Sep 27, 2015

It is that time again.

Time for playtest material! Yup. I wanted to do some previews the last two weeks but honestly couldn't pick just what of all the delicious expansion content to show, so instead here's a whole bunch of stuff!

This is basically all the setting-agnostic expansion content, the rest of the new material (to make the game more fantastic, gritty, or what have you) will come in later. Have you ever wanted a robot that could teleport? What about making a support bot that can heal over 10 points of threshold every turn? Well I have good news for you, but instead of telling, I'll just show you - in link form: BCZ Public Beta v0.3

As always, good luck and have fun.

39 comments:

  1. Hey, very happy to see bits in game, big round of applause. My only concern is that requiring your action to use them makes them just another gun. Maybe I'm wrong or just missing something.

    P.S. You should call them funnels instead of bits that way it's more alliterative, funnels and fangs. :)

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    1. Better late than never, right? Remotes take a bit of planning to use effectively, Fangs in particular make great distractions.

      I like the alliteration, but the name 'funnel' itself doesn't quite make sense unless they're ALL funnel shaped. This is kind of funny when you realize that the Fin Funnels themselves are not, in fact, funnels.

      Still, Gundam made its Funnels pretty awesome so I tried to reference both those and try to leave other types of remote weapons open to interpretation by adding the power "Go, Funnels!" to the game.

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    2. When I use Go Funnels can my remote attack and then my gear attack? I know I can't attack twice with my remotes but I was under the impression I could use go funnels to attack with my remote and my gear.

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    3. Yes, but they have to be different actions. You can Engage -> Attack (say with Fangs -> Bits) or Attack -> Assist.

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  2. Do you think you can make a functional build solely based on using remotes.

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    1. You can but it will be very vulnerable to AoE blasts. It will be perfectly functional most of the time but you can get locked down by AoE blasts destroying your remotes. You can repair them but it means spending every other turn repairing it as it gets destroyed which cuts your efficiency to 50%.

      Remotes are situational disposable weapons so relying only on them is hard when you're facing lot of AoE which is supposed to be counter to remotes.

      You can make a custom internal upgrade similar to other specialist upgrades.

      Psycoframe 20 MP cost
      Adds an advantage to all remote weapons. Your remotes need to be attacked and hit twice before they are destroyed.

      This will make the remotes more viable to use as a main weapons.

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    2. Yeah they're meant to be supplementary weapons to add another tool to your arsenal. It is possible to build entirely around them, but if you want to be able to repair them in the middle of combat you are going to need a self-support suit and that's a ton of MP went into upgrades and energy.

      Something like this:

      Attributes (165)
      Might 6 Guard 8 Threshold 8 Energy 8 Systems 6 Speed 5

      Upgrades (60)
      Experimental Reactor, Versatile Model, EWAC, Commander Type.
      Absorbing Armor x2.
      Assisted Targeting, Support Fire, Supply Drop.

      Weapons (10)
      Fangs, Bits.

      Add Genre Powers to taste. Include Believe in Myself somewhere in there. Maybe Mind Over Matter too.

      The idea is to alternate between Fangs (w/Support Fire) & Bits (w/Assisted Targeting) to take advantage of Versatile Model. You can use Supply Drop to repair them when they're broken too and lose the debuff as well.

      The tradeoff is that you're basically going to be doing the same two things over and over and energy loss wrecks your battle plan. You get a token active defense in the form of absorbing armor that basically boosts your defense against attacks that roll low and does nothing else because you can't really afford to pay for it.

      Just don't ask me how you're supposed to afford all that at PL 1.

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    3. The upgrades add to 75, not 60. Derp.

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    4. What I forgot to say is that this hits for an easy 20 attack roll result every time you use bits with proper setup before applying genre powers. It is not a bad build, it definitely locks down & demolishes single targets that can't deal with the constant rush of fangs & buffed attack boost of the bits. It just has obvious problems like the lack of aoe fire and needing to use GP any time withering terrain rears its ugly head.

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    5. The build doesn't work if enemies focus (or AoE) your remotes. You need to waste all that energy and systems just to keep functioning but you get 0 benefits for it. It's PL5 build that performs worse than some PL3 builds.

      The bits are just beam rifle with range 10. Autoaim sniper rifle outperforms it in every way.

      Fangs are just range 5 beam saber. Extending blade outperforms it in every way.

      The only advantage remotes have are when attacking around corners in closed spaces which is not exactly common. Another advantage is if they are sent away from you for few turns to extend your range. But they need to be survivable to do that. If they get destroyed every turn and you respawn them they don't have the time to get away from you and utilize the range.

