Gundam RPG ideas

>Narrative focused system using FFG™ dice
>They all want to be in a Gundam

Yes, and? Gundam has a huge focus on narrative, combat often being secondary to the dialogue going on.

>not stardust memory
>not playing beach volleyball in space

>you need to play a narrative game to experience a narrative.
>games with greater mechanical substance and rules specifically for mecha combat are incapable of having a huge focus on the story which the players are involved in.

Just plain wrong. If you're playing Mekton Z or Battle Century G and the only thing the players are doing is fighting mecha and saying "I move and attack" on their turns, you're doing it wrong.

Also, OP's questions were specifically about combat, and what to throw at his players.

>not 'The Plot to Assassinate Gihren Zabi'
>not having the players be involved in political intrigue and espionage.

>being this assmad about other people having fun
Nigga I complained about them all wanting Gundams too, but that's because time in a GM builds character. Learn to be less of a whinging knobgobbler

Mekton Zeta is absolute dogshit and as much as I love BCG it really doesn't do a game centered on grunt squads well at all. It was fantastic for a Build Fighters campaign I did though.

Ideas for combat:
Throw a Norris Packard/Visch Donahue-style ace at them every once in a while.
Give them targets that aren't mobile suits to kill (raid enemy factories to disrupt their supply of spare parts/fresh suits, a land battleship to fuck up the chain of command in that sector, etc).
Have an officer or other bigwig (maybe someone like Garma) show up and do a random inspection at the worst possible moment. Bonus points if they pull a Dozle and drag them into a suicidal impromptu raid on the enemy.

You're putting words into my mouth there. I never once said "you need to play a narrative game to experience a narrative" nor "games with greater mechanical substance and rules specifically for mecha combat are incapable of having a huge focus on the story which the players are involved in".

Also, as I am the OP, I was not asking about only combat, I was asking for ways to challenge my players and also wanted ideas on how to handle the all-Gundam party.

Mekton Z and Battle Century G are fine games but my players and I do not know the systems well whereas the upcoming Genesys system we know quite well as it's just a modified version of FFG's Star Wars system, a game we've played before. If my players like the game but want more crunch, we'll move on to other systems but for now we'll be sticking to what we know that also works fantastically.

I love Stardust Memory.
Wouldn't pan out since we know how he died anyway.

>Throw a Norris Packard/Visch Donahue-style ace at them every once in a while.
Already had ideas for this, a few common aces and a few recurring ones as well.
>Give them targets that aren't mobile suits to kill (raid enemy factories to disrupt their supply of spare parts/fresh suits, a land battleship to fuck up the chain of command in that sector, etc).
Oh nice! Definitely going to steal for the game.
>Have an officer or other bigwig (maybe someone like Garma) show up and do a random inspection at the worst possible moment. Bonus points if they pull a Dozle and drag them into a suicidal impromptu raid on the enemy.
Sounds interesting. I'll start whipping up the bigwig(s) soon.

Also
>It was fantastic for a Build Fighters campaign I did though.
You lucky asshole! Have any cool/fun stories about that?

It was a mix of Build Fighters and Virtual On: the Gunpla stuff was trimmed down in favour of VR e-sports mecha in an after-school club led by an alternate universe General Revil.
We had a sniffy e-sports jock with a broken as fuck mecha (insane speed for dodging, if he got a run up at a target they were dead), a sweet girl that piloted what was an upscaled Varia Suit with Sailor Moon parts and a sceptre sniper rifle, the best coder of the team and generally most boring, and a That Guy who nearly ruined everything.

I had a shitload of fun giving them themed "practice" scenarios from Principal Revil, once he had them fight an Ogre supertank that automatically spammed defensive fire when critically damaged (it actually took out two PCs, but they had a special ability that let them fire a last attack before going down, so they took it with them), and another time a slightly modified Side 7 raid.

Run them through an alternate reality of the OYW where Amuro doesn’t exist and the other RX-78s are with the 78-2 at Side 7.

