A Fistful of C-Bills: A Mechwarrior Story

[Mister Ugly]

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 weapons 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 myself.

I could dance a jig espendabelle in that you seem to be enjoying the setting and lore for battletech. I have always had a soft spot for the setting. One of the big reasons for that has been that the villains are always human. No aliens in BT!!!

Okay lets talk about your ideas. First off I want you more concerned about the character then about any mech. There are plenty of ways we can handle mechs. That being said, since you want your PC to be from out in the boonies, a lost/failed world [which I think is a great idea btw] I have to put some restrictions on what mechs you could have. 1] Only 3025 mechs. There would be no reason for a 3050 mech. This means no Black Knight. A Marauder  would be limited to the basic-- 2 PPCs, ac5, 2 Mlas, 16 single heatsinks and never enough armor. It would run hot and held together with wire and various things [think millennium falcon here]. It will have various quirks your PC has gotten used to. Example: slow tracking of one of the PPCs. slightly misaligned med Laser. strange weird noises and smells. wisps of smoke, and be careful if it does take damage ya never know what might shut down. This of course can be fixed.

If you want a grasshopper that is fine as well. I will offer you this if you want to build a MechWarrior without a mech. I will be happy to add in another mech the crows are repairing that fits what you like.

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 did a great job at answering this. I just wanted to add that in lost/failed world there could be wide variants in medical care.

MU

[espendabelle]

I'm a bit confused about what you mean by a "3050 Mech". The Wiki says that the Black Knight entered production in 2578, which is nearly five hundred years before the game is set.

[orderNchaos]

WIP

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Allia
Preferred Call Sign:
Nation of Origin: Lyran Commonwealth
Highest Rank Reached: Lieutenant
Description: Allia is fairly short in stature what most would call mousy.  She's spent most of her life being overlooked by people even though her physique is well built.  She maintains her gymnast style physique very well, making her uncommonly nimble and quick.  Her pinkish hair seems almost more natural rather than dyed as she never seems to show roots.  Occasionally, Allia has been known to change to a more purple shade, but generally her hair stays reddish pink.  If you ask nicely Allia is likely share the few tattoos she has on her body.  More personal or intimate contact may be necessary for a few of the others. 

Personality:Outside of her Hatchetman, Allia is relatively quiet and introverted.  She tends to sit back and watch, collecting information and keeping details.  In comfortable situations she opens up her personality and can be very friendly and outgoing.   Inside her Hatchetman, Allia would seem to open up quite a bit as she's generally more outgoing.  Tending to stick to a fighting style more suited for a Hatchetman, Allia has learned to be quiet and obscure even in a medium mech, at least until the time comes to enter the fray.


Background:Allia grew up in a family with a long history of serving in the Lyran Military.  Three generations of her family had served in the 15th Lyran Guards.  Her Grandfather and Father served with the Fifteenth Lyran Guards after they were sent to Hesperus II in 3025 as part of the planets Garrison Force.  Her father and older brother eventually were hired on by Defiance Industries as part of the companies Self Protection Force. Allia grew up around Mechs and stories of war and combat, driving her first Mech at age 12.  When her father retired from service on her 18th birthday, Defiance Industries sponsored Allia at Nagelring, where she studied for three years until an altercation with a number of family members of the Steiner household drove an early release from the school.  Wanting to cover up the fact that the Steiner name may have been sullied through the actions of its members, Nagelring graduated Allia as a Lieutenant without finishing her final year.

Returning to Hesperus II, she took on a position with the Fifteenth Lyran Guards using her father's Hatchetman that he had garnered his status at Defiance Industries to have the Hatchetman overhauled and upgraded to the new HCT-5S specifications. After three years with the Fifteenth Allia decided regimented military life of garrison duty was not for her.  Not particularly wanting to join her father and brother at Defiance she left Hesperus  to seek out more exciting warrior lifestyle. 


Character Goals:Allia has grown up with stories of wars and combat but has only ever seen it second hand aside from a few short stints with less than reputable mercenary units over the past 3 years.  She would like to find a place where she belongs in a unit that can actually survive one contract.

