Well, here we are.
Dungeons & Dragons brought me to roleplaying as a hobby, but
MechWarrior has had an incredible effect on me and my life. As I type this, I have been a member of The Royal Dragoon Guards since it founded in 1995 as a club dedicated to roleplaying in the
MechWarrior universe. The RDG has branched out into all gaming since then, and has, at times, been a part of larger fandom organizations- but at its heart has always been the kind of roleplaying we did in this universe. MechWarrior. Even our Dragooniverse setting for
Stars Without Number is heavily influenced by some of the tropes of the
MechWarrior/Battletech universe. I was married in the uniform of our Regiment, and the best men and ushers were likewise in our custom-designed dress uniforms. I used to read Technical Readout: 3025 to my son at nap time.
So, what is it about this game and universe that captivates me so? That could be a blog series all its own. MechWarrior is Dune with giant robots. Or, for the younger crowd, Game of Thrones with giant robots. Great Houses of a fallen Star League squabbling over the scraps of a once great empire. Civilization and technology have degraded during centuries of warfare, so that the implements of war themselves are artifacts of a bygone age. It is not uncommon to war over spare parts caches. The MechWarriors themselves are less like modern soldiers and more like medieval knights, with their towering BattleMechs stand-ins for steed and armor. Neo-feudalism is the norm, and many planets can only muster a defense of the one or two things worth a damn on the entire world.
Damn. Just thinking about the original setting, in the early years of the 31st Century, gets my imagination running like a finely tuned fusion engine. At any given time I've got half a dozen campaign ideas prepped for this game universe. Scrappy mercenaries is an old classic, the MechWarrior equivalent of the D&D adventuring party. Then there's the espionage campaigns, the scavenging for "LosTech" campaigns, the socio-political campaigns, and the ever popular 'Mech gladiator on Solaris VII campaigns. And more.
Like many RPGs, MechWarrior has had several editions. We're looking at the original edition from 1986, even though most of my play time was with Mechwarrior Second Edition from 1991. The Dragoons even playtested on MechWarrior Third Edition (1999), and we have played both the current game, A Time of War, and several conversions such as GURPs and Savage Worlds. We even made our own Strands of FATE conversion that was pretty good. And I've tinkered with d20 Modern (bad idea) and Cepheus Engine (great idea) conversions. Now there's a new fast-play, rule-light option, MechWarrior: Destiny. I own it, but we have yet to play it. Time will tell.
Back to the first edition. This game has a fair amount of Traveller in its bones. It uses a 2d6 resolution system, and some of the feel of the setting has an air of Traveller meets Dune with big, stompy robots thrown in. The system is a point-build affair, though there are some random elements to 'Mech assignment and starting resources. There's even a system (which we'll use) for generating the unit in which the PCs serve. To me, peak first edition MechWarrior makes use of both The Mercenary's Handbook and Battletechnology Magazine. There's a great article in Issue 0101 that allows further detail in character creation, and the good old Merc book has more detail in the care and feeding of a unit. But we're going to use the core book only, to rock it like we did when I first discovered the universe.
There are some interesting quirks in this game. Like Bow/Blade being one skill. If you're good with one, you're good with the other. Natural Aptitudes are random, you might blow the points on one and end up being naturally good at something your character will never do. Some skills include subskills, but they are treated differently depending on the skill. It's definitely an 80s game design. Let's dive in, and see what kind of MechWarrior we'll create.
Character Creation
In MechWarrior, every character is allotted 150 Character Points (CP) to purchase all of the things involved- attributes, skills, etc. A BattleMech is assigned randomly, but CP may be used to add to that roll, or CP may be gained by subtracting from it, but be careful, it is possible to roll no 'Mech at all if that is done. Teams may also pool all their allotments of 150 CP into one big pool, and then split it up as they see fit, giving some characters more and some less. But we're creating a single MechWarrior, here, so let's check it out.
There are four attributes, Body (BOD), Dexterity (DEX), Learning Ability (LRN), and Charisma (CHA). Body encompasses what D&D would call Strength and Constitution, it's a general rating of toughness and physical fitness. Dexterity is what it says on the tin, and governs most combat skills. Learning Ability is the Intelligence/Wisdom attribute, and also limits the total number of skill levels and individual skills the character can have at any one time, similar to Traveller. Charisma is much as it is in D&D, an amalgam of personality and appearance. Minimum score is 2, maximum is 12, average is 6. Characters begin with a 6 in each for zero CP cost. Going up costs CP, and down gains CP, but each attribute has differing costs with LRN being the most expensive to raise, and Body/Charisma the least.
