BattleTech 3025 - Recruitment - A Time of War and Total Warfare

[Stendarr]

Are Connections, Title and Reputation applicable in the League, the smaller target states or just back home?

Wherever you'd like is fine.

[Tavarokk]

How come?

Because it's an unlimited duration classified job with no success conditions beyond "so long as the war continues", it involves either engaging in open piracy or in double-crossing employers (since we won't be acting under our actual employer allegiance), I'm not sure how trustworthy our primary employer would be, and loot and pay are bound to be shit relative to the average (and infrastructure even worse) since we're in the boonies.

Overall, gives the vibe of a low profit, low security, time-consuming posting with a lot of potential for going wrong and giving people black marks on their records.

[JFD99]

I dunno, I like the premise. It's open enough to let the players decide to support either warring factions or continue to play both sides.

Or just sell our skills to whoever pays more like proper mercenaries.

[Cessali]

I'm interested.  I'm tossing around the idea of a refugee from the Capellan Confederation, likely on the run for her life, using a stolen 'Mech that she's halfway still teaching herself how to pilot.  This kind of job is the perfect sort of thing for a no-name, moderately-skilled Mechwarrior with something to hide.

I'll have a sheet when I've had a chance to delve through the ATOW rules more closely!

[Stendarr]

Cool. I'm glad so many people are interested. I said in the character creation rules not to pick the Vehicle trait, but you can still have a 'Mech from your backstory if you want. I was going to line everyone up with a vehicle anyway.

[Stendarr]

Because it's an unlimited duration classified job with no success conditions beyond "so long as the war continues", it involves either engaging in open piracy or in double-crossing employers (since we won't be acting under our actual employer allegiance), I'm not sure how trustworthy our primary employer would be, and loot and pay are bound to be shit relative to the average (and infrastructure even worse) since we're in the boonies.

Overall, gives the vibe of a low profit, low security, time-consuming posting with a lot of potential for going wrong and giving people black marks on their records.

Hmm, I understand your concern. I did intend on having significant plot hooks and reasons to become invested. I already have a story with plots twists planned out, but it's going to be something that reveals itself to the players as they progress. I also wanted to make sure not to give off a very railroaded vibe.

Do you have any ideas about how to make things more appealing for you?

[TFcommando]

My perspective on the job was that units taking work in the Periphery don't have the best luck or prospects in the Inner Sphere.   This is a job that provides a good amount of self-direction instead of oversight from some local ruler who might not know what they're doing and the opportunity for combat and salvage, which a typical garrison job is unlikely to provide.  Though having a duration in the contract would make some sense. 

[Stendarr]

Though having a duration in the contract would make some sense.

Yeah definitely. There will be check-ups as well. Performance evaluations will be made to decide if the group is worth keeping on or not.

[Tavarokk]

Hmm, I understand your concern. I did intend on having significant plot hooks and reasons to become invested. I already have a story with plots twists planned out, but it's going to be something that reveals itself to the players as they progress. I also wanted to make sure not to give off a very railroaded vibe.

Do you have any ideas about how to make things more appealing for you?

Yeah, it'd be enticing if we were offered to explicitly hire on with the underdog, with the League merely offering a subsidy and access to their vendors as an incentive to come over and stick around. The contract being to one of the fighting sides directly would make this a properly above board job that simply requires us to do as well as we can. OOC, it'd also be more believable if the League uses a lance of light mechs of no particular acclaim as a weight to add to one side or the other rather than as a proxy they'd trust to independently play both factions against each other.

My perspective on the job was that units taking work in the Periphery don't have the best luck or prospects in the Inner Sphere.   This is a job that provides a good amount of self-direction instead of oversight from some local ruler who might not know what they're doing and the opportunity for combat and salvage, which a typical garrison job is unlikely to provide.  Though having a duration in the contract would make some sense. 

I'd agree if we were offered a more enticing contract than what we would've been able to get closer to IS, but the current terms are not exactly an improvement worth going over there for. I'd take a garrison posting somewhere in Skye over the current offer in a heartbeat.

