4e Fan Creations and House RulesWorking on variant powers? Statting up a PC race or your version of a monster? Creating or converting an adventure? Put it here!
a presentient bard has a cybernetic link into a really large computer which is constantly trying to predict the future base on the sensory input provided by all of these bards... sometimes it works very well indeed.
If it was more primal than arcane the same could be a hive mind function... The link could be a gene therapy construct.. the mind could be an alien instead of a computer multiclass warlock?
Last edited by Garthanos; 14th August 2009 at 07:36 PM..
Even if you're not using the entire Dune setting, one specific idea might help a lot with adaptation: the idea that personal shields are so advanced that they stop most forms of ranged attacks, but there's some loophole that lets melee weapons in. Or at least, any ranged weapon that can get through the personal shield is complex enough that it takes special training to use.
Here's an idea:
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Biorhythm Pulse Shield
This common personal shield generates a field that repels weapon and energy fire. Because it is not possible to completely encase the wearer, the shield's protected area ripples with pseudorandom patterns synchronized with the wearer's body movements. It is possible, but very difficult, to penetrate the shield by timing a shot perfectly. There are many specialized techniques, all difficult to master, to defeat the shield's random pattern generation; one of the more common is to close to melee range, as shields in close proximity will influence each other.
Bard: Bards use cybernetic implants tap into the ragged remains of the Datasphere, gathering information and using it to manipulate what is left of the nanite web. Bards describe their interaction with technology as a an artistic process, relying on equal parts instinct and understanding.
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For a moment, I considered going through the PHB and giving a possible descriptor for all the various armor & weapon enchantments, but in reality, I just don't have the time to do so.
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Magic items become "Advanced Items"
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Advanced items from the Eberron Players Guide:
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Embeded Components: Embedded components become cybernetic implants, and are accessable by more than just warforged (cybrids).
But how to grant access... Should it be a pureley aesthetic consideration, should cybernetic implants cost slightly more, or should they require a feat to use?
If the feat solution is used, then it could be given out for free to certain classes.
Symbiots, Grafts & Parasites: These follow the same rules as Cybernetic implants, but a character can not use both cybernetics and organics. If a feat is required to commune & use symbiotes, then it should be given for free to all primal classes.
Some Symiotes are sentient. For this, use the inteligent item rules from Dragon (I think that's where they where printed).
Some Cybernetic Implants or Advanced items (magic items) contain basic AI programs. Again, use the rules from Dragon.
Dragonshards: Re-theme as Power Cells, and use them to imbue weapons with various properties.
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Races
Races are divided into Species, which include Alien, Fayen, Goblinoids and Humanoids.
Humanoids:
Several of the races that are found in the galaxy are so similar that scientists have stipulated that they must come from a single progenitor genestock. Nonetheless, they have evolved distinct customs and cultures, and have managed to maintain their genetic diversity even when living side-by-side.
These races include Elves, Dwarves, Orcs Humans and Halflings, Half-elves and Half-Orcs.
Fayens:
The Fayen peoples appear strange and unearthly. They inhabit the strange places between dimensions, and their cities often exist in folds of reality that cannot be perceived by humanoid eyes.
Fayens include Eladrin and Gnomes.
Aliens: Alien cultures are diverse and varied, and stem from various worlds and places in the galaxy. There is no unifying factor to the alien cultures - each stands in it's own right.
Aliens include Dragonborn, Dopplegangers, Gith, Goliaths, Koblolds and Teilflings.
Golbinoids: Similar in some ways to the humanoids, the goblinoid species can probably all be traced back to a single progenitor race. They vary greatly in appearance and behavior, and form a variety of civilizations and cultures.
Goblinoids include Bugbears, Goblins and Hobgoblins.
Other Races: There are some races that do not fit in the above categories.
Cybrids (warforged): the origins of the cybrid race are lost in the depths of antiquity. They are self-maintaining constructs with a psudo-biological makeup. No new cybrids have been made for centuries, and the method of their creation is lost. They are, however, occasionally found in an unactivated state stashed in remote locations.
Deva: Devas Remain a mystery. Some believe that they are manifestations of a cosmic or divine energy, others that they are physical extensions of the universe it's self, or even creations of the self-aware remnants of the Datasphere and the Nannite web.
