Running Ex-Military Characters

I've noticed in my several years of Shadowrun, and my experience on Shadowland that there are an incredible number of Player Characters that have a military background. I should know, I played several on Shadowland. In this time, I have noticed that most people who play these characters don't have a clue about the military. I'm not dissing people with them, just that sometimes this happens and I know there are some people who will readily admit this. I wrote this as a sort of crash course in creating a realistic ex-military character. As a side note, this used to serve as an article for military PCs, but Eric Johnson wrote a separate article on that subject. Just for simplicity sake, all Special Forces/ Special Operations/ Special Warfare/ SWAT/etc. units will hence be refered to as Special Operations Groups (SOGs).

1. The UCAS military isn't the only game in town

Okay, the first step is determining which military the PC was in. Most people play their game in Seattle, and will just assume the UCAS Military. This is fine, the UCAS military, based on the US military would be a fine organization to provide as a PC's background. After all, the US military is very well documented for the most part, and so it would be fairly easy to refer to US military information, especially the more realistic the character's background is intended to be. However, the UCAS is not the only military worth its salt in North America anymore. Actually, the impression I keep getting from FASA is that the UCAS military is damn near a joke for the most part. An understandable situation when you consider that the UCAS is suppposed to be the successor to what is currently the most powerful country (I won't use nation as that word leaves all sorts of implications that are beyond this essay) in the world. Seattle is a refuge for all sorts of people, and there are several good militaries just in North America. Some of the few I can think of are lots of Tir Tairngire refugees (especially non-elves), disillusioned NAN citizens (mainly from Salish-Sidhe and northwestern nations like Athabasca), Russians who are a part of or getting away from the ever-expanding Vory v Zakone of Seattle. There's also corporate units of all sorts due to Seattle's commerical importance, and each megacorp would have various types of forces there-- including SOGs.

My associate Cameron McCurry has an ex-military PC. However, instead of chosing the UCAS military he decided that his Wolf Shaman character would be most appropriately an ex-NAN soldier. Specifically, he decided to have his character Windsinger be a former member of the Sioux Special Forces "Wildcats" first mentioned in NAN Volume One-- a unit which is heavily magically-active. This character was a Sioux Wildcat mage before moving to Seattle. A well-suited background, placed with a good motive to be in Seattle provides for excellent campaign and plot possibilities.

There are several great militaries to choose from in North America alone. There is the UCAS, CAS, Sioux, Salish-Sidhe, Pueblo, Tir Tairngire, and Aztlan militaries to choose from. There is also other non-North American units like the British/Australian SAS, Israeli Sayaret, Norwegian FSK, German GSG-9, and Russian Spestnaz. All of them have their idiosyncracies that can be played upon to create an interesting character.

2. Enough with Special Operations

Oh, if you're coming here from the Shadowrun Military Site, you're probably thinking "What a hypocrite!". Most of that site is devoted to Special Operations Groups. Yes, that's true, but there's a good reason. I know how they work, and what they do. I know what I'm doing, and I write or publish acceptable files for three reasons:

The files make for great opponents for �ber-PC's

The articles serve as background material for the curiously-named "Special Forces" campaigns.

They are written for backgrounds for ex-military PCs.

I understand SOGs because I research them as much as I can. However, most (I've seen exceptions, though) PCs are former members of a SOG. That's fine, but SOGs are not the military-- Hell, they are a small minority of any military. The other complaint I have is that most people don't research them or just make something up which infuriates the Hell out of me-- I know this sounds egotistical, sue me. I'm sure that each campaign has its own set world, but sometimes it gets out of hand. Now I'm sure that an ex-military PC whose seen the SR Companion are aware that there are UCAS Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and Delta. Fine, but there are more than those groups. There is quite a selection for a relatively small number of personnel. The Air Force has a Special Operations Command too, and the Marine Corp IS a Special Warfare unit by all accounts. They have Marine Expeditionary Units (Special Operations Capable), but also have Reconaissance Batallions (these batallions now include what used to be called Force Recon) and Scout/Snipers. So, if you're going to play a former SOG member-- pick something interesting from my list if needs be, and not just SEALs or Special Forces just because they're the only ones you know of. The reference above applies here-- foreign SOGs, especially corporate, definitely exist in Seattle. They range from Saeder-Krupp SSG, CATCo Seraphim, and Knight-Errant Firewatch all around downtown, to Russian Spestnaz in Tacoma watching the Vory, Tir Special Forces "Ghosts" all over the place, and JIS Force Recon Marines spying on the Tacoma Naval Yard and Fort Lewis.