Skills rolls are based on a target determined by the associated attribute, minus one for each Skill Level. So, a DEX-based skill will start at 8+ on 2d6 with a DEX of 7 per the table lookup. Level 1 in that skill would reduce the target number to 7+, Level 2 to 6+, etc. Skills are purchased separately by default. A character may have no more than four times LRN in total skill levels overall, and may have levels in no more than LRN skills. So, a character with a LRN of 6 could have levels in 6 different skills, and no more than 24 total skill levels.
Skills are normally purchased individually, but there are packages available that provide the skills at a reduced cost, however any skill granted in a package cannot be further raised by spending additional CP. Anyone can take an Academy package, but the University package represents something like the New Avalon Institute of Science and requires an 11+ roll to even enroll. It also costs 100 CP, compared to the 75 CP of the Academy package. The University package is also available only to House Steiner and House Davion- which is interesting, because a random roll later determines unit affiliation by the book (I don't know anyone who didn't have the players and GM determine this, or make the roll until something suitable came up.)
There are also a few Inborn Abilities that can be purchased, some are negative and grant CP, like Glass Jaw, and some positive and costing CP, like Natural Aptitude. A character can also choose their handedness, with full Ambidexterity allowing a John Woo 2-pistols fighting style.
The other factor is the 'Mech Assignment Table. A 2d6 roll on this non-linear table yields a result from 15-90. Thus, any character rolling a 15 starts with no 'Mech, unless one pulls the ultralight 'Mechs from Battletechnology. Also- no character can start with an Atlas, as 100 tons is not an option on the chart.
Now, I am tempted to take the maximum -6 on the 'Mech assignment roll to get +90CP. But I won't. Because that would not yield a good example, being extreme.
So, first things first, I will try to get into the University Program. That requires we determine attributes first, and for every attribute with a 9 or better, we'll get +1 on the enrollment roll. So, we'll lock in DEX and LRN at 9, costing 110 points. So now we roll 2d6 and get... 7. Even with the +2, not happening. So here we are with 40 CP to our name. We need 35 more to get the standard Academy package. So to get that, we'll take Family Feud (-15) and two negative mods on the BattleMech Assignment Table.
Now armed with 85 CP, we get the Academy package for 75, and with the remaining 10, raise CHA to 7. Now we have BOD 6, DEX 9, LRN 9, CHA 7. Skills are added to the 1 free level in Piloting/'Mech and Gunnery/'Mech that MechWarrior characters receive. There are no real classes, but free skill levels come to characters designated as MechWarriors, Scouts, Aerspace Pilots, etc. Our PC has the skills from the Academy, for a total of Piloting/'Mech 3, Gunnery/'Mech 3, Technician 2, Pistol 1, Leadership 1, Survival 1.
Now, roll for BattleMech. We're at -2 because we needed those 30 points. I roll 7, -2 is 5. The table gives us 35 tons. Our 3025 options are Panther, Ostscout, and Firestarter. Rolling randomly, we end up with the Firestarter.
Now, for shit and giggles, we'll roll up a unit. Rolling for unit size, we get 11 - company. A company is a unit of 12 BattleMechs. We roll to see if we have a pair of aerospace fighters to give us air cover- 5, we have an Air Lance. Do we have a DropShip? 8, yes, we have a Union-class DropShip. These vessels are capable of sublight travel only, do we have a JumpShip to take us from star to star? 6, yes, we have an Invader-class JumpShip. So far, this is awesome.
An 8 on 2d6 means we're a House unit, in service to some government. Now we roll a d66 roll (two six-sided dice read as if they were percentage dice) and get a 34, House Steiner. Cool. The dice know I love the Lyran Commonwealth of House Steiner.
We have a Tech assigned to our 'Mech, and there's a roll to see how sharp our Tech is. Adding our Pilot and Gunner skills is 6, then we roll 2d6 and get a 5, my tech has a Level 2 skill. Our DropShip pilot has a skill of 3, our JumpShip pilot a skill of 3, and our Aerospace pilots skills of 1 and 3. Guess we have a very green wingman, there. As a Company, we roll for recon personnel. 8, we have one scout. That scout has 2 levels in Rogue, 2 levels in Diplomacy, and 3 levels in Streetwise.
Now, unit assets. We have a total of (70+70+70+25+25+30+10=300) credits thanks to having three full lances of BattleMechs, and Air Lance, a DropShip, a JumpShip, and a Scout. This is modified by +10% for being a Steiner regular unit, so 330.
We immediately spend 150 of this on a package of 'Mech Repair Stores. This is a set of parts and armor for repairing 'Mechs after a battle. We'll also get a Long Tom Howitzer, a Myomer Implantation Device for the medics to use for sever muscle damage, a Skimmer, and the remaining 70 points converts to 70,000 C-Bills for a (tiny) Unit Coffers. This sounds like a chunk of change, but it won't go very far. Interestingly, this nest egg seems to be where a character's cash for starting equipment comes. I could not find a single reference to other starting cash. Odd, that.