Kalashtar: Kalashtar descended from the same stock as humanoids, but become members of a distinctly different race when they discovered and melded with parasitic psionic entities known as the Quori. They maintain majestic crystalline cities in the remote corners of the galaxy, and wield impressive psionic powers.
Shifters: Many believe that the shifters come from humanoid gene-stock, and where genetically modified to live on savage worlds. The Shifters, however, maintain that they evolved as an entirely separate species.
There are many other races that could be used, but these should do for now.
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Quote:
Biorhythm Pulse Shield
This common personal shield generates a field that repels weapon and energy fire. Because it is not possible to completely encase the wearer, the shield's protected area ripples with pseudorandom patterns synchronized with the wearer's body movements. It is possible, but very difficult, to penetrate the shield by timing a shot perfectly. There are many specialized techniques, all difficult to master, to defeat the shield's random pattern generation; one of the more common is to close to melee range, as shields in close proximity will influence each other.
To me, this seems like a bit of a bandaid to try and explain away D&D's focus on close combat, and sits a little strangely with me.
It also runs the risk of nerfing characters with a reliance on ranged powers
I'd rather just theme the world as having more to do with mele combat, and maybe include some chatracter options from Amethyst when it comes out.
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A quick note on technology: This setting can easily blend feudal and future technologies to give it a rich theme. At low levels, PC's may well be wearing plate, scale or leather armor, and upgrade to Kevlar, Powered armor and Forcefeilds when they have the money.
Bard: Bards use cybernetic implants tap into the ragged remains of the Datasphere, gathering information and using it to manipulate what is left of the nanite web. Bards describe their interaction with technology as a an artistic process, relying on equal parts instinct and understanding.
Yup - the character type that I had with this was called a Techno-mage - they tend to present what they do as though it were really old fashioned magic.. intimidating those who susceptable to superstitions and hiding how there magic really works
In your story they dont want people to know exactly how much of the Datasphere and its nanite tendrils are still webbed throughout all parts of the galaxy... so they obsfucate...
Some individuals linked to the Datashpere might be naturals getting random feedback at times... they might be built as deva --- or at least with the deva history and past life like memories.
These Strange symbols are conferred by the semi-sentient remnants of the Datasphere and the Nannite Web. No one is certain of their purpose, but rumors are abound of plots, plans and prophecies, and no one is sure if the bearers of the marks are instigators of these plans or merely pawns.
They appear as shimmering blue circuit-board patterns on the skins of their bearers.
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Rituals are replaced by Procedures.
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Other Arcane Classes:
Artificer: The artificer is a master of technological gadgetry. They are able to construct and enhance weapons and armor, and create small, robotic servants for use in the battlefield.
Swordmage: Swordmages use advanced cybernetics to channel different energies and forces through their weapons. By the end of their advancement, they are often more robotic than living.
Another idea is Battletech 4E: outside your mechs, your characters have few powers and abilities (hell, use a different RPG altogether for this scale) but when you climb into a giant war robot, you get your 4E abilities. The "class" now makes more sense since the machine is actually manufactured like this, it's not just skills picked up over your career. Multiclassing means heavily modifying your mech with parts from another class. Standard weapons and armour are equipment upgrades; magic is poorly understood alien tech.
The "dying" status indicates that the pilot is injured and unconscious, but they can be brought back by activating the mech's built-in medkit and injecting them with stimulants. This explains how a mech can go from "almost out of the fight" to "working perfectly" in a round.
Defender-class mechs put most of their power output towards shielding and weapons that pack a punch up-close, but trade off the ability to make long-range attacks
Striker-class mechs focus on maneuverability or long-range weapons, with most of their energy going towards engines and jump jets or towards advanced stabilization platforms for a long-range weapon platform
Leader-class mechs are combat support and include advanced comm packages and the ability to remote-pilot other mechs
Controller-class mechs carry lots of missiles, including experimental small-scale Genesis bombs
Engineers divide the mech power sources into 4 classes, although it's possible to adapt certain upgrades to other power sources:
"Martial" mechs are built on classical engineering principles but at a larger scale. They don't have as many exotic capabilities, but they're considered more reliable. The best engineers can push the envelope of design to make them do things that should only be possible with exotic technology.
