*Pant* *pant* *pant*...

This banner is actually hillarious because I made that eye catching phrase and stuck it on a banner for the game to refer to the fact that hell had frozen over because someone made a lunar game about mecha. Finally able to use this sentance after its creation on Saturday, December 27, 2003, it seems to have developed a whole new, somehow tragic meaning.
Thanks to all of the people who kept cheering me on.

 

 

This is a list of many questions I actually was asked and have answered, as well as questions and answers that I felt they raised. This is a good way to get started with the game and get some ideas for what sort of character you might like to play, as it covers many subjects and is very concise.

If you have any simple questions beyond the ones here, please comment on this post and I will try my best to answer them.

THE BASICS:

Lunar Mecha? Are you insane?

Most likely, yes. I was shocked as my joke game started to evolve into something sort of stylish and different. Originally, the name of this RPG was going to be "Lunar Mecha School" as a joke on Lunar Magic School. This is because, like the handheld game, the characters spend much of the time in school. It takes place very far future on the planet Lunar.

What's this about a school?

Yeah, there are two schools where you learn to pilot mecha. One is where the government is located, and it's called the Drakken School because it's in Drakken City... and the other is Vane's school because it is located on Vane Island. The story begins in Vane.

Why am I piloting a mecha, anyway?

There are large beasts that roam Lunar making it difficult for any settlements to exist. Drakken is the biggest community of people because these monsters force people to settle all scattered. There are very few towns, and little of the world is populated compared to the land available. Drakken, due to its size and resources, became the government and designed huge, specialized robotic suits to remove the threat. Your job as a mecha pilot is to help destroy these monsters so that humans are not at their mercy.

Do the mecha pilots have to be like "Synchro ratings" and "First Children" special?

They do not. They need be no more special than a Harvard student. As in most Lunar RPGs, students can use and learn magic, they can fight with weapons such as swords, and they all can be taught to pilot mecha so long as they are reasonably talented and pick things up easilly. Their own magical abilities and physical reactions will be enough to pilot them.

Can I be some awesome mecha general?

Sure, I suppose you can, but 'awesome generals' you might notice are usually not the kinds of characters who join the party right away. Just like in a real console RPG, the leader of Althena's guard will not instantly join a bunch of random kids. So if you want to play that character, accept that it may take several months for you to join up.

Oh, I want to start out with the party right away. What do I play?

The only people who get to play as a PC right away are students of Vane's school. You are allowed to play a teacher, a student of Drakken, or most anything your heart desires, but I'm a huge stickler for things somewhat making sense. The game will start out with a group of people who know each other. That's how both Lunars started out, isn't it?

What level of education would these mecha schools be equivalent to?

These schools are equivalent to college, but they're slightly different since there is no exact equivalent to our school system (Elementary school, then junior high, then high school.)

Are there other (non-mecha) schools?

There are. Since these towns are scattered, however, there is no consistent schooling. Some townspeople may be mostly home schooled, some might have a very loose gathering once a day for a few hours where they share common knowledge. Some may have schools, much like our own that were put there by Drakken, some might just have taught their young how to survive.

How would a student prepare for one of these mecha schools?

Drakken is counting on the fact that many people wanting to go to the mecha school don't have a high school diploma to hand them. They have a sort of preparatory school to make sure you even know enough to begin to be taught this stuff. It's a brief, half a year review of what you're expected to know, and then a test. If you fail this test, or even during this half a year realize you don't know nearly enough, you can opt to take classes at this school... for a price. Here you'll get your high school equivalent that you need. It's not as exact as the SATs or GED, and special considerations can let a poor student in to try his or her hand at becoming a pilot.

How old should my character be?

Students vary. Both schools are what I would consider a college, but schooling in this world varies in quality. As previously mentioned, there is not a single level of schooling everyone must attend prior to joining. For this reason, your characters can be average college age, or younger, or older. I do not recommend anyone under the age of 14 without very good reasons, and few over the age of 26. The average age I am looking for in this plot for students is about 17 or 18.

What kinds of clothing are fashionable for students?

I guess I can answer this by describing the look I have in mind for this RPG. Like Lunar, while you have very different people with very different tastes in clothing, they're all somewhat united. You can see they come from the same game. If you were to set something in the 1920's, you might not clothe them exactly as people dress today.

The design I have in mind is very much like Lunar--The fur, the geometric designs, etc. The difference is that LM is much darker. It is a little more stylish, with bits of punky-gothy influences; it's as if Eternal Blue had a baby with Final Fantasy 8. Basically, don't give me a character wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Much of your clothing may have been made by another student in the school after you killed a monster and commissioned them for a new pair of pink furry boots. Then, this might be juxtaposed with a clean black jumpsuit and a snakeskin leather trench coat.

