parent nodes: Weird Sun
Mars
The Martian Republic
Population: 420 million
TL10^, Military mostly TL11^
Government: Federative constitutional republic, CR3, CR5 for xenonts (subtract 1-2 for weapons and armor)
Economy: State capitalist
Currency: Martian Dollar (MD)
History
Always first and foremost an American project, but with important contributions from Russia, Britain, Australia and others, in the 21st century Mars became a de facto convict colony for the increasingly theocratic and despotic governments of Earth, in particular the Christian Republic of the USA, aka the Commanderate. The planet came to hold a lot of atheists, anarchists, libertarians, socialists, communists, left liberals, Muslims and other riffraff. This motley crew grew into a nation in the 2090 revolution, when the 80 million Martians won their independence. Throughout the early 22nd century, Mars grew enormously as it absorbed hopeful immigrants from an Earth ravaged by poverty, environmental destruction and religious persecution. At the same time, terraforming accelerated, soon rendering the planet near Earthlike. "Red" Preservationism never became more than a fringe movement. Today, the air is breathable by unmodded humans, the climate is mostly pleasant, and apart from the interior deserts, Mars is vibrant with life.
The Ontoclysm hit Mars like a sledgehammer, but less forcefully so than elsewhere. Nobody knows why for sure. Theories range from the large proportion of iron in the planet's crust to mana-depletion by the old Grey civilization. In any case, within six years of weirdness, a barely coordinated weirdo rebellion snowballed into the Civil War of 2145-48, wherein the Republican North prevailed by the skin of its teeth over the Xenarchist South. Although the Southerners are long liberated from the mages' mental slavebinding, and the xenont population kept firmly under control, the Civil War left deep wounds that still fester today.
Areography
Mars' population is the largest of any state in Sola. Still, spread them across a landmass the size of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas combined and it does get rather sparse. More than anything, the Martian population distribution resembles old Australia on a massive scale, with urban agglomerations scattered along the verdant coastlines, surrounded everywhere by thousands of square miles of thinly populated outback. The Republic consists of sixteen States (Amazonis, Arcadia, Chantum, Corellia, Cydonia, East Acidalia, Hellespont, Mars, New California, New Michigan, New Oregon, North Elysium, Russell, South Elysium, Utopia, West Acidalia and Xanthe) and eleven Territories (Anarres, Aureum, Cimmeria, Claybornia, Hesperia, Lemuria (on Earth), Noach, Novy Sibir, Redland, Sirenum and Tharsis), not counting the exosolar settlements. The sheer areas involved may overwhelm anyone used to Earthling scales - New Oregon is the size of Texas, California and Alaska combined, and Tharsis Territory is larger than North America. The biggest population centers are found in Corellia, New Oregon and Russell, the "Heartland" lining the coasts of the Mariner Sea. Mars City, the capital, has its own state bordering Russell and New Oregon, near the straits between the Mariner and Chryse Bay. Other major cities include Kamen, New California; Dawkins, Cydonia and Byzantium, New Michigan.
Culture
Sex
Sexual, racial or ethnic discrimination has faded into irrelevance. On Mars, gender equality means that the women adopt masculine virtues, not the other way around. In a twist of fate, Africans are one of the most successful and respected ethnic groups. The conscious disregard of any Christian baggage has resulted in extremely sex-positive attitudes. Prostitution and pornography are taxed, regulated, and "clean" in the public eye. Pornstardom is sidelined with "dry" movie stardom as an accepted, if unrealistic, dream for young girls and boys. Sex on public property is legal so long as you clean up afterwards. Gays are entirely accepted. Slightly more iffy, but still no big deal, are sexual relations between humans and any of the numerous intelligent GM minority species. Of course, xenosexuality, or more colloquially, freak-fucking, is beyond the pale. Except in the most liberal Southern states (Chantum, Hellespont and New Michigan), it implies long prison sentences and, should the wheels of justice prove too slow, community retribution. Even in Hellas, it is considered perverse.