"Arcane" mechs (an engineering in-joke based on the complexity of the design) are upgraded with advanced technology, mostly reverse-engineered from aliens. Although the specs are always better than Martial mechs, there's a high tendency to break down.
"Divine" mechs contain technology received as gifts from the Progenitors, a highly advanced alien race which occasionally chooses to "uplift" younger species for its own bizarre reasons. "Divine" technology is completely opaque to engineers, but modular enough to slot into an existing mech design easily and rarely if ever fails. Many pilots and engineers don't trust it, but it's so useful that many others grudgingly accept it or even prefer to work with it.
"Primal" mechs are a new design, built from the ground up around a biological power source known as Protoculture. One of the more common effects is the ability of a mech to transform from a humanoid shape to that of a jet or tank.
There are rumours of "Psionic" mechs on the drawing boards, which contain amplification helmets allowing the pilot to project their own mental abilities across the battlefield.
Some common classes of mechs:
"Fighter" class mechs are one of the oldest and most reliable in use, and the exemplar of the defender role. With heavy armour and powerful short-range guns, they excel at getting up close to enemy mechs and locking down their position. They've recently been augmented with a new design codenamed "Battlerage" that redirects the power-plant output to temporary shields with every attack.
"Ranger" class mechs are a versatile scouting platform, with designs emphasizing mobility and others built around a state-of-the-art long-range sniper rifle. A new design codenamed "Beastmaster" features on-board drones.
"Rogue" class mechs are incredibly maneuverable and built for precision strikes.
"Warlord" class mechs are a standard officer's mech, with advanced tactical overviews and a medical monitor on each subordinate's mech. They have the ability to remote-activate subordinate's weapons and medkits.
"Wizard" class mechs are the standard weapons platform for experimental technologies, including everything from missiles that do incredible blast damage, to terrain-deforming effects, to holographic generators, to self-assembline nanite drones.
"Swordmage" class mechs are built around a teleportation and dimensional warp system.
"Sorceror" class mechs have the most cutting-edge advanced weaponry, which is also often the most unreliable. (The old engineer's joke that it works "depending on the phase of the moon" almost seems to hold true for some of these.)
"Warlock" class mechs have weaponry adapted from specific alien races.
"Bard" class mechs are Warlord-class mechs augmented with experimental technology (including one configuration that includes a quantum computer to predict battlefield conditions in advance!)
Very different to the world that I was building but awesome nonetheless.
I like the suggestion of using a different ruleset for the characters outside the mechs. If the size difference wasn't too great between to two, (say, if the mech's where large, or , at the most, huge), you could actually use 3rd-ed based rules for the characters outside of the mechs. d20 Modern would probably be the best fit.
The rational here is that they would still be able to interact, and possibly even fight each other, but there would be a distinct and noticeable difference in power between the two.
Characters on the ground would have less hit points, deal less damage, and would not have healing surges or regular powers. With the right equipment and tactics, they could probably deal with a mech, but not easily.
It could also be interesting to increase mech-size with tier.
Heroic Mechs would be Large
Paragon Mechs would be Huge
Epic Mechs would be Gargantuan
This scaling would only really come into play in the human-scale part of the game.
It could easily be reversed though:
Large Mech scale: 4 medium creatures can fit in one square.
Huge Mech scale: 9 medium creatures can fit in one square
Gargantuan Mech scale: 16 medium creatures can fit in one square.
At these larger scales, mech powers that target a creature can target a square instead.
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A few modifications would sill be have to made to allow the two combat systems to dovetail more smoothly. (whether you'll use grab or gapple, five foot steps or slides, etc)
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Skills:
Skills would have to be streamlined a little (Trained/untrained rather than ranks, Using perception rather than spot, Listen & search, etc.)
The Mechs and the pilots each have different sets of skills.
Skill Synergy: If a mech is piloted by someone with overlapping skills, then the mech gets +2 to each skill that the pilot is also trained in.
(This means that some people are well-suited to their mechs)
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Hit Points:
Mechs and pilots have separate hit point totals.
Pilots gain half their Hit dice type per level.
