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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2010143" data-attributes="member: 1129">D20 Mecha Compendium is a strange beast.  On one hand, it’s a well illustrated, well laid out tome with numerous campaign settings.  On the other, it’s a book whose main rule set isn’t available to the public and may suffer some game play issues because of it.The campaigns are broken up by era:Guardians of Divinity (fantasy mecha) Golemsuit Warriors (fantasy battlesuits) Beast Lords (fantasy sentai) Cities & Empire (steampunk fantasy) Gear Krieg (alternate history mecha) Phoenix Rising (modern day battlesuits) Great Machine Decander X (classic giant robot) Heavy Gear (future walking tanks) Jovian Chronicles (future space mecha) Space Ranger Ouroboros (variable aerofighters) Outworld Changelings (far-future battlesuit/mecha)One of the reasons I was looking forward to this book are the fantasy settings.  It doesn’t let me down with the originality displayed here.  I’m a big fan of Battle Chasers and other uses of technology in fantasy like Escaflowne so was very eager to see what type of goods we’d get here with four different settings.The book provides a lot of different types of fantasy.  The Guardians of Divinity showcases very powerful Mecha, two very powerful suits and lesser suits made in emulation of those suits.  Of course the empires that have the mecha are preparing for war and the rest of the country looks like its going to get caught in the middle, but hey, that’s life right?  On the cover is Faltrius, Divine Guardian of War, a unit in service to the paladins of Nosterloch.  The opposing Divine Guardian, Gurdiel, is the Guardian of Fire and is a chaotic opposite to the lawful nature of Faltrius.  Sets up a nice contrast between the two and looks to be a fun setting to watch characters trying to best such powerful creatures.The Golemsuit Warriors provides the user with armor that’s much tougher than normal, but nowhere in the same category as the Divine Guardians.  Not really a campaign in and of itself as much as it is a set of magic items, this section provides The Black Hood Gang as a group of thugs wielding these suits.  When I use this section, I plan on having that Gang be members of a rogue Explorers Society that after having made their discovery, have gone rogue and now use these suits for their own needs.  Of course they also uncovered the means of creating more, which will allow the players to either use these methods or sell ‘em off.The Golem Suits here are small things like armor with some modifications.  Take the Pureheart, a suit forged from Mithril.  Perfect for those paladins who hail from that City In the Scarred Lands campaign right?  How about the Sea Raider?  A suit that provides Water Breathing to the user could be handy when moving through the Blood Sea.Coming from another angle entirely, Beast Lords takes place in a destroyed future where the Beast Lords are self-aware machines that have no pilots.  While the campaign world sounds interesting and the Beast Lords are an excellent example of a Voltron like mecha because they can combine and form the Beast Lord, I’m a little puzzled over what exactly this campaign setting is supposed to do as the players, unless they take the roles of the mecha themselves, aren’t likely to have a lot to do.Another campaign setting I enjoyed was Cities and Empire where CoalSuits, a SteamPunk style technology, help major cities move along without the express help of mages and their creations.  Perfect while we wait for the Iron Kingdoms.  The bad news is that sometime back in their history the cities, human controlled, basically wiped out the goblins from their continent.  Bad news?  They didn’t quite succeed as the goblins have been on another continent making their own CoalSuits.These uniforms are like the Golem Suits in that they’re meant for one person and while they make the user tougher, aren’t going to allow a 5th level warrior to take on a 10th level fighter.  There are a few interesting non-Coalsuits here though.  Take the Hookshark Air Skiff, an airship that uses rockets to blast its foes.  It looks like a boat between two zeppelins.  The Bombardier Submarine is another different vehicle, a 180 long ‘black metal whale’.I’m probably one of the few people out there who has D20 Modern and said, “Yeah, it’s got some strengths to it that D&D doesn’t but I still like D&D.” so while reading over the Modern Worlds, I keep thinking, how could I use these different mecha in my campaign.  Fortunately, the book helps you out in this department by including a “Uses in Other Settings” section at the end of each campaign introduction.Don’t want to run Gear Krieg in World War II?  They can be used as “walking chariots”.  A nifty idea that I’ll have to try out soon.Like the Beast Lords fantasy setting, one of the settings for the Modern one looks more like an example setting than an actual setting to play.  While Great Machine Decander has stats for the Great Machine and some cool options, it’s basically a one trick pony so I’m wondering what the characters are supposed to be doing in such a campaign while this great machine takes care of business.The future setting has some obvious tributes to Robotch with Space Ranger Ouroboros.  