Drugs
Recreational drug use is legal and widespread, albeit regulated and taxed. Cannabis and its GM variants are a staple: even the tiniest town is likely to have a grass-bar. In the hands of a Martian, marijuana is only incapacitating when dramatically appropriate; otherwise, it's just chill. Weed and alcohol are legal at age 16; tobacco, cocaine, LSD, MDMA and psilocybine mushrooms at 18. Heroin, meth and similar hard drugs and their derivatives are illegal and uncommon. The resistance to these substances pales, however, in comparison to the hysteria over the new "weirdo drugs", concocted by insidious Selenese and Cytherean alchemists to destroy Mars' youth and corrupt them into a Fifth Column of Xenarchy. Simple possession can mean prison years in the double digits; distribution carries up to capital punishment in some states (like Cydonia). Still, the smuggling continues thanks to the huge profits involved, and is one of the Mob's most cherished venues.
Guns
Most characteristically, Martians are, well, martial. The common stereotype is so jingoistic he could die of exhaustion from sheer flag-waving, and the truth isn't far off - this caricature is actually based on a true story. He is also armed to the teeth. There are officially 215 firearms per 100 citizens (compare 2008 America, with 90 per 100). Control Rating of weapons and armor is 2 in States and 1 in Territories, where shroud coverage is sparse and the government's response to xenotic threats is much slower. To defend their lives and property, most outback families (generally ranchers or plantationists) keep a handful of battlesuits and heavy weapons, and maybe a tank and a mininuke or two. The government offers free martial arts training to anyone who wants it, and an adult with no combat skills at all qualifies for Social Stigma (Ignorant). On the other hand, all military personnel, or even civilian combat experts, enjoy one level of Social Regard (Respected), except Marines, who get two.
Sports
Martians are enthusiastic sportsmen. Since 2156, the country has held its own Olympic Games - nobody else wanted to follow the rules. Martian football takes advantage of the low gravity and dense atmosphere for an airy, almost ethereal (yet intense and brutal) experience. The same conditions make unpowered heavier-than-air flight possible, and winged "birdbikes" are a common sight in the cities. Psi-powered sports such as brainball are also popular. Surfing, like sailing, is a national hobby, and even the most rednecked Tharsians vacation by the North Sea (especially New California) in summer. Some settlers have tried to re-import their beloved pastime back to Australia, but the triple gravity means the waves are disappointingly small. Winter sports are just as popular: Ascraeus Mons has the largest ski resort in the Solar System. Hunting is huge. Terran unicorn meat (properly darkened) has become a delicacy, to the furious protests of mages from Venus to Saturn. In the shadows there are bloodsports. So-called "freakfights", xenont deathmatches, get more and more popular in the most darkwing states. They're not legal, but Lady Justice often has more important things to deal with.
Science
Mars was a penal colony for theocracies, and subsequent history, with the Republic attacked on all sides by forces opposed not just to science but to reason itself, only strengthened the anti-irrational tendency. Today, 85% of Mars' population are more or less Dawkinsian atheists. Religious irrationality is the most common explanation for the Great War, and openly religious people, while legally equal, face overbearing attitudes and glass ceilings everywhere. Society is permeated with a heartfelt love of technico-scientific progress, and outstanding inventors and scientists often become popular heroes. Still, Martians are no cold, calculating, unfeeling people: In fact, foreigners often comment that they possess a unique ability to be rational and sentimental at the same time. It sometimes seems as if Martians are genetically predisposed to be gifted tinkerers. In GURPS terms, Gadgeteer and scientific and technical skills are common, even with amateurs.
