Mechwarrior 1e - Creating Mechwarriors - Part II

Characters are all part of the same 'Mech unit, ranging from a four 'Mech lance to a full battalion or regiment. Everyone creates a mech-pilot, but you can also use character creation rules for secondary roles like Techs, Aerospace pilots, Dropship/Jumpship crew, scouts, or spies. Not sure how spies would fit—would everyone be a Kurita ninja? Some roles feel restrictive. Everyone should have a character who can always participate in the action. Play your mech-pilot during ‘Mech missions—not your Tech. You don’t want to be sidelined or stuck sitting out. At the end of the day its clear your meant to create and play a mechwarrior, the other roles are setting/flavour and not really meant to be played.

First, build your characters (including secondaries), then design the ‘Mech unit, establish NPCs, and define your unit’s affiliation, status, and special abilities. Regarding secondaries I don't see the point other than generating another mechwarrior that might be in the units other lance - so you have a back-up character. Generating a tech or aerospace pilot secondary isn't needed as you are assigned a random skill level tech & aerospace pilot when creating your 'Mech unit later.

You're given 150 CP to build your pilot, which feels like Shadowrun. There are four attributes—BODY, DEX, LRN, and CHA—ranging from 2-12. A score of 6 costs nothing, boosting costs CP, and lowering earns extra points. Raising CHA to 7 costs 10 CP, while maxing it at 12 costs 300 CP. Mechwarriors need at least DEX 5 and LRN 5. BODY is expected to be robust, but there’s no set minimum. It says attributes don’t change unless altered by accidents or campaign events but later you find out this is wrong - you can boost attributes by advancing in class (i.e. from GRN to VET) as well as boosting attributes with XP.

BODY affects hits-to-kill (HP by another name), brawling, and athletics. DEX governs mech gunnery, piloting, and rogue skills. LRN controls smart skills and dictates both the number of skills you can take and their max level. CHA handles diplomacy, leadership, and reaction rolls, similar to AD&D’s reaction system.

For attribute saves, your score determines the target number on 2d6. A DEX 6 means rolling 8+ to dodge an explosion. It’s a simple, intuitive way to handle checks.

Hopefully, you’ve got some CP left for skills. Each level in a skill lowers the target number for checks by 1, so our DEX 6 character with Pistol 2 would need a 7 instead of a 9 to hit. There are 25 skills, but LRN limits selection—you can take as many skills as your LRN score, and total skill levels are capped at 4 × LRN. Mechwarriors get Pilot and Gunnery/Mech 1 for free. The max skill level is 8, which costs a hefty 490 CP.

Skills unlock special abilities at certain levels—Pistols 3+ grants “Quick Draw,” and at 5, you get “Trick Shot.” I like how this ties abilities to skill progression. No skill seems broken, though some feel niche, like “Land Management.” High LRN lets Mechwarriors qualify for Academy or University packages, which offer a discounted skill bundle for 75-100 CP, but the rigid skill selection feels like a trap.

There are other CP spends: Handedness, though I’m not sure what Natural Right/Left does, and Inborn Abilities like Thick Skin for 20 CP or Glass Jaw, which refunds 15 CP. Sixth Sense seems strong, but most abilities don’t feel useful in a ‘Mech. You roll 2d6 for your starting ‘Mech, with the option to spend 20 CP per +1 (max +9) before rolling. If you don’t spend CP, the best possible roll lands you a 70-ton Warhammer or Archer. Maxing CP here and rolling high could start you in a 90-ton Cyclops. Strangely, you can spend 50 CP for a terrible backup ‘Mech—I don’t know why you would. The most likely result is that you end up with a light 40-ton medium mech.

The final character creation rule allows CP transfers between characters on a 1-for-1 basis, though no one can start with more than 250 CP this way. It’s unusual for someone to nerf their own character just to boost someone else, but it does allow one player to be an ace pilot or a crack leader right from the start. I didn’t like it at first, but I’m not going to rule it out.

I'm not sure if I’ll use the random ‘Mech roll. Part of me wants the party to start in lightly armored light ‘Mechs and work their way up, but it depends on how I want to kick things off. I'm still thinking things over.