Returning to The Bleed.

I'm pretty happy to say I'm starting an Ashen Stars campaign on Google+.  Well more like restarting to the tabletop campaign I set ran last winter.  Ok, more like a reboot, but with some of the same characters and with nods to what happened in the past, but not depending on past information.   Well whatever - Ashen Stars wooo.

I'm going to try to use Roll20 for some of the stuff, especially for rolling dice and adding point spends vi the use of cards.  We quickly found in the tabletop run that using playing cards was the best way to add points to a die roll when doing challenges - especially for ship combat.  It was exciting and fast to for Gm and players to slide out the cards (sometimes other players would slid in an extra one if they were helping) then roll the dice and flip the cards over.  I have made a custom set of cards for this in Roll20 so we will see how it works.  I'm not really interested in using the virtual tabletop for minis or things but it might be useful for bringing up clues and images.

There is no character sheet for Ashen Stars but I did put in a request for one and someone did do a sheet for Trail of Cthulhu so hopefully someone can use that as a spring board.  In the meantime we will be using Pelgrane's The Black Book Gumshoe character creator to manage the sheets and storing them up on Google Plus for me to reference.  Old school  (well new-old school) but it works.

I also managed to get a copy of Accretion Disk which is available now even though they sure don't seem to be shouting about it.  The Pelgrane site  mentions this book is available for is a pre-order but I ordered it and got my copy of the PDF right away - the physical copy is probably still making it's way across the sea.  I really was waiting for this book to come out and it is a good resource.  I was a bit disappointed that there was not more campaign related material however.  The initial pitch mentioned different paths for a crew to take - more info for running traders, or criminals or explorer crew campaigns.  There does not seem to be which is a shame - but that doesn't mean the contents of the book are bad - just that it doesn't have that stuff which I really wanted.  I will try to do a review of it when I finally get the physical book - but quickly say it is well named in that there is good stuff and it adds to the existing rules but it's not an expansion of the rules.

I will be adding in my extra financial rule for lifestyle costs and we will be tracking ship mortgage on a spreadsheet.  I am looking for rules that flesh out Public Relations and Business Affairs skills to manage contracts and reputation, things to make money more interesting in the story without getting into inventory and cost tables.  This includes financial random events, mini jobs and trading and anything that will keep a crew hungry but not counting pennies.  I had some success with this in the previous run and think it adds to the game.

I am also trying to pick which combat rules we can include from the thriller combat rules for gumshoe.  One of the biggest complaints we had from the last time we played Trail of Cthulhu was when a player would spend points for a great hit and then roll a 1 for damage. Not very satisfying after paying for that spotlight.  This isn't so bad in Ashen Stars where there are stun settings and poppers -  but it still sucks.  We are thinking about using a suggestion to add in some of those points to the damage - or using a critical hit rule - or using fixed damage for lethal combat.  Well we are thinking about something anyway.

So much excite and all the good things.  I love this game and it will be good to play again.

Krombach's final letter

My good friend Glen,

I know that that we have embarked on a dangerous path and I am older but not perhaps wiser than a few years ago, so I am preparing for the worst.  If you are reading this then something has happened and I am dead.  I think that you will have landed on your feet however.  Do not be sad for me.  I have had an extraordinary life.  These adventures we undertake are very exciting and the potential for learning is great, however I think that one of the greatest rewards has been your friendship.

I have left my affairs in good order in preparation for boarding the plane tomorrow.  I did not wish people to know but I tell you now - most of my money has been spent testing my theories on shared memory, and I have had many setbacks.  I have few beneficiaries, most notably my brother and his wife, die Möwe.  I have never liked her.  Fitz will inherit what little money I have and what income I make on this adventure.  I am also leaving them the only investment I have left - 61 shares of Abbott Laboratories preferred stock.  Perhaps they can use it to line a birdcage.  

I am leaving you my Durant.  Never drive it to Toronto.  I also leave you what things you may wish to have from my apartment before it is all auctioned off.  There is a lock box in my desk which contains my notes on the lotus and what little remains of it.  If you see Dr. Peasley, please return his silver cigar cutter which he must have dropped at some point.  Also you will find the pocket watch you lost some years ago.  I had found it and had been meaning to tell you.

Abschied und gute Nacht meine feiner Kerl!

-Wilhiem

Captain Thornside's tale

We were on the return leg of a deep patrol and station holding for position transmissions. We were the advance of 3rd fleet and pathfinding so we needed to recalculate.  This was just after what’s he saying I didn't catch that so everyone was set to lethal and moral was pretty low.  We were skirting a nebula when Oligar - he was the hailer on the Casanova - he had something on long range and he called Skip here and asked if we were picking it up too.  We slipped into low EM and waited.  It was a nevermind its not important.  Our orders were to find a route around them, but if we could pinpoint their location without tipping them off - that was even better.  We knew we had to get a message back but here was no way we would hit translight or get signal off without being discovered.  We waited and we just watched them.

It looked like they were hanging around for something to happen, and sure enough after two days a durugh ship dropped out of translight.  Well that just changed things up since we had intel that the duruhg were engaged with the 7th and 23rd at would you get to the point.   They must have been staging up for a sneak attack!  Now we had to try to get word back to fleet, even if it meant getting caught.  Skip here set up a crypto pack and we pulsed it out and at the same time we fired up our transwarp.  They must have had some kind of spike or counter-measures up though because as soon as we broke translight there was a huge feedback surge and all our the systems went dead.  It took too long but we got life support back up and when we rebooted the nav and tried to position - well we were here in The Bottle.  I was pretty banged up and we had lost Sven and McMurphy and over on the Casanova they lost Kt' l' ak, their medic, and Captain Bonner.  We tried to figure our position, but there just wasn't anything out there - you know - not even any stars but the dwarf.  Skip picked up the wreckage and a signal beacon on the rock - that's the one you picked up in the other crater.  We didn't recognize the code so we assumed it was oh my head hurts and so we went silent.  I think that’s what saved us since a lot of of those wrecks out there look to have scoring like the Casanova got so I figure they hailed the beacon and the squids took them out.

I don’t know who they are.  Rex here says his people have heard of them and they are called Ged.  Says they are ravagers.  Says their ships land and they spill out and lay waste.  The Woodies have been here longest of us and them squids were here a long time before they came.  It’s hard to pin the Woodies down on that, but they have a way of talking that makes me think their idea of a long time is a bit bigger than ours.  I figure a couple hundred years at least judging from the damage on some of those hulks out there.  That ship they have is some sort of carrier/dreadnought and the crew are all in cryo with just a few out slinking about keeping a big ol eye on things.  Its a good thing too because they are nasty business. Fast moving and hard to see.  One of them kraken bastards took out half my people and ripped Woody 2's arm off before we drove it off.  He was out hunting.  They like to hunt.  It's a big ship, there must be thousands of them on there, but like the stickman says, they are sleeping.  They are just as stuck here as the rest of us.

News Net Nine Special Report

The following blog post contains some pretty big SPOILERS concerning the Ashen Stars supplement Dead Rock Seven.  This post is primarily supplemental material for my game group but may be of interest to you if you are running Ashen Stars games or have already run or read the Dead Rock Seven materials.

DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU ARE A PLAYER OR WANT TO PLAY ASHEN STARS OR ADVENTURES FROM DEAD ROCK SEVEN.  Seriously it will spoil it for you.  It will even spoil it if you don't play this adventure because your GM might rip off some of the ideas.  Don't even peek if you are curious because THESE ARE SOME GOOD ADVENTURES AND YOU WANT TO PLAY THEM. Go buy the PDF or something.

If you are still good to go then scroll down for the post.  If you are playing in my game then please dig in.





















