BRP Mecha

[Jed Clayton]

Thank you very much for your reply, Rosen. Yes, that clears it up quite nicely.

I got my printed copy from the Chronicle City website, and that was ultimately thanks to AetherCon recently, because the gentleman in charge of AetherCon told me I was their grand prize winner of a raffle of sorts, and I used my big coupon for Chronicle City, which had come as part of the prize package, to get BRP Mecha and another book.

[Stoatbringer]

Can you make small mecha like the ones in Mekton Raodstriker with BRP Mecha?

[RosenMcStern]

The smallest Mecha I have playtested are the Knightmare Frames of Code Geass (6m tall). And they work fine (and allow you to use all those nice helicopters and tanks in the book as enemies). Usage of BRP Mecha with "powered armor" sized mecha is untested. But the game has behaved well with untested combinations so far.

[Atgxtg]

It's out!

Okay, I just bought the PDF!

Oh, and it looks more compatible with some of my wacky vehicle rules than I had expected.

[Erasmus1966]

Oh, and it looks more compatible with some of my wacky vehicle rules than I had expected.

Ah, but is it useful for a Pacific Rim Sim?

[Atgxtg]

Ah, but is it useful for a Pacific Rim Sim?

Uh, yeah, assuming you can find a stat range for the kaiju and mecha that you are comfortable with. You;d have to work out your "benchmarks" for SIZ, STR, POW, MOV etc, from the ways things are depicted in the film. No matter what values you pick for stats, Mecha's game mechanics look like they can handle it. You just might end up a bit over or under powered depending on what default values you pick. But you can always fine tune your designs.

[RosenMcStern]

Ah, but is it useful for a Pacific Rim Sim?

Sure. In fact it handles Pacific Rim better than any other Mecha game available, as it has rules for using scenery elements against foes and plenty of Kaiju examples.

Here is an addenda document to handle multiple pilots per mecha, à la Pacific Rim.

[Canis latrans popus]

I had wondered about kaiju not having a CON stat listed, but had figured that was intentional. Didn't stop me from giving kaiju CON though.

I had also started roughing out PacRim kaiju stats, but I lost the scrap of paper I was using.

[Atgxtg]

I had wondered about kaiju not having a CON stat listed, but had figured that was intentional. Didn't stop me from giving kaiju CON though.

I had also started roughing out PacRim kaiju stats, but I lost the scrap of paper I was using.

Well even though BRP mecha doesn't have CON, you could still add it in and average it with SIZ to get the value you look up for hit points. if you wanted too. In most cases it probably won't change much.

I was thinking of doing something similar (a CONstruction stat) to allow for advanced/tougher materials in mecha and vehicles.

[RosenMcStern]

Gentlemen, please check the addenda. CON for Kaiju is there, as well as the rules for Drifting.

As for CON for Mecha, well, difference in construction materials is already in the armour rules. Assuming my mecha is SIZ class 3, I have:

- Steel Armour = SIZx1 -> 3 AP

- Titanium Armour = SIZx1.5 -> 4 AP

- Advanced Alloy Armour = SIZx2 -> 6 AP

- Unearthly Alloy Armour = SIZx3 -> 9 AP

This is already enough to make a big difference in material effectiveness without introducing new variables.

[Atgxtg]

Gentlemen, please check the addenda. CON for Kaiju is there, as well as the rules for Drifting.

Sorry, I haven't gotten the chance to go over everything yet. I missed the addenda.

As for CON for Mecha, well, difference in construction materials is already in the armour rules. Assuming my mecha is SIZ class 3, I have:

- Steel Armour = SIZx1 -> 3 AP

- Titanium Armour = SIZx1.5 -> 4 AP

- Advanced Alloy Armour = SIZx2 -> 6 AP

- Unearthly Alloy Armour = SIZx3 -> 9 AP

This is already enough to make a big difference in material effectiveness without introducing new variables.

There is a difference though between better armor and more toughness/hit points. But I was thinking of simplifying the rule tweak I cam eup with and bumping the HP row up a step or two for advanced materials.

[RosenMcStern]

There is a difference though between better armor and more toughness/hit points.

Yes, there is. But although this may be relevant for characters, who have to spend part of their adventuring life outside their suit of armour, enforcing this difference for entities which never take their armour off creates more complication than benefits. The situations in which it might be more fun describing a Mecha as "armour pierced but not disabled" vs. "blow bouncing off armour" are not so frequent as to justify a tailoring of HP instead of AP.

[Canis latrans popus]

Well even though BRP mecha doesn't have CON, you could still add it in and average it with SIZ to get the value you look up for hit points. if you wanted too. In most cases it probably won't change much.

