New BattleMaster starting up a Mercenary Campaign

[OddWalrus]

Hey BT Forums!

Hope I'm posting in the right category! I'm a long time Battletech player, but I've never run a Battletech Campaign before as a Game Master. I recently thought of a good idea for a campaign, and I found some interested players, so now, it just comes down to making sure I run things right.

Naturally, I'm a little nervous. I've Game Mastered tons of tabletop RPG's before, but never a miniatures game like Battletech, which appears to be a lot more work. I have a few questions I was hoping to get some help with.

To give you a little background on the gaming group and what I'm planning:

Gaming Group: is a bunch of experienced gamers, well versed in board games, tabletop RPG's, and various other games. One of the other players is as experienced in BT as me, but he has also never been the Game Master of a campaign. There are 3 player currently, with a possible 4th. No more will show up. If I end up with only 3 players, I can run an extra mech on the player side to fill out the lance.

Campaign: 3025, to keep things simple for the other two players who have never played BT before. Each player would be an independent mercenary who owns their own mech, who works under contract of a larger mercenary company, in this case, the Grey Death Legion, the Kell Hounds, or the Northwind Highlanders (haven't decided which yet). The players would be responsible for the upkeep up their mechs, and would have full control over everything, in terms of customization and modding and so on. I would like to have some sort of "Hardpoint" system implemented on the mechs, meaning they can only replace like weapons with like (can't swap missiles for lasers, etc.), but other than that, they would have free reign to do what they wanted with their mech.

They will start with either a Light or Medium mech. If they pick a light mech, they'll get the full amount of points they need to make their character, but if they pick a heavy mech, they'll get less points to make their character.

The "Boots-on-the-ground" portion of the game will be done using the Fate Core system. I've run ATOW before, and I don't really like the system, and I want to keep the Role-Playing portion of the game rules light, so that way more emphasis can be placed on the mech combat. I'm familiar with Fate Core, so no help needed on that part.


So now that you know what kind of campaign I'm planning, here are my questions:

1.) What books should I read to figure out how to run a campaign like this? Is there any one book? Is there any guidance anyone can offer on this? The books I've read haven't really detailed anything like this. I was planning on just trying to house rule stuff and come up with things as I went if I can't find anything official, but I would really love any advice here in terms of books to read, or people who have done this before.

2.) This might be covered in a book, but I don't know which one, how do I handle things like customization? I know Techmanual covers some of this, and I have that book, but just wanted to see if there is something else I should be looking at. Also, is there a good place that lists prices for things for markets my players might encounter (i.e., I want to buy a large laser, how much does it cost? How much does a jumpship trip cost?, etc.)

3.) I've heard people mention something called a Warchest system, but I don't know what that is. Should that be something I should consider using? Does this have anything to do with C-Bills?

4.) In terms of Mech Encounter/Combat balance, I was planning on avoiding BV if I could, and instead use tonnage because it feels easier (a lot of Game Masters have used tonnage instead of BV in the past. It's not perfect I know, but it's "good enough" and it seems easier).

Thanks in advance for all the help and looking forward to you all's answers!

[Colt Ward]

Alright . . . see if I can answer some of these . . .

So the big question is are you playing BT with RPG to link the scenarios and generate the campaign?  Or are you RPG'ing in the BTU and want to use Total Warfare rules for combat portions?

For either I will point out two products . . . first, as you mentioned 'warchest' that is part of the Chaos Campaign system they came up with about 10 years ago, its a record-lite campaign system that does not track individual components or c-bills.  You fight in a mission, you get resource points and can do things to modify what you get- for example, last campaign game my group did we felt we could survive the opposition but not sure about accomplishing all the objectives so we took the option to IIRC increase the opposition by a lance or two of tanks.  Sure it made achieving the objectives harder, but we got paid more and had more salvage.

