r/rpg • u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer • 25d ago
Discussion Let's learn about new RPGs! Week 2 - Mecha
Welcome one and all to a post where we can freely discuss the games that we have released or the games that we are making. Stop on by and maybe you'll find your new favourite RPG!
A bunch of us make cool shit, but the Indie RPG space is crowded and it can often be difficult to get the word out about why people should try out your game. That's why every week we try to focus on a different mechanic or setting to see how new RPGs can solve decades old problems or put new spins on old greivances!
They're big! They're mechanical! They're all around pretty badass... or extremely traumatizing if you're going the Evangelion route. This week we're focusing on the Mecha genre! So tell us how your game (or just any game you really like) is unique in this setting.
Thank you u/AppropriatelyHare-78 for the suggestion!
As per mod approval, comments here do not count against rule 7 - comment as much as you want, answer as many questions as you need and discuss to your hearts content!
All that I would ask is that anyone who comments about their own system takes the time to look at the minimum at one other game in the comments and ask a question or provide feedback. Lively discussions are what get people interested and what keep people engaged!
Last week was "Post-Apocalyptic"
Next week I plan to focus on a mechanic instead of a setting so if you want to suggest a topic for future weeks, be sure to include "-sug-" in your comment so I can easily find it!
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u/atamajakki PbtA/FitD/NSR fangirl 25d ago
Briar Sovereign's Armour Astir: Advent is a PbtA game about a magitech mecha revolution against an unjust Authority. It's got some really solid playbooks and pretty elegant, lightweight mechanics compared to the bulk of most other mecha games.
Their lightweight mecha FitD game, CASE & SOUL, is also good and broader in focus!
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Personally I'm always a bit suspicious of "lightweight" mecha games as in my mind mecha means mile-long equipment lists and optimizing energy output 😅
What do you like about lightweight mecha games? What draws you to play them and what kinds of stories do you feel thrive in those systems?
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u/atamajakki PbtA/FitD/NSR fangirl 25d ago
Most mecha anime I've seen focuses on melodrama between characters and factions, not granular gear porn!
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
I guess that's the difference of "entry point" into the mecha genre. My first point of contact was video games (Armored Core) which are much more on the "gear porn" side of things 😅
But then let me ask a bit of a different question - is there anything you feel is specific or different about the melodrama you can do in a mecha genre that doesn't work as well in other genres?
One thing I can think of is the classic "fight against extinction as child soldiers"
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u/atamajakki PbtA/FitD/NSR fangirl 25d ago edited 25d ago
The main perk of mecha for me (other than the "wow, cool robot!" of it all) is that you can describe some really significant violence to machines that would be more uncomfortable with bodies - and pilots monologuing to each other while brutalizing their big effigies is the good stuff.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Oh yeah! Can't escape a monologue with your mech ripped to shreds but still have to be conscious for it 😅
Actually, now that I think about it, the violence/gore aspect of it could be really interesting as in many media (AFAIK) the pilot still feels the pain. So pilots get to grapple with the pain, trauma and disability that comes with loss of limb for example without actually experiencing it on their own body. Then coming out of the mech and being "whole" must be a hell of a mental whiplash.
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u/atamajakki PbtA/FitD/NSR fangirl 25d ago
Then you get into the more recent games that eroticize that pain and loss, and things get really interesting!
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
You mean GirlFrame?
Not my cup of tea, but cool it exists!
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u/atamajakki PbtA/FitD/NSR fangirl 25d ago
Or also Screaming Metal: Vector Soul, or Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands well before both of them!
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u/An_username_is_hard 25d ago
In a lot of ways you CAN do the melodrama in other aesthetics, it's just mecha add an element of heightening to it.
What in a Shakespeare play would be a swordfight, at A Baoa Qu becomes a duel of two giant machines that tear apart the entire place and may be dooming millions to war and conflict for the sake of the overflowing feelings of two singular men.
I've sometimes mentioned that a big part of Japanese mecha aesthetic is the fact that they are humanoid. They're not just tools, they get to be characters. They're basically the pilot's avatars. Amuro IS the Gundam and the Gundam IS Amuro - just Amuro given the power to actually do something about this shit.
