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

[TheGlyphstone]

Here's a tentative character, without equipment purchased. I decided against the Aero-jockey after seeing there was already a very competent pilot on the roster, and went with a charismatic/talky 'face' type instead to hopefully round out our abilities in social situations.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Sebastian "Honest John" Van Carlyle
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Height: 190cm
Physical Description: Sebastian is tall and slightly lanky, though he wears padding in his clothing and armor to give the impression of bulk he doesn't possess. His dark brown hair stays cut short with a full beard that he takes particular care to maintain.

Personality Description: An exceptional social chameleon by nature, Sebastian has an almost compulsive habit of ingratiating himself with the people around him. At times he can even come across too strong, though he's quick enough to back off when his charm isn't reciprocated. Under the mask, though, he's quite bitter towards his life, full of self-loathing for his mistakes and resentment that his former employers can't let bygones be bygones. His old self could have imagined no worse fate than to be exiled from Terra forever; his new self has mostly grown to accept it but can't entirely hide the occasional hint of disdain as a Terran amongst the 'colonial' ingrates he depends on for survival. He drinks to dull the pain when it gets too much to bear, or paints what he calls 'abstract' art. Sometimes both at the same time, and whether the results are improved is a matter of perspective.

Background: A lifetime ago, Sebastian was living the dream, or so he believed. An up-and-coming tech rep and salesman for O'Neil Yards, he had a comfortable home and decent income. He was debating which of his on-and-off girlfriends would be best suited for the wife of a middle management executive, and steadily saving to afford the lifestyle expected of an ambitious ladder-climber. A clandestine offer from what he thought was a competing faction inside O'Neil's cutthroat corporate political structure seemed like easy money - all he had to do was 'lose' a piece of experimental, cutting-edge tech on his way back from a demonstration. He even got paid, but when it turned out the client was a corporate spy from Irian Technologies his life disintegrated. O'Neil punished traitors with brutal efficiency, and Sebastian's only hope of survival lay in running as far from Terra as he could get.

In the Deep Periphery, he found a new calling for himself as a small-time smuggler. WIth a hardbitten crew of borderline-piratical rejects and a broken-down ship, he plied the lanes into and out of the various states at the edge of space. Guns, drugs, slaves - you name it, he would ship it for you at the right price; after all, how much harm could it do when your victims were colonial rubes? Somehow, the Hanseatic League disagreed when they finally managed to catch him. Faced with an extensive prison sentence, he instead jumped at the offer of a letter of marque with a conditional pardon waiting at the conclusion of his task. The scum who had been his old 'crew' were forgotten, already replaced by the new set of Hansean agents he'd be working with now.

Sexual Tendencies and Preferences: By natural inclination, Sebastian is purely heterosexual. He is fully and actively willing to flirt with a prospective customer or mark regardless of their gender, though, if he judges it beneficial to him, though he's hesitant to go so far as to bed someone he's not honestly attracted to. Only for a really big score. Like, a huge payout.

Player Ons and Offs:


Attributes: 2,800xp
STR: 3 (-1)
DEX: 4 (0)
BOD: 3 (-1)
RFL: 4 (0)
INT: 4 (0)
WIL: 3 (-1)
CHA: 5 (0)
EDG: 2

Traits: 400 XP
G-Tolerance (TP1)
Gregarious (TP1)
Attractive (TP2)
Wealth 3 (TP3)
Dark Secret 1 (TP-1)
Compulsion/Disdain for Non-Terrans 1 (TP-1)
Compulsion/Alcohol 1 (TP-1)

Skills: 1790
Acting 4 (120)
Art/Painting 1 (30)
Career/Salesman 3 (80)
Disguise 4 (120)
Forgery 4 (120)
Gunnery/Aerospace 3 (80)
Interest/Art History 1 (30)
Interest/Terran History 2 (50)
Language/English 3 (80)
Language/German 2 (50)
Language/Spanish 2 (50)
Negotiation 4 (120)
Perception 4 (120)
Pilot/Aerospace 3 (80)
Protocol 3/Corporate (80)
Protocol 2/Hanseatic League (50)
Protocol 2/Nueva Castile (50)
Protocol 2/Umayyad Caliphate (50)
Small Arms 4 (120)
Stealth 2 (50)
Streetwise 3/Hanseatic League (80)
Streetwise 2/Nueva Castile (50)
Streetwise 2/Umayyad Caliphate (50)
Zero-G Operations 3 (80)

Equipment:


C-Bills:
4000

[Stendarr]

The BT universe is famous for having incredibly archaic, barely 20th-century-grade targeting systems and computer software stapled to its 30th-century giant robots.


