About the Inner Sphere

[GM Yuusha]

Alternative "Primer on the Inner Sphere"

History
Our timeline and the timeline of Battletech diverge in 1994 after the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. So, what happened? Well, by 1997 the Soviets were back after a communist coup, leading to a second Cold War and eventually the collapse of this new Soviet Union. Again. The US, Europe (which included the UK at that time!) and Japan built an orbital facility in the background while there the cold war turned hot due to a civil war and a Russian missile attack. What helped sort it all out? An orbital defence network. This led to an allied space command by 2016 and much more interest in space. We see a lunar settlement, then a manned mission to Mars, then the advent of 'fusion power' in 2020 leading to interplanetary spacecraft. Humanity quickly branched outwards, with nearby habitable worlds being discovered and the colonialization of space beginning. The Western Alliance became the Terran Alliance and it sought technological dominance. By 2107 we had faster than light travel. Cue the era of colonization of space. This goes on for the next few hundred years, with Earth's authority weakening as more colonies are formed, each further away. Soon there were hundreds upon hundreds of colonies and a rebellion against the Terran Alliance. The Terran Alliance turned its focus to consolidating what it had while the outer colonies gained independence. This led to numerous small kingdoms being formed, which fought one another to form larger kingdoms. These would become the Great Houses. Meanwhile, on Earth, there was a civil war. This led to the Terran Hegemony in 2315, with the Cameron family taking over a few decades later and ruling the heart of human space.

What came after all of that? More war of course. The Hegemony sought to reassert control over the rest of space and the rest of space resisted. In time the Hegemony would be triumphant, but there was a great deal of war and an arms race as part of that. There was also untold destruction leading to the Ares Convention, to discourage nuking planets from orbit. Repeatedly. In this environment the Battlemech was born. It could settle conflicts without breaking these Conventions. More importantly, it was new and shiny and everyone wanted one... regardless of effectiveness. It became a symbol of might and that led to a self-fulfilling prophecy as further military technological research went into bettering it. Soon the Star League was formed as some Great Houses finally came under the rule of the Hegemony. The others soon followed.

We then see a few centuries of relative peace (unless you were from the Periphery, in which case the Star League probably bullied you). This ends with the Amaris Coup. By its end the Hegemony is gone along with the ruling Cameron line, the Great Houses are preparing to have the universe's greatest penis measuring contest to see who should rule next and a bunch of Star League military forces were so fed up they just left known space.

That was 2784. It has been over 250 years since then. It is 3040. All the peoples and their ethnicities, cultures, languages, religions, beliefs and so on have spread across the universe so much over many centuries that everything is a giant melting pot. Vast swathes of space may have a preference for a certain language, but this is usually to establish a common ground and communication rather than through any true cohesion. People have evolved differently on different worlds. The Great Houses each have their own flavour, which differs further by their various sub-regions. The universe has become very feudal, with nobles ruling one planet or many. Oh, and there has been even more war for the last 250 years. Four mighty succession wars in fact. They've been enough to plunge the universe into a technological regression. Things that were once easy to build and understand are now rare. That which was hard to build and understand is now gone, the technology lost. Warships? Nobody has the know how to produce them anymore. They have all been destroyed.

So, what is left? Along the borders the Great Houses skirmish with one another, with worlds traded back and forth after conflicts between surprisingly small forces (perhaps as little as a company of troops deciding who a world belongs to). This has become so normal that, on many worlds, there is no real loyalty to whoever controls the world. The victors receive the taxes now and the names and titles of the ruling class change, but most residents go about their business as normal. However, further within the borders of each House there is education and industry, commerce and trade. Military technology may have reduced, but mankind has grown in other ways. There are space casinos now for instance, yay! While few leave their world of origin, there are still spaceships and dropships that can ferry goods into orbit and attach to behemoth like jump ships, which gather energy by unfurling their solar sails. At a set point they jump across vast distances, hence their name as jump ships, which allows worlds to connect with one another physically. Yet they can connect even faster via interstellar communication. Comstar, once the Communications department of the Star League, zealously guards its Hyperpulse Generator facilities. These guarantee the technology that allows messages to fly back and forth across the universe in precious little time... for a suitably precious fee.

