Mechwarrior (Interest Check)

[vin26m]

Update 2016-11-27 - The earliest this could happen is mid-December.



Just kind of throwing this out there.

I've been flipping through old Battletech books, reading up on gladiators and researching pro sports.

And now I was thinking about running a Mechwarrior group game.

I haven't bought or read any Battletech stuff that was published after about the year 2000.  The last thing I remember happening and can refer to in my sourcebook collection is the year 3060-something.  So that's the year it would take place in, after the Clans got stopped.

The characters would be (or would mostly be) Mechwarriors with various affiliations (one of the five Inner Sphere houses, or one of the something-teen Clans, or a mercenary unit, or Comstar, or Word or Blake, or whatever).

The game would not have any rules.  No crunch here.  Character sheets will be super basic (picture, name, basic dossier stuff).  I'm assuming each player can stay true to the spirit of the game.

The game would take place on Solaris VII, a world that is basically dedicated to gladiator style arena Mech combat.  No wars here.  Just matches in a league, but the rivalries can get intense.

All of the Mechwarrior characters start out the game down on their luck and without Battlemechs. 

They would be provided basic mechs (like models from 3025) during the game.  As their reputations improve in prominence and they get to higher levels of competition, they can get more modern mechs with newer tech and even custom styling.

They would start out joining an established but lower-tier stable (basically an organization run by an owner with mechs, Mechwarriors and support staff like technicians) and they would be joining a team within the stable that is fighting near the lowest level of competition (light mechs).

The characters are hired as replacements for a team that has been killed.  The team is in first place in their division.  The season is about halfway over but they can still make the playoffs if they have a decent showing.

Sexy times are certainly possible, but the game would mostly revolve around combat in the arenas, which can be coliseum-like structures or or uninhabited areas, like an abandoned city or the woods or the desert.

In addition to the combat, there could be elements of a broadcast, such as announcers doing play-by-play and providing color commentary.  There could also be instant replays.

Combat would be more cinematic - showmanship is as important as winning, so more elaborate shots and surprising melee attacks are standard.

If you're interested, post here.  If you like what you've read so far, say so.  If you have ideas or suggestions, share them.

[Inerrant Lust]

https://youtu.be/H_smBV2YBtk

I really shouldn't be starting any new games, but I have had a mechwarrior kick lately... Would love to play me a clanner lady-of-war, perhaps...

But I'm a little turned off by the gladiator style setting. It could work and certainly it all depends on the other PCs, but I'd prefer something that takes us to new places and new worlds and meeting new people. That sorta thing.

[Latooni Subota]

I'm up for anything btech, I suppose!

[Sara Nilsson]

Waves hand like mad! Me me me me me me!!!!! Give me a fast mech and Ill be a happy girl :)

I was honestly working on GMing a mechwarrior game myself :) just adore the setting

[vin26m]

I really shouldn't be starting any new games, but I have had a mechwarrior kick lately... Would love to play me a clanner lady-of-war, perhaps...

But I'm a little turned off by the gladiator style setting. It could work and certainly it all depends on the other PCs, but I'd prefer something that takes us to new places and new worlds and meeting new people. That sorta thing.

Thanks for the input.  Solaris VII is actually a microcosm of the universe.  All kinds of people from all kinds of places are on one world, if that helps with your new-places-new-people concerns.

I didn't mention this, but there are five stables that are affiliated with the five houses, and the house rivalries extend to stable rivalries.

I'm up for anything btech, I suppose!

Waves hand like mad! Me me me me me me!!!!! Give me a fast mech and Ill be a happy girl :)

I was honestly working on GMing a mechwarrior game myself :) just adore the setting

Thanks for your interest!

If you feel like putting up some info about your characters, (just a picture, a name, maybe your dream mech), that may encourage me to go through with this.

[Sara Nilsson]

can do :)

question: is the combat more of the simulated variety (ie weapons nut fully powered) or is it no holds barred and if someone gets trashed and killed.. so be it? You did say the previous members got killed so I am assuming it is full on combat but figured I would make sure. After all freak accidents can always happen.

also what does the arena look like? is it a large swath of land with terrain or just open ground inside a small area?

