I have to say, I'm starting to worry about my ability to keep making daily posts here as our game sessions keep drifting farther and farther apart; the story is wearing thin by now, I'm sure, and my read statistics are bearing out that I'm getting less and less interesting as I start writing about less choice topics. Still, at least until I finish the campaign I'll keep updating, but consider this a warning that update frequency may start dropping.
At this stage I'm seriously thinking about how I can use the extra time between sessions to benefit my players, besides just the regular game prep I already do. Running scenes via email seems like a very open-ended proposition, not one I'm immediately inclined to add to my current workload. How else can I improve player experience for an hour or two a day?
I've considered setting up a campaign website several times, a place to compile all the information the players have available, to serve as a repository for things like character sheet PDF's and in-game documents the characters would have ready access to. This seems like the most bang-for-my-buck I could hope to get, since it doesn't require making new game materials, but gives the players an opportunity to look back at the game when we're not in session.
I understand there are a variety of sites out there that provide services to do just what I'm proposing, so reinventing the wheel might not be the way I want to go here; I'll take a survey of those sites and follow up with what I find.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Pestilence
Given all this work on germ warfare, I thought it was high time I read the new Disease rules in A Time of War. The rules are on page 245, and are not long by any stretch of the imagination. They are, however, laced with warnings about the use of the rules, and that most players will not take kindly to being killed by a random germ in a game about giant fighting robots.
Page 247 has a few random tables for symptoms, frequency, and level of effect. The highest level effects will easily kill a person with average attributes, making it very dangerous to actually use the random disease rules. The rules also have no sense of transmission or vector; you might just kind of get a disease fiated upon you by the GM.
As such, the rules listed in the book are useful guidelines as to how to mechanically represent germs and germ warfare in the BattleTech universe, but I think a more complete set of rules is needed to make that part of the game interesting. A Medical Research subarc might be fun for Clark, but I'd have to think that through very closely.
Page 247 has a few random tables for symptoms, frequency, and level of effect. The highest level effects will easily kill a person with average attributes, making it very dangerous to actually use the random disease rules. The rules also have no sense of transmission or vector; you might just kind of get a disease fiated upon you by the GM.
As such, the rules listed in the book are useful guidelines as to how to mechanically represent germs and germ warfare in the BattleTech universe, but I think a more complete set of rules is needed to make that part of the game interesting. A Medical Research subarc might be fun for Clark, but I'd have to think that through very closely.
Monday, October 3, 2011
A Brief Interlude
Rather than more prattling on, today I thought I'd share one of my favorite BattleTech jokes.
The intelligence agencies for all five of the major houses got together and decided to show who was the best. The decided to go to a forest just down the road to find and find a pair of rabbits.So, dear reader, I ask you for the last punchline -- what does ROM do? Feel free to answer for ComStar, the Word of Blake, or both.
The SAFE agents got lost on the way and staked out a mall instead. No one noticed.
MIIO and the LIC hit the forest running. They spent millions of C-Bills in setting up complicated electronic listening stations, putting in thousands of man hours. In the end, they knew exactly what the other side was doing and what they were doing wrong. They all looked confused when anyone asked about the rabbits.
A single ISF agent walked into the forest. A few moments later he came out dragging a pair of massive grizzly bears who were crying and screaming, “Sure, we're rabbits, we're rabbits! Just don't hurt us anymore!”
The Maskirovka burned the forest to the ground. All the animals were either rabbits or partook in rabbit-like activities.
Friday, September 30, 2011
NPC Art
One of the advantages of the enormous library of material in the BattleTech cannon is the rather large collection of art assets that comes with it. This upside has become even better since the advent of widely-distributed PDF copies of sourcebooks, making it very easy to extract and re-use character pictures from even older sourcebooks. Even some of the action shots, properly cropped, can provide an excellent dossier image for any old NPC you might want.
Obviously the books with explicit personnel entries (Dossiers, unit books, historicals, and the like) are excellent, but there are a number of other pictures I've found throughout my searches that might be helpful when you need a pretty (or pretty ugly) face.
Men
Page 76 of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies This picture is a two-fer; a very generic-looking flag officer, and a shadowy assassin whose face and body are almost entirely concealed.
Page 81of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies This again has a set of anonymous characters (although you can puzzle out who might be in the group from the text), and provides some good head shots if carefully cropped.
Page 87 of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies A scout on this page provides and excellent full-body picture that is easily removable if you need it.
Page 103 of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies The scruffy man on the right of this frame looks out of place in the original work, but removed looks like a classic profile picture.
Page 99 of Book 35204 - Handbook House Liao This page has a picture of an officer receiving a decoration. An excellent stand-in for an officer who is up-and-coming.
Page 113 of Book 35204 - Handbook House Liao Several different classes of civilian ready for use.
Women
Page 154 of Book 35204 - Handbook House Liao Good headshot available from the image on this page.
