Patched up, Cleaned out, and Gift-wrapped.

Posting in the middle of the week because my ISP has been making it an ordeal to get anything done. This is a touchup to 1.8 with only two rules changes, to Modules and Cryptids. There is also a number of editorial fixups that provoked this hurried update in the first place: To summarize, a few things (mostly 1.8 changes) are better explained and the example NPCs are completely up to date.

Because it has been less than a month since 1.8 I'll list the changes from there once again in addition to the new stuff in red.

Character Creation

-Limited the number of Enhancements Characters can get to three per Episode Arc.
-Masterwork Tools may now be used as Proxies if applicable.
-Clarified when precisely might Backup Bodies be used.
-Clarified there can't be two instances of Come at me Bro on the same side
-Clarified that Hidden Power can't give you more of something you cannot possibly get more of.
-Buffed Got Your Back and Retroactively Prepared.

Mecha Construction

-Limited the number of Enhancements Mecha can get to three per Episode Arc.
-Increased the limit of Archetypes to 3.
-Rewrote Modules into Speed and Power Modules. You can only have one Module at a time unless they are part of an Alternate Form.
-Sub Units beyond the first take up Archetype slots. That means you can have 3 of one type and 1 of the other or 2 and 2. This counts your starting Archetype.
-Sub Units can no longer be combined into one godly Sub Unit.
-Assistant no longer grants Genre Powers.
-Sidekicks cost 5 more UP but can now be repaired at the beginning of your Turn.
-Tweaked Stealth Field a little.
-You can attack while docked to a Base Unit.
-Small buffs to Incinerator, Divine Wind, and to Weapons with the Defective quality.
-Tweaked Micro Missiles and Nega-G Rounds to make them more attractive.
-Nerfed Disruptor Cannon
-Implemented a limit of one Custom Weapon with a cost less than 5 at a time. You can get around this limit during the initial construction of your Mecha and take multiple cheap Custom Weapons as long as they all have different Costs and no drawbacks whatsoever.
-You can now Enhance Custom Weapons that cost 1-4 until they cost 5.

Playing the Game

-Clarified that any abilities that automatically roll 10 ignore Advantages and Disadvantages entirely.
-Expanded the Time Management sidebar with rules for taking longer in exchange for Advantages.
-Assist cannot be used with area of effect Weapons any longer.
-You can now move after taking a Suppress Action but you take the other half of the Damage it would have dealt.
-Clarified that you cannot escape a Duel through Engaging a different target.

Running the Show

-Toned down Nanoskin Shell and Telekinetic Strike.
-Buffed Hypersonic Striker with the ability to hit and run.
-Changed 3G-Bomb to be a superweapon with high base stats and huge radius.
-Streamlined Payback to use the Damage taken as a workhorse.
-Cryptid now forces you to make a Test to avoid losing Layers upon being Damaged, but you are not defeated until you lose all of them.

In the end I went ahead and rewrote Modules. They give two +2 boosts for 10 UP, and you can only get one. If they're part of an Alternate Form not only can you get both of them (as long as they are in separate modes) but they go into the Core, so they don't run the risk of getting Maimed. They could have been made more expensive to solve the power issue (or made part of the enhancement progression scheme) without being rewritten entirely but it was important for transformers to be able to make forms with different stats. This seemed to be the best way to facilitate that while toning them down.

Cryptid has also been rewritten for the umpteenth time with this instance being less unfair yet more intense: Now you have to fail multiple separate Tests to be defeated this way. This also makes it more interesting to roleplay its effects on Pilots.

From now on I'd like to focus on variant mechanics and rules a little too out there to be made part of the core system. Further changes to the existing rules would likely require a major overhaul of more or less everything so if they do happen it will not be this year. What I can do this year is make posts about adapting the game to suit things other than traditional Mecha or to different playstyles while keeping its distinctive feel.

Should be fun.