I love good, evocative text. I love good game mechanics, especially when it's not something I've really seen before and pushes me both as a player (to figure out how to win through a cool mechanic) and a designer (to figure out how they developed such a great, unusual mechanic). But of all of them, I may love art the most. 

1. It's the first thing you see. It draws you in or it repels you. Regardless of even my own arguments over the years that the cover is not 'that important,' how many books and games have you read/played that are awesome that didn't first pull you in through art? Sure, some...but not very many. Regardless of the subjective quality of the art, it has to speak to you somehow to get you to pick it up when there's a giant pile of other books and games to look at.

2. I can't draw to save my life. I've a very good understanding of what makes good art and I can tell you what I like and don't like...but I make stick figures look bad. So unlike evocative text and good game mechanics (both of which I can produce), the ability to generate jaw-dropping art is almost magically to me.

3. Shock of shocks, I'm still just a kid at heart. And one of my most cherished qualities is I've not lost the childhood sense of wonder. I can still walk outside at night, taking the garbage out, and find myself stopping and staring in aching wonder at a gibbous moon peaking between the row of pines at the end of the street, haloed in a ring of ice crystals. Taking that to art, while any art I like is awesome,  l especially love seeing text that I've generated (or helped to generate, or developed in any fashion, rally), turned into art. Pictures pulled from my imagination and made real. And usually in cool and new ways I never thought of. It's a special treat I still treasure after more than a decade of doing this work.

Why am I going on and on about this? Well, because art is flowing in fast and furious for Historical: Operation Klondike as we prepare to turn it over for layout. I've posted three art previews to the Historical: Operation Klondike page (thanks Patrick!) for you all to enjoy.

http://www.classicbattletech.com/index.php?action=products&mode=full&id=285

While the 'Mech scenes are awesome (old hand Doug Chaffee with a masterful Atlas rendition and a newbie artist with a wonderful combat scene), I'm also really excited by the quality of the personalities (over 25 such illustrations will be featured in the book). We've only had the names of the founding Khans of each Clan till now...to have great art to flesh this critical point in history out is awesome.

Enjoy!

Randall 

I should long have left the computer and begun the Christmas Eve festivities, but I couldn't do so without a last Merry Christmas to the BattleTech community.

I've been doing this for a long, long time and through thick and thin the community has been there to provide support, constructive criticism, enthusiasm and more. Hopefully it's obvious that I love BattleTech and love my job. But at the end of the day it's the community that keeps me coming back (criticisms and all) year after year. We obviously didn't get out everything we wanted this year...but I'm very proud of what we did get out, especially products like Masters & Minions and 25 Years of Art & Fiction.

Here's hoping 2010 is an even better celebratory year than 2009 (after all, BattleDroids became BattleTech 1985, so we can celebrate "25 Years of BattleTech" all over again in 2010). 

Merry Christmas to everyone...and if you don't celebrate, then I simply hope you have a joyful and game-filled next few days.

See ya next year!

Randall 

Over the years I've been involved in more "revised" and "upgraded" TROs than I care to think about. A lot, to say the least. By the time I got around to 3050 Upgrade I was pretty sick of them. However there was almost always a "it is better for the line" reason for each TRO. So when we got talking about those TROs currently out of print (i.e. they were published by FanPro and have yet to be published by Catalyst Game Labs), we started talking about 3060 as one of the oldest TROs that never got an upgrade/revision and has been out of print longer than almost any other TRO.

Obviously the first thought was of course we should give it an upgrade, right? Why not? However, as we started looking long and hard at the entire schedule of products, we started to realize that that was not necessarily the best direction. Would the TRO itself be better for an upgrade? Well, I'd like to think the answer is 'yes'; i.e. I'd like to think all the revised/upgraded TROs we did ultimately are better than the originals in one way or another. However, that wasn't the important question. The important question was: is the resources needed to make an upgrade worth that upgrade, or are they better spent elsewhere on the line?

