It turns out that a great deal of discourse is happening among the party via email regarding the Session 17. Simon is in recovery, but we still need to make the Surgery rolls to see if Clark can save his legs. Shin is taking action to attempt to prevent the DNA evidence from pointing to Simon and Clark -- he hasn't elaborated on exactly how he intends to do it. He tells me to expect his actions soon.
I'm looking at the distinct possibility that Session 18 might be a second 3075 session, rather than the planned 3076 session about the Wyrm, extending out the campaign one more session. I am very pleased that the players are getting a chance to explore some of the more significant questions that this campaign in general and Session 17 in particular raised, although I'm a bit concerned that some players are obviously taking the situation more seriously than others.
Major crimes are quite common in RPG's, both on the table and on the screen, but this Cameron and Anthony in particular are trying to play characters with very conventional sensibilities about life and death -- both characters only slowly acclimating to the idea of killing in the name of the resistance, whereas the ComStar characters have been portrayed as much more hardened killers. I feel like the fundamental difference between these views is threatening to fracture the party, but given that this is emerging from real exigence between characters, rather than players, I can hardly consider this a failure of the game.
More thoughts on possibilities tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Consequences
I'm wrestling with a bit of an issue in the aftermath of Session 17. Specifically, the party was far more direct in their actions this time, and in a public enough way to draw the direct attention and ire of the authorities on Terra. I really can't let them get away with the level of violence they inflicted and still have any real credibility to the threat that TerraSec represents to them. They are no longer bit-players in TerraSec's fight against the resistance; they are now Public Enemy Number One.
Worse, Simon and Clark both were bleeding heavily at the site, and nobody cleaned up the stains afterwards; TerraSec has a mountain of DNA evidence, video confirming that the DNA belongs to the attackers, and likely the means to match that to Simon and Clark once they sort it out. They're going to be coming for the party, and when they do so, they're going to do it with overwhelming force. I'm trying to find a way out of this that preserves TerraSec's authority, but doesn't terminate the campaign outright.
My first response is that the whole party may have to go into hiding; Simon and Clark become fugitives, and are forced to abandon the ranch and their lives. This seems reasonable, and will have serious fallout for the ComStar party as well, who are just now starting to rely on the improvements they made to the ranch to maintain their gear. Before I make that leap, however, I want to give it a great deal of thought.
Worse, Simon and Clark both were bleeding heavily at the site, and nobody cleaned up the stains afterwards; TerraSec has a mountain of DNA evidence, video confirming that the DNA belongs to the attackers, and likely the means to match that to Simon and Clark once they sort it out. They're going to be coming for the party, and when they do so, they're going to do it with overwhelming force. I'm trying to find a way out of this that preserves TerraSec's authority, but doesn't terminate the campaign outright.
My first response is that the whole party may have to go into hiding; Simon and Clark become fugitives, and are forced to abandon the ranch and their lives. This seems reasonable, and will have serious fallout for the ComStar party as well, who are just now starting to rely on the improvements they made to the ranch to maintain their gear. Before I make that leap, however, I want to give it a great deal of thought.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Session 17
In this week's session, the party was contacted by the Missouri Cell for assistance in an operation in Chicago. The party initially met their contact in St. Louis, and got the mission details: breaking into a lab in a skyscraper in downtown Chicago and extracting a server and a prototype weapon. The server was an ex-Singularity Foundation machine the Word had taken, so the Missouri Cell hoped that Simon would be able to access the machine and quickly determine what information might have been compromised, then return the server and the prototype.
The party assembled in Chicago. Shin needed to find a way to sneak his Power Armor through a crowded city, so instead of attempting to be stealthy, the party instead bought an oversized gorilla suit, and had Shin stand on a street corner holding a sign advertising a local business wearing this suit over his PA(L). When they got the signal, they entered the building, donned ski masks to hide their faces from the cameras, and found that the Missouri personnel had already emptied the lobby. They proceeded to the lab floor.
On the lab floor, they encountered a room full of scientists, a prototype HPG cannon, and a battle-armored test subject, who had no weapon, but proceeded to punch his way through the party. A series of exceptionally bad rolls saved the party from any fatal harm (David took 1 point of damage from a glancing blow to his arm and Simon's leg was broken) before Clark turned the prototype on the battle armor, destroying that unit and severely injuring both himself and Simon (breaking Simon's other leg.)
Not trusting the Missouri Cell, Simon wiped the hardware they were supposed to steal, and David destroyed the prototype. They tied up all the scientists (Shin and David were in favor of killing them to prevent their research from being continued, Clark refused to participate), but eventually settled on removing their hands, in one of the more horrifying decisions I've seen the party make to date. Having accomplished that, they took the server they were sent to retrieve, and returned to the lobby. Once they reached there, David triggered the demolition charges he had set in the lab, killing the maimed scientists and destroying any surviving equipment. They then handled the wiped server over to their contact, claiming it was wiped and the prototype was destroyed in the fighting, and then returned to Denver.
There were also a few amusing moments, such as when the ComStar group got pulled over by TerraSec while driving to St. Louis, and when Shin, after disabling a door while trying to open its electronic lock, ended up bursting through an internal wall while wearing a gorilla suit over power armor.
The party assembled in Chicago. Shin needed to find a way to sneak his Power Armor through a crowded city, so instead of attempting to be stealthy, the party instead bought an oversized gorilla suit, and had Shin stand on a street corner holding a sign advertising a local business wearing this suit over his PA(L). When they got the signal, they entered the building, donned ski masks to hide their faces from the cameras, and found that the Missouri personnel had already emptied the lobby. They proceeded to the lab floor.
On the lab floor, they encountered a room full of scientists, a prototype HPG cannon, and a battle-armored test subject, who had no weapon, but proceeded to punch his way through the party. A series of exceptionally bad rolls saved the party from any fatal harm (David took 1 point of damage from a glancing blow to his arm and Simon's leg was broken) before Clark turned the prototype on the battle armor, destroying that unit and severely injuring both himself and Simon (breaking Simon's other leg.)
Not trusting the Missouri Cell, Simon wiped the hardware they were supposed to steal, and David destroyed the prototype. They tied up all the scientists (Shin and David were in favor of killing them to prevent their research from being continued, Clark refused to participate), but eventually settled on removing their hands, in one of the more horrifying decisions I've seen the party make to date. Having accomplished that, they took the server they were sent to retrieve, and returned to the lobby. Once they reached there, David triggered the demolition charges he had set in the lab, killing the maimed scientists and destroying any surviving equipment. They then handled the wiped server over to their contact, claiming it was wiped and the prototype was destroyed in the fighting, and then returned to Denver.
There were also a few amusing moments, such as when the ComStar group got pulled over by TerraSec while driving to St. Louis, and when Shin, after disabling a door while trying to open its electronic lock, ended up bursting through an internal wall while wearing a gorilla suit over power armor.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Inspiration (Or A Pronounced Lack There Of)
I've spent much of my free time this week watching the first season of Heroes, the TV Series that was on a few years ago. I had heard good things about it, and was rather hoping to draw in some ideas for Session 17. Unfortunately, it has been less than productive; the time-skipping prophecy plot line isn't well-suited to the BattleTech universe, even during the Jihad. What I really need to do is find a good way to connect the Singularity Foundation to the Sarna/HPG/Alex/Cho plotline. I'd also like to bring in a small back connection to the Bruce Lecna plotline if I can. So here goes.
