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Ignatius Flamel
2016-05-30, 05:49 AM
I've recently had an idea how to combine already existing rules in Pathfinder to create awesome, flexible Power Armors and (Humongous) Mechas.

So...what rules, and why do they combine to create Mechas?


THE BASIC TEMPLATE:

Animated Objects.
Animated Objects are available in various sizes, have flexibility in their abilities thanks to Construction Points, can explicitly be "animated" in a temporary fashion, and can be in basically any reasonable or unreasonable shape.

This flexibility of shape and flexibility of power makes Animated objects uniquely suited to form the BASIC CHASSIS of the Simple Mecha // Power armor rules.




PILOTING:
Occult Adventures introduced a lovely spell called Object Possession.

This spell allows you to ANIMATE and POSSESS an object of a certain size for a limited time (1 min/lvl or 10 min/lvl), leaving your body comatose and the possessed object connected by a "tether" to your body with a limited range.


Now, imagine someone, let's call him Jimmy, who wears a Full-plate Armor.
That certainly qualifies as object, right?
Hit this armor with (modified) Object Possession, and suddenly, Jimmy has his comatose body safely inside his animated Full-plate, while he can pretend to be a dude with power armor who kicks ass.


Imagine Jimmy is inside some sort of vehicle now, which is large-sized:
Hit said vehicle with a (slightly modified) Object Possession to give it a proper Mecha-shape(using adapted Polymorph-rules as appropriate), and he has a large/huge "Mecha" while his comatose body is safely inside the animated vehicle who has transformed into a giant humanoid robot.

Finally, imagine Jimmy as captain of a(n) (air/space) ship, which happens to be a colossal vehicle.
Hit said vehicle with a (modified as above) Greater Object Possession and you have a collossal Mecha to ride!

Your comatose Body is safe(=it has total cover), inside the "Mecha", Polymorph Rules and Object Possession provide a strong mechanical foundation how this works, and you can pick and choose Abilities via Construction Points that allow you to respond to the situation that provokes you into transforming/activating your mecha.

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ISSUES REMAINING:
*Awesome abilities for your (Giant) Mecha: Forcefields, Space-flight, underwater combat, Awesome Blow, (Laser-)Cannons, Rockets...

Suggested Solution: Add "Bonus CP" when transforming, and expand the list of Abilities an Animated Object can purchase to include the cool stuff listed above.


*Combining Mecha // Transformation Sequences:
These iconic abilities of the "mecha" may be partially modeled via an extended(1-round?) "casting time" of the "Object Possession + Polymorph into a Humanoid Shape" (SU) ability that is the basis of (transforming) Mechas.


Concerning "COMBINING" options, there exists a lovely ability called AMALGAM in the statblock of the Flytrap Leshy which may be exactly what we are looking for.


Amalgam (Ex)
Multiple flytrap leshys can combine themselves temporarily into a single creature, to a maximum of 25 leshys.

Each leshy beyond the first grants the amalgam 1 Hit Die, and it gains a size category at 9, 12, 18, and 30 Hit Dice. The amalgam has a number of bite attacks equal to the number of bites of all component leshys combined, but only two flytrap hands attacks. If the amalgam drops below 0 hit points, it dissolves, and the damage is divided among the component leshys.
(A single Flytrap leshy has 6 HD and is small, so you get something like:
4 merge into a medium Amalgam
7 merge into a large Amalgam
13 merge into a huge amalgam
25 merge into a gargantuan amalgam)

You could adapt that to rule that you follow the Animate Objects relations between sizes:

2 small "mechas" can merge into 1 medium mecha
4 small or 2 medium mechas can merge into 1 large mecha
8 small or 4 medium or 2 large mechas can merge into 1 huge mecha
16 small or 8 medium or 4 large or 2 huge mechas can merge into 1 gargantuan mecha
32 small or 16 medium or 8 large or 4 huge or 2 gargantuan mechas can merge into 1 colossal mecha
64 small or 32 medium or 16 large or 8 huge or 4 gargantuan or 2 colossal mechas can merge into one MASSIVE mecha

(MASSIVE is an ability from the Kaiju Subtype, essentially, it is an "upgrade" to Colossal size; => 50ft(or more!) space/reach, and other benefits)

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Example Archetype:


Mecha Pilot (Paladin Archetype)
Mecha Pilot(Su):
As a standard action, a mecha pilot can use divine power to bind her own spirit to her armor for 1 minute per paladin level. This ability causes the armor to animate and shed light like a torch.

