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Hey everyone, Clayton here. I'll get right to it and say the major changes we've made to Tech:
The biggest changes have been to how Armor works. This is probably no surprise to anyone, but some of the stuff that got through (especially when coupled with a Force User) was a little OP. Whether it was inattentiveness by the reviewer, or people sneaking stuff in through the Generic board, we started back down the 6th Timeline road. As a result, we've expanded on the original concept of Light, Medium, and Heavy armors in some pretty exciting ways. Again, you should read the rules for this, but I'll give a brief explanation of the changes here.
Light, Medium, and Heavy armors retain their levels of coverage. However, they now come with their own levels of functionality. This means we can now have in explicit language how a set of armor differs from a functionless combat vest. Incidentally, this should make the approval process far more streamlined.
Light Armor may have 1 function, Medium armor may have 3 functions, and Heavy Armor gets 4 functions. So what is a function? A function is defined as anything that lets you do more than absorb a hit. Some functions might be: Helmet HUD, mag boots, jet pack, cable launcher, energy shield, flamethrower, extendable blade, wrist blasters, etc. Because of the ubiquitous nature of commlinks, an integrated commlink in a helmet is not considered a function.
Now, Heavy Armor gets the most, right? Why should anyone bother with Light or Medium? Well, we really want to reinforce the idea that if you're in Heavy Armor you are not doing acrobatics. Your movement will be restricted. Your character will tire more easily. Heavy Armor is what you picture Clone or Stormtroopers walking around in. You're not going to be pulling Cad Bane or Yoda flips/tricks in it. So, your character will be dealing with limitations that Light or Medium Armor wearers don't have. It's a trade-off that we put serious discussion into so it would be as balanced as possible.
Furthermore, due to balance issues, Force Users are restricted to functionless armor. There's absolutely zero reason a PC should be walking around using the Force to throw you off a cliff while blasting people with a flamethrower and absorbing a hit with her energy shield.
In the same vein, we've added a rule that a character cannot have a gear loadout that effectively eliminates a Force User's ability to use the Force. As a result, the Supernova grenade has been archived as it technically breaks that rule.
This will bring balance back to the Force.
I'm sure you're asking "How does this affect current submissions?" This is a good question. As of right now there are 24 armor submissions that have been approved. I'll consider them grandfathered in unless there is something OP/broken with them under the new guidelines. That being said, if you're uncertain about something you should ask. Better to find out about it now instead of in the middle of a fight.
- Revamped and Improved Tech Rules
- A serious overhaul of how Armor works
- The merging of Timeline Tech and the Rules threads with improved navigation
- Official Templates for tech submission
- Another round of stock tech
Tech Rules and Armor Overhauls
We've been on quite the journey from the 6th Timeline. One of the good things about getting a new timeline was all the old tech got scrapped and we didn't have to weed out remnants from OP submissions past. The bad thing was we redesigned the rules and the only way to know if they would work was to see them in action. Obviously not everything went according to plan, but that's not entirely unexpected either. It's given us the opportunity to further tool the rules to better fit SWRP. There have been numerous minor tweaks here and there to adjust balance issues across weapons, explosives, and interactions between Tech and The Force. I suggest you give the rules a thorough read in light of this.The biggest changes have been to how Armor works. This is probably no surprise to anyone, but some of the stuff that got through (especially when coupled with a Force User) was a little OP. Whether it was inattentiveness by the reviewer, or people sneaking stuff in through the Generic board, we started back down the 6th Timeline road. As a result, we've expanded on the original concept of Light, Medium, and Heavy armors in some pretty exciting ways. Again, you should read the rules for this, but I'll give a brief explanation of the changes here.
Light, Medium, and Heavy armors retain their levels of coverage. However, they now come with their own levels of functionality. This means we can now have in explicit language how a set of armor differs from a functionless combat vest. Incidentally, this should make the approval process far more streamlined.
Light Armor may have 1 function, Medium armor may have 3 functions, and Heavy Armor gets 4 functions. So what is a function? A function is defined as anything that lets you do more than absorb a hit. Some functions might be: Helmet HUD, mag boots, jet pack, cable launcher, energy shield, flamethrower, extendable blade, wrist blasters, etc. Because of the ubiquitous nature of commlinks, an integrated commlink in a helmet is not considered a function.
Now, Heavy Armor gets the most, right? Why should anyone bother with Light or Medium? Well, we really want to reinforce the idea that if you're in Heavy Armor you are not doing acrobatics. Your movement will be restricted. Your character will tire more easily. Heavy Armor is what you picture Clone or Stormtroopers walking around in. You're not going to be pulling Cad Bane or Yoda flips/tricks in it. So, your character will be dealing with limitations that Light or Medium Armor wearers don't have. It's a trade-off that we put serious discussion into so it would be as balanced as possible.
Furthermore, due to balance issues, Force Users are restricted to functionless armor. There's absolutely zero reason a PC should be walking around using the Force to throw you off a cliff while blasting people with a flamethrower and absorbing a hit with her energy shield.
In the same vein, we've added a rule that a character cannot have a gear loadout that effectively eliminates a Force User's ability to use the Force. As a result, the Supernova grenade has been archived as it technically breaks that rule.
This will bring balance back to the Force.
I'm sure you're asking "How does this affect current submissions?" This is a good question. As of right now there are 24 armor submissions that have been approved. I'll consider them grandfathered in unless there is something OP/broken with them under the new guidelines. That being said, if you're uncertain about something you should ask. Better to find out about it now instead of in the middle of a fight.
New Templates!
Did I mention Templates? Let's talk about templates. Thanks to several members of the community, we've designed some kessing cool templates for each submission category. They look sleek and have all the important information without the usual clutter. Once again, having all that info where it needs to be should streamline the approval process. From now-on, you must use the official templates when submitting tech. Now I know you guys love coming up with new ways to abuse boxes into looking awesome, and I'm sure with the new forum additions released by Abe we'll find even more ways to do so, so don't think these are the end of the road. Someday they might look even better.Stock Tech Round 2
Ah, stock tech. Back when the timeline launched, I released a slew of tech to set the mood for the timeline and showcase what is a "reasonable" submission. I'm doing the same thing today. The fun thing about this round is the theme. I've always had a soft spot for pirates and, with the Fall of the Republic, it seems only logical that there would be an uptick in Space Crime. There are currently three submissions, which I don't feel is quite enough, so there may be more in store. This is also the perfect opportunity to start an Indie pirate faction. (hint hint, please?)
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