Recent developments
3030 and 3038 saw the two largest changes. In 3030 the fourth succession war had kicked off when two Great Houses effectively united and decided to try conquering the other three. They were making good progress, only slowed down by Comstar aiding some of the others to try maintaining a balance. Then, in 3038, a year before another conflict (the war of 3039 of course!), the Helm Memory Core was discovered by a group of mercenaries called the Grey Death Legion. What was it? A collection of technological blueprints and know how from the days of the Star League. It sparked a technological renaissance. Old technologies were rediscovered and Scientific Institutes and Universities have begun teaching the old know-how once again. Sure, there is still conflict, but the Great Houses have learned not to destroy whole planets anymore, to send multiple armies into one another until they're ground into dust, or to senselessly destroy scientific know how and assassinate the learned just to deny a potential advantage to an enemy. There is more... measured war. As much as war can be 'measured' in its application.

The here and now
For your average human being nothing much has truly changed however. Unless they live on a capital world they probably lack opportunity and certain technology is in decline, while others may be failing. With as many worlds as there are, there is endless variation. Some worlds eschew all contact with the rest, some are technological marvels open to anything, some are practically heavenly in their beauty, safety and wisdom. Others are dangerous hellholes. The Solaris VII arena shows continue to play, broadcasting controlled carnage and excitement across space. There is still a bunch of alternative goods and entertainment sources, most often produced in the periphery (particularly the Magistracy of Canopus). What of the periphery itself? It remains mostly uncivilized and constantly under threat of pirates and raiders. Some colonies of a few hundred might exist on barren moons, the people there living in a giant bubble and forever fighting to keep it from breaking or failing. Other periphery worlds may have tens of millions or even more in population, along with abundant food and some measure of comfort. None of them can match the greatest Inner Sphere worlds however.

In the Inner Sphere the rich, the nobles and influential persons all practice politics upon one another while maintaining standing forces for overt protection and hiring those in the shadows for other actions. The middle classes work and produce, enjoying a reasonable education and standard of living in return. There is electricity and good old ground based transport. The working classes slave away for far less. On some worlds and in some Great Houses the middle class and working class are effectively one and the same, but perhaps they enjoy more security? It's hard to say. None of the Great Houses are fully saints or sinners. Each has committed atrocities to match their heroic or good deeds. Much of the history is lost and forgotten, or known only locally to the worlds that experienced it. Some of these worlds have billions of souls. Some had billions, but no longer. Most at least have some measure of worth, whether in resources, manpower or strategic positioning. If not they have likely been abandoned by the Great Houses. The only exception is Earth, which is fully under the control of Comstar, a bizarre anomaly.

What about my character?
So, what does this all mean for your character? Anything that’s a thing now, big or small, is a thing in the future. Is it contentious now? Are there different schools of thought about it? Is it accepted or shunned somewhere? That’s probably the case in the future somewhere too.
Agnostic, atheist or religious. Vegetarian, vegan or meat eater. Heterosexual, homosexual, pansexual or anything else. Saint or sinner. Giant weaboo geek, beer guzzling football hooligan or innocent wallflower? Those stereotypes exist. The common denominators of male, female, transgender, etc. do too. Race and class. You name it and it still exists. Yep, even hippies. On some worlds some of these characteristics may be the norm across a majority and the norm. On other worlds they may not exist at all or they may be shunned. Or both. Yes, there is probably a world full of neo-nazis (may it burn) as much as there is probably a world where VHS is still big along with a successful Blockbuster Mk.2 business. There are thousands of populated worlds and most have their own continents and regions with different views. You could play anything you can think of. All current major professions still exist. Heck, much of our current level of technology is still in existence or even normal. Laser rifles are expensive to acquire and maintain, but a Magnum? Why, it's not only cheaper and easier to maintain, it's retro and cool! Cars are still easy to produce than hover vehicles. Factories are still cheaper to set up with human labour than robotic (and they're also less likely to see conflict if they're not so valuable!). Worlds have their own militia and defence forces, in addition to the spread out House forces that likely maintain a smaller presence. Food varies more, since each world has different needs, and fusion recipes have become far more common place. However, people still need to eat. They drink, sleep and s**t too. Mankind hasn't experienced a big evolutionary jump. Cloning, AI, long life technology, gene editing, body modding and so on were invented, sure, but they never caught on. They've either ceased to be or they're well guarded secrets now. Life expectancy is about the same as it is now. One major difference however is the belief that might makes right. That the exertion of force is legitimate. After centuries of warfare, colonisation, usurpation, invasion and dominance, it is rare for anyone to not have such a viewpoint ingrained into them from the moment they began to learn their surroundings and history.

