Brile

[Kyle Aarons]

OK, I guess I need to put yet some more world rule clarification into yet another of my Universes...

The Brile/O'Connell stories are based on a full set of Universe creation rules I put together before I ever started writing. (IE, the same kind of thing I did for Kandric) while there are rules for Space Fold Craft (SFCs) and how far they can fold, how they fold, and that sort of stuff. I also have rules on Character creation, and how skills are learned, and have character charts on the major characters, the greatest number of questions I seem to get surround the frames... So...

Basic frame rules discussion is about to start. If this isn't your cup of tea, feel free to move on to a more interesting post. for those who like my world creations and how I work things read on and feel free to ask questions. I am going to show some charts of various frames and some basic weapon systems:

 

Edited November 1, 2015 by Kyle Aarons

[Kyle Aarons]

 

 

Standard Frame Types	Tech	Power	Move	Speed Drop Per KGs	Armor	Max Weapon Size In Hard Points	Hard Points	Pilot Size	Punch Damage	Comp	Basic equipment built in (no hard points needed)
Militia	4	7	8	40	3-2	2	8	13/20	4	A
Trainer	4	8	9	40	5-3	4	8	12/26	4	A	22
Cadet	4	8	8	35	5-3	4	8	6/13	4	A
Micro	4	7	7	30	4-2	3	7	5/12	3	A
Blade	4	7	10	45	4-3	3	9	6/20	4	A	22

 

 

Edited November 1, 2015 by Kyle Aarons

[Kyle Aarons]

test

 

Tech level & Weapon	Damage  Class	Hard Points	Weight (KG)	Ammo Per Kilo	S	M	L	Ext	Power Draw	Damage Pattern
1 Light Pistol	3	1	1	30	2	4	8	12	NA	B
1 Pistol	5	1	1.5	20	3	6	12	18	NA	B
1 Heavy Pistol	8	1	2	10	4	8	16	24	NA	B
1 Light Rifle	3	1	2	25	5	10	20	30	NA	B
1 Rifle	5	1	3.5	20	6	12	24	36	NA	B
2 Heavy Rifle	7	1	5	12	7	14	28	42	NA	B
2 Sniper Rifle	6	1	4.5	15	10	20	40	80	NA	B
2 Light Machinegun	4	2	3	25	4	8	16	24	NA	B
2 Machinegun	6	2	4.5	20	5	10	20	30	NA	B
3 Heavy Machinegun	8	3	6	12	6	12	24	36	NA	B
2 Light Shotgun	3 (5soft)	1	1	10	2	4	8	12	NA	F
2 Shotgun	4 (7soft)	1	2	8	3	5	10	15	NA	F
2  Hvy Shotgun	6 (9soft)	1	3	6	4	6	12	18	NA	F
3 Light Auto Shotgun	3 (5soft)	2	3	10	1	3	6	9	NA	F
3 Auto Shotgun	4 (7soft)	2	4	8	2	4	8	12	NA	F

 

3 Pico Missile *	6	1 *	1.5 *	8	5	10	20	35	1 per 3	C
4 Micro Missile **	8	2 **	4 **	4	9	18	36	60	1 per 2	C
5 Light Missile ***	14	6 ***	12 ***	1	12	24	48	79	1 each	C
6 Medium Missile #	17	8 #	24 #	.5	15	30	60	105	1 each	C
7 Heavy Missile ##	20	10 ##	40 ##	.25	20	40	80	150	1 each	C
3 Micro Laser	4	1	3	NA	4	8	16	32	1	A
4 Light  Laser	7	1	5	NA	6	12	24	48	2	A
4 Medium Laser	9	2	8	NA	8	16	32	64	3	A
5 Heavy Laser	11	3	12	NA	10	20	40	80	4	A

 

 

 

test

Edited November 1, 2015 by Kyle Aarons

[Kyle Aarons]

Now looking at the two above charts I can actually design a basic frame

First we will look at a Cadet Frame, since there have been several conversations about this particular frame

First off we need to start with the pilot: the average 10 year old boy is about 34 kilograms. which (by yet another chart) makes him a size 7

looking at the chart, a cadet frame can take someone one of that size (cadet frame fits a size 6-13)

So we put in the pilot- add 34 to the weight.

next we look at two things the largest weapon system a Cadet frame can take, how many hard points it has, and how much power it takes: Max weapon size is 4 and it has 8 hard points, and has 8 power available: (now I didn't put up even 1/10th the weapons I have charted, but note, a medium missile system takes up 6 points, so that system will not even fit on this frame)

An average pilot will want at least one energy and one ballistic system.