################ LAST WARNING HERE BE SPOILERS. #########################

"Hello Capitoline and the Bleed.   Th-Kurst here with a News Net Nine flash update.  The infra-web has been well cooked with speculation when it was discovered that former lazer Denna Bonner had been taken into custody and implicated in the destruction of the Princess Beatrix starliner.  Bonner is well known as being one of the first wave of licensed effectuators, a delicious career that came to an end with her resignation two years ago immediately following the acidic conclusion of the Mo'toka trial.  Bonner has been a staple feature of conference circuits since her retirement.  She is also outspoken critic of Combine policies regarding the Bleed, a tasty side-dish that has not gone unnoticed on the forums.  Officials from Ossa One have neither confirmed or denied rumors that Bonner was working with a highly placed official from the Caver government on Pioneer, an historical synthculture in the Darrian Colonies.  News Net Nine's own Abbi Longren has secured a rare interview with Pioneer's Minister of Security.  Are you there Abby?"

"Yes, hello Th-Kurst.  I have here on holo Fina Rossi, the top Minister in President Caver's cabinet and the head of Security and Internal Affairs.  Minister Rossi, can you shed some light on this troubling news linking your government with the destruction of the Princess Beatrix."

"Thank you Abby, and greetings to all gentlebeings of the Bleed.  Before we continue, on behalf of President Caver and myself, I want to express my heartfelt and humble condolences to the families who lost loved ones in that terrible terrible accident.  The Caver government wishes to offer our full cooperation into this investigation.  I believe it was Kima who said ‘There are none of us so vast that can not be brought low by our sorrow.’"

"Minister, can you speak to our listeners about the allegations that one of your own staff is implicated along with Denna Bonner in this criminal investigation.”

“Yes Abby, I believe you are speaking of Mr. Vos, a junior security officer on my staff.  It makes me very sad and distressed that Mr. Vos is implicated in this alleged crime.  He was a good man and it pains me to think that his generous and open nature may have gotten him into such trouble.”

“Excuse me Minister, I’m not sure I understand.”

“Ernst Vos was an ardent admirer of Denna Bonner and had followed her career with great interest.  This was during the rebuilding, a time when emotions were very high and we were all glad to be survivors. Almost everyone had some hobby or passion that helped them get through that dark time. However he was a quiet man. He did disclose his interest in Bonner when he asked to be assigned to her personal security during her recent visit, however his psych records showed no indication that this might cloud his judgement."

"Are you saying Vos was in love with Bonner?"

"Oh Abby, no. I believe he was infatuated with her however. Perhaps he imagined himself on her crew, a Laser himself, when she was ambushed in a dark car park. Perhaps he thought himself her savior when he opened fire upon that crew of bounty hunters?"

"So is it the position of your government is that Vos was acting on his own?"

"It is our position that the situation was handled very poorly. Although the Caver government is willing to extend full support to agents of the Combine, we were not informed of their presence on Pioneer and we were not extended the courtesy of learning that Bonner was a person of interest. Perhaps if Ossa One had deigned to work with our people we could have settled this matter without violence and the death of two of our officers. We realize that one of ours, a minor but good officer, may have overstepped his authority, however we hope that these extenuating circumstances are taken into consideration in the coming days."

"Minister Rossi, why was Denna Bonner on Pioneer? Did your government know she was a fugitive? Did Ernst Vos know?"

"Miss Longren, Denna Bonner was to be the keynote speaker in a conference being hosted on our planet.  Many other prominent speakers were also in attendance, many of whom incidentally have spoken out against Combine policies in the past. If we had any knowledge that Denna Bonner was a fugitive we would have taken appropriate action. However we did not know. In fact it is apparently still unknown what the status of Miss Bonner is by anyone except Combine agents. What Mr. Vos did or did not know is not mine to say, he alone is responsible for his actions. But is that not all any of us want? To be responsible for our own actions, to make our own decisions? And how can we do that if we are not given all the information? I think that we in the Bleed need to seriously consider where we stand in the eyes of Ossa One and the Combine. Thank you."

"Thank You Minister."

Welcome to Pioneer

News Net Nine

"Good Morning Cappers!  Abby Longren - News Net Nine and I'm here with your Mid Morning Info Dump."

"The market closed lower yesterday, continuing it's recent slide.  Hardest hit were the industrials, but investors also seemed skittish on Agra and Chem.  Losses were slightly offset by soft rally in the financial sectors, fueled by rumors that the Council will once more be pushing back the final voting deadline on Prop 14, the insurance reformation bill.

Joloca/Beta Tarsus president Sheel Augustine met again this week with members of the pheromone manufacturing industry from across the Bleed to draft formal submissions addressing the controversial Olfactory Regulatory Agenda Bill, more commonly called the Sniffer Law.  Should the ORA bill gain traction in the Conference, use of pheromone based personal enhancement products will be subject to tighter regulation and higher liability.  Augustine has stated publicly that should this bill  pass it would cripple not only the highly controversial Stimulust market, but all phero based industries.  She cautions that the bill is a slippery slope that could cause far reaching impacts through out all scent based businesses, from perfume and to food preparation - even your morning coffee.  Yikes! Better savor that sweet morning cuppa while you can folks."

"And now on to our top story:
Recovery teams from Knossos are still working to gather the remains of passengers and crew of the Princess Beatrix, the luxury liner that was horrifically wrecked en route to the Aldebaran system.  Eighty-eight bodies were recovered from the wreckage, confirming that almost all hands were lost in the accident.  The Lazer crew first on the scene managed to rescue three passengers but immediately left the scene in pursuit of the single lifeboat that launched.  Why no other lifeboats were launched and why the Lazer crew left the scene so rapidly is still not yet clear.  Family members were quick to condemn the actions of the rescue crew and are demanding an explanation why no attempt was made to recover the remains.  Salvage crews arriving quickly after the accident report that they have not seen such devastation since the wa-- incident.  I have with me Lloyd Thornside, owner and operator of Lloyds Lazers.  Good morning Lloyd."

"Why thank you Abby, and top of the morning to you and yours."

"Thank you Lloyd.  As a Laser yourself, can you perhaps pop a spot on these events for our viewers?"

"Well Abby, I think what we're dealing with here is a new crew and you know they gotta be looking to prove themselves.  I mean I'm not condoning sloppy work but I've been there, and when the money is tight it's hard to have the patience to really hit all the marks.  Not everyone can follow that hard path like I did. Now you might expect everyone to provide top notch professional like you get with Lloyd's - you know Lazers with that personal touch.  But I have to tell you that kind of service only comes after years of experience.

"But Lloyd, why would they leave the wreckage so quickly, and with only a short broadcast beforehand?  Was this because of the SVC?"

"Right you are Abby.  A SVC or Standard Vengeance Clause is a very attractive incentive.  That is why some shipping lines still use them.  However in my opinion these type of contracts only serve to encourage people to get into the effectuator business.  People who might not be dedicated to Law and Order or those looking for a quick payoff.  I think that the industry needs to work towards a licencing model rather than these kind of open ended incentives.  I don't blame these fellows for putting their thrusters before their processors, but I also think we can do better.  The public deserves better."

"Indeed they do.  Thank you Lloyd.  We've been speaking with Lloyd Thornside, founder and owner of Lloyds Lazers, about the recent wreck of the Princess Beatrix.  Stay tuned to News Net Nine for all the details on this terrible tragedy.

Star Wars

My bounty hunter was down, shot by the foul slaver Trex.  My partner, the smuggler, patched me up with a stim pack while my other partner, the wookie, rushed the gangplank. 

I managed to get off a shot from a crouch position and take out one of the battle droids.  The smuggler nailed the other droid.

Trex backpedaled up into the ship but the wookie was right behind him delivering a savage blow.

I ran up the gangplank and landed the final shot on Trex.  We fired up the engines and launched just as the garrison of storm troopers rushed the hanger.  Then we had to shoot down a quartet of tie fighters.  It was a close dogfight and we were down to just two hull points before we were able to make the jump to lightspeed.  Glad I brought my tool kit.