The Singularity Foundation, as an extension of their High-Performance Computing Group, was doing some research on HPG computation; utilizing the existing HPG network to coordinate very large computational systems over relatively short distances (within the same building.) The research wasn't practical as the HPG calculations almost always consumed more resources than were saved with superluminal data transit times within the system, but when the Word's R&D was unable to convert a full-sized HPG station into a practical weapon, they began converting from the other side; the smallest working HPG system ever invented was upscaled into a BattleMech-grade weapon.
My plan for the David Cho/Alex Black plot line is for Simon to turn up an extra document that contains a listing of operatives who were working the "clean up" after the Sarna HPG attack, and their status. The only agent that is not listed as deceased will be Wei Zhang, who will be listed as missing. This will at least give the party a name to connect to Alex's parents' deaths.
The intersection of these two organizations will be the system I need Simon to break into. Since we know the HPG Cannon eventually ends up in the hands of the Manei Domini, it makes sense for them to play a role in this. I think it will mean I resolve the plot line of the Missouri Cell to be a rogue MD unit on Terra looking out for the Master's plan and adjusting St. Jamais' policies and plots by force where necessary. The practical upshot is that the hook for this adventure can be to finally make contact with the Missouri Cell, or for them to make contact with the party. They would represent a wetwork subgroup of ROM loyal to Apollyon -- they're ensuring that regardless of what happens to Terra, the best interests of Gibson are being served.
The practical upshot of this all is that Session 17 will require the first direct contact with the Missouri Cell the party has ever had, likely by the Cell directly attempting to recruit Simon to break into a Word of Blake ROM because they lack the necessary skillset among them, possible because of a loss suffered in Montana.
The Singularity Foundation, as an extension of their High-Performance Computing Group, was doing some research on HPG computation; utilizing the existing HPG network to coordinate very large computational systems over relatively short distances (within the same building.) The research wasn't practical as the HPG calculations almost always consumed more resources than were saved with superluminal data transit times within the system, but when the Word's R&D was unable to convert a full-sized HPG station into a practical weapon, they began converting from the other side; the smallest working HPG system ever invented was upscaled into a BattleMech-grade weapon.
My plan for the David Cho/Alex Black plot line is for Simon to turn up an extra document that contains a listing of operatives who were working the "clean up" after the Sarna HPG attack, and their status. The only agent that is not listed as deceased will be Wei Zhang, who will be listed as missing. This will at least give the party a name to connect to Alex's parents' deaths.
The intersection of these two organizations will be the system I need Simon to break into. Since we know the HPG Cannon eventually ends up in the hands of the Manei Domini, it makes sense for them to play a role in this. I think it will mean I resolve the plot line of the Missouri Cell to be a rogue MD unit on Terra looking out for the Master's plan and adjusting St. Jamais' policies and plots by force where necessary. The practical upshot is that the hook for this adventure can be to finally make contact with the Missouri Cell, or for them to make contact with the party. They would represent a wetwork subgroup of ROM loyal to Apollyon -- they're ensuring that regardless of what happens to Terra, the best interests of Gibson are being served.
The practical upshot of this all is that Session 17 will require the first direct contact with the Missouri Cell the party has ever had, likely by the Cell directly attempting to recruit Simon to break into a Word of Blake ROM because they lack the necessary skillset among them, possible because of a loss suffered in Montana.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
PC's Phone Home
The next session is the 3075 session; I expect it to be the one in which the party re-establishes contact with ComStar. Exactly how they do that is not clear to me right now, which is a problem, since Session 17 is now only four days away. I'm assessing now how I'm going to wrap up my plot hooks as the story draws to a close over the next few sessions. I need to write another Simon session, and re-establishing contact seems exactly the kind of thing that he'd do very well at. I also need to wrap up the Missouri Cell arc, although not in this next session necessarily.
Simon's contacts are through the Singularity Foundation, which easily could havve contacts in ComStar ROM that might be reaching out to possible recruits on Terra. After this comes the "broad objectives" phase of the game, in which the party plans their own missions given an goal by ROM. If possible, I'd like to fold in a few elements of Alex/Cho's backstory. All that might mean reactivating the Sarna storyline and advancing the weaponized HPG storyline. Unfortunately no coherent story is coming to mind as I think about it. I can only hope that something pops soon.
Simon's contacts are through the Singularity Foundation, which easily could havve contacts in ComStar ROM that might be reaching out to possible recruits on Terra. After this comes the "broad objectives" phase of the game, in which the party plans their own missions given an goal by ROM. If possible, I'd like to fold in a few elements of Alex/Cho's backstory. All that might mean reactivating the Sarna storyline and advancing the weaponized HPG storyline. Unfortunately no coherent story is coming to mind as I think about it. I can only hope that something pops soon.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Maintenance Is Back
With the addition of Shin's PA(L) and Alex's BattleMech to the party's assets, the question of maintenance has come up again. Up until now, David's helicopter has been the only item that required regular maintenance, and once the Light Gauss Rifle failed, he was able to make all remaining maintenance rolls automatically (TN 2 or lower, and I wasn't going to make him search for botches.) The Tornado and the Warhammer are different animals, though, and require considerably more maintenance. Here's what I'm doing to overcome the issue:
First, I lengthened the Maintenance Period to a month; the number of checks involved is already quite high without having to make them daily or weekly. I also individually looked up each component for the Advanced Maintenance Rules (Strategic Operations, p. 174) and made a form for each vehicle, listing each of the components, their Tech Rating, and with fields for Quality, TN, Actual Roll, and Effect. For the Tornado, this form has five lines. For the Warhammer, it has 42 lines, which is a fair number of rolls for a player to make, especially given Alex will probably have to process these forms, on average, twelve at a time.
In addition, while I gave the party as pass on the original hardware they had, I am making them actually absorb the cost of maintaining these machines. That is to say, they need to have the appropriate repair kits (A Time of War, p. 310). The recharge costs are quite high -- about 850 C-Bills/Month to maintain the Tornado, and about 4,550 C-Bills/Month to maintain the Warhammer. A deal by any stretch of the imagination, but still quite expensive for this party. How they cope with these tremendous expenses should be interesting -- they're already considering bank robbery.
First, I lengthened the Maintenance Period to a month; the number of checks involved is already quite high without having to make them daily or weekly. I also individually looked up each component for the Advanced Maintenance Rules (Strategic Operations, p. 174) and made a form for each vehicle, listing each of the components, their Tech Rating, and with fields for Quality, TN, Actual Roll, and Effect. For the Tornado, this form has five lines. For the Warhammer, it has 42 lines, which is a fair number of rolls for a player to make, especially given Alex will probably have to process these forms, on average, twelve at a time.