Society
The Xeno Codes
On average, one in fifty Martians have some form of magical aptitude or essential weirdness about them. All of them must carry the "code pack", a biometric ID card with a smartchip tracking their movements and broadcasting their nature to the surroundings, subject to control at any time. They may not own a powered flying vehicle, nor travel outside the specially shrouded xeno-zones without official permission, and receive separate, super-stabilized accomodations as regards schools, public transit and other public places. Informed possession, let alone use, of a magic item, is a serious felony, and spellcasting is equivalent to terrorism. That's for the moderate kind of weirdo, which is bad enough. Inherently malevolent types, such as vampires and demons, are legally vermin to be hunted on sight. In darkwing states, attempted employment of xenont workers is often occasion for angry protestation or even strike action, and should rumors get around that are nasty enough - say, that some snivelling mageling mind-controlled a local beau and had his way with her, then those rational and freethinking scientific-minded folk might just get upset enough to rig up the community autodafé. A wizard on Mars should take Social Stigma (Second-Class Citizen) and (Minority Group), usually combined with low Status and Wealth. A vampire, werewolf or similar "Malevolent Xenont" gets Social Stigma (Monster). Among the synithic, Intolerance (Xenonts) is very common.
Of course, we would all like to live in perfect harmony forever and ever after, like in the fairytales. But this notion is just that - a sweet fairytale, which has been and is being used to cover up a nightmare reality. Xenont rights, this starry-eyed pipe dream of liberal bleeding hearts, is also a screen for the power fantasy of unscrupulous would-be weirdlords, who will coldly use it as a stepping stone to tyranny. The simple fact remains that wherever the weirdos have run loose, they have taken over. They started it, anyway, by rebelling against lawful authority, and the continued xenoterrorist attacks suggest that they're not interested in "coexistence as equals" anytime soon.
Language and names
Martian English is mostly American with some Australian expressions ("good on ya, buddy"), and some slang incorporates Russian loanwords (pugly = frightened, oozie = chain, mord = snout, naz = idiot, gloopy = stupid, yarbles = testicles). "Gay" and synonyms lost their pejorative meaning more than a century ago; their use is the 23rd century equivalent of calling a 2008 American a "slack-jawed, yaller-livered son of a dung heap". The exception is the word "faggot", which has lost any connotation with homosexuality and returned to the original meaning of "someone to be burnt on the stake", i.e. a serious felon magic-user. For this reason it is still one of the most offensive expressions in Martian English. "Slut" is purely descriptive, and other colloquial sexual terms are not very offensive and are casually used even in government documents. Their pejorative role is filled by magical terms: freak (and freaking), weirdo (and weird-ass), pervert. The nouns "xenont" and "xeno" are neutral, official terms, but often used as pejoratives anyway.
Mars is a nation of immigrants, and citizens may descend from any Earth culture with names to match. Local peculiarities include naming for chemical substances (Iron, Freon, Carbon, Fullerena), areographical features (Mariner, Rusty, Pavonia), relevant mythological references (Nergal, Mangala - less popular post-Weirding) and famous warriors and scientists. As of 2208, the most common names are Martin and Stella.
Economy
Although culturally libertarian (okay, with a few exceptions) Mars is moderately socialistic in its economy. The nation is wealthy, but generally doesn't place as much value in material riches as in honest work and service to the community. The enormous industrial base, Sola's largest, is extensively automated, freeing living minds up for matters of more import than unskilled labor. The state is the largest single capitalist, with a majority share in several big corporations including CydoniaWorks, the arms division of which (CydoniaWorks Armory or CWA) is the largest MMF contractor and regarded as the highest quality weapons manufacturer in Sola. Another big player in that market is the New California-based MADRADS (Maxwell's Amazing Death Rays And Defense Supplements), which focuses on energy weapons. Its eccentric billionaire founder, genius inventor Mortimer Maxwell, lives on a mad scientist-styled personal island fifty miles north of Kamen, and likes to sponsor risky Earthbound tech-salvage expeditions.