[Stendarr]

Yeah, it'd be enticing if we were offered to explicitly hire on with the underdog, with the League merely offering a subsidy and access to their vendors as an incentive to come over and stick around. The contract being to one of the fighting sides directly would make this a properly above board job that simply requires us to do as well as we can. OOC, it'd also be more believable if the League uses a lance of light mechs of no particular acclaim as a weight to add to one side or the other rather than as a proxy they'd trust to independently play both factions against each other.

That does make sense, and, frankly, it's basically the idea I had in my head. I think I just didn't communicate myself very well. I also wanted to wait and see what kind of cast we came up with before being too concrete.

I'm going to make some small changes to the original post. Tell me what you think.

I'd agree if we were offered a more enticing contract than what we would've been able to get closer to IS, but the current terms are not exactly an improvement worth going over there for. I'd take a garrison posting somewhere in Skye over the current offer in a heartbeat.

What is supposed to be enticing is the opportunity to have profit directly proportional to performance. The job is aimed at people with initiative. It's not the safest job, but it's exciting and has potential. I think a good number of people would reasonably take a garrison posting, but this provides an opportunity to make something of yourself and your profits, and quickly.

[TFcommando]

Still working on character ideas... one is the Kurita samurai/noble wife mech warrior who lost everything due to machinations and is now an outcast (might or might not be team mom).  Not sure if the modules reflect someone who no longer lives in the Combine though.

The other would be more point-intensive, but I'm going to see if I can make work... a drop ship captain who is also either a Mechwarrior or an aerospace fighter pilot, who is totally not a former pirate, really. :)

[Tavarokk]

I'm thinking a young tech savant girl from the Magistracy. Likely doubling as mechwarrior so as to have a mech to tinker with and a way of procuring materials for doing so.

Incidentally, do we get to choose what mechs we start with, beyond them being lights?

[JFD99]

So, I'm working on my character sheet and I have a question:

Since we're not using Universal Fixed XP, can we pick languages and attributes if we're using life modules?

Like if I'm taking an affiliation that has German as primary language and X XP in certain attributes, can I still pick German as a language even if we're not using the fixed XP or am I stuck without it? ( Since it's not in sub modules as far as I can see).

[Voidknight]

So far I have an Outworlds Alliance War Orphan/Mercenary brat, idea being she was adopted by the company early in her life if that's alright? I'm flipping between making a mechwarrior, a tech or an aerospace/dropship a lot. Would it be easier if I did a MW? Struggling to think of a way to get her some skills that make sense with the backstory that I can then buff with a Tour of Duty or the like.


Disregard I'm an idiot, that's what flexible xp is for.

[Hawkwood]

I'd like to join but not as a mechwarrior. Can I drive the bus? The reason I'd like to not be a mechwarrior are timezones. I'm at least 5 hours ahead of everyone, meaning that I'm probably not going to be able to attend any of the heavy-duty mech-combat stuff.

[Voidknight]

I think that's fine and it lets me remove one of my thoughts as a consideration.
Given it'd be awkward to sort aerospace aboard a leopard, I'll let my chips fall as a mechwarrior.

[Hawkwood]

The other option is that I play the mechanic or something. But then I figure that a leopard probably actually has a flight crew of two...

I'll admit that I've wanted to drive a dropship since Aliens.

[Hawkwood]

And a Leopard can carry 2 aerospace anyway!

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Leopard

[Voidknight]

You know I had it in my head that it was _only_ the SLDF that used the air lances. Slap my jaw, learn something new every day!

[Hawkwood]

The (really old) Dropships and Jumpships lists the crew compliment of a Leopard as:

4 engineers / techs
2 pilots
3 second engineers / gunners
4 Mechwarriors
2 Aerospace pilots

With a total capacity of 15

Engineer: fixes broken Leopard / Aerospace
Tech: fixes broken mechs
Second engineer: "A semi-skilled engineer". So I imagine them to be basically muscle.

[Voidknight]

Name: Noele Tata
Age: 19
Sex: Female
Height: 5'3
Physical Description: (Will be coming with some messing with a character editor)
Personality Description: Noele is that rare oxymoron, a loyal mercenary, the company took her from a meagre existance and gave her a life that many could only dream of and she darn well knows it. She is revolted at the idea of collatoral damage, taking the view that war should be as clean and military as possible, she'll be the boring one to bring up the Ares Conventions at the drop of a hat. That said, outside of military enguagements she's a happy and friendly face always keen to get to know people and perpetually shy around anything more than that after flirting with mecenaries who had little time for a growing girl.