      It is also not clear how the remotes move. Do they get a move when you use an action to attack with them? Do they get a move every turn even if you don't attack with them?

      Another problem is scaling. On PL1 the bits have like 50% chance to survive a stray AoE blast and fangs have very good chance to survive. PL1 grunts are destitute too and definitely can't afford an extra AoE weapon so it doesn't happen often.

      But on PL5 Guard 5 is a joke and the bits will get taken out by any AoE with 90% chance. Even fangs only have like 30% chance to survive. And a PL5 grund can fit a extra AoE weapon with 0 problem so you can expect every single one to have them.

      So chances that your remotes survive are pretty good on PL1 but absolutely abysmal on PL5.

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    6. On the other hand the turret is really good. Sniper type means it has like 15 range. Deploy and move away while attacking with your (aimed) sniper rifle. After enemies get into range attack them with the turret. It has 2 advatnages which means it's better than sniper rifle and can fire every turn too. The turret is far away and nothing is close so it can't be destroyed as collateral in AoE. Enemy has to deliberately waste their turn if they want to destroy it. So you get extra damage every turn if they don't kill it and you waste enemy turn if they do kill it. You win anyway. It's even mostly viable as a main weapon just because it gets innate 2 advantages.

      Fangs and bits are just inferior to extending blade/any ranged weapon respectively. They don't have long range so investing in systems for them is a waste but you have to if you want to be able to repair them. And they will get destroyed.

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    7. In theory you can keep a single enemy pinned down by using suppression plus powers that add penalties to attack/boost defense, so your fangs are a lot more durable.

      In practice things like bombardment and slippery chassis still make it less than ideal. Fangs are a lot better as a third or fourth weapon in a duelist build to force a nasty catch-22 on a target or even lock down two targets at the same time.

      You can repair remotes with systems 0 through supply drop (it just means supply drop has 0 range) but a range of 5 lets you buff them with assisted targeting/support fire.

      Also remotes move when you use your action on them, I simply didn't think of letting them automove every turn. That's probably a good idea.

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    8. The enemy can just blast you and the remote with blast/line even if he's suppressed. If you're using powers to lower his attack he can use powers to raise his attack too.

      This raises interesting questions. Id a remote is on interfering terrain does it get the penalty? If the remote owner is on interfering terrain does the remote get the penalty too? What if both are?

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  3. The remotes do seem very limited, why not simply take another weapon system and preform the job better with less hassle?

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    1. Remotes are very good in their job as a suplementary weapon.

      Turret gives you lot of extra damage at long range. Even if you treat it as a one shot assuming it will get destroyed instantly you still get a long range attack with +4. That's much better than missile massacre. And if you get multiple shots with it it's just awesome.
      Fangs allow duelists to engage 2 targets at the same time forcing the engaged target to waste a turn to destroy them. They also extend melee range while still retaining the duel bonuses unlike extending blade which loses them.

      Bits are ... a 10 range beam rifle. Which is kinda meh but the extra range is still very useful for systems 0 builds so you can't really say they're bad. They are slightly worse than other remotes though. Or more like the other remotes are just too good.

      Remotes are excellent additions to anybody arsenal but only after you have the basic main weapon + AoE option. They're only supplementary weapons because they're too unreliable to be used as main.

      If you want to use them more often you need a custom internal upgrade to make them more reliable like the one I posted earlier. You can make a decent and viable hybrid build with it.

      Just get all 3 remotes and you have great options for all situations. Forget about repairing them though. It's too expensive. With 3 remotes that take 2 hits enemies need 6 attacks to take them all out. You should last through most battles with that. Maybe get resupply and systems 3 later so you get more range on turret and can repair all 3 remotes once. 6 remotes taking 12 hits will last you through any battle and you only need to waste 1 action to repair them so it's pretty good deal.

      Are remotes assigned to areas and can they be maimed when not deployed? What if you lose that area when they're deployed?

      RAW they are assigned to areas like all other weapons and are maimed when you lose it regardless of deployment..




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  4. Terrain affects the remote and the owner unit separately and they are supposed to be entirely unmaimable. I'll make it so they go in the (other) area of the unit and they'll get their own Q&A section.

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  5. If they are unmaimable it's tempting to make a build without anti maim with them. That saves you 15 MP which is pretty good. You can't get resupply if you do though so it kinda sucks. Maybe secret power resupply. Hmm. It's hard to figure out a good build that focuses on remotes. The potential is there but it's very hard to make it work reliably.

