Quick Start Preview: LR69 In Five Paragraphs

May 21, 2012 in Lunar Reckoning 69

The Past

One billion dead. Cities sundered. Nations collapsed. Humanity shattered. The Revolution stole so much – as the people Luna rose up against their masters on Earth, they began the war that changed everything. For the sake of ‘freedom’, the revolutionaries incited the collapse of the nation states that supported ATLAS. For the sake of ‘justice’, the colonies of mankind sent millions of their sons and daughters to their deaths. And for the sake of ‘revenge’, the Earth was bombarded by Relativistic Kill Vehicles, forever scarring the surface of man’s home.

The Present

Two generations later, the people of Earth, Luna, Mars, and Jupiter, under the interplanetary government known as the Union, have slowly regained some of what was lost. Due to the environmental damage sustained during the Lunar Revolution, Earth’s population now resides primarily in Megacities – huge arcology structures designed to be almost completely self-sufficient. Those who live offworld work to gather the resources required to sustain interplanetary society. And even after such devastation, war continued unabated…dominated by the Armored Personnel Unit. Read the rest of this entry →

CanGames Completed

May 21, 2012 in Island Three Productions, Lunar Reckoning 69

CanGames Demo Spread

A successful run at CanGames has been completed, and more will be released in the near future. Teamwork and Maneuvers were the key to victory for the players in this scenario, which will be released alongside the full version of this booklet soon!

This booklet is designed to be printed as a duplex from ordinary 8.5×11 sheets, as will the GM’s booklet. The character sheets delve into specific rules for the weapons each player has, while the booklet provides the rules of play.

As stated before, the previous Beta will remain free, while new updates will be given to current playtesters for their campaigns, and the Quick Start will be available for download under a Creative Commons licence. Print on demand options are also a possibility! Stay tuned.

Quick Start Preview: What is Lunar Reckoning 69?

May 13, 2012 in Lunar Reckoning 69

What is Lunar Reckoning 69?

Well, that’s very simple. Lunar Reckoning 69 (abbreviated as LR69) is a mecha tabletop role-playing game. Which is a lot of words that are likely to look like gibberish to some of you, while others will be intimately familiar with them. We’ll start with the confused parts of the audience, while those of you who know some or all of this stuff should skim or skip things until ‘But I Already Know All That!’

What is ‘role-playing’?

Very simple! ‘Role-playing’ is pretending to be someone else. When a little kid pretends he’s a ninja, that’s role-playing. When you’re acting like a customer during job training, that’s role-playing. When you pretend to be a ten year old girl online, that’s role-playing…and really creepy. What the hell is up with that, anyway?

Some people may turn their noses up at this, but really, role-playing is very common these days. Normal, every-day people roleplay in videogames, over the Internet, or with their friends in the form of tabletop RPGs. It’s just damn fun. If you’ve ever thought of what it would be like to be a pirate, a caveman, or a fighter pilot, you’ve been a roleplayer. Read the rest of this entry →

CanGames Demo, Quick Start

May 3, 2012 in Island Three Productions, Lunar Reckoning 69

CanGames Demo - Sunday, May 20, 2012

It’s confirmed! Lunar Reckoning 69 will be making an appearance at the Ottawa, Canada-based convention CanGames on May 20, 2012 in the 9 AM time slot. A four hour demonstration game for five players, this demo game will consist of an original adventure known as “Hull is Burning” – taking place in the Gatineau region of Quebec, players will get to test out different APU builds and get to experience a full range of tactical options, Personal Skill challenges, and enemy forces. New rules are being used for this demonstration, which include new build options and offensive and defensive capabilities.

With this announcement comes another. After the CanGames demo, a new Quick Start version of the game will be released! This will form a preview for the changes to come and be the primary method of release from now on. The old beta, currently available in the forums, will receive a few updates and remain freely available. As for the future, well…only time can tell, and future plans will have to remain a secret for the moment.

Don’t know about the game? Click the link below to find out more.

Read the rest of this entry →

Horizon

May 3, 2012 in Lunar Reckoning 69

Horizon Earth Division Logo

PMC Horizon, Earth Division

It’s a hell of a world we live in.

