Steampunk Mecha arm

[Viper]

Hey guys... I'm getting ready to run a steampunk/fantasy campaign for the GGG, and I'm toying around with a few concepts to give the world a unique flavor, and incorporate some steampunky things into it for the players to fool around with. So far, I've come up with a couple of items that just mimic spell effects, but one thing I'm working on is giving one character a mechanized, steam-powered arm for use in combat. I want it to be powerful, but not unfair. What I've come up with so far is to allow it to do grey damage, but only allow the player to perform one action with it per exchange (strike or block), as it is meant to be slow and unwieldy (more so than a regular unwieldy weapon). also, I think all strikes with it should work as a great strike, in that it takes one action to set it, and another to attack. It makes sense that it should unblockable as a great strike as well, as there's no way you're turning this thing aside with a sword.

I'm also planning on implementing a mechanic similar to firearms with this monstrosity. Basically, you roll a different colored die along with the rest, and if it comes up 1, the arm seizes up and can't be used for anything but blocking until it is repaired. My reason for allowing the player to block with a disabled arm is that he can still move it at the shoulder joint, since it is his own muscle there, and he can manipulate his stance to put the arm between his vitals and his enemy. The part of the arm that is seized up is the piston mechanism that moves the elbow joint and allows him to deliver such a powerful punch.

So, thoughts, comments, suggestions?

[Manicrack]

I actually once had a similar idea for a character.
I belive youi should be able to use it more often than only once an exchange.
in return, cut the grey damage and put in high black damage.
Usually G1 already takes out most Characters(at least in the earlier stages of the campaign).
I agree, every attack should be set and then attack.
And give it an unwieldly speed.

This way the weapon should be fine.

Just an Idea, Give the character an extra skill, how well he can control the arm. roll that skill for attack, block and everything else he does with the arm.

-Crack

[Viper]

thanks for the input, manicrack. I agree with taking the damage down to black- to be honest, this will be the first BW game I have ever run, and I've never played a game using lighter shades, so I don't have a good grasp of how they affect game balance. It's probably better to keep everything black... simpler the better. It's going to be a short (6 session) campaign, and it'll be good to get my feet wet. I can leave monkeying around with shades for another time.

So, here's what I've got:

Mechanized Arm

Power: 5
Add: 2
Speed: Unwieldy
VA: 2

Basically, a hammer from the list in the BW book with a slightly higher power and a misfire die.

Also, when performing a lock, I think I'm going to let the user add the weapon's power to his power test- this will represent the overwhelming crushing force of the mechanical grip- the drawback to this is that the lock will automatically cross over to a damaging lock if the player takes the opponent down to zero- for example, if the opponent has b3 stats and the mechanized arm guy gets 6 successes on his lock, he inflicts a marked wound on his opponent- whether he wanted to or not... my feeling here is to represent the imprecision involved in applying a lock with this thing- so if he was trying to subdue a guy to question him, he might wind up crushing his skull by accident.

[luke]

I've allowed a couple of Power 5 weapons in my campaign and they are incredibly sick. I would take them out if I could.

There are two ways to look at that arm -- it's either a god-crushing artifact or it's a cool item.

As a cool item, it doesn't need to add more than +2 Power to an attack -- like a mace or club. It can give bonus dice to strike, always require a set action, and serve as its own armor -- but armor failure dice take away from agility/skills from that arm.

As a God Crusher, it could do Gray Damage, but only if it is cranked to its maximum torque. It could also be cranked in a different way to give a lightning strike, but with lesser power.

I imagine cranking would require some time to accomplish. Once the arm is triggered from a mega blast like that it could go essentially limp, all of its energy spent.

Cranking could require a special tool or another character to perform. Cranking could have a series of tolerances -- 10 cranks gets you +1D Power, 15 cranks gets a Lightning Strike, 50 cranks gets Gray. Better would be to have the arm have an optimal crank rating, using a Tinkering or Engineering skill roll the arm can be over or under-cranked for special effect. Cranking has an obstacle. Failing to meet that obstacle causes a malfunction.

Could also add to Lock dice due to its immense grip.

Could also add Gray Armor to that arm.


anyway, I'm just rambling.
-L

[Viper]

Thanks luke... gives me a lot to think about- I like the idea about cranking, gonna have to mull that over a bit. I get what you're saying with the power 5... it's not meant to be a god-crusher, just an out-of the ordinary, cool weapon.

[Kublai]

Hey Viper!

I would give the arm its own Power exponent instead of making it a weapon. I'd rate it B6-8; 6 if you want him to be stronger than most men, 8 if you want him to be stronger than any man. Strikes with it would use the Brawling Skill. Damage would be figured as normal, so if B8, it would be B4/B8/B12 - certainly nothing extraordinary or overpowering. If the character picked up a weapon with that arm, factor as normal. A sword would do B6/B11/B16. Again, right at the top of mundanity.

I'd still enforce the Unwieldiness of it by making all strikes Unwieldy no matter what the weapon he held, if any at all. So it would take 2 actions to strike unarmed.

I love the idea of giving it crankable settings!

I love the idea of giving it "equipment" dice. Perhaps any dice over his normal power would be equipment dice. So, if he had a B5 Power to begin with and his arm was B8, that would give him 3 equipment dice. Then, choose what would constitute a failure; all 1s? all failures? Then create a Wheel of Mecha! Spin the wheel to find the hilarious results. 1 - Arm seizes up and is useless until repaired; 2 - Arm is reduced in usability. All actions require 4 actions to achieve with the arm instead of the normal 2; 3 - Arm releases a gout of steam scalding everyone within 2 paces for a B4. Arm "Hesitates" until recranked; 4 - Arm "hiccups" a burp of steam and hesitates for 2 actions; 5 - Crank setting slips one setting up; 6 - Crank setting slips one setting down.

[Viper]

great ideas, kublai! It IS supposed to be back-alley, unreliable tech... I like those equipment failure results you came up with!

[Kublai]

I am glad I was of some aid!

I love equipment dice. In Luke's longest BW campaign, there is Zo's Spear of Destruction. It grants 3 Grey equipment dice to the spear skill. Plus, if you roll 5+ on all three dice, the target struck will explode! KABOOM! I think this was the first instance of equipment dice in the game and it works really well.