Chicks Dig Giant Robots: Mecha in RPGs

One of the first RPGs I ever bought was one called Jovian Chronicles, a game about an interplanetary Cold War that was being fought with 5-story piloted robots. Ever since then, I've been a huge fan of mecha, both in general and in RPGs. The idea of piloting such a fantastic piece of technology has always been fascinating to me, and judging by the number of different RPGs out there that support the idea, I'm not the only one. So I decided to take a look at all of these different systems and see how they handle mecha, and give my opinion on each one.

Mecha: A Definition

To start off, let's pin down the definition of 'mecha' as I'm using it, so there's no ambiguity. Mecha, or mech, is the term commonly used to describe a piloted vehicle that uses walking as its method of locomotion. Beyond that, what constitutes a mecha can vary wildly. Many are bipedal and humanoid, with arms and hands; some have weapons or tools in the place of hands; some forgo the humanoid shape and are merely a chassis on legs; and some have more than two legs, their shape mimicking an animal or insect appearance or presenting a completely unique profile. There are even some vehicles that may have a mostly humanoid shape, but lack a means to walk entirely, and are still qualified as mecha.

A distinction is also usually made between mecha and powered armor, which is a roughly human-sized suit that amplifies the strength and speed of the wearer, and may also include built-in weapons, sensors, and other systems, such as flight. Mecha are generally assumed to be larger, starting out at around 10 feet or so (around 3 meters). Some people also state that the two differ in that powered armor is worn and directly copies the user's movements while a mecha pilot is usually seated and controls the machine with handheld controls, but that doesn't always hold true for every depiction of mecha. For my purposes, I will be including games that feature powered armor in my list.

Finally, there is also a difference between mecha, which are piloted, and giant robots such as transformers, which are autonomous beings in their own right. Some mecha can have advanced AI that pilots the machine when a human isn't available, however, which blurs the line somewhat. Since giant robots and mecha share a lot of the same characteristics, I'll be including them on my list as well.

Why Mecha?

Something to note is that while mecha could be considered a genre in itself, mechs are merely a type of vehicle, and can show up in nearly any type of setting, with a reasonable explanation. The list of games out there that include mecha runs the gamut from high fantasy to hard sci-fi to bleak horror, and many are setting-agnostic, letting you set the theme and tone. So why should mecha show up in your game? Well, there are several reasons why I think they make great roleplaying fodder:


They Empower the Characters: A mecha, like a tank or a jet is a powerful tool, and giving them to the PCs lets them have a definite sense of empowerment. They're instantly elevated above most people, and their actions will have lasting impressions on the surrounding world. You can easily demonstrate this in-game by sending them up against foes that aren't similarly equipped, or having a fight take place amongst a collection of buildings or in a dense forest, and narrate how missed shots or toppled mechs flatten trees and punch holes in buildings.

At the same time, you can put them on equal footing with their foes by making sure the other side has access to mecha as well. There may even be an experimental mech or two that's individually more powerful than any of them. This allows you to strike a nice balance between making the characters feel special and making them feel challenged.

They Give The Characters Options: While a mecha may have comparable power to a tank or jet, unlike either of those, its shape gives it more options. Legs and arms let a mech carry various weapons or fight hand-to-hand, jump gaps and climb surfaces, and do almost anything a human could, depending on control styles. You could have mechs engaging in brutal melees or elegant martial-arts duels, climbing buildings and trees to get the drop on their opponents, or even grabbing a tank and suplexing it onto another tank, if the game is gonzo enough.

They can be as Varied as the Characters: Most games featuring mecha allow for a dizzying amount of customization to any individual mech, which lets each PC carry their unique style over to their machine. A character that specializes in blades could have his mech armed with two energy swords and a gun that launches explosive spikes, while the gunbunny of the group could have a mech loaded with several weapons, and the tech-head of the group could have a machine with only a few long-range support weapons but dozens of electronic tricks.

They Provide Spectacle: Your characters are walking around in giant war machines with all sorts of weaponry. This easily translates to interesting setpieces and descriptions that fire the imagination. From imprints left in the ground by massive feet to the flash of plasma swords colliding to the fire and thunder of missiles and munitions hitting their mark to the appearance of the mechs themselves, there are plenty of opportunities for imagery that excites and engages the player, making the game memorable and enjoyable.

The List

So, with the help of the fine people over at the RPG.Net forums, I've managed to put together a (reasonably) comprehensive list of all the games out there that have a strong mecha presence in them. The list is in two parts, games that focus on mecha/powered armor/giant robots, and games that have strong supplemental support for such things. This does end up leaving out games like superhero RPGs where you can play a guy in powered armor, but I wanted to limit this to RPGs that devoted a significant amount of time to discussing mecha specifically.

So, without further ado, the list.

Mecha-Focused (Mechs are one of the big draws of the game, if not the whole point):
Mekton Zeta
A Time of War
Bubblegum Crisis RPG
Armored Trooper Votoms RPG
Cthulhutech
Jovian Chronicles
Heavy Gear
Gear Krieg RPG
Rune Stryders
Robotech RPG
Mecha Aces
Mecha
Living Steel
Marauder 2107
Remnants
Rune Stryders
Bliss Stage
Exosuit A-OK
Lunar Reckoning 69
Giant Guardian Generation
Xenomorph Invasion

Mecha-Supplemental (While not the main focus, mecha have support in a supplement):
Traveller TNE(Fire, Fusion, and Steel)
GURPS (GURPS Mecha/GURPS Spaceships)
BESM (Big Robots, Cool Starships/Centauri Knights)
D20 Modern (D20 Future/D20 Future Tech/Dark Horizons)
D&D (Dragonmech/Mechamorphosis/Mecha D20/Mecha Compendium/Armageddon 2089/Doom Striders)
G-Core (Mecha G-Core)
True20 (Mecha vs. Kaiju)
Trinity(Technology Manual)
Mutants & Masterminds(Mecha and Manga)
Battlelords of the 23rd Century(Lock-n-Load: Armor, Equipment, and Cybernetics)
HeartQuest (Steel Roses)
Monsters and Other Childish Things (Bigger Bads)
HERO(Robot Warriors/Ultimate Vehicle)
Cyberpunk 2020 (Maximum Metal)
Cartoon Action Hour S2(Going Japanese/Giant Transforming Robots)
Spycraft (Transmechs)
Rifts (So many mecha)
The Artifact (Engineer's Resource)
Warhammer 40K RPGs (Deathwatch/Adeptus Evangalion)
Exalted (Warstriders/Some of the fancier armors)

As I go over each game, I'll make the name a link to the post in question, for tidiness.

Well, that's about it for this post. Next up: The granddaddy of all mecha RPGs.