Mecha and Roleplaying Games both love action scenes. Rare is the piece of fiction belonging to either that doesn't involve the bad guy (or girl, or monster, or giant robot) getting beat up for the big climax of the story... Or any time they need to make an antagonist feel threatening at all.
That said, sometimes it is more about threatening the character's mental stability instead of physically hurting them. Characters get more and more messed up in the head with the passage of time, even those that are invincible on the battlefield.
GGG had a system for handling that in the past. It was exactly the same as the system for physical combat, for simplicity's sake, and wasn't all that good as a consequence. I think it is about time that gets fixed, but there's a few things that need to be kept in mind:
Turning elements of mental trauma into a game is never realistic, because what makes things fun in fiction often makes them very different from how they are in real life. This gets more complicated in a game about flashy action scenes, larger than life characters, and kicking reason to the curb in the name of coolness.The existing rules do handle things like being paralyzed with fear, running away from something horrifying, or similar consequences. It works off the usual Plot Armor rules and is meant to be a different way to knock someone out or defeat them momentarily.
However, Insanity is at its best when it is not just part of your Hit Points, because the fun part of roleplaying games with elements of insanity added in are its lasting consequences and long term damage. Another complication is that it is also one of those aspects of roleplaying where less is more, the more rules you attach to different types of mental illnesses, the more that you risk detracting from roleplaying them in favor of arbitrarily punishing a character. We have to work on the assumption that roleplaying a character's breakdown is fun (Otherwise why would you play a game where that is supposed to happen?) and enable that.
All of this is a gross oversimplification, and each of the previous paragraphs could stand to be expanded upon (or explained better, really) but it does serve as an introduction to the meat of this post.
Mental Damage and Plot Armor
Trauma takes its toll on the human soul, tragic things happen, and you are forced to readjust your beliefs and way of life in the face of things greater than yourself. The human mind and body are indeed fragile, specially when there are things out there that cannot
be understood with human logic and want to destroy everything you care about. PCs are heroes, they can face the worst the world has to offer and hold themselves together as long as they are victorious. But when they falter and their shells crack, something does get to them, leaving a permanent scar.
Any time a character is defeated as a consequence of Plot Armor Damage, they accrue one Insanity Rank per Layer lost this way. This is most common as a consequence of physical violence, but it will also happen if you just see something horrific happen to someone else, as well as when something clearly supernatural takes place. Indeed, a game of GGG intending to make use of these rules should make Willpower Tests to not take Plot Armor Damage from being witness to traumatizing things more common.
Insanity Ranks go from 1 to 10, measuring just how well you are holding up from what you've been through... Or rather, how you aren't. An Insanity Rank of 1 leaves you just a tad more unhinged than you used to be, but at Rank 10 you have more issues than Time Magazine. Along the way, you pick up Trauma Traits at Insanity Ranks 3, 5, 7 and 10. After Rank 10 the character has seen way too much and been powerless too many times. At the Players' choice the character can either become an NPC because they're too far gone, or can be institutionalized until they've had enough Therapy to go back to 10 Insanity or under.
You can pick your Trauma Traits from an example list, or come up with your own variants as long as it is clearly explained how they would come into play. A Trauma Trait is not purchased with PP, you just get them as a consequence of having Insanity Ranks. They are like a combination of Features and Genre Banes in that they each have a positive and negative side to them. The positive side is that they will give you more Genre Points, while the negative side is that you don't control just how and when they make you go crazy, the GM does.
Once per Episode per Trauma Trait you possess, the GM may force the Trauma's effects on you, and you can choose to either submit or fight it out. If you submit your character must roleplay the Trauma Trait as appropriate, but you gain a Genre Point out of it. If you fight then you must make a Contested Test of Willpower against the GM Testing your Insanity, should you win then you compose and maintain control of yourself for the time being... But should the GM win, you lose control of yourself to the Trauma Trait and play it out without gaining any Genre Points for it.
Therapy can mitigate this ticking clock of doom. Therapy Tests are made through the Diplomacy Skill, and remove one Insanity Rank from the patient for each multiple of 5 met by the result. A Character may benefit from only one Therapy Test per Episode Arc, however, and going below the Insanity Ranks required to earn Trauma Traits will remove them. Trauma Traits lost this way may come back the moment the character earns enough Insanity Ranks again, or may instead be replaced with new ones.
A Character may start higher up in the Insanity Rank scale than 0 if they want to, giving them the appropriate number of Trauma Traits.
Insanity Rank Descriptions
Rank 0-2: You can be a little on edge or obsessive at times, and perhaps the coffee of your life needs a spoon or two more of sugar, but you're fairly normal.
Rank 3-4: You're not crazy. You're just anxious and get nervous in situations most people don't, and sometimes you wonder if things make too little or too much sense. But you're not crazy and will repeat it as long as you need to.
Rank 5-6: You can mask it if you try hard enough, but anyone who knows you personally should be able to tell that you've got issues. Maybe you know you're crazy, maybe you don't, but it is getting hard to hell.
Rank 7-9: Legitimately unaware of what is and isn't real anymore, you're an inch away from hurting yourself and others.
Rank 10+: Tethering on the edge of reason if not completely gone already, you're likely living a nightmare in waking life. Suicide looks pretty good.
Traumatic Experience Difficulty Numbers
DN 5 - Facing an alien monster for the first time, Watching someone else being tortured in front of your eyes, Spending days in jail.
DN 10 - Watching someone die victim to violent psychic powers, Seeing years of hard work being lost in minutes, Spending days in solitary confinement.
DN 15 - Watching a monster take on human form, Losing your family in a tragic accident, Being deeply betrayed or lied to by a loved one.
DN 20 - Being tortured for days, Having a loved one die in your arms after you failed to save them, Killing another human being and eating their corpse to survive.
Example Trauma Traits
Terror - You are always under distress and feeling vulnerable, at times you experience sudden panic attacks no matter how calm the circumstances may logically be. Episodes can last from minutes to hours, with their consequences ranging from being paralyzed to a deeply uncomfortable nausea.
Flashbacks - When exposed to something that reminds you of a traumatic event, memories force their way to the forefront and you are in danger of reliving it. When this happens everything feels exactly like it did back then, physically and emotionally.
Depression - You feel tired and sour, you likely also have problems eating or sleeping to make it worse. This can get bad enough to hold you back from doing things that are really important, either because you don't feel like you can do it or you feel it is not worth it.
