1014 replies to this topic

[cmopatrick]

go for it. your character is getting mentioned in a post anyway (though without being named). please don't leave them at the mercy of the postaholic (er... that would be me).

[guardian wolf]

Just to clarify that, I was saying that is how he is medically speaking insane. I was being more specific on the topic and stating the actual illness that his insanity would fall under.

[Janitor101]

Spokes, go ahead, you can assume you've been present for the briefing and everything.

Guardian, I understand, it still stands that the character has too many issues, I ask that you cut some of the more extreme ones, he can totally have issues, but not to the extremity that he does now. Also, please edit the character sheet in the last post you made, don't make another post with the modded version.

[dal10]

i should have a post up later today early tomorrow.

[guardian wolf]

Ah, was making sure I was clear on that, due to the fact that I have been told that my communication skills still need work on being clear as to what I'm trying to tell the other person, making changes.

[Spokes]

Roger that, working on it now.

Sorry, still writing. Trying to catch up a bit, will be synced with everyone in a bit.

Edited by Spokes, 04 March 2013 - 01:55 PM.

[guardian wolf]

How's the bio now Janitor?

[dal10]

sparks, i am not sure AI is the word you are looking for... cause i would be really concerned if a battlemech had one installed.

[Sparks Murphey]

dal10, on 05 March 2013 - 10:33 AM, said:

sparks, i am not sure AI is the word you are looking for... cause i would be really concerned if a battlemech had one installed.

Yeah, you're right, I want something like "onboard computer". Not that I expect Nathan could tell the difference. I might make an edit pass later today to tweak that.

[cmopatrick]

Yeah, you don't want to end up apocryphal like me. I mean why allow an interactive computer (however intelligent that may be). Well, outside of Comstar or the Clans... after all, neither of them were bombed into "the stone age" and we already (2013) have interactive computers with ai subroutines in even the most common devices (siri, anyone? ). I know the story master might decide my irreverence requires my poor character's rapid demise, but this is one point I never give ground on: if Betty can talk to me, I can talk back. I won't try to elevate Duncan to the level Alexis has in The Chessboard or In the Shadow of a Wolf, but he only becomes a verbal indicator if Janitor kills TOG off and then comments that TOG was so nuts he actually thought his onboard computers could actually talk back.

Edited by cmopatrick, 05 March 2013 - 06:56 PM.

[Spokes]

Computer Voice Circuit

Initially used by Star League forces, this computerized voice keeps the pilot informed of the status of his BattleMech's systems and allows him to control his 'Mech with verbal commands. However, many pilots discovered that the benefits did not outweigh the irritation of constant nagging from the computer. Though the voice circuit has remained available throughout the centuries of the Succession Wars and up to the present day, few MechWarriors use the device.

- Battletech Tactical Handbook, pg 73

Voice recognition systems are fairly common in the Mechwarrior universe. I don't see anything wrong with the systems described so far in the thread. I don't think using the term "A.I." is inappropriate either-- it's a pretty broad descriptor, and doesn't have to refer to self aware computer.

And as far as I'm concerned, TOG is awesome.

[cmopatrick]

Thanks. For the life of me I couldn't find that, even though I was pretty certain I had read that somewhere back when...

Hard to imagine how advanced things we take for granted today would have been outside of most people's imaginings in the early '80s when the foundations of BT were being laid. ooops, now I'm sounding like TOG, better zip it.

Edited by cmopatrick, 05 March 2013 - 07:02 PM.

[guardian wolf]

Still wondering if Janitor takes my character's "insanity" the way it's supposed to be. (I did a speech on this, and plenty of research, there are two kinds of insane, what I'll call for now 'strange' and 'crazy'. Strange is just a different way of thinking, crazy is where that thinking makes you perform things that get you sent to the asylum.)

[dal10]

i would point out that freelance mercs in particular would likely not need to pass a psych exam, with the main thing that matters being that they can fight, not that they play nice. if he was hired after civil unrest started piling up but before the massacre, you could probably see full nutjobs working in the military. however, a majority, if not all, would stay with leofric.

[cmopatrick]

(well, tried to send this as a message, but they don't seem to be easily noticed)

gw: may I offer an opinion? hmmm, I hope so because I'm about to stick my foot in it if not... on the off chance that the wording is leaving doubts about your intent, how about something more along the lines of the following:

... scatter brained as all be h3ll, open minded, and rather eccentric. Nope, not so eccentric as to be a problem, but still a bit off the norm. He is occasionally observed talking to himself, sometimes almost seeming to have a second opinion on his own ideas... like I said, he's rather eccentric. The last and final bit of Will's personality...

