mecha and/or kaiju rpgs

[kidnicky]

Seeing Pacific Rim got me thinking, what's the best mecha and or kaiju RPG out there.
I remember a LONG time ago Dungeon magazine had a mecha game for d20 Modern (I think) but I wasn't really impressed with it. I've dled the quickstart for Chris Perrin Mecha, and it looks like a great game, I just haven't had the time to get together and play.

On the kaiju side, I'm vaguely aware that there have been some RPGs, but I've never played or even flipped through one. I took a look at Monsterpocalpse, but that was a moneysink miniatures thing rather than an actual rpg.

So what do you guys play,if anything, when you're in the mood for Gundam or Godzilla?

[Mando Knight]

Mekton Zeta was written for this kind of thing, though opinions on its playability vary (it does have some glaring balance issues, for one).

[hiryuu]

Hmm. I have successfully used FATE, Mutants & Masterminds, and nWoD for mine, but I liked they way M&M worked the best - you could set a PL for the mecha and a PL for the pilots/humans.

I was actually thinking about getting some Monsterpocalypse singles and mixing that with the low PL M&M and seeing how that worked out if I ever run it again.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd second M&M, especially for a Pacific Rim style game. You've got massive flexibility when designing different mechas and monsters. Stat mechas up like power armor-- the Removeable flaw and lots of ranks of Growth will get you what you need.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

A game of Tenra Bansho Zero where everyone is the "mecha pilot" class could work; just pit them against massive ayakashi.

Mecha can work pretty well (a mecha vs. kaiju book is coming out soon), though you have to have players who are onboard with the game's very particular structure.

Fate Core handles scaling pretty well, so that you can juxtapose smashy robot action with character drama.

[obryn]

The new definitive choice for a kaiju RPG is Last Stand by Funhaver Industries.

http://www.funhavergames.com/

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/109884/Last-Stand

[kidnicky]

The new definitive choice for a kaiju RPG is Last Stand by Funhaver Industries.

http://www.funhavergames.com/

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/109884/Last-Stand

So if I'm reading this right, fluff aside, in combat you are for all intents and purposes a kaiju, but you can reason and plan like a human? And then I assume in non-combat scenarios you play as the "pilot" like you would in a mecha game?

[kidnicky]

Hmm. I have successfully used FATE, Mutants & Masterminds, and nWoD for mine, but I liked they way M&M worked the best - you could set a PL for the mecha and a PL for the pilots/humans

I was actually thinking about getting some Monsterpocalypse singles and mixing that with the low PL M&M and seeing how that worked out if I ever run it again.

Judging from the boxes (never saw one open IRL) they are cool minis, it's just I'm not into the "beat your friend by spending more real-world money than your friend" style of gameplay. They'd be great to use as minis on a battlemap in an RPG,though.

[Alejandro]

You could use a Mechwarrior system, with some different things for the giant monsters, and then battle it out on a city hex map :)

[Sith_Happens]

There's a Mecha vs. Kaiju campaign setting for the True20 system.

[kidnicky]

What about Big Eyes Small Mouths? Anyone here vouch for that?

Also, this hypothetical game wouldn't HAVE to involve kaiju AND mechs, Pacific Rim sparked my interest enough to start this topic, but I wouldn't be running a Pacific Rim campaign,just something anime/tokusatsu inspired.

[The Rose Dragon]

I nth Mutants & Masterminds. Especially now that 3rd Edition has a mini-supplement for mecha. Mecha RPG and Remnants are also worth looking at.

I emphatically cannot vouch for Big Eyes, Small Mouth. It is not a terrible system, but it is certainly not as good as other generic systems out there, like Mutants & Masterminds and GURPS.

[hiryuu]

What about Big Eyes Small Mouths? Anyone here vouch for that?

Also, this hypothetical game wouldn't HAVE to involve kaiju AND mechs, Pacific Rim sparked my interest enough to start this topic, but I wouldn't be running a Pacific Rim campaign,just something anime/tokusatsu inspired.

Mine sure did - most mecha were built by "tenrai," people who could build great machines but couldn't explain how they worked or even why they didn't crush themselves under the immense weight. It had your traditional alien weapon kaiju, mecha/kaiju from the center of the earth, mutants, and "guardians," humans with the ability to use a magatama-like device to do some extreme transformation into a kaiju themselves (so you could have your Ultraman or Rampage-style characters).

PCs worked for World Association for Research & Defense (though if I run it again, there might be independent operators), and known kaiju had names for when they first appeared and the city or region they first appeared in. The internet had all kinds of fun informal names for them. Like "Trollosaurus Rex," the San Diego reptilain kaiju that would do stuff like sneak into a train station at night and reverse all the trains by hand or stack up all the cars on Black Friday into a pyramid, or defecating on highways just before or during rush hour.

[obryn]

So if I'm reading this right, fluff aside, in combat you are for all intents and purposes a kaiju, but you can reason and plan like a human? And then I assume in non-combat scenarios you play as the "pilot" like you would in a mecha game?

Nope, you are a character with bio-armor fighting against giant monsters.