Blackouts - The character is prone to entering a fugue state and losing control of themselves for days at a time, ignoring everyone else and just idly hanging about until they wake up. They will snap back to reality if threatened or directly engaged, but this can make it impossible to get things done during downtime.
Megalomania - You are full of yourself these days, often acting with recklessness and arrogance with little to no provocation. As if that weren't enough, your hyperactivity and lack of concentration make you go seek out ways to get in trouble.
Hallucinations - You see things that aren't real, but even when you can tell the difference, imaginary fire still burns and the screams of imaginary people still keep you awake. At some point they will get you, and you will do something really bad while believing them to be real.
Antisocial - You have gotten violent, either out of hate or anger at everything and everyone. You could even be alternating between the calculated violation of the rights of others and flipping out in rage the next if it is bad enough.
Dependence - You cling to something or someone else to get through bad times, deferring to them whenever possible. Maybe you just ask another PC for what to do about every little thing, or perhaps you flip coins obsessively when it comes to yes/no questions, but you certainly don't trust your own judgement.
Delusions - You have your own explanation to make more sense of this nonsensical world. These range from flat denial of whatever happened to outright blaming everything on the inhabitants of fairyland.
Addiction - You're holding together thanks to taking in various chemicals in unhealthy doses and at irregular intervals. Alcohol, drugs and medication all change your mood in different ways, but the real problem comes from your desperation when you start to feel the withdrawal.
In Closing
The above is just a way to use the typical elements of insanity that could make for a suitable adaptation to an action-centric game. More complicated and detailed depictions of mental illnesses, like a character suddenly beginning to suffer from amnesia or multiple personality disorder would complicate things too much to represent in a satisfying way. Not to mention it would be something of a buzzkiller as far as character development goes.
Mechanically, Trauma Traits are a slightly more hands-on approach to Genre Themes, retaining an element of rewarding Players for roleplaying in ways that are interesting if not exactly beneficial to the Characters themselves. Because they are meant to represent something that is outside of the control of the PCs, the GM is the one who brings them out to center stage. Their influence can be resisted, sure, but the threat of your PC losing themselves to their disorders remains, and that makes getting a reward for roleplaying them more enticing.
This is one of many ways in which Genre Themes can be rewritten into more interesting mechanics depending on the setting. They're the most malleable rule in the game, so this is not the last modification you'll see. Next time will be about Mecha Upgrades that once were part of the game but no longer do or were pretty close but didn't make it for whichever reason.
August 25, 2013
July 28, 2013
Reining NPC Forces In
Gonna make a few posts about some supplementary material that will, maybe, get its own manual down the line. The first content of this type I want to bring up is not specifically about PCs, or even about enemies. It is about support NPCs, and it called the Reinforcements system.
What are Reinforcements?
Reinforcements represent helping hands that are completely separate from your own Mecha, and thus different from Subpilots. Reinforcements can come in the form of sidekicks not directly under your command, bridge bunnies sending you crucial new information in the middle of a battle, or regular armed forces without their own Mecha contributing in their own way.
For instance, most of the GaoGaiGar cast can be represented through Reinforcements. They can't defeat the enemies entirely on their own, but they have a myriad of support abilities like the Eraser Head or the Melting Siren to make GaoGaiGar's fight easier. But Soushi Minashiro from Fafner in the Azure, who shares a mental link with the other pilots and guides them in battle from the base, is also a good example of Reinforcements.
Reinforcements are ranked from one to ten representing just how strong they are as a whole, as follows:
1-2 Insignificant: Lacking in power and versatility, these Reinforcements are better than nothing and can come useful every now and then, but aren't anything to write home about.
3-4 Elite Mook: The Reinforcements are strong enough to make the difference between otherwise matched opponents, and are equivalent to an Enemy Grunt in power.
5-6 Friendly Rival: As the equivalent of facing another full-blown Rival NPC, these Reinforcements make great companions out there in the front lines.
7-8 Mentor: The Reinforcements are powerful and have a deadly variety in what they can do, making them genuinely fearsome and the equivalent of having another Boss Enemy on the battlefield.
9-10 Deus Ex Machina: The Reinforcements are overwhelmingly powerful and victory is all but assured to the Squad that benefits from them.
How do Reinforcements work?
Reinforcements are NOT regular NPCs, they are simpler to work with and more useful to the Squad as a whole, for a variety of reasons. Let's see how, specifically.
First, they are a group resource represented by a single Squad Reinforcement Unit. This represents all of their sidekicks and allies at the same time - If there are multiple members to a Reinforcement Unit, they'll have to take turns sharing the narrative spotlight.
Second, the Reinforcement Unit has its own Initiative always set at 10, during which it may use any of its abilities. A Reinforcement Unit may use one ability during its Turn, and it may only use a total number of abilities equal to its Rank per Operation. The group should decide as a whole what they request the Reinforcement Unit to do.
Beyond Rank 5, Reinforcements exceed Rivals in power (and as such are likely at least a group of Rivals) they may use two abilities in one turn. A Rank 6 Reinforcement can use 2 abilities on turns one, two, and three, but it will have spent all of them by then. It may not, however, use the same ability twice per Turn.
Third, a single Reinforcement ability can be repeated any number of times (unless otherwise noted) for as long as the Reinforcement Unit’s Ranks allow, repeatable abilities are interchangeable this way as far as the number of uses they have go.
Lastly, a Reinforcement Unit has no other discernible battlefield presence outside of their own abilities. They cannot be attacked or disabled, but they also cannot win on their own and if the rest of the PC Squad is defeated, so are they.
A Rank 4 Reinforcement can use its abilities four times, and has four abilities. It can use each ability once, or use two abilities twice, and so on. Note that Reinforcements do not need to use an ability every Turn, they can just pass a Turn.
What can Reinforcements do?
There are ten Reinforcement abilities, Reinforcement Units have a number of these (of their choice) according to their Rank. A Rank 10 Reinforcement Unit has all 10 abilities.
Airstrike: All Units within a target area the size of a Blast suffer an amount of Damage equal to half the current Tension.
Assisted Targetting: One Ally gains the benefits of the Aim Action to their next Offensive Action this round.
Flash Analysis: One Enemy’s complete rules are revealed to the Squad. If they need an update afterwards on their status, they will need to use this ability again.
Pathfinder: One Ally may Move an additional Zone as part of their next Action, ignoring the effects of Difficult Terrain while doing so.
Remote Hotfix: One Ally may ignore the effects of Maiming on all of their Areas for a Round.
