MAKING MARINES

“How many drops is this for you, Lieutenant?”

“Thirty eight... simulated.”

“How many combat drops?”

“Uh, two. Including this one.”

—LT. ELLEN RIPLEY, LIEUTENANT SCOTT GORMAN, AND PRIVATE JENETTE VASQUEZ

Either via draft, free will, or at gunpoint, you signed up for the Colonial Marines. Congratulations. Your recruiter probably gave you a pretty story about a paid education, learning a trade, traveling to beautiful new worlds, and getting off your boring ass colony. Probably even told you that the Americas haven’t been in an open conflict since the Dog War ended, almost twenty years ago. Definitely told you you’d get to shoot a nice big gun. Well marine, that last part is 100 percent true. The rest, well—lets just say those little gems ain’t as shiny as you thought. If you’ve signed up thinking you’re going to be taking on enemy platoons by yourself and slow motion running away from explosions like some goddamn action hero nonsense—just stop that shit right now. You’re embarrassing yourself and you are embarrassing the Corps. Modern warfare is a dangerous business. Once you step off that dropship and onto a battlefield, you’ll run into more ways to die than there are for you to stay alive. Just remember that war is more Nuts and Gory than Guts and Glory.

ON THE READY LINE

In a Colonial Marines campaign, most if not all PCs will typically be of the Colonial Marine career as described in the core rulebook. This chapter gives you more background detail and more options for Colonial Marines, to create a more varied group of PCs.

It’s possible to create Pilot and Officer PCs within the USCMC as well, but it can be challenging to play as pilots tend to stay on their ships and commissioned officers only command units of platoon size and up. A team of Pilots could work if the PCs belong to an EVAC fighter wing, but most missions would be aerospace combat based. Smaller units such as squads and sections are commanded by non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who count as Colonial Marines in game terms but can learn some Officer talents as well. More on that below. The players should ideally create their squad of Marines together, in a group. The normal rules for character creation apply, unless stated otherwise here.

CREATING YOUR MARINE How you create your Marine is explained in detail in this chapter. The summary below is a helpful overview. Grab a character sheet, a pencil, and follow these steps: Decide together who in the group should be unit commander. Choose your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Distribute 14 points amongst your attributes. Distribute 10 points amongst your skills. Choose your MOS talent. Roll for your field events. Choose your rank. Choose your name. Decide on your appearance. Decide on your Personal Agenda. Choose your Buddy and Rival. Get your gear and a signature item.

RECRUITMENT 101. In the Corps, the galaxy is your playground, and you get to see it all. Every assignment is a new planet, every mission is a new moon. You have trouble making friends? In the Corps, you will have no choice but to form life and death bonds with your squad—instant life buddies. Out of cash and worried about paying for that sleeping cage you rent? In the Corps, all that shit’s taken care of, baby. You’ve got room and board and all expenses covered—all courtesy of Colonial Administration. You earn money to send back home. Plus, you get to show the universe you are a goddamn patriot. Still not convinced—I get it. What if I told you you’ll not only get all that, but also get to shoot one of these puppies—the M41A1 Pulse Rifle. Every rifleman gets one of their very own—go on, hold it. Feel the weight. She fires 10 millimeter explosive-tip caseless light armor piercing rounds and comes with her own over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher. You can really fuck up someone’s day with one of these. Sounds good, now, doesn’t it.

THE BASICS

You need to work together with the other players to create your characters. Have a look at the command breakdown and decide on a unit size that fits the number of players—a typical group will be a squad, but a larger group might be a full section, while a smaller group could be just a single fireteam.

MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY (MOS)

When the commander has been assigned, it’s time for everyone to choose their Military Occupational Specialty—MOS for short. Your MOS determines your exact job in the corps. You’ll find a number of MOS to choose from on page 54 and forward.

Talk to each other when selecting MOS. Look at the requirements of the standard four-man squad. It contains two fireteams, typically a Gun Team (a smartgunner and a comtech Marine) and a Rifle Team (two Marines who can select their MOS freely). One of those four will be designated squad leader. It is possible, also, that the section’s commander (a sergeant) might attach themselves to the squad, making five Marines in total. Squads can also be formed by swapping out one fireteam for an Assault, CBRN, or Recon Team.

