Thursday, October 6, 2016

Oh The Places You'll Go (Battletech)

Battletech has a rich science fiction background full of interesting places to go, things to see, and potential enemies to shoot at you.  There are thousands of inhabited solar systems in the Inner Sphere, and the Periphery expands that number even further.  At the furthest edges of occupied space lay the Clan Homeworlds, settled after an exodus by the Star League Defense Forces in the aftermath of the fall of the Star League.  We could spend years going over all of these star systems (and Catalyst Game Labs has released a series called Touring the Stars that explores a fraction of these worlds), but we’re going to take a look at five spectacular planets that you can visit while playing Battletech.  Some of these are era dependent, but we’ll try to make that notation when it comes up.


Solaris VII


Solaris VII is what happens when you put competing high tech manufacturing firms in a single location making military technology.  During the early Star League era, two competing firms put their battlemechs head to head against each other in a live fire combat drill to see which design was better.  From that first match, a sprawling empire built on gladiatorial combat between competing stables has arisen on Solaris VII.  Ostensibly held by the Lyran Commonwealth/Alliance, Solaris claims to be an open world and hosts major embassies of all five successor houses. A skilled mechwarrior with the right connections can make a lot of money very quickly.  That same mechwarrior with the wrong connections can lose a lot of money just as fast, and you don’t want to owe money to people on Solaris VII.


Come for the Battlemech games, stay for the loose cash, women, men, drugs, money and fun.


Watch out for the Loan sharks, gangs, potential rivals, spies, criminals, and other things that have no qualms robbing you for your last nickel.  


Galatea


The Mercenary’s Star is the home of the mercenary trade for most of the Battletech Universe.  Briefly eclipsed by the rise of Outreach during the 3040s-3060s, Galatea has long been a place to hire mercenary warriors.  Catering to the mercenary trade means that Galatea has agents of everyone in the universe who might even consider hiring a mercenary, and it has warriors of all skill types and levels of experience.  You can catch a movie, hire a new mechwarrior, visit an auction to buy off assets from a broken down command that’s had a hard run of luck and still make it to work in time to negotiate your next contract.  


Come for the Mercenaries


Watch out for the Mercenaries



Canopus IV
Really this could apply to anywhere in the Magistracy of Canopus, but since Canopus IV is the Capital, we’ll start here.  The Canopian worlds boast an idea of hedonistic glee where everything that is taboo is on the menu, and you can live out your wildest, most outlandish fantasies.  The hedonism experience is freely accessible, but will cost you a pretty penny for the Platinum experience.  As the capital of a periphery world, Canopus IV rarely is bothered by the concerns of a military action, so it’s a reasonably safe place for a vacation, Sort of like Vegas when the Mob ran things.


Come for whatever your degenerate little heart desires.


Watch out for consequences of your degenerate desires (On the plus side, the Magistracy of Canopus has excellent doctors and one of the finest health programs in the Inner Sphere).  


Zaniah


Zaniah is a quiet world that boasts one interesting piece of history.  The St. Marinus House is a home for Mechwarriors who’ve survived the horrors of war.  A place of peaceful contemplation for warriors from all affiliations, the St. Marinus House offers a respite from the horrors of a militarized universe.  Zaniah is otherwise a quiet, peaceful little world for people who are looking for a place to get away from everything else.


Come for the quiet contemplation


Watch out for the ghosts of war that you bring with you


Terra


This one’s kind of cheating, but Terra is the cradle of human civilization and the home base for the human race.  It’s filled with the history of the human race, and throughout the historical eras of the Battletech Universe, Terra bears the scars of war.  Terra is one of the few planets in Battletech where history can be found on every street corner, in every field.  With the conflicts that have raged across the planet, Terra is a world with character.  For most of the active history of Battletech (the part we’ve seen written about) Terra is occupied by either Comstar or their offshoot, The Word of Blake.  


Come for the History


Watch out for the Robes


Those are just five cool planets in the Battletech Universe that you can visit, and you can build an A Time of War battletech role-playing session, adventure, or campaign around any of them.  That’s one of the major strengths of the Battletech Universe.


The Touring the Stars line of documents can be found on either Drivethru RPG at http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2216/Catalyst-Game-Labs or at Battlecorps at http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=27_35_213.  

Game on, Game Fans

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