[Excalibur] Armored Core BESM Game on Jan. 28!!!

[phm01@hampshire.edu]

Well, folks, I've finally gotten around to it - I finally have time to set up 
my Armored Core game that I've proposed and speculated running over Jan-Term. I 
know I originally promised to run it over Jan-Term, but alas, events have 
conspired against me - schoolwork, my job, my EC activities, and a terrible, 
horrible creature known as Earth & Beyond that has been sucking the time out of 
my system like a parasite...ahem. Anyway, I want to get this thing started as 
soon as possible, so any and all interested parties please e-mail me (after 
reading the rest of this message, of course) at pminer@hampshire.edu.

Now, for those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about: The 
system I'm using is Big Eyes, Small Mouth - it's a role-playing 
system of the anime genre. Yes, boys and girls, with Big Eyes, Small 
Mouth, you, too, can run your very own Japanese Animation show!!!! 
*trumpets* Well, okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get 
the idea. More info on the system can be found at 
http://www.guardiansorder.com/greengoo/besm.html

That's the general skeleton and system - the universe I'm planning on 
running my game in is the Armored Core universe, based on the PS2 
video games of the same name. (A good review of the latest 
installment in the series, Armored Core 3, can be found here: 
http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/october02/armoredcore3ps2/ ) Basic 
premise: in a nutshell, it's a post-apocalyptic world, where the main 
weapons of choice are eerily humanoid, fully articulate robots called 
Armored Cores. After the apocalypse in question (which was a series 
of disasters, both natural and man-made), the remnants of humanity 
lived in vast, huge underground cities.

In the time frame of Armored Core 3 (which my proposed game will take 
place immediately after), a single entity ruled over them all (no 
rings involved) - a very intricate, incredibly complex computer AI 
system called The Controller. The Controller was designed to rule 
humanity under a supposed utopia, where it makes the major decisions 
in everyone's lives - where to live, what job they do, etc. Under The 
Controller, people lived prosperous, if uninspired, lives. The 
Controller was wise enough to let the humans satisfy their inborn 
need for conflict, so it allowed the construction of Corporations 
with military forces, and manipulated them, in turn, too. Obviously, 
this steady state didn't last forever - when Armored Core 3 starts, 
hints abound that The Controller is malfunctioning. A curiously timed 
power outage there, Controller-directed terminations of jobs (which 
cause uprisings), and even The Controller's police units occasionally 
launching attacks on both Corporate and civilian locations without 
provocation. Eventually, it's revealed that The Controller is in 
possession of super-weapons capable of mass destruction - and that 
sparks a full-scale revolt against The Controller, which the player 
is hired to be a part of eventually. When the dust clears, just as 
The Controller is taken down, its true intentions are revealed - The 
Controller going berserk was a test it laid out for humanity. If 
humanity could cease their dependence on it for everyday life, band 
together as a whole and overthrow it to symbolize humanity's new 
resolve, then The Controller would decree that the humans have passed 
the test. And the reward for passing the test - a brand new surface 
of the Earth, secretly terraformed by The Controller. In the final 
climatic ending movie, a door opens to the surface, and the player 
gets the first glimpse of a fresh grassland, a flowing river, and a 
beautiful blue sky.

The time frame of my game is going to take place a few months after the events 
of Armored Core 3. The only two factions in Armored Core 3 who had enough guts 
and nerve to start the insurrection against The Controller - the Kisaragi 
Corporation and the Union group - band together to form the new ruling entity 
for the human race (the ones that decided to live underground and are just 
coming out onto the surface, anyway), called the New Phoenix Government. The 
government chose to name itself that because of the phoenix-like nature of the 
humans that have lived underground and what they are now doing - rebuilding 
their civilization from the ashes of a ruined Earth, on the soil of the 
terraforming accomplished by the now-dead Controller. However, much to the 
surprise of the NPG, there were humans who have lived on the surface all along! 
No one thought it possible, but there were humans who have been living on the 
post-apocalyptic landscape as The Controller was terraforming it. These 
surface-dwelling humans - now known as the Indies - had made quite a living for 
themselves, having built small cities (of course, nowhere near in size and 
quality as those of the underground dwellers) out of salvaged technology, 
farming on choice pieces of land made beautiful by The Controller's 
terraforming, and even possessing some military equipment and weapons, both 
salvaged from the great apocalyptic war that brought the world to the 
pre-terraforming state in the first place, and "borrowed" from the warring 
corporations before and during the era of The Controller. Therefore, these 
Indies have carved out a decent living for themselves on the surface of the 
Earth while the rest were busy fighting it out underground.

Unfortunately, just like the conflicts in the past between indigenous peoples 
and foreign juggernaughts, between native and newcomer, the NPG and the Indies 
are not getting along. It appears that the powers that be have not learned from 
history, instead choosing to let it repeat.

This is where the players - the Ravens, a term for mercenaries in this era - 
come in. The players will be pilots of the aforementioned Armored Cores, 
playing the roles of hired guns, selling their combat prowess to the highest 
bidder, be it the New Phoenix Government, the Indies...or someone else.

And now, for the crunchy bits - how this game is going to work.

This game is going to have a large number of players - anyone who asks to be in 
this game. But unlike other games, this isn't going to have the standard 
once-a-week, everyone-come-or-you-miss-out schedule of most games. Not all 
players have to show up at each session. This is how the game is going to be 
organized:

-On January 28, there will be a mandatory meeting in the G2 lounge at 7 PM, for 
all those who are interested in the Armored Core game. It is during this 
session that we will create our characters, discuss the particulars of the game 
(house rules and such), teach the BESM system to those who have no knowledge of 
it, and get any questions answered for those that have them.
-Those who are interested in the game, have shown up for the mandatory meeting, 
and created a character, will all be added to a mailing list, the particulars 
of which will be discussed during that evening, especially the format. I was 
hoping to use Yahoo! Groups, for those of you that have Yahoo! Messenger, for 
it's an easy way to keep in touch, and have all our communications run through 
everyone. But whether our list will be in that format, or just simply a piece 
of paper with whomever wants in writing his/her e-mail address down, will all 
be decided at the meeting.
-Every week or so (depending on how much time I have), I will send a message to 
the list detailing the next RP session - a mission, if you will - and those who 
are interested in participating in that session will e-mail me. Then we will 
meet during the appointed gaming session, and we'll play!
-Unlike the actual Armored Core game, the currency of this type of game will be 
Advancement Points (the BESM equivalent of experience points) - I figured that 
Advancement Points will be easier to keep track of, and have more of a visible 
game effect, than the credits of Armored Core 3.

Phew! My fingers are bleeding from typing that much. Thank you for reading that 
novel of a post there - I hope this entices you enough to get into my game. 
Trust me, it'll be fun for all involved, and while I am asking you to "commit," 
so to speak, you will not be required to make it to each session, instead 
choosing only the sessions you want a part in.

So, if you're interested in getting into the game, gimme a call at x4773 or 
e-mail me. :)

With Rage and Conviction,
Phil