Combining mecha campaign?

[Jhaierr]

Anyone ever ran a combining mecha campaign (e.g., Voltron)? I remember reading about that in the Ultimate Vehicle book and thinking "Hey! That would be kinda fun."

 

I'd need some "combination sequence music" though... and the ability to make that "light glare on shiny metal" sound effect.... WRRRRRNG! or however you'd write it.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Nope, never did it.

 

Would really suck if a player missed a session.

 

"Dude, why weren't you there? Without you we didn't have our right arm, and we got creamed! You ever fight a CyBeast without a Lazing Sword? It totally sucks!"

[Jhaierr]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Hehe... If someone missed, maybe the GM should say, "Well, looks like you can't combine to form UltraVon! You'll have to fight the bad guy in all your separate vehicles..."

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

You'd have to have some pretty reliable players, or else be willing to occasionally play someone as an NPC.

 

And you wouldn't necessarily need music for it; if you can't come up with it, just have the leader shout something along the lines of the old "Form feet and legs!" spiel. (I actually tried to sneak that into the manuscript, in the first paragraph under "Distributing Damage" on page 216, but clearly Steve didn't like that idea....)

[NuSoardGraphite]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

I've been considering this lately.

 

I was thinking in a Space Opera setting with Super level characters, kinda like Dangaio

[Jhaierr]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

So many potential campaigns floating in my head.

 

Was just thinking about what to do when the vehicles combined. Essentially, you'd have just one character (UltraVon or whatever) that would fight the big baddie. Typically one player would control it and the others would just sit around.

 

After thinking about this, I'd run it like there was a "vote" on what to do next. Either a straight up vote, or perhaps a contest of EGO rolls. There would be no actual leader when it came to controlling UltraVon, so to give everyone a voice. Of course, this would all be "instant" in the gaming world.

 

Another alternative would be to have everyone control the different parts of the giant robot, but that seems a bit boring to some of the players: "Okay, you are the left leg. Roll to walk. The right leg will roll a complementary skill roll..."

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

This is covered in TUV -- see "Complex Vehicle Actions" on page 172.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

 

Another alternative would be to have everyone control the different parts of the giant robot, but that seems a bit boring to some of the players: "Okay, you are the left leg. Roll to walk. The right leg will roll a complementary skill roll..."

 

This is an easy fix. Sit down with the players when they are going to make characters (preferrably with everyone present) and let them know you want them to make the typical Anime "Sentai Team", which means everyone in the team has a specialty that they are best at. One guy is good with guns, another with martial arts, another with stealth and surprise etc.

 

Then when designing the SuperMecha, make sure you design the weapons systems to take advantage of each characters special abilities. Then when introducing villian mecha, each enemy mecha will be vulnerable to one of the specific special abilities...but the players have to use trial and error to figure out what that weakness is.

 

Thus when fighting hand to hand, Character A, the martial artist takes control of the mecha, because this is his specialty. Then, when accurate shooting is needed, Character B, the Sniper takes command. When enemies are firing unavoidable smart nukes at the Mecha, Character C, the Electronics Warfare expert takes care of them.

 

Of course, what is a SuperMecha without Super-maneuvers and each character should be in command of at least 3 Super moves each. The Sniper may have control of the "UltraBeam!", the "Penetrating Fist!" and the "Hyper Crusher!". The Martial Artist utilizes the "Thunder Kick!" the "Hyper Smash!" and the "Nova Slash!". The Ninja has command of the "Cloak of Mist", the "Fatal Reflection!" and the "Shuriken Storm!" techniques....

[Jhaierr]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Very cool ideas. Now I want to run a campaign like this. Maybe one day I'll get around to that.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Not to step on toes, but I can also recommend a couple of things.

 

Find Chris Goodwin (he's around here somewhere) and get some feed back from him on how to work Giant Robots. Were it me, and I were building said Giant Robot to fight BigEvilRobo at the end of the episode, there are a few things I would enforce.

 

- Bob is right, you'll want UltraVon to have a boatload of piloting rolls to stay in one piece. I'd also enforce all players making combat rolls complementary to each other, as well as having UltraVon have a coordinated attack ability, in addition to his other manuevers.

 

For example. The "head" activates the big sword & uses the 'eye beams.' Eye beams cost END. Each Arm is an individual weapon - each weapon costs END. UltraVon runs on END and when he runs out - shatter. Each Leg is a martial manuever or otherwise a combat action for hand to hand - knee strikes, spin kicks, and possibly missile launchers in the feet.