08th has issues with cramming a hero team in, but one thing that will save your campaign is the "a Gundam is a GM with an experimental sensors and avionics package" fluff. You may want to check other near-OYW ephemera like Blue Destiny.

For interesting challenge, uh.
Are you a modeler?
I prototyped a campaign like this, and decided that the best way to run it was to:
- force my players to (snapfit is OK) their suits from a limited pool of parts. Give them, like, for four guys four HG Gundam heads, two headless Gundams, two GMs, and then a Gundam, GM, and two Zeke suits you let your pet dog play with for ten minutes.
- For challenges, go balls-out wild with your own kitbashes, statting things out after you decide they look cool. OYW Zeon's shining points were always short-supply wunderwaffen straight-on from the Zaku I, embrace that.
Even if you're not, Dengeki Hobby Web and Hobby Japan both have regular contests and reader submission columns that you can pick through for inspiration.

Toss me a throwaway email or contact if you're interested in having a setting consultant? At one point I did this for a living, though now I'd just like someone to get some use out of it in exchange for portfolio fodder.

>Toss me a throwaway email or contact if you're interested in having a setting consultant? At one point I did this for a living, though now I'd just like someone to get some use out of it in exchange for portfolio fodder.
I think you should know, this is one of the most deluded, pretentious, delusions of grandeur bullshit anyone has posted on Veeky Forums.

If you were slightly less spergy you may have fished scans of an employee badge or old project proposals out of me. Instead, enjoy your failed weebcampaign.

Your ego is astounding.

This is pretty autismal, but he is right in that a GM with the right upgrades (backpack with extra saber slot, subgenerators, beam rifle) is a Gundam in all but name

Guess what the G in GM (allegedly) stands for?

Well, duh. Why else was the RX-78's computer data so important? That shit went into the GM and that's why it was so easy to just crank out new pilots and units. Aces actually got the secondary beam saber rack, and (via animation error) one of the Jaburo garrison GMs was packing a full-power beam rifle.

Honestly OP, at least try to convince them of a grunt campaign's merits. Gundam is at its best when focusing on regular people trying to survive.

>Honestly OP, at least try to convince them of a grunt campaign's merits.
This. Earning a Gundam can be way more satisfying than just starting with one.

>Toss me a throwaway email or contact if you're interested in having a setting consultant? At one point I did this for a living, though now I'd just like someone to get some use out of it in exchange for portfolio fodder.

I like how you responded to getting called out on it by doubling down and ‘denying’ us your ‘expertise.’ You really turned your autism from cringy to downright hilarious.

Continue to show why "Veeky Forums never does anything anymore". :^)

Yeah, sure, it’s just Veeky Forums being mean again. Couldn’t possibly be that you’re getting made fun of you for being an egotistical piece of shit or having an overinflated sense of self. You have no faults, so it must be everyone else.

Sabotage occurs in their base (not their suits but one of the ones nearby) - paranoia and spy games ensue.

Protective detail on a spaceflight of important military personal. Whether or not it's the real or a fake out is up to you.

Secure a mine for gundanium, unobtanium, PU-236 Space Modulator factory, etc. Diplomacy with civilians at it's finest (especialyl if they don't want to be helped and have been selling resources to the enemy secretly).

Prototype weaponry tests for their machines. Whoops, the testing range was discovered by enemy troops, now they're under armed and have to literally sneak their mechs out of enemy territory.

Surgical strikes for the team. Why is the enemy always fucking reedy for them? Well, they'll have to figure out whose leaking info. (Requires players to plan and execute stuff on their own - they can only trust each other).

Or maybe, just maybe, someone who's been involved in preproduction planning on a couple G*ndam projects was interested in writing yours and converting it into a replay book until you sperged out. :^)

Oh shit folks he did it, he went for the triple down!

Sounds awesome. I just wrapped up watching Gundam Build Fighters and loved it.

