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Old 11-06-2009, 08:57 PM   #24
Rocket Man
Petitioner: Word of IN Filk
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Longmont, CO
Default Re: Infinite Worlds: Fiction-Based Timelines

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hans Rancke-Madsen View Post
What are ISWAT's recruitment criteria?
Very loose, as they almost have to be for such a deniable (and exotic) branch. According to GURPS Infinite Worlds, p. 18:
--There are likely less than 100 active-duty squads (each made up of 5 to 7 agents, typically).

--More than half of ISWAT's agents are outtimers.

--Some of the outtimers are "resume' recruits" recruited for their known talent, like an alternate Nathan Bedford Forrest or Harry Houdini; some are locals who provided extraordinary help to a Patrol operation or demonstrated extraordinary abilities; and a few actually managed to discover an ISWAT operation and ferret out for themselves what was going on. (ISWAT's chief doesn't believe in sending those ones to Coventry; investigative talent like that is too good to waste.)

-- Recruits from within the ranks of the Patrol are chosen based on a record of "toughness, creativity, flexibility, and (most importantly) luck."

--The training regimen is classic special ops, mixed with generous dollops of history and anthropology.

--In GURPS terms, there is no standard ISWAT template. Anything from Captain America to Miyamoto Musashi to Archangel Michael could wind up in the ranks, and probably has. The agents share a Duty, maybe a few basic skills, and that's about it.
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