I was thinking of doing something similar (a CONstruction stat) to allow for advanced/tougher materials in mecha and vehicles.

Gentlemen, please check the addenda. CON for Kaiju is there, as well as the rules for Drifting.

As for CON for Mecha, well, difference in construction materials is already in the armour rules. Assuming my mecha is SIZ class 3, I have:

- Steel Armour = SIZx1 -> 3 AP

- Titanium Armour = SIZx1.5 -> 4 AP

- Advanced Alloy Armour = SIZx2 -> 6 AP

- Unearthly Alloy Armour = SIZx3 -> 9 AP

This is already enough to make a big difference in material effectiveness without introducing new variables.

I was only speaking in reference with kaiju, as well as acknowledging that the addendum made the addition of CON for kaiju and saying I had already done that in my own game.

As far as adding CON to mecha, it makes no sense (well little) sense for a mecha to have a CON.

[Atgxtg]

As far as adding CON to mecha, it makes no sense (well little) sense for a mecha to have a CON.

What if you are emulating something like Shin Seki Evangelion, where the "mecha" are alive?

[Canis latrans popus]

What if you are emulating something like Shin Seki Evangelion, where the "mecha" are alive?

Hence the "well little" in parenthesis.

That is exactly when I would give mecha CON.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I noticed the preorder price on the website is in euros. Are you not taking preorders from North America (because of the shipping costs)?

[Atgxtg]

Hence the "well little" in parenthesis.

That is exactly when I would give mecha CON.

Yeah. Hopefully, I won't annoy Rosen too much. I got a few ideas for tweaks, although I will have to look through the book to make sure I didn't miss some stuff first.

But one of the nice things about BRP Mecha is that because it works the way it does, it is easy to modify. That makes it much easier to adapt it to suit a particular setting.

Oh, and to do something other that suggest a rule tweak, I'm really liking the way Mecha handles air vehicles. Since the ground battleboard is treated as one MOV for air vehicles, I finally have an RPG where My plane doesn't suddenly slow down when somebody takes a shot at it.

[Canis latrans popus]

Yeah. Hopefully, I won't annoy Rosen too much. I got a few ideas for tweaks, although I will have to look through the book to make sure I didn't miss some stuff first.

But one of the nice things about BRP Mecha is that because it works the way it does, it is easy to modify. That makes it much easier to adapt it to suit a particular setting.

Oh, and to do something other that suggest a rule tweak, I'm really liking the way Mecha handles air vehicles. Since the ground battleboard is treated as one MOV for air vehicles, I finally have an RPG where My plane doesn't suddenly slow down when somebody takes a shot at it.

It is exceptionally easy to modify. I mean I was able to shoehorn Mecha in Pendragon and it worked pretty well. And my next BRP Mecha campaign will end up including Eva style mecha part way through it, being a BRP hack of CthulhuTech.

It's one of my favorite RPG supplements of all time.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Canis latrans popus

[filbanto]

And my next BRP Mecha campaign will end up including Eva style mecha part way through it, being a BRP hack of CthulhuTech.

I'd be quite interested in any info/notes on BRP CthulhuTech. The setting had a great deal of potential. The rules are not that good (and kind of broken if I am not mistaken), but a BRP conversion would take care of that!

[Canis latrans popus]

I'd be quite interested in any info/notes on BRP CthulhuTech. The setting had a great deal of potential. The rules are not that good (and kind of broken if I am not mistaken), but a BRP conversion would take care of that!

Exactly, why I want to do it. It will be a sort of SDF-1 Macross style set-up in the CthullhuTech setting before the notZentradi defect to humanity.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I have a technical question. In mecha design the GM is asked to determine several physical characteristics of a mech in real-world terms. Size I get, but power supplies (used to determine STR among other things) are completely beyond me. It appears the GM is asked to determine how much power the plant puts out in Kilowatts or (more likely, Megawatts.

Megawhats? I'm a Theatre major. I wouldn't know a megawatt from a metamorphosis.

How does someone with limited technical skills build mecha?

(Oh, and where are the mechs big enough to take on kaiju?)

[Canis latrans popus]

I have a technical question. In mecha design the GM is asked to determine several physical characteristics of a mech in real-world terms. Size I get, but power supplies (used to determine STR among other things) are completely beyond me. It appears the GM is asked to determine how much power the plant puts out in Kilowatts or (more likely, Megawatts.

Megawhats? I'm a Theatre major. I wouldn't know a megawatt from a metamorphosis.

How does someone with limited technical skills build mecha?

(Oh, and where are the mechs big enough to take on kaiju?)

