Thread 96245830

Welcome to Mecha Monday! Here we dedicate ourselves to mecha RPGs, war games, and board games alike. Here we start games, tell campaign stories, share resources & assets, and seek advice for our games and homebrew.

Assorted Mecha Goodness:
https://pastebin.com/E2wi55AZ
Embryo Machine Translation:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r_cjOLuUp3HussVRhbQYU3G0zK6hwy1r
Lancehounds Homebrew:
M3g4 folder/eMEBUbCL#kj2FRrlqTa-02U16XpnVRg

Previous Thread:
>>96149893

Question of the Thread:
How would you incorporate public domain mecha in your favorite mecha games and/or homebrew ideas?

Thread Theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_x4p_f9zuI&list=RD0_x4p_f9zuI&start_radio=1

I love maschinen krieger

>>96245830 (OP)
>How would you incorporate public domain mecha in your favorite mecha games and/or homebrew ideas?

Public domain mecha? Like the Martian fighting machines? I don't think anything more modern like Audaz the Destroyer or Bozo the Iron Man are in the public domain yet.

>>96245928
Last month it came to the attention of /co/ that a fuck load of old silver age comics from Marvel fell into public domain via lack of renewal, opening pic being one of them (Strange Tales issue 86 to be exact).

>>96245940
I've nothing against them but it's not really shocking that the era of blocky monster of the week robby the robot type designs doesn't have too much that stuck around. These designs were so derivative of each other that I dunno if there would've been much legal standing to say many of them were actually distinct lol
I guess there's some fun weird war tales designs out there as well.

christ... anons weren't joking about the lancer trannycord
fucking grim

>Want to like Flames of Orion
>Instinctively hate heat management systems
So it's over like that, huh?

Eldritch Automata at Gencon was cool.

What are some builds for Flames of Orion that you recommend?

I'm thinking of running a small fast mech to mark targets for 1-2 bigger mechs with better guns, and 1 designated melee mech with whips or lances.

>>96249088
Yeah, feels like there's a LOT of western indie mech games with heat systems that kill you. They can't all be that bad at making their mechs. Do their guns all just vent directly into the engine/pilots face or what?

>>96248573
>Kodiak actually looks like a Kodiak
No anon, you will not get excited, you must remain cynical.

>>96249755
Working backwards from it being a thing, specific heat capacity is one of the most important factors to an armor scheme's ability to withstand thermal damage modes like laser weaponry but is also incredibly useful for heat management systems as a buffer, while the importance of that system isn't much lower than the power-plant or pilot so folding its major components into the same maximally-protected space as them is sensible.

Combine those two and between proximity to the pilot and the bulk structure around them being heated, you can end up in a hole of incredible difficulty to implement hardware-level safety that's mostly replaced by just throwing in a cheap governor of some sort and training the pilot accordingly.

>>96246447
Here's a fun weird war design from Our Army at War (DC, it became Sgt. Rock's comic)

behold

Posting some stuff from Gencon.

On Assemble, they continue to keep mum on gameplay details. I think this might be the first time Barbatos has been confirmed, though, and Jet Stream might be new also.

>>96253454
They had the licensed paint line available for take-and-paint with the tcg promo models. I don't have sufficient personal painting experience nor the length of time with them to review them properly, so all I can really say is that they mostly behaved like other acrylic mini paints I'm used to, except for the fact that they came out of the pots a bit... sticky? gooey? After diluting with water they were normal, so I dunno if that's some property they have (it's a water soluble paint, so I dunno) or possibly just a side effect of convention use and being left open for long periods of time. They advertised the pots as not needing dilution and being able to go on as-is and dry quickly, but it produced exactly the chunky finish you would expect from undiluted paint, so that was probably just a lie to get people faster results at the paint-and-take.

Anyways, the greens and black covered well. Black was a very grayish black. (Which is fine for what it is, but you'd need a pot from another line for an actually black black.) Char's pink needed like 5-6 coats to cover, but it is pink after all, and it did eventually produce a pleasantly smooth finish. Also, we were painting unprimed gray plastic, which didn't help. I should've tried out the orange but I was focused on using my limited time to build up smooth layers of pink.

>>96253526
As someone that struggles to make due with Army Painter. the last thing I would want to do is paint straight from a pot. They might just be advertising those kinds of paints for people new to the hobby. But we might see this tier of pic but for Mobile Suits soon. Hell my gears come out wonky looking like that sometimes...
>Also, we were painting unprimed gray plastic, which didn't help.
yuck.

>>96253526
The model quality of this game caught my eye. I didn't get a chance to try the gameplay, but it's apparently a 2019 kickstarter game from a Chinese company called Ember: Obsidian Protocol, which has had a very rocky series of development/manufacturer difficulties and is only just recently showing signs of life and shipping to backers.

What's the situation in the south look like in [current cycle]? Has the civil war in the emirates changed since the league book

>>96250188
I'm getting some major obsolete vibes from this. That and the method of riding/controlling the mech has really grown on me.

I think I would go the extra step of mixing it with Landmates for slaves arms while the legs and other stuff is controlled via a brain/machine interface

>>96253618
iirc. Nigel basically won, but now his inheritance to the throne is in jeopardy because his wife is missing. Plus general fuckery from CEF is causing the entire southern hemisphere to be in disarray.

>>96253603
I tried Eldritch Automata, an upcoming mecha-horror RPG. (>>96249354 was me). Doesn't lend itself to photos like models do, so here's a screenshot from the quickplay rules that does a pretty reasonable job of encapsulating the game as a whole. Small caveat that the event was run *with* the quickplay rules, so there may be mechanics in the full game that we didn't use.

Mechanically it's D6, there's 4 stats with 3 skills each, roll D6s equal to the total of stat+skill plus additional dice from gear. Succeed on a 6, multiple successes stack, reroll your pool at the cost of stress, stress adds additional dice to all rolls but any 1 on a stress dice fucks your mental state right up. There are a couple of alternative ways to also fuck your mental state up. There's also a relationships-as-resources mechanic for all your interparty drama simulation needs.

