[mlangsdorf]

Originally Posted by PTTG

So, how has the forum built its mech systems? I've seen some discussion of Spaceships as a foundation, but its scale seems somewhat larger than what I was thinking of. Thoughts?

When I did my mecha game that included some customization of mecha, I just came up with the numbers I wanted by fiat, without any underlying design system. It was fairly quick and easy, and gave me the exact results I wanted.

For a game with extensive customization, going by fiat would be a little more work, but it will also allow you to more closely control degenerate combinations. Extra aux etherium cores might increase handling less on a scout mecha than they do on a heavy mecha.

So I'd start with a table of chassis types, like this:

Type	ST	Hnd/SR	HT	Move	LWt	SM	DR	Weapons
Scout	80	1/4	11	40	30	+3	180	1 Light, 1 Medium
Medium	90 	0/5	12	35	45	+4	220	2 Medium
Heavy	100	-1/5	10	30	60	+4	240	1 Heavy, 3 Medium

and then I'd have a list of weapons and add-ons, along with any special notes: a heavy or medium chassis increases Move by 5 and Hnd by 1 at the cost of HT -2 by increasing extra etherium cores, but Scouts only increase Move by 1 and reduce HT by 1. Or whatever; these numbers are entirely off-the-cuff.

But anyway, that's how I build mecha.