Post by Adam on Aug 4, 2009 8:29:39 GMT -5
Okay. Following musings in this thread, I've decided to split the mech creation system up into a total of seven classes.
It was going to be 10. Three soldier classes, three operative classes and four specialist classes. I quickly realised that the three soldier classes were largely redundant, and I couldn't think of any special rules to separate them from one another, so I combined them into one. Later on, I realised that the Tank class was also redundant - an 'implied' Tank class could be added into the ruleset simply by adding a new upgrade, the haze field (a Rare (1) upgrade which makes models near the user count as being in non-solid cover, and doesn't affect the user itself), and leaving it at that.
So, now we have seven classes:
- The basic Soldier, a dependable versatile class.
- Three Operatives, sneaky and fast but fragile. You can have up to two of each in your army:
--- The Sniper is built for precision attacks at medium-to-long range and being mobile and hard to get hold of.
--- The Assassin appears amid the enemy's lines and cuts a few throats.
--- The Scout is a bit tougher than the other two and leads the way, providing buffs against targets near it.
- Three Specialists, of which you can only have one each.
--- The Combat Engineer does all kinds of funky stuff to support the army - anything from repairing people to building turrets.
--- The Disruptor is an offensive debuff class, an ideal companion to a pair of Scouts.
--- The Leader is a general-purpose badass with several abilities taken from the other classes.
Each class has a set of up to four profiles, each one corresponding to a mech size. The differences between profiles are largely predictable, so I've only noted the Medium size for most of them. Some stats will (or won't) change between sizes in slightly different ways, but who cares; I can't be bothered making seven lots of tables using the full stop button because the forum's autoformat thing kills multiple spaces. Each class also has access to a set of profile upgrades. Some of these are exclusive - for example, an upgrade stating +1 As/Rn allows you to add +1 As or +1 Rn, but not both. Then there are 'exclusive upgrades' which are system upgrades that a class can only have if stated here; if an upgrade doesn't appear in any of these listings, assume it's non-exclusive (apart from Commando, that's getting axed). Finally, there are each class's special rules. Fun.
Without further ado, here's what I've written for these so far. I'd like feedback please, and ideas if you've got 'em (Especially for the Disruptor; it has loads of exclusive upgrades, but only two special rules, making it feel kind of naked.)
Soldier (all sizes)
..............Sp...As...Rn...Pr...Ar...Sy...Sw...At
light..........5....4....4....0....9....3...11....2
medium.........4....4....4....1...10....4...10....2
heavy..........4....4....4....1...11....5....9....2
super-heavy....3....4....4....2...12....6....8....2
Up to 3 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: bastion system (change so it doesn't increase firepower quite so much), smoke grenades (place centre of 6" template within 6" of user instead of current placement system).
Hold the Line: Cannot be moved by ranged attacks when within 6" of another model with this SR.
Over the Top: Once per game, during the Situation phase, you may move all models with this SR in your team 3" in the same direction, ignoring difficult terrain.
Sniper (light/medium)
Medium is Sp5 As3 Rn5 Pr0 Ar9 Sy3 Sw11 At1
Up to 2 of +1 Sp, +1 Rn, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy
Exclusive upgrades: camoskin, scrambler. May not have exotic armour.
Must take a single gigaweapon.
Sniper Doctrine: If the model's gigaweapon is Shots 1, Sniper Doctrine takes effect on a successful hit. Otherwise, it applies on a critical hit. Sniper Doctrine allows the model to immediately move up to half its Speed, ignoring difficult terrain, and can only take effect once per turn.
Extended Scope: The Sniper's gigaweapon gains +4" Range. If the weapon is Shots 1, any hit on a target within 24" is treated as a critical hit. The Sniper suffers -2 to hit models within 8" with its gigaweapon, unless it's positioned in the target's rear 180 degree arc.
Invisible Threat: Something that makes people scared of it. Not sure what.
