Sage's Sanctum

Mech Pilots with GLOG Classes?

Instead of working on any of my ongoing games, I spent the last couple of days thinking about how to graft Mech combat onto my games. The idea was to create a light system that could be attached to any game without too much effort. Who knows, maybe my game OSE 1500's Japan inspired game will need mech rules right?

All you would have to do in this case is add two stats to each character. Prowess, and Precision, determined by rolling 3d6. You can roll these stats at character creation or when you introduce Mechs to your game.

So, here's the first draft of the rules, and some example classes, mechs, weapons, and orders.

Mech Fight Double Dash

Mechs are driven by two characters. One character, the Pilot, is in the mech's cockpit, controlling its movements and primary weapons using their Prowess state. The other, the Operator, supports the mech remotely, managing its auxiliary weapons and calling in powerful one-time use effects called orders using their Precision stat.

A Pilot and Operator work together to pilot a Mech. Mechs consist of a Chassis that determines their Metal, or durability, and their Heat, which determines how many special attacks the mech can launch without malfunctioning.

So each "unit" on a battlefield consists of three parts: a Mech, a Pilot, and an Operator.

Checks

The term "Check" is used a lot in this post. In this case, it means rolling equal to or under a stat on a d20. If a character makes a Prowess check, and their Prowess is 10, they succeed on a 10 or less.

Combat and Missions

Missions

A mission is a (usually) single goal intended to be completed by Pilots and Operators using their mechs. A Mission ends when either the goal has been completed, and the Mechs have escaped danger, or when the players abort the mission and escape danger.

Time

Time in combat is measured in turns and rounds. A character takes any actions they choose on their turn, and each character takes one turn in a round.

Actions

There are three main Action types. Swift, Normal, and Slow.

At the start of a round, each character declares which type of Action they want to take. Characters then take turns acting based on their Mech Pilot's Prowess and the Action type they chose. On your turn, you can perform any Action of the type you declared or faster. For example, if you declare a Normal Action, you can take a Normal or Swift Action on your turn, but not a Slow Action.

A pilot and Operator sharing a mech do not have to declare the same type of Action.

Characters performing Swift Actions go first, followed by characters performing Normal Actions, then Slow Actions.

A Pilot can also move their mech up to its speed, but any Action they take becomes 1 step slower. So if a Pilot moves after declaring a Swift action, they can take no other action. If they move after declaring a Normal Action, they can take a Swift Action, and if they move after declaring a Slow Action, they can take a Normal Action. A Pilot cannot take a Slow Action on a turn in which they move.

You can spend a point of Heat to move without taking an Action.

Reactions
Some features give you a fourth type of Action called a Reaction. A reaction can be taken at any time, even if it's not your turn. You can only take one Reaction per round.

Metal and Heat

All mechs have 2 stats, Metal and Heat.

Metal refers to a Mech's durability. When it is reduced to 0, the mech is destroyed beyond repair. Metal is most often reduced by enemy attacks. When something deals damage to a Mech, it reduces the Mech's Metal.

When a Mech is destroyed, the Pilot is assumed to safely eject. The Mech, however, is lost. If another Mech is able to reach the Square the destroyed Mech is on, they can Salvage it, collecting one random Module that can be freely installed on another Mech.

Heat is a resource you spend to perform powerful Actions and Maneuvers. When a Mech is at 0 Heat, it takes 1 damage at the start of each Round.

Difficult Terrain

Difficult terrain, such as heavy rubble, thick ice, or thick foliage, is more difficult to move through. Every Square of difficult terrain you move through counts as 2 Squares.

Prone

Sometimes a mech will be knocked prone. A mech can get up by using its move. While a mech is prone, attacks against it get a -2 bonus.

Attacking

All Mechs have a Primary and Auxiliary Weapon that can be used to make attacks. Primary Weapons are used by Pilots, while Auxiliary Weapons are used by Operators.

Regardless of what weapon type is in use, when you attack, make a check. For Pilots, attack rolls are a Prowess Check; for Operators, they are a Precision Check.

For Example A Pilot with a prowess of 14 attempts to attack an enemy. They roll a d20 and it comes up 12. They score a direct hit, since 12 is less than or equal to their Prowess.

Below is an example weapon
Beam Sword

Action Type refers to the type of action you must declare to use this weapon on your turn.

Range refers to the distance you can fire the weapon at a target from in squares. For each square beyond the Range, apply a +1 penalty to your attack.

Heat cost refers to how much Heat you have to spend to use an attack. Some attacks do not cost any Heat.

Damage refers to how much damage a weapon does, and is usually expressed as a die + an integer. When you succeed on an attack roll, you score a Direct Hit and deal full damage; roll the die listed and add the integer to determine how much to subtract from the target's metal. When you fail an attack roll, you only achieve a Grazing Blow. Grazing Blows only deal the integer part of the weapon's damage. So a failed attack roll with a Beam Sword inflicts 2 damage as a grazing blow.