Finally, it is also possible to create a Colonial Marine campaign that is focused on the two-man crew of a dropship, or the driver and gunner of an M577 APC or XT-37 FAV. The crew chief and AFV Marine specialties are provided for this.

THE COMMANDER: As the unit commander, you still need to choose a MOS. You won’t actually have this specific role any longer, but it determines your skill set based on what you did before you took command.

ATTRIBUTES

Allocate 14 points to the standard attributes of Strength, Agility, Wits and Empathy as normal. Your MOS will indicate your key attribute, to which you can assign up to 5 points. For the other attributes, 4 is the maximum.

SKILLS

Allocate 10 points to your skills. You must allocate at least one skill point each to CLOSE COMBAT, STAMINA, RANGED COMBAT, MOBILITY, and the skills listed by your MOS. MOS skills can start at up to level 4. For non-MOS skills, 3 is the maximum starting level.

TALENTS

Choose one of the talents listed for your MOS. Some of these talents are new. If you’re an NCO, you can choose an Officer career talent instead of a MOS talent.

JOINING THE MARINES Most new recruits have an initial age of 18–23. Recruits are initially trained as Marine infantry riflflemen at Camp Pendleton, California, where the best will eventually graduate having mastered their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). In their fifirst few months, a Marine holds the rank of private. Within a year or so, they will have been promoted to private fifirst class (PFC). Some will go on to become lance corporals.

MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY (MOS)

Your Military Occupational Specialty—MOS for short—determines what you do in the corps. In game terms, your MOS is a skill package that provides several skill choices. This MOS might be a rifleman, combat medic or smart gunner, for example. The specialties of AFV Marine and Dropship Crew Chief may only be suitable for vehicle-based games, however. You can find a selection of MOS below.

AFV MARINE

When the squad gets itself in the shit, you are the one who has to come bail them out. You are part of the crew of a Marine armored fighting vehicle (AFV) such as an APC or tank. Whether driver or gunner, you share responsibility for your vehicle's maintenance and repair.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Agility
• SKILLS: Piloting, Ranged Combat
• TALENTS: All-Terrain Driver, Banter, Heavy Weapons, Overkill, Past the Limit

ASSAULT MARINE (BREACHER)

You are a combat specialist—trained for both major assaults and urban pacification. For crowd control, you carry stun batons, riot shields, and use rubber U1 ammo to subdue targets. You also use a big fucking rocket launcher to knock on doors. You are often paired with a comtech marine for the ultimate in badassery.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Strength
• SKILLS: Ranged Combat, Close Combat
• TALENTS: Banter, Subdue, Overkill, Past the Limit, Weapon Specialist (M5 RPG)

AUTOMATIC RIFLEMAN (SMARTGUNNER)

Smartgunners are a breed apart. The M56A2 smart gun’s servo mount may keep it steady, but it takes muscle to withstand the kickback and stay on target. You are tough and dedicated to your role as an asskicker in battlefield fire support—your buddies flush out the bad guys and you blow them away.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Strength
• SKILLS: Ranged Combat, Stamina
• TALENTS: Banter, Machinegunner, Overkill, Past The Limit, Weapon Specialist (M56A2 Smart Gun)

COMTECH MARINE

It’s a modern battlefield—that means remote driven dropships, robot sentry guns, computer controlled bombs, and worse. You are a Comtech Marine—the squad’s tech spec—skilled with computer systems, radios, diagnostic and hacking devices. Comtechs are essential to any squad and play a significant role in Assault Marine and CBRN Specialist fireteams.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits
• SKILLS: Comtech, Observation
• TALENTS: Bypass, Banter, Overkill, Past The Limit, Remote

CBRN SPECIALIST

You are trained to assess, contain, and quarantine chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. Part field scientist, part rifleman—you’re all Marine. Whether it’s a dirty bomb, viral outbreak, or some chemical that melts people’s faces off, you’re the one with the tools who’s cool enough to hold their breath and handle it.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits
• SKILLS: Observation, Heavy Machinery
• TALENTS: Banter, Inquisitive, Nerves of Steel, Overkill, Weapon Specialist (M230 Incinerator)