I want silly, silly character designs. And make them symbolic. These aren't real people. Their appearance might say everything about them, or at least suggest something. I look at this as writing a story together, so try and keep with the tone by making a character that is not discordant with the rest of the game.

Will my character get to wear "normal" clothes?

If by normal you mean without their uniform, yes. If by normal you mean jeans and a t-shirt, I'm afraid not.

If you are still unsure of what to make your 'normal' clothes be, I recommend thumbing through the booklets that came with either game, noticing things they have in common, and noticing what it is about them that makes them different than most fantasy games. It can (and should!) be a bit anachronistic, but it should have flavors of the game's style.

If you have some idea of what your character should wear, I can tell you confidently that yes, your student will not spend the entire game wearing their school uniform.

Can I be a 'beast person'?

Yes, they still exist, but they look a bit different. Very few people appear the same as the kinds of "Half Beasts" you saw in both of those games. I imagine most of them are more diluted, with just pointed ears, fangs, and perhaps some skin discoloration that look like stripes on their cheeks or body.

Calling someone half beast is considered a bit demeaning (I imagine it would be the same word for the "beasts" that roam the land, after all) and they are often called just humans with 'lupine' features.

What if I don't want to play a student?

You don't have to! In fact, while I want the majority of the group to be students, it's sort of special and feels more like a real RPG if you pick people up along the way. The only issue is you have to explain why whoever can pilot a mecha, keeping in mind that it takes all this work/schooling to pilot one. Also, they presumably will have to have one when the group meets them. Good options are ones I already described: A teacher (from either school), a student from Drakken, or a person already in the military. You may even want to play a famous military hero, or a character that can change their form into something large!

The trouble is, and I know I just opened Pandora’s box.... be VERY aware that the more "interesting" a character you make, the more critical I will be of how you do it. Not all role-players are created equal, and if you can't back up why you're playing some legendary hero to me, I might take it as "God-modding" or "power playing". I'm real lenient and I won't set down too many absolutes for character creation. I do this so I have a chance to get some really creative characters. Know that if you throw it back in my face and abuse the freedom I give you, it'll probably give me a great idea of what you'll role-play like and I will make no excuses for not accepting your idea.

Can I be a dragon?

What a perfect question to put right after that! First of all, I will say this right out for all the great players out there: though it may not seem like I do, I Want Dragons. I say great players because in this game the dragon will be a challenging character to play. To spoil a bit, while a lot went out that was from the two Lunar games and most of the spin-offs, dragons remain, just as magic still remains in the world. The key is that they are not known about. I highly encourage you to give me a dragon if you have a great idea, but there will be limits. Your character does not know they are a dragon. You will not be able to make up their life without working with me. Most likely, no, you will not be "The flying cat"-- things have changed for the Lunar Dragons over the years. Two of the colors have already been taken, but there are still two left. I'd really prefer that those two be player characters, so it's great if you want to go through the trouble.

Now! As it may have occurred to you, your character might have a VAST advantage over the other player characters as a dragon. When they learn to shape shift into a larger form, they can just use that in place of their mecha. Of course, they won't start that way. As I said, no dragons know what they are. So if you're early on in the plot at all, you will start off as a mecha pilot. If not, we'll find you about midway through the RPG if not later!

Still, it is a vast advantage. It's your body, so you always carry it around with you and don't have to worry about leaving it on the other side of the cave. There are of course other things that being a dragon might do for you in terms of making you 'better' than the other players. And have you gathered yet how I feel about vast advantages? Be very careful.

Can I be the dragonmaster?

Don't you dare make me a character whose sole purpose is to be the leader. Your character will have no purpose very quickly.

It seems to me most people who try and play leaders do not truly understand what it is that unites people and think that a flawless, quiet person is the type everyone will without question follow. You may find, in practice, people are often jealous of them unless their "greatness" has done much for them, and no. I'm probably not going to go out of my way to tailor situations where you save every PC's town from burning down single handedly.

More to the point, there might not be a dragonmaster, so don't try and tailor your character to be one (even if you do make a more interesting character than the one I described). There is the chance, of course, but most likely not. And feel free to make a character be a "born leader"... but add more to it! People, especially great people, have a lot more to them than that. This said, I don't need heroes, I need soldiers.

Oh, and? I can't believe I forgot to say this. You've never ever heard of a dragonmaster, even if you're a historian. This leads me into....

My character is from the Blue Star.

Ahh, that's-- *KABOOM!* Oops, there it goes. Bye bye blue star! As far as you're concerned, there is no blue star and never was. There is no Althena. There is no blue haired goddess. When you go to Vane, you don't talk about how mournful you are of the forgotten days when it used to be the magical Mecca. You are not aware of your distant relation to Demonmaster Kane. You do not have the green eyes.