Electromagnetic Detonator: One Enemy may not restore Threshold by any means for a Round. Use this ability once per Operation.
Fight On!: Restore one Ally's Threshold by 5. Use this ability once per Operation.
Fire at Will: One Enemy suffers the effects of Extreme Terrain (in addition to any other Terrain properties) during their next Turn. Use this ability once per Operation.
IFF Hacking: One Enemy loses the benefits of Tension to Offensive Actions for a Round. Use this ability once per Operation.
Supply Drop: An area the size of a Blast becomes Base Terrain (in addition to any other Terrain properties) for the rest of the Operation. Use this ability once per Operation.
What is the best way to use Reinforcements?
Their primary use is to represent NPCs without the GM having to stat them out and take Actions in their stead. This becomes more important for weaker, sidekick-esque characters, who usually are left to do as they please constantly getting extra attacks in or explode violently the moment anyone looks at them funny and are completely useless. This system adds a middle ground to that.
It becomes a lot more useful when you're trying to represent that the PCs have some serious firepower backing them up. I am talking about having fleets of grunts behind them, which would be a nightmare to handle if we were trying to give 100 planes/tanks/robots turns of their own.
A small fleet of spaceships can get by with Airstrike, Fire at Will, and Assisted Targetting as a Rank 3 Reinforcement to have a small but noticeable impact. A Repair & Resupply support dropship can use Assisted Targetting, Flash Analysis, Remote Hotfix, Electromagnetic Detonator, Fight On! and Supply Drop to shape and affect the battlefield about as much effectiveness as one of the PCs.
High-Ranking Reinforcements make for perfect 'here comes the cavalry' moments for those times when the PCs could use a helping hand. They are pretty simple to make up rules for (Decide how powerful the Reinforcements are, think of a handful of abilities that are like Genre Powers and make sense for the Reinforcements in question, done). A final note to make is that, if you choose to customize their abilities, they shouldn't be much stronger than a Genre Power, and they should be more interesting than 'Deal Damage to one Enemy', Reinforcements are at their best when they support the characters, not when they steal their kills. If you are going to make abilities like that anyway (like Fire at Will), make them usable once per Operation.
That's about it for Reinforcements. There is not that much else to explain, since they're just something that the GM may decree necessary or not and is more or less up to them... At least until Reinforcements become purchasable with UP. Next time, it'll be about the return of Mental Plot Armor rules.
What are Reinforcements?
Reinforcements represent helping hands that are completely separate from your own Mecha, and thus different from Subpilots. Reinforcements can come in the form of sidekicks not directly under your command, bridge bunnies sending you crucial new information in the middle of a battle, or regular armed forces without their own Mecha contributing in their own way.
For instance, most of the GaoGaiGar cast can be represented through Reinforcements. They can't defeat the enemies entirely on their own, but they have a myriad of support abilities like the Eraser Head or the Melting Siren to make GaoGaiGar's fight easier. But Soushi Minashiro from Fafner in the Azure, who shares a mental link with the other pilots and guides them in battle from the base, is also a good example of Reinforcements.
Reinforcements are ranked from one to ten representing just how strong they are as a whole, as follows:
1-2 Insignificant: Lacking in power and versatility, these Reinforcements are better than nothing and can come useful every now and then, but aren't anything to write home about.
3-4 Elite Mook: The Reinforcements are strong enough to make the difference between otherwise matched opponents, and are equivalent to an Enemy Grunt in power.
5-6 Friendly Rival: As the equivalent of facing another full-blown Rival NPC, these Reinforcements make great companions out there in the front lines.
7-8 Mentor: The Reinforcements are powerful and have a deadly variety in what they can do, making them genuinely fearsome and the equivalent of having another Boss Enemy on the battlefield.
9-10 Deus Ex Machina: The Reinforcements are overwhelmingly powerful and victory is all but assured to the Squad that benefits from them.
How do Reinforcements work?
Reinforcements are NOT regular NPCs, they are simpler to work with and more useful to the Squad as a whole, for a variety of reasons. Let's see how, specifically.
First, they are a group resource represented by a single Squad Reinforcement Unit. This represents all of their sidekicks and allies at the same time - If there are multiple members to a Reinforcement Unit, they'll have to take turns sharing the narrative spotlight.
Second, the Reinforcement Unit has its own Initiative always set at 10, during which it may use any of its abilities. A Reinforcement Unit may use one ability during its Turn, and it may only use a total number of abilities equal to its Rank per Operation. The group should decide as a whole what they request the Reinforcement Unit to do.
Beyond Rank 5, Reinforcements exceed Rivals in power (and as such are likely at least a group of Rivals) they may use two abilities in one turn. A Rank 6 Reinforcement can use 2 abilities on turns one, two, and three, but it will have spent all of them by then. It may not, however, use the same ability twice per Turn.
Third, a single Reinforcement ability can be repeated any number of times (unless otherwise noted) for as long as the Reinforcement Unit’s Ranks allow, repeatable abilities are interchangeable this way as far as the number of uses they have go.
Lastly, a Reinforcement Unit has no other discernible battlefield presence outside of their own abilities. They cannot be attacked or disabled, but they also cannot win on their own and if the rest of the PC Squad is defeated, so are they.
A Rank 4 Reinforcement can use its abilities four times, and has four abilities. It can use each ability once, or use two abilities twice, and so on. Note that Reinforcements do not need to use an ability every Turn, they can just pass a Turn.
What can Reinforcements do?
There are ten Reinforcement abilities, Reinforcement Units have a number of these (of their choice) according to their Rank. A Rank 10 Reinforcement Unit has all 10 abilities.
Airstrike: All Units within a target area the size of a Blast suffer an amount of Damage equal to half the current Tension.
Assisted Targetting: One Ally gains the benefits of the Aim Action to their next Offensive Action this round.
Flash Analysis: One Enemy’s complete rules are revealed to the Squad. If they need an update afterwards on their status, they will need to use this ability again.
Pathfinder: One Ally may Move an additional Zone as part of their next Action, ignoring the effects of Difficult Terrain while doing so.
Remote Hotfix: One Ally may ignore the effects of Maiming on all of their Areas for a Round.
Electromagnetic Detonator: One Enemy may not restore Threshold by any means for a Round. Use this ability once per Operation.
Fight On!: Restore one Ally's Threshold by 5. Use this ability once per Operation.