And so that's how you play Star Wars: Edge of the Empire.

Bode's story

I wanted to get this taken down and I hope that you write what I said because I’m going to have someone else read it to me and so it better be right.  
My name is Bode Pförtner which means porter or doorman and my family were fetch and carry men for the coach lines.  I grew up poor but not as bad as some folks. I would have been a porter too but my papi was a lucky man and once found a nobleman’s bag that had walked away on him.   It must have been an important bag because that man said now he owed Pa a debt and so Pa said you take my sons to the army to be soldiers, and not two penny men nor diggers neither.  And so my brother Cole and me we went off and became soldiers.
I had steady hands and was a real good shot, better than most, and so I went into the Crossbowmen and then the Handgunners.  My brother Cole was better than me even, and smarter too, and he made a scout and even got taught to read and do sums.  I caught on that he wasn't just a normal scout either because he knew things and the guys he ran with were not regular soldiers.  One time we were up in the Fallow Hills and Cole told me I should be sick that morning and when I told him no I’d stick by my crew he threw a punch or two and got us both in the stocks.  So in the morning I missed my post and sure enough there were gobs that had got past the lines and killed 9 guys in my unit.  Cole knew it was coming, but what makes me cold sometimes is that the brass must have knew too, and they sent us there anyhow.  Cole never said what he did and I never asked.  A soldier knows how to keep their mouth shut though and I’m saying too much, even if I’m not in the army anymore.
It was pretty good being a Handgunner and we got early mess and dry beds because the guns.  I’m glad I had good hand and eye because I never had to try to sleep squatting in a bog with my sword across my knees like I sometimes saw infantry doing.   Then again, I knew lots of infantry who’d rather kit out in a bog than sleep beside the powder.  We sometimes got overrun and had to get in with sword and board, or had to form up to break a charge, but mostly we were out of the boil and somewhere high up spotting and taking shots.  I think those were the best days of my life, back before the Third, making the Silvers and getting my Hochland.  I’d kill a man for a Hochland, but then most people would likely.  I wouldn't sell it though so that's different.
I don’t remember a lot of the actual war, just a flash here and there.  I know I was covering the Greatswords and it was going our way until they just left position.  I remember feeling that something wasn't going right and wondering where Baerfaust had gone and seeing the Mad Count’s banners flapping alone on an empty field.  Well not empty because there were suddenly gobs and squigs everywhere and we couldn't load fast enough or pull back before they hit us.  I took an axe to the head and that was all I remember until I woke up in the Shallyan temple and couldn't understand why couldn't talk or move my arms or legs.  So that’s how I found out had been knocked out for some eight months and so all my muscles were soft and also that I had a piece of brass in my head to keep my brain covered up.  Thats also how I found out I was out of the army and all my wages had gone for my care and to pay the chirurgeon and healers.  I likely would have wound up in a hole as well when the money ran out except for Gravin Clothhilde who kept a fund going for some of the more pitiful cases.  She came to the hospice too, she didn't just pay for our bread like she was buying off a lively past, she came to the temple and she helped bring us our meals and she helped us eat them.  She read books to us.
I got better fast once I woke up.  It took me another month to get my strength back after being in bed so long and I spent that helping feed and care for those ones worse off than me.  There was a man there who had lost both legs at the knees and an arm and he was the most cheerful fellow in the place and always said he was just happy he still had his prick and one good hand to hold it.   So I felt I was a lucky man like my papi. I had lost a lot of things though, and not just my trade and my money. Most of the Third was just a blur to me and I had a hard time with names of guys I used to know or remembering faces. I asked about Cole and someone said he’d been to see me while I was asleep. He had said he was doing a job down by the docks and I should look him up if I woke up. But I hadn't woke up and when I finally did he wasn't anywhere around the dock anymore.  At least I think he wasn't, I’m kind of worried that I don’t remember his face anymore either...

In which a long awaited package arrives at my door

When I got back from our family camping trip there was a small parcel from Finland at the door.   My copy of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess hard cover book had arrived.  I can't recall when I signed up for this on the Indiegogo campaign, but it was a while ago.  I hadn't worried about it however because I had faith that the book would be done well and I would get a quality product.  And it is a quality product.  It is very nice to look, has nice pages, good binding and even sports a lovely ribbon bookmark.  And the art is very nice - and weird - but it all works very well.  It even sports handsome and useful tables on the inside covers.  At first I was a bit bemused because it was a small book (8.5'' x 6'') and I guess I still think in terms of the large format hardcovers.  However after only a short perusal I find that I kind of like this smaller format for a hardcover.  It is light but solid and it fits nicely in your hand.  Here is a photo comparison with the DCC rule book - which is a monster.  I would not want to take the DCC book out for a stroll or anywhere I didn't have a table to support it, but the LotFP book I would slip into a pocket and pull it out at the drop of a hat.

LotFP hardcover and adventure supplement.

Fits well in the hands, has a solid binding and includes a nice bookmark.  Quality product.

Bones

Open up the box

He just wants to be your friend!

Bags and bags of miniatures to unpack.  And a handsome carrying case!

Mecha - Loose ends

Examining the traffic statistics, apparently this blog is the most popular with Russian adult sites, leading me to believe that Mecha means something else over there.  Anyway I realized that I hadn't posted the stats for the Jeanne D'Arc pilots and I really wanted to do that.  As I mentioned before - I would like to actually compile this whole lot into a PDF at some point but that might take a little time and at the very least I want it to be here and available.

So here are the pilots of the Jeanne D'Arc:

Gamma Squadron:

Squad Leader: Flight Lieutenant Sara La Touré Str: 2     Move: 4     Piloting: 3 Agl: 2    Def: 3         Combat: 3 Int: 2     Eng: 3         Other: 2 Will: 2   Att: 6		Wing Second:  Flight Officer Paul Chan Str: 2     Att: 3     Piloting: 4 Agl: 3    Mov: 3    Combat: 2 Int: 3     Eng: 4    Other: 2 Will: 2   Def: 3
Pilots:  Flight Officers Mai, Honzo and Chett Str: 2     Def: 3     Piloting: 2 Agl: 2     Mov: 4    Combat: 2 Int: 3     Eng: 4    Other: 1 Will: 3   Att: 5

Beta Squadron:

Squad Leader: Flight Lieutenant Lon Granger Str: 3     Eng: 4     Piloting: 4 Agl: 3    Mov: 5      Combat: 3 Int: 4     Att: 6         Other: 2 Will: 3   Def: 5		Wing Second:  Flight Lieutenant Kate Dorogaya Str: 2     Def: 3     Piloting: 3 Agl: 3    Att: 5    Combat: 3 Int: 4     Eng: 5    Other: 2 Will: 2   Mov: 4
Pilots:  Flight Officers Hiro, Ted, Vlad Str: 2     Att: 4     Piloting: 3 Agl: 2     Mov: 3    Combat: 2 Int: 3     Eng: 4    Other: 1 Will: 3   Def: 4

Alpha Squadron:

Squad Leader: Lt Commander Zev 238 Str: 3     Att: 5    Piloting: 4 Agl: 4    Mov: 6    Combat: 3 Int: 4     Def: 5      Other: 3 Will: 3   Eng: 4		Wing Second:  Flight Lieutenant Soren Lausen Str: 3     Def: 4     Piloting: 3 Agl: 3    Att: 5    Combat: 3 Int: 4     Eng: 5    Other: 2 Will: 2   Mov: 4
Pilots:  Flight Officers Victor, Claire, Seamus Str: 2     Def: 3     Piloting: 3 Agl: 3     Mov: 5    Combat: 3 Int: 3     Eng: 4    Other: 2 Will: 3   Att: 5

Mecha - summing up

I like it.  I think that Mecha is a interesting game and although I have some problems with it, I can see that there are solutions to be had as well.  I'm pretty interested seeing what's in the Mecha: Mercenaries book if it ever comes out, because I think the game can benefit from an infusion of some Battletech type mojo.  I wonder what the mercenaries book will have in it?  I hope that there are some simple but interesting rules for things like campaigning and resource management (like managing your crew's fuel and ammo).  In any case there's lots of opportunity for customizing this game in interesting ways.