Rules question - there don't appear to be stats/prices/etc. for Aerospace units in Time of War that I can find? Since Custom Vehicle is barred, how would I get a gunship/VTOL helicopter since that seems outside the realm of 'necessities'?


EDIT: Life modules are confusing. As much as I want to use them, I'm going to go with points-only and use the Modules as a guideline for 'this sort of character would have X'. Currently shaping up as a Terran Belter native, asteroid miner/pilot/smuggler who ended up on the wrong end of a nasty inter-syndicate war and fled to the Deep Periphery, as far away from Terra as you can literally get. Or maybe a corporate agent instead. Yeah, I think a corporate spy who got burned and turned to smuggling.

Points only is a totally good system.

Vehicle and related traits are barred because I'm going to give everyone a vehicle that wants one. I didn't want anyone investing to get something they were going to get anyway.

Maybe I'll take a second pass at it, then. I wish I had someone experienced to bounce ideas off of in real-time Discord, but the GM is absent.

Sorry about not being supper attentive today. I'm down to chat on Discord right now if you'd like.

Here's a tentative character, without equipment purchased. I decided against the Aero-jockey after seeing there was already a very competent pilot on the roster, and went with a charismatic/talky 'face' type instead to hopefully round out our abilities in social situations.

Character Sheet

Name: Sebastian "Honest John" Van Carlyle
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Height: 190cm
Physical Description: Sebastian is tall and slightly lanky, though he wears padding in his clothing and armor to give the impression of bulk he doesn't possess. His dark brown hair stays cut short with a full beard that he takes particular care to maintain.

Personality Description: An exceptional social chameleon by nature, Sebastian has an almost compulsive habit of ingratiating himself with the people around him. At times he can even come across too strong, though he's quick enough to back off when his charm isn't reciprocated. Under the mask, though, he's quite bitter towards his life, full of self-loathing for his mistakes and resentment that his former employers can't let bygones be bygones. His old self could have imagined no worse fate than to be exiled from Terra forever; his new self has mostly grown to accept it but can't entirely hide the occasional hint of disdain as a Terran amongst the 'colonial' ingrates he depends on for survival. He drinks to dull the pain when it gets too much to bear, or paints what he calls 'abstract' art. Sometimes both at the same time, and whether the results are improved is a matter of perspective.

Background: A lifetime ago, Sebastian was living the dream, or so he believed. An up-and-coming tech rep and salesman for O'Neil Yards, he had a comfortable home and decent income. He was debating which of his on-and-off girlfriends would be best suited for the wife of a middle management executive, and steadily saving to afford the lifestyle expected of an ambitious ladder-climber. A clandestine offer from what he thought was a competing faction inside O'Neil's cutthroat corporate political structure seemed like easy money - all he had to do was 'lose' a piece of experimental, cutting-edge tech on his way back from a demonstration. He even got paid, but when it turned out the client was a corporate spy from Irian Technologies his life disintegrated. O'Neil punished traitors with brutal efficiency, and Sebastian's only hope of survival lay in running as far from Terra as he could get.

In the Deep Periphery, he found a new calling for himself as a small-time smuggler. WIth a hardbitten crew of borderline-piratical rejects and a broken-down ship, he plied the lanes into and out of the various states at the edge of space. Guns, drugs, slaves - you name it, he would ship it for you at the right price; after all, how much harm could it do when your victims were colonial rubes? Somehow, the Hanseatic League disagreed when they finally managed to catch him. Faced with an extensive prison sentence, he instead jumped at the offer of a letter of marque with a conditional pardon waiting at the conclusion of his task. The scum who had been his old 'crew' were forgotten, already replaced by the new set of Hansean agents he'd be working with now.

