A Fistful of C-Bills: A Mechwarrior Story

[orderNchaos]

Now I kinda want an Axeman; heavy, FedCom, JumpJets, fights in close, Team Banzai....

But someone else already called a Hatchetman.

In fairness...I already had an established character from another story that I really wanted to reacquaint with.   

[Mister Ugly]

Now I kinda want an Axeman; heavy, FedCom, JumpJets, fights in close, Team Banzai....

But someone else already called a Hatchetman.

There is no reason Hank cannot have an Axeman!! The two of them would be very dangerous in close quarters!

And of course twin axes intertwined 

MU

[Mister Ugly]

@orderNChaos:
Using Risus ya can have one more d6 to use for a total of 11. You gave a decent 'tale' that works.

MU

[Mister Ugly]

Iffa someone out there wishes to design a character themeplate go for. I am not picky about how it is all set up as longas I can figure it out and read it!!

MU

[greenknight]

There is no reason Hank cannot have an Axeman!! The two of them would be very dangerous in close quarters!

And of course twin axes intertwined 

MU

Cool. -2N variant with the LRM-15s vs the -1N's AC/20? The other variants look a little too late for the game's era, though the -3S has a nice loadout with the ECM bubble.

[Mister Ugly]

Cool. -2N variant with the LRM-15s vs the -1N's AC/20? The other variants look a little too late for the game's era, though the -3S has a nice loadout with the ECM bubble.

Either the -2N or the -1N works... There will be long range support from the sergeant if that helps any. Though no indirect fire as of yet!
I can tell ya that the Hatchetman has an ECM upgrade, and is mostly short range.

MU

[Relikai]

Before I confirm interest, are we going freeform, or using actual rules and mechanics? 

[Mister Ugly]

Before I confirm interest, are we going freeform, or using actual rules and mechanics? 

I want to use as much freeform as possible. I do feel though that a rule light system as a supplement is needed which why we will be using Risus. There may, heck probably will arise situtations where we all will feel better using some sort of system.

Risus plain text

Risus: The Anything RPG

Welcome to Risus: The Anything RPG, a complete pen-and-paper roleplaying game! For some, Risus is a handy “emergency” RPG for spur-of-the-moment one-shots and rapid character creation. For others, it’s a reliable campaign system supporting years of play. For others still, it’s a strange little pamphlet with stick figures. For me, it’s all three, and with this edition, Risus celebrates not only two decades of existence, but two decades of life, bolstered by an enthusiastic global community devoted to expanding it, celebrating it, sharing it, and gaming with it.

Character Creation

The character Cliché is the heart of Risus. Clichés are shorthand for a kind of person, implying their skills, background, social role and more. The “character classes” of the oldest RPGs are enduring Clichés: Wizard, Detective, Starpilot, Superspy. You can choose Clichés like those for your character, or devise something more outré, like Ghostly Pirate Cook, Fairy Godmother, Bruce Lee (for a character who does Bruce Lee stuff) or Giant Monster Who Just Wants To Be Loved For His Macrame – anything you can talk your GM into. With a very permissive GM, you could be all these at once. Each Cliché has a rating in dice (the ordinary six-sided kind). When your character’s prowess as a Wizard, Starpilot or Bruce Lee is challenged, roll dice equal to the rating.  Three dice is “professional.” One die is a putz. Six dice is ultimate mastery. A complete Risus character looks like this:

Grolfnar Vainsson the Viking
Description: Tall, blond, and grinning. Likes to drink and fight and drink and chase Viking women and fight and sail the high seas and raid. Wants to write great sagas about himself.
Clichés: Viking (4), Gambler (3), Womanizer (2), Poet (1)

To create Grolfnar, all we had to do was name him, describe him, and assign his Clichés. You get 10 dice to spend on Clichés, distributed however you like, on as many or few Clichés as you decide (but more than 10 would be odd, considering). The first Cliché listed for your character (“Viking,” in Grolfnar’s case) is his Primary Cliché – the Cliché that most clearly expresses how your character sees himself. In general, new characters may not have Clichés rated higher than 4 dice, so Grolfnar’s “Viking” is maxed out for a beginning PC. Your GM might choose to expand, relax, or otherwise transmogrify such parameters for his game (ask if you’re not sure).

Powers, Tools, and Power Tools

Each Cliché implies a lot about a character, most crucially including his likely abilities and equipment. If you’re playing a Hirsute Barbarian (3), we can assume your character is comfortable with blades and battle. He’s probably a climber, a runner, and all-night reveler. He probably owns at least one sturdy hand-weapon and (hopefully, mercifully) a complete loincloth. If you’re playing a Psychic Schoolgirl (3), you probably have the power to sense (and be freaked-out by) the psychometric residue lingering at a murder scene, and might own a cute plushy backpack filled with school supplies. If you’re playing a Roguish Space Pirate (3), you can do all kinds of piratey roguey space-things, and you probably own a raygun, and maybe a secondhand star freighter. When there’s any doubt about your character’s abilities or “Tools of the Trade,” discuss it with your GM.

Tools of the Trade come “free” as part of each Cliché, but they’re vulnerable to loss or damage, which can (sometimes) cripple or limit the power of the Cliché. A Roguish Space Pirate, stripped of his star freighter, loses all ability to haul booty to distant suns … while a Psychic Schoolgirl loses none of her ability to be freaked out by murder scenes if her plushy backpack is stolen. A Hirsute Barbarian (3), forced into a pit-fight without his trusty blade, can still rely on his bare hands, but he’ll operate at half-dice – a mere Hirsute Barbarian (2) – until he’s once again properly armed. The backpack-deprived Schoolgirl might face similar penalties when it’s time to do her homework.

In the course of adventuring life, lucky explorers may discover enchanted and/or cutting-edge and/or otherwise special equipment. The most basic sort is called Bonus-Dice Gear (such items let you roll an extra die, or more, when using them) but there are other kinds of “special” to be found, in the form of alternate game mechanics (“With this experimental piloting software, you can reroll any 1s”), in-world powers (“Only a Stradivarius can be used to seduce a Vampire Prince”) or even mixed benefits and restrictions (“While wielding the Sword of Mercy, you always roll dice at least equal to your foe, but you must spare his life if you win.”)

The Game System

Whenever anybody wants to do anything, and nobody’s actively opposing it, and the GM doesn’t think success would be automatic, the player rolls dice. If the total rolled beats (equals or exceeds) the Target Number set by the GM, success! If not, failure! Target numbers follow this scale:

5: A cinch. A challenge for a schmuck. Routine for a pro.
10: A challenge for a professional.
15: An Heroic challenge. For really inventive or tricky stunts.
20: A challenge for a Master. Nearly superhuman difficulty.
30: You’ve GOT to be kidding. Actual superhuman difficulty.

The Target Number depends on the Cliché, and anyone can try anything. Crossing a chasm by swinging on a rope or vine would be child’s play (automatic success!) for a Swashbuckler or a Lord of the Jungle, easy (Target 5) for a Pulp Archaeologist, and challenging but definitely doable (Target 10) for a Gymnast, Barbarian, or Cat-Burglar. Even a Wheelchair-Bound Eccentric Occultist could try it (Difficulty 15, but the wheelchair is lost unless the roll beats a 30)!

The Combat System

In Risus, “combat” is any contest in which opponents jockey for position, make attacks, bring defenses to bear, and wear down their opponent to achieve victory. Literally or metaphorically. Examples of “combat” include:

Arguments: Combatants wielding logic, stubbornness and cheap rhetorical tricks to make their point.
Horse-Racing: People on horses running around a dirty track, trying to get nowhere first.
Dogfights: Pilots in airplanes or spaceships trying to blow each other out of the sky.
Astral/Psychic Duels: Mystics/psionics looking bored or sleepy, but trying to rip each other’s ego apart in the Otherworld.
Wizard’s Duels: Sorcerers using strange magics, trying to outdo one another.
Dueling Banjos: Banjo players using strange melodies, trying to outdo one another.
Seduction: One (or more) characters trying to score with one (or more) other character(s) who is(are) trying to resist.
Courtroom Antics: Prosecution vs. Defense. The goal is victory. Justice is incidental.
Actual Regular Combat: People trying to injure or kill each other.