Background: Noele has not had the easiest life in the world her parents taken from her at an early age and years spent trying to survive on the streets before a mercenary looked at the pitiable child and decided to take her under their wing, her family name lost to the ruins of her hometown, she was given the surname for unidentified bodies Tata. Growing into puberty among the mercenaries she grew to think of them as a family (Though her crushes on different adult members of this family were highly awkward for all involved.) Expressing enthusiasm for aeronautics and helping around the dropship for repairs a bargain was struck with the growing girl, she would learn to pilot the craft that captured the imaginations of so many in the outworlds alliance in exchange, she would work damnably hard and they would have her services with only the minimum of actual pay till the debt was cleared. Realising a lack of oppertunity should she reject the offer, she accepted and threw herself into her learning.  She began running actual operations at the somewhat tender age of 15 and has been flying her beloved <foo> ever since. Her debt now clear as a new contract begins, the now young woman is downright thirsty for a real payday.
Sexual Tendencies and Preferences: (Sexuality, Fetishes, whatever you want)
Player Ons and Offs:

Attributes:
STR: 3 (-1)
DEX: 4 (0)
BOD: 4 (0)
RFL: 5 (0)
INT: 4 (0)
WIL: 3 (-1)
CHA: 3 (-1)
EDG: 4 (0)

Traits:
Connections (1) - Mercenary Community
Tech Empath (3)
G-tolerance (1)
Toughness (3)
Sixth Sense (4)
Enemy (-1)
Equipped (-1)
Wealth (-1)
Compulsion/Traumatic Memories (-1)
Reputation (-1)

Skills:
Career Soldier (4)
Driving Ground Vee (0)
Interest Holo-games (3)
Streetwise/Outworlds (2)
Survival/Urban (1)
Language/ French (1)
Language/ English (0)
Leadership (0)
Martial Arts (2)
Medtech (2)
Navigation space (2)
Negotiation (3)
Perception (2)
Protocol Mercenary (2)
Tactics Space (1)
Technician Areonautics (2)
Pilot/Aerospace (5)
Gunner/Aerospace (4)
Sensor Ops (2)     

Equipment:
Heh, yeah not from this background

C-Bills:100

[TFcommando]

I'd like to join but not as a mechwarrior. Can I drive the bus? The reason I'd like to not be a mechwarrior are timezones. I'm at least 5 hours ahead of everyone, meaning that I'm probably not going to be able to attend any of the heavy-duty mech-combat stuff.

You could also do a Scout/infiltrator/face/what-have-you, someone who'd be down on the planet with the rest of the lance, but staying the hell out of the way when the Mechs go into action (or just riding in someone's jumpseat).   

Side idea... if we don't have two Aerospace fighters (or any) we could have a  KR-61 Long-Range Shuttlecraft in one of the bays, which would allow for covert insertions.  Just one more shuttle landing at the spaceport, nothing to see here!

[Hawkwood]

