Hired Gun
Freelancer Combat
Specialist
Mercs. Heavies. Soldiers-for-Hire. Security Specialists. There are dozens of names for freelance hired guns, but they all describe the same profession. Humans and aliens that fight for pay.
Unlike most freelancers, hired guns often have little to do with operating a starship, unless it’s to man a gun. Most are onboard as security. They make sure clients pay and keep an eye out for a double-cross. They extract the crew from “hot” drop zones, repel boarders and keep hostile alien creatures at bay.
Hired guns tend to specialize in very different areas than, say a marine or other enlisted soldier in a standing army. They take very different assignments, and must remain flexible, but all of them have areas they are best at. As such, each hired gun selects a M.O.S. skill package. Those packages can be extensive, and makes up for the fact that most mercs do not have the same level of basic training as professional military soldiers.
The goal of most hired guns is to be well-paid, highly respected and to not die. For most, it’s a pipe dream. The money tends to go out as fast as it comes in, the respect is generally only from fellow mercs, and most merc retirement plans involve a few quiet words from friends and a casket fired off into the nearest star…if a body was ever recovered. However, a good number hit it big, retire, or go into corporate consulting…enough to inspire hundreds more that don’t get that far.
Hired guns and military soldiers have a long-running rivalry. Most hired guns see enlisted soldiers as poorly equipped, inexperienced, underpaid drones. Military personnel, on the other hand, see hired guns as uncouth, dishonorable butchers for hire. Of course, it’s not often that either assessment is accurate.
Bonuses: +1D4 to P.S. and P.E., +2 to save vs. Horror Factor.
Hired Gun O.C.C.
Starting S.D.C. 1D4x10+20.
Alignment: Any. Hired guns (and most freelancers) run the full range from Principled to Diabolic.
Attribute Requirements: P.E. and P.S. of 10 or better. A high P.P. is recommended, but not required.
Racial Restrictions: None. Just about any species can pick up a gun and fight for money.
O.C.C. Skills
Read and Speak Native Language 98%
Speak one language of choice (+10%)
Radio: Basic (+10%)
Basic Math (+15%)
Computer Operation (+10%)
Forced March
Running
Weapon Systems (+10%)
One piloting skill of choice
W.P. Energy Rifle
W.P. Energy Pistol
Zero Gravity Movement and Combat
Hand to hand: Expert can be changed to Martial Arts (or Assassin, if an evil alignment) for the cost of one O.C.C. Related Skill.
M.O.S.: Choose one of the following Military Occupational Specialties (M.O.S.) below:
Bodyguard
Combat Engineer
Corporate Security
Guerrilla Warfare
Recon
Storm trooper
Mechanized Infantry
O.C.C. Related Skills: Select four other skills at level one, plus one skill at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12.
Communications: Any
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any.
Electrical: Basic or Computer Repair only.
Espionage: Any.
Horsemanship: General only.
Mechanical: Basic only.
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only.
Military: Any (+5%)
Physical: Any (+10% where appropriate)
Pilot: Any (+5%)
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+5%).
Science: None.
Technical: Any.
W.P. Ancient: Any.
W.P. Modern: Any.
Wilderness: Any.
Secondary Skills: Select six Secondary Skills at first level from the Secondary Skill List in the Skill Section of Rifts: Ultimate Edition. These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get any bonuses, other than any possible bonus for having a high I.Q. All Secondary Skills start at the base skill level.
Standard Equipment: Several sets of traveling clothes and generic military-style clothing. One set of MDC body armor (can be light, medium or heavy, depending on the hired gun’s style), one energy rifle of choice, one energy pistol of choice, one vibro-knife, survival knife, two weapons of choice. All firearms get 5 extra clips. 1D6 grenades of choice, canteen, flask, sunglasses, backpack, bedroll, two weeks ration bars, small pocket mirror, deck of playing cards and personal effects.
Vehicle: None, unless as special M.O.S. gear.
Cybernetics: None to start, unless specified by M.O.S. However, hired guns are much less averse to cybernetic implants than the general public.
Experience: Use the Man-at-Arms experience table in Rifts: Ultimate Edition.
M.O.S. List
Bodyguard: The bodyguard is a personal defense specialist who is trained to escort and protect one target from harm or harassment. Bodyguards are meant to look tough and intimidating and have a “presence” about them. They are also trained to look for booby traps, ambushes and to be able to make a quick escape with their target. They are used by corporations to protect executives, law enforcement agencies to guard important witnesses and high-profile entertainers. Bodyguards must be able to fit into a variety of social situations and not look (or act) completely out of place. They are just as at home by their employer’s side as they are in a security booth monitoring the employer’s home.