Fire at Will: One Enemy suffers the effects of Extreme Terrain (in addition to any other Terrain properties) during their next Turn. Use this ability once per Operation.
IFF Hacking: One Enemy loses the benefits of Tension to Offensive Actions for a Round. Use this ability once per Operation.
Supply Drop: An area the size of a Blast becomes Base Terrain (in addition to any other Terrain properties) for the rest of the Operation. Use this ability once per Operation.
What is the best way to use Reinforcements?
Their primary use is to represent NPCs without the GM having to stat them out and take Actions in their stead. This becomes more important for weaker, sidekick-esque characters, who usually are left to do as they please constantly getting extra attacks in or explode violently the moment anyone looks at them funny and are completely useless. This system adds a middle ground to that.
It becomes a lot more useful when you're trying to represent that the PCs have some serious firepower backing them up. I am talking about having fleets of grunts behind them, which would be a nightmare to handle if we were trying to give 100 planes/tanks/robots turns of their own.
A small fleet of spaceships can get by with Airstrike, Fire at Will, and Assisted Targetting as a Rank 3 Reinforcement to have a small but noticeable impact. A Repair & Resupply support dropship can use Assisted Targetting, Flash Analysis, Remote Hotfix, Electromagnetic Detonator, Fight On! and Supply Drop to shape and affect the battlefield about as much effectiveness as one of the PCs.
High-Ranking Reinforcements make for perfect 'here comes the cavalry' moments for those times when the PCs could use a helping hand. They are pretty simple to make up rules for (Decide how powerful the Reinforcements are, think of a handful of abilities that are like Genre Powers and make sense for the Reinforcements in question, done). A final note to make is that, if you choose to customize their abilities, they shouldn't be much stronger than a Genre Power, and they should be more interesting than 'Deal Damage to one Enemy', Reinforcements are at their best when they support the characters, not when they steal their kills. If you are going to make abilities like that anyway (like Fire at Will), make them usable once per Operation.
That's about it for Reinforcements. There is not that much else to explain, since they're just something that the GM may decree necessary or not and is more or less up to them... At least until Reinforcements become purchasable with UP. Next time, it'll be about the return of Mental Plot Armor rules.
July 2, 2013
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.
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.
June 23, 2013
Moderating Modules
There are a few editorial mistakes that I need to fix, mostly concerning example characters, and I could do that right now and leave it at that, but I could also just as well ask what do people think about the game in general and see if I should change anything else while I'm at that.
The one thing I am more or less sure I want to touch up a little are Modules.
After limiting Enhancements, Modules are the last thing up there in the list of 'things too good to not always get'. Now, they can be Maimed, which has always been their one balancing factor to compensate for their reduced cost, but much like with Sub Units they are always good to have around for basically every character... And since they're just stat-ups that's both powerful and boring. Not a good combo.
With that said, Modules are the only way to represent Alternate Forms with different statlines, they make crafting Grunts a lot easier, and of course sometimes you just want to make the guy who really really is the fastest or toughest and they let you do that. They need to exist, and also to be affordable.
Possible workarounds include making them only applicable to Alternate Forms, making it so you can only grab 10 UP of them, and making them join Sub Units in costing up Archetype slots. Those are the quick and easy solutions, and they need not necessarily be exclusive to each other.
A slightly more involved one is to merge the four existing modules into two, a Speed Module for Evasion and Accuracy and a Power Module for Armor and Penetration. It could cost 10 and grant +2 to both Attributes. Either option keeps them affordable while reducing their power level (slightly) and making the Evasion and Penetration ones less exploitable due to the increased cost.
Or I could leave things as they are if it really is not as much of a problem as I imagine it is. Feedback would be appreciated.
The one thing I am more or less sure I want to touch up a little are Modules.
After limiting Enhancements, Modules are the last thing up there in the list of 'things too good to not always get'. Now, they can be Maimed, which has always been their one balancing factor to compensate for their reduced cost, but much like with Sub Units they are always good to have around for basically every character... And since they're just stat-ups that's both powerful and boring. Not a good combo.
With that said, Modules are the only way to represent Alternate Forms with different statlines, they make crafting Grunts a lot easier, and of course sometimes you just want to make the guy who really really is the fastest or toughest and they let you do that. They need to exist, and also to be affordable.
Possible workarounds include making them only applicable to Alternate Forms, making it so you can only grab 10 UP of them, and making them join Sub Units in costing up Archetype slots. Those are the quick and easy solutions, and they need not necessarily be exclusive to each other.
A slightly more involved one is to merge the four existing modules into two, a Speed Module for Evasion and Accuracy and a Power Module for Armor and Penetration. It could cost 10 and grant +2 to both Attributes. Either option keeps them affordable while reducing their power level (slightly) and making the Evasion and Penetration ones less exploitable due to the increased cost.
Or I could leave things as they are if it really is not as much of a problem as I imagine it is. Feedback would be appreciated.
June 11, 2013
Another Update for Good Measure
No big rewrites this time, though there's a good number of tweaks toning down the mechanics more prone to being exploitable and tons of clarifications for rules that weren't too clear. Also with this one update we have a number of additional goodies, including:
-A Grayscale version of the game for ease of printing.
-Editable Pilot and Mecha Sheets in PDF form.
-A printable PDF of Ability Cards to reference the rules text of Powers and Weapons and whatnot without checking the book.
-A Mapmaker PSD file to aid in creating your own maps.
All are in the Downloads and Links section.
The Grayscale version is something I have been owing people since basically forever, and it comes with the Ability Cards PDF. Those are functional and not particularly good looking - I chose to skip out on making the cards fancy and colorful or giving them their own art because, well, they need to be printed out.
The new Editable Sheets are much like the other ones but page-sized so you can download and edit them then print them out or just upload your own edited copy for online use.
Lastly there's the Mapmaker PSD (PSD stands for PhotoShop Document, which requires Adobe Photoshop) which is a simple file with Hex and Square grids overlayed on top of example maps made to fit a Letter-sized page if you choose to print it. It is also bundled with two transparent grids (Hex and Square) in PNG format if you would like to take them to another image editor program of choice.
And now, for the Changelog.
General Changes
-Typo fixing, etc. The Enhancements section for Mecha had costs in PP. Seriously. I had to laugh when I found out about that one.
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. However, now 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.
And here I was all happy and content thinking 1.7 would be the last one, what with nothing being inherently broken. And then some really embarrassing editorial mistakes happened and I figured you know what might as well touch things up some more. Will there be more changes? If there are, they won't be for several months down the line, because I have a lot less time these days and anything that needs a change would require a large rewriting.
