Gundam, Zoids, Battletech, or an original Mecha Universe (Interest check linked)

[King Serperior]

Well, Athena is a genius, and the outer suit is built mostly with relatively basic physics-based machinery rather than seriously advanced electronics or AI. It's more like Cloud's sword in Advent Children than anything, haha. The power armor on its own will be very fast and agile. It would be used for stealth, pinpoint strikes, sabotage, planting bombs, etc. It might even be the superior combatant in an area with cover, trees, buildings, etc but wouldn't be much good on an open plain. Worst case scenario, its destroyed and she pilots a stolen standard mech in the meantime.

Oh, I don't doubt that she is a genius.  I was just curious.  Good thing that she'll hop into a stolen mech should the worst happen though.  :)

Will there be the possibility of a mobile field base later in the game ? similar to what was seen in mechwarrior 3?

(Essentially 3 military grade transports that carried 300 tons of whatever, spare weapons, armor, engines, and the backs of them could unfold to make a field hangar for repairs...)

Will it be just us or will there be other survivors from the crash that we could make into a provisional company ?   Possibly an NPC that was able to jump in a tank, deploy its parachutes and land somewhere, and meet up with us later ?

Or is our transport not big enough for that ?

Errr.....

The transport in question, if I understand correctly, is NOT a military transport.  That said, I understand that this transport will be shot at and damaged, but not so much for a crash.  Rather, it will jettison ALL cargo to lighten the load and make it to safety.  When the characters find themselves on the ground, it'll be just them and whatever supplies they can scavenge.  Beyond that, the only help they can expect is from freedom fighters and resistance groups.  However, I imagine they would only help them if our characters help the groups.

If there are mobile field bases, they'll be used by the warring factions and the only way to get to them would be to take out the people guarding them.  Even then, taking control and attempting to escape with the mobile base is asking to be killed.

[Karma]

So is the nested mech concept accepted then? I could illustrate it a bit further by referencing the Hulkbuster suit that Iron Man uses. It's a lot like that in how it connects and works together, just without the infinite energy and much less bulky.

[King Serperior]

I'd like to hear Saria's opinion, but I get what you are saying.  I still think the 'suit-within-a-suit' is perhaps a bit complicated in such an uncertain setting, but if you think you have a handle on it, it's fine.  Even with the Hulkbuster - Iron Man analogy, it's just difficult to picture in my mind.

[Karma]

Well, the power armor is a lock, and if that means she stays out of pitched combat, so be it, I suppose. This is a way for me to have it both ways. :P If it helps, the bigger mech is just power armor for a really huge person that happens to be made out of metal. :P

[King Serperior]

Okay, another issue I have is how your character plans to get in and out of the inner armor as I doubt she'll stay in it all the time.  However, I found some .Gifs that may explain the inner armor in my eyes:

Power Armor

Would it be safe to assume that the larger, outer armor is similar, but on a larger scale when it comes to it?

[Karma]

Yep, that's exactly it.

[King Serperior]

Well, if that's about how big the smaller armor is, I would say that she could be in the inner armor and still fit into the cockpit of a Medium or larger mech (though it'd be a rather tight fit unless she removes some things, like the pilot's seat).

Anyway, I'm glad we have that settled!   :-)

[Saria]

Hmm, makes me wonder if any of them would recognize Angela and the Ragnarok since they have been in the arena for 3-5 years or so?

I was thinking Deepika would recognize the mech, and only then put two and two together and figure out who Angela is. My logic is that although she has little interest in mechs or arena fighting herself, she lives with other mech pilots, and at least some of them have to be enthusiasts. And she's probably been forced to sit through some matches with her colleagues. She could probably name the top mechs, and the championship winners for the last couple of years, and maybe even the pilots of a few, but anything below the "world cup of mech fighting" is beneath her radar. (So, depending on how much success Angela has had, Deepika might even recognize her on sight.)

By the same logic, she would probably be at least peripherally aware of who Athena is. Or if not not who she is specifically, she would recognize the company. She won't recognize her or or anything, but once she hears the name, or maybe the company, or gets some other clues, she'll probably put it together.

As for Ralhend's character - I read that he's going to be a soldier too? If so then Deepika could either know him or not know him, or maybe they just met as they were loading their mechs, etc..