    It really needs a specialist line upgrade like sniper/duel/arty/reactor line.

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  6. Requesting a point of clarity here: If you have Precious Snowflake, does that mean that you can't also gain /Features/ via Genre Powers, or is The Strong Adapt still a valid power to use?

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    1. Features are upgrades so the strong adapt doesn't work with precious snowflake.

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  7. ...Boy, a lot of things happen when I take a year long break, don't they? It's been a while, but since we've got (more or less) new rules to chew on, I may as well make a note. I'm still going over things, but I may as well make the first note...

    ...Unstable Reactor is busted. It's not just busted on a 'this is too strong' level, it's busted on every possible level except the pure concept. One extra energy is really powerful, which is good because most features are toothless, but the problem is that the tradeoff is the part that has no teeth in its case, except when everything goes wrong and then it has /too much/ teeth. In basically all campaigns, 'I take massive unblockable damage when totally KO'd' doesn't actually matter because you can fail-proof so that you won't actually die when KO'd (Invincible Frame is the obvious answer here, but that genre power that prevents KOing also works), and when a player takes Unstable Reactor and derps hard enough that he dies, he takes his entire party with him because THEY can't block the crapload of true damage they're about to take with their own usage of Live Another Day. In practice, Unstable Reactor reads as 'you are now a Base Unit, and you dying loses the party the operation and the campaign', which I don't think is the tradeoff that was intended. Additionally, unless the GM is a killer GM, most parties won't actually get pushed to the point where a cosmically powerful TPK-forcing explosion will be likely, because GMs recognize that getting shot down and taken out of the fight is rarely fun for players. So on several levels, the tradeoff isn't one that works. The idea is super duper cool and I think it's worth keeping, but it should be redesigned with all this in mind. As it is right now, Unstable Reactor is pretty much an elite tweak for every mech - it's a free +1 to a stat literally everybody uses with no downside. Maybe the reactor should fuck with Tension in some way instead (like making it fluctuate up and down, which can seriously hose you over even if sometimes it's useful)? I don't know.

    By a similar token, Remora Frame is a gimme. If you're a unit that wants to Dock into other characters (and make constant double entendres while you're at it), you really don't care about losing Speed in the first place, because you can start a fight pre-docked and let somebody else taxi you around. It's particularly effective if you have a huge beefmonster Gear on your team to tank for you. It's not really a broken build (AoE counters the Remora pretty strongly), but it is kinda noticeably restrictive for the GM, since unless he starts tossing out tons of AoE attacks the Remora has effectively infinite TP. Worth thinking about.

    I'll keep looking over this beta stuff and see what I can find. This should be interesting!

    PS: Hi Gimmickman, long time no see. Any ideas when it'll be a good time to start making threads in various RPG hubs to raise BCG awareness? The game is looking sweet and much improved since I last saw it.

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  8. Why hello there and welcome back... Or should I say "Its been a while"? It is more in-genre.

    Sooooo the thing with unstable reactor is that the potential TPK explosion IS the whole concept behind it - in the vein of mecha like godmars or jet alone. The very first version had a way worse blast and didn't even grant extra energy! It was pretty much all downside unless you actively tried to use it to take down enemies with you. Unstable total energy levels (going up and down) could be neat but that's an entirely different upgrade we're looking at. The solution I can think of right now is to write a sidebar about how bad the negative can get and how it should come into play if someone takes it.

    The remora could merit having a different flaw, something that makes being perma-docked more interesting. I don't have anything in mind right now but I can probably come up with something.

    As for starting conversations, between recent errata and expansion previews there's probably not going to be a better time than this. Would you like us to coordinate something?

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  9. Gladly. Should we do it over emails or PMs? I have them enabled on SA if that's preferrable.

    ---

    As for the reactor, that explains things. If it (and Base probably, no reason it couldn't get mentioned since they're similar in practice) has a sidebar, that'll make it so people don't walk into it blind and that's fine by me. And man, I hadn't even thought about it but it's true that you can weaponize the reactor if you have Cloneforge or Undying, can't you? That actually makes it a far more interesting setup than I previously thought, and gives it some play. Sneaky stuff!

    Meanwhile, with regards to the Remora, I was thinking...how do Remotes interact with being docked, BTW? Do they expose you? How about Support upgrades? From a quick read of the Docking rules it looks like any sort of active action you take will expose you to AoE, but I figure it's best to check. If anything can be used to game the restriction and immunize yourself to AoE fully, it definitely needs to be taken into account with the Remora making Docking easy.

