Last night, while talking about the Battle Fortress Independence campaign with the player of the character known as Vermillion, I finally said the identifying name of the VF-22 out loud.

As anyone glancing at my blog should know, I happily loot the variable fighters from Macross, give them some stats of dubious accuracy, and plop them into my campaign.  I often give them new designations.  While the VF-2 from Macross II is still the Valkyrie II, the YF-19 from Macross Plus becomes the VF-19 Phoenix, and the VF-25 Messiah from Macross Frontier becomes the VF-25 Aurora with an entirely different weapons allotment.*

*Kinda like the Beta fighter in the original Robotech RPG.  But that's OK, because I'm running a campaign for me and my friends, not writing the official Macross or Robotech RPG. 

So, my copy the Macross Plus (and Macross 7) YF-21/VF-22 had been codenamed the Ninja, rather than the official designation of Sturmvogel.  Although I suppose I could have just named it the Stormbird, the in-game designer of the fighter wouldn't have wanted it to have a name so thematically similar to the one given to the VF-19 (Phoenix).  Since it was supposed to be a stealthy aircraft with deadly precision, I decided "Ninja" would be a good name.

But sometimes what seems like a good idea and what looks like a good idea on paper is not a good idea.  When I announced that Vermillion's fighter was of the "Ninja" variety, both he and I started laughing.  It just sounded silly to us.  Perhaps it's just because of years of cheesy ninja movies.  Perhaps it's because we've met too many gamers who say "I'm a real ninja!"  Regardless, after saying it aloud, we knew it wasn't going to work as the identifying name of the fighter any more.

So, after a little bit of thought, it was decided the name of the VF-22 would be changed to "Wraith."  That has a similar connotation and it sounds cooler.  It ties into the mythological name convention many of the mecha have.  Plus, it matches Michelle's (the in game creator of the fighter) tendency for darker names.  (She has plans for a starship she calls the "Megiddo.")

In story, this is going to reflect the reality of the situation and add a little bit of humor.  Michelle is, like us, going to realize the name of her fighter sounds silly.  So, she is going to petulantly insist it retroactively be changed.  That fits her personality too.

The other thing I noticed was I had mistakenly started saying my VF-25 Aurora had 48 micro-missiles instead of the load of 24 SRMs (of the type the VF-2 uses).  Ooops!  I covered my BACK-SIDE by saying the 48 micro-missile variant was the VF-25A, a recent upgrade where the old leg thrusters were replaced with a new type carrying launching systems similar to those on the VF-19 Phoenix.  This was an officer or elite variant, so I also tossed in the idea the head assembly was replaced with a 4 laser version instead of the 2 laser version.  I added a new fighter type to the SDF-5's complement without even trying! 

The morals of the story?  First off, when you name stuff, be sure to try saying it out loud a few times.  It can spare you some unintentional humor later.  Second, be flexible.  Oftentimes, there will be stuff in game which will allow you to change some details and add a little bit of flavor to your continuity in the process.  Addressing any problems by admitting them in universe and then tying them into your story makes things more verisimilitudinous.

Tags: Macross Robotech Mecha GMing