Session 0

Hey, thanks for wanting to join this game. I get that learning a new system is hard but you can mostly skip over the setting (apart from the beginning bit about what Lancers are) so that cuts down most of it.

I wanted to ask what you guys, gals and other various groups wanted out of this.

I have two goals: Learn a new system, help a new GM learn the craft, and...

Three, I have three goals: Learn a new system, help a new GM learn the craft, and have fun, and eng-

Amoungst my goals are such diverse elements as: Learn a new system, help a new GM learn the craft, and have fun, and engage in exploring my lifelong love of mechs.

Obviously, some giant robot action!

But more seriously, I tend to be a more action-adventure sort of player, and not too big on the social intrigue end of things. Gimme plenty of awesome things to do, and I'll be a happy camper!

okey! Will do!

This is obviously military themed (you ARE Lancers, after all)

I am also pretty excited for some giant robot action. I am kind of the opposite of Yamazaki, however. I enjoy the story-telling and dramatic tension of more social games... but I am pretty stoked for the giant metal monstrosities with big guns.
What I really want from this is to learn a new system, and to explore a genre which I usually stay away from when writing or playing (Sci-fi). Oh, and of course, have some fun.

I’m with DarkReaver, obviously excited to get in a mech, but more into the social side of the game especially on PBP. Super excited for a new system, and getting out of my "fantasy" comfort zone with writing and playing.

I'm not fussy! I really like social/narrative-focused games but I'm in a lot of those already so I wouldn't mind a change of pace either

Honestly, the game looks like a lot of fun. I'm sure it will be awesome however you decide to run it :D

I have no problems with some social drama, it's heavy-duty intrigue and social/political scheming that's beyond my writing and role-playing expertise. I'm pretty terrible as a face (I tend to overthink it).

Regardless, as long as I get some giant robot action, I'll be happy. LOL

Haha. I feel that some social drama to start that lends importance to the impending mech action might be just the ticket.

So keep internal threats to a minimum and external threats to the max and to keep them mostly mech based.

Don’t forget @Mel, you’re a player in this too. What do you want to see? Cuz what you enjoy and are confident with will make for the most fun all around.

Pffft, confidence. Such an alien concept.

I mean fair enough, but seriously what are you looking for?

I don't know. I have some basic concept kinda.

Mysterious assault on an outpost? Who is attacking? Why? Unknowns to start, but perhaps we learn something during the battle that grows the stakes.

That's close but not quite close enough for me to disclose currently (not because I don't want to give my idea without a little more thought, totally...where would you get that idea?)

Well we can turn this conversation to a session 0 character convo too. Any opening thoughts Qralloq?

Oh, just to say, you are military, you are new lancers, licence level 0 (meaning you haven't had a mission yet) but you may have been military before hand or a civilian that showed particular aptitude for becoming a lancer. You have just passed training and assigned to a squad.

I need to read the book more to begin discussing a character.

Remember this when coming up with a character: Lancers are not only mech pilots, but rather Ace Mech Pilots. The best of the best. Be it from training, cybernetic enhancement, pure talent, or even just being lucky (or even all of the above), Lancer is a title granted to those who can kick ass in a mech.

Of course, a level 0 character may not have earned the right to call themself a lancer just yet.

As for me, I'm bouncing between either a hacker or a drone commander. I'm leaning more towards the later for now...

oooooh, both sound cool

Note: this is probably gonna be an urban battlefield just cause i'm in the mood

I’m thinking an adrenaline junkie pilot, with a flair for speed, and melee/front line battle. The pilot loves his mechs fast and damage personal, don’t need to be a heavy armored guy if you don’t get hit/it’s not illegal if you don’t get caught, type of personality carrying over into his mech style

oooh, sounds cool.

I am thinking of making a Far Field Survey Specialist (Far Field Team background) who may be a little messed up in the head for two reasons. He definitely saw some stuff out on the far edges of Union space that he'd like to forget, and he had a small incident where his suit's NHP became unshackled and he may have partially infused the AI with his consciousness in his attempts to re-shackle it.
I see him as being a support/control character with a talent for hacking and disrupting reality (when he finds a way to do it).

