Care Bear Stare - Available to Clan and Inner Sphere BattleMechs from particularly non-offensive factions
The Red Mushroom - Able to make units bigger for a short period of time
The Big Hammer - ABle to smash any unit directly in front of the attacker, but precludes the ability to jump or run
Phased Plasma Rifle in the 40-Watt Range - Just because it sounds cool
Psychic Healing Power - Available for infantry that's been mostly dead all day
The BattleMech Whip - Combined with a fedora-shaped cowl, makes the MechWarrior a fearsome L33T archaeological, Nazi-fighting adventurer. Can be used to damage, grapple, or swing from very, very tall trees
Voice Activated Superweapons - Inexplicably limited to battleMechs, ProtoMechs, and Battle Armor, all the pilot has to do to fire it is yell in a real childish voice something like "Big Bazooka Thingie FIRE!" to deliver an attack.
Female BattleMech...uh, Attributes - Yeah, if I say one word more on this, it's a warning for sure. (No, the Pinion and the Fafnir don't count...)
Bullet-Time Mode - Add bonuses to EVERYTHING while reducing all units to 1/10th their normal speed and giving players a minimum of 1 hour to make any movement and attack decisions
Killer Tomatoes - We have these in all sizes. If they hit a unit of appropriate (or smaller) size, the unit is destroyed. Period. No save. Sorry.
Dig-Dug's Pump Gun Thing - No, really. Not an off-color joke here. Why not infate an enemy armored unit until it pops?
Horse-And-Rider BattleMech Rules - Way back when, Kevin Killiany wanted to put a Black Knight on a Thunder Stallion. Why the heck not?
Super-Robo-Ninja-Shuriken-Attack! - Combined with the Voice-Ativated thingie, a physical attack weapon the BattleMech actually throws, and can occasionally take someone's eye out. Best employed by Stealth Armor-equipped units, but only if said units are built in the Draconis Combine
Super-Robor-Non-Ninja-Frisbee-Attack! Not even as dangerous as the Shuriken thing, and good for "friendly" games, like in the arenas of Solaris....Unless you find yourself on the planet Tron, in which case, you COULD be in trouble.
LAVA GUNS! - A WarShip based weapon that can spontaneously create a Traps volcano anywhere one likes (including deep space).
Giant Lollipop - Does absolutely nothing, but at least one avatar I've seen on these board will become canonical.
The Autobot Matrix of Leadership - Carried by only one unit--which MUST be a Grand Titan, damn it!--imbues the unit's side with a +5 Initiative Modifier until the Titan is dropped by an incidentally strafing attack by a unique Seydlitz fighter called "Laserbeak". Once per scenario, the carrier of the Matrix can yell "Till all are one!" and make a 2D6 roll, inflicting that many 20-point hits (no to-hit rolls required) to ALL enemy units on the map.
The is NO Roll Six! - This special rule forces players to reroll any 6s on their dice roll results, applicable on to-hits, cluster table rolls, and locations (Huh; that could be a really fun handicap!). Continue rerolling until all individual die results are 5 or less.
Song Attack! - Out of the blue, at a random place on the map, in any gameplay mode, a ditzy looking singer appears and starts singing love songs that impose a +4 modifier to all actions for all units on the board (regardless of affiliation). This effect lasts until the offending singer is stepped on, rammed, or shelled by Naval Autocannon fire (treat as if attacking a 1-person infantry platoon).
Okay, tired now. Will come up with more later.
- Herb
Double-Bladed BattleMech Sword - Can deliver two sword attacks per turn or parry one physical weapon attack (other than charge, death from above, and ram)
Alternative Unit Operating Systems - Instead of the standard operating systems used by military hardware in the 31st century, players may choose one of the following alternatives for added effects:
AUOS: Atari 8-Bit - Simple, but with limited application. All attacks are Alpha Strikes, but deliver no actual damage because the Atari is just a simulator control system. Unit may not fire while jumping. Unit turns at 1 MP per 45 degrees (rather than 60)...you do the math. Only available to units built between 2800 and 3025.
AUOS: Commodore 64 - Functionally similar to Atari 8-bit, except unit may fire AND jump. Available to units built between 2805 and 3030.
AUOS: Colecovision - Fuctionally similar to Atari 8-bit, but unit may not only fire and jump, it may select individual weapons to fire. However, there are significant glitches; every 2 rounds, roll 1D6. System crashes on a 6 result, requiring 3 turns to restart (during which time the unit is considered to be immobile and may not move, fire, or execute piloting skill rolls). Available to units built from 2810 to 2820.
AUOS: MS-DOS - All actions require 1 turn's declaration IN ADVANCE as operator must manually enter the commands. Otherwise, the unit functions normally. Available to all units built from 2900 to 3040.
AUOS: Windows 3.1 - Unit functions normally, but with a +1 modifier to Piloting due to the odd mouse-based interface. Also, system may crash during the End Phase of a turn on a 2D6 roll of 9+, requiring 2 turns to reboot.
