Robot or Mechanical World design questions

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Why doe everyone assume this setting for D&D or D20 game when posts are written on here? The system I am thinking of using is Mutants & Masterminds 3e or any non-class systems, but not GURPS. Cause I tired of class systems for my go to system.

So with in mind, there could be templates, random roll of features (like mutants chart) or straight point buy system or features.

I am wanting the players to have choice of different chassis to choose but nothing bigger than huge. I also want them to have a limited of pre-installed features at chargen to set them apart and be heroic from normal bots.

The chassis the player could be are humanoid, animal, vehicle (maybe) and hybrid.

Most people here play d20 of some kind or 4e, so you need to tell us these details.

In this case, solving the issue is simple. Let players pick their own powers from the list. If someone wants to play a multi-armed robot, there is a power for that. If they want to be large or huge, take the growth power (and ensure it's permanent). If someone wants to play a tracked robot, they can invent a flaw (to explain why they can't go up stairs, etc) and maybe Super Movement so they don't suffer penalties for difficult terrain. You probably know the system better and can give them guidance.

I would suggest making each power "inherent" (there's a special term for that in M&M, which means they can't be nullified, and I can't recall its name) for free. Only a few powers, like an EMP gun, wouldn't have this benefit, I'm guessing.

NPC robots could be divided into various "standard power templates" eg "multi-arm", "brain-in-a-box", "bipedal combat walker", or whatever suits your setting.

 

[Andor]

Why doe everyone assume this setting for D&D or D20 game when posts are written on here? The system I am thinking of using is Mutants & Masterminds 3e or any non-class systems, but not GURPS. Cause I tired of class systems for my go to system.

So with in mind, there could be templates, random roll of features (like mutants chart) or straight point buy system or features.

I am wanting the players to have choice of different chassis to choose but nothing bigger than huge. I also want them to have a limited of pre-installed features at chargen to set them apart and be heroic from normal bots.

The chassis the player could be are humanoid, animal, vehicle (maybe) and hybrid.

This is a D&D dedicated site you know, since you completely failed to mention system, it's not a stretch for us to assume you might be using something along those lines. Besides which I not only mentioned, but included a link to Eclipse Phase which as about as un-D&D like as you can get. The book is available as a free download on the site btw.

Random generation would seem really odd to me for a robot based game, unless the robots themselves do not control their own manufacture. If there is some kind of god/pyramid/manufactorum that spits out new robots according to it's own schema without input from the robots themselves then ... that could be really cool. That artifact from the transformers movie would qualify, for example.

Again, figure out what the world you want to portray looks like, then build your system to enhance the players buy-in to that world.

 

[tecnowraith]

Well at this point, I am not sure I want to add anything "organic" like plants, flesh, fur, scales, etc into the mix. If I do this will change the any history I come up with and the type robots exist. Like said in my second post if any organic is added which would come first, the technological or the organic.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Do you want the setting to have an element of "magic" to it? If not biological should come first, since something biological will have to create the technology. If your comfortable having a "Primus/allspark" technology could appear without biology.

Also even if there was biology at one point, it does not mean it has to exist today. Intelligent creatures lifeforms might have created the robots, then there was some disaster that destroyed biological life, but the machines remained.

 

[tecnowraith]

Do you want the setting to have an element of "magic" to it? If not biological should come first, since something biological will have to create the technology. If your comfortable having a "Primus/allspark" technology could appear without biology.

Also even if there was biology at one point, it does not mean it has to exist today. Intelligent creatures lifeforms might have created the robots, then there was some disaster that destroyed biological life, but the machines remained.

Well in way I kinda do. I'm ok with the Primus/Allspark myth, and I realized that I can organic show up later cause by space debris or meteorites.

The world/setting I am visualizing is a mechanical/technological world with a dieselpunk fantasy theme with robotic lifeform.

 

[tecnowraith]

I have new questions for my topic. Should I attempt to add my form of magic or mystic in this type of world? Would it cool and different for a mechanical? Also should the planet be all metal and technical or should there be some stone/earth "left" exposed, saying the the the world was once rocky planet earlier?

 

[Herobizkit]

The plot of "Beast Machines" addresses bringing organic life back to Cybertron and has some mystic elements within, especially how Optimus Primal becomes a Shaman of sorts, channeling the will of the Matrix and shooting... um... mystic hadokens.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKSTcCw9KCA"]BM: Optimus Primal (You Must Tame The Beast Without) - YouTube[/ame]


This clup really summarizes the whole concept... though they don't get into the hippie stuff until later.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B6EX70XsWQ&feature=related[/ame]

 

[tecnowraith]

The plot of "Beast Machines" addresses bringing organic life back to Cybertron and has some mystic elements within, especially how Optimus Primal becomes a Shaman of sorts, channeling the will of the Matrix and shooting... um... mystic hadokens.

Yeah that's because Cybertron had organic life before the "transformation" to the technological. Where as my world had no organic life in the beginning is what I am thinking.

 

[Herobizkit]

Well, borrowing from the same license that gave us Beast Wars, let us check out Shadow Raiders.

They have four main planets that fight each other for resources... Ice, Bone, Fire, and Rock. If you eliminate the Bone (food) planet, you'd still have Ice, Fire, and Rock... all minerals or elements that could have uses for inorganic life.

Also, if you're really going for a Bionicle feel, don't sweat the small stuff. If people are willing to buy into the premise, they're not going to try and hyper-analyze your world and How Stuff Works.

 

[tecnowraith]

What would be cool and interesting for a planet's ecosystem, be all metal and technological (Cybertron) or be just a standard planet (without organic material) with 50% to 80% of it being technological and the other 50%-20% being rock, water (or ice) and lava?