MECH RPG thread

This thing's got ALL THE GREEBLES!

All of them?

All the Greebles that count.

Stupid sexy 80s workout Zaku!

I feel incredibly bad for that pilot, that's asking for an RPG to the face.

Why the fuck wouldn't that place be reinforced with some kind of future supersteel? You're actually stupid for thinking that such a glaring problem would not have been adressed in some way

I can't tell if you're bitching me out or agreeing with me that having a pilot openly exposed where they're sitting in the center of mass with a helmet and waldos is a relly dumb idea on a mech used for combat purposes.

So how do all you do yur fantasy mecha? Mine personally is of the magic crystal variety after an enemy from beyond the stars came down and fucked up the world before having their own weapons turned back on them.

I'm partial to Monster powered cores, be it from magical beings, demons/angels/spirits, fey or dragons. You kill a stronger monster, you can use the core to make a better mech or upgrade your own.

Always a fun time. They use monster bits for weapons as well?

Sure, bascially monster hunter with mechs, with some stuff from other settings like Warm-hordes and other settings I like.

makes sense, mine took a more technical approach with the mecha filling various roles that tanks might have in a world war. At the point things kick off there's a couple buffer nations between the two major powers that are basically being used for proxy wars. Mech more or less just use upped versions of various spells and specialized artifacts so you see things like magitech beam rifles and the like.

I've had an idea for a fantasy mecha setting for years but I've never been sure exactly what I'd do with it mechanically.

The basic idea is that mechs are formed from Divine Fossils, apparently indestructible bones found in various places around the world which can be animated through artifice and magic.

Divine fossils are found in a variety of states, completely shattered, partially formed or nearly complete. Compete divine fossils are the most prized, although there's such a thing as too complete, such as Exoskeletons with no apertures big enough to actually enter or build inside them.

Mechs involve building around an endoskeleton, or within an exoskeleton, Endoskeletons form the core of a suit of more conventional armour, with greater motive function since the magic within the bones helps them move and fight. Exoskeletons instead act as indestructible armour for a more fragile set of motive systems, with the point of attacks against them not being breaching the armour, but using concussive force or heat to shatter the internal systems.

Partial fossils can still be used, but rely more on conventional magic and artifice to make up for the lacking segments, and are more vulnerable since less of them is indestructible.

How many Divine Fossils a nation has determines its martial power, with complete being better than partial, although even shards of indestructible material are valuable for use in weapons, armour or machinery.

Whats the point of having legwarmers in your fucking mecha?

I assume it covers up plates where things like sand or water could seep into the machinery.

muffle movement sounds most likely, there might be exhause fans in the legs that the warmers are meant to cover up, or at least keep quieter. Or it just looks cool .

Is Heavy Gear any good?

It's probably one of the top 3 dedicated mech systems, and it isn't even ready.

Eh, I like the look of Lancer but I wouldn't say that. It has potential, but it has a long way to go.

Strike! is about the same crunch level as BCG, with similar structure/goals, but is a generic system. I expect you will find the same sort of lacking, but maybe not.

Unfortunately yes. I can appreciate the design of Strike!, but something about it just feels... Well, lacking is a good way to put it.

I think I might just not get on with generic systems.

As a RPG, Wargame or the fluff? In general is bretty good, in the Alternative wargame you have dedicated HG poster than can guide you, I never used Dp9 system, but I know of a few D6 variants than were well done. The setting its allright and has plenty of stuff for different campaings styles in it.

banzaidyne.wordpress.com
Here the HG D6, it has everything for a game already.

As an RPG. My bad, I thought that the thread was about RPGs, but you are right, other questions could be asked.

Mostly interested in the system though. How miniatures reliant is it, and how well it deals with personal and mech scale?

What things do you consider necessary in a good mecha game Veeky Forums? What are the features that make or break a system? What features would you want to see in your dream mecha system?

You have to be able to customize it, or at least have rules to make your own. Than all the weapons and system have they job, the less OP stuff the better. Also rules for other things like tanks, mechs, VTOL/aero-vehicles etc, combined arms etc. And of course than you have the rules for other things to do outside the mech. But to me the mechs are good things to have, like a space ship, for space opera games.

Is there anything mechanically to keep a votoms-esque game like heavy gear or MFZ: Firebrands from being used to run something like gundam?

For me, the problem is that 'mech game' is very vast.

My ideal military sim mech game would be very different to my ideal gundam/armoured core-esque mech game would be very different to my ideal super robot game. They all have very different requirements and I'm not sure they could even comfortably share a base system.

I know Sillouhete in its various incarnations(the system that runs heavy gear) handles mixed unit combat quite well actually.