Page 63 of Book 35024 - Handbook House Davion Waist-up shot available on this page.
Page 159 of Book 35019 - Handbook House Marik Aerospace pilot.
Page 15 of Book 1715 - MechWarrior Third Edition Headshot of technician.
Page 53 of Book 1715 - MechWarrior Third Edition Waist-up shot of woman with sword.
Page 192 of Book 1715 - MechWarrior Third Edition Waist-up shot of female covert operative.
Those are just a few examples, but a few general trends to note:
I've ignored named characters here. If you use a character with a name, one of your characters might recognize the picture and presume that that NPC is actually the canon character in disguise. You'll never hear the end of the conspiracy theories.
Among anonymous characters, men are wildly more common than women in the books, and this difference gets magnified in more recent works -- the artists aren't drawing anonymous female characters, they're kicking out huge numbers of anonymous male characters, so be prepared to do considerably more digging through books for female art assets.
I am. I need a picture for Dr. Jefferies.
Obviously the books with explicit personnel entries (Dossiers, unit books, historicals, and the like) are excellent, but there are a number of other pictures I've found throughout my searches that might be helpful when you need a pretty (or pretty ugly) face.
Men
Page 76 of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies This picture is a two-fer; a very generic-looking flag officer, and a shadowy assassin whose face and body are almost entirely concealed.
Page 81of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies This again has a set of anonymous characters (although you can puzzle out who might be in the group from the text), and provides some good head shots if carefully cropped.
Page 87 of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies A scout on this page provides and excellent full-body picture that is easily removable if you need it.
Page 103 of Book 35303 - Jihad Conspiracies The scruffy man on the right of this frame looks out of place in the original work, but removed looks like a classic profile picture.
Page 99 of Book 35204 - Handbook House Liao This page has a picture of an officer receiving a decoration. An excellent stand-in for an officer who is up-and-coming.
Page 113 of Book 35204 - Handbook House Liao Several different classes of civilian ready for use.
Women
Page 154 of Book 35204 - Handbook House Liao Good headshot available from the image on this page.
Page 63 of Book 35024 - Handbook House Davion Waist-up shot available on this page.
Page 159 of Book 35019 - Handbook House Marik Aerospace pilot.
Page 15 of Book 1715 - MechWarrior Third Edition Headshot of technician.
Page 53 of Book 1715 - MechWarrior Third Edition Waist-up shot of woman with sword.
Page 192 of Book 1715 - MechWarrior Third Edition Waist-up shot of female covert operative.
Those are just a few examples, but a few general trends to note:
I've ignored named characters here. If you use a character with a name, one of your characters might recognize the picture and presume that that NPC is actually the canon character in disguise. You'll never hear the end of the conspiracy theories.
Among anonymous characters, men are wildly more common than women in the books, and this difference gets magnified in more recent works -- the artists aren't drawing anonymous female characters, they're kicking out huge numbers of anonymous male characters, so be prepared to do considerably more digging through books for female art assets.
I am. I need a picture for Dr. Jefferies.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Bioweapons Big Bad
Something that's occurred to me as I flesh out the Bioweapons plotline is that the story could use an actual antagonist. Right now the "bad guy" in this arc is a division of the Word of Blake, which while reasonable for a sourcebook, provides very little workable material for a party of player characters. A group like this is not practical for the party to dismantle; while hunting down every person who was a part of this group makes for interesting literature, it isn't terribly practical in the context of a tabletop campaign. So I need to designate a specific person the party can deal with to end the threat this facility and its membership poses.
Fortunately, going back through my GM notes, there's a reference to an authority figure on the project in one of the documents I gave to the Terran party way back during their first session. One of the transmissions Alexei gave to Simon was from a Dr. Sandra Jefferies, demanding additional food, presumably to feed the Branths. She's clearly on-site and actively working on the project. The email she was sending went to a Precentor Robyn Jellico, apparently the administrative overseer of the project. Either of these individuals would make an excellent target for the party's anger. Dr. Jefferies is probably the better choice, since she in on-site and the party might realistically encounter her.
I can weave Dr. Jefferies into the story with a few more in-game documents. I have to be careful about actually showing her "on-stage" as it were during the next session as some characters (such as Shin) might shoot her without regard to consequences; as such, I need to be a bit cagey with her fictional security. More on this character's build as the week progresses.
Also, this is the 100th post of Ten Years on Terra. I am long-winded.
Fortunately, going back through my GM notes, there's a reference to an authority figure on the project in one of the documents I gave to the Terran party way back during their first session. One of the transmissions Alexei gave to Simon was from a Dr. Sandra Jefferies, demanding additional food, presumably to feed the Branths. She's clearly on-site and actively working on the project. The email she was sending went to a Precentor Robyn Jellico, apparently the administrative overseer of the project. Either of these individuals would make an excellent target for the party's anger. Dr. Jefferies is probably the better choice, since she in on-site and the party might realistically encounter her.
