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Mercenaries Wanted.
New mercenary outfit is looking for pilots. Join the Company and see the stars. Turn Your Talents into C-Bills. Prove Yourself One of the Best.
Must own your own Battlemech. No experience necessary. Generous next of kin benefits offered. Interested pilots apply below.
Opening a thread to see if anyone is interested in a Battletech campaign based on a mostly untested set of homebrew rules based on the FATE Core system and elements from various Forged in the Dark rulesets. Why come up with new rules when there are already three or four systems out there? Mostly to just see if I could make something like Battletech fit into a FATE type narrative system. Something that could be a bit more seamless between mech combat and all the other RP opportunities outside of the hexmaps and laser blasts. Most of the FASA or Catalyst rpg rulesets never really seemed to work very well, so I thought I'd try using some of the more recent narrative mechanics.
Set in the Battletech universe in the year 2950 deep in the Third Succession War. No clans, no omnimechs, and LosTech is very much a thing. The party is a new merc company looking for glory, reputation, cash or whatever else comes to mind. This is meant to be a more narrative oriented game stressing roleplaying and character elements in addition to the usual big stompy mech combat which is also much more narrative and theater of the mind oriented than standard Battletech.
For anyone interested and willing to give them a look, the draft of the rules can be found here.
If there's interest from 4-6 players, then we'll go ahead and dive in.
General posting expectations: Usually I try to post once a day, occasionally once every other day and maybe once over a weekend. Hopefully players are able to do the same in order to keep things moving.
Lethality: Average. FATE is a pretty forgiving system, but it's tough to walk away from a PPC hit to the cockpit of your Locust.
Story Type: This is an open sandbox game once things get past the opening scene or two.
Starting Location: The Inner Sphere, likely along the Periphery. Final location determined once the PC's are set.
PC Homeworlds: Any Inner Sphere or Periphery. No clans.
Battletech in General: Check out the Battletech Wiki
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Surprised Atlas hasn't jumped in here yet.
Fwiw, I noticed yesterday that my recruitment thread looks different on my phone. Appears that what I see on my PC is cached and I don't know what to do about that, but I was missing all the new posts from the past several weeks. It could be others are not seeing this as well. May be worthwhile to ping the usual suspects directly.
Fwiw, I noticed yesterday that my recruitment thread looks different on my phone. Appears that what I see on my PC is cached and I don't know what to do about that, but I was missing all the new posts from the past several weeks. It could be others are not seeing this as well. May be worthwhile to ping the usual suspects directly.
Huh...curious. I'll ping a couple of folks just to make sure they know about the thread.
If anyone has trouble viewing the rules, please let me know.
Not all that familiar with FATE, but I do love some good-old-fashioned battlemechs. Dotting.
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Dotting, and like Therenger, I'm surprised Atlas wasn't in here waving his arms about and shouting "Pick me! Memememememe!"
I have this old Fate character that could be adapted, from Wandering Wastrel's brief campaign.
I've read the rules but I'm missing something; How do Resources and Tech affect the starting Mech roll?
Having both Battletech (through MechCommander/Battletech 2018) and FATE experience I'm kind of curious about this... :D
Before I deep dive.
Is it possible to start with a marauder? Variant is only semi-important.
I've read the rules but I'm missing something; How do Resources and Tech affect the starting Mech roll?
A good question and because of my bad layout skills a bit of text got dropped/hidden. I'll update a new version of the rules later today. Sorry about that. Here's what was missing.
Determining a Starting Battlemech
Roll FATE plus the characters Resources skill to determine a character’s starting Battlemech.
Example: Mechwarrior Finn has a Resources skill of +1. To find his starting mech he rolls FATE (In PbP it is 4d3-8) plus 1 for his Resources skill. He gets a total result of +2 which is a COM 1D Commando.