So about the changes proper, for the most part anything that isn't a clarification or a buff is a limitation to just how much you can stack up some of the best options in the game. Sub Units, Enhancements, and Cost 1 Weapons all fit this criteria.
I discussed previously limiting Enhancements to 5 per Arc previously, which was okay... In that it did not really change much. By making it a limit of three per Arc though now they have a considerable opportunity cost, and you have to weigh up whether you want the cheap ones or the good ones more carefully. Mathermatically speaking, a top of the line character will (assuming the guidelines for power level are being followed) not go over fifteen Enhancement total.
That is a big change from not having a limit to Enhancements (other than UP) at all. Fifteen Enhancements is, roughly, a 50% increase in power and is enough to top off three Attributes - or to get +2s to half your Attributes and a +3 to the other half. Either way it is a lot less exploitable and encourages grabbing more toys both as Pilots and Mecha rather than just going for the boring but reliable high numbers.
Custom Weapons under 5 UP are limited to only one of at a time normally, but there's a way around it in a new sidebar (More Weapons for Less, Page 80) that lets you take up to four Weapons for 10 UP total while making a character. Weapons made through this alternative rule may not have drawbacks, making them useful but far from abusive.
Sidekicks can now be repaired mid-battle in exchange for Energy and an Action! That makes them more expensive too, but they're less a waste of points the moment someone looks at them funny. They're still powerful, giving you the equivalent of an extra Turn in a way, but now they cost upwards of 10 UP at a time. Repairing them more than once gets progressively more costly and there is a limit to how many Sub Units you can get now too so it works out.
On Stealth Field, it basically had no drawback if you chose to keep it active while having 0 Energy remaining and that was Not Okay. Now if you can't pay for the Energy cost, you take extra Damage. That it allows energy-draining then comboing an overconfident enemy to death is cool, though I frankly do not expect the extra Damage to come up often - The change is only there so it isn't just free Disadvantages once you're out of juice.
Everything else has already been discussed more or less at length in the previous posts, I think. Well, the Time Management thing didn't but I just forgot to write anything about it and there really isn't much to say anyway. If you have the time for it, you can trade speed for Advantages when it comes to Extended Tests. Pretty obvious stuff.
That's it for now.
-A Grayscale version of the game for ease of printing.
-Editable Pilot and Mecha Sheets in PDF form.
-A printable PDF of Ability Cards to reference the rules text of Powers and Weapons and whatnot without checking the book.
-A Mapmaker PSD file to aid in creating your own maps.
All are in the Downloads and Links section.
The Grayscale version is something I have been owing people since basically forever, and it comes with the Ability Cards PDF. Those are functional and not particularly good looking - I chose to skip out on making the cards fancy and colorful or giving them their own art because, well, they need to be printed out.
The new Editable Sheets are much like the other ones but page-sized so you can download and edit them then print them out or just upload your own edited copy for online use.
Lastly there's the Mapmaker PSD (PSD stands for PhotoShop Document, which requires Adobe Photoshop) which is a simple file with Hex and Square grids overlayed on top of example maps made to fit a Letter-sized page if you choose to print it. It is also bundled with two transparent grids (Hex and Square) in PNG format if you would like to take them to another image editor program of choice.
And now, for the Changelog.
General Changes
-Typo fixing, etc. The Enhancements section for Mecha had costs in PP. Seriously. I had to laugh when I found out about that one.
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. However, now 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.
And here I was all happy and content thinking 1.7 would be the last one, what with nothing being inherently broken. And then some really embarrassing editorial mistakes happened and I figured you know what might as well touch things up some more. Will there be more changes? If there are, they won't be for several months down the line, because I have a lot less time these days and anything that needs a change would require a large rewriting.
So about the changes proper, for the most part anything that isn't a clarification or a buff is a limitation to just how much you can stack up some of the best options in the game. Sub Units, Enhancements, and Cost 1 Weapons all fit this criteria.
I discussed previously limiting Enhancements to 5 per Arc previously, which was okay... In that it did not really change much. By making it a limit of three per Arc though now they have a considerable opportunity cost, and you have to weigh up whether you want the cheap ones or the good ones more carefully. Mathermatically speaking, a top of the line character will (assuming the guidelines for power level are being followed) not go over fifteen Enhancement total.
That is a big change from not having a limit to Enhancements (other than UP) at all. Fifteen Enhancements is, roughly, a 50% increase in power and is enough to top off three Attributes - or to get +2s to half your Attributes and a +3 to the other half. Either way it is a lot less exploitable and encourages grabbing more toys both as Pilots and Mecha rather than just going for the boring but reliable high numbers.
Custom Weapons under 5 UP are limited to only one of at a time normally, but there's a way around it in a new sidebar (More Weapons for Less, Page 80) that lets you take up to four Weapons for 10 UP total while making a character. Weapons made through this alternative rule may not have drawbacks, making them useful but far from abusive.
Sidekicks can now be repaired mid-battle in exchange for Energy and an Action! That makes them more expensive too, but they're less a waste of points the moment someone looks at them funny. They're still powerful, giving you the equivalent of an extra Turn in a way, but now they cost upwards of 10 UP at a time. Repairing them more than once gets progressively more costly and there is a limit to how many Sub Units you can get now too so it works out.
On Stealth Field, it basically had no drawback if you chose to keep it active while having 0 Energy remaining and that was Not Okay. Now if you can't pay for the Energy cost, you take extra Damage. That it allows energy-draining then comboing an overconfident enemy to death is cool, though I frankly do not expect the extra Damage to come up often - The change is only there so it isn't just free Disadvantages once you're out of juice.
Everything else has already been discussed more or less at length in the previous posts, I think. Well, the Time Management thing didn't but I just forgot to write anything about it and there really isn't much to say anyway. If you have the time for it, you can trade speed for Advantages when it comes to Extended Tests. Pretty obvious stuff.
That's it for now.
June 5, 2013
This is not a Rules Update post.
I got delayed with a few exploitable rules issues that needed handling, plus life getting in the way of explaining all of it in a proper blog post. On the plus side, I've gone over everything so many times by now that if there are any editorial mistakes left I will be surprised.
(I actually won't be surprised, I will just shake my head a little and sigh)
Now though I've got the chance and energy so I might as well discuss what exactly are the rules concerns that delayed the update. Issue one is that there needs to be a limit on how many cheap Custom Weapons you can have. Issue two is that Enhancements need a limitation on how many you can purchase early on. Issue three is yet another adjustment/clarification to how stacked Advantages and Disadvantages work.