You don't even see a blue planet in the sky. You see a planet, but I might describe it as black or ash. Since I'm not sure how light would reflect off of it, it may even appear like a very dull white. Dark clouds surround it, at least. I hope I've made my point. This is not the Lunar you knew.

UNIFORMS:

What do the uniforms look like?

This all depends on what level of school you're in, if it's a dress uniform, which school you even go to, if you're still in school, if you're piloting, and a lot of other things! As many of you might be aware, I, the GM, am also a cartoonist. Because of this, you can count on loads of pictures illustrating the uniforms.

Most of your characters will be students in Vane, just starting your 3rd year.

How do they get these uniforms?

Surprisingly, while the nature of uniforms are as the word implies, "uniform", the uniforms are not made in any sort of conveyer belt. They are made as needed, custom, and can be quite expensive because of this. For many students this is a huge problem, as they might not have enough money as it is without having to buy spare uniforms. For others, this is a great source of income as it is perfectly acceptable for a crafty student to, as a job, make uniforms for themselves and other students provided it is well made and does not deviate from the pattern the school will distribute to such young business.

How many uniforms do they have?

You have one uniform when you join up with the school, and you can buy more depending on what you have been given in a loan, a difficult thing to get, or how much you have been helped by your guardian or benefactor. The disadvantage to having one is that you are expected to always have it clean and tidy looking, and so if you have to worry about that even when you have a lot of homework it's a bit more trouble for you, but not impossible.

Why are some of the uniforms so different? (Like Reka's jumpsuit.)

The mecha pilots are a strange type of figure in society. There are no huge rock stars or sports heroes, and the most glamorous people are by far are undoubtedly the pilots. While the nature of the military is to not stand out (and this is taught in either school, in Drakken even more than Vane) and follow the fold, there is a contradiction in the teaching that also encourages you to stand out as well as you can. Once you are a full fledged pilot, you are free to have your own uniform that best suits you, and even some students who fight in teams for extra credit are permitted to have their own special team uniform that need only be vaguely based on the traditional pilot's/dress uniform.

In spite of this, at most special affairs you will be expected to wear your dress uniform rather than your piloting uniform, and the dress uniform only differs in badges sewn on them or pins stuck on. The pilots with the most notoriety are allowed, even encouraged to wear their particular uniform as it has strangely been shown to increase morale and performance.

Do all teachers have to wear the uniform?

In most teaching situations, yes, they do wear it but it is not quite as strict as it is for the students. Many in the magic department wear little hoods and capes, and wear skirt-like lower garments in place of pants that match the jacket. A teacher or two in the tactics department will wear their former piloting jacket over their teacher's uniform. These may be looked at as odder in Drakken than in Vane, but in either teaching facility they would be accepted and not too heavily gossiped about depending on how eccentric the modification is.

How many ranks are there, and how do the uniforms reflect them?

Dress Uniforms:

STUDENT:

Drakken:

First level: White Uniform, orange circle on right breast.

Second level: Light Blue Uniform, orange circle with white triangle inside. (Right breast)

Third level: Blue/Dark Blue Uniform, yellow bar with orange circle/white triangle inside and a thin white bar above both. (Right breast)

Fourth level: Black/Dark Blue Uniform, yellow bar with two circle/triangle badges next to it, thin white bar over all three. (Right breast)

Vane:

First level: Grey Uniform, yellow triangle on right breast.

Second level: Green Uniform, yellow triangle on both sides.

Third level: Brown/gold Uniform, a yellow bar over a red triangle on both sides

Fourth level: Red Uniform, yellow bar with a slightly smaller white bar over it and a red triangle underneath it, both sides.

Last Two Years:

Official dress uniform that all pilots wear, no decorations. The color is Khaki/Dark Blue in a marriage of the two schools. They are not officially graduated from the school at this point but now ride their mecha, work in teams, and go on missions. If they work harmoniously with others, they may go onto the next level.

MILITARY:

 

Flag Officers:

High/Shell Admiral: Admiral of all military of Drakken's military shell.

Sector Admiral: Officer of one of the 4 sectors of the shell. Admirals report to them. Often just referred to as "Admiral". One can be both a Sector Admiral and a Captain.

Officers:

Captain: Higher than a commander and serves much the same purpose.

Commander: Commands a Force.

Other Enlisted Personnel:

Pilot: Equivalent to Private. Has finished all 6 years of training and are enlisted as an official military pilot.

Pilot Cadet/Junior Pilot: A pilot in training, decorations are specific to academy. Drakken prefers to call them cadets while Vane will refer to them, if they do not simply call them students, as Junior Pilots. Drakken interestingly enough does eventually use Junior Pilot, but only when they go into their 5th and 6th level of training.