The things I liked about the game were also the source of the biggest problems.  The combat system is a lot of fun and the Tactical Waypoint is a great mechanic - but pretty easy for the players to wreck a combat if they have a lot of tactical points.  I'd like to see more detailed rules on limiting how players use tactical points during setup or investigate some reasonable ways the GM could move the tactical waypoint mid combat to complicate the battle.  That might partly be my unfamiliarity with the combat rules however.  The other thing was the player scenes.  Most RPGs I've played have had the conflict resolution occur at the action level - meaning that players would take an action and then resolve the action with a mechanic.  In Mecha the player conflict resolution occurs at a higher level - the scene level.  This is pretty cool but means that players are doing a lot with those scenes and if the mechanical focus of the conflict resolution is for them to get points -they will focus on doing that over story development.

Id really like to figure out how to use player scenes to encourage the players to contribute to the story instead of optimizing their characters.  I understand that this can be managed by ensuring that the players understand how their scenes can drive the events, but I think that there needs to be a mechanic in place to offset the players having that total narrative control tied to a reward mechanic. I tired to tweak the system by making players use their traits to complicate their scenes in order to get advancement points, but I think that maybe instead some of the decision points in a scene need to be spread out among the whole group so that the vested interest of the group is in making the story work.  In Fiasco the players have a set of objects/locations/needs to interact with and they can choose to either narrate their scene or resolve it.  I think that aspects of those scene sharing mechanics could work here.  Perhaps a player could state their scene type and then each other player would get to add one story element into the scene that the player would have to incorporate.   So the acting player might say they are doing a Recovery scene to heal some damage and then the other players would add in turn: 

1. A workout session in the gym

2. Lon Granger (the cocky wing lead of Beta Squad)

3. It's Oktoberfest!

4. Player's trait of Proud 

The player would then incorporate these items into their scene like so: They are working through a physical therapy session in the ship's gym after getting hurt in the last fight with CTA forces.  Lon Granger comes in to limber up for his big mission in a few days.  Then Lon starts boasting how great his squadron is and how his guys would never have let that CTA pilot get a bead on him like that and the player can't ignore his goading any more. Oh yeah?  Yeah!  Some chest beating occurs and the PT trainer says to take it outside (which on the ship means stop right now since outside is deep space).  They head out into the corridor, still arguing and then they notice the loud singing coming from the mess hall.  It's the Oktoberfest party!  The player calls Lon a lightweight in from of the whole room and challenges Lon to a drinking contest in the mess and so the GM adds to the difficulty of the recovery roll (since he's now cutting PT and drinking a pile of beer).  He better make it or he's going to loose some face here!

I don't know exactly how this would work but I see some potential here.  I do like that Scene much more than having the player say I do a Recovery scene and my objective is to heal up me and Jimbo.  We read books for a bit - and I rolled two successes.  I think that by having each player add story elements to the scene it's more likely that these common elements will get reused or at least come from a shared design pool instead of players constantly incorporating new story elements from their internal designs to push their personal story along and having the common story get unfocused.  I have no proof that this is the case however.   It also changes the tone of player scenes by introducing an element of ad-libbing which some people might enjoy but others might not.

Anyway Mecha is cool and you should check it out.

Mecha - Episode 5 Escape Velocity

And so we come to the end of the story arc, Episode 5 should give the players a chance to fight with their new Mecha and win or loose - establish a setting and a number of plots for them to follow up on in the continuing saga of our pilots facing Alien invaders, CTA machinations, and day to day drama in the SRS: Coalition 2171.*

The players make it back to the Jeanne D'Arc as repairs are under way and preparations for battle are frantically being made.  They learn that the Jeanne D'Arc suffered a mysterious system breakdown exactly when the communications went down.  It's obvious but not proven that this was caused by the CTA as they pulled out - taking everything they could carry and possibly even detonating charges to seal off the rest.  The reason for this is that the INTRUDER changed course and greatly increased it's velocity - heading directly for 2060 Chiron.  The CTA ship Enterprise is fleeing the scene with the booty -  leaving the Jeanne D'Arc to face the INTRUDER.  What a bunch of dicks!

Players have little time to prepare before they must suit up and defend the meet the incoming Aliens. Things look grim, however they now have Babylonian super science on their side!  If the players haven't selected their new ship/mecha points and their configurations and associated traits yet, this should be done prior to the player scenes.

I'd also make sure that the players have at least one overdrive point each so they can use their new configurations.  Since they haven't been budgeting for this, if the players are tapped out either let them exchange some AP for Overdrive or have an additional player scene session where the players all have to do social scenes.

-- Player Scenes --

It's unfortunate I never got to play test this far, because I think that the overall story experience would have been better for the players.  Had they played their scenes I expect they would have focused on gathering Tactical points and Overdrive over Recovery scenes.  Maybe we would have even have done a follow up session where the players would start driving more of the story.  Even if this had just remained a one-shot session it would have been better to go out with a bang than the grind that Episode 4 turned into

-- Combat --

This combat has three Alien Aces and 6 base 3 mooks.  It's basically a rematch of the combat in Episode 3 but with the configuration mechanics on the table to balance the odds.

The Bullseye Battle map is set up as per the book, players choosing to start in Quadrants 1&2 and the Aliens in 3&4. The Tactical Way point here represents the players keeping the Alien forces occupied long enough for the Jeanne D'Arc to blast the Alien comet with her capitol ship laser batteries.  The way point is in Quadrant 4 sector 2.


Stats for the Alien Aces are as follows:

ATT: 6
DEF: 5
ENG: 4
MOV: 5
Piloting (Mech Combat): 4

Weapons:
4/Energy Bolt (Laser)
3/Energy Bolt (Laser)
1/Anti Matter Projectile (Antimatter)
0/Physical

Ace1 has the Boomer and Defender configs
Aces 2 and 3 have the Disruptor and Defender configs


If the players win, the Jeanne D'Arc will manage to deliver enough of a beating on their comet-like mother ship to destroy it, leaving their wreckage behind for the Coalition to study.  If the Aliens Win - the Jeanne D'Arc will retreat towards the Saturn colonies and the Aliens will blow up (or inhabit?) 2060 Chiron and then return to their inner planet trajectory.

That's the end of this story arc and the crew of the Jeanne D'Arc has a lot of directions to go in from here.  Do the aliens keep coming?  Who are they and what do they want?  What does the CTA do with the technology they acquired?  How has this incident impacted political relations and what about that joint forces team forming up to meet INTRUDER.  What's the Republic of China doing about all this?  And what about Lon Granger and Beta Squadron - what happens to them?  And most important - who's the real person behind that sexy voice on giving situation reports the comms?

Tune in next Episode to find out!


*or SRS: Coalition 2171 (Young Space Pilots in Love).

Mecha - Episode 4 2060 Chiron

After Episode 3, the players are going to be somewhere in trans-Neptune space and wondering just what it was that they fought - and why that thing is barrelling towards the inner planets at more than 1% the speed of light.  After the tragic destruction of the Gunnar Thorson and the loss of her crew,  dinner conversation on the Jeanne D'Arc is likely to oscillate wildly between shocked grief, intense scientific curiosity, and a military grade xenophobia.
Describing this situation and working it into the player scenes in a way that the players don't just take for granted is going to be pretty hard in an action orientated game like Mecha, and I wish I had had the resources to work up a bunch of multimedia or audio flies to play to set this scene properly without taking a long time describing it to the players and slowing down the game.  After this brief atmospheric description, the players will once more get a situation/operational briefing on their consoles.

