Any Battletech/MechWarrior Adaptations out There?

[Giorgio3025]

The range of FTL and the map scale need to get along. The "real world" numbers don't really matter as long as that happens.

Landing craft in a setting with no gravity tech fall into two camps by necessity: Aerodynamic and/or Brute Force. The two have significant overlap even normally, but since FTL in the BT universe is always from stellar pole to stellar pole, ALL landing craft are going to have a lot of muscle just to get to the deployment world, much less land. Most are also going to be built as perpendicular deck designs ("Tail sitters"). We already see these trends in BT, so conversion is purely mechanical instead of conceptual.

I have yet to design my own MGT2E vehicles, let alone spacecraft, would I need to use an alternate or optional design ruleset to build BT’s equivalent of Dropships and Jumpships, if I have the Vehicle Handbook, Robotics Handbook, and High Guard Update 2022 books , if starting from a lower TI Technology Level (lack of Grav tech) baseline?

 

[Giorgio3025]

A follow up to my previous question (and the last one before I stop hijacking @kronovan’s thread), as Grav Technology is non-existent in the Battletech IP, yet is a key technology in the MGT2E rules, would there be any “unintended consequences” if I where to keep Grav Technology (and its tech tree) yet increase its cost by a factor of x5 or x10?

 

[GypsyComet]

Governments don't care about the price tag.

 

[Saladman]

High Guard is what you need for the large ships of the Battletech universe. You'll want to give some thought to how you want ftl to work. There's nothing wrong with using alternate drive types and changing the required tech level.

Increasing the cost and defining gravitic drive performance as some more efficient rocket drive than the rules give us would fill a gap I've never liked in the core rules. (Chemical rocket performance is basically 20th/21st century, then a straight jump to cheap and easy grav drives.)

I've never liked artificial gravity in Traveller to begin with, it takes the space sci out of the sci fi for no benefit except not having to redraw legacy deck plans. (I'm showing my ignorance of Battletech here though, I don't know if its got artificial gravity or not.)

All of which is to say, go for it.

 

[Alqualonde]

High Guard is what you need for the large ships of the Battletech universe. You'll want to give some thought to how you want ftl to work. There's nothing wrong with using alternate drive types and changing the required tech level.

Increasing the cost and defining gravitic drive performance as some more efficient rocket drive than the rules give us would fill a gap I've never liked in the core rules. (Chemical rocket performance is basically 20th/21st century, then a straight jump to cheap and easy grav drives.)

I've never liked artificial gravity in Traveller to begin with, it takes the space sci out of the sci fi for no benefit except not having to redraw legacy deck plans. (I'm showing my ignorance of Battletech here though, I don't know if its got artificial gravity or not.)

All of which is to say, go for it.

As far as I remember, there is no artificial gravity In BattleTech (at least no grav-plates equivalent, it is thrust or rotation based).
- For aerodynes drop ships like the Leopard (non tail sitter design), they are supposed to have 2 sets of exhaust thrusters. One at the aft for combat & one on the belly for long range travel (which helps to hover a short while to drop 'Mechs).
- Spheroid drop ship don't have this issue, they are already tail sitters by design..
- Jump ships seems to have rotating habitats sections.
- Hovercraft are not grav based (forced air cushion, which should make them unusable in vaccum & low density atmospheres).
My main concern about porting BT on Traveller is that BT armor is ablating, whereas Traveller armor doesn't ablate. Not a huge issue, it just needs some balancing.
All that matters is that you & the players are enjoying the game.

 

[Giorgio3025]

Governments don't care about the price tag.

My concern is not about pricing, but of any "knock-on effects" that may arrise with the game rules/math by significantly increasing the cost of grav drives and its related technologies.

 

[Giorgio3025]

High Guard is what you need for the large ships of the Battletech universe. You'll want to give some thought to how you want ftl to work. There's nothing wrong with using alternate drive types and changing the required tech level.

I will eventualy take a look at High Guard when getting into the part of designing spacecrafts, my goal is to use as much as the exsisting designs as possible, while figuring out how to implement the Battltech Jump Drive FLT parameters (instant travel accross 30 Light-Years, 6-9 days to recharge the jumpsails).

 

[Saladman]

My concern is not about pricing, but of any "knock-on effects" that may arrise with the game rules/math by significantly increasing the cost of grav drives and its related technologies.

I can't think of any off the top of my head.

You really are meant to be able to do that sort of thing as a setting decision anyway. Playing in either the Third Imperium canon or the implied setting of the base game rules is only one way to play.