Most Martians consider vatflesh beneath them and make up the core market for a prosperous livestock industry, naturally subject to strict regulations. Dinosaur meat has really caught on since they were brought in from Earth: Brontosaurus burgers are a national staple, gallimimus herds are a common sight on the grasslands of Xanthe and Arcadia, and "raptor wrangler" is no unusual job description. Agriculture features gigantic industrialized farms and plantations, not uncommonly run by a single small family with an army of robotic workers.
Many of the private corporations would like to adopt technomagic to increase productivity, but they have arrayed against them the state, the unions (organizing 80% of the workforce) and public opinion. Thus, the traditional oppositional Liberal Republicans are more market-friendly as well as more magic-friendly, within the bounds of decency, of course. Most corporations are okay with the current set-up: After all, the government protects them from technomagical competition, and lets them enjoy their modest profits in relative peace. In the end, they don't rock the boat very much.
Technology
Outside of the big cities, the hovercraft and aircar have replaced the motorcar. Internal combustion engines are long banned, anyway: most personal vehicles are battery electric. Long-range transportation uses helium airships or maglev trains. Suborbital jets are available for quick travel at increased cost, generally only along the North Sea coast, or from there to the Hellas or Argyre areas. Extreme high priority mail may be delivered by railgun and parachute.
Mars' socialist healthcare system means that modern science, including genefixing and genetic upgrading, isn't just for the rich. The average lifespan is 160 years, and people can stay at physical apex well into their fifties. Most Martians should take one level of Extended Lifespan. Uplift animals, genetic parahumans and wholly gengineered species have been enthusiastically accepted into society and suffer only slight discrimination. Robots and AI, on the other hand, remain tools with voices. Perceived Singularitan tendencies are usually treated with restoration from an uncorrupted backup.
The communes
Another peculiarly Martian phenomenon are the communes scattered across the outback, reminiscent of Israeli Kibbutzim. The inhabitants live in complete equality and decisions are made democratically. One in twelve Martians are commune-children, born in exowombs and communally raised. Most were founded by immigrant Socialists and Communists, but there are also religious, libertarian and anarchist ones. Many have become successful cooperative enterprises.
Politics
The system is based on proportional representation to a unicameral Senate. The majority party or coalition forms the government and chooses the President. The 2206 elections went like this:
Social Republican (SR): 60%
Liberal Republican (LR): 24%
Santurite (S): 11%
Red List (RL): 2%
Radical Republican (RR): 2%
Singularitan (SN): 1%
Xenarchist (X): N/A (banned)
With two exceptions (2158-62 and 2190-94), the Social Republicans have been in power for the last 60 years, always securing between 45 and 65% of the vote. Right now, they are more popular than ever in the last two decades, in no small part thanks to the charismatic President Dragonslayer, who has promised to be tough on cults, xenodrugs, government corruption and bad employers, and expand the Earth recivilization program. The So Reps' main bastions of support are the unionized working class, the public enterprises and the military, kept loyal with lavish welfare provisions and a $45 trillion military budget supported by Sola's highest taxes. They view the free market as a powerful force for good, but one that has to be harnessed and regulated, just like any natural force, or it will backfire like a river breaching its dam.
The other election winner was the Santurites, who have been gaining a lot of ground recently. Mysterious wetship disappearances, rumors of Cytherean superspells, and renewed cultist attacks (prominently, a Demon Prince summoned into a New Chicago mall) are currently brewing up another major witch-scare, and the So Reps, no matter how much they repeat the word "normalcy", aren't quite darkwing enough to absorb the whole spectrum of opinion. The Santurites got especially far with their demand that Conrad Washington be taken out and burnt on the stake. For six decades, the self-proclaimed "Martian sunchild" and leader of the xenarchist rebellion has enjoyed his stay in the planet's most advanced supermaximum security prison, on Face Island, Cydonia. The rumor is widespread that he is somehow still commanding his forces from the inside, despite a triply-redundant shroud, elite WPD (World Police Department, the federal cops) guards and total isolation behind yards and yards of spellproofed concrete. The story goes that the government keeps him around not so much out of respect for his person as of fear of the potential cosmic repercussions of executing a Sunchild. The So Reps are divided on this issue and it's possible that the more hot-headed Santurites will get their way soon. Depending on how exactly Weird Sola works, that might become a major historical event.