At 5th level, the spirit transforms the armor into a Medium Animated Object that is possessed by the mecha pilot. (As Object Possession, except the Armor need not be unattended.) For every three levels beyond 5th, the spirit transforms the armor into a bigger Animated Object (Large at 8th, Huge at 11th, Gargantuan at 14th, Colossal at 17th, and Massive at 20th). In addition, the animated armor gains 2 bonus CP at 5th level, 4 bonus CP at 8th, 6 Bonus CP at 11th, 8 Bonus CP at 14th, 10 Bonus CP at 17th, and 12 Bonus CP at 20th level.

In addition to the options available to normal animated objects, he may use CP to purchase the following abilities:
Smaller Size: (Ex)(0 CP) The animated object gains the Young Simple Template and 2 extra CP. This ability may be taken multiple times, but the minimum size of the mecha is medium (or the size of the mecha pilot, whichever is larger)

Big Gun: (Ex) (2 CP) The animated object may use a direct-fire Siege Engine (such as a cannon or ballista) of appropriate size (Light Ballista // Cannon are Large, Heavy Ballista // Firedrake are Huge, Gate Breaker Ballista // Firewyrm are Gargantuan) as a two-handed weapon; reloading it as a full-round action and shooting it as a standard action.
=> This means you must be at least Large to use a Cannon, at least Huge for a Firedrake, and at least Gargantuan for a Gate Breaker Ballista

Bigger Gun: (Ex) (2 CP) The animated object may use a direct-fire Siege Engine (such as a cannon or ballista) of appropriate size as a one-handed weapon; reloading it as a move action and shooting it as a standard action. The animated object must have the Big Gun ability before it can take Bigger gun.

Awesome Blow: (Ex) (1 CP) The animated object gains Awesome Blow as bonus feat, ignoring the prerequisites.

Amalgam: (Su) The animated object can merge with other mechas that possess the Amalgam ability. The final size of the Amalgam mecha is determined by the size and number of the component mecha; refer to the Animate Objects spell to calculate the final size. If the amalgam drops below 0 hit points, it is not destroyed, but seperated into its component mecha, and the damage is divided among the component mecha, ignoring hardness. The amalgam mecha has Construction points according to its size; furthermore, add all bonus CP from the component mechas to determine the Bonus CP of the amalgam mecha.

The abilities of the animated armor are determined when your spirit infuses your armor and cannot be changed until your spirit leaves and re-enters the armor. If the mecha pilot increases or decreases the size of her animated armor, that choice is set for the rest of the day.

A mecha pilot can use this ability once per day at 5th level, and one additional time per day for every four levels beyond 5th, to a total of four times per day at 17th level.

If the animated armor is destroyed while possessed by the mecha pilot, he loses the use of this ability for 30 days, or until she gains a level, whichever comes first. During this 30-day period, the mecha pilot takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.
A mecha pilot may use his Craft skill to repair his armor as if he were treating Deadly Wounds, repairing damage that the animated armor sustained even if it is not animated (and thus, not damaged) at the moment.

This ability replaces Divine Bond and Spellcasting.

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Thoughts? Ideas? I'm open for any feedback you can and wish to provide.

Thealtruistorc
2016-05-31, 09:57 PM
Melikes. The one issue I am seeing right now is the low stats that most animated objects have. I would advise advancing HD based upon the level of the caster, but I think a larger revamp may be necessitated.