This message is TOP SECRET

Coalition Space Forces Command & Operations has designated the object P/2170 VG as a Hostile Entity Codename INTRUDER.  INTRUDER is on a intercept orbit with Earth.  INTRUDER is travelling at a velocity of 1.4 PSOL and is expected to be within near Earth space in 43 days 20 hours.  CTA and Republic forces have been apprised of the situation and a multilateral force is currently being assembled to intercept INTRUDER.   

Coalition and CTA Listening posts have identified a unnatural and unidentified signal originating from trans-saturnine proto-comet 95P/Chiron also designated as 2060 Chiron.  The CTA has dispatched the Carrier Enterprise from Martian orbit to investigate the signal and to determine if it is in any way related to the appearance of INTRUDER.  The Jeanne D'Arc is the closest active carrier and is to proceed at best possible speed to 2060 Chiron and join the CTA in these operations.  Estimated travel time of the Enterprise is 20.4 days.  Estimated travel time for Jeanne D'Arc is 21 days assuming successful gravity slingshot. 

Secure point-to-point communication protocols are now in effect for all military and private transmissions.  

This setup is a lot more clean than the one I actually provided to the players.  It also glosses over some setting established animosity that had been built between the Coalition and the CTA forces for player backstories.  The established back-story for one of my players is that the CTA had used a nuke on one of the Coalition's Martian colonies some 30-40 years in the past, and although the Martian colony 'war' was long resolved, that there was still a huge amount of resentment still there in the descendants of the surviving Coalition pioneers.

-- Player Scenes --

The players finally got to do a repair scene which was nice since one of them had focused on that skill set and so far had felt a little left out.  They also tried to recoup some tactical points and overdrive, however due to bad rolls whey didn't manage to recoup very many and realized that they were going into combat pretty empty handed. 

-- Combat --

After the player scenes, inform the players that they have arrived at 2060 Chiron and that the Enterprise is here already, station keeping and doing exploratory work.  The Enterprise is sharing their preliminary data and there a number of ground crews exploring some artificial caverns carved into the planetoid.  The players land their ships in a designated cavern and disembark to do some exploring.  They see large statues along the walls of the cavern and all sorts of hieroglyphics and stuff.  Excited researchers on CTA and Coalition com channels are discussing the similarities with Babylonian tablets and architectures.  It becomes very obvious that this is a human installation - however one from many thousands of years ago.
Then rocks fall and damage the ships in the makeshift cavern hanger.  The CTA communication channel cuts out and the last message the players hear is from the Jeanne D'Arc saying:

Bzzt -- INCOMING -- CTA is calling back their pilots --- Bzzzt Bzzzt --- Return.   and so on.

People begin running in all over and lasers start firing, CTA crews grabbing up artifacts and shooting at the Coalition crews.  The players notice that a group of CTA pilots are trying to make their way up a number of ramps that appear to lead behind and up into the back of the statues.  Sure enough the statues appear to be some type of escape pods or ships.  As the cavern rumbles around them the players must fight their way up to the statues.


Then it's into ground based combat.  On the CTA side there are 7 Base 2 mooks and one enemy Ace: Gus the platoon sergeant.


The battle board is set up with the following:

Quadrant 1 Sector 6; The PCs
Quadrant 2 Sector 1: 2 mooks
Quadrant 4, Sector 1: 2 mooks, Sector 2: 2 mooks
Quadrant 3, Sector 6, Gus and one mook
The Tatical Waypoint is in the center of the map.

If the players manage to capture the way-point they are the ones that climb into those statues and therefore are the ones who discover that these are actually ancient Babylonian mecha which will bond with their souls and which were created to fight the alien invaders they now face.  If they don't manage to win the combat the CTA will fly off in the mecha and the players will be in dire straits until they notice that some of the shattered tablets* and artifacts in the cavern wreckage have leaked some sort of glowing slime onto their fighters.  The fighters are invaded by a nano technology repairs them so the players can fly back to the Jeanne D'Arc but that also mutates the ships into a sort of proto-mecha, which over time will grow into full mecha powers and change the nature of Coalition technology forever.

Stats for the mecha are 2/2/2/2 with 3 points allocatable by the players (max of 4 per stat) when they bond with them.  They also pick 2 configurations and inherit the associated traits.  Their link stats are the same as they've been using for their fighters.

Stats for the proto-mecha are the players get to add 4 points to their ship stats (max of 4 per stat) and choose one configuration and it's associated trait.

This is where the game ground to a total halt and it was clear where I had screwed up.  Firstly I had made the class 2 mooks above as 2x2 'aces', not actually mooks - this had the effect of making them made them incredibly hard to take out.  Having that many enemies with stability to soak up damage turned this exciting battle into a grind as the players kept damaging them and they kept coming back to take the way-point.  It was a long and dispiriting drag as the players kept knocking the enemy out of the centre only to have them come back and slowly one by one take the players out.  Secondly, the players didn't have any tactical points and very little overdrive and they used that up mostly to soak damage on defence rolls and maintain their ground.  I think had I changed the enemy grunts into mooks this fight would have had a much different tone.  They still might have won however if they had saved even one tactical point from their first fight with the aliens.  

In any case the players lost the fight and I lost their interest since this battle ground through the remaining time we had to play.  They got the nanopaste and not the cool mecha.  They were more worried about grey goo scenarios than excited over choosing configurations.  I also finally told them what game they were playing.  In the pre battle setup I read to them from the Enûma Eliš which was all super cool in theory, but they had already checked out by that time. I think that the amount of information dumped on them in this scene was too much and they had too little impact from their scenes - they really felt that the story was out of their hands by this point since they had been playing scenes to gain points and advancement of their character and left all the narration to me.  I was dictating the direction of events more than you might in most Mecha games but I thought that this would be acceptable in a starter type scenario.  I think however that if they had been using the setting and NPCs in their scenes more, they might have had more investment in the story and the events would have seemed more organic to them.  I still think there needs to be a way to achieve this mechanically by splitting the scene narration and resolution up a bit between the players.




*These would be the Tablets of Destiny for you ancient Babylonian gods following along at home.  Obviously that's a nanotech delivery system if you understand the texts...

Mecha - Episode 3 The Gunnar Thorson

Episode 3 is where the training wheels come off.  It's important to let the players know that they are getting close to some active duty so that they can do their scenes and collect some Overdrive and Tactical Points for the upcoming fight.  The Jeanne D'Arc is doing her deceleration burn so that she can rendezvous with the Gunnar Thorson, the other CSF carrier assigned to the outer solar system.  The Gunnar Thorson is a slightly newer ship with a larger crew compliment, commanded by Captain Dallas.   Spirit on the ship is high as a number of the pilots now on the GT were pilots who recently served on the Jeanne D'Arc.

Players receive a mission update on their terminals from the Captain:

This message is TOP SECRET
August 27, 2171. 

We have received the following encoded message from CSF Command and Operations:

On NOVEMBER 14 Coalition Deep Space listening post registered an previously unidentified long period comet designated C/2170 VG entering the solar system from trans-Kuiper space.  While establishing a routine trajectory for C/2170 VG, the object's orbit was observed to become perturbed and it was reclassified as P/2170 VG, a short period comet.  After the object's trajectory was perturbed a second time into a very short period elliptical orbit, P/2170 VG was immediately classified as a object of high interest by Coalition researchers. 

The Gunnar Thorson was dispatched to intercept and undertake close range reconnaissance of P/2170 VG.  On August 3, the Gunnar Thorson sent a OMEGA level secure message to CSF CO detailing the results of long range scans which detected the presence of an unidentified low level energy signature on P/2170 VG. 

The Jeanne D'Arc was subsequently dispatched to make a routine rendezvous with the Gunnar Thorson.  Details of P/2170 VG and this mission have been CLASSIFIED to be provided to crew members on arrival.  

