Outcast Mecha RP (about to start, open to a few more CS)

[Dolerman]

I'm wanting to try a Mecha RP set in a future world where a group of pilots start their own rebellion against powerful nations post war time. I already have an idea fo the backstory, but I'd need help with world building and GMing please let me know if youd be interested or like to help.

Here's what I have so far

There are 3 major land masses in this world, the land in the north is mostly ice caps and snow reigons this is called the Northen Frontier A great industrial power. To the southwest a landmass is shared by two nations the Hylo Empire and its occasional rival the Therux State both of these nations teamed up to form the western coalition and went to war with the Northern Frontier to dislodge its power over the world and were succesful in evening out the balance in power, although all 3 regions suffered heavy losses and are now at uneasy odds with each other.

The third and largest section of land is the Fourtune Region which is a diverse landscape made up of fields, forests, deserts, and even swamps. There is a collection of villages and towns among this reigon but is ultimately a free state with no central government. This is where our story will start.

Am open to ideas and suggestions.

EDIT:
added a timeline

Timeline Of Events

2065: Therux State attacks a Hylo squard that is scouting near their border, the two neigbouring nations begin occasional skirmishes for the next 140 years

2080: Elementum is first discovered, is said to be from a metorite but no one is sure.

2087: Nothern Frontier begins trade with other nations after Elementum causes breakthrough in Mecha Technology.

2112: Hylo and Therux conflicts start to become more frequent. Northern Frontier begins stock piling large war assets.

2170: A group of famous adventurers from the Fortune state investigate the Northern Reigon on an expidition to study Elementum, they are never seen again.

2200: The Western War Begins between Therux and Hylo

2205: The Western War ends with Hylo somewhat victourious and calling a truce, the same year, small amounts of elementum are found in the Fortune State which increases trade and wealth for the reigon.

2209: Hylo and Therux begin the Western Coalition and begin stockpiling war forces together.

2215: The 'Helen Tower' is destroyed, the Great War of Orio begins.

2221: The Outcast Guild in the Fortune Reigon is formed.

2232: The Orio war finally ends, with all 3 nations worse for wear and now under a shaky ceasefire.

2235: Present Day, Western Coalition is ended.

CHARACTER SHEET

Pilot Sheet

Name: Full including any nicknames
Appearance: Picture preferred: drawing,CG or anime
Age: 15-50
Origin: Which nation they hail from.
Height:
Weight:
Backstory: 2 Paragraphs at least.

Tactical Preference & Skills: In combat, your usual tactical approach.
Quote: Something your character would say.

Text Color:Optional

Stats Explained
The Stats and Performance of your Mecha are decided by a scale system so you decide your own balance between two attributes using a number between 1-9 for Example:

The Light/Heavy Body scale determines the Overall Speed, Reflex, Strength and Armor of your Mecha
with 1 at the light end of the scale and 9 at the heavy end. If you choose say a 7 for this category your Machine will be Heavier, mechanically stronger but also have a slower reaction time and movement speed. You can tune this all the way to the extreme by choosing a 9 or have the exact opposite by having a 1 or hitting the balance by choosing a 5.

Mecha Sheet

Name/Title: Full Factory name and nickname if any.
Appearance : Image preferred
Body & Type: Humanoid Bipdeal, Tank, Beast Type, Flyer type etc
Equipment & Armaments :

Hand Slot 1:
Hand slots are big enough for Medium Sized Rifles, Shoutguns, Small Rocket Launchers, Large Melee Weapons, Large Shields, Small Grenade Launchers Etc and up to 8 small explosives

Hand Slot 2:
Same as above. If you wish to hold a Large Weapon such as a Minigun, LMG, Multi Missile Launcher, Or High Powered Rifle or a Plasma Cannon you will have sacrifice both hand slots for one of these weapons.

Sub Weapon Slot:
This slot can carry pistols, small submachine guns, small melee weapons, buckler shields and up to 2 small explosives.

Shoulder/Back Spot:
Can hold a shoulder mounted weapon such as a small missile salvo, gatling gun, or an EMP launcher etc.

Gadget Slot: This can be something like a smoke bomb, misslile flares, Laser Cutter, Or an enhanced tracker etc

Stats Scale

Light/Heavy Body: Lighter machines are more agile with faster reflexes, heavy has more armor and strength (melee)

Accuracy & Tracking/FIrepower: This only applies to projectile weapons and guns.

