Giant Robots: Recommend me a system.

[Lord Pendragon]

Heyo folks,

I'm toying with the idea of running a game with mecha, starfighters, and giant robots for my next campaign, and am wondering if folks have a few recommendations for a good system to try. I'm looking for something that is low on complexity, and high on fun.

Any input appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

- Polyhedron 154 / Dungeon 95 had a d20 mini-game called Mecha Crusade. Haven't read it, so I can't speak knowledgeably about it, but its a starting point if you don't find anything else to your liking.

- There was a game put out a few years back called Mecha Aces. Used a variant of FUDGE, so it's probably rules-lite.

- Mechwarrior and Robotech are possibilites, though I don't know if they have editions currently in print.

- FFG has a d20 minigame called Mechamorphosis, in the same vein as Transformers.

Good luck.

 

[R_kajdi]

I'd try to find Mekton Zeta. You have to build the mecha yourself, but it's not hard and it's a rather flexible system. Zeta Plus is a lot more work though, because they add a lot more complexity into the system.

EDIT: Also, Guardians of Order put out a d20 Mecha book to go with their d20 Big Eyes, Small Mouth game. It was SRD'd, so it should still exist in that format even though GoO is now defunct.

 

[Piratecat]

Mongoose has a system whose name escapes me; don't use it. Many Mongoose games are good and fun to play. This is not one of them, unless you like VERY dense rules on hard-to-read paper.

 

[Vascant]

Spacemaster covers this very well, I really enjoyed playing it.

 

[S'mon]

Mongoose has a system whose name escapes me; don't use it. Many Mongoose games are good and fun to play. This is not one of them, unless you like VERY dense rules on hard-to-read paper.

Armageddon 2089?

There's the Heavy Gear RPG. I loved the original Heavy Gear computer game, pity the sequel sucked.

 

[Arnwyn]

- Mekton (Zeta), with or without Plus (which just adds more components to build with)

or

- Fuzion (related to Mekton, and can use its components) and its related campaigns (including BGC; with Armored Trooper Votoms being the best, since it's all mecha and giant robots and the like).

(For our anime sci-fi/futuristic campaign, we use Fuzion with the above books, and also include Mekton Zeta's stuff as well.)

 

[Ringan]

Not specifically designed for robots, but I suggest Mutants & Masterminds.

The cool thing about this system is that you can link powers to any source, the flavor is independent. So you could have a robot that shoots fireballs or a wand, it's all the same rulewise. It's also really customizable, and I've found it pretty simple to learn.

 

[Tolen Mar]

For quickness of play, and ease on the GM, I've found SilCORE to be pretty decent. Its the system the aforementioned Heavy Gear runs on. If you want mecha AND starships* then look for their campaign setting "Jovian Chronicles."

So far, my experience with Heavy Gear et al as far as Mecha goes is that the mecha seem too easy to kill. But then again, if you don't like battletech because it takes too long to fight out, this may be perfect for you.




*Heavy Gear does, with a supplement, have space combat, but it isn't the default assumption. Jovian Chronicles is based on the idea of a war between each of the planets in the solar system.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Low complexity?

High Fun?

Pick up the True 20 book. One of the mini-campaigns is "Mecha vs. Kaiju."

It's True 20, so it's very low complexity, and it's high fun, because it's giant things beating the crud out of each other.