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Old 03-02-2015, 03:31 AM   #1
scc
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
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OK, Mekton Zeta Plus had several options for how you're mech was powered, one was Power Cell, which gave you enough for up to a day or maybe just a single fight, but the point was clear you needed to head back to base every so often to get resupplied. Examples in actual anime that used this (Or something like it) are too numerous to mention.

But another option was Combustion. The rules for this said it was just like Power Cell but with a less frequent recharge, which is a bit odd as the baseline discount for it is greater then for Power Cell. So I take that to mean refueling a mech using that system is a bit of a chore. And by bit of a chore I mean side quest time. The only example I know of is in Robotech during the Invid Invasion part, that episode where they raid the protoculture storage facility.

So is it possible to do something like this in GURPS? And I don't just mean for mechs, but rather anything in general, if you want to keep using this ability you have to go on side quests every so often?
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Old 03-02-2015, 03:39 AM   #2
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: Powered by Plot Tokens

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Originally Posted by scc View Post
So is it possible to do something like this in GURPS? And I don't just mean for mechs, but rather anything in general, if you want to keep using this ability you have to go on side quests every so often?
Pact: Duty.
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Old 03-02-2015, 08:00 AM   #3
Varyon
 
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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Pact: Duty.
That's a good one. (EDIT: It may not be strictly RAW, as Duty isn't a self-imposed Mental Disadvantage, but personally I see no issue with using other Disadvantages in Pacts; Pact: One-handed, for example, would mean that you lose the ability if you have your missing hand restored via magic or technology). Another option that's a bit less abstract would be to have the ability use up some sort of extremely expensive unobtainium (via Requires Trigger or whatever the appropriate Limitation is), then let the characters occasionally go on a side quest where the character(s) with such traits are rewarded with more than a fair share of the stuff. Say it costs $10,000 per pound - if everyone else ends up with $20,000 worth of loot, the characters with unobtainium-powered abilities might end up with 3 or 4 pounds of the stuff. Basically, you're allowing the characters to buy the stuff at a large markup, or they can go on a side quest to "purchase" it (in the form of lost loot) at its fair price.
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Old 03-02-2015, 08:30 AM   #4
Anaraxes
 
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Restricted Diet is the RAW Disad used if:

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Originally Posted by B151
You require a specialized food or fuel that is hard to come by. Unlike Dependency (p. 130), you do not take damage if you go without . . . you just can’t eat or refuel, which will eventually incapacitate you.
You might also use Maintenance to value a number of extra man-hours required to keeping the mech running, but consider that the typical time needed for the side quest to obtain the unobtainium. (If you also want to require maintenance in the usual sense, just add the number of people = hours required.) This might be the way to go if you want to abstract the side quests, rather than play them out.

Dependency also models a need to regularly consume some substance, but per RAW cases HP damage when the unobtainium is unobtainable. That doesn't sound quite right for a mech. It might stop, but it's not going to start decaying and "dying" for lack of fuel.

If everyone needs fuel for the mech, and the players are all going on the quests for fuel as part of regular game activity anyway, it'd just be a setting feature worth no points.
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