So we will add those: first we will put on two light lasers- looking at the chart these take up two power, one hard point, and weigh 5 kilos each

so now the weight is up to +44 kilos, has 4 power left, and 6 hard points left

Next I am going to add on a heavy Machinegun (weight 6, power 0, and hard points 3) but we also have to add ammo (12 rounds per kilo) this is an auto-fire weapon so it needs a decent amount of ammo. We'll put in 240 rounds or + 20 kilos

Now we have a frame with +70 kilos, 4 power, and 3 hard points left.

Keep in mind the max move of this frame is 8 and it drops one movement for every +35 kilos added to it. This means with =70 kilos it is down to a move of 6

we don't want to drop the movement too much further so we need to balance weight/hard points/power. to keep it at a movement of 6 we need to keep any other weapons and ammo to less than 35 kilos

(Also keep in mind to movement requires 1 power available)

This pilot decides to go heavier on energy, so puts in a Medium laser (weight 8, power 3, hard points 2)

this frame now has +78 kilos, 1 power left, and 1 hard point left

To keep it moving and shooting, the next weapon system has to use no power, and needs to be small (only one hard point left)

The pilot decides to go with some short range punch for softer targets, so puts on a medium shotgun- weight 2 kilos and ammo is 8 shots per kilo since it is not auto-fire it doesn't need a a huge amount of ammo, so the pilot drops in 40 rounds or 5 kilos

the final frame looks like this:

2 light lasers, 1 medium laser, 1 heavy MG (240 rounds), and a medium shotgun (40 rounds)

The frame has 1 power left so it can move and fire everything, and total weight with the pilot in it is +85 kilos and since it drops in speed by 1 for every +35 it drops 2 speed so it moves at 6. it has 5 armor in all front locations and 3 in all rear locations.

Hope this helps, and yes, I do this for every combat frame in the stories so I know exactly what each has and what it can take... (note the weapon chart has a damage pattern, different weapons dings armor in different ways. a frame does not beach and hit the pilot until the armor and one internal damage is done to that location. Internal is either padding or a hard point taken up by some kind of system. I also have charts for added electronics, how much power they take, how many hard points they take, exc...

Any questions???

 

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2015 by Kyle Aarons

[Zergrinch]

I've been rereading this story, and have more than a few questions. But I'll remain relevant to the theme and go with frames questions.

It looks like there are four types of weapons you can mount on a frame: ballistics/Gauss, energy/laser, explosives/missiles/grenades, and sonics/stun. From the stories themselves, it seems to favor ballistics over lasers. This seems counterintuitive, because you need ammo. From all indications (in the story; your chart tells a different story), lasers don't seem to do much damage although they do self recharge. Is there intended to be this kind of trade-off?

Second, did Star Wars exist in the Universe? Because lightsabers

Third, has anyone attempted to develop plasma based systems? I guess my video game bias is showing because the normal upgrade path appears to be conventional ballistics --> magnetic/Gauss --> sonic --> ion/plasma.

Finally, do people get attached enough to their frames to give them affectionate names?

Edited May 30, 2016 by Zergrinch

[roger0002]

Oh no!  I can just imagine Col. Price calling his monster of a frame "Gertrude".  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

[Kyle Aarons]

it has been too long since I have visited this thread and that of O'Connell: Be ready for updates on both stories- real updates!

Now, Zergrinch, the types of damage done by various weapon systems are as important as the power it takes to fire then as the recycle rate.