Sexual Tendencies and Preferences: By natural inclination, Sebastian is purely heterosexual. He is fully and actively willing to flirt with a prospective customer or mark regardless of their gender, though, if he judges it beneficial to him, though he's hesitant to go so far as to bed someone he's not honestly attracted to. Only for a really big score. Like, a huge payout.

Player Ons and Offs:


Attributes: 2,800xp
STR: 3 (-1)
DEX: 4 (0)
BOD: 3 (-1)
RFL: 4 (0)
INT: 4 (0)
WIL: 3 (-1)
CHA: 5 (0)
EDG: 2

Traits: 400 XP
G-Tolerance (TP1)
Gregarious (TP1)
Attractive (TP2)
Wealth 3 (TP3)
Dark Secret 1 (TP-1)
Compulsion/Disdain for Non-Terrans 1 (TP-1)
Compulsion/Alcohol 1 (TP-1)

Skills: 1800
Acting 5 (170)
Art/Painting 1 (30)
Career/Salesman 3 (80)
Disguise 4 (120)
Forgery 4 (120)
Interest/Art History 1 (30)
Interest/Terran History 2 (50)
Language/English 3 (80)
Language/German 2 (50)
Language/Spanish 2 (50)
Leadership 1 (30)
Navigate/Space 0 (20)
Negotiation 5 (170)
Perception 4 (120)
Pilot/Space 0 (20)
Protocol 3/Corporate (80)
Protocol 2/Hanseatic League (50)
Protocol 2/Nueva Castile (50)
Protocol 2/Umayyad Caliphate (50)
Small Arms 4 (120)
Stealth 2 (50)
Streetwise 3/Hanseatic League (80)
Streetwise 2/Nueva Castile (50)
Streetwise 2/Umayyad Caliphate (50)
Zero-G Operations 3 (80)

Equipment:


C-Bills:
4000

He seems pretty good and is mechanically sound. Unless I'm counting wrong we do have space for one more aero pilot. I'm only suggesting that because you might otherwise be left out during combat. I don't mind, but you might prefer to be in the action. It's really only about 300 points total you'd need to invest to make him a competent pilot.

Regardless he looks good. You should post him in the character sheet thread.

[TheGlyphstone]

I guess I had assumed we were mostly doing ground-combat, and Voidknight's character had filled the 'pilot' role. If we're going to be engaging in both infantry and vehicle-based combat, I can shuffle some stuff around.

[Stendarr]

You're going to be the crew of a Leopard. A Leopard carries 4 'Mechs and 2 aerospace fighters. We have our 4 MechWarriors so far, but only a single aero fighter. Hawkwood's character is actually the pilot of the dropship, but he probably won't see a lot of combat, which he's okay with. The players probably will not be deploying anything other than 'Mechs and aero, but you'll probably fight tanks as well.

[JFD99]

HK-47's voice "[Suggestion]: Perhaps we could include a breakdown of who holds what role in the introductory post of the recruitment/character sheets thread, meatbag?"

[TFcommando]

Here's a first pass, all the gear isn't quite done, but I think the points add up, finally.  This is a soft-spoken, gentle samurai wife who is a deadly warrior (and MechWarrior) as well.  She settled down to mind the household after her arranged marriage not long after graduating the academy.  A spoiled noble's son arranged for her husband to commit seppuku so he could have her for herself.  She left him dead in bed with a steak knife buried in his throat and left the Combine.  Though she's also in deep with the ISF intelligence service... killing a higher-ranking noble, even if he had it coming, is bad for social stability, so they helped arrange for her to leave, tarnished her name and she acts as eyes and ears for anything she sees in her mercenary wanderings.  And sometimes more. 

Not sure of her age, maybe early 20s, maybe early 30s and she had (and lost) a child or two with her husband, which plays well with the motherly aspect to her.  Think of Belldandy from Oh My Goddess or Kasumi Tendo from Ranma, very motherly but also a mistress of many lethal arts.  She might have been going for DEST training when the marriage happened.  (Also, the traditional wife role with a husband in the military meant that she didn't have many outlets for her sexual urges, something she's making up for now, perhaps a bit too much!)