Let's get to it.
Limiting Custom Weapons
Custom Weapons are alright as is, assuming you're not actively trying to abuse them. They are the bread and butter to the premade ones' silver bullets and build-arounds. Plus, they can be used to fill up space if you've got spare UP left thanks to their optionally lower cost. This is good.
The bad part is that there is nothing in the rules stopping you from packing only 1 UP Weapons and just leaving them there, spending the UP on Enhancements to buff up your offense that way instead. Suffice to say this is not their intended use, so adjustments need to be made.
Obviously there cannot just be a limit of one Custom Weapon of each type because not only would that not really solve the issue (you can still cover pretty much every angle with just one of each type, after all) it would also make it impossible to represent anything that has a rocket punch and a sword
The simplest way around it is to make it so you can only have one Custom Weapon that costs less than 5. You can still use them to fill space and represent non-gimmicky weapons, you just will have to pay full price for all but the last of them that you get.
There is another way though, and a more complicated one at that: You cannot have more than one Custom Weapon if the one you have costs 1 UP, should you want to have two they have to cost at least 2, and if you desire three then they need to be 3 UP each. And so on and so forth. This one does not solve the issue itself, but mitigates it considerably and allows more freedom in weapon loadouts.
Odds are the former will be the official one, but the option is there to use the latter.
Limiting Enhancements
Attributes are the core of any character and mecha, so it is no surprise that Enhancements are powerful stuff. They are also cheap, because Upgrades and Weapons are expensive and you need to spend your UP on something. Because of that they can be used to mitigate the weaknesses of your starting Chassis or ramp up their existing strengths.
With the cheaper Enhancements out there, it is possible to do both at once from the start. It is not much of a big deal on its own right now, but coupled with the Custom Weapons exploit it is borderline ridiculous. Even with that one solved, I figure I can apply a relatively benevolent limitation just in case. You should be able to do one or the other, but not both.
You can purchase up to any 5 Enhancements with a new character, and may get up to 5 more per each Episode Arc. This works well with the last change in that it frees up more UP to spend in Weapons early on and should not negatively affect anyone who wasn't ignoring Upgrades altogether. There is not much to say other than that, really.
What about Advantages and Disadvantages now?
There are a few abilities that eschew dice rolls entirely, mostly Weapons that automatically get a 10. These exist to provide a way around enemies that have ludicrously high Evasion and stack Disadvantages to hit them. Some Bosses, for instance, can be downright untouchable through normal means that way, so having a few of these Weapons around (plus One Shot, One Kill) is good.
And they do work pretty well at countering the former! The latter, though? Not so much. Mostly because stacked Disadvantages can be converted to extra difficulty, making an automatic roll of 10 inadequate. I will be adding a clarification to the Advantages and Disadvantages section stating that anything that eschews dice rolls to get a specific result ignores both Advantages and Disadvantages entirely.
Micro Missiles are getting a small touchup as a consequence of this. They will automatically roll a 10 from now on, no longer benefitting from Advantages in the form of a static bonus, but neither will they be penalized from Disadvantages.
That is pretty much it. Hopefully this will be going up on Sunday, but it might have to be during the week.
(I actually won't be surprised, I will just shake my head a little and sigh)
Now though I've got the chance and energy so I might as well discuss what exactly are the rules concerns that delayed the update. Issue one is that there needs to be a limit on how many cheap Custom Weapons you can have. Issue two is that Enhancements need a limitation on how many you can purchase early on. Issue three is yet another adjustment/clarification to how stacked Advantages and Disadvantages work.
Let's get to it.
Limiting Custom Weapons
Custom Weapons are alright as is, assuming you're not actively trying to abuse them. They are the bread and butter to the premade ones' silver bullets and build-arounds. Plus, they can be used to fill up space if you've got spare UP left thanks to their optionally lower cost. This is good.
The bad part is that there is nothing in the rules stopping you from packing only 1 UP Weapons and just leaving them there, spending the UP on Enhancements to buff up your offense that way instead. Suffice to say this is not their intended use, so adjustments need to be made.
Obviously there cannot just be a limit of one Custom Weapon of each type because not only would that not really solve the issue (you can still cover pretty much every angle with just one of each type, after all) it would also make it impossible to represent anything that has a rocket punch and a sword
The simplest way around it is to make it so you can only have one Custom Weapon that costs less than 5. You can still use them to fill space and represent non-gimmicky weapons, you just will have to pay full price for all but the last of them that you get.
There is another way though, and a more complicated one at that: You cannot have more than one Custom Weapon if the one you have costs 1 UP, should you want to have two they have to cost at least 2, and if you desire three then they need to be 3 UP each. And so on and so forth. This one does not solve the issue itself, but mitigates it considerably and allows more freedom in weapon loadouts.
Odds are the former will be the official one, but the option is there to use the latter.
Limiting Enhancements
Attributes are the core of any character and mecha, so it is no surprise that Enhancements are powerful stuff. They are also cheap, because Upgrades and Weapons are expensive and you need to spend your UP on something. Because of that they can be used to mitigate the weaknesses of your starting Chassis or ramp up their existing strengths.
With the cheaper Enhancements out there, it is possible to do both at once from the start. It is not much of a big deal on its own right now, but coupled with the Custom Weapons exploit it is borderline ridiculous. Even with that one solved, I figure I can apply a relatively benevolent limitation just in case. You should be able to do one or the other, but not both.
You can purchase up to any 5 Enhancements with a new character, and may get up to 5 more per each Episode Arc. This works well with the last change in that it frees up more UP to spend in Weapons early on and should not negatively affect anyone who wasn't ignoring Upgrades altogether. There is not much to say other than that, really.
What about Advantages and Disadvantages now?
There are a few abilities that eschew dice rolls entirely, mostly Weapons that automatically get a 10. These exist to provide a way around enemies that have ludicrously high Evasion and stack Disadvantages to hit them. Some Bosses, for instance, can be downright untouchable through normal means that way, so having a few of these Weapons around (plus One Shot, One Kill) is good.
And they do work pretty well at countering the former! The latter, though? Not so much. Mostly because stacked Disadvantages can be converted to extra difficulty, making an automatic roll of 10 inadequate. I will be adding a clarification to the Advantages and Disadvantages section stating that anything that eschews dice rolls to get a specific result ignores both Advantages and Disadvantages entirely.