Assassin (light/medium)
Medium is Sp6 As5 Rn4 Pr1 Ar9 Sy2 Sw12 At2
Up to 2 of +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: camoskin, scrambler. May not have exotic armour.
Concealment Field: basically Commando, nerfed slightly (forcing the assassin to be a bit further from its target is a good idea).
Backstrike: if it charges an enemy from behind, it gets the same damage bonuses it would have for shooting. To do this it must start the charge entirely within the target's rear 180 degree arc.
Hit and Run: if unengaged at the beginning of its activation, it may charge-fight-disengage instead of move-shoot-charge-fight.
Sneak: Doesn't need LOS when charging, and doesn't have to move in a straight line while charging either.
Scout (light/medium)
Medium is Sp5 As4 Rn4 Pr1 Ar9 Sy3 Sw11 At2
Up to 3 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: scrambler, sapper grenades (destroy spider mines and disable turrets until they're healed), the Tracer WSR, some kind of armour debuff weapon
Lead The Way: After deploying all models, move Scouts up to their Speed, ignoring difficult terrain.
Target Analyser: Friendly models gain +1 to hit models within 8" of the Scout (not cumulative with more Target Analysers) with ranged attacks.
Sensor Suite: Scouts come with advanced sensors and a data node.
Combat Engineer (any size)
Medium is Sp4 As3 Rn3 Pr1 Ar11 Sy4 Sw10 At1
Up to 2 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Sy/Sw
Exclusive upgrades: gun cannon (carries up to three turrets, a turret shoots at a target anytime it ends its movement within the turret's LOS and range; they can't be destroyed by shooting, but are disabled after taking X damage; they can be repaired via the engineer who launched them), spider mines, entrencher (takes up a weapon slot; messes around with terrain to give cover or allow friendlies easy passage through difficult terrain, needs a different name because there's already one in a video game), healing field (body slot, heals all friendlies & turrets within 6" when used, doesn't stack with the antigun), antigun (weapon slot, extends healing range to 18" and allows it to be used twice a turn), rapid repair matrix (doubles effect of healing), corecharger (automatically recharges a friendly model's force field once per turn), smoke grenades, minelayer (DIY dangerous terrain, except it might not even need to be in a terrain piece...), anything else I or you guys come up with?
Gizmos: A Combat Engineer mech has an additional weapon slot on its body.
Mechanic: A Combat Engineer may heal a single mech within 6", or repair all of its turrets provided at least one is within 6" of it. Healing removes three points of mass damage and one point of serious damage. The engineer may do this only once a turn, but it can be done during the Situation phase or at any point during the model's activation.
Chaff: Once per game, when attacked in close combat by an enemy model, the engineer may use its chaff. The enemy model suffers -2 to hit and the engineer immediately disengages after attacks have been resolved.
Disruptor (light/medium/heavy)
Medium is Sp5 As4 Rn4 Pr1 Ar10 Sy3 Sw10 At2
Up to 2 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy
Exclusive upgrades: EMP bomb, sapper grenades, the EMP WSR, shock cannon (weapon that causes no damage, but applies a big debuff), storm generator (body slot, AOE attack with debuff), jammer (models within 9" don't benefit from abilities used by other friendly models, unless ability-user and recipient both have data nodes), counterwave projector (another damageless weapon, works like the jammer, but it targets one model within 18" and works regardless of data nodes)
Shielding: Disruptors are immune to shock cannons, storm generators, jammers, EMP bombs used by other models, and the EMP WSR. They also ignore enemy models' shock fields when engaged in close combat. Note that EMP bombs still have their nasty side effect, and counterwave projectors still work on them.
Tesla Coil: A Disruptor, once per turn during its activation, may apply the EMP WSR to a single weapon on a friendly model within 9". This effect lasts until the end of the turn.
Leader (medium/heavy/superheavy)
Medium is Sp4 As5 Rn5 Pr1 Ar10 Sy4 Sw11 At2
Up to 3 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: smoke grenades
Hit & Run, Target Analyser, Hold the Line, Over the Top, Crowd Control
Leader Abilities - roll one up.
