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I was discussing this with Hugin the other day, and seeing as how all of my other RP games have dried up, and I have been having some trouble coming up with storylines for my Falcons(not entirely sure what I want to do with them, and I accidently misplaced some of my paperwork for them, which has thankfully since been recovered), I have really been looking for an IS RP opportunity. Unless CJF gets booted out of the IS, I forsee it being quite some time before I can have said participating in the FGC.


That being the case, I'm seriously considering trying my hand at Battletech-Mercenaries again. I've made a unit once before, and while it was okay, I didn't have a playerbase to really make exciting stories. As most of us know, its more fun when you actually have people to play with and against. And thats when the idea came to me.

For those who don't know, Battletech-Mercenaries is a website/game that essentially serves as a backdrop for several player-run RP campaigns. The website maintains a staff of people that operate the core of the game, the behind-the-scenes framework nessecary for the rest of the game to function. The actual 'play' part, is 100% player controlled. All players are members of user-generated Mercenary units. Units accept contracts(generated by the site staff), and the unit's players then RP their way through whatever that contract is. They know(based on the contract) the relative strength of their opposition(aswell as the faction of course), the length of the contract(both real-time and game-time), aswell as various aspects of the contract. Payment is done on a $/word basis, with all contracts having a minimum word count to 'complete' the contract, and often a supplemental bonus(either bonus $/word after the minimum, or more often a lump sum if a higher word count is reached).

This means the game lends itself very well to groups who like to be able to take a mercenary unit and really have fun with it, and flesh it out however they want.

My idea is to make a unit, and then, if we had say 4-5 people, have a single person either volunteer or perhaps be nominated by the group to act as the GM and play the NPCs(or even just the bad NPCs with the players controlling all friendly NPCs). This way it wouldn't just be every many for himself, each contract would be given more direction and it could be more like a traditional RPG where its the GM vs the Players. But everyone is essentially on the same team so we don't have as much competition.

Of course the other benefit is that so long as there are a handful of active players(say 3 of us), anyone else who signs up and makes a character as part of the Unit on the website is free to contribute as much as they want(honestly anyone can contribute as much as they want anyways since the staff wouldn't be checking these forums to make sure only registered players were involved lol).


So yeah, I am really interested right now, and we could definetly have a brainstorm about what type of unit we wanted and the lineage before I would be submitting the Unit application.


Thoughts? Comments? Sign ups?

I see you Dave...you and your friends, lurking up there in Alley Cat Alley... YOU GUYS DIDN'T EVEN SAY HELLO TO US!!! I feel so hated. It's all JediBear's fault, I know he hates me T.T

Terra, Sol System
Prague, Bertha von Suttner Palace
October 2nd, 3040
1700 Hours Zulu(1800 Local)

Primus Waterly was quite annoyed. She had planned this move for quite some time. Focht had even supported the idea of a united Sphere against the potential Clan threat. He had said there must be some sort of backup plan in case the House Lords refused to agree to the wisdom of the action. How could he now balk at the very idea he had fathered?

Of course the details had been worked out without him, but that shouldn't have mattered. Myndo was leading the Precentor Martial down a corridor to a plush library she enjoyed spending time at while in Prague. Focht was considerably more agitated than the Primus, having only just that morning read through the various materials that had been prepared for him. He had somehow missed the operation's file earlier...that or it had not been shown to him, which bothered him further. When he and the Primus finally reached the library, she turned to face him, her face impassive.

"Precentor Martial. I must admit I am quite surprised at your displeasure with the operation. After all, it was your idea to have a contingency for something like this. The House Lords, unwilling to give up an inch of ground against each other, despite the imminent threat the Clans could pose." Focht tilted his head as she spoke.

"Primus, we assume they are hostile. We don't yet know their intentions. We could setup checkpoints along the Outbound Light's route, wait for a sign they're even coming our direction. We need to gather intelligen-"

"The time for intelligence gathering is over, Precentor Focht. If you remember, you are Precentor MARTIAL, not Precentor ROM. Your duties are military, not espionage." Focht closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes at the Primus.