>>96253783
Combat is fairly rules-light. You're more worried about stress than health, most of the time. The titular Automata use the same combat rules as on foot except for some scale difference and a special defensive mechanic that reduces all incoming damage but gets damaged (and hurts your brain) each time its pierced. The game uses range bands, and can be either map based or theater of the mind.

Horror is always very GM and group dependent to pull off so it can be hard to endorse. That said I think the system's got potential, it seems to have bitten off just the best parts of a bunch of other games and combined them in a way where they all support the core theme.

>>96253454
Interesting, do you have any other pictures of unit cards?
It's fascinating that the Twin Buster Rifle is only S6 while machine cannons (& likely vulcans) are S3.

I'm guessing fractured will be either a penalty token or weapon disable token.

>>96255175
When you consider it can kill the rx-78 next to it in two hits (assuming strength-hp works that way), plus it has buffs to damage, probably not too crazy. I don't think they want to go with a balance where units are constantly one-shotting each other off the board.

>>96255250
I wouldn't be surprised if they do a simple system like their older games where it's d10+Strength vs d10+Defense stat, leftover = damage; that way it's not one-shotting. I'm really curious to see the rest of the stats on the card.

>>96253574
>>Also, we were painting unprimed gray plastic, which didn't help.
t. tourist

You can do it just fine, especially with that kind of paint, it just dries fast as hell. Definitely not beginner friendly.

>>96255175
That's all there was to see at the Gencon booth. This is an older pic from another convention.

>>96255344
My immediate guess would be that strength is just the number of dice it rolls.

>>96255728
Thanks for the photo!
Yeah that would make sense, S6 =6d10 and S3 = 3d10. The Zero System trait allows for Crits on a 7+ and TBR is Crit = DMG+1.

If we assume each die normally causes 1 damage, crits are 2 dmg then TBR at 3 damage is powerful but not one shotting.

Sounds like a fun system! I'm looking forward to learning more

>>96255653
And what, have the paint chip off? I'm guessing it must have primer baked into the acryllic if it's not going to do that which also sounds bad.

Most mechs in my setting range from 9 to 15 feet tall, and I'm working right now on a one off prototype that uses a mocap kind of control system and subsequently is around double the size of a regular one. My issue is I'm not sure how to arm this experimental unit. It is a technology demonstrator but in mecha fashion I want to also make it a viable, or at least usable, weapon system. And I don't really know what to do to take advantage of the size of it besides scaling up the guns and rockets the regular sized mechs carry, which feels boring to me. Any input or advice?

>>96257760
Maybe you could take a page out of AC4 and have it be your NEXT. Make it more elongated and shove a big ass engine in it so that it has increased mobility.

>>96255886
It won't, just clean the damn model first. This is solvent paint not water-based

people overhype primer way too much in general, you don't need it most of the time desu

>>96258310
the Assemble paints were water based

>>96258310
>>96258318
To each their own I guess. At this point I'm so used to primer and wet pallette acrylic painting that I don't think I would want to break that tradition. Thank god varnish exists on top of that.

>>96257939
Not too familiar with armored core. What's NEXT?

>>96259145
In AC4 there's two types of Armored Cores. NEXTs and Normals. NEXTs are what you the player and rival NPCs will pilot as the top of the line performance of that universe. The other ACs known as Normals were the prior generation of AC before the giant leap of tech with the NEXTs started to be used. Somebody more versed in AC4 lore could probably go more in depth about it but that's the gist.

Redpill me on the basilisk

>>96259145
Armored Core 4 introduces the NEXT, the Next-gen version of the Armored Core. A NEXT is powered by metallic hydrogen and weaponizes something discovered on Antarctica called the Kojima Particle. KP has the unique property of entering a semi-solid state when impacting another particle, so a NEXT constantly vents KP around itself to create an impromptu shield referred to as Primal Armor. The downside is that this is horrendously radioactive and yadda yadda, some tranny wrote a faggot dissertation on it.

The result is that a NEXT can, unlike a normal Armored Core (referred to as Normals in AC4 and For Answer), move at blinding speed. Moving at 1000 kp/h isn't unrealistic for them, but of course a normal control system literally cannot keep up with this kind of pace. So a NEXT uses what's called the Allegorical Manipulation System (AMS) which a cybernetically augmented pilot (referred to as LINX or LYNX) pilots with their brain. Different people have different levels of compatibility with this system and if you attempt to pilot a NEXT with higher AMS demands than you can handle it will shorten your lifespan rapidly as it burns you out.

Overuse of these war machines in Armored Core 4 goes on to have severe consequences for the Earth during the events of the sequel, Armored Core For Answer, to the point that the only feasible solution is to escape to space. How that solution turns out is... debatable.

>>96260832
Not a bad gear, basically a Scopedog expy. Its like a Stripped-down Jager that can keep the 6 armor. Its biggest flaw imo is the 3/3 H/S but maybe you really want that extra movement over a Jager.

>>96259145
>>96260875
A war crime moving at several times the speed of sound pretending to be a mech.

There was an idea discussed in a previous thread which I thought was pretty interesting. Basically, mechs as we know them aren't actually designed to be mechs, but are actually the power armor for enormous species which are much larger than humans. Humans turn this power armor into a mech by inserting a cockpit for themselves and altering the power-armor to move through the usage of controls at the helm of this cockpit.

This handles a few things nicely. First, it explains why mechs exist in the first place (they might not be intuitively better than a tank, but it's cheaper to convert an already existing power-armor into a mech than it is to build a tank from scratch). They allow humans to interact with the giants on their own level. And it allows you to explain differing forms for mechs by having different varieties of giant species. A humanoid species of giant elves for example makes for a convenient humanoid mech, but a crablike giant species allows you to make more of a crabwalker mech for example.

>>96261478
While I get the purpose is for it to be a proper mecha size, I really like the idea for smaller, non-humanoid creatures who would use Human size appropriate mechs for themselves to work with Humans.

>>96261491
>Discover a species that basically looks like a biological tank that pilots humanoid mecha
Wouldn't that be funny.