Effect. Sometimes a weapon has a special effect. That will be listed here.

Universal Pilot Actions

All Pilots can take the following actions.

Move Move a mech up to its speed, you can perform another action this turn as long as it's faster than the action you declared (e.g. if you declared a Normal Action, you can perform a Swift Action).

If you spend a point of heat, you can move without impacting what Actions you can perform.

Punch
Punch your foe with your bare metal fist.

Shove
Normal Action. Make a Prowess Check to shove a target back a square, or knock them prone.

Grapple
Normal Action. Make a Prowess Check to Grab a target and stop them from moving. The target can use a Normal Action to attempt to break a grapple by making a Prowess Check.

Aim
Swift Action. Gain a -2 Bonus to the next Attack Roll you make.

Take Cover
Swift Action. Get behind a solid piece of cover, giving attacks against you a +2 penalty.

Overwatch
Normal Action. Choose an attack that takes either a Normal or Swift Action. Until your next turn, if an enemy enters or exits the range of that attack, you can make that attack against them as a Reaction.

Universal Operator Actions

Scan

Swift Action. Make a Precision Check to gain information on an enemy. On a success, the GM shows you the enemy's stat block. There may be some information that cannot be gained from a scan. Operators can relay this information to others, but cannot show others the stat block.

Call Order

Action Type varies. You can call in any Order in your loadout. Different Orders have different effects and Action Types, but typically do not require an Attack Roll. Once an Order is used, it is consumed.

Aim
Swift Action. Gain a -2 Bonus to the next Attack Roll you make.

Overwatch

Normal Action. Choose an attack that takes either a Normal or Swift Action. Until your next turn, if an enemy enters or exits the range of that attack, you can make that attack against them as a Reaction.

Repairing a Mech

Between missions, a mech is assumed to be fully repaired. During missions, Pilots can perform Quick Repairs. Quick Repairs take an hour. At the end of the hour, the Pilot makes a Prowess check. On a success, the Mech regains 1d6 Metal and 1d6 Heat. On a failure, the Pilot chooses to restore 1d6 Metal or 1d6 Heat. You can only make Quick Repairs once per mission.

Orders

Orders are single-use actions that Operators select before setting out on a mission. Each Operator gets a number of Order Points equal to 10 + their level.

Before each mission, Operators can choose any orders from the following list that add up to equal or less than their Order Points. These Orders are considered part of their loadout. Other Orders may become available during play, including special Orders that are not regularly available between missions.

Airstrike
Order Points: 2
Action: Slow
Range: 20 Squares
Shape: 3 Square Radius circle
Damage: 2d6

Precision Orbital Strike
Order Points: 3
Action: Slow
Range: 20 squares
Shape: 1 Square
Damage: 6d6

Smoke Screen
Order Points: 1
Action: Slow
Range: 20 squares
Shape: 8 square long line, 2 Squares wide
Effect: Drops a smoke screen that obstructs vision.

Movable Cover
Order Points: 1
Action: swift
Range: 5 squares
Shape: 3 square long line
Effect: Drops a metal shield that projects a forcefield in the squares next to it. Can be used as cover. A Pilot can pick up or place down the shield as a Swift Action.

Machine Gun Turret
Order Points: 2
Action: Normal
Range: 5 Squares
Shape: 1 Square
Effect: Drops a stationary heavy machine gun turret. A pilot can man the turret as a Swift action. It attacks using a Normal action with a range of 10 Squares and deals 1d8 + 4 damage.

Fire Bomb
Order Points: 2
Action: Slow
Range: 20 Squares
Shape: 8 Square long line, 2 Squares wide
Effect: Sets the target area on Fire. Any mech in the fire at the end of their turn takes 1d6 damage. Flammable materials are set on fire until a Normal Action is spent to put them out.

Repair Drone
Order Points: 3
Action: Swift
Range: 5 Squares
Effect: Creates a small drone that circles any mech in range. It immediately restores 1d6 Metal to a mech when used, and does so again at the start of each round. The Drone can be attacked and is destroyed if it takes any damage.

Primary Weapons

Primary weapons are used by Pilots.

Melee

Bladed Knuckles

Beam Sword

Gas Powered Warhammer

Electric whip

Industrial Plasma Cutter

Ranged Weapons

Light Machine Gun

Heavy Machine Gun

Auxiliary Weapons

Used by Operators.