The GM decides when a combat has begun. At that point, go around the table in rounds, and let each combatant make an attack in turn. What constitutes an “attack” depends on the nature of the fight, but it should always be roleplayed (if dialogue is involved) or described in entertaining detail (if it’s physical and/or dangerous and/or does/should involve contraceptives). The GM will determine what type of Cliché is appropriate for the fight. In a straightforward physical brawl, Clichés like Viking, Soldier, Swashbuckler, and Ernest Hemingway are equally appropriate, while Clichés like Hairdresser and Latin Lover are not.

Attacks must be directed at an opponent. Both parties in the attack (attacker and defender) roll against their chosen Cliché. Low roll loses. Specifically, the low roller loses one of his Cliché dice for the remainder of the fight – he’s been weakened, worn down, demoralized or otherwise pushed one step towards defeat.

Eventually, one side will be left standing, and another will be left without dice. At this point, the winners decide the fate of the losers. In a physical fight or magical duel, the losers might be killed (or mercifully spared). In Courtroom Antics, the loser is sentenced by the judge, or fails to prosecute. In a Seduction, the loser gets either a cold shower or a warm evening, depending. While the GM will reject combat outcomes that make no sense in context (if you beat someone at tennis, you aren’t normally allowed to decapitate them and drag their corpse through the city square), the spoils of victory are otherwise down to the choice of the victor.

You needn’t use the same Cliché every round. If a Viking/Swashbuckler wants to lop heads one round, and switch to swinging on chandeliers the next, that’s groovy, too. However, anytime a character has a Cliché worn down to zero dice in combat, he’s been defeated, even if he has other Clichés left to play with.

Dice lost in combat are regained when the combat ends, at a healing rate determined by the GM (based on the nature of the attacks involved). If the combat was in vehicles (space fighters, mecha, wooden sailing ships) then the vehicles themselves are likely damaged, too, and must be repaired. Sometimes, healing takes not only time, but conditions specified by the GM (“now that you’ve been soundly defeated, you can’t even look at your banjo until your girlfriend assuages your ego”).

There’s no standard time or distance scale in Risus; everything depends on context. In a physical brawl, each round might represent just a few seconds … while in a long-term fight between a married couple, each round might represent an entire day (Day One: Husband “accidentally” burns Wife’s favorite dress in the oven, Wife “accidentally” feeds Drano to Husband’s prize goldfish, and so on).

Inappropriate Clichés

As stated above, the GM determines what sort of Clichés are appropriate for the fight. Any Clichés left over are inappropriate. In a physical fight, Hairdresser is inappropriate. In a magical duel, Barbarian is inappropriate.

Inappropriate Clichés aren’t forbidden from the fight. They can still be used to make attacks, provided the player roleplays or describes it in a really, really, really entertaining manner. Furthermore, the attack must be plausible within the context of the combat, and the genre and tone that the GM has set for the game (making this kind of attack more often useful in very pulpy/swashbuckly games, or very silly ones).

All combat rules apply normally, with one exception: if an inappropriate Cliché wins a combat round versus an appropriate one, the losing player loses three dice, rather than one, from his Cliché! The “inappropriate” player takes no such risk, and loses only one die if he loses the round. Thus, a creative hairdresser is dangerous when cornered and attacked unfairly. Beware.

When in doubt, assume the aggressor determines the type of combat. If a wizard attacks a barbarian with magic, then it’s a magical duel! If the barbarian attacks the mage with his sword, then it’s physical combat! If the defender can come up with an entertaining use of his skills, he’ll have the edge. It pays in many genres to be the defender! But … if the wizard and barbarian both obviously want to fight, then both are aggressors, and it’s “fantasy combat,” where both swords and sorcery have equal footing.

Teaming Up

Two or more characters may form a team in combat. For the duration of the team (usually the entire fight), they battle as a single unit, and may only be attacked as a single foe. There are two kinds of team: full-on Character Teams (for PCs, and sufficiently interesting NPCs) and Grunt-Squads (for nameless NPC hordes).

Grunt-Squads: This is just special effects. When a horde of 700 rat-skeletons attacks the PCs within the lair of the Wicked Necromancer (5), the GM probably won’t feel like keeping track of 700 tiny skeletal sets of dice. Instead, he can declare them a Grunt Squad, fighting as a single foe: a Skeletal Rat-Horde (7). Mechanically, the Rat-Horde is the same as any single foe – except it sometimes has more dice (as many as the GM cares to assign it). Grunt-Squads stick together as a team until they’re defeated, at which point some survivors may scatter (though at least one will always remain to suffer whatever fate the victor decides). Taken to logical (or whimsical) extremes, an entire ship’s crew, or even whole forests, dungeons, cities or nations might be represented by a single Cliché.

Character Teams: When PCs (and/or NPCs worth the attention) form a team, the Team Leader is the character with the highest-ranking applicable Cliché (if there’s a tie, the team must designate a Team Leader). Everybody rolls dice, but only the Team Leader’s dice completely count. Other team-members contribute only their sixes, when they roll any.

Clichés joined in a team need not be identical, and (provided the GM can be convinced) they can even be a mix of “appropriate” and “inappropriate” for the fight (a group of warriors might be aided by their able minstrel, for example). However, they don’t triple enemy dice-loss unless the entire team is equally inappropriate (which means the players get to explain to the GM exactly how a Hairdresser, a Parakeet Trainer, and a Life Coach are coordinating their talents to take Darth Viraxis to the mat)!

Whenever a team loses a round of combat, a single team-member’s Cliché is reduced. Any team-member (Team Leader included) may “step forward” and voluntarily suffer this loss. If so, the noble volunteer is reduced by twice the normal amount (either two dice or six, depending), but the Team Leader gets to roll twice as many dice on his next attack, a temporary boost as the team avenges their heroic comrade. If no volunteer steps forward, the Team Leader must assign the (undoubled) hit to a team-member, and there is no “vengeance” bonus.

Victory & Defeat: With teams as with individuals, the victor determines the fate of the loser … but when the loser is part of a team, his fate is generally reserved until the end of the team’s existence (even if he’s defeated while the fight rages on). So, if his team wins, his team – not their opponent – gets to decide. There are some fights where this won’t be so, where the PCs are under such precarious circumstance that their fates must be resolved immediately. But, in most cases, being part of a team – especially a winning team – is excellent insurance.

Disbanding: A team may voluntarily disband at any time between die-rolls. When disbanding, each team-member instantly loses a single die from the Cliché they’d been contributing to the team (equal to “damage” suffered in the fight itself). Disbanded team-members may freely form new teams, provided the die-loss from disbanding doesn’t defeat them. Individuals may also drop out of a team, but this reduces them to zero dice immediately as they scamper for the rear. Their fates rest on the mercy of whoever wins the fight!

Lost Leader: If the Team Leader ever leaves the team for any reason (either by dropping out or having his own Cliché dropped to zero), the team must disband immediately, with consequences as above. They may immediately opt to reform as a new team (with a new leader) however, and if the old leader was removed by having volunteered for personal damage, the new Team Leader gets the double-roll vengeance bonus to avenge his predecessor!

Single-Action Conflicts

“Combat” depends on multi-round jockeying and wearing each other down … but many conflicts are too sudden to be played that way (two characters grabbing for the same gun, for example). Such “Single-Action Conflicts” (SACs) are settled with a single roll against appropriate Clichés (or inappropriate Clichés, with good roleplaying). High roll wins. Note that, in nearly any case, the Game Master may jump between the three resolution methods (Target Number, Combat, Single-Action Conflict) to suit the pacing and mood. Sometimes, an arm-wrestling match works best as a combat … sometimes it works best as a Single-Action Conflict, and sometimes (preferably if it’s against some kind of coin-operated arm-wrestling machine) even as a simple Target Number.

When Somebody Can’t Participate

Sometimes, characters find themselves facing a Combat or Single-Action Conflict where they simply have no applicable Cliché, even by stretching the imagination. Perhaps one character in the party enters a pie-eating contest with his Disgusting Glutton (2) Cliché, but the rest of the characters are astronauts or accountants, neither of whom traditionally engorge themselves on pie. In situations like this, the GM might grant everybody two free “brevet dice” to play with for the duration of the conflict. This means the Disgusting Glutton (2) would become, temporarily, a Disgusting Glutton (4), while everyone else would get a Regular Person Talked Into a Pie-Eating Contest (2) Cliché “on loan” until the last crumb burps forth. The Glutton, naturally, retains his winning edge, but everyone else can still bury their noses in pie. This rule applies only to Combats and SACs, never to rolls against Target Numbers (since, with Target Numbers, the TN itself simply moves wherever it needs to, for any Cliché attempting any action).