"Yes, speaking of espionage, I am very interested to hear what the reasoning behind several recent assassination attempts is. That was until I saw the operation outline this morning. You do realize what you are unleashing upon us all with this course of action, do you not Primus?" The operations had the feel of Seneca's style, and he knew the Precentor ROM well enough to know that if he was fully aware of what was going on, he was unlikely to approve. But he also knew the man's loyalty was totally to Waterly, and he would do a great many things before he allowed his morality to interrupt his work.

Waterly smugly lookat at Focht a moment before responding.
"I know exactly what I am doing. I know all I need to know about the Clans, and I know they WILL come for us. Not just the Sphere, but for those the Order shelters." Focht frowned at the mention of that mysterious cabal, that claimed some sort of connection to the Clans. He didn't give them much thought, but Waterly seemed to be listening to their ideas more and more of late, and he wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"What would those fanatics know. There are several crazy groups within the Order, but they make no sense at all. What information could they possibly give you that justifies this course? You'll plunge the whole Sphere into war Primus! I won't be a part of it. If you and your pets want to unleash hell upon the Sphere, you'll do it without the ComGuards. They wont follow you simply because you bark at them, they're good solid men and women." Waterly merely shook her head sadly.

"I was afraid this might happen. But I can't let you interfere with our plans. I'll jus-" Waterly cut off as Focht drew his sidearm and aimed at her head.

"I will not allow your madness to infect the Sphere, Primus. Your quest ends-" a swift 'thwack' and Focht was knocked to the ground. The man that had quietly come up behind the Precentor Martial walked around his unmoving body, the red robes swishing quietly around his feet. He kicked the heavy pistol away, and looked at the Primus.

"We shall keep him in Cairo, at the ROM training facility. He could be useful later." The robed man nodded wordlessly, and seemingly from nowhere, two more men entered silently from a side door. The Primus noted that there was a faint whirring, mechanical sound as one of the robed acolytes bent down to pick Focht up. They carried him out, but the man who saved the Primus' life turned slightly. Wately could see a soft red glow emanating from where his right eye should have been visible. He spoke in a soft voice, barely audible for her.

"He will need to be replaced. I will give you the dossier of one we can trust. His name is Trent Arian, and he will serve us well." With that, the man left, and Waterly took a moment, not for the first time, to wonder who exactly the man was. She knew his name of course, and that he was a Precentor. But she always felt uneasy around him, as if he knew far more than her about the events taking place. It was not a comfortable feeling for the Primus. Shaking herself of the lingering shock of almost being shot, she walked to a computer in the library, and began reading through the history and dossier of this Trent Arian.

Yes, he would make an excellent Precentor Martial, and would carry out the Operation without difficulty, she surmised. She smiled. It would finally happen then...

Public RP thread for Free Rasalhauge Republic

Public RP thread for Free Worlds League

Public RP thread for Capellan Confederation

Public RP thread for Draconis Combine

Public RP thread for Lyran Commonwealth

Public RP Thread for the Federated Suns

I'm letting you guys know now that sometime this weekend, Dave B is taking the forums offline to do some updates(as far as i know he hasn't updated the forums since the last time we tried playing...a long time ago).

I'm not sure how long it'll take, most likely not long, but if this weekend you can't login, don't be alarmed, its most likely just being updated.

Welcome returning Intelser friends! Welcome soon-to-be Intelser friends

As should be obvious, the forums are back up and running Feel free to say hi

Okay guys. I went off for a bit, and I am very glad to see that the faction heads of all the factions that have them are still with us. Even more happy that there seems to be quite a bit going on even so early in the game. I'm glad that everyone was willing to stick around, even though I went silent for two weeks. Thanks

however, there are a number of players who I have not heard from. So what I want, is for everyone to make one post here, by the end of the week, so I know who is here and who isn't. I want to get an accurate count of our playerbase, because at one time, we had quite a few people, over 12 from what I remember. And I know that our playerbase has sadly fallen from that lofty number, but I'm curious to see just how people are still around.

Thanks guys. Anyone who doesn't post here by the end of the day Friday will be removed from the roster, without exception.

