X-Plorers Mecha and Vehicle Rules Part 1 of 3

Ok folks!  I gave y'all the foundations of my X-Plorers mechanical stuff in a previous posting: http://wargamedork.blogspot.com/2010/01/x-plorers-rules-by-me-for-you.html which gave you the skinny on the new weapon attributes, combat scaling, and how such things work together.

(UPDATED FEB 10 WITH NEW GEAR!)

For a quick refresher I will list some of it here.
We now have 3 scales of combat.  Personal, Vehicle, and Starship.  All scales have an action that takes place together, though the smaller scale gets 2 actions for every 1 of the higher, or 2 Personal to every 1 Vehicle, and 2 Vehicle (or 4 Personal) to every 1 Starship.  Units shooting at a smaller scale unit ignore 4 points of physical Armor class and do triple their normal damage, maximum possible rolled on a 20.  Likewise shooting at a target on a higher scale gives the target +4 AC, and damage is a measly 1 point unless a 20 is rolled to hit which then means you roll for damage as normal.

This is presuming that bigger targets really aren't aiming DIRECTLY at the smaller ones but more in their general direction, and that smaller ones can hit exposed components or luck out and get that super effective shot that otherwise wouldn't affect the bigger thing much at all.

Yes this does mean enough guys with baseball bats can possibly take out a tank.  Its just not really likely.  Mostly because our tank has bigger guns and is much harder to even hurt.

Take the Fighter on page 25 of X-Plorers.  It only has 5 HP and an AC of 10, and does a measly D6 damage.  Against a ground target its got AC 14 not counting things like range and speed, and is doing 3d6.  Most attacks back are only doing 1 point of damage.

Now there is the AV/AS weapon systems.  These allow for smaller scale units to get weapons that are designed to handle the next higher scale, but also have the same firing rate and the inability to move when firing, outside of Close Combat AV/AS which can be used on the move and every round of the lower scale, but lose the to hit benefits of hitting the smaller scale targets.

Ok, now that we have done a quick recap, its on to 2 new armor suits and some Vehicles!

Powered Armor:  A staple of Sci Fi, Powered Armor is the first step in mechanical combat before actual AFVs. (Armored Fighting Vehicles)  Powered Armor costs 2400 credits, and provides the wearer not only an AC 18, but 5 extra HPs.  Powered Armor provides a normal wearer +1 Physique and Agility (Ignore any HP bonus from this), and for characters with cybernetic ports, +2 instead.  HP damage from the armor is taken first, and even if taken to 0 does not effect the armor's use, though it may reduce its environmental protection effects at the GM's discretion.

These suits are  mostly sealed from the environment and provide a +2 to any sort of Saving Throw that full environmental protection could be used for.  Flash grenades, poison gas, flamethrowers, the vacuum of space, ect.  These suits also have 1 System Point for equipment.  (See below.)

Examples of Powered Armor include the armored suits from the Starship Troopers and Forever War novels, the Marine armors in Warhammer 40,000, and the bio armor in Guyver.


Overlord Armor:  Overlord Armor is sometimes considered to be a Super Light Mecha due to its capabilities and effects on the battlefield.  From being the front line of starship boarding actions to being a tank hunter this suit is more like a micro tank than armor!  Overlord Armor costs 10,000 credits (if even buyable!), and is AC 16 with 5 HPs.  Except it is considered a VEHICLE scale unit, and is thus considered to be AC 20 when Personal scale units fire at it.  It has 2 System Points for equipment, and may either mount 2 AV weapons (1 per arm), or 2 Twin Linked Personal scale weapons (1 per arm) or any combination of the same.  Overlord Armor provides a normal wearer +3 Physique and  -2 Agility (Ignore any HP bonus from this), and for characters with cybernetic ports, +4 Physique and -1 Agility instead.  Overlord Armor moves as a normal person though half movement in each Personal scale round or as normal movement but only in each Vehicle scale round.  (Your campaign's choice.)

Overlord suits are completely environmentally sealed and thus provide a +5 bonus to Saving Throws against such effects as listed in the Power Armor entry.

Examples of Overlord Armor would be the Sol Tekkaman suits in Tekkaman Blade, the Tactical Dreadnought suits of Warhammer 40,000, the "Ape" suits in Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, the Mospeada Ride Armors of Genesis Climber Mospeada (The Invid Invasion segment of Robotech), the Kolossus suits of AT-43, or the Hardsuits of Bubblegum Crisis.


System Points:  System Points are the main feature of Vehicle Scale units which includes the Powered and Overlord armors, Vehicles of any sort, and Mecha.   System Points are what make your machine suited for whatever combat role it was designed for.  Some System Point equipment may ONLY be taken by one type of machine (Armor, Vehicle, Mecha).