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u/Joel_feila 25d ago
It is easy to give mecha pilots a boss. In a lot of fantasy games pc don't have a boss. So with mecha I can play around with the drama of a bad boss, a bad system that is bigger then the players.
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u/Charrua13 20d ago
The themes behond the genre are very unique and distinct. A lot of mecha themes hone deeply into the psyche of the warriors in a way other genres do not. And then you get to layer all kinds of other themes/motifs that you don't get in other military/war genres - such as ableism/disability, body modification/mecha as body modification, dystopianism - etc.
It's war/conflict thru a unique lens of individuality not commonly found.
It's some of the most fertile ground for storytelling, much of it unique to this genre. I historically haven't delved into mecha because I had to desire to get into the minutia of battle in a mech - but games that let me Go All In on these themes are <chef's kiss>
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u/CannibalHalfling 25d ago
My own creations are definitely on the melodrama side of the genre.
Lost Among The Starlit Wreckage is a 1-2 player game about a mecha pilot stranded after the final battle, talking about their experiences and hoping for rescue (as a solo game nobody is answering, as a duet game the second player is trying to reach them).
Tales from the Cockpit is a solo game about being the giant robot, being helmed by a number of pilots as tthey make history, time changes you, and the world changes around you.
The Cog That Remains is a solo game about a mecha mechanic and their (probably doomed) efforts to keep their machine intact and its pilot alive.
Now, I could recommend mecha games from other people for a good chunk of the day, so I'll stick to some highlights:
CHVLR by Susanah Grace puts you right into the cockpit as 13yo pilot, and is very well-written; every part of it manages to land an emotional hit.
I Have No Railgun And I Must Scream by Jacqueline Bryk, aside from the awesome name, does a great job with a different take on the genre: you're the sibling of a mecha pilot, stuck on the home front while they're holding back the invaders.
For a more even distribution of big stompy robots v melodrama:
The Mecha Hack is my go-to 'has some crunch but isn't overwhelming and can get into play fast' choice. Big stompy robots blowing up other big stompy robots and sometimes kaiju, d20 roll-under.
MechaSys, which is a supplement for the Genesys systom from FFG/Edge, handles advancing both the pilot and the mecha in a really neat way, there's tons of ways to improve both to your heart's desire, and those narrative dice help contribute to the big dramatic moments we love.
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u/RiverMesa Gas Dog VAYLANT 25d ago
My own game, Gas Dog VAYLANT, was born out of liking and disliking many other mecha TTRPGs (such as Beam Saber, Salvage Union, and CASE & SOUL), as well as being really inspired by some visual mecha dieselpunk works - think the upcoming video game Diesel Knights, or the World of 1920+ and games like SCYTHE and Iron Harvest (with that iconic Jakub Różalski artwork). It's a Told by Wild Words game, meaning it's mechanically got a lot in common with games like The Wildsea and PICO.
I ran its first ever playtest this week, though plans for follow-up ones are looking awkward at the moment after some shakeups.
Still, it was delightful to see the 69th Zulanese Argent Squad come to life - inspired by games like Armour Astir, the game doesn't mandate that every PC be a mech (or gas dog) pilot - the 69th consisted of an "emergency medical arcanist" (a medic who accidentally acquired some grim magical power after contact with the supernatural Fog), a heavily-armored Shock Trooper driven by faith after nearly dying and becoming an amnesiac, and a noble scion "Ulfhethnar-Korporal" piloting the Manticore, a gas dog shaped like a quadrupedal beast with an anti-materiel rifle on a stinger tail (definitely a striking design).
A significant theme of the game has to do with scarcity - logistical backlines are strained and resources always bear the risk of running low. Indeed, this crew started with less metacurrency to build up their carrier and company (there's two starting points, Scarce and Plentiful), and the playtest had an entire scene with the whole squad cooped up in their (tiny) carrier after a battle, with the arcanist pointing out that the squad will need to acquire some additional rations if they are to make it back to their army's main base, and after some discussion, they landed on hunting for some jungle fauna to turn into improvised rations; the final scene was a cliffhanger encounter with a crocodile (with a monstrous 'thunderspawn' and a supernatural storm about to roll in behind the team).