I have this problem too. I can run most of my mech games in BCG but even with a lot of homebrewing, the system's core mechanics just don't allow for some niche scenarios that I'd like to run.

For me I’m just getting tired of all these “universal” mecha games that try to be a jack of all games, because they invariably end up with being a master of none and just mediocre at everything, or only good at one or two particular styles in the end anyway but then get bashed for not being able to do all the others they advertise themselves for as well.

If any aspiring home brew designers out there are reading this and want to design a mecha game: Stop trying to make your games universal, pick a particular style and do that well, because if you try to do everything you’re just going to fail.

This. Focused design lets you achieve more.

Scale really, hell the guys who put heavy gear out made a gunman,knock off called jovian chronicles even.

That’s what Jovian Chronicles is.

Go away

I’m not sure who’s worse, the Lancer shill or the Strike shill.

I'm pretty sure Lancer doesn't actually have a shill. Just a very dedicated troll.

Unfortunately, it’s both.

You sure? The only posts about it seem designed to get people to hate the game.

If there is a shill, they're fucking incompetent.

I mean, I want to like it but I can't, maybe once it gets put together s bit better it'll be more tolerable

Absolutely sure. You just have to be able to tell the difference between sincere tumblr fandom stupidity and mock tumblr fandom stupidity to see which is which.

I've been considering using Open Legend for mecha stuff; in that vehicles can be represented as their own characters, or like ability-augmenting magic items with their own health or resource considerations.
There's even a neat mechanic to model them degrading from taking damage: multiple health pools, every time they loop to another they get shakier in a few ways.

Probably shrouds to cover dust/moisture sensitive seams or parts, or to maybe make sure air pressure is more normalized if it's supposed to be active while in the air. We actually have that sort of thing with certain real-life vehicles, like pic related.

...

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Just ran a game of BCG the other night. Had a blast (and one player was a blaster)!

Is based in the Gundam Universal Century One Year War and the party is basically another Mobile Suit team piloting prototype Gundams.

I actually just like both games, so fuck me I guess.

>D&D and mechs don't seem the best mix, how it was?
not necessarily, here's what's I feel the best concept for D&D Mecha currently around;

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.ca/2017/07/osr-flame-pomerium-or-giant-mecha-fights.html

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.ca/2017/07/osr-flame-pomerium-part-2-giant-mecha.html

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/07/osr-flame-pomerium-part-3-giant-mecha.html

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/07/osr-flame-pomerium-how-to-run-giant.html

Why try to break a system when you can just play a system already built for mecha?

Well, Infinity rpg have system for their mini Vital Suit, but they're work more like an giant exo suit rather than a bona fide "mech".

Tags are more landmates than anything else.

I mean don't most even have the arm waldod?

Depend on types and models i think

Pan O's Stingray series are remote controled. And they have a gread deal of it.

The more traditional ones are using master-slaves system (basically using motion sensor), like Nomad's Lizard series or Yu Jing's Guijia. This type are using the power armored "master arm".

Then there's the archaic one, like Haqq's Maghariba, that was basically a mini spider tank. Controlled using the good ol' consoles.

you just described SilCORE

So I was thinking, how would you guys organize a mech force, if they were mass produced and where an important part of an army.

I was thinking in they being between a landmate and a knightmare in size, perhaps with some ultra heavy ones like Striders from heavy gear. Was thinking in basing it in ancient cavarly units, like Hussars being raiding mechs, Cuirassiers used to break lines/strong points etc, but I dunno how to transmite, for example, an Uhlan to a modern battlefield.

Also if anyone cares, FTL exist in the form of Jumpoints/wormholes, humanity controls some hundreds of worlds, but only the "old Colonies" than are the big factions have have more than a few millions habitants (and even then the biggest doesn't surpass 500 millions), Ortillery and orbital bombings are utterly despised and banned (earth was atacked a few times that way) and the most powerful faction (a bit like Comstars, Aleph and Generic terram empire all rolled together) will be sure to enforce it to the others, than depend to it to get FTL engines and other goodies.

I've taken a look at Palladium Book's Robotech through a liberal interpretation of the Lancer troll's "there's plenty of other mech systems out there to use!", and fuck me it's godawful. Also Mechwarrior, which is... Just kind of meh? I got much the same feeling as with Robotech, but while more competent, it seemed to have less substance to it.

Lancer looks like it has more potential already, but it's still unfinished. As it stands, it needs tightening up, and there's not much more in this version that hasn't already been discussed, so further discussion about it is rather empty at the moment. Also a first chance at a mech RPG that isn't two decades old.

I guess there was also SilCore, but isn't that one dead?