Each mech already has a stunt and quirk associated with it, however, if a player desires they can roll randomly for more initial variety using the table above. For a stunt roll FATE + Tech. For a Quirk simply make a base FATE roll with no modifiers.
Note that FATE points or other invokes cannot be used when determining a starting Battlemech.
Is it possible to start with a marauder? Variant is only semi-important.
Nope. Sorry. Lights and mediums only to begin with. Heavies will need to be earned via salvage and gameplay. :)
I have this old Fate character that could be adapted, from Wandering Wastrel's brief campaign.
Sure thing. I think the aspects would all work, with only the High Concept maybe needing to be adjusted. Unless 'your people' are maybe a bunch of 'company followers' that everyone is responsible for, etc. Hrmmm...that could be interesting.
Mightypion: Nice.
Thanks for the clarification, DM. I think Ansgar will stay retired and I'll put together a new character submission for this.
I appreciate the thought and detail you put into your ruleset. Atlas and I played around with different ideas - mostly him fitting BT into SW, but I think FATE allows for more flexibility. One of my concerns with SW was the limitations on tactical movement, such as jumping to target an enemy mech's rear armor. Although that kind of action is not explicit in this system I believe it can be invoked or compelled with a fate point, right?
Basically yes. While there aren't any specific tactical moves, anything like what you mention or things like Firing from Height or some other tactic can be depicted and created using the Create an Advantage action. You name the aspect your trying to create (i.e. Targeting the Rifleman's Six) and then roll to Create the Advantage. In a case like this it would probably be a contest of piloting. If you succeed, the aspect is there with a free invoke for your next Attack.
Another way would be Invoking a PC's personal aspects. Assuming one might be relevant to the situation (Maybe something like Second Best Pilot at Nagelring Before I Was Kicked Out. That seems relevant to a Piloting move so you could spend a FATE point to get that +2 to an Attack action with the narrative reason being you've managed to slip behind him during the flow of combat using a move you mastered 'killing' your fellow students for two and a half years.
The more Aspects on the field the more possibilities. That's one reason I gave support units an aspect. For instance a light recon tank lance instead of having Sneaky Spotters maybe you all decide to make their core identity about being A Flashy Distraction. So again, spend a FATE point, invoke the tank lance Aspect and gain the +2 to an Attack or to Create the Advantage depending on what you're trying to do at the moment. The narrative hinges around the support tanks giving you the opportunity to get an open shot at the enemy mech.
You might even be able to use Sneaky Spotters because maybe they found a path through the woods you could use that keeps you off enemy sensors just long enough to get in good position for either a single shot (Attack) or until they figure out a counter (Create an Advantage).
Boosts from very successful Attacks or Defends can also act the same way, but they are more temporary than an actual aspect and limited to only the PC who got the Boost. Aspects last until Overcome or changed by another Create an Advantage action and they can be tapped by anyone once established, although usually there is only one (or two on a success with style) free invocation.
I think there might be some reasonable examples from the first quick playtest which you can find here.
Mightypion. Yes, character creation is pretty easy which is one of the positives of the system. And yes, that'd be a Phoenix Hawk.
No pregame customization of the mechs. Mostly because I'd like to see how the in game refit rules work and to see how all the base mech's actually play from the get go.
But those are excellent goals for in game projects and/or refits. You'll want to keep your Tech's happy and well supplied. :)
I plan on working on a character over the weekend, but I've got something that I might have to work on through the weekend for work. I'm reading over the rules, but this thread has helped me understand how FATE actually works from a GM's perspective far better than the book ever did, at least when I read through it.
I'm kinda channeling a friend of mine and have an idea for a tech turned mechwarrior that will salvage anything and everything that isn't flagged as off limits.
So are you recruiting already or is this still just an interest check?
So are you recruiting already or is this still just an interest check?
Good point.
So are you recruiting already or is this still just an interest check?
It is actually looking like there is sufficient interest, so yes, I think we can go ahead and open this up to real recruitment.