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  10. PM Sent.

    If you're not feeling up to making a character that is pretty much doomed from the start, disposable clones or outright immortality will get around the drawback nicely, yes. You still have to watch out for the team, though. Unless everybody's got the same deal as you, in which case the game turns into a pretty dark comedy fairly quick.

    Remotes still expose you, like any other weapon does... Mostly because I didn't think of making them work differently. I can see the logic behind using your remotes while still docked, and it MIGHT merit a change. Maybe. As you point out, it could make for a very exploitable build soooo that's a REALLY doubtful maybe.

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  11. I'm in a game that's about to start up again, so I've got a pretty good opportunity to put it to the test. I'll report back with findings on whether unexposed remotes are too strong or just OK if I can convince the GM to give the ruling a try. Also gonna try the Transpatial Randomizer + CType + EWAC combo of chucking out all the support upgrades every round, so that should be good data too (do Supports uncover you when Docked, on that note? They're technically Utility actions, but...)

    Oh! On that note, that reminds me. Is it stated anywhere whether you can take more than one copy of the same weapon (for example, two Beam Rifles)? Another player is curious if it's possible to take multiple copies of the same One-Shot weapon, and I haven't been able to find a citation to confirm or deny.

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    1. Supports would uncover you, yeah, even when you don't spend an action to use them. Like with remotes, I can see this being changed if it works out better that way so by all means feel free to try and report back.

      You can't grab two of the same anything unless it has a 'specialist' tag and you pick different specializations each time. This leaves all one shot, technique and slow weapons out by design. You're already trying out stuff so it should be fine to give it a go and go back if it does not work. I mean, why not, right?

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  12. Did a bit more digging into the beta mechanics. Notes to follow:

    A) Defensive Technician seems a bit...strong to me. Nothing really stops a Ground Zeroist from taking it, Master Technician and becoming basically immune to enemies while playing Super Sweeper. It does have the issue of facing dual punishments from Extreme Terrain AND Overheating, but Antigravity lets you work around one of those. It's a strange combo because I think it's the only case (along with Reactor Overdrive, but that one's less powa) where you want to use a Technique not to finish enemies off but merely as an aggressive defense system. The fact it lets you reach that 'everything explodes' point of Techniques pretty safely makes for a very strange combo, and worth keeping an eye on.

    B) Power Conversion is looking strong on Support users. Real strong. Using Surprise Minefield bypasses the 'no Tension increase' issue since it only applies to Offensive actions, and adds a lot of beef to your build by giving it a fat chunk of extra energy. That's actually something I'm seeing a lot of in the BCZ materials so far, ways to maintain solid offensive performance while massively upping defense. Considering Techniques are reusable now though, that may be needed.

    C) Versatile Model works way better with Beams than non-Beams, because Experimental Reactor lets you keep nailing double advantages regardless of what you're using. Bug or feature?

    D) Extreme Body really makes me want a PC-OK version of Colossus and its ilk. Can we get one? I kind of really like the idea of finally getting to make an LLL sized mech that has that actually reflected on the battlefield. Simply being able to occupy four spaces (or more) opens up a ton of strategic fun stuff, it doesn't even need to be impossible to engage or any of the other perks.

    E) Nanopaste Skeleton looks like Invincible Alloy but costing 5 less MP and lacking the 1-up effect. Why would I want to buy this besides 'I wanna squeeze in an antimaim, Integrated Weapons doesn't cut it, and I'm five short of Invincialloy and will trade the upgrade I'm getting ASAP'?

    F) Skirmisher Frame makes me realize there are no weapons that let you strafe-fire (something like hitting multiple squares within a short range of the path you move across in your round) and encourage buying Speed on a ranged mech that isn't planning on kiting back. Now I kinda want something like that.

    G) Internal Fortification looks reeeeeeeeeeeal weak, unless massive oneshot damage has become the norm since I last looked at BCG. Am I missing something or is this just 'don't get crushed by boss archetypes' insurance? Because if that's the job it's meant to do...it's way too costly for the squishy mechs that want it. You can't afford to sink 20 MP on something that only is very valuable if you're getting blown up hard. At that point you may as well just buy an Assistant with My Defense is Impregnable and enjoy having a bonus GP and 5 extra MP to spend. How many times are you gonna need anti-megaboom protection in one fight?