Seems these aliens, the Iriimnir, a race virtually identical to humanity, has decided to wipe out humanity.  Only the quick form changing mecha like the Vampire, capable of being a giant robot or a plane, can stop them.  Classic stuff.For more of a space opera feel, Outworld Changelings pits humanity against a foe that’s not only more powerful and numerous, but does so only using the children, the only beings capable of piloting the mecha in use.Jovian Chronicles and Heavy Gear get their own sections too, each serving as an excellent introduction to the vehicles and mecha of the different settings and providing a good starting point to those interested in picking up those separate settings once DP9 goes dual statted.The campaigns aren’t fully fleshed out by any means but are numerous enough that you should be able to find some use for the mecha in most campaigns that you run.Art in this book is top notch.  These mecha designs are awesome to say the least.  Those worried about the gray scale effect of having full color illustration turned gray can put those fears at rest.  One thing I thought different was the style.  See most of the mecha follow the standard clean illustrations but those of Gear Krieg look almost dirty in comparison.  A nice contrast.   Layout is crisp and clean.  Maybe a little too crisp as the inner border runs close to the spine and the outer border seems a little too wide.So what’s the problem?  It’s the stats.  I’m not sure if these stat blocks are correct or even usable as they are.  I say not sure because this is a Compendium of Mecha, not the actual rule book.  Still, some things worry me.A typical OGL Stat Block Includes the following:Type:     What type of meca it is.  Most here are robots or suits.Size:    The D&D size.  Large, Medium, etc…Hit Points:    How much damage the sucker can take.Occupancy:    How many pilots.Armor Hardness:    How much damage the unit can shrug off. Defense:        The armor class of the unit.  Strength:    The D&D strength stat.Tactical Speed:    How fast.Initiative:    How quick it goes.Maneuver:    Used for making skill checks.Weapons and Special Abilities: Spellcasting powers, and other goodies.Now right away I’m disappointed that they used Defense instead of Armor Class and Armor Hardness instead of just Hardness.  Why make new terms when the standard system has them?The problem is further compounded by some of the stats themselves.  Take the Beast Lord Eagle.  Being a self aware mecha, it has a Dexterity Score of 18 but has an Initiative of –1, bought with Mecha Points.  Does this mean it has an Initiative of 3?  If so, why weren’t these calculations figured into the stats?What about Strength?  Half the time it lists the strength bonus, like General Purpose Gears with their Strength of 40 having a +15 modifier, but other times, like with the Guardians of Divinity, its left off.  I don’t want to have to look up the strength of a Firelance Guaridan Armor (28 for those wondering) when the bonuses are listed for other classes.Some of the stats themselves seem off.  Faltrius is a Huge Mecha and wields a Longsword.  The damage listed is 2d8.  Breaking out the Arms and Equipment Guide for ease of reference, I compare a medium sized longsword, which does 1d8, with a huge longsword, which has two sizes differences.  It should be 3d6.  This means that other stats may be off too.  Taking a quick look at the Fire Guardian who has a Greastsword that does 4d6, I see that it matches the second increase, which is 2d6 for every 1d6 so not everything is off.Another part of the problem is what are the challenge ratings of the self aware units?  Sure, you could use its class as a guide, but is that really accurate?  In addition, because these aren’t templates but equipment, if someone has a suit and you kill them, do you get more experience points for it?  Unlike standard equipment, you’re not going to be able to use it because in the process, you’ll most likely destroy the suit.  In some campaigns, this is going to be part of the setting.  Most modern and futuristic campaigns have tanks and other vehicles that the characters have to contend with anyway so the decisions are a little clearer there.  Perhaps a CR boost or a bonus but in fantasy, where you could be fighting a Longblade Guardian Armor with 120 hit points and a Greatsword with the keen enhancement that does 4d6, there should be some sort of guide on how to augment the CR of the user of the suit.The bad news is that I can’t fault this book for some of those issues because it’s a supplement to a book, d20 Mecha by GOO, that isn’t out yet.  What’s worse is that even if d20 Mecha has a completely different system that contradicts the material here, it’s because GOO has had months more to refine it while DP9 has hit the stands.As a guidebook to mecha, the visuals and campaign seeds are excellent.  The game mechanics seem fairly sound but need work that may already be taken care of in d20 Mecha.  When that book comes out I’ll revisit this review with a quick update but for now, if you’re looking for some great illustrations or just want some variants on fantasy armor like I do, check out the d20 Mecha Compendium and let me know what you think.</blockquote>

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