Can individual characters start a Long Term Project for themselves or another squadmate during free play scenes? Or are LTPs only available for the Quartermaster? I’m asking about the official rules here.
As a hack, obviously it could just be run the same way LTPs are run for characters in BitD: start an LTP and roll once for it between missions and perhaps requiring the QM have called a Liberty action for them to be able to work on it.
Free play scenes are for answering questions by playing out scenes. That’s all.
Only the Quartermaster can work on a Long Term Project and only by performing a campaign action. The Quartermaster picks a Specialist to lead the project, but that’s just colour.
However, you could flavour a free play scene to be about a Specialist working on the project. Like a vignette of their activity, overcoming a key challenge, or complaining about it. Still, mechanically that project entirely depends on the largesse of the Quartermaster spending a campaign action and maybe labourers to actually fill it’s clock.