BETA level security has been assigned to this mission.  Only encrypted short range point to point communications protocols are sanctioned.

There really is no way to do this where the players won't suspect Aliens as soon as they hear this information.  That's fine - that's not the twist but let them believe it is.

-- Player Scenes --

The players still hadn't had to worry about repair or recovery and seemed to have the hang of using Overdrive and tactical points in combat.  Recognizing the values of these in combat, the players tried for some tactical points and to build up some of their overdrive they had spent in the previous combat.  As before I found that the player scenes were more utilitarian and they weren't moving the story along as much as working on character advancement.  Again I think that there needs to be some kind of game mechanic to counter this.

--Combat--

Immediately after the player scenes the Battle Stations alarm sounds and players are rushed into their ships.  As they suit up and do pre-flight checks the flight officer gives them a short panicked but professional situation report:

We have visual contact with the Gunnar Thorson.  Their birds are in the air.  Unidentified hostiles are engaging.  

 - and as they launch the sit rep continues:

We can't establish coms.  It looks bad people.  I don't even know what the hell those things are!  Wait.  OH MY GOD SHE'S DOWN!  SHE IS DOWN!  We have confirmation that the Thorson is breaking up!

- and as they form up

Hostiles have some sort of signal damper and we can't establish EM or laser com locks with the GT pilots. It looks like some of them are making a break for us.  ESCORT THOSE PEOPLE IN!

So then set up the battle board. The Aliens team has 6 Base 2 mooks and two 'Ace pilots' M1 and M2.  The Alien ships look more like rocks than ships and the Aces look like rocks with tentacles.  Deploy as follows:

1. Quadrant 3, Sector 6: 2 mooks
2. Quadrant 3, Sector 5: M2
3. Quadrant 4, Sector 1: 2 mooks and M1
4. Quadrant 2, Sector 1: 2 mooks, 
5. Quadrant 4, Sector 5: Tatical Waypoint (Friendly Pilot)
6. Quadrant 1, Sector 6: The PCs

Stats for the Alien Aces are as follows:

ATT: 6
DEF: 5
ENG: 4
MOV: 5
Piloting (Mech Combat): 4

Weapons:
4/Energy Bolt (Laser)
3/Energy Bolt (Laser)
1/Anti Matter Projectile (Antimater)
0/Physical 

M1 has the Boomer and Defender configuraitons
M2 has the Disrupter and Defender Config

This is the first real combat and the first time players will encounter configurations and physical combat between ships.  Remember you have not mentioned MECHA at this point, and so this should seem unfair and scare the players since they have neither of these capabilities.

If the Aliens win the combat then the Jeanne D'Arc will call back her pilots and will rescues no pilots from the GT and flee the scene.  If the Players win then they will rescue pilots and the Jeanne D'Arc will flee the scene. In either case P/2170 VG will continue on it's way towards the sun.

Lets just say this was supposed to be really tense and exciting combat.  However what happened was the players spent 3 Tactical Points to bring the waypoint into Q1:S4 and so won the combat before the aliens had a chance to close the distance or use their configurations.  Each side got off a couple shots and then it was over.  It was terrible for me but great for the players who thought that they were now the Kings of Space France.  Good for them.  They paid for it later.

Mecha - Episode 2 Welcome to the Jeanne D'Arc

Episode 2 follows pretty close from Episode 1, there were no real consequences from the battle that would impact things.  That's not the best but it's good for an introduction.  The real push for Episode 2 is introducing the ecosystem.  Hopefully this will create a toolbox for the PCs to play with.

The crew roster is a good mix of quality folks from the Coalition member states.  North American culture is still widely represented since both geographic California and New York are Coalition members, however I thought it pretty important to stress Japanese, UK, Russian and German as being predominant players in the coalition and to carry that flavour into the crew.  

The short crew roster is as follows:

Captain: Masaharu Homma (Japan)
Commander: John J. Adams (West American)
Doctor: Zachary Smith (??) and his assistant Penny (West American)
Flight Inspector: Wilheim Tarken (German)
Air Officer; Silvie Izenak (Basque)
Primary Flight Control: Jack Udachi (Russian)
Cook: Ruby L'Orange (French)
Fire Control Crew:  Al Franken and Tom Davis et al.
Ordinance Officer: Don West (West American)
Flight Mechanic: Claude Gagnon (French)

Since there are 63 crew on board, this leaves a lot of room for players to create NPCs.

The players receive notice on their terminals that the Jeanne D'Arc is now under-way.  The mission details state that they are moving to rendezvous with the CSF Carrier Gunnar Thorson and that this will take some 2 weeks travel.

-Player Scenes-

Players again worked on social scenes involving their goals and earned a couple AP by invoking their traits as a penalty.  They didn't latch onto any of the crew as story foils and I don't think that they caught any of the pop culture references.  I was a bit sad about this but it did make my job easier not having to try impersonating characters I half remembered from Lost In Space or trying to do a credible Russian or Japanese Accent.  I also noticed how quickly the player scenes had became functional instead of narrative.  Players would work at getting overdrive/TA points and achieving their goals to get AP points as efficiently as possible and not worry about developing the overall story or interacting with the NPCs except in the generic.  Partly I think that comes as baggage from GM run games where the story is the GM's responsibility. I hoped that players would play with 'the toys' more than they did. That's a logical player reaction I think and I don't know how you would offset this, perhaps some mechanic that allowed the other players opportunity to interact in or direct the scenes ala Fiasco would introduce more dynamics into the system.

-Combat-

The players are told to report to Major West and find themselves together in the ships gymnasium which has been cleared of equipment and readied for some low G combat exercises.  They are told to don flack vests and pistols. It's basically Laser tag in space so all damage is virtual again and not saved after the Episode.  Players are put into teams and must play king of the mountain - holding the flag point for the specified period of time.  The teams start on opposing quadrants and the tactical objective is in the centre.

The combat for this episode was personal combat to introduce that part of the game.  Because this was another introduction and there was no story consequence of the combat  I thought it would be a lot easier for me and a lot more fun to have the players wail on each other.  It turned out that this was very fun and they really threw themselves into the fight - chewing through most of their overdrive points in a meaningless but very fun battle.  They also remarked that this was not good strategy but that they were doing it anyway.  It was probably the most satisfying combat of the evening for them.

Mecha - Episode 1 Welcome to Triton

So the first Episode in the game is Welcome to Triton.  The players learn that they are all newly minted Flight Officers fresh out of the Coalition Space Force training Academy which is in L5 orbit around the earth.  They have been posted to Jeanne D'Arc which is one of the two CSF carriers patrolling the outer solar system.  They are here to back fill for pilots who have been reassigned to more challenging posts and are very much the rookies here.   They are 8 pilots  in all, the 5 PCs and three NPCs from their graduating class, Mia Suzara, Honzo Hitari and Chett Whetherspoon.   For the past 2 months they have been cooped up together on the cargo hauler Dostoevsky bound for Neptune and they have just disembarked at the National Coalition's space colony on Neptune's moon Triton.

They are 4.5 lh (light hours) or 4.5 Billion km or 45 days average travel time away from the Earth
They are 4.3 lh from Mars.
They are 3.1 lh from the Saturn ring colonies.

The players are told they have 3 days R&R and then must report to the the space port to meet with Paul Chan, wing second of Gamma Squadron for shuttle transport back to the Jeanne D'Arc.


-Player Scenes-

The players chose to pursue Social Scenes except for one player who chose a Field Ops Scene and narrated a way they were hacking their flight control software to get an edge.  This made sense since there was no need for Repair or Recovery at this time.