Also, even Equipped 3 doesn't let you get a vibrokatana!

EDIT: Forgot to clarify her Enemy... the father of the man she killed, not a proud warrior himself, but with a lot of money, a mercantile concern that reaches far and wide, so his influence would not be limited to just the borders of the Combine. 

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

STATS

4 STR 75/325
4 Body  125/275
5 Ref  225/275
6 Dex  150/450
4 Int  200/200
4 Will 250/150
4 Cha  250/150
4 Edge 100/ 200
1150 +600 +275 =2025

Draconis Combine – Benjamin District 
Early Childhood – Nobility
Military School
Military Academy Basic, Mechwarrior
Tour of Duty

TRAITS
1 Compulsion/ Xenophobia (–100 XP),
1 Compulsion/Sex -100
3 Equipped  300
2 Enemy (–200 XP),
3 Fast Learner 300 XP
2 Wealth 185 +15
3 Toughness
-3 In For Life (ISF)
-2 Reputation (Draconis Combine)


SKILLS
1 Arts/Oral Tradition (20/24
0 Art/Ink Painting 15/16
4 Career/Soldier (105/96
2 Computers (+35 XP/40
5 Gunnery/’Mech 155/136
0 Interest/Erotic Literature 10/16
2 Interest/Military History (55/40
2 Interest/Battlemechs (+30 XP/40
3 Language/Japanese 60/64
1 Language/English 20/24
2 Leadership (45/40
2 Martial Arts 30/40
5 Martial Arts (Now melee) Blades Specialty 160/136 +20
2 MedTech 60/40
3 Navigation/Ground 70/64
5 Piloting/’Mech 155/153
4 Protocol/Combine  135/96
4 Perception 55/96
1 Running  30/24
2 Sensor Operations 55/40
4 Small Arms (105/96
1 Strategy (+20 XP)/24
2 Swimming 45/40
2 Tactics/Land 55/40
2 Technician/Weapons 55/40
0 prestidigitation/quick draw 22

850 universal xp
150 Kurita Benjamin
215 nobility
500 military school
830 military academy
150 basic training
150 MechWarrior training
800 Tour of Duty
3645

+300 Fast Learner
2025  attributes
5970
-795  traits
20 specialty
15 Wealth
100 Buy off Glass Jaw

(buyback Traits)
Package Rebate 60
Connections (90 XP
Equipped  75
Patient (+25 XP), 
Rank 270
Reputation (+175 XP)

GEAR
250 Katana
150 Wakazashi
8 Knife
750 laser pistol

[Stendarr]

Here's a first pass, all the gear isn't quite done, but I think the points add up, finally.  This is a soft-spoken, gentle samurai wife who is a deadly warrior (and MechWarrior) as well.  She settled down to mind the household after her arranged marriage not long after graduating the academy.  A spoiled noble's son arranged for her husband to commit seppuku so he could have her for herself.  She left him dead in bed with a steak knife buried in his throat and left the Combine.  Though she's also in deep with the ISF intelligence service... killing a higher-ranking noble, even if he had it coming, is bad for social stability, so they helped arrange for her to leave, tarnished her name and she acts as eyes and ears for anything she sees in her mercenary wanderings.  And sometimes more. 

Not sure of her age, maybe early 20s, maybe early 30s and she had (and lost) a child or two with her husband, which plays well with the motherly aspect to her.  Think of Belldandy from Oh My Goddess or Kasumi Tendo from Ranma, very motherly but also a mistress of many lethal arts.  She might have been going for DEST training when the marriage happened.  (Also, the traditional wife role with a husband in the military meant that she didn't have many outlets for her sexual urges, something she's making up for now, perhaps a bit too much!)

Also, even Equipped 3 doesn't let you get a vibrokatana!

EDIT: Forgot to clarify her Enemy... the father of the man she killed, not a proud warrior himself, but with a lot of money, a mercantile concern that reaches far and wide, so his influence would not be limited to just the borders of the Combine. 

