Air Gear D20

[al'raith]

im currently putting together a D20 modern campaign and was just wondering if anyone has made ATs for d20

[Kuzon]

It's nice to see another fan of Air Gear.

unfortunately, i think the closest you'd get to finding an existing system for them would be a sports-type d20 system with a rollerblading section.

My advice would be to start your own and have it PEACH'd here.



But im heavily interested to see how an air gear d20 system would play.

the 'roads' aspect intrigues me, particularly the flame road (time subtype), and the gem road (though very little has been shown of the latter in the manga).

would it work off of a pre-existing system (D&D 3.5/4e, d20 modern, etc.) or be a standalone project?



oh? sorry, i'm gettting ahead of myself. I'm eagerly waiting to see where this topic goes.

[Taffeta]

As a fiend for JSRF, I highly endorse this project. I'm not as big a fan of Air Gear, but I'm familiar with the first few books at least, and stylistically they're similar. I'll do some brainstorming on ATs tonight, anything in particular you're looking for?

[Kuzon]

basic rundown of info can be found here (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AirGear) and here (http://airgear.wikia.com/wiki/Kings_and_Roads).


i dont know much about d20 modern, but since basic AT's are essentially just motorized rollerblades, i'd assume they'd be a mode of transportation:

-increased ground speed
-bonuses to jump (perhaps successful jumps grant teporary flying with limited/good mobility, based on the user's individual skill?)
-all jumps count as having a running start
-high air mobility
-walls/obstacles dont count as much of a hindrance (maybe a bonus on tumble/balance (or whatever the equivalent skills in d20M are) and/or an equivalent of spider climb with a successful dex check?)

various 'trick' maneuvers to affect jumping (flying) distance, mobility, allowing the execution of various 'road'-exclusive advanced tricks

customizing the AT's can alter the basic performance

then there's 'tuning' the AT's with the rider to dramtically increase the overall performance of both...

and then the 'regalia'(essentially super-AT's that only a select few can use) come into play, and these can transform/easily use special attacks (an experienced user can use advanced 'tricks' without regalia, but they're much less powerful and more difficult to execute)/many more features.

and taking just the individual 'roads' into account, all kinds of possibilities open up--'kings' can to things from lighting things on fire due to air friction, (seemingly) 'stopping time' by messing with your perception, fire (very destructive) compressed air 'fangs', and fire freaking laser beams from their legs, among many many other things--the things i just listed are from only three different 'roads', and there are as many different 'roads' as there are riders...

lord my head's starting to hurt.

[Taffeta]

Standard off-the-shelf AT, without mods, skill, or tuning...
- Double, or flat +30 to base move speed.
Above all else, ATs vastly increase your speed. Might even push that up further, and would definitely consider offering speed boosts as class abilities depending on style/road.

- +5 equipment bonus to Jump, Balance, and Tumble checks
Might not seem like much, but the ATs in general are not spring boots.
However, I think adding 1/10th your total movement speed OR 1/10th the movement you have taken this round to various checks would be a staple of this setting. Depending on how complicated it grows.

- Effective Spider Climb so long as your speed beats the appropriate DC.
Walls? Ceilings? Tiny rails? Telephone poles? I can grind that.
In all the AirGear material I've seen thus far, it's just a matter of keeping your speed up, and maintaining control. There are more complex maneuvers which are significantly better for specific types of movement of course, but for a novice, pure speed will do. As Ikki demonstrates several times.


Upgrading ATs
This setting has such a large focus on the equipment, I'd recommend treating the ATs as either animal companions (mind you, I've never actually had one) or using the Eidolon rules from Pathfinder's Summoner class (Located here (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf) for free.).

Major focus should be put on the craft skill, as these devices take a lot of punishment and it is not uncommon for them to break down and/or plain annihilate their component parts after stunts.
I'd say... a class feature granting your class level as bonus to appropriate craft checks. For the purpose of letting especially tech-heavy AT users bypass the max rank at a given level, while tech-light AT users will never be without at least a minimum knowledge of their craft.

I'm not sure yet how to handle badges, the wandering market, or refurbished / expensive / customized / unique AT parts.