I'm thinking a Spacer named Cruso. Raised in a wrecked military vessel adrift in deep space, the survivors struggled to survive. Years passed, years spent foraging for parts, trying to maintain an ecosystem in an environment never intended for that. He was the first child born in that place, and when they were finally rescued he was 12. In that time, he built his own mech, scavenged from pieces of destroyed war machines. The mech provided vacuum protection and enhanced strength and movement, but more so it was his one tie to the greater humanity. Raised in a military vessel, his view of humanity as a whole is so colored. His expertise was recognized by the rescuers and had was enrolled in a mercenary corp.

oooh, both sound good

oh, also, forgot to mention: the way Lancer recommends balancing can seem a bit weird so if it's wildly too hard or too easy, that's me effectively calibrating how it works. It has a 3 tier system, so tier 1 is PC levels 1-4, etc. So let's hope y'all aren't immediately killed

Alright so fleshing out the backstory for my PC a bit more....Chris was born on the frontier of Union space, parents and family spent most of their time just trying to scrape by a living. This means that Chris was raised with few rules, supervision, or the attention that every child craves. Over the years, Chris learned that a way to "earn" this attention that he craved was to push the limits of life, eventually this daredevil streak turned into an addiction, and life became more and more about the next feat, the next limit, the next rush. Now he's joined the military, looking for that rush of dopamine, and what better way to use the push the limits than in a mech? Now he can search for the next adrenaline rush under that call sign.... Rush.

At the moment, I'm thinking of a stealthy, infiltrator sort of character. I'll write up a proper character synopsis later today :)

Here's some background for my character too.

Part of a Union Far Field Survey team, Arrat Pezal traveled beyond the distant colonies of Union space to determine what worlds could be utilized in the Union's ever-growing desire to expand. While out on an assignment, his team came upon an incredibly bizarre planet that warped reality around them, the effects of which seemed to get worse as they approached the source. An eldritch obelisk, the dimensions of which did not seem possible to him, seemed to be radiating this madness.
His team attempted to approach to find a way to disable or study the object. Almost as if sensing their intentions, the structure erupted with a blast of energy, sending them all into a bizarre state where they were met with visions of nightmarish lands and impossible realities. Arrat was the first to come to, realizing that his team's NHP had become unshackled by the blast and he worked maniacally to fix it. Only by absorbing part of the AI into his cybernetic implants could he hope to keep it contained.
He was successful, but most of his team was not. Two of his teammates were killed by the visions, their minds having ruptured from being unable to comprehend it. Another was killed by the suit's AI upon his reawakening, only stopping its rampage after Arrat had re-shackled it. Two more were driven mad by the visions, and were left catatonic.
Arrat brought the survivors back to their ship and flew them to the nearest Union colony with adequate facilities to help them. After arriving, his friends were admitted into a psychiatric ward where they were to be watched and tested for lingering effects. He joined them for a short time, but, aside from a mild case of PTSD, he was deemed fit to return to the Union for a short leave and possible reassignment. He would have to thank his new friend for helping him hide is true symptoms...

Here's my proposed character: Kit

Kit is a weird little miscreant with a penchant for taking things that don’t belong to him. As one might expect, his ornery personality and lack of respect for the law eventually got him into trouble on his home planet and, when he was nineteen, he was arrested and sent to an off-planet prison to atone for his many crimes. After about a year of imprisonment, he was presented with an opportunity to serve in the military instead when it was discovered that his flair for stealth and acrobatics made him a suitable candidate for training as a lancer.
While Kit’s fear of being sent back to prison has thus far kept him from committing any serious crimes while employed with the military, he is still a bit of a kleptomaniac and, unbeknownst to his superior officers, he has amassed a small collection of stolen items and food during his training.

Hey, a little late joining but it seems things haven't gotten too far. I'll read the book in the next day or two and then make a character.

As far as what I want? Stylish mechs, pilot social drama, fun with what seems to be the new de facto mech game. I like to learn hard into the social/narrative, but at the end of the day I am here for the awesomeness of mechs and the violence and conflict of their world!

okey, sounds good

I still need to world build

So reading everyone else's characters, I already have a character idea, and I think it will be a nice foil to some of the grittier backgrounds.

