The Disposable Coalition Grunt Generator v2.0 (Old and New!)

[Hotrod]

EDIT: I've made a revised version 1.1. Here it is

EDIT: Here is a second page, which includes several specialty roles for grunts. Together with version 1.1, they are collectively a version 1.2!

EDIT: I've worked up a post-105 P.A. version now. Here is page 1, and Here is page 2. Along with the other linked pages, they are collectively version 2.0 of this generator.

With this version, you can instantly create disposable grunts, either as generic riflemen, or as one of a dozen specialist roles, including corresponding skills, timeline-appropriate equipment, and experience level from 1 to 15! Both old and new styles are made to be printed front and back on a single sheet of paper.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present:

The Disposable Coalition Grunt Generator version 1.0

(click above to see it)

What is this? A chart that provides all the important combat stats and bonuses for an average pre-Tolkeen war C.S. Grunt from level 1 to 15 using standard-issue equipment. All the G.M. needs to do is select a level for the N.P.C. All the stats are generated, all bonuses are cross-referenced and summed up, and there's no on-the-fly guesswork or extensive preparation.

Why make this? Many Rifts books devote considerable space to the stats of individual N.P.C.'s, and most of those N.P.C.'s have exceptional stats and abilities. These N.P.C.'s can be useful for some encounters, but my experience has been that most groups have many encounters with ordinary soldiers, bandits, and the like. These are the stormtroopers, the red-shirted ensigns, the disposable N.P.C.'s who aren't special, but can still represent obstacles and threats to the characters. There are no good sets of stats for these N.P.C.'s in the books, forcing G.M.'s to either make some up on the fly or spend valuable time preparing them.

How was it made? In a spreadsheet program, using Rifts: Ultimate Edition (RUE). These are the guidelines I used for creating this N.P.C. generator:
1. The N.P.C. is generated as an average human with his/her) O.C.C. skills and abilities only. All O.C.C. related and secondary skills are assumed to be unrelated to combat. This generator also does not include any special abilities like psionics.
2. All single dice rolls come out as the average result, rounded down. If multiple dice are used, then I alternate rounding down and up. For example, the I.Q. attribute of 3D6 is computed as 3+4+3=10.
3. Any “of choice” skill in the O.C.C. skills reflects the character's standard equipment. In this case, the CS grunt has a survival knife and 2 grenades. Given that the CS cares enough about melee combat to train their grunts with Hand-to-hand: Expert, I chose W.P. Knife.
4. Only the stats and bonuses that would realistically get used in an encounter are included. See below for a list of omissions.
5. I try to use the latest books for stats and rules, so I use the RUE ranged weapon rules and W.P.'s, and the old-style CS laser rifle has a pulsed mode, rather than the older high-power shot.

What's next? That depends. This CS Grunt spreadsheet is a prototype. I'd appreciate your feedback.
What can I do to improve this? What do you think of the format/structure, presentation, and the stats included? What do you think of my process?
Would you like to see more N.P.C. generators? What O.C.C./R.C.C. would you like to see next?

Current Issues:
-The “Special Attacks row takes up excessive space. I'm not sure how to fix this beyond what I've already done.
-It's a bare-bones stat block, and the artist in me wants to include some thematic icons/thumbnails, have a more Coalition military font, or something else to make it a bit more attractive and cool.

Omitted Content and Simplifications:
-The Weapon Systems skill strike bonus is included, but the percentage isn't, because I honestly have no idea what circumstances would call for such a roll for a disposable N.P.C. In a game. I've never seen it rolled against.
-The “Non-Energy Weapon of Choice” is omitted from the equipment; I thought about giving him a Vibro-knife, since I gave him W.P. knife, but decided against it; this is a standard-issue grunt with standard-issue only gear.
-Pull Punch. I've never used it, and I don't see why a disposable N.P.C. would.
-The modern weapons don't include scenario modifiers; I omitted these due to space concerns, and there's a pretty good list in RUE p361.
-The Called Shot rows assume a -4 penalty, but this is variable with a book-given value of -3 or -4, sometimes more.
-Personal property. This is a soldier in the field who isn't bringing his stuff along, other than 200 credits of pocket money.

