Hey /tg/ I just finished up my friend's gundam campaign and I have to say, GURPS does not mech well. I mean maybe it was the GM's fault but we were never in a balanced fight, for example, one toon that was specced for defense at the cost of mobility almost always lost a limb, that moment we fought anything approaching our level we always suffered a casualty and the speed rules seemed to always feel like our battlefield was either too large or too small. Like I said, this could GM incompetence but me and the other players have been wracking our brains over what system would work better in the future (I wish cthulutech didn't suck).
So let me get to the point: I was looking at 4e and it seems to have the potential to work as a mech game but I'm really inexperienced with the system. Can anyone weigh in on this?
>>44179685
>one toon that was specced for defense at the cost of mobility
>one toon
>toon
Get out.
>>44179707
Ooookay its just a turn of phrase nothing to get upset about
There are mech devoted systems I implore you to try before doing a 4E homebrew.
Heavy Gear
GGG
Mekton Zeta
Hell, M&M has a splatbook detailing mechs (and weeb shit) that I used to run a good mech game.
But MOST of all
>calling a PC a toon
Choke on a dick made of razorblades.
>>44179932
I'll definitely give it a look thanks! I'm sure I can make some more balanced toons with these
do yourself a favor go grab Jovian Chronicles and use the rules from that because quite frankly. Its gundam with the copyright filed off.
>>44179685
There are two ways to defense in GURPS whether it's mechs or not. Brick or mobility. If his armored brick was more of an armored tissue that's a bad build.
That said, some play styles just work better with other systems.
>>44180446
I hear you and I definately agree that user error detracted from the game, but it was also very difficult to figure out how to scale our weapons and armor as the campaign went on
>>44180392
Cool! But isn't Silhouette notorious for being really lethal?
>>44180528
How do you mean? Can you give an example of what you wanted or how you wished it worked?
IME with GURPS you only scale the gear up so much. After that you use ability to make the best use of the gear or overcome what others have. For example, you have a knife (a puny, crappy little weapon). If you stick it in someone's eye (using massive penalty to hit) it gets the job done. Similarly, if your laser cannon can't get through their armor you target chinks in their armor (using massive penalty to hit).
You can still scale up the gear just like in any other game (your basic-issue plasma guns does 6dx2 maybe; your Mk II plasma cannon does 6dx2(2); maybe there's a Mk IIa plasma cannon that does 6dx4, and so on).
>>44179685
use dark heresy rules they work with literally anything.
>>44179685
Just my 2 cents, but most of >>44179932 is a pretty good list. I'd avoid Mutants & Masterminds, though, since it's a bit unwieldy to use if the characters use lots of different MS (as you pay for mecha as part of your character progression in M&M). It's too bad, though, since M&M's mecha & manga supplement is written by people who've actually watched Gundam and the like rather than just have a passing casual familiarity with the subject (as with most RPG writers)
Mekton Zeta's fine for slower-paced combat and Heavy Gear's pretty good.
Avoid BESM and d20 Future's take on mecha as they're atrocious, though for different reasons.
There's actually quite a few (supposedly) decent and/or interesting moonland tabletop rpgs that feature mecha prominently, but none have been translated, which is a shame.
Also, >>44180705 is actually not a bad choice. I've run one Gundam-themed campaign with the DH 1e/RT rules and it went fairly well.
>>44179685
>toon
Two systems that I've recently come to really like for mecha games but aren't really on anyone's radar are BRP Mecha and Mini-Six.
The latter is easier to get into but the former is a lot of fun, it's actually pretty easy to stay mecha with too since the BRP Mecha book is specifically written to derive stats from a combination of what a mecha can do on screen and their technical data that you can find on places like MAHQ.
>>44179685
>Toon
Smash your skull into a wall until it turns pink with brain.
>>44180918
BRP mecha pdf pls?
>>44180576
depends if you play it like you're invincible you're quickly put in your place if you play smart and cautious you're gonna have a much better time.
>>44179685
>toon
Get the fuck out
>>44179685
>toon
>>44181281
Sorry, on my phone, I'm sure it's been posted somewhere so you might be able to find a link for it if you google hard enough, though.
>toon
>>44180675
>RPS you only scale the gear up so much. After that you use ability to make the best use of the gear or overcome what others have. For example, you have a knife (a puny, crappy little weapon). If you stick it in someone's eye (using massive penalty to hit) it gets the job done. Similarly, if your laser cannon can't get through their armor you target chinks in their armor (using massive penalty to hit).
