WWII Tank Crew RPG

[arthurhoneyhill]

This is an idea I've been toying with in my head for a few years now. I'm not sure what system I would use, (d20, d%) or anything, but I'm pretty sure I would stick to d20, like I'm used to.

Races would be like Russian, French, British, Canadian, etc.
Classes would be navigator, driver, gunner, communicatios, etc.

Highly skill-based. Skills like Drive broken down into different terrains and vehicles. Attributes would be more mental and knowledgable than physical.

I would have to do a lot of research though, but I'm not scared.

What do you guys think? Any ideas?

 

[jefgorbach]

I wonder if Pinnacle's Weird War II (d20, Savage Worlds) has sufficient info for your needs? Irc, Gurps had a conversion book at one time as well?

 

[Andras]

GURPS has a series of WWII books you might want to look at.

 

[adwyn]

One thing I noticed in playing T:2000 and some sci fi games with tread heads is that a tank crew makes for an odd RPG situation in combat. At best (game play wise) only two or three people are making decisions and the rest are only rolling a die. This is similar to many sci fi games and starship combat.

Options include giving each player their own vehicle with its own crew, another is to get the players outside of their vehicle as much as possible. If you go this second route I'd look more towards a scout vehicle than a heavy beast.

Still the crew concept is a good way to hold a group together - good luck.

 

[AJCarrington]

How "real" do you want the game? I think you could easily port one of the recommendations noted above to cover various "soft" aspects of the game, but not sure how well they would work when it comes to combat. For this portion, you might want to consider using a board game, such as Advanced Squad Leader, to get the mechanics down. The primary issue is the shear lethality of combat - one hit generally equaled a brewed up tank. One might be able to offset this using some form of action point/saving throw system to keep these going. What time/campaign were you considering setting the game in?

Regards,

AJC

 

[mhensley]

It would be a pretty boring game for the loader. It might work better to let each player be the commander of their own tank and have them manage their own crews. Then it would play pretty much like mechwarrior.

 

[Raptor]

This is an idea I've been toying with in my head for a few years now. I'm not sure what system I would use, (d20, d%) or anything, but I'm pretty sure I would stick to d20, like I'm used to.

Races would be like Russian, French, British, Canadian, etc.
Classes would be navigator, driver, gunner, communicatios, etc.

Highly skill-based. Skills like Drive broken down into different terrains and vehicles. Attributes would be more mental and knowledgable than physical.

I would have to do a lot of research though, but I'm not scared.

What do you guys think? Any ideas?

The typical positions on a tank during WW2 usually were:
Crew Commander
Gunner
Loader
Driver
if you had 5 in your crew one might be a radioman.