In addition, while I gave the party as pass on the original hardware they had, I am making them actually absorb the cost of maintaining these machines. That is to say, they need to have the appropriate repair kits (A Time of War, p. 310). The recharge costs are quite high -- about 850 C-Bills/Month to maintain the Tornado, and about 4,550 C-Bills/Month to maintain the Warhammer. A deal by any stretch of the imagination, but still quite expensive for this party. How they cope with these tremendous expenses should be interesting -- they're already considering bank robbery.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Boom. Headshot.
So this last game Alex started making serious use of Aimed Shots. Specifically, he always aimed for the head of his target, and he never missed. I was a little concerned with how effective this was, since he was dealing 8 lethal damage, plus the secondary effects of being shot, each turn. So I did a little digging into the exact probability curve of the Aimed Shot.
A character with Small Arms at +0 has about a 30.56% chance of hitting a target at short range under normal circumstances. A character with Small Arms at +4 has an 86% chance of hitting a target at short range Alex has Small Arms at +7, which grants him 94.44% chance to hit (since a 2 is always a miss.) To reduce his probability of hitting at all, I have to stack at least -3 in penalties on him.
The practical upshot is that at Short Range with his 4B/4B rifle, Alex can all but guarantee a aimed shot at the Torso, and has a 61% chance of hitting his target in the head. Normally I would mitigate this issue with distance, but his telescopic scope negates the penalty at medium range and reduces it to -2 at long range, meaning that while the average +4 shooter is grasping at 30.56% to hit his target at all, Alex is all but guaranteed to his his target, and has a 61% chance of hitting the the target with an Aimed Shot to the head.
I practical upshot of this is that when designing encounters, I can expect Alex to drop "soft" targets (those not wearing helmets and those wearing helmets with a Ballistic BAR less than 5) with a WIL of 4 or less once per turn. Nobody else in the party comes close to that damage effectiveness, even Shin in his Tornado.
The problem this presents me is that if I throw up an encounter that will challenge Alex, the whole party rises and falls with him; if a lucky shot takes him out of action, the party likely wipes. If I make something the party could manage without him, he wipes the floor with it, as he did in the last session.
I discussed a number of options to solve this problem with Morgan (Shin's player). Increasing the range was brought up, and discarded. Putting the party up against primarily PA(L)-suited enemies to remove hit locations from the equation was another. Using non-standard WoB equipment (such as helmets capable of dealing with 4B damage) was another option. Finally, I could always throw Manei Domini with subdermal armor at the party. Each of these has upsides and downsides, but the fundamental issue is that most of them still cause a combat that is primarily oriented around posing a challenge to one PC who is subject to the whims of the dice. That said, at least "removing hit locations" lowers the absurd bonuses he has and puts him closer to on-par with the rest of the party.
The other side of this coin is that my player has sunk a very large amount of his character budget into this capability, so I want him to be able to use it often; he clearly wants to be an outstanding marksman. I just need to figure out how to give him that without placing the rest of the party in extreme jeopardy.
A character with Small Arms at +0 has about a 30.56% chance of hitting a target at short range under normal circumstances. A character with Small Arms at +4 has an 86% chance of hitting a target at short range Alex has Small Arms at +7, which grants him 94.44% chance to hit (since a 2 is always a miss.) To reduce his probability of hitting at all, I have to stack at least -3 in penalties on him.
The practical upshot is that at Short Range with his 4B/4B rifle, Alex can all but guarantee a aimed shot at the Torso, and has a 61% chance of hitting his target in the head. Normally I would mitigate this issue with distance, but his telescopic scope negates the penalty at medium range and reduces it to -2 at long range, meaning that while the average +4 shooter is grasping at 30.56% to hit his target at all, Alex is all but guaranteed to his his target, and has a 61% chance of hitting the the target with an Aimed Shot to the head.
I practical upshot of this is that when designing encounters, I can expect Alex to drop "soft" targets (those not wearing helmets and those wearing helmets with a Ballistic BAR less than 5) with a WIL of 4 or less once per turn. Nobody else in the party comes close to that damage effectiveness, even Shin in his Tornado.
The problem this presents me is that if I throw up an encounter that will challenge Alex, the whole party rises and falls with him; if a lucky shot takes him out of action, the party likely wipes. If I make something the party could manage without him, he wipes the floor with it, as he did in the last session.
I discussed a number of options to solve this problem with Morgan (Shin's player). Increasing the range was brought up, and discarded. Putting the party up against primarily PA(L)-suited enemies to remove hit locations from the equation was another. Using non-standard WoB equipment (such as helmets capable of dealing with 4B damage) was another option. Finally, I could always throw Manei Domini with subdermal armor at the party. Each of these has upsides and downsides, but the fundamental issue is that most of them still cause a combat that is primarily oriented around posing a challenge to one PC who is subject to the whims of the dice. That said, at least "removing hit locations" lowers the absurd bonuses he has and puts him closer to on-par with the rest of the party.
The other side of this coin is that my player has sunk a very large amount of his character budget into this capability, so I want him to be able to use it often; he clearly wants to be an outstanding marksman. I just need to figure out how to give him that without placing the rest of the party in extreme jeopardy.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Session 16
The winter is keeping people at home, which is good for a brisk pace of gaming. In Session 16, Alex finally got his hands on his own BattleMech, something he's been wanting since Session 3 or so.
In this session, the party got contacted by another Terran Resistance member. She explained to them that there were going to be coordinated 'Mech hijackings on a particular day all around the world. The reason for this was because one incident would likely cause the Word to raise their security around their 'Mechs, so while it was low, the Resistance wanted to grab as many as possible. They gave Simon contact information for a man in Amsterdam who makes replacement security boxes for BattleMechs, and a half-hour window and coordinates for a 'Mech they expected to be available.
Cho made the purchase in Amsterdam, and the party traveled to the site, an outlying patrol hangar not far from Devil's Tower. Arriving on schedule, the party surveyed the target site, assessed defensive strength at four guards playing poker, and elected a two-prong attack from either end of the corrogated metal hangar. This was their first encounter with military-grade infantry (Small Arms +4), and as a result, Cho was spotted sneaking in, and was shot twice, once in each leg. The damage was not enough to stop him, though. Alex made good use of aimed shots with his rifle to drop two guards with headshots, and the party took the hangar in approximately 20 seconds, preventing the guards from raising the alarm.
Once the guards were neutralized, Cho rewired the WHM-8M Warhammer that was sitting in the bay, and Alex took the 'Mech out. They departed at 29 minutes into their 30 minute window. The Word of Blake patrol (the rest of the Level II) returned on schedule, and immediately set off in pursuit of Alexander. With some support from Cho's helicopter piloting skills and Simon's ability to interfere with the Blakist's tracking of Alexander's 'Mech, he managed to escape with the machine. The party stowed it in a cave about a hundred kilometers from Devil's Tower.
This session was relatively well received, but the planning phase quickly entered analysis paralysis early on; the party didn't even reach the site until halfway through the session, which limited my options for combat to fit the bad guys into session. Also, Alex's Small Arms +7 combined with the Aimed Shots rules I discussed last week ended up being more broken than I expected, especially if he "pops out, fires, and returns" in one turn. I need to determine how to make enemy units more formidable in future encounters. More on that later this week.