DROPSHIP CREW CHIEF

You are the back-seat crewman of a dropship or gunship. On the ground you carry out maintenance, run pre-flight checks and handle loading and unloading. In-flight, you provide sensor and navigational data to the pilot and operate the weapon systems. The pilot might make the ship fly, but you make it go boom.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Strength
• SKILLS: Comtech, Heavy Machinery
• TALENTS: Banter, Fast Reflexes, Heavy Weapons, Overkill, Past the Limit

HOSPITAL CORPSMAN

You are still a rifleman—but you are one of the platoon’s combat medics, able to provide life-saving first aid and even emergency battlefield surgery if needed. Your squad tends to have your back because they know they’ll need you to patch them up when the shit starts flying.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Empathy
• SKILLS: Medical Aid, Observation
• TALENTS: Banter, Bodyguard, Hug the Dirt, Overkill, Past the Limit

DEDICATED MARKSMAN

You are a sniper. You wear a camouflage ghillie suit, blend into the background, and pick off enemy soldiers at long range with your M42A scope rifle. Most platoons employ one or two dedicated marksmen and their spotters.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Agility
• SKILLS: Ranged Combat, Observation
• TALENTS: Banter, Killer, Overkill, Past the Limit, Weapon Specialist (M42A Scope Rifle)

FORWARD OBSERVER

The first one on the field—you scout ahead to silently take out enemies and secure a vantage point to set up shots for either artillery or a dedicated marksman. An advanced rifleman, you use silenced motion detectors, full spectrum scopes, ghillie suits, and suppressed Pups to coordinate targets for either your sniper or an airstrike.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits
• SKILLS: Observation, Mobility
• TALENTS: Banter, Watchful, Stealthy, Remote, Hug the Dirt

RIFLEMAN

As a rifleman, you’re always on the frontline—walking point and looking out for ambushes and traps. The uneducated say you’re just a grunt, but you are much more than that. Part scout and part assault trooper, you are the core of the Colonial Marines’ close combat forces.

• KEY ATTRIBUTE: Agility
• SKILLS: Survival, Mobility
• TALENTS: Banter, Overkill, Past the Limit, Stealthy, Watchful

FIELD EVENTS

Marines have formative experiences that will impact their lives or career. Make a note of these events, they become an important part of your Marine’s backstory. Most events bring with them some benefit, an advantage, skill gain, injury, or other effect.

For a normal enlisted Marine, just roll once on table A. For an NCO, also roll for a second field event on table B. For pilots and crew chiefs, instead roll on table C.

Re-roll if you roll the same event as another player. Skills and attributes can never go above 5 as a result of a field event. If you roll an event that would cause that to happen, re-roll.

EVENT TABLE A – ENLISTED

D66	EVENT
11–13	You picked up a maintenance jack during a colony siege. It got your squad into the heart of the complex where the fight was won. You kept hold of this useful tool, which works so well it give an additional bonus +1 to HEAVY MACHINERY when using it.
14–16	During a colony virus outbreak everyone ran out of ammo and your squad retreated to the Marshal’s office where you fought off the infected colonists. You still have the 12-gauge shotgun you used that day.
21–24	You buck authority, given the choice of prison or the Corps, you chose the latter. You do your job but still don’t like being told what to do. Gain the Hothead talent.
25–31	You threw yourself in front of a colonist and saved them from an insurgent attack. Your M3 armor saved you and you saved the colonist. You gained a Marine Commendation Medal and the Bodyguard talent.
32–34	A headshot knocked you down, the bullet embedding into your helmet. You picked it out and still wear it today—the bullet that should’ve killed you. Gain the bullet as a signature item.
35–41	Local alien wildlife ate the lieutenant and friendly fifire took out the sergeant. You were the eldest of the young Marines and they turned to you for their orders. You didn’t let them down. Gain +1 COMMAND skill.
42–44	The MAU trained for Operation Crossbow, a secret attempt to seize a UPP space station. Gain the Zero-G Training talent. The op never took place or, if it did, your platoon did not participate in it.
45–52	Your training days at Camp Pendleton were hell. A vindictive drill sergeant singled you out for merciless punishments. Gain the Tough talent.
53–55	You risked your life to save your comrades and were awarded the Galactic Cross, the second highest award that the UAAC can bestow. Officers in the battalion give you special treatment which causes tension in your platoon.
56–62	Manning a checkpoint on a war-torn colony world, you spotted suspicious behavior and shot the suicide bomber dead, saving a dozen lives in the process. Gain +1 OBSERVATION skill.
63–66	You’ve got a good rapport with the company logistics sergeant and he’s always supplying you with unexpected or unconventional bits of equipment. Gain the Hidden Stash talent.

