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Mechs / Mech Overview

Building And Using Mechs

Source Tech Revolution pg. 92
Building Mechs (page 96) provides a system for constructing custom mechs and presents a wide array of options for players to customize their machine’s size, armaments, limbs, and more. The section also presents rules for multiple PCs to build an assembled mech, each create their own single-pilot mech, or split between several machines in any combination.
Mech combat (page 112) is a flexible system. Mechs use many of the existing rules for Starfinder, allowing players to jump into mech combat with ease, whether they’re taking on titanic creatures, clashing with enemy mechs, or fighting off entire squads of foes single-handedly. Unlike powered armor, which functions as an extension of the operator’s body that deflects attacks rather than absorbs damage, a mech functions more like a specialized vehicle that’s piloted by one or more operators. A mech has its own defenses and Hit Points, shielding its operators from harm while they give the mech commands (see page 98 for more information on mech statistics). Mech weapons (page 102) are in a class of their own, far exceeding in scale any armaments sized for PCs.
Much as with starships, acquiring or using mechs does not cost the PCs credits (in a typical campaign, mechs are not available for sale), and Starfinder campaigns can thrive with any amount of mech combat, from mech encounters every session to no mech combat whatsoever—the exact prevalence of mech encounters can be tailored to the campaign’s needs and is ultimately up to the GM to decide. Mechs provide a significant power advantage that make many otherwise challenging encounters trivial, so GMs should consider being purposeful on their inclusion—such as a means to overcome impossible odds or insurmountable foes—rather than to simply trivialize challenges the PCs face.