TRO3025, TRO3050, and TRO3055 Revised were published under FASA and were done to remove images no longer to be used in BT.  TRO3055 Upgrade was done under FanPro because we had to remove additional images (at the time, of course). TRO3057Revised was done because all of the aerospace fighter were in AT2/AT2R, while TRO3026  Revised was done because the look and style of it still harkened back to the 80s, so it really stuck out as an odd ball. TRO3058 Upgrade was done because of a few images that needed to be removed, but also because in Total Warfare I removed all of the 20 battle armor the previous core rulebook included, so I needed a place for those units...and it provided the opportunity to provide the first full TRO write-ups for battle armor ever. Finally TRO3050 Upgrade was done for multiple reasons: as the second TRO someone usually buys coming into the line, it had the weakest of the text of almost the entire line (the small paragraph on a very white page), and I wanted to provide full three-quarter view illustrations for the Clan OmniMechs, as opposed to the blueprint front shots. (FYI, some of you are probably wondering about TRO3039...not really a Revised or Upgrade but a new beast all together, it was done to create a 'companion' TRO to the new Introductory Box Set, creating a single TRO out of 3025/3026, making the next logical TRO 3050 in the line from the box set into the rest of the line of books; i.e. an easier and straighter transition.)

So you may or may not agree with any of those decisions, but every TRO did have a set of very specific reasons for going down that path. However, just as important, at the beginning of FanPro, we'd not started the Jihad yet, nor had we started to rebrand/relaunch the universe yet with the new Introductory Box Set and Total Warfare. So the 4 revised/upgrade TROs that were done during the early part of the FanPro years could take up a large bandwidth of resources and it wasn't a problem (while TRO3050U came out after TW/Introductory Box Set, the process was begun before those publications).

Fast forward several years and there's a lot more we're doing with BattleTech, sucking up huge amounts of bandwidth. The core rulebooks, while we're over the hump, are still monster resource suckers...not to mention still trying to establish solid follow-on Introductory products (hence the printed, "introductory-price" RS books, the coming Clan Expansion Box Set and so on), forays into plastic miniatures, the Historical series, keeping the Jihad moving along, the coming novels and of course preparing for what the heck we're doing after the Jihad. Several years ago an upgrade to 3060 would absolutely have been the way to go. Now, however, with the breadth of what we're trying to accomplish? No, it doesn't make sense, not when those resources can be better spent on other books/novels/and so on.

So why even reprint, then? Well, because even with the huge changes made in the release of Total Warfare and the follow-on core rulebooks, BattleTech at its core remains the same: one of its greatest strengths. That means the TRO stats remain the same and that means new players coming into the game (or old players coming back that never picked up that TRO) should be given the chance at reviewing all the TROs of the line and deciding if they want to start adding those showcased units to their games. So we gave it a "Catalyst-branded" new cover and of course like any reprint we've folded in corrections, but it's a reprint. If you already own the TRO, feel free to decide not to pick it up. But it'll be available for the influx of new or returning players and to support the miniatures available since the first publication.

See ya next time!

Randall 

The Historical series was my brain child from many years ago and we've had two great installments: War of 3039 and Brush Wars. However, my vision was always a lot grander...after all, while it was great to cover those events in a detail never-before-published, they're very recent. Instead I wanted to launch with those and then immediately move back into some really juicy historical information. I've mentioned many, many times my desire to eventually get to Historicals covering the Reunification War and Liberation of Terra...but after two books dealing with Inner Sphere history, we really had to dive back to the formation of the Clans first.

Now this book has been a long, long time coming. I'm not going to get into all the little details of why it was delayed so endlessly. What's more, I'm absolutely not going to say when it will come out. But I will say the last bits are being banged on and I'm generating art notes...so for the first time in far too long we have real, solid movement on getting this product out the door.

One of the interesting problems we knew would crop up as we walked into this is that the history of the Clans has been published numerous times. Four different sourcebooks have covered the formation of the Clans, Clan history through the ages, government, culture and so on. Now obviously this book is called "Operation Klondike," which means that its focus needs to be on the lead up to and then specific conflicts over the five Pentagon Worlds. And it does that in spades, providing all the great blow-by-blow action for these worlds that players have come to expect from these books. So that by itself makes this book unique compared to what's come before.