Battlemech

Battlemech: Hatchetman HCT-5S
Callsign:  Harlequin
Description: Harlequin has developed a bit of a reputation in the past few years with a scary array of kills through less than conventional tactics.  While battle scars are normal for a battlemech, Allia has worked hard to keep Harlequin looking as fresh as the day it rolled off the assembly line.  With its dark grey color with brown and red tiger stripes randomly placed around the arms and legs, Harlequin has a relatively low key visual silhouette.  The signature Blade of the hatchet has blood painted along the leading edge as if running down the blade.[/center]
Cruise Speed: xxx kph
Max Speed: xxx kph
Max Jump: xxx m

Armor:

Location	Amount F/R
Head	9
Right Arm	14
Right Torso	16/6
Center Torso	21/6
Left Torso	16/6
Left Leg	22
Right Leg	22

Heat Sinks/Heat Created: 12/6[/center]

Weapons:

Location	Type	Heat	Ammo
Head	xx
Right Arm	1 Hatchet  0
Right Torso	1 LB 10-X AC  2      2(CASE)
Center Torso	xx
Left Torso	3 Medium Laser  9
Right Arm	1 Guardian ECM
Left Leg	2 Jump Jet
Right Leg	2 Jump Jet

Features

1 Guardian ECM

Gear-n-Stuff

[Mister Ugly]

I'm a bit confused about what you mean by a "3050 Mech". The Wiki says that the Black Knight entered production in 2578, which is nearly five hundred years before the game is set.

I will try and keep this as short as possible, espendabelle. What I mean by the various years is the then current tech level for mechs. By 3025 the Innersphere had suffered 275 years of war. Trillions were dead the tech levels had fallen. There were few plants that could produce basic mechs. The basic mech is the 3025 version. 3050 tech includes a new resurgence of tech and some years of a general peace. There were still wars but they were not fought the way the early succession wars had been.

When the Star league army left the Innershpere, lead by General Alexander Kerensky, the Innersphere had the highest tech level humanity had known. There were scores perhaps hundreds of mech plants building many models. There were scores of yards building Jumpships and dropships.

The 1st Succession war lasted about 25 years and in that time the various houses waged a total war on each other. What that meant is they not only went after military targets, but anything that could help the other side. Colleges and universities were destroyed. Ships yards blown apart. Hundreds of billions died. A golden age ended. After 25 years the houses were exhausted and the war died out. This lasted only long enough for the houses to rebuild strength.

the 2nd Succession war was in someways even worst then the 1st. By now the houses could see how far they had fallen and were desperate for any tech they could get. Ruins were often fought over for any hidden secrets they had. Smaller and damaged colleges were attacked.

This lasted another 18 years. By then there were a handful of plants left that could build mechs. All most all had lost the ability to build higher tech [3050/2750] tech. Those that could also soon lost the ability as their suppliers were destroyed. No one had a working war ship yard left. There were a few merchant yards that still built jumpships but almost all the support structure to do was gone. Which why by 3025 barely 6 or so new jumpships were being built each year--Total-- within the innersphere.

So when I and others refer to a mech by a year/era we are mainly talking about the tech level used to build that mech.

In the case of your possible character. By 3054 about the only way to keep a mech going in the lost worlds was by raiding for parts and maybe a hidden stock pile that was 300 years old.

In the case of the Black Knight. That is my prejudices rising up. I learned the game and history where the Black knight was a star league mech no longer produced by any houses. The revised and updated rules brought the BK into the 3025 era.

A bit of information for you about the mechs and why there sometimes seems like there is a disconnect with some of the mechs. Back when BT was first produced FASA, the company behind BT, had rights for the images from Robotech/Macross. Google Robotech and look at the mechs compare them to Battletech... as an example the Marauder is almost an exact copy of the Zendardi officers pod. FASA lost the rights to the images in 1994 and suddenly mech figures and images many of us had used were no longer legal. Phoenix hawks, griffins, shadow hawks, wolverines, stingers, wasps, Warhammers, archers and many other mech were just gone and were dubbed the Hidden or Unseen mechs.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Unseen

So I use my knowledge from the '80's to form my views on the mechs...I can see this can be wrong for people that are new to the game.
So you want a Black Knight we can work with it.