About Teachers:

Teachers wear the official dress uniform, as all teachers have officially earned at least that. Many teachers have not completed their service as pilots and instead opted to teach as their payment back to Drakken, while others came back after they finished their soldier's duty. Teachers therefore wear whatever decorations they have earned in the service or their lack thereof, but all teachers regardless of secondary rank have the primary title of professor, and on their right upper-arm wear the badge of their department. Within the school their specific dress is not heavily regulated and is partially relaxed. Were a teacher to go to a large summons of sorts, they would be expected to report in their issued uniform without modification. Their ranks are professor, department head, assistant head in some larger departments, and of course there is the academy dean.

Piloting Uniforms:

STUDENT:

Drakken:

Blue/White/Black Uniform. Basic, more efficient for battle version of the school uniform.

Vane:

Brown/Gold Uniform. Relaxed, more efficient for getting down and dirty version of the school uniform.

Teams:

Just as the teams are a taste of their military carrier to come, their uniforms too are a glimpse of the future. Specific to your group, you may have a special color or design and it need only vaguely resemble the traditional pilot uniform.

MILITARY:

Overall:

The typical military piloting uniform has the military colors of Khaki/Blue and is modified to be more convenient for piloting.

Specific:

Many groups of pilots have special jackets, particular colors, and the symbol of their particular team on the back or arm. Some particularly ambitious and famous pilots have even more specific uniforms that do not always perfectly match their teammates, though things such as color unify them.

Additionally:

(Level/Year 1 (Drakken White, Vane Ash)) - I have no characters of this training level.
(Level/Year 2 (Drakken Lt. Blue, Vane Green)) - Leiland (15 or 14)
(Level/Year 3 (Drakken Drk. Blue, Vane Gold)) - Luneris (18), Geranium (16), Fletcher (17)
(Level/Year 4 (Drakken Black, Vane Red)) - Ruby Diamond (18 or 19), Nicholas (19)

FINANCE:

How do the children pay for classes?

Here's an interesting question. Under "The Basics" I mention that in order to make sure you're suitable to train, you have to go through a sort of preparatory school. This school costs money, and this can either be a little bit of money (a half a hear and then a test) or a lot of money (They can give you a high school equivalent education until you can pass the test). This is just about the only money the schools really make for their expensive training facilities.

Unlike college, you aren't paying for every semester. Once you're in, you just take the classes they tell you to take (depending on your focus) and they take care of you... academically. You've got your classes, your books, a place to stay, and one uniform. You have to pay for your meals, any extra uniforms you need, any extra ordinary clothes you need, and any other comfort items ranging from pillows to soap.

They don't expect you to go without (since they expect your uniform to be in decent shape), so there are of course expected solutions. Your parents might take care of this, you might take up a job, or you might take out something like a student loan. Unlike our college student loans, these are not given so freely, since there is a large chance that you might not be good enough to get through this school and eventually get a job with them. You may go back to your little fishing village and never be able to pay them back. And so, these loans only go to students with very good grades, and they are expected to pay it out of their salary as an official pilot, engineer, or teacher.

How does the government make any money to keep this up?

What the government does is get rid of these monsters. They aren't just getting rid of monsters for fun; they're getting rid of them so that, presumably, people can live where they once were. Also, the monsters don't know where not to go, necessarily, and one might stray into a town. Towns pay the government to help them expand, for protection, and to continue offering their services. Towns who don't comply are on their own...

A town or city that is safer has less damage to account for and has happier people. A town that expands can get more natural resources and make more money. A profitable town can offer to give more to the government.

What sorts of jobs can students get?

As a student, there are many things you can do! As mentioned in "Uniforms", many of the uniforms are made by hand. You might be a student that another student who competes in the mecha team games commissions for his or her special team uniform design. Also, as I mentioned in "The Basics" under fashion, students make a lot of the regular clothing. While a bit less profitable than making a team's costume, it's a bit more creative and it pays well enough to make someone a sweater.

Also, there's many jobs the school offers. Though you have to be at least in second year (piloting license), you can help to transport goods for different towns. For this, you do not pilot the same kind of mecha (certainly not as large) but it is required that you know how to fly. Perhaps you could work on the cafeteria staff, or help maintain mecha (engineering license). You might opt to be a tutor for younger students, or mop floors. You might even work at the student "mall", which sells most supplies a student would need as well as some things a student might want.

...I don't think I can express enough how useful it is to know how to do things. Since it may be hard for your parents to send you goods as you need it, and you can't necessarily get everything you need at the student "mall" or in the nearby town of Ina, a lot of things will be made by hand. If you need more blankets, it might be a good idea to buy it from a student who knits. If you need a pillow, someone might make one out of the feathers of an enemy they killed in training. If you need extra writing implements to take notes in class, binders or folders, there are probably students who have made these. The school encourages this and even sells some student work in the "mall" because a resourceful student will be a useful pilot.