EVENT TABLE B – NCO

D66	EVENT
11–13	Age didn’t play a part—everyone came to you during the hard times of the campaign. You were a brother, a father and confifidante. Gain +1 EMPATHY.
14–16	The sun’s going down, the squad’s low on ammo and dead–beat, but you always volunteer to stand a double watch. The guys appreciate it. Gain the Light Sleeper talent.
21–24	You spent time training with Force Recon and gained a special ops M4A3 pistol with custom sound suppressor.
25–31	In combat you were severely injured and held on to life throughout the night behind enemy lines. Gain +1 STAMINA skill.
32–34	In a protracted bug hunt the ammo ran dry. Only determination, bravery and skill with a combat knife and entrenching tool saved your skin. Gain +1 CLOSE COMBAT skill.
35–41	It looked like the hostage rescue had failed but you bargained with the insurgents and secured their release after all. No medal for you, but you gain +1 MANIPULATION.
42–44	Your squad was relentlessly hit by booby traps and sniper fifire from an invisible and unreachable enemy. Frustration and anger boiled over. Gain the Merciless talent.
45–52	The guy was screaming and bleeding. The squad panicked, but you took decisive action which saved the Marine’s life. Gain +1 MEDICAL AID skill.
53–55	Your position was compromised, and the squad had to escape across rugged and dangerous terrain whilst under withering fire. Gain +1 MOBILITY skill.
56–62	Isolated behind enemy lines in a harsh environment, it looked like the end of the line for the squad. Your ingenuity in securing shelter and food kept your comrades alive during the march back to base. Gain +1 SURVIVAL skill.
63–66	The abandoned and damaged vehicle was the only way to escape an imminent attack, but you diagnosed the main problems and got the squad to fix it—fast. Gain +1 HEAVY MACHINERY skill.

EVENT TABLE C – PILOTS AND CREW CHIEFS

D66	EVENT
11–13	You earned a Distinguished Flying Cross during a period of intense “dust-off” medevac missions. That relentless flflying schedule means that today you are addicted to neversleep pills.
14–16	The dropship was in a spin, just below the speed of sound, and despite the 9G acceleration, you remained conscious and fought to regain control. Gain +1 STAMINA skill.
21–24	They call you “super six,” you always know when there is someone on your tail, it even works on the ground! Gain the Watchful talent.
25–31	While ferrying medical and food supplies to a disaster hit colony, you became the hero of the people. You carry a rosary given to you by one of the colonists.
32–34	Your air-support callsign is famous amongst the grunts on the ground. Once, the platoon sent you an inscribed bottle-opener. Gain a signature item.
35–41	After your dropship was shot down, you spent a week behind enemy lines desperately avoiding enemy patrols. Gain the Stealthy talent.
42–44	The dropship was once overrun by bugs, you fought bravely with an emergency fire axe to help clear them out and lift off. Gain +1 CLOSE COMBAT skill.
45–52	Constant field repairs on dirt landing fields with no resources forced you to improvise. Gain +1 HEAVY MACHINERY skill.
53–55	Your dad sent you a .357 Magnum to replace your 9mm M4A3 pistol. He wants you to get back home in one piece. Gain the pistol as a signature item.
56–62	Strapped to an ejection seat, you were shot through the thigh at 10,000 feet and six hours from base—you improvised a tourniquet and saved your own life. Gain +1 MEDICAL AID skill.
63–66	You and your crewman had to eject and survive for days in a hostile desert. Gain +1 SURVIVAL skill.

COLONIAL MARINE TALENTS

BANTER: Between fights, you release the tension in your team with some friendly banter. Your STRESS LEVEL, and the STRESS LEVEL of everyone in SHORT range of you, drops two steps (instead of one) for every Turn spent in a safe place. Having several Marines with this talent doesn’t increase the effect.