It’s all the same story. Throughout history, people have proven that they’ll fuck one another over every single chance they get. Politicians will sacrifice their ideals for a few bucks. Great revolutionary leaders will become petty warlords and exploit the very people they sought to save. And worse than any of those are the people without even the pretense of good intentions, those who will set the world on fire just to watch it burn. Read the rest of this entry →

APU-01 Warrior (WIP Render)

April 25, 2012 in Island Three Productions, Lunar Reckoning 69

A preliminary volume render of the APU-01 Warrior. Scale is around ~3.5 metres. Further information will be forthcoming soon.

Technology of the Lunar Reckoning – The ap6

February 18, 2012 in Lunar Reckoning 69

When the first Jovian colonists left Earth, just before the Network Dismantlement, they took with them an archive of the Internet as it existed just before it was reorganized into the modern Global Communication System and related networks. Known as the “Earth Historical Record”, it was a file copied into numerous data servers on Jovian energy fleets. Compressed using the ‘ap6′ archival format, it is most commonly referred to as the ap6. Under ATLAS’ information control policies, most of the data in the ap6 was lost on Earth for decades before the Jovian Dominion reestablished communications with their home planet.

After the Lunar Revolution, ATLAS’ restrictions on communication with the Jovians were lifted. Because all the contents of the ap6 have long since passed out of copyright, the ap6 is in the public domain. Due to advances in data storage, the ap6 can be distributed on portable data storage devices in varying levels of completeness and quality. The original copies of the ap6 are kept in the Galileo Institute on Ganymede, where historians and private individuals may directly make their own copies – important, as other copies of the ap6 may be censored, corrupt, incomplete, or otherwise unverifiable.

To those within the asteroid belt, the ap6 is an invaluable portrait of the 21st century, containing data on early computer systems, historical events, and the development of culture – the ultimate primary source. However, to the Jovians, the ap6 represents something else entirely – as the only source of entertainment for a generation raised without communication with Earth, the ap6 continues to be a central component in Jovian culture. No doubt the many Jovians who gleefuly listen to centuries-old pop music have contributed to the general reputation of eccentricity for those who live beyond the bounds.

Movement & Range System Released – Beta 2.5 Plus

February 18, 2012 in Island Three Productions, Lunar Reckoning 69

Movement & Range has finally arrived! This new system makes Initiative truly a resource, as it is now spent to move as well! Weapon ranges round out the release, with different weight classes having different effective ranges, giving new tactical depth in both the construction and the combat stage. Other additions:

  • New section on APU Variants, to help the GM plan encounters.
  • Updated Excel Autocalculator.
  • One new Magus and a full statblock for another.
  • A mockup image for mecha color schemes!

The new system is available in the forums, both a smaller update package and a larger package designated Beta 2.5 Plus. Happy gaming, and expect even more from Island Three Productions soon!

New Layout Version Release – Beta 2.5

January 6, 2012 in Island Three Productions, Lunar Reckoning 69

Beta 2.5 of Lunar Reckoning has now launched, with a brand new PDF layout! This new book is in full color, and is fully bookmarked for your convenience. Here are the highlights:

  • A new full color layout, with all chapters in one fully bookmarked PDF.
  • A prototype version of the new Personal Skill system.
  • New stories (now Profiles).
  • The Excel autocalculator has been included in the package, along with some logos and (bad) sketches!

Beta 2.5 is available in the forums upon registration. Enjoy the new release!

Profile 05: Black Color

January 5, 2012 in Island Three Productions, Lunar Reckoning 69

It was good to be the boss.

The Wastelands of Phoenix had a long history of conflict, stretching all the way back to the Arizona Insurrection. Today, here, it was occupied by several armed gangs carving out a piece of the desert and preying on the goods coming in and out of the megacity. And soon enough, those ‘several’ would be ‘one’.

They were the Wasteland Rangers, one of the newest gangs of the mesas, and he was their leader. A tough son of a bitch, if you asked him. Staging a coup against the Wings of Flame, he had spent a year biding his time and building up mechs to be able to take on the larger forces. On top of the usual Chickenwalker forces he had a few Sportwalkers, VTs, a couple of choppers, and his own personal pride and joy – a shiny new Warrior, fully equipped with an old-fashioned heavy rifle.

He loved this damned gun. It had a nice long stock to keep the shots stable, a custom underbarrel targeting module, a chrome-lined bore, and a heavy autobolt feed system. It was so powerful, in fact, that it had to use old-style brass cartridges just to handle the force of the gunpowder! The new ventilation in the back of his warehouse showed just how good this thing was. Once they captured a few more mechs and showed that they were serious contenders, nothing would stop them. Read the rest of this entry →