>>96261516
I've become attached to the idea as a way to have my donut steel electric eel frog aliens have relevance for the Humans.

I've also contemplated the idea of them allowing themselves to be used as part of the armor the Humans wear

>>96260832
It looks cool and you should run it
>>96261393
AC2AA was my first AC game, getting blown up and getting free cybernetic enhancements was the best consolation prize

>>96260832
When you want to coordinate rocket pack salvos on enemies at a discount price, this is your beat choice.

>Most popular mech game
Battletech

>Most grounded and realistic mech game
Heavy Gear

>Easiest mech game to pick up and play
Lancer

Anything else that should be added to the list? Any objections?

>>96264921
Lancer is an entirely different genre of game?

>played some mecha vidya earlier today
>running a mekton session in a few days
>it is the halfway point of the campaign, so there will be a big plot reveal and a lot of action, very exciting hopefully
>will also play some lancer with friends later this month
>feels good
I love mecha :D

>>96253603
I have this game. Well, 1/3rd of it anyway (wave 1 was delivered some time ago, wave 2 is currently being delivered, wave 3 is going to be whenever). Riskiest Kickstarter I've ever done. Just give money to some college kids in China...? But I couldn't resist those sweet designs.

Assembly is a bitch, but the fact that everything is magnetized is fucking sweet. I haven't played the actual game yet (still assembling, so many mechas even in wave 1) so no comment there, but at the very least the models look good on my shelf.

>>96264921
I dont think I'd say battletech is the most popular right now, I would honestly argue there are more people actually playing lancer
years ago before the great normie-ing of tabletop I'd say you were right though

>>96266299
I feel like lancer became mainstream or something recently. I even get lancer-related videos recommended to me on youtube

>>96266737
mecha has gotten a bit of a renaissance in the public for a few things like the recent gundam seasons (gwitch and gquux) being massively popular, AC6 introducing modern fromsoft fans to mecha, etc.
Way more people are into gunpla now, mostly because way more stores in the US carry that stuff now (target being one) so it only makes sense for hobbies to overlap and people to seek out "mecha TTRPG" and they stumble across Lancer which has gorgeous artwork and is incredibly simple and easy to get into
I see people jumping from 5e to Lancer which tells you that it's quite a few mainstream people getting into it. Apparently foundry had a tabletop system popularity thing and Lancer was in the top 5? Below 5e and pf2e of course but still up there

>>96264921
>grounded and realistic mecha
I'm not sute If I'd say that. For example how are Gears using traditional motors and gasoline? But it is the most combined arms feeling.

>>96266299
Battletech is quietly popular. It's like the second highest selling wargame right now in anything that tracks that sort of stuff. There's always a couple guys off playing battletech somewhere.
>>96266737
Lancer is literally the DnD of mecha rpgs, and I mean that in a lot of negative ways.

>>96266864
Heavy Gear is to date the only Mech game I've encountered that doesn't just treat tanks as cheap cannon foddered compared to mechs.

>Tried drawing mechs
>Thin and lankey, not a lot of weight to them
Stepping stones, only really drew vehicles before this but I'm sure I'll improve

>>96267907
It's the two different power fantasies. As much as a lot of battletech fans don't want to admit it, their fantasy is of the new breed of warfare bringing the romantic ideal of the human for back to the forefront of war. A giant man points his arm at a tank and the tank dies.
Votoms does that a little still, but frankly they offloaded all the heroism from the mechs into the protagonist. Dude can kill anything. But without him around everyone's a background character ready to die in one hit.

>>96268059
From what I understand drawing mecha is hard. Because you have to do human anatomy and hard shapes.

>>96268071
*have to understand human anatomy

Precisely in order to avoid replicating human anatomy & the subsequent 'guy in metal pants' syndrome that a lot of artists fall victim to.

>>96264921
Maybe "most customizable" with Mekton
I haven't played either but possibly Armour Astir or Mecha Hack for "simplest rules"?

>>96267863
Don't get me wrong, as someone who loves Lancer, there are many things wrong with it
However, at this point I have personally fixed all the problems I have with it in the game(s) of it that I run, so it doesn't matter much anymore.
Hopefully now that miguel is back, Lancer will get more content that isn't kai tave written slop

>>96268066
>As much as a lot of battletech fans don't want to admit it, their fantasy is of the new breed of warfare bringing the romantic ideal of the human for back to the forefront of war
which is weird because most Battletech is pretty blatant about its use of mechs as expy for knights, especially with the clans and their idea of chivalrous warfare

>>96270031
>at this point I have personally fixed all the problems I have with it
I'm curious, what problems have you come across and what are your solutions?

>>96266864
>Heavy Gear isn't realistic enough
What is these people's problem? They've already completely cucked the entire Mecha genre down to barely mobile walking tanks but they still keep complaining. You could make the Mecha just literal, historical tanks and these realismfags would still call it unrealistic. It has to be a type of brain damage or something.

>>96271651
Because I'm tired of people trying to discuss the realism of mecha. They just aren't, end of discussion.

>>96268071
There are a plethora of mech designs within the popular franchises and without that are not humanoid. "Human anatomy" is really not a prerequisite for mecha, as much as many of the people in the thread seem to think it is.

>>96273197
Sufficiently greebled tanks are mecha, I agree.

The drake fucks me up because for some reason I have it in my head it's like a mobile suit or something, so whenever I see the stat block I think where is the jetpack it's supposed to be able to fly right?
With the release of the talon zeus packs maybe my vision isn't too far off

>>96271239
there's a few rules things and errata and clarifications I wont get into for starters
otherwise it's
>structure checks
if you would become stunned due to structure checks, you instead become staggered (brace effect). If you would be destroyed by structure checks, you instead become stunned
>frame balance
I use the Lancer mk2 homebrew, which buffs a lot of the weaker frames and weapons. Outside of that, I have buffed swarm body to increase in size by 1 each turn it's up
>general homebrew
enhanced combat, legionnaire, MWC Deer's
Adds a lot of good stuff. MWC adds a shitload of new frame licenses, though I kinda selectively allow things from it, because some frames from it are very VERY strong
The above, in addition to mk2, kinda solves the issue of "T2-T3 NPCs are fucking retardedly strong" by increasing player power enough to deal with them.
There is also, of course, general things you learn from being a GM like not fielding certain T2-3 NPCs together because it's legitimately evil, knowing how to balance encounters, etc.