Of course, that's nice and all, but there's something else. As I wrote above-- there's more to a military than SOGs. There are tank-drivers, pilots, drone commanders, magicians, and scouts of various types. There are all sorts of military personnel, from deckers to infantrymen, to pilots and submariners. Basically, there are all sorts of personnel to choose from-- leaving an especially interesting selection for riggers. Just because you have an ex-military character, it doesn't mean they have to be mercs or street sams. More often, the next choice being rigger. A decker could just as easily be an ex-military PC. One of mine was. He was a CAS Marine Corps Force Recon Ferret (a combination Marine Force Recon, Raider, Delta, SEAL, etc.-- very general issue maritime/land Special Operations unit), but he is a decker first and foremost who was good enough to get into the Ferrets. He used his decking skills for intelligence-gathering and reconaissance as well as cracking enemy computer systems. He was also the one who served as SIGINT and intelligence liason officer, but also the commanding officer since he had a commission. Also, think about an ex-military mage when you fill out the background for that combat mage archetype. Who better to teach him to kill with magic than the [fill-in-the-blank] Army? GM's take advice here as well. Any players reading this, drag your GM over here. Have your next fixer be a former Army Quartermaster. Who better to get mil-grade weapons (military-grade is the correct term for weaponry [usually] restricted to the military) than a guy with connnections like that. Sometimes a shipment might have to be sent to a nondescript location for a covert operation (be creative). Just fake an order to one of these locations.

3. Add some flavor to the PC's career

Now I'll admit, you've got a bit of a problem here if you're playing-- well-- any UCAS soldier, especially conventional UCAS forces because the UCAS has become Isolationist in the mid-21st century. Almost the entire UCAS military is stateside, and yet there were more Ares soldiers on the CZ Wall than UCAS soldiers. Of course, this is if you run the UCAS according to FASA canon prior to 2057. After 2057, the UCAS became more expantionist-- until the corp war screwed nations along with everyone else. However, if you don't, just put them in coalition forces like a UN Peacekeeping mission, or a NATO Rapid Reaction Force (assuming NATO didn't kick out the UCAS after the Euro Wars, as NATO is destined to serve as the military arm of the EU. That and since the UCAS ditched the allies, the allies are probably still pissed.). This would be best with a Marine or Navy SEAL who serves [served] in an Amphibious Response Group on a LHD (that's the second-largest ship in the Navy fo those keeping score)-- with the Marine, usually in a MEU(SOC). Also, do some background research and give the PC a few service ribbons, and maybe a medal or service commendation. Just do not go overboard. I actually saw a submission to the ShadowRN Mailing List where the character had TWO Medals of Honor. This is bullshit to the highest degree. In the 130+ years since the medal has been around, most of the ones given have been posthumously, and were earned through incredible acts of courage (Hell, the greatest American sniper to ever live, the late Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, USMC (Ret.) only received a Silver Star, and he had an incredible list of accomplishments to his name). I've been to the Pentagon, and I've seen the names of all the people who had them, and there are not a whole lot for three/four branches of the military over 130 years. However, that's the point. You have to do something spectacular to get one. Senator Joseph Kerrey, US Navy Reserve (Ret.) won one for protecting his SEAL team from a counterattack during a crucial mission at the cost of a leg. Think about Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart-- the two Task Force Ranger snipers in Somalia who lept from a helicopter to protect Warrant Officer Michael Durant who was shot down by the Somali gunmen at the cost of their own lives so that Durant would live. The recently deceased Master Sergeant Roy P. Benaviedez, US Army (Ret.) nearly died rescuing several of his teammates in Vietnam and was actually pronounced dead at one point. The same goes with Silver Stars, Bronze Stars, etc. Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, USMC (Ret.) rescued seven men from a burning vehicle and was seriously injured in the process. He also has the distinction to have more confirmed kills than any other sniper in the history of the United States (93). These medals are incredibly hard to win, altough many winners live, because it is a medal for courage and valor in the face of danger. Nowadays, most soldiers won't ever even get a Combat Action Ribbon (Navy, USMC)-- of which the current top CAR holder has five (Vietnam, El Salvador, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm), or a Combat Infantry Badge (Army). There are many different things a PC could get, like a campaign ribbon for serving in a Peacekeeping operation. Give the PC an interesting background, but don't foresake common sense for it.