Name: Commander Anastasia "Blizzard" Hawkwood
Age: Late 20s
Sex: Female
Height: 1m53
Physical Description: Sleight of build and fine-boned, she's clearly built for speed rather than power. Whilst petite, she's not particularly graceful; there's more of a strut and swagger than glide to her movements. She keeps her hair cut helmet-compliant short and is always well turned out but very rarely made up.
Personality Description: Anastasia liked the aviator-cool of being a navy pilot; for all their posturing and cockiness, even the Atlas-drivers still need to be picked up and dropped off. And that was her - cool, collected, and effortlessly confident. Friendly and always eager to swap stories, she's equally at home in a bar as in a flight-seat. She does her best to hide the more refined aspects of her childhood, but will happily babble about flower-gardens, and formal balls and cotillions when drunk.
Background: Whilst others may look at the Magistracy's armed forces and laugh, those that serve in them - generation after generation - have a quiet pride in what they've accomplished. One such family are the Hawkwoods. Generation after generation, they've sent their children off to keep the peace in the Magistracy. And so it was only natural that young Anastasia would leave to join the MAF. Shorter and a little frailer than average, she struggled through her military education. Things came to a head in her final year of the military school she attended when her parents both died mysteriously in an accident. Rather than inherit her mother's title, her 'kindly' aunt Tabitha stepped in to take care of things and let the young Anna "focus on her education." Even when her majority came, Tabitha wouldn't fully relinquish Anastasia's birthright, instead - and only grudgingly - ceding control to a tiny fraction of the Hawkwood estate. Initially, this didn't bother Anastasia particular; she had more important things to worry about - learning to fly the various military spacecraft within the MAF. Having done her duty, and ready to return home to consider her options, Anastasia was met with an attempt on her life. Putting the pieces together, she realised that Tabitha wanted to make her claim on the Hawkwood title complete and total! Fearing for her life, retired MAF pilot fled into the black, looking for work as a mercenary pilot. She tries to avoid talking about her home, and certainly won't mention her title (or claim thereto).
Sexual Tendencies and Preferences: (Sexuality, Fetishes, whatever you want)
Player Ons and Offs:

Attributes:
STR: 3 (-1)
DEX: 4 (0)
BOD: 4 (0)
RFL: 5 (0)
INT: 4 (0)
WIL: 3 (-1)
CHA: 4 (0)
EDG: 2

Traits:
Equipped (1) C/B/C
Gregarious (1)
Title (4) Baronet  (Heir)
Property (1): Some remote tropical islands with no value or industry. Gee thanks, Aunt Tabitha...
Rank (0): O3 - Commander MAF / Retired
Fast Learner (3)

Enemy (-3): Aunt Tabitha Hawkwood
Compulsion (-1): A dropship has two speeds, stationary, and AFTERBURNER. Fly it like you stole it, baby.
Dark Secret (-1): Is in fact a noble in hiding. Doesn't want people to know about it because she thinks it'll get her killed.
Missing Digit (0): Doesn't have a little finger on her left hand as a result of getting shot at. Gee thanks, Auntie.

Skills:
Acting - 0 (16)
Administration - 1 (24)
Appraisal - 0 (16)
Career: Pilot - 4 (96)
Comms / Conventional - 2 (40)
Computers - 3 (64)
Interest - Botany 0 (16)
Interest - High Society 0 (16)
Interest - Military History 2 (40)
Interest - Holovid Soaps 1 (24)
Language: English - 96 (4)
Language: Spanish - 1 (24)
Leadership - 3 (64)
Martial Arts - 3 (64)
Medtech / General - 2 (40)
Melee - 0 (16)
Navigation / KF Jump 2 (40)
Navigation / Air 2 (40)
Navigation / Space 4 (96)
Negotiation - 1 (24)
Perception - 3 (64)
Pilot / Space 4 (96)
Pilot / VTOL 0 (16)
Protocol / MagCan - 3 (64)
Running - 1 (24)
Sensor Ops - 4 (96)
Small Arms - 3 (64)
Strategy - 2 (40)
Streetwise / MagCan - 0 (16)
Swimming - 1 (24)
Tactics / Space - 2 (40)
Training - 2 (40)
Zero-G Ops - 2 (40)

Equipment:
(Some really cool stuff, because my lifepath REALLY wanted me to be Equipped :( )

C-Bills:
1000

Lifepath Rolls for Shits & Giggles!:
Nobility: Your family are warriors!
Military School: Relative dies and leaves you a vehicle
Military Academy: Graduated top of your class - OCS
TDY Inner Sphere: Raiding Missions

[Stendarr]

The (really old) Dropships and Jumpships lists the crew compliment of a Leopard as:

4 engineers / techs
2 pilots
3 second engineers / gunners
4 Mechwarriors
2 Aerospace pilots

With a total capacity of 15

Engineer: fixes broken Leopard / Aerospace
Tech: fixes broken mechs
Second engineer: "A semi-skilled engineer". So I imagine them to be basically muscle.

