Robotech Hero?

[Edsel]

With the advent of the Robotech RPG Tactics Kickstarter I have started pondering the idea of an RPG using that setting. I do not like the Palladium system so I was wondering if anyone has done any work on converting the mecha (assorted veritechs, Zentraedi battle pods, etc.) into the Hero system?

 

The minis and rules for the Kickstarter look really good, but it is in reality a miniatures combat game more akin to 40K than a true RPG. The miniatures look cool so it'd be nice to use them in a Hero System campaign.

[Sundog]

Weldun has done a fantastic job of converting the whole thing into the Mekton system, which, being designed around giant mecha roleplaying, does a very nice job of the whole series.

[Spence]

I would love to see a good Mecha import to hero. My versions always seem to be off. But I have always preferred the version where the pilot takes feedback damage as his mech gets hit. My attempts to model that have been less than successful. They never seem to feel right.

[Kaze9999]

Has anyone had a really successful experience doing mecha in Hero System? I tried the Hero Game's "Giant Robot Warriors" book way, way back in the day, and actually liked it. Doing them as vehicles hasn't worked well for me though.

[Edsel]

Yeah, Robot Warriors was pretty cool back in the day. I played it some and it worked pretty well unfortunately I haven't had that book in quite a while and it is really dated by now. I don't know how easy it would be to cobble something together with it that would work well with 6th Edition.

[Michael Hopcroft]

In a theoretical way, statting up mecha as vehicles makes a sort of sense. Or, if they are self-aware, as characters. But for some reason people seem to find the feel a bit off -- they want to be able to do things like select (and later swap out) components. They want more detailed mecha damage where after a hit you don't just take BODY but you have systems knocked out and find yourself having to survive the combat without them (or however long it takes to get it back into the garage and the broken stuff repaired or replaced). That's a generalizxed problem with HERO vehicles in general, but for mecha it can be a game-breaker for some.

 

I found the Mekton approach to be something approaching overkill, but I get the appeal (especially for Battletech players who want a better roleplaying experience than Mechwarrior can offer them).

 

[Chris Goodwin]

These days I would probably just do it with vehicles. Or I'd go full retro and run Robot Warriors as is, warts and all, maybe picking and choosing whatever optional rules I like from elsewhere. Edited to add: The Ultimate Vehicle and The Ultimate Speedster are still available in PDF from the Hero Games web store, as is Robot Warriors for that matter.

 

Here is a little thing I put together originally in the 4th edition days, and kept updating it through 5th edition. It's probably usable as is with whatever other translations from 5e to 6e are required; I just haven't felt like updating it.

[Tom Carman]

But for some reason people seem to find the feel a bit off... They want more detailed mecha damage where after a hit you don't just take BODY but you have systems knocked out and find yourself having to survive the combat without them (or however long it takes to get it back into the garage and the broken stuff repaired or replaced). That's a generalizxed problem with HERO vehicles in general' date=' but for mecha it can be a game-breaker for some.[/quote']

 

So? Just use hit locations and some customized version of Impairment and Disabling.

[Chris Goodwin]

Here is a link on the Wayback Machine to the Starherofandom.com writeups for Robotech. Looks like half a dozen or so each of Invid, Veritech, and Cyclone. Probably for 5e, but updating to 6e is not difficult.

[Chris Goodwin]

In a theoretical way' date=' statting up mecha as vehicles makes a sort of sense. Or, if they are self-aware, as characters. But for some reason people seem to find the feel a bit off -- they want to be able to do things like select (and later swap out) components. They want more detailed mecha damage where after a hit you don't just take BODY but you have systems knocked out and find yourself having to survive the combat without them (or however long it takes to get it back into the garage and the broken stuff repaired or replaced). That's a generalizxed problem with HERO vehicles in general, but for mecha it can be a game-breaker for some.[/quote']

 

Sure, I've been one of them, for years, but I've been overthinking it a lot. Breakable Foci, for instance; if the Focus takes BODY, it loses a Power. That's pretty much how Battletech and RW both do it, barring some differences in terminology.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Do a quick search and you should easily be able to find some mecha writeups on this very message board. They're here, scattered all around. Usually in the Science Fiction forum or the "Other genres" forum.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I would be just as interested in character writeups, actually. Of course my experience is with the unedited Japanese series, Superdimensional Fortress Macross, which has roughly the same plot but a very different feel (most notably because "Protoculture" refers to the common origin of the Human and Zentradi peoples as opposed to biotechnology). So while I think I would know who Rick Hunter's character sheet would be meant to represent, he has a few substantial differences from the Macross character he was modeled on.

 

I still remember Captain Gloval complaining that the Macross was a "terrible ship" -- always in poor repair, engineered badly (by people with no experience building starships) and with an unreliable mix of human and alien technology. Somehow it survived whatever got thrown at it, largely as the result of valiant efforts by the command crew. That and the fact that he had to take care of an entire civilian city on board ship and it became a considerable challenge.