Battletech: Planet's Fall

I'll put announcements here. Please do check this thread if you see it has unread posts.

Games as a skill category under Physical Skills has been separated into Games under Mental Skills, for card and board games and such, and Sports under Physical skills. It's live on the Skills page. If this affects your character or you'd like to change anything, do let me know.

These skills are still niche and fluffy more than anything else. Honestly, 3 ranks of Sports: Soccer or Games: Chess is going to be much less valuable to your character than 3 ranks of Investigation, Negotiation or Firearms: Pistols. Quite arguably it should be cheaper, but the system doesn't allow for making skills cheaper than they are. So, if you'd like a Games or Sports skill, remember that this is primarily a war game please - don't go crazy with them.

Adding to the above, there are now two new advantages for those that would like some broad games or sports skill. Gamer and Sportsperson. These don't just add phantom ranks either, which justifies their cost.

Regarding Languages

The default spoken language can be assumed to be English. Accent and dialect will of course vary, but please assume it is English.

If you are not speaking English then please make it clear what language you are using, and make sure it is one you can speak, by putting the language in brackets after the statement.

E.g. "Can you speak Spanish?" (Spanish)
"Yes, I learned in school. German too. Can you Speak German?" (Spanish)
"Nein... haha. Sorry."
"What a shame." (German)
"...?"

Please do also note that it is assumed you can read and write in any language you can speak. If you can't, well, that's fluff and there is no corresponding disadvantage to that. You're also welcome to know a little of other languages without taking the Language advantage. You can probably say things like "hello", "yes", "no", "how are you?", "can you speak English?" and possibly even "where is the toilet?" in a couple of other languages. You cannot hold much of a conversation without being able to speak the Language proper however. Mainly this is to say that your character doesn't have to be completely ignorant of German or what have you just because you lack it. A Lyran citizen probably knows enough German to understand the rough meaning of very basic sentences and questions, or if they're being insulted, even if the exact detail or nuance escapes them.

"Eric ist im Krankenhaus in der Stadt."
"Err... Eric is in the house... hospital, somewhere?"

Update regarding submissions

Opening submissions early has allowed me plenty of time to review characters and set them up - big success! I'm formulating plotlines for you all now. Just to note there are only 4 Mechwarrior/Combat roles left. When they're all gone, or just before pre-game starts, I'll add your mech details to your PFs. This will include what you and your lance mates have been assigned. You can haggle over one mech and I'll allow trading between characters, but when pregame ends then it is final. Also, please do assume these mechs haven't been assigned during flight - most characters would have been using them for some time.

There are plenty of Non-Combat roles left.

I'm seeing a lot of characters with max disadvantage points and prosthesis. I'll be giving some thought to ensuring disadvantages are actually disadvantageous. Yes, in other words, how to be an "evil" GM. Wait and see on that front I suppose.

Thank you for your submissions and patience so far. If there is anything else you would like to discuss with me, or if you think I've missed something, please PM me or make a thread in your PF.

Character Links

You will have at least seen each other at the end of the contract on Kelenfold, assuming you all signed up then or earlier. In reality you've probably been around each other a fair bit and you'll know each others' names or be somewhat aware of each other. If you're in the same field, such as two mechtechs or two mechwarriors, even if you're not in the same Company, then you'll definitely know each other. That doesn't mean you're friends or enemies, just that you're acquainted. Something to bear in mind.

The exception would be any Green recruits, which might have only joined during the Kelenfold deployment, or non-combat characters that joined at the end of it. Lance leads would have been around long enough to know all the other mechwarriors in the Obsidian Angels - there are only a few dozen of you after all.

Some characters would have known each other for more than 10 years potentially, such as to when the Angels were their various component mercenary commands. Feel free to contact each other to figure out how well your characters know one another, if they get on, if they have stories, etc. If you're really not into this, then you can say you joined the unit on Kelenfold and got promoted just as you were leaving world.

PC Tokens

PC Tokens have been added to character sheets. Please check here to see what they can be used for. Remember, a PC can invite other PCs to a scene. In this way a group of players could use their PC Tokens to advance a plotline they'd like by each contributing tokens for scenes.

Some events will award PC Tokens, so the current amount isn't necessarily final, but I am trying to avoid stretching myself too thin so most players will only have 1 or 2 to start with.

Merry Christmas

Pregame Information

Pregame will begin in the next 48 hours. It'll be without rolls and an opportunity for you all to safely get to know your characters, meet other characters and to hopefully have some fun.

Unlike a normal session, the pregame will be 2 IC days rather than 3, there won't be xp and both days will be open for posting throughout the pregame week.

The schedule is below. Bigger activities, what would usually be events, are in bold font. Other timeslots are mentioned for convenience along with any times an NPC thread will be up. In a normal session I'll only highlight the events on the day. Any open NPC threads will go in a pop-up thread, which hopefully someone will make when the time comes. Do note that I'll put up the available locations you can visit on the Overlord dropship you're all on before pregame starts.