Character creation is as outlined in the rules doc. If anyone has any questions or something isn't clear in the rules, please do let me know.
Should be able to take four for sure and up to six if we want to have a 'reinforced lance' company. Of course, that'll mean tight quarters on the starting Leopard dropship but that could make for some fun RP.
Working on my submission today and will post tonight. It's a female from the Magistracy of Canopus, a former teen pop idol who watched the rest of her bandmates get slaughtered when a pirate lance attacked the concert venue. Ten years later she is still looking for justice, has learned to pilot a mech, and spent her modest fortune from her pop star days to buy one, but she knows she can't do it alone...
She would make a good face, with high Rapport and other social skills.
Question, DM: is there a lot of overlap between Administration, Culture, and Rapport? I have all 3 skills in my draft but seems like they are interchangeable to some extent.
Question, DM: is there a lot of overlap between Administration, Culture, and Rapport? I have all 3 skills in my draft but seems like they are interchangeable to some extent.
Given the flexibility of FATE, I would say there is some, but not a complete overlap.
Administration will be very helpful in dealing with knowing, understanding, and manipulating the many, many military and civilian bureaucracies of the Inner Sphere. It'll help you know who, where, when, and how to talk to someone to help get what you might want. It is also one of the skills useful for a Company Commander.
Rapport will help you deal with the actual people in the bureaucracy or manage personalities within Company. Admin will help you know who to talk to, but if you're trying to sweet talk, deceive, or bribe someone, Rapport is what is most likely to work.
Culture is a bit more broad and could be helpful in creating advantages on either Admin or Rapport actions. It helps a person know or discover the general history, cultural norms, and other important societal details of a place. You'll be the one to most likely know the seven tenets of the Bushido code or being from the Magistracy maybe its the most popular writers, painters, and sculptors making a splash in all the 'important' places these days. It is also useful for Commanders and the Chief Scout.
Culture could help understanding a bureaucracy, but Administration will be much better. Rapport will help you talk your way out of a major social blunder, but Culture might prevent the blunder in the first place. All the Administrative and Cultural knowledge in the world will only go so far in charming the general's assistant into getting you that meeting with him. That'll probably take some Rapport.
So you don't need to have all three. But if you did, they could compliment each other to be a fairly potent combination for many social situations.
Thanks again for that insight. Stop me if I'm asking too many questions...
I seem to remember that taking Toughness or Will gave me additional stress boxes, but I can't find that in these rules. Am I missing it or do they work differently than I'm thinking?
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Thanks again for that insight. Stop me if I'm asking too many questions...
I seem to remember that taking Toughness or Will gave me additional stress boxes, but I can't find that in these rules. Am I missing it or do they work differently than I'm thinking?
Questions are totally fine. Not a problem at all.
And this is something I just didn't copy over from the FATE SRD. But since I'm using a slightly modified stress structure that doesn't use all the multiple "points" per box, that system doesn't quite fit. So let's go with this:
Toughness: Taking this skill gives you additional physical stress boxes or consequence slots. Toughness of +1 or +2 provides one additional physical stress box. Toughness of +3 or +4 provides two additional physical stress boxes. Toughness of +5 or greater provides two additional physical stress boxes plus an additional mild physical consequence slot.
Will: Taking this skill gives you additional mental stress boxes or consequence slots. Will of +1 or +2 provides one additional mental stress box. Will of +3 or +4 provides two additional mental stress boxes. Will of +5 or greater provides two additional mental stress boxes plus an additional mild mental consequence slot.
This is Therenger's character... I've landed on these skill allocations. Lapeidra is a graduate of the Magistracy Military Academy, which provided a quality education and connected her with influential people while exploiting her fame for recruiting and marketing purposes.
