BRP Macross

[Canis latrans popus]

I know it's been a while since I have done or said anything relating to BRP Mecha, and I know that RosenMcStern has already done his own writeup of the VF-1 Valkyrie.

But since I'm planning on running BRP Mecha game centered around a carrier group that got flung far far away from Earth thanks to the SDF-1 folding almost at the surface of the Earth and their slow quest to return home, I have decided to sit down and actually do up the mecha stats as close to the way the book is written and using more of the suggested rules. I also noticed it is probably a good idea to stick with a maximum size class of 3 for mecha.

 

I'll sharing my write-ups as I complete them in the spirit of sharing out mecha stats and for discussion.

 

Folder where I'm putting my mecha stats.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0RgpTvR3o_9cmYzMTc1RzNMQ0U&usp=sharing

[RosenMcStern]

Thank you a lot! I have restrained from doing it myself for copyright reasons, but if it is fan made it is much more likely to be seen as "fair use".

[Canis latrans popus]

Glad you like. I'm also planning on doing up Golion, Cross Ange, and Valvrave for crossover potential. The Macross franchise as some of the better English fansites, so it's relatively easy to get the technical specs to derive game stats, unlike almost every other mecha anime I happen to like. Every other series I stat up is going to way more hand wavey.
 Like, I've gone so far as to pause episodes for Cross Ange to get physical dimensions of the DRAGONs and applied the square-cube law to derive their mass.

 

But I'm still not done with the stuff from SDF Macross that I plan on needing. I still have the capital ships, glaugs, power armor, lancer IIs and ghost fighters.

Then I need to stat up SPACE DINOSAURS, which will be fun since I'll be making them up from scratch. I'll probably do Golion next because of the silly crossover comic that came up last year.

[Canis latrans popus]

I'm a bit stuck with how I want to do the Glaug and the boostered Glaug so I worked on a giant dragon from Crossange. I may end up changing the stats on it since it looks puny for a dragon that is somewhere near 100m. There are no official stats for this specific dragon, as of yet.

 

Brig Class DRAGON.pdf

[Canis latrans popus]

I just completed the VF-4 today, and then I realized that I hadn't been sharing my write-ups.

So far I have done

VF-1A

VF-1J

VF-1S

VEF-1

Glaug/ w/boost

Queadluun-Rau

VF-4 and non-canonical leader variant

The Regult series of battle-pods

Phalanx

Spartan

Tomahawk

I may end up doing a slightly different write-up of the VEF-1, the VE-1 from DRYL?, and I may create a CAG variant of the VF-4. Since the campaign I am now planning is going to be focused on the lost Megaroad-01 colony fleet, I am focusing on the mecha I think I will need.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2015 by Canis latrans popus
Adding links

[auyl]

Very cool. Macross has always been a favourite of mine. Looking forward to you getting this all complete and putting it all up for us!

[Canis latrans popus]

Glad you like this.

I am considering redoing the armor for VF series of mecha after doing a better reading of the characteristics of the SWAG/Energy conversion armor actually does, and watching Macross Zero (so far my least favorite show in the franchise but still has some good info on the development of the VF). In short, reducing the armor of the VF-1 and VF-4 to 2 in fighter and GERWALK modes and changing it to 3 or 4 in battroid mode because until Frontier, the SWAG armor only energizes when in battroid mode due to surplus of power generation in battroid mode. Or I could just leave it as is since I was also slightly bumping up the damage of some of the weapons, both to make Zentradi weapons an actual threat, matching the actions of pilots in SDF, and to take into account advances of technology. A minor reason is that in the case of ballistic weapons, there is more involved in the damage than just bore size.

 

[Canis latrans popus]

And now for something Macross related but not mecha related.

I'm stumped on how to model the power of song  in Macross using BRP.

As I am focused on following the fleet of Megaroad-01, I could simply ignore it as Lynn Minmei is on board and that allows me to place it in the background and wholly GM fiat territory. This is not satisfactory because then noone can start out as a wannabee pop idol who eventually has a massive impact on the relations between the fleet and soon to be former existential threat.

This leaves me wanting something mechanical. I could simply leave it in the realm of the mundane Perform/Sing skill, as is shown in SDF/DYRL?, and thereby ignoring the Song Energy shenanigans of 7 with Basra and Fire Bomber/Sound Force, and I can easily ignore the specifics of Frontier as it's based on a bacterial infection. If I do leave it as a mundane skill then power song would by implication only affect uncultured Zentradi, which leaves for a boring and already done threat. I'm still not even sure how the Sharon Apple Incident happend, was it just mass hypnosis? But even then that still falls into mundane, and only affecting humans and Zentradi. Zero was simply a specific blood-line and a specific song being a key, so I'm inclined to partially ignore that.