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  13. H) Superior Integration is neat, but for some reason it feels uninspiring. It's not even close to bad (it's actually hyperefficient on literally anybody who wants Integrated Weapons, effectively paying itself back instantly on the first weapon use and with every other weapon offsetting the cost of buying antimaim real fast), but it has a weird issue of feel. I know it's super powerful and yet I can't find it in me to get hyped over this huge buff to Integrated Weapons in disguise. Just noting this because of how odd the reaction I had was.

    I) Transpatial Randomizer looks suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper good. Anything that grants bonus actions (and this is effectively a bonus action) is always hella strong by default, so we'll see how it works out once I got some play data on it. It should say everything that my first character upon returning to BCG took this to test just how good it is. :P

    J) Does Warp Step allow you to use a Boosted Lance to keep hitting enemies inside a Lockdown Missile's thunderdome with no reprisal? Because if so, that's a really powerful combo, even if it requires two or even three units to pull off. 'You don't even get to fight' is some mean stuff.

    Still digging through the rest of the book...more to come at some point.

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    1. A) Ground Zero (and overdrive, but less so) is basically why the Technicians had a lot of revisions. Something needed to bump up the weaker techs or give a multitech user some reusability. There is a lot of tweaking that needs to be done though, the burst aoe might end up needing to be smaller. Its primary balancing factor right now is that it is an energy hog but that's basically just a binary weakness - either you're being drained and can't use the combo or you aren't and can use it fine. We'll see.

      B) You're more or less right. BCG core is pretty fast and, if you build towards offense, superfast. The system rewards striking hard and fast, so I tried to add a lot of ways to counterbalance that.

      C) Kind of feature? Making the balanced beam users better was half the point of that upgrade. The other half was making the nonbeam users better, but what is good about them is that they have a better defense.

      D) I agree, but extreme body is balanced currently for a 'size 1' mecha. It is definitely a feature I am still thinking about, however.

      E) ...Yeah I've got nothing. I'm not sure what to do with this one.

      F) This is a really cool idea but would need a lot of clarifications for how it works in regards to other rules. Is it an aoe weapon? If so, does it get its own keyword or should it have a rider about how it bypasses defenses that bursts, lines and blasts bypass? Can you 'hold' your fire in between zones where your allies are? Does the line have to follow your movement 1:1? What if you try to use it to go around a corner? Intuitively it is easy enough to get, but look at Boosted Lance (the wordiest weapon in the base game iirc) for something that is supposedly very simple but provokes a lot of questions.

      G) If you're a dedicated tankish type, you're getting this by PL 4 or 5 and it frees up your energy or genre powers, making you less susceptible to debuffs. Other than that, stacking genre powers into one super aoe tech would be the best way by far to deal with grunts if they couldn't get this as a countermeasure. This way... Well, it is still probably the best, because it leaves them half dead in one shot. But it is not 'i overshadow everyone else all the time' powerful.

      H) Maybe it bothers you that each weapon only gets the boost once? ImnotsurewhattosayhereNEXTLETTERPLEASE!

      I) Pretty strong but unreliable to the point that sometimes it does nothing is basically what I'm going for. I'll be waiting to hear about your experience with it!

      J) It works, yes. Time will tell just how OP it is against lone bosses, but other than that it should be fine as long as your party/the NPCs have some distance between them.

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    2. A) I think using energy is a good idea, the only catch is that, yeah, it's kind of a binary thing whether it's useful or not. It also means that AoE nonbeam Techniques are a pipe dream (besides the Macrowave Cannon) because they'd end up being too efficient. I don't have a solution to the problem just yet, but it's one worth thinking about.

      E) What about making it the opposite of Invincible Alloy? Instead of protecting you from killshots, it's good against glancing hits and defend you from your first (maybe even second) Maim. I have this image of a Mech that repairs incidental damage done to it and doesn't flinch from scratch damage, but when it takes a really major blow those systems go down and it finds itself on the ropes. Possibly even give it a little bit of passive healing (like, two or three TP per round) while it's unmaimed or with one maimed threshold to sweeten the pill, even?

      F) My mental image is something like 'when you move your speed and Attack, Assist or Suppress, select a number of zones equal to (half/one third your Speed?) within three zones of your movement path. Apply the attack against every unit within the selected zones.', raining down a barrage of gunfire. Something like a mech version of the dual uzis of heroic bloodshed and gun fu films...but there's a lot of ways to represent this concept for sure. Finding ways to make sure it's not overly wordy is a real challenge.

      G) Hmm...I hadn't considered it as a grunt upgrade. That actually makes a lot of sense, come to think of it. Suddenly its purpose is a bit more clear.