There's a lot of jobs that would make sense, and if you have an idea not mentioned on this list, feel free to ask me if it works.

LOCATION:

So where is it I am going to school anyway?

Ideally you are going to the school in Vane for my plot, but you might also go to Drakken as previously mentioned.

...Wait, Vane?

Yes, Vane is the name I casually use when referring to the two schools, as would the characters. Vane is referred to as such because it is on Vane Island, so a longer title would be "The Vane Island Military Academy of Mecha Piloting, Creation, and Maintenance." Equally, Drakken is not in and of its self a school, but a gigantic city that houses the first Mecha School that Vane's school is an offshoot of. So it would more accurately be referred to as "Drakken's Military Academy of Mecha Piloting, Creation, and Maintenance."

What, it's an island now?

Vane Island is an island, as in land that is floating in water, nearly due east of Drakken City. South of the Vane school is a small fishing village called Ina. Ina existed before the school, yet it has not grown very much in spite of Drakken's foothold there and the occasional economy boost of students boredly ambling in while they are on winter break. The school in Vane has no association with the former magic guild, and the only reason that the school was erected there was because the location was good. It is referred to as the Vane school because the locals of Ina refer to the island as Vane island, and no resident of Ina could give you any better answer as to why than "my mom calls it that".

What are these two schools, how were they founded?

Drakken's school was founded as a means of training pilots to secure society by eliminating monster threats and liberating areas with the use of their mecha. It resides in Drakken City in the second shell, the military shell, and training grounds were accounted for early on in Drakken City's birth, when it was simply the warrior shell. Its colors, the same as Drakken City, are blue, white, and black.

Vane's school, which is as previously mentioned located on Vane Island, and was made well after as Drakken did not make enough space for the vast facilities a mecha school requires. It is a much more informal and very warm compared to Drakken, as its school colors are red, gold/brown and green.

So it's the magic city of Vane and Drakken is their evil enemy, right?

Goddamn it, no!

First of all, Vane is not opposed, but in a metaphorical sense gravitates around Drakken. And Drakken, while the students may have a rivalry (and some of the more immature teachers), looks at Vane's school much as it would its own, and the military school is very much revered as its own school's place in Drakken's hierarchy is the second closest shell to Drakken tower. The large reality check for students takes place in the last two years when they are both wearing the same uniform and fighting monsters as big as their mecha as a team. There have been those who had trouble evolving along with the changed situation of being not rivals but allies with their Drakken counterparts, and those students who fail to transition do not become full pilots. When you graduate, you are enlisted to work in Drakken's military.

Second of all, as I mentioned in the island question, this is not the magic city of Vane! This is a school located on an island called Vane that was founded by Drakken. They are in cahoots.

I think I understand the schools. I'm interested in Drakken City!

Drakken, (as in the city Drakken, not so specific as just saying the military) is a very important place that has allowed humanity to have a fighting chance against the beasts that roam the planet. Their giant size and ability to do what they do revolves around a sort of safety. This safety comes from a mysterious tower, deemed "Drakken Tower", that is the core of the city.

The innermost shell, closest to the core, is the political shell, where elected heads from the various civilian sectors represent, or other very important people for the society. Symbolically, they are the least likely to die as they are nearest to the tower, therefore they can keep society running.

The second closest shell is the military shell, split into 4 sections. There is the school and their training grounds, there is the headquarters for those in their 5th and 6th year, there is basic military command and there is also the headquarters for the upper ranks. In each section there are places for those who work there to live.

The 3rd shell is civilian. This shell also is connected to 4 circular miniature models of Drakken's biostructure that each sit at the 4 poles of the city, quartering the civilian shell. It is then divided into thirds, and then quartered again, to form the various civilian sectors. Each third in each quarter, separated by the mini-models, has its own minor government that functions relatively independently of the Drakken state. The 4 models also help in maintaining the cities, and are prepared to take on further responsibilities as needed in case of catastrophe.

The 4th shell is also protected by the miniature social biosphere copies and touches them as the 3rd shell does. This shell is primarily more rural areas, people who work hard at farming (it is significantly harder and more profitable than our world) and other jobs designed to help the farmers. It too is quartered, but is a bit more of a free country than the 3rd shell.

The outermost shell is a giant wall that protects the town, though thanks to the tower it has never had to try very hard.

My character totally visited Drakken tower on a field trip.

It is a nice tower, but that is highly unlikely. The only people who are allowed near Drakken tower are those in the innermost shell.