However, you do have to cover the details of how the Clans were founded and the nascent culture and government that went into creating the force that eventually conquered the Pentagon Worlds. So while you don't have to go into the detail of long history and culture that say The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky sourcebook did...you still have to cover it appropriately. And you're right back to the fact it's been covered in four previous books, so how do you do it in a way that feels new and refreashing?

Obviously I'm not going to spoil it all, but Chris Trossen and Chris Hartford have done a fantastic job at covering a wealth of new data, while providing a new and fresh "personal" presentation of those tumultuous events. As I was diving through the drafts to create art notes, I found myself drawn in to reading time and again...not to mention giddy with excitement at some of the types of detail we're providing here for the very first time.

So as I said, I can't give you a 'when.' But I know a lot of people have been wanting this book for a long time...and we're finally close...thanks for your patience...I believe it'll be well rewarded.

See ya next time!

Randall 

As Mike Miller and I began to develop the Solar System Generation Rules, it quickly became apparent that this would encapsulate all the troubles that IO would bring to the plate.

This is the top rulebook. The endcap to all we've done before. So unlike TO or SO where after throwing in everything and the kitchen sink, if we forgot something there was a chance we could re-cast it in a latter book. Not so with IO. If we forget it or can't really include it in IO...it may never appear in a print rulebook. 

So at what point is too much detail too much? When it comes to this type of rules set, for those that are interested in using it, you run into several types: 1. Those that like the 'construction' aspect of BT (having been trained through 'Mechs, vehicles and so on that 'constructing' in any fashion is fun), but only want bare bones rules...a "quick-start" if you will. 2. Those that want a more in-depth system but don't know a lot about astrophysics and so previous rules sets have left them asking a ton of 'why is it this way' questions. 3. Those that want a crazy in-depth system and know their astrophysics and so can punch endless holes through previous rules because...well...there's tons of holes to punch.

Now the previous rules system found in Explorer Corps was specifically designed to be a 'rough and easy' rules system. So it covered the first type of fan, but left the last two high and dry. In fact, over all the years since Explorer Corps publication, those solar system construction rules have been the thing I've seen more questions on than anything else in the book.

So as I tasked Mike with writing a new rules set, I let him know that it was time to take the kitchen sink approach to rules development. Go deep...way deep. And he did, enlisting the help of resident astrophysics guru Roberta Elder ("Fallguy") and others to produce a table of very hard star information around which to base the rest of the rules. After all, if someone has delved into the rulebook line all the way to IO...well, these are not the feint of heart when it comes to rules and math.

Now let me be clear...we do bend reality. After all, at the end of the day this has to be playable. And it has to be playable within the BattleTech aesthetic. So some liberties were taken here and there to ere on the side of 'playable' when it became too much even for something as in-depth as IO. However, unlike previous rules sets, we explain what and where such changes were made. 

At the end of the day what this allowed us to do was to create a system that is very detailed and flexible. It allows for the creation of almost any type of system you could want, from the mundane to the truly bizarre.  Along the way, like all our rule books, it plugs into the Planetary Conditions found in Tactical Operations, so if a player wants to create a specific gravity, atmospheric pressure, or terrain types [intense volcanic activity (TO page 36), intense seismic activity (TO page 55) , hostile life forms (TO page 40), and so on], they can tailor the construction of the planets within a solar system to get the type of planet they want to play with in their campaigns.

Another great angle Mike included was human populations, when the colony was founded, and how all of that can be turned into the USIIR Codes for a given world.

Once all of that was done, the final key was to create a construction sheet for use when building the system's star and then a given planet, and then to wrap it all up by generating a quick-start rules.

What this all does, I believe, is to provide a system that answers all three type of people as noted at the start. Provides everything and the kitchen sink (still remembers to tweak as needed to make it playable) for those that want to go wild, while providing a QSR option for those wanting to take a quick stab but have no interest in digging beyond the surface.

Obviously we won't know how we did until the book publishes, but I'm very proud of it. What's more, the exercise of developing this rules set did leave me with a template I hope to use as we create the rest of the rules for the book.