On the narrative side of problems. I run lancer games in Lancer's universe, but I'm not a commie idealist. The union has flaws, war sucks and isn't fun, etc.

>>96273859
to continue with the narrative stuff (cuz running out of room in the post)
basically just, all sides have bad people and good people. Similar to how gundam depicts good and bad people from both the feddies and the zeeks, you'll find good people working for corps, part of the union, the baronies, and you'll also find bad people from each of those
The games I run of lancer, the players are almost always mercenaries. You take money hand over fist and you don't ask questions you just shoot

What do you look for in a mecha RPG?

What would draw you to try a new system?

>>96259280
>>96260875
>>96261393
Originally in my mind I did have it as kind of lumbering but I've come around to it being at least as fast and agile as the smaller mechs. I've even toyed around with the idea of giving it jump jet engines so it can well, jump, but I'm not too sure on that one.

>>96274709
A proper consideration of the mecha as entities in the game's world, as opposed to just being a mediocre boardgame with a small list of fixed interactions. There's a depressingly low number of systems capable of answering questions like "if I attempt to ford the bay, will my suit leak, short out, and die unless I get it waterproofed?" or "if I fight in the burning fuel refinery, is it hot enough to cause damage?".

>>96274948
Sounds like you want a system that allows environmental buffs/debuffs. Which I'm also curious as to what systems do that.

>>96276942
>>96274948
I mean, this could also be just a damage vs system strain separation plus a bit of roleplaying.

>>96276942
Environmental effects seem to be the bane of most RPG systems. Metalhead, for example, has flamethrowers and (in one edition) a specific Fire damage type, but nothing on actually setting stuff on fire, and only bothered providing rules for acting in water in its third edition.
It's less about the specific mechanical implementation though, and more about the thought process that it indicates. It shows the designer's thought about the practical reality of things.
Players need this sort of information to properly understand how their characters can interact with the world. If they can't grasp that properly, how can they be expected to properly leverage RPGs' greatest strength, the freedom to come up with truly creative problem solving?

To take the concept to a pretty extreme level, players can't even know whether or not they can communicate with each other unless you tell them what their mecha can do. Having radio systems is a pretty safe bet, but do they know or assume that your mecha come with a PA system for yelling at regular humans or in the event of comms jamming? Do they get surprised when you tell them that they don't, and will have to use hand signals?

>>96277295
>Having radio systems is a pretty safe bet, but do they know or assume that your mecha come with a PA system for yelling at regular humans or in the event of comms jamming? Do they get surprised when you tell them that they don't, and will have to use hand signals?

And you have the Gundam situation of "everything, and I mean everything, is open comms" vs the convenient writing cliche "the enemy can Facetime the protagonists at any time".

>>96277562
Lol, On the flipside, I could see comms being a fun mechanic for a mech game. With how autistic communication protocols can get in the computer world, it could be fun to apply that to mecha. With stealth ops, there might be a point where VoIP is too insecure and mecha pilots would have to use mega incrypted IRC chatting. Or even imageboard shitposting!

>>96277295
Yeah, I think you've got a good point. Mechs should come with a wide toolset in and out of combat, and their general capabilies should be informed. Shrugging whenever the question isn't directly related to armor values and bullet penetration isn't good enough for a mech rpg. You also need to know if you can throw that shipping container or survive at whatever depth.
>>96277562
>>96277670
Gundam has the super open comms setting for the battlefield drama, but it also has laser communication and even touch communication showing up. Your mechs can talk secretly by holding hands and that's great.

>>96273859
Surprised to see structure checks become softer, but I can see how that would help move things along. I assume you still wreck on all structure being removed?

>I use the Lancer mk2 homebrew
Haven't heard of this. I'm interested in seeing how it buffs certain frames, if you've got a link.

>MWC Deer's
I've heard mixed things and can't find an actual link to this, either. I did see a few good screenshots of traits, which are a rarity among homebrew books for some reason.

Any recommendations for secondary/anti personnel type weapons for a 20-30 foot tall mech that aren't big machine guns? I already have one of those

>>96280557
so I cant find the original source link for mk2 and MWC, so I just uploaded both the .lcps in a mega link for you
I know the author of it
https://mega.nz/folder/7aAEVboK#JLPRa971imfAv1iVf2KMWQ

Note, that I also selectively allow things from both of these, because some are pretty strong, and they do make players much stronger. In T1, I would say maybe hold off on allowing most stuff from mk2, but T2 and above, definitely allow all of it.
As for deer's, I allow most frames, but there are some that are very very strong. You kinda just have to play it by eye. A lot of them LOOK way too strong on paper but in practice are not as strong as you think
For mk2, the main buffs I like are the atlas and mourning cloak buffs, as well as the barbarossa mk2
Saladin mk2 is cool and all, but I dont think saladin needs to be buffed, and sal mk2 is fucking insane actually. (allowing you to ram as overwatch using the threat of the melee weapon you're holding is actually disgusting)
Some of the mk2 talents are much better as well, particularly hacker and ace

>>96280715
flamethrower
shotguns
tear gas

>>96277670
I always wonder what something like that would look like if you took GitS digital telepathy and really fleshed it out. Civilian versus military comms/protocols and being able to clearly relay information (speech in this case) over the battlefield.

So then you'd imagine how horrifying it would be if someone compromised it and you have someone talking in your head where they have no business being.

>>96280557
also yes, you still wreck on all structure being removed
the main change with this structure difference, is that it's very fucking awful to roll bad and just have your mech completely destroyed like 10 minutes into a session, and have to sit out for the rest of the time (pilot combat is not real)
normal structure rules apply to NPCs, because you can give NPCs legendary if you want them to survive more, and it's fun for players to direct hit NPCs to kill them quicker
This change basically just makes it so if you roll really bad, it's still really fucking bad (stun) but not "I have to sit out the rest of the session and then use all my repairs" bad
I have seen players get direct hit destroyed the moment they hit 2 structure.
It is very easy to do this since structure checks are always roll twice take the lowest

What VTT would you guys recommend for running Heavy Gear 4e?

