Contracted: Xenoframe Guardians (Mecha vs. Cthulloid monsters vs. Corporate Greed)

[Dr_Kalt]

I have this idea for a game floating around in my head. I'm not entirely sure how to approach this with HERO. The idea sprang from a thought experiment on "how to escalate Alien" and somehow arrived at something that's... Alien x Cthullhu Tech x Cyberpunk x Red Markets x SLA Industries. The player characters are members of "mech stables" that fight off "space kaiju" and defend the corporate colony worlds. But they do so not just for the citizen's safety. They also do it for show. They clobber cosmic horrors and look good doing so. The more fans and followers the teams have, the more lucrative but also the more DANGEROUS assignments are on the table. The "Stables" are in cut-throat competition with each other, so play would not just be prep for and pulling off monster x mecha fights, but both espionage and counterintel, and maybe even sabotage (and counter-sabotage) on/with/against competing stables. But every bullet costs money, every acid-eaten armor plate needs replacement, and also rent is due.

 

So to break this down in what I need for the ruleset: First, mech rules. How to build a mech pilot and his stompystomp engine of destruction. The wrinkle I want to add is that inspired by things like Pacific Rim and Cthullhu Tech and Evangelion: piloting a giant biomechanical weapon a) takes APTITUDE and b) is REAL BAD for your mental health. Especially once you start fighting the insanity inducing cosmic horrors that threaten the space colonies. But let's do some brass tacks.

 

I think one of the biggest issues I'll have using HERO for this framework is that as I imagine this game, it tends toward a certain "bean counter" crunchiness, where every shot fired costs money. I'm not sure if HERO is necessarily good at this. I've always had some issues modeling this sort of finely grained bean counter money stuff with the game.

 

Here are some character roles/archetypes I need to figure out:

 

Xenoframe Pilot

Pretty straightforward, these are the people who pilot the mechs that go toe to toe with cosmic horror monstrosities. So what does this archetype need?

 

TF: Mecha

WF: Mecha

 

...since the mechs are in-world superbly expensive, would the pilot character still buy the mech they use with character points (1 CP for 5 "mecha" points)?

After some back and forth I think the mecha piloting aptitude should be a set (multipower? not sure) of telepathic powers, "Mind Control: Machine class of minds" and "Mindlink: Machines (mecha)"?

Then, I need to figure out how to best model the sanity impact that piloting and fighting does. 

 

Recon Scout

This is a support class character that either operates drones or much smaller, lighter power armor to assist the Xenoframe, spot and mark enemies and so forth. I have built a framework for drone operations, and power armor is I think fairly straightforward to model.

 

Medic

Again, that should be easy.

 

Tech

Another support class that should be kinda straightforward. Might give this archetype some sort of aid power?

 

Fixer / Infobroker

This one is a bit more tricky. How do you model information gathering and sleuthing well, mechanically? This archetype is also representative of the squad's intelligence on what other, rival squads are up to.

 

Media

This class gets to something I have to yet figure out how to do with HERO. How to pull off the "cool factor" that I want to play a role here. The Media's role is to capture and broadcast the things the squad does, and manage the squad's public-facing profiles. How can characters - or the whole squad - earn "fame" for pulling off cool stunts (even if those stunts don't necessarily do much to actually aid them)? How do you mechanically model "cool stunts" like that in HERO (or in any system for that matter, what systems are there where you can do this?)

 

And then... Money and rent and all of that. My idea is that mechs are very expensive and that a stable needs a corporate sponsorship to survive and thrive. But also each mission will see the stable's Xenoframes damaged, and also each mission has the team use up at least some ammo, so... This gets back to my initial question on how to make HERO more "bean counter-y" in that regard? How can you model income and expenses using HERO?

 

I'm open for ideas here as to how to approach these various issues...

[Chris Goodwin]

2 hours ago, Dr_Kalt said:

And then... Money and rent and all of that. My idea is that mechs are very expensive and that a stable needs a corporate sponsorship to survive and thrive. But also each mission will see the stable's Xenoframes damaged, and also each mission has the team use up at least some ammo, so... This gets back to my initial question on how to make HERO more "bean counter-y" in that regard? How can you model income and expenses using HERO?

 

I would recommend Robot Warriors from Hero Games, published in 1986 for 3rd edition Hero.  It's a standalone game with its own set of mecha design and combat rules that are fully compatible but balanced way differently. 

 

That said, Hero doesn't lend itself to money costs very well, and Robot Warriors is not the exception.  It will let you design cool mecha and monsters and have a lot of fun having them fight each other, though.

[Sundog]

Honestly, you might be better off taking a look at another older game - Mekton.

[Duke Bushido]

4 hours ago, Sundog said:

Honestly, you might be better off taking a look at another older game - Mekton.

 

 

Which has the added advantage of being directly foldable into the HERO house (if, like me, you rather enjoyed New Millennium.     ).

 

[ArmlessTigerMan]

I like this idea.  Although I'm wondering how you would stream battles with insanity inducing cosmic horrors without driving your audience crazy.  Perhaps as you say the mental strain comes from the act of piloting, and as the campaign progresses pilots rack up more and more psychological complications.

 

For building the Xenoframes I would recommend looking at The Ultimate Vehicle, 6th edition.  There is a section with sample mechs.

 

For building pilots, I would probably go with piloting skills and skill levels.  Positive Reputation as the pilots become more famous.  Maybe a minimum Ego value to pilot certain classes of mech to represent the strength of will needed to control it.  It seems like these would be heroic characters, so they wouldn't pay points for the robots they pilot.  And the robots themselves belong to the stable.

 

As far as the money aspect, Hero doesn't model this but you could certainly come up with your own system.  Maybe each shot fired from the Mega Gatling costs 1000 credits.  if the Xenoframe takes more than 2 or 3 body in fight you need serious repairs and a full paint job.  I would probably leave the bean counting to the npc's running the stable and use the budget as an excuse for different sorts of adventures.  "Wakowski!  You cost us 2 million in that last sortie, you are grounded!  You're Takahashi's backup on recon until I say otherwise!"