The transport in question, if I understand correctly, is NOT a military transport.  That said, I understand that this transport will be shot at and damaged, but not so much for a crash.  Rather, it will jettison ALL cargo to lighten the load and make it to safety.  When the characters find themselves on the ground, it'll be just them and whatever supplies they can scavenge.  Beyond that, the only help they can expect is from freedom fighters and resistance groups.  However, I imagine they would only help them if our characters help the groups.

If there are mobile field bases, they'll be used by the warring factions and the only way to get to them would be to take out the people guarding them.  Even then, taking control and attempting to escape with the mobile base is asking to be killed.

Yeah, the concept I was playing with is that it's the space plane equivalent of this. (Although obviously much smaller, because it's airborne. That ship holds 18,000+ containers. Our plane would hold maybe a thousand.)

It's a civilian transport, and Deepika is just renting some space on it to transport her mech (intending to get reimbursed by the military for the costs). Just like IRL, the military often piggybacks on civilian facilities to save costs. (And of course, the fact that it's a civilian transport is why Angela and Athena are on board.)

(And though it's not set in stone yet, if we decide the transport is coming from the Moon, Deepika's excuse for being on board was that she had to get Lunar gravity certification in order to get her Captain's stripes. She's just returning from her cert tests.)

I was figuring that ground-to-orbital weapons are very, very rare, and very, very expensive - only true armies of large and relatively wealthy countries normally have them, not your average tin-pot dictator or small terrorist group. So it's a hell of a surprise when someone launches such a weapon at the transport. At least at the start, no one will have any idea who did it or why.

At any rate, the transport gets hit, and can't make a safe descent loaded, so it has to jettison the cargo. (After that, it probably goes on to make a safe landing, in safe territory.) We'll drop down in the containers, land "safely", and then be on our won.

However, I was thinking somewhat along the same lines as Ralhend - we probably will need some sort of mobile support. I was thinking what we'd do is eventually raid an enemy supply base, and steal one of their trucks. We'll load it up with whatever ammo and supplies we need, strap my character's mech to it (assuming she's got the smallest one), and she'll drive it. (Though, being an unarmed vehicle, it will also have autodrive.)

I'd like to hear Saria's opinion....

Actually, I kinda like the idea. I can see something like that being explored by a research group as "the future of combat mech technology". It's a plug-and-play system, which allows for lots of adaptability to fulfil multiple combat roles. The power suit is perfect for urban combat, but pretty weak at open-field combat... the large mech is perfect for open-field combat, but not-so-great for urban control... it seems a logical design evolution to attempt to get the best of both worlds. Plus, you could have entirely different outer frames to link into, for entirely different terrain and combat roles. It's a great idea that would certainly be attractive for research.

Of course, in reality, such a system would be a hard sell to the military. To quote a famous "engineer": The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. Every new "thing" you add to weapons platform is a new thing that can fail... which means more systems that can fail at a bad time, a worse combat/maintenance ratio, more expensive repairs after a scuffle, etc.. A mech-within-a-mech would strike most military leaders as two headaches for the price of one (at least two headaches, because each part of the mech would be a headache, and then the interface between them would be yet another headache). So it makes perfect sense that even if this technology is possible, it's not widely used (if at all).

But the system has so many benefits, some genius is surely going to try to implement and perfect it. Sounds good to me. It actually works quite well with Athena's background - it makes sense she's working on something decades beyond what is actually in service.

Actually, one thing that might keep her busy for the first while is that her mech is sorely lacking armouring, and other bells and whistles, like proper linking for its targeting systems (so that she can share targeting and mapping data with teammates) and so on. After all, it's just a prototype. One of the things she could do in the early game is frantically try to bolt on stuff - like armour and other systems - to make it real-world combat ready. For that, she might require the assistance of Ralhend's character, forcing them into an alliance.

Deepika will not be thrilled to have an experimental mech among her assets. (Or a theorist (said with dripping disdain) :P.) But if that's the hand she's been dealt, that's the hand she'll play.

[Karma]

You might be interested in this, regarding the transport: http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Garuda-class

Thanks for your thoughts on the mech! They are both in line with mine and developed them in a way I hadn't yet considered.

[Saria]

You might be interested in this, regarding the transport: http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Garuda-class

Yes! That's what I was picturing in my head basically. There's the little itty-bitty cockpit in the front, then along the back/spine is where passengers normally go (though it's not a luxury cruiser - it's maybe as comfortable as a modern day commercial airplane), and then the whole underbelly of the plane is containers, clamped into place.