You are pretty cool. Thanks for the ideas!

Right now I'm compiling all of these and figuring out where to go from there.

Dude, this is embarrassing. I just got to this thread, and this is about as cringey as it gets. Like, this is internet tough guy only for nerd shit.

Just drop out, okay? Nothing is keeping you in this thread but you.

It was. Even That Guy's antics (he got into a retarded needless rivalry with the e-jock, challenged him to a 1v1 and got stomped because his artillery blaster mech didn't have the focused firepower needed to stop it and then went full angst with an IC suicide attempt before fucking off to another city) couldn't stop the awesomeness.

The player who piloted Samus Moon shipping two of the NPCs, one a generic nerdy sidekick and the other literally Kanji Tatsumi with a super robot, couldn't manage it either

You were that kid who told other kids his dad worked at Nintendo, I can tell.

Kycillia killing Gihren at A Baoa Qu is the thing that happens near the end of the story 'off-screen' in that particular story. 90% of it has to do with detailing the Zeon infighting within their home colony.

>Mekton Zeta is absolute dogshit
Objectively, this is only true in one of two cases:
A) You don't know the system well enough to make it work, which is understandable since the worst thing (by far) about it is the layout of the book.
or
B) You're a bad DM who couldn't make it work no matter how much system mastery you possess.

I'm not saying you're either, since you just might not like the system (and that's fine), but it's actually really solid if you know what you're doing.

Or C) I don't see the need in being forced to adopt "system mastery" and the weaponised autism that is its mecha construction system when something that uses the exact same dice (BCG) does what I want better and faster.
I tried running Cyberpunk 2020, that was shitty enough for me. I didn't want Interlock to ruin another genre I love.

xDDDDD ebinly memed, fellow 4dditor

Nice evidence of being a weeb faggot that owns some gandamu vidya games there user

> :^)

Wow... And I bet your uncle is drinking buddies with Tomino.

KYS

Guys, come on. Bants between anons is one thing but making fun of people with legitimate disabilities isn’t funny. Plus it’s off topic for the thread.

>weaponized autism
>Too stupid to figure it out, and too lazy to use the half a dozen automated spreadsheets for the system that regularly get distributed

The problem is between your ears user.

unique environments. debris fields, the ocean. a blizzard

>he doesn't want to download a fucking spreadsheet just to have fun with a giant robot game
>he must be retarded
Please stop sucking Pondsmith's dick, it won't make him shit out Mekton Zero any faster.

Also Mecha vs Kaiju is another example of a system that does what I want without having to fart around with pointless minutiae.

Just hopped over from /m/

Did you all know there is a legit robot fight going on right now on Twitch? Megabots (USA) vs Kuratas (Japan)

What a glorious time to be alive!

Also
>doesn't address the fact Mekton Zeta is almost trivially easy to minmax since pretty much all combat skills key off the Reflexes stat, and combining that with a high Intellect gives you a fuckload of free skill points at chargen (at least, it did in CP2020)
>compare to BCG where mechs have their own stats and pilots just have special moves to pull out as and when, or MvK, which uses the Fate system so skills are the only stats you need to bother with

Yeah no one really cares. Team ‘Murcia and their fans’ jingoistic bullshit killed all the fun.

>o one really cares
Speak for your fucking self. Just because you're a whiny piece of shit who can't ignore fans and enjoy showboating doesn't mean everyone's a baby.

>actual mech fight
>it tips over
What did anyone really expect?

MvK actually has a similar problem as MZ’s godstat syndrome since there’s only like 2 or 3 skills for mecha piloting, and you end up with characters all just having the same skill set with their only defining features being their aspects and stunts.

Converting it over to FAE makes things a lot more varied and diverse, I feel. Just don’t fall into the Clever is a god-approach trap.

You really did the exact opposite of helping your case there, user.

Eat shit, don't have time to formulate clever insults, watching robot fights.