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

STATS

4 STR 75/325
4 Body  125/275
5 Ref  225/275
6 Dex  150/450
4 Int  200/200
4 Will 250/150
4 Cha  250/150
4 Edge 100/ 200
1150 +600 +275 =2025

Draconis Combine – Benjamin District 
Early Childhood – Nobility
Military School
Military Academy Basic, Mechwarrior
Tour of Duty

TRAITS
1 Compulsion/ Xenophobia (–100 XP),
1 Compulsion/Sex -100
3 Equipped  300
2 Enemy (–200 XP),
3 Fast Learner 300 XP
2 Wealth 185 +15
3 Toughness
-3 In For Life (ISF)
-2 Reputation (Draconis Combine)


SKILLS
1 Arts/Oral Tradition (20/24
0 Art/Ink Painting 15/16
4 Career/Soldier (105/96
2 Computers (+35 XP/40
5 Gunnery/’Mech 155/136
0 Interest/Erotic Literature 10/16
2 Interest/Military History (55/40
2 Interest/Battlemechs (+30 XP/40
3 Language/Japanese 60/64
1 Language/English 20/24
2 Leadership (45/40
2 Martial Arts 30/40
5 Martial Arts (Now melee) Blades Specialty 160/136 +20
2 MedTech 60/40
3 Navigation/Ground 70/64
5 Piloting/’Mech 155/153
4 Protocol/Combine  135/96
4 Perception 55/96
1 Running  30/24
2 Sensor Operations 55/40
4 Small Arms (105/96
1 Strategy (+20 XP)/24
2 Swimming 45/40
2 Tactics/Land 55/40
2 Technician/Weapons 55/40
0 prestidigitation/quick draw 22

850 universal xp
150 Kurita Benjamin
215 nobility
500 military school
830 military academy
150 basic training
150 MechWarrior training
800 Tour of Duty
3645

+300 Fast Learner
2025  attributes
5970
-795  traits
20 specialty
15 Wealth
100 Buy off Glass Jaw

(buyback Traits)
Package Rebate 60
Connections (90 XP
Equipped  75
Patient (+25 XP), 
Rank 270
Reputation (+175 XP)

GEAR
250 Katana
150 Wakazashi
8 Knife
750 laser pistol

It seems like you haven't optimized your xp yet. It seems like you could come up with a lot of xp if you do. You could get the 100 more xp you need to get Equipped 4 for your vibrokatana.

You have martial arts marked down twice there.

Technically your Intrest/Erotic Literature and Art/Ink Painting aren't even level 0. You need to meet 20 xp (16 with Fast Learner) to actually have a skill (they start at level 0 at that point). As is that's just not a skill you have. But if you optimize you could easily come up with it.

In For Life would usually require you to do something for the entity you're bound to. But presumably, she's not willing to do any more work for the ISF, which would mean that Enemy or Bloodmark might be more suitable.

Even if you just put if place holders it would be nice to have your character sheet up in the character sheet thread.

[TFcommando]

It seems like you haven't optimized your xp yet. It seems like you could come up with a lot of xp if you do. You could get the 100 more xp you need to get Equipped 4 for your vibrokatana.

You have martial arts marked down twice there.

Technically your Intrest/Erotic Literature and Art/Ink Painting aren't even level 0. You need to meet 20 xp (16 with Fast Learner) to actually have a skill (they start at level 0 at that point). As is that's just not a skill you have. But if you optimize you could easily come up with it.

In For Life would usually require you to do something for the entity you're bound to. But presumably, she's not willing to do any more work for the ISF, which would mean that Enemy or Bloodmark might be more suitable.

Even if you just put if place holders it would be nice to have your character sheet up in the character sheet thread.

Posted to the character sheet thread too.

She's optimized, though my formatting is surely a mess.  The way I set it up was to have the original XP from the modules on the left, and the actual post-optimized and accounting for Fast Learner XP on the right for the final level.  So 2 Sensor Operations 55/40 is "Level 2 sensor operations, 55 XP, optimized down to 40."  0 Interest/Erotic Literature 10/16 shows level 0 Interest, 10 points from the module, added in 6 points.  I had 22 points left over at the end and put all of that in the Prestidigitation/Quick Draw.  All of her other skills are right from the modules and perhaps lacking in the social graces.

The "Martial Arts (now Melee)" are the points that accumulated for Martial Arts that I flexed into Melee Weapons, the lower score is for actual Martial Arts.

