Questions about Battletech?

I recall that some of you have limited knowledge of the universe and Nikcollini recently posted that he has almost none, so I made this thread so that you can post any questions that come up here. I or one of the knowledgeable players will be more than happy to answer. It is a big universe and no question is stupid so do not hesitate to ask, especially if it will make a specific post easier.

Could someone give me the rundown on the Stellaris gladiatorial games? Are they non-lethal, or do people die during these games?

There actually is a surprising lack of easily available information, but the short version is that the games originally were meant as a test of battlemech designs. Ultimately as corporations realized the profitability of broadcasting such events it grew more into a sport. Unless I am mistaken they are generally not meant to be lethal, but battlemech combat is a dangerous affair and people do die. Combine this with the occasional bit of corporate espionage and the influence of organized crime and accidents become somewhat more common. Overall it is a sport with "rules" and "safety" guidelines.

Actually, it's Solaris. The Sarna article has a good overview of them, but I'll see what I can add.

Solaris VII is located in the Lyran Commonwealth, but itself is functionally a neutral world where anyone is welcome. There are representatives from the five great houses and the Periphery on the world. Each of the great houses maintain their own sector of Solaris City, the planetary capitol.

A typical battle is between two BattleMechs in an arena, though other match types also exist. The weapons are full-powered and are functionally lethal, but death is relatively rare. A battle goes on until one opponent is defeated, is crippled and unable to fight, or chooses to surrender.

The Solaris games are typically non-lethal; though deaths can occur during matches, it's rare for a MechWarrior to fight to the death. Usually they will try to surrender if they feel that they have no chance of winning. Most of the time, when deaths do occur they are largely by accident, such as a shot that hits the cockpit of a 'Mech. Deliberately trying to kill your opponent is frowned upon, and can lead to being banned from the games.

Usually, all participants in the games belong to Stables or Co-Operatives that support the MechWarriors and provide their equipment in exchange for a cut of their winnings. Usually, a stable or co-operative will be aligned with one of the Gret Houses or a periphery state. The Solaris competition is organised into a number of different leagues. Most leagues have scoring systems and play-offs, much like real world professional sporting competitions.

The most prestigious of the leagues is the Solaris Championship, which is made up only of the best MechWarriors from the richest and most powerful stables. The winner of that competition is known as the Champion of Solaris, which is often seen as being the best MechWarrior in the Inner Sphere. As of 3051, for the first time, the title is co-held by twin sisters Elizabeth and Tanya O'Bannon who defeated prior champion, Jason Bloch.

The fights take place in specialty arenas. These can range from simple clearings in the mud and dirt all the way up to massive, purpose-built structures. Many arenas have their own features to make the matches more exciting, such as mines, hidden weapon turrets and so on. The biggest arenas are located in Solaris City itself, and each is its own unique environment and conditions.

A much more thorough explanation, thank you Darthfish. I figured Sarna.net would have a good overview but I when I looked I came up empty. I search Solaris Games rather than looking at just Solaris. Thanks for the input.

Stellaris is definitely a computer game. Never played it, but that's probably where I got mixed up. Thanks for the extra information! Much clearer now.

Another question, what is religion like in Battletech? I don't picture Roman being religious at all, but is saying something like "Oh my God" or "Thank God" out of place?

Next, and this might be a more Azzorak question than a lore question, but as a conscript, is Roman effectively (or even literally) a Private like any other, or is he more just a civilian being forced to pilot his mech for the military as opposed to his own desires?

As for religion - Just as modern language followed us to the stars so to did religion. New religions also popped up one of which will have a major effect on the galaxy 25 years or so after this game ia set.

As for the conscription he is fully drafted in rank and all. That said I am fine with him insisting he is a civilian being forced to unwilling fight after all thats basically true. Officially he is no longer a civilian though.

Religion is more or less the same as it is today. There's some minor things to account for a thousand years of interstellar colonisation, but certainly nothing that's truly fantastical or the like. The majority of people in the Battletech universe follow the same religions as people do today and worship and such in the same ways.

While there are a few cults and oddball religions, they are more minor things than a major part of the universe.

So in short, saying something like "oh my god" is perfectly normal.

FedCom has freedom of religion with House Davion being largely Catholic and House Steiner tending toward Protestant.

He'll probably just get himself in trouble, then. Likely already has a few minor strikes on his record.