[d20F] Mech rules - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

[d20F] Mech rules

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
backstabbist
May 09, 2008 20:42:20 [b] This post was in response to the Future board seemingly had disappeared.... turns out it is still out in Wizneyland somewheres.
Ignore this thread
>

Hey, do the mech rules look wonky to anybody? ;)
#2
narukagami
May 09, 2008 22:43:26 We dun' take kindly t' no troublemakers 'round 'ere boy... *spits*
#3
slimgoodbody
May 11, 2008 19:05:53 Yeah, they're pretty poorly plotted out, and they don't work well with anything that isn't a mech, i.e. don't try having them fight jets/spaceships/cars/people. D20 Future really bummed me out with how little planning was giving to make it all work together. Even things within the same book just sort of don't play well with each other.
#4
narukagami
May 11, 2008 19:28:47 The mech rules don't even play very well against themselves, let alone anything else, which is why they're garbage. Pit a Gargantuan mecha vs another Gargantuan mecha (roughly Gundam size) against one another, with pilots of equal level and "average" military grade gear and see how long it takes for one to kill the other. You'll be rolling dice for days.
Well, not really days, but combat putting bigger-than-Large mecha against other bigger-than-Large mecha takes two to three times as long as your average d20 Modern character scale fight, and thats if there are some good lucky rolls in the mix. And this isn't good in any way, either, its boring "chip away at its HP for hours" combat.

Honestly the whole system would start becoming playable if they just SCALED things.
#5
ice_miller
May 12, 2008 12:50:24 I'll be starting up my first d20 Future campaign in a few weeks, so this thread interests me. I used to play Rifts, so I know about the ol' chipping away at high numbers of hit points thing. What about having a Critical Hit chart full of system failures and losses of mech abilities? That would shorten the battle and make it more interesting and realistic, too.
#6
trappedslider
May 12, 2008 14:19:48 Future tech fixed the hwole combat system with better rules for mech vs character vs starship vs character
#7
psininja
May 13, 2008 9:31:21 I liked the "mecha as vehicles" variant, but mech are still underwhelming at least to me. Let's compare the main cannon from the Abrams tank and the Typhoon 240 laser cannon, a good all around mech weapon from PL 6.

M1A2 Abrams tank cannon damage: 10d12 crt: 20 type: Ballistic range increment: 400 ft. ROF Single magazine 1

Typhoon 240 Laser Cannon damage 10d6 crit 20 type fire range increment: 100 ft ROF Single Magazine N/A

As you can see, even though the tank cannon is from an earlier PL, it is enjoys a shade of superiority over the laser. It has twice the average damage and four time the range. The Typhoon does enjoy unlimited ammunition and doesn't have to be reloaded.

The two main disadvantages of the Abrams' gun only would really come into play in two scenerios. One, a really long, protracted fight. Two, the pilot has multiple attacks per round and really good attack bonuses. Otherwise, the superior range and power of the tank cannor will win out.

Plus, am I the only one who has a problem with the fact that the entire mech weapon table was missing from Future Tech? Way to quality control, guys.
#8
trappedslider
May 13, 2008 10:43:30 Here it is the only offial errata that the whole d20 modenr line ever got
#9
narukagami
May 13, 2008 12:48:28 The problem is they had the stupid idea to use different rules for everything, if they had just concocted ONE set of vehicle rules for starships/mecha/tanks/cars/trucks/bikes/skateboards/ect, then there may have never been problems to begin with.
#10
jekolmy
May 17, 2008 2:17:51
The problem is they had the stupid idea to use different rules for everything, if they had just concocted ONE set of vehicle rules for starships/mecha/tanks/cars/trucks/bikes/skateboards/ect, then there may have never been problems to begin with.

