quirks

wiki log in register

Quirks - Reference Tables

Rolling

Roll three d10 in sequence:

Roll 1 - Severity

d10	Table
1-5	Light
6-8	Medium
9-10	Heavy

Roll 2 - Band (within the tier)

Tier	d10	Band
Light	1-5	Common
Light	6-8	Uncommon
Light	9-10	Rare
Medium	1-4	Common
Medium	5-6	System Stress
Medium	7-8	Control Oddities
Medium	9-10	Rare
Heavy	1-4	Common
Heavy	5-7	Uncommon
Heavy	8-10	Rare

Roll 3 - Quirk (d10 on that sub-table)
If you hit a "Reroll on the table above" result, roll again on the reroll's sub-table (same d10 for band, no need to re-roll severity).

Light Quirks

Common

d10	Name	Effect
1	Hot Run	+1 heat/turn while active
2	Thermal Affinity	Reinterpret Affinity <= 8: system takes 2 heat
3	Thermal Feedback	If on and ends turn with residual heat, produces 1 extra heat
4	Sympathetic Vibration	On activation, all other systems in the same sector take 1 heat
5	Ion Burst	Fills nearby area with ions - lightning, sparks, chemical traces
6	Data Echo	All data outputs corrupted, including logs. Real-time fine, degrades computer integration
7	Resonant Chatter	System hums, interferes with nearby sensitive equipment (-2 very sensitive, -1 normal sensors)
8	Rattling Bits	Something loose / left inside. Rattles.
9+	Repair	Roll on Repair table instead

Uncommon

d10	Name	Effect
1	Fragile	All stress thresholds -1
2	Tricky Boot	Threshold [5,11]: <=5 = +2 turns, 6-11 = +1, 12+ = instant
3	Unstable Output	First Usage each Scene Reinterpret Affinity: <= 6: -1 effect; >= 7: +1 effect
4	Jolty	On use, 1 surge strain to own sector from power surge
5	Uncanny	Disturbs living things
6	Hot Start	Needs 10 heat in flux pool after outbound phase to start
7	Slow Reset	Reboot takes +1 turn
8+	Common	Reroll on the table above

Rare

d10	Name	Effect
1	Thermal Overload	Residual heat: functions at higher level, mech interior fills with smoke
2	Feedback Siphon	Surge stress: makes system function at higher level
3	Rain-Sensitive	-1 effect in rain/humid conditions
4	tinted glass	Cockpit glass and sensor feeds tint at random, even without sun
5+	Uncommon	Reroll on the table above

Medium Quirks

Common

d10	Name	Effect
1	Greedy	Energy cost doubled
2	Tied Together	Two systems share on/off. Disable/destroy one => other turns off
3	Sprawl	Also exists in an adjacent sector
4	Vocal Diagnostic	Loudly announces status. Cannot silence without overhaul
5	Jumpy Safety Cutout	Any sharp movement/hit (even non-damaging) triggers 1-turn safety shutdown
6	Crosstalk	Electrically noisy; detectable by active sensors at 2x normal range
7	Reversed Polarity	As long as there is energy and system can turn on, it turns on. Auto-reboots if shut down
8	Hot Reload	Generates 10 heat on boot
9	Voltage Sag	During boot, other systems function at -1
10	Delayed Shutdown	Refuses shutdown for indeterminate time

System Stress

d10	Name	Effect
1	Backblast	Resonance: amplitude stress to own sector for additional effect
2	Double Burden	Stress from one type (heat/damage/contamination) doubled for this system
3	Power Vampire	When shut down, if other systems are running in its sector, one powers off at random and this stays on instead
4	Cascade Error	Any system uncontrolled shutdown: this shuts down too
5	Low Contamination Resistance	Contamination doubled for threshold purposes
6	Overheat Prone	On resonance 6: generates 6 x amplitude heat
7	Filter Clog	Resonance frequency 1: clogs accumulate (+1 per amplitude). +1 heat per clog level. Clearable 1 turn
8	Backfeed	When this system takes stress, half (rounded down) also applied to longest-running energy system
9	Unstable Capacitor	8 resonance: +50% x amplitude effect, then shuts down
10	System	Roll system-specific quirk. If this system already has one, roll Common instead

Control Oddities

d10	Name	Effect
1	Shutdown: Flux Overload	Shuts down whenever fluxpool > 50%
2	Shutdown: Armor Breach	Shuts down on any damage through armor
3	Corrupted Diagnostics	No information about status
4	Over-Lubricated Actuators	+1 initiative, -1 accuracy
5	Cockpit Feedback	Unpleasant chassis vibrations; pilot takes -1 cumulative penalty each turn active (recovers 1 per inactive turn)
6	Diagnostic-shimmed	Broadcasts telemetry to everyone: cooldowns, ammo, etc.
7	Spool Whine	Audible pitch tells enemies rough status. 1 bonus die for anticipating
8	Sticky	System might reactivate next round / stay activated
9	Magnetic	Part is decently magnetic. Generally 1 penalty die, depends on system
10	System	Roll system-specific quirk. If this system already has one, roll Common instead