Hey guys, I am terribly sorry for disappearing for the length of time I was AWOL. It seems my leg keeps conspiring to interfere with my gaming these days >.<

long story short- I've been in the hospital for the past 2 weeks, thanks to my diabolical cat and a set of stairs. I'll spare you the details, but it involved alot of pain, and some serious concerns about wether or not I was going to be able to avoid becoming an amputee. Luckily for me, my leg suffered only a very minor fracture in the healthy part of my leg, along with some very severe brusing. However when you've have whats happened to my leg, even a bad bruise warrants a hospital visit. I didn't bring my labtop with me(and honestly, I was more than a little loopy with the high-dose narc painkillers).

Im back now, and oddly feeling better than i was before the accident. Physical therapists at the hospital even got me walking without crutches or a cane, for a few yards anyways(something I haven't been physiclly able to accomplish since September 24th of last year).

However, I am back now, and I will be cleaning up the forums and the game to go through with turn 2 in about a week's time(or less, depending on what administrative things i need to complete). I will open the turn for combat threads with 2 days notice.

Again, I must apologize for not having contact with you guys for the time i was gone. I understand if people are angry with me, and hope you all will forgive me, and be ready to bash some heads in ASAP.

Alright guys, I've noticed from various off hand comments, and directly asking a few people, that the lack of IC posting is deceptive. Apparently, discussions are indeed taking place between some factions about various deals and agreements. My issue is how it is being handled, and my problems are twofold:

First, if there are indeed 'secret talks' happening, theres a limit to how much can be accomplished via PM. Any PM discussions should be backed up by RP posts in the various threads- that is why they are there. The RP boards are not public-knowledge forums: unless a faction has a character present during a scene posted in the RP forums, the contents of the post are known only to the factions involved. So if the FWL and CC are having secret discussions about a joint-invasion of the LC, it is fine to disuss the overall idea and specific strategic issues via PM, but there needs to be some sort of post in the RP threads where the military commanders are meeting to discuss the strategy, or the faction leaders have a meeting and agree to the plan before appointing commanders to undertake the mission.

I don't need to see the specific battle plans posted, but there needs to be RP about what is going down. If the game is just going to take place solely via PM, then what is the point of having these forums all set up for people?

My second issue, one which is ironclad and will be enforced from here on out, is that ALL PMs dealing with international discussions/relationships, need to have the GM PM account copied. Without exception. Since every faction has their own private discussion board, I don't expect internal PMs to be common anymore, since the forums are easier to browse through. But I see very little PM traffic, which means either there is no external discourse going on, or else people just arn't copying to the GM account.

I know people might be worried about potential metagaming from the first issue, but we are all adults here, and we need to operate on the honor system for this game to work. I am here both as the GM and the forum moderator- if someone is cheating, they are not welcome in my game. So trust me: metagaming will not be an issue. If someone is caught, not only will their faction face severe consequences, they will no longer be playing with us as long as I am GM, and could potentially face disciplinary action from a Forum Moderator stand point. I want to see some good RP between factions. And I will deal with anyone who uses information they don't have any business using.

The second issue is also a serious one for me, albeit not normally a punishable offense.


If factions continue to fail to post RP concerning their faction's activities, and continue to fail to add the GM PM account to their PM conversations, I will need to start forcing factions to comply. And I don't want to do that. I don't want to seem heavy handed, but in my opinion, having the game's character-to-character interactions, the lifeblood of the FGCs, take place mostly in PMs is more detrimental than a potential metagamer who will be stamped out on the first offense.

Previously, you upgraded facilities from Intro-Tech to Tech I by running the 'Design Theory: Tier I' research path for each individual facilitity. This seems kinda...stupid, if I can be honest. It makes no sense for a research facility to be expending its effort upgrading individual production lines.

Instead, researching Tier I allows you to retool your existing facilities to Tech I, aswell as makes any new construction Tech I capable.

To retool an existing facility: take the facility offline for 1 turn, and pay half it's construction cost.

ex: to upgrade a single MF on Skye, the LC would need to take the MF offline for 1 turn(cannot use it to produce FP, nor can you FP funnel from it), and pay 12 RP. In turn 2, it is ready to begin churning out Tech I designs(if the faction has any in it's Faction Armory).


Also, please note guys that YOU are responsible for keeping your Armories updated. I would like to see a new tab on people's sheets detailing what they do and do not have access to, but I will not require it at this time. When factions begin unlocking Tech I designs, it will become a requirement. It's upto you if you wish to start now or then.