Basically, one of the wings gets hit, taking out a lot of its lifting power, so it can't safely do a controlled descent fully loaded. Thus, it releases the clamps, dumping the containers. But not before giving people time to go into the containers (when they're clamped in, the seals are opened and they're pressurized) and recover limited valuables (basically whatever they can carry in their pockets or in a suitcase or two - we're in freefall so weight is less of an issue than space). And there's plenty of time - it's already dropping like a rock as part of its normal descent, but it's still going to take an hour or two before landing, so we get like a half-hour to get to our mechs and prepare for the drop.

So we all use that time to get to the containers with our mechs, and prepare them for the drop. Which probably doesn't mean releasing the securing braces - because that would mean our mechs would knock around like pinballs inside the container as it drops. But it probably does mean grabbing what equipment we can, loading it onto the mech, getting in, booting up, and putting on your seat belt for a bumpy ride.

[Ralhend]

Alright, being on a smaller civilian transport changes things...   My character likely wont have a maintenance bay or his test rig, and would just be up in the passenger area playing chess with RADU or something similar...

Mechs that would be available would just be available by chance...  Thier weapons would be mounted, just no ordinance / ammo loaded...

Ill have a more detailed bio of my character up after i get off work

*EDIT*

Name:  Joseph Hendrial
Age: 27
Nationality:  Southeastern North America
Profession: Mechanistic Technician (Tests, repairs, and maintains mecha-related electronics. Specializes in fire control systems and communications. He has secondary skills associated with mecha power systems.  Tertiary skills involve maintenance of energy based weaponry.  Has some coding/programming/hacking ability.)
Height: 6ft
Weight: 215lbs
Build: Lean, Athletic
Hair:  Short cropped auburn, (Military Style Flat-Top)
Eyes: Emerald Green

(All of this is subject to change as we flesh out the game world, factions, and other details)

Joseph washed out of mech pilot training when he was younger, after striking a commanding officer.  The details of that incident are currently sealed.  He was then barred from taking any further exams, and was relegated to mecha repair.

A straight laced, by the book enlisted type.  (He can be attached to "Deep's" unit as part of its maintenance crew, or he can be with another squadron.)  He is on the civilian transport en route to his next duty station, and has little more that his uniform duffel bag and his custom modified Mark-2 style AI with him.  He carries his grandfather's jeweler's screwdrivers in his right front breast pocket, and his father's adjustable wrench in his left thigh cargo pocket for sentimental reasons.     

He is familiar with mech operation, but aside from basic diagnostics and walking around the base to check leg servos/myomers for functionality, he has no mech combat experience.  He does have infantry combat training, and was instrumental in repelling a base takeover attempt with his assault rifle.   

He is currently ranked 9th on the leader-boards for a popular online mecha simulator game, out of around 250 million players.  He favors mechs with overcharged engines, high mobility and light armor, while carrying long ranged weapons... 

His family was killed in the war, and he has wanted to fight back against the aggressors any way he can.

[King Serperior]

I was thinking Deepika would recognize the mech, and only then put two and two together and figure out who Angela is. My logic is that although she has little interest in mechs or arena fighting herself, she lives with other mech pilots, and at least some of them have to be enthusiasts. And she's probably been forced to sit through some matches with her colleagues. She could probably name the top mechs, and the championship winners for the last couple of years, and maybe even the pilots of a few, but anything below the "world cup of mech fighting" is beneath her radar. (So, depending on how much success Angela has had, Deepika might even recognize her on sight.)

I would say that Angela has been in the arena for about five years now, doing everything from 1v1s, free-for-alls, team battles, and things like Capture the Flag or Base Defense.  I'd say that it was only in the last year that she made it into a championship tournament, taking 7th place out of 40 other mechs.  For the most part, her win-loss record isn't the best, but she was quickly becoming the fan-favorite Dark Horse or Wild Card among the big league pilots.

So, whether she reconizes Angela or not on sight is up to you.  Her mech, on the other hand, is the third largest of the arena mechs, coming only after the 200 ton Vulcan and the 170 ton Hydra.  However, they don't do Free-for-alls like she does, so Angela's Ragnarok is the biggest thing in that scene.  So, if Deepika has seen Free-for-alls often, then she certainly has seen the mech.

However, I was thinking somewhat along the same lines as Ralhend - we probably will need some sort of mobile support. I was thinking what we'd do is eventually raid an enemy supply base, and steal one of their trucks. We'll load it up with whatever ammo and supplies we need, strap my character's mech to it (assuming she's got the smallest one), and she'll drive it. (Though, being an unarmed vehicle, it will also have autodrive.)

