Poll

Declare your Allegiance

Federated Suns
0 (0%)
Capellan Confederation
0 (0%)
Free Worlds League
3 (25%)
Lyran Commonwealth
2 (16.7%)
Draconis Combine
1 (8.3%)
The Blessed Order (ComStar)
4 (33.3%)
The C-bill (Mercenary)
2 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 12

Voting closed: December 13, 2016, 02:41:10 pm

Author Topic: BattleTech Campaign - Maintaining the Holy Shroud  (Read 11689 times)

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
I had not heard of the Galahad before.  I was afraid it would be horribly ugly but upon investigating it actually looks pretty good.  I am happy with it.

it does look like it skipped arm day, though

The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Was this one of the unseen?  I've seen pictures of the Galahad that look like a Rifleman with a AWACS dome.
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline asyikarea51

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
/total n00b :banghead:

Curious as to what is this exactly. What, as in "here's the scenario, stuff happens, ok I respond in totally plain english 'my character will go here go here do this do that', Scotty interprets it, and then we see what happens" ?????  :nervous:

Guess I'll watch from the sidelines, I am no ComStar fan (aside from not really logging in often since my attention remains elsewhere). Strangely seems potential boredom fun though.

(omg that last sentence was so broken lol)
Inferno plz
The Power of Nightmares
TheHound: "Nice idea, but I have a thing against announcing campaigns before having them already finished."
G5K: "The flipside of that is that if you don't announce your campaign, yet take too long to finish it, other people may independently come up with some of the same ideas."

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Basically!  I'm hoping for things slightly less ambiguous than something I can interpret. :P. But that's the general idea.

  

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
And we have our roster!  These ranks are a hoot, so I'm going to type out all of them.

MechWarriors (this is also where you correct anything wrong that I might have missed):
Demi-Precentor Epsilon XVII Charlie "Shidachi" Crawford - Shadow Hawk SHD-2H - Elite (StarSlayer)
Adept Epsilon XV Erik "The E" Kalayjian - Marauder MAD-1R - Regular (The E)
Adept Epsilon XI Kevin "Archmage" Turnpenny - Catapult CPLT-C1 - Elite (AdmiralRalwood)
Adept Epsilon IX Dwayne "Ferris" Metherall - Griffin GRF-2N - Veteran (IronBeer)
Adept Epsilon VII Lisa "Throttle" Turgoose - Wolverine WVR-6R - Regular (NPC)
Adept Epsilon VI Adina "Viper" Davenport - Centurion CN9-A - Regular (-Joshua-)
Adept Epsilon V Cecelia "Phantom Hoover" Palazim - Highlander HGN-732 - Veteran (Phantom Hoover)
Adept Epsilon IV Samantha "Null" Graves - Firestarter FS9-H - Veteran (JSRNerdo)
Adept Epsilon III Gilbert "Nightfall" Tufan - Firefly FFL-4A - Regular (NPC)
Adept Epsilon II Amatullah "Stormlord" Ouma - Galahad GLH-2D - Regular (Aesaar)
Acolyte Epsilon XIV Christel Murphy - Locust LCT-1V - Green (NPC)
Acolyte Epsilon III Kally "Utopian" en-Covare - Awesome AWS-8Q - Veteran (Lepanto)

Techs:
Demi-Precentor Zeta I Eric "Scourge (of Engines)" Lathram - Veteran (Scourge of Ages)
Adept Zeta XIV Norma Tseng - Regular
Adept Zeta XII Isabelle Linneberg - Regular
Adept Zeta X Anniken Aherne - Regular
Adept Zeta V Christie Siebert - Regular
Adept Zeta V Christina Edwards - Regular
Adept Zeta IV Sanije Haxhi - Regular
Adept Zeta III Debaprosad "PPC" Kazaz - Regular (niffiwan)
Acolyte Zeta VI Mary Wiegand - Green
Acolyte Zeta III Parwati Adjeng - Green

Medical:
Demi-Precentor Kappa VII Ailani Pualani - Elite

Admin:
Demi-Precentor Chi XVII Kevin Jeannin - Regular

Really lucked out on the roll with the doctor.  That should mean that if you take serious hits during a scenario that it won't take terribly long to get you patched back up and out there into the fight.  This roster should also provide a pretty good idea of what spots are still open, if anybody reading wants to hop in somewhere.  First scenario should be up later tonight!
« Last Edit: December 15, 2016, 10:15:03 pm by Scotty »

 
Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
How does us being Comstar fit into this being Battletech and Comstar not doing much unless extreme things happen?