Skills
+4 Rapport
+3 Notice, Contacts
+2 Piloting, Gunnery, Culture
+1 Toughness, Sensors, Administration, Will
Stunts: Danger Sense (Notice), ECM Burst (Sensors)
Mech roll:
Aspects (draft)
High Concept: Beneath the perfectly prepped and polished facade is a tortured soul. At the height of her fame, Lapeidra watched helplessly while her closest friends, family, and bandmates were slaughtered by a pirate lance. She burns for vengeance, and has lived the past ten years of her life honing herself into a MechWarrior. While her new team may take her far and wide, Lapeidra is constantly looking for answers that will one day put her on the same battlefield with those pirates, where she will have justice.
Background Aspect: As a popular singer and stage performer, Lapeidra earned substantial fame in her teens. She made friends in high places of culture and politics and they all wanted a piece of her. She learned how to play the game and get what she wanted in return.
First Combat Aspect: At the Academy Lapeidra learned how to pilot a Mech and operate tactically, but that first live-fire engagement made her a Warrior. As her pulse accelerated she rode that razor's edge between exhilaration and terror, her mind issuing basic instructions for her muscle memory to execute. Her one-off mercenary lance prevailed, albeit against a smaller lance of pirate mechs. Now she knew she could do it; she had earned her seat in a BattleMech.
First Meeting Aspect: A handful of skirmishes later as a solo merc and Lapeidra knew she would never have her revenge operating like this. She needed to find a team for the long term, a group she could grow with, build a bond and leverage a wider set of skills and experience. It was time to leave the local space of the Magistracy to find that team.
Trouble: Fame is both a blessing and a curse. Though Lapeidra's days as a teen pop idol are well behind her, the Magistracy Military Academy tuned its entire recruitment and marketing campaign around her enrollment as a cadet. For a few years hers was the face of young MechWarriors across the Magistracy. She is often approached when in public spaces, and not everyone is merely a fan.
I'm toying around with the idea of a MechTech turned Mechwarrior, someone who got tired of trying to hold together the rustbucket mechs of a Periphery world's garrison and made the leap to mercenary work to get off-world while he was still young enough to pick up a new trade. Not quite sure which Periphery world would be best for the idea... I may wait and see roughly where we'll be operating and decide on somewhere in the area.
I'm toying around with the idea of a MechTech turned Mechwarrior, someone who got tired of trying to hold together the rustbucket mechs of a Periphery world's garrison and made the leap to mercenary work to get off-world while he was still young enough to pick up a new trade. Not quite sure which Periphery world would be best for the idea... I may wait and see roughly where we'll be operating and decide on somewhere in the area.
Well, the starting point is pretty open at this point. But we've got one person from Steiner space and one from the Magistracy. That section of periphery space that runs along the borders of Steiner, the Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation and the Magistracy also includes a bunch of small periphery states like the Marion Hegemony, Illyrian Palatinate, Circinus Federation, and the Lotharian League. So seems like a good region with lots of little powers where a small merc company could really make a difference.
So let's call that the general starting region. I'll home in on a planet once we're a bit more set.
Funny how Almonihah and I were thinking along similar lines. I was thinking of a tech that hopped into the pilot's seat when it was either fight or die.
Will be working on this over the weekend since the thing for work has gotten the brakes put on when I was starting to talk about it costing money.
Beneath the perfectly prepped and polished facade is a tortured soul. At the height of her fame, Lapeidra watched helplessly while her closest friends, family, and band mates were slaughtered by a pirate lance. She burns for vengeance, and has lived the past ten years of her life honing herself into a MechWarrior. While her new team may take her far and wide, Lapeidra is constantly looking for answers that will one day put her on the same battlefield with those pirates, where she will have justice.
Background Aspect: Scratch My Back...
As a popular singer and stage performer, Lapeidra earned substantial fame in her teens. She made friends in high places of culture and politics and they all wanted a piece of her. She learned how to play the game and get what she wanted in return.