Well, Athena's Power/Battle armor might be the smallest, but of the others, her mech is the lightest and smallest.  The vehicle should help save battery for their smaller ones.  Ralhend's character's and Angela's mechs would be much too big for a truck-based transport.

Athena's Mech Thoughts

Actually, I kinda like the idea. I can see something like that being explored by a research group as "the future of combat mech technology". It's a plug-and-play system, which allows for lots of adaptability to fulfil multiple combat roles. The power suit is perfect for urban combat, but pretty weak at open-field combat... the large mech is perfect for open-field combat, but not-so-great for urban control... it seems a logical design evolution to attempt to get the best of both worlds. Plus, you could have entirely different outer frames to link into, for entirely different terrain and combat roles. It's a great idea that would certainly be attractive for research.

Of course, in reality, such a system would be a hard sell to the military. To quote a famous "engineer": The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. Every new "thing" you add to weapons platform is a new thing that can fail... which means more systems that can fail at a bad time, a worse combat/maintenance ratio, more expensive repairs after a scuffle, etc.. A mech-within-a-mech would strike most military leaders as two headaches for the price of one (at least two headaches, because each part of the mech would be a headache, and then the interface between them would be yet another headache). So it makes perfect sense that even if this technology is possible, it's not widely used (if at all).

But the system has so many benefits, some genius is surely going to try to implement and perfect it. Sounds good to me. It actually works quite well with Athena's background - it makes sense she's working on something decades beyond what is actually in service.

Actually, one thing that might keep her busy for the first while is that her mech is sorely lacking armouring, and other bells and whistles, like proper linking for its targeting systems (so that she can share targeting and mapping data with teammates) and so on. After all, it's just a prototype. One of the things she could do in the early game is frantically try to bolt on stuff - like armour and other systems - to make it real-world combat ready. For that, she might require the assistance of Ralhend's character, forcing them into an alliance.

Deepika will not be thrilled to have an experimental mech among her assets. (Or a theorist (said with dripping disdain) :P.) But if that's the hand she's been dealt, that's the hand she'll play.

Alrighty!  That sounds fine by me then!   ;D

You might be interested in this, regarding the transport: http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Garuda-class

Thanks for your thoughts on the mech! They are both in line with mine and developed them in a way I hadn't yet considered.

Yes! That's what I was picturing in my head basically. There's the little itty-bitty cockpit in the front, then along the back/spine is where passengers normally go (though it's not a luxury cruiser - it's maybe as comfortable as a modern day commercial airplane), and then the whole underbelly of the plane is containers, clamped into place.

Basically, one of the wings gets hit, taking out a lot of its lifting power, so it can't safely do a controlled descent fully loaded. Thus, it releases the clamps, dumping the containers. But not before giving people time to go into the containers (when they're clamped in, the seals are opened and they're pressurized) and recover limited valuables (basically whatever they can carry in their pockets or in a suitcase or two - we're in freefall so weight is less of an issue than space). And there's plenty of time - it's already dropping like a rock as part of its normal descent, but it's still going to take an hour or two before landing, so we get like a half-hour to get to our mechs and prepare for the drop.

So we all use that time to get to the containers with our mechs, and prepare them for the drop. Which probably doesn't mean releasing the securing braces - because that would mean our mechs would knock around like pinballs inside the container as it drops. But it probably does mean grabbing what equipment we can, loading it onto the mech, getting in, booting up, and putting on your seat belt for a bumpy ride.

I certainly like the ship.  *Nods*  Can't wait to get things going then!   ;D

Alright, being on a smaller civilian transport changes things...   My character likely wont have a maintenance bay or his test rig, and would just be up in the passenger area playing chess with RADU or something similar...

Mechs that would be available would just be available by chance...  Thier weapons would be mounted, just no ordinance / ammo loaded...

Ill have a more detailed bio of my character up after i get off work

*EDIT*

Name:  Joseph Hendrial
Age: 27
Nationality:  Southeastern North America
Profession: Mechanistic Technician (Tests, repairs, and maintains mecha-related electronics. Specializes in fire control systems and communications. He has secondary skills associated with mecha power systems.  Tertiary skills involve maintenance of energy based weaponry.  Has some coding/programming/hacking ability.)
Height: 6ft
Weight: 215lbs
Build: Lean, Athletic
Hair:  Short cropped auburn, (Military Style Flat-Top)
Eyes: Emerald Green

(All of this is subject to change as we flesh out the game world, factions, and other details)

Joseph washed out of mech pilot training when he was younger, after striking a commanding officer.  The details of that incident are currently sealed.  He was then barred from taking any further exams, and was relegated to mecha repair.

