Mecha Rules!

Be sure to read and follow the guidelines for our forums.

Feb 26, 2015 2:30 am
First of all, I’d like to establish that the defensers and other mecha are not just giant armored versions of your PCs. They have their own stats, strengths, limitations, abilites, personalities, and styles. You and your machine are different entities. For example, your mecha may leap and swing a katana at an enemy (you can use physical fighting moves and tricks of the trade in mecha), or you, seated in the cortex (cockpit) may use an esotery as your character from inside the defenser. (Later mecha will allow the mecha itself to use your ‘magical’ special abilities, but for now the Type-12s aren’t capable of this and you’ll have to open the cortex’s hatch and use PC esoteries from there).

Don’t worry, these rules will be simple and are only meant to enhance storytelling and sense of personality with the defensers.

Distance

The short distance of PCs is the immediate distance of mecha (about 40-50 feet).

Long range for PCs is short range for mecha.

1000 feet +is the long distance for mecha.

Stats

Your defenser and you are separate, although some of your stats such as speed affect the machine’s performance, so these rules reflect that.

The defensers do not have pools, although they have rough descriptors that modify pools and their rolls. For example: “The Type-12 is heavily armored.” The descriptors may be taken from the character descriptors, although they will be modified by me so they make sense for giant robots.

Speed:

*The speed defense of the mecha is the same as the runner’s, although the unit descriptor may have stats that modify this.
*If you want to apply effort to your machine’s speed defense, take the effort out of your own speed pool.
*Your PC’s speed difficulty mods also affect the mecha’s speed.
*If the unit is somehow slowed/encumbered/damaged, the difficulty of speed defense actions while in the defenser may increase.

For example: The Type-12 is 'heavily armored' thanks to armor, but the restrictive nature of the armor increases the difficulty of speed defense actions by one step while running the unit, although your PCs movements themselves are unemcumbered.

Intellect:

*Your intellect scores are your mecha's intellect scores but may be modified like speed.
*Intellect effort comes from your pool.
*Some units may have bonuses for PCs who attack or are attacked by Intellect, and may even amplify some mental esoteries.

Might:

This rule I’m having some trouble with…Basically, if a fast man gets in a giant robot, it’s reaction time and speed depend solely on him. If a strong man gets in...a lot of mecha don't have muscles, they have mechanical mechanisms.

I’m thinking that your PC’s Might difficulty mods won’t have any affect on Might actions for the mecha.

I know, that sounds harsh! Don’t worry, it’s not. Some mecha will use your might pool as if was their own (although in a way they won’t be mecha anymore… :) In addition, a lot of combat won’t be in mecha, and may even involve you flying around other mecha, fighting cooperatively. Combat in my game will be a fast paced mix of mecha and human tactics.

Health:
*If your defenser is hit with an attack, I won’t tell you exactly what happened. I’ll say something like this:

“You pull back on the lever with all your might. You duck...a millisecond later, you hear and feel armor rending somewhere above you to your right. As you fall backwards, your monitors focus on a giant severed arm in the drit. Your right arm is gone.”

This is to keep things tense and realistic. A defenser can’t register trauma to you, so you’ll have to figure out where its hurtin’. You’ll have to judge for yourselves how much more trauma your unit can take.
Regarding the usage of ‘you’: You’ll always know whether I mean your mecha or you as a PC. It just seems silly to say ‘your defenser’ when you are the defenser’s brain.
* ’Grunt suit’ like the Type-12 will will lose parts and limbs semi-often.
*If something hurts your PC in the cortex, I’ll tell you and anyway, you'll know.
Feb 26, 2015 2:44 am
These are the rules for the mecha I've dreamed up, I'm surprisingly kind of proud of them. If you have any comments, crits, suggestions, I'd like to hear them.

I could have just made the defensers big armored versions of you, but I feel like these rules support the story I'm trying to tell and give the mecha their own individuality. However, if you feel as if these rules are limiting to the abilities of your characters please tell me and we'll come to a solution. Remember though that later you will be receiving mecha that are more or less tailored to you, if you don't want to stick with the good ol' Zorahi. (I'm writing it's stats in the Mecha Descriptions thread right now).
Feb 26, 2015 2:57 am
I like the idea of the mechs having their own features and personalities. I say run with it. Take things for a spin as is and tweak things as we go along if needed.
Feb 26, 2015 4:17 am
I saw the mechs as being what you said, power-armor that enhanced our PC's stats, allowing them super-human strength (Might Pool +12), enhanced reflexes (Speed Pool +10), and would channel the runners mental properties (Intellect Pool +8). Then as your PC used effort the Defenser's stat pool would drop first starting at Hale, then going to debilitated, and finally "dead" or shutdown.

But I'm a willing and wide-eyed passenger on this crazy-awesome train so im really up for whatever you've got Captain Kaizival.

And like you said, later on we get different/possibly better Defensers, so I'm excited to see what comes next.
Feb 26, 2015 4:45 am
Skydut says:
I saw the mechs as being what you said, power-armor that enhanced our PC's stats, allowing them super-human strength (Might Pool +12), enhanced reflexes (Speed Pool +10), and would channel the runners mental properties (Intellect Pool +8). Then as your PC used effort the Defenser's stat pool would drop first starting at Hale, then going to debilitated, and finally "dead" or shutdown.

But I'm a willing and wide-eyed passenger on this crazy-awesome train so im really up for whatever you've got Captain Kaizival.

And like you said, later on we get different/possibly better Defensers, so I'm excited to see what comes next.
Thanks for the vote of confidence!

I do have a problem with what you said though (sigh, maybe I'm a bit too much of a stickler for these kinds of things). But the mecha don't just 'enhance PC stats'. They raise the difficulty of some of your rolls with certain stats, they might be slower or faster than you are and burden you in other ways, and they don't enhance your PCs stats at all, they scale them up to fight larger opponents (the Defensers are unsuited to fighting small targets, and are meant to fight big ones).

The mecha, in a way, are totally different entities. They might malfunction, they might defy your will for reasons unknown, they might grow to love you, they might teleport you, they might (SPOILERS!)

I'm just trying to give you a warning is all, sorry if I came off kind of pyscho :)

It's a mistake to categorize the mecha, let alone trust them to just enhance your power.
Feb 26, 2015 5:09 am
Yeah this is interesting, I'd kill to see whats behind the "SPOILERS!". I think I'm liking the rules, no complaints.
Feb 26, 2015 5:11 am
Quote:
They raise the difficulty of some of your rolls with certain stats, they might be slower or faster than you are and burden you in other ways, and they don't enhance your PCs stats at all, they scale them up to fight larger opponents (the Defensers are unsuited to fighting small targets, and are meant to fight big ones).
I hadn't thought about that. Makes sense though. Like I said, I'm ready for anything.
Feb 26, 2015 8:43 am
You might be able to use the might pool as a way to represent how physically taxing pioloting a Guardian is. That way glaives get benefits from their superior might.
Feb 26, 2015 10:47 pm
KennyGardnerIII says:
You might be able to use the might pool as a way to represent how physically taxing pioloting a Guardian is. That way glaives get benefits from their superior might.
I don't think so...Only after extended use. Your PC isn't actually using his strength, but that of the mecha, although some 'mecha' may circumvent this.
Mar 5, 2015 3:50 pm
Are we all in Type-12s? If not, what are our options for mechs?
Mar 7, 2015 1:23 am
Yes for now, you'll get more options later.

You do not have permission to post in this thread.