Chicken

Battletech: Anabasis

Mazigh sat in front of the tactical screens showing the terrain of the region as last shown before the whole debacle with the sensors net started. The matter had made communication difficult, especially between the vehicles out in the field, and Mazigh felt very uncomfortable in the cool, air conditioned confines of the mobile HQ. Still, Captain Hart's transmission broke through the gentle thrum of sensor equipment and soft lights, distorted though it was: Mazigh was to make sure the flanks of the lance were secure, and to see that as much data was collected by the UAVs in advance of their approach as possible.

"Affirmative," was all he said when the orders came in. He immediately turned on his seat to face the tech officer sitting to his right. "Miles," he said quickly, "direct the deployment of our drones. I don't want a single square meter left unsurveyed before the big boys get there. Brauer," he added, looking to the communications officer next, "I want to know the moment anything anomalous is spotted in the AO."

"Aye, sir," said Sergeant Brauer, reaching up to clutch her headset. "Nothing to report thus far."

"I know," muttered Mazigh with a sigh, reaching for his coffee as he swiveled about in his seat. He stared at the map of the Pitt Basin, frowning as he sipped from his mug. The coffee was perhaps too sweet in his mouth: two teaspoons of sugar and coconut creamer would do that, but Mazigh didn't have any notions of black coffee being more masculine. The coconut flavor relaxed him, anyway, and helped him focus. It always had.

The map before him was marked with blue diamonds and circles indicating the recon lance and the vehicles out afield. Mazigh's men were still arrayed in their patrol formation: trailing behind the lance with the Condors in front, the Plainsmen in the back and the drone carrier in the middle. The remaining vehicles were far from the area of operations, arrayed around the Daimyo Mazigh sat in.

Mazigh set his warm mug of coffee down, stroked his beard, then made a few quick marks on the map with a little black pen. Green lines formed on the holographic screen immediately. "This is HQ," he began in his deep, serious voice. "Hex 1 and 2, navigate these coordinates." He made another quick series of dashes on the map before continuing. "Hex 3 and 4, follow these nav points around the southern perimeter of the Basin. All units: proceed with caution and maintain pace with the recon lance. Relay any and all new data to HQ. HQ out."

"You're acting like something's going to bite us," laughed Warrant Officer Miles, turning his head to face Mazigh. "I don't think there's anything waiting out there to surprise us."

"That's the thing about surprises," Mazigh rumbled, his thick eyebrows folding down as he regarded the tech officer. "They're unexpected. Treat this operation with the same seriousness you would if you were in the Succession War again."

Miles frowned, then turned back and started tapping at his display with his black pen, relaying his own orders to the drone carrier. Miles focused on his own screen. It was standard operating procedure, really: one Condor and one Plainsman were now on each flank of the recon lance, fanned out enough that there would be advance warning for the mechs if weapons fire were to occur on the flanks. The vehicles were fast enough to quickly redeploy to cover the Rifleman's rear, too, in case anything came from behind.

That last thought made Mazigh pause. "Miles," he said, "deploy one UAV drone behind Johan, facing the rear, two hundred and fifty meters back. Just in case."

Miles shook his head, but relayed the orders. As drones began appearing on the screen, Mazigh picked up his coffee and took another sip. At the very least, the operation would be a good exercise in moving in formation.

Armed to the Teeth!

Also, to really capture the 'badass one-man-army' aesthetic, what if he had spikes on the knuckles of one of his gauntlets instead of a dagger on that hand? A gauntlet is already fantastic for breaking faces (see: it's metal). A spiked metal gauntlet? That's probably painful.

Armed to the Teeth!

I had an idea for a character that had the following load, 1 knife in each boot, a small knife for eating in a pouch on one gauntlet and a pouch with a spare bow-string on the other gauntlet, a single edged elven sword and a quarrel of bolts on his belt, each with additional leg holsters to keep them in place, a crossbow on his back and two small throwing axes tucked in to the back of belt. He wore thick leather armour. My argument for all these weapons, he's a lone survivor and one man walking army.

My character was half dwarven so the load wasn't too heavy... thoughts?

@EldarionI

It's not necessarily about the weight so much as it is about inconvenience.

When you say a knife on a gauntlet, for instance, I'm imagining the dagger is either stuffed into the gauntlet or strapped to it. If it's in a pouch strapped to it, using that hand in certain situations could see it fall off or get knocked off. If the pouch is inside the gauntlet, might it not have some risk of cutting him?

A crossbow on his back doesn't really work the same way as, say, having a bow taut about your chest and back (which isn't the best of ideas by the way). For one, how is it connected to his back? Is it strapped on? Is it attached with a cord? Does he have a holster of sorts for it on his back? Also consider the shape of a crossbow: if he does have a holster, it surely gets in his way when he stoops down to do stuff, etc.

Again: weight isn't really the problem. People can carry a surprising amount of weight when it's well distributed (see: real life soldiers in the U.S. army carrying fucking heavy backpacks). However, the gear we're discussing can get in the way of movement, make it difficult to bend, bang against things, get caught on trees, etc.

