Category Archives: RPG

Weisman and Harebrained Schemes to make Battletech Returns?

2015/07/29

“TACTICAL ‘MECH COMBAT RETURNS TO THE PC.”

BattleTechGame.com

I was a backer of MechWarrior Tactics before it fell apart amidst development. MechWarrior Online is alright from the first-person view- vehicle simulation side, but I was hankering for something a little closer to the original source material, and with a much richer immersion in the interstellar politics and intrigue that makes up the BattleTech universe. Personae Studios‘ MechWarrior Tactical Command was, in my opinion, an unsung classic game that gave me a mobile MechCommander fix. But the game was fairly short and its title’s similarity to MechWarrior Tactics as well as its exclusivity to high end Apple mobile products made it instantly obscure and isolated. Of course there is always Megamek, but for one reason or another, I’ve never really had a good experience with it.

Continue reading →

16 Replies

The Living Legends Question

2014/04/23

Some legends are not as they appear

I recently ran a campaign through 3058 that included the module Living Legends.  My personal mercenary unit had already accepted a contract to work for the Draconis Combine in anti-Clan efforts in the vicinity where the Manassas appeared.  I did a little research and found this adventure was slated for that area and time frame.  I bought it, and ran it with some modifications.

For those who may not be aware, this book chronicles a WarShip, the Manassas, from the original Kerensky fleet with an experimental modified jump engine that can jump an extra ten light years.  It misjumps and leaps forward in time almost 300 years, into 3058.  By the end of the adventure, this wonder of technology is destroyed.

One of the main concerns many have with Living Legends is that the time-travel component just doesn’t have the ring of the authentic BattleTech universe.  One of the things I love about it is the feel of the universe.  We are all alone out here.  And things like time travel aren’t normally possible.  And yet here we find a pristine ship from the Star League Defense Force on the backdoor.

Obviously, this adventure opens up other questions.  Can a ship misjump backwards in time?  Can the 40 light-year K-F drive be replicated?  Can other misjumps from history be scheduled to arrive any moment?

What do you do with Living Legends?  Do you run it?  Do you modify it?  Does it exist in your personal BattleTech campaigns and universe?

In a Big Country…

I guess it’s similar to the novel Far Country, where a misjump sends folks to a planet far away from humanity that has intelligent birdlike aliens running around.  Do you add alien life to your campaigns?  What about misjumps so far away as to be beyond known space entirely?  Do you use the planet of Kaetetôã in your campaign?

It seems like we have similar questions.  To what degree do these examples of out-of-flavor aspects of BattleTech populate your own universe?  Do you use them for inspiration?  Pretend they never happened?  Modify them somewhere?  What do you do with them?

9 Replies