So not having any background in the game or expectations of play except for my outlining of the rules this was probably the hardest Episode to get started, however I think that it went well.  Player scenes went from a very specific first person narrative about getting laid through to more abstract and goal directed narratives about hacking flight control software and making an impression with Paul Chan.  What I didn't expect was that the players would almost entirely ignore all the NPCs from the trip and each other.  I thought that by introducing the long voyage, the location and specific NPCs that the players would try to incorporate that into their narrative and create some relationships and backstory, but perhaps by setting the Episode as they disembarked instead of when they were on the ship I encouraged this 'scattering' behaviour.  The players grasped the concept of choosing their Scenes to acquire Overdrive and Tactical Points pretty well however.  It was also at this point that Traits and Goals were understood and we realized that some of the ones chosen were too broad or too specific and might need revision.  I would probably either use pre-generated goals or try to better guide player selection of traits and goals next time.

-Combat-

The players then reported to the Jeanne D'Arc and are assigned quarters and assignments.  The PCs are told that they have been assigned to Delta Squadron and the three NPC recruits they travelled with have been assigned to Gamma Squadron. This makes no sense realistically, but it makes sense as narrative since they are now certainly the underdogs and have been given something to prove.  Right away are asked to suit up and get in their ships for a flight training exercise with Beta Squadron and it's resident Ace, Lon Granger.

Lon Granger was the previous Wing Second of Gamma Squad, now promoted to a Flight Lieutenant and put in charge of Beta Squadron.  He's the resident hot shot and speaks that way, never letting the PCs forget they are the newbies.  Of course Lon and his Squadron are meant to be the immediate opposition and the foils to the true Aces on the ship Alpha Squadron.  The intent here is for Gamma to be the Ally, Beta to play the role of Stick and Alpha the role of Carrot.

Combat is a straight forward affair with each side starting off in opposing Quadrants and the tactical way-point in the centre.  This is battle simulation and the goal is for the players to show how they can hold a tactical advantage position on a simulated CTA warship.  Because it's a simulation damage taken will not be carried over in to the next Episode.

The players fought very well and managed to win the scenario.  I believe it worked as a good introduction to the combat system.

Mecha - Episodic

So the way Mecha works is that you have an episode where the GM sets up an introduction and the players then each take a scene.  Different types of scenes get you different benefits, but the scene should have a game component (based on the type and the reward) and a story component (based on the role play goal and the player traits).  It's interesting because the player does not resolve actions like in a more traditional RPG, they narrate and role-play their entire scene making one roll to determine the direction that takes and any rewards they might receive.  This is why I think it's really important to have a strong back-story and front load as much of the game world as possible so that the players can share those components and strengthen the story rather than simply keep throwing novel objects into a sandbox.  I might be a bit tainted by Fiasco with it's systematic story setup phase and caveats about maintaining narrative focus in this respect since I played that game first.  Certainly this was my premeditated style choice and not a stated prerequisite in the Mecha rulebook.

I also at this point made the rule that players would only gain advancement points if they used their traits as a negative modifier.  For example a player with Boring as a trait could attempt to impress an NPC which would normally require one success - however if they used their 'Boring' trait against themselves this would bump the difficulty an additional two successes but if they rolled three successes they would get a n advancement point.  On the other hand if a the player were to be trying to impress a very picky NPC which would normally require three successes they used the trait 'Charming' it would lower the difficulty to one success but they wouldn't receive the advancement point.   I don't believe this is the literal interpretation of the rules in Mecha but I tried this to make it more interesting because players had to choose to use their traits for advantage in different ways and gave reasons for them to complicate the story.

I had developed a 5 Episode arc for the first session which I thought we would be able to get through in a single 4 hour session.  It was pretty close and I think that this was the right amount of content even though we only managed 4 Episodes.  Chalk it up to inexperience.  The Episodes were titles as follows:

• Episode 1 - Welcome to Triton

• Episode 2 - Welcome to the Jean D'Arc

• Episode 3 - The Gunnar Thorson

• Episode 4 - 2060 Chiron

• Episode 5 - Escape Velocity

Again this is my attempt to run a introduction type adventure for Mecha which was somewhat inspired by a the L5R Topaz Championship game I played in over the winter.  I thought that using this initial 5 Episode arc would cement the sandbox in place and provide a unified starting point for further games.

Mecha - more details on the setup

God I'm getting swamped at work and it's come at the same time I want to post a pile of stuff both about the Mecha game and on my Beacon blog.  Anyway to further along the SRS I'm piecing together for those of you following along at home, here's the more detailed scenario stuff that expands on the intro, including a more detailed synopsis that I read to the players (I hate front loading a setting but this game I think calls for that approach) that includes a run down of the three main factions, and the specs for player equipment and ships

The Setup 

It is 2171.
You are all novice pilots aboard the CSF space carrier Jeanne D’Arc, a B class fusion drive fighter carrier designed for autonomous operations in the outer solar system. The Jeanne D’Arc carries a complement 63 crewmen servicing four full fighter squadrons and three multi purpose tugs. Each fighter squadron consists of five short range high thrust single pilot spacecraft equipped with solid fuel missiles and a short range pulse laser.  Squadrons are kept in a regular rotation of four active pilots with one reserve, however full squadrons of five are maintained during crises or in times of war. The CSF, or Coalition Space Fleet, is the space based military arm of the United National Coalition, an alliance of national entities consisting of the European Union, Russia, Japan, South Africa, various corporations (most notably West American and New York), and their L5, Martian, and Saturn colonies. At this time the CSF is a distinct and autonomous entity from the mostly planet-based CAF (Coalition Armed Forces) although the two share operations throughout the solar system.

The Prologue 

Practical Fusion technology has brought unlimited cheap energy to mankind and powered the first wave of colonization of the solar system.  It was almost too late.  Reliance on increasingly rare fossil fuels had devastated the biosphere and caused huge social and political divisions between countries as a rush to occupy remaining oil reserves ensued.  Global temperatures and pollution rose in tandem with population and massive die offs of sea life caused corresponding collapses of natural food chains on the land.  As energy became more expensive and more ecologically destructive to obtain, blackouts, starvation, rioting and military suppression became commonplace across the globe.

In North America, religious fundamentalism coupled with an unserviceable national debt caused the breakup of the United States which in turn caused many other world governments to collapse. The vast United States military complex stepped in and provided muscle for the more conservative ‘red’ states to withdraw from world government and to consolidate US occupied territories abroad.  This was not a peaceful process. In 2065 nuclear weapon strikes in Israel and Jordan caused massive destruction and loss of life.  In the ensuing global panic with entire governments collapsing, corporations lobbied for and gained the right to exist as entities at the national level, appropriating a number of states, bolstering others and snatching up real estate wholesale from any countries with resources to exploit.  Still living conditions deteriorated.

During this time China shocked the rest of world with the establishment of a permanent lunar colony.  The establishment of the Chang’e colony almost caused the collapse of the remaining United States, still mired in a dozen oil based wars. This galvanized the predominantly christian military leadership into a drastic realignment and the Christian Trade Alliance was formed.  The CTA redirected their resources into developing a space capability and made it a priority to establish permanent space bases and to land Christians on Mars.

European and Japanese breakthroughs in alternative energy, and especially fusion technology proved to be the light at the end of the tunnel, however adoption was not fast or uniform.  The remaining United Nation states and corporate entities who had least access to oil and gas reserves were the first to adapt.  A culture of shared research and communication established strong alliances among its remaining members.  Corporate espionage ensured that that technology breakthroughs were widely disseminated, but it was the culture of collaboration that drove the adoption of decentralized energy and new food production methods and the rise of a small but powerful meritocracy.  This much more unified remnant of the United Nations became the United National Coalition, leading the way for rebuilding on earth and developing new industry in space.

The Players

The United National Coalition consists of most of Europe, Russia and Japan, various national corporations (notably West American and New York), South Africa, L5 colonies, Martian colonies*, Saturn moon colonies.  The UNC has the smallest space fleet of the big three powers, consisting of 8 carrier ships, two dozen cruisers and some 50 auxiliary, transport and gun ships. The UNC also has the smallest conventional military, relying on small but high tech forces and drone systems for protection.