A straight laced, by the book enlisted type.  (He can be attached to "Deep's" unit as part of its maintenance crew, or he can be with another squadron.)  He is on the civilian transport en route to his next duty station, and has little more that his uniform duffel bag and his custom modified Mark-2 style AI with him.  He carries his grandfather's jeweler's screwdrivers in his right front breast pocket, and his father's adjustable wrench in his left thigh cargo pocket for sentimental reasons.     

He is familiar with mech operation, but aside from basic diagnostics and walking around the base to check leg servos/myomers for functionality, he has no mech combat experience.  He does have infantry combat training, and was instrumental in repelling a base takeover attempt with his assault rifle.   

He is currently ranked 9th on the leader-boards for a popular online mecha simulator game, out of around 250 million players.  He favors mechs with overcharged engines, high mobility and light armor, while carrying long ranged weapons... 

His family was killed in the war, and he has wanted to fight back against the aggressors any way he can.

Seems good to me.  Not excelling in any one place and having become comfortable with his situation and position.  I could see him perhaps being assigned to Deepika.

[Saria]

(He can be attached to "Deep's" unit as part of its maintenance crew, or he can be with another squadron.)

Yeah, he can be part of Deepika's unit, and she brought him along to the Moon for her certification trials. She would have needed him to retune her mech for low-g operation, so she could pass her certs.

And they could easily have a secondary mission on the way back - in fact, Deep would probably have timed going for her Lunar cert to coincide with this other duty: multitasking. That mission could be returning newly commissioned mechs from a Lunar factory (much cheaper to make mechs in low-g!) intended to be given to other pilots in Deep's unit.

So the setup might be something like: The unit got some downtime to in order to get their new mechs, but rather than take leave, Deepika opted to use the time to get her Lunar cert. She volunteered to the unit leader to go to the Moon and sign for the new mechs, and get her cert at the same time. Then she needed a tech, so she asked Joseph if he wouldn't mind giving up his leave and coming with her to help her out, with the benefit of that being that he'd be able to tour the mech construction factory, and he'd be the first one to get his hands on the new mechs (which would automatically make him the unit's "expert" on the new mechs).

So they pack up Deep's mech, fly up to the Moon, tune it, then she goes off to do her certification trial, and he goes off to the mech factory. Afterwards, they meet back up again, and they both repack Deep's mech... and now the brand new mechs as well... and start the trip back to Earth.

When the plane is hit, DP chooses to go down with her mech, to protect the encryption keys and ECM tech on her mech. Joseph would be under no obligation to do anything (because none of the other mechs are in service yet, none of them have the same issue with encryption keys), but he could choose to take one of the mechs and back her up... just in case. (After all, she only has an electronic warfare loadout - practically no defences.) She wouldn't order him to, but if he chose to, she wouldn't order him not to.

That would explain a) why he's on the plane, b) how he got a mech, and c) why he decided to drop in it rather than stay with the plane.

We should collaborate a bit in private messages, so that our characters are both up to speed on each other.

I would say that Angela has been in the arena for about five years now, doing everything from 1v1s, free-for-alls, team battles, and things like Capture the Flag or Base Defense.  I'd say that it was only in the last year that she made it into a championship tournament, taking 7th place out of 40 other mechs.  For the most part, her win-loss record isn't the best, but she was quickly becoming the fan-favorite Dark Horse or Wild Card among the big league pilots.

Yeah, if it's one of the very few of that size, Deepika would probably recognize it. Plus, being a dark horse championship contender would have appealed to her. And then when she sees the "Blair Industries" logo, that'll make her pretty much sure she knows what it is, and it will remind her of the pilot's name and background (at least as much as might be mentioned by the commentary during matches).

So she'll "know" Angela, the same way a casual basketball fan would know the teams and the star player on each team - basically just by name, and one or two of their more frequently talked-about attributes (of which being the scion of the Blair mech manufacturers would surely have been one).

Well, Athena's Power/Battle armor might be the smallest, but of the others, her mech is the lightest and smallest.  The vehicle should help save battery for their smaller ones.  Ralhend's character's and Angela's mechs would be much too big for a truck-based transport.