Mecha Roleplaying Games, pt.1:
-------------------------------------------
Adeptus Evangelion
Aegis Project, The (three eras of mecha)
Anime Hack, The (includes mecha)
Apotheosis Drive X (FATE-powered mecha RPG)
Armageddon 2089: Total War (OGL D20 mecha mercenaries game)
Armature (homebrew)
Armored Trooper VOTOMs (Mekton/Fuzion)
Backland Stride (homebrew)
Battle Century G (new iteration of Giant Guardian Generation)
Battle Century Z (followup to Battle Century G)
Battlechangers - A Quick Play Transforming Robot RPG
Battletech - A Time of War (Mechwarrior 4th ed, from Catalyst)
BESM - Big Eyes, Small Mouth
BESM D20 (includes rules from D20 Mecha)
Big Robots, Cool Starships (mecha for BESM, part of core BESM book since 2nd Ed.)
Bigger Bads (supplement for Monsters and Other Childish Things)
Bliss Stage: Interim Stage
BRP Mecha (for Chaosium's Basic Role Playing system)
Bubblegum Crisis (Mekton/Fuzion)
Camelot Trigger
Chromestrike (homebrew)
Cloak of Steel (fantasy mecha by Postmortem studios)
Cthulhutech
Cyberpunk 2020 (powered armor in “Maximum Metal”, Cyberwalks in “Solo of Fortune 2”)
D20 Mecha (from White Wolf)
D20 Mecha Compendium Deluxe Edition (from Dream Pod 9)
Daikaiju Die! (Pacific Rim style RPG)
Dark Horizons (D20 robot mecha post-apocalyptic warfare)

Mecha Roleplaying Games, pt.2:
-------------------------------------------
Doom Striders (standalone D&D mecha)
Dragonmech (D20 fantasy mecha)
Exosuit A-OK
Fullmetal President: White House Mecha Chaos
Gadget Guide: Mecha (Mutants & Masterminds)
Gear Krieg (Silouhette system; mecha in WWII)
Giant Guardian Generation (homebrew; precursor to Battle Century G)
Giant Transforming Robots (more Cartoon Action Hour mecha)
Going Japanese (for Cartoon Action Hour)
Gunwave
GURPS Mecha (includes setting “Cybermech Damocles”)
Heavy Gear (Silouhette system VOTOMs)
Infinite Mecha (rules for Infinite Frontier)
Iron Kingdoms (RPG of Warmachine miniatures wargame)
JAEVA
Jovian Chronicles (Silouhette system U.C. Gundam)
Kaiju Patrol (for Fate Accelerated)
Lunar Reckoning 69 (homebrew)
Machine: Overdrive (D6 Zen system)
Macross II (Palladium)
Maruader 2107 (terrible)
Mecha [“Chris Perrin’s MECHA”] (from Heroic Journey Publishing)
Mecha & Manga (Mutants & Masterminds)
Mecha Aces (FUDGE system)
Mecha and Monsters [Tiny Frontiers] (RPG coming from Gallant Knight Games)
Mecha Clash (supplement for Heroes In Time)
Mecha Construction Guide (for Pathfinder system)
Mecha SRD Extreme (D20 mecha system reference document from Ronin Arts)
Mecha G-Core (FASERIP Marvel-inspired G-Core; Xenomorph Invasion & Cybermorph Invasion)
Mecha Omega (D20 OGL mecha and kaiju rules)
Mecha Smash (RPG from Starbright Games)
Mecha vs Kaiju
Mechagenesis : The True20 Robotic Roleplay Sourcebook
Mechamorphosis (D20 transformers)