In this session, the party got contacted by another Terran Resistance member. She explained to them that there were going to be coordinated 'Mech hijackings on a particular day all around the world. The reason for this was because one incident would likely cause the Word to raise their security around their 'Mechs, so while it was low, the Resistance wanted to grab as many as possible. They gave Simon contact information for a man in Amsterdam who makes replacement security boxes for BattleMechs, and a half-hour window and coordinates for a 'Mech they expected to be available.
Cho made the purchase in Amsterdam, and the party traveled to the site, an outlying patrol hangar not far from Devil's Tower. Arriving on schedule, the party surveyed the target site, assessed defensive strength at four guards playing poker, and elected a two-prong attack from either end of the corrogated metal hangar. This was their first encounter with military-grade infantry (Small Arms +4), and as a result, Cho was spotted sneaking in, and was shot twice, once in each leg. The damage was not enough to stop him, though. Alex made good use of aimed shots with his rifle to drop two guards with headshots, and the party took the hangar in approximately 20 seconds, preventing the guards from raising the alarm.
Once the guards were neutralized, Cho rewired the WHM-8M Warhammer that was sitting in the bay, and Alex took the 'Mech out. They departed at 29 minutes into their 30 minute window. The Word of Blake patrol (the rest of the Level II) returned on schedule, and immediately set off in pursuit of Alexander. With some support from Cho's helicopter piloting skills and Simon's ability to interfere with the Blakist's tracking of Alexander's 'Mech, he managed to escape with the machine. The party stowed it in a cave about a hundred kilometers from Devil's Tower.
This session was relatively well received, but the planning phase quickly entered analysis paralysis early on; the party didn't even reach the site until halfway through the session, which limited my options for combat to fit the bad guys into session. Also, Alex's Small Arms +7 combined with the Aimed Shots rules I discussed last week ended up being more broken than I expected, especially if he "pops out, fires, and returns" in one turn. I need to determine how to make enemy units more formidable in future encounters. More on that later this week.
Friday, January 20, 2012
2D10 to 2D6
Converting Target Numbers from MechWarrior Third Edition and Classic BattleTech RPG is a non-trivial task, but isn't too hard, and something that I can explain fairly quickly and provide a means for computing what a TN in one system is in the other. The basic principle here is that any given TN has a certain probability associated with it. The goal is to match that probability in the 2D10 system to the closest probability match we can get in the 2D6 system. To illustrate, the probability of rolling any TN on a 2D10 is:
TN P(TN)
2 100.00%
3 99.00%
4 97.00%
5 94.00%
6 90.00%
7 85.00%
8 79.00%
9 72.00%
10 64.00%
11 55.00%
12 45.00%
13 36.00%
14 28.00%
15 21.00%
16 15.00%
17 10.00%
18 6.00%
19 3.00%
20 1.00%
The TN on 2D6 is
TN P(TN)
2 100.00%
3 97.22%
4 91.67%
5 83.33%
6 72.22%
7 58.33%
8 41.67%
9 27.78%
10 16.67%
11 8.33%
12 2.78%
Now, obviously, 2D10 has higher resolution by virtue of having more possible rolls, so we can expect to see several 2D10 results mapping to the same 2D6 result. Looking for the closest possible matches, we get:
The Variance column shows how far the probability of rolling the 2D6 target number is from the 2D10 target number; as you can see from the chart, the difference is less than 5%, except in the case of 10 and 13 on 2D10, which are off by 5.67%. Obviously these conversions are not perfect, but they do provide a means of converting the old 2D10 TNs in material written for the older systems to A Time of War in an approximate fashion that will satisfy any requirement I've ever encountered as a GM.
TN P(TN)
2 100.00%
3 99.00%
4 97.00%
5 94.00%
6 90.00%
7 85.00%
8 79.00%
9 72.00%
10 64.00%
11 55.00%
12 45.00%
13 36.00%
14 28.00%
15 21.00%
16 15.00%
17 10.00%
18 6.00%
19 3.00%
20 1.00%
The TN on 2D6 is
TN P(TN)
2 100.00%
3 97.22%
4 91.67%
5 83.33%
6 72.22%
7 58.33%
8 41.67%
9 27.78%
10 16.67%
11 8.33%
12 2.78%
Now, obviously, 2D10 has higher resolution by virtue of having more possible rolls, so we can expect to see several 2D10 results mapping to the same 2D6 result. Looking for the closest possible matches, we get:
| P(2D10) | 2D10 TN | 2D6 TN | Variance |
| 100.00% | 2 | 2 | 0.00% |
| 99.00% | 3 | 2 | -1.00% |
| 97.00% | 4 | 3 | -0.22% |
| 94.00% | 5 | 3 | -3.22% |
| 90.00% | 6 | 4 | -1.67% |
| 85.00% | 7 | 5 | 1.67% |
| 79.00% | 8 | 5 | -4.33% |
| 72.00% | 9 | 6 | -0.22% |
| 64.00% | 10 | 7 | 5.67% |
| 55.00% | 11 | 7 | -3.33% |
| 45.00% | 12 | 8 | 3.33% |
| 36.00% | 13 | 8 | -5.67% |
| 28.00% | 14 | 9 | 0.22% |
| 21.00% | 15 | 10 | 4.33% |
| 15.00% | 16 | 10 | -1.67% |
| 10.00% | 17 | 11 | 1.67% |
| 6.00% | 18 | 11 | -2.33% |
| 3.00% | 19 | 12 | 0.22% |
| 1.00% | 20 | 12 | -1.78% |
The Variance column shows how far the probability of rolling the 2D6 target number is from the 2D10 target number; as you can see from the chart, the difference is less than 5%, except in the case of 10 and 13 on 2D10, which are off by 5.67%. Obviously these conversions are not perfect, but they do provide a means of converting the old 2D10 TNs in material written for the older systems to A Time of War in an approximate fashion that will satisfy any requirement I've ever encountered as a GM.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Stealing a BattleMech
I knew I had read rules somewhere for stealing a BattleMech. It took a fair amount of searching by hand through my physical library of books, but it turns out the (apparently) last time they were printed was on p 247 of the FAN10975 - Classic BattleTech Companion. This is one book I've been waiting to be replaced with a Time of War-compliant update, but for the moment, I'll explain how I'm doing my own refit of the rules.
There are three major steps described in the art of Grand Theft BattleMech: getting aboard, disabling on-board security, and getting off. The approach, getting aboard, is vaguely described in conceptual terms -- there may be guards, security cameras, locked doors, etc to be bypassed, but we have rules for that already. Once you're in the cockpit, though, numbers start coming around.
The major part of these rules is bypassing the onboard security system. The key changes to the rules are the direct bypass check (requires specialized hardware) and the replacement attempt, which requires an identification check (Tech/Electronics TN 12, Opposed) and the actual removal and substitution check (Tech/Electronics TN 15). After that there are some penalties if the neurohelmet is tuned to the MechWarrior (as with almost all Clan 'Mechs), which translate to +4 penalties, or if the pilot foregos the neurohelmet entirely (+8 piloting, +4 to gunnery.)