Do folks other than people from Drakken go to the school?

Indeed they do! While it is more likely that you would be able to get the sort of education to have minimal problems entering Drakken compared to other places, that does not mean other places do not go to either academy.

Where else could I be from?

(Listed in order of places a student of either school is most likely to be from)

Laritta - Laritta is a social hub, the second most important settlement in the game. Though north of Drakken and therefore slightly farther away from Vane than Drakken is, it is considered a sort of neutral area where students applying for both schools take their tests and perhaps do further training if need be. Laritta has a fine school system overall, another reason the preparatory school might have been put there, making it another rarity. It is surrounded by water on 3 sides, and has been blessed with a fairly safe ocean, so Laritta has had to worry about in the way of monster attacks has been on the one side.

Calista - The Association of Nomads. Calista has survived by being able to get up and move when there is a problem, or find a small spot that might be far away from others that is strangely safe. They are masters at being able to predict when the place they are living will find danger, and follow the coastline until they see signs that they will be safer. While Drakken has had a lot of trouble protecting such a mobile "city", they have both worked together to find a way to make it easier on each other, and it is one of the better places to live if you can deal with the lifestyle. Most people from Calista, unlike many other protected settlements, have seen monsters and many know how to fight them, if only little ones. Calista stretches along the southern coastline and is focused mostly in the eastmost part of it.

Vane Island - The tiny fishing village of Ina is fairly well protected due to being nearby Vane, but it is not as large of a social commodity as either of the settlements listed and generally runs the same as you'd expect a tiny fishing village to be run. Other than that and the school, there are no other settlements on Vane Island.

Madoria - East of Vane, south of Calista, Madoria is not as great as a place as you might suspect, but still better off than some. It is incredibly mountainous and though a shocking lot of the land there is relatively safe, it is still difficult to farm there and the animals there are not so good to eat. They have few exports, but they do offer a place that you will most likely not die at, and so many smart people from other parts of the world have taken up residence there with the mountain weirdoes. The biggest problem with Madoria are the oceans. In the gulf between its continent and middle-calista, there is something strange with the ocean that has been known to pull in ships and even mecha. The gulf between it and the continent to the east of it there have also been reported to be strange happenings and unwholesome beasts. No one is sure if the details given on these places are superstition or fact, as the people of Madoria have more superstitions than just about anyone else.

Nitou - A small, lost island off the coast of the southern, uninhabitable drakken continent. It does not get many visitors. It's arid for an island and just about as dry as the land it's directly west of, which is cracked desert land.

Oran - A tiny island to the west of Drakken with one long island between it and the continent. Most recently liberated by Drakken, Oran is first shielded by its own very dangerous isle, and then on the side of Drakken nearest to it is one of the most dangerous part of Drakken. Because of this, it is very separated from the rest of the world and the most unlike it. The landscape is very strange, and many plants grow there that grow nowhere else. Although every isle or continent nearby it is incredibly unsafe, Oran was surprisingly easy to free and is relatively easy to protect, so they even have little contact with solders of Drakken. A mysterious place.

None (traveler) - The least likely thing you could be is a wandering person. Modern science does not even deem it possible to live in the areas of the world I have not mentioned.

These places, not counting Drakken (which would of course be #1 on the list), are all possibilities for your character.

I would like to be from a city you didn't mention! There can't just be 7!

I am afraid there can and are. If you are absolutely DETERMINED to make your own settlement, you are not allowed to make a settlement more flourishing than Madoria. You will need to look at the map of areas livable with me and I will point you to a few areas where you could set your town in. This could be a great way to integrate yourself to the setting and have a strong effect on the world, but it will also be a bit of a challenge given the catastrophic state of the world.

What happened to the world?

This is a bit of a mystery, and it is not commonly known by anyone other than the innermost shell of Drakken that the world was any way other than this. Still, there is an inkling of the fact that This Is Not Normal, and in practically every religion’s lore there is a reference to a great flood that ripped at the land as well as some explanations of the origins of the monsters that roam it. Many include a curse, either of an angry earth god who they must regain favor with or of an evil god, or the tears of the main deity in their culture that were too pure for the land and burned it, or any number of variations. Some cultures revere and fear the monsters, feeling they have a greater power than even Drakken knows and that it is because of them alone that the world is as it is.

ROLE-PLAYING:

How, when, and where?

So far, I have my heart set on Saturday evenings EST, but don't we all. It will run on the network Lunarnet on IRC in #Lunar_Mecha

How many hours will this game be?

4-5 hours, once a week.

How many sessions/years are you planning to run?

The game will be broken up into seasons, and each season has about 13 episodes. I am planning on wrapping it up in 7 seasons. If my math is correct, that should be a little more than 2 years.