Heavy Quirks

Common

d10	Name	Effect
1	Chatterbox	+1 penalty die to sensor-reliant systems while this is on
2	Flicker	Reinterpret Affinity <= 5: does nothing this turn
3	Flimsy	All stress thresholds halved (rounded down)
4	Dramatic Irony	Once/session, at worst possible moment, system auto-fails. No roll
5	Unstable Mount	On incoming hit with ANY resonance: knocked offline 1 turn
6	Absolute Seal	Contamination resistance +5, thermal resistance -5
7	Overpressure	Residual heat causes damage
8	Harmonic Resonance	+1 heat on use per other system with harmonic resonance
9	Timed Shutdown	After 3 turns of being on, shuts down automatically
10	unsealable	Contamination threshold lowered for sector

Uncommon

d10	Name	Effect
1	Interference	Works at reduced level unless only system in the sector
2	Berserk	Once firing, keeps firing each turn if physically able. Pilot spends action to stop
3	Intermittent Arcing	Any roll with resonance 7: this sector gains amplitude EMP
4	Eager	System may power up/use by itself on specific resonance
5	Brittle Repairs	Any amount of stress increase on the system shuts it off
6	Limited Use	Limited activations (e.g. 3) before deactivation; needs field repair
7	Drifting Calibration	1 malus die
8+	Common	Reroll on the table above

Rare

d10	Name	Effect
1	Contamination Leak	Each use adds 1 contamination to this sector
2	Terminal Surge	Use frequency 1 with amplitude 3+: destroyed, deals 10 damage to sector
3	Glitchy Internals	Crashes after any resonance event; needs reboot
4	Signal Lag	Inputs delayed 1 turn; acts on previous turn's orders
5+	Uncommon	Reroll on the table above

Weapon Quirks

Name	Effect
Jittery	+1 penalty die aimed/careful, +1 bonus die snap/reaction
Overload	2nd consecutive use: +4 damage, then shuts down. Must reactivate
Target Glitching	Malus against near OR far targets (one band)
Sticky Feed	Resonance < 3: jams, needs reload to clear
Sluggish Cyclerate	Cannot fire consecutive turns (must skip a turn)
Glitchy Autoloader	Frequency 10: fires twice. Frequency 1: jammed, clear requires roll 8+
Live Ammo	For 1 round after damage: any resonance < 6 causes cookoff, 4 damage to sector
Uncommanded Mode Switch	On specific resonance, switches fire mode
Friendly Fire Prone	Result <= 5: shot goes wide, hits ally in area with (6-result)x3 damage or cover
Momentum Reliant	+1 effect above 50% speed, -1 below 25% speed (also Movement)

Movement Quirks

Name	Effect
Tripping Hazard	Resonance 1: mech falls, must stand back up
Rough Terrain Stall	Taking hits in rough terrain stops movement
Momentum Reliant	+1 effect above 50% speed, -1 below 25% speed (also Weapon)
Over-Lubricated Actuators	+1 initiative, -1 accuracy (also Weapon)
Jammed Actuator	Specific resonance: movement direction and speed locked
Control Glitch	Controls reverse randomly, lock to full throttle for 1 round
Creaky	Joints audibly groan; +1 penalty die to stealth
Limited Steering	Takes extra time to change facing or direction
Imprecise Movement	Hard to reach exact positions; overshoots or drifts
Slow Acceleration	Reaches top speed in 2x normal time

Sensor Quirks

Name	Effect
Ghost Readings	Resonance: data might be entirely wrong
Sensor Haunting	voices of dead or similar
Target Glitching	Penalty against near OR far targets
Temporal Leak	Shows data from past/future sometimes
Ads	Ads play. Practice, Computer + something roll to skip
Motion Blur	Penalty die against fast-moving targets
Static Bleed	Penalty die against slow or stationary targets

Heat Quirks

Name	Effect
Intermittent Cooling	6 resonance: no heat transfer for amplitude turns

Computer Quirks

Name	Effect
Ads	Ads play. Practice, Computer + something roll to skip (also Sensor)

Communications Quirks

Name	Effect
IFF Corruption	Transponder shows wrong faction; allies may fire on this mech

Seal Quirks

Name	Effect
Unreliable Seal	Seal level reduced by 1 step (vacuum/hazard protection compromised)

Repair Quirks (d10)

Result from imperfect field repairs. Physical or structural oddities affecting maintenance.

d10	Name	Effect
1	Parts Hungry	Requires 2x parts for any repair on this system
2	Fiddly	+1 penalty die on repair rolls for this system
3	Temporary Fix	System lasts one week from last repair, then breaks
4	Stubborn	All repair times doubled for this system
5	Exotic Parts	Requires parts one tech level higher than normal
6	Needs Expert	-1 to skill selector on repair rolls
7	Last Resort	Cannot be field repaired again
8	Unsafe Capacitors	Holds charge after use. Cannot be safely opened/repaired for 24 hours after last power-up - risks explosion or shock
9	Sparky	7 resonance: fills area with sparks during repair, may injure mechanic
10	Expensive Taste	Repairs cost 2 parts

Designing Your Own

These are examples. GMs should create quirks that tell a story. A quirk that reflects how the system was damaged or what jury-rig fixed it is better than a random roll.

| |