Instead of having that crossbow on his back, just have him carry it. It's a lot more realistic, I'd say. If you're going to have it on his back, think of some fantasy method that makes it snap into a more convenient shape, and be able to explain why this doesn't weaken the usefulness/strength of the crossbow if prompted. ("IT'S DWARVEN ENGINEERING!") As for the dagger, I'd nix the gauntlet idea; since you're wearing leather armor, just have it strapped to the upper arm, I say, or have it in a spring-loaded wrist sheathe on his gauntlet rather than a pouch.

But yeah, realistically he should carry the crossbow.

As an aside, leather armor didn't get used much IRL, though examples of it surely existed. The issue with leather is simple padded cloth (gambesons) function better, and cloth with metal rivets inside is even better than that (such as brigandine or a coat of plates). Nevertheless, it's a very traditional fantasy aesthetic, and I cannot begrudge you wanting to use leather armor. It's got a cool aesthetic!

Armed to the Teeth!

I forgot to mention:

If you've got a horse or a cart or packmule, what you can carry goes up by a LOT. Now, in actual war scenarios, medieval knights and well-equipped footsoldiers would have squires and carts to hold things like lances, halberds, and etc.

An adventurer doesn't always have those luxuries, but if you do, don't forget to consider that.

And one big note: BACK. SHEATHES. DON'T. WORK. You can't really keep a sword sheathed on your back. Don't try it. It's bad for you. And on that note, you can't sheathe claymores! Or anything that would probably qualify as a 'greatsword!' You might have a scabbard for them, but you certainly aren't going to be able to wear it while walking around in your daily life. You'll hit every door you try to get through and it'll drag on the ground and etc. Not good. Just carry the greatsword in your hands.

Armed to the Teeth!

Well, this depends on the media.

There's a certain video game called NWN2 I used to play wherein I tend to fall to the good ol' Hammerspace trope, for instance. If you're not familiar with the trope, it's about having the ability to pull various stupid things out of nowhere. In this case? Throwing axes. Like, nigh infinite throwing axes just somehow fitting on the belt, on bandoliers, in the character's backpack... Because he could throw something like seven or eight throwing axes in one combat round people would exasperatedly ask "WHERE DID YOU GET ALL THOSE AXES?!" and he'd just smile, shrug, and yank out several more.

But most of the time I like to be far more serious. There's good videos to be found on the web about how much you can realistically carry. For medieval fantasy adventuring, I go for something like this:

• HANDS: This is where you can carry a large two-handed weapon, such as a polearm, greatsword, crossbow, longbow, or battleaxe. You realistically cannot sheathe these weapons, so either putting them on a cart or carrying them by hand is your only real option. If you forgo a two-handed weapon, perhaps you carry a large shield with your hands.
• HIPS (BELT): You can typically carry a sidearm or two here, such as a longsword, warhammer, or a mace. You can potentially have a quiver of arrows on one hip, or even a quiver of arrows or bolts and a shortbow. Notably, it's quite easy to have a spare dagger or a buckler here with whatever weapons you have, making the buckler a very lightweight and easy extra weapon to bring around. Pouches located on the belt can carry various supplies, and you can always have a couple throwing axes tucked onto it. Just think realistically about how much room is on that belt. A sidearm, a dagger, a couple pouches and a couple throwing axes is reasonable. Ten throwing axes and twelve pouches is not.
• BACK: You can strap certain shields here. You can also have a quiver of arrows or bolts. Javelins can go here, too. But you reasonably can only carry, like, one thing on this spot.
• BANDOLIERS: If you have a bandolier going over your chest it's not a terrible spot for things like daggers or potions or alchemical tools (smoke bombs?) or what-have-you.
• A SPECIAL NOTE ON SLINGS: Slings are a very interesting weapon in that while they're generally crappy, they can be carried really easily because they weigh just about nothing. In the real world they were more useful than early bows for a time, and ancient slingers often wore a lot of them: as armbands, as headbands, as cords around their belt, etc. So if you've got a pouch of lead bullets or stones, you've got lots of places to wear slings.
• A SPECIAL NOTE ON DAGGERS: You can fit knives just about anywhere. Boots? Check. Up your sleeves? Check. On your legs? Check. At some point it can become uncomfortable, excessive, and give your enemy free daggers to shank you with in a grapple, but hey: you can have lots of daggers. If I were being realistic, I would try not to go overboard, especially if you're wearing armor.

So here's a few examples of reasonable adventuring kits:

Wulfric is an old, grizzled mercenary that fights in the thick of the melee. He wears a gambeson with a breastplate over it, and his weapon of choice is a halberd. He likes the halberd because he can use it as a walking stick while traveling, and it's a very versatile weapon. He has a dagger in his left boot and a mace as a sidearm, and he keeps a buckler on his belt as well. His only other weapon is a hand crossbow, a weapon he chose because it's easy to carry on his belt, but he doesn't use it very much.