BAMF

What is suggested is that you, the GM usually, figure out what mecha series you wish to emulate, or more specifically what mecha do you want to stat. So if like you wanted to run a campaign based on the SDF Macross/Season one Robotech, you would need to stat up the valkyries, and destroids and such. Then you could go to the internet and hunt for a fansite that has compiled the technical specifications of those mecha. Like this http://www.macross2.net/m3/sdfmacross/vf-1a-valkyrie.htm One of the statistics is Power Plant: two Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each. And BAM you got the powerplant output in Megawatts for a VF-1.

Well how big of kaiju are you talking about?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Well how big of kaiju are you talking about?

Big enough that a tank is about two-thirds the height of its foot, for ease of stomping. An M1 Abrams MBT is eight feet tall, or for ease of calculation about 2.5 meters. Not sure how to do the rest of the calculation.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Michael Hopcroft

[Atgxtg]

I have a technical question. In mecha design the GM is asked to determine several physical characteristics of a mech in real-world terms. Size I get, but power supplies (used to determine STR among other things) are completely beyond me. It appears the GM is asked to determine how much power the plant puts out in Kilowatts or (more likely, Megawatts.

Megawhats? I'm a Theatre major. I wouldn't know a megawatt from a metamorphosis.

Okay, right up my alley, my degree's in electronics!

Energy is measured in a unit called the watt. Now the watt is a fairly small unit of energy (about the amount it takes to heat up one cubic centimeter of water by 1 degree C, each second). So generators, and powerplants usually put out many, many watts. Since the watt is a metric term, one thousand watts is referred to as a kilowatt (kW), and a million watts is called a megatwatt (MW). So that is what BRP Mecha is asking for.

In the Imperial system, generators have their power rated in units of horsepower (hp). 1 horsepower is approximately equal to 750 watts (the exact conversion varies depending on the type of energy, but most are close enough to 750 watts that we can get away with 750 as a conversion factor. That also means that 1 kilowatt is approximately equal to 1.33 horsepower.

How does someone with limited technical skills build mecha?

They don't, but they can design the in BRP Mecha. BAsically what you do is have a lootk at the POW ans STR scores listed in the book and come up with POW values in about the same range as the STR and SIZ you want for your mecha.

If it will help, here are some benchmarks for the power requirements/ maximum outputs of some real world devices.

Microwave Oven: 1 kW

Space Heater: 1.5 kW

Typical Car: 100kW

Supercar ( high speed performance car): 500kW

P-51 Mustang Fighter: 1.3 MW

Eurostar train: 12.2 MW

Los Angeles-class Nuclear Submarine: 26MW

Nimiitz-class Aircraft Carrier: 190 MW

In terms of converting actual mecha from some series or other, it is actually quite common for Japanese companies to provide data for mecha with power ratings (in units of kW, MW, or hp) that you can use to get a POW score.

Now, the reason why BRP Mecha uses two different conversion factors is because different shows work on different power scales (literally), so in order to keep the POW scores playable Rosen provided two different ways to convert. At least I assume that's why he did it that way.

As far as STR goes, technically STR is a measure of force, rather than power, but the two are related. With gears and such, it is possible to get virtually whatever STR you want out of a power source. But it might not be practical. For instance, you could, theoretically power a STR 100 crane from a POW 1 battery, but not for long enough to do you much good.

(Oh, and where are the mechs big enough to take on kaiju?)

In the rules, but it depends on how big you expect the kaiju to be. Basically whatever SIZ you pick for the Kaiju, use for the Mecha. But be careful.

I did up some BRP stats for Gojira and some of the other Toho Kaiju (something that for legal reason Rosen couldn't do in BRP Mecha), that used their "real" SIZ scores, but I used a modified SIZ scale to do it. Otherwise a 20,000 ton Goji would be around SIZ 2000!

Edited January 23, 2014 by Atgxtg

[Michael Hopcroft]

In terms of converting actual mecha from some series or other, it is actually quite common for Japanese companies to provide data for mecha with power ratings (in units of kW, MW, or hp) that you can use to get a POW score.

How would you model a "mecha fantasy romance" series like Vision of Escaflowne (heavens, that dates me) where the mecha are powered by something unknown and indefinable?

I did up some BRP stats for Gojira and some of the other Toho Kaiju (something that for legal reason Rosen couldn't do in BRP Mecha), that used their "real" SIZ scores, but I used a modified SIZ scale to do it. Otherwise a 20,000 ton Goji would be around SIZ 2000!

Given that sometimes The Big Guy is taller than Tokyo Tower and sometimes -- well, sometimes he isn't -- that must have been an interesting exercise.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Michael Hopcroft