Advanced Option: Lucky Shots

This option allows players to spend some of their 10 starting dice on something other than Clichés. A single Cliché-die can, instead, buy three Lucky Shots (spend two dice for six Lucky Shots, and so on). Using a Lucky Shot boosts any Cliché roll by a single die, for a single die-roll. Lucky Shots “reset” between game-sessions. Lucky Shots can represent random good luck, the favor of a deity, a streak of resourcefulness, etc.

Advanced Option: Hooks & Tales

With this Advanced Option, players can bargain for extra character-creation dice by giving their character a Hook and/or a Tale. A Hook is some significant character flaw – a curse, an obsession, a weakness, a sworn vow, a permanently crippling injury – that the GM agrees is so juicy that he can use it to make the character’s life more interesting (which usually means less pleasant). A character with a Hook gets an extra die to play with.

A Tale is a written “biography” of the character describing his life before the events of the game. The Tale needn’t be long (a page or two is plenty); it just needs to tell the reader where the character is coming from, what he likes and dislikes, how he became who he is, what his motives are. Some Tales are best written from the player’s omniscient perspective; others are more fun if written as excerpts from the character’s own diary. A character with a Tale provided before gameplay begins gets an extra die to play with.

Advanced Option: Pumps

Characters may pump their Clichés, expending extra effort at the cost of certain injury (loss of dice). A pumped Cliché receives a dice-boost lasting a single round of combat (or single significant roll, otherwise). After that round or roll is resolved, the Cliché returns to normal, then suffers immediate dice-loss equal to the boost. Such loss is comparable to combat losses, and must heal.

Example: Rudolph the Ninja (3) is attacked by a Monster (6)! Rudy doesn’t have much of a chance against such a powerful foe, so he opts for a tricky tactic: since the Monster is attacking physically, Rudolph decides his first-round response will use his skills as a Cajun Chef (3) – a decidedly Inappropriate choice! He also opts to pump it by two dice to Cajun Chef (5), putting his all into his cooking!

On round one, the Monster rolls six dice, and Rudy (quickly whipping up a tempting Gumbo spiked with Ninja sleeping drug and offering it to the Monster) rolls five. If the Ninja loses, he’s instantly defeated: his Cajun Chef Cliché would drop to Cajun Chef (1) for the pump, then to Cajun Chef (zero) for losing the round. The Monster would eat Rudolph instead of the Gumbo. If the Ninja wins, however, the Monster (6) drops to Monster (3), and Rudy’s Cajun Chef (3) drops to Cajun Chef (1). In round two, Rudolph can switch back to Ninja (3), where he’ll be on equal footing with the groggy, well-fed Monster.

Pumps are legal for any kind of Cliché roll, provided the GM agrees that “pushing it” fits the action involved.

Double-Pump Clichés: If permitting pumps, the GM might also allow double-pump Clichés, which take only “half damage” from pumping. Thus, a Sorcerer [5] could roll eleven dice for a single combat round (six extra dice!) but take only three dice of loss from the extra effort. Double-pump Clichés cost twice as many dice to buy during character creation, and are especially appropriate for Clichés representing supernatural abilities (in fact, some Game Masters may require that supernatural Clichés be purchased this way). The use of [square brackets] instead of (parentheses) indicates a double-pump Cliché.

Advanced Option: Character Advancement

At the end of each adventure, each player rolls against each Cliché challenged during the course of play (ignore lingering “injuries” for this purpose; roll as if the Cliché were whole). If the dice land showing only even numbers, the Cliché advances by a single die (increasing it permanently). No Cliché advances past Cliché (6).

Midgame Leaps: Anytime you do something really, really, really spectacularly entertaining that wows the whole table, the GM may allow you to roll instantly (in the middle of the game) for possible advancement, in addition to the roll(s) at the end of the adventure.

Adding New Clichés: There may come a time when a character has grown and matured enough to justify adding an entirely new Cliché to his character sheet. If the player and GM agree this is the case, and agree on what the new Cliché is, the player rolls for advancement as usual, but new dice earned for that adventure may be put toward the new Cliché instead of the ones that earned them. This can also be applied to “in-game” improvements, if the situation warrants it!

Long-Haul Variant: Instead of rolling against every challenged Cliché, roll against a single Cliché of your choice.

Credit Where It’s Due

Risus grew from inspirations provided by the sadly out-of-print classic, Ghostbusters (1st Edition, West End Games), sparked against an idea from Mayfair’s DC Heroes. Other noteworthy influences have included GURPS, TWERPS, Fudge, Tunnels & Trolls, Over the Edge, and DragonQuest. The list of people on whom Risus depends is too long to even contemplate in a space so tiny, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of them: Guy Hoyle, Spike Y. Jones, Dan “Moose” Jasman, Frank J. Perricone, Jason Puckett, David Pulver, Sean “Dr. Kromm” Punch, Liz Rich, Dan Suptic, Brent Wolke, René Vernon, and the thousands of cool gamers, old and new, who’ve populated and enlivened the Risus community.

[Risus: The Anything RPG is S. John Ross’ trademark for his Anything RPG. This is Risus Version 2.01, Copyright ©1993-2013 by S. John Ross, All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to make unlimited copies for private, non-commercial use, and remember: There’s No Wrong Way To Play!

Cumberland Games & Diversions www.cumberlandgames.com


Welcome to the "Master Archive" for Risus: The Anything RPG, by S. John Ross

This isn't the game, here. This is the ReadMe file. But it's still pretty important.

This archive may be freely distributed, provided its contents are not altered, appended, removed, or otherwise futzed-with in any way, and provided the archive is always provided 100% free of charge, regardless of transmission method, medium, the involvement of the supernatural, ancient non-Euclidean alien god-things, or reality TV programs.

In the "Risus Extras" folder, there are some alternate formats, and they're cool, but they're definitely all ALTERNATE and stuff, so if you're asking a rules question on a Risus forum somewhere, remember to use page numbers appropriate to the main PDF (though, with this in mind, I took care to lay out the folding-pamphlet PDFs so the pages break at the same headers ... but there's no way to do that with free-flowing formats like the ePub, Plaintext and Rich Text versions).

The folding pamphlet versions are pretty simple: just print them double-sided on a single sheet of paper, and fold. Voila! Be sure to disable any rescaling when doing so; they're razors-edge optimized for standard U.S. Letter-sized paper (if there's much demand for folding A4 pamphlets or anything, I'll do some of those sometime, too).

Anyway, best to get onto the actual game, so here's a breakdown of the complete contents of this archive (if anything's missing, someone both messed with the archive AND forgot to mess with this ReadMe file, which makes them not as smart as you and me, right? Right):

This system has no attributes/abilities/stats nor does it have skills/talents/etc. The clichés offer a broad framework in which all sorts of different things can be used as long as the thing could fit within the cliché. As an example lets say a PC looks like the 'Rock' but is a sushi chef with 4d6 in the cliché ... Roleplay can be easily used with his brooding build and able to toss people around but if you could figure out a way to apply the sushi chef cliché in combat it could be used there if needed.

I will prefer to set a scene and let it play out with no dice rolls but discussion in OOC. I do feel though that at times when something is not a given some way to decide needs to be play.



I am going to include as an example of this Sergeant Major Joshua Thornbald, Recently of the FRR Krugsarmy.
FRR MechWarrior 6d6; Tactics 2d6; Soldier 4d6; Tech 1d6; Sees most everything 4d6; Writer 2d6
The Sergeant has earned extra dice and is close to becoming a legendry MechWarrior by turning his next advance as a FRR MechWarrior into 5d8.
Looking at the Sergeants clichés: FRR MechWarrior can be applied to anything dealing with mechs expect repair or engineering. Piloting, gunnery, hacking a mechs system, using the comms to override something even to help in repair [at a minus or a higher difficulty].
Tactics can be applied to battlefield, the barroom, the cooperate meet or anything else we feel would work.
Soldier allows the sergeant to have experience in all things soldierly, guns, brawling, stern glares, peeling potatoes.