A laser needs time to recycle, a machinegun doesn't. Explosive ammo can do damage to more than just one target while a Sonic cannon is a single target. Ammo weapons allow for far more versatility such as indirect fire, but yeah, energy weapons are powered directly though the frame so having them keeps you with basically an endless amount of shots (the fusion plants still need recharged, but that doesn't really come into ply unless you are out for weeks with no access to water so you can covert enough hydrogen to refill the fusion plant)

In addition, and very important, energy weapons take power, and a frame only has so much power. At some point you run out of power. It is one of the reasons Blood's Honor Academy cadets must have a loadout where they can fire everything and still have power left to at least walk. Otherwise the frame becomes immobile until enough juice is produced to put power back into the limbs of the frame.

Finally, basic ballistic weapons are a very low tech level and can be found almost anywhere, and thus be repaired almost anywhere. The more advanced the weapon system the higher the tech level and the less available the parts are for it (lasers are very normal and have a low tech level, but not as low as a machinegun) after all it is easy to go to a maninceshop and make a new firing pin. A lasing tube for a laser... well, not quite as easy.

As far a s frames go: yes many framers use the same frame for years, and name them. many even name a favorite weapon. No different than a pilot naming a plane. 

[Castle Herald]

Kyle Aarons

Brile

Styles of Command

Chapter 15

[Sir Kaius]

I am so happy Kyle has posted another chapter to this story. It looks like there is some trouble brewing in Chip's team. I wonder how long he can keep Candice going AWOL a secret. 

Kaius

[Tyler]

thanks for the new chapter!

[Castle Herald]

Kyle Matthew Aarons

Brile

Chapter 17

*Special Note: All links prior to this posting are invalid since the new website is now live.

** Extra Note: The new format does not allow for prologues or epilogues only chapters. Thus the prologue for this story is now Chapter 1 making this update chapter 17 instead of 16.

[Adam]

Lazarus! Welcome back! Your story continues to excite, intrigue and develop characters in a highly involving way, Cory is coming alive and others are mami g him seem believable. You have a way with words which make conflict scenes come alive without semantics. There are a handful of Castle authors which the readers associated with the network with which i spend some of my after work hours are always bugging me with requests such as,  "Why has he stopped writing?" or "Has he run out of ideas" or, even worse (and highly believable for refugee teenagers) "Is he dead, Who killed him?" When I explain you are busy building a web site, they find my reason barely credible, so now they are a bunch of happier boys, re-reading Brile and the Grenadeers from the beginning, at least those who haven't been fostered over recent months in countries beyond our network. So, a big Thanks. Keep those characters flowing and credible, not always perfect. Great job. Adam

[Al Norris]

Possibly one of the hardest jobs, as an editor, is not messing with how and what the characters say. Kyle is painstaking in writing the characters spoken word.

Manner of speech, tone and inflection is hard to write, but Kyle seems to be able to do it and in a manner that portrays the characters in compliance with the mode of the story.

It's just another of the fascinating way he writes.

Al.

[Zergrinch]

There is one thing I noticed about Kyle's style of dialogue: exposition is character-driven. He favors letting the characters set the scene and just about describe everything, be it off-camera events, history, or what the surrounding environment looks like.

It doesn't matter who the character is. Can be a teacher or a pre-pubescent child. I would bet that if you read it aloud, you'll probably run out of breath at the end.

Again, I recognize this as part of Kyle's style and charm, and am just making an observation.

Here's an example from the latest chapter, straight from the mouth of Cory Bennett:

“Beating on it may break it. I need it to survive long enough to tell us what it knows, so I will find ways to make it talk without major damage. As far as the base goes, once you see it you will understand. There is a lot of systems and junk below, but most is power and some mining tunnels and garbage. The nucleus of this place, what everything I could find is tied into, has to be the computer on the tracked platform. As soon as I got it unhooked, I could see there was still power to this base because of a red light on the wall. It’s weird, really, but there is also a massive manual breaker, which makes me think most of this was here before the machines took this place over. Anyway, I was able to flip it and give us normal power. At least, from what I can tell, there is no sign it is being run through any advanced computers. There is a monitoring station below, but it looks and acts like a normal human operated console. It doesn’t even have security lock out protocols enabled, although it does have them available.”