Quickfire Machine gun

Precision Laser

Plasma Cannon

Voltaic Net Launcher

Shoulder Mounted Rocket Launcher

Armor Piercing Sniper Rifle

Utility Modules

While all mechs have Attack Modules, there are also a variety of other Modules a Mech can have. These Modules offer a variety of effects. Some are passive effects, others are active effects, some have heat costs, while others may not. A Mech can have multiple of the same Module.

Extra Plating
Your mech gains + 3 Metal (Does not stack).

Magnetic Shield

Smoke Scanner
Your mech can see through smoke and similar visual obstructions.

Self Destruct Button

Thrusters
Pilot only. When you move, you can spend a point of Heat to treat difficult terrain as if it were normal terrain.

Firebomb

Mech Chassis

FS-195-Bear
Metal:12
Heat: 6
Move: 5
Module Slots: 6
Primary Weapon: Beam Sword
Auxiliary Weapon: Precision Laser
High-Strength Plating: Rolls of 1 deal no damage to this mech

FS-192-Cheetah
Metal: 10
Heat: 8
Move: 7
Module Slots: 6
Primary Weapon: Beam Sword
Auxiliary Weapon: Plasma Cannon
Charge: When you move in a straight line and at least 4 spaces before making a melee attack, you deal bonus damage equal to half the spaces you moved, rounded up.

FS-198-Chameleon
Metal: 8
Heat: 10
Move: 6
Module Slots: 6
Primary Weapon: Bladed Knuckles
Auxiliary Weapon: Precision Laser
Camouflage: As a swift action, A Pilot or Operator can spend 2 heat to camouflage your mech against its surroundings. Attacks have a 25% chance of missing camouflaged mechs. The pilot of a camouflaged mech can make a prowess check as a swift action to become hidden. Attacking or calling an Order deactivates Camouflage.

Pilots, Operators, and Progression

After a successful mission, Pilots and Operators gain a Pilot Level or an Operator Level. Each time you gain one of these levels, you gain a Pilot or Operator Class Template. These Templates provide additional features you can use on missions. You cannot have more than 4 Pilot Templates or more than 4 Operator Templates.

Whenever a Mech survives a mission, the Pilot and Operator who drove it can add a module or weapon they agree on to the Chassis, as long as the Chassis does not already have modules equal to its Module Slots.

When a Mech is destroyed, it can be replaced with a new one, but without any of the additional modules the previous Mech had.

Ace

You are a bold Pilot, making ill-advised maneuvers, and somehow coming out on top. Some might call you cocky, but you'd just say you're skilled.

  1. Prowess +1, Against the odds: Your attacks deal an additional 1 damage with melee attacks for each enemy adjacent to your mech.
  2. Prowess +1, Fast Hands: You can perform an action faster by spending heat. You can not make an action 2 steps faster than its initial speed (e.g. a slow action can never become swift)
    • Slow -> Normal = 3 heat
    • normal -> Swift = 2 heat
  3. Prowess +1 Push the Machine Once per mission, if your mech has no heat, you can push the mech beyond its limits as a swift action. Restoring half of its maximum heat. When you do so, a random module on your mech becomes damaged and cannot be used on the next mission.
  4. Prowess +1 Last Stand When your metal is 3 or less, you take no damage from grazing blows.

Example Operator Class: Gearhead

Gearhead

Tinkering with mechs makes you tick. You love experimenting with different chassis, installing modules, and customizing weapons.

  1. Precision +1, Spare Mech: You own a few extra mech chassis for tinkering. Once per mission, as a slow action, you can call in the spare mech. The pilot can use it to act on the next turn.
  2. Precision +1, Experimental tech You tinker with your mech before each mission, testing out your new ideas on each system. Each weapon on your mech deals +2 damage. Every time your mech attacks, roll a d6. On a 1, the weapon malfunctions and fails to fire.
  3. Precision +1, Spare Parts: You leave a box of spare parts attached to your mech before it goes off on it's mission. When someone repairs the mech using your spare parts, it regains 1d6 additional metal and 1d6 additional heat.
  4. Precision +1, Custom Module You've built a custom module you attach to every mech you use. Only you know how to operate it, but it doesn't take up a module slot. Choose one of the following.
    • Voltaic Harpoon
      • Action: Normal
      • Heat cost: 1
      • Damage: 1d6 +2
      • Effect: on a direct hit, disables a random system on the target for 1d4 turns, or until they use a normal action to remove the harpoon
    • Boost Jump
      • Swift
      • Heat cost: 1
      • Effect: You engage your thrusters to launch yourself dozens of feet into the air, landing at the end of the turn up to 8 spaces away. While in the air, you cannot be hit by melee attacks. Any melee attacks your pilot makes happen when you land. If you land on an enemy, they take 1d4 damage.
    • Emergency Repair
      • Reaction
      • Heat Cost: Variable
      • Effect: When you take damage in excess of your metal, you can spend Heat equal to the excess to prevent that damage.