-O

[Sir_Mopalot]

Mecha RPG by Chris Perrin is my new favorite mecha RPG. Clearly written by a huge fan of the genre, from the ground up as a mecha game (which is its advantage over M&M, for example), and it takes a more narrative approach, rather than requiring you to have a masters in mecha design before you can even put together NPC opposition (looking at you, Mekton Zeta). The abstracted battlemap is seriously wonky, but pretty good for what it is.

My favorite thing about it is the clearly modeled battle advantages garnered through the roleplaying scenes (and structures it well to force even reluctant players into being part of the storybuilding).

My least favorite thing is that the character progression mechanics are SERIOUSLY borked. Like, just about impossible to get any better at something you're half-way decent at, and there's no advantage to improving your character when you can just buy Overdrive (FATE point/Bennie equivalent) with your XP and do far better than you ever would by buying up your stats or skills.

Homebrew up some new point costs for skills and stats, get a group that won't try to break the game too bad, and it's a fantastic system.

[The Rose Dragon]

Mecha RPG is good, but has two (massive, in my opinion) disadvantages compared to M&M. One is that it only does mechs. Trying to make it work with something other than mecha is an exercise in futility. M&M gets to do things Mecha RPG can't, so if you get bored of mecha, you can switch to something else. Two is that it only does the kind of narrative found in more Japanese mecha series, where what the details of what the mecha can do are glossed over and the most important thing is what the aces are like. It is good at what it does, but if you want to do anything else, you should probably get something more generic and can still handle mecha.

[Hunter Noventa]

I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but Giant Guardian Generation is Super Robot Wars the RPG.

It does basically have rules for everything from Gundams to Evangelions to Mazingers.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

What about Big Eyes Small Mouths? Anyone here vouch for that?

It's mainly a pretty generic system that doesn't actually key into anything rooted in the anime style/medium.

[Larkas]

Uhhhh... How about d20 Mecha? It has some pretty nifty mechanics. It was made by Guardians of Order, the same people who made BESM, but it has some more focused mechanics. I'm pretty sure it had an SRD somewhere...

EDIT: Just search for "Mecha" here. I only ever looked at the d20 rules, but you might want to check the Tri-Stat ones too.

[kidnicky]

It's mainly a pretty generic system that doesn't actually key into anything rooted in the anime style/medium.

Yeah, after I posted that I flipped ghrough it a little and it's just anime style art illustrating the most bog standard RPG. I didn't really see anything that was inherent to anime tropes. Funny, because I remember it being a semi -popular game, maybe that was just the circles I traveled in.

[kidnicky]

Mecha RPG is good, but has two (massive, in my opinion) disadvantages compared to M&M. One is that it only does mechs. Trying to make it work with something other than mecha is an exercise in futility. M&M gets to do things Mecha RPG can't, so if you get bored of mecha, you can switch to something else. Two is that it only does the kind of narrative found in more Japanese mecha series, where what the details of what the mecha can do are glossed over and the most important thing is what the aces are like. It is good at what it does, but if you want to do anything else, you should probably get something more generic and can still handle mecha.

Not to sound snarky, but the reasons you give for NOT liking the system are exactly what I find interesting about it.

[kidnicky]

Well,it looks like it's coming down to Mopalot's choice of Mecha,or Noventia's choice of GGG.
On one hand,Mecha seems simpler,and I don't have to come up with a world,it has premade settings.
On the other hand,GGG looks more customizable,and perhaps most importantly of all it's a free download. I'm about to dl it right now and check it out.

I have to say this is one of the best boards I've ever asked something on. A couple days later and there's a bunch of well thought out answers and no "x sucks cuz y rules" nonsense you see elsewhere.

EDIT: My PC can't seem to open GGG,so it looks like I'm going with mecha for now. can anyone point me to a .zip of GGG rather than a .rar?

[The Rose Dragon]

Not to sound snarky, but the reasons you give for NOT liking the system are exactly what I find interesting about it.

I actually like Mecha, but considering my players' unwillingness to learn new systems, and considering how often I run mecha games, I prefer my systems to be as flexible as possible if I actually intend to run them often.

[IronFist]

Have you heard about Last Stand?

[kidnicky]

Have you heard about Last Stand?

We talked about it earlier in the thread. I'm not totally sold.

[IronFist]

We talked about it earlier in the thread. I'm not totally sold.

Just wanted to point this out, seeing what you mentioned before: don't think of the player characters as kaijuu. Think of them as Kamen Rider.

[Eric Tolle]

Apotheosis Drive X is out it in e-publishing now, I'm waiting for my hard copy, and it sounds really good for people who like Gundam style anime. Vimanakatha is a game based more on Beast King GoLion, in an Indian styled setting. It looks really fantastic.

[tensai_oni]

Usually I recommend Mutants and Masterminds, with Mecha and Manga expansion. It does mecha better than dedicated mecha games.

But if you want mecha vs kaiju? I will recommend Bliss Stage. I hope you enjoy mind screw, characters being powered by their relationships, and aliens that exist in the dream world as much as they do in the physical realm.

[The Rose Dragon]

Bliss Stage isn't mecha versus kaiju, it is Relationship Dodecahedron: the Game.

[Tengu_temp]

Bliss Stage is excellent for playing Bliss Stage, and absolutely doesn't work for anything else.