MACsys

MACsys: Version WRFEVER

Overview

MACsys is derived from GURPS.

Characters

MACsys characters are described by three different sets of characteristics. A MACsys character's characteristics are:

• Stats: MACsys has four stats. These are Strength, Reflexes, Wits, and Fortitude, and they describe a character's raw aptitudes.
• Traits: These "extra" characteristics define a character's inherent abilities, like resistance to disease or a photographic memory.
• Skills: These are things a character can do, such as pilot a mecha or solve a math equation.

A character has a set number of points to spend on all three of these areas. The typical MAC character is created with 150 GURPS points.

Stats

A MACsys character's stats are used as a baseline for all of his or her abilities.

• Strength is not as important for the high-tech warriors of the MAC world as it is for their fantasy counterparts, because even an average man can fire a deadly blaster or pilot a giant robot. It is still potentially important for characters that want to do melee combat or carry things.
• Reflexes are very important for all characters. A character's RFX score will influence his ability to pilot a mecha, fire a ranged weapon, dodge attacks, do mechanical repairs, or play action-packed video games. Most physically-oriented skills are based on RFX.
• Wits are what mecha heroes live by in tough situations, and MAC characters are no exception. A character's WIT influences their perceptiveness as well as their raw bookish knowledge. Most mental skills are based on WIT, and a high WIT is important for any mage.
• Fortitude is a measure of how much physical stamina your character has. It allows the character to resist wounds or dying, hold his breath, or run a mile.

Traits

MAC Academy students and MAC military units are commonly divided into three separate "classes." Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses.

• Mage. The mage is a master of the arcane arts. His art is old, but the force of magic is still very present and powerful, even in the age of machines. Mages typically wear light power armor that is highly mobile and amplifies their casting ability, allowing them to move around the battlefield more rapidly than a bulky mecha. They serve as spies, scouts, and light mobile artillery. A mage's spells can ultimately be more versatile than any mech.
• Tek. The tek is in tune with the "cyberplane," a branch of the higher planes that can be the living space for artificially engineered astral symbiotes. A tek can communicate with the symbiote that powers his mech, allowing the tek to have a much more fluid connection to his ride. More than mere suits of powered armor, tek battlesuits have souls, and they become an extension of the tek's body when he fights. Some teks are also proficient with very rudimentary magic. The drawback to being a tek is that a tek's mecha may not necessarily be cooperative, and a very powerful and well-equipped mecha is much more likely to be willful.
• Machinist. To the machinist, a mecha is a machine and nothing more. But machinists do not see this as a drawback. Rather, they rely on the power of science in the absence of magic, making up for their lacking magical aptitude with ingenuity and dedication. Take away a tek's connection to his mecha and his skills are cut in half, but a machinist has no such reliance on the supernatural to keep his machine running.

Skills

Skills work like in GURPS. Any GURPS skill that is applicable to the setting can be used, with some specific skills being particularly important:

• Piloting (Mecha) (Physical/Average) is the skill required to pilot a mecha. It is also the effective cap for a mecha's dodging ability.
• Battlesuit (Physical/Average) is the skill used by mages to pilot their battlesuits. It affects dodging and attacking in a battlesuit.
• Gunner (Physical/Average) is the skill that covers mecha weapons. The specializations are (Beams), (Ballistics), (Missiles), and (Flamers).
• All melee combat weapons can be applied when piloting a mecha, such as Broadsword (Physical/Average), Spear (Physical/Average), or Axe/Mace (Physical/Average).
• Teks can utilize skills such as Karate (Physical/Hard) or Judo (Physical/Hard) via their mecha when piloting.
• Mechanic (Mecha) (Mental/Average) is the skill associated with mecha repair.
• Engineer (Mecha) (Mental/Hard) is the skill associated with mecha design and construction.

Mecha

For most characters, no piece of equipment is more important than their mech. But mecha in MAC are more than just equipment, even for machinists. In a sense, creating a mecha is the same as creating a character.

A mecha has four stats, just like a person.