Air Mobility/Thrusters: Air mobility grants superior handling and acceleration in the air, Thrusters grant raw top speed.

Solo/Skirmisher: Solo fighters are more adept at taking on enemies 1 on 1 (this includes stealth infiltration), whereas Skirmishers excel in team based combat and larger scale warfare.

Flavour Text:
A litt bit of background on the Mech, development history or specifics.

[FallenTrinity]

Questions:

- What would the time era be?
- How far ahead is the technological advancement? I understand there are mechs but to what extent is the technology?
- Is there a possibility that former warriors from these nations have defected to this area?
* If so, would any of them have managed to bring with them any tech with them (mechs, advanced weaponry etc.)?
- Are there or is there a orbital navy?
- After the war what is the state of each country?
* What are the governments like?

I got other questions but id be interested :)

[Gisk]

Questions:

- What would the time era be?
- How far ahead is the technological advancement? I understand there are mechs but to what extent is the technology?
- Is there a possibility that former warriors from these nations have defected to this area?
* If so, would any of them have managed to bring with them any tech with them (mechs, advanced weaponry etc.)?
- Are there or is there a orbital navy?
- After the war what is the state of each country?
* What are the governments like?

I got other questions but id be interested :)

@FallenTrinity

Obviously not OP, but since he's asking for suggestions, I'm going to say what I think about each question, and then raise a few of my own that I think will help flesh out the world. Here we go:

1 & 2 I think the two questions tie in together. I take to understand that this is not Earth, but is instead a sort of parallel alternate world. Mechs could be anywhere from basically just an alternative to a tank(which could exist in a steampunk or dieselpunk world) to a flying Gundam type deal. So this is an important question.

The picture given leads me to believe it is near future, or alternative modern. I think the best way to handle this is to assume current tech levels as a base, and specifically hash out what has been added to that.

3) I assume so, in fact I imagine it is how the rebellion was built.

4) I think it's best if this isn't too crazy advanced, because if you can just sharpshoot your enemy from orbit, why would we have mechs?

I do have some ideas, pulled from Arthur C Clarke's futurist sci-fi:

1) Orbital solar farms. Huge, tens of miles square fields of solar panels in geosynchronous orbit that move to face the sun as best as possible. The power is beamed down via targeted microwave to collectors on the ground that then plug into the power grid.

2) Space elevators: Not a crazy chunky tower, the way that I've heard them theorized as working is more like a rail car system. It's a hugely long carbon based cord, thin but wide and very strong. At it's end, outside of orbit is a counter weight that is, by centrifugal force, being drawn outward, and therefore keeping the wire taught.

Both of these are great for a conflict based RP, because they work best at the equator, and therefore lend a geography based power imbalance, as well as ground based points that could need to be defended, or assaulted, depending on the side they belong to.

I have other questions and suggestions, but I have to leave now, but I have my eye on this.

EDIT:

Why was the Northern frontier so powerful? What was in the North that gave it such an industry heavy economy?

What powers the mechs? An onboard nuclear plant? Maybe the Northern Frontier has thorium or uranium, maybe that's what gave them their power. Industry turns to military applications, and makes them strong enough that half of the rest of the world had to team up to beat them.

Is this human only, if it does not take place on Earth, exactly? We could have even more wildly diverging ethnicities, amounting to different "races."

[Dolerman]

@Gisk

Questions:

- What would the time era be?
- How far ahead is the technological advancement? I understand there are mechs but to what extent is the technology?
- Is there a possibility that former warriors from these nations have defected to this area?
* If so, would any of them have managed to bring with them any tech with them (mechs, advanced weaponry etc.)?
- Are there or is there a orbital navy?
- After the war what is the state of each country?
* What are the governments like?

I got other questions but id be interested :)

@FallenTrinity

Thank you both for the questions and suggestions, this is exactly the type of brainstorming and intruge that we need!

1 and 2. So the Time Era I'm having as 2235 on a planet called Orio, it is in a solar system with other undiscovered planets that are only just beggining to be visited. As mentioned before there are 3 masses of land and the planet is about a 3rd the size of the earth. The technology is advanced in terms of energy sources and mecha weapons but civilisation and living standards are pretty desolute because of the conflicts basic technology is only moderastely more advanced than ours and a lot of the planet is war torn.