Micro Missiles are getting a small touchup as a consequence of this. They will automatically roll a 10 from now on, no longer benefitting from Advantages in the form of a static bonus, but neither will they be penalized from Disadvantages.
That is pretty much it. Hopefully this will be going up on Sunday, but it might have to be during the week.
May 26, 2013
Mechanical Make-Up VII
Ah, Chapter 5. It has a lot less mechanics when compared to pretty 2, 3 and 4. Enough to go over them all right now. A part of me wants to expand NPC rules immediately, with more Boss goodies, wacky Features for weird enemies, and more Tiers for NPCs - Like the old Elite that was in between Grunts and Rivals. But it will have to wait. First we do maintenance on the house, then we see about building a second story on top.
Non-Combatants
All of these these get a single lone section to themselves because... Well, that is what their relevance deserves. Basically, non-combatant npc "rules" are for those times you just need to whip up a quick statblock and just eyeballing two or three stats isn't enough. Grunts are fast and easy. Rivals and Bosses are a different matter, though frankly between this and the suggestions in the "The Big Bads" sidebar you should have a good idea of how to stat these in a matter of seconds. Natures really help in making this process easier, too, another reason I favor them so much.
Grunts and Rivals
Grab two Weapons, maybe one or two Upgrades, and a Chassis. Enhance if appropriate. Grunts take very little effort to write up. And while they are weak individually, they can give PCs fits. In other games Grunts are plentiful and outnumber the PCs about four to one... Not so in GGG. Partly because managing up to a dozen of NPCs is a chore, partly because each one is supposed to be an actual threat that needs to be overcome, and is not just there for show.
Two Grunts are said to be a match for a PC, but it is more like three really if you want the PC to be genuinely against the ropes. With that said, the sheer variety in loadouts available to them means that you can throw Grunts at PCs just to warm them up without offering much of a challenge or give them devious combinations of abilities, abusing the likes of Support Fire and Divine Wind. This way they can represent generic goons or elite troops with the same set of rules.
Rivals are almost the same as PCs if not for the fact that they usually pack less Genre Points, and depending on how much of a difference there is a GM might have to toss in an extra Grunt to make for a real challenge. With that said, PCs are fine having a slight mechanical advantage over their Rivals because you (as GM) want them to win anyway. Even then, the fact that Rivals can retool themselves around the opposition and show up with a new giant robot if the plot demands gives them an advantage over the PCs that might be worth a lot more than just one or two Genre Points.
The big issue is that they take the most time to stat. A part of me wants to throw away these rules and come up with something like what Grunts and Bosses have but more on equal with the PCs. But I recognize that as they are, they function as a clear mirror to the PCs, and that is what they are supposed to be. You know, Rivals.
Bosses
Bosses have been the toughest ones to design, but now overall they're challenging and easy to create or customize, without being impossible to beat. Yes, some of their abilities are extremely powerful, but the worst ones don't even trigger before getting considerably beat up. Overall they're one of the things I'm the most proud of in the game as a whole.
Boss Powers are much like Boss Archetypes in that they represent individual abilities which make the user much harder to deal with, their main difference is that they don't either need getting beat up to be activated, nor do they grow stronger over time. A few stand out from the rest, for a few reasons. One is I Believe this is Yours, which can be taken multiple times to cover all Weapon Types, if you so wish. Another is Die for Me!, which is by far the most brutal ability in the game then a Boss has a lot of Genre Points. Lastly there is Behold my True Power, which can be combined with Overfreeze and Wormhole Assault from the Boss repertoire for an obvious combo, or lets you get crafty with other ideas like Bombardment and Resonance Cannon for sheer brutality.
Honestly since they are active abilities that can be used from Turn 1 onwards, they can get a bit repetitive at times. But considering that they're supposed to be a piece of the puzzle that PCs need to solve in order to beat a Boss, I would say that being repetitive is the point. Other Powers are a ton less crafty and sometimes kind of boring (like Show me your Resolve and Resistance is Futile) but they get the job done. Also, while Genre Powers in general have great names, Boss Powers have the best names. Ever.
Archetypes are a bit more interesting, and two of them need some changes. Nanoskin Shell is by far the strongest to the point of it being preposterous - 60 extra HP granted by a single ability is insane and the damage buffer needs to be halved at least. Hypersonic Striker is also not as good as it could be, because extra movement stops being useful once you are in range, so it will be given the unique ability to do hit and run tactics with any kind of Weapon - it will only trigger after losing a Level of Threshold so it won't create any unbeatable Enemies.
Then there's Weapons. G-Leeches are are probably the weakest right now, though the latter would get much more interesting with the changes to Hypersonic Striker. Graviton Wave is similar in that it is not very good at killing its targets, but by golly is it amazing at softening them up. The most exploitable one right now is Telekinetic Strike, not only almost always dealing unblockable damage but also controlling the positions of its enemies. The least I can do is make the bowling ball effect require passing the Evasion of secondary targets. The other one maybe worth retooling is 3G-Bomb, which went from being overwhelmingly powerful to being a tad too slow to be really threatening to anyone with a Threshold of 10 or higher. Perhaps making it deal damage not directly dependent on Tension is for the best, after all.
Features
Biological, Fortress, and Squadron are pretty straightforward. They are used to represent things that are neither the average giant robot, nor are they usually under PC control. More interesting is Cryptid, which is not only all upside for most enemies, and a dangerously powerful upside at that to boot, but is a gigantic middle finger to one of the most effective strategies in the game otherwise - tanking via healing.
It is the closest the game ever gets to having an unfairly powerful ability for enemies, but it is only genuinely devastating against anyone who relies on restoring Threshold entirely instead of even trying to prevent Damage. It is also acknowledged as being powerful to the point that even Grunts should be considered to be an even match against PCs, so it works out.
Operation Actions
Well, That was kind of short, so I might as well also touch up some general mechanics while I'm at it, Chapter 4 here we go.
Most of the Operation rules are fine, with all Actions being viable alternatives to just Attacking now. Micromanage is still a tad powerful, but I'd rather keep it useful than nerf it to being a sub-par option. Suppress though, currently lets you stop anyone from moving at all ever again. And movement is more important now than it used to be, so we're reworking that a little. I don't want to complicate things too much, so we'll make it a simple choice: The victim of a Suppress Action can still move after being suppressed, but doing so means they take the other half of the Damage the attack would have dealt normally.