*disputed 

The Republic of China (RC) consists of China, Central Africa, and the large Chang’e Moon Colony.  The RC has the largest conventional ground force and possesses a large short range space fleet.  They control the trade of H3 from the moon to earth and maintain large numbers of mid-size response cruisers and satellites in near earth space but are not well represented further out in the solar system.

The Christian Trade Alliance (CTA) consists of the American Confederacy, Mexico and Central America, AMECO (American Middle East Corporation), Brazil, Australia, North African Union, Mars colonies, and asteroids.  The CTA has the second largest military and the largest space fleet operating outside near earth orbit.  The CTA fleet numbers some 30 large carriers and a few hundred cruisers and support craft.

Personnel Equipment

In personal combat a character can carry 2 items (standard is 1 weapon and a flak suit).  Otherwise it’s not a big deal.  Weapons have a range and a damage type.  All weapons do the same damage.  Armor has a damage amount and type it protects against.  All other items are basically macguffins.

• Pistol (1/ballistic)
• Rifle (4/ballistic)
• Laz Rifle (3/laser)
• Crowbar (0/impact)
• Flak Armor (1 ballistic)
• Repair Kit/ Med Kit/ Computer Core/ Hacking Deck/ Briefcase / Fishbowl /Hello Kitty Doll...

Fighter Equipment

A vehicles (fighters) WEAPONS rating determines how many weapon systems it can be equipped with. Weapons have a range and a damage type.  All weapons do the same damage.    Switching between ammo types is possible between combat encounters.  Weapon loadouts could be altered using a repair scene (when appropriate).

Fighter Stats:
Weapons: 2
Armor: 1
Technology: 1
Speed: 2

Fighter Weapon loadout:
Hammerhead Missile Pack: (3/ballistic) or Cerberus Missile Pack (3/energy)
Light Pulse Cannon (1/laser)

Examples of other vehicle weapon types:
Flak Cannon (1/ballistic)
Chain Cannon (3/ballistic)
Mass Driver (4/impact)
Field Pulse Cannon (4/energy)  

Mecha - the beginning

The veil has been lifted.  I finally got to run the 'space pilot' game I've been working on and I can say without spoiling anything any more that the system is MECHA by Chris Perrin.  I didn't want to start the game by saying 'Hey let's play Mecha' because I wanted to have an in game reveal that the players (space ship pilots) find giant mecha robots and then use them to defeat aliens.  I didn't think I could make that reveal exciting if I told everyone the name of the system we'd be using.  I also liked the idea of making a 'starter' adventure that introduced the game concepts piece by piece and so I didn't want players designing mecha without knowing how the system worked and then being unhappy with crappy design choices.

Mecha is a very interesting system and when I first heard about it on the Podgecast podcast  I decided to check it out.  I immediately thought it would be interesting to run because of the scene based role play and the very interesting abstract combat system.  I did however know that it would take a lot of prep to set up a game and have it run the way I wanted it to.  This is very different from my usual technique of not overloading a new game with background info dumps or detailed NPCs - I prefer to have players explore as they go.  Since the MECHA system hands so much narrative control to the players I figured I'd need to build a one shot introduction to the game and hopefully front load it with enough background NPCs and unifying story elements prevent it from becoming a mishmash of ideas but instead a jumping off point for player driven narrative.
  
Well my plan worked and it didn't work.  I'm pretty happy with the way things unfolded and I definitely think it's better to have players know how the game works before allocating points to their mechs.  I had a good time running it but there were some stumbles on both my part and for the players coming from a more traditional RPG play style.  I'd do this again and I think I'd be able to do it better.

I built the scenario around the fighter pilot theme - (or 'Young Space Pilots in Love' as you would have it) since it would let me contain the story and to simplify the vehicles around a common template.  This let me 'railroad' the initial story without having to directly guide the play.  The players don't decide what missions to go on or where the carrier is flying - that's all orders from HQ stuff.   It also let me focus on setting in place a manageable group of NPCs and places for Scenes to occur.

We started off with their characters and I handed out a simple ship template that all the players used do their link stats and to introduce the combat system. I think that was the best way to do it because it became clear that this game is built around combat.  Some of the players noticed right away that their characters didn't have their stats allocated properly - or had put a low skill in piloting that impaired their combat experience.  I don't see that as a game problem as much as an expectation issue which got flushed out in a proper way.  I built a MECHA SRS (Setting Reference Schematic) which had a number of archetypes built around 8 stat points and 10 skill points and allowed players to allocate 2 additional points to their stats and skills to flesh out their character.  If I were to do this again I might would make the player archetypes even more defined but really it did work pretty well and I'd rather deal with it by providing better descriptions than by limiting this small amount of player choice.

So below are the character archetypes we used for this game.  They are pretty basic and based closely on those in the MECHA book but I did define the starting points in a way to minimize issues with being unfamiliar with the game going in.  I also changed the skill Mecha Combat to Piloting which suited the story more since I didn't want to give anything away and also because the players would begin by flying simple vehicles.   In my opinion Piloting is a better skill name in general since it covers all types of vehicle control.  I also provided a short list of traits for the players to get a sense of how that worked.  They almost all chose traits that they made up themselves with various degrees of success.  Good traits are hard to define since they should be highly identifiable but widely applicable.  I would provide a better list of traits if I did it again.

I'm going to bundle this all together in a document at some point to provide a introductory MECHA game resource called Coalition 2171 SRS*.

ARCHETYPES

Add 2 stat points (starting stat max is 4), add 2 to your skills (starting skill max is 3), pick one of the archetype Traits and one additional Trait.

Top Gun

You’ve got the touch, you got the power.  You were born to do this.
Strength: 2 Agility: 3 Intelligence: 1 Will: 2
Piloting: 3 Combat: 2 Social: 1 Field Ops: 1 Repair: 2 Medic: 1
Trait: Cocky or Maverick

Gear Head

You joined up because all the best toys were here.  Now it’s playtime.
Strength: 2 Agility: 1 Intelligence: 3 Will: 2
Piloting: 2 Combat: 1 Social: 1 Field Ops: 2 Repair: 3 Medic: 1
Trait: Focused or Egotistical

R.O.T.C.

You signed up for a career.  You’ve been studying this stuff for years and now’s your chance to make it
Strength: 2 Agility: 1 Intelligence: 2 Will: 3
Piloting: 1 Combat: 2 Social: 2 Field Ops: 3 Repair: 1 Medic: 1
Trait: Ambitious or Intense

Glory Hound

For you its all about the fame, making a name for yourself, bringing honor to your family or rocketing up through the ranks.  
Strength: 2 Agility: 2 Intelligence: 2 Will: 2
Piloting: 2 Combat: 2 Social: 3 Field Ops: 1 Repair: 1 Medic: 1
Trait: Dramatic or Opportunistic

Brick

You are big and strong, good at taking orders and you know how to handle yourself in and out of the cockpit.
Strength: 3 Agility: 1 Intelligence: 1 Will: 3
Piloting: 2 Combat: 3 Social: 1 Field Ops: 1 Repair: 1 Medic: 2
Trait: Tough Guy or Competitive

Vat

Gene crafted to have above average reflexes and trained to perform many essential tasks.  You were born to serve, literally.
Strength: 2 Agility: 3 Intelligence: 2 Will: 1
Piloting: 2 Combat: 1 Social: 2 Field Ops: 1 Repair: 2 Medic: 2
Trait: Deferential or Awkward

Examples of other Traits:

Ruthless, Haunted, Vain, Seductive, Patient, Joker, Unsure, Gossip, Witty, Boorish, Loyal, Sneaky...

* or Young Space Pilots in Love SRS.