SFOD-D ("Delta Force") template (critique?)

[Dragondog]

Social Engineering says that the US President doesn't have military rank. It says he has Political Rank 7 and gives orders to generals and admirals with Military Rank 8 (p. 13).

[acrosome]

Originally Posted by Dragondog

Social Engineering says that the US President doesn't have military rank. It says he has Political Rank 7 and gives orders to generals and admirals with Military Rank 8 (p. 13).

Aha! I mis-read it. Fixed. (It actually makes it easier.)

[cosmicfish]

I didn't line by line to see what was or was not included, but here were a few things that caught my eye:

I would up the Security Clearance a level. These guys are really only restricted by need to know, and that (to me) is SC 2.

Guns (Pistol) should be a mandatory skill. For the work these guys do, they all spend a LOT of time with pistols. And (as others noted) I would consider raising the levels - you would be hard pressed to find better tactical shooters in the world than these guys.

Your CQB technique needs to be designated for a skill, and really, they should have a lot of points in Gun techniques like CQB, Immediate Action, and Fast-Firing.

You included all these SF MOS packages at the bottom, but in reality SF is not a unique pipeline to Delta. Some will take that route, but others will come from the Ranger Regiment or other units, despite the "SF" in "SFOD-D". Including the SF MOS packages makes no sense unless you also include a general SF template to go along with them.

[Kallatari]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Note this isn't true according to my copy of Tactical Shooting (p. 43).

There's no "dagger" to indicate the required specialization. I checked, and other techniques either call out a particular specialty (say, Guns (Pistol)) or include a required specialization in the Prerequisite column: Riding (dagger).

I take this to mean that CQB covers any use of high-bulk weapons. I'll PM Kromm and Hans to ensure that's not errata, but they are usually very good about being deliberate there.

It's a generic assumption of all Guns-based techniques. At the top of p.43 of Tactical Shooting:

Note that each Guns specialty requires its own technique; improving Quick-Shot (Pistol) gives you no advantage when using a shotgun.

And you'll note, Quick-Shot doesn't have a "dagger" either.

I agree, that's not an ideal place to indicate this...

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by acrosome

3.00 Junior Chief Warrant Officer
3.25 Chief Warrant Officer
3.50 Senior Chief Warrant Officer
3.00 Second Lieutenant
3.25 First Lieutenant
3.50 Captain

Do senior US warrants actually have legal authority over junior commissioned officers? I quite understand that their greater experience would mean that a junior officer with sense would do what they said, but who has the legal power? I'm used to the idea that the commission always trumps the warrant.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Do senior US warrants actually have legal authority over junior commissioned officers? I quite understand that their greater experience would mean that a junior officer with sense would do what they said, but who has the legal power? I'm used to the idea that the commission always trumps the warrant.

http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=3003

An older, free take on Military Rank published way before Social Engineering came out.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Do senior US warrants actually have legal authority over junior commissioned officers? I quite understand that their greater experience would mean that a junior officer with sense would do what they said, but who has the legal power? I'm used to the idea that the commission always trumps the warrant.

It does. My father was a CWO4 in the Navy, and the understanding (as near as I could tell) was that the Warrants agreed to follow whatever orders even the most junior of officers gave, so long as the junior officers agreed not to give any. To put it another way, if an Ensign gave a Chief Warrant an order that the Warrant wasn't already planning to do, the Warrant would follow it... and a little while later, the Ensign would be having a private meeting with one of his senior officers about the different between authority and wisdom.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Do senior US warrants actually have legal authority over junior commissioned officers? I quite understand that their greater experience would mean that a junior officer with sense would do what they said, but who has the legal power? I'm used to the idea that the commission always trumps the warrant.

Formally, legally, no they don't. Any howlingly incompetent lieutentant trumps even a CWO with infinite experience.

Informally... I guess that depends on how dumb the lieutenant is.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by acrosome

Unless of course you buy into the bit about Rank not directly corresponding to real-world rank, but rather being an expression of how many people work under you. In such a situation a Delta E-6 would be a professional trigger-puller essentially acting like a private and not in command of anyone, and thus technically Rank 0 with Courtesy Rank 2. But I don't like that for a number of reasons, and the Social Engineering: Pulling Rank supplement fixes the issue. Sort of.

I haven't bought Pulling Rank yet, but on that basis, some combination of regular Rank and Courtesy Rank makes perfect sense to me. Maybe not Rank 0+2, but then at least Rank 1+1 for the typical Master Sergeants who can't boss a lot of people around. What are your reasons for not liking that approach?

Additional SF, Delta or SEAL credibility can then be handled via Reputation. GURPS Special Ops says that Medal of Honour equates to a +4 Reputation, so Delta or SEAL can each be treated as a +3 Reputation, with SF as a +2. I'm not sure if Rangers warrant a +1 Rep.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by Eukie

Not really, but I am on the outlook for a Perk, Advantage or Technique that represents extensive training in assaulting airframes.

One trick wonder? With whichever skill covers aircraft layout, but only for purposes of hostage rescue related skill rolls.
Or and I look at this as being able to reroll because of extensive training,
Luck (limitation only in hostage rescue situations that mirror youre training)