Oddities I've noticed in the creation of this N.P.C. template:
-CS Grunts get Robot Combat: basic, but do not have Pilot Robots/Power Armor, which is a prerequisite skill for the Robot Combat skill. To make this agree with the rules as written, either this skill had to be ignored, or I had to give the grunt an additional skill. After thinking it over, I elected to include the pilot Robots/Power Armor skill without bonuses. In a pinch, the grunt could serve as a pilot, gunner or radar/radio man, but he's no pilot-type, lacking the elite training and the Heavy Weapons weapon proficiency.
-The old C-12 heavy assault rifle, as described in RUE, is significantly superior to the “newer” CP-40 assault rifle. It can hold 60 shots in the weapon, does exactly the same damage, and has a +1 to strike with aimed shots. The CP-40 text says that it has laser targeting, but there is no bonus.
-The RUE ranged combat rules are a little weird. I went with them as written. Regular single shots and “pulse” mode attacks have the full W.P. bonus, but an aimed pulse has only half the bonus, so a regular pulse attack has a bonus to strike equal to or more accurate than an aimed pulse attack starting at level 4, even though aimed pulses use up 2 attacks.

[eliakon]

I am pretty sure that there is a rule that if your class comes with a skill you automatically get any prerequisite skills needed for it.

That said this is a pretty cool thing.

[mercedogre]

eliakon is correct, but with RPA pilots and many other higher level soldiers able to pilot robots, I substituted the Robot Combat skill with Combat Driving skill, plays better with their hovercraft and tank/APC skills

[Killer Cyborg]

I am pretty sure that there is a rule that if your class comes with a skill you automatically get any prerequisite skills needed for it.

That said this is a pretty cool thing.

Correct on both counts.

[ShadowLogan]

This sort of reminds me of the old 1E Robotech table found in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" Source book that spanned several pages with "pre-gen" generic NPCs. I am not sure if I would go with ignoring "other/secondary" choices though.

[Hotrod]

This sort of reminds me of the old 1E Robotech table found in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" Source book that spanned several pages with "pre-gen" generic NPCs. I am not sure if I would go with ignoring "other/secondary" choices though.

That's fair; I debated the decision myself. I also debated giving the soldier optional equipment like a plasma cannon, a vibro-knife, or plasma grenades at higher levels. Certainly a level 1 grunt could become significantly effective by taking Boxing, Heavy Weapons W.P.'s, Robot Combat: Elite, Targeting (for his grenades), upgrading his hand-to-hand, W.P. Sword and Fencing, Prowl, Sharpshooting, Land Navigation, languages, Surveillance, First Aid, or the whole range of Military skills. Players tend to make these kinds of selections, and such characters could be described as very dedicated professionals in real life, who knew early on what they wanted to do and dedicated their entire development to it.

This generator isn't meant to depict that kind of dedication, because most soldiers aren't like that. They leave their homes, sign up, serve a term, and then go home. Sure, some stick around, but even 20-year career soldiers in real life tend to have skills, experience, and interests/plans outside the military (and some who are the totally dedicated type have major problems when the time comes to get out). Maybe this one grew up on a farm and spent his childhood helping with cattle and horses. Maybe his parents ran a tailor shop and his other skills focus on sewing, working leather, curing hides, and general repair/maintenance. Maybe he grew up in a mining camp for a pre-apocalypse dump, and he has skills like Salvage, Recycling, excavation, and pilot: tracked/construction vehicles.

Developing some of these ideas might be a good idea for a more-fleshed-out average NPC that the characters interact with more, and if you want, you could expand this template into a complete Grunt NPC character sheet with very little effort. The problem is that there is such an enormous range of combinations that can go into making a C.S. Grunt that it isn't practical to include them in a simple, easy-to-use chart. It would become unmanageble very quickly, and one of my goals was to keep this chart to 1 page or less.

In any case, doing so would defeat the whole idea: having a quick, flexible tool for instantly creating an N.P.C. to be a disposable ally/enemy. When Stormtrooper TK-421 walks into the Millennium Falcon, nobody cares that he likes to whittle model TIE fighters in his barracks, or that he wants to get out and buy his own Bantha ranch someday, or that can strip the copper out of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's wreck of a home farm in less than 30 minutes. What matters is TK-421's reaction time when Han Solo surprises the hapless trooper with a heavy blaster pistol.