Ah, yes, I hadn't thought of Athena's at the time!

I suppose this doesn't really matter at this point - we can hash it out later - but what I had in mind was basically a 40' flat-rack intermodal container, except only one half would be open, while the other would look like a regular closed container. While driving, the mech would crouch in the open half, and be secured somehow. While servicing, the closed part would open up and unfold, so larger mechs could move up to the side of it and be serviced.

It would probably be a little bigger than a standard 40' container - this is military hardware, after all. It might be taller, wider, and have like 3 or 4 axles (or even 6!) instead of 2. It might even be the length of two 40' containers, using a segmented design like a "turnpike double", or even a triple. We might actually need more than one truck - we have at least 4 mechs, after all (not counting anyone else who joins).

Anywho, we can think about that later. I guess I'm the only straggler who hasn't really set up anything approaching a profile yet. :P I'll get on that!

[King Serperior]

That makes perfect sense.  I was thinking that the Blair Industries Mech Factories would be on the dark side of the moon (out of the way of the public, vacation, resort sunny side) while their autonomous mining facilities are on Mars.  Though Blair Industries isn't the largest producing facility, it produces the best quality, most of the time custom designs for Arena Mechs.  The military likely rarely uses Blair Industry models as Blair Industries doesn't tend to mass produce mechs.  However, I would think that a number of higher-ranking military personnel order custom designs from her parents' company.

So, the reason Angela is on the Moon in the first place is that she had just recently come 7th in the latest championship and her Ragnarok was getting needed repairs, ammo-reloads, and armor replacements as well as celebrating.  It would explain why she's heading back down to Earth with the others.

.Yeah, if it's one of the very few of that size, Deepika would probably recognize it. Plus, being a dark horse championship contender would have appealed to her. And then when she sees the "Blair Industries" logo, that'll make her pretty much sure she knows what it is, and it will remind her of the pilot's name and background (at least as much as might be mentioned by the commentary during matches).

So she'll "know" Angela, the same way a casual basketball fan would know the teams and the star player on each team - basically just by name, and one or two of their more frequently talked-about attributes (of which being the scion of the Blair mech manufacturers would surely have been one).

In regards to what DP would know of Angela herself, I think a common thing said is that her mech reflects her compensating for her height (she is 5'5").  Her fiery, red hair would also be a common thing talked about as well as her tendency to go head-on into the jaws of battle and claw her way to a victory wreathed in the hulks of ruined mecha around her.  That said, the Dark Horse 'victory' is something no one expected.  No one would have thought that a young pilot like Angela would make the top 10.  In her last match against the 3-years in a row winner, Savage Spirit, a 50-ton mech that is the perfect combination of speed, firepower, and armor backed by amazing pilot skills, she pushed the pilot to the edge of defeat before the pilot's skill backed her into a corner she couldn't escape from.

On another note, a truck would be good for Athena's, DP's, and Ralhend's character's mechs, but transporting Angela's would take more than the power of a single truck, or even three trucks!

On the bright side, Ralhend's character should know about Fusion Reactors, so he'll be valuable in helping make sure that the Ragnarok's reactor doesn't go critical.  Important for a number of reasons, the biggest of which is that the reactor is the big thing that helps recharge DP's mech's battery and perhaps even Athena's Power Armor (though depending on Ralhend's character's mech's power source, Athena's Power Armor could recharge from that one). 

EDIT:

Also, for those who may be lurking this thread as well as for Karma, Ralhend, and Saria, I have found some nice Mecha suggestions:


Light-to-Medium weight class;  Frail;  Focuses on Speed and Melee combat.


Light-to-Medium weight class;  Main weapon appears to be a shoulder-mounted cannon; Secondary weapon appears to be an anti-infantry laser.


Battle/Power Armor to Light weight class; Focuses on it's speed and agility granted by it's jump jets for offense and defense.


Light-to-Medium weight class; Judging by the side of the jets on it's back, it likely still has good speed and agility.