Okay, so I've heard a few people tell me that the distinction between Intro-Tech and Tech I is hazy. So, here is what those terms mean, for me.

Intro-Tech: these designs are the low-tech warriors that are the overwhelming majority of the battlemechs, armor and aerospace fighters availible in the Succession Wars era. They don't possess any Star League era lostech: they are what can be produced from your average battlemech facility: no Ferro-Fibrous, no XL Engines, no Endo-Steel, no Gauss...regular low-tech only.

Tech I: this is the Star League-era equipment tier. It contains all the stuff that was lost during the succession wars, but does NOT include new developments in technology.

Tech II: this will replace the Clantech entry as far as FP goes. This is the technology level for all new technology, including anything tagged as 'Experimental'.


I'm not familiar with what the Tech I vs Tech II divide is in the rulebooks, so if that provides a better picture of what is and isn't useable, someone give me a page number and I'll go take a peek and see if we can't change the terminology to fit the rulebook definitions.


Also- even though they are Tech I equipment, SL Royal designs, CAN NOT be added to your armories unless you have possession of a production facility prior to January 1st 3039 in canon. If you don't the only way to acquire Royal designs, is through a faction that already possesses them(currently, ComStar). ComStar can either give you a mech example, which allows you to research the design normally, or they can give you an example AND the TRO for the design, which immediately adds it to your VIP Armory.

Note: you may not have more than 3 Royal designs in your Faction Armory at any given time, and you may downgrade them as you see fit(once a mech has been added to the Faction Armory, it can freely be switched back and forth).

In 3028, the Gray Death Legion discovered something monumental on a small, insignificant world in the Free Worlds League. That world was named Helm, and their disocvery was the Helm Memory Core- a computer database from a long forgotten Star League military facility. Countless billions of C-Bills and man-hours have been sunk into the Memory Core by the best scientists in the Inner Sphere at places like the NAIS, and it's sister colleges across the Sphere. However, only a small portion of it's secrets have been unlocked, and research into the core continues unabated to this day.

The Decode the Memory Core! event lasts untill Turn 9(1.5 in-game years). Every turn, the GM team will roll a 3d6 per faction, to simulate the on going decoding and research into the mysteries of the Helm Memory Core. Various benefits can be obtained from this roll: some rolls will generate a small(or perhaps large?) pool of RP; some will give your faction a temporary boost to Ownership Income; others might increase the SP output from one, or many, of your PFs. A high enough roll will give your faction a roll on the Special Benefits Table(which will be published once it is completed). The benefits of this table are the dreams of any faction: persistent income boosts, free hex elements, caches of Star League equipment or the ultimate prize: Decode the Memory Core, which unlocks and immediately researches 1d3 technologies, but immediately ends the event for everyone.

Note that factions are not garaunteed a bonus. Unlocked the security coding of the Memory Core is an arduous task, requiring expert computer specialists, programmers and scientists. Sometimes, it is impossible to produce valuable results, and sometimes the results provided simply are not meaningful on a large scale. Most of the time however, SOME benefit can be gleaned. As factions recieve their reports, they will also recieve a numeric indicator of their progress in unlocking the secrets of the Core. The results table is broken into 5 areas, with Level I giving a +1, and Level V giving a +5. The number a faction gets each turn is added together to get their Progress Score.

Factions may give themselves a +1 bonus to their INITIAL roll every turn by dedicating a single PF to the effort at the normal price for activating a PF for research- by taking your PF offline for normal research, you better your chances at getting a big bonus from the Memory Core. At the end of the event, if no faction has recieved the Decode the Memory Core result, the faction which completed the most work, represented by their Progress Score, unlocks the final peices of the Helm Core's security. Sadly, the security software wipes the majority of the information clean, but enough is recovered by the faction with the highest Progress Score that a single technology Tier is unlocked(but not researched).

So its been bugging me for quite awhile that we have those loyalty ratings but we don't actually utilize them for anything at the moment. Instead of calling it just 'Loyalty', I think we should call it 'Reliability'. It takes into account the unit's fighting morale aswell as their loyalty to their faction(or employer in the case of mercenaries).

How about this:

Unreliable: If outnumbered(on offense) at the beginning of an operational round, roll 2d6. On a roll of 10+, the unit refuses to take part in the combat.