But the fact that Zero had a specific song being a key, and DYRL? ending Space War 1 with a translated Protoculture pop song does open up the possibility as mundane song and music as a method of communication with aliens that are also derived/created by the Protoculture, or their artifacts. This changes the focus from music being used as a weapon like the bulk of the franchise.

I could model the power of song as a power. The most likely candidate is one or more psychic powers, specifically a modification of Emotion Control, if I were to favor the Basara Song Energy view of music as a power. The downside is the lack of mass influence that is shown with Minmei and Ranka/Sheryl. Using Song Energy as a psychic power works with the one or a very small number of enemies, such as the individual protodevlin that Sound Force fought, and it might also work alongside the more mundane mass culture shock style influence shown on Zentradi and mind-controlled Varuta.

I don't think mutations or super powers would be suitable for modeling the power of song. The sample magic and sorcery in the BGB also don't look right. I might be able to do something with Spirit Magic from The Magic Book, which by the way gave some ideas for a potential alien species to run into.

[seneschal]

Lynn Minmei, Force of Nature!

But wouldn't this come up only if you allow one of your player-characters to be a wannabe pop star? 

[Canis latrans popus]

Yes, yes it would.

Considering that most every anime in the franchise, specifically SDF, 7, and Frontier, the longer series, have at least one of the main characters a pop star, I think it would be ignoring a significant part of the anime to prevent a player from playing the wannabe pop star. On top of that, when I first mentioned doing a Robotech/Macross game to my wife she flat out asked, "but what if I want to play the Minmei." This was over a year ago at this point, and suspect part of that question was a troll because of the weird hate we've seen directed at Minmei in particular.

Also, if I were playing, I would feel some what cheated, or held captive to the whim of the GM and where they want the campaign to go, if the pop star and their music was totally GM fiat, and I hate trying to run games in a way that irritates me as a player. I've been in games like that.

[threedeesix]

I'm stumped on how to model the power of song  in Macross using BRP.

While I can't tell you specifically how to model Minmei's song in game terms. I can say that after it gets sung for 10 sessions in a row, there should be a roll to resist shooting oneself in the head.

Edited August 15, 2015 by threedeesix

[seneschal]

I don't know.  The effect of Minmei's music was a Star Trek style plot device rather than a power, per se.  It wasn't like Superman using his heat ray vision, more the unintended consequences of one alien culture encountering another.  Like in one of Harry Turtledove's sci-fi novels where the reptile aliens roll over Earth's defenses until we discover that the spice ginger is a dangerous drug to them.  Suddenly the alien forces are being debilitated by a widespread addiction to ... cookies.

[auyl]

I don't know.  The effect of Minmei's music was a Star Trek style plot device rather than a power, per se.  It wasn't like Superman using his heat ray vision, more the unintended consequences of one alien culture encountering another.  Like in one of Harry Turtledove's sci-fi novels where the reptile aliens roll over Earth's defenses until we discover that the spice ginger is a dangerous drug to them.  Suddenly the alien forces are being debilitated by a widespread addiction to ... cookies.

I agree, it was more of cultural conditioning effect rather than a power. Maybe building in a racial weakness that can be overcome with a resistance table roll would work.

[Canis latrans popus]

Thanks for pointing out that I could simply use the resistance table for the power of music. As for the supposed horribleness of Minmei's singing. The Robotech version is awful, but in Macross she has a few more songs and even "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" is no where near as grating as the Robotech version.

 

I've added the DRYL? VE-1, and a leader variant of the VF-4.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Canis latrans popus
Adding links

[threedeesix]

As for the supposed horribleness of Minmei's singing. The Robotech version is awful, but in Macross she has a few more songs and even "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" is no where near as grating as the Robotech version.

Actually, I rather liked the song when I first heard it. But as I kept watching the show, and it was sung again and again, episode after episode, it got to be too much. That said I actually really like the Macross Saga, surpassed only by Space Battleship Yamato as far as my favorite anime. But I have only seen the English dubbed version, so I'm glad to hear that the original Minmei had a wider range.

Rod

[Canis latrans popus]

I think that a lot of the hate that Minmei gets is because of the English dub/Robotech.

I've added the QF-3000E Ghost Drone Fighter, the Monster, and the Frigate class DRAGON from Crossange.

 

Edited August 27, 2015 by Canis latrans popus
Adding links

[Canis latrans popus]

I've gone back over several of the mecha I have already done, and adjusted their stats slightly. I will also probably be readjusting the armor values for the regults and gluag, which might also cause an adjustment of the weapons.

I have added the VF-2SS Valkyrie II from Macross II. I did the base mecha, the additional Super Armed Pack (SAP), which I treated as additional hit-locations, and the Auto-attack bits (AAB or squires) that link up with a VF-2SS.

The only things I feel I need to stat up for a my Megaroad-01 campaign are the starships, and maybe some of the vehicles.

Late night addition of the VF-2JA Icarus from Macross II.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Canis latrans popus