See ya next time.

Randall 

I'm sure this will be a lightning rod for conversations...but better to get it over with now and see how it all plays out.

Land-Air-'Mechs (LAMS) were apart of the game from the very beginning, starting with the publication of Technical Readout: 3025 and the AeroTech box set in 1986. However, the last standard rules book they appear in was The BattleTech Compendium, which published in 1990; 1994 saw the publication of The BattleTech Compendium: The Rules of Warfare, which deleted the LAMs and they were moved to Tactical Handbook, which also published that year (this is when "Levels" were introduced to BattleTech and LAMs were relegated to "Level 3" rules). That same year also saw the publication of the Invading Clans sourcebook, which detailed Clan Nova Cat's annihilation of LexaTech Industries, the last holdout of LAM production in the Inner Sphere. In 1996 Technical Readout: 3025, Revised was published, removing those images FASA no longer would use in BattleTech, which included the LAMs. With the publication of Maximum Tech in 1997, which replaced the Tactical Handbook as the "Level 3 advanced rulebook" (which didn't include LAMs at all), LAM rules fell out of print. 

Now because I was involved from 1996 on and have agreed with the original decisions regarded LAMs, there's a lot of players that believe I hate them. First, note that I didn't start working at FASA until 1996, so the process began years before I started work. Second, I don't hate them...well back in the day (late 80s) I had a lance of LAMs in my mercenary unit I ran...lots of fun memories there, coordinating attacks between them and a lance of Longbows.

So if I don't hate them, why were they removed and why have I been adamant about keeping them that way for some 15 years? I've discussed this before, but thought it useful to showcase the reasoning (we'll ignore the 'can't use those images any more' issues, as they're not actually relevant).

1. LAMs were included at the very beginning because they were part of the block of images brought to the game from various anime sources. However, as BattleTech grew and progressed it created its own Western-style aesthetics, where 'Mechs were not ultra nimble, gynmnastic robots as shown in many anime, but instead were "walking tanks." 100 tons of lumbering death stalking the battlefields (some of the moves shown in various novels by "legendary warriors", not-with-standing). As such, LAMs simply did not fit well into that aesthetic.

2. The art of what a LAM fighter looks like was completely different than all the other aerospace fighters within the game. Now one could make the argument (and it has been made) that 'Mechs run a huge gamut of look and style and so do aerospace fighters, so why not just consider the LAMs at the extremes. But the thinking is that they ran just too extreme. Even the most 'airplane' looking of the aerospace fighters (say the Corsair) were different 'enough', as opposed to the LAM aerospace fighters which looked like our modern day F-14s/F-15s.

3. Rules were completely broken. Now rules can always been fixed...I've been doing that for endless years it seems. But this was a small part that, added to the two parts above, ultimately resulted in the decision to ensure they didn't return in the 'current' BattleTech universe.

So why am I talking about this? Well...because comprehensive rules for LAMs are done and will be included in the Alternate Eras section of Interstellar Operations. And I must say, there's rarely been a rules set I've seen have to go through so many revisions and playtest cycles before we felt it worked across the board and completely plugged into all the rules we have now. I've always known the original rules had problems, but the more we poked and the more we playtested, the more the problems came to the fore...but after a lot of months of good playtesting by a lot of people...we've got a rules set that I believe fully works.

So item 3 is gone. What about item 1? Don't they still violate the aesthetics of BT? Yes...they still do. However, there are several different types of units/rules that violate the established aesthetic of BT 'as a whole,' and yet are canon within the universe. For example, the use of nukes and biologicals are part and parcel of the history of BT. However, until the Jihad they'd never been used 'on screen' (and even in the Jihad they're a small candle next to the massive use of them during the early Succession Wars). However, even though they've been used during the Jihad, it doesn't make them appropriate for the entire swath of BattleTech eras. So you'll notice that while we published nuke rules in Jihad Hot Spots: 3070, we've not yet included them in any core rulebook...that's because they fit within only a few eras, not all and so those rules will appear in the Alternate Eras section of IO. The same applies to LAMs. While a lot of effort was put into removing them from the 'current' time line, it doesn't mean they were ever "removed from canon."