Relkai, I hope this clears things up and you can work within what I am going to use.

Thanks

MU

[Relikai]

Mm, I think I can adapt with that.

For faceclaims, do you prefer RL ones, or anime/artwork?

[Mister Ugly]

Mm, I think I can adapt with that.

For faceclaims, do you prefer RL ones, or anime/artwork?

Good to hear. I prefer face claims or realistic artwork but I am not going to be a mean and nasty GM and say you just cannot use the bimbo anime image as a guide.

let me introduce you to the 3 main NPCs so far.

Captain of the Storm Crows:
Mariko Johansen


Sergeant Major Joshua Thornbald


Tech Lieutenant Tianna Wulfensen [aka Tianna Wolf -former wolf clan tech/engineer]



MU

[Relikai]

Alright, if this gathers more interest (You've got mine), I'll pop up a character, probably a female novice from the Draconis Combine escaping from the crappy social structure for life as a merc.

[espendabelle]

I was looking at the maps and thinking that my character could be from a "lost"/failed world. I noticed that there are a lot of them that "vanish" from the maps over the years (The Outworlds Alliance seems to have shrunk by 75%, for example). That world was used as a hideout for Pirates and that's where my character got their Battlemech from.

Similar to that, I was looking at the various Battlemech designs through what's been showcased in MWO and a few interested me; Marauder, Grasshopper, Black Knight, Crab, Uziel and Phoenix Hawk were the ones I liked the look and design of (At least of the "Inner Sphere" Battlemechs, which is what we're using)

I'm reading and learning as I go

[Mister Ugly]

I believe there is enough interest here to make this official. So I am setting up various tags and stuff to begin a formal building of characters.

As part of your description give me some idea on what you would like to see for some goals for your character. This will help me add in aspects that hopefully will involve you and your character and maybe keep things interesting for all of us.

Risus plain text

Risus: The Anything RPG

Welcome to Risus: The Anything RPG, a complete pen-and-paper roleplaying game! For some, Risus is a handy “emergency” RPG for spur-of-the-moment one-shots and rapid character creation. For others, it’s a reliable campaign system supporting years of play. For others still, it’s a strange little pamphlet with stick figures. For me, it’s all three, and with this edition, Risus celebrates not only two decades of existence, but two decades of life, bolstered by an enthusiastic global community devoted to expanding it, celebrating it, sharing it, and gaming with it.

Character Creation

The character Cliché is the heart of Risus. Clichés are shorthand for a kind of person, implying their skills, background, social role and more. The “character classes” of the oldest RPGs are enduring Clichés: Wizard, Detective, Starpilot, Superspy. You can choose Clichés like those for your character, or devise something more outré, like Ghostly Pirate Cook, Fairy Godmother, Bruce Lee (for a character who does Bruce Lee stuff) or Giant Monster Who Just Wants To Be Loved For His Macrame – anything you can talk your GM into. With a very permissive GM, you could be all these at once. Each Cliché has a rating in dice (the ordinary six-sided kind). When your character’s prowess as a Wizard, Starpilot or Bruce Lee is challenged, roll dice equal to the rating.  Three dice is “professional.” One die is a putz. Six dice is ultimate mastery. A complete Risus character looks like this:

Grolfnar Vainsson the Viking
Description: Tall, blond, and grinning. Likes to drink and fight and drink and chase Viking women and fight and sail the high seas and raid. Wants to write great sagas about himself.
Clichés: Viking (4), Gambler (3), Womanizer (2), Poet (1)

To create Grolfnar, all we had to do was name him, describe him, and assign his Clichés. You get 10 dice to spend on Clichés, distributed however you like, on as many or few Clichés as you decide (but more than 10 would be odd, considering). The first Cliché listed for your character (“Viking,” in Grolfnar’s case) is his Primary Cliché – the Cliché that most clearly expresses how your character sees himself. In general, new characters may not have Clichés rated higher than 4 dice, so Grolfnar’s “Viking” is maxed out for a beginning PC. Your GM might choose to expand, relax, or otherwise transmogrify such parameters for his game (ask if you’re not sure).

Powers, Tools, and Power Tools

Each Cliché implies a lot about a character, most crucially including his likely abilities and equipment. If you’re playing a Hirsute Barbarian (3), we can assume your character is comfortable with blades and battle. He’s probably a climber, a runner, and all-night reveler. He probably owns at least one sturdy hand-weapon and (hopefully, mercifully) a complete loincloth. If you’re playing a Psychic Schoolgirl (3), you probably have the power to sense (and be freaked-out by) the psychometric residue lingering at a murder scene, and might own a cute plushy backpack filled with school supplies. If you’re playing a Roguish Space Pirate (3), you can do all kinds of piratey roguey space-things, and you probably own a raygun, and maybe a secondhand star freighter. When there’s any doubt about your character’s abilities or “Tools of the Trade,” discuss it with your GM.

Tools of the Trade come “free” as part of each Cliché, but they’re vulnerable to loss or damage, which can (sometimes) cripple or limit the power of the Cliché. A Roguish Space Pirate, stripped of his star freighter, loses all ability to haul booty to distant suns … while a Psychic Schoolgirl loses none of her ability to be freaked out by murder scenes if her plushy backpack is stolen. A Hirsute Barbarian (3), forced into a pit-fight without his trusty blade, can still rely on his bare hands, but he’ll operate at half-dice – a mere Hirsute Barbarian (2) – until he’s once again properly armed. The backpack-deprived Schoolgirl might face similar penalties when it’s time to do her homework.

In the course of adventuring life, lucky explorers may discover enchanted and/or cutting-edge and/or otherwise special equipment. The most basic sort is called Bonus-Dice Gear (such items let you roll an extra die, or more, when using them) but there are other kinds of “special” to be found, in the form of alternate game mechanics (“With this experimental piloting software, you can reroll any 1s”), in-world powers (“Only a Stradivarius can be used to seduce a Vampire Prince”) or even mixed benefits and restrictions (“While wielding the Sword of Mercy, you always roll dice at least equal to your foe, but you must spare his life if you win.”)

The Game System

Whenever anybody wants to do anything, and nobody’s actively opposing it, and the GM doesn’t think success would be automatic, the player rolls dice. If the total rolled beats (equals or exceeds) the Target Number set by the GM, success! If not, failure! Target numbers follow this scale:

5: A cinch. A challenge for a schmuck. Routine for a pro.
10: A challenge for a professional.
15: An Heroic challenge. For really inventive or tricky stunts.
20: A challenge for a Master. Nearly superhuman difficulty.
30: You’ve GOT to be kidding. Actual superhuman difficulty.

The Target Number depends on the Cliché, and anyone can try anything. Crossing a chasm by swinging on a rope or vine would be child’s play (automatic success!) for a Swashbuckler or a Lord of the Jungle, easy (Target 5) for a Pulp Archaeologist, and challenging but definitely doable (Target 10) for a Gymnast, Barbarian, or Cat-Burglar. Even a Wheelchair-Bound Eccentric Occultist could try it (Difficulty 15, but the wheelchair is lost unless the roll beats a 30)!

The Combat System

In Risus, “combat” is any contest in which opponents jockey for position, make attacks, bring defenses to bear, and wear down their opponent to achieve victory. Literally or metaphorically. Examples of “combat” include:

Arguments: Combatants wielding logic, stubbornness and cheap rhetorical tricks to make their point.
Horse-Racing: People on horses running around a dirty track, trying to get nowhere first.
Dogfights: Pilots in airplanes or spaceships trying to blow each other out of the sky.
Astral/Psychic Duels: Mystics/psionics looking bored or sleepy, but trying to rip each other’s ego apart in the Otherworld.
Wizard’s Duels: Sorcerers using strange magics, trying to outdo one another.
Dueling Banjos: Banjo players using strange melodies, trying to outdo one another.
Seduction: One (or more) characters trying to score with one (or more) other character(s) who is(are) trying to resist.
Courtroom Antics: Prosecution vs. Defense. The goal is victory. Justice is incidental.
Actual Regular Combat: People trying to injure or kill each other.