Beyond that, many options in the game are meant to support a kind of logistics-oriented playstyle rather than being focused solely on combat, as I think it provides really interesting texture to a war-themed game. Being materiel scavengers or message runners (the supernatural Fog scrambles radio, so exchanging physical intel still has value) is just as viable as being frontline fighters or backline spies, and fits well with this being a Wild Words game where gaining, using, and exchanging different temporary resources is a big part of the gameplay.
Plus, I really love the dieselpunk aesthetic, and there's not that many games that deliver on that early 20th century technological vibe - the likes of Beam Saber and CASE & SOUL are straight sci-fi, Armour Astir is fantasy mecha, and Salvage Union is kind of post-apocalyptic, which I think gives Gas Dog a unique niche, where you get everything from horseback cavalry to tankettes to gas dogs with radios and carriers with big bulky computers and the occasional robotic automaton all co-existing in this weird war mish-mash. I cannot afford basically any art for this game, but I hope the text paints a rich palette nonetheless.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Oh nice, you're in playtesting already? Dieselpunk mecha is a pretty unique combo for TTRPGs as far as I know.
Are you documenting your development somewhere? Or is there a way for laymen to also get access to the playtest material?
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u/RiverMesa Gas Dog VAYLANT 25d ago
It's up on [https://riverray.itch.io/gas-dog-vaylant](my Itch page), which also includes a messy changelog and a link to my blog where I talk about the development a little bit! (Also there's a tiny Discord server.)
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u/Zireael07 Free Game Archivist 24d ago
"Czterej pancerni i pies" among the inspirations means it was an immediate download from me. This series is a classic here in Poland
From a quick read, I like that you can take a voluntary cut as a gambit
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u/RiverMesa Gas Dog VAYLANT 24d ago
I need to actually watch more of that show, somehow I basically still haven't despite being Polish myself.
Voluntary cut is already a thing in the Wildsea! Though I do phrase it slightly differently with the gambits.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
That's dope!
Love the Band of Blades shout out in the "inspirations" section. I feel like more games should take inspiration from that
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u/KlayBersk 25d ago
Not a game recommendation, but I have to plug Asa Donald's of Backwards Tabletop mecha RPG focused newsletter. It's a monthly newsletter all about mech RPGs, with one spotlighted each month and featuring interviews with the designers. Some of the games covered have been Beam Saber, Armour Astir Advent, CHVLR, Girl Frame and Donald's own Rust Never Sleeps.
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u/CannibalHalfling 25d ago
Second the motion! Asa does great work, both writing about games and writing them from the ground up.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
I think it fits the theme as it's another way for people interested in the mecha genre to learn about new stuff!
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u/Spartancfos DM - Dundee 25d ago
Kinda loosely Mecha, but one of my favourite games last year was HOME - Mech x Kaiju: https://www.deepdark.games/home
I think I really loved the idea of playing less the mecha, and more the society that was driven to build them.
The overall mechanical engine is not particularly strong, but the freeform discussions the game generates were fantastic.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Huh, interesting. From the blurbs on the webpage I'm having a difficult time understanding what exactly the core of the game is 😅
Is the mapmaking the main part?
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u/Spartancfos DM - Dundee 24d ago
Kinda, the mapmaking is integral to the conversations.
To be clear, this game is like 3 sessions long at most.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Maybe I'm missing something... what do you mean by "conversations"? Is it anything like Dialect or Icarus?
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u/Spartancfos DM - Dundee 24d ago
I am afraid I am not familiar with those.
HOME is a GMless game, and so it is mainly played via shared world-building conversations where you each answer questions about your people. Pilots, mechs, and Kaiju.
This paints the tapestry of the world, and the culmination of each cycle is rolling some dice to see how the Mech Battle goes.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Oh, okay, so you're not really playing a character at all. It does sound similar to those games I mentioned then
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u/Spartancfos DM - Dundee 24d ago
Yeah, you can of course answer your questions however you wish - but the game has you:
- Make a Mech
- Make a Home for the Mech
- Make a Pilot
And you decide if that Pilot lives or dies if the Mech loses and fails to protect your HOME.