If this grunt dies and is the players' enemy, they should give him no more thought than they would for TK-421. If this grunt dies and is the players' ally, the biggest reaction they should have should amount to little more than "He's dead, Jim". If being disposable and lacking the "other" skills makes this grunt a bit weaker than similarly-leveled player characters, I'm ok with that. GM's can always bump up an opponent by a level or two to compensate if they really want to.

That was my thought process, but if you think I could make this better by including the "other" skills (why is "other" always in parentheses in the book O.C.C. descriptions?), and you can think of a way of effectively implementing these skills, then by all means, change my mind.

[ShadowLogan]

I get not doing other/secondary slots completely on a table/chart like this, but doing 1 or 2 would seem to be a good way to give the NPCs variety to be useful to both the GM and/or players depending on the situation. A Grunt team w/o access to the camouflage skill can operate different than one that does for example. First Aide might be another, etc. Secondary/Other skills can help define how an encounter can unfold or even be setup.

Now doing a hardcopy table (like it can appear in a book) is certainly going to be more limited than say using a Computer Program to create a printout based on the random tables in the books or done yourself.

[Alrik Vas]

A random juicer goon would be awesome.

[Hotrod]

I get not doing other/secondary slots completely on a table/chart like this, but doing 1 or 2 would seem to be a good way to give the NPCs variety to be useful to both the GM and/or players depending on the situation. A Grunt team w/o access to the camouflage skill can operate different than one that does for example. First Aide might be another, etc. Secondary/Other skills can help define how an encounter can unfold or even be setup.

Now doing a hardcopy table (like it can appear in a book) is certainly going to be more limited than say using a Computer Program to create a printout based on the random tables in the books or done yourself.

True enough; I could compile the appropriate bonuses for the full range of potentially useful O.C.C. Related and Secondary percentage-based skills. Any skill that provides bonuses would be a problem, though, as that could affect other areas.

My intent was to build this specifically to be a printed hard copy, so a GM could use it in a table top game. I suppose I could put this together to be used by computers only, but given how few computers I saw out at Open House games, this doesn't seem to be the norm.

[Hotrod]

A random juicer goon would be awesome.

Very doable; that was on my short list anyway. I'll see what I can do.

[ShadowLogan]

True enough; I could compile the appropriate bonuses for the full range of potentially useful O.C.C. Related and Secondary percentage-based skills. Any skill that provides bonuses would be a problem, though, as that could affect other areas.

You could just ignore synergy bonuses for this, just make sure people are aware that is how it is setup.

My intent was to build this specifically to be a printed hard copy, so a GM could use it in a table top game. I suppose I could put this together to be used by computers only, but given how few computers I saw out at Open House games, this doesn't seem to be the norm.

I can see the appeal of hardcopy for "away" games like the OH, but "home" games are another matter. One can also use the random programs to create a large diverse sample to print off before hand. While I can see why computer might not appear at the OH, with things like Smart Phones, Tablets able to serve the same role, though w/o printing capacity.

[Hotrod]

I suspect I'm not quite grasping what you're suggesting. If we're not cross-referencing the skill bonuses, then I'm not sure that I understand the utility of a list of all possible "other" skills; RUE contains this information on p 300 (secondary skill list) and p302-303, which lists all skills with their base proficiency and rise per level. I could whittle down the above skills to what I realistically think could be used in an encounter, but I don't see that adding much utility.

[ShadowLogan]

There are a few ways to set up a hard copy generator. Some are more favourable than others to including synergy bonuses easily:
-If one uses the 1E RT generator I mentioned as a model, it would be fairly easy since it is set up to display an abbreviated character sheet. So the synergy stuff is already factored in.
-if the skills are rolled separate to be added in later as a model, it would be a bit harder to factor in Gymnastic's bonus to Prowl/climb (and attributes, HTH) for example if the secondary/other skill is random being added to a base table. Depending on how many skills you roll for it can get out of hand in a hard copy (a computer program not so much)

Secondary/Other Skills, even a limited selection, can be useful in helping the GM to making the NPCs less cookie cutter so they shouldn't be ignored completely. Knowing a select few skills in this range would allow the GM to get an idea of where to take the character if they need to develop them more or even use them. Some % of CS Grunts after all are likely to have upgraded their HTH style, or taken non-direct combat skills (like Camouflage, Detect Ambush, First Aid, etc) that might play a role in an encounter.

