Critique my special forces sniper
 

I am joining a game with 5 players total. The setting is an alternate Earth where a land bridge changed ocean currents. Differing climates lead to the dominance and persistence of ancient Egyptian power. Hominids like Neaderthals and the "hobbits" of that Indonesian island have survived into the modern day. There are two loose alliances of nations in a cold war with several Vietnam War-style quagmire conflicts going on. I'm not clear on all of the world-building details since I was making my character while listening. The player characters are part of a multi-national special operations team going into these conflict zones to carry out missions.

The world is TL9 with some TL10 biotech available. The GM drew up some templates (based on Seal in Vietnam) with lenses for specialties and what branch the character started in, but he doesn't have any techniques listed. This is what I've got so far. The character is part of the smugly superior Temmu race, a true-breeding strain of genetically modified humans who are the majority in what we would call Australia. 3 players had already started their characters, so I decided to cover explosives and long-range firearms skills. We're looking at 300 point characters.


I've gone back and forth on how much to invest in Soldier vs individual skills.
You don't get the +4 "routine" bonus on Soldier, but if I pull points out of enough skills, then Soldier will be pretty high.

Any skills I missed? Any "support skills" for sniping that I'm missing? I'm probably going to buy High Tech and Tactical Shooting this week. I've heard of a precision shooting technique in Tactical Shooting. Anything else to keep an eye out for?

Edit: I've rolled in some changes and additions from Tactical Shooting. I am wrapping my head around the improving from defaults rules. Guns(rifle) is at 19. My default for (pistol) is 17. That is the Dex+4 level. I could put one point in it to get the benefits of having training, but I could not improve (pistol) until I put 4 points to improve it from Dex+4 to Dex+5. Right?

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

Swimming
Climbing
Hiking

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

You might have a relook at the points you invested in hand-to-hand combat skills they seem almost as much as with a rifle.

Fast draw is probably a bit much too.

You seem to be making a super-soldier rather then a specialist in sniping.

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

Great character, there are a few changes I would make, but really it is up to you and your GM to decide what is appropriate.

1) First Aid is taught to all soldiers in Western armies, I didn't see that on your sheet and it is a really useful skill.

2) I think Workaholic would be a better disadvantage than Overconfidence. Snipers are really careful and patient, but that may not suit the concept you want.

3) I would go with a rifle skill of 20+ for a 300 point sniper character.

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

Reloading takes a looooong time. Fast draw shaves off 1/3 of that. I see you on the melee skills. The advice I read was to broaden your skillbase before going crazy deep, but I have points to go deeper into sniping.

I had figured First aid would fall under Soldier, but that is important. Same with hiking, swimming, and climbing. Workaholic doesn't seem physically possible on a mission. If you are doing stuff 18 hours a day, Workaholic means you would voluntarily get zero sleep. There is the self-control roll, so I can see that.

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

I would suggest Guns (Pistol) or (SMG), most snipers will not carry 2 rifles and a sniper rifle is a bit unwieldy to use for self-defense.

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

Should someone who gets himself into positions where he needs to reload quickly be a sniper?

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

You are correct in that a sniper would probably never need speed loading skill. However snipers are almost always experienced soldiers before they become snipers and would likely have done speed loading drills ad nauseum as part of basic and other training.

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

Your group may want to invest in a copy of GURPS Tactical Shooting, which has more detail on many things to do with gun combat. Edit: Notably, perks and techniques for faster reloading, improved aiming, and generally being more effective. It post-dates SEALs in Vietnam.
Only for basic and simple tasks. Not for the kinds of challenges that happen on adventures.

Re: Critique my special forces sniper
 

You only have to work extra hours compared to a normal working day. In my opinion all special forces soldiers would qualify for workaholic in the same way they all qualify for extremely hazardous duty.

Also working through the night and the resulting sleep deprivation is a common problem in the military.