Mecha stats?

By Unrated, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Hey so I wanted to ask if anyone knew if there were canon stats (or lore-friendly home brew stats) for a mech suit in Star wars: EotE. Now, to clarify, I don't mean gundam sized mechs (Though that would be awesome), I mean like Dva sized mechs, or even even just powered suits like in the halo series. Mind you, mechs are canon ( Wookieepedia page ), I just want a smaller more balanced version of it. I ask because I started making my first Dug technician (outlaw tech) character, I wanted him to be working on his "Magnum Opus Project" throughout a campaign, until he has made his last additions and tweaks to it and he can ride it into battle. The reason he wants a mech is because 3 years before the campaign he lost his right leg-arm (The big one) and ever since then he's been trying to find a way to still walk as normal, but he doesn't like cybernetic limbs. The reason it needs to be small is because he wants the ability to climb strong trees like he used to do when he was young on his home planet of Malastare.

07f03661284873.5a6a23bb3c037.jpg art by Dwayne Vance

Something like this but smaller, lighter and made with Dug physiology in mind.

Edit: The image is just a reference to the type of mech and is not representative of the mech that my character would use. Plus, this post was mostly about the stats of a mech rather than the appearance of it (remember, it would be made for and by a one (big)armed dug.

Edited by Unrated
Clarification

Funnily enough, I'm coming up to the point where I have to develop D.Va-sized mechs and decide how they're going to work for my Overwatch setting for Genesys.

Once I have something finalised I'll post it here.

That Mando suit is pretty cool, though I have to question the wisdom of having NO FRONTAL ARMOR. That pilot is pretty exposed.

Here's what I would suggest:

Stat the walker like an NPC, minus mental stats (so no Int, Cun, Will, or Pr).
It gets no skills, but it may get some talents and abilities (like Adversary).
A player can use their own combat skills, Athletics, and Coordination, but the suit's Brawn and Agility are the Characteristics used for the checks (like Assistance).

Other than that, it generally operates like a personal-scale NPC.

11 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

That Mando suit is pretty cool, though I have to question the wisdom of having NO FRONTAL ARMOR. That pilot is pretty exposed.

Here's what I would suggest:

Stat the walker like an NPC, minus mental stats (so no Int, Cun, Will, or Pr).
It gets no skills, but it may get some talents and abilities (like Adversary).
A player can use their own combat skills, Athletics, and Coordination, but the suit's Brawn and Agility are the Characteristics used for the checks (like Assistance).

Other than that, it generally operates like a personal-scale NPC.

I kind of want the no frontal armor bit purely for balance reasons, the way I am explaining that in my head is that, my character is a Dug. Dug are generally a very violent race and I could totally see him being super ballsy and not even thinking of armor, it is utility first weapon second and armor 100th.

Just now, Unrated said:

I kind of want the no frontal armor bit purely for balance reasons, the way I am explaining that in my head is that, my character is a Dug. Dug are generally a very violent race and I could totally see him being super ballsy and not even thinking of armor, it is utility first weapon second and armor 100th.

Considering that he could just use a vehicle, I don't see balance as a concern.

It's a really dumb idea. Super ballsy sure, but he's completely exposed. Part of the advantage of a really powerful suit is durability. You lose that durability bonus if the pilot can be easily taken out.

AT-RTs have that issue to a certain extend, but their role is different and even they have some frontal armor.

Just now, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Considering that he could just use a vehicle, I don't see balance as a concern.

It's a really dumb idea. Super ballsy sure, but he's completely exposed. Part of the advantage of a really powerful suit is durability. You lose that durability bonus if the pilot can be easily taken out.

AT-RTs have that issue to a certain extend, but their role is different and even they have some frontal armor.

I mean, yeah. I don't know, I just kinda like the idea of a Dug mech hopping from massive tree to massive tree. The frontal armor I could do with but as long as he's got his mech then the specifics (At least to me) don't really matter to me.

2 minutes ago, Unrated said:

I mean, yeah. I don't know, I just kinda like the idea of a Dug mech hopping from massive tree to massive tree. The frontal armor I could do with but as long as he's got his mech then the specifics (At least to me) don't really matter to me.

If it isn't a combat-focused mech (i.e. tree-hopping mech, or a forklift mech) or it's a repurposed chassis of some kind, it'll make more sense.

But for a combat mech, an entirely open front doesn't make sense.

And I'm coming at it from a design and build perspective here.

7 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

If it isn't a combat-focused mech (i.e. tree-hopping mech, or a forklift mech) or it's a repurposed chassis of some kind, it'll make more sense.

But for a combat mech, an entirely open front doesn't make sense.

And I'm coming at it from a design and build perspective here.

I get where you're coming from (I want to be an engineer). Again all of this is completely negotiable, I just really liked the look of the mech by Dwayne Vance.

3 minutes ago, Unrated said:

I get where you're coming from (I want to be an engineer). Again all of this is completely negotiable, I just really liked the look of the mech by Dwayne Vance.

It does look awesome, and I'm always partial to Mandos, I just tend to be function over form and unprotected pilots is one of my pet peeves. Which is kinda appropriate given how much pilot protection was built into me and my kin. :D

43 minutes ago, Kualan said:

Funnily enough, I'm coming up to the point where I have to develop D.Va-sized mechs and decide how they're going to work for my Overwatch setting for Genesys.

Once I have something finalised I'll post it here.

I'd love to see it!

1 hour ago, Kualan said:

Funnily enough, I'm coming up to the point where I have to develop D.Va-sized mechs and decide how they're going to work for my Overwatch setting for Genesys.

Once I have something finalised I'll post it here.

Have you checked the Mech information in the Genesys Expanded Player’s Guide to see if it’s of any help?