Medium weight class.  Bulkier and lacking jump jets, it should provide more decent firepower if needed.  Has two shoulder-mounted launchers, but reloads seem unlikely to happen when in battle

[Saria]

Name: Deepika Patel
Rank: Lieutenant
Role: Mech pilot / electronic warfare specialist
Nicknames: D.P., Deepi, Deep
Call sign: Thumper
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Height: 174 cm (5' 7")
Weight: 60 kg (132 lb)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown, mid length, slightly wavy, not particularly well-styled or managed
Skin: Tan
Physique: Medium fit
Distinguishing marks/accessories: None

Appearance:
Although she cleans up quite well, the general impression one gets of Deepika's appearance is "dishevelled". She never looks dirty, but rather she always looks like she started the day dressed immaculately, but was then forced to do something physical or stressful, and ended up just a little out of sorts - even if she just stepped out of the house in the morning. This is partly deliberate - to give higher-ups the impression that she is working hard (even when she isn't) - and partly due to simply not caring about the details, and leaving just a few strands of hair out of place, or her shirt just a little too untucked on one side, or simply never bothering with makeup. She also has a tendency toward slouching, and loose posture and casual walk. She is often accused of failing to meet military standards of dress code and appearance. On those rare occasions that she does pull it together, she often startles even those she works closely with: She has soulful, expressive eyes, full lips, and body in immaculate shape due to her natural height and figure, and propensity to work out when bored or stressed.

Bio:
Deepika was the fourth daughter - not child, daughter; she was actually the seventh child - of a moderately wealthy family who "adopted" (bought) children from poor families in the "homeland", and raised them according to their religious principles. But "Mommy" was always away doing business (and, allegedly, doing business partners), and "Daddy" was an artist who thought it was fine for the kids to run free so long as they left him alone. So Deepika started "acting out", and it wasn't long before she had her own Juvy rap sheet, and became more of a headache than her adoptive parents were willing to tolerate.

Soon she was bouncing around the system, and petty shoplifting blossomed into organized thefts with a girl gang, and soon running cons. None of her foster families could straighten her out - indeed, most were actually victims of her scams. But after an epiphany she had while watching a busker one day, she started to grow a distaste for the life, and eventually collaborated with authorities to get her pimp and the ringleaders of her gang arrested. Unfortunately, she was arrested herself a year or so later during an attempted robbery, and because she was now an adult, facing prison time and a criminal record.

The judge - planning to campaign for public office - offered to waive prison time and a record if she joined the military, under the logic that it would "straighten her out" in a way prison wouldn't. He never thought she would take the offer, but she knew her former gang mates were waiting for her in prison. The military might have been dangerous, but the alternative was a shiv in her spine within months.

She never intended to take the military seriously. The plan was just to tough it out until Basic was complete - thus fulfilling her court-ordered obligations - then fake an injury, get medical discharge, and benefits. But she discovered that the military wasn't all that bad. There was a lot of bullshit to put up with, but she was a sanguine, easy-going type, so she could shrug it off. And the danger could be mitigated by picking the right career path - though her options were very limited because of her lack of education and half-assing Basic, so she couldn't avoid a combat position; electronic warfare specialist was a much better option than, say, infantry. Her plan is to make Major, then transfer to a cushy position, and she's already close to Captain.



Next up, I'll need a "profile" for her mech, I suppose.

On the bright side, Ralhend's character should know about Fusion Reactors, so he'll be valuable in helping make sure that the Ragnarok's reactor doesn't go critical.

(Fusion reactors don't "go critical". ;))

[King Serperior]

Next up, I'll need a "profile" for her mech, I suppose.
(Fusion reactors don't "go critical". ;))

I knew that.  *doesn't really know a thing about fusion*

Great Character Sheet!  I'll rework Angela's that way since you have a lot more information than her initial sheet.  I'll see if I can get that done later today.   :-)

[Karma]

I'll get mine done as soon as I can. Going on a weekend trip though, so my free time is unknown.

[Saria]

I knew that.  *doesn't really know a thing about fusion*

Oh, I don't actually care. :P But I'm a certified nuclear worker in Ontario. (I've never seen a fusion reactor that was actually running, but I did once make out by the light of the Cherenkov radiation of a fission reactor.)

Great Character Sheet!  I'll rework Angela's that way since you have a lot more information than her initial sheet.  I'll see if I can get that done later today.   :-)

Actually, I cribbed bits from yours, bits from Karma's and bits from Ralhend's. :P

[King Serperior]

I'll get mine done as soon as I can. Going on a weekend trip though, so my free time is unknown.

No problem!  Have fun on your trip.  ^.^

Oh, I don't actually care. :P But I'm a certified nuclear worker in Ontario. (I've never seen a fusion reactor that was actually running, but I did once make out by the light of the Cherenkov radiation of a fission reactor.)

