Holy crap - question-stravaganza!
Looking for clarification on the Vehicle Quirks trait. Do you clarify what quirk is desired for the unit, or do you say 'I want x points worth of appropriate quirks for whatever I am driving'
The latter. Quirks obviously can't be assigned until you know what you're driving.
In regards to SPA's, do the AToW restrictions apply to these as described on page 219? Specifically with regards to the following restrictions:
Ability Classes and Maximums: A character may have a maximum of 3 Gunnery and 3 Piloting SPA's.
Additional Ability Restrictions: A character must have a minimum Skill level of 5 to obtain the first SPA (in either Gunnery or Piloting), must have a 7 to obtain the second, and a 10 to obtain the third.
Based on the GM's character, I'd say that the skill level restrictions of multiple SPA's have been set aside, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks!
Edit:
Does the Fist Fire ability allow you to fire a weapon (again) during the Physical Attack phase, that has already been fired during the Weapon Attack phase?
Respectively: In play, NOT in play (will add to the rules thread), and no - a weapon can only be fired once per round (the normal rule would be that you can't fire a weapon on that arm and make a physical attack anyway; bear in mind minimum ranges DO still apply, even though you get the attack bonus for being at "point-blank range").
1--Is this only for negative traits or can you spend positive trait xp's on attributes and trait pool for skills?
2--Also, is there a limit? Say 500 trait xp for 15 skill levels?
3--I looked at the mech list and noticed that the Exterminator's were not "green." At 6/9/6 I thought they met the striker criteria do they not?
4--For custom mechs, can I assume modifications are subject to gm approval?
I know this is nit-picky and I am not really trying to be munchy off the bat. It has been a long time since I created any character, especially in a system where the rules are new to me.
1 - only for Negative Traits. You must take at least -100 points of Negative Traits to gain bonus XPs for attributes or Skills.
2 - There is an overall limit of -300 XP for negative traits regardless. Aside from that, you can spend them how you want as long as you abide by the other game rules (not pushing any skill rankings past the Row 1 level, for instance)
3 - Exterminator should be available. Errata.
4 - All characters and Mechs are ALWAYS subject to GM approval (while we're all encouraged to powergame a little bit on this campaign, doing the trick of building a character who can only do ONE thing, really well [Weapon Specialist AC/20; Range Master "Long"; Jumping Jack] and who builds a custom Mech that can do ONLY that [Charger rebuild with max armor, max jump, and an AC/20] is going to be frowned upon). Like obscenity, I can only "know it when I see it", so please don't be offended if I ask for a rewwrite.
If you are ever concerned about whether your character may be too powerful or not powerful enough, I suggest looking at the sample character written in the Rules thread, or the already-approved characters in the character builder thread.
EVERYONE PLEASE HAVE CHARACTERS IN BY FRIDAY NOON-ISH