--

Here's another example, this time Cory is the mechanism by which Kyle is giving flashback information. I dare you to read that aloud without taking a drink of water

“I’ll give you the full story, if you want to hear it, after the training, but I’ll tell you this much now. This all springs from the attempt of Earth Core to take your home, New Bravaria. Earth Core was on the verge of winning, and probably would have, but Earth Core lost its command ship and allowed the defenders to regroup using some of the equipment in the wreckage to help them fight back. But there was far more to it than a loss of a command ship. When it went down, it killed thousands of framers and crippled command and control. It also killed a nephew of the Emperor, along with a well-liked great grandson. The EC Emperor was beyond furious. He sent in his most vicious and blood thirsty commander, also one of his most trusted and highly decorated leaders.

“Field Marshal Kormar was given the task and the full resources of his entire command to find who was responsible for the death of this nephew and capture or eliminate them. While most of Komar’s forces were shattered trying to land by Blood’s Honor, Kormar managed to get ample reinforcements to the Earth Core units. He also managed to push back units around the crash of the Fluvius Camillus and found out the responsible party for her demise was the O’Connell Grenadiers. He even found enough of a surviving record to pinpoint a particular target; a kid by the name of Robin Lerrik. It had been Robin who had really caused the Fluvius Camillus to crash.

“Now this gets confusing, but as it turns out Robin and several other O’Connell Grenadier kids had been rescued by Joel along with Gabriel, Chip, and even Karen here along with some of the others of us following Robin’s escape from the Fluvius Camillus. The two groups actually fought an EC armor unit and was about to be overrun until BH dropped in supporting units. They got to Robin just in time. He was close to death and was sent to a hospital with a rejuv unit. The hospital was attacked and was destroyed, but Robin had been extracted hours earlier by Blood’s Honor, along with all the staff and injured. It was just in time, too. The fight over the empty hospital destroyed it but also wiped out a good portion of Kormar’s remaining frontline units too. In fact, it left him so short on veterans, the tide of the battle for New Bravaria turned irreversibly against EC and they were on the defensive for the rest of the fighting.

“This only made Kormar more angry. He ordered the Grenadiers wiped out and a huge reward for Robin to be captured. Word somehow got back to Blood’s Honor about this and I volunteered to prove my loyalty to them. Well, really to Joel, Gabriel, Karen and Chip, but I guess Colonel Price as well. To make a long story short, I infiltrated the EC command center, detonated the power core, and eliminated Kormar before he could send his report back to Earth Core, so all Earth Core knows is the O’Connell Grenadiers were on New Bravaria and had taken part in the fighting, which led to the destruction of the Fluvius Camillus. As part of this, I procured the Field Marshal’s of his Eye of Mars, knowing it would lead to horrible consequences to those who let it be taken. I was correct. The remaining units were declared Ronin and were forced to flee from Blood’s Honor, the ABR, and even EC. Those who survived are almost all wanted criminals and have probably transitioned into merc units. It would not surprise me at all if many of them didn’t get hired to be part of the raids on Andar IX. This is especially true, since many of the units who hit us there were previously unknowns, but had some really good EC equipment.”

---

I really noticed this tendency when Kyle switched styles to set the scene. An example is in the Kandric Saga where Monarch had an internal monologue about Vondum. Another example is the third party narration in O'Connell's Grenadiers which described what happened to the zip ball sent by Robin to Forest Garden.

---

In the interest of not double-posting, I guess I'll just put this question of the Brile Universe's military ranks here:

