Battletech! Enough said!

Started by Latooni Subota, May 21, 2010, 08:36:23 PM

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Latooni Subota

I think I saw a Battletech game floating around already, but it appeared pretty full, so I'm putting out a call for another one! I'm still trying to gather the right books and stuff to figure out how to roleplay stuff with Classic Battletech, so I can't quite be counted on for delicious GMship or something.

If someone can help me learn how to use this stuff, and point out which books are most useful, I would definately appreciate it. If someone could run the system, i'd be MORE appreciative! Right now I'm using the rules from the third edition core book to make pilots, and Classic Battletech to do everything else. >>;

I'm looking for a Lance (That's four mechs!) or so sized group for optimum fun. Feel free to respond here, via PM, or my messengers.
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Arion

I've got just about every book you might need for a battletech game.  What do you need help on?
"The flesh surrenders itself.  Eternity takes back its own.  Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time.  What can we say of this?  I occurred.  I am not... yet, I occurred."     -Frank Herbert

"I've rambled with the worst of them, fell in love with a harlequin, saw the darkest hearts of men, and I saw my self staring back again, and I saw my self staring back again."    -Bartholomew, The Silent Comedy; If you do not think that this is one of the greatest songs ever written... You.  Are.  Wrong.

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Latooni Subota

Other than having someone RUN things? ;)

Well, I noticed that Classic BattleTech is supposed to be a reprinting/re-organizing/etc of Third Edition, right? Well the 3rd ed core has rules for making pilots and stuff, but the Classic core barely even glances at pilots. Does another book have pilot stuff, or would I just use the third edition core?

Also, what books have good rundowns/stats/etc on mechs?

I have the 3rd Edition core, as well as Classic BattleTech's Total Warfare (Which is supposedly the core rules?) and Tech Manual. I know i'm going to need to invest in more books, and I'd like to know WHAT to look for rather than being blind.
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Arion

Okay, the problem seems to be that you're mixing two games.  There's the classic Battletech RPG (third edition), and then there's Classic Battletech, the miniatures game.  You can run the two together, but it takes some work.  Not too much, but a little.

Total warfare is the core rules for the miniatures game; in addition to that, you'll need the technical readouts, which contain all of the mech stats and vehicles and so-forth.  For the rpg, it'll be hard to find anything as, to my knowledge, they're really not putting more stuff out for it.

Really, it depends on how in-depth you want to get.  You can run a game with just one tech readout, Total Warfare, and the Classic RPG.  Everything else is adding flavor.  Also you should set a time-period for what you're looking for.  The Succession Wars is a big favorite, but all the stuff coming out now is post-clan era/ Jihad stuff.  That influences which mechs would be available and what factions are in play.

Unfortunately, there's a ton of good stuff out there that's out of print; the original company, Ral Partha, went out of business about 15 years ago, and the game has passed through two different companies in the mean time.

So, my recommendations on books:  Total Warfare, the Classic Battletech RPG 3rd edition, technical readout 3075 (which is the latest, I think), and you're good, at least to start.
"The flesh surrenders itself.  Eternity takes back its own.  Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time.  What can we say of this?  I occurred.  I am not... yet, I occurred."     -Frank Herbert

"I've rambled with the worst of them, fell in love with a harlequin, saw the darkest hearts of men, and I saw my self staring back again, and I saw my self staring back again."    -Bartholomew, The Silent Comedy; If you do not think that this is one of the greatest songs ever written... You.  Are.  Wrong.

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Latooni Subota

I guess I should find players/etc first, so we can decide what era we want, before I start looking for too many more books.

I'll look into trying to find a copy of the Technical Readout 3075 though. Maybe one of my friends will actually have a copy buried in their stacks somewhere. :D
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sleepingferret

All my Battletech stuff is old school... original FASA prints and Ral Partha miniatures.  (well I have a few recent remade miniatures, of some classic mechs)  But the last book I bought was from the 90s.

echoes

I could be very interested in this but I am woefully out of date and have sold all the source material I once had. I had played Battletech from right after its change of names from battledroids up until about 6 years ago. I sold an RCT worth of miniatures on ebay as well as all the original books and box sets so I will be behind the 8-ball on the source material.

Depending on how you set this up I would love to play and do what I could to get up to speed.