[vin26m]

can do :)

question: is the combat more of the simulated variety (ie weapons nut fully powered) or is it no holds barred and if someone gets trashed and killed.. so be it? You did say the previous members got killed so I am assuming it is full on combat but figured I would make sure. After all freak accidents can always happen.

also what does the arena look like? is it a large swath of land with terrain or just open ground inside a small area?

Good questions.

The weapons are fully powered since that's what the audience wants to see.  Also, arena combat often leads to footage that weapons manufacturers use in their commercials.  Mechwarriors get salaries, bonuses for winning, and bonuses for not trashing their mechs.  A mechwarrior may put up a bond that they forfeit if they surrender during a match (so that mechwarriors surrender only when they really have to), but that is more common at a higher level of competition.

Deaths in the arena happen, but that's not what happened with the previous members the characters would be replacing.  The previous members died in an explosion along with other bystanders while they were out to dinner - it was not combat-related.

The arenas vary.  We can make the arenas whatever we want.  It could be inside a structure with walls, like a coliseum or a quarry.  It could be out in the open but there are boundaries where if the mech leaves the boundaries they are eliminated.  Or it could be more of a long-range situation.

One reason I like using arena combat is because of the variety of matches (arena setting, numbers on each side, balanced sides) that we can set up for whatever we feel like playing.

[Sara Nilsson]

ok so there will be enough cover that a light mech isn't automatically suicide? :)

[vin26m]

ok so there will be enough cover that a light mech isn't automatically suicide? :)

Yes.  We can make the arenas whatever we want.

[Sara Nilsson]

Name: Melissa O'Hare

Age: 35

Nationality: Lyrian Commonwealth

Dream Mech: Firestarter

Brief history and personality: She joined the armed forces at an early age wanting to defend her homeland, it very quickly became clear that her reckless nature suited well for fast hit and run tactics so she was throw into light mechs almost instantly. They figured this way when she did crash and burn at least they wouldn't lose anything too expensive, but she kept coming out of various scrapes alive even if her mech was more or less limping back with all the armour slagged off. Yet her superiors couldn't discount that her style was effective in taking on larger mechs by circling around and constantly picking at them from behind before dashing off again.

But military life was a bit too restrictive for her, all that discipline chafed with her personality so when her contract was up she went off into the wider universe looking for someone that would be less strict about always having your uniform pressed and shiny, or the whole get up long before the sun even touches the horizon. So when she heard about the gladiatorial games it immediately interested her so she spent her last money to try and get herself a spot on a team.

Yeah a very very brief intro, if something like that what you had in mind? If so I can expand on it a bit once I finished a few posts I owe people. I havent forgot you all I promise!! :)

[vin26m]

Nice!

That's pretty much the extent I would want in terms of background.  Everything else about her can be revealed in-character.

That basic background actually opens up an interesting RP possibility.

The stables are not necessarily less strict.  There is still some getting up early in the morning to train.  And she is representing this public image of herself and the team and the stable, so there would be aspects of her having to be careful about her image including her uniform being pressed and shiny.  If she goes up in popularity, someone could do that for her, but starting at the bottom she'll have to do it herself.  Maybe the stable and sponsors would want to play up her attractiveness, too.

And, being Lyran, she could have rivalries with warriors from the Federated Suns, while the Lyran stable tries to poach her.

[Sara Nilsson]

Yeah I assumed they wouldn't be all that less strict, in fact I am counting on it. though beforehand she had no idea of that of course. Was thinking she could grumble under her breath whenever someone scolded her over a rumply uniform "i left the army to get away from this.. grumble" ^^

So sweet, I will work more on her on my own and keep that on my HD for when/if we get rolling. If not Ill use her in another game recycling is good no? ^^

[vin26m]

Yeah I assumed they wouldn't be all that less strict, in fact I am counting on it. though beforehand she had no idea of that of course. Was thinking she could grumble under her breath whenever someone scolded her over a rumply uniform "i left the army to get away from this.. grumble" ^^

So sweet, I will work more on her on my own and keep that on my HD for when/if we get rolling. If not Ill use her in another game recycling is good no? ^^

Depending on interest, I'd be happy to do this as a solo game with you, perhaps with me or with both of us playing multiple characters.

