Battlesuits

In thinking about heroes who use battlesuits, it seems that there should be some fundamentally different feel to being an armor-wearing hero. This ties to the idea of an exceptional human. One of the things that I didn't like about the first edition (which I never resolved, and just accepted) was that INT and CHA are held to the same limit as STR, CON, and DEX. You cannot, as a non-super-powered character, have either INT or CHA in excess of 13. However, in one of the games I used as a model (Marvel Superheroes), really smart characters (even when they were normal humans in terms of their intelligence), had Reason of Incredible or even Amazing. There effectively was a different 'scale' in terms of Strength (which can lift 50 tons at Amazing) and Reason (which is actually comparable to some of the greatest minds who have lived). One is clearly outside of the realm of human potential; the other is not. Yet, they are both Amazing.

I am thinking that INT and CHA will do this in the new edition; they are capped at 19 instead of 13 for exceptional humans. Your mind is like a computer, or you exude such a power of personality that others are easily swayed by you. This stuff happens in the real world (or close to it).

This matters for Battlesuits, because generally the inventor of a battlesuit is likely to be the genius who also invented it. Tying battlesuits to INT in some measure makes sense; you are able to upgrade and maintain your suit at a higher level the smarter you are.

For battlesuits, you would roll up an exceptional human (who might have 14+ INT or CHA - or both), and would then build the suit with points.

Here's my first draft of this (literally just cut and pasted from my current notes)... BP is Battlesuit Points. You get 1d6 + INT Modifier BP per level (maybe):

If Anthony is a level 4 human with a battlesuit, he has 5D6 hit points
(with maybe a +1 CON bonus per level),
so he has about 20-25 hit points without his suit on.
You ‘buy’ features of your suit as you go up in level.

For example, the basic Man of Iron suit has the following enhancements:

Grants +10 (cap 20) to STR when worn (bumping his 8 STR to 18). (8 BP)

Grants +10 (cap 20) to CON while worn
(bumping his 6 CON to 16; grants +5 hit points per level) (8 BP)

Grants +2 to DEX while worn (increases his 7 DEX to 9, increases AC as well by +1) (2 BP)

Blaster: 1d10; 60’ (8 BP)

Invulnerability (5 from CON) (free)

Air Supply 2 (4 BP)

30 points total

Here are some things that might be included in a suit…

STR	+2 base for free; 1 BP for each +1 thereafter
DEX	None included; 1 BP for each +1 to DEX
PWR	Included at 10 automatically; 1 BP for each +1 thereafter
CON	+2 base for free; 1 BP for each +1 thereafter
AC	+1 base for free; 1 BP for each +1 thereafter
Blaster	None included; 1d6 (30’) for 2 BPs; each die shift or range increment is 2 BP
Flight	None included; each rating of flight costs 2 BPs
Invulnerability	Included with CON modifier
Air Supply	2 BP for each rating

Possible Add Ons

Self-Repair. Recovers 1D at the end of every turn from self-repair.
The suit can ultimately repair itself to full hits,
but any damage dealt to the wearer must be recovered normally.

Other Powers (as applicable) are generally 3 BPs to purchase,
+1 BP for any upgrade beyond the foundational power.
Many are linked to PWR.

At the end of the day, part of the fun of building a hero with the battlesuit is in building the suit.
It’s in the little details, and how you allocate points.

Alternate Suits. As a talent, you can have multiple battle suits.
You are able to maintain a number of different varieties of suit equal to your level,
limited to your INT modifier.
As a level 4 character with genius-level intellect (INT 14 or better),
you are able to maintain 4 different battle suits.
Each is built with the same number of points.
You get to choose which suit you bring on any adventure.