>>96281084
iirc. I think 4e was designed somewhat for Foundry, or at least that's what I think the maps are made with.

>>96280715
'Belts' of Claymores that double as close-range anti-missile systems ala Hammer's Slammers.

>>96280715
If they're going to have unholy fucktons of electricity for basically forever to work with DEWs, you could have spools of fine wire connected to one of the capacitor banks fired out with tiny counterweights. On contact, funni electromagnetic shenanigans turn the wire into a plasma channel capable of carrying virtually infinite voltage for a brief moment.

>>96282493
Or have similar on the thighs or shins where the infantry will be to focus more of it against them. APS-belt is still a neat idea, though.

Bro's I solved all my map issues for my mech ttrpg group. You ever found yourself looking for an easy way to make battlemaps but all the popular shit only has fantasy assets?

Download Starcraft 2. I'm not kidding, the editor has an amazing feature that let's you render any map from top-down or even isometric angle. Up to 4k x 4k and it comes with thousands of scifi assets, lighting, post processing, effects, wracks, bodies, blood, vehicle wrecks, skyboxes etc. It's also pretty much fucking free. I will never have to fucking deal with dungeon draft and importing 100 mech themed custom asset packs again. Nor do I have to fucking pay Inkarnate jews.

Pic related is where my players will fight tomorrow. (Not full res)

>>96253783
>>96253833
Isn't this literally the year zero engine? Alien RPG plays absolutely similar.

I am looking for a mecha skirmish wargame that focuses solely on mechas, ground units not being present at all or being an optional addition at most rather than making up the bulk of your force.
Preferably up to 10 minis per player but the fewer the better. Scale 6-10mm if possible.
Bonus points for bio-constructs/kaijū being a playable faction if there are any factions in the first place.
Any recommendations? I am about to test Flames of Orion soon since it seems to be checking the boxes but I want to give a few different systems a try.
>Inb4 BattleTech
Most of my playgroup got filtered by it.
Last time an Anon recommended me Steel Rift and it looks really decent but I have yet to give it a try in a real game.

>>96282493
>>96282534
Neat, and here was me trying to think of some complex laser AMS system.

What's a good meta reason for mecha plot armor?

>>96287643
Leaded gas was recently banned so while the young MC pilot is neurologically fine all the boomers he fights have chronic lead poisoning

>>96287643
A multitude of pseudo realistic reasons and story bullshit.

Pseudo realistic:
>Cheap layered point defense saturates every area on the modern battlefield. Aircraft can't loiter and standoff ammunition struggles to get good terminal guidance in the ECM
>Sensor denial is the new default in war. It's near impossible to target any precision guided munition past a few kilometers
>Armour is in a state were it typically beats the common warhead but they under-perform against ugly shot angles and modern melee weapons that a mecha can bring to the field
>Countermeasures are functional at a human-scale, omnidirectional APS can defeat most incoming shots. A mecha can keep its aps facing the threat while moving, shooting in different directions and picking angles dynamically making it more efficient on the field than traditional vehicles.
>Mechas have weird silhouettes, can crouch, go prone, hunch and more making them hard to identify for modern fire control

Pure fiction:
>Elite pilots with neural links vastly outperform traditional vehicle crews. The human motor-cortex only properly maps to bipedal torsos with arms, hands and a head. Everything else causes blackout and lag.
>Cognitive firewalls are necessary to resists memetic cognitive jammers that will simply make you pass out the moment you enter a battlefield. These firewalls need a sense of self and key off against the human silhouette to work, everyone in a tank gets his brain turned into mush.
>The metamaterials used for modern armour require articulated shapes. Inertia dampeners need separated masses in humanlike posture to stop impacts. Cooling relies on special gel-mixtures that require artificial muscles to pump coolant like blood. Phase-tech requires alternating grounded and ungrounded contacts (feets, legs) to bleed momentum. Reactive armour gel needs to channel plasma across fold lines that are easier to create on human limbs. The electromagnetic armour fields align along limb vectors etc.

>>96287643
aliens
magic
scifi horror
psychic bullshit
sudden technological leap
lost, ancient technology
body horror
severely isolated cultures
Igor up to his usual tomfoolery in the velvet room
neuro-compatibility bullshit
minovsky radiation was a bit of genuinely inspired worldbuilding

>>96253454
Mikazuki needs a blood smear on his face to properly sell his character. Just a neutral expression with blood all over him. Right now he looks too much like normal human being.

>>96287643
Literal plot armor.
Being made in image of man, who was made in image of God, they have better luck and performance than any machine that doesn't do the same. Just performing better than they should. Add deranged cultists to taste.

>>96289620
oh that's good, I always overlook the possibility for a religious (whether it's played straight or subverted) theme

>>96287643
Depressing how nobody seems to know the difference between a meta reason and an in-universe reason. The only meta reason you'll ever need for mecha plot armor is "because I want it to be so".

>>96289690
Meta? I'm not using facebook shit.

>>96245922
It has some of the best mech aestethics desu.

>>96260832
At least its not an Asp.

>>96291938
This is literally just the year zero engine and with stress it plays 1:1 like Alien RPG.

>>96273665
Souther Aestethic supremacy the mech. It really should flee.
Also a naga with propulsors would be extremely kino.

>>96282738
>Bonus points for bio-constructs/kaijū being a playable faction if there are any factions in the first place.
Minus that, Heavy Gear seems what you want, you can really play Gears vs Gears, tough there are a lot of other units if you want to make the combined arms stuff.
Pretty decent variety of mechs too.

>>96291969
They didn't even rename the skills.

So I like mecha, but I also like asymmetric gameplay. In a universe where mecha exists, what would be a good reason for a faction to NOT use them?