More information to help you along. You may here some us speak of heat and heat scales. A Battlemech creates heat when it walks, runs, jumps, fires its weapons. Single Heats [the 3025 standard] disspates 1 heat per sink and weights 1 ton. A double heat sinks gets rid of two heat, still weights 1 ton and takes up a lot more room inside the mech..limiting the number that can be used. A clan DHS is twice the size and an IS DHS is 3 times the size in bulk not weight.

Looking at the Black Knight as an example; It has 20 single heat sinks ...a very good number for the era. the problem arises with the weapon load. It takes 1 heat to walk and 2 heat to run. A PPC creates 10 heat when fired. each of the large lasers make 8 heat and the mediums 3 heat each and that single small creates 1. So if the Black Knight ran and fired everything. 2 heat for running, 10 for the PPC, 16 for the large lasers, 12 for the meds and 1 for the small. A total of 41 heat. the 20 heat sinks reduce this to a +21. At +30 a mech auto shuts down. The BK movement has been reduced 75%+ [-4 to movement but by game terms you can always move 1]. The weapons are more difficult to hit with and your pilot has had to deal with 2 shut down events.
http://d20battletech.wikidot.com/heat  <this table though for d20 Battletech is basically the same as normal BT and explains effects close enough to give you a visual idea of what happens.

I hope this helps MU

[espendabelle]

Thank you for that. I'll think about the Battlemech, but what you've told me does clear a few things up.

This is a draft of my character so far.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Sonja Blackstone
Preferred Call Sign:
Nation of Origin: Periphery
Highest Rank Reached: Mechwarrior
Description: Sonja’s external image suggests her rough, fringe origins. Her face is dominated by a rough scar down the left side which cuts across one of her striking green eyes and mars her otherwise attractive features. Her red hair is worn in a series of messy dreadlocks that cascade down her back like a mane, giving her a wild, almost feral look. She sports several more minor scars across her body (including an ugly burn on her right shoulder), the result of her rough upbringing and background.



Personality: Outwardly. Sonja appears to be cool, collected and to the point. She will focus on the objective and what is needed to get it done. Her approach tends towards the practical and functional, opting for sensible tactics while ensuring that she does a thorough job. This is a result of her upbringing, and the necessity for survival in a rather unforgiving environment where even the basics were hard to come by. She is used to roughing it, and has an ability to make herself comfortable under even the most unlikely conditions. For example, she could just as easily sleep in her Battlemech’s cockpit or a crude shelter as she could in a comfortable bed.

Inwardly, she lacks self-confidence and has low self-esteem. She is often awkward around unfamiliar people and has a lot of trouble opening up to strangers. She doesn’t like to let this side of herself show, feeling that it could hamper her attempts to integrate into a more normal life and Inner Sphere society. Likewise, she tries not to let her origins show through, feeling that coming from the Periphery would be seen as ‘backwards’.

Sonja is not proud of her past and how she came to be a Mechwarrior, and will try to avoid talking about it. If asked directly, she prefers to answer in a roundabout way.

Background: Officially, the planet Erdvyn is listed as ‘dead’ on interstellar maps. The truth of the matter is somewhat different. Central authority on the planet collapsed long ago, with its cities left in ruins and its infrastructure devastated. But its people remain, the descendants of its former glory left to eke out a living among the remnants of the past. This was the life that Sonja was born into, the child of scavengers who made their living by picking through the ruins of the planet’s fallen cities. Her early life was rough enough, living off whatever scraps her family could find or trade for. Form an early age, Sonja grew used to going hungry or living rough in whatever shelter they could find. It was not an easy life, and one she yearned to escape.

When she was eighteen, a band of pirates called the Black Fang Legion made the dead world their home. The Legion were the only power on the planet, their Battlemechs able to easily destroy anyone able to resist them and allowing them to impose their control by force. Most of the population soon learned to accept their new overlords, doing their best to avoid the pirates or incurring their wrath. However, Sonja saw them as a way off the into a better life.