The GM decides when a combat has begun. At that point, go around the table in rounds, and let each combatant make an attack in turn. What constitutes an “attack” depends on the nature of the fight, but it should always be roleplayed (if dialogue is involved) or described in entertaining detail (if it’s physical and/or dangerous and/or does/should involve contraceptives). The GM will determine what type of Cliché is appropriate for the fight. In a straightforward physical brawl, Clichés like Viking, Soldier, Swashbuckler, and Ernest Hemingway are equally appropriate, while Clichés like Hairdresser and Latin Lover are not.

Attacks must be directed at an opponent. Both parties in the attack (attacker and defender) roll against their chosen Cliché. Low roll loses. Specifically, the low roller loses one of his Cliché dice for the remainder of the fight – he’s been weakened, worn down, demoralized or otherwise pushed one step towards defeat.

Eventually, one side will be left standing, and another will be left without dice. At this point, the winners decide the fate of the losers. In a physical fight or magical duel, the losers might be killed (or mercifully spared). In Courtroom Antics, the loser is sentenced by the judge, or fails to prosecute. In a Seduction, the loser gets either a cold shower or a warm evening, depending. While the GM will reject combat outcomes that make no sense in context (if you beat someone at tennis, you aren’t normally allowed to decapitate them and drag their corpse through the city square), the spoils of victory are otherwise down to the choice of the victor.

You needn’t use the same Cliché every round. If a Viking/Swashbuckler wants to lop heads one round, and switch to swinging on chandeliers the next, that’s groovy, too. However, anytime a character has a Cliché worn down to zero dice in combat, he’s been defeated, even if he has other Clichés left to play with.

Dice lost in combat are regained when the combat ends, at a healing rate determined by the GM (based on the nature of the attacks involved). If the combat was in vehicles (space fighters, mecha, wooden sailing ships) then the vehicles themselves are likely damaged, too, and must be repaired. Sometimes, healing takes not only time, but conditions specified by the GM (“now that you’ve been soundly defeated, you can’t even look at your banjo until your girlfriend assuages your ego”).

There’s no standard time or distance scale in Risus; everything depends on context. In a physical brawl, each round might represent just a few seconds … while in a long-term fight between a married couple, each round might represent an entire day (Day One: Husband “accidentally” burns Wife’s favorite dress in the oven, Wife “accidentally” feeds Drano to Husband’s prize goldfish, and so on).

Inappropriate Clichés

As stated above, the GM determines what sort of Clichés are appropriate for the fight. Any Clichés left over are inappropriate. In a physical fight, Hairdresser is inappropriate. In a magical duel, Barbarian is inappropriate.

Inappropriate Clichés aren’t forbidden from the fight. They can still be used to make attacks, provided the player roleplays or describes it in a really, really, really entertaining manner. Furthermore, the attack must be plausible within the context of the combat, and the genre and tone that the GM has set for the game (making this kind of attack more often useful in very pulpy/swashbuckly games, or very silly ones).

All combat rules apply normally, with one exception: if an inappropriate Cliché wins a combat round versus an appropriate one, the losing player loses three dice, rather than one, from his Cliché! The “inappropriate” player takes no such risk, and loses only one die if he loses the round. Thus, a creative hairdresser is dangerous when cornered and attacked unfairly. Beware.

When in doubt, assume the aggressor determines the type of combat. If a wizard attacks a barbarian with magic, then it’s a magical duel! If the barbarian attacks the mage with his sword, then it’s physical combat! If the defender can come up with an entertaining use of his skills, he’ll have the edge. It pays in many genres to be the defender! But … if the wizard and barbarian both obviously want to fight, then both are aggressors, and it’s “fantasy combat,” where both swords and sorcery have equal footing.

Teaming Up

Two or more characters may form a team in combat. For the duration of the team (usually the entire fight), they battle as a single unit, and may only be attacked as a single foe. There are two kinds of team: full-on Character Teams (for PCs, and sufficiently interesting NPCs) and Grunt-Squads (for nameless NPC hordes).

Grunt-Squads: This is just special effects. When a horde of 700 rat-skeletons attacks the PCs within the lair of the Wicked Necromancer (5), the GM probably won’t feel like keeping track of 700 tiny skeletal sets of dice. Instead, he can declare them a Grunt Squad, fighting as a single foe: a Skeletal Rat-Horde (7). Mechanically, the Rat-Horde is the same as any single foe – except it sometimes has more dice (as many as the GM cares to assign it). Grunt-Squads stick together as a team until they’re defeated, at which point some survivors may scatter (though at least one will always remain to suffer whatever fate the victor decides). Taken to logical (or whimsical) extremes, an entire ship’s crew, or even whole forests, dungeons, cities or nations might be represented by a single Cliché.

Character Teams: When PCs (and/or NPCs worth the attention) form a team, the Team Leader is the character with the highest-ranking applicable Cliché (if there’s a tie, the team must designate a Team Leader). Everybody rolls dice, but only the Team Leader’s dice completely count. Other team-members contribute only their sixes, when they roll any.

Clichés joined in a team need not be identical, and (provided the GM can be convinced) they can even be a mix of “appropriate” and “inappropriate” for the fight (a group of warriors might be aided by their able minstrel, for example). However, they don’t triple enemy dice-loss unless the entire team is equally inappropriate (which means the players get to explain to the GM exactly how a Hairdresser, a Parakeet Trainer, and a Life Coach are coordinating their talents to take Darth Viraxis to the mat)!

Whenever a team loses a round of combat, a single team-member’s Cliché is reduced. Any team-member (Team Leader included) may “step forward” and voluntarily suffer this loss. If so, the noble volunteer is reduced by twice the normal amount (either two dice or six, depending), but the Team Leader gets to roll twice as many dice on his next attack, a temporary boost as the team avenges their heroic comrade. If no volunteer steps forward, the Team Leader must assign the (undoubled) hit to a team-member, and there is no “vengeance” bonus.

Victory & Defeat: With teams as with individuals, the victor determines the fate of the loser … but when the loser is part of a team, his fate is generally reserved until the end of the team’s existence (even if he’s defeated while the fight rages on). So, if his team wins, his team – not their opponent – gets to decide. There are some fights where this won’t be so, where the PCs are under such precarious circumstance that their fates must be resolved immediately. But, in most cases, being part of a team – especially a winning team – is excellent insurance.

Disbanding: A team may voluntarily disband at any time between die-rolls. When disbanding, each team-member instantly loses a single die from the Cliché they’d been contributing to the team (equal to “damage” suffered in the fight itself). Disbanded team-members may freely form new teams, provided the die-loss from disbanding doesn’t defeat them. Individuals may also drop out of a team, but this reduces them to zero dice immediately as they scamper for the rear. Their fates rest on the mercy of whoever wins the fight!

Lost Leader: If the Team Leader ever leaves the team for any reason (either by dropping out or having his own Cliché dropped to zero), the team must disband immediately, with consequences as above. They may immediately opt to reform as a new team (with a new leader) however, and if the old leader was removed by having volunteered for personal damage, the new Team Leader gets the double-roll vengeance bonus to avenge his predecessor!

Single-Action Conflicts

“Combat” depends on multi-round jockeying and wearing each other down … but many conflicts are too sudden to be played that way (two characters grabbing for the same gun, for example). Such “Single-Action Conflicts” (SACs) are settled with a single roll against appropriate Clichés (or inappropriate Clichés, with good roleplaying). High roll wins. Note that, in nearly any case, the Game Master may jump between the three resolution methods (Target Number, Combat, Single-Action Conflict) to suit the pacing and mood. Sometimes, an arm-wrestling match works best as a combat … sometimes it works best as a Single-Action Conflict, and sometimes (preferably if it’s against some kind of coin-operated arm-wrestling machine) even as a simple Target Number.

When Somebody Can’t Participate

Sometimes, characters find themselves facing a Combat or Single-Action Conflict where they simply have no applicable Cliché, even by stretching the imagination. Perhaps one character in the party enters a pie-eating contest with his Disgusting Glutton (2) Cliché, but the rest of the characters are astronauts or accountants, neither of whom traditionally engorge themselves on pie. In situations like this, the GM might grant everybody two free “brevet dice” to play with for the duration of the conflict. This means the Disgusting Glutton (2) would become, temporarily, a Disgusting Glutton (4), while everyone else would get a Regular Person Talked Into a Pie-Eating Contest (2) Cliché “on loan” until the last crumb burps forth. The Glutton, naturally, retains his winning edge, but everyone else can still bury their noses in pie. This rule applies only to Combats and SACs, never to rolls against Target Numbers (since, with Target Numbers, the TN itself simply moves wherever it needs to, for any Cliché attempting any action).

