Thank you for notion of this Battletech, while human-like mechs are utter meh for me (sic!) it seems setting has interesting space feudalism notions like Fading Suns, W40k and Dune, and I'm working on homebrew mesh of such settings - so this gonna be another element

I suppose I should include a good, little, general RPG called Mini-6: Bare Bones Edition.  I mentioned it in the first post. 

It is essentially Star Wars D6 rules, but simplified a bit, and written to be any and all genres.  It is not just Sci-fi. It reduces character attributes from 6 to 4 types, reduces mystical or magical powers from 3 skills to just the 1, and has an optional change for the game from opposed combat dice rolls to using pre-calculated defenses roll averages.  This is done to speed up gameplay by reducing the dice rolls needed by half.  IE instead of rolling a 4D6 dodge every time you just have your dodge always be 14.

Why I am bringing it up is that in the back of the book are some sample worlds to play in.  One is clearly the TV show Firefly, another is the fantasy movie Willow, and of course Star Wars.  None of them say they're those things, but good grief are they not blatantly close. 

Mini-Six is indeed my favourite game after 5e D&D.  I used it recently for a one year 28 session Primeval Thule campaign https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-valley-of-scorn-palace-of-silver.html

Bug Hunters from the early 90s is a superior implementation of the Aliens universe. It doesn't have those shitty sequels and prequels

Quote from: Chris24601 on March 30, 2022, 09:10:46 PM
For Macross/Gundam/All the Anime Robots = Mekton Zeta. Full Stop.

I have an old copy of the Mekton Zeta rulebook lying around. Is this book complete? I noticed that there are several other books, including the oddly named "Tactical Display", but wasn't sure if any of these actually improved the game enough to warrant their eBay prices.

I ask because I have vague memories that they completely re-did the Mech building system at some point.

Quote from: hedgehobbit on April 04, 2022, 01:30:23 PM

Quote from: Chris24601 on March 30, 2022, 09:10:46 PM
For Macross/Gundam/All the Anime Robots = Mekton Zeta. Full Stop.

I have an old copy of the Mekton Zeta rulebook lying around. Is this book complete? I noticed that there are several other books, including the oddly named "Tactical Display", but wasn't sure if any of these actually improved the game enough to warrant their eBay prices.

I ask because I have vague memories that they completely re-did the Mech building system at some point.

IIRC, it's complete, but the Mekton Z+ supplement has more construction options, including transforming 'mechs. Tactical Display is a GM screen/adventure, but it does have cinematic (simplified) rule options, that some prefer to use.

Quote from: hedgehobbit on April 04, 2022, 01:30:23 PM

Quote from: Chris24601 on March 30, 2022, 09:10:46 PM
For Macross/Gundam/All the Anime Robots = Mekton Zeta. Full Stop.

I have an old copy of the Mekton Zeta rulebook lying around. Is this book complete? I noticed that there are several other books, including the oddly named "Tactical Display", but wasn't sure if any of these actually improved the game enough to warrant their eBay prices.

I ask because I have vague memories that they completely re-did the Mech building system at some point.

Zeta's main book has main rules and basic construction rules, while Zeta Plus is the advanced construction rules that allow you to build damned near anything (including an entire category labeled "Stupid Mekton Tricks" for things like mass/size changing and the like). Zeta Plus also has their psionics rules (and psionic amplifiers for mecha).

Their are really only two things to watch out for... first Reflex is THE stat for all things related to personal and mecha combat and in point buy has the same cost as any other stat. My personal recommendation is to either make it cost more per point (with a slight bump in overall points granted) or just set it at a fixed value for all PCs.

The second is, if you're allowing the PCs to build their own units, strongly consider limiting the number of maneuver verniers a unit is allowed to carry and how much weight efficiency is allowed, as both reduce the maneuver penalties of heavier units and can take them all the way to 0 and weight efficiency's costing is linear while the benefits are more geometric.

If the GM is building every unit themselves then it's less of an issue, and what limits you want to set will depend on the campaign you want. Mostly it's something you want to watch out for rather than a hard and fast "this is always broken" rule.