3. if you mean this area to be the fortune region then yes, a lot of refugees, criminals, soldiers, adventurers and business owners have left the respective 3 major states to start a new life in the wild lands. But the small towns and parishes lack the wealth and prosperity of the larger nations and many operate as mining and farming villages. Which can be dissapointing for a mercenary looking for a brand new life.

4. There are satillites but no space army, as space travel ironically is still in its infancy although mechas are fairly advanced.

(Also I'm going to add the solar farms to the world's technology, amazing idea!)
5.

So the nations are as follows: (WIP)

The Northern Frontier
Theme Song

Outer and Inner

Overall Description

The Northern Frontier is the most difficult place to live, the reigon is plagued by below zero tempratures all year round, vicious blizzards and magnetic storms. This has forced the inhabitants to become very tough and adapt their technology to survive such a hostile enviroment. This has made their army and engineers very disciplined and tough. Also despite the lack of basic resources the northern frontier is rich in a special material that is now invaluable to the modern world. It has the largest natural supply of the Elementus stones which can be harnessed into conduits of massive energy which most modern mechas now run on as apposed to old style nuclear generators. The ice covered mountain reigon is also a strategic nightmare to attack. Most invading forces cant even FIND the frontier structures in the blinding blizzards let alone mount any attack on the icy peaks. Also all ther living areas are buried deep underground as seen in the inner photo. So while the northern frontier maybe a harsh land with the lowest population, it reigned supreme with a cutting edge grasp on technology and a large mecha army in a strategic heaven of a home field.

Post-War

Although the region was never succesfully invaded, the frontier lost large swaths of its army being constantly repelled by the Western Coalition. It was a war of attrition and over time the northern frontier was not only losing soldiers and mechs, their trade routes were being stifled particulary raw metals and food which the northern lands do not have much of. Because of this, as the soliders died in battle the citizens of the military state began to starve and flee as rations became thin. Ultimately they gave up their campaign to destroy the western coalition and thus brought zbout an uneasy ceasefire. The Northen frontier are now a diminished but still elite fighting state which has spent the last 8 years inactive on the world's stage slowly trying to rebuild its small population.

[FallenTrinity]

@Dynamo Frokane

So was the NF starting to move into the other to nations territories? Hence why there would be a non-aggression pact like thing between the other two nations (considering that they're rivals)?

[Gisk]

@Dynamo Frokane

So the Northern Frontier is economically devastated, but physically largely untouched.

The two nations of the Western Coalition, meanwhile, were likely the main stage of the conflicts, and took the brunt of the beating. But, as the Northern Frontier is starving, who has food and raw resources to sell?

Both factions have something to gain by keeping the peace, but it's bitter. It sets a good stage.

So the question here is, how did this conflict get started? The power imbalance comes from their resources, those Elementus stones(let's get some more description on that, I think), but who struck first? Perhaps one of the other nations couldn't pay a debt, and the Frontier decided to take what they were owed by force in the form of land. The other saw the opportunity to join forces and the Western Coalition was born.

How does the Fourtune Region come in to play here?(Is that a typo? Is it Fortune or Fourtune?) I am imagining it as a sort of virgin territory in a war torn world, who is resisting the push by the other three powers to colonize it. The other three, meanwhile, are probably fighting over this virgin land.

So what kind of mechs are we working with?

Buncha pictures

General bipedal?



Vaguely humanoid?



Basically humanoid?



Or like, various animals like zoids?

[FallenTrinity]

@Dynamo Frokane@Gisk

The Northern Frontier had the largest source of Elementus between the three nations with Fortune having the second largest but untouched source, which could be their major export and just so happens to be in an area closest to NF. With the constant lingering threat of invasion from the NF, Fortune had to learn and adapt quickly to guerilla warfare on that end of their land. Plus, some of the former soldiers of the other countries had made residence in the silent land of Fortune, hence why they could fend off that part of Fortune.

Maybe because of some veteran soldiers residing in this virgin land they were able to establish a UCFR (United Coaliltion of the Fortune Region)

[Dolerman]

@FallenTrinity@Gisk

Okay so once again some really great input, here is what I have so far on the war.

The northern frontier were not particularly warlike, but because of their need for food and basic living resources they had to trade with the two staes of the western coalition. Now because of their military might, their trade deals were quite agressive and could be considered unfair. Demanding ridiculously cheap prices for what they wanted and offering elementus at an insanely high price. Now the proud Hylo Empire saw this as economical warfare as the northen frontier was essentially dictating the market. The Hylo Empire was also the first reigon to utilise the solar panel farms as their main source of energy which was actually far cheaper and easier than trading elementus or buiding nuclear power plants. So they began to push back against the unreasonable prices with the frontier which created some tension but they eventually gained some leverage on the market.

