Mecha game in Poly #95

[HalWhitewyrm]

Folks,
That said, I hear you guys loud and clear.
--Erik

I figured as much, Erik.
Hopefully we'll see some of these developments in the near future. It will make for a lot of happy designers and thus happy gamers.

I am starting to become assured of my initial gut feeling, that the selling of Dragon and Dungeon/Poly was the best thing that could've happened to the magazines. We'll see.

Thanks for the note, Erik.

 

[Ranger REG]

Author, as mentioned, is David Noonan. He's the mack daddy of D&D right now as far as I can tell.

You mean the same guy who did the PULP HEROES mini-game (the very first of the new Poly magazine format this year), that's cool.

Re: fan sites -- I'd guess they'll take the same tack as with FR, Greyhawk, etc. sites -- as long as you're not reproducing chunks of their text and not claiming to be official, and not claiming to be in compliance with the d20 license, then I'm sure it's no big deal.

I'm sure gamers out there want to support the mini-games, and not step on Wizards' toes (of course, there are deviants). Is it safe to reference the magazine which can serve as a free promotion?

 

[thundershot]

Well, after a quick read (I'll go into details later), Mecha Crusade is SPECTACULAR!! It even has rules for gestalts! (though it doesn't say, I'm assuming you can have one Huge and four Large mecha merge.)

The only disappointment might be with the d20 Modern rules altogether. I was hoping that d20M would use feet instead of meters, but it's not too difficult to figure out.

Also, as good as this is, it REALLY needs to be added to the SRD, simply because other companies are going to just make up their own rules, and you'll have a half dozen different rules for mecha, when this one is perfect. And we get a better chance of seeing other companies add to it.

Thanks, and keep up the great work!
Chris

 

[Erik Mona]

>>>
The only disappointment might be with the d20 Modern rules altogether. I was hoping that d20M would use feet instead of meters, but it's not too difficult to figure out.
>>>

I don't have a copy here at home, but I'm 98% certain that d20 Modern _does_ use feet (rather than meters). I believe Noonan used meters in Mecha Crusade because he thought it made more sense for the genre.

--Erik

 

[thundershot]

Actually, I'm 100% certain it uses feet, because about an hour ago, Dave Noonan replied to my query from yesterday on the d20 Modern WotC boards.


Thanks!
Chris (REALLY wants support for this game... seriously... no pressure.)

 

[thundershot]

Erik,


I just spent an hour reading most of it (rather than skimming, though I couldn't force myself through every single weapon, at least not without the d20M book and a character sheet), and it only seems to have one major confusion issue. When the Cyborg gains the Artificial Body Cyberware, it says his HD become d10... um... his HD is already d10. What's this supposed to mean?

Also, I'm assuming that a mecha can take the "Basic Transform" and "Advanced Transform" more than once, thus allowing Triple-Changers, correct? Also, it says for "Advanced Transform", the vehicle mode gets no weapons. What about fighter jets (like Starscream) or cars with "attack mode" weapons on the hood? Often mecha will recycle their hand weapons in robot mode into top mounted weapons for vehicle mode.

Sorry to complicate things. Also, I apoligize if this is addressed somewhere in the weapons section.


Thanks!
Chris

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Also, as good as this is, it REALLY needs to be added to the SRD, simply because other companies are going to just make up their own rules, and you'll have a half dozen different rules for mecha, when this one is perfect. And we get a better chance of seeing other companies add to it.

Actually, this is PRECISELY what I think should be done. I already see that Guardians of Order will be releasing d20 Mecha (I wanted to use that title, grumble, grumble) and from reading what they said were their plans plsu the thread where they discuss their approach to Silver Age Sentinels (ie. some of the same approaches to d20 they'll be using in their upcoming d20 products) I am incredibly less than thrilled. I would hate for all of a sudden there to be 3 or 4 d20 mecha rules running around, all disparate with each other, none clearly establishing as THE norm for others to develop from. From what I hear Mecha Crusade does this pretty well, so let's see if we can do the gaming world a favor and get this OGC-ed.

I wonder whose call would that be? And what would it take? Erik?

 

[thundershot]

The only other thing I thought of while laying in bed last night was that there should be components for claw, bite, and gore attacks, so that it can be an animal, or transform into an animal.



Chris

 

[jaults]

    Wow... got a chance to read Mecha Crusade the whole way through last night. What a cool, fun looking game. I said it when Omega World came out, and this just make it even more true... Every time a new Mini-game comes out, it is my new favorite!

Thanks Erik, for publishing such great stuff and stretching the boundries of d20...

    Jason

 

[RodneyThompson]

I, too, am really digging the minigame. I skimmed it last night, and now am psyched about running a mecha game.

My gaming group plays 2 days a week; 1 day is my ongoing D&D campaign, the other is what we call a "rotating game." Each member of the group gets 4 gaming sessions to run whatever game they want, and then we switch to a new GM and a new game. So, basically, we play long convention-style one-shots that last a couple of sessions, allowing us to flex our ideas and do all those things we've always said "you know what would be cool..." about. I had planned on running something else when my turn came up (about the time when d20 Modern comes out), but now...Transformers d20, Voltron d20, maybe just a generic mecha game? Hm, lots of possibilities.