OVERKILL: You don’t run and hide when the going gets tough. Instead of panicking in the face of mortal danger, you can turn your fear into aggression and use it as a weapon against your enemy. You can trigger the Overkill effect when you make a Panic Roll.

PAST THE LIMIT: When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and you’re the toughest badass around. You can push any skill roll based on STRENGTH twice, not just once like other characters. Each push increases your STRESS LEVEL by one.

OFFICER TALENTS

FIELD COMMANDER: You can use COMMAND to give orders in combat as a fast action instead of a slow action. This in effect means you can give orders twice in the same Round.

INFLUENCE: With rank comes certain privileges—being obeyed is one of them. You can push any skill roll based on EMPATHY twice, not just once like other characters. Each push increases your STRESS LEVEL by one.

PULL RANK: You can use your COMMAND skill to order other non-officer PCs and NPCs around, as long as they belong to the same organization as you. To force someone to follow your orders and perform a specific action, roll COMMAND against the target’s MANIPULATION. If successful, the target must follow your order, even if it means harm or danger to themselves. Your STRESS LEVEL increases by one each time you do this. Note also that each roll only covers one specific action. You cannot stop actions triggered by Panic Rolls using this talent.

NEW TALENTS

These five talents are new and available only to Colonial Marines.

ALL-TERRAIN DRIVER: Almost anyone can drive a tractor or APC, but with this talent you have experience driving all-terrain vehicles over rough terrain whilst minimizing damage to the vehicle. You get a +2 modification to PILOTING when driving a wheeled or tracked vehicle built for off-road travel.

BYPASS: You have experience jury-rigging toolkits and using diagnostic devices to hack doors. You gain a +2 modification to the COMTECH skill when attempting to unlock a locked entryway.

HEAVY WEAPONS: The military uses a variety of heavy weapons, from plasma guns to tactical missiles and tank guns. You get a +2 modification to RANGED COMBAT when firing such weapons, and +2 to HEAVY MACHINERY when attempting to unjam or fix a heavy weapon.

HUG THE DIRT: With this talent you’re able to maximize cover from incoming ranged attacks when you’re down on the ground, forcing an attacker using a ranged weapon at MEDIUM range or more to take a –2 modification. Going prone does not require an action, but you can only do it on your own turn. Getting up is a fast action. This talent can be combined with the effects of cover.

REMOTE: You are qualified to set up, control and repair remote sentry guns and other remotely-controlled battlefield devices, and to pilot remote vehicles and Pups. Receive +2 to COMTECH rolls to carry out these tasks. The correct equipment is needed in all cases. A portable uplink terminal, for example, is needed to remote pilot a dropship, EVAC fighter or APC.

GENERAL TALENTS

BODYGUARD: If someone within SHORT range of you is hit by an attack, you can dive in to take the hit. Roll for MOBILITY. It doesn’t count as an action in combat. If you roll one or more [+], you take the hit instead. You can push the roll.

CALM BREATHER: When making a supply roll for air, you get to roll two dice fewer than your Supply Level, to a minimum of one die.

COUNSELOR: Once per Turn, you can use the COMMAND skill to reduce the STRESS LEVEL of another character within SHORT range. For each [+] you roll, their STRESS LEVEL is reduced by one extra step (in addition to the default one step). You cannot use this talent on yourself.

EVA SPECIALIST: You get +2 to HEAVY MACHINERY and COMTECH rolls when spacewalking.

FAST REFLEXES: You can draw two initiative cards instead of one during the initiative draw. Choose the one you want to use, and shuffle the other one back into the deck before others draw their cards.

FLYWEIGHT: When you block in close combat, you can use AGILITY instead of STRENGTH.

HARD HITTER: You get a +2 modification to CLOSE COMBAT if you sacrifice your fast action.

HEALER: You are very resilient and recover quickly from injuries. The healing time of critical injuries is halved for you.

HIDDEN STASH: You begin each session with an extra item of your choice, hidden on your person or stowed somewhere safe. The item must be something you could reasonably have. The GM has final say about what items are available to you. If the GM allows it, you may wait until a dramatic moment during the session to choose what type of item you are hiding.

HOTHEAD: You don’t like being told what to do. You get a +2 modification to opposed rolls for MANIPULATION whenever someone tries to give you orders. This talent can also be used to resist the Officer’s career talent Pull Rank.