Unless we are secretly doing a dark age campaign? :P

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
ComStar does plenty.  You just don't hear about it because they control 95% of interstellar communication. :P  Around this time, the ComGuard was being raised in secret by exterminating pirates in the Periphery, and the arrival of the Wolf's Dragoons (our first scenario is going to be ~a couple months before their arrival) threw everything into a tizzy.

 
Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Also, requesting that my character be referred to as "Viper" instead: Bommel really doesn't work well on someone named Adina :)
« Last Edit: December 15, 2016, 04:40:54 pm by -Joshua- »

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Some pretty badass names in that bunch. For those of us not familiar with the inner workings of ComStar, what do the ranks mean, exactly?
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
The basic gist of it is:

Acolyte - lowest, least responsibility.  Lower enlisted, in the military arm.
Adept - midlevel responsibility and usually high technical proficiency.  NCOs, for all intents and purposes.
Demi-Precentor - junior officers.  Notably different from most militaries in that this is not an entry level rank for anyone.  Literally everyone starts at Acolyte and goes up.

The greek letter is for branch.  Epsilon is MechWarriors, Zeta is for mechanic/technical personnel, etc.

The Roman numeral indicates years in grade.  Promotion to the next rank happens after recommendation by superiors, or after 25 years in grade.  So, if you suck really bad at your job, you could end up an Acolyte XXV.

It's a bit more nuanced than that under the surface, but that's the cliff notes.

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
The Roman numeral indicates years in grade.  Promotion to the next rank happens after recommendation by superiors, or after 25 years in grade.  So, if you suck really bad at your job, you could end up an Acolyte XXV.
:nervous:
Acolyte Epsilon XIV Christel Murphy - Locust LCT-1V - Green (NPC)
That poor NPC, spending XIV years as a Green Acolyte...
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Yeah she ended up being a 32 year old green pilot.  I think that speaks to a certain level of sucking at one's job.

 

Offline Lepanto

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
So, if I read this right, my character is a better MechWarrior than half the unit, despite being a rank lower than most and having only served for three years? Not complaining. :)

Looking forward to seeing what sorts of top sekrit assignments we'll be going on to hold back technological progress and fracture civilization. I voted for the FWL, but cultists with advanced tech and a ridiculous agenda that makes them (covertly) attack everybody will certainly be fun.
"We have now reached the point where every goon with a grievance, every bitter bigot, merely has to place the prefix, 'I know this is not politically correct, but...' in front of the usual string of insults in order to be not just safe from criticism, but actually a card, a lad, even a hero. Conversely, to talk about poverty and inequality, to draw attention to the reality that discrimination and injustice are still facts of life, is to commit the sin of political correctness. Anti-PC has become the latest cover for creeps. It is a godsend for every curmudgeon and crank, from fascists to the merely smug."
Finian O'Toole, The Irish Times, 5 May 1994

Blue Planet: The Battle Captains: Missions starring the Admirals of BP: WiH
Frontlines 2334+2335: T-V War campaign
GVB Ammit: Vasudan strike bomber
Player-Controlled Capship Modding Tutorial

 
Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Yeah she ended up being a 32 year old green pilot.  I think that speaks to a certain level of sucking at one's job.

If I weren't gearing up to start DMing a D&D campaign, I'd have jumped into the shoes of that character just to prove her haters wrong....

....or die quickly.  I mean, there's only so much you can expect from a Locust or its pilot.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
And we have our roster!  These ranks are a hoot, so I'm going to type out all of them.

MechWarriors (this is also where you correct anything wrong that I might have missed):
Demi-Precentor Epsilon XVII Charlie "Shidachi" Crawford - Shadow Hawk SHD-2H - Elite (StarSlayer)

 :nervous:
Oh Pants

Given my lack of TT experience I was not expecting to be put in what I assume is the senior officer position...

Welp guess I will need to not embarrass myself.