In fact, that's ultimately why I gave in and threw my whole support behind making them happen. Because the entire purpose of the new line of books is the "whole kitchen sink" approach, where we put in every rule we can think of to cover every last bit of what's in our awesome universe...and let the players decide what they do or don't want use in a given scenario/campaign. And since LAMs are absolutely part of that canon, thanks to a single sentence in the Star League sourcebook concerning Striker regiments, if I ever want to see my pet project of Historicals: Liberation of Terra and I want it to match canon...we've got to have LAMs.

So, that only leaves item 2 to figure out...but...well...have to leave something for you guys to guess about, right?

Hopefully this gives everyone something they can sink they're teeth into. If you love LAMs, their coming back, but specifically placed within the 'alternate eras' framework. And for those that hate LAMs, exactly because they're placed in that framework, depending upon when and where you run your campaigns, you can ignore them to your hearts content.

See ya next time.

Randall 

With A Time of War so close to finally being put to rest, I've been trying to grapple with the insanity that is Interstellar Operations (lost the thread through too much of the summer insanity, so picking up the disparate pieces and flogging everyone forward again). 

Now a lot of work is either done or well on its way to completion. For example the Solar System Construction Rules were banged out and finalized a good half year ago. In addition the next few weeks and I should see first drafts of the Alternant Eras, Creating a Force and Running a Force sections, which take up a big chunk of the book and I know a lot of players are anxiously waiting for new versions of these fan-favorite rules. And of course some of the sourcebook treatises (nobility, communications, and ranks, for example) have first drafts in, while several stories are sitting on my desk to approve/reject. So all told there's a good chunk of this book well on its way.

But at the end of the day, arguably the most important and difficult part of the book is still very much in the trenches. TW/TM/TO are all on planet. SO works off planet to the solar system and also scales up towards regiment play. But there's a whole level (several levels in fact) beyond SO.

For example you move beyond a solar system to multiple systems and up to being a House/Clan leader (speaking more on logistics there). You've then got rules that span well beyond regimental play, both on planet (playing out the invasion of Tikonov by 8 RTCs during the Fourth Succession Wars at the current BattleForce level is pretty insane...though I'd love to see it...send pictures!) and then you move to the strategic movement of dozens of regiments and how do you play that out?

So if you look at the scaling of the rules within the framework that we've already built with the core line, you generate something like this:

A Time of War (RPG): 6 secont time, 5 meters, 1 person

Total Warfare: 10 seconds, 30 meters, 1 'Mech

BattleForce: 30 seconds, 90 meters, 1 lance

Strategic BattleForce: 3 minutes, 500 meters, 1 company

Planetary Assault: 1 week, 1500km, 1 battalion

Strategic BattleTech: 2 weeks, 10 light years, 1 regiment

Now the names for the three levels above BattleForce are placeholders for now, while the exact nuances of the Time, Map and Unit scale are still being banged on...but it gives you an idea of the direction we're looking at.

Now rules for a Strategic BattleTech were generated under the "Inner Sphere in Flames" rules published in Combat Operations many moons ago. However it was about as barebones framework as you can get and as the Fan Council has found out through years of playing, lots and lots of problems that we're working on solving (thanks for the playtesting, guys!)

Now some of you may be wondering why there's a "Strategic BattleForce" level in there? Well, at the end of the day we might figure out how to fold that and Planetary Assault into a single level (as it was under the BattleForce 2 box set rules). However, currently what we're discovering is that to be able to play all the various scale battles that have been depicted in the fiction, you need a whole level below Planetary Assault, but above the current BattleForce rules, or some scale of BattleTech play becomes almost unplayable unless you've weeks and weeks on your hands.

Now at the end of the day, building three rules sets to cap off everything we've done in 5 rulebooks (once RPG is out)  would be a tough nut to begin with. But then we want to provide a complete set of Zoom rules, that will allow players to move their force/unit up and down to play at any level of play they want, based upon the scenario or campaign your playing, and upon the time and room you have and so on. 