[Killer Cyborg]

-The old C-12 heavy assault rifle, as described in RUE, is significantly superior to the “newer” CP-40 assault rifle. It can hold 60 shots in the weapon, does exactly the same damage, and has a +1 to strike with aimed shots. The CP-40 text says that it has laser targeting, but there is no bonus.

Originally, RUE had the C-12 stats mixed up.

IIRC, the currents stats are 4d6 MD for a 3-round burst.

[Hotrod]

There are a few ways to set up a hard copy generator. Some are more favourable than others to including synergy bonuses easily:
-If one uses the 1E RT generator I mentioned as a model, it would be fairly easy since it is set up to display an abbreviated character sheet. So the synergy stuff is already factored in.
-if the skills are rolled separate to be added in later as a model, it would be a bit harder to factor in Gymnastic's bonus to Prowl/climb (and attributes, HTH) for example if the secondary/other skill is random being added to a base table. Depending on how many skills you roll for it can get out of hand in a hard copy (a computer program not so much)

Secondary/Other Skills, even a limited selection, can be useful in helping the GM to making the NPCs less cookie cutter so they shouldn't be ignored completely. Knowing a select few skills in this range would allow the GM to get an idea of where to take the character if they need to develop them more or even use them. Some % of CS Grunts after all are likely to have upgraded their HTH style, or taken non-direct combat skills (like Camouflage, Detect Ambush, First Aid, etc) that might play a role in an encounter.

You raise some interesting possibilities. I don't own Robotech in any of its editions, and a quick Google image search of "Robotech character generator" yielded nothing useful. I know enough of computer programming that I could probably come up with an algorithm for generating quick NPC stats with some randomized or variable combinations of skill selections, but presenting them in something that would be easy to follow and look presentable is beyond the scope of my knowledge.

I agree that secondary/other skills could be useful to a point, but my idea of this was to create a "cookie cutter" throwaway N.P.C. whose threat level was driven by his/her experience level, which can be adjusted up or down to make the N.P.C. more or less combat-capable without the complication of additional skills/bonuses. There could be some utility to creating a few variants that use different weapons/armor (like a heavy weapons grunt and a "new style" grunt/heavy weapons grunt). Otherwise, if a G.M. wants to customize some throwaway N.P.C.'s with useful non-combat skills, p302 and 303 of RUE would be about as quick and flexible as anything I could squeeze in here; I'm not sure what I would or wouldn't include as standard or common optional skills.

[Hotrod]

-The old C-12 heavy assault rifle, as described in RUE, is significantly superior to the “newer” CP-40 assault rifle. It can hold 60 shots in the weapon, does exactly the same damage, and has a +1 to strike with aimed shots. The CP-40 text says that it has laser targeting, but there is no bonus.

Originally, RUE had the C-12 stats mixed up.

IIRC, the currents stats are 4d6 MD for a 3-round burst.

Is there an "official" reference on this? Does anyone who has the latest RUE printing care to set this straight?

(EDIT: the C-12's stats were mixed up with the CV-212's stats in the first printing. I'll fix this in the next version.)

[Blue_Lion]

I am pretty sure that there is a rule that if your class comes with a skill you automatically get any prerequisite skills needed for it.

That said this is a pretty cool thing.

They did have that clause, but to me the robot combat seams in error they where building a 11m and then gave him robot combat instead of weapon systems.

[Soldier of Od]

Good work. I would use this, and others like it. Could you maybe grey out alternate stat columns so that I can follow each column down a little easier? Cheers.

[Hotrod]

Good work. I would use this, and others like it. Could you maybe grey out alternate stat columns so that I can follow each column down a little easier? Cheers.

Great idea! I will work that in.

[Hotrod]

Here is version 1.1. I changed the C-12 laser rifle to reflect the intent of the weapon as described by Killer Cyborg from a personal conversation with Kevin. I also added some alternating grey background to follow the stats for a given level more easily. Finally, I added the CS logo to give the stat block a bit more character.