I grant that I could be wrong, but I think this fits what you have since described, but it might avoid enough red flag drama words to satisfy our story master.

[guardian wolf]

CMO, I just got back on, and I sent a more in depth reply to you. To be basic here (for a multitude of reasons) eccentric would be putting the wrong word on the character. That is because of the two routes insanity could take, being eccentric goes the way that ends up with the person suffering from anxiety, which then deteriorates into other more destructive illnesses.

[Janitor101]

Guardian, I couldn't see any updates made to your character sheet, then I scrolled up and looked at your old one, which had been modified. You've been editing the wrong post, I suggest deleting all the text out of the old post and just editing the newer one.

[Thom Frankfurt]

Name: William 'Billy' Ribbions
Callsign: Bones or Billy Bones
Role: Brawler
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 9/16/3030
Planet of Birth: Wallachia FWL
-Appearance- At first glance Billy appears to have a stocky body, but these looks are a bit deceiving. He possesses a dense bone structure, and well muscled frame, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. He wears his thick raven colored hair in four inch long mini dreads styled upon his head in what he refers to as a 'Dreadhawk' with the back and sides of his head shaved to allow better reception with his neurohelm like most mechwarriors. While his body is also covered in the same thick hair, his arms sometimes has big bald spots in them. These are caused by him habitually testing out a knifes edge by seeing if he can shave with it. Many women (regular chicks) would consider him handsome, for he has a devilish smile and a well manicured goatee that gives him a sort of Roguish air about him. Above his left eye is a scar from when his head crashed through the windshield of his friend's car in an accident during his teenage years. Unlike most mercenaries, he doesn't dress in the normal garb of cargo-pants and paramilitary dress uniforms. He prefers simple yet effective clothing, denim Levilike pants, t-shirts, and simple heavy jackets. But he always wears a leather vest whenever he's not piloting his mech.

Height: 5'10''
Weight: 200lbs
Hair Color: Black
Hair Style: Short thin dreadlocks with the sides and back of his head shaved.
Eye Color: Grey
Background: Born on the Free Worlds League planet of Wallachia to a language professor, and dean of the University of Wallachia, William was destined to follow in the family's footsteps of being an educator or master of the arts... That didn't happen. Instead the Andurien Succession happened shortly after his birth and the family fled as the revolt escalated. Retreating as the ripples of rebellion spread across the already unstable Free Worlds League, the family soon found themselves crossing over national borders, into the Lyran Commonwealth. With dwindling funds, and no real destination in sight, the family zeroed in on the game world, Solaris 7. Starting over on a new world was difficult. Father accepted (begrudgingly)a teachers position at a communal college in Solaris City. Struggling with a mere teacher's salary, mother went to work, and except for the hit and miss position as a translator for the already overstaffed government agencies, accepted a job as a secretary at Rainbow Stables. (*Snickers, I had to.) Shortly thereafter father was killed in what officials labeled as an explosion caused by a natural gas leak.