Acording to more recent rules a Leopard has the following crew:

6 "Base Crew"
2 of the base crew are also officers
3 Gunners

You also have 4 'Mech bays and 2 fighter bays, each bay also has accommodation for a pair of people (the mechanic and the pilot for the vehicle I would assume).
So in other words, a Leopard also has

4 MechWarriors
4 'Mech technicians
2 Aerospace pilots
2 Aerospace technicians

I imagine that among the "base crew" you would have a couple of officers, a couple of medical crew, a dropship pilot, and a something else (dunno what, maybe the radio guy or something).

Still working on character ideas... one is the Kurita samurai/noble wife mech warrior who lost everything due to machinations and is now an outcast (might or might not be team mom).  Not sure if the modules reflect someone who no longer lives in the Combine though.

Affiliation "identifies his or her realm of birth, and is not so much a stage of life as a factor that helps define the character’s ethnic and cultural background." So you really don't have to live in the Combine, but you tend toward their culture. You were probably raised there, but even that is flexible, I'd say. If you really don't have ties, cultural or otherwise, to a defined place, you can always be "independent".

Incidentally, do we get to choose what mechs we start with, beyond them being lights?

I was planning on handing out particular 'Mechs, but you're the second person who's asked now. I think it makes more sense for you to pick if you'd like to; as long as it's a light 'Mech.

Since we're not using Universal Fixed XP, can we pick languages and attributes if we're using life modules?

Like if I'm taking an affiliation that has German as primary language and X XP in certain attributes, can I still pick German as a language even if we're not using the fixed XP or am I stuck without it? ( Since it's not in sub modules as far as I can see).

Say hypothetically that you pick all the life modules you want and all together they end up costing 3000 xp. So your initial 5000, minus the cost of 3000, you have 2000 left. You can now spend those last 2000 points on any attribute, trait, or skill you want (with a 1 xp spent to 1 xp gained ratio). At that point, you're basically in "points-only character creation".

So with whatever points you end up with, you probably want to make sure you put at least some into your language(s) of choice.

The only thing life modules really do is help you come up with ideas for the life your character has lived. Life modules also give you some bonus xp (a module's cost is usually less than the sum of its rewards), at the cost of "forcing" you to buy into some fluffier skills; like Interest/Something, instead of dumping all your points into Piloting/'Mechs.

So far I have an Outworlds Alliance War Orphan/Mercenary brat, idea being she was adopted by the company early in her life if that's alright? I'm flipping between making a mechwarrior, a tech or an aerospace/dropship a lot. Would it be easier if I did a MW? Struggling to think of a way to get her some skills that make sense with the backstory that I can then buff with a Tour of Duty or the like.

Disregard I'm an idiot, that's what flexible xp is for.

Flexible xp, as well as the xp left over once you're done with life modules, as stated above.

I think an aerospace pilot would be cool, but it's a little bit more rules to learn for when combat starts.

I'd like to join but not as a mechwarrior. Can I drive the bus? The reason I'd like to not be a mechwarrior are timezones. I'm at least 5 hours ahead of everyone, meaning that I'm probably not going to be able to attend any of the heavy-duty mech-combat stuff.

You can totally be the dropship pilot. And there are rules for dropships partaking in 'Mech combat if you ever really want to.


A note about what skills to get:

Language proficiency in A Time of War

"the character is generally considered to be automatically successful at understanding any language for which he has a Skill Level of 0 (though he will speak it with a pronounced local accent), and with basic reading comprehension possible at Level 1 (unless the character has the Illiterate Trait; see p. 119). At Level 2, the character attains enough ability in the language that he can be understood by another character who has only recently learned the words himself (effectively eradicating the worst of his accent), while a character at Level 3 is considered fluent. At a Skill Level of 4 or higher, the character’s command of the language is considered excellent, with an expanded vocabulary and clear enough enunciation to be easily understood anywhere the language is spoken."

You probably want to have at least skill level 3 in your primary language.

You also probably want a decent skill level in Pilot/yourVehicle and Gunnery/yourVehicle. I'd recommend at least 4 for each.

[Voidknight]

That's a bit weird, given a lot of the example characters only have a skill level of one in their nativelanguage, that said I'll take another pass at sorting my sheet. I am more than happy to adjust her to being a mechwarrior if that's easier. I would actually sort of prefer assigned mechs, having to make do- (I have my favourite lights but I do love the underdog value of being given a less good one)