Battletech/Mechwarrior PbP: "Days of the Jackal" [closed]

[Douane]

Doghead,

these I can offer to you:

(based on Locust-1V): Medium Laser CT, Medium Laser LA, MG RA, (100) MG Ammo CT, armor 64

(based on Locust-3V): Medium Laser CT, Medium Laser CT, MG RA, (100) MG Ammo RT, armor 64


I think that the first version would be preferrable, because it doesn't store the Ammo all on its own in the RT, just begging for one critical hit that explodes them.


Folkert

 

[doghead]

Variant one. A raggeddy patchwork of a thing - all different coloured panels and pieces. It sounds perfect.

Thanks for all your patience.

 

[Douane]

Doghead,

glad you like it!

(I think this is the best way for a non-stock alternative: Starting out with a stock locust who probably suffered heavy damage at some time and its respective owner/pilot decided to rebuild him a bit differently.)


Folkert

 

[Drakknyte32]

Yay! I'm in .

Here's what I have in mind for a character. I tried to come up with something that will let me roleplay well despite my lack of knowledge.

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Sometimes extrordinary things happen to ordinary people. This was the case for Alexander Hill.

Alex was a son of the Mayor in a small colony city. He was the second son and thus had no responsibilities. The city had very little of interest and Alex was too young to work so he spent much of his time bored and wandering around the countryside.

On one of his wanderings he came across a hidden cave. When he explored the cave he found something that would change his life forever. The cave was actually a secret research and construction lab for mechs. It had long since been abandoned but there was still a lot of stuff to see, including an almost fully functional assault mech and the central computers records.

Alex kept the lab a secret and began to visit it in all his spare time (and he had a lot). He spent hours upon hours reading the computer's records and from them he learned a lot about the construction and upkeep of various mechs. With the knowledge gained from the computer and hours of trial and error he managed to repair the mech and bring it back online.

Alex continued to work on the mech and while he did he practiced with it. Between spending countless hours fiddling with the mech's controls and even longer playing the computers full-sensory training sims he learned how to be a mech pilot.

That happened years ago and since then Alex has only continued his training and practice. Now he's a young adult and is ready to take his mech out into the world and become a famous warrior. He spent his life's fortune buying a ticket onto a dropship and headed out to space, dreaming of the wealth and glory that would soon be his.

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There we go. The character is almost the exact opposite of most of your characters but that should just make things more interesting. He's young, naive, and optimistic. And he rides a big mech.

I think I understand the character creation rules. I'm going to try and make my character in a minute with a C3 setup. Suggestions are always welcome of course.

The mechs, on the other hand, I am completly lost at. All those numbers and words look like greek to me. If someone could give me a hand finding a good mech I would be greatful. I'm thinking an assault mech with good firepower and insane armor but not much else. If that is a bad combination for a new player than I'm open to other ideas.

 

[Drakknyte32]

I take it back, I don't know how to build a character. Here's what I came up with. Advice is desperately sought .

Built with the C3 point arrangement (24 attribut, 20 skill, 1 advantage, Assault mech)

Build 2
Reflexes 5
Intuition 5
learning 5
Charisma 2

Athletic 11
Physical 8
Mental 8
Social 11

Technician(Mech) 3
Gunnery 2
Pilot 2
Computer 3

Extra Edge

 

[Douane]

Everyone,

here's something I'd like you to ponder on (and give me a little feedback ):


Obviously, the Fourth Succession War is the "Big One" for a 3025 BT setting. No more small-time raids, no more shifting the whole front around to prepare for an invasion of a single world, no more flea-bites.

There is simply no way around it. (Not that I'd want to! )


But how to appoach it? What would you prefer?

1. Starting earlier (say the mid-twenties) with the war looming on the horizon? (Or rather 'not looming' [at least not for the PCs], since nobody really anticipated anything on this scale, even those aware of the upcoming union of LC and FS.)
This 'era' has something of a calm and settled atmosphere, with all the Successor States maintaining (mostly) stable borders. [There is still a planet changing hands here and there, but this is a rare occurence.]

2. Or start with the war as the catalyst changing the face (and nature) of the Inner Sphere? The aftermath of the war sees a far more chaotic state of affairs for all the Successor States without exception. (The FWL is least affected by the war, but their inner turmoil hasn't lessened yet.) [Of course all of this greatly increases the need for mercenaries. ]

3. Else?



Tying into this, the next question:

1. Would you rather have a longer period dedicated to the formation of 'your' mercenary unit, ie. trying to fill the ranks, getting to know each other [PCs and NPCs] (perhaps even forming friendships ) and competing for contracts with other potential units (fair or unfair) ?

2. Or you would you rather have everyone thrown together (as in 'recruited'), provided a contract/mission by your 'organizer' and start from there?

3. Else?



Opinions, please!

Folkert

 

[Douane]

I take it back, I don't know how to build a character. Here's what I came up with. Advice is desperately sought .

