What options are you taking for your commander ? ( character creation spoilers )
- Thread starter Zythen1975
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I wanted to put this out there, and it's a little self-indulgent so forgive me for it. But I am finding it interesting.
People seem to want to tell their own stories about the main character of the game, and are convincing themselves they can't. The game tells them who they are, tells them who they can be, tells them the only options are those on the screen. This is both true and false - true in the sense of mechanics, false in the sense where it actually matters. Let me break it down for you what I mean. It starts with realizing the game is presenting options for you, and giving you a text box and setting more options before you . . . and then realizing those define circumstances but not the important parts of your character. They dictate some events and conversation tags, but you're not necessarily needing to use them - you're free to pick outside of that. (Of course, you're not free to type in your own answer and have that reacted to; that's so far out of scope it's silly to suggest even the golden age of Bioware could do that.)
But you're free to ignore all of this, give a big middle finger, and write your own story. The game wants to tell you the family you're from is from the Free Worlds League from decades ago and became nobility, so you're technically a lord of somewhere? But was that really the case? Maybe you're not emigrates from the Lyran Commonwealth, your family was Free Skye sympathizers needing to GTFO after the Lyran Intelligence crashed their gathering. Technically, it fits, but you were exiled not because of a heinous crime but because you uncovered the truth of that and you needed to be disgraced and have your word questioned about it by being framed for something. And in having been exiled, maybe it's a case of you joining the Aurigan Coalition soldiery because they were the only people who didn't care about something thirty years past and thirty jumps away . . . maybe you're doing this because your family needs a fresh start with you, to step out of that heinous past and go "to hell with where my family started, what matters is where it's going".
Nothing in your bio building stops you from having this as your character, or anything else. Stop thinking about why you can't tell the story, and start thinking about how you can make your story rise out of what you have been given to build from. It's not a cage preventing you from telling you your story, it's the LEGO bricks you can use to build something new, unique, and wonderful. It's up to you, and if you can picture a character in mind . . . if you can write the start of your character's story enough to beat the character generation as it is?
You can work around it, you can have a story of your own, and I know you can make it happen.
People seem to want to tell their own stories about the main character of the game, and are convincing themselves they can't. The game tells them who they are, tells them who they can be, tells them the only options are those on the screen. This is both true and false - true in the sense of mechanics, false in the sense where it actually matters. Let me break it down for you what I mean. It starts with realizing the game is presenting options for you, and giving you a text box and setting more options before you . . . and then realizing those define circumstances but not the important parts of your character. They dictate some events and conversation tags, but you're not necessarily needing to use them - you're free to pick outside of that. (Of course, you're not free to type in your own answer and have that reacted to; that's so far out of scope it's silly to suggest even the golden age of Bioware could do that.)
But you're free to ignore all of this, give a big middle finger, and write your own story. The game wants to tell you the family you're from is from the Free Worlds League from decades ago and became nobility, so you're technically a lord of somewhere? But was that really the case? Maybe you're not emigrates from the Lyran Commonwealth, your family was Free Skye sympathizers needing to GTFO after the Lyran Intelligence crashed their gathering. Technically, it fits, but you were exiled not because of a heinous crime but because you uncovered the truth of that and you needed to be disgraced and have your word questioned about it by being framed for something. And in having been exiled, maybe it's a case of you joining the Aurigan Coalition soldiery because they were the only people who didn't care about something thirty years past and thirty jumps away . . . maybe you're doing this because your family needs a fresh start with you, to step out of that heinous past and go "to hell with where my family started, what matters is where it's going".
Nothing in your bio building stops you from having this as your character, or anything else. Stop thinking about why you can't tell the story, and start thinking about how you can make your story rise out of what you have been given to build from. It's not a cage preventing you from telling you your story, it's the LEGO bricks you can use to build something new, unique, and wonderful. It's up to you, and if you can picture a character in mind . . . if you can write the start of your character's story enough to beat the character generation as it is?
You can work around it, you can have a story of your own, and I know you can make it happen.
Draconis Combine -> Your Family Went Bankrupt ->InnerSphere Mercenary are the character options that I have considered...
Davion
Betrayed
Solaris 7 Gladiator
Gunnery and Guts... going for Breaching shot eventually and Bulwark.
Betrayed
Solaris 7 Gladiator
Gunnery and Guts... going for Breaching shot eventually and Bulwark.
Hmm, not totally off or completely out of the realm of Fandragon's family lore. His lore is his family ran a logging company in Russia, his dad died in war, his mother lost her mind after her husbands death, and got murdered in Cappellan space. Fandragon was then left with the logging business and his infant brother at the age of like 18, and went off and joined a merc unit. As for the logging business, he basically just abandoned it.
Now hes head leader of the Knights Republic Legion, which is basically the military force and governing body over 3144 era Ontario, Canada on Terra.
Ill have to go 1 guts, 2 tactics, since I need a bigger head start on tactics to get the "Master Tactician" skill.