What would they know?
Now you ask about what tech would your character know about? Anything from the early 21st century would be considered primitive technology, but its still in use. Then there is low tech, from the late 21st century, such as fusion engines. Common tech is the stuff thought up in the 22nd and 23rd centuries, such as better spaceships and Aerotech, whether atmospheric or interstellar craft. High tech would be anything from the age of war or the succession wars, such as highly successful treatments for major diseases like cancer, weapons like the Battletech itself, heat sinks and minor gene editing. You probably don’t know much high tech. What’s rarer? Advanced tech – things that were cutting edge or expensive in the days of the Star League, such as extended range lasers and gauss rifles, BattleTech’s that could transform into fighters and back, warships and full genetic engineering. Only the best and brightest, or absolute history mad scientists know about such things.

Sure, you’d know about fighters existing, about cargo and military dropships, spacecraft and jump ships. However, unless you studied about them at an elite university (which only the most fortunate, privileged or rich get a chance to attend), you likely don’t know how any of them work. You'd be aware of lasers, missiles and autocannons, as well as the tanks and Battlemechs that use them. Even should your world of origin may have been peaceful, there would have been some military forces and enough people who want to train up to join. Of course you don’t need to understand the nuts and bolts of something to be able to use it. How many of us could construct and assemble a car engine? Yet, we can drive. This is the same for many who end up joining various armed forces. Often armed service is one of the few ways for many to gain wealth, to travel, to gain more rights and privileges, a measure of freedom in the long run, etc. This leads to many combatants who can pilot a fighter, mech or tank without a clue as to how it works the way it does. What else might you be aware of? The interstellar communications mentioned previously, the names of the major families behind each Great House (Steiner, Davion, Liao, Marik, Kurita), the need to be careful about frozen foodstuffs transported across space and that metal is worth more than meat. The one thing you’d probably not know about would be the Clans (the remnants of the Star League Defence Force who went on exodus after the Amaris civil war), who haven’t made themselves known.


General Further Reading

General historical information on the successor states:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Successor_States

About the 5 Great Houses:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Capellan_Confederation
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Federated_Suns
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Draconis_Combine
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Free_Worlds_League
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Lyran_Commonwealth

How mercenaries operate:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Mercenary

Battlemech info:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/BattleMech

Full history:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/History

[GM Yuusha]

Hobbies and you

It can sometimes feel intimidating to try and come up with activities that people might enjoy in the distant future, but luckily for you, Battletech has a lot in common with 21st century life, so far as culture and entertainment are concerned - there is a fondness for music, games, hobbies, sports, and crafts.

Some common activities may be found in various nations, such as the Draconis Combine focusing on Japanese traditions such as Origami, Bonsai, Baseball, Sushi, Japanese Martial Arts, Poetry, etc... yet in Davion space you might find a fondness for Polo and Rugby, choir, racing of all sorts, painting, sculpture, literature, and much more, and in Marik space another set of old traditional pastimes altogether. Most any interesting regional custom you find on Earth likely made it into space at some point.

Even with regional preferences, many entertainment items have a certain universal appeal - common sports like Soccer are played all over the inner sphere - and many folks from all corners of the galaxy can at least hum along to many of the holo-jingles one might find on the Comstar sponsored news and entertainment channels which distribute a handful of drama and action shows to worlds all over the galaxy, such as "Immortal Warrior!" and "The adventures of Louisiana Tim". One universal pastime is watching the latest recordings from Solaris 7, the game world, where gladiatorial mech battles rage year round, each season ending as another begins, fortunes made and lost both in the arena and the betting booth. Famous names like Justin Allard made their fortunes there - and anywhere you go, you are liable to find someone watching their latest recordings out of the arenas.

Don't be afraid to be creative, take something in the current time and bring it with you into the 31st century - it almost certainly is still around in some form or another.

(Thanks to Comstar for this section!)

[GM Yuusha]

Inside a battlemech cockpit



A useful reference image (thanks Ezmeralda).