She bartered her way into the Legion using her knowledge of scavenging to lead them to a cache of high tech equipment from a long-destroyed Battlemech factory. That was enough to impress them and earn her a shot. Within a year, a combination of talent and bartering through other ‘discoveries’ had seen her assigned to pilot an ancient, reconditioned Battlemech in their raiding team. This was not the end of her plan, however.

After several raids to other Periphery planets, Sonja’s first ever attack on an Inner Sphere planet took her and the rest of her Raiding team to a nearby Lyran Commonwealth world. Once on world, rather then hitting her assigned target, Sonja instead deserted from her team. Turning against them, she bartered a place for her and her Battlemech on a cargo ship against information that helped the planetary defenders to hunt the raiders down. After burning the last bridge to her past, Sonja made her way to the mercenary planet of Outreach, hoping to find legitimate employment.

Character Goals: Sonja’s goals are to see more of the universe and experience life other than a day to day, hand to mouth scavenger existence. She wants to be comfortable, even if actual wealth and luxury escape her. Just being well off and having a place in society where she doesn’t have to fight or scavenge to get by is a major goal for her. She sees being a mercenary as a way to achieve this, allowing her to use her few saleable skills.

Battlemech

Battlemech: xxx
Cruise Speed: xxx kph
Max Speed: xxx kph
Max Jump: xxx m

Armor:

Location	Amount F/R
Head	0
Right Arm	0
Right Torso	0/0
Center Torso	0/0
Left Torso	0/0
Left Leg	0
Right Leg	0

Heat Sinks/Heat Created: 0/0

Weapons:

Location	Type	Heat	Ammo
Head	xx
Right Arm	xx
Right Torso	xx
Center Torso	xx
Left Torso	xx
Left Leg	xx
Right Leg	xx

Features

various modules

Gear-n-Stuff

xxx

[Mister Ugly]

Great Character so far there 'belle!!

I will be happy to answer any questions you have and am glad I helped clear up some things.

If you like I can get you a list of the mech weapons listing heat range and damage...

Roleplay in a mech will often entail balancing heat since even most of the 3050 mechs create a lot more heat then they can get rid of!!

most mechwarriors wear about this much in the cockpit https://www.pinterest.com/pin/429108670726261252/

they have a coolent vest and a neuro helmet and not much else since when a mech is hot even the cockpit heats up!!

oNc-- I think that is close to an approved character!!!  finish it up!!\

MU

[greenknight]

A bit of information for you about the mechs and why there sometimes seems like there is a disconnect with some of the mechs. Back when BT was first produced FASA, the company behind BT, had rights for the images from Robotech/Macross. Google Robotech and look at the mechs compare them to Battletech... as an example the Marauder is almost an exact copy of the Zendardi officers pod. FASA lost the rights to the images in 1994 and suddenly mech figures and images many of us had used were no longer legal. Phoenix hawks, griffins, shadow hawks, wolverines, stingers, wasps, Warhammers, archers and many other mech were just gone and were dubbed the Hidden or Unseen mechs.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Unseen

So I use my knowledge from the '80's to form my views on the mechs...I can see this can be wrong for people that are new to the game.
So you want a Black Knight we can work with it.

It's a bit more complicated than that. The ownership of the 'mech IP sold both FASA and other entities "exclusive," or what each thought was exclusive, rights to use the designs outside Japan. Apparently, Japanese law allows this in some fashion. Not only Macross, but Crusher Joe and some other designs are among the Unseen. Harmony Gold sued FASA over it and since their licensing of the IP for their  Robotech re-edit of Macross and other series was older, US courts found them to be the legal user in the US. I'm hesitant to say FASA acted in bad faith in the situation, but they still got the C&Ds.

[Mister Ugly]

It's a bit more complicated than that. The ownership of the 'mech IP sold both FASA and other entities "exclusive," or what each thought was exclusive, rights to use the designs outside Japan. Apparently, Japanese law allows this in some fashion. Not only Macross, but Crusher Joe and some other designs are among the Unseen. Harmony Gold sued FASA over it and since their licensing of the IP for their  Robotech re-edit of Macross and other series was older, US courts found them to be the legal user in the US. I'm hesitant to say FASA acted in bad faith in the situation, but they still got the C&Ds.