>Using a spreadsheet to build and print off a mecha sheet is too much work.
It's called not being a shit DM and implementing things to curb that shit. How fucking difficult is it to make fights more than a series of [Gunnery/Pilot/Melee]+Reflex rolls?
>Reflex is a god-stat
>minmaxing
Don't play with shitheads who minmax maybe?

Kinda sucked that it’s boring and more obviously scripted than a WWE match. What a massive letdown.

No worries, being smart doesn't save people from being punched in the fucking face.

>don't play with shitheads who pick casters in 3.5 maybe?
How about I don't play either shitty game at all? It's worked so far.

Hey since there seems to be some anons here experienced with BCG, this seems like an opportune time to pick ya’ll brains about some things.
I’m going to start my first campaign with it soon so I want to make sure I’ve got shit down beforehand.

1) If PCs are starting at PL 1 instead of 0, that means they get 100+30 points to play with, yes?

2) Assuming the above, that means PL1 grunts get 50+30 points, yes?

3) Space combat doesn’t require any specific upgrades, it’s just assumed mecha have thrusters, yes?

4) Do the two technique upgrades in BCZ stack in a single turn. Like can I spend the points on them to use a Zweihander weapon every turn to full effect?

And
5) Anyone got any good tools or resources to help run the game? Like a combat tracker sheet for NPCs or something?

Also 6) Since my setting isn’t going to be using a lot of beam weapons, for the sake of weapon diversity would it break the game to use some of the beam weapons as like rail guns and the like and count them as Shooting weapons for the sake of defenses?

>as much as I love BCG it really doesn't do a game centered on grunt squads well at all.

You legitimately don't know how to run BCG, just restrict power levels and pre-gen suits. Then allow players a set amount of customization. Done.

>If PCs are starting at PL 1 instead of 0, that means they get 100+30 points to play with, yes?

Yes.

>Assuming the above, that means PL1 grunts get 50+30 points, yes?

The official grunt rules are fucking garbage, just stat enemies in accordance to how well optimized your PCs are. The optimization ceiling in BCG is on the same level as shadowrun, so the official limiters on mooks don't work.

Also, have your enemies use teamwork, the official guideline of enemies splitting up and fighting players one on one doesn't work.

>Space combat doesn’t require any specific upgrades, it’s just assumed mecha have thrusters, yes?

Pretty much it, unless you want to make everyone pay the tax for the anti-grav equivalent that works in space they put in BCZ. Though that one is more meant for dealing with terrain in space, I believe.

>Do the two technique upgrades in BCZ stack in a single turn. Like can I spend the points on them to use a Zweihander weapon every turn to full effect?

Yes you can.

> Anyone got any good tools or resources to help run the game? Like a combat tracker sheet for NPCs or something?

Not really, just git gud. Literally.

>Since my setting isn’t going to be using a lot of beam weapons, for the sake of weapon diversity would it break the game to use some of the beam weapons as like rail guns and the like and count them as Shooting weapons for the sake of defenses?

Just refluff them with no crunch changes, don't try to houserule the crunch like that on your first game. You have no idea what you're doing and you're going to need to play the game some to really master it.

>1) If PCs are starting at PL 1 instead of 0, that means they get 100+30 points to play with, yes?
It's technically 131, but basically yeah.

>2) Assuming the above, that means PL1 grunts get 50+30 points, yes?
If you're doing it rules as written, sure. But I've run a ton of campaigns in BCG and find that it's easier to just eyeball it and give grunts whatever. They usually float around 100 points, sometimes 130. You should be able to cater to just about any enemy gimmick with that amount of XP without making them too overpowered. Basically, just spend whatever you need to make the unit's gimmick work, you don't need to follow the rules too closely.