 

This creates a dynamic that forces the PCs to cooperate while in UltraVon mode, take their time seriously and not form UltraVon to knock out a tank.

 

If you don't have a copy, I recommend Robot Warriors from 3rd Edition. you can probably find it at Noble Knight Games, where I got mine. You may also want to post to the Star Hero board, as you're talking classic anime/space opera material.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Also don't forget the source material. There's TONS of anime available now about combining mecha. Its like one of the Japanese favorite things in the universe apparently. There's a boatload of good ones (and twice as many bad ones) out there. Check them out for some material to pilfer. Some of the one's I suggest:

 

Dangaio: This is one of the best, hands down. Unfortunately, the version that is currently available has been butchered (the original 45 minute long 1st episode is shortened to 10 minutes!) but if you can get ahold of the original subtittled version, its absolutely the best.

 

Gunbuster: Not sure if this is available on DVD yet, but is worth seeking. A good example of overly powerful mecha.

 

Gravion (and its sequel, Gravion Zwei): This is a relatively new mecha OAV that I highly recommend. Its fun and light hearted, but the mecha action is top notch, which is what counts in this genre. This one will give you TONS of ideas on how to implement Super Mecha special abilities.

 

Grandizer 3: (why do mecha shows like to start with the letters "D" or "G"?)

This one doesn't combine, but its definately in the "Supermecha" category. Worth a look.

 

Shin Getter Robo: A re-make, (or rather a "re-telling") of the original that started it all. Getter Robo was the brainchild of the Father of all Super Mecha, Go Nagai. Any fan of Super Mecha must watch this to see how it all began.

 

There's tons more, but I need to get some sleep...Its after midnight and I have to be at work at 7:30 in the morning....

[alzuun]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

A Voltron campaign would totally rock. Maybe when my youngest child is...oh...12 and thinks I am an idiot I could join .

 

Fascinating discussion on the mechanics. What kind of campaign stories are you thinking about Jhaierr (and would you like me to sign an NDA)?

[Jhaierr]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

A Voltron campaign would totally rock. Maybe when my youngest child is...oh...12 and thinks I am an idiot I could join .

 

Fascinating discussion on the mechanics. What kind of campaign stories are you thinking about Jhaierr (and would you like me to sign an NDA)?

 

I have several floating around in my noggin that I'd love to do. Let's see, off the top of my head:

 

1) An Aeon Flux-like campaign (influenced by the movie), where the players are super-ultra-cool operative types.

2) A "relic hunters" campaign set in the '20s or '30s.

3) A campaign in a fantasy world that I have about 1% finished in my head.

4) A "mystic masters" superhero campaign where all the players are supermages.

 

Essentially every movie or show I watch makes me want to run a campaign like it. I saw Chronicles of Riddick and I was like, "I wanna run a fantasy-like futuristic campaign now!! Aaaah!" The same with every Hero book I read.

[alzuun]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Chronicles of Riddick was certainly different and I think I know the fantasy world that you are referring to...

 

Sincerely,

 

Auric

[Jhaierr]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Chronicles of Riddick was certainly different and I think I know the fantasy world that you are referring to...

 

Sincerely,

 

Auric

 

Hehehe. Well, there is that campaign, definitely, but I do have inklings of another fantasy world in my head. Would be pretty different.

 

As for the other campaign, yeah, I'm still working on that and may be about to run it within the next year for our current group of players.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Not to step on toes, but I can also recommend a couple of things.

 

Find Chris Goodwin (he's around here somewhere) and get some feed back from him on how to work Giant Robots. Were it me, and I were building said Giant Robot to fight BigEvilRobo at the end of the episode, there are a few things I would enforce.

 

Yo.

 

Way I'd do it is...uhhh...heck, I haven't really thought about it. Logically, in the game world one pilot would be in control of the combined robot, so logically one player would be driving. That kind of sucks for the players who aren't driving, though. One option would be to give the combined robot a Multiform, basically one form per player, and set it up so that each player gets a turn... perhaps one form is designed for speed and agility, another for heavy armor, and another for sheer firepower, and each form (requiring the combined robot to split up and reform) gets used at least once per session.

 

That's the best I can do....

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Combining mecha campaign?

 

Another way to handle this would be to give each PC a different function on the combined mech: one pilots (for movement), another's the weapons controller, another handles repair functions, another handles sensors, and so forth. That's how multi-operator vehicles are operated in the real world (think submarines and large attack aircraft).