[dragonfett]

A few things. First, Robot & Power Armor Combat (both Basic and Elite) does not require Pilot: Robots & Power Armor. While all power armors are single occupant, there are numerous robot vehicles that are multi-occupant who do not need the piloting skill. The RPA Combat skills allow the crew members to use the weapons without penalties.

Secondly, there are some skills that most (if not all) soldiers are going to be taught at one point or other. Such as Prowl, Camouflage, and Military Fortification are the ones that come to mind immediately when I look over the skill list. Then there are others that while not everyone will have, normally at least one member of a unit will have the training, such as Detect Ambush, Electronic Countermeasures (which replaced Radio: Advanced), Laser Communications, Intelligence, Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, and Field Armorer are ones that pop out in my mind.

Thirdly, A City Rat Generator would be good for more urban adventures, Dog Boys, Psi-Stalkers, and either Robot Pilot or CS SAMAS Pilot would be good ones as well.

[Hotrod]

A few things. First, Robot & Power Armor Combat (both Basic and Elite) does not require Pilot: Robots & Power Armor. While all power armors are single occupant, there are numerous robot vehicles that are multi-occupant who do not need the piloting skill. The RPA Combat skills allow the crew members to use the weapons without penalties.

Secondly, there are some skills that most (if not all) soldiers are going to be taught at one point or other. Such as Prowl, Camouflage, and Military Fortification are the ones that come to mind immediately when I look over the skill list. Then there are others that while not everyone will have, normally at least one member of a unit will have the training, such as Detect Ambush, Electronic Countermeasures (which replaced Radio: Advanced), Laser Communications, Intelligence, Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, and Field Armorer are ones that pop out in my mind.

Thirdly, A City Rat Generator would be good for more urban adventures, Dog Boys, Psi-Stalkers, and either Robot Pilot or CS SAMAS Pilot would be good ones as well.

You make an excellent point on the combat vs piloting. I guess the grunts can be gunners in a big robot, just not the driver. I'll adjust the file accordingly.

You also make a good point about the skills one would expect to find in a unit of grunts. While I wouldn't be surprised to see grunts with some of those skills, it's a bit tricky to cram every skill one would expect to find in an infantry unit into a single sheet, which was one of my goals for this generator. If I included those 10 skills you mention, I'd also have to include more W.P.'s and weapons. I'm taking a minimalist approach with this, so I'll continue to exclude them for now. However, if you'd like to build on my sheet and include more skills, PM me with your email, and I'll send you the spreadsheet file.

Thanks for the suggestions on future generators. My mapping projects have been soaking up most of my free time (along with two big tables I built over the holidays for my kids to play Legos on), but I would like to make some more of these.

[dragonfett]

You could always make a flip side of the generator

[khorne]

First and foremost: That's amazing. Very useful for running campaigns. It would be cool to have similar sheets for the most common monsters/npcs/antagonists on Rifts Earth.

That said, some questions:

What do the numbers in the HAND TO HAND rows mean? Do they mean the number of times in a round the character can make a certain action (Dodge/Parry etc.?). Also, what does the DAMAGE line mean?

Cheers

[Hotrod]

First and foremost: That's amazing. Very useful for running campaigns. It would be cool to have similar sheets for the most common monsters/npcs/antagonists on Rifts Earth.

That said, some questions:

What do the numbers in the HAND TO HAND rows mean? Do they mean the number of times in a round the character can make a certain action (Dodge/Parry etc.?). Also, what does the DAMAGE line mean?

Cheers

Thank you for the kind words.

Good questions. The numbers are bonuses to dodge/parry/damage in hand-to-hand combat. The damage line is a bonus to hand-to-hand damage. The strike and parry bonuses are already added to the W.P. Knife; the damage bonus would also apply in S.D.C. combat. I suppose I could add the damage bonus to the knife section as well; I'll see if I can squeeze that line in, too, for my next draft.

[Hotrod]

You could always make a flip side of the generator

That's a good idea. I might try that later.

[dragonfett]

Headhunters, Vagabonds, Wilderness Scouts, and similar classes would make for good bandits (There also should be a Bandit OCC in the New West book).

[khorne]

Headhunters, Vagabonds, Wilderness Scouts, and similar classes would make for good bandits (There also should be a Bandit OCC in the New West book).

