Dunia, you're not alone in thinking that ATOW is flawed. Please continue to ask questions as you come across more things which seem to be missing or unclear--I will help when I can; and if Catalyst Game Labs ever
does aim an RPG product at new players, it will be useful to see what players actually need.
1) What would it cost to travel to another starsystem / jmp and how long wold it take approx?
2) What would it cost to take a mech with you or a tank (per ton/tonnage category)?
It typically takes a JumpShip a week to charge its battery for a jump. (Longer at a dim star, shorter at a bright star.) Sometimes there are DropShips waiting at the jump point; they dock immediately and wait. Sometimes there are DropShips on a planet; it typically takes a week to travel from a planet to the Jump Point. Schedules are often arranged in advance.
In the Inner Sphere, DropShips pay the JumpShip 50kCB per jump. Each passenger typically pays the DropShip
5kCB per jump; cargo is typically
500 CB per ton per jump. Luxurious accomodations, or faster handoffs between JumpShips, can cost more. The Clans don't use money, all assets move according to the will of the Khan (or whoever the Khan delegates authority to).
[Edit: Haha
WHOOPS, no, I'm tired. That should be, what, 500 CB for a passenger and 100 CB per ton of cargo.
/Edit][Page 59] (Fixed Xps) - Interest/Clan Remembrance
"The Remembrance" is an epic poem telling the history of the Clans. Each Clan has their own version, emphasizing their own interests. I'm not sure how to use this skill in play. Maybe you can quote the Remembrance to temporarily stun or shame another Clan character, or to buoy or defend one, or to negate someone else's use of the Remembrance. Or to make a poetic moment even more poetic, since the Clans appreciate artistry.
[Page 59] (Nova Cat) - Interest/Nova Cat Vision Quest
[Page 60] (Coyote) - Interest/Coyote Rituals (What rituals are these?)
[Page 60] (Cloud Cobra) - Compulsion/Religious Faith (What Religion is this?)
[Page 60] (Gol. Scorpions) - Compulsion/Necrosia Addiction
[Page 60] (Gol. SCorpions) - Compulsion/Nostalgic (what are they Nostaligic about?)
I imagine ceremonial skills end up being similar to Protocol. (I suppose they could also give you insight into an NPC's actions, which is about the only use I can think of for the "Interest: Philosophy" skills.)
- Many of Clan Cloud Cobra's members belong to "cloisters." Each cloister follows a different faith. (Well, to the extent that the faith is compatible with being a Clan Warrior, anyways.) There's real world faiths, some of BattleTech's made-up faiths, and room to insert your own.
- I believe the Coyote rituals are meant to be patterned on Native American rituals, though I don't remember any specifics.
- I believe Nova Cat Vision Quests are also inspired by Native American rituals. In the fiction they generally have a prophetic function. You could use them that way in play too, or to gain insight into information the player already has, or insight into how to gain new information, or just as a general ceremonial protocol skill.
- Necrosia is a dangerous psychoactive beverage used to prove the strength of Goliath Scorpion warriors. Some Goliath Scorpions, called "seekers," use the visions it induces to guide them to relics of the Star League. These relics give the Clan unique insight into the Star League. They aren't actually nostalgic for the Star League, at least not anymore than the other Clans are; the only way I can think to play the Compulsion/Nostalgia is as a chance of being "lost in reverence" when in the presence of an unfamiliar relic.
[Page 60] (Fire Mandrill) - Enemy/Rival Kindraa
[Page 60] (Fire Mandrill) - Protocol/Kindraa
The Fire Mandrills are divided into uncooperative mini-clans called Kindraa.
[Page 59] (Snow Raven) - Compulsion/Raven Pride
[Page 59] (Wolf) - Compulsion/Wolf Pride
[Page 60] (Blood Spirit) - Compulsion/Blood Spirit Fanaticism
[Page 60] (Fire Mandrill) - Compulsion/Fire Mandrill Fanaticism
[Page 60] (Fire Mandrill) - Compulsion/Kindraa Fanaticism
[Page 60] (Star Adder) - Compulsion/Adder Arrogance or Compulsion/Burrock Forever! (Huh!!?)
[Page 59] (Wolf) - Wolf clan also includes Clan Wolf-in-exile
A daily part of Clan life is playing on your opponent's pride, provoking them into an embarassing outburst or into starting battles they can't win. Warriors from competing Clans routinely try to goad each other into disadvantageous positions.
- The guy who founded The Clans chose to join Clan Wolf. It's traditionally one of the largest and most militarily successful. Then it split; one half is still called Clan Wolf, the other half is called Clan Wolf-in-Exile because it defected to the Inner Sphere.
- The Blood Spirits and Fire Mandrills are small and could be wiped out, which makes them tightly-knit and their warriors difficult for other Clans to cooperate with or assimilate.
- The Star Adders are another large and successful Clan. They absorbed the Burrocks, who used to be a separate Clan.
- Clan Snow Raven is the uncontested master of naval warfare.
[Page 60] (Star Adder) - Compulsion/Clan Honor (Is it the clans in general or Star Adders only and what seperates this from fanatacism above?)
[Page 60] (Trueborn) - Clan Honor (Is this general honor of being of the clans or just your own clan)
"Clan Honor" is your personal honor and commitment to Clan ways and Clan society, separate from your attachment to any individual Clan. The Star Adders put extra points into it.
Other thing that irks me is that the history capter is vary vague with why the Sccession Wars started, what happened after the Clan Invasio
I think parts of that summary were copied from an older product, where they were trying to move players into the "modern" era as quickly as possible.
In 2750, the Lord of the Star League was assassinated. His heir was only a child, and so each House Lord took the opportunity to aggrandize their own realms. Tensions rose. When the heir came of age, he and all his family were killed by a Usurper. The war against the Usurper ravaged the administrative, scientific, economic and cultural heart of the Star League. The glue which held the Star League together was all burned away, leaving the ravaged heartworlds ripe for the taking.
The Clan Invasion stopped advancing in 3052, but the fighting on that front continued. The Clans began fighting amongst each other too (Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon almost killed each other), which is why you don't see their territories expand.
and why the Jihad and how it was so successful?
Those answers are a little contentious.
My understanding is that the Jihad wasn't actually as successful as it first seems. I think the explanation that people have settled on is that the Word of Blake had secretly sent a small army to conquer the Clan homeworlds, and sent gifts to every House capital, but then a comedy of errors (and possibly intentional sabotage) turned the Inner Sphere against them.
The Word of Blake had been running the shipyards for the Inner Sphere's greatest naval power for twenty years, and they made good use of assassinations and hidden staging bases, but a goodly part of the war was just the regular nations (not the Word of Blake) fighting each other.