4. You left because of what?

Another interesting commonality of Shadowland characters is the number of people who went AWOL for one reason or another, usually for something very silly. There has to be a good reason for leaving the military and deciding to become a Shadowrunner (a mercenary I could understand more easily), but to go AWOL is amazingly ludicrous. There are almost no mitigating circumstances to condone a person who goes AWOL, and unless the PC is a bad guy in the regards that he's willing to give up his honor and duty to country (and becoming a traitor in a sense)-- something that does not typify your common shaodwrunner. Oh, and one other thing, the "evil CO" excuse is really lame. There is little chance of an incident that is so serious to warrant retaliation, which will put your PC in prison for a while in his background. A better reason for leaving would be that the PC served his term, but got involved in some sort of incident(s) where he was forced to take to the shadows. The reasons are limited, because most ex-military would probably become mercenaries in a situation where they were after the money and adventure (As opposed to joining the corporate workforce). There are situations where a person ends up running the shaodws, and they should not be for money, because there are better ways. Angelkiller has emailed me with some interesting thoughts on ex-military characters and post-traumatic stress syndrome. One of the things that came to mind is the situation we unfortunately see today-- veterans who suffer debilitating mental trauma from combat-induced stress who are now mentally unstable and many of whom are homeless. While difficult to roleplay it is one of the most interesting, yet darker, methods of introducing ex-military (especially ex-SOG) into shadowrunning teams similar to the background of a character who escaped a sex slave ring or BTL addiction, or something similar. It is hard, but much more interesting IMO. Perhaps a go-ganger recognized the derelict's worn-out insignia on his jacket and hooked them up with the gang, or they see themselves as avenging angels who fight evil, or they manage to save the runners' asses somehow.

5. More reasonable excuses for leaving the military

by Eric Johnson

Most often, not all people get out of the military due to getting in fights, and so on. There are two basic ways to get out. Either serve your time, then get out, that simple. Second option is to get booted out. Not every time you get booted out is due to dishonorable action, killing a teammate, or whatever. Common reasons is simply "can't take it". People do get sick of the military, it's a fact of life. How they approach it requires some thinking and originality (I've seen plenty of that here [on -base]) on the player's part, as it does require it. Another reason is medically, a certain symptom, or quite basically, the character has a broken leg, arm, or some other symptom that when fully reviewed, is let out of the military on health reasons. Obviously, this depends on what military. Check around, ask questions, RESEARCH is key to finding out what goes on to make a good story.

Another reason? He/she got too fat, and therefore had to leave the military. Certain militaries have a specific fat percentage allowed depending on the age of the person. Exceed that, and you're on a special program to get rid of it. It could be just that the character very well got sick of the military, and decided to go that route, therefore avoiding any arrest warrants or other stupid crap that some people tend to make up. One other note is whether the character is enlisted, non-commissioned officer (NCO), or commissioned officer. Enlisted and NCOs are pretty much stuck, you sign up for two years, you're staying til that time is up or re-enlist. Some of this is true for officers, except for one notable exception. They can resign. They can draft a letter to thier superior and say "I don't feel this is what I want anymore". Well, not that simple, but the same meaning. Pretty much I wrote this because I'm kinda sick of that "Enemy CO" or something like that, it's somewhat unoriginal. And in some cases, since we're all human, it may not be just the "CO", it may be the character.

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