Detect Concealment (+10%)
Detect Ambush (+15%)
Streetwise (+15%)
Combat Driving
Basic Electronics
Surveillance Systems (+10%)
T.V./Video (+10%)
Pilot Hovercraft (+15%)
Paramedic (+10%)
Special Gear: Small, concealable radio, high-fashion wardrobe, multi-optics sunglasses (thermographic vision, nightvision and ultraviolet vision: 400 feet).
Combat Engineer: These hired guns specialize in the technological side of warfare. They can find and remove booby traps, analyze the best way to destroy enemy fortifications, secure a stronghold and bypass security systems.
Locksmith (+15%)
Electrical Engineer (+10%)
Field Armorer and Munitions Expert (+15%)
Demolitions (+15%)
Demolitions Disposal (+15%)
Military Fortification (+10%)
Trap/Mine Detection (+15%)
Computer Hacking (+10%)
Special Gear: Portable tool kit, hand-held scanner unit, arm-mounted field computer, 2 light fusion blocks, one heavy fusion block.
Corporate Security: These mercenaries usually work far away from the dusty, deadly alien worlds of the frontier, and in the sometimes more deadly world of the interstellar corporations. They ensure their company’s security, learn to defile the security of competitors, and sometimes wage outright war against the company’s enemies…all while maintaining civility, professionalism and toeing the company line.
Military Etiquette (+5%)
Intelligence (+10%)
Interrogation (+10%)
Sensory Equipment (+15%)
Surveillance Systems (+15%)
Basic Electronics (+5%)
I.D. Undercover Agent (+16%)
Pilot Small Spaceship (+10%)
Galactic Law (+15%)
Special Gear: Company uniform, security badge, private office, computer terminal with security access, company apartment, private “hopper” space shuttle, total health and insurance care (medical treatment free at any company facility…as long as the security specialist is employed there).
Guerilla Warfare: Trained to survive in the most desolate and dangerous environments imaginable; guerilla warfare specialists fight asymmetrical wars of attrition against much more powerful opponents. They are often hired by rebel groups as well as governments dealing with insurgencies, where their knowledge is used against other guerilla fighters.
Cryptography (+10%)
Sign Language (Military) (+15%)
Detect Ambush (+10%)
Intelligence (+15%)
Undercover Ops (+10%)
Wilderness Survival (+10%)
Demolitions (+10%)
Prowl (+10%)
Hand to hand: Martial Arts
Special Gear: Tactical wide-spectrum headset, 4 additional grenades, survival kit, 1D4 alternate I.D.s, 1D4+2 Sentry-Class Hoverbots, Hoverbot wrist control unit.
Mechanized Infantry: Mercs with mechanized infantry training specialize in the piloting of ground combat war machines, including robots, power armor and hover tanks. While as capable as most soldiers on the ground, where they are at their best is behind the controls of several tons of destruction.
Combat Driving
Pilot Robots and Power Armor (+10%)
Robot or Power Armor Combat Elite (one of choice)
Pilot Hovercraft (+15%)
Pilot Tanks and APCs (+10%)
Sensory Equipment (+10%)
General Repairs and Maintenance (+5%)
Optic Systems (+10%)
Special Gear: One power armor or one-man military ground vehicle of choice with one reload for any ammunition or missile-based weapon systems, multi-optics helmet, and the following cybernetic implants: universal headjack, gyro-compass and clock calendar.
Recon: This Hired Gun specializes in stealth, scouting and information gathering. He also makes an excellent sniper. But, overall, a recon soldier prefers not to have contact with the enemy unless it’s a clearly defined objective.
Prowl (+20%)
Detect Ambush (+15%)
Detect Concealment (+10%)
Sniper
Intelligence (+10%)
Tracking (humanoids) (+15%)
Camouflage (+15%)
Land Navigation (+10%)
Wilderness Survival (+15%)
Trap/Mine Detection (+10%)
Special Gear: Kessler Stealth Suit, 40x Mag Rifle Scope with nightvision and targeting sight (+1 to strike), survival kit.
Storm trooper: The storm trooper is a front-line heavy assault soldier trained to charge into the teeth of the enemy. That could include storming a fortified citadel or boarding an enemy vessel under fire. They prefer heavy armor and powerful weapons. Finesse is not their way; blasting the enemy off the map and surviving to tell the tale is.
Boxing
Demolitions (+10%)
W.P. Heavy Energy
W.P. Targeting (for grenades mainly)
First Aid
NBC Warfare (+10%)
Pilot: E.V.A. (+10%)
Special Gear: 2D6 additional grenades, one heavy weapon of choice with six extra clips/belts of ammunition, 1D4 cybernetic or bionic implants of choice (no more than one limb can be bionic).