Growing up in a gladiatorial stable offered a young William chances that other kids would kill for. Besides the excellent benefits that mother received, which included schooling daycare, William grew up sneeking peaks at the gladiators and their mechs. This would leave a lasting impression on Will. For when he was old enough to go out on his own, he would usually be found in the stables mechyard. Through much pestering, pleading, and persistence Billy would get his chances to help out around the yard. First cleaning up, then later aiding the techs with simple repairs when he was able to, till one day he was even allowed to hitch a ride strapped into the foldout seat in a Catapult. It was decided then, he was going to be a MechWarrior and nothing would stop him. Mother begged Billy not to do it, but in the end she gave in and allowed him to accept special training from the MechWarriors of what was then known as Warlock Stables. Many hours of sim time ensued, but before he could strap himself into a battered COM-2D Commando he was hospitalized on his 18th birthday when he and his friends went out joy riding and crashed. Though for the most part unhurt, mother was furious, demanding that he'd give up his crazy thoughts of becoming a mech jock and enroll in school. But William wouldn't have any part of that and ran off to the Spaceport where he ran into some newly arriving mercenaries streaming into the port. After much dialogue, he was able to convince an outlandish looking tread-head wearing a c00n-skin cap to take him to his CO. With difficulty he was able to convince the funky accented merc to take him on as a tech and back up pilot. A year passed and Billy soon found himself finally behind the controls of a COM-2D Commando, but something was wrong... these guys weren't like the mercenaries that he'd hear about. These were borderline pirates, who would take odd jobs from some secretive employer. Often disguising their mechs as some random third party, the mercs would stage planetary raids on poorly garrisoned border worlds. Though he suspected that what he was doing was illegal, Billy kept his mouth shut. Time passed, and the young Wallacian soon found himself receiving promotions and higher pay. After one particularly brutal campaign on the Davion world of Midale (Future RP?) the bandits, for there was no hiding it anymore, retreated back to the word of Galeatta, a world for the desperate mercenary whom the law would judge as unsavory at best. While having their RR there, an odd bunch of merchants arrived, carrying a cargo of derelict mechs. Heavily rusted, caked in mud, and in desperate need of overhauls they were selling the mechs at dirt cheap (*snicker*) prices. The unit quickly bought several of the mechs. Two weeks later the MRBC cracked down on the unit, who was forced to disband, pay heavy restitutions to the planetary governments that they assaulted, and surrender. Billy was long gone by then, having joined up with some other band of cut-throats heading out to the Periphery. In the couple years since arriving on Kharkand Billy has put a lot of time and effort into making the Wolverine something to be proud of. The mech has issues though. The safety program is still in effect and every tech that Billy has met to this day have not been unable to crack it. So he uses a little used trick he's picked up over the years using magnets on a certain circutboard to create hiccup in the system just long enough to have the mechs systems come online
-Mech-
Mech Class: Medium
Mech Model: WVR-BB (Billy Bones) Wolverine
Mech Loadout: For the most part it is the WVR-6M.
Armament: 1 PPC Engine: Core Tek 275
2 M.las Movement: 86.4 km/h
1 SRM 6 Jumps: 150 meters?
1 S.las
CASE
10 'Old School Freezer DHS' The same as the one on the BJ-3 with the corrosive coolant. And one extra ton of armor. I'm not sure how much this thing has already, I'm not on SSW and all my BT books are (still)in storage. So if anyone (Sparky?) could check to verify I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Oh and thank you for your consideration and time in reading this book!

[Sparks Murphey]

It should look something like this:

 
Wolverine WVR-BB
 
Mass: 55 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-F-D
Production Year: 3055
Cost: 5,169,844 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,512
 
Chassis: Crucis-A Standard
Power Plant: CoreTek 275 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 54.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 86.4 km/h
Jump Jets: Northrup 12000
	Jump Capacity: 150 meters
Armor: Maximillian 60 Standard Armor w/ CASE
Armament:
	1 Magna Hellstar PPC
	1 Harpoon-6 SRM-6
	2 Magna Mk II Medium Lasers
	1 Magna Mk I Small Laser
Manufacturer: Kallon Industries, Victory Industries, Free Worlds Defense Industries
	Primary Factory: Nanking, Thermopolis (Kallon), Marduk (Victory), Gibson (FWDI)
Communications System: Garret T11-b
Targeting and Tracking System: Sync Tracker (39-42071)
 
================================================================================
Equipment		   Type						 Rating				   Mass  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard					  91 points				5.50
Engine:			 Fusion Engine				275					  15.50
	Walking MP: 5
	Running MP: 8
	Jumping MP: 5 Standard
	Jump Jet Locations: 1 CT, 2 LT, 2 RT								   2.50
Heat Sinks:		 Double Heat Sink			 10(20)					0.00
Gyro:			   Standard											   3.00
Cockpit:			Standard											   3.00
	Actuators:	  L: SH+UA+LA+H	R: SH+UA+LA+H
Armor:			  Standard Armor			   AV - 184				 11.50
	CASE Locations: 1 RT												   0.50
 
											 Internal	   Armor	  
											Structure	  Factor	
									  Head	 3			9		
						Center Torso	 18		   27		
				Center Torso (rear)				  8		
							 L/R Torso	 13		   21		
					 L/R Torso (rear)				  5		
								 L/R Arm	 9			18		
								 L/R Leg	 13		   26		
 
================================================================================
Equipment								 Location	Heat	Critical	Mass  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium Laser                       HD		3		 1		 1.00
SRM-6                              LT		4		 2		 3.00
Medium Laser                       RA		3		 1		 1.00
Small Laser                        RA		1		 1		 0.50
PPC                                RA		10		3		 7.00
@SRM-6 (15)                        RT		-		 1		 1.00
											Free Critical Slots: 32

You didn't specify where the small laser was going, so I assumed it was getting slung under the arm-mounted medium laser. But there's certainly room for it, however you want to play it.

Edit: Also, that code block made the layout look much nicer in the preview before I posted. Eh.

Edited by Sparks Murphey, 07 March 2013 - 03:37 AM.

[Thom Frankfurt]

Thanks again, Sparky! Wow 32 free crits? if only I had heaping piles of endo steel and ferro fiberous...

And might I add that's one decent looking mech I have there!

Edited by Thom Frankfurt, 07 March 2013 - 04:52 AM.