>3) Space combat doesn’t require any specific upgrades, it’s just assumed mecha have thrusters, yes?
Yeah, but you could change this depending on your setting if you really wanted to. You could make every zone in space be difficult terrain and then rely on players using upgrades to negate the terrain. But if the entire game is going to be in space anyway and/or it's the norm for your mechs to fight in space, it's reasonable to just let them do it without making the terrain difficult and saving that for more unusual parts of the space battlefield (like a debris field or something that's hard to fly through). There's really no right or wrong way to handle it, it just depends on the type of game you want to run. Just don't make people waste XP on upgrades that they'll only use in one or two missions, make the terrain gimmicks a big part of the game or people will end up ruining their builds with useless shit they'll never use again.

cont'd

>4) Do the two technique upgrades in BCZ stack in a single turn. Like can I spend the points on them to use a Zweihander weapon every turn to full effect?
Yes. I played this build once. It was fucking horrifying. Don't forget to throw in twin strike to attack with two techniques back to back, rolling I Am A Loose Cannon and activating My Style is Impetuous, and burning every Advantage you have so that you can one shot kill any enemy in the game with such disgustingly huge damage that you still OHKO everything even when you roll a 1.

>5) Anyone got any good tools or resources to help run the game? Like a combat tracker sheet for NPCs or something?
I think there's a google doc character/mech sheet somewhere out there that you can use. I just made my own on roll20, but copypasting roll20 tables is retarded so I can't help you there.

>Also 6) Since my setting isn’t going to be using a lot of beam weapons, for the sake of weapon diversity would it break the game to use some of the beam weapons as like rail guns and the like and count them as Shooting weapons for the sake of defenses?
You don't have to make them literal beam weapons, just refluff it. Maybe the energy cost represents the advanced electronics needed to make the gun function or the advanced targeting equipment or whatever. It's best if you leave the crunch alone until you have some system mastery, for now just figure a way to refluff it all. Calling them railguns could work for most of the weapons, the energy cost would represent the electric charge they need to fire or something.

Remora frame.

Thanks, mates.

Thanks for the warnings on the grunt stats, I knew something about them felt fishy with their points budget. I’ll try the RAW guidelines at first and run a few sessions to get the feel of adjusting them.

And you’re right I shouldn’t mess with house rules until I actually have ran the system, that’s why I thought I’d ask. I’ll just run beam weapons straight mechanically and fluff them as rail guns that eat a lot of energy to fire and have variable outputs, and beam melee as like power weapons or something. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

As for the tools, I didn’t think there’d be much out there since the game is super niche and looks like it should be incredibly easy to run. I can’t help but overthink it though, I’m just not used to games with such simple rules.

You could make the melee "beam" weapons into stuff like Eva's progressive knife, where it's still a traditional physical weapon but clearly relies on a lot of advanced tech to function, explaining the energy requirements on them.

Sometimes the autistic have to be called out. This is for his own good, user. He can't be allowed to turn into another CWC.

Run the Gundams from the 8th MS Team. I don't think they were too overpowered. Basically I think of them as a level 2 fighter compared to a level 2 warrior (npc class): better overall, but if outnumbered by warriors a group of fighters would have a tough time.

here.

Any other oddities, quirks, or problems with BCG I should look out for? I remember is past threads people pointed out some kind of super broken build involving the boosted lance.

Now, I don't believe you can really run a OYW game. But here's my idea: The protagonists are part of a special unit. Each one has an experimental Gundam, which is a testbed for a unique system.

One guy gets the Beam Rifle, another gets the I-Field, another gets the transforming machine and the last dude gets the Beam Sabers. Eventually, the most successful unit will be mass-produced as their faction's grunt. (So basically, the PCs directly affect the course of the war by contributing to the design of the GM.)

Meanwhile, the PCs are deployed as a kind of superweapon counter, to take on experimental units, Mobile Armors, and to wreak as much havoc as possible behind enemy lines. They have a certain amount of discretion, but they need to show that they're doing damage.

You could easily give them any of the other RX-78s, unless they're super hardcore fans they likely won't know the actual "canon" events they were all involved in.

>I don't believe you can really run a OYW game
Why not?

