[LFP][Battletech][GURPS][Free] Gauging Interest For A Unique Campaign to Beat Lockdown Blues

Systems: Battletech Wargame, Gurps 4e Platform: MegaMek, Roll20, Discord Players: Variable, 4-8 Time:  Weekly, TBD Requirements: Willingness to learn new programs/systems, ability to do short free-form text-based roleplay regularly between sessions, a desire to set the Inner Sphere on fire for monetary gain CONCEPT Are you in lockdown? Working from home or laid off? A lot of free time on your hands and not really sure how to fill it? Do you love big stompy robots and grinding Capellan orphanages to dust under your heel actuators? No? I'm the only one? Anyways, I'm considering starting up a new campaign set in the Battletech universe, the same one from which the MechWarrior and MechAssault games hail. Humanity has colonized a swath of nearly five thousand systems around Sol, known as the Inner Sphere. They then created a prosperous and peaceful empire called the Star League, in which nothing bad happens, which promptly burns down. The remaining political powers of this empire fight to succeed the Star League in a series of wars collectively known as the Succession Wars. Hundreds of years of on-again-off-again fighting leave the Inner Sphere in a technological dark age, and many of the wonders of the Star League have been lost to history or are now irreplaceable relics. This campaign will take place sometime after the year 3000 and before 3025. Characters would play as the titular MechWarriors, larger-than-life mercenary rockstar personalities of the 31st century, piloting a variety of war machines in your quest to earn fat stacks and avoid being prosecuted for the many war crimes you will, no doubt, casually commit in the employ of the various powers of the Inner Sphere.  MECHANICS Mechanically, the game will use the rules from the Battletech tabletop wargame for combats that involve anything larger than a 2009 Honda Civic, and GURPS 4e for barroom brawls and mercenary conduct review boards assembled to assess your culpability. While this may sound a bit wonky, especially using a TTWG for an RPG campaign, rest assured, I've done this before and I'm pretty sure I would know more than you about it, okay?! Battlemechs in Battletech are incredibly customizable, with plenty of granularity and personality to set you apart from every other mercenary-slash-god-of-the-battlefield. They are very hardy as well, leading to prolonged battles of attrition that really lends itself well to the concept of a TTRPG. The addition of GURPS, the player-killer GM's system of choice, for dismount operations is primarily used to juxtapose the incredible fragility of man, even one who normally pilots an armored office building. CAVEATS Now, for the actually unique elements of this campaign. One, I won't be using Roll20 for the 'mech combats. Instead, I will be using the online tabletop MegaMek, a free program that handles all the Battletech rules so you (and I) don't have to. As a free program developed by presumably amateur coders in their spare time, it lacks some of the polish and ease-of-use of modern programs, but once you figure out where they've decided to put all the buttons it works pretty well. Dismount operations will use Roll20 as normal.  The other thing was in regards to the roleplay and general structure of the game. My goal is to take care of plot, character interactions, and the logistics of running a 'mech in between weekly sessions. Essentially, doing all the roleplaying on discord and doing only combats during sit-down sessions. This absolutely requires players that are willing and able to read and respond on discord at least once a day, and hopefully a lot more. I am looking for players who want to explore their characters, and the character of those around them, even more than they want to explore the enemy with an ERPPC.  If you've actually read all of the caveats and think this game might be for you, consult your doctor, and then send me a DM or leave a response here showing your interest, or with any questions you might have.

Not 100% on the daily thing...but marking for interest... And which era?  3025?  Clan invasion? 

The era will be roughly 3025, though I'll probably take some liberties with the timeline as the game goes on. As for the daily thing, I don't mean to imply some sort of 'roleplaying quota' or anything. More like, all of the players will be living in the same dropship most of the time, so there is a lot of opportunity for player interaction (with each other and with NPCs) that would usually go unexplored in a traditional weekly-session schedule. It's the kind of minor, but important, interactions that gives life to a character and the unit as a whole, and it's what I want to inspire in this game. In a given week between sessions, I'd like to see things like a group of players and NPCs in the mess arguing about who is going to win the next Solaris match, two or three players having a discussion about the tactics used in the last battle, one player chewing the quartermaster out for not procuring enough LRMs to fill his bins, another complaining to the XO about nothing important, that sort of stuff. You as an individual player are not required to be, and probably should not be, involved in everything going on, but you should be aware of it, and find or make a suitable place to contribute to the atmosphere. And, of course, I'll be there to facilitate in whatever capacity is necessary. The goal with this is not to give homework, because I don't want people to think it's tedious or a bother. I'd like to have players that seek out these kinds of interactions on their own, because they like their own characters enough to want to interact with them.

i would love to play if youll have me!

I'm still working but at a reduced workload so would love to join in the fun.... a big fan of the Battletech setting, but the rules on the rpg side have always been a little so so, that's why I get why you have set the game up the way you have although it will be a first for me playing GURPS 

Don't worry about experience, I've taught quite a few people how to use GURPS, and dismount ops will be rare enough that you will not need to be intimately familiar. I would not be surprised if we only used GURPS for combat a handful of times.

Hello--I have an unhealthy obsession with PXH-1D Phoenix Hawks and certain other Unseen models and a marked enthusiasm for blowing up Capellan Vindicators. That said, I've played 0 GURPS and only a modified version of BT tabletop (with simplified movement/range penalties and side-initiative instead of staggered). I have played many other systems besides GURPS. I also have a fairly busy schedule of 3-4 other games per week so I don't know if this will fit. I do like piecemeal Discord RP on the side though, that's fine. So I guess for me scheduling would be the true Boss Fight, as it always is.

***checks the stockpile of Inferno rounds*** "97...98...99....!!!"  Okay who's the one who thought it'd be funny to take the warhead for fuel for next week's marshmellow roast?"

I am also interested, haven't played BT/MW in over 20 years but always loved the setting

This sounds quite interesting. I'm a longtime fan of both Battletech and GURPS, so this is kind of a perfect match for me. I'm in the Euro timezone, and my schedule is somewhat tight, but I would love to join if we can get scheduling worked out!

Alright, since there is in fact enough interest, I'm going to send out DMs with an invitation to the discord server and set up a when2meet to start narrowing down availability. Anyone still interested after this message, feel free to make a post or send me a DM, as there are still possibly slots, and we may lose a few to scheduling-related casualties.

If any slots ever open up, i'll gladly join along! Not much experience with either systems mechanically, but I do love me my Battletech lore, and I'm familiar with other tabletop war-gaming and role playing systems, so it'll just be another learning experience!

^^Hey QDust there's probably a slot open since they made the start time 4 AM for me during my work week I've had to drop. :)

So I'm coming into the thread a bit late, hope that's not a concern. A friend introduced me BT/MW a few years back, but nothing ever came of the initial interest, and the idea of a game just faded away with a lack on enthusiastic players in the area. Circle to the last few days, and I've been looking for something new to dive into deeply. Battle Tech Age of War came up in discussion and my curiosity piqued again. This thread definitely has my attention. Very familiar with GURPS, having run it for a few high fantasy and modern era games myself. Compete newbie to the MechWarrior / Battle Tech universe beyond a few articles I've read for personal interest in the last few days.  Hoping that I'm not too late to find a seat at the table!  

I would be up for it as well, if time is right. I am GMT+2 time zone.

My Saturday evenings are already booked (roughly 6pm to 2am GMT-6/Central US time) but any other time or day or time is fine as is all of them. I haven't played Battle Tech as a board game in about 30 years which is about the same time I was playing GURPS (first edition of course) so I'm slightly better off than a complete noob with the systems, but only from long ago experience.