Advanced Option: Lucky Shots

This option allows players to spend some of their 10 starting dice on something other than Clichés. A single Cliché-die can, instead, buy three Lucky Shots (spend two dice for six Lucky Shots, and so on). Using a Lucky Shot boosts any Cliché roll by a single die, for a single die-roll. Lucky Shots “reset” between game-sessions. Lucky Shots can represent random good luck, the favor of a deity, a streak of resourcefulness, etc.

Advanced Option: Hooks & Tales

With this Advanced Option, players can bargain for extra character-creation dice by giving their character a Hook and/or a Tale. A Hook is some significant character flaw – a curse, an obsession, a weakness, a sworn vow, a permanently crippling injury – that the GM agrees is so juicy that he can use it to make the character’s life more interesting (which usually means less pleasant). A character with a Hook gets an extra die to play with.

A Tale is a written “biography” of the character describing his life before the events of the game. The Tale needn’t be long (a page or two is plenty); it just needs to tell the reader where the character is coming from, what he likes and dislikes, how he became who he is, what his motives are. Some Tales are best written from the player’s omniscient perspective; others are more fun if written as excerpts from the character’s own diary. A character with a Tale provided before gameplay begins gets an extra die to play with.

Advanced Option: Pumps

Characters may pump their Clichés, expending extra effort at the cost of certain injury (loss of dice). A pumped Cliché receives a dice-boost lasting a single round of combat (or single significant roll, otherwise). After that round or roll is resolved, the Cliché returns to normal, then suffers immediate dice-loss equal to the boost. Such loss is comparable to combat losses, and must heal.

Example: Rudolph the Ninja (3) is attacked by a Monster (6)! Rudy doesn’t have much of a chance against such a powerful foe, so he opts for a tricky tactic: since the Monster is attacking physically, Rudolph decides his first-round response will use his skills as a Cajun Chef (3) – a decidedly Inappropriate choice! He also opts to pump it by two dice to Cajun Chef (5), putting his all into his cooking!

On round one, the Monster rolls six dice, and Rudy (quickly whipping up a tempting Gumbo spiked with Ninja sleeping drug and offering it to the Monster) rolls five. If the Ninja loses, he’s instantly defeated: his Cajun Chef Cliché would drop to Cajun Chef (1) for the pump, then to Cajun Chef (zero) for losing the round. The Monster would eat Rudolph instead of the Gumbo. If the Ninja wins, however, the Monster (6) drops to Monster (3), and Rudy’s Cajun Chef (3) drops to Cajun Chef (1). In round two, Rudolph can switch back to Ninja (3), where he’ll be on equal footing with the groggy, well-fed Monster.

Pumps are legal for any kind of Cliché roll, provided the GM agrees that “pushing it” fits the action involved.

Double-Pump Clichés: If permitting pumps, the GM might also allow double-pump Clichés, which take only “half damage” from pumping. Thus, a Sorcerer [5] could roll eleven dice for a single combat round (six extra dice!) but take only three dice of loss from the extra effort. Double-pump Clichés cost twice as many dice to buy during character creation, and are especially appropriate for Clichés representing supernatural abilities (in fact, some Game Masters may require that supernatural Clichés be purchased this way). The use of [square brackets] instead of (parentheses) indicates a double-pump Cliché.

Advanced Option: Character Advancement

At the end of each adventure, each player rolls against each Cliché challenged during the course of play (ignore lingering “injuries” for this purpose; roll as if the Cliché were whole). If the dice land showing only even numbers, the Cliché advances by a single die (increasing it permanently). No Cliché advances past Cliché (6).

Midgame Leaps: Anytime you do something really, really, really spectacularly entertaining that wows the whole table, the GM may allow you to roll instantly (in the middle of the game) for possible advancement, in addition to the roll(s) at the end of the adventure.

Adding New Clichés: There may come a time when a character has grown and matured enough to justify adding an entirely new Cliché to his character sheet. If the player and GM agree this is the case, and agree on what the new Cliché is, the player rolls for advancement as usual, but new dice earned for that adventure may be put toward the new Cliché instead of the ones that earned them. This can also be applied to “in-game” improvements, if the situation warrants it!

Long-Haul Variant: Instead of rolling against every challenged Cliché, roll against a single Cliché of your choice.

Credit Where It’s Due

Risus grew from inspirations provided by the sadly out-of-print classic, Ghostbusters (1st Edition, West End Games), sparked against an idea from Mayfair’s DC Heroes. Other noteworthy influences have included GURPS, TWERPS, Fudge, Tunnels & Trolls, Over the Edge, and DragonQuest. The list of people on whom Risus depends is too long to even contemplate in a space so tiny, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of them: Guy Hoyle, Spike Y. Jones, Dan “Moose” Jasman, Frank J. Perricone, Jason Puckett, David Pulver, Sean “Dr. Kromm” Punch, Liz Rich, Dan Suptic, Brent Wolke, René Vernon, and the thousands of cool gamers, old and new, who’ve populated and enlivened the Risus community.

[Risus: The Anything RPG is S. John Ross’ trademark for his Anything RPG. This is Risus Version 2.01, Copyright ©1993-2013 by S. John Ross, All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to make unlimited copies for private, non-commercial use, and remember: There’s No Wrong Way To Play!

Cumberland Games & Diversions www.cumberlandgames.com


Welcome to the "Master Archive" for Risus: The Anything RPG, by S. John Ross

This isn't the game, here. This is the ReadMe file. But it's still pretty important.

This archive may be freely distributed, provided its contents are not altered, appended, removed, or otherwise futzed-with in any way, and provided the archive is always provided 100% free of charge, regardless of transmission method, medium, the involvement of the supernatural, ancient non-Euclidean alien god-things, or reality TV programs.

In the "Risus Extras" folder, there are some alternate formats, and they're cool, but they're definitely all ALTERNATE and stuff, so if you're asking a rules question on a Risus forum somewhere, remember to use page numbers appropriate to the main PDF (though, with this in mind, I took care to lay out the folding-pamphlet PDFs so the pages break at the same headers ... but there's no way to do that with free-flowing formats like the ePub, Plaintext and Rich Text versions).

The folding pamphlet versions are pretty simple: just print them double-sided on a single sheet of paper, and fold. Voila! Be sure to disable any rescaling when doing so; they're razors-edge optimized for standard U.S. Letter-sized paper (if there's much demand for folding A4 pamphlets or anything, I'll do some of those sometime, too).

Anyway, best to get onto the actual game, so here's a breakdown of the complete contents of this archive (if anything's missing, someone both messed with the archive AND forgot to mess with this ReadMe file, which makes them not as smart as you and me, right? Right):

You have 10d6 under the Risus system with no more then 4d6 in any cliché. You can have anything you like as a cliché. You will receive an extra d6 [11d6] for a decent background, called a 'tale' in Risus. If you want to add in something I can use as a hook; drunk, kleptomaniac, dispocessed MechWarrior, secret love child of Jamie Wolfe. That will gain you another d6.

My goal is to use the Risus system when needed and as little as possible. That being said everyone needs to build the character

I would like, if your character is from someplace that has a clearly defined history and mech culture to add the nation tag to your MechWarrior cliché. Like this FRR MechWarrior 4d6. Those of you with no clear defined national culture just use simple MechWarrior.

I am willing to be reasonable in the personal gear your character has as long as it does not get to extreme. If your PC shows up in an armored limo wearing scads of jewelry and in a 1000 CBill suit. I may just shake my head and point the PC some place else.

I am also going to give each player a private chance at something special. This could be something like the ripped off arm of a clan mech that has an ERPPC attached. Or maybe a case that has been buried that has a Star League Neuro-Helmet in it. Perhaps an ancient signed picture of 'Elvis'. Nothing offered will unbalance some Character against the others.

As part of the opening and to help me decide who I will invite please respond to the following scene as part of your character post.

