How would you handle two characters, one of which wants to play

>>55226925
Give them each their own mech. Why is this even a question?

>>55226925
With how many players?

>>55226934
You... You... You're so fucking stupid.

>>55226934
What if they want to be like buddy cops, one is the mech and the other's his pilot?

>>55226925
Kill them. You're not allowed to do that in RPGs. Anyone trying to break that rule is trying to damage your fun, which means they want to add to your stress, which means they want to take years off your lifespan, which means they want you to die. Killing them now is legitimate self defense.

>>55226945
Five players in a custom sci fi setting/system. Two players are in question here.

>>55226925
Depends on the system

>>55226925
OP, telling us the system would help.

>>55226962
Five player for just two characters? Uh... Everyone Is John meets generic mecha... Everyone Is Shinji?

>>55227022
No you silly goose.

The other three want to play seperate characters. Two of the players want to play a Mech and the Mech's Pilot.

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What type of story do you want to tell?

What's the tone of the campaign?

Because the rest can be done easily.

>>55227045
OP clearly stated two characters.

You know Everyone Is Shinji would actually explain most of his behavior rather plausibly.

>>55227076
>Five players in a custom sci fi setting/system. Two players are in question here.

Learn to fucking read mate.

>>55227048
>Because the rest can be done easily.
I dare to say otherwise.
While the narrative is certainly a big factory, so is the mechanic in an RPG.
Just look at the pathfinder general and see what happens when mechanic balance leaves the room.
Narrative and mechanics are the legs the whole entertainment of the RP hobby is walking one, put one over the other and it will look stupid.

>>55227105
Let's be fair. /pfg/ itself doesn't trust /pfg/.

I'm hoping OP wants to do an anime, Zone of the Enders like story

Why does a mech need both a pilot and an AI? If AI is so advanced as to be sentient, what benefit could a human pilot possibly provide?

>>55227169
The AI could be an advanced ANI but not an AGI. I could see justification for a pilot then.

Imagine a tank where all but the commander has been replaced by one or more ANI's.

>>55226925
OP i think the general answer is:
tell us more about your system/setting

Is the rest of the players just normal humans? Because then you should not let the mecha duo fire his huge mecha weapons twice per combat turn.
Istead you could install some anti personall weapons, like a shoulder mounted smg turret or let one player "lock on" and give a bonus to targets he thinks are important for the player who is doing the shooting.

Are you running some Cyborg, psyion, robot, superhuman mix? Because then the Mecha should be able to take a beating, or with every attack the pilot gets hurt to, like
centrifugal trauma and concussions.

>>55227169

The human could be some sort of last instance of judgement, while the AI could to everything to protect itself and the pilot it could be that it isn't allowed to kill.

>>55226925
It's easy. Have the pilot be aware of exactly what he can see. He controls movement and combat. The AI rolls for perception and handles informing the pilot of enemy movement while handling logistics.

Are the players thinking like titanfall style where if the pilot is not in the mech the AI takes over?

If so then the make it so the pilot has bonuses in combat if he's piloting the mech whereas the AI has bonuses to perception type skills. Throw in some electronic warfare things for the AI to do during combat if he's being piloted as well as a few extras eg popping chaff or smokescreens.

The AI can't use any of his cool tricks if he is pilotless so it gives them an incentive to play together

>>55226925
Handle it like the think tanks in ghost in the shell. They can be piloted, but really don't need to be. Give the ai primary control treating inputs like assisting rolls for the pilot. I say this because the mech gets to be the mech, the pilot gets to be not the mech, hence giving mech more control over mech things.

Give it some other things to do when mech isn't necessary. It's an ai, let it hack, or what not in the background.

>>55227250
It's distant future (2700ish) where we've made alien contact and civilizations have grown and expanded in all directions across at least half the galaxy, between all the species of the Confed. The pilot and mech want to part of a lower tech level world where on their planet, they're law enforcement (for buddy cop vibe) and to the Galactic Confed, they're basically shifty outlaws.

>>55227697
Okay, thank you.

So i'd assume the mecha is less in the giant fighty robot size and more in the power armor soze ?

Then i would suggest the shoulder turret (so the mech/pilot has the option of attacking in his own turn) and having them both take damage if the mech is hit hile piloting from >>55227250

Also the suggestion whit one role supporting the other with "locking on" or aming actions (aid another) came up often and seems like a sound choice and feels like it would represent the roles of both well.

>>55227849
The mech itself is shooting for around 12-15 ft. tall. The rules right now are that the mech takes damage reduced by it's armor, and the pilot takes half damage the mech does after armor, rounded down.

I like the attachments idea. The pilot could have all the pilot/fighting skills, and the mech is pure computer with the big physical stats that the pilot uses.

>>55227938
i think the shoulder mount was meant as an idea to offer both players the option for destructive action without flipping the groups damage balance.

I would asume that the big mech also has a big gun, and firing that big gun twice per turn could cause some balance issues, talk with your players about that.

My idea would be also that the soulder mount could also work as some sort of anti missiel defense.

>>55226925
just want to point out, that robot is ugly as sin.

but i hope your games works out OP, talk with your players about ideas, with all of them, since they are all affected by the decisions you make as a group.

>>55226925
Pretty cool idea desu. Well you pick up a system that supports that kind of pl-
>custom sci fi system
idk, come up with something.
Probably make them have separate traits / stats. Rather then representing their control over distinct part of the robot, fluff it more like proficiency with control of individual subsystem (for weapons/movement/whatever your system uses). Think less driver+gunner and more in vein of "too much shit on that thing to handle alone efficiently".
Share HP pool / physical conditions / whatever your system uses to represent outward condition of a robot. If using hp probably start balancing at x1.5 amount, if using conditions i'd bump resistance roll a bit.
I would imagine it would be more fun to have them have their own action turns, if your system have that. But always be in position to assist.

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Just look at examples of stories where this is done. Pic related and the Gargantia anime are standout examples, but there are others.

Look at real-world military vehicles with two crew members, like two-seat fighters.

Divide the tasks between the two characters in a way that makes sense. Also keep in mind that the two characters have a close relationship and the way they interact with each other will impact how they perform as a unit.

Also remember that their skillsets aren't going to be limited to "Mech Operation." Hacking, electronic equipment, different weapon skills and fighting styles, and different non-combat skills are all important. Operating different parts of the mech/different weapons at the same time might also be important.

>>55226925
check out the manga phantom by ki-hoon lee published by tokyopop. first print was 2007-2008.

had mechs with ai and good story for their use and limitations. the story ends in volume 5, but was obviously hacked short for some reason.

I know fully well that it'd be the wrong system to do it in, but this reminds me of the time I tried to make Titan Fall-esque combat titans in SW Saga edition. Fun thought experiment but ultimately it fell through.
But anyway, the thing to remember is that theres a reason as to why the pilot and mech are working together. If the onboard ai could preform as competently by itself as with a pilot, then there'd really be no reason as to why theres a pilot in the first place. So while the ai could perform some basic tasks decently enough (stand there and shoot at anything bigger than a person if they aren't transmitting friendly codes), they'd really need a pilot to really shine. On top of that, what the other anons already said is also good. Have there be things the mech player could do that the pilot can't, or give him options while the pilot is doing what he does. Just keep in mind that the two players shouldn't be out preforming the other three players, unless they also have some sort of power house equivalent.

Speaking of, are there any good mech combat rpgs in the style of Titan Fall that are d20 based? Asking because most of my players would probably love to play the shit out of it, but they really don't see the point and don't exactly have the spare time to learn something drastically different than what we know.

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>>55226925
... let them?