The Martian Military Forces
The two branches of the MMF are the Space Force (responsible for deep space operations) and Marine Corps (worldbound operations away from home). Just like a real army, the Martian military can be portrayed as noble crusaders, brutal xenophobes, or anything inbetween. Campaign tone may range from "grim, realistic war-movie" to "silly space anime". It all depends on what kind of game the players and GM want.
Rank..Marines.....Space Force
8.......Field Marshal..Sky Marshal
7.......General..........Admiral
6.......Colonel..........Commodore
5.......Major.............Master Chief
4.......Captain..........Banneret
3.......Lieutenant......Reeve
2.......Sergeant........Ensign
1.......Corporal........Killick
0.......Private...........Spacer
A ship's commanding officer is referred to as Skipper, not Captain. Both branches are coordinated from Summer Tholus, the War Department HQ built into the escarpment of Olympus Mons, and the President is Arch Marshal - the title "Commander in Chief" does not exist, in remembrance of the fate of the United States.
The Space Force
Vessels follow the rules in GURPS Spaceships. The four types of capital hulls are cruisers (SM +15, 700 yards), frigates (SM +14, 500 yards), corvettes (SM +13, 300 yards) and brigs (SM +12, 200 yards). The largest general purpose warship is the Deliverance-class battlecruiser (of which there are eight more: Vigilance, Vengeance, Liberty, Normalcy, Solidarity, Rationality, Democracy and Enlightenment), massing three million tons and bristling with laser cannons and thermonuclear missile launchers, not to mention a three-terajoule range spinal X-ray laser. Its counterpart is the Arcadia-class Carriercruiser (with sisters Cimmeria, Corellia, Cydonia, Hesperia, New California and Utopia), less heavily armed but capable of transporting two entire Marine Armies (120,000 troops), and thus of dominating a whole star system. All amenities are provided on board including bars, brothels, gyms, casinos and enough "Tunguska" 25MT nukes to glass a Mars-sized planet in a matter of days. A ship like this is a great 'quest hub' for an MMC campaign, especially an interstellar one.
The Marines
The two-million-strong, all-volunteer Martian Marine Corps is the Solar System's undisputed master of technological ground combat. Its philosophy is to take the fight to the enemy, and with its numerous bases scattered around the Martian sphere of influence, it is the Republic's main line of defense in Sola and beyond. The largest deployment by far is Earth, housing one fifth of the Corps' total strength in addition to the locally-recruited Earthling Legion. To terrestrials, the official face of the MMC is Field Marshal Julian MacMagnus III, officer-in-charge of Army Group Earth. This spry octogenarian is a veteran of every major encounter of the last half-century and has 48,705 kills to his name. He earned the moniker "Godfucker" when he dispatched a rampaging avatar of Shiva with an anal nuke. The Field Marshal still goes on the occasional planetside MX-hunt to get away from all the drywork, despite living on the geosynchronously orbiting Carriercruiser Corellia with his husband and kids. He also likes to surf.
The basic Marine unit is the squad, consisting of 3-8 troops, which is further organized into the platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, army and army group. A decent starting point level is 500, but may reach as high as 1,000, depending on how far over the top you want to go. No Marine may possess any physical attribute below 14, nor IQ below 12, and most have attributes well above this level. For this reason, the Marine Corps is mostly composed of superhuman genetic upgrades, homo superior parahumans, cyborgs, bioborgs, or combinations. Of baseline humans, only the very best gain admission. Depending on mission requirements, psykers are injected into standard units or formed into squads of their own. What, weirdos in the military? You've got to be kidding.