Haha, well, I suppose you can fault me for not having that experience.  :P

Actually, I cribbed bits from yours, bits from Karma's and bits from Ralhend's. :P

Ah!  Well, it all works out quite well then.

By the way, do you have an idea on how the Mech Sheet should look?   Also, I may have found another player for the group.  Going to need a few days for them to make a final decision due to game and RL-related things.

[Karma]

Oho. Are we acquainted?

[King Serperior]

No idea, but they do make fairly frequent appearances in the Finder/Seeker board.  I don't want to say a name until they decide to join or not though.

[Karma]

I getcha.

[Saria]

By the way, do you have an idea on how the Mech Sheet should look?

I was pondering that myself, actually. :P

I was going to crib the mech data from the Arctic Cheetah, which would include height and weight, so there's those things. Your mech has a name - does Karma's? Mine doesn't and Ralhend's won't (unless we give them names later), they'd only have model numbers - and Karma's and yours probably won't have model numbers. So maybe a name and/or model field.

There's also the list of armaments, but I'm not sure that's that big a deal, because as we go along we'll probably be tinkering. Something key like Ragnarok's rail gun probably won't be swapped, but the missile pod might, or other stuff might be added.

Maybe a couple of bullet point lists showing capabilities/strengths and weaknesses. Like mine would have as strengths things like: adaptive camouflage, jump jets, hard to detect, able to move freely in any terrain, excellent for combat with foot soldiers and power suits; and weaknesses like: light armour, low strength (so can't use heavy weapons), poorly suited for open combat with medium/heavy mechs.

Maybe also a short blurb explaining the situations where it excels and those where it is weak.

I'm not sure if that's too much or not enough.

[Karma]

The power armor would have a name since it's a one off experimental unit.

[King Serperior]

I was pondering that myself, actually. :P

Alright, then let's figure something out then.  ^.^

I was going to crib the mech data from the Arctic Cheetah, which would include height and weight, so there's those things. Your mech has a name - does Karma's? Mine doesn't and Ralhend's won't (unless we give them names later), they'd only have model numbers - and Karma's and yours probably won't have model numbers. So maybe a name and/or model field.

Correct.  The Ragnarok is a custom model and designed for the arena, thus it needs a name, as per the arena's rules.  Plus, it's easier to distinguish between mechs when you say 'Iron Bull has crushed the Lightning Striker in less than a minute!' than to say, 'The big mech crushed the smaller one in less than a minute!'

There's also the list of armaments, but I'm not sure that's that big a deal, because as we go along we'll probably be tinkering. Something key like Ragnarok's rail gun probably won't be swapped, but the missile pod might, or other stuff might be added.

Maybe a couple of bullet point lists showing capabilities/strengths and weaknesses. Like mine would have as strengths things like: adaptive camouflage, jump jets, hard to detect, able to move freely in any terrain, excellent for combat with foot soldiers and power suits; and weaknesses like: light armour, low strength (so can't use heavy weapons), poorly suited for open combat with medium/heavy mechs.

Maybe also a short blurb explaining the situations where it excels and those where it is weak.

I'm not sure if that's too much or not enough.

Okay, from the way it's sounding, a Mech Sheet will look like this:

[img height=300 padding=10*]http://MECH IMAGE URL HERE[/img]

Chassis:  Mech Frame
Model:  If it is a standard-issue mech, name the model;  If it is a custom design, just leave it as 'Custom'
Weight Class:  Battle Armor, Light, Medium, Heavy, or Colossal
Weight:  Mech's weight as well as maximum weight.
Height:  Mech's height
Mech Name/Callsign:  If the mech is named, list it;  If it has a callsign instead, list that.
Armaments:  List the mech's current weapon systems;  Each system should be noted as fixed or not (I.E. can it be removed and replaced with another weapon?)
Subsystems:  Anything that isn't a weapons system (I.E. adaptive camouflage, jump jets, Advanced targeting systems, ect).
Strengths:  List at least three things this mech excels at, both in and out of combat (I.E. Hands, mobility, armor, ect)
Weaknesses:  List at least three things this mech has difficulty with both in and out of combat (I.E. Very loud, slow reload/recharging weapons, limited mobility. ect).
Overall Description:  A short, detailed description of the mech that the picture doesn't show.



Does anyone else have suggestions on making this better?  Perhaps less info?  More?  Better Mech Sheet design?