Chaos Campaign is good for the GM & players that want to keep it casual- the GM does not have to keep up with spreadsheets tracking every point/ton of armor, how many LRM rounds you managed to fit in the cargo space on the Union, are your mechs traveling in mech cubicles on a Union or as cargo on a Mule, how many man-hours of tech support your staff generates, do you have paramedics or surgeons covering medical duties, and more.  If you LIKE that sort of thing (joked about as AccountanTech), you can get as much of it as you want in the FM:Mercs(R) series though that is a older set of books . . . I use it for my MM campaign but my table top group uses the Chaos system.  You can find a free download with the initial version here- https://bg.battletech.com/downloads/.  If you decide to use that, CGL has offered Chaos Campaign Succession Wars as a free download which might make things even easier based on the timeframe you want- to be honest, I have not skimmed through it as I prefer later eras.

IF you use Chaos Campaign, the cost of modifications is also simplified because all it takes is using part of your Warchest and is explained in the basic rules set up.

If you have not found it, I suggest getting something like Solaris SkunkWerks since its a mech editor and produces record sheets . . . pretty sure it has the costs too.

Which is if you are using TW rules for combat.

One thing I do wonder is if you have seen the new Mechwarrior Destiny beta that was released as part of the Kickstarter.  Its a RPG-lite system that offers a simple mech combat system, you can find a thread on here discussing its function.

Anyway, suggested books?  Chaos Campaign (free DL linked above), Chaos Campaign Succession War (free DL, print is $6 MSRP), and Campaign Operations will handle most of your campaign/scenario links that you are asking about.

Last suggested book comes down to what you want to do . . . are they only interested in mech-on-mech in the traditional table top game (referred to as TW rules) then you can get BattleMech Manual (BMM).  IF they want to incorporate mechs, vehicles, infantry, VTOLs, artillery, conventional fighters, aerofighters, small craft, and dropships the table top rule book you will want is Total Warfare (hence TW ruleset).

[OddWalrus]

Hey Colt, Thanks for the quick reply! To answer some of your questions:

So the big question is are you playing BT with RPG to link the scenarios and generate the campaign?  Or are you RPG'ing in the BTU and want to use Total Warfare rules for combat portions?

We're playing BT with RPG to link the scenarios and generate the campaign. Definite focus on the mech combat, with the RPG "fluff" part just linking everything together. That said, I am looking at something "small scale". So people not controlling entire armies or platoons or anything. People would literally just be controlling one single mech, their own, and they would have total control over it (modifications and what not). So maybe that is more "RPG'ing in the BTU, but using Total Warfare for the Combat Portions"?

Fundamentally, people will not be controlling full lances on their own, or multiple armies/invasion points, they will only have their one single mech. If they collect another mech while playing, they can pilot that mech into combat instead, or in theory could hire another mechwarrior to drive it, and then they might field 2 mechs at once, but that would be the only way they could do that. So, yeah, not sure which scenario that fits in the description, but that's what I'm planning on doing.

For either I will point out two products . . . first, as you mentioned 'warchest' that is part of the Chaos Campaign system they came up with about 10 years ago, its a record-lite campaign system that does not track individual components or c-bills.  You fight in a mission, you get resource points and can do things to modify what you get- for example, last campaign game my group did we felt we could survive the opposition but not sure about accomplishing all the objectives so we took the option to IIRC increase the opposition by a lance or two of tanks.  Sure it made achieving the objectives harder, but we got paid more and had more salvage.

I will have to check out the Chaos Campaign, that may be exactly what I'm looking for. "AccounTech" is something that I am still tempted to do, but only to a degree, as the full experience is just too much I feel.  I may try to figure out a way to house rule simplify that set of things. Basically, say, their contracted employer will take care of the medical concerns, food concerns, travel concerns, etc., so that way they only have to manage their individual mechs. That way, it's only "AccounTech" for that one aspect of the game. Do you think that would work?

One thing I do wonder is if you have seen the new Mechwarrior Destiny beta that was released as part of the Kickstarter.  Its a RPG-lite system that offers a simple mech combat system, you can find a thread on here discussing its function.

I unfortunately didn't back that Clan Invasion Kickstarter, so I don't have access to that closed beta  :-[ .