Came from a Comstar family, became a Solaris gladiator, was betrayed. Should be interesting.
I see what you are saying. You are locked into being a local and a member of Kamea's guard, but you can weave around the other things. Still a bit of a let down, but I'm adapting my story.
Anyone got an event that would have caused a player characters grandfather/great grandfather to leave Isle of Skye? All I've got is the region being on/near the front lines of the Succession Wars, which isn't a good reason for a mechwarrior to leave.
Any mercenary units originating from that area? That could be a plausible start for origin but not being at the point of origin.
The only one that springs to mind is I think the Kells went to the military academy there. But they are both too new and too prominent for my taste.
There is of course no reason it couldn't have been a low level, personal betrayal that drove Grandpa O'Dea to give the Skye Rangers the bird, pack up the family, and move to the Reach. But I was hoping for a crisis/rebellion/civil war. Skye has such an abundance of those!
There is a great one in the 26th century, which would put the O'Dea clan in the Periphery way before the Coalition even formed. Perhaps making them one of the founding families? If I'm locked into being a noble I might as well lean into it.
There's 94 minor mercenary units listed in Sarna, my background for my commander flows from one of them - might be of use?
A little disappointed that there is not a non-noble starting option. What about museum curator who walked off with a mech, or lottery winner who spent all their cbills on one. Or the plucky young mechanic who built an mech in their garage.
Although the one they do have that I found ridiculous, the space pirate who was arrested and jailed, but got their mech returned from whoever claimed it as salvage, then got reformed and put in an honor guard.
Although the one they do have that I found ridiculous, the space pirate who was arrested and jailed, but got their mech returned from whoever claimed it as salvage, then got reformed and put in an honor guard.
Well, the dude who springs you just happens to be the guy that trained you, and a rather influential personage. It's possible he led the op that captured you too. Or at least ordered it.
Well, the dude who springs you just happens to be the guy that trained you, and a rather influential personage. It's possible he led the op that captured you too. Or at least ordered it.
The only thing I know I'll pick so far is being from the Draconis Combine. I'm not really familiar with the other choices yet.
It's sort of a let down for me too, mostly also with the apparently locked-in starting 'Mech (final version pending, naturally). I'd like to have various other reasons for propping up the Restoration, like the trailers supposed, but alas - right now the clearest motivation isn't honor, or money, but vengeance. That's cool and all, but . . . it seems the prime apparent motive, to get back at Them for what They did, when it wasn't necessary.
I will probably be larping a member of a family of indulgent wastrels who went out of business so:
Free Worlds League - family went bankrupt - became mercenary / solaris gladiator
Free Worlds League - family went bankrupt - became mercenary / solaris gladiator
Non-fleshed out version....
An orphaned kid grows up in ultra-modest environment. Living and working with his beloved uncle at a <Fed Suns??> Blackjack manufacturing plant, his royal heritage being kept hidden from him. Something about learning humility. He often was tasked to "go park" the new mechs when the shop was empty as he seemed to be a natural at Mech piloting.One day there was a very peculiar "accident" < +1 Pilot +1 Guts> at the plant that killed his uncle, and almost himself....almost! Rumor had it, it was an inside <Liao??> job that the company wanted to keep hush-hush. The company bought him off with a shiny new Blackjack. He moved out of the assembly and into a merchant guard <+1 Pilot> position within the company to hone his Mech handling skills during the larger deliveries. All the while his true motive was really to collect information on who killed his family, as well as gather the skills and materials to do something about it once he found out.
...again, not fleshed out. Looking into the whole BJ-1 mythbust on Xhosa VII 3022 ( 3 years before we head to aurigan ) thing...
I haven't watched ANY streams that spoil the character creation. So I haven't been enthusiastic to get too detailed just yet.
[EDIT:] Oh! And I forgot to add, the unit i finally create will be Moto's Magistrate - "Justice for a price"
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An orphaned kid grows up in ultra-modest environment. Living and working with his beloved uncle at a <Fed Suns??> Blackjack manufacturing plant, his royal heritage being kept hidden from him. Something about learning humility. He often was tasked to "go park" the new mechs when the shop was empty as he seemed to be a natural at Mech piloting.One day there was a very peculiar "accident" < +1 Pilot +1 Guts> at the plant that killed his uncle, and almost himself....almost! Rumor had it, it was an inside <Liao??> job that the company wanted to keep hush-hush. The company bought him off with a shiny new Blackjack. He moved out of the assembly and into a merchant guard <+1 Pilot> position within the company to hone his Mech handling skills during the larger deliveries. All the while his true motive was really to collect information on who killed his family, as well as gather the skills and materials to do something about it once he found out.
...again, not fleshed out. Looking into the whole BJ-1 mythbust on Xhosa VII 3022 ( 3 years before we head to aurigan ) thing...
I haven't watched ANY streams that spoil the character creation. So I haven't been enthusiastic to get too detailed just yet.
[EDIT:] Oh! And I forgot to add, the unit i finally create will be Moto's Magistrate - "Justice for a price"
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