>>96291990
In heavy gear they used to have just infantery and kick ass hover tanks as the main CEF (the earthies) arms. The doctrine of the factions just doesn't count mechs as a unit worth having and they supply they niches with infantery, IFV, and the rest.

>>96291969
Yes, the first sentence says
>Eldritch Automata, and by extension the Year Zero Engine, comes with six core...

I do prefer Blade Runner's two dice system. But it's like complaning that Hasbro keeps publishing D20 systems since the 00's

>>96291990
Mecha are a limited-application construction technology appropriated for military use, while the rival faction relies on more conventional military vehicles. (This is basically the origin of the Zakus vs Guntank in Gundam)

>>96292404
Also managing resources to develop weapons for your farm mech versus conventional weapons otherwise you just have giant spearmen sticking enemy tanks with power poles turned into makeshift spears

Some of the lcp's in lancer's mega seem to be outdated i tink

>>96293177
They are but I honestly don't know what the updates changed. The values compared to the new ones seem to be 1:1 the same. Same for descriptions.

>>96291987
Why would they need to be renamed?

>>96289551

...uh... Minovsky radiation isn't why mechs work in Gundam.
I mean... it IS in the sense that's how we get ultra-light nuclear fusion reactors. But the main reason why every one uses Mobile Suits in Gundam is because Char Aznable was JUST that fucking impressive at the battle of Loum. Everyone saw him going x3/x33% faster than everyone else, zipping about the battlefield deleting battleships like a blue-arsed fly and every single person, from General Revil downwards, on both sides, went "Holy fuck, that's fucking AWESOME! I GOTTA GET ME SOME OF DAT!"

They had advantages in space combat due to minovsky particles fucking of radar, meaning guided weapons were essentially fucked, which reduced firing ranges down to visual, and the humanoid form helped again, because Fed gunners allegedly had problems working out ranges if they didn't know if they were aiming at a 60ton MS or a human with a bazooka.
They also were really good in fighting in the colonies, as you could fight through in space to the dock, and then walk about in the simulated gravity.

But on earth? They were kind of bad. They had trouble aiming low and dealing with infantry. Tanks en-mass could ambush them if they set that up right. They can't fly, regardless of what ghetto nonsense Deathmatch Battle unearthed, so were VERY vulnerable to strafing runs from helicopters and fighters with rockets. Or bombing runs.

The only reason it went as well as it did for them was because the Feds had their shit pushed in with Operation British, and the Earth was nearly postapocalyptic. Fuck, Australia basically WAS post-apocalyptic due to the Sydney impact. Only you wouldn't notice because Australia always looks like that.

>>96298881
>But on earth? They were kind of bad
They became the dominant form of warfare and literally replaced everything else by the end of the OYW.
The zaku was the first mass deployed mobile suit and it could fight tanks and aircraft on even ground in larger numbers, and it was shit. By the time the zaku was outdated, they'd already outpaced everything else with mobile suit technology. The federation had something like 3 times the raw resources and fielded armor the zeeks did and they were still being pushed back until they put out the GM. This is why the turnaround is so sudden, they pivot everything to pushing out mobile suits of their own and suddenly they can fight back and win.

>>96298881
>>96300288
It's funny, and quite on point, how in Gihren's Greed you could pretty much bog down Zeon's expansion on earth via unlimited Fly Manta works until you could field enough MS units for a proper counter-offensive.

>>96302132

>Unlimited Fly Manta Works

>"Prince of Zeon, do you have enough Mobile Suits?"

Man, that takes me back.

>>96302694
Pretty sure this image is older than some of you.

What does the South have in terms of long range units? I have a combat group with a longbow jager and badland python for the field mortar but I'm not sure what to fill the group out with, since coming from the north just about every gear has some pathfinder variant with a rifle

>>96306634
You could probably pimp out the group with Cobras. Field guns and Artillary rockets are some good choices.

>>96253454
Nice that they're doing spinoffs. Hopefully they'll do a Gadessa, still mad they don't seem to have any interest in putting the HG kit back into production.

>>96309222

Gadessa? Think bigger. There's a chance they might do the Virgo 1, and that thing NEVER got an model kit to begin with!

anyone got a MEGA/Drive for a lot of LANCER shit? I want to try GMing it for my friends (they never played a mecha system) and I want the wallflower campaign to test it out

>>96311422
NEVERMIND I'm a dum dum and got all the shit on the pastebins and megas

>>96274709
- Whether it's playable using theater of the mind or whether I'm forced to use battlemaps
- Whether it has sufficient tables to help prep or come up with something mid session
- Whether it's suited for sandbox play with rules for out of combat travel/logistics/etc
- Systems that don't forget to have references pages for rules

>>96311422
>>96311527
Good luck anon, it's a really fun game. I heavily recommend for all your players to start at LL0. Hand out the cheat-sheet for everyone and use https://lancer-rules.carrd.co/ to quickly look up rules during the session. Keep the combat moving and try to force players into quick decisions, when it's their turn they should already know what to do.

You can get tokens from https://retrogrademinis.com/ - I asked GPT4o to write a user script to export from the site for free so I can access all the the stuff. Alternatively you can give them shekels for an integrated png download. (pic related, downloaded with my user script).

For mapping I recommend megamak to do quick and dirty hex maps. They look reasonable cool. For more extensive maps I render images in the Starcraft 2's Editor like here >>96282609

>>96311422
It's just a gay communist DnD videogame with a loosely applied mecha skinsuit. The creators apologize for being unfortunately white and straight on the intro blurb, I dunno why it's catnip for new players.

>>96311981
It's fun, it plays well, it has nice resources and assets available, it's well populated, it has amazing art, it has a good companion app and good VTT integration. Not exactly difficult to pin down why people like and play it.

And seeing fags like you being absolutely bitter and spiteful over the fucking lore backdrop (that literally everyone ignores anyway as far as I can tell) doesn't really motivate me to host other systems for faggots like you.

Try starting your post with a cool image of your favourite thing and maybe include a fun story too.

>>96311981
Mekton takes too much work to setup. Not as much as GURPS but still a decent amount. Not something I would recommend as an intro game for new GM and players. Heavy Gear is probably a better entry point since it has a lot of ready made vehicles and gears that could be used in the game out of the gates.