Pregame day 1 (December 31st 3049):
EM: Free (Monique in the gym)
LM: Free (Eric having breakfast in the cafeteria)
EA: Free (Tessa in the offices)
LA: New Year's Eve Feast (cafeteria)
EE: Free (Lakshmi party preparations)
LE: Party 1 - Fancy dress & gambling (Storage)
EN: Party 2 - Fancy dress & count down (Storage)
LN: Party 3 - After party and wind down (Storage)

Pregame day 2 (March 19th 3050):
EM: Free (Tessa making coffee in the offices)
LM: Final Briefing (briefing room)
EA: Free (Monique at the simulators) [Simulator Battle for 1-2 PCs]
LA: Free (Lakshmi in the hangars)
EE: Joining the fleet
LE: Free (Eric in the officers' lounge)
EN: Free
LN: Free

For anyone anxious about your mechs - I'll assign them all before pregame starts.

Mechs and you

About 24 hours to go until game start. The perfect time for everyone to receive their mechs.

Mechwarriors should be able to find their mech details and the mechs of their lance mates in their PFs. Hopefully the majority of these are satisfactory. Capable underlings will have received better mech assignments, while useless underlings got some of the worse options. Anyhow, to give folks a chance to address a mech they see as an issue, all mechwarriors may call a mulligan on one mech of their choice in their lance. This can include your own mech if you only have the Mechwarrior Advantage.

I will collect all the mechs identified in this way together, over the next 24 hours, and I'll also roll up 4 more random mercenary mechs. I'll then reassign the mechs from among this pool. Your new mech may be better! Or worse. Or the same. It'll be luck.

If you would like this then please do reply to the post in your PF. Thank you.

Pre-game Commencement

Likely in a couple hours. I have everything ready. The mech mulligan is done and the TO&E is updated.

I'm going to do something a little different for pregame. Pregame day 1 will run for 12-24 hours before I open pregame day 2. They'll both last the rest of the week, with the game fully starting next Monday.

In the game proper I will see about putting up the announcement for day 1 and 2 of a 3 day session, but locking day 2 until 12-24 hours later. This will allow people to make day 1 threads, to visit locations and patrol before day 2 starts, so any dangerous threads that might cause retcons are known about before I open up day 2 for posting. Day 3 will always be a battle day, so it'll be done separately.

Anyhow, you'll see please make ready.

Pre-game starts

A little down to see nobody logged in for this, but pre-game has started. You should all be able to see the daily briefing.

Pregame day 2 will open in the near future. Please do not join any pregame day 2 threads at this time.

Pregame 2 starts

I'm opening up Pregame 2 now, along with the locked threads for it. Csesztreg System Space can be posted in. Remember, there is gravity again but I hope Pregame 1's evening was fun.

This was to test how this system worked and it seems to work fine. Thank you all for not making any Pregame 2 threads yet and reading everything in the daily briefing. For those who replied to the mandatory event - no worries, apologies for the confusion and locking it.

I'll be using this format in the main weeks. Day 3 of a session will always be battle days. Day 1 and 2 may have risk, but I'd like to reduce work on myself by releasing the threads and details at one time. However, I'll keep day 2 on hold for 12-24 hours to let people do stuff day 1 and to respond to that. After that we'll know if there is a risk in any day 1 thread, which might mean a day 2 isn't advisable until the day 1 is more resolved. This will help avoid retcons.

If you're confused by any of this, please contact me! Anyhow, Pregame 2, away...!

Party Threads

All three party threads (LE, EN, LN) for Pregame 1 are intended as hub threads so you all know what's going on and so folks can arrive or say what they're doing.

However, once you have a conversation partner/group, please do consider splitting off your thread to create a new one. This is explicitly allowed for the party threads as otherwise they'll become very large and unwieldy. Heck, they already are a bit.

I'll advance the Briefing shortly. Please just reply to that with questions.

Finally, do remember you can make threads too if you wish. Roleplay as much as you like, but don't feel compelled to use up all your timeslots. So, if you'd like to avoid the bigger threads, that's absolutely fine.

Additions

A few minor NPCs have been added. With two new mechwarrior submissions the Angels now have five companies of mechs. This also requires an extra dropship, so now there is an Overlord, two Unions and a Leopard. Woo! You're on the way to a regiment! That aside, a selection of 8 mechs will be rolled up randomly for the two new mechwarriors and six will be assigned randomly to their lance mates. Mulligans will be permitted as before.

Richard Winter is acting company lead for Scout Company. The Captain for it is an NPC in medical. Gianna Rains is company lead for Trooper Company.

The game proper begins in two days. You're welcome to create new pregame threads still, but do bear game start in mind. It looks like we'll also have 2 new non-combat characters; a tech expert and a mechtech. Please do make them and the final two mechwarriors welcome as they're approved.

Also, happy new year! It's now 3050!