For example, using the 9 RCTs against Tikonov, you'd be using the Strategic BattleTech rules to run the entire Fourth Succession War. But instead of a few simple dice rolls at that "risk" level where most of the action around the Inner Sphere is taking place, Tikonov is important enough that everyone feels you need to run the conquest of that world at the Planetary Assault level. You run most of the action at that level except for the fighting on the continent of Kazan, where the majority of the combat takes place, so you rotate that fighting down to the Strategic BattleForce level. When you actually reach the battle for Tikograd, the capital, again, the importance of the fighting for this part of the world is then rotated down to BattleForce. Then, in between BattleForce sessions you decide that a few scenarios of fighting directly around and in the Earthwerks plant is just too important and cool so you rotate down to Total Warfare level for those games. Like the original battle as depicted in the fiction, you even see some opportunities for some roleplaying sessions and toss in one or two of those, particularly surrounding the infiltration and attempted demolition of the power and communications lines running near the Tikograd Wall and its turret emplacements. At each stage, game sessions are rotated up or down based upon what a playing group wants to do or how important they think a particular battle is and once that sessions done you rotate it back up into the level above. So once Tikonov is all played out, all the information the players need to know about what happened to all the units involved is ready for use back up at the Strategic BattleTech level as the Fourth Succession Wars moves on.

Sound cool? I sure hope so...because I've always wanted to see that level of flexibility myself as a fan and what the entire core line has been building to.

However, that "zoom" part...that's currently kicking us pretty hard, as we're banging out how to to create the building blocks for the top three levels that will mesh with all that's been done to date, and will allow that zoom. Off of that framework we can then start fully fleshing out the rules to provide the ultimate end cap set of rules for all the BT core line of books has to offer.

Enough talk...back to the trenches...will ping you with further details as we continue the work.

Later!

Randall 

In my on going "just too excited, must share" blogs for A Time of War, we've got the final section laid out and into proofing: Combat. And once again, I thought the best possible way to provide details on the section is to simply list out its table of contents.

[As before, note that an asterisk below represents a #2 header...my html-fu still isn't up to the task yet...apologies...] 

*OVERVIEW

*THE COMBAT TURN

INITIATIVE PHASE

ACTION PHASE

END PHASE

*INITIATIVE PHASE

COMBAT SCALE (side bar)

CHARACTER SHEET COMBAT DATA (side bar)

INDIVIDUAL VS. SQUAD AND TEAM INITIATIVE

INITIATIVE MODIFIERS

HOLDING ACTION

*ACTION PHASE

Incidental Actions

Simple Actions

Complex Actions

Movement Actions

*MOVEMENT ACTIONS

MOVEMENT MODES AND MANEUVERS

Walking

Running

Sprinting

Special Movement Modes

Manuevers

TERRAIN AND ENCUMBRANCE

Clear Terrain

Difficult Terrain

Blocking Terrain

Changing Elevations

Encumbrance

MOVEMENT FROM PREVIOUS TURN

COMMAND COHESION

*RESOLVING ACTIONS IN PERSONAL COMBAT

*RANGED COMBAT RESOLUTION

RANGED ATTACK ROLL

RANGE AND LINE OF SIGHT (LOS)