The Therux state were somewhat more paranoid of the froniter stockpiling large mecha armies, and after seeing the pushback of the Hylor Empire, they called for an end to their rivalrly and proposed a coalition to stand up to the northern frontier if they ever tried to attack. Unfortunately this coalition and build up of a huge joint army made the northern frontier very nervous and while trade continued both reigons were ready for war. The military conflict was sparked over a small skirmish between Frontier and Hylo Mechas in the fortune reigon over the builiding of a tower. The Hylo forces claim it was a defense garrison that the frontier were trying to expand military structures in the land, but the frontier claimed it was simply a generator building to refuel scout mechas in the largely undiscovered territories. No one can confirm truly what the building was but due its ability to start the world's biggest war, it has been called Tower of Helen.

The Hylo forces destoryed the Helen tower and the frontier forces fought back in a small skirmish with zero casualties, but the act of agression was enough to send the fully paranoid northern frontier into full scale war with the Hylo Empire which now was backed by the Therux state. The war was largely the frontier sending invading forces to the western lands and being beaten back. While the strategic nightmare of attacking the northern reigon made any offense for the Western Coalition nigh but impossible. No territory was lost, only soliders, civilisations and mechas. But the war went on for so long that it turned the world into what it is today, an economically damaged dystopia, with crippled armies on each side constanty in fear of another war.

[Dolerman]

@Dynamo Frokane

So the Northern Frontier is economically devastated, but physically largely untouched.

The two nations of the Western Coalition, meanwhile, were likely the main stage of the conflicts, and took the brunt of the beating. But, as the Northern Frontier is starving, who has food and raw resources to sell?

Both factions have something to gain by keeping the peace, but it's bitter. It sets a good stage.

So the question here is, how did this conflict get started? The power imbalance comes from their resources, those Elementus stones(let's get some more description on that, I think), but who struck first? Perhaps one of the other nations couldn't pay a debt, and the Frontier decided to take what they were owed by force in the form of land. The other saw the opportunity to join forces and the Western Coalition was born.

How does the Fourtune Region come in to play here?(Is that a typo? Is it Fortune or Fourtune?) I am imagining it as a sort of virgin territory in a war torn world, who is resisting the push by the other three powers to colonize it. The other three, meanwhile, are probably fighting over this virgin land.

So what kind of mechs are we working with?

Buncha pictures

General bipedal?



Vaguely humanoid?



Basically humanoid?



Or like, various animals like zoids?

@Gisk

So just to clear up these minor issues:

It is spelled Fortune, and the truth is that they had very little to play in the conflict, with no centralised government, they couldnt hope to even make a difference in any conflict as the only ruling forces are indipendent mayors and village cheifs spread out across the reigon. They trade with all 3 other nations with the understanding that each settlement in Fortune can stay free from colonisation and neutral of any conflicts. The 3 larger nations have had nothing to gain from bullying this tiny civilastions so global relations are somewhat cool. But there has been growing fear of the amount of refugees from the other states following the war, and a few of the towns and villages are beginning to fear another possible military conflict brewing on their own state.

As far as mech design, all of the above, I'm open to a diverse cosmetic look of mechs with the understanding that unless stated they will all perform roughly with the same combat potential. Think of heavy gear meets armored core. Minus any laser sword technology. All melee weapons will be made of solid materials. Plasma/Laser cannons will be in their relative infancy in terms of weaponry.

[FallenTrinity]

@Dynamo Frokane

Would technology be advanced enough to allow specialized camo like chameleon camo or light refraction camo?

[Dolerman]

@Dynamo Frokane

Would technology be advanced enough to allow specialized camo like chameleon camo or light refraction camo?

@FallenTrinity

Hmm right now I'm going to say no, warfare is going to be fairly straightforward. Stealth/Espionage tactics wouldnt be used by mechs as they are too large and loud. So camoflauge would only be viable at a distance where regular camo paint would suffice.

[FallenTrinity]

@Dynamo Frokane

Ok because the reason I ask is because I have a mech (meant for stealth operations) from another rp I tried joining that had special camo armor meant to hide you. basically it's based on the ADAPTV armor that the military is currently working on but regular camo would work for this. Would there be advantages for being from a certain country and disadvantages as well?