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Levels:
A simple system to allow d20 Modern characters to get to 30th level would be needed.
This could easily be an extension of the existing tables, and the focus in Modern on multicalssing would work well with this.
Both the mechs and the pilots would need to gain experience and level up at the same rates.
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A note on Bio-Mechs:
Rather than seeing these as transformers, I’d see them as much more similar to the Evas from Neon Genesis: They are biological, they are alive, and are sometimes barely restrained by their technological shackles
I don't think a new thread is necessary - we're already on the second thread here! People can still talk about other sci-fi ideas in this thread and just skip the posts on mechs if they're not interested.
For the idea of pilots using a different rule set, I was at first thinking that they'd be stripped-down 4E characters, like minions or something, but the important thing is that they don't have access to "powers" in the 4E sense because in this system those are built into the mechs. But then I thought, if you're cutting them down that much, why not make them really simplified and use a rules-light system like FUDGE? (It depends on how much of the campaign you intend to have take place outside the mechs.)
I just mentioned "transformers" because that's pretty much what the Druid is - I didn't intend them all to be transformers. And I really like Protoculture as a power source, because I'm a big Robotech fan. The Eva's would work for this too. The big difference is that with Protoculture, some alien races - the Invid - used it to create fully biological mechs, but humans have adapted the power source itself to work with machines built from the ground-up by humans. The Eva concept is that humans have basically stolen the alien mechs themselves and are wrapping human technology around it.
Anyway, I was thinking about the Divine power source, and I fleshed it out a lot. The more I wrote, the more great adventure seeds I thought of, which tells me I'm onto something. Here's what I came up with:
The Progenitor Power Source
The Progenitors were a race of advanced aliens who seeded life throughout the galaxy. Millions of years ago they were at war with the Necrons, masters of Unlife or Anti-Life which attempted to invade our galaxy from somewhere beyond. It is thought that the Progenitors seeded the cosmos in order to ensure that whenever Necron troops arrived at a new star system they would find living beings already there to oppose them.
Both Progenitors and Necrons are long gone from our galaxy, although there are myths saying that they may still be found lurking in the depths of space. However, remnants of their technology can still be found. Progenitor technology is unique in that its workings are utterly incomprehensible to science, but it can be used by members of Seeded races if they surrender their will to the machine. Their devices have a wide variety of effects. Necron technology is, unfortunately, easier to make use of, but its effects are uniformly harmful - they involve the creation of machines or creatures opposed to life as we know it (ie. "undead"). Although the godlike Necrons themselves seem to have vanished, some of their soldiers and servitor races still remain in suspended animation, and fools and madmen still occasionally create new creatures of Anti-Life by meddling with their technology.
Progenitor devices are sealed orbs, 0.3m to 2m in diameter, in a variety of colours. By bathing a Progenitor Orb in an energy field and focusing one's mind on it to surrender the will (called "channeling" the orb), a descendant of a Progenitor Seed Race can cause it to open. This absorbs the surrounding energy and releases it in a wave which causes (or seems to cause) an effect in local space, sometimes obvious and sometimes subtle. Many devices have effects that directly attack Anti-Life creatures. Another common trait of Progenitor devices is that they do not merely cause an effect, they rewrite reality so that effect has always been in place. For instance, a channeler could invoke an Orb after taking damage, and not merely repair the damage but cause it never to have happened. (The leading scientific theory is that this wave somehow changes the universal physical constants in the local area, such as the speed of light, the force of gravity, and the direction of time. Many dismiss this "theory" as pseudoscience.) It is not known how the orbs detect that a user is focusing their will, since no known form of telepathy can be detected. However, users have learned by trial and error exactly what form their thoughts must take to influence individual devices, and sometimes to exert limited control over the effect (such as choosing the target of a damaging effect). The thought pattern required involves aligning yourself with the goals of the Progenitors and requesting that the device carry out the function given to it by the Progenitors. (It seems unnecessary to have more than a vague knowledge of who or what the Progenitors actually are and what their goals may be.) Skilled channelers are able to give themselves fully and sincerely to this process for the brief period necessary to invoke the Orb's power, and then return fully to their own consciousness. Some see themselves as tricking the Orb with a faked show of devotion, while others see themselves as truly following the Progenitors' goals, which mostly seem to be related to the creation, preservation, and advancement of Life in the universe.