Last but not least, we determine Personal Initiative Bonus (PIB) and Hits to Kill (HTK) by looking at the Combat chapter. PIB is +1 thanks to high DEX. HTK is 60, or ten times BOD. A chart shows us where the body has a certain number of HTK in limbs, torso, and head.
The Character
The icy cold of Graduation Day at The Naglering was full of all the martial pageantry the Lyran Commonwealth could muster- and that was quite a bit. Speeches by portly generals longer on credit rating than combat experience, flyovers by Aerospace fighters, and a parade of BattleMechs. Finally, Kadet Hauptmann Eva Holdermann could tie on her Naglering school sash and replace her Academy shoulder boards with a Leutnant's shoulder patch. She and her family's rare and ancient FS-9M Mirage, a variant on the spindly Firestarter, were assigned to 10th Panzerkompanie, and independent command heading to the Draconis Combine border.
Leutnant Holdermann had spent four years at The Naglering, the academy from which her father and mother had graduated, and two of her grandparents. It had been an interesting experience, with a focus she had not expected on social graces, formal dance, and oratory just as much as combat tactics and BattleMech operations. It was so odd to be up to her elbows in actuator grease in the afternoon and being in full dress for etiquette lessons just hours later. The Lyran Commonwealth prided itself on a professional officer corps, but so many of her superiors were from families of wealth and privilege, but lacking the martial traditions of her own. She had expected her classmates to all be from MechWarrior families, yet a good portion of them were the sons and daughters of megacorporations like Defiance Industries, Nashan Diversified, or Baker Pharmaceuticals.
Her entire life had been leading up to this moment, from the first time her mother had put her in the Mirage's cockpit at age 10 to get a feel for the command couch. Here she was, a MechWarrior, carrying on the family's tradition of service. And the family would be paid a stipend for the Commonwealth's use of their 'Mech. She was serving her family as well as her nation. Soon she would meet the three enlisted MechWarriors who would make up her Lance, and the Hauptmann who would command the entire company. And then their DropShip would boost, and they'd be off to fight the Dracs. A grand adventure, her father had called it.
My Thoughts
MechWarrior had some interesting ideas. Experience points were awarded for all sorts of things, skill rolls, saving throws, defeating opponents, etc. One could use those points to modify dice, or save them and convert them into Character Points to raise skills and attributes. In addition to this, at certain xp totals, your character's experience class increases from Green, to Regular, to Veteran, etc. When this happens, two skills and one attribute advance for "free." In practice, this got pretty fiddly. Like Rolemaster's xp system where you got xp for damage, criticals, killing monsters, being killed, traveling, and if it's the first time you did that thing, it's x2 and if it's become routine it's x1/2 and AAARRRGGGHH. So, like Rolemaster, the xp system in MechWarrior is awesome on paper, but a bit awkward in practice.
I love the way this book is written, though. Reading about the entourage of a noble household and I hit planetologist. Hell yes, we have planetologists. Reading about the important people in the universe from Hanse Davion to Subhash Indrahar to Pavel Ridzik and everyone in between. The sweet color plates (of which I own four originals) by Dave Deitrick, with the 'Mechs and gear by Steve Venters and Dana Knutson. The illustrations of the gear, and things that just drip setting like the blazer, and the neural whip.
This game is my jam in a way no other game, even D&D, is. Military sci-fi is my primary gaming MOS, and this game is the pinnacle of that genre for me. The MechWarrior Universe from the tabletop games, novels, and video games is "home" for me. Specifically, in the late Succession Wars era before the coming of the Clans in the late 3040s. Just rolling up Leutnant Holdermann reminded me of the glorious days we filled with this universe. Not just big robot combat, oh, no. We spent far more time outside our cockpits dealing with the beans and bullets, personal relationships, political machinations... This universe had it all for me, which is why I am so jazzed about it as a place to play now. It just hits all the right buttons. All my sweet spots. Sure, the system is a bit clunky, and each edition just changed the clunk around. For my money, the most playable version thus far has been Mechwarrior, Second Edition with the third edition being the most ambitious, but having problems in character generation.
This game is definitely worth a look, mechanically as a product of its time, and for content as a great game world in which to play. Will I dig MechWarrior: Destiny? I'll certainly give it a fair try. Maybe it will be my go-to version. As readers know by now I kinda trend old-school, but who knows, this one might be a rare situation in which I enjoy a newer edition as much or more as the old one.
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