I was trying to find an image set like that earlier, thanks!

I think IBO would be neat to run in, lots of cool stuff in the setting, even how they obtained their Gundams could be a major character point

Also LOADS of room for players to make OC donut steel Gundams.

Plus one

Oh shit, that is a lot of frames. Terrifying. Way to many for what my group will be doing.

Finalizing the aspects now, I'll post something up in a short bit of what is in and out.

That's also not counting the plenty of grunt suits PCs can customize into donut steels

>I remember is past threads people pointed out some kind of super broken build involving the boosted lance.

Boosted lance is entry level. Watch out for builds that can do stuff while easily staying out of harm's way or builds that have lots of get out jail free cards while still sporting a strong gimmick that lets them deal damage.

...

Alright, OP here. This is a PDF of the background and general gist of the early game. After the players and I get used to the major thrust of the game, I'll throw more curveballs including moving to space and facing the enemy there.

This PDF is not quite 2 pages but it should give an idea of what I'll be doing. If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions I'm still open to hearing them!

Bump

...

Alright Veeky Forums. I need to know. Are you Feddies or Zeeks? Are you /m/an of the Jamitov did nothing wrong party or a Gihren did nothing wrong party? Are you a fucking pussy who'd let the corrupt Federation get away with its bullshit, or are you a fucking pussy who'd let the the Zabis corrupt Zeon's War for Independence?

How about I just sign up with the Crossbone Vanguard

I am the man that laughs.

How crazy should enemy gundams be? Should you be able to rival them with a bit of grit and grace, or should they slap your shit unless you use teamwork andplay things smart?

EFSF, they came out on top for a reason

>Way to many for what my group will be doing.
In the setting the frames are all lost tech artifacts from an apocalyptic war 300 years prior to the show. You never see all at once, and at the time of the show only 26 are known to have survived the war and most of them are locked up in the vaults of noble families probably. The ones in the pic that aren’t just a frame (plus Gremory) are the only ones we’ve seen at all.

Sounds an awful lot like the setup for an RPG doesn’t it?

>or should they slap your shit unless you use teamwork and play things smart?
Unless you're in a non-standard Gelgoog, then you don't need the teamwork and just have to play things smart.

You aren't beating the RX-78-2 with Amuro in it though. Not unless you are in a Gigan.

give me a few minutes to read all this, just got into work but I'm super interested in making a Gundam/Mech game of some sort.

Sieg Zeon!

Gundam's are just high performance mobile suits with a lot of armor on them.
I think the RX-78 had a computer that was learning to fight, but maybe that's just an anime/dub thing.

It's weird you didn't just use the existing OYW setting since they're rather similar

How do your players feel about being all the same model of Gundam with different armaments instead of being different mobile suits built for different purposes?

Haven't asked them all yet, two of the four seem fine with it since I did tell the whole party that if we do this they will get an upgraded units later on in the game.

As for not using the OYW I decided against it so that if the game starts being nudged in different directions I can adjust rather easily. It gives me far more openness but still being grounded in something known. Hell, the OYW is so good it's basically been rebooted at least twice in different iterations in other Gundam series (SEED is almost a straight rip-off that then went on to have Our Lord and Savior Kira Yamato where as Wing kinda starts with the war not on but soon heats up until there are numerous independence factions that cause the war and they even try to do a colony drop in GW:EW).

I am a proud Feddie. Sieg Titans.

It’s not like their isn’t a precedent for alternate universe UC, that’s what Thunderbolt is.

The players are students in Gundam Top Gun when one of the experimental prototype Gundams is stolen and they have to foil a massive conspiracy to colony drop Earth to falseflag Zeon and expand Earth Federation power.

>Zeon wank

I miss when the Federation weren’t worse than nazis and Zeon weren’t pure and innocent dindo nuffins.

>the joke
>your head

>Not Crossing over with Golgo 13 for double intrigue.

desuarchive.org/m/thread/6665985/#q6666438