Thanks,

E-

AllieCat

The latest RPG edition is currently out in PDF only... (it's full name is Classic Battletech: A Time of War RPG)

Most of the files are out there if you know where to look.

The actual BattleTech board game is ably emulated by the computer program MegaMek, which allows online play.

I may be interested in running a game.. depending on what people want to do.. (Solaris VII arena battles? Campaign? Random stuff?)

Ramael

I would be interested, but massive technicalities really put me off.

I love the battletech lore, and political intrigues, but my only sources are seven of the fiction novels (Malicious Intent...arguably my favourite?) and one video game.  I don't have any more in-depth textbooks, and haven't played the RPG.

However, I would love to be part of a pirate unit. That way, pirates being a motley crew, players can be in either mechs, hovertanks or aerospace, and can come from nearly any background. It also allows for some more personalisation. ALSO it's a bit different to the current battletech game being run.

Open to suggestions, though.

Latooni Subota

Pirates sounds okay . .  Pirates that moonlight as cover ops/mercs when the appropriate government/criminal organization hires them out. But I REALLY like the idea of a Lance of 'Mech Jockeys on Solaris VII working their way through the circuit, and trying to earn enough prestige and money to eventually set up their own Merc unit.

Yeah, a friend contacted me and lent me a hand. I now have Classic Battletech RPG, Tech Manual, Total Warfare, Lostech: The Mechwarrior Equipment Guide, the Character Companion, Master Rules, and Solaris VII Players Book.

And yeah, I realized some books could literally only be found in PDF form at this point, much to my chagrin. I wanted all hardcopy of these. :(


Back to point, I'd be VERY pleased if you ran a game. Feel free to tell us what YOU would be most interested in running though. Some nice long-term BattleTech would be awesome <3
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If I'm needed to post somewhere, PLEASE PM me about it. Sometimes I lose track of threads and need to be reminded about things.

Arion

#10
Just don't use the rules for creating mercenary companies in the Mercenaries sourcebook.  I'm not joking in the least when I say filling out tax forms is easier and faster.  There are six, count 'em six, detailed forms to fill out (at least, larger companies may require multiples of some).  It's ridiculous.

Kinda like the mech creation rules.

Anywho, i'm interested, but for me it's all about time-frame.  Succession Wars, hell yes.  Clan Wars, maybe.  Beyond that, not likely.

PS:  Oh, and for mechs, I've got every tech readout they've produced yet, so I can provide info on anything needed.
"The flesh surrenders itself.  Eternity takes back its own.  Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time.  What can we say of this?  I occurred.  I am not... yet, I occurred."     -Frank Herbert

"I've rambled with the worst of them, fell in love with a harlequin, saw the darkest hearts of men, and I saw my self staring back again, and I saw my self staring back again."    -Bartholomew, The Silent Comedy; If you do not think that this is one of the greatest songs ever written... You.  Are.  Wrong.

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Paladin

Has my intrest, but I'm very big on the wolf clan... or the Dragoons.

Arion

Dragoons were pretty cool, and fit with Succession Wars.  Weren't they basically a spy-group sent in by Clan Wolf?
"The flesh surrenders itself.  Eternity takes back its own.  Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time.  What can we say of this?  I occurred.  I am not... yet, I occurred."     -Frank Herbert

"I've rambled with the worst of them, fell in love with a harlequin, saw the darkest hearts of men, and I saw my self staring back again, and I saw my self staring back again."    -Bartholomew, The Silent Comedy; If you do not think that this is one of the greatest songs ever written... You.  Are.  Wrong.

<a href="https://www.f-list.net/c/arion99">My F-List

Latooni Subota

YEah, I'd personally like late Succession Wars (Late 3rd or 4th), or late Clan Invasion. Still, I'd like to hear what time periods AllieCat likes, and what she'd be more comfortable running, before we make any big decisions.

And yes, Wolf's Dragoons were originally a reconnaisance unit sent into the IS to check things out.
ONs and OFFs be here: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=64984.0

If I'm needed to post somewhere, PLEASE PM me about it. Sometimes I lose track of threads and need to be reminded about things.

Arion

Oooo, it could be cool to do the opening of the Clan Invasion;  being overrun by alien-looking mechs and Elementals, having to defend against never-before-seen designs...