First Combat Aspect: This Girl Can Take the Heat
At the Academy Lapeidra learned how to pilot a Mech and operate tactically, but that first live-fire engagement made her a Warrior. As her pulse accelerated she rode that razor's edge between exhilaration and terror, her mind issuing basic instructions for her muscle memory to execute. Her one-off mercenary lance prevailed, albeit against a smaller lance of pirate mechs. Now she knew she could do it; she had earned her seat in a BattleMech.
First Meeting Aspect: Jump Head First
A handful of skirmishes later as a solo merc and Lapeidra knew she would never have her revenge operating like this. She needed to find a team for the long term, a group she could grow with, build a bond and leverage a wider set of skills and experience. It was time to leave the local space of the Magistracy to find that team.
Trouble: There's a Lot of Crazies Out There
Fame is both a blessing and a curse. Though Lapeidra's days as a teen pop idol are well behind her, the Magistracy Military Academy tuned its entire recruitment and marketing campaign around her enrollment as a cadet. For a few years hers was the face of young MechWarriors across the Magistracy. She is often approached when in public spaces, and not everyone is merely a fan.
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ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me! ME! ME! Pick me!
There. Is that better?
Yes! Let us again delve deep into that sweet, sweet giant fighting robotic nectar of BattleTech.
Hey did I ever tell you how I picked my handle? It was originally a way to make fun of all the random email addresses that were someone's name followed by a string of random numbers, like Bob4539@Aol.com (What? I never said this was a recent trend.)
I thought if the world was being forced into that particular box, then I'd at least do mine with style. I took a particular little-known giant robot of which you may or may not have heard, and mixed it with another little-known art-house band record title. Viola.
I noticed the GM cited Sarna.net. Are you implying there are people out there that DON'T have Sarna in their bookmarks bar? I've always heard about people like that but I never thought I'd meet any. (Mine is right between Thesauras.com and Warhammer40K quotes--which I should really get rid of. It's a Russian site and it's been compromised so I've just copied all the text.)
Barring any earth-shaking revelations I'll be using Jack again because really, really, really and truly believe BT is a more logistical game than tactical.
PHX-1 PHOENIX HAWK
SUPERIOR ARMOR PLATING
Superior Armor Plating: This Mech gains an additional 2 Armor Stress boxes.
HELD TOGETHER WITH DUCT TAPE ...okay this actually makes a lot of sense. It's like the mech is so old it's actually crap and only by living off the fat of my intellect is it still standing.
IF THIS MECH TAKES INTERNAL STRUCTURE DAMAGE IT GAINS
THE ASPECT CAN’T TAKE MUCH MORE WITH ONE FREE
INVOKE FOR THE ATTACKER.
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I'd like to expand on how I came to think of BT as a logistical game.
I played this thing. Aaaand that did it.
Oh man such a great title. I haven't played it's sequel which I guess got a lot of attention, but if it was any better, I don't think I could handle it.
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I'm seeing a lot of first TECH then Pilot ideas tossed around and I _fully_ _support_ that. If more people have tech then maybe the rest of us don't have to lean on it as heavily and we can be more versitile. If someone wants to supplant me in Computer Systems, say, then I am all for that.
Of note, and I'm taking to anyone here. Really, this could be anyone, Lapeidra, or anyone, but I -strongly- suggest having either Gunnery or Piloting at at least +3. The game is, afterall, about people driving giant robots in a world where other people drive giant robots and much of the story is about who can drive a giant robot more betterer than the other giant robots. I like seeing AFVs and infantry and I like that Tareth sends those in too but let's not forget the main premise.
I think in the other game someone tried to be as not-Mechwarrior as they could and they -HATED- it because mush of the game was them -not- doing well in the most part of the game which driving giant robots.
Just FYI. IMHO. YMMV.
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@GM: One thing that I've been thinking about since last time. (Yes, I realize this was over a year ago.) I worried that I was making you mad by being good at repairing things. I took +4 tech and Keep It Going At Any Cost. I just want to run it by you that you didn't mind me making repair rolls like that.
