BRP Mecha

[RosenMcStern]

Damage, armor and move are on a *10 factor. That is, the 1d4 you see there produces a range of 10-40 damage. You can convert the stats to human scale by adding a zero.

STR and SIZ are on the same scale as humans.

Each size class is approximately 6m in length. A Robotech Valkyrie is 12m so class 2. A Gundam mecha is 18m so size class 3.

Design guidelines will be provided to build tanks, fighter and spaceships, but basically the stats for the standard sci-fi stuff provided in BRP can be used.

[Mankcam]

Looks pretty good to me. Personally I prefer having the stats at human level as it really gives you a sense of mecha size and feels more BRP. I can see why a different scale was chosen though, I guess it could be less cumbersome in gameplay for some. No probs with adding 10 to the stats if that is all it takes to scale the mechas.

This will be a good book to have, completely different from the other BRP resources on the market. Any idea on likely publication dates ?

Edited January 23, 2013 by Mankcam

[seneschal]

"Dad, can I borrow the keys to the robot?"

[RosenMcStern]

It's at the layout department right now.

[seneschal]

Thanks, by the way, for keeping us updated on your company's projects. We appreciate it.

[MatteoN]

Didn't know of the Shogun Warriors.

[rpgstarwizard]

Cant wait!!!!

[RosenMcStern]

Layout 7/10, illustration 3/10, so it will not be a long wait.

[seneschal]

Soooo ... giant, death-dealing machines, teenage pilots. What kind of insurance premiums are we looking at here? Or is that why most government agencies opt for girls?

[Ade]

I am really looking forward to this when it comes out (am a Print Copy gamer though)

[Kairos]

I bought the pdf this morning. Thrilled by what you've done with it -- particularly how you leverage the strengths of the system to model "real world" mecha specs without tacking on an extra build system. Looking forward to getting deeper into it.

[Mankcam]

Great timing with this publication - Pacific Rim release just around the corner!

[RosenMcStern]

Print copies are now starting their journey across the world. Maybe they are in the shops when Pacific Rim launches, maybe not. But you will find them at the Chronicel City booth at GenCon, for sure.

[threedeesix]

Paolo,

I received my PDF copy last week and eagerly await my print copy to arrive. I have yet to read the book from cover to cover but I absolutely LOVE what I have seen so far. Every time I skim through it I find another thing that absolutely blows my mind. This is easily my favorite book to come to BRP since the BGB.

Fantastic!

Rod

[Canis latrans popus]

I've noticed that, unless I am doing something wrong, mecha scale melee weapons tend to OBLITERATE mecha limbs.

[Kairos]

I've noticed that, unless I am doing something wrong, mecha scale melee weapons tend to OBLITERATE mecha limbs.

I think that's where you want to make good use of Fate bumps on your Parry rolls, which means you want to have enough activated Motivations going into mecha combat, and hopefully, are able to reactivate them during combat.

[RosenMcStern]

While Kairos did provide the correct reply, game-effectiveness-wise, it is also true that losing a limb is no great problem for a Mecha, which does not suffer from shock. BRP has always had a bad reputation for this kind of damage, although its only fault is that of treating things realistically. Once you can afford to lose a couple limbs and still be able to save the day (Mazinger won its final battle with one arm severed, and Gundam RX-79 with its HEAD blown off), it is definitely fun to take advantage of the opportunity!

[Canis latrans popus]

Then I should probably figure out a way to marry the motivations and fate point system with Pendragon's traits and passions.

[RosenMcStern]

Nothing prevents you using Traits and Passions, as they are, as Motivations, save the facts that the suggested formulation of Motivations in BRP Mecha is way more complicate than that given in KAP. And there is a reason for this. If you read the full-page example about Motivations, there is one thing about it that I have not transcribed. One of the players (the one playing Baron) had "Brave" as a motivation, the other had "I never turn my back to danger". As shown in the example, "Never turn..." is way more significant and has many more facets that you can effectively exploit in game. KAP and RQ6 are not as verbose with Traits/Passions as HeroQuest, and Mecha is best played with verbose Motivations.

Moreover, the KAP or RQ6 passion system is often used to direct a character's course of action by requesting a roll in order to act. This should NEVER - and I stress NEVER - happen in Mecha, where activation of a motivation is always decided by a player. Once the players have learned how much they need Fate in battle, no one will dare start a game without throwing in his or her in-character scene. At this point, there is little reason to request "rolls to see if you can do this or that": you will probably identify the correct course of action by yourselves.

[Canis latrans popus]

I don't really see what's wrong with using passions, traits or motivations to compel a PCs actions in a mecha game.

So, I got another weird observation. This time about the usage of a grid and miniatures. I'm wondering why it is recommended that the squares be 50mm and equal to 20m with size 2 and 3 mecha being placed on 50mm bases. I can understand it for size 3 and above, but it doesn't make much sense to me for size 2 mecha to be on a 50mm base. A mini representing a 10 to 13 meter tall mecha at the 50mm=20m scale would be 25 to 32.5 mm tall, and would be dwarfed by the 50mm base it was placed on.

I took some pictures of the mecha figures my group has been using on a 25mm grid.

Nuking Windmills From Orbit, Trying to figure out why the writer of Basic...

[RosenMcStern]

Thank you very much for the feedback.

I don't really see what's wrong with using passions, traits or motivations to compel a PCs actions in a mecha game.