AUOS: Windows 95/98 - Unit functions as with Windows 3.1, but now may access the internet. Each round of internet access, roll 1D6. On a 6, the unit is tuned to the approrpiate command channels and gains a -1 to-hit modifier for weapon attacks (reflecting better field coordination). On 1-4, the unit's pilot is surfing adult sites and is too distracted to move or fire. On 5, no effect. Also check for crashes as per Win 3.1.
AUOS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista - See Windows 95/98. Treat 5 result on internet connection as a minor distraction by amusing Flash videos, imposing a +1 modifier for all Piloting and Gunnery checks. Check for crashes each turn, but now crash occurs on 8+ rather than 9+.
AUOS: Mac - Only 1 unit for every 12 fielded may have a Mac OS. Mac OSes function the same as Windows 2000/XP/Vista, but only crash on a 12 result.
And one more for the Star Wars geek in most of us:
The Force! - Special pilots in walking units (BattleMechs, ProtoMechs, Battle Armor and Infantry only), may choose one of the following special moves once per turn in place of a weapon attack:
Force Pull/Push - Attacker pulls or pushes a unit 1 hex toward (or away) from the unit executing the Pull/Push maneuver. Effective only against target units within 15 hexes of range. Target unit must make a PSR or fall when Pulled/Pushed.
Force Jump - Unit may jump double its normal distance....but only vertically. Horizontal jump distance remains unchanged. Double DFA damage.
Force Speed - Unit doubles all its MPs for one turn and attacks against it receive an added +1 to-hit modifier. WHile speeding, unit makes attacks at a +1 to-hit modifier as well.
Force Grip - Attacker selects one target within 5 hexes and grips it. Gripped unit is treated as immobile and may not make weapon or physical attacks while gripped, but may counter the Grip if its pilot uses a Force Push (yeah; I played a lot of Jedi Academy recently; go sue me). Attacker may not move or fire while Gripping another unit in this fashion.
Force Seeing - Unit spots any hidden units as if it has a Beagle Active Probe with a 10-hex range. Lasts one turn.
Force Persuasion - Attacks against the unit now receive a +2 to-hit modifier because the attacker is confused as to the unit's actual location. If used offensively (once per 3 turns), the Persuader can also get a target unit within 3 hexes to retreat or attack one of his own friends.
- Herb, demonstrating the true power of boredom
"Battlemech Revolver", which could act like an AC5 at decidedly lower weight, with a maximum ammo loadout of 6 rounds, and a shorter maximum range. Of course, this would require a working hand actuator, but outside of that, it could make for some interesting designs.
One more!
BattleMech Pillow Club! - Used primarily in Solaris or Noisiel, this weapon does no damage whatsoever, but forces a PSR regardless upon a successful attack (modifier -2; fall on fail). Particulaly entertaining to watch when combined with light Mechs that have also incorporated the aforementioned BattleMech Female... uh... Attributes. Bringing live weapons to a BattleMech Pillow FIght is generally considered extremely poor sportsmanship.
And since I was thinking of Noisiel, maybe we need rules for the BattleMech Baseball Bat and Cricket.... thingie. Maybe even a BattleMech Golf Club, Tennis Racket, and Hockey Stick. And do BattleMechs playing American-rules football need extra armor padding?
- Herb
Bubble-Wrap Armor!
Looks shiny and fun on the outside, provides no protection against energy weapons and absorbs only one point of damage from all incoming ballistic and missile weapon attacks (the rest make a rather loud popping sound on the internal structure). The real benefit is physical, however; reduce damage from falls and physical attacks (except for hatchet, mace, sword, vibroblade, lance, and retractable blade) by 3 points, reflecting the "bouncy cushion" effect. (A variant on this armor is the so-called Gortex Armor, which unfortunately functions exactly the same way, but sheds heat poorly, reducing heat sink capacity by 25% (rounded down).)
Ooo! The REAL benefit to Bubble-Wrap Armor! Apply a +4 modifier to Swarm/Leg Attack rolls to reflect the trooper's irresistable attraction to the pop-pop bubble-bubble stuff... (Gortex Armor receives only a +2 modifier, simply because it's hard to find the joints.)
- Herb
How about fly paper armor? Attacking infantry get stuck and can't attack. Tongue
Ooo! I like that one too! Also has a +2 modifier to repair rolls, because techs keep getting stuck to it as well, which gives rise to....
Human Shield Armor! This is Flypaper Armor that has, over time, become so gunked up with stuck-on infantry, techs, random animals, bits of foliage, and other various and sundry things that might a BattleMech may walk through, that all this detritus actually improves the unit's armor protection. Prior to the start of a scenario, a unit with Flypaper Armor may declare that it has "upgraded itself" to Human Shield Armor (generally by wandering through masses of people--commonly enemy infantry, but a friendly base barracks or a thriving, crowded city are good in a pinch as well). Units so "upgraded" add 2D6 armor to each leg (or non-turret sections for ground vehicles; aerospace units and WiGE units only enmhance the "nose" armor this way, after flying through large bird flocks and/or paratrooping platoons), and 1D6 armor to all other locations (aerodyne aerospace units and WiGEs receive no bonus to the rear location, however, nor do VTOLs receive such bonuses to the rotors because they only skewer and slice, not stick). These bonus armor points are damaged first during gameplay.
- Herb