I had Combat Sense in there to help her "badass-ness", but realized too late it was a 400, not 300 XP trait and went for Toughness.  I could lower an attribute to replace Toughness with it perhaps.  The only Natural Aptitude I could get with those points would be for Small Arms I think.  Melee Weapons and Gunnery require 500 points.

Does Thick-Skinned address how it interacts with Mech heat levels anywhere?  That's the place most characters will be dealing with excess heat, but I couldn't find any references to that.

[Hawkwood]

In order to qualify for the "Noble" life module, you need to waste 500xp in Title / Property / Wealth

EDIT: I think I'm fundamentally misunderstanding something about character creation.

TF seems to have:

Modules: 3545
Stats: 2150
Traits: -435 (including 900xp in disadvantages)
Skills: 323

= 5583, meaning that he's almost 1000xp over-budget. What have I missed?

[JFD99]

Are you counting the module cost themselves in addition to the traits/skills?

That's the mistake I made. Modules just give you a pre-selected array of traits and skills equal in XP cost to the module itself, so you have to count one or the other.

[Hawkwood]

The reason I went through this in really grinding detail is that I really struggled to make Anna using the Life Module system and come out as anything other than a toddler. So made the following:

Samurai-ko: Excel sheet
Anne: [Character Worksheet]

[JFD99]

Assuming I understand your sheet correctly, I came up with a total of 4,731xp.

That is adding everything on the left column and assuming the other columns are a breakdown of how you came to the numbers on the left.

I'm not sure if you went through the optimization process yet. I think so judging by the skills but I'm not exactly a pro with the system yet.

But yeah, if the left column is what you have after the life modules and the optimization, you still have some XP to spend :)

[Voidknight]

I'm thinking I will make another pass at my sheet soon and add fast learner, seeing how popular the option has been! Will need to snip a couple of things to afford it but it's a longrun sound investment.

[JFD99]

I thought about it but given my character's personality that includes low discipline, I decided not to take it. It makes sense that he wouldn't learn as fast given that he's a bit of a slacker :)

[Hawkwood]

I think I'm just trying to do too many things with my points. The Lifepath stuff was so frustrating; I'm reasonably sure that there's a dark art to this, and I'm all out of goats to sacrifice.

So. Yes. My premise was "marine aviator" but there's just so many possible (and credible) ways to blow points.

On the bright side; I am exceptionally unlikely to crash the bus if I don't take part in combat!

[TheGlyphstone]

What counts as the essentials/necessities we will be provided, and what do we need to buy ourselves?

[TFcommando]

Here's showing more of my work!  With Wealth 2, she'd need 300 points in Title to qualify for Noble, I figured (but failed to note) those as being used as flex points for her 300 point Toughness (or other trait) since she lost her title. 



Samurai wife

First, the pre-optimization sheet, the point by point gains and penalties from the different modules:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

MODULES

850 universal xp
150 Kurita Benjamin District
215 nobility
500 military school
830 military academy
150 basic training
150 MechWarrior training
800 Tour of Duty


STATS

STR 100 -75 +50
Body  100 -75 +100
Ref  100 -50 +125 +50
Dex  100  +50
Int  100 +100
Will 100 +50 XP) +100
Cha  100 +100 +50
Edge  100


Draconis Combine – Benjamin District 
Early Childhood – Nobility
Military School
Military Academy Basic, Mechwarrior
Tour of Duty

TRAITS
Compulsion/ Xenophobia (–100 XP),
Compulsion/Paranoid of Combine Government (–50 XP)
Compulsion/Any Addiction -50
Connections (+50 XP), +15 +25
Combat Sense (+100 XP)
Equipped (+125 XP), +100 +100 +50
Enemy (–200 XP),
Glass Jaw (–100 XP)
Patient (+25 XP), 
Rank 220 +50
Reputation (+175 XP)
Wealth (–50 XP), (+35 XP) +150