Mekton settings are kinda bare boned.

>>96246447
>These designs were so derivative of each other that I dunno if there would've been much legal standing to say many of them were actually distinct lol
But enough about gundams

>>96311981
look man, I can't say shit. I want to run a bit of LANCER because my main game I GM for my friends is a PF2E Hack that turns it into armored core with anime furries.

>>96311981
rent-free

Anyone know this game, is it some horrifically archaic masochistic experience like I assume an 80s ttrpg would be?

>>96314438
I'm always very grateful that 80s game design expects the player to be able to do things like read tables and perform basic mathematics. It's such an effective filtration system.

>>96312988
>PF2E Hack that turns it into armored core
On my hand.
Now.
Give it to me NOW you fucking furfag.

>>96312108
>It's fun, it plays well, it has nice resources and assets available, it's well populated, it has amazing art, it has a good companion app and good VTT integration
Get a big marker and scratch that out and rewrite "it's reached critical mass so now it's always the first thing that comes up when you search so everyone new tries it first and gets familiar with it", like DnD. It's the only part that actually matters. It's a great example of how something can be made entirely out of glaring red flags but it's a big name now so everyone starts with it anyway.

You can't deny that 90% of the time it gets brought up here, it's some new guy who's asking where they can get it for free. They're not doing that because it's really great and they have an understanding of its benefits in comparison to other games, they're doing it because it's popular. It's a name they heard and they're starting with that.

>>96312435
Picasso isn't ripping himself off when he draws more blocky ladies with flounder eyes.

>>96315184
Yeah they're doing that because it's popular, easy has great art and good VTT implementation. I completely agree. How could they settle for anything else as their first game if all they ever see about any competitor is bitter fucks posting this >>96311981
retarded reply that sounds like they dropped their fucking morning coffee.

I'm not at all surprised they flock to Lancer. I'm also not surprised that new medieval fantasy players start with DnD instead of das shwarze augen or 13th age. That doesn't mean other games aren't good, they're just lacking in representation and presentation. (And ease of playing)

>it’s another lancer ragebait week
See you all next Monday.

>>96315216
Lancer devs fucking hate us, why are you shocked people here don't like them back? They'd slap the copy out of all our hands if they could. You're surprised 4channers still don't want to live and let live with this absolute boil on our ass, that's proudly perverting a scene the creators aren't part of into insane propaganda?

So Steel Rift is a light game but I feel like their "Critical Damage" is kinda sad and is a missed opportunity for some proper mech damage tracking, at least as an optional rule.
It's -1 move, -1 damage and then 1 order instead of 2 for damage. Move is basically whatever considering that most weapons can shoot over the whole board, damage could be outright irrelevant since some weapons do 1 damage and you can't lower it below 1 and 1 order is crippling weakness but by this point your HEV is basically dead.

On the other hand the game already has perfect place to track damage - structure. You just need to assign systems to it.
Example - light HEV with Jump Jets, Target Designator, Autocannon, Laser

Armor 6

Structure

• Target Designator
• Autocannon
• Laser, Motive System
• Jump Jets

If damage is dealt from the front or sides of the mech destroyed structure is removed from the top, if it is done from the back remove is from below. Motive System is inherent ability of the HEV to run around and if destroyed it loses HALF movement. No doubling down on structure slots until you filled in a row.

Remove all the Fragile Internals and Back-Up Systems nonsense with additional rolls since it's no longer needed. Possibly change Light weapons to "half damage to armor but full damage to structure".

>>96314438
Not sure. Japanese TTRPGs are built different, though considering its age, Wares Blade might not have diverged as much as modern games

>>96312988
Please, good fur friend, spread this hack if you would be so kind

>>96316036
I agree, that does seem a decent setup for a damage system.

>>96316036
Any time one of those battletech clones get put under inspection to see what could be fixed pretty frequently it just turns into "make it more like battletech again". It's true, too. For all it's flaws battletech is a fun and enduring game and there's a billion stompy robot games with suspiciously similar mech designs that just come and go.

>>96315935
>us
>we
>4channers
Talk about yourself. I couldn't care less if the author of a novel is a cunt or not.

>>96316162
BT main problem is that with all the tracking going over a company scale on the table is a pain in the ass.

>>96316132
>>96315027
Gimme a moment cuz I gotta translate it from Portuguese and also do more playtesting with my friends and finish the parts document (so far the parts is mostly for early-mid game stuff)

>>96317851
I have the feeling a third of this thread are different kinds of iberian/latin-americans.
Where are you guys from? Spain here.

I'm hoping to write something mech related soon, but I've noticed it's hard to convey that weight and scale in writing. Is there any literature regarding mechs that any of you feel encompasses the heavy feeling and bombastic combat that comes with?

New pewter Brigadors

>>96320779

God, Betushka's are adorable. Nothing like committing "Urban Pacification" in a tiny Dominion Tank Police expy.

>>96320779
>Please also note: we are still unable to ship to destinations in the United Kingdom, Ukraine or Russia.
One of these things is not like the others.

>>96321633
Yeah, why is Ukraine there?

>>96321633
Curious as to why the uk is excluded. Some weird regulation?

>>96257760
>Most mechs in my setting range from 9 to 15 feet tall, and I'm working right now on a one off prototype that uses a mocap kind of control system and subsequently is around double the size of a regular one. My issue is I'm not sure how to arm this experimental unit. It is a technology demonstrator but in mecha fashion I want to also make it a viable, or at least usable, weapon system.
Sword!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrOyTQEJCJY

>>96261516
>>Discover a species that basically looks like a biological tank that pilots humanoid mecha
Two of my personal characters, by nature of essentially being human-scale RX-72-2 Gundam and MS-06 Zaku II respectively, have their core components in a Core Fighter and a "Core Tank".
Ironic because the Gundam is an Army Armor Ground-pounder while the Zaku is a "Spatial Marine."