Sorry, not trying to push my fav period;  It's just, well, my favorite.
"The flesh surrenders itself.  Eternity takes back its own.  Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time.  What can we say of this?  I occurred.  I am not... yet, I occurred."     -Frank Herbert

"I've rambled with the worst of them, fell in love with a harlequin, saw the darkest hearts of men, and I saw my self staring back again, and I saw my self staring back again."    -Bartholomew, The Silent Comedy; If you do not think that this is one of the greatest songs ever written... You.  Are.  Wrong.

<a href="https://www.f-list.net/c/arion99">My F-List

Paladin

This is the D10 system right, or the original original system?

AllieCat

Ok, we're all over the place, so let me take a poll on some of the things that people want to see: Feel free to pick one or more, or rank them, or what have you.

Q1: Time frame
A) Succession Wars Era (3025-3039)
B) Clan Invasion (3050-3055
C) Second Star League/Great Trial of Refusal (the Twilight of the Clans book series, if you've read that) (3061)
D) Fed Com Civil War (3062-3066)
E) Word Of Blake Jihad (3075)

Q2:  Straight Battletech, Mechwarrior or mix? (if we do engage Mechwarrior, we will use a Time of War, so much better then 3rd edition :D)_
A) Only Battletech (mech battles, etcetera)
B) Only Mechwarrior (personal level, with the battletech stuff de-emphasized)
C) Mix

Q3: What do people want to play
A) House Forces (one of the Great Houses, or a minor power)
B) Mercenaries
C) Pirates/scum
D) Solaris VII pilots (arena battles, etcetera)

Q4: Use MegaMek? (everyone connects to a server to play out the battles) or Play by Post (I have never done Play by Post, so it will be a little rough :D)
A) MegaMek
B) Play by Post

Q5: Are we throwing in Adult Situations? (relationships, captured enemies/pilots, etcetera?)
A: Yes
B: No
C: Depends on the situation

Thanks :)

AllieCat

Quote from: Paladin on May 22, 2010, 07:37:55 PM
This is the D10 system right, or the original original system?
The new verison is a cleaned up version of the d10 system (it uses 2D6, and cleans up the lifepath RPG situation, so a random roll doesn't cost your character a leg or keep you from a preferred path :)

Terian

#18
I'm up for this--I've got a copy of the Time of War book as well, so I've got access to the rules.

Mind you, this is up to /Play/, not to run, I don't have the time to plot everything out unfortunately :(

That said, fluffwise, I'm not too picky--but it would be cool to run the battles on MegaMek I think.

Katina Tarask

Complete n00b to this one, but I want in.  I'm futzing with character creation now.

To Allie's questions...

1) Abstain.  I don't know enough about the setting to vote.  Just a couple of the MechWarrior video games, really, and even that was a long time ago.
2) C.  I want a giant robot.
3) C.  Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.  D sounds fun, too, followed by B.
4) B.  I want to keep this to the forums.
5) C.  Though seriously, never include a "depends on the situation" option.  That pretty much completely negates all other choices.  I want adult content/situations as appropriate, and I will bring a character who is going to encourage such situations.

Paladin

#20
Quote from: AllieCat on May 22, 2010, 07:44:44 PM
The new verison is a cleaned up version of the d10 system (it uses 2D6, and cleans up the lifepath RPG situation, so a random roll doesn't cost your character a leg or keep you from a preferred path :)

Umm whats the covers look like? I may not have them.

AllieCat


Paladin

Q1: Time frame
B) Clan Invasion (3050-3055
C) Second Star League/Great Trial of Refusal (the Twilight of the Clans book series, if you've read that) (3061)


Q2:  Straight Battletech, Mechwarrior or mix? (if we do engage Mechwarrior, we will use a Time of War, so much better then
C) Mix

Q3: What do people want to play
B) Mercenaries
E) Clan Wolf Clanner

Q4: Use MegaMek? (everyone connects to a server to play out the battles) or Play by Post (I have never done Play by Post, so it will be a little rough :D)
B) Play by Post

Q5: Are we throwing in Adult Situations? (relationships, captured enemies/pilots, etcetera?)
A: Yes
C: Depends on the situation

As I have said, if we do Merchs I suggest Wolfs Dragoons as they include both Clanners, and non Clanners. I despize the Houses. They were weak and most of them had no honor.

Paladin


Katina Tarask

Oh.  I'm working out of this one.  Er... looks like I'm going off of the limb 'splodey version. ^^U