Killer Cyborg wrote:Temporalmage wrote:Killer Cyborg wrote:"Attacking an enemy" and "Always" are not the same thing in my world.
Must be a violent place where you come from.
What I said was that there are plenty of times when it is better to fight from inside a robot vehicle than from outside one. This is not the same as "it is always better to stay inside a robot vehicle".
Now here's where you counter your own argument!
Killer Cyborg wrote:"And against a dragon (as with many other foes), he SHOULD have his head examined for wanting to leave his relatively safe vehicle.
Against weak foes, especially ones he wants taken alive, he's better off casting spells.
Of course, even then he's better off spending a round or two inside a safe place while he gets his Armor of Ithan up (or defensive spells of choice) before he sticks his head out.
So in your own words there wouldn't BE a good time to step out of a robot. Even if faced with a "weak foe".
Uh, that's not a counter to my argument.
"During Combat" and "Always" are not the same thing in my world.
In combat it is almost always better to be inside a robot/vehicle than not, whether or not you're a mage.
It's just too easy to die otherwise, especially for a mage since they're a high priority target.
Killer Cyborg wrote:
You're cramming OCCs into narrow stereotypes.
Being a mage doesn't restrict what vehicles you can drive, at least not beyond restricting what Pilot skills you can take.
I didn't say it restricted what they CAN drive, just what they would choose too. You yourself admited that mage OCC's have vehicles that they prefer. States what those vehicles are under each individual magic OCC.
Yes, but your argument hasn't been "the majority of mages prefer ______", your argument has been "No mage would want to drive any vehicle that would keep their magic contained."
The books don't back you up at all on this.
1. The only listed restrictions on pilot skills is that some mage OCCs can't pilot jets, tanks, or robots. You seem to be saying "Sure, they can know HOW to drive enclosed vehicles, but they never would."
But that makes no sense. Why would a mage learn a skill that he didn't intend on using?
2. As I pointed out, many mages prefer hover vehicles, which includes hover cars (which are enclosed).
3. Mages can choose any vehicle as part of their starting equipment. There is a preference mentioned, but that's all.
Now check out some other classes vehicle options:
-Bursters are limited to non-military vehicles of choice
-Borgs (Slave) are limited to non-military vehicles
-Crazies can choose anything, but "rarely use power armor or robots"
-Cyberknights can choose anything, but they have preferences listed (just like mages do). Unlike mages, they also have a bit stating that they "Rarely use power armor or robot vehicles."
-Juicers can choose anything, but "seldom want slow moving tanks/APCs or lumbering robots."
-Body Fixers get non-military vehicles
-City Rats get a motorcycle. Not "prefer a motorcycle", just "His vehicle will be a motorcycle."
-Cyber Docs get a non-military vehicle
-Rogue Scientists get a non-military ground vehicle
-Rogue Scholars get a non-military ground vehicle
-Wilderness Scouts get a non-military vehicle (What!? Even though they can't use their OCC abilities like cooking, climbing, athletics, Hunting, fishing, prowl, track animals, WP Knife, and Wilderness Survival while they're driving!? Gee, how odd... I mean, they've spent their lives learning how to run around in the wilderness! Why would they want to close themselves off from their skills?
)
-Vagabonds get an old rusty junker of a car/morotcycle (again, not "prefer")
-Psi Stalkers get a horse or animal mount, or a non-military vehicle (Apparently even cars and other vehicles that would close them off from their supernatural abilities)
-Mind Melters are limited to non-military vehicles and it specifically states that they "almost never pilot robots or power armor."
Yet you keep insisting that a mage would rather pilot a robot, use missiles and lasers, than cast spells. THIS is where we disagree.
Yes. Because you think that "A mage" means "any mage, anywhere at any time", where I think it just means "An individual mage".
In general, I operate under the assumption that mages prefer to survive. Travelling through the hostile wilderness of Rifts Earth, that often means travelling in a vehicle with enough MDC to protect the mage from attacks.
For that matter, I assume that mages prefer convenience to hardship. Which means that if they have to travel 100 miles and can't use Ley Line Teleportation (either because they aren't Line Walkers, or because they have companions or cargo that needs to be taken along), they would have no real problem driving the distance in the comfort of a car, hover car, robot vehicle, airplane, etc. etc. than on a horse, motorcycle, or hovercycle.
And if a GM allows a mage OCC to start off with a robot vehicle when thier OCC says "ANY", that's going to be a high powered, or even munchin campaign. IMHO.
Your opinion is wrong.
Believe it or not, in my adventures at least, most of the plot and combat of an adventure doesn't take place while driving vehicles. The action tends to take place in cities, caves, underground ruins, and other places where a 16' tall robot wouldn't fit.
You seem to think that "Robot Vehicle" means Spider Skull Walker, a Naruni Robot, a Glitterboy, etc., but it doesn't.
I see no reason not to allow a mage to have a Titan Recon Bot, for example. Do you really find the 3d6 single shot mini-laser it comes with to be Munchkin? Or maybe you fear it's mighty 1d6 MD claw/tear attack? Or maybe you are just of the opinion that no player should start off with anything with as much as 270 MDC? Is that what makes it Munchkin?
For that matter, the Titan Combat Bot and Light Combat Bot aren't often going to be significant in one of my games either. Sure, the mage would have an advantage during outdoor combat in the wilderness, but so what? The only time I've has a lot of outdoor wilderness encounters are when the party is travelling through Xiticix or Mechanoid terrirtory.
Xiticix are a "kill all you want, we'll make more" type enemy whose numbers can always be increased enough to provide a challenge. For that matter, any time my players have traveled through bug territory they have gone on foot to avoid being noticed. A robot would only bring them to the bugs' attention.
And the mechanoids could and would make short work of any of the Titan series of bots. Buying the mage a couple rounds while his vehicle is destroyed around him is not what I consider Munchkin.