Last suggested book comes down to what you want to do . . . are they only interested in mech-on-mech in the traditional table top game (referred to as TW rules) then you can get BattleMech Manual (BMM).  IF they want to incorporate mechs, vehicles, infantry, VTOLs, artillery, conventional fighters, aerofighters, small craft, and dropships the table top rule book you will want is Total Warfare (hence TW ruleset).

We're really only interested in the "big-stompy-robots" portion of the game. I "might" consider throwing in some tanks and VTOL or something at the beginning or end of the campaign just to mix things up, but right now, that's a pretty big "might".

Hope that clarifies things. Looking forward to more suggestions and tips!

[Colt Ward]

Thanks for the answers, lets me tailor it down some . . .

Chaos Campaign DOES have a option to turn RPs into c-bills so your individual warrior could buy components trying to save up all the bits they would need to modify their mechs.  My suggestion would be to do something like some of the old sailor customs that allowed crew or officers to have a certain amount of cubage for personal cargo- basically they could buy high value, low mass goods for trade on the side as a perk of the job.  So say your mechwarrior has 5 or 10 tons of 'personal' space in the mech cubicle on their assigned dropship as part of their contract.  I would also say as a independent operator they might have a portion in their contract that describes when something is their salvage rather than general unit haul- IE, if I rip the arm off a Warhammer and carry it out of the battle zone as we retreat, I get the Warhammer arm as my property- so a bit of armor, some myomer & actuators and a PPC (if stock).

This would allow you to simplify the basic repairs/maintenance by using the Chaos Campaign RP while still getting into the gritty of tracking down parts and having to spend on them to get the upgrade you want without having to do it on everything.

I would suggest 2 mechs instead of 1 for each prospective player.  My group had each player start off with 2 units in 3067, one was a high tech and the other was a more basic model.  This has worked well with some equipment turn-over (center torso cored, ejected units lost when they did not keep the battlefield, etc) where a player was down to 1 mech and waiting to see if the group salvaged something or had the RPs to buy.  Sometimes the RPs were so tight, mechs did not reload ammo bins or repair all their damage- especially since its the full RP cost to reload whether you only fired a single round or emptied the bin.

This also lets you field a capable force if not everyone shows up.  While the group has 2 'community' units (Owens Omni & a medium tank), if a player does not show their units do not get used.  We had one game where IIRC we had 5 player units on the table from 3 players against two lances.  Chaos Campaign sets opposition based on what you play with by BV, more on that later.  At other times we had 6 or 7 players and so fielded over a company from the merc group, even with previous losses.  The other side of that is, even if a player has two options they may decide not to put both on the board- especially if you use scenarios that encourage specific characteristics like the terrain encourages JJ or victory conditions need mechs that are 5/8 or faster.

BV vs tonnage-  A simple resource to get BVs, and what any pilot lvls are, is to use the http://masterunitlist.info/ which is provided by CGL and updated by the volunteers.  It has the BV of every published mech and reflects rules changes as they occur- like the recent pilot BV modifier decrease.  Chaos Campaigns will often say 'Opposing force is 120% of the players BV' or 'Allied force is 50% of the players BV' and other methods.  For example, the Jagermech 6-S is 65t 901 BV while the Thunderbolt 5SE weights the same but is 1414 and have a very different level of ability- BUT there are times I want that cheaper BV Jagermech.  The lightly armored Jagermech works well for AA, at range disabling vehicles at range, or with special ammos like flechette dealing with forests/infantry.

[Insaniac99]

If you have not found it, I suggest getting something like Solaris SkunkWerks since its a mech editor and produces record sheets . . . pretty sure it has the costs too.

It does, It also prints out cost of a full load of the currently selected ammo

[Greatclub]

http://bg.battletech.com/download/CAT35600_ChaosCampaign_Rulebook.pdf

I just realized nobody had posted a link to this. or this

https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/collections/battletech/products/battletech-chaos-campaign-succession-wars

[Daryk]

Also, you might want to ask the moderators about merging your two threads into one to make things easier for people responding, not to mention yourself...