I will flesh it out more, but I'm thinking a character who grew up as the child of a high official. Think of a high minister in an imperial China style beaurocatic empire somewhere in the Galaxy. I want to read more of the book's lore before committing too much to the specific nature of his home, but the key is that he was groomed to administrate and rule. He wanted for nothing, and had access to the best teachers. Originally his military training was more of a formality, something everyone of his status goes through the motions of but doesn't take very seriously. He was different though. He had an affinity for fighting of all sorts, and eventually it was discovered that he could be a Lancer, the best of the best. His father absolutely forbid it, but he went anyway. He's idealistic and wants to be fighter for good, but in his heart he's also ambitious and wants to be the best. He says he has turned his back on the frivolous lifestyle of his family, but he still bears the marks and expectations of aristocracy, and it's unclear what he'd do it push really came to shove...

Again, assuming something like that makes sense in the fiction of the world.

oooooh, that sounds good. Even if a place doesn't exist in the actual lore, I can make sure it does. (mainly because i don't want to stick to established lore and because I'm BAD at that)

I think my guy will be named 蔡俊璿 cài jùn xuán, though goes by 蔡某 cài mǒu, which might loosely be pronounced as "tsai moe" by non Chinese speakers, and many just call him Moe to keep it easy. Funnily enough the second name is to sound more anonymous and humble, and he basically tells nobody his full name, as he thinks it connects him to his past.

I should add that while I'm a native English speaker, I'm literate in Chinese and have been heavily into wuxia fiction for the last year or two, so that's going to be a big influence that I draw from. If you try to fight Moe with a staff he will absolutely own you.

I also don't necessarily want him to be canonically Chinese. I'll think about it but I'm imagining a sort of Firefly scenario where Chinese is a major language at least in his part of the cosmos, and is now used by far more than just those who are Chinese.

okey, I will keep that in mind

That's pretty cool, wooh. Reminds me a little of Four (Ryo Tetsuda) from Dark Matter (although that was a more Japanese themed culture).

I might watch that, sounds interesting from what i just read of the summary

also, yay! 6 players

I think that Dark Matter is amazing, not to oversell it. It is pretty much what I want from Sci Fi - complicated characters, epic story lines, massive evolving scope.

okey, I'll watch it at some point

Is there anything you need from us? Or want to run by us? Or want us to build? Let us know!

Will do!

*beep boop. I'm not dead*

again, not dead, just thinking and been busy

okay, so, for characters, preferably use Comp/Con (in resources) and create a character and mech in there then put the share code thing in a character section in the Gamer's Plane system with the avatar

Coolio. I'll do that tonight!

great! It's quite easy, even I did it, hehe

Okey, just waiting for you guys to submit characters before I start anything. Just clear anything by me if you need something to do with anything

Not sure what the "share code thing", my character is made but I could use some help understanding where/how you want me to submit. Sorry!

one sec, I'll go have a look

Go to pilot roster, export pilot, should see it

top right icon out of the four

The top right icon there

Should we "save to file", "copy to clipboard" or "save to icloud"?

Cloud.

Then it'll give you a share code, I believe.

Seems to have worked, want us to put it in a "custom" character sheet.

Yes, please. Then you can add your avatar, if you wish.

I submitted Cruso today.

I submitted Kells too. She's a merc, just another merc, just another job, trying to get by. Gonna look for an avatar next.

Hellooooooo, I realised I had no place to put characters and such for like overviews and history and notes and such, thus, please may you each create a thread for your characters in the new character section with as much or as little detail as you would like.

Frick, sorry! Thought I was waiting on someone

Melanqolia, may I make a roll to see if Kit can discreetly steal Arrat’s wristwatch ('Act Unseen and Unheard', I think)? Also should I roll here or in the main story thread?
(Btw sorry for weirdly implying that Arrat wears two watches, Darkreaver... He’s wearing one in his picture but I forgot that we technically all have watches until after I posted XD)

Ummm, sure. Roll here.

The 'target number' is always 10, right?

...Arrat's watch has mysteriously vanished into thin air :)

Correct

btw, I do tend to use images to colour things and people, this kinda supplements my bad descriptive skills. I hope you enjoy