The noodles here were actually good and the tea served was rich and flavorable. The chop sticks were a problem but one you could overcome. You had just finished your bowl, when your name is spoken by the man standing by the tables. He was tall and board shouldered and had the look of a soldier. As you looked him over the name 'THORNBALD' was stitched in over the left pocket of his fatigues and there was the a beret tucked into his shoulder lapel. When you met his eyes he pointed you to a table that had only two others at and was closer to the back group. It seemed you had passed some test and were moved on.

A minute or so later your datapad pinged with an update from your contact. The Storm Crows had been rated a C- by the Hiring board with the note that they had access to a drop ship and a jump ship and had 3050 and possible clan tech. All the core members were former Free Rasalhague Republic military and had seen action against the clans on several occasions.

It was no more then 10 minutes later that your name was called and you moved to a seat at the big table at the back. Here there were three men along the other side and at one end a very pretty woman with several files spread on the table in front of her. Questions flowed from the man directly across from you. Questions that you had been asked before. Where are you from? What mech do you have? What have you been trained on? all the standard stuff of a hiring interview.

The man had just started to ask a new question, when the sexy voice of the woman interrupted him. The strange thing was how the other males said not a word and almost sat at attention. As your eyes were drawn too her you could tell she also had seen combat. There was a look to those that had been almost killed and she had it. Of course the fact she was very easy on the eyes offered an interesting contrast to the hard curious look she gave you. Over her left breast was stitched the name 'JOHANSEN'. The woman's voice posed an interesting question, something you had really never been asked at an interview before, "Tell me why you want to join an untried, untested, barely formed new unit such as the 'Storm Crows'?"

A quick glance at the others at the table spoke volumes on whom really was in charge.



Your Character:

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[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Preferred Call Sign:[/b]
[b]Nation of Origin:[/b]
[b]Highest Rank Reached:[/b]
[b]Description:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Background:[/b]

[b]Character Goals:[/b]

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[b]Battlemech:[/b] xxx
[b]Cruise Speed:[/b] xxx kph
[b]Max Speed:[/b] xxx kph
[b]Max Jump:[/b] xxx m

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[tr][td][center][color=black][b][u]Location[/td][td][center][color=black][b][u]Amount F/R[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Arm[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0/0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Center Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0/0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Left Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0/0[/td][/tr]
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[b][u]Features[/u][b][left]
[i]various modules[/i]
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[spoiler=Gear-n-Stuff]xxx[/spoiler]

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[Mister Ugly]

Good Morning MechWarriors!

How is everyone doing?

MU

[Mister Ugly]

Everyone I have a question for ya all. Would you prefer no system at all for the story? I offered Risus and a very simple at need system but I have no problem handling freeform even in any battle?

Let me know what ya all think!!

MU

[orderNchaos]

Honestly, if the point is the story not the game...then I prefer no system...but that's me!  Maybe something simply like a D20 for actions.  Highest roll wins!

[Barenmarder]

I think I would vote no system as well, but that's because I'm a freeform sort of guy. I am working on a Risus character sheet, though. Which is why I haven't been posting in the thread.

I've also picked a faceclaim for Tai-i Nathan Forrest:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

I'll post my updated bio as soon as I have it written. Just letting everyone know I'm not jumping ship or slacking off.

[Undine]

I would far prefer no system please.  I am still doing my assigned reading and such    Still here, just taking me a bit longer for inspiration that doesn't feel stereotyped or canned is all!

[espendabelle]

I'd also prefer no system. Like Ordernchaos said, if we do need to resolve something, a simple dice roll could do it

[Barenmarder]

I would far prefer no system please.  I am still doing my assigned reading and such    Still here, just taking me a bit longer for inspiration that doesn't feel stereotyped or canned is all!

One of the nice things about the inner sphere is there is enough room for just about anything. The baseline cultures of any of the polities are not monolithic at all. Different worlds diverge a great deal from one another, so it's easy to make virtually anything fit (like Camacho's Caballeros working for House Kurita, for instance... ahh the joys of Luca Libre with 85 ton battlemechs).

[espendabelle]

Working on a draft of my character. Just trying to decide on my Battlemech

A question to help me with some stuff. I have gathered that safe for a few things (eg prosthetic limbs) medical care/technology in the Battletech universe is basically the same as the modern day. There's no magic gene therapy/nanotech healbots/tank full of healing gel/pill to cure cancer sort of stuff, right? And for purely elective surgery it'd be a case of "Find a planet that can support it, pay lots of money" given the dystopian/post-apocalyptic elements of the setting.

[Barenmarder]

Working on a draft of my character. Just trying to decide on my Battlemech

A question to help me with some stuff. I have gathered that safe for a few things (eg prosthetic limbs) medical care/technology in the Battletech universe is basically the same as the modern day. There's no magic gene therapy/nanotech healbots/tank full of healing gel/pill to cure cancer sort of stuff, right? And for purely elective surgery it'd be a case of "Find a planet that can support it, pay lots of money" given the dystopian/post-apocalyptic elements of the setting.

Medical tech is pretty varied... On a capital or a major trade center you can find far better medical tech than we have now (not that it's perfect, disease is still a thing). On rim worlds you might be lucky to get someone to patch you up but don't expect miracles.
Ooh, note to self: check contract for medical coverage.
But yes, if you can afford it, and afford to travel, you can get better medical care than 21st century reality. Surgical alterations to copy other people, various forms of cybernetic prosthetic (some better than others), gender reassignment surgery (though some areas might have cultural taboos around that, looking at you, Kuritans), etc.

The constant warfare has made Battletech a mish-mash of tech. They can travel faster than light, but it's complicated. They can communicate across the stars... but the system is run by a pseudo-religious techno-cult who keep all the best technology for themselves. They have fusion reactors and spaceships and giant robots... but most soldiers aren't very different from what we see today on the news. A mixture of techno-feudalism and hard (well, less smooshy anyways) sci-fi, but focused as much on character and culture and politics and intrigue and all those wonderful human stories that never really change much (but they do get new backdrops).

What kind of 'mech's have you been looking at? So far I think we've got a Hatchetman (a good, mobile medium brawler), an Axeman (a heavy, and another close-in fighter), my character's Warhammer (a heavy with has good range and armour and a mix of weapons)

I believe Mister Ugly stated that there are two 'mechs that the unit are refurbishing, captured battlemechs available for assignment: A Raven (a light, nimble scout and electronic-warfare specialist) and a Hunchback (a medium-sized cannon with a battlemech attached, definitely a brawler).

Do you want speed, toughness, firepower, mobility (as in jump jets) or a mix? There are (literally) hundreds of options. I'd be happy to offer a few suggestions if you give me a basic idea of what you're looking for in a giant, nuclear-powered walking tank.

Step into my office. I'll talk to the manager and we'll work something out. In fact, I think I can get him to throw in the undercoating for half price.

[espendabelle]

Thank you for all that. As said, I am still learning the setting, so every little bit helps.

I have been looking around, mostly at the designs used in MWO and a few other things. The ones that most caught my eye were the Black Knight, Marauder and Grasshopper.

From what I can tell, the Black Knight is all energy weapons and heavily armoured. The Marauder has long range firepower, but a bit less armour. The Grasshopper has less weapaons but a good amount of armour and jump jets, which appear to be rare for a heavy Battlemech. I like the Black Knight the most based on looks and apparent practicality myslelf.

[Barenmarder]

Thank you for all that. As said, I am still learning the setting, so every little bit helps.

I have been looking around, mostly at the designs used in MWO and a few other things. The ones that most caught my eye were the Black Knight, Marauder and Grasshopper.

From what I can tell, the Black Knight is all energy weapons and heavily armoured. The Marauder has long range firepower, but a bit less armour. The Grasshopper has less weapaons but a good amount of armour and jump jets, which appear to be rare for a heavy Battlemech. I like the Black Knight the most based on looks and apparent practicality myslelf.

Those are all good choices, I'll break them down in detail in a second. Also you mentioned the Phoenix Hawk and the Crab earlier so I'll mention those too.
For reference, http://www.sarna.net/wiki/BattleTechWiki:BattleMech_Portal is about the gold standard online. I do have PDF's of all the technical readouts as well, and could probably put them somewhere the group could get at them if needed (light reading if nothing else).