The "problem" is to have concise "block stats" for ingame fast use. I really can't believe at Palladium nobody thought about a "NPCs book" for fast use characters GMs might need on the fly

[Hotrod]

A few things. First, Robot & Power Armor Combat (both Basic and Elite) does not require Pilot: Robots & Power Armor. While all power armors are single occupant, there are numerous robot vehicles that are multi-occupant who do not need the piloting skill. The RPA Combat skills allow the crew members to use the weapons without penalties.

Secondly, there are some skills that most (if not all) soldiers are going to be taught at one point or other. Such as Prowl, Camouflage, and Military Fortification are the ones that come to mind immediately when I look over the skill list. Then there are others that while not everyone will have, normally at least one member of a unit will have the training, such as Detect Ambush, Electronic Countermeasures (which replaced Radio: Advanced), Laser Communications, Intelligence, Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, and Field Armorer are ones that pop out in my mind.

Thirdly, A City Rat Generator would be good for more urban adventures, Dog Boys, Psi-Stalkers, and either Robot Pilot or CS SAMAS Pilot would be good ones as well.

Ok, so I have a second page drafted with common variations of Pre-105 P.A. C.S. Grunts. A few notes:
1.Laser communications is not available, because it has prerequisites that are not available to grunts.
2. Detect Ambush and Intelligence are not available, as they are espionage skills.
3. Pilot Robots/Power Armor is required for Robot Combat: Basic. The requirement is in Rifts: Ultimate Edition, p351 (right column, second paragraph, in bold). Therefore I'll be keeping the skill as it is.

For the second page, I'm including alternate rifles and heavy weapons of the older types. I'm including the appropriate weapon proficiency bonuses.

So far, for common "other" skills you might find in a CS Infantry Platoon, I have
First Aid
Electronic Countermeasures
Prowl
Swimming
Camouflage
Military Fortification
Field Armorer
with Basic Mechanics
Demolitions
Demolitions Disposal
Trap & Mine Detection
Land Navigation

I have a few more lines available to fill up the second page. Any ideas? Maybe throw in a couple lines of common optional equipment? Maybe put in a few more optional skills? I'm leaving out physical skills that give hand-to-hand bonuses, because those don't give the generated N.P.C. any significant capabilities.

[dragonfett]

A few things. First, Robot & Power Armor Combat (both Basic and Elite) does not require Pilot: Robots & Power Armor. While all power armors are single occupant, there are numerous robot vehicles that are multi-occupant who do not need the piloting skill. The RPA Combat skills allow the crew members to use the weapons without penalties.

Secondly, there are some skills that most (if not all) soldiers are going to be taught at one point or other. Such as Prowl, Camouflage, and Military Fortification are the ones that come to mind immediately when I look over the skill list. Then there are others that while not everyone will have, normally at least one member of a unit will have the training, such as Detect Ambush, Electronic Countermeasures (which replaced Radio: Advanced), Laser Communications, Intelligence, Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, and Field Armorer are ones that pop out in my mind.

Thirdly, A City Rat Generator would be good for more urban adventures, Dog Boys, Psi-Stalkers, and either Robot Pilot or CS SAMAS Pilot would be good ones as well.

Ok, so I have a second page drafted with common variations of Pre-105 P.A. C.S. Grunts. A few notes:
1.Laser communications is not available, because it has prerequisites that are not available to grunts.
2. Detect Ambush and Intelligence are not available, as they are espionage skills.
3. Pilot Robots/Power Armor is required for Robot Combat: Basic. The requirement is in Rifts: Ultimate Edition, p351 (right column, second paragraph, in bold). Therefore I'll be keeping the skill as it is.

For the second page, I'm including alternate rifles and heavy weapons of the older types. I'm including the appropriate weapon proficiency bonuses.

So far, for common "other" skills you might find in a CS Infantry Platoon, I have
First Aid
Electronic Countermeasures
Prowl
Swimming
Camouflage
Military Fortification
Field Armorer
with Basic Mechanics
Demolitions
Demolitions Disposal
Trap & Mine Detection
Land Navigation

I have a few more lines available to fill up the second page. Any ideas? Maybe throw in a couple lines of common optional equipment? Maybe put in a few more optional skills? I'm leaving out physical skills that give hand-to-hand bonuses, because those don't give the generated N.P.C. any significant capabilities.

