Battletech RPG

[kronovan]

I own MW2, 3 and ATOW and have run MW2 and ATOW campaigns. I've had much better results GMing the BT verse using Cepheus Engine (open license version of Mongoose Traveller 1) along with CGLs Alpha Strike tabletop miniatures rules for Mech encounters. It wasn't my idea - about 5 years ago one of my ATOW players said the rules are very similar to Traveller, so after checking into MGT and then CE, and agreed.

I combine the PC point build system in Stellegama's Cepheus Deluxe with Moon Toad Publishing's version of CE for base rules. If my players want the traditional CE/Traveller career system instead of point builds, I've adapted features of the 5 BT houses and periphery state's militaries to accomodate that. A big part of my group of players are members of one of CGLs largest demo teams, so I originally went with Total Warfare for Mech encounters. That resulted in Mech battles taking up entire sessions, so we moved to Alpha Strike which lets us play out Mech battles in under 2 hours. Other than Alpha Strike, the only CGL publications I use are the House and Periphery States handbooks, which I've found to be teriffic resources.

Another benefit of using CE, is an official version is available for one of my VTTs. So if a player can't join a session we can host them on the big screen. I also run that VTT+CE on my latptop as my GM screen. Using those 2 gaming systems has worked very well, allowing me to run campaigns where investigation, exploration, romance and political intrigue are as much a part of the story as Mech battles.

 

[payn]

I own MW2, 3 and ATOW and have run MW2 and ATOW campaigns. I've had much better results GMing the BT verse using Cepheus Engine (open license version of Mongoose Traveller 1) along with CGLs Alpha Strike tabletop miniatures rules for Mech encounters. It wasn't my idea - about 5 years ago one of my ATOW players said the rules are very similar to Traveller, so after checking into MGT and then CE, and agreed.

I combine the PC point build system in Stellegama's Cepheus Deluxe with Moon Toad Publishing's version of CE for base rules. If my players want the traditional CE/Traveller career system instead of point builds, I've adapted features of the 5 BT houses and periphery state's militaries to accomodate that. A big part of my group of players are members of one of CGLs largest demo teams, so I originally went with Total Warfare for Mech encounters. That resulted in Mech battles taking up entire sessions, so we moved to Alpha Strike which lets us play out Mech battles in under 2 hours. Other than Alpha Strike, the only CGL publications I use are the House and Periphery States handbooks, which I've found to be teriffic resources.

Another benefit of using CE, is an official version is available for one of my VTTs. So if a player can't join a session we can host them on the big screen. I also run that VTT+CE on my latptop as my GM screen. Using those 2 gaming systems has worked very well, allowing me to run campaigns where investigation, exploration, romance and political intrigue are as much a part of the story as Mech battles.

I’m a huge Traveller fan so I support this. I actually been using the CE module in Foundry VTT for years to run Traveller games. Be interesting to see Mongooses version drop at some point.

 

[kronovan]

I’m a huge Traveller fan so I support this. I actually been using the CE module in Foundry VTT for years to run Traveller games. Be interesting to see Mongooses version drop at some point.

I have the 2d6 rules for Foundry as well. Mongoose never actually did CE - they just made their Traveller 1e rules avalable as an open license SRD that anyone could publish content for. That allowed Stellegama, Zozer and Moon Toad Publishig, among others, to publish and sell better presented and organized editions of the rules. So you never will see a Mongoose Publishing edition, but you can always check out their MGT1e which is near identical. That said, the CE publishing community has released companions, settings and adventures that truly dwarf all that Mongoose released for 1e.

The VTT that has an official CE ruleset is Fantasy Grounds and was created by the same developer that did Old School Essentials and Dolmenwood. CE is only available from the fantasygrounds.com forge store, as initially it was just a skeleton of the core rules without official content like careers, equipment, vehicles, starships, NPCs, etc. Eventually Moon Toad Publishing agreed to have their adaptation of the SRD (CE Science Fiction Role Playing Game Core Rules) made available as an online module, which provided all the missing content. It's available as 2 separate purchases; Cepheus Engine (ruleset) and Cepheus Engine SRD (MTP's official content) and IMO a very good deal, costing a total of 15 USD.