Battletech

[Jack Stryker]

You forgot to note my Ferret as the scout. 

Fixed.

[CaptainErotica]

I had planned on increasing my Hunchies, maneuverability and heat efficiency to make him more of a hunter killer/heavy recon, but not sure what company he would end up in. I could just choose a different mech. There are so many good ones, but most of my favorites are either newer models or assault mech, which we seem to have an abundance of. I also need to think about arena survivability as he hails from the Solaris VII Gladiatorial circuit.

Actually If I modify my bio a bit I wouldn't mind running with a Sasquatch or a modified Werewolf( From Solaris:the Reaches, source book.) It doesn't really specify when they were introduced, but since they are mainly Arena mechs, we could probably make it work as long as the tech exists. I'll see what I can come up with and PM Styker sometime today.

[Jack Stryker]

I had planned on increasing my Hunchies, maneuverability and heat efficiency to make him more of a hunter killer/heavy recon, but not sure what company he would end up in. I could just choose a different mech. There are so many good ones, but most of my favorites are either newer models or assault mech, which we seem to have an abundance of. I also need to think about arena survivability as he hails from the Solaris VII Gladiatorial circuit.

Actually If I modify my bio a bit I wouldn't mind running with a Sasquatch or a modified Werewolf( From Solaris:the Reaches, source book.) It doesn't really specify when they were introduced, but since they are mainly Arena mechs, we could probably make it work as long as the tech exists. I'll see what I can come up with and PM Styker sometime today.

If I had to guess, i'd say the Werewolf was created sometime in the late 3050's, as its primary configuration carries a Large X-Pulse Laser, which wasn't introduced until 3057.  The Sasquatch carries three Medium X-Pulse Lasers, which were made that same year.  So neither would be feasable for 3042

[TheGlyphstone]

--2nd Lance
---Catapult
---Archer
---Stalker
---Grand Dragon

Beta Lance: Assault at Close Range
King Crab
Awesome
Zeus

Huh? These don't really match up...neither a Catapult nor an Archer belongs anywhere near the close-range scrums that I intended to be throwing Beta Lance at...that's why I have an abundance of them in the Command Alpha lance.

[Jack Stryker]

Huh? These don't really match up...neither a Catapult nor an Archer belongs anywhere near the close-range scrums that I intended to be throwing Beta Lance at...that's why I have an abundance of them in the Command Alpha lance.

Sorry, I had that written in on the Word Document waiting for us to work everything out with JinZah.  I'm still waiting for him to actually get back on.  If you don't want the lance in your company I can always use them in A Company.

[TheGlyphstone]

We're discussing it now. It's possible he might just take over one of the Archers I had assigned to Alpha Lance as a non-com.

[MasterDireWolf]

Technically, if you wanted to use a Timber Wolf, you could pilot one of the Inner Sphere mechs from which the Timber Wolf evolved; the Catapult and the Marauder.  The Catapult is a long range fire support mech, while the Marauder is a medium range mech that has most of the capabilities of the Timber Wolf aside from its missile racks. 

The somewhat amsuingly named Awesome is an assault mech reasonably similar to the Mauler, but without the Star League tech.  I think the Mercenary group's Assault mech lance is full though.   

I had been considering the Catapult as a suitable replacement for the Timber Wolf.   Though if one were to show up I'd make a bee line for it!    Though as I noticed earlier on in this thread, source books were required.  I'm afraid my experience is limited to MW2 Mercs as far as what the Catapult can use...though as I recall I had some very nice customizations in MW2: Mercs with the Catapult I used.  Though I doubt any of them would be considered canonical hehe.

[Jack Stryker]

I don't think anyone ever said they were required.  Source books and the novels are helpful, but all you really need is a basic understanding of what a battlemech is, how it works, and how Battletech isn't your normal sci-fi genre.

[Anathanasia]

I had been considering the Catapult as a suitable replacement for the Timber Wolf.   Though if one were to show up I'd make a bee line for it!    Though as I noticed earlier on in this thread, source books were required.  I'm afraid my experience is limited to MW2 Mercs as far as what the Catapult can use...though as I recall I had some very nice customizations in MW2: Mercs with the Catapult I used.  Though I doubt any of them would be considered canonical hehe.

Check the first page! I posted three links that will help get you up to speed if you're interested in joining us.

Though I think perhaps we should start thinking about adding people as we go, maybe, Jack? Y'know, 'cause maybe some of the rest of us would like to get things going?