1. I'm trying to reconcile real world ROTC cadet ranks (left) to Brile cadet ranks (right), and have so far come up with the following correspondence. Have I made any mistakes?
   1. Private --> Private
   2. Private First Class --> Senior Private
   3. Corporal --> Corporal
   4. Sergeant --> Sergeant
   5. Staff Sergeant --> none
   6. Sergeant First Class --> Senior Sergeant
   7. Master Sergeant --> Master Sergeant
   8. First Sergeant --> Command Sergeant
   9. Sergeant Major --> Master Command Sergeant
   10. Command Sergeant Major --> Ensign
   11. Second Lieutenant --> Lieutenant
   12. First Lieutenant --> Senior Lieutenant
   13. Captain --> none
   14. Major --> Major
   15. Lieutenant Colonel --> unrevealed
   16. Colonel --> unrevealed
2. Second, early on, the recording given to Joel's team granted Senior Sergeant promotions to the non-core BHJMA children, with one person of Joel's choice (presumably Lawson) becoming a Master Sergeant.  However, in later chapters, the list of characters indicate that Lawson is a Senior Sergeant, while the other two (Derek Mathis and Paula Swartz) are Sergeants. Did Joel choose to demote them by a rank?

[Kyle Aarons]

Officer Ranks:   Field Marshal                (FldMar) Command General         (CGen) General                         (Gen) Commodore                  (Com) Colonel                         (Col) Commander                  (Cmdr) Major                            (Maj) Senior Lieutenant           (SrLt) Lieutenant                     (Lt) Ensign                          (Ens)

Warrant Officer: (Specialized Positions Only)   Master Warrant Officer   (MWO) Senior Warrant Officer   (SrWO) Warrant Officer              (WO) Junior Warrant Officer    (JrWO)

Enlisted Ranks:   Master Command Sergeant        (MCSgt) Command Sergeant                   (CSgt) Master Sergeant                        (MSgt) Senior Sergeant                        (SrSgt) Sergeant                                   (Sgt) Corporal                                   (Cpl) Specialist                                  (Spec) Senior Private                           (SrPvt) Private                                      (Pvt) Recruit                                      (Rec)

SrLt is the same rank as a Captain (Capt), but a Capt is in command a unit, a SrLt is not.

[Kyle Aarons]

Earth Core Ranks

Legate ('Legatus'): This is an example of the class system in action, as only men of the Senatorial or Noble class could command a legion. 

OFFICERS:

Legatus Propraetor: Commanding General: senate appointed

Legatus Legionis: General- Division Commander

Tribunus: Colonel- Brigade Commander

Praefectus: Lt. Colonel- Battalion Commander

Centurion Princeps: Major

Centurion Hastatus: Captain

Centurion Immunes: (Special Operations soldiers): Specialized rank of Earth Core: Wears rank of Centurion with a dagger running right to left through it. If it runs left to right he is a commander of an Immunes team and has same rank privileges as a Praefectus but cannot command anyone above a Centurion outside of the special operation going on at the time.

Centurion: Lieutenant 

Centurion Posterior: Junior Lieutenant

Centurion Pilus Posterior: Field promoted junior lieutenant

ENLISTED:

Optio Centurion: Sergeant Major

Duplicarius : Command Sergeant

Sesquiplicarius Salararius: Master Sergeant

Immunes: (Special Operations soldiers): Specialized rank of Earth Core: Wears rank of Tessararius with a dagger running right to left through it. If it runs left to right he is a commander of an Immunes squad and is considered a Centurion Pilus Posterior with same privileges, but lives with the enlisted.

Tesserarius (watch officer): Senior Sergeant

Decanus: Sergeant

Aquilifer: Junior Sergeant

Signifer: Corporal

Imaginifer: Senior Private

Miles Gregarius: Private

Tiro: Recruit
 

[Kyle Aarons]

Average Mercenary Unit Pays Scales for AIM: (monthly)

 