Mecha Roleplaying Games, pt.3:
-------------------------------------------
Mechwarrior (old Battletech RPG from FASA; 3rd.ed. by FanPro as “Classic Battletech RPG”)
Mekton (and Mekton II and Mekton Z)
Metal Wars (Cartoon Action Hour’s version of Transformers)
Mobile Suit Mechanicus
Musha Shugyo: Hyper Armor (mecha supplement for Musha Shugyo)
O.R.E. Mecha (One Roll Engine)
OGL Mecha (via RDP)
Origin of the Species: Transmechs Revisited (Spycraft 2.0 transformers)
OVA: The Anime Role-Playing Game
Planetfall (free, no-prep RPG; has many Mecha Manuals)
Psibertroopers (D6 Classic system, “Dead Night of Space” line)
Remnants
Rifts (Palladium)
Rifts [Savage Worlds] (Rifts using Savage Worlds rules)
Robot Gladiators (more Hero/Champs mecha fare, followup to “Robot Warriors”)
Robot Warriors (Champions/Hero system mecha)
Robotech (Palladium)
Rune Stryders (fantasy mecha)
S.I.Net. (sentient transforming mecha RPG ala live-action TF movies)
Savage Worlds’ Science Fiction Companion (has mecha rules)
Sentai Spectacular! The Ultimate Guide to Playing Sentai Superheroes
Shifter Bots (mecha and transformers RPG)
Space Ninja Cyber Crisis XDO
Super Fun TV Hour ( Super Sentai RPG)
Super Happy Sentai Hour
Steel Roses: The HeartQuest Guide to Mecha
Super Mega Ultra Mecha Fighting for You, Me, and All of Our Friends (for PFRPG & D&D 3.5)
Tears of a Machine (teen angst & giant robot drama)
Tenra Banshô Zero
Tetsujin Shogunate [Gossamer Worlds] (Diceless)
Tokyo Heroes (Super Sentai RPG; has mecha rules, of course)
TWERPS M.E.C.H.I.-Tech
Ultimate Vehicle, The (Hero 5th edition)
Vanguard: Varmisk Fallen (mecha piloted by furries)
Vesna Thaw (Soviet post-apoc salvaged mecha GMless semi-competitive story game)
Weapons of Mecha & Power Armor Destruction (for D20 Future)

Mecha Minatures Wargames:
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5150: No Quarter Mecha Combat (from Two-Hour Wargames)
Adeptus Evangelion (homebrew doing Evangelion with WH40K rules)
Armor Grid: Mech Attack! (miniatures wargame)
AT-43 (miniatures wargame)
Battletech (miniatures wargame)
Big Damn Robots (miniatures wargame)
C.A.V. (miniatures wargame)
Digital Mecha Wars (tactical wargame; looks kinda silly)
Dust (miniatures wargame)
Exalted (White Wolf anime-esque fantasy; has mecha called Warstriders)
Giant Monster Rampage (toy battles wargame, has giant robot rules)
Heavy Gear Blitz (Silouhette system)
Infinity (manga-influenced minis wargame)
Iron Tyrants (minis wargame)
Iron Warriors (miniatures wargame)
Quantum Legions: Vanguard (miniatures wargame)
Mech Attack (miniatures wargame)
Mech Brawl (homebrew)
Mecha! (minis wargame with some storytelling elements)
Mecha Front (miniatures wargame)
Mecha War Ultra (miniatures wargame)
MechaForce Tactical Combat Game
Mekatac (miniatures wargame)
MetalKrushers (mecha gladiators tactical board game)
Mobile Frame Zero (wargame using Lego minis)
Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish (free homebrew Gundam minis wargame)
Relic Knights (card-system miniatures wargame)
Robot Jocks (mecha gladiators card game)
Robotech Tactics (Palladium)
Strike Legion (miniatures wargame)
Valkyrie (miniatures wargame)
Wardogs (miniatures wargame)
Warhammer 40,000 (Adeptus Titanicus especially)
Warmachine (miniatures wargame)
Wehrmacht (diceless mecha miniatures wargame)
YAGRAG [Yet Another Giant Robot Apocalypse Game] (miniatures wargame)

Other anime, manga, and mecha-ish games:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Anima Prime
Black Tokyo (hentai horror & ero-guro)
Bounty Head Bebop (Cowboy Bebop & Outlaw Star imitation)
Colonial Troopers (OSR game with powered armor and some mecha content)
Damage Control: The Advanced Disaster Department RPG (GMless)
Demon City Shinjuku RPG
Dominion: Tank Police RPG (uses BESM’s Tri-Stat system)
Dual! RPG
El-Hazard RPG
Fantaji – Universal RPG
Fight! The Fighting Game RPG
Fight! Unlockables: Shonen
Fushigi Yugi RPG
Godbound (has fantasy Mecha in the full paid version, not free version)
Hellsing RPG
Kazei 5 (anime cyberpunk with mecha for Hero)
Living Steel (features powered armor; extremely complicated rules!)
Maid: The Role-Playing Game
Monster Force Terra (play a kaiju!)
Musha Shugyo (another Fighting Game RPG)
Nova Praxis (post-singularity RPG with really fancy enhanced interactive PDF)
Open Anime
Otherworlds Zero (Maybe? Might be lame. Looks like “Destiny.”)
Panty Explosion
Project A-Ko! RPG (has a modicum of mecha rules; early Silouhette game)
Revolutionary Girl Utena RPG
Sailor Moon RPG
Serial Experiments Lain RPG
Shonen Final Burst
Slayers RPG
Sparks of Light (magical girls RPG)
Stars Without Number (OSR game w/ robots & mechs - in paid version, not free version)
Super Gachapon Fighter Omega Infinity!
Tenchi Muyo! RPG
Thrash (fighting games & shonen)
Tokyo Brain Pop (psychic schoolgirls)
Trigun RPG
Trinity (White Wolf’s dark sci-fi, previously “Aeon”; has VARGs)
Valor: The Heroic Roleplay System

Now, do we have an archive of any of these as PDFs for us to explore, or at least a slightly more expanded rundown of each of them? Or at the very least a pastebin for this copypasta.