If outnumbered(on defense) at the beginning of an operational round, roll 2d6. On a roll of 10+, the unit will flee, leaving 2d6+5% of it's FP behind as abandonded salvage. If outnumbered 2:1 or more, on a roll of 10+, they will immediately surrender to the enemy. If they are outnumbered 4:1 or more, on a roll of 11-12, the unit will rebel against their faction and join the enemy forces for the duration of the combat. If their faction wins, they lose 2d6x5% of their FP to desertions, 'retirement' and dishonorable discharges, and lose 1 skill level(minimum Green). If the attacking faction takes the planet, the unit attempts to defect, keeping their skill level and 'Unreliable' rating.

If this unit loses more than 50% of it's total FP in a single operational round, it is routed(immediately attempts to retreat, using Run Blockade in the following operational round if nessecary). The rout does not carry over into the following turn(being routed in the 6th operational round has no effect).

Unreliable mercenaries will occasionally break their contracts for money, usually if it is a considerable sum, AND the unit is offered safety from the MRBC(occasionally, they will ask for citizenship and a landhold). Usually, an Unreliable mercenary's starting price is 500% of their total FP value(includes FP of any jumpships the unit possesses which are not listed when up for hire). Some unreliable mercenaries have taken the money, then attempted to get their current employer to match or better the offer. Unreliable mercenaries are often conniving when such offers are offered, so take care when dealing under the table with such units. They cannot(obviously) be trusted.



Questionable: If outnumbered(on offense) at the beginning of an operational round, roll 2d6. On a 10-11, the unit loses any bonus FP from skill ratings. On a roll of 12, the unit refuses to take part in the combat, and retreats from the theatre. If a unit retreats twice without a change in reliability, downgrade it to Unreliable.

If outnumbered(on defense) at the beginning of an operational round, roll 2d6. On a 12, the unit loses any bonus FP from skill ratings. If the unit is outnumbered 2:1 or worse and rolls a 12, it flees instead, losing 2d6% of it's FP as equipment is abandoned(add this FP to the salvage pool). If the planet is lost in the same Turn as this unit fleeing a defensive battle, downgrade it to Unreliable.

If this unit loses more than 60% of it's total FP in a single operational round, it is routed(immediately attempts to retreat, using Run Blockade in the following operational round if nessecary). The rout does not carry over into the following turn(being routed in the 6th operational round has no effect).

Questionable mercenaries will occasionally break their contracts for money, usually if it is a considerable sum AND is promised a landhold. Usually, a Questionable mercenary's starting price is 500% of their total FP value(includes FP of any jumpships the unit possesses which are not listed when up for hire). Questionable mercenaries have been known to take the money from such offers without actually taking on the new contract. Occasionally, their commanders break up the unit, take the money and run, but this is rare.



Reliable: If outnumbered(offense or defense) by 2:1 or more, roll 2d6. On an 11-12, this unit loses its FP bonus from skill ratings.

If this unit loses more than 70% of it's total FP in a single operational round, it is routed(immediately attempts to retreat, using Run Blockade in the following operational round if nessecary). The rout does not carry over into the following turn(being routed in the 6th operational round has no effect).

Reliable mercenaries will generally not break their contracts for money, unless it is a massive sum AND is promised a landhold or is inducted into the House armed forces. Usually, a Reliable mercenary's starting price is 700% of their total FP value(includes FP of any jumpships the unit possesses which are not listed when up for hire). Reliable mercenaries have been known to accept the money from such offers without breaking their contracts, and informing the MRBC of the offer.



Fanatical: This unit will never rout, flee, or lose its skill bonuses because of being outnumbered. It also cannot be bought(for mercenaries)/turned against its House.

I'm having a rules think-tank day apparently. We all know that the MRBC, and the Dragoons in particular, rate the various mercenary units A, B, C, D or F, depending on a variety of factors, to give employers how good a unit they are trying to hire. What do you guys think about the MRBC rating the various employers(your factions) with the opposite intent?

A* Rating: This employer is extremely generous with it's treatment of mercenaries. Payment for services is excellent, often overpaying for the duties a unit will see. Compensation for combat missions is also extremely good.