The fact that we're translating to A Time of War means we need to adapt these numbers a bit to fit the 2D6 system; TN 15 isn't bad when you're rolling 2D10 in Classic BattleTech RPG, but it is extremely difficult on 2D6. So let's translate that quickly: the TN 12 becomes a TN 8, and the TN 15 check becomes a TN 10. The +4 checks become +3, and the +8 checks become +6.
Tomorrow I'll go over the math of converting CBTRPG checks to AToW checks.
There are three major steps described in the art of Grand Theft BattleMech: getting aboard, disabling on-board security, and getting off. The approach, getting aboard, is vaguely described in conceptual terms -- there may be guards, security cameras, locked doors, etc to be bypassed, but we have rules for that already. Once you're in the cockpit, though, numbers start coming around.
The major part of these rules is bypassing the onboard security system. The key changes to the rules are the direct bypass check (requires specialized hardware) and the replacement attempt, which requires an identification check (Tech/Electronics TN 12, Opposed) and the actual removal and substitution check (Tech/Electronics TN 15). After that there are some penalties if the neurohelmet is tuned to the MechWarrior (as with almost all Clan 'Mechs), which translate to +4 penalties, or if the pilot foregos the neurohelmet entirely (+8 piloting, +4 to gunnery.)
The fact that we're translating to A Time of War means we need to adapt these numbers a bit to fit the 2D6 system; TN 15 isn't bad when you're rolling 2D10 in Classic BattleTech RPG, but it is extremely difficult on 2D6. So let's translate that quickly: the TN 12 becomes a TN 8, and the TN 15 check becomes a TN 10. The +4 checks become +3, and the +8 checks become +6.
Tomorrow I'll go over the math of converting CBTRPG checks to AToW checks.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
BattleMech Selection
This coming session I'm supposed to get Alexander a new BattleMech; the party is planning to break into an outlying outpost of Devil's Tower and steal one. Deciding which BattleMech to give him is both easier in some ways and harder in others than determining Shin's armor. According to the MUL, there are 422 'Mech designs commonly used by the Word of Blake. Of those, 166 were in manufacture during the Jihad era. 122 were introduced before 3074. The Celestial series is primarily deployed to the Shadow Divisions, so those are out. That leaves 80. They're recovering this from essentially an outpost, so I'm going to strike all assault 'Mechs (80+ tons) from the list, bringing us down to 58. That's about all the broad cuts I can make, so now I'll start a closer examination.
The 'Mech we're replacing here is a Black Hawk, a 50-ton Clan OmniMech armed almost exclusively with energy-based weapons, famed for its incredible alpha strike at short range. Something with a large energy weapon bank would be nice, as well as something that's a clear upgrade from the Black Hawk. Perhaps something iconic to the BttleTech franchise. Looking down this list, one element catches my eye: the Warhammer.
The first BattleTech boxed set I ever played had a Warhammer on the front, and back in pre-Clan invasion, it was one of the most fun 'Mechs out there. It carried two PPC as its main battery, which pre-Gauss Rifle was the most single-point-of-impact damage you could get without a number of lucky LRM rolls. The Warhammer has had a ludicrous number of canon variants published (30 according to the MUL), upgraded everytime technology has inched forward. In the mid-3070's, on Terra, that means the Warhammer WHM-8M. Two ER-PPC's, two ER Medium lasers, and a Light Gauss rifle, which the party can either keep there or use to replace the gun on their destroyed helicopter. Its like this 'Mech was designed specifically for this campaign.
I think we have a winner..
The 'Mech we're replacing here is a Black Hawk, a 50-ton Clan OmniMech armed almost exclusively with energy-based weapons, famed for its incredible alpha strike at short range. Something with a large energy weapon bank would be nice, as well as something that's a clear upgrade from the Black Hawk. Perhaps something iconic to the BttleTech franchise. Looking down this list, one element catches my eye: the Warhammer.
The first BattleTech boxed set I ever played had a Warhammer on the front, and back in pre-Clan invasion, it was one of the most fun 'Mechs out there. It carried two PPC as its main battery, which pre-Gauss Rifle was the most single-point-of-impact damage you could get without a number of lucky LRM rolls. The Warhammer has had a ludicrous number of canon variants published (30 according to the MUL), upgraded everytime technology has inched forward. In the mid-3070's, on Terra, that means the Warhammer WHM-8M. Two ER-PPC's, two ER Medium lasers, and a Light Gauss rifle, which the party can either keep there or use to replace the gun on their destroyed helicopter. Its like this 'Mech was designed specifically for this campaign.
I think we have a winner..
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Aimed Shots
One of the biggest problems I had this session was resolving aimed shots at NPC's. Alex in particular wanted to be aiming for critical parts of the attacker's anatomy, but the rules in A Time of War as we quickly tried to determine how aiming worked seemed contradictory at the time. With the advantages of a few extra hours, I've tried to work them out.
For basis, there are two ways to play A Time of War: with or without hit locations. Hit locations tend to make the game a bit more random and considerably deadlier, but also add another element of flavor and excitement. Ten Years on Terra is running with Hit Location rules (AToW, p 190.) If you are not playing with Hit Location rules, aiming is pretty simple: a character can take a "Careful Aim" Complex Action, which grants +1 to hit their target when they eventually fire; this can stack up to +3.
For Hit Locations, shots become somewhat messier. "Aimed Shots" is the term here, and they are mentioned on page 172, and seems to point you to the Hit Location rules on 190, but do not look there; it is a trap! Indeed, the only references in A Time of War to Aimed Shots seems to be the exceptions to them. You cannot make and aimed shot when blind firing (p. 173), you cannot make an aimed shot with a burst weapon, unless you're using Controlled Bursts (p. 173), Aimed Shots may be made when attacking in Melee but not defending (p. 176.) Aimed shot modifiers are given on the Basic Combat Modifiers table on page 178; the Marksman and Sharpshooter special abilities affect Aimed Shots, and the Monowire requires one to operate. Nowhere in the book do the rules actually describe how a character takes an aimed shot, or if that changes the action type, or what happens if the aimed shot misses (i.e, does it have a change to hit the target in the wrong location.) So here's our table ruling.
I hope this helps clarify what proved to be an exceptionally confusing topic to our group. If your table has a considerably different interpretation, please let me know in the comments.
For basis, there are two ways to play A Time of War: with or without hit locations. Hit locations tend to make the game a bit more random and considerably deadlier, but also add another element of flavor and excitement. Ten Years on Terra is running with Hit Location rules (AToW, p 190.) If you are not playing with Hit Location rules, aiming is pretty simple: a character can take a "Careful Aim" Complex Action, which grants +1 to hit their target when they eventually fire; this can stack up to +3.