System                    Points            Restrictions             Effects
Speed Booster             1                      None                   The Speed Booster allows the unit to move its
                                                                                        normal movement in the next smaller scale round
                                                                                        along with its regular scale move.

Jump Booster              1                      None                   Allows the unit to move up to half its normal
                                                                                        move horizontally, but up to 10 meters vertically,
                                                                                        or 20 meters straight up.

Hover System             1                     Vehicle                 Allows the unit to hover, ignoring normal
                                                                                       ground terrain including water.  However the unit
                                                                                       has a -3 penalty on any sort of maneuver rolls.

Aquatic System          2                      None                   Unit gains the ability to move on the surface or
                                                                                       subsurface of water and other such liquids with
                                                                                       normal movements allowed.

Flight Booster             2                Mecha, Armor           Allows the unit to take its movement as if it were
                                                                                        flying, ignoring all terrain.

Targeting Systems      1                      None                    Unit has +4 to all To Hit rolls.

Advanced Sensors      1                      None                    Unit has sensors for Infared, Geologic,
                                                                                        Biologic, Audio, and so on for half a kilometer.

Stealth Coating           1                      None                    Unit has a mixture of audiovisual and spectro-
                                                                                        graphic dampeners making it harder to spot and
                                                                                        target.  (Advanced Sensors only spot passively
                                                                                        within 100 meters, 250 with an INT S. Throw.
                                                                                        Target also gains +2 AC.

Beam Coating             1                     None                     Laser and Plasma weapons do half damage
                                                                                        rounded up against this target.

Heat Coating               1                    None                      Gains major heat resistances and any heat based
                                                                                         weapons do half damage rounded up against it.

Agility Booster            2                Mecha, Armor          Unit gains +2 AGI.

Might Booster             2                Mecha, Armor           Unit gains +2 PHY for non HP gain purposes.

Repair Systems           3                     None                     Unit repairs d3 HP per scale combat round if it
                                                                                        makes a PHY Saving Throw.  If a 1 is rolled the
                                                                                        Repair Systems have shut down and must be
                                                                                        fixed outside of combat.  (Time to do so is GM
                                                                                        choice.)

Improved Defensive
Systems                      1-4                  None                     Unit gains +1 AC per system point spent.

Improved Construction
Systems                        1-3                None                     Unit gains +5 HP per system point spent, 4 for
                                                                                        mecha.

Teleporter                    3                    None                     Unit instead of moving may teleport up to 20
                                                                                        meters away by making an INT S. Throw.  For
                                                                                        every point missed the location deviates by 2
                                                                                        meters as if it was a scattered grenade in G.T. 1.
Passenger
Compartment             1-4                   Armor                  Each point spent gives a space for 1 human sized
                                                                                       person per size class of the vehicle to be carried
                                                                                       comfortably with their own exit to the side/rear.
                                                                                       (So a Medium tank with 3 points spent could
                                                                                        carry 9 passengers.  A Light would have 6.)

Transformation Gear  2/4                   None                    A Transformation Gear (2 points for Armor)
                                                                                        allows the unit to transform into a humanoid or
                                                                                        machine form from its normal mode.  It keeps its
                                                                                        normal systems from mode to mode though gets
                                                                                        arms and legs if its main mode is a vehicle.  One
                                                                                        vehicle type must be selected and if it is a form
                                                                                        capable of flight, it must also have a Flight
                                                                                        Booster.  Unit's vehicle characteristics other than
                                                                                        HP and system are counted as the new vehicle
                                                                                        type of the same size.  (So an Overlord Armor
                                                                                        would turn into a Superlight class vehicle, while
                                                                                        a Heavy Mecha could turn into a Heavy Tank or
                                                                                        Scout Starship.)
                                                                                                            
Animal Form                1                  None                      Unit is no longer a boxy vehicle or a humanoid
                                                                                        form but is now some form of animal, losing
                                                                                        access to hands if a Mecha type.  Unit gains a
                                                                                        bite/horn ram type attack that does D6+x where
                                                                                        x is a point per size level of the unit.  Close
                                                                                        combat weapons may be selected at GM's
                                                                                        discretion.  Unit may move through all sorts of
                                                                                        terrain freely based on the animal form chosen,
                                                                                        though an aquatic or aerial type would require an
                                                                                        Aquatic or Flight system as well.
    
Well, there we go!  2 new armor types and some nifty new equipment for the BIG GUNS with the next installment.  Now we have toys, we just need the machines to put them on!