[Dolerman]

Hylo Empire

From the Coast & Mainland

Description

The Great Hylo Empire is on the west coast of the Western Landmass, and takes up less space on the map than the neighbouring Therux state but has a higher population. The Hylo were the first people to really utilise solar energy and have the monopoly on the world's Solar Orbital Farms, which have made them very self sufficent in their long and storied history. The Hylo empire is also built on pride as they are a religious people who believe in the mythical Colossi great titans who used to roam the earth before humans did. They believe that Mecha technology is divinely inspired by their holy ancestors to once again walk the earth in large metal giants.

They have been in small conflicts with the idealogically different Therux State almost since inception but that has only ever come to a full scale war once, which was called the 'Western Wars' which the Hylo Empire technically won but were left too weak from battle to take over any territory and called a truce with the Therux.

The Empire is currently run by the very proud and somewhat megalomaniacal Barval Royal Family, which queen Elizibet Barval is currently the ruler of after the recent death of her husband King Remington Barval.

Post-War

After the war the Hylo empire seems like the best place to live on the surface, the strong economy allowed the empire to recover and traces of structural damage from the conflict has all but dissapeared. This has somewhat justified the intense pride of the country's leadership, but has done nothing to quell their jingoism and paranoia. The Hylo empire continues trade with all nations but is staunchly opposed to not only immagration but also emigration. They refuse to let anyone in or out of the country which has made the already poor and opressed worker class of Hylo feel very unsafe and disenfranchised with the empire and there has been many rouge human smuggling operations to get people out of the empire and immigrate mainly to the fortune state. The Hylo empire is also pouring a lot of resources into their military, almost certain they will be attacked at some point.

Therux State

Theme Song: Journey To Peace

From the Coast & Transport District

Overall Description

The people of Therux were never interested in war. The Therux state has always been the progressive and scientific nation, interested in the advancement of the human race, and truly believing in a democracy that the world can subscribe to. Sadly, this progressive way has fallen on deaf ears with the other reigons. The Hylo empire have too much resentment towards their Therux neighbours, along with the fact that their nation is steeped in pride and religion that is incompatible with the Therux culture. The Northern Frontier are delibirately isolationist, and have no desire to engage with other nations much less collaborate with them and finally the Fortune Reigon enjoy the freedom of their varied settlements and find a government too oppresive.

Therux has done well to invest its resources into nature and leads the world in the trade of vegetables, wood, fishing and medicine. The lush feilds and gardens of the Therux land are the envy of the world and through trade they provide 67% of the world's food and nearly 40% of its medicine. Like the rest of the world they do use mechs, although a very large percentage of their mechs are not primarily combat based, but instead 'worker' mechs to tend to farms and mine for precious ores, they have an effective but comparitively small military.

Post-War Description

Therux still enjoys the fruits of its nature based economy, but after the war, it shows the most scars of conflict as seen in the coastal pictures. During the Frontier invasions the Therux state was usually the battleground as invading forces would usually enter the western landmass from the east. Not only were many peaceful citizens killed, but the already weak military and security forces were nearly wiped out, and after the ceasefire, the criminal element inside therux began to grow because of the weak police force and generally 'soft' progressive government. The leadership of Therux has grown to resent Hylo despite the coalition as they feel they were dragged into a war they didnt nessicarliy need to have due to the ambiguity of the 'Helen Tower' incedent. Now the once hopeful state is plauged with civil unrest, lack of security and a very active and dangerous drug smuggling trade born from the criminal tampering with the medicinal chemicals.

[Dolerman]

@Dynamo Frokane

Ok because the reason I ask is because I have a mech (meant for stealth operations) from another rp I tried joining that had special camo armor meant to hide you. basically it's based on the ADAPTV armor that the military is currently working on but regular camo would work for this. Would there be advantages for being from a certain country and disadvantages as well?

@FallenTrinity

Okay regular camo it is then, should be fine.

