Great news! We lived through hell! I have a few questions, though:
1) Are wounds patched up between missions (maimings aside, though there might be some prosthetics in use)?
2) Are survivors deployed again right after the win, or we cycle through more characters before?
3) What advantages ranks give?
P.S. I'm taking a Sword for the next stroll.
For now, you are still in mission. the larger mission is "take the desert for the Empire." So, this battle in general is one mission. You had subobjectives, as a smaller unitin a rander battle, so you are still in the fight. You can wait on the dune and hold it, or you can support one of the other two groups.
1) after the battle, wounds will be seen to, even maimings. You'll get cheap military prosthetics. I'll announce end of battle, and probably divide the game into two threads for separate battles after this, as twenty people is a tad much all at once, even for such a 'simple' game
2) survivors can be deployed immediately, but if you want to hold a survivor in reserve, that is fine too. that character can be reintroduced after a mission with the advantages given
3) rank allows you to command lower units. as a corporal, you will, next mission, be the 'lead private' of a fire squad of three. you'll direct their actions in immediate situations, while your actions are directed from above. higher ranks also confer equipment privileges.
Oz: What's the difference between Character Points and Character Traits? And is Sarrak considered Named now that he's a Sergeant?
character points are things you acquire by doing certain actions or succeeding in certain tasks. they are sort of an xp system. Character traits are their result. when you level up, you gain a trait, if you have certain character points. That is, a trait is a permanent version of a point, and actually has an effect on the character. character points don't actually do much on their own, but the trait does.
Sarrak is a corporal, which is barely above a lowly private. He is not named, though his feat of surviving on that Dune was somewhat impressive. If he helps to achieve another goal during this battle, he might get a name. Likewise, certain other characters have the potential of getting names, without getting ranks. For instance, if your character is able to chase off a bunch of enemies with nothing but a ""pew pew" he'll get a name.
((Do minor wounds work like bleed outs?))
minor wounds do not act like bleedout. they won't accumulate on their own. But when you have five of them, they become a serious injury. this is almost unimportant on this battle, because it is such a high casualty thing.
thaks for the questions, guys. Remember, this game is pretty experimental - I am testing a sort of character progression idea I had back when we were talking about systems for the next big Piecewise game. I thought I'd see what developed. I didn't quite expect it to be as much work as it is, though I should have as a semi veteran GM.