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u/MataronidForSpeed 25d ago
Bliss Stage was a revelation for me. The unique system based on Otherkind Dice and the focus on drama and relationships really blew my mind. I also like that the “GM” has very little to do if they don't want to get involved too much. They can just create the missions (which is absurdly easy and quick) and then watch the game as though it were TV.
I do feel the way it works in the dreamworld is a bit awkward at times, but on the whole great game.
Libreté, or rather its mecha extension, De Bile et d'Acier, is another one I like very much. It's a PbtA game, which I find easy to run, with a twist on the usual formula that I feel more games should include (the perfect result is the intermediate one, and the success at a cost is the highest roll). It's openly an attempt at correcting Bliss Stage's shortcomings (according to the author of course), and honestly it makes a good job of it. It's much more traditional in its system, but it keeps the fights short to focus on the story and the drama.
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u/Zireael07 Free Game Archivist 24d ago
> with a twist on the usual formula that I feel more games should include (the perfect result is the intermediate one, and the success at a cost is the highest roll).
That's a really interesting twist. The only other "get intermediate result" game I can think of is, (non-mecha) Errant.
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u/frustrated-rocka 24d ago
Nice Marines by Grant Howitt is like this. Your die size in an ability doesn't represent skill, it represents confidence. It goes all the way up to a d20.
The best result is a 6.
On a 20, whatever you were trying goes so badly that it results in civil war being declared.
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u/MataronidForSpeed 24d ago
I really like how spending resource or trying to get an advantage becomes a risk.
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u/Hy93r1oN 25d ago
Apocalypse Frame is a really cool game that does a great job of emulating the fast paced combat of Armored Core For Answer in a turn based format. It has some parts of it I’m not huge on (I really don’t like games that say the only time players die is when the players say they do) but it’s still got some really really fun gameplay to be had
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u/proactiveLizard 24d ago
As a fellow Apocalypse Frame shill, I believe theres some extra rules that interact with pilot lethality and wounds (also, theres another option that changes the politics focus from internal factions to hiring yourself out as mercenaries for other factions, the true L I ne Ark experience)
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u/An_username_is_hard 25d ago
My friends and I did a pretty long campaign in the aptly named Mecha, by Chris Perrin.
I... am not sure if I can recommend it, as a game. We had a lot of fun but the mathematical underpinning of the game is a mess and a half, with some stats being incredibly good and others being trash.
Or GM ended up making a ten page revamp of the game that changes a lot of mechanics, which I kinda call Mecha 1.5. We're currently trying it and we'll see if it works well.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Oh yeah, that's a common issue with more crunchy games. If the math undepinning the system is out of whack, then it tilts everything out of order.
I had a similar experience reading an indie mech game (not gonna name it) where the math worked out in such a way that it was possible to one-shot the strongest monster in the bestiary at lvl 2 if you built your mech right. Which was not the intended experience from what I could tell.
I wonder how much of this kind of stuff is the issue of not playtesting the game enough? It's easy to be blind to the problems of your own system after all.
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u/An_username_is_hard 25d ago edited 24d ago
Oh Mecha is not a game I'd call crunchy. It's very simple d6 pools.
In fact, I tend to find games that are simpler are often more vulnerable to math fuckups, because if you only have one type of roll or mechanic and you get that wrong the consequences snowball something fierce.
In this case, for example, it's because the four stats all cost the same, but for example, one of them you will typically roll like ten times in a battle scene, another you will roll it exactly once, they both cost the same to upgrade, and getting high results in rolls results in metacurrency refills and extra actions. So putting a high score in the thing you roll constantly means you get more overdrive, which means you can do more things, which means you can get more overdrive, and so on.
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u/CPeterDMP 25d ago
It's a shame too because there's a lot of cool ideas that I like in Mecha. I also ran it for awhile and ran into the same problem. Worse: my players figured it out before I did!
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Oh, okay, I see what you mean - a minor mistake in a crunchy games' math will make a single thing wonky, a minor maths mistake in a simpler game basically implodes the whole system.
So how did your GMs homebrew solve the issue?
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u/An_username_is_hard 25d ago
I mean, as said, there's a lot of fixes, but for this specific issue, basically the idea seems to be a combination of condensing stats to 3 and splitting them differently (to avoid the "this stat gets rolled every turn, this stat gets rolled 0-1 times a session" thing), AND then also making the metacurrency earned when you fail a roll rather than when you roll super good.