I'm just about to get into the specifics of the nations now, ive added some pictures for flavor.
Basically mech technology is largely globalised, so there isnt much you wont be able to access no matter where you are from. But there are three levels of mechs you could call these 'teirs' there are:

Mk 1
Mechs based on fuel, these are largely obsolete in modern combat and havent seen much use since the Western Wars of around 45 years ago. However they are incredibly cheap to make and many low level security mechs run on feul, they are usually slower and and prone to over hearting and combustion as well as burning through fuel fairly quickly in high impact confrontations. One mecha type that is still used is the Mobile Armor style dreadnaught class. Huge expensive tank like machines that can only run on fuel (largely due to costs) that are rarely seen but very difficult to take down. Mk1 Example

Mk 2
These make up 80% of mechs in use, the standard of modern conflict. These Mechs run on generators, which can vary from Fusion cores to Solar powered to electricity or a combination. They come with none of the shortfalls of Mk1 mechs an enjoy almost unlimited activity with no worry of overheating or meltdown (although there are fringe cases) the life battery of generator is self sustaining and as long as it is maintaned can fuel a mech for years before needing to be replaced. Also because of the amount of power generated Mk2s can employ heavier armor with lighter engines that fuel based mechs would not be able to support.

The pinnacle of the Mk2s are those that are equipped with the aformentioned 'Hybrid Generators' as these are the most expensive but generate the most power. The Mk2s are what the players will be using and are generally known as Mk2+ and represent the fighting elite pilots in the western world.
Mk2 Example

Mk 3
Finally the mecha that run on pure elementum are the pinnicle of modern mech design, everything a Mk2 can do the Mk3 can do better, raw elementum generates almost 5 times as much power as hybrid generator, and the amount of speed that can be generated from an elementum engine is blistering. Elementum is nigh indestructable so there is no danger of overheating or failiure and the life span of an elementum fueled engine has so far proven to be infinite. Also the engines are so powerful that they can be made super compact for even lighter weight and sharper performance. The only real limiter is the cost it makes to make a raw elementum engine so these machines are ridiculously expensive. Usually only afforded to the very top class operatives of the northern frontier.
Mk3 Example

[Dolerman]

Open to input from @Skepic for this!

[Dolerman]

and you guys from FoF if you are interested in joining/inputting on this @KoL@Gohan@Cojemo

[Gisk]

@Dynamo Frokane I would actually suggest that, rather than a progressive tier of straight up best from worst, the mech tiers each have their own advantages and disadvantages. And in turn, all tiers are available to players, so that they have some technical variety.

My suggestion would go this way, though feel free to adopt as much or as little as you like:

Suggestion

Mk I: Old fuel based systems that run on diesel(or, in some cases, gasoline). Forms of these mechs have actually been in use for centuries, but most of the ones in use today were made in the last four decades.

Advantages

Range and versatility. A Mk I can be refueled basically anywhere that's even remotely civilized, and so they are a godsend in the Fortune Region, where Elementus is basically inaccessible most of the time, and overhead Solar Orbital Farms(SOFs) are rare.

Weight and armor: Mk I's have the highest maximum weight capacity, and can carry a lot of armor, or drag heavy loads.

Cheap: They are inexpensive to build, maintain, and repair. In fact, many pilots are able to enact temporary fixes on the fly in the middle of a battle.

Disadvantages

Speed to weight ratio: More than the other two generations of mecha, the Mk I's get dragged down by heavy weight. The heaviest class of Mk I is basically a fortress on legs, but it can't move fast enough to keep up with a modern battlefield.

Fuel: Though their fuel is universally accessible, it takes up a lot of room and doesn't stretch as far. A Mk I uses a lot of its precious weight ratio on gallons upon gallons of fuel, and a long battle could force them to retreat for refuel.

Heat and Burn Out: The subsequent generations don't have a need for an extensive cooling system like the Mk I's. A pilot has to watch their heat, if it gets too hot, it can cause permanent damage to some parts, and could even ignite the fuel tank and cause a complete burn out.

~~~

Mk II: Built using advances in battery and generator technology, the Mk II's replace piston and gear driven joints with servos. They are able to more closely emulate organic forms, to make machines that appear humanoid, or mimic animals. The best ones use both an internal battery, and a generator of some form, nuclear being popular.

Advantages

Stability: Cooling is rarely an issue, and even the nuclear based generators are stable and well shielded enough not to be an issue.

Disadvantages

Refueling: Most don't have a generator powerful enough to keep all of their functions running, and need to have their batteries recharged periodically. Most have enough power to last between 48 and 72 hours of continuous use(varying depending on exact specs and how they are used). This is still a strict upgrade over the old Mk I's, as long as an adequate power supply can be found.

