jester47
First Post
So I am thinking that the new d20 future has all the ingredients to make a pretty cool version of Mechwarrior. Recently I was contemplating the idea of running a Mechwarrior game using Cyberpunk2020. Still thinking about it. However, since d20 Future has a chapter on mecha and the use of CP2020 is sort of a result of my hate for the MW rules, I am thinking that I would give d20 Future a shot. Also, the other reason I was using CP2020, was the fact that there seems to be a regular lack of certain technologies that I would assume to be in the Battletech world. Namely Biotech, Neuroscience, AI, Nanotech and Local Communication Networks. All of this I would put up as some of that black box tech that was lost durring the succession wars. But that does not mean its not there.
Lets take a look at the mech. You have whats called a neuro impulse helmet. This I would assume is able to pick up on the thoughts of a MW and help control the mech. So what are all the dials buttons and switches for? backup systems of course, but if the pilot needs a coolant flush he should just be able to think "coolant flush" and it happens. Even after 200 years, if the helmet can still pick up the impulses of a mechwarrior than they can still plug that system into the coolant flusher.
So what about biotech? So its a lost tech, but that does not mean that it was not used on the MWs in the past. And there are families with long standing traditions of MWs. Perhaps this is a result of bio-tinkering way back in the good'ol days.
Nanotech. To make the materials that make mechs feasible you need to have factories that employ nanotech. If this is a quesiton take a look at carbon nanotubes. Nanites can be dangerous but the immediate real 21st century technology is improved materials strength. Harder armors, stonger myomers.
Wouldn't the StarLeague have some tactical AIs? What about Jump ships? Whos going to do the impossible calculations to make sure the ship jumps right? You would want someone that brilliant in RnD. So why not can it with a ships AI? Why not put some limited AI in a mech to ease the burden of the pilot? Quantum computers would seem like somthing that was achieved and then lost.
The last is networks. You would think that maybe mechs with comlinks open to a command center could get informaiton from them (and in a lot of the stories and video games they do). But what about mech functions? How about shutting down the mech if the pilot gets knocked out? What about hacking into the enemies networks with a netrunner and hitting the shutdown sequnce. I would imagine that any mech with an open coms is victim to this. Hence the battle is not only fought on the field but also over the airwaves.
All that said it seems that CP 2020 would be ideal for a Mechwarrior RP system. However I am interested in seeing how D20 handles it. So far in my opinion it looks good.
I get the impression that the Lostech of the Starleage was supposed to be weird, sort of like a gammaworld lite. One of the original ideas that was in MW was strange fauna. Combine this with old SLDF research experiments, and such you have a rich political background with the possibility of cyberpunk action and space horror adventure, plus the excitement of mechabattles. Not to mention the numerous megacorps that have typically gone unused in the game.
The problem I keep finding in CP2020 is that it does not go all the way on these techs because it was so darned early. It seems to me that d20 Future will cover these areas quite well, as well as the mecha. Needless to say I am excited.
The Kuritan Soldier Droid, developed and deployed in a few places, but humans are so much cheaper and just as effective to deploy as infantry, that they are more a status symbol than anything really useful. And an AI complex enough to pilot a mech effectively is so expensive it is still best to use a human, cause hey, in the 31st century lifes cheap, battlemechs ARN'T!
Aaron.
Lets take a look at the mech. You have whats called a neuro impulse helmet. This I would assume is able to pick up on the thoughts of a MW and help control the mech. So what are all the dials buttons and switches for? backup systems of course, but if the pilot needs a coolant flush he should just be able to think "coolant flush" and it happens. Even after 200 years, if the helmet can still pick up the impulses of a mechwarrior than they can still plug that system into the coolant flusher.
So what about biotech? So its a lost tech, but that does not mean that it was not used on the MWs in the past. And there are families with long standing traditions of MWs. Perhaps this is a result of bio-tinkering way back in the good'ol days.
Nanotech. To make the materials that make mechs feasible you need to have factories that employ nanotech. If this is a quesiton take a look at carbon nanotubes. Nanites can be dangerous but the immediate real 21st century technology is improved materials strength. Harder armors, stonger myomers.
Wouldn't the StarLeague have some tactical AIs? What about Jump ships? Whos going to do the impossible calculations to make sure the ship jumps right? You would want someone that brilliant in RnD. So why not can it with a ships AI? Why not put some limited AI in a mech to ease the burden of the pilot? Quantum computers would seem like somthing that was achieved and then lost.
The last is networks. You would think that maybe mechs with comlinks open to a command center could get informaiton from them (and in a lot of the stories and video games they do). But what about mech functions? How about shutting down the mech if the pilot gets knocked out? What about hacking into the enemies networks with a netrunner and hitting the shutdown sequnce. I would imagine that any mech with an open coms is victim to this. Hence the battle is not only fought on the field but also over the airwaves.
All that said it seems that CP 2020 would be ideal for a Mechwarrior RP system. However I am interested in seeing how D20 handles it. So far in my opinion it looks good.
I get the impression that the Lostech of the Starleage was supposed to be weird, sort of like a gammaworld lite. One of the original ideas that was in MW was strange fauna. Combine this with old SLDF research experiments, and such you have a rich political background with the possibility of cyberpunk action and space horror adventure, plus the excitement of mechabattles. Not to mention the numerous megacorps that have typically gone unused in the game.
The problem I keep finding in CP2020 is that it does not go all the way on these techs because it was so darned early. It seems to me that d20 Future will cover these areas quite well, as well as the mecha. Needless to say I am excited.
The Kuritan Soldier Droid, developed and deployed in a few places, but humans are so much cheaper and just as effective to deploy as infantry, that they are more a status symbol than anything really useful. And an AI complex enough to pilot a mech effectively is so expensive it is still best to use a human, cause hey, in the 31st century lifes cheap, battlemechs ARN'T!
Aaron.