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  15. Looking at Flaws now...one of these is not like the others. Most of these are fine (some have huge penalties but huge payoffs, others are more niche), but Limited Battery Time is really, really underwhelming for its effect. Not only does it force you to win fast or lose automatically, it also forces you to LOSE MP on the trade it offers, because every round that passes is like taking a hit to your MP because you have one less EN to spend. This is kinda crippling, because the whole point of Design Flaws is to give you more MP in exchange for a drawback, not take it away from you. And what really bugs me is that for certain builds, it's flat out free money when combined with the Power Conversion, as the effects cancel each other out. If you're not using Tension to offensive tests you just don't give one good goddamn about the cost so it's just a permanent net +10 MP. So not only does it not work to help you build the mechs that would most want it (powerful superprototypes that can only keep going for a short time, or something like Asuka's moment in Rebuild of Evangelion) because machines that have a limited battery time have tons of power and flashy energy displays to compensate, it's also a flat upgrade for healbots. It kinda needs a rework that doesn't drain EN, I think. Maybe take a cue from the new Tension Genre Powers and have the machine start to lose levels of threshold after or starting on Tension 5? This way healbots are disincentivized (because they exist to stall fights out) and powerhouses are encouraged.

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  16. And moving on to Active Defenses. Let's see...

    -Reflecting Barrier looks really, really underwhelming. I get the concept but 1 point of damage is just not worth +1 EN. A more unique but less guaranteed effect would be much appreciated.
    -Repulsion Field likewise, though at least it has a real niche because it makes it impossible to lock you down with Engages.
    -Everything else looks amazing. Really good job on the other Defenses.

    And since that was fast, covering the Restorative Upgrades too. I can't lie, I'm not 100% sure what the G-Charger is meant for. Overcharge already pretty much did the same job but more flexibly, so it's a bit weird to see this upgrade. In general, gears aren't built to use tons more energy than they need, except defensively...but the issue is that the Absolute Barrier, the one defensive system that most likes all that extra EN, can't be combo'd with G-Charger! It's not a bad idea in theory, but in practice I'm not sure it has a niche, not when it costs you an action. Similarly, Reload is Resupply but worse, because it doesn't let you stack multiple uses in the same activation. I honestly see no reason to grab it until it has that 'spend as many restoratives as you like' clause. At that point it might be competitive with Resupply, but before that it's just pointless.

    I think this just leaves Weapons left from the Mecha section (combinations I'll comment on later but they just need a bit of clarification I think). Boy is that one gonna be a doozy.

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  17. Nanopaste: I considered it for a bit but it seems easier to game, meaning it will be almost useless a lot of the time (you blocked the first hit from a random gruntbaby) or exploitable (you soak up a huge blow like from the self-damage genre powers) to try and oneshot the opposition.

    Skirmish Gun: I'll note it down. We might end up in need of another cool gun in there.

    Fortification: Also compare it with Oldtype for another take on the idea, and how well that one suits many Rivals/Bosses.

    Limited Battery: This has been by far the hardest of the bunch to get right from day one and it still has many issues. I'll take your advice into consideration. That I failed to notice the 'free MP for supports' thing is... Well, it is a sign that this really needs fixing.

    Reflecting Barrier: I've been considered making it use half the attack's tension bonus as the amount of damage reflected. That or a flat 3 since that is the amount it shields you for.

    Cheaper Restorations: They're basically worse, cheaper versions of the other ones, yes. That's their shtick. They can be easier to fit into an expansion pack and are useful for component units with spare actions. I generally want to leave it up to people to discover these things for themselves, but pointing this out is probably good sidebar material.

    Thanks for the feedback, feel free to take your time with the rest~

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  18. Hmm...if the problem is that the nanopaste is too easy to game, maybe it should just not be an antimaim. I actually really like the idea of an upgrade that gives you permanent low level regen - not enough that you actually break the game by being an unkillable beeftank, but enough that you can bounce back from a hit with time. This does very slightly infringe upon Regenerative's territory, but Regenerative is good for burst heals, whereas there would be no way to speed up the Nanopaste's work. Maybe look into something like that?

    With regards to the Reflecting Barrier, I actually had an interesting thought as I was writing that. How about adding a clause of 'ignores the additional effects of Suppresion for this attack'? Either together with the one dinky point of autodamage, or in place of it. It fits the flavor, and gives it a powerful niche because suddenly you're much harder to shut down.