~~~

Mk III:

Advantages

Refueling: An Elementus Core is, for all intents and purposes, unlimited. In theory, it will be drained dry eventually, but to date not a single Mk III has ever needed to replace its power supply.

Power: The new power cores have a much greater output than the previous generations, giving Mk III's a great upgrade to the outer limits of their speed and agility.

Disadvantages

Repair: Mk III's are the most complex generation of mecha, and can't be repaired or maintained by just anyone. Whereas no Mk III has ever run out of power, many have been retired simply because of wear and tear on their auxiliary systems.

I'll finish this write up later, if you decide you want to adopt the idea.

[Dolerman]

@Dynamo Frokane I would actually suggest that, rather than a progressive tier of straight up best from worst, the mech tiers each have their own advantages and disadvantages. And in turn, all tiers are available to players, so that they have some technical variety.

My suggestion would go this way, though feel free to adopt as much or as little as you like:

Suggestion

Mk I: Old fuel based systems that run on diesel(or, in some cases, gasoline). Forms of these mechs have actually been in use for centuries, but most of the ones in use today were made in the last four decades.

Advantages

Range and versatility. A Mk I can be refueled basically anywhere that's even remotely civilized, and so they are a godsend in the Fortune Region, where Elementus is basically inaccessible most of the time, and overhead Solar Orbital Farms(SOFs) are rare.

Weight and armor: Mk I's have the highest maximum weight capacity, and can carry a lot of armor, or drag heavy loads.

Cheap: They are inexpensive to build, maintain, and repair. In fact, many pilots are able to enact temporary fixes on the fly in the middle of a battle.

Disadvantages

Speed to weight ratio: More than the other two generations of mecha, the Mk I's get dragged down by heavy weight. The heaviest class of Mk I is basically a fortress on legs, but it can't move fast enough to keep up with a modern battlefield.

Fuel: Though their fuel is universally accessible, it takes up a lot of room and doesn't stretch as far. A Mk I uses a lot of its precious weight ratio on gallons upon gallons of fuel, and a long battle could force them to retreat for refuel.

~~~

Mk II: Built using advances in battery and generator technology, the Mk II's replace piston and gear driven joints with servos. They are able to more closely emulate organic forms, to make machines that appear humanoid, or mimic animals.

Advantages

Disadvantages
~~~

Mk III:

I'll finish this write up later, if you decide you want to adopt the idea.

@Gisk

Hey Gisk, thanks for the idea, though I will be sticking to the Mk Tier idea for now, I do agree there needs to be versatility among the players mechs but that will be decided with a stats system that I will get into later. The Teirs heirarchy is more of a story and plot device particularly when salvaging parts or facing enemies.

[Gisk]

@Dynamo Frokane That's alright.

So the Hylo Empire has a sort of religious connection to Mecha, yeah? Maybe they have a different vernacular and actually call them Colossi, giving them a verbal quirk that's pretty easy to spot out.

Do you have much fleshed out for their religious beliefs?

I would suggest that they have an order of monks who maintain and repair their mecha(or Colossi, if you take my suggestion on that). It may even be that a Hyloan(?) would refuse any other mechanic who wasn't a member of that order.

EDIT: Maybe they believe that every advance in mecha technology brings the world one step closer to the return of their gods. Maybe for that reason they are particularly aggressive toward any foreign culture that is hoarding technological knowledge or data.

[Dolerman]

@Dynamo Frokane That's alright.

So the Hylo Empire has a sort of religious connection to Mecha, yeah? Maybe they have a different vernacular and actually call them Colossi, giving them a verbal quirk that's pretty easy to spot out.

Do you have much fleshed out for their religious beliefs?

I would suggest that they have an order of monks who maintain and repair their mecha(or Colossi, if you take my suggestion on that). It may even be that a Hyloan(?) would refuse any other mechanic who wasn't a member of that order.

@Gisk

Yes the higher ups of Hylo still call mecha colossi, although after the war many of the citizens are becoming disenfranchised with the empires almost theocratic and opressive regime, so many average citizens reject traditional religious norms. I want to incorporate your ideas for Hylo but only for the royal family and upper class, as many of the citizens are poor, uneducated and angy at their queen. Feel free to add more to the Colossi religion, your ideas are good. Hyloan sounds like a good term as well.

The Therux state are a democratic society that is more interested in the advancement in technology and world peace which is what has put them at odds with the Hylo Empire all these years. I also added a timeline in the original post.