Quote from: Emperor Norton;748906I really wish that there was a really good rules light-medium mecha game, but it just doesn't seem to exist.

And every time someone tacks mecha rules onto another light-medium game it feels just a little off.

Chris Perrin's Mecha and Remnants are both excellent light-medium mecha games.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;748906I really wish that there was a really good rules light-medium mecha game, but it just doesn't seem to exist.

And every time someone tacks mecha rules onto another light-medium game it feels just a little off.

Basic Mekton II/Zeta is itself fairly rules light/medium, probably erring on the Medium side of the spectrum. Its the separate (and completely optional by the way) Construction Manual books that add the crunch to the game. And that is only in the creating of Mecha. Once a Mecha is made, you are using the normal RPG rules so you are back to the rules medium system.

You DONT have to use the creation books at all. The basic Creation rules that come in the game are fairly complete and will allow you to build just about anything, just without the depth or complexity the more advanced construction guides would give you.

Quote from: Skywalker;748927Chris Perrin's Mecha and Remnants are both excellent light-medium mecha games.

I have Chris Perrin's Mecha, and I actually do like it quite a bit... I think the construction rules are a bit meh though. Mercenaries helps it out, but its still not my ideal Mecha game.

Though my ideal Mecha game might just be a pipe dream anyway.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;748906I really wish that there was a really good rules light-medium mecha game, but it just doesn't seem to exist.

And every time someone tacks mecha rules onto another light-medium game it feels just a little off.

Mekton is actually pretty rules light-medium once you are done with the mech assembly stuff. Moreso if you just use the preconstructed units.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;748950I have Chris Perrin's Mecha, and I actually do like it quite a bit... I think the construction rules are a bit meh though. Mercenaries helps it out, but its still not my ideal Mecha game.

Though my ideal Mecha game might just be a pipe dream anyway.

That's cool My own ideal mecha RPG is almost a pipe dream as I am one of the few people who doesn't want to see systems for constructing mecha in my mecha games, despite the two being forever link in most RPGs.

Quote from: YourSwordisMine;748928Basic Mekton II/Zeta is itself fairly rules light/medium, probably erring on the Medium side of the spectrum. Its the separate (and completely optional by the way) Construction Manual books that add the crunch to the game. And that is only in the creating of Mecha. Once a Mecha is made, you are using the normal RPG rules so you are back to the rules medium system.

You DONT have to use the creation books at all. The basic Creation rules that come in the game are fairly complete and will allow you to build just about anything, just without the depth or complexity the more advanced construction guides would give you.

Actually, if you want to just completely go nuts you can use MZ+ for the advanced gear and whatnot and just simply ignore calculating tonnage, CP, spaces, etc. Honestly, when I'm designing for a purpose I tend to do crazy shit - for example, when creating Macross mecha I was using space efficiency to make stuff take 0 spaces, using crazy weight efficiency (and inefficiency) and all kinds of stuff. At that point, you might as well just not even bother.

Which, oddly enough, is exactly how Silhouette works. Define that parameters of what the mech can do, build the weapons, and then if you are really feeling like it, calculate the cost.

Did anyone here ever try Spirit Warrior Empire.  I gotta say as background goes it's one of the more unique mecha games.

Haven't even heard of that one. I've played Robotech, Mekton II, Heavy Gear, and Jovian Chronicles. Of those, Heavy Gear is far and away my favourite, and our D&D-centric group still refers to one of those HG campaigns as their all time favourite. A lot of that is the Silhouette system, which is a breeze in play, and allows for pretty seamless transitions between personal and Mecha/vehicle scale. In fact, I would've thought that Silhouette meets the light-medium rules criteria mentioned above.

The other thing that really sold me on Heavy Gear was the setting. It's hard-ish sci-fi, and has tons of depth (if you want it) in the supplements, but still leaves plenty of room to make of it what you want with your own campaign. It also allows for a very wide variety of possible campaign types. I can't really recommend it enough.

I really enjoyed Mekton II, and played a lot of Mekton Zeta. Of the two, I actually prefer Mekton II for some reason. Wish I owned it, but it was always on loan to me. There's a copy on Ebay that's whispering my name right now...

Palladium's Robotech was awful. It didn't feel like the shows at all. Overly clunky system for something that was supposed to be fast and fun. I'd like to try the mini's game Palladium just released though...

Battletech was a lot of fun in the day, and I love the setting, but the system was always so slow and ponderous. Plus, being stuck in place while a fast mech wandered behind you was the end of my Battletech love. The Mechwarrior RPGs were very hit and miss.

BESM never worked properly.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;748964Did anyone here ever try Spirit Warrior Empire.  I gotta say as background goes it's one of the more unique mecha games.

That was the setting for MECHA! The "miniatures" game, that had some semblance to an RPG, correct?


I recall liking the mecha and the idea. (I think problem with it was that they had these beautifully painted mecha figures, you couldn't get anywhere..)

Quote from: Silverlion;749164That was the setting for MECHA! The "miniatures" game, that had some semblance to an RPG, correct?


I recall liking the mecha and the idea. (I think problem with it was that they had these beautifully painted mecha figures, you couldn't get anywhere..)

That is correct.

Quote from: Coffee Zombie;749102Palladium's Robotech was awful. It didn't feel like the shows at all. Overly clunky system for something that was supposed to be fast and fun. I'd like to try the mini's game Palladium just released though...

Totally agree about Palladium's Robotech. We fixed this with the following house rules which I also posted here some time back... posting it again since it worked so well to fix that system, for us anyway.

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Everyone in my old group felt that the MDC values were way too high.

The mecha action as shown in the animated series could not be emulated by the MDC system as printed.

Our solution was pretty simple and reflected the importance of various character types from the animation:
- divide mook MDC armour values by 10
- tougher mooks MDC divided by 5
- all 'named' characters' (including PCs) MDC divided by 2
- leave the weapons damage as printed

Effects of this house ruling:
- Battle Pods get taken out with a single hit, and in droves, just like the animation.
- Tougher opponents can survive just long enough to be dangerous, don't underestimate them.
- PCs and named NPCs have abilities that, along with good GMing and playing out imaginative stunts etc, should keep them alive

This worked very well for us and felt true to the animated mecha action.
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I'd have to point to Mekton Zeta as my favourite mecha system. Closely followed by Heavy Gear and Jovian Chronicles.

BRP MECHA will split your play group right in two.  It doesn't have a construction system.  Instead, you just take the mecha's actual stats (from the shows/mangas fanguides) and convert them over to BRP stats.

My anime fanatic loves it.  My roleplay guy says, "What the f**k are you jibberjabbering about?"  Take your pick.

Oh, and I played Jovian Chronicles late last year.  Much fun was had sneaking up on capital ships.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;748964Did anyone here ever try Spirit Warrior Empire.  I gotta say as background goes it's one of the more unique mecha games.

I have that but never found the core MECHA! game. Its an interesting looking system just from whats in the setting book book. And definitly a neet setting.