Built with the C3 point arrangement (24 attribut, 20 skill, 1 advantage, Assault mech)

Build 2
Reflexes 5
Intuition 5
learning 5
Charisma 2

Athletic 11
Physical 8
Mental 8
Social 11

Technician(Mech) 3
Gunnery 2
Pilot 2
Computer 3

Extra Edge

Hi Drakknyte32!

Mechanics-wise the PC is perfectly allright. (Except that you still have 2 skill points left.)


There is but one problem with him: He's not really good at what he does. (But that's the price for an Assault mech with this system.)

I'd suggest taking a slightly different route (While you would end up with lower tech skills, it includes some other useful skills.)

Gunnery/mech 2
Piloting/mech 2
Small arms 1
Unarmed Combat 2
Survival 1
Technician/Mech 3
Computer 2


I would also consider lowering LRN by 1 for another point on REFL. While this would unfortunately lower your tech skill once again, but it would bring your piloting and gunnery skills to Inner Sphere standards. (At least for 'green' troops. )


As for choosing a mech, one time-honored method (No Joke!) is to look at the pictures and take the one you like.

A listing of available mechs (including pictures) can be found here.


One warning: Some of the mechs listed don't really exist in my BT universe. (They were later added because others [which I liked far better] had to be pulled for legal reasons.)

From the Assault class these include:

Thug, Shogun, Annihilator, Imp, King Crab. (Though if you really take a fancy to one of them, I think we can work something out. )


Absolutely unavailable are the Marauder II and the Banshee 3S.


Hope this helps a bit!

Folkert

 

[shurai]

As for choosing a mech, one time-honored method (No Joke!) is to look at the pictures and take the one you like.

That's how I picked mine. : ]

Douane, on the questions you posed earlier today:

I'm not sure which I like the best in terms of time period, but I do think it would be more interesting if we could form our own mercenary squad at some point, either sooner or later. If, that is, it turns out that we have enough of what a mercenary company needs to be independent (and I suspect we do). In the beginning it might be easier for you to organize it so we're all contracted by the same employer at the same time.

-S

 

[Drakknyte32]

Time honored tradition or no, I still like to know what exactly I'm piloting.

If someone could explain more to me about mechs in the game I'd appreciate it. Some of my main questions.

What is a ppc? I see them on a lot of mechs but I don't know what they are.
How does armor work? I was hoping I could get a mech with heavy enough armor that I could just kind of walk around and laugh at others puny attempts to harm me. Then I realized I have no idea if even an assault could stand up long to concentrated firepower.
How do weapon ranges/speed work? I assume my mech is going to be slow and thus need long range weapons but I don't know how either work.
How does ammunition and missiles work? I read something about missiles doing damage according to number in a volley but otherwise I'm lost.
How much does ammo cost? Do you have to be really careful and conserve ammo in battle?

A not mech related question. How do characters grow? do we gain levels? attribute points? what?

regarding skills. I kind of saw my character as self taught so some skills would be different from what you posted. Here's some more ideas
Unarmed combat would be 1 at most. He's never had to get in a real fight so he's kind of lost in that area.
Tech could be at 2. He knows how to fix a mech but mostly from old records and trial and error.
Gunnery could be at 3. He's spent a lot of time in a realistic simulation, he has plenty of practice with his mech's guns.
Survival works. He's spent days at a time wandering around the wasteland.
Small arms doesn't work but I'm trying to come up with a reason to make it work. maybe a different part of the sim or a firing range with equipment in the lab.
Computers could be at 1. They're pretty much all there is to do on the planet but he has become more and more preoccupied with the mech.
Not sure about other skills. What do you think a colonist on a barely habitable planet would know?

Could any of the above skills replace the ones you posted or are those some sort of skill set? It looks kind of like the ones on the first page. He would probably lean more towards mech combat than mental abilities. Unless we need someone with more mental abilities, In which case I'll try to make my character with them.

I'd like to keep the assault mech but if I need to get a heavy instead than so be it. Or perhaps a plane.

I'll up my Refl to 6 next time I write up my character

 

[Shalimar]

Erm, Shurai, its already been decided that we are indeed mercs, and that we are in the 3025 Era, but the year needs to be about 3028 or so to grant some of us our mechs.

As far as a mech for Draknyte, considering the description he gave, I would heavily suggest a Starleague-Era mech but there are a few drawbacks, like the fact that they would not be able to reproduce more ammo for certain weapons, like the Gauss rifle if you went with a Highlander which I still think would be a good choice for a mech, although after you ran out of ammo we would have to tear out the Gauss rifle and replace it with an AC 20, could make for a good character hook.

Other Suggestions would be an Atlas AS-7D, if you have to take an assault and your skills aren't up to that of a normal assault pilot (3,3) or so, then having the biggest meanest mech in existance can't hurt.