It was going to be 10. Three soldier classes, three operative classes and four specialist classes. I quickly realised that the three soldier classes were largely redundant, and I couldn't think of any special rules to separate them from one another, so I combined them into one. Later on, I realised that the Tank class was also redundant - an 'implied' Tank class could be added into the ruleset simply by adding a new upgrade, the haze field (a Rare (1) upgrade which makes models near the user count as being in non-solid cover, and doesn't affect the user itself), and leaving it at that.
So, now we have seven classes:
- The basic Soldier, a dependable versatile class.
- Three Operatives, sneaky and fast but fragile. You can have up to two of each in your army:
--- The Sniper is built for precision attacks at medium-to-long range and being mobile and hard to get hold of.
--- The Assassin appears amid the enemy's lines and cuts a few throats.
--- The Scout is a bit tougher than the other two and leads the way, providing buffs against targets near it.
- Three Specialists, of which you can only have one each.
--- The Combat Engineer does all kinds of funky stuff to support the army - anything from repairing people to building turrets.
--- The Disruptor is an offensive debuff class, an ideal companion to a pair of Scouts.
--- The Leader is a general-purpose badass with several abilities taken from the other classes.
Each class has a set of up to four profiles, each one corresponding to a mech size. The differences between profiles are largely predictable, so I've only noted the Medium size for most of them. Some stats will (or won't) change between sizes in slightly different ways, but who cares; I can't be bothered making seven lots of tables using the full stop button because the forum's autoformat thing kills multiple spaces. Each class also has access to a set of profile upgrades. Some of these are exclusive - for example, an upgrade stating +1 As/Rn allows you to add +1 As or +1 Rn, but not both. Then there are 'exclusive upgrades' which are system upgrades that a class can only have if stated here; if an upgrade doesn't appear in any of these listings, assume it's non-exclusive (apart from Commando, that's getting axed). Finally, there are each class's special rules. Fun.
Without further ado, here's what I've written for these so far. I'd like feedback please, and ideas if you've got 'em (Especially for the Disruptor; it has loads of exclusive upgrades, but only two special rules, making it feel kind of naked.)
Soldier (all sizes)
..............Sp...As...Rn...Pr...Ar...Sy...Sw...At
light..........5....4....4....0....9....3...11....2
medium.........4....4....4....1...10....4...10....2
heavy..........4....4....4....1...11....5....9....2
super-heavy....3....4....4....2...12....6....8....2
Up to 3 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: bastion system (change so it doesn't increase firepower quite so much), smoke grenades (place centre of 6" template within 6" of user instead of current placement system).
Hold the Line: Cannot be moved by ranged attacks when within 6" of another model with this SR.
Over the Top: Once per game, during the Situation phase, you may move all models with this SR in your team 3" in the same direction, ignoring difficult terrain.
Sniper (light/medium)
Medium is Sp5 As3 Rn5 Pr0 Ar9 Sy3 Sw11 At1
Up to 2 of +1 Sp, +1 Rn, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy
Exclusive upgrades: camoskin, scrambler. May not have exotic armour.
Must take a single gigaweapon.
Sniper Doctrine: If the model's gigaweapon is Shots 1, Sniper Doctrine takes effect on a successful hit. Otherwise, it applies on a critical hit. Sniper Doctrine allows the model to immediately move up to half its Speed, ignoring difficult terrain, and can only take effect once per turn.
Extended Scope: The Sniper's gigaweapon gains +4" Range. If the weapon is Shots 1, any hit on a target within 24" is treated as a critical hit. The Sniper suffers -2 to hit models within 8" with its gigaweapon, unless it's positioned in the target's rear 180 degree arc.
Invisible Threat: Something that makes people scared of it. Not sure what.
Assassin (light/medium)
Medium is Sp6 As5 Rn4 Pr1 Ar9 Sy2 Sw12 At2
Up to 2 of +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: camoskin, scrambler. May not have exotic armour.