It was and is a lot more complicated then I stated. since 'belle is new to BT I felt going into an indepth review of what happened was not needed. The gist of it and why some mechs are unseen, I thought, was better overall.

Heck, Green, we can go round and round about the dumb stuff FASA and WKs did... but for RP and the story just certain aspects are needed!!

MU

[Mister Ugly]

One thing I would like to request of all the characters. Skills and interests outside of the mech. The Sergeant writes and likes poetry [just never question him on it  ]

I want to offer roleplay aspects that can play off things other then being a MechWarrior!!

MU

[Ron Don Volante]

Sorry I don't really have the time at this moment (playing D&D right now) to look at the characters already put in but I'd like to play a character that is a throwback to the Combine Ronin of the Star League era. Basically a "rogue" Drac MechWarrior that's actually in the employ of the ISF (The Combines equivalent of the CIA) as a mercenary. Alternatively, if some one already has a Drac character, she could have the same concept but be from the Magistracy of Canopus. I recall their intelligence service being competent wildly disproportionate to it's size.

[Barenmarder]

Great Character so far there 'belle!!

I will be happy to answer any questions you have and am glad I helped clear up some things.

If you like I can get you a list of the mech weapons listing heat range and damage...

Roleplay in a mech will often entail balancing heat since even most of the 3050 mechs create a lot more heat then they can get rid of!!

most mechwarriors wear about this much in the cockpit https://www.pinterest.com/pin/429108670726261252/

they have a coolent vest and a neuro helmet and not much else since when a mech is hot even the cockpit heats up!!

oNc-- I think that is close to an approved character!!!  finish it up!!\

MU

Once she's chosen her mech & variant, I can do the research for you, I've got LOTS of PDF's handy and Sarna reminds me just where to look for X variant.
You know, to be helpful.

[Barenmarder]

Sorry I don't really have the time at this moment (playing D&D right now) to look at the characters already put in but I'd like to play a character that is a throwback to the Combine Ronin of the Star League era. Basically a "rogue" Drac MechWarrior that's actually in the employ of the ISF (The Combines equivalent of the CIA) as a mercenary. Alternatively, if some one already has a Drac character, she could have the same concept but be from the Magistracy of Canopus. I recall their intelligence service being competent wildly disproportionate to it's size.

At least one of us and possibly two are playing Draconis Combine ex-pats, but that's a neat idea so don't let me step on your toes on that point. There's room for everyone, right?
Though a Canopian (Canopan? Magistracian? Magisterian?) spook sounds nifty too.

[Mister Ugly]

Sorry I don't really have the time at this moment (playing D&D right now) to look at the characters already put in but I'd like to play a character that is a throwback to the Combine Ronin of the Star League era. Basically a "rogue" Drac MechWarrior that's actually in the employ of the ISF (The Combines equivalent of the CIA) as a mercenary. Alternatively, if some one already has a Drac character, she could have the same concept but be from the Magistracy of Canopus. I recall their intelligence service being competent wildly disproportionate to it's size.

We can work with that as long as you and your PC do not try to undermine the other players.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Internal_Security_Force

Missions of the ISF
Gather all available information about the Clans and understand how to counter them effectively [4]
Capture Clan warriors to get information, with the use of brutal questioning techniques if needed [4]
Supply resistance movements of clan held worlds, gather information about valuable targets, and seed chaos whenever possible among occupation forces [5]
Maintain their established spy networks quietly, only with the permission of the coordinator are actions allowed [5]
Examine all messages transmitted by ComStar for possible information about Clan activities [5]
The agency prepares itself for the renewal of hostilities with the Clans. For that operation several plans would be activated:

The ISF college would increase their output of operatives [5]
Important ISF installations would be relocated from Luthien to New Samarkand [5]
The entire ruling family and important members of the government would be transported to New Sarmakand on JumpShips hidden in the Luthien System [5]

this the mandate for ISF since 3050 and the clans arrival...so it would be part of what an ISF should be doing.