Like the way of life it defends, the Corps is simultaneously egalitarian and individualistic. Similarly to Old Earth fighter pilots, all troops have a callsign, or moniker. Marine monikers nearly always come from a member of his squad or other coworker, and it is considered bad form to try to give oneself a callsign. It's common for fresh cubs to be initially assigned a fairly derogatory moniker, with the expectation that the cub will work hard enough to earn the respect of its community, and with it a better (and usually permanent) callsign. The Corps maintains its own atmospheric, seaborne and land-based vehicles, prominently featuring "Thunderbird" fusion-vertol gunships, "Nelson" tanks and "Baron", "Duke" and "King" mechanized walkers (mechs). For orbital assaults, Carriercruisers store drop pods that can deliver a dog squad anywhere on a planet within 20 minutes. The Corps proper wages constant war against hostile demons, vampires, megabugs, aliens, cultists, dragons and countless other manifestations of Mike X-Ray; more delicate operations fall within the sphere of the Marine Corps Special Commandos, AKA Dark Ops, the Wolves or just Spec Com, Mars' special forces. A whole different ballpark is the Republican Security Service, the intelligence agency. An RSS campaign would be lighter on the firepower, focusing more on aircar chases across the Marineris cityscapes, last-minute thwartings of demon-gate rituals by evil terrorist cults, gun-running to rebels in Cytherean Africa and Jovian Australia and nerve-wracking undercover hobnobbing with the Brilliant Families.
Standard issue for every Marine is a CWA U80 Gauss HMG with an underbarrel U12 Auto EMGL. The whole package weighs 115lbs. unloaded and costs $90,000, and its component weapons otherwise retain their stats. Each Marine also gets one or two more heavy weapons. Common selections include Tactical Missile Launchers from Olympus Ordnance (often loaded with N-33 "Nutcracker" mininukes, for major targets), Rainbow Strike Lasers from MADRADS (for sniping, sometimes issued solely), U95 "Six-Shooter" Gauss Miniguns (for lots of weak foes), MADRADS Tactical MAD (for crowd control) or X-Ray Lasers (only in vacuum), double-O Semi-Portable Blasters (for electronic and robotic targets), Tactical Neural Disruptors (for search and extract), Semi-Portable Flamers (against botswarms or hordes of undead), and Fusion Gatling Guns or Semi-Portable Fusion Guns (for various uses). Heavy Blaster Pistols, Heavy Plasma Pistols and Gauss Shotgun Pistols (with custom shells) compete for the position of most popular sidearm, and Marines are free to bring personal equipment on missions. In general, one in twenty-five issued rounds are tritonic, and warheads otherwise come in a rainbow of flavors from shaped charges and thermobarics to nerve gas and disassembler nano. The most devastating infantry weapon in the Corps' arsenal is the N-88 "Spellbreaker" tritonium-salted nuclear warhead, capable not just of vaporizing most any magic-based entity within half a mile in a pitch-black mushroom cloud, but drenching the soil in spelldeath for decades to come.
Should that not be sufficient, it's time to call in the bombard. A Tunguska warhead does 8d x 150,000 crushing explosive damage, linked with 6d x 300,000 burning damage with the surge, radiation and explosive modifiers, the latter divided by distance in yards instead of 3 x distance. In other words, at 1000 yards the numbers are 8d x 50 and 6d x 300; at 10,000 yards they are 8d x 5 and 6d x 30. Even at one thousand kilometers from ground zero, the radiation will start fires and kill small animals. If launched from the orbit of an Earth-sized planet, the bomb will strike within five minutes of launch in ideal conditions. A carriercruiser holds up to 8,000 of these, and a single Spellbreaker version can extinguish an entire fiendish or undead nation. Strategic nuclear bombardment usually has significant political implications, and is only used as the very last resort on Earth. On the other hand, some backwater exosolar diabolic civilization that nobody cares about? Nuke 'em 'til they love you. (Then nuke 'em 'til they die.) Incredible as it may sound, even carpet-nuking is not enough sometimes. The military has been rumored, in cases of extreme resistance, to evacuate all ground forces, mount a fusion rocket on an asteroid, initiate full thrust towards the planet and call it a day. ("We didn't want it anyway.")
