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 | Some Canonicity Considerations Apply Parts of this publication have been confirmed to be outside BattleTech Canon, i.e. Non-Canon. See the Canonicity section for details. |
| |
| Empires Aflame | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Scenario Pack (RPG Adventure) (PDF) |
| Development | Herbert A. Beas II |
| Primary writing | Herbert A. Beas II (writing) Johannes Heidler (RATs) |
| Pages | 55 |
| Cover Artwork | Ray Arrastia (design) David Allen Kerber (layout) |
| Interior Artwork | Herbert A. Beas II David Allen Kerber (new faction logos) |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Product code | E-CAT35HLW14 |
| First published | 31 October 2014 |
| MSRP | Free |
| Content | |
| Era | Dark Age era |
| Timeline | 6 February 3095 |
| Series | BattleTech Adventures |
| Preceded by | Necromo Nightmare |
| Followed by | War of the Tripods |
Description[edit]
Released on Halloween 2014 as a free download, Empires Aflame is an adventure module published specifically for the latest edition of the BattleTech role-playing game, A Time of War.
Set in 3095, the adventure puts the players on a mission for the RAF Materiel Oversight Division to bring decommissioned weapons to a Republic of the Sphere bone yard on Rigil Kentarus. However, a misjump occurs that takes them out of the BattleTech universe and into a noncanonical alternate universe for the setting, one in which Operation EXODUS never occurred.
From the Back Cover[edit]
| “ | There May be Some Turbulence… The year is 3095. Ten years after the Jihad, peace has finally reached most of the Inner Sphere. Within the newly created Republic of the Sphere, the post-war drawdowns have made industry of disarmament. But even here, not every mission goes smoothly—for, sometimes, the universe itself has its own agenda! BattleTech Adventures: Empires Aflame takes players into a whole new adventure, when a misjump during a routine mission strands the crew far from home. Can your team discover where they’ve come, and escape to tell the tale? Empires Aflame includes a guide to a whole new area of BattleTech lore, complete with personal biographies on several key players, and adventure Tracks designed for use with A Time of War: The BattleTech Role-Playing Game and A Time of War Companion, as well as special rules, map, and Record Sheets for key non-player characters unique to this story. |
” |
Canonicity[edit]
The main portion of the adventure, especially the alternate universe it details, is a Halloween special and not meant to be canonical; it has expressly been declared noncanon. However, the parts set prior to the misjump (i.e. in the normal BattleTech universe) have since been declared fully canonical. This includes the JumpShip Celeste, the DropShip E.F. Marie and their respective crews and histories as well as the background and agenda of the RAF Materiel Oversight Division and stated facts about the state of the mercenary trade in 3095. This was officially confirmed by author Herbert A. Beas II himself in the "Ask the Lead Developers" section of the official BattleTech forum.[1] He later also expressly confirmed the canonicity in another posting elsewhere on the forum.[2]
Contents[edit]
- The Shot Heard Across the Sphere (short story)
- Introduction
- World Guide
- Persons of Interest
- The Players' Group
- Captain Leonarda Jackson
- Captain John Bean
- Adventure Tracks
- Critical Failure!
- Welcome to the Terran Supremacy...
- Jailbreak!
- You Can't Go Home Again
- Debriefing
- Gamemaster's Sourcebook
- The Alternative Setting
- Persons of Interest
- Rules Addendum
- Random Unit Assignment Tables
- Role-Playing Rules
- A Time of War Character Sheets/Combat Record Sheets
- Benjamin Emory
- Mary Durant
- TSDF Marine Squad
- TSDF Base Soldier Squad
- Captain General's Personal Guard Squad
References[edit]
- ↑ In this thread, Herbert A. Beas stated that the events occurring in the mainstream BattleTech universe can be considered canonical, including the existence of the Celeste and E.F. Marie and their crews, but that all information pertaining to the alternate universe that the JumpShip entered is not to be considered canon, and should not be used to contradict assertions that alternate universes do not canonically exist in the BattleTech universe. It was also copied to this article's Talk page for reference.[dead link]
- ↑ In this posting: "And, as already mentioned, yeah, that's all pretty much canon--right up to the point the players' ship fires up its KF drive for the last leg of its journey...and vanishes from the Prime setting forever."[dead link]