Titanomachina: Coolant Systems (Part 2)

I'm introducing coolant systems to the game as a method of recovering cards that have been activated, something very much like the original concept of the capacitor, and now something like its mirror as the capacitor enables players to recover cards they've used to charge other systems, and this card speeds an activated system back into the players hand without spending time cooling down in the player's Titan deck (placing activated and charging cards at the bottom of the Titan deck at the end of the round is, after all, the cool down). 

However, it will initially be handled differently than I had originally stated on this blog, and may yet be slightly different once I update the rule book (and the tech manual and the reference cards, etc). 

The 'super-cooling' action will enable a player to de-activate that many cogs of activated systems, allowing those systems to be drawn back to the player's hand at the end of the round with the other un-activated systems. 

The 'explosive venting' reaction will enable a player whose Titan is being attacked at range 1 to increase the charge of the attacking system by 1 card, forcing its de-activation if the attacking player cannot (or won't) pay the additional charge cost of the system. If the system is deactivated then the attacking player can recover the charge cost of the system to their hand, and the system at the end of the round.  

 

Titanomachina: Reconfiguring Styxx

I've decided to revisit Styxx's configurations and systems because Styxx's tertiary and quaternary configurations under-perform in a way that leaves them feeling less mobile and agile than a Titan with three weapons, four limbs, and two jump jets.  In part it's because the number of Walk actions defines agility despite equivalent speed. Once per round is often ideal, rather than once every two, with multiple walks in a single round being a strategic choice left up to the player's estimation. 

Perhaps amusingly, what the tertiary and quaternary configurations give up for a third weapon is not additional speed and agility. 

The coolant system would enable the Titan to draw an activated system immediately back to their hand rather than waiting for it to cycle through the Titan deck. This can give it the Titan a third limb or weapon activation as the timing allows. It also gives it another defensive option, to make up for all the block reactions it would lose with the third weapon and two arms. 

This does require ripping out one of the capacitors, but where their optimal use requires the Titan to be using two-charge systems. That's only really the weapon systems, in the tertiary configuration, and the macro laser in the quaternary. 

This isn't the whole solution though, as it occurred to me that the turret is one of the reasons the primary and secondary configurations are so effective. Being able to jump sideways seems like an equalizer, especially where weapons also get 270 degrees of fire.