has retirement income of resources 2 if enlisted or 3 if officer.

If you as the Story teller do not want to run Story lines of a character who is in the military but is willing to allow them to get this template then I would suggest the following.

1st contract: all the above skill xp bonus for training: minimum of 1 combat tour = change roll for survival / wounds. Then either skill, attribute or minor xp boost for the character with the option to sign a second contract.

2nd contract: 15 xp 1 deployment, chance rolls for survival / wounds. NCO rank with boost to skills, attributes or xp. Third contract option

3rd contract: 15 xp 1 deployment, chance roll for survival/wounds. Warrant officer option. Boost in skills, attributes or xP. Contract option.

Contract option are up until 30 years unless senior ranking at this point. Once a character hits 20 years’ service they can retire. Note wounds, mental issues, death are possible and should be noted to the player.

Deployment Roll:

·         Roll a chance die if you roll a 1 your character is dead.

·         Roll a 2 and you get to roll a chance dies again.

·         Roll a 10 and your character did some action to make him/her a Hero and you get to roll the chance die again.

After rolling a 2:

·         if a 1 is rolled you lose two limbs,

·         if you roll a 2 you lose 1 intelligence and are disfigured

·         If you roll a 10 you earned a purple heart and have one month down time recovering.

Anything else rolled is just a wound and 1 years down time recovering. All of these means a purple heart and a roll of a 1 or 2 means honorable discharge with disabilities. This means retirement pay.

After rolling a 10:

·         Roll a 1 and earn a thank you and coin

·         Roll a 2 earn a AAM with a V

·         Roll a 10 earns you a Silver Star (roll a second time for a success dif 10 to earn a MoH)

Anything else rolled equals a Bronze Star with a V

So you want to play a military conspiracy game of doom. Let’s get this ball rolling for you now that your character has been created and is ready to be thrown into the conflicts of battle. For simplicity sake basic unit rolls for combat is explained in Dogs of War (Dow). Once your characters have begun to see things, and suspect there is more to reality than what we perceive and believe in, this means they have hit a perception based breaking point. They have seen and cant rationalize what they have seen. A spirit, vampire, werewolf, demon, glimpse of the god machine, ancient relic or even a cult ritual that destroys their unit. What can be said is that your characters are aware that the supernatural world exists and it is a scary ass place.

Once your team survives such a run in with the supernatural they will be debriefed by people in suits. These suits will interview them and take what they say as fact. Once the interviews are over they are to sign legally binding documents that states what they saw can never be spoken of. What they know can never be shared outside of those authorized and designated by them. The information requires special clearance to even hear what they know.

Throughout the briefing they are also sent for an extensive medical exam. The medical exam is designed to verify the purity of their DNA, proving that they have no anomalies within them and are still human. No matter the outcome of these tests they will all receive immediate transfer orders to a joint command in Chicago.

Fort Sheridan has a long history in this area that dates back to the Indian wars. During the great industrial age that was initiated because of the civil war, America began multiple projects with the desire to become the new dominant colonial force in the world. What made Fort Sheridan ideal, was its ready access to water, rail, and an ever growing industrial complex within the center of the American frontier. With this new focus an underground complex was begun and throughout the years to come this complex grew and changed evolving with the changes of technology.

During the Victorian age it was the age of clock work and steam. So great machine were built to power and control the military possibilities of our nation. From armored tractors that had mounted Gatling guns, to the first submarines and flying dirigibles filled with hot air. By the time Great War came, aircraft, tanks, and a powerful navy was ready to further the American dream to control the continents of America and parts of Asia. Part of South America was already under our control, as was close to half of the pacific. It was by this time that the Department of Defense and Secret Service earned another little brother known as the FBI. The evolving growth of the American Government came with additional risks and the need to improve our defensive forces.

Pulling together their resources the three branches of government signed off on the ultimate secret to be created, that even they were not allowed to know its true depths of. So the FBI, DoD, and SS pulled together to build the DoSD (Department of Scientific Defense). This department has oversight over all government departments and branches when it comes to anything that is not human and is classified as an anomaly. This of course gives them a very broad area that they have control of and access to.

World War 1, was the first chance our government had to begin testing its weapons and enhanced soldiers. As we found out readily, is that we were not the only country doing this either. Yes some of our allies and even those we fought had their own anomalies fighting in this war. A few were captured and others died, but we know that there are even more sinister things out there that are trying to control our destiny.

After WW1 there was a massive financial focus on weapon research, which means the DoSD received additional funds to aid in the necessity of being the powerful defensive force that we must become as a country. By the end of WW2 we were the most advanced countries in the world, with Russia running a close second. So began the Cold War and even more dark and sinister research globally began.

Fort Sheridan was quite active during the Cold War as the underground base will attest to. After president Clinton had it officially closed and turned into a national guard headquarters, everything that had been going on had to be toned down and even more discreet. Troop movement is much more difficult because of the changes. But with this also came its own versatility because of the need for discretion.

Since 9/11 happened Fort Sheridan has been turned into a joint command headquarters for the reserve and guard of all branches. Which above ground is manned by everyday members of those military branches. Yet below ground our research and missions have expanded. We are the headquarters for the DoSD, with command oversight over six other bases within the continent of America and 14 others globally. This does not include our small units and oversight teams throughout our government, working closely with leaders of our countries most secret of agencies.

This is the basics of what your team has been assigned to. You will not know more than the basics, until such time you earn the knowledge and there by additional access to information. Until then sit down, hurry up and wait.

Initially most personnel assigned to Fort Sheridan or one of its many derivative bases will have simple assignments initially. Being sent to collect a relic, or observe a target, if they are lucky apprehend a cult leader. Once they have proven themselves and have earned greater access to the secrets of our world, they then can be advanced to new levels of operations.

Leading a team of enhanced humans, or capture an enhanced human. Being sent on assassination missions and so the missions continue to change, evolve and grow. Another way is if you become an enhanced human and it is at that point you are placed into a suicide squad.

The DoSD is the militaries hotel California. Once you are a part of this, you can never leave. Well, you can retire but will always be on recall status and will be watched until the day you die. Or you die that is another effective way to get out of the DoSD. The DoSD is not something you can volunteer for and join. It is something that you are transferred to and have really no choice in the matter. Welcome to the darkest of the dark black ops our government has. This department on paper does not exist, nor do any of your missions for them.

Chronicles of darkness adds in this new concepts of the God Machine. This living machine with its own desires and goals as it manipulates society for its own ends. The DoSD hates the thought and fact that this machine exists and that is will try to control humanity let alone America in any way. So many missions within the DoSD is designed to disrupt actions of the God Machine. The DoSD is currently working on an algorithm that predicts movements of the God Machine so that its plans can be disrupted.