SKILLS
Appraisal 5
Arts/Oral Tradition (+15 XP), +5
Art/Ink Painting +10 +5
Career/Soldier (+25 XP), +30 +50
Computers (+35 XP
Gunnery/’Mech 30 +50 +25 +50
Interest/any 10
Interest/Military History (+15 XP), (+40 XP)
Interest/Battlemechs (+30 XP
Language/Japanese 20 +10 +10 +5 +15
Language/English 20
Leadership (+10 XP),  (+20 XP) +15
Martial Arts 30
Martial Arts (Now melee)  (+10 XP), +10 +5 (+20 XP +10 +30 +40 +10 +25
MedTech 10 +30 +20
Navigation/Ground 70
Piloting/’Mech 30 +50 +25 +50
Protocol/Combine (+15 XP) +15 +10 +15 (+30 XP), +50
Perception 35 +20
Running (+30 XP),
Sensor Operations 30 +25
Small Arms (+50 XP), +30 +25
Streetwise/ Combine (+10 XP)
Strategy (+20 XP)
Swimming +15 +30
Tactics/Land 30 +25
Technician/Weapons 30 +25


Training Package Rebate 60

Assigned:
School Flex 100 (Pilot, Gunner)
Tour Flex 100 (Pilot, Gunner)
Pilot, gunner, Sensor, Tactics, Small Arms, MA/Melee, Tech
+175 total additional XP (+25 XP each assigned to a maximum of seven Skills the character possesses from his Military Fields)

Here's the optimized version, buying more stats, the second column showing the points added.  The first column for skills is the total of the module points, the second is the optimized amount, taking into account Fast Learner, so they're all at the exact level for that skill.

Some things I've learned from my attempts is that modules cost more than they appear.  Officers Candidate School includes -200 XP for Edge, so you'll have to put that back in later in the process just to get where you started with that stat.

Second, modules are not simply plug and go to get you a character at the end.  The optimization process is essentially mandatory.  You'll have to buy down the partial negative traits you don't want to buy up to full level, and the same with the positive ones (You could leave them in for future development, but it's generally just a big point sink).  You'll want to even your skills off to exactly the amount of points for the desired level.  If you've got 70 points in Navigation/Ground, you'll want to lower that to 50 (and thus level 2) and put those extra points into another skill or something useful.  Or put more points in to raise it to the next level.

Fast Learner is almost TOO good a choice, it practically pays for itself.

I'll go over my math again to make sure I'm not over OR under budget.  And try a straight-point build using the skills the modules suggested too!

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

STATS

STR 75/325
Body  125/275
Ref  225/275
Dex  150/450
Int  200/200
Will 250/150
Cha  250/150
Edge 100/ 200

1150 +600 +275 =2025 stats added.

TRAITS
Compulsion/ Xenophobia (–100 XP),
Compulsion/Any Addiction -100

3 Equipped 300
Enemy (–200 XP),
Fast Learner 300 XP
2 Wealth 185 +15


Optimized Skills 22

SKILLS
1 Arts/Oral Tradition (20/24
0 Art/Ink Painting 15/16
4 Career/Soldier (105/96
2 Computers (+35 XP/40
5 Gunnery/’Mech 155/136
0 Interest/any 10/16
2 Interest/Military History (55/40
2 Interest/Battlemechs (+30 XP/40
3 Language/Japanese 60/64
1 Language/English 20/24
2 Leadership (45/40
2 Martial Arts 30/40
5 Martial Arts (Now melee) Blades Specialty 160/136 +20
2 MedTech 60/40
3 Navigation/Ground 70/64
5 Piloting/’Mech 155/153
4 Protocol/Combine  135/96
4 Perception 55/96
1 Running  30/24
2 Sensor Operations 55/40
4 Small Arms (105/96
1 Strategy (+20 XP)/24
2 Swimming 45/40
2 Tactics/Land 55/40
2 Technician/Weapons 55/40
0 prestidigitation/quick draw 0/22

850 universal xp
150 Kurita Benjamin
215 nobility
500 military school
830 military academy
150 basic training
150 MechWarrior training
800 Tour of Duty
3645

+300 Fast Learner
2025  attributes
5970
-795  traits

20 specialty
15 Wealth
100 Buy off Glass Jaw
Package Rebate -60

(Traits removed)
Connections 90 XP
Equipped  75
Patient (+25 XP), 
Rank 270
Reputation (+175 XP)


NEGATIVE TRAITS BOUGHT
2 Blood Mark 200
1 Enemy +1 100
2 Reputation 2 Kurita negative 200

[Voidknight]

Easy to lose things in the mix while creating a character, believe me I missed a lot!

