BRAINSTORM THREAD: Let's Improve Mecha Campaigns!!

[Cave Bear]

It does amuse me that Char Aznable deconstructs this whole trope in the very first Gundam series:

"Your new mech, sir!"
"It has no legs."
"It's a space mech.  The legs are just for show anyways."

I love early Gundam.

I like the fact that the non-anthroform Mobile Armors are awesome and stomp the snot out of everyone that isn't a protagonist.

[Spinachcat]

Thank you everyone!!

Lots of great ideas in this thread! Keep it rolling!

Sports mecha league!

Very interesting!!

Has anyone done this?

I was under the impression that they were fine.  What is YOUR problem with them (and I'm asking for your reasons, not that you're wrong or anything)?

I want to see mecha campaigns improved for the same reason I want to see any genre campaign improved. More added fun, less hiccups.

What do you mean by 'dealing'?  Most players I've had in my Mekton games were all Mechajocks and were happy with being given missions.

I've had no issues when the PCs are all robojocks. The challenge has been with mixed parties. My solution was everyone had 2 PCs - a robojock and a non-robojock. That worked great.

The challenge has shown up more in Rifts Chaos Earth where you have one PC with a Giant Robot in a party. In a battle, the stuff that requires a giant robot is the stuff that can chew up dudes walking around. Usually the PCs are smart about these fights, but I've seen players mope about their PC not being able to dish it out equally, but I remind them that their PC shines in other areas. However, this doesn't work for all players. I always wonder if the Great Forum Combo Brain has some better ideas.

Hell, I have players who want to play in a Pacific Rim style game (but sadly, are averse to Mekton Z rules, because they want to make their mecha.)

For years, I used Robot Warriors by the Hero System. It's from the mid-80s, but it allowed me to mix Champions & Fantasy Hero & Robots easily and Robot Warrior rules were stupid easy for players to build custom mechs.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/61459/Robot-Warriors

Ultimately, you are just going to have to accept the fact that giant robots are magical.

100% agreed. But most genres are based on magic (space opera, superheroes, etc).

A mecha is more than just a machine. It is an extension of the pilot. The mecha's form is the image of the pilot's true inner self. The mecha's power is driven by the pilot's motivation. The mecha is the pilot's other half.

THIS is a great idea. I'd like to see a mecha game use this concept.

[Cave Bear]

THIS is a great idea. I'd like to see a mecha game use this concept.

Well, what you want is a game where charisma and willpower stats matter a lot. You may even want to use relationship mechanics. You don't have to play a Story Game to do this. A lot of Japanese roleplaying games like Tenra War already handle this really well without exactly conforming to the Western idea of Story Games (but then they don't exactly conform to Western ideas of OSR either; Japanese games are their own special thing.)

Do the ship-girls from Kantai Collection count as mecha?
Check out the Kancolle RPG. There are fan translations floating around.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4040700775

[jeff37923]

A mecha is more than just a machine. It is an extension of the pilot. The mecha's form is the image of the pilot's true inner self. The mecha's power is driven by the pilot's motivation. The mecha is the pilot's other half.

THIS is a great idea. I'd like to see a mecha game use this concept.

Mecha and their pilots as Greek Gods with the non-pilots as a Greek Chorus? All of the power of a demigod driven with all the frailty of a human?

[Cave Bear]

A big advantage to putting weight on fighting spirit and relationships in a mecha game is that it gives non-robojock player characters a way to contribute meaningfully (even if it's in more of a support role than a front-line role.) Your pop idols singing in the background function a lot like spell-casters with effects that bolster allies and stun/confuse enemies.

[yosemitemike]

Very interesting!!

Has anyone done this?

There is something a little like this in Gundam Build Fighters.  It's essentially a sports anime.  They use Gundam models made by the competitors which are scanned to produce digital versions that players fight with in a digital environment.  Angelic Layer with Gundams.  Toppu o Nerae!/Aim for the Top!/Gunbuster also added some sports elements.  They even called the guy in charge of the Gunbuster program Coach.  It's hard to describe Toppu o Nerae! without making it sound inane.  It's better if you watch it.  It's only 6 episodes long.

Your pop idols singing in the background function a lot like spell-casters with effects that bolster allies and stun/confuse enemies.

They throw on some science-y sounding jargon about fold waves and the Protoculture but that's what Walkure really is.  I think it's a way to get the inevitable idol singer character more directly into the action.

Mecha and their pilots as Greek Gods with the non-pilots as a Greek Chorus? All of the power of a demigod driven with all the frailty of a human?

Heroic Age takes a lot from Greek mythology and does something like this with the Nosodes.

[RPGPundit]

I think one of the main things is not to make it all about mecha. Or even primarily about Mecha.  The Robotech RPG is actually great at this, because it details a whole post-apocalyptic world, and it works out even better if the campaign is more about the characters, politics, the military, exploring, etc. than just "we're in giant robots".

[Tod13]

I think one of the main things is not to make it all about mecha. Or even primarily about Mecha.  The Robotech RPG is actually great at this, because it details a whole post-apocalyptic world, and it works out even better if the campaign is more about the characters, politics, the military, exploring, etc. than just "we're in giant robots".

Good advice. I figured this was already a given, which means it probably needs to be specifically stated. That's what I liked about Patlabor--the series had the mecha in it, but the stories are about the police drama or the individuals making up the Second Section.

[Christopher Brady]

Good advice. I figured this was already a given, which means it probably needs to be specifically stated. That's what I liked about Patlabor--the series had the mecha in it, but the stories are about the police drama or the individuals making up the Second Section.

As someone who grew up watching anime, and several mecha based series, I have to agree, all the 'good' series have always been about the people first, the giant machines are just means to an end.

[yosemitemike]

I don't think I have ever seen a mecha show that was actually about the mecha.  They are mostly coming of age stories with a large pinch of The Horrors of War in real robot shows.

[jeff37923]

I don't think I have ever seen a mecha show that was actually about the mecha.  They are mostly coming of age stories with a large pinch of The Horrors of War in real robot shows.

Maybe Neon Genesis Evangelion? Unit 01 was inhabited by the spirit of Shinji's mom.

Maybe?

The Iron Giant? The robot was a character as well.

[yosemitemike]

Maybe Neon Genesis Evangelion? Unit 01 was inhabited by the spirit of Shinji's mom.

Maybe?

The Iron Giant? The robot was a character as well.

Evangelion is debateable.  The focus is still on Shinji's coming of age.  That was only significant as it impacted Shinji.

The Iron Giant is an American movie based on a story by a British author.  It's only anime in the very loose sense that anime is used as a generic term for animation in Japan.

[Christopher Brady]

Evangelion is debateable.  The focus is still on Shinji's coming of age.  That was only significant as it impacted Shinji.

The first run, was actually the director's self-therapy put on celluloid that jump the shark to the point that the last few episodes made no sense, that required two films to 'correct'.  Rumour holds that the original series was meant for 40 episodes, but the merchandising went down hill before they could get past episode 20, and had to wrap it up.

FOR ME:  It had promise until episode 6, where it took a nose dive into Emo for the rest of the series.

[yosemitemike]

Shinji is the director's self-insertion character.

[jeff37923]

Shinji is the director's self-insertion character.

No denying that.