Also, honestly, I don't know why people feel they have to announce they like the Timber Wolf. Probably the best all around design in the whole game (damn cheap 1/2 weight Clan LRM and half-crit Endo and FF armour...). Really, I hate the Clans, but I love that mech. Anyone who doesn't admire that design needs their head checked, that's all I'm sayin'!

[Jack Stryker]

I've been writing things up for a while now.  I should have a thread set up over the next couple days.

[Fieryone]

Hehe, I just can't wait to get this started.

[Jack Stryker]

Just to make sure everyone's on the same page, please let me know if I haven't accepted your character or haven't worked out everything about it.

Also, I believe i'll be setting the rp up with a post order.  This way a few people on all day aren't going to get a few pages in front of the rest of us if we're a bit slow.  If anyone has a problem with that please let me know.  I want everyone to enjoy the rp.

[Anathanasia]

Just to make sure everyone's on the same page, please let me know if I haven't accepted your character or haven't worked out everything about it.

Also, I believe i'll be setting the rp up with a post order.  This way a few people on all day aren't going to get a few pages in front of the rest of us if we're a bit slow.  If anyone has a problem with that please let me know.  I want everyone to enjoy the rp.

I don't have a problem with this, per se, but I do think it would also be a good idea to lay out how frequently everyone is expected to post. We should also state exactly how long we're going to wait on someone before continuing on without them, as well, so the rest of us don't get bogged down waiting on one person.

I typically like to post daily as an aim, but it seems like we have a fair size group so maybe every 48 hours with 96 being the outside? Unless, of course, it's an announced absence...I'll be away over Easter Weekend, personally, and unlikely to post for 5 days starting this coming Thursday. I'll post if I can, and you guys should carry on without me (I'll try to write my character an excuse out of whatever scene, if possible). I always think that sort of setup is pretty fair.

[Jack Stryker]

The beginning will give everyone enough time to get used to an ordered posting.  And every couple days sounds great.  Though if you're gone for a week or more, i'll have to find a way to make up for your absence... two weeks with no prior reason would most likely result in a PPC shot to the head of your 'mech 

[MasterDireWolf]

Technically Phelan Kell survived a PPC shot to the head of his mech during his Trial of Position!

[Fieryone]

Technically Phelan Kell survived a PPC shot to the head of his mech during his Trial of Position!

[Fieryone]

Technically Phelan Kell survived a PPC shot to the head of his mech during his Trial of Position!

Wasn't that in his fight versus Vlad?

[ChaoticSky]

turn basing  can cause problems in a freeform RP... as temporal conditions are Tightly controlled.

take for example you have two people having a long, indepth discussion (lets say; on mercenary morality) before the battle, this is no issue in FFA, but if you turn base it, they would have to cut it short, or continue yacking on while everyone else is leaving to go fight, or hold everyone else back. as everyone else would have to post, to do something, during each iteration in a turn-based RP, so while they are chatting everyone else would have to be preping for deployment and such.

turn-based isnt enough to make me leave... but it will make the RP more awkward and less fluid. imo, if your trusting us to freeform and to not abuse the game.... then trusting us not to run ahead and leave people behind is perhaps less of a stretch. but thats just my thought

[RubySlippers]

I agree we can trust everyone to be decent on battles and the GM can handle things well, I say semi-freeform with the rules in the background for the game. Like mech speed and weapons attacks could be rolled if needed but come on if a 100t mech meets a 20t mech and both are close - who is going to win? duh ...

[Anathanasia]

Darkling has a point.

There's also no reason people can't 'continue' their private thread, in the sense of finishing non-essential RP like a conversation or some naughty business, while also playing in a scene that would take place later, a battle being an obvious example. There could be some slightly awkward moments if they ended on a sour note or one stole the others undies on the way out the door, but those are minor things. Is there a board rule against multiple threads for a game? We're large enough that splitting things up and off would just make organizational sense.

I'm thinking what we need to do is maybe run it both ways? Loose for the out of combat stuff, but impose a pose order for combat actions? Include there that I'm thinking we should also break combat up into multiple threads, so people don't get locked down waiting for someone who's not even in the same combat scene as they are, which could easily happen with the size of the unit. I doubt the entire unit will be all in the same place at the same time during a campaign, you know?