    As for the cheaper restorations...it's not just that they're worse, it's that they're a lot worse. Reload just isn't going to be useful compared to Resupply for simple reasons of action efficiency. Would you rather spend an action every other turn on reloading, or one per three or five turns resupplying? It's a no-contest to me. One can at least make a case for the G-Charger (though I actually think it'd be much cooler if it fit the Regenerative mold, being usable at the start of your turn and giving you 2 EN per activation, which you could stack), but Reload needs some love. It's just super worse than Resupply right now.

    As for weapons, I got hit by a burst of inspiration. Let's knock them all out.

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  19. Whoops, that should read 'ignores the additional effects of the Suppress action from a ranged attack'. My bad!

    Anyway! Weapons. There's a lotta new ones, so let's go over them a bit.

    -Assassin Blade is the return of the Dueling Blade, with a somewhat more conditional cue. I'm not sure if this is strong for incentivizing gang beatdown strats, or weak because of its conditionality. I'm gonna say it's probably too weak - you can only get one advantage from it ever, because you can't Engage enemies that are already Engaged, whereas the Dueling Blade gets two. Maybe give it some bonus effect to balance out the loss of the ability to Engage when playing optimally?

    -Countersword is simple and clean. May need a clarification on what happens to the enemy's attack if their weapon is Maimed, but that's about it.

    -Great Crusher: New AoE weapon! Nice. Another simple and clean one, not much to say here. Probably better than the Whirlwind Attack due to range + lack of Unreliable, but not sure.

    -Hook Launcher: My co-player for the campaign I'm about to play in saw this and wanted it instantly. That's how you know a weapon is a hit. Super valuable for lockdown heavy characters.

    -Kamaitachi: This kind of obsoletes the Rocket Punch in all but a handful of situations, I think. Not that it's a bad thing, because the Punch is kinda lackluster, but just saying.

    -Magnet Rod: Simple +Numbers weapon, nothing to say here. Pretty useful against strong enemies like Rivals or bosses though!

    -Pressure Point Attack: Dayumn, now this is a strong trick. I kinda wanna say it should probably be a Technique AND Oneshot, because otherwise it is very easy to refresh it and utterly destroy enemies (especially because I think the post-test damage gets around Oldtype and Fortification...), but it's a very cool idea nonetheless.

    -Rocket Sword: This is a Technique except better because it's easier to refresh it and it hits in a ghetto AoE and inflicts pure damage instead of having to mess with might tests. I almost wanna say it needs a nerf, but maybe Defensive Technician adds enough value to the Zweihander and Countersword to be worth it?

    -Shocking Swordwhip: This weapon seems like it's either really good if you're fighting pure range 1 melee and catch them from the edge of your range and kinda awful otherwise. With the advent of the Kamaitachi and friends, I'm not sure how useful this is. What if it let you Engage from range but prevented you from making any attacks on your next turn if you did so, instead? Would fit the fluff better I think.

    -Stumbling Fists Style: 'Their' should be 'the target' or 'the enemy's', as a note. Besides that...isn't this basically just anti-boss/Tacticool Approach fodder? ...Actually, wait, I'm not sure it even works with Tacticool Approach, which leaves you with an ability that is pretty much only worthwhile if you're facing somebody who spent a ton on Might instead of buying up cheaper Advantages. Seems...kinda niche, really.

    Melee down. Shooting to follow.

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  20. Shooting weapons...this should be interesting.

    -Anti-Mecha Cannnon: This weapon should read 'Shooting Weapon (40+)', because it has a massive hidden pricetag due to requiring good Systems, Sniper Model, and possibly EWAC and Commander Type to reload it. It's a giant middle finger to melee, that's for sure. Without all that investment though, its value is a little more questionable.

    -Hyper Launcher: For when everything absolutely, positively has to die, accept no substitutes. If there's a mook-clearer on the roster, this is it. Shame about the Unreliable tho.

    -Lockdown Missile: I just fucking love this gun. It's super versatile, useful without relying on +Numbers, and there's a lot of room to play around with its effect on both sides. I love it, I love it to bits.

    -Macrowave Cannon: The return of the Gigablaster, and boy does it underwhelm. Spending three actions for one shot is just not worth it in BCG, ever. It should probably lose the 'lose your next action' requirement. Spending two rounds on a Line 3 Technique sounds about right.

    -Radiation Bomb: Super powerful weapon, especially at low levels when Extreme Terrain kills squadrons of mooks like nothing else. Another great weapon.

    -Rapidfire Machinecannon: Whoa. Is that a defensive Shooting weapon I see? I like this, I like this a lot! It's about time we got one. This sort of aggressive defense is super cool to see.