Range Modifiers

Cover Modifiers

OTHER COMBAT MODIFIERS

SPECIAL RANGED ATTACK EFFECTS

Area-Effect (Blast) Weapons

Blind Fire

Burst Fire

Crewed Weapons

Indirect Fire

Suppression Fire

Splash Weapons

Subduing Attack

*MELEE COMBAT RESOLUTION

MELEE COMBAT ROLLS

MELEE COMBAT LIMITS

RANGED AND LINE OF SIGHT

OTHER COMBAT MODIFIERS

SPECIAL MELEE EFFECTS

Blind Fighting

Grapple

Ranged Weapons in Melee Combat

Subduing Attack

*DAMAGE RESOLUTION

DAMAGE NOTATION

STANDARD DAMAGE VS. FATIGUE

Recording Damage

STANDARD RANGED ATTACK DAMAGE

Ranged Damage and Fatigue

Ranged Attacks and Armor

Ranged Attacks and Stun

STANDARD MELEE ATTACK DAMAGE

Melee Damage and Fatigue

Melee Attacks and Armor

Melee Attacks and Sun

CONTINUOUS DAMAGE

Continuous Damage and Fatigue

Continuous Damage andArmor

Continuos Damage and Stun

FALLING DAMAGE

Falling Damage and Fatigue

Falling Damage andArmor

Falling Damage and Stun

FATIGUE

Fatigue Damage and Armor

Fatigue Damage and Stun

Recovering Fatigue

*DAMAGE EFFECTS

INJURY MODIFIERS

FATIGUE MODIFIERS

CONSCIOUSNESS CHECK

BLEEDING EFFECT

DEATH

TACTICAL KILL

STUN

TRAITS AND DAMAGE EFFECTS

*ARMOR AND BARRIER EFFECTS

ARMOR AND BARRIER TYPES

Personal Armor

Tactical Armor

Barrier Armor

AP VS. BAR

ARMOR DEGRADATION

Personal Armor Degradation

Tactical Armor (and Structure) Degradation

Barrier Armor Degradation

STACKED ARMOR

Stacking Personal Armor

*END PHASE

BLEEDING AND CONTINUOUS DAMAGE

FATIGUE

Recovering Fatigue

RESOLVING EXTENDED ACTIONS AND AUTOMATIC EVENTS

MORALE CHECKS (OPTIONAL RULE)

Recovering Morale

*OPTIONAL PERSONAL COMBAT RULES

HIT LOCATIONS 

KNOCKDOWN CHECKS

LETHALITY REDUCTION

Increased Damage Capacity

Increased Armor Effectiveness

*HEALING AND RECOVERY

GENERAL HEALING RULES

Stabilizing a Character 

NORMAL (UNASSISTED) HEALING

Unassisted Fatigue Recovery

ASSISTED HEALING

SURGERY

Surgery Success Levels

Corrective Surgery

And there ya go! (Pardon any misspellings that might have been introduced through my transcription.)

I tend to be an optimist and of course I'm almost always proud of the work we do...but a huge, giant kudos to Herb (since I had very little to do with this book beyond the over-all concept and helping him get moving) for creating what I feel is without a doubt the best version of the BT RPG to date...and fits wonderfully in the aesthetic of the entire line of core books in that everything plugs into each other in a way to make all these additional rules as user friendly as possible. 

Ultimately, of course, it'll be your call...can't wait to get it in your hands...

Randall 

So I had no plans on going near my computer today...I'm still half-zombie from Gen Con and am trying to clean up and organize a house left in a declared state of disaster leaving for the show...and I knew I'd wait a few days before giving my own report on Gen Con. However, something happened at the con that has driven me to provide a short blog.

I've always been proud to be a part of the community and to have lead the creation of the products for that community for 13 years now. I've known of the strength of that community and year after year as I meet new faces and get to spend a little time again with faces I've seen year after year...I always look forward to Gen Con despite the massive workload "because" of the community and the individuals that bind it together. However, this year it has been taken to a new level.

A member of the community had his stuff stolen, including laptop, money, important documents and so on. The details of what and who this involved are not up to me to disclose. What I do want to simply say is that the outpouring of support from the entire community for this person made a grown man that has seen a giant amount of things occur in our industry over that 13 year period emotional and watery-eyed. I couldn't possibly be more proud to contribute to this community that is stronger than any ferro-carbide armor. It was an honor to witness this closing of ranks and incredible support...and an honor to continue to make the products that continue to provide enjoyment and forge our community together stronger than ever.

Thanks to everyone involved...I'm humbled to have such fantastic people surrounding me and the game we all love. Hope to see you all (and more) next year and to once again participate in that camaraderie. 

Randall 

Just turned over the Equipment section to layout. So I decided to open up the edited file and give it a look see and as the almost 40k words passed over the screen I was smiling ear-to-ear to see our standard "go the Nth degree" mentality for these core rulebooks. Not only do we have everything from MechWarrior Third Edition, Lostech and Combat Equipment...but there's even some new material tossed in for good measure.