Good catch on the RPA skill requirements, although it's an odd place to put it.

For additional things, I would go with Math: Advanced (to be used with the next item I suggest) and a mortar as well as the WP to use it.

[Hotrod]

That's a good thought that struck me as well, but there don't seem to be many infantry mortars in the game. Mortars are covered under W.P. Heavy, but I don't see any examples of them in RUE or the GMG. It looks like indirect fire weapons aren't so popular in Rifts. In any case, most real-life mortarmen don't do advanced math; rather, they use tables to get a combination of charges and elevations.

I think I might put in some common additional equipment instead in two categories: additional weapons and non-combat equipment.

I should have Version 1.2 posted soon.

[Hotrod]

Version 1.2 is up! This included no changes to Version 1.1, but it added a second (back) page with common optional weapons (assuming the user has a weapons proficiency), common skills, and common equipment one might expect to find in a platoon+ sized unit.

A few notes:
-The CR-1 missile launcher has a multi-optic sight, including laser targeting, but it does not enjoy the +1 to +3 for aimed shots that are normally associated with laser targeting. Weird.
-I'm not pleased with how I've organized the second page. The equipment section is particularly messy. I might re-work it so that special roles get their weapons, skills, and appropriate equipment in the same place, but that might require some cuts. We'll see.

[Hotrod]

I've made a few adjustments. Here is the revised back page for Version 1.2.Now each variation/specialty includes the appropriate skills and equipment in a single block.

[Grell]

I like it! How about some generic bandits?

[Hotrod]

I like it! How about some generic bandits?

Any idea which O.C.C. to use? Vagabond? Pecos Raider? City Rat? River Pirate? Pirate? Pirate Slaver? Larhold Human Renegade? There are many bandit-type O.C.C.'s in the game, but I can't think of any that are generic.

EDIT: That's because I've never spent much time going through New West. I'll see what I can do.

[slade the sniper]

I like it. The format is pretty good. I will be definitely be using these Also, they may prove useful for making other villain types in the expanded Megaverse.

-STS

[dragonfett]

I've made a few adjustments. Here is the revised back page for Version 1.2.Now each variation/specialty includes the appropriate skills and equipment in a single block.

I love the new layout.

[Hotrod]

I've worked up a post-105 P.A. version now. Here is page 1, and Here is page 2. Notes on the new-style grunt generator:

-I'm creating a new heavy weapons grunt variant on page 2 that's equipped with the CA-6EX armor. This grunt gets a P.S. of 16 to allow him to shoot his weapons without penalty (including the armor's strength bonus). This gives the GM an option to throw in some long-range or big-punch firepower and increased toughness.
-The CP-50's rifle stats are functionally identical to those of the CP-40, allowing me to save some space.
-I'm removing the missile launcher variant to make room for the heavy weapons grunt variant. One of the heavy's options is a missile rifle anyway.
-I omitted the full model number of the Missile Rifle due to space considerations. It's "CTT-M20," which I shortened to "M20."
-The heavy weapons trooper has the climbing skill at +5% over the standard (no penalty), but this didn't make the cut for inclusion

Oddities I've come across with the newer gear:
-The CP-40 says it has laser targeting, but it offers no bonuses to strike, which is a little weird (maybe it's not properly sighted?)
-The laser on the CTT-M20 Missile Rifle doesn't have a W.P. I'm giving it the same bonuses as the launcher (W.P. Heavy) and giving it single shot bonuses only due to space considerations.
-The CTT-P40 rifle is supposed to be standard on the special forces SAMAS, but the old railgun is listed for it (This text also misidentifies the armor as the "Smiling Jack"). It also has no way of being reloaded (and doesn't detail the recharging process), which seems a bit odd for an energy weapon. I've omitted this weapon from the heavy weapon grunt variant, partly because of this oddity, but mostly because it seems redundant with the plasma cannon (same damage, similar range, limited ammo) and because I'm running short on space.

As always, I welcome suggestions, comments, and critiques. In particular, Page 2 of the new-style grunt generator seems like it could use a little tweaking.