In contrast, his traveling companion Edgar loves crossbows. Edgar carries a rather large, high draw crossbow as his primary weapon, so he carries it everywhere, and he wears brigandine armor because it's easy to repair. Besides his crossbow, he has two daggers: one on his belt and one in his boot. He also keeps his quarrels of bolts on his belt, a small shield strapped to his back, and a falchion at his side.

The third member of this entourage wears a simple shirt of mail with a tunic and pants. His name is Arthur, and he was a shepherd before he was an adventurer, and so he knows how to use a sling very well. He prefers to travel light, so he carries nothing in his hands when traveling, but he has a buckler at his side and three slings: one used as a headband, one dangling from his belt, and another wrapped around his right wrist. He has two pouches of ammunition at his belt: one of lead bullets and one of stones he gathers while traveling. He also keeps a knife handy at all times and he's gotten pretty good with the longsword he uses in conjunction with his buckler. He carries a backpack and is in charge of keeping most of the group's camping gear. He tends to drop the pack before a fight.

The above three characters all have pretty reasonable loadouts of equipment. Like... You COULD have more, but if you're shooting for realism you can quickly depart from it. The more weapons you add, the more inconvenience you get.

Duke's Quest

Do note: I am perfectly open to making a more traditional knight character in light of all the seemingly more cerebral characters we'll be having. It's not a big deal for me to draft up a new character concept. And I understand Raffaele is a bit of an oddball himself, so it's cool if you would just rather not have him! Adhering to the themes of the story comes first.

I've got an incomplete sheet to show. I'll pause it for now as I realize we may need a more martially inclined character, but to give a general impression of what I was originally going for, click the hider below. But again, I am perfectly willing to make a knightly member of the court instead.

The rough summary: he's an illusionist and overall prankster with an academic background and a distant Fey heritage that displays via dwarfism, an odd appearance, and a talent for trickery-focused magic. He's not a member of the Court, but I'm thinking he has a friendly relationship to someone in court (perhaps the Duke or the Court Mage?) and has volunteered to help save the Princess as a favor for a friend.

Once I know whether I should continue making this character or make a knight, I'll get to work again.

Raffaele

Name: Raffaele the Incorrigible
Sex: Male
Culture: Italian
Age: 43
Physical Description:


Afflicted with dwarfism as everyone in his father's line has been, Raffaele stands at no more than three feet tall. His pointed, floppy ears and strange eyes betray a distant inhuman heritage, and his short limbs and awkward gait give him an altogether clumsy appearance. Most probably don't expect much of a man of his build, as he's a fairly scrawny looking fellow. He's pale, curly-haired and large nosed, and his accent is distinctly rustic Italian with a touch of German inflection. He smells like someone who doesn't bathe much, and he dresses in green robes and hood over simple padded cloth armor. His thick beard often has twigs sticking out from it.

Raffaele always carries various pouches on his person: some with herbs, some with chalk or silver or the like, and one with very, very special mushrooms. The mushrooms are recreational. The little man also carries a dagger, a buckler, and a simple mace at all times.

Occupation/Skillset: There are few people in the world with a set of skills quite like Raffaele's. He has been a scholar and a beggar; a playwright and a toymaker; a thief and a magician. He knows a little about everything, and is especially well learned on history, geography, geology, astronomy, and literature. Being something of a know-it-all is a pastime of his.

But what truly distinguishes Raffaele is his magical talents. His distant, inhuman ancestor has left in his bloodline a talent for a pecular sort of magic: that of glamours, that of light and sound. He can make men appear to be giants, or make the sound of trumpets blare where no music is to be heard. He can conjure up images of nightmares, make the earth look cracked and broken, or simply spray forth dazzling colors from his hands. For him, it's as easy to him as breathing is to a healthy man. However, Raffaele has no mastery over fire, or earth, or any element at all. He knows some basic legerdemain and can pull small objects into his hands from a distance, but his great feats of magic are all based on deception and trickery.

Nevertheless, Raffaele's illusionary magicks pair rather well with his other skills. He has a wide range of voices, able to whisper softly or bellow like a much larger man. He can sing as well as give speeches, and he makes for a convincing actor. He knows a little about pickpocketing and can pick a lock handily enough (though he finds it more satisfying to hit locks with a hammer), and all-in-all uses his trickster's talents to compliment his magical deception.
Personality:
Backstory:

Battletech: Anabasis

Making the changes now! Will mention the presence of UAV drones in the recon section, too.

Duke's Quest

Cool! I'll write something up in the morning. If I'm applying with a mage, I want my mage to be distinct from the other one both in personality, specialty, and how he conducts his magic.

I may still roll up a not-a-mage. We'll see. But distant inhuman ancestry leaves a lot of possibilities either way.

Duke's Quest

Quick question: as my character is probably gonna be an illusion-based hedge mage type, what is your stance on someone having a fantastic creature in their lineage? Say, they're a changeling, stolen away in their youth by the faeries; or a distant relative is one of the mythical, secretive dwarves of Norse mythology?

Essentially, the magic may come from study, but may also have something to do with their blood.

Battletech: Anabasis

Finally posted my app in the characters tab. Let me know if that's fine!