For Hit Locations, shots become somewhat messier. "Aimed Shots" is the term here, and they are mentioned on page 172, and seems to point you to the Hit Location rules on 190, but do not look there; it is a trap! Indeed, the only references in A Time of War to Aimed Shots seems to be the exceptions to them. You cannot make and aimed shot when blind firing (p. 173), you cannot make an aimed shot with a burst weapon, unless you're using Controlled Bursts (p. 173), Aimed Shots may be made when attacking in Melee but not defending (p. 176.) Aimed shot modifiers are given on the Basic Combat Modifiers table on page 178; the Marksman and Sharpshooter special abilities affect Aimed Shots, and the Monowire requires one to operate. Nowhere in the book do the rules actually describe how a character takes an aimed shot, or if that changes the action type, or what happens if the aimed shot misses (i.e, does it have a change to hit the target in the wrong location.) So here's our table ruling.
At the time a character takes a shot, they may declare this shot is an "Aimed Shot". If the shot is aimed, apply the appropriate combat modifier to the role (-2 to -5), and make the check as normal. If the roll succeeds, the attack is successful, and damage is applied to the specified location. If the roll fails, the shot misses the target entirely.
I hope this helps clarify what proved to be an exceptionally confusing topic to our group. If your table has a considerably different interpretation, please let me know in the comments.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Session 15
Session 15 was a success. It took place roughly a month after Session 14, while Clark was maintaining quarantine among the party in case they had picked anything up at the bioweapons facility. On a Saturday afternoon in the pouring rain, a seven-man mercenary team armed with non-lethal weapons infiltrated the house in an attempt to seize Shin.
This session was pretty much straight combat, as the assault team entered Clark's ranch house from multiple locations, both windows and doors, only a few seconds after the party detected them outside. They were armed primarily with flash ordnance and tranquilizer guns. The PC's developed situational awareness over the first four or five turns, and Cho managed to set the house ablaze with a microgrenade, which Simon spent most of the rest of the session attempting to extinguish.
All told, the party repelled the attack with relatively little trouble, and even managed to take one of the attackers alive. They proceeded to interrogate him, which revealed the attackers had been sent to avenge something Shin had done while on special operations on or near Sarna. They had apparently been searching for him for six years, and this was the culmination of their campaign.
Shin summarily executed the surviving element of the attack party, and they immediately began searching for the one element of the assault group that got away.
This session taught me a great deal about the way non-lethal ordnance works (or doesn't work), that I'll expound on this week.
This session was pretty much straight combat, as the assault team entered Clark's ranch house from multiple locations, both windows and doors, only a few seconds after the party detected them outside. They were armed primarily with flash ordnance and tranquilizer guns. The PC's developed situational awareness over the first four or five turns, and Cho managed to set the house ablaze with a microgrenade, which Simon spent most of the rest of the session attempting to extinguish.
All told, the party repelled the attack with relatively little trouble, and even managed to take one of the attackers alive. They proceeded to interrogate him, which revealed the attackers had been sent to avenge something Shin had done while on special operations on or near Sarna. They had apparently been searching for him for six years, and this was the culmination of their campaign.
Shin summarily executed the surviving element of the attack party, and they immediately began searching for the one element of the assault group that got away.
This session taught me a great deal about the way non-lethal ordnance works (or doesn't work), that I'll expound on this week.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Wow, That Came Fast
With all the weeks I've been losing recently, I'm kind of surprised at the speed with which Session 15 is following on the heels of Session 14 -- there is only a week between them. Fortunately, there's little prepwork needed for this session, at least, prepwork I haven't already done. For the most part, this is the session I discussed in Preparing a One-Shot and Running a One-Shot, without the players have any real preparation time, and adjusting to include a bit of Shin's plotline.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Simon and Shin's Plots
Closing out Clark's character arc has made me realize how far behind I am on other characters' arcs. Alexander is only one session into his arc, Cho has missed two hooks so far, and Simon and Shin haven't even really started. I need to work out a way to work at least a few of these hooks into the next session; the end of the campaign is suddenly rushing up on me in that way that far-off deadlines tend to do.
Alexander and Cho's arcs intersect, so I'm confident that I can tie those together by exploring a bit more about the murder victim list they found at the Sarna station. The operation in which they hijack a WoB 'Mech should be more than adequate to provide an opportunity for Simon's nosing around in the computer systems to provide a good hook there.
Simon and Shin, however, I have very little written. Each has a backstory, so I'm going back to that.
Simon's major hook is "The Singularity Foundation", a theoretical physics thinktank he worked for from the late 3050's until 3067, when he left after being sent on a tour of the Chaos March for three years. This provides me with a couple intersection points; first, Simon could connect into the Sarna HPG plotline at some point, and also he could have been present for an operation one of the ComStar party carried out while they were assigned there.
Shin, on the other hand, has a couple blatant hooks in his backstory. The first is his Dark Secret(2), that Shin burned down a children's hospital as a distraction while on ComStar special operations in the Chaos March. He also has an Enemy/ComStar, representing the faction that assigned a battle armor pilot to a BattleMech at the beginning of this campaign, and finally, he has a Bloodmark(1), which indicates a price on his head of under 20,000 C-Bills. Shin doesn't know about this, and Morgan left it up to me to use that trait as I see fit, so I look forward to winding it in somehow.
The Ranch Attack is the next session planned, which makes an excellent opportunity to bring Shin's Bloodmark into play -- a bounty hunter could easily be leading the party involved in a attempt to take Shin, while the party would assume the assault was TerraSec finally finding their cell. I don't think I can reasonably tie Simon's plot line in there, but I'd meditate on that some more as I do my session planning.
Alexander and Cho's arcs intersect, so I'm confident that I can tie those together by exploring a bit more about the murder victim list they found at the Sarna station. The operation in which they hijack a WoB 'Mech should be more than adequate to provide an opportunity for Simon's nosing around in the computer systems to provide a good hook there.
Simon and Shin, however, I have very little written. Each has a backstory, so I'm going back to that.
Simon's major hook is "The Singularity Foundation", a theoretical physics thinktank he worked for from the late 3050's until 3067, when he left after being sent on a tour of the Chaos March for three years. This provides me with a couple intersection points; first, Simon could connect into the Sarna HPG plotline at some point, and also he could have been present for an operation one of the ComStar party carried out while they were assigned there.
Shin, on the other hand, has a couple blatant hooks in his backstory. The first is his Dark Secret(2), that Shin burned down a children's hospital as a distraction while on ComStar special operations in the Chaos March. He also has an Enemy/ComStar, representing the faction that assigned a battle armor pilot to a BattleMech at the beginning of this campaign, and finally, he has a Bloodmark(1), which indicates a price on his head of under 20,000 C-Bills. Shin doesn't know about this, and Morgan left it up to me to use that trait as I see fit, so I look forward to winding it in somehow.
The Ranch Attack is the next session planned, which makes an excellent opportunity to bring Shin's Bloodmark into play -- a bounty hunter could easily be leading the party involved in a attempt to take Shin, while the party would assume the assault was TerraSec finally finding their cell. I don't think I can reasonably tie Simon's plot line in there, but I'd meditate on that some more as I do my session planning.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Unconscious Characters
In this session, a poor series of rolls ended up nearly killing Simon (6/8 Lethal Damage taken) and render him unconscious the balance of the session from the moment he took it. This actually turned him into a new challenge for the party, since he required emergency medical care from the critically important mission specialist, in this case, Clark. While this seems like a non-issue, it is important to understand that this entire mission, from the time Cho stepped through the facility door, to the moment Shin left carrying Simon on his back, took something a hair under five minutes game-time, despite taking 180 minutes real time.