LIGHT EATER: When making a supply roll for food, you get to roll two dice fewer than your Supply Level, to a minimum of one die.

LIGHT SLEEPER: You can get by on less sleep than most. You only need to sleep for one Shift every two days, instead of one shift every day.

KILLER: You know where to strike to make your enemy fall and not get up. Ever. When your enemy sustains a critical injury you may switch the D66 roll so that the ones die becomes the tens die and vice versa. This talent can only be used on humans.

MACHINEGUNNER: Firing full auto is the only way to get the job done, in your opinion. When firing on fully automatic, your STRESS LEVEL does not increase.

MENACING: You have a scary physical presence that makes it easy to intimidate people. You can roll for MANIPULATION using STRENGTH instead of EMPATHY when you threaten someone to make them do what you want. If you succeed, your opponent cannot demand anything in return from you. They can still choose to attack you instead of giving in.

MERCILESS: You can perform a coup de grace without rolling for EMPATHY. Also, your STRESS LEVEL is decreased one step each time you cause an enemy to be Broken.

NERVES OF STEEL: You keep a cool head in all situations, and thus get a –2 modification to all Panic Rolls.

PACK MULE: You can carry twice as many objects as normal without being encumbered.

QUICK DRAW: You can draw your weapon so quickly it doesn’t cost you an action.

RAPID FIRE: You can fire a pistol or rifle as a fast action instead of a slow action, at the cost of a −2 modification.

RAPID RELOAD: You can reload a weapon as a fast action instead of a slow action.

SECOND WIND: When you are Broken, you can get back on your feet immediately, without anyone giving you first aid. Roll for STAMINA. For every [+]you roll, you get one Health point back and can keep fighting a little while longer. This talent can only be used once per Turn, and has no effect against critical injuries.

SPACESHIP COMMANDER: In the role as a captain of a spaceship during space combat, you can draw two initiative cards instead of one during the initiative draw. Choose the one you want to use.

SPACESHIP MECHANIC: You get a +2 modification when you use HEAVY MACHINERY or COMTECH to repair damage to a spacecraft.

SPACESHIP GUNNER: As a gunner on a spaceship during combat, you get a +2 modification to your RANGED COMBAT rolls.

STEALTHY: You get a +2 modification to MOBILITY when using the skill to move undetected.

STOIC: You can roll for STAMINA using WITS instead of STRENGTH.

TOUGH: You are used to taking a beating. You increase your Health by +2, i.e. your maximum number is equal to your STRENGTH plus 2.

WATCHFUL: The hairs on the back of your neck stand up when enemies lurk nearby. You get a +2 modification to OBSERVATION when trying to spot a sneak attack.

WEAPON SPECIALIST: You’re an expert at using a specific weapon model—choose one from the weapon lists. When you use this weapon, you get a +2 modification. You can choose this talent several times, once per weapon type. You can be a specialist at fighting unarmed.

ZERO-G TRAINING: Your sense of balance is well adapted to an environment without gravity. You get +2 to MOBILITY rolls in zero-G.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Your Marine is almost ready for that first combat briefing, but there are some final preparations to complete.

RANK

In the ALIEN RPG, rank is a title with little authority. As explained in “Forget The Chain of Command”, the player characters decide their own fate. Rank is often associated with a Marine’s role or position within the platoon.

When creating your character, simply choose a rank that fits your MOS and position from the table to the right. Most enlisted Marines will be Privates or PFCs, and your unit commander (NCO) will typically be a Corporal or a Sergeant. Higher ranks are rare for PCs.

ENLISTED RANK	TYPICAL POSITION
Private	Team member
Private First Class	Team member
Lance Corporal	Team leader
Corporal	Squad leader
Sergeant	Section commander
Staff Sergeant	Platoon second-in-command
Gunnery Sergeant	Company second-in-command
Master Sergeant	Operations chief (unit varies)
First Sergeant	Operations chief (unit varies)
Master Gunnery Sergeant	Operations chief (unit varies)
Sergeant Major	Battalion or squadron second-in-command

OFFICER RANK	TYPICAL POSITION
Second Lieutenant	Platoon commander, Pilot
First Lieutenant	Platoon commander, Pilot
Captain	Company commander, Pilot
Major	Staff officer
Lieutenant Colonel	Battalion or squadron commander
Colonel	MAU commander
Brigadier General	Commander of brigade or divisions
Major General	Commander of brigade or divisions
Lieutenant General	High staff officer
General	Senior general-grade officer

PERSONAL STUFF

Your Marine needs a name, of course, as well as a description of their appearance, a Personal Agenda, a signature item and both a Buddy and a Rival.

