new gm needs help

[hydra4x]

I'm making a heroes unlimited campaign and one of my characters wants a mech.
but here's the catch he wants his character to build the mech from scrap found in a junk yard.
so what skills would he need to build it and what negatives should I put for a junk mech.

[Smlawrence8]

I am not sure about skills, but I would recommend penalties like 20% movement speed decrease, reduction of armor, and a %chance of malfunction.

[Bill]

What would be the problem with using the Robot power category as is? It doesn't eliminate the possibility of a home-built robot. I don't think any penalties should be levied against the player for coming up with a creative back-story.

An option that might work better for you would be the Mechanical Genius option from the Hardware category. Just use the budget for a super vehicle with the design options from the Robot category. That would nicely deal with the special skills required too.

[Smlawrence8]

The problem is that junk yard parts would likely have more wear and tear than factory parts and in addition you are not likely to be able to get bullet proof material. What you could construct would likely be significantly heavier. Now if the guy skills the mechanical genius I would likely eliminate some of the penalties... but the armor reduction would likely still stand.

The benefit would be from a cost perspective. It wouldnt be hard to repair or replace or upgrade. The character would need very little in the way of funds to make changes. Also ANYTHING that your player can come up with (that would within reason be in a junk yard) could be used for the machine.

However this machine wouldnt be able to go toe to toe with a ton notch state of the art robot..... not without reasonable story involved. Hell he could be a junk yard employee and the parts could dang near be free.


EDIT: Also any time he faces a robot menace of any kind he would be able to integrate parts of the machines into his own. Unlike most robots who wouldn't have this opportunity.

[Bill]

If this were a simulation of reality, I might agree with you. However, it's a comic book simulation. These kind of details are way less important than whether it looks cool and makes for an exciting character. To that end, I recommend that there be no penalties and no reduction in S.D.C. Requiring that the character spend time scrounging around junkyards, risking its secret identity and leaving an opportunity for bad guys to cut it off from the source of its parts might be a fun way to build on the character's story without penalizing the player for it, if hydra4x wants to add details that make the character more distinct from one that has a more conventional back story.

[Alrik Vas]

Mechanical engineer, Armorer, Weapons Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Weapon Systems, Optic Systems, Computer Programming, Welding, Robot Mechanics

And of course, all their prerequisites

[Nightmask]

Alrik's got the skills covered, although there's no reason that a mech built from stuff in a junk yard would have to be of reduced ability. Consider a wrecked car, while it may be totaled that doesn't mean everything suddenly became defective or substandard (many people settle for salvaged parts for their vehicle repairs to save on money as they aren't any worse off than taking it from an otherwise unwrecked vehicle). Check out the SWAT Cats cartoon, their super-jet was built from all the scrap sent to the scrap yard by the Enforcers and definitely was NOT sub-standard but instead cutting edge.

[SpiritInterface]

Go onto you tube and search the British show Junk Yard Wars.

[mercedogre]

provide him same SDC and armor as a pickup truck? enhanced strength? speed? spy car tricks, ie oil slick, caltrops, smoke bomb ect., have fun with it, sounds like a great idea

[Smlawrence8]

provide him same SDC and armor as a pickup truck? enhanced strength? speed? spy car tricks, ie oil slick, caltrops, smoke bomb ect., have fun with it, sounds like a great idea

Exactly... I just dont see a lot of kevlar style material in the junk yard.. so full armor is VERY VERY heavy.... or reduced armor and normal speeds. I think with the fact that he is making it from junk yard opens up so many different opportunities.

[ShadowLogan]

I'm making a heroes unlimited campaign and one of my characters wants a mech.
but here's the catch he wants his character to build the mech from scrap found in a junk yard.
so what skills would he need to build it and what negatives should I put for a junk mech.

Just use the Robot Power Category to build the 'bot, but place limits on what can be chosen/acquired from the junk yard. Robotech 2E has the Improvised Mecha unit rules in the New Generation SB, which is basically kit bashing different mecha remains together, which is similar to what you are asking for (though I can't recommend getting the book just for the IMU stuff).

As for skills Robot Mechanics & Electronics and their associated requirements. Could apply jury rig penalties when building the thing (if its part of the RP and not starting assembled).

[hydra4x]

I posted this before I checked what kind of skills the players character had
the player has the rifts china mech driver occ

[carriath]

I'm a Rifts/Robotech GM, not much of a HU fan, as I don't have the books. However, this strikes me as an excellent source of plot hooks for the player group. Raiding military graveyards like the U.S.' infamous B-52 Graveyard (Google), or the disposal warehouse of some high-tech villainous super-corp could provide good material, even filler for campaigns.

That said, I would have them generate the perfect suit of armor/mech that they want. Pare it down to a reasonable power-level with the other players, and then break the components down into pieces that will be won by the player character (Don't forget to through in some unexpected perks for flavoring, bonuses the player wasn't expecting that plays to their style, e.g. the night-vision they wanted actually has a built in echo-device that lets them use sonar to see)

A break down basic. They want flight, a camouflage unit, plasma cannon, mini-missiles, and self-repairing armor. Have them pick three (arbitrary number for example), they start with those three and you break the others down into a component list. We'll go flight/camouflage/plasma cannon to start.

Say they choose flight and camouflage, it turns out that the mini-missiles require a multi-targeting device from a Japanese robot junkyard, the group must jump on a plane and go to a foreign country, where they surprise a past nemesis... and get the part. Then the character falls into a vat of nano-machines (or it gets dropped on them by the hand of the GM), and it locks their system down. When the Player characters finally manage to alter the programming of the nano-machines, they find out they have integrated into the armor and it is now self-repairing.

A few notes:

You could consider for limitations that the robot is presumably allowing them to emulate superpowers that other players have through.. genetic means? Radioactive spiders? I don't know HU. If your PC has way more super-powers than the other players, he has too many powers on the robot mech.

Limitations, the classic marvel super hero mech character whose trademarked name I won't mention here. Has some very sensible limitations.

Time & Money/Time = Money: It costs money to build parts, and takes time to develop suits.

Power limitations: Every suit has it's maximum number of features/devices that it can power from it's power source. Setting that limit, and then allowing the character's mech to be modular with swappable parts for specific missions can be a very sensible limitation that empowers but not to much the PC.

Human Limitations: Outside of the suit, the PC is still a normie, an un-powered and vulnerable human. Played out right this can build the team/PC group, and can help them appreciate why the PC needs to be alive and in the suit. Also, the suit having certain weaknesse, like EMP, or limited battery can provide motivation and move the play along.

All of that said. Don't make the character a stark character that is a mirror of pop-culture. (ah, see what I did there? I used the adjective appropriately while not referencing a TM character) Personalize it to the players play style. What is the motivation for getting Junk-Yard parts? Why aren't they using their mechanical genius to be rich? Does their genius come from their desire to be a Cyber-Ninja Power Armor combat specialist? Or are they a Tech-Nerdie who is inititially awkward at the combat aspects but is really in their element with hacking and electronic/technologic infiltration. Maybe they are a mechanic/tinkerer part who just get's things right?

It's these kind's of questions that will help you to create an environment that is conducive to the player character creating/finding the niche that really brings the enjoyment of the setting to them.

[carriath]

On my previous note: I am a writer with a Bachelor's degree in Professional and Creative writing. I hope my experience and training in character and setting development may be of use here Polite Bow.