Wealth and mecha

[LaRayna]

Has anyone else noticed something off with d20 modern, wealth, and mech stuff? You can take the mecha jockey class at level 4, but how the hell are you supposed to afford one so early? I've looked at all the wealth rules but... Am I missing something?

[Fizban]

This is a common problem with mecha (and boats, and vehicles, and fortressess, and. . . ): it has to give a huge benefit to actually matter, to feel like a giant robot, to make puny normal people capable of fighting high level characters and monsters. If it has stats that are significant in mid, late, or endgame, and has an appropriate price for those stats, then by definition no character before those stages should have it. But as a fairly base character concept, the "pilot" character is expected to do so early or even from 1st level, and is thus either incapable of using their pilot abilities, or requires the DM to hand them the equivalent of an uber artifact sword which none of the other PCs get.

One of the main solutions, aside from making the mech itself a requirement before taking "pilot" abilities and decoupling the pilot stuff from normal character stuff, is to make the pilot just get a free mech as part of (really, the main benefit) of their class, scaling with level. And also make it unusable by anyone else because otherwise it would still be better off loaned to someone who didn't trade their martial skill to "own a weapon."

[Batcathat]

One of the main solutions, aside from making the mech itself a requirement before taking "pilot" abilities and decoupling the pilot stuff from normal character stuff, is to make the pilot just get a free mech as part of (really, the main benefit) of their class, scaling with level. And also make it unusable by anyone else because otherwise it would still be better off loaned to someone who didn't trade their martial skill to "own a weapon."

Yeah, I feel like this works pretty well in Mutants & Masterminds and similar systems where all your character's abilities come from the same "pot", so you can use it on equipment or powers or skills or whatever. While it can certainly bring some issues of its own, I feel like it works much better for some character concepts.

[pabelfly]

Starfinder had a good solution with Power Armor - they had a variety of power armors for all budgets, weaker armors having poorer stats. While the abilities to properly use Power Armor came at level 5 (for the Soldier class, at least) you could still make a build that could make sub-par use of Power Armor as early as level 2.

So my suggestion for getting a Mecha - work out a Mecha with poor stats that you can use in the early game. You might have some penalties for piloting it because you don't have enough experience like you would at a higher-level, but that's okay because you can still enjoy your build and still be somewhat effective in combat

[Schmoe]

I'm picturing a frustrated, low-level mecha pilot with a second-hand mech that is constantly leaking oil, doesn't always respond to the controls, and sometimes clunks out at just the wrong times. I can see lots of cursing and swearing going on :)

[Balyano]

Starfinder had a good solution with Power Armor - they had a variety of power armors for all budgets, weaker armors having poorer stats. While the abilities to properly use Power Armor came at level 5 (for the Soldier class, at least) you could still make a build that could make sub-par use of Power Armor as early as level 2.

So my suggestion for getting a Mecha - work out a Mecha with poor stats that you can use in the early game. You might have some penalties for piloting it because you don't have enough experience like you would at a higher-level, but that's okay because you can still enjoy your build and still be somewhat effective in combat

This is basically what I was going to say.

Think of a 15-20 ft tall minimech. About as powerful as a Ford Ranger. Cost about as much as an affordable vehicle.

[pabelfly]

I'm picturing a frustrated, low-level mecha pilot with a second-hand mech that is constantly leaking oil, doesn't always respond to the controls, and sometimes clunks out at just the wrong times. I can see lots of cursing and swearing going on :)

I want to play that character, sounds pretty fun (if not an optimal build choice)

[LaRayna]

Well the problem is my friend wants to run a campaign that has gundam style mecha, and d20 modern was the first that came to mind. Does another system handle mecha like that better then? Because if I'm gonna play a mecha jockey, I wanna be abke to actually afford it. Because even starting wealth at level twenty is only maybe half a mecha.

[DeTess]

Well the problem is my friend wants to run a campaign that has gundam style mecha, and d20 modern was the first that came to mind. Does another system handle mecha like that better then?

Lancer does mechs very well, but its aesthetics are a bit different from gundam.
Jovian chronicles is basically designed as a very crunchy real robot/gundam system, but I haven't played it enough to really judge how good it is.
If you want something similar to dnd there is this collection of homebrew for 3.5: http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?board=138.0 I've played it, and it's quite fun.

[pabelfly]

Well the problem is my friend wants to run a campaign that has gundam style mecha, and d20 modern was the first that came to mind. Does another system handle mecha like that better then? Because if I'm gonna play a mecha jockey, I wanna be abke to actually afford it. Because even starting wealth at level twenty is only maybe half a mecha.

Starfinder has a rulebook coming out late September for rules relating to mechs. Obviously I can't attest to the quality of mech rules for this, but I've enjoyed what I've played of Pathfinder (although I wish Starfinder was fully-compatible with either 1e or 2e Pathfinder). There was also a playtest for mechs if your friend can find it to look at that for the rules used.

[LaRayna]

I appreciate the suggestions. I'll run them by my friend and see what he thinks.

[Aracor]

Also remember: You can Take 20 on a Wealth check, and if you're actually putting points in your Profession skill, your wealth can easily skyrocket like crazy.

[unseenmage]

DragonMech exists, but mech combat quickly turns into ungainly slap fights.

[The Glyphstone]

I'm mildly amused by the idea of purchasing mecha to begin with. Just walking on down to the local mecha dealership to check out the features on this years' latest model...

[ShurikVch]

I'm picturing a frustrated, low-level mecha pilot with a second-hand mech that is constantly leaking oil, doesn't always respond to the controls, and sometimes clunks out at just the wrong times. I can see lots of cursing and swearing going on :)

I want to play that character, sounds pretty fun (if not an optimal build choice)
If you want, World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game have Technological Devices with Malfunction Rating (MR). Also, books Magic & Mayhem/More Magic & Mayhem/Even More Magic & Mayhem have Steam Armor :smallwink:

Alternately, you may check rules for Quirks of Gnomish Contraptions in Dragonlance (Races of Ansalon)



gundam style
... gundam style? :smallamused:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRN-IrejBTw