Indeed, I'm not saying this is bad, I'm just saying that it seemed like my concept, to make repair rolls be an easy thing, was working, and I wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings.
Of note, and I'm taking to anyone here. Really, this could be anyone, Lapeidra, or anyone, but I -strongly- suggest having either Gunnery or Piloting at at least +3. The game is, afterall, about people driving giant robots in a world where other people drive giant robots and much of the story is about who can drive a giant robot more betterer than the other giant robots. I like seeing AFVs and infantry and I like that Tareth sends those in too but let's not forget the main premise.
Seems like good advice.
I see in the rules an optional "Engagement Roll" for initiative that references a Tactics skill for which there is no description.
Character Name: Charlotte "Charly" Takahashi
High Concept: Fix, Shoot, Salvage, Sleep, Repeat.
Charly's a Tech and engineer first, Mechwarrior second. She fixes Mechs, pilots them, salvages them, and knows how to strip any system of useful components with frightening speed.
Trouble: Good with Machines, Not People.
Charly's people skills are a wonder to behold, as in it's a wonder she managed not to get herself shot before escaping the Capellan Confederation as a mercenary Mech Tech.
Early Years: Wrench Turner, Quick Learner, Free Thinker
Charly grew up in a hardscrabble system that was constantly passed around like a football between various houses within the Capellan Confederations. Her family was lucky enough to be fairly well off and most of them were engineers and technicians that did the lion's share of maintaining the colony on the moon of the system's one habitable planet. Her childhood was spent learning both the theory and the practice of how to design, build, and maintain complex systems.
Sadly, as the Third Succession War has dragged on, Capella's fortunes have not improved. Riots and revolts were becoming more common in the periphery systems. The system Charly was in was largely ignored, too unimportant to keep proper tabs on, and it slipped through the cracks in the labyrinthine bureaucracy that purportedly controls every aspect of its citizen's lives. In truth, if not in law, Charly's home system was independent, and none of the people who lived there were Capellan citizens. The Capellan bureaucracy withered and was replaced by what the people of the system could put together, focusing on the technical fields needed to keep things running and eschewing the proper political pronouncements that were staples of any good Capellan's education.
When Charly was fourteen, that proved to be fatal to her family and friends who'd spent three generations out from under the Confederation's thumb. The new Diem of the system needed bodies to fill out his forces to put down a rebellion elsewhere. He found that none of the few million people living in the nameless system were citizens and called in the Ministry of Social Education to conduct evaluations. Over a million people were either imprisoned or executed for Social Crimes against the Confederation, including Charly's parents and older siblings.
Charly was put through and abbreviated re-education cycle before being conscripted into the Diem's security forces where she worked as a tech. Her "education" continued when she was not on duty repairing the unending parade of shot-up vehicles, equipment, and 'mechs. Her intelligence and desire to learn about how every system to cross her workbench worked helped her immensely during the next three years. She could spout the party line, and her skills helped keep her out of trouble.
Her obvious intelligence and the questionable loyalties of her family kept her under a cloud, however. Paranoia of those assigned to oversee her would have gotten her killed or imprisoned if not for the fall of the Diem to the internecine combat between the factions within the Capellan Confederation. One of the mercenary units hired by the Diem saw the writing on the wall, and offered Charly a job after kidnapping her during their escape from Capellan space.
Charly agreed, having no home to go to and no chance of rescuing the survivors of her family.
First Combat: Heavy Metal Queen
Charly's first combat came only four years after leaving Capellan space behind. Her skill in repair, her voracious appetite for knowledge, and a deep understanding of the principles behind many of the technologies gives her an almost preternatural ability to pilot and handle almost any vehicle with minimal training. She often moved vehicles and 'mechs around the repair bays herself rather than wait on their drivers or pilots to come do it.
