[d20 Modern] Mecha Heat System

[MCP_8000]

So something I always enjoyed about the Battletech universe of mech combat was the need to manage heat during a fight.

Has anyone done any work on implementing this kind of system into d20 Modern's mecha rules or have any suggestions on how to do it? My initial thought is to use a heat point system, giving different mechs a threshold depending on substructure and size. Then assigning points to different weapons/equipment that they generate when used. The mech would accumulate heat points every round both from normal operation and depending on what it does. If it's total heat points exceed it's threshold then the mech takes damage or possibly shuts down. Heat points could be managed by the addition of heatsinks, which adds an element of equipment slot management.

Does this sound like a viable system? I appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

[Mutazoia]

Personally, I wouldn't really enjoy adding heat rules to anything that didn't have them in the first place. There is so much work there, to make sure that everything is balanced and consistent... You would have to assign heat values to each individual weapon, each action, each engine/power plant type...factor in things like atmospheric re-entry if your mecha campaign has that, and then start factoring in heat sinks, which would add weight to your mecha, so now you have to re-work the entire construction rules to allow for THAT weight, which gives you less bang for your construction point buck.....

But, hey! If overhauling a set of rules to that extent is fun for you, go right ahead :)

[MeeposFire]

Why not just use the battletech rules in general for this? Nothing wrong with mixing systems in you can compartmentalize each system in the game. So long as it is always mech versus mech or similar so vehicle combat could use battletech/alpha strike rules (perhaps modified if there is something you want to change) and use D20 rules for character to character combat.