What is your experience GMing and what have you been in?

I was a character and continuity GM and general co-GM in ArcadiaRPG/Underworld, but don't expect this game to be too much like that. I also am co-GM of dark hentai game Ensanguined Seductions. Further games I have been in:

Espernet/Lunarnet:

Middleground - NPC Trista

ASF1- Dragonmaster Callie/Cleo, NPC Tammaris

ASF2- Varemi Lianna

Arcadia evolution 1- Rayney

Lunarrpg5, Magic Empire- Red Dragon Geint

Grandia- NPC Jake

Necrosaro's DWRPG- Palidor

Bahamut's Final Fantasy RPG- Ashley Lera

Scott's Dragon Force RPG- A powerplayed version of myself (hahaha don't-judge-me)

Aes/Valina's Lunar rpg Doom's Day End- multiple NPCs

...And like a fucking million others

Special thanks to:

AD&D campaigns 6th-10th grade

Early 90s MUDs & MUSHs

Various freeforms

A messageboard game

Horrible AIM roleplaying

E-mail roleplaying games

AND YOU!

Will there be a separate system for mecha and ground?

Another way this question was worded was, "Will there be any fighting outside of the mecha?"

The answer to both is yes. The ground combat will be handled by an edited middleground system and the mecha battles will be handled by something similar but slightly more advanced.

I hate you for using MiddleGround System.

Yeah, I know.

What is the goal of this game? Save the world I assume.

That is certainly what you should be thinking when you make your characters, as they are basically going to school to learn to do just that. However the game WILL branch off from this mindset and develop a more complicated plot.

What sort of a tone are you trying to express?

An artsy question asked by my friends who care about this sort of thing, but you should as well. It will be a dark game, as typically my games are. Here is a more detailed overview of tone, theme, the sorts of characters I desire, and me being really annoying and full of myself:

-Tone-

Lunar Mecha has a very melancholy tone. When writing the documents for Lunar Mecha, even the cute stuff about winter vacation, I am listening to the most depressing music imaginable. The Lunar music I listen to is all of the "oh shit I fucked up" music. This game starts out happy compared to how it ends. I'm a Goth. Let's all just admit this to ourselves.

This does not mean I want angsty characters by any means. I want people who are capable and are willing to fight to live, and have the knowledge to do so. I do not want people who are sad about having been possessed by a demon and then killed their whole family. Kid, it only gets worse. It doesn't get better.

I do want people with problems, however. I would like characters who perhaps have parents battling a divorce and are so caught up in fighting each other they have forgotten their own roles as parents to their children. Maybe their town was destroyed by one of the large monsters roaming the land if you need drama, but they neither had anything to do with it nor any ability to stop it, and the breakdown of what happened is closer to a more real problem of a tsunami devastating your village or an earthquake that leveled your hometown. This is a story worth writing and playing in, and so it is fantasy that can be more real than reality. For this to be possible, I need some reality to work with.

The bottom line is that I enjoy feeling sad, and if you do as well you might be able to enjoy this game. We don't need characters falling in love in a perfect and planned way, nor do we need "angst" that is exaggerated and misplaced at best. I feel life is interesting, too, and I'd prefer characters who know how to at least live if nothing else.

- Motivations within the tone -

Because of this tone, motivations should not be limited to "wants to save the planet" or things such as that. While they might desire to do this, chances are they acknowledge somewhere inside that there is a large chance they cannot accomplish this, and surely you as the player acknowledge that you are GMed by a gothic artist.

-Tests-

Throughout the course of this game, your character's very, well, character will be put to the test. Because of this, they must be flexible enough to run through a full gamma of emotions. The beginning starts melancholy but cheerfully, and the ending is something Eva with a less obvious meaning but just as much pain. Because of this, do not make someone so angst ridden they will be a comedy routine by the end of the game. Equally, do not make someone who is likely to be effected by something bad happening only in the 5 minutes after it happened and seems/is entirely unchanged and unaffected in the time after those 5 minutes.

Chances are if you are the sort of person I am talking to you will not know the difference between good and bad, but I'm just letting everyone know that I will be looking for range of emotion as I test every and any small tear in their defenses and try and break it into a gaping wound. Since a broken character is attractive, my ideal player has several layers of emotional defense waiting to be broken. I guess my ideal player also just does this without even thinking about it and are disappointed when the full range of their character can't be shown in whatever games they've been in. ;)

-Theme-

Because I am a huge fag, the game is less about saving the world or conquering evil than it is about a few themes. This is actually not that unusual-- many of the Lunar irc rpgs incorporate the console's theme of humanity's power. In my game, this is more like a topic, and many aspects that were more like topics addressed briefly in the game are my themes.