[Inerrant Lust]

Callsign/Arena Nom-de-guerre: Fallen Star

Possible Images: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Age: 21

Nationality: Clan Smoke Jaguar, Bloodname Showers

Dream Mech: Ebon Jaguar/Cauldron-Born

What a sorry fate for a trueborn Smoke Jaguar warrior, to be born just a little bit too late. Fallen Star was so named for two reasons. One was his/her bloodname Showers, and secondly the fact that Fallen Star only graduated from his/her sibko months after Clan Smoke Jaguar was effectively annihilated. It wasn't easy to even get that far, though. A malfunction in the iron womb left Fallen Star asthmatic and nearly crippled as a child. Given how rapidly children grow, clone replacement lungs and legs would not be an option until after he/she graduated from the crèche. At six years old, he/she began to receive Type Four prosthetic limbs. They had to be replaced regularly but this was just enough to allow him/her to graduate and train to become a Mechwarrior proper. While a number of instructors thought he/she was doomed to a lower caste, some thought it was the ultimate test of the clans' Darwinian philosophy- if he/she could overcome his/her disabilities, it was proof of both genetic and intellectual superiority. Nevertheless, Fallen Star graduated from the crèche and 10 years later, from the sibko. Only... too late. The fall of Clan Smoke Jaguar left him/her bereft of a home and a clan. He/she had fought so hard, and was proud to be a Smoke Jaguar. It was a name no other clan would allow her to bear... Only, ironically, it would only be within the company of Freebirths that Fallen Star could keep her name. The clan might have been hated and detested for what happened during Operation Revival, but at the very least the Inner Sphere would not exterminate their memory.

[Wargtass]

Did someone say MechWarrior? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Sara Nilsson]

Did someone say MechWarrior? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

*glomps*

havent seen you in ages!

[vin26m]

Callsign/Arena Nom-de-guerre: Fallen Star

Possible Images: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Age: 21

Nationality: Clan Smoke Jaguar, Bloodname Showers

Dream Mech: Ebon Jaguar/Cauldron-Born

What a sorry fate for a trueborn Smoke Jaguar warrior, to be born just a little bit too late. Fallen Star was so named for two reasons. One was his/her bloodname Showers, and secondly the fact that Fallen Star only graduated from his/her sibko months after Clan Smoke Jaguar was effectively annihilated. It wasn't easy to even get that far, though. A malfunction in the iron womb left Fallen Star asthmatic and nearly crippled as a child. Given how rapidly children grow, clone replacement lungs and legs would not be an option until after he/she graduated from the crèche. At six years old, he/she began to receive Type Four prosthetic limbs. They had to be replaced regularly but this was just enough to allow him/her to graduate and train to become a Mechwarrior proper. While a number of instructors thought he/she was doomed to a lower caste, some thought it was the ultimate test of the clans' Darwinian philosophy- if he/she could overcome his/her disabilities, it was proof of both genetic and intellectual superiority. Nevertheless, Fallen Star graduated from the crèche and 10 years later, from the sibko. Only... too late. The fall of Clan Smoke Jaguar left him/her bereft of a home and a clan. He/she had fought so hard, and was proud to be a Smoke Jaguar. It was a name no other clan would allow her to bear... Only, ironically, it would only be within the company of Freebirths that Fallen Star could keep her name. The clan might have been hated and detested for what happened during Operation Revival, but at the very least the Inner Sphere would not exterminate their memory.

Looks good!  The Lyran-FedSun rivalry is the most intense, matched only by the Smoke Jaguar-Kurita rivalry.

Did someone say MechWarrior? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Jump on in!

[Wargtass]

Almost never got to see me again! 

What kind of player count are we looking at here? I'm not entirely sure about the Solaris arenas but I think those were most often limited to one lance of mechs? Don't quote me on that though, I was never all that pulled into the Solaris hype.

[ChaoticWake]

I'm in!!!

[vin26m]

Almost never got to see me again! 