The practical upshot of this wound was to further complicate an already seriously problematic situation. This worked out splendidly for me, but was purely by chance; Simon was the only character to take damage from falling debris, and the expected value of the damage was much lower than what he ended up with. In this case, since the blast that took down the ceiling was something the party thought they had already disarmed, I ruled getting his was a straight EDG attribute roll, taking MoF damage. Since most of my party has at least 3 or 4 EDG, I didn't think it would be too serious; a point or two for most. Anthony just rolled exceptionally poorly.
The reason I'm bringing this up is that this was the first time the party had to deal with a real casualty that affected their operational capability; they had to move Simon, and they had to do it quick, because a naval bombardment was coming down around their ears. This was surprisingly effective in raising the tension of the session well beyond what I was expecting. I'm thinking about how I can engineer that kind of concern in the future without relying on a lucky roll and without overexposing the party to danger.
The practical upshot of this wound was to further complicate an already seriously problematic situation. This worked out splendidly for me, but was purely by chance; Simon was the only character to take damage from falling debris, and the expected value of the damage was much lower than what he ended up with. In this case, since the blast that took down the ceiling was something the party thought they had already disarmed, I ruled getting his was a straight EDG attribute roll, taking MoF damage. Since most of my party has at least 3 or 4 EDG, I didn't think it would be too serious; a point or two for most. Anthony just rolled exceptionally poorly.
The reason I'm bringing this up is that this was the first time the party had to deal with a real casualty that affected their operational capability; they had to move Simon, and they had to do it quick, because a naval bombardment was coming down around their ears. This was surprisingly effective in raising the tension of the session well beyond what I was expecting. I'm thinking about how I can engineer that kind of concern in the future without relying on a lucky roll and without overexposing the party to danger.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Why My Players Liked Session 14
Session 14 was an important session to look at because it went so well. Why? Well, there were a few reasons my players cited.
First, everybody got to do what their character was good at. Clark got to do his biologist thing, obviously, while Simon's Computer and Communication/Conventional skills were also of great use. Cho got to beat up a guard in Melee combat, which is largely what his character was built for, and Shin got to defuse a bomb and found some power armor for the first time since the party united. Finally, Alexander got to really lead the party in an assault operation that was fairly successful.
This sort of integration is the kind of thing I always aim for, but rarely succeed at. I worry that I'm simply not creative enough to come up with adventures that require three soldiers, a biologist, and a communications expert. That said, this might get easier as we move forward into the assault missions -- Clark's function as a medic will come to the fore.
First, everybody got to do what their character was good at. Clark got to do his biologist thing, obviously, while Simon's Computer and Communication/Conventional skills were also of great use. Cho got to beat up a guard in Melee combat, which is largely what his character was built for, and Shin got to defuse a bomb and found some power armor for the first time since the party united. Finally, Alexander got to really lead the party in an assault operation that was fairly successful.
This sort of integration is the kind of thing I always aim for, but rarely succeed at. I worry that I'm simply not creative enough to come up with adventures that require three soldiers, a biologist, and a communications expert. That said, this might get easier as we move forward into the assault missions -- Clark's function as a medic will come to the fore.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Session 14
This session was probably one of my most successful to date. Thanks to our upkeep last session, we basically went straight into game; Simon got a rendezvous from Terran Resistance with a brief overview of the mission plan. They were being sent in to neutralize the WoB bioweapons lab through a back door, while the rest of the Resistance on-site made a diversionary assault on the main gate.
The party arrived to the considerable confusion of their handlers, who had sent in a group they thought was the Denver team about ten minutes earlier. Alexei arrives at the scene in time to sort out that the PC's are not impostors, but the team who went ahead of them certainly was. The PC's rushed in to discover the door already breached and serious damage to the facility, although the research labs they were supposed to neutralize were untouched.
The party quickly dispatched the remaining guards and discovered that the base's self-destruct sequence had been engaged. A rapid search through the base located the closest self-destruct charge, as well as the branth (progress too deep had been cut off by a tunnel that was presumably collapsed by the impostor group, who the party assumed to be the Missouri Cell.) Simon went to work hacking the self-destruct system, while Shin and Cho worked frantically to disarm the bomb.
When the party was satisfied that the base was safe for a few minutes, they began frantically collecting samples from the lab. When Simon successfully broke the self-destruct's command system, it immediately dialed up the "Secondary Method", i.e., the Righteous Justice in orbit. The party figured they only had a few minutes, so they kept collecting samples, and Cho kept watch over their escape route. Shortly before they finished, most of the base started to collapse as Simon's hacks proved unequal to the task they set out for, and the falling debris landed on Simon, critically injuring him and rendering him unconscious for the rest of the session.
The partial collapse also separated Cho from the rest of the party, and the bulk of the party from the exit. They fought their way out from the debris, and discovered that the branth containment lab had been breached, and three of the animals were loose. Clark moved forward, and used his animal handling and some spare food to lure the branths back into the facility. Alexander placed a microgrenade on the defused bomb to set it off again, and Shin carried Simon out.
Shin also found a battle armor suit in the lab enclosure, apparently being used as a hazmat suit. He took a few minutes to put it on as the first shots from Righteous Justice's battery started to land. Once Shin was suited up, the party fled the facility, with Simon in tow, without further incident. Alexander detonated the final bomb, presumably destroying the branths and the remainder of the base.
The party arrived to the considerable confusion of their handlers, who had sent in a group they thought was the Denver team about ten minutes earlier. Alexei arrives at the scene in time to sort out that the PC's are not impostors, but the team who went ahead of them certainly was. The PC's rushed in to discover the door already breached and serious damage to the facility, although the research labs they were supposed to neutralize were untouched.
The party quickly dispatched the remaining guards and discovered that the base's self-destruct sequence had been engaged. A rapid search through the base located the closest self-destruct charge, as well as the branth (progress too deep had been cut off by a tunnel that was presumably collapsed by the impostor group, who the party assumed to be the Missouri Cell.) Simon went to work hacking the self-destruct system, while Shin and Cho worked frantically to disarm the bomb.
When the party was satisfied that the base was safe for a few minutes, they began frantically collecting samples from the lab. When Simon successfully broke the self-destruct's command system, it immediately dialed up the "Secondary Method", i.e., the Righteous Justice in orbit. The party figured they only had a few minutes, so they kept collecting samples, and Cho kept watch over their escape route. Shortly before they finished, most of the base started to collapse as Simon's hacks proved unequal to the task they set out for, and the falling debris landed on Simon, critically injuring him and rendering him unconscious for the rest of the session.
The partial collapse also separated Cho from the rest of the party, and the bulk of the party from the exit. They fought their way out from the debris, and discovered that the branth containment lab had been breached, and three of the animals were loose. Clark moved forward, and used his animal handling and some spare food to lure the branths back into the facility. Alexander placed a microgrenade on the defused bomb to set it off again, and Shin carried Simon out.