That sounds a bit confusing, so let me explain my terms. In this explanation, a "topic" is something in a work that is addressed but couldn't be called a theme, either because it doesn't continue for very long (like a topic of conversation that is changed later on as the conversation progresses) or something closer to a mini-theme than a real, over-arcing theme. A theme is something that unites a work. One of my teachers described theme as a little umbrella, and everything in the work should fall under that little umbrella.

Themes so far in the game seem to be things more like man vs. nature, the bridge between youth and adulthood, and gaining acceptance in the eyes of others. These existed in the original 2 Lunars, but they were not a focus because they were console games. My game is not supposed to be like a console game. The medium is different, and so how things are addressed is also different. At least, I feel they should be.

Feel free to write your characters complex. We've got someone who's a literary foil to another character, and several characters with related themes

...Just how much Mia is in this game?

Many of those on Lunarnet who do not know what I am about at least know that my best friend Nadia is a weird pervert. Please do not join this game is you are squeamish about the idea of people who sleep with the same gender, though as this document is directed at Lunarnet roleplayers I doubt there will be many who are so offended they could not join this game. However, I should mention that the game might have some sexual situations, so if this is a concern for you and you would like to join, please ask me for more details to determine if it is within your comfort level.

CONTINUITY - THE STORY FORGOTTEN:
(Quit bellyaching, this will be a good game. Leave Lou alone, he's a good guy.)

So what, I heard this is a sequel, right?

Yes, but it's almost embarrassing to admit it since it's strayed so far from its original concept. (The original concept: Blow up the ASF/ASF2 world) But yes, this is a sequel of ASF2, and though much has been destroyed, you will assume dragons of the past have included Ebony, Teal, and Opal. I am sorry to those who are not exactly his fans, but you will have to deal with the fact that Demonmaster Kane has existed in this universe. To your characters, however, ASF is simply "A Story Forgotten".

Oh God, Kane's not going to show up, will he?

He'll show up about as much as Nash and Mia showed up in Lunar: Eternal Blue, except in Lunar Mecha there are no records of him. ...Yeah, that probably means what you think it means. Bye-bye Kane!

Why use Lou's world at all? It was, uh...

Yes, there is no need to be secretive. We all know Lou's world had problems. Even Lou, who has vowed after its completion that ASF2 was his last story set in the universe where his famous Lunar fanfics were set in, ASF 1&2 were based in, PA assumed aspects of, and everything else. In other words, Lunar Mecha is the end. While Nadia plans to run the prequel to Lunar Mecha, you may consider Lunar Mecha to be the final bang.

I consider this a sort of mockery, dedication, and redemption of, beyond even just Lou's writing, many other Lunar universes that had been inspired by Hahn's groundbreaking Middleground. While everything is very different, from tone to composition, I do try and redeem a lot of failed ideas from Lunar: ASF1 and ASF2.

The meaning of all of this may be difficult to understand, and many of those who I've even given a long explanation of this to have walked away with a misunderstanding of my intentions. So in short, I will say that we will not be traveling in a time machine, there will be no demonmaster, and it will not be filled with 4th-wall-climbing fanservice references.

For me, those were not the sorts of things I saw potential enough in to inspire a game. This will be my tribute to it, with my dark flavor and severe, perfectionist sense of story structure and character. My goal is to quietly answer a lot of questions, sneak in some liquid cement while no one is looking to fill in the gaping plotholes, and end on a satisfying note. My goal is also to do all this while allowing the game to stand on its own-- if I fail to do everything else, I will end up making an interesting game that has nothing to do with Lou's. Does that make any sense?

I still feel a bit uncomfortable about this.

If you have doubts and do not know about the ASF universe, I can assure you that you will not even notice its influence. Those who loved ASF1 or 2 and had some questions in their minds will probably finally have some closure on a few of the ideas from it, though little of it will be terribly specific or blatant.

You mentioned the dragons. Who's still there?

Part of the point of this game is that I blew up his world and saw what was left. Teal, Sephina/Opal, and the other two dragons from ASF2 will not be in this game. The only dragon you have a chance of meeting from that game will be Kodah. To those who will miss Teal, please look into Nadia's prequel! To those not concerned about seeing off the old characters, know that while it has stronger ties to ASF2 it promises to be a great game that will stand proudly on its own.

Nadia? Prequel? Is she not running it with you?

Yeah, so no one would ever ask this-- anyone who'd assume Nadia would run this with me is a good enough friend of mine to know that I am running this on my own and that I will not be co-GM of this game. It is mine, and Nadia will be a player in it. When she runs Lunar Mecha's prequel, A Darkened Romance, I will also apply to be a player in her game.

And.. thank you for reading my overview-doc! I will put out more detailed ones than this in roughly 2 months.