The crux of the outfit, and indeed the entire Corps, is the CWA B-9 "Diamond Dog" dreadnought battlesuit. Powered by a micro-fusion reactor with a ten year lifespan and equipped with the latest TL11 nanocomposite armor, shielding, OSF and cool accessories, the B-9 will amplify individual strength, mobility and protection to Herculean heights. For close combat, each sleeve may sprout a foot-long hyperdense vibroblade (treat as Talons, use Brawling skill). A lone Diamond Dog is a terrific force; a squad is a local superpower. Alternatives include the B-13 "Black Dog" military cybersuit, utilized by the RSS and sometimes by Spec Com. Many Marines grow very attached to their Dogs, getting personal with its AI and developing custom paintjobs.
Dogfighting
To maximize battlesuit efficiency the Corps has developed so-called dogfighting, a martial arts style that emphasizes presenting a mobile target and utilizing the environment through jumps and flips while maintaining fire with one or two heavy weapons. Most hounds are also experts in "naked" martial arts. In his second skin, a Marine can sideflip into cover from a one-handed stand and then leap ten yards up onto high ground, while dodging xenont death-rays and releasing a torrent of destruction spot on target, all without breaking a sweat. That is the realistic version. Cinematic dogfighting is the province of Martian action movies and videogames, and features such acts as winning a fight with your sensors out and visors obfuscated, employing a Nutcracker as your personal Orion Drive, laser-cleaving incoming railgun slugs and blasting strategic missiles and even starships out of the sky.
Dogfighting (6 points)
Skills: Environmental Suit (Battlesuit), Acrobatics, Gunner (Machine Gun), Gunner (Cannon), Brawling.
Techniques: Acrobatic Attack (Any Gunner), Acrobatic Stand, Acrobatic Dodge, Dual-Weapon Attack (Any Gunner), Move and Shoot (Any Gunner), Off-Hand Weapon Training (Any Gunner).
Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting, Zen Marksmanship (Any Gunner).
Perks: Quick Jump.
Optional traits:
Advantages: Ambidexterity, Combat Reflexes, Cultural Familiarity (Martian), Enhanced Dodge, Gunslinger, High Pain Threshold.
Disadvantages: Duty (MMC), Intolerance (Xenonts), Sense of Duty (MMC).
Skills: Aerobatics, Armoury (Battlesuits), Armoury (Heavy Weapons), Artillery (Cannon), Artillery (Guided Missile), Fast-Draw (Ammo), Fast-Draw (Heavy Weapons), Free Fall, Jumping, Gunner (Beams), Gunner (Rockets), Guns (Any), Judo, Karate, Melee (Knife), Throwing.
Perks: Weapon Bond, Shtick.
New Technique: Acrobatic Attack (Hard)
Default: Skill-2
Prerequisite: Any weapon skill, cannot exceed skill
Normally, when using an acrobatic maneuver (leaping, vaulting, flipping etc) as the Move part of a Move and Attack maneuver, you are at an extra -2 in addition to the Move and Attack penalty. This technique lets you buy off the extra penalty.
New Technique: Move and Shoot (Hard)
Default: The lower of skill-2 or skill-Bulk
Prerequisite: Any ranged weapon skill, cannot exceed skill
You are practiced at firing while mobile. This lets you buy down the skill penalty when performing a Move and Attack maneuver with the ranged weapon of your choice.
New Perk: Quick Jump
Normally, you must concentrate for one second before jumping, or you will only reach half your maximum distance. This Perk represents extensive jump experience, and lets you jump the maximum distance without preparation.
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