A Rating: This employer treats its mercenary forces with respect and care. Payment is generous for services provided, and combat compensation is of good quality.

B Rating: This employer treats its mercenaries as one would expect: they are paid for exactly the ammount of work they do, and are compensated according to the contract. While not treated lavishly, mercenaries can expect prompt payment and fair treatment by this House's liasion officers.

C Rating: This employer treats it's mercenaries somewhat less well than they would like. Pay is sometimes late or less than agreed upon ammounts, and is usually miserly considering the ammount of action it's units see. Compensation for combat operations is poor, although they usually get some support to their units. Still, overall, the experience is not too bad, but elite units should look elsewhere.

D Rating: This employer treats it's mercenaries as disposable assets at best, and tolerable evils at worst. Contracts generally seem lucrative, but are rarely worth the price paid in lost personnel and damaged or destroyed machines. While the faction will furnish resupplies, it is often overpriced, prompting complaints of company store tactics. Essentially, any way this employer could mistreat a reliable mercenary, it has in recent memory. Quality units should consider this employer a high-risk contract, though down-on-their-luck mercenaries might find this employer as their only willing courtier.

F Rating: This employer is anathema to the MRBC and it's registered mercenaries. Stealing equipment, false accusations and convictions, blatant company store policies, suicide missions, repeated breach of contract; all are activities that could potentially land an employer with an F Rating from the MRBC. Such factions will have an extremely difficult time convincing the MRBC to allow them to place bids on any mercenary, relegating their potential market to the independant units and rouge mercenary units. Of course, hiring a rouge mercenary unit in the first place will result in an automatic F Rating from the MRBC, not to be lifted untill the rouge unit is turned in, and a heft fine is paid. Being reduced to this rating requires deliberate and severe mistreatment of mercenary forces, and thus is unlikely to be applied to the Great Houses.

A* Rating means employers gain +2 on all contract offers
A Rating means employers gain +1 on all contract offers
B Rating has no contract modifier
C Rating means employers suffer -1 on all contract offers
D rating means employers suffer -2 on all contract offers
F rating means that faction is unable to place bids on MRBC-registered mercenaries, and permenantly loses it's seat on the MRBC Board, even if it subsequently raises its rating in the future. The employer suffers -4 on all contract offers to rouge and independant mercenaries

Okay, so unlike the Disrupt Research option, which is designed to slow down or halt ongoing research, what if you want to take research an enemy already possess? Currently this is an unlikely opportunity during the Disruption mission, but i think that is wrong: if your SF team is disrupting a faction's research, they are destroying lab samples, installing computer viruses, killing key staff members, things of this nature. They aren't going to take the time to search potentially hundreds of thousands of terabytes of data and stumble across a recent breakthrough.

so instead, submitted for your perusal, here is the provisional(an non-operational) Steal Technology special forces mission:

Special Forces Intelligence Mission: Steal Technology
Targets: Enemy Prestigious Facility
Cost: 15.00 RP

The team infiltrates the facility with a scientific specialist with the intent of stealing, not destroying, recently developed technologies.

Roll:
2-10: Mission Failure, roll on Escape and Evasion
11: Mission Failure, team escapes, nationality revealed
12: Mission Success, steal random completed technology from enemy tech tree
13+: Mission Success, steal random technology(choose category)

After a SF team steals a technology, they gain a (R&D) marker representing a memory core loaded with the theoretical and practical knowledge required for the stolen technology. They must return the core to a friendly PF(note that the enemy faction does NOT lose the technology- the SF team merely copies it). The faction targeted by this mission may attempt to prevent the enemy SF team from completing it's mission by capturing or killing it, at which time they destroy the copy and the mission is a failure.

If returning to a friendly PF seems unlikely, the thieves may risk sending the info from a IC hex element in friendly or neutral territory. ComStar may or may not agree to send the info, and they might also charge a special fee to become involved in the obviously illegal activity. Decisions about whether or not to accede to the request will be rolled against a hidden table of responses.

Once the team either reaches a PF, or transmits their data successfully, the initiating faction must have any PF spend one turn decrypting the memory core, which then gives the faction the stolen technology, without having to research it themselves(note- this is one way to unlock restricted technologies, although that means targeting Terra with your Special Forces teams).


thoughts you guys?