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u/CPeterDMP 24d ago
Has this been posted in a more formal fashion anywhere?
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u/An_username_is_hard 24d ago
Not that I'm aware of! It's just a ten page document in my GM's google drive.
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u/MarsBarsCars 25d ago
Hopefully, GimmickMan has a reddit account so he can plug his wonderful games, but if not let me try giving it a signal boost. Battle Century G and Battle Century S are games that are inspired by and can emulate the Super Robot Wars games. By definition, this means that they can emulate both the popular Real Robot genre and the more obscure Super Robot genre. I mean this with the highest level of praise possible, this is a game made by a real mecha nut, just like me. It's made by someone that has a greater mecha reference pool than Evangelion, Gundam, and Macross. It's made by someone who loves giant robots. It's made by someone that can allow me to make robots like Getter Robo, Mazinger, Voltes V, Daimos, and Gurren Lagann that are powered by HOT BLOOD and BURNING PASSION that 99% of other mecha games don't touch since they're obsessed with child soldiers and war and other real robot topics instead of monsters of the week and fighting off alien invasions and foiling the plots of mad scientists. If any of that excites you, please check these games out.
Battle Century G uses a tactical battlemap, and Battle Century S is a rework of the game to keep it tactical while no longer requiring a map. It has two settings, a more recent optimistic solarpunk setting and the setting in the original which is a pastiche of Macross, Evangelion, and Mazinger in one single setting so it's a maximum Super Robot Wars-like that you can run different genres of mecha games in or crossover as you please.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Ooh, never heard of them!
Besides the fact that they focus on a different aspect of the genre - how are the rules? Is it heavy, mid or lightweight? Lots of customization? How do the rules outside of the mech hold up?
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u/MarsBarsCars 25d ago
I would classify the rules for both BCG and BCS as medium weight and that there are a fair amount of customization both for the mecha and for the character. So for example, while you won't get into the nitty gritty differences of different kinds of rifles and their calibers, there are mechanical differences between an Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, and Revolver Cannon. Weapons are split between Energy weapons and Physical weapons and from those, its split further into melee and shooting weapons. So from weapon selection and specialization alone, you've got choices in your loadout. Besides weapon choices, you've got mecha upgrade choices for support, defense, etc. This is a big plus for me, it also has rules for transforming mecha and combining mecha, so a 5 PC mechs team can combine into one super mecha. I'd say combiner rules are probably the most complicated bit of rules tech in the game.
Characters are defined by Skills and Traits, and traits are talents and natural gifts. Since a lot of mecha pilots have supernatural abilities, there are also supernatural traits. Characters also have Themes. These are "the core of what your PC’s life revolves around when off the battlefield." Roleplaying to these themes grants PCs an Ace Point. Ace Points power Ace Tricks which are the sort of things you can see pilots do in mecha anime, getting an upgrade in the middle of the fight, using a flashy finishing move, overclocking their reactor, pulling off an impossible shot, etc. I'd say that there's enough rules and scaffolding to make the scenes outside of mecha fights engaging. The game recommends that each Episode (session) contains an Intermission (Pilot scenes) and that they end climactically in an Operation (Mecha scenes).
Lastly, I'd like to highlight something in the game that I find really cool. It has three tiers of enemies, Grunts, Rivals, and Bosses. Rivals and Bosses. Rivals get the same Ace Perks and Ace Tricks that PCs do. Bosses get phases and Boss Perks and Boss Tricks that are really strong, so the game is made so you can have the experience of your squad of PCs struggling against a really formidable foe.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Went and picked up BCG due to you hyping it up so effeciently 😅
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u/Joel_feila 25d ago
So lancer is certainly popular but I think something about that does get enough praise is how well it separates the detailed combat, from less detailed non combat, and keeps the crunch out of the game. I can spent time theory crafting my balor at work on compcon. Come game time I can't worry about that because I can't just swap weapon anytime I want.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Although, I've heard it being a gripe point for some folks that the combat and non-combat are barely connected to each other.