• Strength is the mecha's ability to lift a heavy load. A mecha needs to be able to carry all of its weaponry or it will be unable to move.
• Speed affects the mecha's rate of travel. It also affects how well the mecha can dodge enemy attacks.
• Ego is a unique stat that represents the strength of the mecha's personality. This is only applicable to tek mecha. Unlike other stats, a high ego may be a disadvantage for the pilot, especially if he and his mecha are prone to disagreements!
• Durability refers to the mecha's base structural integrity and ability to suffer damage.

Beyond the four basic stats, mecha have individual components that must be purchased with points. These components are:

• Computer: A mecha's computer system can be relatively simple or incredibly complex. While no computer can duplicate the animate sentience imparted by an astral symbiote possessed by tek mecha, machinists are continually attempting to develop more and more advanced AI. Pilots can use their mecha's computers for a wide variety of purposes, but the most common usage is to assist with navigation.
• Sensors: A mecha's sensors are a must for locating enemy targets, especially in conditions of heavy fog or the cover of darkness, and they help the pilot aim and acquire target locks. Sensors can also inform the pilot of current environmental conditions.
• Armor: Without armor, a mecha will never survive the trauma of combat. Heavier armor allows a mecha to take more hits.
• Weapons: No combat machine is complete without weapons. Lasers, machine guns, plasma throwers, missile launchers, and melee weapons are all available options.
• Accessories: Some mecha have additional features, such as ejection seats, jump jets, anti-missile countermeasures, or cloaking devices.

Mecha Stats

A mecha's stats work slightly differently from a person's.

• STR: A mecha's base strength is 100! This costs 0 points. To find the cost to increase this number, see the table for a human and use the same point costs, but STR is modified in increments of 10. For example, a mecha with 110 STR would cost 10 points, whereas 90 STR would be a disadvantage worth -10 points.
• SPD: A mecha's base speed is 10. A mecha's move speed in miles per hour is its SPD x 4.
• EGO: Only tek mecha have an ego score. The base ego for a tek mecha is 10, and the costs are reversed; a mecha with high ego is a disadvantage, so it is worth points, whereas a mecha with low ego is an advantage. A mecha with ego 11 would be worth -10 points, whereas a mecha with ego 9 costs 10 points. Some components increase the mecha's effective ego.
• DUR: A mecha's base durability is 10. A mecha's hit points are determined by its armoring, not its DUR, but high durability helps the mecha resist critical shocks and other trauma.

Mecha Components

Each component of a mecha must be purchased individually with points.

Computer System

A mecha's computer system is very important. Even a tek mecha requires a computer to perform many functions. A basic computer system includes all of the following features:

• HUD: The heads-up display in a mecha displays miscellaneous data such as heading and altitude as well as projecting a holographic targeting reticle onto the viewscreen that allows for manual aiming. The mecha's HUD tracks the movements of the pilot's head and eyes, directing the weapons and other systems wherever he looks.
• Comsuite: The standard communications array, this allows radio communication between mecha. It includes an IFF transponder system (Identify Friend or Foe) and a radar detector.
• GPS: A global positioning system that allows a pilot to determine his precise position and nagivate to specific coordinates.

Upgrades cost additional points.

• Advanced Comsuite: Doubles the range of the standard communications array and includes an improved radar/laser detector with minimal jamming capabilities. It encrypts outgoing messages to prevent interception. 5 points.

Sensor Array

Without a functioning sensor array, most mecha are practically worthless. A pilot relies on his sensors to aid in targeting and destroying his enemies.

• Passive Electromagnetic Sensor Array (PESA): Visual options include viewscreen magnification, infrared thermography, and light amplification modes. The magnification maximum is a multiple equal to the PESA's range in miles.
• Active Electromagnetic Sensor Array (AESA): Utilizes a radar/laser to detect targets. It adds a +2 bonus to attack rolls, but it can be detected by most communications arrays and gives away the user's position.

A standard sensor array has a range of 5 miles.

• Increased Range: Doubles the range of the chosen sensor array (PESA OR AESA). Doublings are cumulative, so two doublings is a quadroupling and so forth. 5 points/level.
• Improved Targeting: Gives an additional +1 bonus to hit when using a given sensor array (PESA or AESA). 5 points/level.

Armor

Mecha have an active defense, or Dodge, that is equal to their SPD/2. However, it is improbable that a mecha is going to dodge all incoming attacks, so most mecha are armored.

