Game: Twilight: 2000 (4th edition – Fria Ligan AB, 2021)
My Experience: I’ve tinkered with 4th edition for a while. As amply documented on this blog, I’ve been running a campaign (with added paranormal elements) for about two years now. Haven’t actually gotten to play yet, though.
Captain Katie “Acid” Christensen, Trapped in the Mud but Staring at the Stars
Katrina Christensen always wanted to be an astronaut. She went to college at Texas A&M on an ROTC scholarship, majored in electrical engineering, then commissioned into the U.S. Air Force immediately after graduation. She was crushed at missing a slot in pilot training, but her consolation prize wasn’t half bad: an assignment as an electronic warfare officer flying aboard EF-111 Ravens. It was still flight status, and, if anything, her undergraduate studies gave her more of an edge. She made captain in record time, promoted “out of the zone” as a reward for her contributions to research on countermeasures for newly-deployed Soviet air defense systems.
Katie’s unit, the 388th Electronic Combat Squadron, deployed to Europe as war clouds were gathering on the horizon. When the balloon went up, the 388th was in the thick of it, escorting NATO deep strike missions attempting to disrupt the Soviet offensive by hitting its logistics and transportation nodes. Katie flew and fought through 25 missions – in World War II, the magic number for bomber crews to return home – before her luck ran out. Caught by a pair of MiG-29s near the Polish border, her Raven took an air-to-air missile hit. Katie pulled the ejection handle as the aircraft broke up around her. She made it to the ground more or less intact and was able to escape and evade back to friendly forces – but she never saw her pilot again.
With nothing left to fly aboard, Katie found herself seconded to the Army, which didn’t really know what do to with her. She wound up running signals intelligence for the 5th Infantry Division as it moved out on its raid into central Poland…
Traits
Age 26
Moral Code: It’s easier to destroy than to build, but there’s not much reward in taking the easy path.
Big Dream: Halt the collapse while there’s still enough left to save, so the next generation can rebuild and the one after that can reach for the sky again.
Attributes and Skills
Strength C/d8 – Stamina D/d6 (Ranger)
Agility A/d12 – Mobility D/d6; Ranged Combat D/d6
Intelligence A/d12 – Recon C/d8 (Intelligence); Tech C/d8 (Communications, Scientist)
Empathy B/d10 – Command C/d8 (Logistician)
Other Traits
Coolness Under Fire B/d10
Hit Capacity 5
Stress Capacity 5
Permanent Rads 6
Equipment
M9 pistol w/ 1 reload
night vision goggles
flak jacket
2 fragmentation grenades
2 smoke grenades
personal medkit
3 rations of domestic food
3 rations of water
1 loose round of 5.56mm
Notes and Afterthoughts
I’m not a huge fan of the 4e life path system as written because it’s too minimalist. The framework is hackable, though.
In terms of skills and kit, Katie is slightly underpowered for a starting PC. However, I got an above-average roll for attributes and didn’t lose any to aging, so as there’s no way to increase attributes with XP once play begins, I’ll take that trade-off. Equipment is easy-come, easy-go, so I’m not too fussed by her lack of starting firepower – she’ll get battlefield pick-ups soon enough if she survives.
In time-honored aviator tradition, Katie didn’t get to pick her call sign. It was stuck on her as a reference to Angelina Jolie’s character, Kate “Acid Burn” Libby, in the film Hackers. She considers herself fortunate to have gotten what she did. Until someone pointed out the similarity of names, she was about to get stuck with “Velma.”
Katie’s life path phases and effects were as follows:
Childhood – Intellectual; 5 attribute increases
Term 1 (to age 23) – Education/Sciences; promotion success
Term 2 (to age 24) – Military/Combat Support Officer; promotion success (first lieutenant)
Term 3 (to age 25) – Military/Combat Support Officer; promotion success (captain); war breaks out