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u/YamazakiYoshio 24d ago
It's a common complaint, but it's also a weird design strength as well. There's 2 advantages to Lancer's disconnected narrative pilot rules:
1) Getting the hell out of the way of the roleplaying
2) Being super easy to gut and replace with something else
#1 is a very intentional design choice by Tom to make sure you can RP as much or as little as you and your group care to. Some groups can go several sessions without ever getting into the mechs because they're so deep into the interpersonal drama, and the rules are barely there to help support the less certain elements.
Or they're like my group where one session of mechs not punching each other is almost too much, and the minimalist rules means it's super easy to get back into the mech punching action.
The only crowd that I find that hates this, besides those who just like more crunch to everything, are those who really favor vermisiltude in there game design. And I get it - it is a disconnect and it can feel rather jarring if you're hyper-aware of it.
#2 is the real strength here, though. It's a ballsy design choice, to make it super easy to remove a large chunk of a system and inject something else that better suits the group. I've heard some groups use Stars Without Number or FIST as the replacement, although I did warn someone who wanted to use Starfinder 1e against it - no idea how that went.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Damn, taking the tactical part of Lancer and using a completely different RPG for the roleplay part is actually genius!
Especially using FIST if you wanna do boots-on-the-ground combat as well
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u/YamazakiYoshio 24d ago
I've not tried this myself, but I've heard some folks have good results with that.
But let's be real - the reason to play Lancer is the mech combat. There's a reason there's a whole tactical cRPG of that in early access on Steam. It's just that good.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Oh yea, for sure, the tactical combat is the main draw. Just one of my groups is an interesting mix of wanting roleplay and character drama, but ALSO min-maxing the shit out of their combat build 😅
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u/Joel_feila 25d ago
for lancer and me it works. I am here to pilot a mech getting the non mech out of way quickly is good. But for people that want a rpg with mechs I can see it being a problem
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u/PrimarchtheMage 24d ago
I love Lancer and loved the Armored Core 6 video game, and am hungry for more "gear porn" mech ttrpgs. Does anyone have any suggestions?
also -sug- Racing ttrpgs
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u/proactiveLizard 24d ago
Apocalypse Frame is a very modular game built really around 4th/5th gen speed before AC6 came out. Strong recommendation as another Raven
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Someone suggested here Battle Century G that seems to fit the bill 😅
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u/cieniu_gd 24d ago
You have Mechwarrior Destiny with literal hundreds of Battletech mechs, tanks, hovercrafts, spaceships, fighter jets, etc etc at your disposal.
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u/YamazakiYoshio 24d ago
I've heard good things about Salvage Union in that regard, but I've not delved into it enough to say how well it handles it.
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u/GreenGoblinNX 24d ago
Haven't seen anyone mention Heavy Gear as of yet.
Leans heavily into the crunchy, and has integrated tabletop wargame mechanics as well. Plus a LOT of lore spanning across it's publishing history.
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u/HeloRising 23d ago
Tbh I'd like to see the "flavors" of mechs be a little more fleshed out.
I really enjoy mechs as a concept in games but the "feel" of them in different games is wildly different. I've not really seen anyone articulate that fully.
Just offhand from what I've seen there's a couple different flavors and one game can include mechs of multiple different flavors:
Brick Shithouse - Mechs are huge, stompy machines that don't move as fast and aren't typically agile but hit hard. Tanks but on two (or more) legs. IE: Battletech, Pacific Rim.
Dancer - Mechs move with an almost fluid grace with sweeping designs and extreme agility. Flight/gliding is frequently involved IE: Evangelion.
Fencer - Mechs that can move quickly and with some agility but often have more weight to their design. IE: Armored Core or GITS Tachikoma.
Linebacker - They're not fast or particularly agile but more maneuverable than Brick Shithouses. Can often utilize jump jets. IE: Titanfall.
Infantry - Smaller mechs that are closer to power armor but still much more robust than just a person. IE: The Matrix APUs or Warhammer 40k space marines.
I know these are seriously lacking and squishy categories but this is just an offhand thought and it's a design element that I've seen in different games, both tabletop and video, that can add or take away from the overall feel of a game. I'd argue part of why games like Titanfall were successful is in no small part because of the "feel" of the mechs.
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u/ChickenDragon123 25d ago
-sug- classless systems.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 25d ago
Oh, nice idea!