MU

[Ron Don Volante]

It would be more feeding information to her masters than betray the unit or sabotage so no need for undermining (unless we want to add that later). I'll put together a sheet soon. I can't wait!

[espendabelle]

I am going to pull out of the game at this point. Thank you very much, however, for all your time, help and support and for teaching me a bit more about the world.

[Mister Ugly]

I am going to pull out of the game at this point. Thank you very much, however, for all your time, help and support and for teaching me a bit more about the world.

[Mister Ugly]

 

espendabelle has also withdrawn...wish ya well and have fun!!

MU

[MingMing]

I confess I am intrigued.  I have been sort of following this topic when I saw it recently, being an old-school Btech fan.  I haven't read all the posts and character submissions yet, but am curious if you're already capped or might be open for another possible PC?  I'm interested in playing a Capellan, probably someone fervently in SUn-Tzu's Xin-Shiang movement.  If possible, there might be more to that, but I'd want to probably talk it over with the GM before putting it forth.   Let me know if things are open or closed?

[Mister Ugly]

I confess I am intrigued.  I have been sort of following this topic when I saw it recently, being an old-school Btech fan.  I haven't read all the posts and character submissions yet, but am curious if you're already capped or might be open for another possible PC?  I'm interested in playing a Capellan, probably someone fervently in SUn-Tzu's Xin-Shiang movement.  If possible, there might be more to that, but I'd want to probably talk it over with the GM before putting it forth.   Let me know if things are open or closed?

Welcome MingMing, Being the GM/story teller I can assure you we are still open ..nothing ahs been decided other then a couple of characters about done. An Old school BT player is great but I have said I plan this to be more roleplay and freeform then just stompy mechs shooting other stompy mechs.

If you want to send me an I'm use 'A Fist Full of C-Bills' as the subject. On the pervious page I laid out a bunch of things.

MU

[Mister Ugly]

I wanted to check on whom is still with this.

orderNchaos
Baredmarder

I have at least partial characters from

greenknight, --possible fedcom
nightlux, --??
Rekikai-- novice- kurita---
Ron Done Volante -- Kurita --ISF??
MingMing--- Capella--

did I miss anyone? and are ya all still interested? The number of players helps determine the NPCs in the unit?

MU

[Ron Don Volante]

I'm swamped with work today (damned promote) but am hoping to get a full CS out to you by today but tomorrow at the latest. My character is going to be from the Magistracy of Canopus though. I always loved the Magistracy with their Interstellar Vegas vibe and super sexy female leaders after all.

[Barenmarder]

I'm alive. Depression's biting hard today, so don't expect much just now, but I'm not folding yet.

[orderNchaos]

I wanted to check on whom is still with this.

orderNchaos
Baredmarder

I have at least partial characters from

greenknight, --possible fedcom
nightlux, --??
Rekikai-- novice- kurita---
Ron Done Volante -- Kurita --ISF??
MingMing--- Capella--

did I miss anyone? and are ya all still interested? The number of players helps determine the NPCs in the unit?

MU

Still here.  Just waiting to see who commits.

[MingMing]

Welcome MingMing, Being the GM/story teller I can assure you we are still open ..nothing ahs been decided other then a couple of characters about done. An Old school BT player is great but I have said I plan this to be more roleplay and freeform then just stompy mechs shooting other stompy mechs.

If you want to send me an I'm use 'A Fist Full of C-Bills' as the subject. On the pervious page I laid out a bunch of things.

MU

Cool!   Do you need that system sheet or just a response to the first narrative?

[Mister Ugly]

Cool!   Do you need that system sheet or just a response to the first narrative?

I have dropped the system, the story will be freeform. But yes a character sheet first. No one has really done a response to that narrative so for now that is not needed. I have a couple of ideas on openings for each character...

GM QUESTION::

Would everyone prefer an open posted character sheet [I will be making a character sheet thread] or a simple one that shows bare bones and the main history/background done in private??
I know a couple have already posted a character profile here but I would still like opinions!!

MU