Shin also found a battle armor suit in the lab enclosure, apparently being used as a hazmat suit. He took a few minutes to put it on as the first shots from Righteous Justice's battery started to land. Once Shin was suited up, the party fled the facility, with Simon in tow, without further incident. Alexander detonated the final bomb, presumably destroying the branths and the remainder of the base.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Organizing Sessions
One problem I repeatedly encounter is finding a good way to organize all my materials for a session; maps, NPC record sheets, notes, PC character sheets and other forms, etc. The lack of a many A Time of War adventures has precluded a good, standardized way of arranging these kinds of documents. When I have some time to slow down and think about it at length, I need to put some thought into exactly how I can organize the various papers I need so that I'm not flipping through a pocket folder every time I need one.
But that time is not now.
But that time is not now.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Taking What You Have, And What You Need
Reflecting a bit on this week's entries, I realized I might have an opportunity to tie up a couple of things I need to accomplish with this session. I can bring in one of the elements that needs more screen time, and piggy-back on the session to provide more continuity to my campaign. But which one?
Bruce Lecna would make little sense; he's a MechWarrior, not a scientist, and has responsibilities elsewhere. Likewise, David Alsace has even less connection to a Word of Blake bioweapons lab.
The Missouri Cell could be useful, in that I could have them do the damage that renders part of the base inaccessible, although it would mean committing to a certain interpretation of that group. I couldn't reasonably use them as a Word of Blake Irregular Black Ops group after using them as a semi-friendly force here.
Alexei makes a lot of sense -- he could appear to assist the Resistance operation, and possibly engage the characters in some more meaningful way; neither Simon nor Clark have seen him since their first session.
Finally, if I want to introduce Cameron St. Jamais, this would be as good a time as any. He could be conducting a site visit at the time of the attack, or even just be communicating with a scientist who the party bursts in on. He might also be coordinating the WarShip strike.
I need to decide sooner rather than later, though; Session 14 is bearing down on us.
Bruce Lecna would make little sense; he's a MechWarrior, not a scientist, and has responsibilities elsewhere. Likewise, David Alsace has even less connection to a Word of Blake bioweapons lab.
The Missouri Cell could be useful, in that I could have them do the damage that renders part of the base inaccessible, although it would mean committing to a certain interpretation of that group. I couldn't reasonably use them as a Word of Blake Irregular Black Ops group after using them as a semi-friendly force here.
Alexei makes a lot of sense -- he could appear to assist the Resistance operation, and possibly engage the characters in some more meaningful way; neither Simon nor Clark have seen him since their first session.
Finally, if I want to introduce Cameron St. Jamais, this would be as good a time as any. He could be conducting a site visit at the time of the attack, or even just be communicating with a scientist who the party bursts in on. He might also be coordinating the WarShip strike.
I need to decide sooner rather than later, though; Session 14 is bearing down on us.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Damage Is A Shortcut
When I'm designing a building, I try to start by figuring out what rooms that building would need to accomplish its purpose. Sometimes, like in the case of a major military facility, that's a very large amount rooms; barracks, kitchens, storage, infirmary, garages, and that's before you get to mission-specific facilities, like airstrips and 'Mech hangars. One thing that I've found to be a shortcut is to seal off a section of the facility; either because the location is in lockdown, or because it has sustained damage.
For instance, a subterranean base might suffer a cave-in under bombardment, cutting off a large section of the facility. This serves two purposes; first, it means only the part on this side of the cave-in needs to be designed, and second, it allows a hand-waving answer to any questions of "Where is the _____?" The answer is simply "On the other side of the cave-in."
I think I'll end up using this trick for the Word of Blake Bioweapons base; I'm finding I can't get it to fit reasonably on a battlemat without making it unrealistically simple. A lockdown might make more sense than damage in this case; it is unlikely the Resistance has access to bunker-busting weapons.
For instance, a subterranean base might suffer a cave-in under bombardment, cutting off a large section of the facility. This serves two purposes; first, it means only the part on this side of the cave-in needs to be designed, and second, it allows a hand-waving answer to any questions of "Where is the _____?" The answer is simply "On the other side of the cave-in."
I think I'll end up using this trick for the Word of Blake Bioweapons base; I'm finding I can't get it to fit reasonably on a battlemat without making it unrealistically simple. A lockdown might make more sense than damage in this case; it is unlikely the Resistance has access to bunker-busting weapons.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A New Year, And A Look Forward and Back
2012 is upon us, and I'm pleased to be back on-task. I expect to be closing out this campaign in the next six months, so I'm starting to think long-range about how to tie the plot threads I have out there together. Right now, there are a handful of items that I need to weave in:
1) Bruce Lecna. This Word of Blake commander was the initial objective of the ComStar party, and they are bitterly sore that they failed to eliminate him. They want another swing at him, and I'd like to give it to them.
2) David Alsace. Precenter TerraSec is something of the major bogeyman for the combined party, and they really want to discredit him (or worse) somehow.
3) The Missouri Cell. These guys are resistance fighters who are considerably more murderous than the average Terran Resistance fighter. The party is split on if they want to make contact; some think they are fantastically effective, others think they're just scary. I've intentionally not developed them so I can bring them in on whatever side makes the best challenge and dramatic effect for the party.
4) Alexei Romanov. The man who betrayed Simon and Clark in their very first session, he's still at large and coordinating large parts of the Terran Resistance in western North America. The party is somewhat cagey about him, since he has both helped and hurt them, but they want to understand what his true motivations are.
5) Cameron St. Jamias. Precentor Martial hasn't been much mentioned in this campaign, but his role will likely grow to equal or eclipse Alsace once Terra comes under attack by coalition forces. If he'll actually appear or not depends greatly on how OPERATION MECHSTEAL goes (the infiltration of 9th Division Headquarters at Devil's Tower.)
So that's the outline of what I need to bring together. A bit more on how I'll do that in the future.
1) Bruce Lecna. This Word of Blake commander was the initial objective of the ComStar party, and they are bitterly sore that they failed to eliminate him. They want another swing at him, and I'd like to give it to them.
2) David Alsace. Precenter TerraSec is something of the major bogeyman for the combined party, and they really want to discredit him (or worse) somehow.
3) The Missouri Cell. These guys are resistance fighters who are considerably more murderous than the average Terran Resistance fighter. The party is split on if they want to make contact; some think they are fantastically effective, others think they're just scary. I've intentionally not developed them so I can bring them in on whatever side makes the best challenge and dramatic effect for the party.
4) Alexei Romanov. The man who betrayed Simon and Clark in their very first session, he's still at large and coordinating large parts of the Terran Resistance in western North America. The party is somewhat cagey about him, since he has both helped and hurt them, but they want to understand what his true motivations are.
5) Cameron St. Jamias. Precentor Martial hasn't been much mentioned in this campaign, but his role will likely grow to equal or eclipse Alsace once Terra comes under attack by coalition forces. If he'll actually appear or not depends greatly on how OPERATION MECHSTEAL goes (the infiltration of 9th Division Headquarters at Devil's Tower.)
So that's the outline of what I need to bring together. A bit more on how I'll do that in the future.
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