Working on my Mech system for my Folded Steel Hack has me asking, how many armor uses are too many when you are in a…

Working on my Mech system for my Folded Steel Hack has me asking, how many armor uses are too many when you are in a…

Working on my Mech system for my Folded Steel Hack has me asking, how many armor uses are too many when you are in a mech?

12 thoughts on “Working on my Mech system for my Folded Steel Hack has me asking, how many armor uses are too many when you are in a…”

  1. Would it depend on the type of mech you are using? A lighter and faster one would have less while a slower one would have more armor and probably weapons too. I don’t know what mech options you have but that’s probably how I’d look at it.

    2 for a light mech, 4 for medium and 6 for heavy?

  2. I am working on a design model where systems are basically ablative armor. So instead of taking Harm you could damage one of your systems. This lets the pilots be much more durable while in their suits, and also helps recreate the fiction of repairing a system in the middle of a fight (rerouting power and whatnot). I am wanting each mech to have a similar number of equipment slots/hardpoints. (At least one mech will probably have an equipment option that means he can add more armor to the base)

  3. Are you thinking of handling weapons and systems as fixed items (like abilities) or are you going to do it more like the Load system from BitD, where you select a level of load and pick what each point of Load is when you decide you need it? I believe armor is an option for the available gear in BitD, so you can choose to absorb harm at some point and then mark off that you were wearing armor?

    I’m thinking something along the lines of a Light Mech can take up to 2 points of armor at some point during an engagement – but doesn’t have to, a Medium or Heavy Mech can take up to 4 points – but also doesn’t have to, but the Heavy Mech has a starting rating of 2 armor as a bonus, but it suffers elsewhere as a downside.

    If you were thinking more along the lines of the pilot decides beforehand what armor/weapons/systems their Mech has, then we’d need to think up something else. What types of Mech are available? Is it Light/Medium/Heavy as I have assumed? What are the pros/cons of each type? – If it is that the Heavier can accept more armor options, what benefit does a lighter Mech have to offset the reduced armor?

  4. As of right now there are four mech types. A heavy meant to protect his squad and punish the enemy, a fast type meant for close combat and recon, a combined arms type with support abilities, and a long range type functionally close to artillery.

    When it comes to loadout I was leaning toward breaking with the blades equipment model due to the fact that these will be more like Abilities than item permission.

    Some of what you said just now is making me think that maybe there is a happy medium between the two styles that could also tie into the damaging systems, but I need to think on it more.

  6. In the vein of equipment, you might have different options for missile types or bullet/shell types. Thinking of Battletech, stuff like swarm rounds, inferno, fragmentation, etc. Without going too much into equipment, you could have a special feature for the mech (ammo or other tech like comms or emp pulse) that is very limited use.

  9. One of the major inspiration for the stylings of these mechs are exosuits from Anthem (although bigger mechs will be possible), so I am going to lean into that a little more into that and some of what you guys suggested. Mechs will have their own dedicated stress track renamed Shields, but it will be smaller and refresh automatically. It will also have its own Harm boxes which are tied to their four hardpoints. Taking harm in one of those boxes temporarily disables the ability tied to it. (and the tougher mechs can have an armor equipped to the hardpoint to make them even more durable).

    If you are out of harm boxes on the mech then the next harm you take from another mech will be death (as is any harm inflicted by a mech on a non-mech target)

  11. I’m honestly not sure. I’m on Twitter @AmericanaHex and will probably post some of my thoughts there. If John Harper does launch a forum on the Blades site I’ll definitely be there.

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