Among personally distributed belongings will be, a neurohelmet, a cooling vest, a sidearm, a first aid kit, communication gear, power packs, a recharger, a basic tool kit, and survival gear just in case. An initial stock of amenities like food, water, repair tools, ammunition, vehicle armor, etc. will be provided, but restocks are on you. The League will be willing to sell you things like that, but you might find better deals locally, for purchase or plunder.

[TheGlyphstone]

Cool, thanks. I'll need to stock up on 'tools of the trade' then.

As far as Fast Learner - I looked at it, but it would cost me 300 XP and I'd only be getting 170-180 back. Without knowing what the rate of XP growth is, I didn't want to wager that much, so I think I'll buck the trend and stay a Regular Learner.

My sheet's been tweaked, I dropped a few points to buy Pilot and Gunnery at 3. Copying it over now, and I'll add gear in a bit.

EDIT: Okay, so I'm fuzzy on the Availability/Legality ratings. How do I read, say, a Disguise Kit at C/A-B-B/A? Can I get one in this era with no ranks of Equipped?

[Stendarr]

Cool, thanks. I'll need to stock up on 'tools of the trade' then.

As far as Fast Learner - I looked at it, but it would cost me 300 XP and I'd only be getting 170-180 back. Without knowing what the rate of XP growth is, I didn't want to wager that much, so I think I'll buck the trend and stay a Regular Learner.

My sheet's been tweaked, I dropped a few points to buy Pilot and Gunnery at 3. Copying it over now, and I'll add gear in a bit.

EDIT: Okay, so I'm fuzzy on the Availability/Legality ratings. How do I read, say, a Disguise Kit at C/A-B-B/A? Can I get one in this era with no ranks of Equipped?

Some versions of the book list Fast Learner as a 10% xp cost reduction, but it is actually a 20% cost reduction. So if you have at least 1500 xp in skills (before cost reduction) then fast learner pays for itself.

I'm gonna be honest I have no idea why some of the items have X/Y for Tech Level or Legality, but even worst-case scenario a disguise kit is C-B-B (Tech-Availablity-Legality), Unless you have Equipped at negative 1 TP, base equipment ratings available are D-B-B. So you could get a disguise kit.

Remember that periphery-affiliated characters have access to equipment of 1 tech level lower, and items that are both affiliation specific and not from your native affiliation are effectively 1 level of Availability and 1 level of Legality hard to obtain.

Also Glyphstone you probably want to add at least a couple levels of the Sensor Operation skill to your character.

[Voidknight]

Actually noting that clothing isn't on the freebie list outside of work 'clothing'- I'll change Noele's purchases to some dirt cheap  clothes. Fits the aesthetic better.

[TheGlyphstone]

I have an outdated copy of the book then - Fast Learner is definitely a good purchase. I'll mod that in, and put some of my savings towards Sensor Operator.

As far as gear....so the codes are Tech-Availability-Legality, it goes A-B-C-D-E, and the base rating for Equipped 0 is D-B-B.

So, for example, I could get a Disguise Kit since its worst rating is C-B-B, but I cannot get a Basic Lockpick Set since it would be B-A-A/C (Legality too low), unless I had Equipped 1 (Legality max of C). Just to be certain I comprende.

[Stendarr]

Correct.

[Voidknight]

Alright! I have tweaked my sheet to add fast learner, it only cost me 1 level of space tactics, which makes sense to me, she's not an expert, she's still a relatively young learner with natural talent. Also spent her starting cash barring three c-bills on three changes of clothes. Female underwear is pricey!

[TheGlyphstone]

Alright, I think I'm almost all set. I bought my important stuff, and still have 940880 C-Bills left. Suggestions on what to use my hard-earnedstolen cash on are welcome.

Picked up Sensor Operations, and a point of Security Systems so I can pick mechanical locks if needed.

EDIT: I forgot to stock up on booze. Fixed.