10 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Have you checked the Mech information in the Genesys Expanded Player’s Guide to see if it’s of any help?

Hate to sound lazy but where would I find this? I've always been bad with navigating forums.

36 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Have you checked the Mech information in the Genesys Expanded Player’s Guide to see if it’s of any help?

The one in the sample vehicles? Pretty much my starting point, aye.

The way I look at that image, it looks to me like a cutaway technical drawing, showing how the pilot fits into the armor.

I don't recall right off the top of my head if FFG ever wrote stats for it, but there's the AT-PT, which is pretty much a mini-mecha version of the Imperial's AT-ST, and probably clocks in at about Silhouette 2 in terms of size.

As for the exposed pilot, in comparison we've got Scout Troopers being even more exposed atop their speeder bikes, and the rules by default don't make an exception for attacking them as opposed to attacking the pilot of a snubfighter. With regards to shooting a scout trooper from off their speeder bike, I'd put it under the rules for "called shots" or the shooter needing to spend 3 Advantage (or Triumph) to shoot the rider instead of the bike.

So with this Mando mini-mech, I'd likely do the same, require a called shot to specifically blast the pilot or else the shooter has to spend Advantage/Triumph to score the hit.

Then again, if you're one of those folks that buys into the whole "Mandalorians and everything about them are inherently superior to everything else in the galaxy" tripe, then you could probably argue the suit has some manner of particle/ray shielding that protects the pilot, making it only look like they're exposed. There was a character in a series of D&D novels that rather infamously had a prominent boob window in her chainmail top, but said boob window was magically warded to the point that said boob window offered better protection than the rest of the mail.

2 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

I don't recall right off the top of my head if FFG ever wrote stats for it, but there's the AT-PT, which is pretty much a mini-mecha version of the Imperial's AT-ST, and probably clocks in at about Silhouette 2 in terms of size.

It's actually in the EotE CRB.
And then there's the Zalacca from FiB, which is also Sil 2.

2 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Then again, if you're one of those folks that buys into the whole "Mandalorians and everything about them are inherently superior to everything else in the galaxy" tripe, then you could probably argue the suit has some manner of particle/ray shielding that protects the pilot, making it only look like they're exposed.

Just most things about them. ;)
I'm really not sure where all this hate for Mandos comes from. They are specifically designed to be great warriors, and many of the characters we see are outstanding even for Mandalorians.

I'm not sure why that's relevant to whether or not it's got ray shields, but it sure looks like it doesn't. There may be something to what @Tramp Graphics said about a cutaway though. At closer look, there are some things that make more sense if it is a cutaway.

1 hour ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

I'm really not sure where all this hate for Mandos comes from. They are specifically designed to be great warriors, and many of the characters we see are outstanding even for Mandalorians.

Probably Karen Traviss’ fetishizing and overpowering Mandalorians in her work. Some liked it, but some found it to be very over the top.

20 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Probably Karen Traviss’ fetishizing and overpowering Mandalorians in her work. Some liked it, but some found it to be very over the top.

Eh, I'm not seeing it. Maybe it's in the Yuuzhan Vong stuff I haven't read yet, but there's no love lost between me and those books anyway.

4 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

There was a character in a series of D&D novels that rather infamously had a prominent boob window in her chainmail top, but said boob window was magically warded to the point that said boob window offered better protection than the rest of the mail.

giphy.gif

As mentioned, if the pilot is going to stick out like that, at least have some Droideka style shields for it :)

1 hour ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Eh, I'm not seeing it. Maybe it's in the Yuuzhan Vong stuff I haven't read yet, but there's no love lost between me and those books anyway.

She didn’t contribute to NJO, but wrote 1/3 of the post-NJO storyline Legacy of the Force. Her entries seemed almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the story, focusing instead on Jaina having to learn how to fight Jacen from the Mandoest Mandos who ever Mandoed because they’re Mandos.

20 hours ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

If it isn't a combat-focused mech (i.e. tree-hopping mech, or a forklift mech) or it's a repurposed chassis of some kind, it'll make more sense.

But for a combat mech, an entirely open front doesn't make sense.

And I'm coming at it from a design and build perspective here.

even fork trucks have at least a cage around the occupant...

On 9/17/2020 at 11:27 AM, Daeglan said:

even fork trucks have at least a cage around the occupant...

As it stands, the mech gets tripped and the pilot goes splat if they can't deploy the arms fast enough. Not even taking its combat role into account, the lack of any sort of cage a huge safety hazard.

On 9/17/2020 at 7:23 AM, Donovan Morningfire said:

I don't recall right off the top of my head if FFG ever wrote stats for it, but there's the AT-PT, which is pretty much a mini-mecha version of the Imperial's AT-ST, and probably clocks in at about Silhouette 2 in terms of size.

As for the exposed pilot, in comparison we've got Scout Troopers being even more exposed atop their speeder bikes, and the rules by default don't make an exception for attacking them as opposed to attacking the pilot of a snubfighter. With regards to shooting a scout trooper from off their speeder bike, I'd put it under the rules for "called shots" or the shooter needing to spend 3 Advantage (or Triumph) to shoot the rider instead of the bike.

So with this Mando mini-mech, I'd likely do the same, require a called shot to specifically blast the pilot or else the shooter has to spend Advantage/Triumph to score the hit.

Then again, if you're one of those folks that buys into the whole "Mandalorians and everything about them are inherently superior to everything else in the galaxy" tripe, then you could probably argue the suit has some manner of particle/ray shielding that protects the pilot, making it only look like they're exposed. There was a character in a series of D&D novels that rather infamously had a prominent boob window in her chainmail top, but said boob window was magically warded to the point that said boob window offered better protection than the rest of the mail.

On 9/17/2020 at 12:23 PM, Kualan said:

giphy.gif

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