>>96274890
>Originally in my mind I did have it as kind of lumbering but I've come around to it being at least as fast and agile as the smaller mechs. I've even toyed around with the idea of giving it jump jet engines so it can well, jump, but I'm not too sure on that one.
CLEAVE!
CLEAVE AND SMITE!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FfN65U1OIM

>>96291984
By Heavy Gear you mean Heavy Gear Blitz 3e? I'm not familiar with this franchise and there seems to be a lot of publications.

>>96327301
Yes. Specifically, 3.1. It's free on Drivethru.

>>96282738
Monsterpocalypse?

>>96314438
>Wares Blade is an old-school tabletop roleplaying game with heavy “crunch” thanks to its wargame-style combat and a 2d10+4 system and strikes a nice balance between introducing fresh features and mechanics while still adhering to many of the conventions of its time.
this is a good thing btw

>Do a bunch of fluff and detailing for one specific mech
>Don't have the energy to do the same for others
Well shit, and I have a bunch too

>>96289663
>>96289620
>>96287643
I also like the Escaflowne answer, where it's extrasolar black-market arms dealers illegally selling advanced weapons to primitive screwheads in forms they can understand and interact with.
>It's a metal dragon man
>Needs a top-off every 10 years or so with this glowing rock you'll find inside a real dragon
>Shit's cursed, you might want to wear lead lined pants and gloves while you do that
>This, uh.. orihalcom stuff here will form into any of these melee weapons if you strike the correct rune. You can steal some from enemy dragon knights. Don't punch a hole in the arm sword, the magic will leak out.
>These have a magic cloak of invisibility, shit'll be so cash money
>You put extra dragon parts and bitumen in this one and it'll BREATHE MOTHERFUCKING FIRE
>Holy shit you have Cavorite? AND catgirls? Hell yeah, trade us some

>>96330191
Could just do a rough outline and then fill in the details on a rainy day.

>>96330372
>Cavorite

I've really got to remember to do that book some day.

I GM'd Lancer for the first time, was pretty fun even though the two sessions I ran were definitely long with three combats each, and I couldn't find much in the way of meaningful RP to be had. My players still found the combat to be pretty fun, regardless.

>>96334702
Adding to this, we all used compcon, but for my next group I might try and run this game for, we're going to have long periods with no internet. How badly does the experience degrade without compcon available?

>>96334702
how the fuck did you manage to fit three combats into a single session, TWICE?
Most of my combats last up to half the total (4 hour) session time or more
>>96334709
I mean at that point you just use physical sheets no?

>>96334773
>how the fuck did you manage to fit three combats into a single session, TWICE?
The first session started late afternoon and ended late at night. The combats were consecutive with each other and occurred shortly after the previous one. Also low player count (3 first session, 2 second session)

>>96314438
The whole Central Asian Fantasy Manga style of the period is a thing we should treasure.

Recommendations for systems that play power armor well? I originally planned on using Heavy Gear/Silhouette but the mechs have shrunk a little

>>96335226
I think you could set up Mekton to use Cyberpunk 2020 stuff. Or maybe even just use Cyberpunk 2020. Heavy Gear also has some really small units that are power armor (APEs) or might as well be power armor (Ferret)

>>96334702
Playing a session of Lancer is functionally identical to playing a coop session of Destiny.

>>96334702
>>96334709
Congrats, anon. Had another session of mine today, more RP than combat since the PCs just wrapped up their previous mission and were getting lined up for their next deployment.
I think the analog experience is just fine, you just need to go to the trouble of printing off character sheets and transcribing the relevant mechanics. That becomes more of a chore with more complicated PCs/NPCs, of course.

>>96336592
>"Playing a session of Lancer is functionally identical to playing a coop session of Destiny."
Hmm...
>One player sniping everything from ridiculous range with energy-based weapons
>Another player launching across the map to super-punch the biggest target in the face
>Both of them spouting quips and building up a "chosen one" status with the NPCs
>Third member of the firete-- I mean squad, floating around killing weaker mobs and half paying attention to the lore
Ahaha, I can see it

>>96337034
I meant that's a gay pve shooter with bad lore and no roleplaying but yeah that too.

>>96335880
Doesn't HG has straight up power armor? Though I think CEF uses it most often. They still have the PA infantry on their sight in products.
And at least second edition of RPG should no problems with managing it. Especially with vehicle/tech creation system.

>>96337439
Eden and Utopia have PA. The CEF FLAILs don't have enough space inside to fit an entire GREL.

>>96337535
Well, Terra Novans also seem to have PA, though it is very rare and not popular due to Gears.

>>96337813
They are a very recent development. I would say for RPG purposes, that one should look at the Exo-Suits from Jovian Chronicles, since there are a variety to choose from there.

>>96335226
SJG's Battlesuit.

>>96334702
Get the Karrakin Trade Bounties if you wanna have some mechanically support for RP. It adds Blades in the Dark clock system and Bonds which are additional RP archetype who get xp only through RP. Long rim is the other good expansion too

>>96335226
Cyberpunk 2020 has a whole supplement dedicated to powered armor. It's called "Maximum Metal."

There's also the BubbleGum Crisis RPG, which is very heavy on the powered armor, of course, from the slender Knight Sabers hardsuits to the AD Police Powered Suits, etc.

They use very similar rulesets, since they both run on variants of RTG's Interlock system.

>>96335226
Warhammer

>>96337813
Only since the late 1940s

So I've recently been thinking about Battle Century G
Anyone here have experience with it and how it plays?
I've yet to get into the guts of it but it seems to be generally be 'light' enough that you're looking at Mekton levels of math but a bit more customizable compared to Lancer.

>>96361958
It’s great if you’re going for something that feels like SRW

>>96361958
BCG is better than Lancer in every possible way.

>>96364837
Those are fighting words anon, but I am curious to hear as to why.

>>96364837
Lancer has far more VTT support
It is insanely easy to just set up and run a lancer game, whereas with BCG it takes more effort
this is one reason why lancer is more popular

>>96314438
Uh nice
Love Mech in a medieval setting but can't think of many examples

>>96364370
I honestly wouldn't mind that.
Partially as I'm on an SRW kick with 30 before Y lands.