E-War, Communications, Targeting and more.

One thing that caught my attention about the Exosquad toys when I was a kid was how each E-frame seemed to have its own role in the squad. There was the air and ground assault E-Frames but then their were other E-frames that were more exotic. Stealth E-Frames, Electronic Warfare E-Frames, and E-frames equipped with high tech communication equipment or powerful radar. These specialize E-frames really grabbed my imagination as a child. 

Now that I am watching the show I cant help but notice that most of this fancy equipment is under utilized on the screen. This is a situation I hope to change in Exofleet Adventures.  

I want to provide the player with lots of interesting options when they load out their E-frame and I don't want the most interesting option to always be the biggest gun. I also want their to be plenty of equipment that allows pilots to take on distinct roles within the squad. For the time being I'm still thinking there will be no "classes" so your characters options in game play will be defined more by their equipment and their stats rather than a list of class powers. Characters with higher knowledge or perception might take on an Electronic Warfare, Targeting or Communications roles while characters with higher agility or strength may take a more direct combat role. 

I'm still writing E-frame scale equipment and construction rules right now but I'm coming up with some pretty great ideas for sub systems with nearly each new pod I write about. One example is the Advanced Targeting System pod. This pod will ultimately make the user more accurate, but how? I have two ideas right now. 

1) targeting computers are linked to 1 weapon and it makes shots with that weapon more accurate

2) at any time in combat you can make an E-warfare roll against a target and all attacks against that target after a successful E-war roll are made easier?

This is another system I'll probably have to shake out during play testing. There's also the possibility that I'll end up breaking it down into two different pods. one that functions like number 1 above and another that functions like number 2. 

I like the potential for combos that both ideas present. System 1 linked to a large ballistic weapon makes a pretty good sniper rifle style weapon, while system 2 linked to a communication device that allows the sharing of targeting bonuses would make an awesome target acquisition/spotter/recon system that buffs other members of the team. 

Going forward: 
Hopefully some time soon I'll finish writing equipment and start writing rules. I plan on handling fluff last. 

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