That would have been nice indeed. BESM d20 does that for their mecha and vehicles (even if you want to play a robot as I found out in the most recent game I am running), only problem is that guardians of order are out of business and the SRD on their site the last time I looked doesn't exist anymore on there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 backstabbist May 09, 2008 20:42:20	[b] This post was in response to the Future board seemingly had disappeared.... turns out it is still out in Wizneyland somewheres. Ignore this thread > Hey, do the mech rules look wonky to anybody? ;)
#2 narukagami May 09, 2008 22:43:26	We dun' take kindly t' no troublemakers 'round 'ere boy... spits
#3 slimgoodbody May 11, 2008 19:05:53	Yeah, they're pretty poorly plotted out, and they don't work well with anything that isn't a mech, i.e. don't try having them fight jets/spaceships/cars/people. D20 Future really bummed me out with how little planning was giving to make it all work together. Even things within the same book just sort of don't play well with each other.
#4 narukagami May 11, 2008 19:28:47	The mech rules don't even play very well against themselves, let alone anything else, which is why they're garbage. Pit a Gargantuan mecha vs another Gargantuan mecha (roughly Gundam size) against one another, with pilots of equal level and "average" military grade gear and see how long it takes for one to kill the other. You'll be rolling dice for days. Well, not really days, but combat putting bigger-than-Large mecha against other bigger-than-Large mecha takes two to three times as long as your average d20 Modern character scale fight, and thats if there are some good lucky rolls in the mix. And this isn't good in any way, either, its boring "chip away at its HP for hours" combat. Honestly the whole system would start becoming playable if they just SCALED things.
#5 ice_miller May 12, 2008 12:50:24	I'll be starting up my first d20 Future campaign in a few weeks, so this thread interests me. I used to play Rifts, so I know about the ol' chipping away at high numbers of hit points thing. What about having a Critical Hit chart full of system failures and losses of mech abilities? That would shorten the battle and make it more interesting and realistic, too.
#6 trappedslider May 12, 2008 14:19:48	Future tech fixed the hwole combat system with better rules for mech vs character vs starship vs character
#7 psininja May 13, 2008 9:31:21	I liked the "mecha as vehicles" variant, but mech are still underwhelming at least to me. Let's compare the main cannon from the Abrams tank and the Typhoon 240 laser cannon, a good all around mech weapon from PL 6. M1A2 Abrams tank cannon damage: 10d12 crt: 20 type: Ballistic range increment: 400 ft. ROF Single magazine 1 Typhoon 240 Laser Cannon damage 10d6 crit 20 type fire range increment: 100 ft ROF Single Magazine N/A As you can see, even though the tank cannon is from an earlier PL, it is enjoys a shade of superiority over the laser. It has twice the average damage and four time the range. The Typhoon does enjoy unlimited ammunition and doesn't have to be reloaded. The two main disadvantages of the Abrams' gun only would really come into play in two scenerios. One, a really long, protracted fight. Two, the pilot has multiple attacks per round and really good attack bonuses. Otherwise, the superior range and power of the tank cannor will win out. Plus, am I the only one who has a problem with the fact that the entire mech weapon table was missing from Future Tech? Way to quality control, guys.
#8 trappedslider May 13, 2008 10:43:30	Here it is the only offial errata that the whole d20 modenr line ever got
#9 narukagami May 13, 2008 12:48:28	The problem is they had the stupid idea to use different rules for everything, if they had just concocted ONE set of vehicle rules for starships/mecha/tanks/cars/trucks/bikes/skateboards/ect, then there may have never been problems to begin with.
#10 jekolmy May 17, 2008 2:17:51	The problem is they had the stupid idea to use different rules for everything, if they had just concocted ONE set of vehicle rules for starships/mecha/tanks/cars/trucks/bikes/skateboards/ect, then there may have never been problems to begin with. That would have been nice indeed. BESM d20 does that for their mecha and vehicles (even if you want to play a robot as I found out in the most recent game I am running), only problem is that guardians of order are out of business and the SRD on their site the last time I looked doesn't exist anymore on there.