The Black Knight is definitely a Heavy Energy Boat, an assortment of lasers covering all the range bands and a particle projection cannon for extra punch. Most variants don't jump, but it's got average to good speed. Laserboats tend to run hot in combat, so you can't just fire everything all at once all the time or you'll a) shutdown b) melt or c) explode. But as a raiding mech, a brawler, even a half decent sniper the Black Knight is a fine choice (also, unlike my warhammer it has hands, often useful in and out of combat). Tough and it doesn't run out of ammunition. Ever.

The Marauder is a super iconic Heavy, also primarily energy weapons but it does have an autocannon for additional firepower. Unlike most heavies, most Marauder variants can jump, which lets them get places others can't. Its Particle Cannon and autocannon-5 give it good range, and its medium lasers (which are possibly the best all around weapon) give it a solid close-in punch as well. Finding parts can be tricky occasionally, but it's not as rare as some other 'mechs.

The Grasshopper is a really characterful choice. Not one I have a huge amount of experience with, but most versions are fast and maneuverable and jumpy for a heavy 'mech but are not quite as heavily armed as some of their competitors. A good heavy scout, raider, cavalry 'mech... not the best armour, but the weapons tend to be fairly diverse (energy and missiles, short and long ranged).

The Crab is almost a lighter version of the Black Knight (but looks adorable). A variety of laser weapons give it some long range power and a fierce punch in close. It's a medium, but it's a pretty good one (phenomenal in MWO, in fact). Also common to the Com Guards, but there are others who build it too (just lower tech versions).

The Phoenix Hawk is Jetfire from Transformers (also a Super Valkyrie from Macross). A medium with jump jets, a variety of lasers and enough speed to not get tied down. I believe several of the 3050's era models have a few light missile or machineguns as well.

Now a few suggestions, one from each weight class...

Light: The Locust, Wasp, Valkyrie, Stinger, Commando and Jenner are all well and good, but for my money one of the nicest looking and best Lights is the Spider. Very quick, very agile (240m jumps... twice what a Marauder can leap) and with a decent weapons load of a couple of lasers so it can deliver a sting where it's least expected.
Also, the Raven that Mister Ugly mentioned isn't a bad choice either. Heavy on the electronics, so it can see far and jam others, a few missiles and lasers to give it some bite and more armour than the wafer-thin Spider boasts.

Medium: I swear by the holy trinity - the Shadowhawk (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Shadow_Hawk), the Griffin (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Griffin) and the Wolverine (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Wolverine_(BattleMech)). All three have the same good speed and jump mobility (86kph and 150m) and similar levels of armour. All are good general combatants and staples across the inner sphere.
The Shadowhawk has a diverse mix of weapons useful at all ranges, the Griffin is more of a long range sniper and the Wolverine is more dedicated to close combat, but any of the three are excellent options.

Heavy: Honestly, your three choices (Marauder, Grasshopper and Black Knight) are excellent. I might suggest looking at the Exterminator or maybe the Merlin but you picked excellent all-round options (the Grasshopper was a surprise, I so rarely remember it).

Assault: Just two thoughts... take a look at the King Crab (because if you like the Crab its big brother is glorious) and possibly the Victor or the Zeus.

Some food for thought, I hope. Really, do poke around a bit on Sarna, it gives some of the history of the designs and most have a gallery of different depictions through the years.

[Mister Ugly]

. GM ANNOUCEMENT .

I have made some decisions about the story.
First off when I want to make something important known I will use the above header for ease of finding in the thread.

Okay these are the important things we will be using and doing for the story.

1] The story will be Freeform. This will be for normal roleplay as well as any combats. I will be making ideas known in OOC about a scene so you all will know my thinking. For a combat scene my idea is to post in OOC the damage and type done to the PC mechs/personal. It will be up to the various members of the action to take that damage in their posts. They can take some, all or none of the damage. Of course if your character or mech never takes damage, other team members may decide to handle it. You will prefer them over me!!!
Example-- In OOC I might post for the next part of the battle--- damage done; Armor 86/ Actuators 3/ Engine hit 1/ Internal 27. Then in the IC thread I would have the op-mechs fire. The PC posts should use the damage I offered as a guide for you part of the current battle scene.
This idea is a test if it doesn't seem to work then I will make changes.

2] The story will be done in third person.

3] I have redone the character sheet to reflect the dropping of Risus and a few changes in what is being asked for.
I am looking for this sheet to be more along the lines of a dossier. Think of this as what your PC or someone else would see if they searched your character in the Outreach data net.

Please do this in 3rd person.

If you want to send me privately a deeper background, Use the heading 'A Fist Full of C-bills'. I will be happy to read anything you all send me and maybe use it gleefully.

a] Name-- The current name your character is using. It will be assumed the PC has proper documentation to support the name.

b] Preferred Call Sign-- The Storm Crows are using a Norse Flavored system for Call Signs.[Valkyrie, Heimdall, Asgard -for the DS, Bifrost- for the JS] They will work with the PC if the said PC really desires to keep their preferred call sign.

c] Nation of Origin-- For most this will not be much of a problem just list the stellar nation. Those PC from outside the Innersphere list the planet and a link [if possible] to the planet.

d] Highest Rank Reached-- If your PC has served in a military  then list the highest rank the PC has reached.

e] Description-- Things like height, weight, eye color, scars, tattoos etc

f] Personality-- Think of this as your PC physiological review. [of course that may be hard so standard personality stuff will do as well]

g] Background-- This should be more about the PC military background since that is what would influence the Storm Crows more. I will of course want a history/background that tells me more about your PC. This can be posted in the thread or sent to me by IM. Also with the background give me what the character can do... skills, abilities, talents, etc.

h] Character Goals-- This will help me add in things that would be of importance to your PC. You can also, if you like give me some goal you want to see happen in the story. I may be able to work it in.

I] Battlemech-- I hope the drop down is good enough for everyone to figure out. If you need information or help with your mech not only are there great websites but I have a older program called 'Heavy metal Pro' [you can google the site still] that allows me to build mechs with ease as well as make all sorts of changes in them.

j] Gear-n-stuff-- Your equipment...please ask me if you want something unusual as a weapon [like a Kurita Blazer]. Your PC can start with 10d10 +50 Cbills. Of course if your background has you very wealthy we will discuss your PC starting wealth.

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[font=Georgia][color=black][float=left][IMG height=300 padding=8]http://xxx[/img][/float]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Preferred Call Sign:[/b]
[b]Nation of Origin:[/b]
[b]Highest Rank Reached:[/b]
[b]Description:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Background:[/b]

[b]Character Goals:[/b]

[spoiler=Battlemech]
[IMG height=200 padding=8]xxxx[/img]
[center]
[b]Battlemech:[/b] xxx
[b]Cruise Speed:[/b] xxx kph
[b]Max Speed:[/b] xxx kph
[b]Max Jump:[/b] xxx m

[b]Armor:[/b]
[table]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b][u]Location[/td][td][center][color=black][b][u]Amount F/R[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Head[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0[/td][td][center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Arm[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0/0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Center Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0/0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Left Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0/0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Left Leg[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Leg[/td][td][center][color=black][i]0[/td][/tr][/table]
[left]

[b]Heat Sinks/Heat Created:[/b] [i]0/0[/i]

[center][b]Weapons:[/b]
[table]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b][u]Location[/td][td][center][color=black][b][u]Type[/td][td][center][color=black][b][u]Heat[/td][td][center][color=black][b][u]Ammo[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Head[/td][td][center][color=black][i]xx[/td][td][center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Arm[/td][td][center][color=black][I]xx[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]xx[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Center Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]xx[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Left Torso[/td][td][center][color=black][i]xx[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Left Leg[/td][td][center][color=black][i]xx[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center][color=black][b]Right Leg[/td][td][center][color=black][i]xx[/td][/tr][/table]

[b][u]Features[/u][b][left]
[i]various modules[/i]
[/left][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Gear-n-Stuff]xxx[/spoiler]

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4] Please use the heading 'A Fist Full of C-bills' in any IMs you send me that concerns your PC or the story

5] We will of course be friendly to all here as well as tolerant of all views and beliefs. That said in the story there may be times that prejudices will be seen.

MU