I know a few of them only incorporate very small mechs as being the largest size category of things in an otherwise human-scaled game, being focused around regular people rather than mechs being the primary actors who fight other mechs and mech-scaled enemies.

Bri just keeps shrinking.

Mekton Z

Could ask the pdf share threads, they have a good chunk of them.

I'll do so. I'd like to see how they're handled and increase my own system literacy.

...

it's not really breaking a system, it's realizing that an already existing system will work perfectly well for Mecha with just the most mild of tweaks, did you even read the articles?

But it's OSR. That sort of system is only appropriate for a particular playstyle which isn't what most people who play RPG's are looking for. I'm sure it's fine for people with those preferences, but for those outside of it there isn't really any appeal.

The gurps games are on the GURPS thread. In addition to the 3rd ed Mecha supplement, there's the 4th edition Spaceships and fighters book, which includes the skeleton of a mecha design system.

The game itself scales very well and so can handle Mecha movement, combat, piloting, etc already. So all that's missing is a more complete design system. But what we do have includes a selection of weapons, armor, shields, accessories, and even options like alternate forms and combiners.

>All this games
>Not even a single mention on SF3D Original

Shame on you user

>But it's OSR. That sort of system is only appropriate for a particular playstyle which isn't what most people who play RPG's are looking for. I'm sure it's fine for people with those preferences, but for those outside of it there isn't really any appeal.
not really, it doesn't take much change at all for an OSR system to work outside the "standard" OSR style

That isn't my experience of them. And even then, I tend to prefer to play a system built for something rather than something adapted to fit unless absolutely necessary.

Its dream pod, if its not heavy gear its on the back burner basically, the good thing with silver is its setting agnostic you need the blue book and that's it.

I won't lie, it's not a 100% list, but it's got the majority of them I believe.

...

>Also a first chance at a mech RPG that isn't two decades old.
Battle Century G.

I keep hearing good things about BCG. Is it actually good or is ot just shilling/trolling/memes?

I'm the user from Yeah, BCG is great. Fairly easy to work with and fast to build both characters and mecha but has enough crunch to satisfy that if you want/need it. I suggest using both G and Z (the core book and expansion book) since they give you plenty of options to work with but avoid the "Transpatial Randomizer" at all cost.

Mine are built from magic and materials, use a partner system to operate/power them, and are built from one of several feuding groups who are forced to cooperate (minimally) underground in a hidden city and send up the Leviathans to fight monsters and the dragons that rule them.

No, it's actually good. Plays fast and simple without sacrificing a lot of depth and tactics, character and mecha building is quick and easy but also robust, all without being overly complicated or overly simple. It actually pulls off being "rules medium" without sacrificing so much it becomes bland.
It's effects based so you concentrate on buying the end results of what you want your mecha's abilities to do, and leaves you to fluff how the technology accomplishes that in any way you want, and the effects are more than "does more damage" for the most part so you've got a world of potential combos and strategies to play around with. And even the effects that are "does more damage" are tied to specific mechanics that make it so they can be more effective when combo'd with other effects, or negated with certain defense combos, and work in such ways that you've got to time when and how you try to pull off these combos, so you don't just end up with a zero sum any time you encounter an enemy with the right defenses.
This effects-focus actually makes it flexible enough to pull off almost everything from Votoms to Manzinger with the same mechanics, as it comes down to how you imagine it working instead of how the mechanics tell you it works.

What is this even from?

Lancer, a WIP mech game that looks pretty cool but is in a really unfinished state. Unfortunately it's attracted a shitton of trolling on Veeky Forums.

What kind of mecha games have you guys actually played? Any stories?

See Basically the game just started but the party is fighting the Zeon forces in the Americas, attacking from the North. How things go from there will be interesting.

Bump with something semi-relevant

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_87_self-propelled_anti-aircraft_gun

We only need our own Mega or something with all those.

Good idea. Do it.

So what system for a Titanfall like mech world?

There are a number of them that can do it. How rules heavy do you want the game to be? Light, medium or heavy?

I like medium, light enough so normies can play it, heavy enough than I can fiddle and geek it out.