City of Angels Page 45 APPENDIX CIVILIAN CHARACTERS IN TWILIGHT: 2000 The rules suggestions that follow are not official, but are provided for player and referee use. They add extra flexibility and interest to the game, Civilians outnumber soldiers in the U.S. by a staggering ratio, Many of these civies are as resourceful, dynamic and driven as the soldiery. Up until this time, the prospect of civilians that fight alongside the soldier-boys has been ne- glected. Rules for civilian player-characters are included here to rectify the situation. After all, there are a lot more ciwies than there are troops! CHARACTER GENERATION Basic attributes are rolled and recorded normally. Military Experience Base is determined in the same way, but instead of subtracting the basic attribute total from 120 the total is subtracted from 70. Time in Combat is calculated normally - the months in combat represents the amount of time that the character has been fighting since the destruc- tion of order in the U.S. Those characters with over 15 months of combat time are old Vietnam veterans or mid-90's Coolness Under Fire is determined normally. Rads are determined randomly. Roll 4d6 forthe amount of radiation the character has absorbed in the nuclear war and its aftermath. Age is largely a matter of choice with civilians. Education and experience modify this choice: Age is equal to the character's EDU plus 8 plus the result of a dice roll - the number of dice rolled can range from 1 to 5, at the player's option Language is English. Some characters may be bilingual {the most common second language is Spanish); this is represented by buying the language at 1/2 normal price (the character must have a solid bilingual background), SKILLS AND SPECIALTIES Civilians receive Education and Background skill points. They do receive Mlitary skill points, but fewer than soldiers, for obvious reasons. Each civilian character receives 350 Background skill points, EDU times 40 in Education skill points and Military Experience Base times 20 in Miltary skill points. Civilians have only one starting skill: WVD25. All other skills must be purchased. Miltary skills (those skills with only an M by them) may be purchased using Background points, at double the cost. Background and Education skills are at regular cost. Specialties: Civilians usually out-do their military counterparts in certain specialized skills, thanks to more intensive training and experience. Two related skills bought with Background or Education skill points may be chosen as Specializations and bought at 1/2 price. These two skills must be related in some fashion. For instance, ACM and MEC, or MNE and MTL, SCD and SWM, etc. This represents the character's occupation. Specialty skills may be bought to a level over 80. FINISHING THE CHARACTER Base Hit Numbers and Body Combat Damage are calcu- lated normally. Equipment is aquired differently for civilians. They do not have an equipment allowance but have to "buy" theirgear. They receive their INTtimes 1 dé times $300 to buy equipment, thus representing the scavenging through which they picked up their gear. Use price modifiers as noted in the Plot section of this book.