Since it seemed to go over so well with the Tactical Combat Addendum, thought I'd toss in the TOC here as well. [Once again, note that an asterisk below represents a #2 header...my html-fu still isn't up to the task yet...apologies...] 

*OVERVIEW

*SUPPLY AND DEMAND

EQUIPMENT RATINGS

Tech Level

Availability

Legality

ACQUIRING GEAR

Exchange Rates

Legal Means

The Black Market

Gray Areas

New vs. Used

Basic or Luxury Model

*USING EQUIPMENT

EQUIPMENT DATA

REPAIRS

Personal Armor Repairs

*THE WARRIOR'S CATALOG

*MELEE AND ARCHAIC WEAPONS

ARCHAIC MELEE WEAPONS

ARCHAIC RANGED WEAPONS

MODERN MELEE WEAPONS

*SMALL ARMS

BALLISTIC WEAPONS

ENERGY WEAPONS

FLECHETTE WEAPONS

GAUSS WEAPONS

GYROJECT WEAPONS

Special Game Rules

MISCELLANEOUS SMALL ARMS

*SUPPORT  WEAPONS

Game Rules For Support Weapon Crews

MACHINE GUNS

GRENADE LAUNCHERS AND MORTARS

Special Game Rules

MISSILE LAUNCHERS

Special Game Rules

RECOILLESS RIFLES

Special Game Rules

SUPPORT ENERGY WEAPONS

SUPPORT GAUSS WEAPONS

*EXPLOSIVES

STANDARD EXPLOSIVES

Grenade Special Game Rules

Mine Special Game Rules

DEMOLITIONS

Special Game Rules

ORDNANCE

Special Game Rules

SPECIALTY AMMUNITION

Special Game Rules

*WEAPON ACCESSORIES

Special Game Rules

*PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

 FLAK ARMOR

ABLATIVE/FLAK (AB/FLAK) ARMOR

BALLISTIC PLATE ARMOR

NEO-CHAINMAIL ARMOR

MYOMER ARMOR

CONCEALED ARMOR

Special Game Rules for Personal Armor

COMBAT ARMOR ACCESSORIES

STANDARD ARMOR KITS

EXOTIC ARMOR

HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT GEAR

Special Game Rules

STEALTH GEAR

Special Game Rules

STEALTH GEAR TACTICAL RULES

NON-COMBAT ATTIRE

Leather Wear

*BATTLE ARMOR AND EXOSKELETONS

SPECIAL GAME RULES

*ELECTRONICS

COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT

Special Game Rules

AUDIO/VIDEO/TRIDEO EQUIPMENT

COMPUTERS

SURVEILLANCE GEAR

OPTICS

REMOTE SENSORS

Special Game Rules

*POWER PACKS AND RECHARGERS

POWER PACKS

Special Game Rules

RECHARGERS

Special Game Rules

*MISCELLANEOUS GEAR

ESPIONAGE GEAR AND SECURITY

Special Game Rules

REPAIR/SALVAGE GEAR

Special Game Rules

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS GEAR

Special Game Rules

*HEATH CARE

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

*PROSTHETICS

LIMB AND ORGAN REPLACEMENTS

Special Game Rules

Implanting/Installing and Maintaining Limb and Organ Replacements

ELECTIVE IMPLANTS

Special Game Rules for Elective Implants

Implanting/Installing and Maintaining Elective Implants

*DRUGS AND POISONS

SPECIAL GAME RULES

Basic Drug Statistics

Poison Tretment

Drug Addiction

Creating Drugs and Poisons

*PERONSAL VEHICLES

SPECIAL GAME RULES

*FUEL

There ya go! Now for the two questions I expect to come up the quickest. The Clans Enhanced Imaging is fully covered under Elective Implants. And no, the Manei Domini rules are not contained in this section. Like WMD and LAMs, while they are absolutely a part of the universe, they are not appropriate for all eras of play and so those rules will be found in the Alternate Eras rules section of Interstellar Operations.

See ya next time!

Randall