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(+)Heat, a New Mechanic For Managing Power Systems
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<blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 8586578" data-attributes="member: 6704184"><p>This is an idea I originally had for some experimental 2-person air vehicles made by the wealthy artificer the group is friends with in my Eberron game, and I'm going to expand on in my more crystalpunk homebrew settings. </p><p></p><p>The basic idea is very simple. </p><p></p><p>A device, vehicle, weapon, etc, has a Heat Die, which represents it's capacity for rapid or prolonged or intense use. The higher the Die, the higher the capacity. </p><p>eg, the arcane impulse thrusters of a slicer, a small 2 person flying machine with 3 guns and a small but powerful engine, steered with the use of pilot-controlled "wing-sails" and tiny maneuvering thrusters, has a d8 heat die, it's two light guns have a d6 each, and the big pilot gun has a d4. </p><p></p><p>Normal usage generally doesn't require a roll of the Heat Die, but when you push the system, overcharge a weapon, or maintain maximum usage beyond a very short span, you roll. Your Heat generally starts at 1, which means as long as you don't roll a 1, nothing happens. If you do roll a 1, your Heat increases by 1 point, to 2. Now you have to roll higher than two to avoid the device heating up. </p><p></p><p>Not using the system for a round drops Heat by 1, and you can spend a bonus action to attempt to reduce heat, or taking an action to automatically succeed at doing so, by 1 point.</p><p></p><p> You might also allow dangerous maneuvers like venting heat from one system to overcharge another, with degrees of success determining how much extra juice you get in the target system, and whether you reduce, maintain, or increase, the source system's heat. </p><p></p><p>When heat is maxed out on the die, you suffer a mishap, and the system's is volatile until repaired. An volatile system, even once it get it working again in the short term, starts back at 2 rather than 1, and whenever you roll Heat, you roll two dice and use the lower result. </p><p></p><p>You can increase the capacity of a system by connecting it to a larger system or upgrading it with an expanded capacitor. Such a system rolls Heat twice, and uses the higher result, once per round.</p><p></p><p></p><p>In <em>Space Fantasy!</em>, there are energised melee weapons with heat dice, devices that allow you to transfer heat from a device or system to an enemy system, if they fail a save, dealing damage and forcing them to make heat rolls, etc. I'm thinking of upping the damage dealt by most characters by having energy weapons all have an extra damage die, and a heat die that is rolled any time you use the extra damage die, but that might suck in play. </p><p></p><p>Remember that it's a (+) thread, so no thread crapping, don't try to tell me that my whole premised is dumb and I should feel bad, etc.</p><p></p><p>I'm also toying with the idea of giving complex devices, upgradable weapons, and vehicles, all infusion slots, allowing for upgrades to that item. A bit Final Fantasy 7, a bit Star Wars. </p><p></p><p>Just thought it might be fun to share, let me know what you think? Would you use something like this in a magitech setting? What about in a sci-fi game? Any pitfalls that seem obvious to you that I seem to have missed?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="doctorbadwolf, post: 8586578, member: 6704184"] This is an idea I originally had for some experimental 2-person air vehicles made by the wealthy artificer the group is friends with in my Eberron game, and I'm going to expand on in my more crystalpunk homebrew settings. The basic idea is very simple. A device, vehicle, weapon, etc, has a Heat Die, which represents it's capacity for rapid or prolonged or intense use. The higher the Die, the higher the capacity. eg, the arcane impulse thrusters of a slicer, a small 2 person flying machine with 3 guns and a small but powerful engine, steered with the use of pilot-controlled "wing-sails" and tiny maneuvering thrusters, has a d8 heat die, it's two light guns have a d6 each, and the big pilot gun has a d4. Normal usage generally doesn't require a roll of the Heat Die, but when you push the system, overcharge a weapon, or maintain maximum usage beyond a very short span, you roll. Your Heat generally starts at 1, which means as long as you don't roll a 1, nothing happens. If you do roll a 1, your Heat increases by 1 point, to 2. Now you have to roll higher than two to avoid the device heating up. Not using the system for a round drops Heat by 1, and you can spend a bonus action to attempt to reduce heat, or taking an action to automatically succeed at doing so, by 1 point. You might also allow dangerous maneuvers like venting heat from one system to overcharge another, with degrees of success determining how much extra juice you get in the target system, and whether you reduce, maintain, or increase, the source system's heat. When heat is maxed out on the die, you suffer a mishap, and the system's is volatile until repaired. An volatile system, even once it get it working again in the short term, starts back at 2 rather than 1, and whenever you roll Heat, you roll two dice and use the lower result. You can increase the capacity of a system by connecting it to a larger system or upgrading it with an expanded capacitor. Such a system rolls Heat twice, and uses the higher result, once per round. In [I]Space Fantasy![/I], there are energised melee weapons with heat dice, devices that allow you to transfer heat from a device or system to an enemy system, if they fail a save, dealing damage and forcing them to make heat rolls, etc. I'm thinking of upping the damage dealt by most characters by having energy weapons all have an extra damage die, and a heat die that is rolled any time you use the extra damage die, but that might suck in play. Remember that it's a (+) thread, so no thread crapping, don't try to tell me that my whole premised is dumb and I should feel bad, etc. I'm also toying with the idea of giving complex devices, upgradable weapons, and vehicles, all infusion slots, allowing for upgrades to that item. A bit Final Fantasy 7, a bit Star Wars. Just thought it might be fun to share, let me know what you think? Would you use something like this in a magitech setting? What about in a sci-fi game? Any pitfalls that seem obvious to you that I seem to have missed? [/QUOTE]
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