d20 Mecha Options

[Adam]

w00t!

The joy of books coming back from press; d20 Mecha [from Guardians Of Order] arrived at the office today, which means it should be shipping shortly and hitting game stores in two or three weeks.

For those familiar with the author, David Pulver, I don't think I need to say anything besides: d20 mech construction by David Pulver. :-)

For those of you not familiar with David Pulver, this book is a simple and compact [80 page] effect based mech construction system, compatible with d20 System games, capable of building all sorts of mechs from typical BattleTech style mechs to anime space-mechs to fantastic magical powered treants... err.. treemechs. :)

I didn't do a lot of work on this book [just a bit of proofing/editing before it went to press] but it looks mighty fine and we're very proud of it.

You may also recognize another name in the credits - Kenneth Peters, better known to many here as Tzeentch...

[Also, BESM Dungeon and the BESM d20 Character Folio will be shipping in this wave of books; I did the design/layout for Dungeon, and it looks mighty nice, if I do say so myself...]

[Guest_Raccoon Avatar_*]

Hmm...

I would definitely use this book to have a mech stomp on a Tarrasque (show it who's boss)...and also fry Elminster with some sort of particle beam weapon.
"dispell that! I dare ya!" :D

[Tzeentch]

What did I get credited for exactly BTW? :)

[Adam]

"Special Thanks to"

[Tzeentch]

Ahh cool ;)

Should be a cool system. I'll try and whip up a Shadowrun conversion once I get my paws on it.

[Adam]

Where are you stationed at now? If you're not getting comp copies - I'm not sure if you are... - I obviously have a few extras kicking around.

[Ah, the perks. ;)]

[The_Sarge]

*g* Bastards! ;)

This is the one book which would make me interested in d20.

One question: As I'm not that informed, I would like to know which d20 rulebooks you need to take advantage of this book. (PG, DMG, d20 Modern?)

Would make a cool gift for the one d20 obsessed player I know. Absolutely selfless, of course! *snicker*

[Tzeentch]

d20 Mecha is scaled by default to match Modern, simply because it is much more sane then some of the "modern" adaptations that came out of D&D. There are a number of options to rescale the game to match the Armageddon setting (from Mongoose), Spycraft, etc. As you can download the d20 Modern SRD there's not much of an excuse for not picking it up if you are at all interested in mecha :)

As the system is descriptive based (think Silhouette with even less math) it should be pretty simple to adapt to any d20 setting or even other games (as long as you understand some basic d20 principles). In the end the system is simply a convenient method of packaging abilities and giving you some game-balancing mechanics (Mecha Points) to work with. The only complaint I had with it was the lack of detail on very SMALL mecha (like fairy sized). Makes it hard to build Megatron in pistol mode heh.

Adam: Actually I'm back home in Idaho at the moment. Hopefully not for too much longer though, we'll see. BTW depending on how some deals in Japan go I may be pimping you for some help on a future project 8)

[Adam]

You can use d20 Mecha with the PHB, d20 Modern, or with any of the alternate d20 players handbooks. Some tweaking may be required, and specific guidelines are given for BESM d20 use.

If you don't have BESM d20, you can download the free Anime d20 SRD which contains all of the Open Content from BESM d20 -- and that includes all the BESM d20 rules.

[Siege]

Not that I'm endorsing the level-hell that is D20, but you can also download the "System Resource Document" (SRD) 3.5 for both fantasy and modern, at the Wizard's website.

It lacks all the flavor of the core books, but if all you want is a bare-bones number system...

As for the Elminster shot...*SNARF*

-Siege

[The_Sarge]

Hmm...
So I can get the book, and /theoretically/ wouldn't need any other book?
OR I could get d20 modern OR BESM d20 if the standart d20 rules don't suit me? Did I get this right? (Appetite rising...)

[Adam]

Yes - it's compatible with any d20 System game, and perhaps some other games [such as the recent Warcraft RPG which is a D&D licensed product...]

[The_Sarge]

I just might buy one of those for myself... Have some money free for the Spiel...

There wouldn't be conversion guidelines for d20 to BESM d6 in it, quiaff? *hopes*

[Adam]

Not in the book, no. If you know both systems on even a basic level, though, conversions are dead easy.

[The_Sarge]

Hmm... Okay. You just sold one to me. *grins* (Do you get royalties? And do you have to pay dumpshock now? ;) )
One confirmed buyer for Mecha d20 at the end of october.

There wouldn't be a chance of one the authors/editors visiting the Spiel?
(IOW: Are GOO going to attend?)

[Adam]

No royalties; I just want gamers using good products. :-)

None of us will be at Spiel - it's not economical for us to go.

[The_Sarge]

Yeah, I hear that a lot. :/
Damn shame, that.

Nevertheless, I await the buy. :)

And I somehow think that I'll enjoy this book.
I'll let you know.

[Adam]

All the rules content from d20 Mecha is now available for free use and OGL re-use in the OGC Mecha d20 SRD

[mfb]

god bless you, every one.

heh. i like the cover, but it's strongly reminiscent of my RIFTS books. ...i mean, uh, the RIFTS books that i saw, one time, that this other guy had.

[Aristotle]

[Frag-o Delux]

Just curious, how do they make money giving away the rules like that. Some people don't care about the fluff in the books they just like the rules. When I played BESM the tri stat version, you just used the rules and developed your own world to play in. So why would I buy a book of rules I can just download for free? I usually buy every book for the games I play, I even bought 2 sets of SR books, so my GM would stop taking mine and leaving me with none. And I play alot of games so many so my book selves are bending down and pulling the nails out of the sides.

[Adam]

Well, for many people, having a printed and bound version of the game that is portable [without carrying a computer around] is worth the $20 or $30 that d20 Mecha and BESM d20 cost, respectively. Some people want a book with layout and art - the SRDs are just text documents. Some people will pay for the book just to support the company.

Secondly, not everyone has a 'net connection or a computer to get the SRD.

Third, it helps fuel the developer community, which is good for the games health in the long run. The more people who have d20 Mecha, the more who are likely to buy the upcoming d20 Centauri Knights. The more people with BESM d20, the more people likely to buy Trigun d20.

Fourth, the real books do have additional material - in the case of d20 Mecha, sample mechs and an extensive mecha "watching list."

Fifth, GoO publishes plenty of other stuff that isn't given away for free -- none of the Tri-Stat BESM line is free, for example, and neither is Silver Age Sentinels -- although you could play SAS with BESM d20 or the free Tri-Stat dX download if you really wanted to.

[Frag-o Delux]

OK good answer. But tell me more about Trigun. Is that out now? Who makes it? I just started watching the Anime on Adult Swim and I think I am falling in love.

Don't worry Adam I buy all my books, in fact I forgot I have all the Tri-Stat BESM books, I just got the critter catching book cock-fighting critters or something. I have a little brother who is in love with Pokemon so we play a twisted version of it, nothing funnier then getting beat up by a bunch of PETA thugs because they saw you fighting with your pets in a dark alley.

[Adam]

[Frag-o Delux]

I know what I'll get for my birthday in January, just kidding, I know how you hate people getting in a huff about RPG release scheduels.