Rank	Very Poor	Poor	Below Average	Average	Good	Very Good	Superior	Exceptional
FldMar	3575	4550	5525	6500	6825	7150	7800	8125
CGen	3025	3850	4675	5500	5775	6050	6600	6875
Gen	2530	3220	3910	4600	4830	5060	5520	5750
Com	2090	2660	3230	3800	3990	4180	4560	4750
Col	1705	2170	2635	3100	3255	3410	3720	3875
Cmdr	1375	1750	2125	2500	2625	2750	3000	3125
Maj	1100	1400	1700	2000	2100	2200	2400	2500
SrLt	880	1120	1360	1600	1680	1760	1920	2000
Lt	745	945	1145	1350	1415	1485	1620	1685
Ens	635	800	975	1150	1200	1265	1380	1425
Rank	Very Poor	Poor	Below Average	Average	Good	Very Good	Superior	Exceptional
MWO	965	1225	1485	1750	1835	1925	2100	2190
SrWO	715	910	1105	1300	1365	1430	1560	1625
WO	550	700	850	1000	1050	1100	1200	1250
JrWO	450	575	700	825	860	900	990	1030
Rank	Very Poor	Poor	Below Average	Average	Good	Very Good	Superior	Exceptional
MCSgt	1515	1925	2340	2750	2885	3025	3300	3450
CSgt	1100	1400	1700	2000	2100	2200	2400	2500
MSgt	825	1050	1275	1500	1575	1650	1800	1875
SrSgt	605	770	935	1100	1155	1210	1320	1375
Sgt	495	630	765	900	945	990	1080	1125
Cpl	415	525	640	750	785	825	900	935
Spec	375	475	580	680	715	750	815	850
SrPvt	350	445	585	635	665	700	760	790
Pvt	330	420	540	600	630	660	720	750
Rec	315	400	485	575	600	630	690	715

A Capt pay is at least 100 more than a SrLt but less than a Maj.

[roger0002]

Well, that clears up some things.  Not that I needed it to follow the story, but it does give an idea of what the gang is shooting for.  Considering the costs that Robin and his crew have set themselves up for, it gives a hint at just what types of payment they will have to get for their missions.  Thanks.

 

[Zergrinch]

It is very interesting that in this Universe, Earth has reverted to Latin military ranks. World War 2 definitely happened as per Robin's psychic flashbacks, so I wonder if there was something that made Italy great again the the backstory

As far as the AIM expenses go, Robin and crew definitely have to pay the adults on their team, but I can totally see the other kids refuse to take any pay until their financial situation stabilizes.

To give a sense of scale for the numbers, what would be the average price for (a) a decent meal with a drink, and (b) a two bedroom apartment in a suburban location?

 

[roger0002]

it just dawned on me that we are talking about 2 different stories here.  We should be talking about Joel and his group, rather than Robin's fledgling Merc unit, even if they are in the same universe at about the same time and will eventually, I'm sure, get back together again.  But, still, I think the matter of cost of things like meals can be estimated by what Zane said in the transport to the space station.   He said the fruit flavored ration bars are like15 credits a pack or something along those lines.  I could go back and look it up, I'm sure.  

[Kyle Aarons]

there are some cost of living items given. Look at the cost given by AIM to keep/feed the captives brought into AIM by the Q Sabers.

Cost of living varies wildly per world. Forest Garden is going to be more expensive to live on than Black Jungle, but there are more high paying jobs. Also keep in mind staking claims is common on most worlds, since many planets only have a few million people and lots of land.  may people build homesteads and work the land. They are taxed but the amount varies wildly. Then there are available resources, food and water on New Brunswick is cheep. Medical and high tech stuff is expensive. Ammo is also expensive, because not much is made on world. Another world water may be stupid expensive but you can go down to the local gun shop and buy low powered a laser rifle for 150 credits.

on average making 1000 credits a moth puts you into lower middle class on most worlds.

[Wizard]

I missed the posting of this new chapter somehow so everyone reading Brile there is a new chapter out last month it has been a while since the last one before that so I wouldn't be surprised many of you have forgotten much about this story.

I enjoyed getting back into it.

[maggiefan]

On 2/2/2022 at 5:28 AM, Wizard said:

I missed the posting of this new chapter somehow so everyone reading Brile there is a new chapter out last month it has been a while since the last one before that so I wouldn't be surprised many of you have forgotten much about this story.

I enjoyed getting back into it.

I can't see a link to a new chapter of Brile anywhere... the last one I can find was posted about three years ago.

Can you show me where to look please?

[Wizard]

here is the link

https://castleroland.net/libraries/brile/18/

 

[drpaladin]

On 2/8/2022 at 2:51 PM, Wizard said:

here is the link

https://castleroland.net/libraries/brile/18/

 

Three years ago isn't new.