Speaking of parts, we need a brief lexicon for these complicated devices. Since 'your wheel broke' or 'your engine cooked' will not only get old and dull, but it fails to communicate the diversity of potential upgrades and mechanical failures present in AirGear. A handful, maybe four to six slots, worth of different commonly-referenced parts for people to spend money on, destroy, and balance back and forth for performance abilities.
I suspect that without magic items in the setting, armor, or much in the way of weapons, this will hardly become overcomplicated.

[Kuzon]

This thread officially has my full support (if that hasnt been said already). i may not know much about that system, but any needed information i will do my best to supply it (i've recently decided to reread the manga anyway, so i'll post any good info i find with chapter/page numbers that have the information--im reading it on onemanga, so assume all my chapter/page posts are from this site).

a few points from just the first few chapters:

-AT's are very light (chapter 2, page 42), Basic AT's shouldn't weigh enough to count towards carrying limit, encumberance (sp?), etc.


A few of the bare essentials of an AT team (chapter 34, pages 8-9, see panel spoiler'd below) are:http://i66.servimg.com/u/f66/12/76/15/28/08-0910.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=506&u=12761528)

-at least 5 members (if you want to participate in the Parts War, anyway)
-a starting Territory
-team emblem
-team stickers
-a uniform of some sort
-a memory stick to hold each rider's data--it's stored inside the AT and automatically records things like your team rank, battle points(essentially your power level), maximum airtime, longest jump, longest grind, and many other things relating to your skill as a rider.

-Emblem Pins are usually made of good-quality metals (kogarasumaru uses silver for theirs (kazu says "I know a good silversmith" when talking about having an emblem crafted in chapter 34, page 12), and it's stated multiple times to take a good amount of money to get an AT team started), it seems the team only needs one--usually worn by the team's leader (ringo has the Sleeping Forest emblem because she's technically the team's leader, and Ikki wears team Kogarasumaru's emblem on his jacket).

-if a team bets and loses their emblem in a battle, the team is forced to disband (as seen with the Rez-Boa-Dogs--the RBD are kind of a bad example though, because they continue chasing after their emblem when simca takes it after they lose to Ikki--better examples would be the Sabel Tigers and Behemoth, the last being the best example).

-team stickers are used to mark a team's territory (a team's territory is usually somewhere their familiar with, so a +? competence bonus to balance, tumble, and maybe concentration when skating/battling/doing tricks within their territory sounds good), the stickers can be placed anywhere, but it's best to put them where people can see them--and place their own stickers over them as a challenge.

-A Trick Pass is an incredibly detailed map of a specific area lets you know pretty much anything concerning the area's layout (walls, ramps, poles, ledges, benches, basicly anything of relevance for AT users), and studying it grants a +? competence bonus to (search, spot, knowledge, and maybe track or something) for that area.



A few other random things:

-it would seem that AT's can be used to stop heavy impacts (chapter 8, pages 18-19 show inuyama stopping a semi-truck (though he did sustain some injuries in the process, they were nothing debilitating)--this could just be him being awesome, and in (when i get to that page i'll edit it in) ikki stops a punch (from someone that was strong enough to break a punching machine) with his forehead in a similar fashion with little to no damage to himself) i suppose if you know something is coming (or react to it in time), you can devote (an entire round?) to stopping whatever it is. please note that you must be on a stable surface, and the bigger the object, the harder it is to stop without hurting yourself.

-large bursts of electricity can supercharge an AT(chapter 10, pages 16-17) at the cost of near-completely destroying them and electrocuting yourself in the process (it renders ikki unconcious , but he's fine after a flying headbutt 11 pages later--remember kids, dont try this at home!)

the major parts of an AT are (chapter 6, page 8--see the panel spoiler'd below): http://i66.servimg.com/u/f66/12/76/15/28/at_par10.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=505&u=12761528)

Driver unit
Main Motor Coil
Gearbox
Bearings
Air Cushion
Main Bolt
Inner Coil
Battery
Brake

[al'raith]

Looks pretty good, it's way better than I could have done.
Also, would you guys agree that you would have to have a minimum rank in balance to be able to use them effectively?

[Kuzon]

Looks pretty good, it's way better than I could have done.
Also, would you guys agree that you would have to have a minimum rank in balance to be able to use them effectively?

i dont know much about d20 modern, but i'd say make a new skill altogether for it (it'd most likely be dex-based)