Game Start Delay

Hi all. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I've hit a real life wall as my grandmother is in hospital. I won't go into details (I've put up a message separately on Discord, which Gianna was kind enough to put in OOC, but I've since taken down), but that situation has taken up all of my time for the last few days. It will likely continue to require some of my time for the foreseeable future. However, the initial shock and such is over, so I'll try to return my focus to this game - which I really want to run and I've been majorly looking forward to!

So, I hoped to start the game today. Monday would be ideal for a session start as it means Mon-Tues-Weds-Thurs for days 1 & 2, and Fri-Sat-Sun for combat day 3. I don't want to change the schedule from this, as combats will likely take time so giving them 3 days feels like a requirement to me at this stage. It'll also be the IC day that requires the most OOC work to resolve, as Threat/Strength/Impact will need to be calculated, as well as salvage, damage to units, etc.

I therefore would like to start IC day 1 later this week (by Friday 7th January at the latest, but likely Thursday 6th) and day 2 will be open for posting 12-24 hours after that. Day 1 and 2 will last until Friday 14th and then we'll continue as normal with day 3 starting on the Friday. In other words the game will be delayed for a week, but I'll open day 1 earlier than Monday next week. Comstar's Battletech game start isn't set in stone yet and I know life has been keeping him too busy to do work on the game, so I'm hoping this doesn't cause any overlap. This game is still intended to run for 7 real life weeks/sessions. It should therefore finish around February 28th.

Separately, two new players have been approved and I'm waiting for tweaks to two more. Other potential players are still welcome to submit characters.

Apologies for the delay.

Day 1 and Game Start

Day 1 is up and the game has started. Thank you all for your patience. Please note that I've put up a couple NPC threads too. Patrols can be done from EA onwards (i.e. 2 for day 2 - afternoon and evening).

Day 2 will be opened for posting in the next 24 hours. I strongly recommend agreeing and putting up Patrols or visits to Pryvidok before this, so potential need for retcons is kept to a minimum. If you try to visit one of the military sites you will probably die, so I don't recommend trying that. Do note that both dates will then be simultaneously open for posting until day 3. This will be the normal format for all sessions.

PC Tokens can also be used from now on.

Day 3 will commence on Friday 14th January (a week's time). We'll then return to the 3 IC days is one week IRL schedule. I'm still dealing with things in real life, so this may change, but I'd like to run the game as close to what was planned as possible.

Please enjoy the game

Day 2

Day 2 is also now open for posting.

Nobody has made a day 1 patrol (EA-LA or EE-LE), so I won't worry about retcons. Votes are few for the target choice for this week.

I'll put the open threads up to encourage people to join them. If you have any issues or concerns, such as not knowing a good reason to join a thread, you're welcome to message me and we can come up with something.

Day 3

Day 3 is now open for posting. This is our first day of Combat - good luck! All six should be relatively easy and certainly straightforward.

Please do note there is a free reinforcement point someone can use. Others will cost a PC Token. Remember to ask for your reinforcement, if you would like to use it, when you first join a combat. Post it explicitly and what type you'd like. Information can be found under the Strength post.

I've put up a thread with Kris too for anyone interested. Officers should expect more information to be shared with them, privately, in the near future.

Also, we now return to our regular weekly schedule. As a reminder, two weeks makes one session.

Combats

Just to be fully clear, each Combat Event is intended for one Combat Player Character and their 3 lance mates. No other characters. It's first come, first served. Post in one and it is yours. I'll load up the forces, tailoring the enemy a bit to match the Battle Value (BV) of your lance slightly - to keep it interesting - and I'll add reinforcements if you have asked for any or the enemy is due to have them.

Please join a Combat Event if you are about to have a few hours. I'd like to do a rally, back and forth, of the first few turns at least. After that we'll have three days to wrap up. The exception would be any Combats that are locked. I'll do this so there are a few combats opening at a different time to allow options for folks in different timezones.

Lastly, if you've been in a Combat Event one week then please give it an hour or more before joining an open Combat the week after. There are 12 Mechwarrior players and 6 combats per week. Ideally, everyone will get one Combat per session (2 weeks). However, real life commitments happen or a player may not like the Combat Events that remain open. So, it may be that someone else has to do a second Combat in a week.

Please do ask me if you have any questions. Good luck!

Day 4

It's now day 4 after a little delay. Day 5 will be opened in 12-24 hours - a perfect chance to make Patrol threads (pretty please!).

The seaside town of Pryvidok can be visited. If you would like an active town with NPC shopkeepers and such, spend a PC token, as otherwise I will only reply to any threads there if I have time and interest. I do think folks will enjoy visiting Pryvidok however, so do give it a go.

Also, a quick reminder that strength, threat and impact can all be affected by PC actions. If you would like to have an effect on any of these, consider how. Put something in your PF if you would like to discuss an idea with me.

Have a great week! Expect more combats on Friday.