It is your game, but personally I feel that compelling a player character's actions is always the worst option. When an ethical choice is to be made, there are plenty of people who are uncomfortable if the GM or a game mechanics tell them what their characters would actually do. If you leave players a choice, those who like rolling on their traits can still do it - the GM cannot prevent them deciding their player choice based on a Motivation roll, even if this is not prescribed by the rules - and this will be fun for them. However, if the GM is given a tool to dictate PC behaviour, then those players who prefer to make their own ethical decisions will feel their characters "taken out of their hands" and cease to have fun. One option is fun for everyone, the other option is not fun for someone: in such a situation, I always choose the way that guarantees fun to everybody.

This is the founding principle in BRP Mecha: the players are in charge of character behaviour, not the GM. And it is a deep, deep difference if you compare it, for instance, with FATE. There are a few exceptions when the GM is entitled to intervene to prevent a totally out-of-character behaviour, but these rare cases are explained and exemplified in the example on page 76.

So, I got another weird observation. This time about the usage of a grid and miniatures. I'm wondering why it is recommended that the squares be 50mm and equal to 20m with size 2 and 3 mecha being placed on 50mm bases. I can understand it for size 3 and above, but it doesn't make much sense to me for size 2 mecha to be on a 50mm base. A mini representing a 10 to 13 meter tall mecha at the 50mm=20m scale would be 25 to 32.5 mm tall, and would be dwarfed by the 50mm base it was placed on.

I took some pictures of the mecha figures my group has been using on a 25mm grid.

Nuking Windmills From Orbit, Trying to figure out why the writer of Basic...

Did I actually write to use a 50mm base? Disregard it and use the bases you prefer, according to the scale used.

In any case, the rules for minis are

a) always to be taken as recommendations and not as prescriptions, as you can theoretically play even without minis;

a compromise between the precision and realism that some players prefer (and something tells me you fall in that range of players ) and the playability that other, more casual Mecha gamers will require; the 20m squares are an attempt to facilitate the "count diagonal movement as half against" without forcing you to use half points; maybe you should use a 10m grid if you are more comfortable with such a scale and counting "half steps" of Move does not scare you. I suppose your group has enough experience to make its own mix of rules and adapt the statistics and rules found in BRP Mecha to its own needs. Enjoy and have fun!

[MatteoN]

Paolo, have you already seen Pacific Rim? I saw it yesterday, and I think it's a quite fun mix of conventions from both Hollywood movies and animes! It absolutely isn't "too Hollywood", and the mechas and the kaijus (I loved them) are stunning.

Edited July 12, 2013 by MatteoN

[RosenMcStern]

Not yet, but I must see it soon (sadly it debuts on the 19th here in France) as I expect a lot of questions about it.

[Jed Clayton]

Hello everyone, especially RosenMcStern

I received my copy of BRP Mecha in the mail earlier today. I enjoy it a lot, because I am a sucker for some vintage 1970s Go Nagai material like Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Grendizer, so I'm very happy you included the comments and optional rules for the Super Robot genre in there.

It's an all-around good-looking book to me so far, and I hope to finish reading it over the holidays.

In any case, it's a bit of a drawback to not have an index and having to check many terms and references in the big golden BRP rulebook. An index at the end would certainly have been beneficial. Well, I realize that a lot of small companies don't do them at all, or don't want to do them for supplements, only for major core rulebooks.

Since I do not have an index or a searchable PDF for Mecha, can you tell me where in the book I can find the full definition of Activation Attacks? The text on page 79 (bottom left) says there is a definition following "below", but the text just seems to hurry on after that and I do not see a subsection, headline or boxed text of Activation Attack(s). This is bothering me about an otherwise very informative chapter.

Was there something cut accidentally? What is an Activation Attack, technically? What constitutes it, and where does it come in the initiative order?

My other question is if the "Ship Assault" battle map (last page of the book) will be added to the downloadable PDFs for BRP Mecha?

In general, I am indeed looking forward to playing a mecha vs. kaiju adventure game with the first system I learned and embraced: BRP!

Merry Christmas.

[RosenMcStern]

Hello Jed,

Actually, we only include an index when there are lots of weird terms in the text. For instance, there is an index in Crusaders of the Amber Coast because not everyone is familiar with Baltic geography and even the simplest location names can be mistaken for references to obscure deities. In BRP Mecha most peculiar terms are in the device and weapon chapters, and the latter do have an index on pages 88 and 92.

The headline for Activation Attacks must have disappeared (surely stolen by some of Baron Ashura's wicked lackeys) at some time during the editing process. The definition is on pag 80, column on the right. Basically, once a dangerous scenery element has been placed by the GM - or by a player by using Fate Points - it must be successfully hit to be Activated and thus have its negative effects on a mecha. This represents mechanical beasts shooting missile at buildings to bury Mazinger under the rubble, or Mazinger firing at oil tanks to shower Kaijus in flaming oil, as in the examples given on pages 76 and 80.

For another example of Activation Attack think of the final combat in Pacific Rim [warning: mild spoiler]: given that the location does include magma pits for evident plot reasons, in order to exploit them Gipsy Danger must still succeed in a Grapple Activation Attack to plunge the Kaiju's head into lava for a 1d6 "OUCH!" effect. But the spectacularity of the result is worth the effort - particularly as Kaiju skin is less effective against heat than against brawling, it seems.

Let me also take advantage of this opportunity to reminde everyone that you can now purchase BRP Mecha from Alephtar, from Chaosium and from Chronicle City. The book shoud already be available to shops, too, or should become available soon, it is just a matter of time as the majority of the print run is now in the CC warehouse in the states.

Merry Mechachristmas to all!