Concealment Field: basically Commando, nerfed slightly (forcing the assassin to be a bit further from its target is a good idea).
Backstrike: if it charges an enemy from behind, it gets the same damage bonuses it would have for shooting. To do this it must start the charge entirely within the target's rear 180 degree arc.
Hit and Run: if unengaged at the beginning of its activation, it may charge-fight-disengage instead of move-shoot-charge-fight.
Sneak: Doesn't need LOS when charging, and doesn't have to move in a straight line while charging either.
Scout (light/medium)
Medium is Sp5 As4 Rn4 Pr1 Ar9 Sy3 Sw11 At2
Up to 3 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: scrambler, sapper grenades (destroy spider mines and disable turrets until they're healed), the Tracer WSR, some kind of armour debuff weapon
Lead The Way: After deploying all models, move Scouts up to their Speed, ignoring difficult terrain.
Target Analyser: Friendly models gain +1 to hit models within 8" of the Scout (not cumulative with more Target Analysers) with ranged attacks.
Sensor Suite: Scouts come with advanced sensors and a data node.
Combat Engineer (any size)
Medium is Sp4 As3 Rn3 Pr1 Ar11 Sy4 Sw10 At1
Up to 2 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Sy/Sw
Exclusive upgrades: gun cannon (carries up to three turrets, a turret shoots at a target anytime it ends its movement within the turret's LOS and range; they can't be destroyed by shooting, but are disabled after taking X damage; they can be repaired via the engineer who launched them), spider mines, entrencher (takes up a weapon slot; messes around with terrain to give cover or allow friendlies easy passage through difficult terrain, needs a different name because there's already one in a video game), healing field (body slot, heals all friendlies & turrets within 6" when used, doesn't stack with the antigun), antigun (weapon slot, extends healing range to 18" and allows it to be used twice a turn), rapid repair matrix (doubles effect of healing), corecharger (automatically recharges a friendly model's force field once per turn), smoke grenades, minelayer (DIY dangerous terrain, except it might not even need to be in a terrain piece...), anything else I or you guys come up with?
Gizmos: A Combat Engineer mech has an additional weapon slot on its body.
Mechanic: A Combat Engineer may heal a single mech within 6", or repair all of its turrets provided at least one is within 6" of it. Healing removes three points of mass damage and one point of serious damage. The engineer may do this only once a turn, but it can be done during the Situation phase or at any point during the model's activation.
Chaff: Once per game, when attacked in close combat by an enemy model, the engineer may use its chaff. The enemy model suffers -2 to hit and the engineer immediately disengages after attacks have been resolved.
Disruptor (light/medium/heavy)
Medium is Sp5 As4 Rn4 Pr1 Ar10 Sy3 Sw10 At2
Up to 2 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy
Exclusive upgrades: EMP bomb, sapper grenades, the EMP WSR, shock cannon (weapon that causes no damage, but applies a big debuff), storm generator (body slot, AOE attack with debuff), jammer (models within 9" don't benefit from abilities used by other friendly models, unless ability-user and recipient both have data nodes), counterwave projector (another damageless weapon, works like the jammer, but it targets one model within 18" and works regardless of data nodes)
Shielding: Disruptors are immune to shock cannons, storm generators, jammers, EMP bombs used by other models, and the EMP WSR. They also ignore enemy models' shock fields when engaged in close combat. Note that EMP bombs still have their nasty side effect, and counterwave projectors still work on them.
Tesla Coil: A Disruptor, once per turn during its activation, may apply the EMP WSR to a single weapon on a friendly model within 9". This effect lasts until the end of the turn.
Leader (medium/heavy/superheavy)
Medium is Sp4 As5 Rn5 Pr1 Ar10 Sy4 Sw11 At2
Up to 3 of +1 Sp, +1 As/Rn, +1 Pr, +1 Ar/Sw, +1 Sy, +1 At
Exclusive upgrades: smoke grenades
Hit & Run, Target Analyser, Hold the Line, Over the Top, Crowd Control
Leader Abilities - roll one up.