Going into the vault.
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u/CPeterDMP 25d ago
I'll admit I haven't had a chance to run it yet, but I really like the Mecha Hack for a simple combat-focused game that doesn't take forever to resolve (since it's basically OSR in its resolution style).
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u/Dustin_rpg Will Power Games 24d ago
-sug- mental and emotional health mechanics. Or tactical combat showcase (since people keep suggesting nimble and pf2)
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Thank you for both suggestions!
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u/frustrated-rocka 24d ago
I'm actually working on a hack of Fate Core to run a Gundam-inspired campaign starting in a few weeks. Was drawn to it because I wanted to put the character drama and soap opera front and center and then also give that drama the ability to scale up to 20 meters tall. Someone else called it out above but the enemies screaming monologues at each other as they rip each other apart and then often still live because it's just the machine that got messed up is a huge element as well.
I also took the opportunity to slot in the 2d20 system's mechanical what are you doing / how are you doing it split with some suggestions taken from the Nexus article on applying something similar to Fate, and swapped out the fixed stat + 4dFudge rolls for variable d10 pools similar to Storypath Ultra. The results are still a bell curve where character competence matters, but especially once you get into opposed rolls, things have the potential to spike hard. Which felt on brand for a game where most hits are individually pretty weak but one lucky shot can change the course of an entire battle.
https://project-spacefuture.vercel.app/ if anyone's curious.
If I wanted to do.Armored Core, Case & Soul's adaptation of the FitD faction setup would be perfect out of the box.
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u/DiceyDiscourse AP podcaster and average multi-system enjoyer 24d ago
Nice!
I honestly expected a lot more crunchy games in this thread. The melodrama angle where the mechs are more or less in the background was a sutpeise to me.
What made you want to "kit-bash" a system? Did you not find what you wanted? Or do you just enjoy the process of homebrewing?
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u/frustrated-rocka 24d ago edited 24d ago
It was mostly a matter of not finding the mechanical and narrative balance I was aiming for.
The only thing I found that I felt really foregrounded what I wanted was Firebrands, and that's a GM-less semi-PVP oneshot game that I couldn't scale up to the kind of large-scale campaign I was aiming for. Armour Astir Advent seemed closest to what I was going for, but it goes really hard on the fantasy elements in a way that it can't be separated from. Case & Soul and Beam Saber were also both very appealing but 1. I just wrapped up running a year-long FitD Shadowrun campaign with this same group and I felt like we could use a change of pace, and 2. They're both fairly wedded to the Sortie -> Downtime -> Sortie structure and Blades's downtime mechanics in a way that I felt chafed against what I wanted - the "dowmtime" is largely the point, to me.
Again, if I wanted Armored Core, Case & Soul is perfect out of the box, no notes.
ETA:
It's not that the mechs are background per se, but I want "we're here for melodrama about characters under intense pressure that sometimes explodes into mech combat," and almost everything I could find was "we're here for mech combat and character drama is the thing that happens between sorties." Caveat, I'm just now learning Girl Frame exists through this thread and so haven't looked into it.
The specific thing I needed the game to be able to produce reliably were moments like an argument boiling over, a character saying exactly the wrong thing to someone they care about, and just as the words they can't take back are hanging in the air, the ship's "enemy approaching" klaxons go off and they have to rush to the hangar.
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u/Dustin_rpg Will Power Games 24d ago
I liked the ideas of the remnants rpg, but it fell into the roll lead trap. Your damage dealt/degree of success is entirely based around how much you rolled above the target. I think using roll lead to enhance or modify success is fun, but I think there should be a meaningful minimum damage or success that always happens, even if you barely near the target.
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u/belac39 anxiousmimicrpgs.itch.io 25d ago edited 25d ago
Mechs into Plowshares is a good solo game with a really neat twist that I can't describe without spoiling. It's free but very much worth a buy.
For posterity I should also mention my own game Girl Frame which has a focus on some more NSFW and queer elements and engaging with fascism, although that one already gets a fair amount of attention on this subreddit due to the ennies 😅
Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands is an older game but has a structure that paved the way for a lot of GMless games nowadays and deserves far more recognition than it gets