This is a lot more representative of using suppressive fire to pin someone down, and also gives them a way to escape your grappling attempts. It also weakens Suppress a bit, but because the enemy still suffers a Disadvantage to their own Offensive Actions it is worth using even then. Fortunately, it is still a lot less complicated than every other attempt to represent grappling rules since D&D became infamous for having some really bad ones.
Next week, the update in question, with a few bonuses.
Non-Combatants
All of these these get a single lone section to themselves because... Well, that is what their relevance deserves. Basically, non-combatant npc "rules" are for those times you just need to whip up a quick statblock and just eyeballing two or three stats isn't enough. Grunts are fast and easy. Rivals and Bosses are a different matter, though frankly between this and the suggestions in the "The Big Bads" sidebar you should have a good idea of how to stat these in a matter of seconds. Natures really help in making this process easier, too, another reason I favor them so much.
Grunts and Rivals
Grab two Weapons, maybe one or two Upgrades, and a Chassis. Enhance if appropriate. Grunts take very little effort to write up. And while they are weak individually, they can give PCs fits. In other games Grunts are plentiful and outnumber the PCs about four to one... Not so in GGG. Partly because managing up to a dozen of NPCs is a chore, partly because each one is supposed to be an actual threat that needs to be overcome, and is not just there for show.
Two Grunts are said to be a match for a PC, but it is more like three really if you want the PC to be genuinely against the ropes. With that said, the sheer variety in loadouts available to them means that you can throw Grunts at PCs just to warm them up without offering much of a challenge or give them devious combinations of abilities, abusing the likes of Support Fire and Divine Wind. This way they can represent generic goons or elite troops with the same set of rules.
Rivals are almost the same as PCs if not for the fact that they usually pack less Genre Points, and depending on how much of a difference there is a GM might have to toss in an extra Grunt to make for a real challenge. With that said, PCs are fine having a slight mechanical advantage over their Rivals because you (as GM) want them to win anyway. Even then, the fact that Rivals can retool themselves around the opposition and show up with a new giant robot if the plot demands gives them an advantage over the PCs that might be worth a lot more than just one or two Genre Points.
The big issue is that they take the most time to stat. A part of me wants to throw away these rules and come up with something like what Grunts and Bosses have but more on equal with the PCs. But I recognize that as they are, they function as a clear mirror to the PCs, and that is what they are supposed to be. You know, Rivals.
Bosses
Bosses have been the toughest ones to design, but now overall they're challenging and easy to create or customize, without being impossible to beat. Yes, some of their abilities are extremely powerful, but the worst ones don't even trigger before getting considerably beat up. Overall they're one of the things I'm the most proud of in the game as a whole.
Boss Powers are much like Boss Archetypes in that they represent individual abilities which make the user much harder to deal with, their main difference is that they don't either need getting beat up to be activated, nor do they grow stronger over time. A few stand out from the rest, for a few reasons. One is I Believe this is Yours, which can be taken multiple times to cover all Weapon Types, if you so wish. Another is Die for Me!, which is by far the most brutal ability in the game then a Boss has a lot of Genre Points. Lastly there is Behold my True Power, which can be combined with Overfreeze and Wormhole Assault from the Boss repertoire for an obvious combo, or lets you get crafty with other ideas like Bombardment and Resonance Cannon for sheer brutality.
Honestly since they are active abilities that can be used from Turn 1 onwards, they can get a bit repetitive at times. But considering that they're supposed to be a piece of the puzzle that PCs need to solve in order to beat a Boss, I would say that being repetitive is the point. Other Powers are a ton less crafty and sometimes kind of boring (like Show me your Resolve and Resistance is Futile) but they get the job done. Also, while Genre Powers in general have great names, Boss Powers have the best names. Ever.
Archetypes are a bit more interesting, and two of them need some changes. Nanoskin Shell is by far the strongest to the point of it being preposterous - 60 extra HP granted by a single ability is insane and the damage buffer needs to be halved at least. Hypersonic Striker is also not as good as it could be, because extra movement stops being useful once you are in range, so it will be given the unique ability to do hit and run tactics with any kind of Weapon - it will only trigger after losing a Level of Threshold so it won't create any unbeatable Enemies.
Then there's Weapons. G-Leeches are are probably the weakest right now, though the latter would get much more interesting with the changes to Hypersonic Striker. Graviton Wave is similar in that it is not very good at killing its targets, but by golly is it amazing at softening them up. The most exploitable one right now is Telekinetic Strike, not only almost always dealing unblockable damage but also controlling the positions of its enemies. The least I can do is make the bowling ball effect require passing the Evasion of secondary targets. The other one maybe worth retooling is 3G-Bomb, which went from being overwhelmingly powerful to being a tad too slow to be really threatening to anyone with a Threshold of 10 or higher. Perhaps making it deal damage not directly dependent on Tension is for the best, after all.
Features
Biological, Fortress, and Squadron are pretty straightforward. They are used to represent things that are neither the average giant robot, nor are they usually under PC control. More interesting is Cryptid, which is not only all upside for most enemies, and a dangerously powerful upside at that to boot, but is a gigantic middle finger to one of the most effective strategies in the game otherwise - tanking via healing.
It is the closest the game ever gets to having an unfairly powerful ability for enemies, but it is only genuinely devastating against anyone who relies on restoring Threshold entirely instead of even trying to prevent Damage. It is also acknowledged as being powerful to the point that even Grunts should be considered to be an even match against PCs, so it works out.
Operation Actions
Well, That was kind of short, so I might as well also touch up some general mechanics while I'm at it, Chapter 4 here we go.
Most of the Operation rules are fine, with all Actions being viable alternatives to just Attacking now. Micromanage is still a tad powerful, but I'd rather keep it useful than nerf it to being a sub-par option. Suppress though, currently lets you stop anyone from moving at all ever again. And movement is more important now than it used to be, so we're reworking that a little. I don't want to complicate things too much, so we'll make it a simple choice: The victim of a Suppress Action can still move after being suppressed, but doing so means they take the other half of the Damage the attack would have dealt normally.
This is a lot more representative of using suppressive fire to pin someone down, and also gives them a way to escape your grappling attempts. It also weakens Suppress a bit, but because the enemy still suffers a Disadvantage to their own Offensive Actions it is worth using even then. Fortunately, it is still a lot less complicated than every other attempt to represent grappling rules since D&D became infamous for having some really bad ones.
Next week, the update in question, with a few bonuses.
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