A mecha has PD (passive defense) and DR (damage reduction), just like a person. For simplicity, a mecha's armor is assumed to be equally thick across the entire body. All mecha armor at least DR 16 provides PD 4.

• Standard Armor: Typical metal alloy. Each level of armor provides DR 50. 5 points/level.
• Ablative Armor: Cheaper ceramic and plastic composites designed to chip or melt but carry the energy of the attack away from the mech. Cheaper, and each level of armor provides DR 50, but every 10 points of damage peels off outer layers of the armor, reducing its DR by 1. 3 points/level.

A mecha's effective hit points are equal to its DR x 4, modified by the type of frame the mecha uses.

• Light Frame: A disadvantage, a mecha with a light frame will be half as durable as a standard mecha. -10 points.
• Standard Frame: The default frame. Standard hit points.
• Heavy Frame: Twice as durable as a standard frame, this doubles a mecha's effective hit points. 10 points.
• Extra-heavy Frame: Five times as durable as a standard frame but extremely expensive, this multiplies a mecha's effective hit points by four. 30 points.

Weapons

A mecha may have built-in weaponry or carry external mecha-sized blasters or melee armaments.

• A weapon's point value is its monetary cost as listed in GURPS Mecha divided by 20,000. TL is 9. Round any fractions down. This should keep just about everyone from going crazy with weapons and makes the ridiculous 6dx500 mega particle cannon impossibly expensive. I will kill anyone who tries to buy it anyway.

Weapons can also be fitted with special accessories:

• Fire Linkage: Allows a predefined set of multiple weapons to be fired in a group at no penalty. Missile launchers cannot be linked to other weapons except other missile launchers. 2 points per link.
• Anti-blast Casing: Protects a mecha from internal ammunition explosions by encasing the ammunition in a special shell. 5 points.

Accessories

Your mecha includes the following for free:

• Fire Supression System: This goes off if some portion of your mech catches fire and releases chemical foam into the burning compartment.
• Life Support: Includes 24 hours worth of oxygen, perfect for surviving in non-breathable environments. Climate control functions come standard.

These features cost extra:

• Ejection Seat: Ejects the cockpit and pilot. Includes a parachute to float the mecha's pilot to the ground safely.
• Deceptive Jammer: Deflects radar and similar sensors. It also reduces the effectiveness of homing missiles, applying a -2 penalty to all such attacks. 5 points.
• Transmission Jammer: Scrambles all radio communication, friend or foe, for five miles per level. The jamming field can be detected with AESA. 5 points/level.
• Discharger: Launches hot smoke, chaff, or flares to confuse IR sensors, radar, or homing missiles in a hurry. It can hold three discharges plus one per additional level. 5 points + 1/additional level.
• Fusion Jump Jets: Make a mecha flight or jump capable.
  • A jump capable mecha costs 10 points.
  • A flight capable mecha costs 30 points for the mecha's airspeed to be equal to its groundspeed. For a faster move speed, 5 points buys half the mecha's base move speed in improvement, whereas slower move speeds cost less. A mecha can fly at half of its base speed for only 25 points. No flight slower than half of base move is possible.
  • Hovering costs an additional 5 points.

System

Tests of Skill

MACsys operates on the same 3d6 system that core GURPS 3rd edition does. All tests of skill are performed by rolling 3d6. If the total is less than the skill rank, the attempt succeeds.

• A 3 is an automatic critical success. A 4 is an automatic success, or an automatic critical success if skill is 14+. A 5 is a critical success if skill is 15+, and a 6 is a critical success if skill is 16+.
• An 18 is an automatic critical failure, whereas a 17 is an automatic ordinary failure. A roll of 10 more than your skill is always at least an ordinary failure.

Combat

GURPS rules are generally applied, but some combat mechanics have been simplified or altered.

• Automatic weapons are broken up into shot groups of 20. For most weapons, this means that you only get one attack roll. A success means half of the burst hits. A success by more than 5 means that the entire burst hits. A failure by no more than two means that one-fourth of the burst hits. Only one defense roll is allowed against each shot group.
  • Semiautomatic weapons (with RoF ~3) work normally.
• The Infinite Ammunition rule is applied to all ballistics, but not to missiles.