STARTING GEAR

A fresh Colonial Marine character gets three types of gear: basic gear, specialty gear, and bonus gear. All items listed below are included in the Gear chapter.

Some PCs may find they acquire more gear than they can carry. That’s not a problem—before each mission, choose what you’re going to take, and leave the rest cluttering up your bunk back at base.

BASIC GEAR
All Colonial Marines (including officers fighting in the field), will begin the game with the following gear: Military ID Key Tags Battledress Utilities TM3B Standard Boots IMP Individual Marine Pack (includes Personal Medkit) TM10 Ballistic Helmet TM3 Personal Armor With Built-In Personal Data Transmitter TTNR Shoulder Lamp

SPECIALTY GEAR

A Marine’s MOS may provide additional items of equipment: AFV MARINE: M41A Pulse Rifle, Electronic Tools ASSAULT MARINE: M41A Pulse Rifle, U1 Baton Rounds, Stun Baton, M5 RPG, Riot Shield AUTOMATIC RIFLEMAN: M56 Smart Gun, Head-Mounted Sight COMTECH MARINE: M41A Pulse Rifle, Electronic Tools, Seegson System Diagnostic Device (SSDD) CBRN SPECIALIST: M41A Pulse Rifle, U4 Firebombs, CBRN Kit, UDEP Poncho, HAZMAT Suit DEDICATED MARKSMAN: Suppressed M42A Scope Rifle, Ghillie Suit DROPSHIP CREW CHIEF: G-Suit, Life Vest, Survival Kit, M4A3 Pistol, Mk.50 Compression Suit HOSPITAL CORPSMAN: M41A Pulse Rifle, Surgical Kit, Naproleve x5, Neversleep Pills x10 FORWARD OBSERVER: M41A Pulse Rifle, F3S Spotter Scope, Suppressed Pups, Ghillie Suit RIFLEMAN: M41A Pulse Rifle, M314 Motion Tracker SERGEANT/STAFF NCO: M41A Pulse Rifle, Binoculars OFFICER: M41A Pulse Rifle, Binoculars, Seegson P-DAT PILOT: G-Suit, Life Vest, Survival Kit, M4A3 Pistol, Mk.50 Compression Suit

BONUS GEAR

Finally, each PC chooses one item from each list (A and B), below: LIST A Six Signal Flares Combat Knife Personal Data Transmitter/Locator Accessory Set Bi-Mex Anti-Flash Sunglasses Polymer Climbing Rope Folding Winch Folding Entrenching Spade Electronic Tools Three Handcuffs Maintenance Jack Ultra Diffusive Environmental Poncho Samani E-series Watch LIST B TM4A3 Pistol TVP-70MA6 Pistol Two G2 Electroshock Hand Grenades Spacesub ASSO-400 Harpoon Grappling Gun TM240 Incinerator Unit Four Spare M40 Grenades Mechanical Cutting Torch

“You are the sons and daughters of great pioneers—the colonial farmers and miners who expanded the reach of this great American Arm. And like your mothers and fathers, you now have the chance to do your part for the colonies. You will march into alien sunsets in the name of these United Americas. It’s a march towards that which we have striven for nearly a century—life and liberty amongst the stars. Earth salutes you. The eyes of the colonies are upon you. Their hopes and prayers make planetfall with you. In the company of our brothers-in-arms in the interstellar navies, armies, and aerospace forces, it is you that protects these great territories from invasive species. Your strength and resolve will bring about the elimination of socialist tyranny over the oppressed peoples beyond the Red Line. You are the defenders of the stars themselves, and only you can guarantee security for ourselves on a free Frontier. You are the United States Colonial Marines—and it is an honor to serve with you.”

—GENERAL DELYLA VAUGHN TO THE USCMC GRADUATING CLASS OF ‘80