That skill and experience is probably the only reason she's alive. A nasty band of marauding pirates attacked the base the mercenary company she was with was staying at. She'd just finished repairing and loading up one of the other pilot's 'mechs when the first barrage hit the barracks and killed the mechwarrior who piloted the thing. She finished gearing up to pilot the 'mech even as the barrage petered out.
For the next five hours she played a game of cat and mouse in the rugged terrain surrounding the base. While she hadn't scored any kills, she had damaged the pirates enough to make them easy prey for the relief force and she had managed to stay alive with zero combat training. Her nerves of steel and her touch with the heavy iron of the mercenary trade earned her a new berth with the company that had come to relieve the base, seeing as her old companies command and administration staff had gone up with their mechwarriors.
Of course, Charly did insist that she be properly trained to fight, not wanting to rely on dumb luck again.
First Meeting: Waste not, Want not
One of Charly's first acts in the new company was to start salvage operations. Anything that was not deemed off limits by their employers was swiftly disassembled and separated into useful salvage and slag. She loaded up the dropship to max gross takeoff mass before anyone could tell her no. Afer all, if anything in her early life had been drilled into her, it was that you never throw anything useful away. Even if you don't have a need for it right this minute, it can be sold, bartered, or even adapted for service.
At least that was what Charly told her new commanding officer when asked to explain herself.
Skills:
+4 - Engineering(Battlemech)
+3 - Gunnery, Engineering(Ground)
+2 - Pilot(Battlemech), Sensors, Shoot
+1 - Computers, Stealth, Athletics, Will
Stunts:
Scrounger
Sharpshooter
WSP-1A Wasp
Superior Heat Reduction
Stiff Joints
Okay, got Charly here done. Any thoughts on skill selection would be welcome. Engineering, Piloting, and Notice are going to be the ones I'll probably focus on the most. She won't be talking any social skills.
Do we need someone with Pilot (Leopard)?
Hmm... the former MechTech idea just isn't coming together for me. Nothing 'clicks'. I'll see if another concept catches my interest.
Sorry all, had a busy weekend. Will try to get caught up on questions today.
Lapeidra: For the Engagement Roll, yes, I need to correct that whole section. There were getting to be too many skills, so I scaled back a bit and dropped Tactics along with a few others. Command would be the skill to use now. Also, I ended up reworking the whole downtime system. Originally I had each 'role' using a pool of points for various tasks. That seemed overly complicated and less in line with the feel of FATE. So I switched to a selection of stunts instead. So the Company Commander could select a stunt that allows a boost during the engagement roll in addition to their Command skill rating. I missed updating the Engagement roll section.
Also, no one needs to take Piloting(Dropship/Leopard). We will assume there is a small coterie of Company NPC support personnel filling some of those basic functions like dropship piloting/maintenance, assistant techs, assistant medtechs, a basic security squad for the dropship, and of course any dependent NPC's someone might have.
Jack: Nope I wasn't upset at all. I think early on, I was trying to hold off on too many modifications in that initial phase just to see how the base stats and models worked and so may have hesitated to allow too many big tech modifications. But I don't think that's a concern now. So no worries.
I've also updated the rules for modifications to mechs a little bit just to add a few steps and checks to the process. That is mostly an attempt to try and make big mods to a mech feel more significant RP wise than just a single tech check. But salvage and gathering lostech and figuring out ways to integrate it into existing mechs will certainly be a thing to do I hope. We'll see how it goes. But overall, I'm fine with PC's having good tech skills/stunts. If something does end up being game breaking in some way, we can just work to find something a bit more balanced.
On the Piloting/Gunnery thing, yes, everyone should at least have some skill in both of those. But I do hope we'll also have some solid RP and gameplay opportunities outside of mech combat as well. And even someone with just a +1 can spend a fate point to add +2 or reroll in a tight situation. Also remember, FATE points can be spent to invoke aspects after the roll which makes them much more versatile than similar types of things in PF or 5E.