The largest orbs are all a uniform two meters in diameter, and perform a single standard function. Due to the reality-warping nature of these functions, only one two-meter orb can be used in a given time period. Because of their standalone nature, it is easy to collect different two-meter orbs without affecting other systems. (These modular orbs correspond to Channel Divinity feats). Smaller orbs create effects by working in concert, and so replacing or expanding the network of orbs is a highly involved procedure involving mapping the connections between orbs and a lot of trial and error. (These correspond to class powers.) Often the precise layout of orbs designed to give access to a certain effect will also allow secondary effects that the designers did not intend, such as offensive options originally created during the Necron wars. This explains why many Progenitor powered mechs have powers targetting Anti-Life despite its rarity.
Progenitor Mechs:
Mechs using the "Progenitor" power source have a series of hollows located near the central reactor which can hold Progenitor Orbs. This allows the pilot to shunt power from the main reactor into the hollow while channeling in order to activate an Orb. Standard configurations often come with common and well-understood orbs, but there is always expansion space for pilots to install their own orbs. It is possible to use Progenitor Orbs with mechs using other power sources by installing them in an external containment unit and hooking up a system to shunt power to this unit, but mechs built from the ground up to use the Progenitor power source transfer energy to the Progenitor Orbs more efficiently.
The design of new Progenitor mechs involves cataloguing the known effects of progenitor orbs working in various configurations, basically by trial and error with little attempt to find any pattern behind them. (Such efforts have been made, but always come to nothing.) With the exception of the modular two-meter orbs, trying to install random orbs into a mech or design new orb networks on the spot is a losing proposition - hundreds or thousands of man-hours of work goes into finding the correct pattern of orbs for a new power. Each government creating a mech series has dictionaries of orb effects, compiled at great effort, which are a closely guarded secret and a prime target for industrial espionage. Discovering orb effects is an art, not a science, and designers must be expert channelers as well as the correct temperament to lead such huge projects. Although many of the top designers seem to have developed an intuition for finding new effects (and thus, they are incredibly valuable and targetted personnel), none have been able to formulate their instincts into a scientific rule or pattern. If anyone could discover such a rule it would have incalculable value.
Example Progenitor mechs:
Chaplain-class (reskinned Cleric) - Contains a series of orbs designed to repair damage and alter local spacetime to give favourable conditions to allies.
Paladin-class - Contains a series of orbs designed to alter local spacetime in ways that hinder enemies and force them to target this well-armoured mech.
Avenger-class - Contains a series of orbs designed to focus damage on enemies, including a valuable series codenamed "Enmity" which retroactively rewrites failed attacks.
Invoker-class - Contains a series of orbs codenamed "Covenant", which performs wide-ranging alterations of spacetime which damages enemies and inflicts harmful conditions on them.
Some good stuff in there too. I like the time/reality altering nature of the progenitor tech.
Could the spheres 'tune' to the will of a certain individual? It just feels that there should be a reason that others can't activate the tech remotely. Perhaps they need to be in the vicinity of a control module (which would be in the piloting unit).
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Personally, if I was running a mech game, I'd have a good amount of action take place in the mech, and a good amount outside of it (otherwise, it'd just feel like a series of combat missions).
Because of this, combined with the fact that I'd love to have mechs interact with normal characters, and normal characters interact with mechs, I'd defiantly be running 4e and d20-Modern as parallel hybrids.
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I'm wondering how modular you could make the Mech construction system. You can obviously get a fair bit of variation with multiclassing and hybrid characters, but it could be possible to take it even further:
A while ago on this forum, some people where trying to figure out how to make a 'classless' 4e system, which allowed you to build your class from the ground up using existing features as a basis.
If you wanted to, you could modify their work in light of the functioning of hybrid classes, to create a truly customisable mech experience.
(only if that's what you and your players would like though. There's a lot to be said for the advantages of having guidelines...)
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I saw District 9 the other night, and it has one of the best mechs I have ever seen in a live action film!
I think as well, that it's a perfect example of a 4e mech fighting d20 humans...
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