It's a dance between what you have, what you don't have and what you will have.  Even us more experienced peeps get them mixed up from time to time.

Expected order of things for everyone...

12/20 ~ Auctions wrap up

Next ~ Repair Bay Stuff starts getting looked at.  Availability rolls are approved and start to be made.

Next ~ Equipment sales between characters/units are made.  Unit commanders need to track/approve this.  They submit it to me, and i do bookkeeping based on what they give me.  If they give me nothing, nothing changes hands.

Next ~ Mech upgrades/modifications start being made to accomodate new equpment/mechs are reviewed.

Next ~ Character overhead is finalized.

Next ~ Records are finalized.  Notations are made on your character sheet and Unit records.


Unit commanders have other things thrown in there that i'll give deadlines for and answer, but theres no need to clutter the list with stuff you dont need to worry about.

If you look at the work behind the scenes, it's mind boggling, it really is.

It's my campaign, so I wont let anyone else touch this bookkeeping, because i need the peace of mind of knowing that if theres a screw up in the numbers it's my fault and no one else is accountable or to blame but me.

I chop up the work into smaller steps and phases, that i make sure everyone one has completed before moving on.  At the moment i've just accomplished wrapping up Contract Four, and bookkeeping the xp and money made over three missions.

ive also set up the auctions, and i'm waiting for that to resolve.

Now while i wait for auctions to expire, i'll be laying the ground work to putting the roleplaying in to set up for contract five.  Players are free to participate with their view of what they're doing during that time, sometimes i give out rp xp, sometimes not.  The point isnt to get xp, but to rp, because you want to.

Then i'll probably bother the unit commanders into figuring out what mission 14 will entail and typing up mission 14.

Trust me... i'm not sitting idle ignoring you for no reason.

If we have multiple points of edge, can we use it multiple times during availability rolls? :)

In reply to Akarian Euclid (msg # 158):

yes.  but like all rolls, each roll can only be affected by edge once.

Ok, I am almost done, I just need three questions addressed and I should be able to finish.

1) Are mechs considered equipment for the purposes of "It fell off a truck" which gives a +2 to one availability roll for equipment?

2) The Well-Equipped option, it says its benefit is +1 level to equipment availability.  What exactly does that mean?  Is it a +1 per level to availability rolls or does it open up more equipment that others might not have access to.

3) Does Close Assault Tactics also cover physical attacks like kicking, punching, or hatchets?

I can answer the first one...

No.  Asked that one before :D

The second one was originally designed for infantry characters for picking up gear and likely does not apply unless you are trying to get a custom las-pistol and tailored suit to wear outside your mech.

Third. No, that is what the Melee skill is for.

Semi-related question: where was the TN 'formula' for mech availability mentioned?  Was it ever formalized or just mentioned in an OOC somewhere I'll have to dig through?

Here...

link to a message in another game

Down towards the bottom in the post called: Tech Availability - Mechs ;)

Didn't know it had been formalized, thanks!

I don't see a melee skill in the PDF.  See Ballistic, Missile, Energy, Close Assault Tactics, and then the Infantry skills.  Is it in a post somewhere and not on the pdf?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:02, Fri 19 Dec 2014.

Its a Physical option.  You can take 'Physical Combat', which affects Punches, Kicks and Hatchets (and other melee weapons).  It's not a popular Option, Hassan is the only other pilot who knows Mech-Fu.

Message 7 is an updated list of options.
link to a message in this game

If you plan on being small for a while, you can look at Light Mech Specialist too, which gives you a bonus to anything pilot related (like punches and kicks and stuff), but limits you to a 30 ton or lighter mech.


Warning ~ Option Specs are due for an overhaul.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:32, Fri 19 Dec 2014.

In reply to Kitten (msg # 166):

Hey All, just saying hello, i just got added. Have a question.

My Battle Tech Knowledge is way more "3068", so I don't really know who to be affiliated with.

Also, I am not sure which of the 3 Character Packages to choose, would appreciate any notes anyone can give me to choose.

I look forward to playing a battle tech game again!

In reply to Reyvak Kellosti (msg # 167):

Default characters are all simple characters that will give you a Gunnery of 4 and a pilot skill of 5 or 6.

They have very little depth but they'll get you in the campaign with an 'average' character.

The differences mostly being the money you have available to spend on mechs.  It should be noted that this money comes from the starting option, do anything for money, which trades xp for cb.  So which 'package' you should take depends on what mech you want and how much you need to get it.

In reply to Reyvak Kellosti (msg # 167):

Honestly mate, while it has been a lot of reading, I think you'll be happier with creating the character using all the options.  The packages are very basic and will get you in quick, but I've enjoyed reading through the rules, seeing new options, and asking questions for clarification on stuff.   I will say, that if I'd read more before my actual RTJ I might have tried to create an Eden pilot! :-)



Now, I am almost done with character creation, so this will be for the unit commanders.  I have posted a description of my character and would like to be recruited...who do you guys think I should join?

*grins*

The Eden characters have been phased out mostly.  There was for awhile an all Eden unit but with the stuff going on story wise they were all retired mo-less.

Depends what youre looking for...

The Iron Swords will give you large mech support, and offer you big scraps, for maybe big bucks.

The Lancers have two mongoose and a spider in it, and will provide good movement profiles to  fight with.

The Pusscats are cute, with an eye for roleplaying and having fun.

Figure out what you want to play with and go ask to join.

Yes year will probably be spent working out their demise and near if not total extinction from the campaign.  Should be a lot of fun.

There will be a lot of nudges and winks between old old players in the know, like the use of Megan in the RP post.

In reply to Kitten (msg # 172):

Ok, I will look more and find the stuff to build a full character, I think my mech costs 2.9mill cbills. Its a Medium One, cant recall its type at the moment, but its in the RTJ, and it fits my play style. Frankly, I will likely play myself as my main character.

In reply to Reyvak Kellosti (msg # 173):

Im sorry, but I cant seem to find the PDF file i found before, Is that where the full Character builder information is? Can someone point me to it, there are a lot of links and I am still figuring out where everything is.

In reply to Reyvak Kellosti (msg # 174):

Make sure this game is on your sticky list.

link to another game

Link is in this thread:

link to a message in another game
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Fri 19 Dec 2014.

(what he said)

See asking questions in OOC is much faster and useful that poking me in PM.

In reply to Reyvak Kellosti (msg # 174):

The game is a bit like the kitchen at your best friend's house.  After awhile you just kind of know where everything is...

When I lose track of something I google it (for reals).  Usually a search for RPOL Mechwarrior Mercenaries with a few other words will put you onto the right thread.

*laughs*

That's really funny.  The campaign is searchable on Google.

(pokes all the new newbies)

Right... roleplaying is optional around here, you can get around okay doing nothing but chatting in ooc and rolling dice, but were on RPOL, and the first two letters are Role Playing, so i'm going to presume that you want to do that too.

You're pretty much free to make a character history, and i wont nix it unless youre doing silly things like being the lost cousin to melissa, or Takashi's favorite newphew or something like that.  As long as your history doesnt interfere with 'big' events, i'm pretty good at stamping you to let you have fun your way.

You post in the RP thread, and if peeps are interested they'll participate in what youre doing, or (like often in Regina's case) just read and be amused by it.

The backdrop story for all new players has always been that you were always in the Freelancers.  The Freelancers are a large unit made up of several companies of mechs.  Only a fraction of them are part of the player campaign.  Your character simply moved in different circles, or was a floating freelancer working with other units and has only recently gotten around to working with the player units in the Freelancer unit.

So you dont have to come up with a complicated awkward reason on how you got in the unit.  You were always here, we just never noticed you.