PC's we've got so far:
Markus Meatbag Steinchen(Mightypion) - Minor Steiner scion booted from Nagelring. Pilots a Phoenix Hawk.
Lapeidra Apolonia(Therenger) - Graduated from Magistracy Military Acedemy. Pirate hunter and former child star. Pilots a Panther
Jack Elroy Powers(Atlas2112) - Tech savoy mech jockey who saved the life of a minor Steiner noble. Pilots a Phoenix Hawk.
Charlotte "Charly" Takahashi(Adamwarnock) - Also tech savy. Former Capellen who do to her poor people skills probably has some enemies lurking out there. Pilots a Wasp.
Almonihah - Still TBD
I think that's everyone so far. Everyone listed above is good to go. We've room for one more if someone else is still interested. With or without another, I'll plan to close recruitment by Wednesday, May 3rd.
I'll get the campaign threads setup and open soon and everyone can continue refining PC aspects and backgrounds. Seems like there could be some connection between Markus and Jack. Also Charly and Lapeidra could have met within the Magistracy which may have been where Charly fled from the more stifling structures of the Confederation. Just possibilities.
Hmmm... are there any electronic warfare options at this point in the timeline? I was looking and discovered it was too early for the Raven... didn't really notice much in the rules that would cover it either, but I've only skimmed them so I might have missed something.
I'll have to do a little digging as far as what, if anything, the actual BT canon might say. I'll try to do that tonight. However, I'm not a huge stickler for canon in any system, so don't let that stop you if you've an idea to try. Under the Sensors skill, I do have a few ECM type stunts. If I remember correctly, in the earlier playtest I believe some good sensors rolls really gave the PC's some Create an Advantage benefits.
From a BT technology perspective, while the Raven with its specialized suite doesn't exist (and I haven't tried to stat it out for a stunt or something) I sure somekind of electronic warfare systems do exist. Certainly every mech does come with some kind of standard comms/sensors array that in capable hands could be quite disruptive on a battlefield. Especially in more challenging environments where relying on Sensors might be more necessary. A series of ongoing contests between a couple of Sensors experts could have screens flickering in and out affecting targeting, coordination, etc. Could be some good RP opportunities.
Then, given some time, research and tech expertise, a project could certainly lead to some kind of enhanced suite that might function similar to, or even better than, a Raven.
All right, I'll look at sensors again and give it some more thought! Having a sensors/ECM specialist seems like it would be nice... and given I work with radar in real life it'd be kind of fun for me. :D
...and given I work with radar in real life...
Please tell me that you don't work with classified stuff? I'd love to pick your brain for my own edification.
Feel free to message me! :D
All right, I'll look at sensors again and give it some more thought! Having a sensors/ECM specialist seems like it would be nice... and given I work with radar in real life it'd be kind of fun for me. :D
I had previously grabbed Sensors and the ECM Burst stunt but I think it would be good to have 2 characters that can do this for coverage in multiple zones.
It can make for a fun rivalry, right? :D
Rolling for a mech before bed: So... a Wasp. Funny that we got two repeats. :D
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@GM How much can we custumize? I would love to replace the MGs with something that will not cause a massive ammo explosion in the torso armor if penetrated, and well, not needing ammo at all is pretty cool for a merc unit.
I sense a kindred spirit here!
Mind you, Mightypion, looking at the stats, once you start to play the game, you may find that the MGs now hold a valued and precious role. That which was once chaff in BT is now gold in FATE.
The Med lasers are damage value 1, and the MGs are 0, meaning there is only a small difference between them.
Also, in my Early Years thing I Saved a minor noble. Since you have "von" in your name I presume you are a noble?
A story is developing in my head that, after you won a large pot at a card game, some low-born persons try to relieve you of your justly won desserts. I stumble across the scene and, after some wacky hijinks, we get away.
It seems like that could even be the Impetus for our career. We both realize it's safer for us to be moving targets and we leave planet and join a merc group.