    -Sentry Turret: The great equalizer. For support builds that want to participate in combat without sucking, accept no substitutes. Since it's a remote, you don't even have to worry about maiming. A weapon that gets better and better the more you play around with it.

    -Torpedoes: Anti-Air Missile, except you actually know when you should Trump Card them in. Solid stuff.

    -Tracer Rifle: Has negative synergy with Assist actions. Automatic demerits for that in my book. Either it needs a different effect that doesn't make assist bots sad, or it needs to give the bonus hit or miss.

    Man, that was quick. That just leaves the big one: Beams. Brace for it...

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  21. Easily the coolest of the three weapon sections, for my money. Beams all do something very special beyond their weapon tags, and they benefit a lot from it.

    -Magneburst: Also known as: The Aggressive Defense System. I fucking love this weapon to bits. It lets a team of meleers play as an actual team and advance under cover of a magneburst and dispersal auras in a way that lets them survive barrages of gunfire. So cool! Phenomenal weapon right here.

    -Burnout Edge: Electromagnetic Detonator has always been one of the most overlooked upgrades. Applied to a weapon, its energy halving effect shines like a bright star. It's powerful, really powerful, but also very interesting to see.

    -Fangs: Compared to the Sentry Turret and the Bits, the Fangs are a bit simple. Their primary benefit is that they can engage a target and lock him down while you keep another character pinned down. It works, but it's really noticeable how reliant on Duelist Model to really shine this weapon is. Probably should have a (20) pricetag, lol.

    -Gravity Knuckle: POWER SLAM! For a character looking to play Hard D for his team, the graviknuckle is practically second to none. Bouncing enemies back, especially when dealing them extra damage, is just a dream come true. Another excellent weapon right there, and silly great with a Pulling Field.

    -Ground Zero: This one I've talked about already. Powerful, super synergistic with the new technician upgrades, nuff said.

    -Graviton Gun: Do all the crashing mecha end up in the same Zone? Just checking to make sure. This is otherwise a pretty simple weapon in concept, though I'm not sure how often it will actually work. 'Hit enemies in a line, which are all clumped up and within range 5' is kind of a lot to ask for. Maybe it should be a cone weapon instead?

    -Point Singularity Projector: Does gaining the advantage also cancel the disad from Assisting on top (AKA, net +1 advantage instead of net neutral)? If not, I don't see why you'd ever not just toss an ally the bonus advantage. It's not like you NEED to hit.

    -Bits: Simple but fairly versatile, Bits grant you a very useful General Upgrade in a weapon sized package. What's not to love?

    -Lux Cannon: MY GUN! God damn I missed this old heap o' junk. The original BCG version was super underwhelming, because it existed in a metagame where Slow guns had no place to exist, but things have changed quite a bit since then, and the removal of the old bonus advantage in exchange for piercing active defenses have made it a much better pick. So nice to see an old favourite return in a suitably badass way.

    -Oblivion Buster: And here we are. The ultimate weapon. Maximum range, it's a Technique, a beam and it even blows up a level of threshold on top of the gigantic damage it dishes out. Of course, you can't move while using it, it costs five EN to fire it at full power, it's Overheating and it will rob you of your energy regen next round, so it's got a fair amount of catches built into it. But still, if you have to kill one guy DEAD, this is the gun to do it with. Just a lovely BFG, really.

    And I think that's it. That leaves the Pilot section, but that one can wait a bit. I'm gonna crash for a sec I think.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Here's some clarifications:

      Countersword: You may be the first person to ever call this 'simple and clean'. If it maims the attacking area, their attack is canceled. I'm not sure how else I can simplify it further without also getting rid of what makes it cool.

      Pressure Point Attack: This does get around fortification, since it destroys a level no matter how many TP it has left.

      Shocking Swordwhip: The original version gave the target a conditional disadvantage to attacks not made against you, which should explain what is the intent here. This is a teamwork weapon.

      Stumbling Fists Style: It does not stack with tacticool approach, but it works when that isn't active. It is a niche weapon though, yes.

      Macrowave Cannon: This should get some kind of buff, yes, but the 'takes 3 turns to fire' part was actually commissioned sooooo that's staying.

      Graviton Gun: They don't end up in the same zone unless you move them that way.

      Tracer Rifle + Point Singularity Projector: The idea is that you WANT to use your own action to attack and hit for damage. We already have assisted targeting for people who want to give a good buff and don't care about doing damage themselves.

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    2. Nothing really stops you from Assisting AND using Assisted Targeting, though. If you want to buffbot it's actually kinda valuable to get yourself a PSP so you can slap down four advantages on an ally.

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