What kind of player count are we looking at here? I'm not entirely sure about the Solaris arenas but I think those were most often limited to one lance of mechs? Don't quote me on that though, I was never all that pulled into the Solaris hype.

I had a feeling you'd show.  I remember the game you ran that I was in years ago.

I'm open to any count.  I think I can make it work.

We could do whatever we want.  1v1, 2v2, 4v4, 6v6, 10v10, whatever.  And not every character has to be in every combat.  We could have multiple combats going, and maybe characters end up on opposite sides (scrimmaging within the stable, or some characters joining another stable).

I'm in!!!

Welcome!

[Wargtass]

I was thinking in the lines of stable technician, kind of like the F1 stable coordinators. Especially since I love blathering about the technical aspects of 'mechs. 

[vin26m]

I was thinking in the lines of stable technician, kind of like the F1 stable coordinators. Especially since I love blathering about the technical aspects of 'mechs. 

That could be interesting, actually.  Your character can be analyzing the conditions of the mechs and informing the pilots about what they should do and not do.  Sort of like in auto races where someone from the pit is talking to the driver.

[Wargtass]

Yeah, pretty much what I had in mind. Besides its always fun to have a mechanic to yell at. 

[Latooni Subota]

Name: Alice Tadokoro

Ace: 18

Nationality: Draconis Combine

Dream Mech: Catapult (Or Longbow)

Alice is an odd girl, from a world on the outer rim of the Draconis Combine. Her world never really had much attention, being hardly more than a handful of small frontier colonies with few major resources that would interest anyone. Really, their only 'export' so-to-speak was warm bodies to work in other places rather than stagnate in dull farm towns. Alice was one of those rare few who actually had a decent head on her shoulders, and was more interested in reading than getting knocked up in a barn loft. More of a stroke of luck than anything, Alice managed to get a place in one of the Kuritan military academies. Things went poorly.

Nobody can deny that Alice is a bright girl and a whiz behind a properly advanced BattleMech, but the frontier girl never quite caught on to the societal practices of the Draconis Combine. She was often looked down on for her inability to adapt to high-protocol situations, and teammates would regularly ignore otherwise valid advice and offers of assistance due to her 'shameful' manner and country bumpkin accent. By the time she graduated (thanks in part to the temporary ceasefire after Tukayyid, the best posting she could get was basic garrison work on a planet just as sleepy as her own, no matter how good of a MechWarrior she was. In a fit of rebellion Alice quite happily flipped off every brass she could and got the hell out of dodge, making her way to Solaris VII. While Outreach would've been better to find work in a mercenary crew, Alice (wisely) realized that she'd need some public experience and to own her own mech free and clear to really make herself an attractive pick.


When in doubt, be the gifted-but-totally-untested new pilot!

[Wargtass]

Name: Richter Feldman

Age: 30

Nationality: Terran (ComStar)

Dream Mech: A Mad Cat (for someone else to pilot and for him to tinker with)

Growing up in the cradle of all civilization was at once a blessing and a curse for Richter Feldman. Part of a Eurasian noble house he was sent to Sydney to earn his acolyteship with the prestigious ComStar. As fate would have it he ended up in a little less illustrious career than his family had intended for him. Always one to tinker with machines, he wasn't very interested in communication and HPG networks and was instead drawn towards the mechanical workings of vehicles and mechs. He spent more time in service pits and hangars than he did in class rooms, teaching himself proper mechanical engineering with books borrowed or stolen.

While all this resulted in him being expelled from the ComStar academia and disowned by his parents, the young engineering prodigy was eyed closely by the secret service ROM and herded into the ComGuards' Zeta branch of military technology. He took part in the research and reverse engineering of captured Clan tech before and after the Battle of Tukayyid, earning himself unique experience as well as valuable knowledge that would help his career. Or it would have if the Word of Blake hadn't won control of Terra in 3058. He realized pretty quickly where the wind was blowing and took off, finding a temporary refuge in the Free Worlds League before ending up in Solaris City where his talents would find a new and unique application among the gladiatorial stables.



I'll find a picture shortly, I'm sure.