[Jack Stryker]

All great points.  I was actually considering splitting the rp into different threads, one containing the main storyline, while another contains *cough* "private negotiations" *coughcough*

For combat, there's an old system from an RP I was in a while ago, in which combat scenes were handled by presenting the enemy NPC's actions to the character they're facing, allowing that person to react accordingly, then the GM would act as the NPC in their post, seperate from their own character.   The person will choose how to react to being shot at, though some hits will.   Combat will favor our characters for the most part (nobody wants to die in their first post, after all)

For example:

CHARACTER POST:
The Highlander's feet slammed into the ground as the machine was pushed forward, hurling itself at the oncoming Atlas as it just began to turn to face its opponent.  Raising the 'mech's left arm, Jack let loose with the twin tubed Streak SRM launcher there, holding the crosshairs of his targeting display over the massive battlemech's broad chest, even as the enemy began to raise its arms in reply.   With the crosshairs flashing gold, the ninety ton assault 'mech buried its foot into the ground as it cut to the left, smoke and flames flashing from its left arm as the two rockets lanced forward, corkscrewing in toward the Free Worlder.

GM RESPONSE:
Smoke rose into the air as the short range missiles slammed into the Atlas just as its own missile launcher coughed flame and smoke, sending six SRMs back at its opponent even as chips of armor were flying off of its center and left torso.  The two small missiles had done little to harm the one hundred ton death machine, though the more accurate Streak model SRMs seemed to give the Striker's Colonel an edge in the exchange.  As the six missiles rocketed toward the target, it was clear that the quick change in direction had thrown off the targeting computer, leaving the group of missiles to lag behind their intended target by a half second.

CHARACTER RESPONSE:
Jack flinched as he felt two of the missiles slam into his right side, gouts of dirt and flame rising into the air behind his 'mech as the other four cleanly missed.  Keeping his torso lined up on the enemy, he brought up the 'mech's right arm, barely allowing the computer to flash gold on the targeting crosshairs before pulling on the trigger he held in his right hand, sending a lance of azure lighting back at his enemy, followed by the ruby spear of his large laser a half second later.  Heat spiked in his cockpit as both of the energy weapons were fired off, though even as sweat broke out across the man's temples, the heat sinks were beginning their work of cooling the 'mech, dropping the cockpit temperature quickly.

GM RESPONSE:
Where the Atlas had simply shrugged off the smaller missile impacts, it staggered as it took a step forward, taking the brunt of the charged and accelerated particles to its right shoulder, tearing a deep gash in the armor there, but the weapon seemed to refuse cutting through every layer of the armor protection there, leaving a carbon scored scar across the 'mech's almost hockey-like shoulder pauldron.  The red beam of the extended range large laser pumped megajoules of energy into the 'mech's right arm, slashing a deep cut across the Atlas's bicep, lasting long enough to leave a carbon black slash across the right side of its body before the beam dissipated.  Recovering from the hits as only an Atlas could, it would raise its arms toward its enemy, lashing out with all four of its medium lasers.


and so on and so forth.  post order will only affect those in combat, to keep them from posting an action, then suddenly going off and doing something else before I have enough time to respond to it.  Just remember that if your character does something reckless, it will reflect on what will be dealt to it.  If I feel there are too many misses, an autohit will even things out, though I don't expect to have to do that at all.  Otherwise, if just talking, the posting order will simply be to wait for whoever you're interacting with to reply.  It would be rude to skip the other person if another person starts talking to your character.

[ChaoticSky]

splitting the RP up is even worse DX

*slump* i think im just going to withdraw, i seem to be the only proponent of fun simple RP here, or atleased the only highly vocal one. while the powers that be seem to be constantly pushing for more complex shenanigans. and such Roleplays simply do not interest me.

(so, you might reconsider things like systems and stuff, since im not here to nay say them anymore)

[HairyHeretic]

Bear in mind, a group game can have a fair number of threads, so I don't think peoples posting rate needs to be tightly controlled. If you want to add an element of uncertainty into combat, what I did previously was work out the rough numbers for short, medium and long range fire, and just roll to see if my shots hit or not, writing the combat that way.

As long as we don't have anyone going munchkin and getting nothing but head shots with every round fired, I think we can give people the benefit of the doubt to start, and let them write the fight as a story, and for the enjoyment of the story itself.

[TheGlyphstone]

So I'm going to assume that headshotting multiple mechs with a single gauss rifle shot is right out then.

[Jack Stryker]

Darkling, please don't leave.  i'm trying to find a way to make things as simple as I can, but i've seen rp's go to where two people are on all day and fill up two or three pages with their stuff, while everyone else has only been able to post once or twice.  If nobody's into the system I posted, then for the start we can write it out freely.   I guess just everyone give everyone a chance to have more than just 1 post per page.