“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline niffiwan

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
ok - sign me up as a mech fixer, keep me happy pilots or your ride'll end up at the end of the TOFIX list :p

Nickname: PPC (since he's always banging on about how every mech with an autocannon would be better off with a PPC, and heat be damned!)

(name/ethnicity/background etc can be up to you to fit in better with your story. Or I can try to grind out some inferior ~words~ if you wish)

Hi Ho, could I plz claim this spot?  ;)

Adept Zeta III Debaprosad "PPC" Kazaz - Regular
Creating a fs2_open.log | Red Alert Bug = Hex Edit | MediaVPs 2014: Bigger HUD gauges | 32bit libs for 64bit Ubuntu
----
Debian Packages (testing/unstable): Freespace2 | wxLauncher
----
m|m: I think I'm suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Bmpman is starting to make sense and it's actually written reasonably well...

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
ok - sign me up as a mech fixer, keep me happy pilots or your ride'll end up at the end of the TOFIX list :p

Nickname: PPC (since he's always banging on about how every mech with an autocannon would be better off with a PPC, and heat be damned!)

(name/ethnicity/background etc can be up to you to fit in better with your story. Or I can try to grind out some inferior ~words~ if you wish)

Hi Ho, could I plz claim this spot?  ;)

Adept Zeta III Debaprosad "PPC" Kazaz - Regular

Certainly!  Lemme update it, and I'll get on our scenario immediately after.

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Was this one of the unseen?  I've seen pictures of the Galahad that look like a Rifleman with a AWACS dome.
You may be thinking of the Glass Spider, a Clan 'mech based on the Galahad (and which, yes, is on the list of Unseen):

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
And now, the fun begins.  Track 1 ("That's Not Supposed to be There"), scenario 1.  "Digsite Approach".

Quote from: Operational briefing
Welcome to Jeppens, Demi-Precentor.  Never heard of it?  Neither has anyone else who doesn't live here – which is no one.  This was originally a colony back in the days of the Star League, but it was abandoned early into the First Succession War, when the Outworlds Alliance couldn't show the flag anymore and it fell to the depredations of whatever pirates felt like pillaging that week.  Turns out that was often enough to be a dealbreaker.  The inhabitants packed up, and Jeppens has been an abandoned rock ever since.

At least, until as recently as nine months ago.  An Explorer Corps vesseel returning to Terra to offload its survey data passed through the system and picked up unexpected comms traffic.  It went dark fairly quickly, but that vessel, the Boundary of Imagination, was either fast enough on the con, or the group on the ground were shocked enough that they transmitted in the clear and the ship picked it up.  A copy of the recording is attached to this briefing.

The salient point is this: the intercepted comms chatter indicated a cache of some sort under excavation.  We have no records of a Brian Cache this far out, but records are notoriously sketchy from before the Reunification War.  Odds are good that this is nothing, and that these yahoos are on a mission to nowhere.  Unfortunately, ROM doesn't play odds when it can stack the deck.  Go in, take them out, figure out what's going on with this digsite.  In that order.

Both formations will deploy for this one, all pilots will sortie.  More detailed briefing to follow.

Quote from: Mission Briefing
The digsite is situated on the northern end of the southernmost continent, about ten miles inland.  Our approach appears to have been undetected.  No alarm has been raised, and no 'Mechs beyond the normal security detail we spotted from orbit have been scrambled.  It's as good a shot as one could ever have.  We'll be approaching from the southwest, ETA 1306 Lima.  They should spot you a few clicks out, but we haven't picked up anything that can get away from you.

Go ruin their day.  Weapons free on this one.  Get the Highlander some exercise.  No one leaves, not even with us.

Expected opposition:
 Medium 'Mech Lance
 Medium Armor Platoon
 Scattered infantry presence

[OOC: It's already later than I wanted to be up tonight, and this is most of the legwork for getting the scenario started.  Feel free to discuss potential strategy, with the knowledge that the map is hilly, with scattered light woods, and large enough that long sight lines of 30+ hexes are the norm and not the exception.  Think about the groups you'd like to deploy in.  I'll have the map up in the late afternoon US time tomorrow.]

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Let's Play - Narrative BattleTech (Accepting/Searching for Players)
Assuming the intelligence is accurate, this is going to be a massive case of overkill.

Which is how I like it, of course, but I think we should plan for stiffer opposition than expected.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.