I guess im just used to PF where your weapons and abilities scale gradually. For example my mech had a grenade launcher and a beam rifle. Their only upgrades were the ability to fire a more precise shot. When we got into fire fights, I either wiped out enemies quickly or never scratched the paint. In PF terms, either the AC saved them or the shot went through and shredded them. When facing off against 8-15 basic enemies, that was kinda fun. When fighting something on equal terms, cover didn't mean a whole lot because they could return fire before detonating (I'm not sure if that was a GM fuck up or part of the rule book) and so it boiled down to a really lethal version of rock paper scissors
>>44179707
>>44180877
>>44181147
>>44181374
>>44181399
>>44181628
Okay I get it, you don't like the word, you don't have to pretend you're more than one person to voice your disapproval
>>44180705
>>44180777
I'm vaguely familiar with adeptus evangelion but I forgot about it, definitely worth a look
>>44181862
Many people disapprove of the use of a term derived from a defunct Disney MMO when talking about characters that are very rarely cartoonish.
Also, I'm going to say use Battletech. You can pick and choose rules to add or remove complexity in combat, maintenance, and other such things. There are even RPG rules for out of mech stuff.
>>44181683
>being this much of a pedant
Put a .45 in your lap
We were talking about 4e because while it may have a shit reputation for roleplay, the combat system is really well fleshed out and could be adapted for sci fi.
GURPS cannot fail. You failed GURPS.
>>44181910
>a term derived from a defunct Disney MMO
The one from 2001? The one that no one played?
Chris Perrin's Mecha is worth a look too.
>this much mad at toon o.O
>>44182025
Yes. ToonTown is objectively where the term "toon" came from when discussing characters. When you use Toon in that context, you are making yourself sound like the sort of person who has cybersex while wearing a donald duck costume.
>>44182008
GURPS fails at everything which has a more specific game.
It also fails at being a generic system now that there are better ones. It's a relic, mostly played by people who got used to it back when there weren't any better options.
The main advantage of 4e is that you can just take Google Earth and Maps pictures and instantly have a battlemap.
Just look at this map of New York. Change some of the labels and you can easily have a kaiju battle with civilians and monsters and tanks all over the place.
>>44181817
Yep. Wildly different. Remember, by default it's based on reality. That means eggshells wielding sledgehammers. If you want a different fundamental assumption you have to use a different collection of the optional rules. That's why they're there.
If you want to go toe-to-toe in a slug-fest you need lots and lots of DR or Injury Tolerance. Maybe Flesh Wounds optional rule. And lots of hit points.
In reality armor is pretty easy to overcome. It's pretty simple for one man can take down a tank or a plane. If that isn't what you want the DR has to scale up to match your desired outcome.
In PF how would you feel going up against alternating 1st level and 30th level shit while you're something like 10th level? It would probably really suck and feel unbalanced. Kind of like how your game went.
>>44181862
>only one person on /tg/ hates people using 'toon'
Sure kid. Keep lying to yourself, if that's what your ego needs to stay healthy.
>>44182103
GURPS cannot fail. GURPS is perfect in every way. But mortals are fallible and can fail to implement it correctly.
>>44182060
>objectively
The use of "Toon" to refer to an MMO avatar predates that game by DECADES, you fucking mongoloid.
>>44182393
That's nice, but it's not the discussion we're having. Using it when talking about PnP characters doesn't predate that RPG, and can be traced to several RP servers on ToonTown that transitioned to (Now defunct) forums that also had RPG discussion.
>>44182438
predate that MMO, rather. Too many acronyms.
>>44182438
Yes, it does, you fucking retard.
People used to bitch about Everquest players saying "toon" at the table before you were fucking born.
>>44182475
Nice assumptions there bucko. But they're wrong.
>>44182493
Here's your reply.
Fucking millenials.
>>44182526
Citing an MMO that's only a couple years older than the previously asserted point and then acting like it's decades older doesn't really help your point.
>>44182526
>Everquest
>Not millennials
Start talking MUDs and then maybe you'll have a point.
>>44182226
You're hitting the nail on the head there anon. On the other hand we were buzzing around in giant robots and we had plot armor for the first half that protected us as long as we didn't do anything stupid, but when that went away, we got into some serious trouble.
>>44182245
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpndHtdl9A
>>44182438
Okay, so you're not contesting that the use of "Toon" to denote RPG characters predates where you're saying it comes from by years, but your argument is that the only people to have the idea to use it to refer to tabletop RPG characters specifically are the ones from that particular game, and that nobody else ever did it until they did? Literally the only people who used the MMORPG term for a TTRPG are from that game, and everything else directly comes from their usage of it?
And that this is objectively, provably true somehow? Is that what you're saying?
>>44182746
For the most part, yes. It was very uncommon for the three years between Everquest and TT, and then suddenly became annoyingly common after that.
>>44181862
>only one person hates the term toon
>not being a moron
Pick one
>>44181862
Only one person, right
>>44181281
>>44181575
Here's the BRP Mecha PDF if anyone still cares.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/cb6sxoatct2apo3/Basic_Roleplaying_-_MECHA_%28dewm%29.pdf