I can weave Dr. Jefferies into the story with a few more in-game documents. I have to be careful about actually showing her "on-stage" as it were during the next session as some characters (such as Shin) might shoot her without regard to consequences; as such, I need to be a bit cagey with her fictional security. More on this character's build as the week progresses.
Also, this is the 100th post of Ten Years on Terra. I am long-winded.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tracking Tactical Movement
Back when I was playing Battlespace and Aerotech 2 on my MondoMat, we always drew a line on the battlemat when a ship moved. This was critical information for us; last turn's movement was this turn's inertia. At the end of the game, we invariably had these very pretty line patterns draw out that showed the entire course of the game, neatly laid out and numbered.
When we ran the arrest scenario in Montana, we did something similar, only because the only printout of the map that I had was too small to properly handle coins for each player. The result is now I have a well-detailed and laid out record of that session. I'm considering my accidental discovery here, and thinking about how I can enhance what I did to make it work better.
Obviously, a bigger sheet of paper would be nice for the players, but anything larger than about A4 won't fit nicely in my GM binder. Making sure I have a pen or marker color for each PC and a black one for the NPCs would be good -- in our test case, I just used different symbols (Circle, Triangle, Square, and X) for each PC.
It is possible that this technique will track well into online A Time of War games, but I'll leave that consideration for GMs better briefed on that medium.
When we ran the arrest scenario in Montana, we did something similar, only because the only printout of the map that I had was too small to properly handle coins for each player. The result is now I have a well-detailed and laid out record of that session. I'm considering my accidental discovery here, and thinking about how I can enhance what I did to make it work better.
Obviously, a bigger sheet of paper would be nice for the players, but anything larger than about A4 won't fit nicely in my GM binder. Making sure I have a pen or marker color for each PC and a black one for the NPCs would be good -- in our test case, I just used different symbols (Circle, Triangle, Square, and X) for each PC.
It is possible that this technique will track well into online A Time of War games, but I'll leave that consideration for GMs better briefed on that medium.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
On A Clock
Based on the in-game combat we've had, I've been trying to think about where we could shave time. My first impulse was calculating to-hit numbers, but really, that hasn't been so bad. Certainly, looking up the melee combat rules every time we get down to that part is a pain, so I may have to write up a cheat sheet for those. The bulk of the time my players spend in these fights is waiting for each other, and the reason they're waiting is because of decision making time.
Now, I've tried running games on a stopwatch before. I've played in games on a stopwatch. What I find is that players don't much care for it; despite the feeling of frantic intercommunication that tends to emerge as the players are working out their moves adds to the experience, the resulting turn resolution, that takes several times long, tends to destroy the flow of the session; you just end up with a game swapping between fast-paced and very slow-paced, and it makes the slower sections seem all the more painful for it.
The last time I tried this particular tactic was when I ran my WarShips game in 2006. The premise was each player was either the Captain or the CAG of a Star League WarShip. Our initial way of running combat was to have the battlemat laid out, and each captain has a set of command counters for his ship, and each CAG had a set for their fighter squadrons. I gave the PC's 60 seconds to discuss their tactics and place their command counters, and then I called the turn and ran the turn with the commands on the table.
What I found was that this severely punished some players. A number of my players didn't think quickly on their feet; they enjoyed the table top because they could ponder their move. The response was split, but those who liked the new system also liked the old system, and those who didn't like the new system preferred the old system, so we went back on the second session. I'm worried about the same thing happening if I started playing stupid games like that with A Time of War, which has no provision for simultaneous turn resolution at all (players always have maximum information possible at the point of action due to initiative ordering), I fear I'd just be asking for trouble.
Now, I've tried running games on a stopwatch before. I've played in games on a stopwatch. What I find is that players don't much care for it; despite the feeling of frantic intercommunication that tends to emerge as the players are working out their moves adds to the experience, the resulting turn resolution, that takes several times long, tends to destroy the flow of the session; you just end up with a game swapping between fast-paced and very slow-paced, and it makes the slower sections seem all the more painful for it.
The last time I tried this particular tactic was when I ran my WarShips game in 2006. The premise was each player was either the Captain or the CAG of a Star League WarShip. Our initial way of running combat was to have the battlemat laid out, and each captain has a set of command counters for his ship, and each CAG had a set for their fighter squadrons. I gave the PC's 60 seconds to discuss their tactics and place their command counters, and then I called the turn and ran the turn with the commands on the table.
What I found was that this severely punished some players. A number of my players didn't think quickly on their feet; they enjoyed the table top because they could ponder their move. The response was split, but those who liked the new system also liked the old system, and those who didn't like the new system preferred the old system, so we went back on the second session. I'm worried about the same thing happening if I started playing stupid games like that with A Time of War, which has no provision for simultaneous turn resolution at all (players always have maximum information possible at the point of action due to initiative ordering), I fear I'd just be asking for trouble.
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