cheeplives
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Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Tue 13 Jul 2021, 17:49

I have been tooling around with an idea to use T2k-4 to power a Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (aka Robotech: Invid Invasion) game. It's post apocalyptic, but with an alien invasion theme instead of Cold War turned Hot... it's largely based off of 80s/90s tech, but with Mecha! How can this go wrong...

Mostly I've been trying to figure out how to properly stat the mecha (legioss/veritech, ride armor/cyclones, and invid machines). Most of the other stuff is useable out of the box.

So far I have decided to stat the big mechs like MBT, using the T-80 and M1A1 Abrams as my level set. I figure a tank's main gun should be dangerous to a mech, so scaling them there felt right. I've also decided that the HBT/Protoculture "magic fuel" source used in the setting will give all non HBT/Protoculture vehicles a -1 step Difficulty to target... that gives the mecha an edge over conventional vehicles which would explain why they're being used. I'm also going to change the Front/Side/Rear armor for mecha to be something like Front and Weak Spot armor, and allow to target "weaker" spots in the armor at a 2 step penalty (for genre emulation).

As I get further down the development, I'll post stuff here if anyone's interested. I'm also happy to take suggestions/ideas on how to handle things.
 
paladin2019
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Wed 14 Jul 2021, 10:53

I'm sure the collective will correct me if I'm mistaken, I believe the Legion's Tales from the Loop game includes mechanics for what you want in the mechs.
 
cheeplives
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Wed 14 Jul 2021, 16:21

I'm sure the collective will correct me if I'm mistaken, I believe the Legion's Tales from the Loop game includes mechanics for what you want in the mechs.
I have Tales from the Loop and the mechanics therein are similar, but decidedly different from T2K, or most of the other games using the Year Zero core engine. Tales focuses more on kids and their problems and there isn't much along the ways of mechanics for fighting/damage, etc... it's a far lighter system (both thematically and mechanically) and isn't much help here. Most NPCs are rated in the Difficulty needed to defeat them and there aren't hard and fast rules for things like weapons, armor, etc... it's more of kids rolls vs difficulties than anything crunchier than that. Things from the Flood is similar. And Aliens uses a less granular combat system, so it doesn't provide much guidance. Thanks for the suggestions, though.
 
cheeplives
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Wed 14 Jul 2021, 18:51

As it stands now, here are a few of my starting stats. I built a spread-sheet to work out Base Damage/Armor vs Armor Ratings to make sure weapons could possibly hurt things. Turns out, a 9 damage -1 Armor weapon (as given to the Armored Scout below or the missiles on a Cyclone) can *possibly* damage the Front armor of a M1A1 Abrams tank, but only on a good roll.. it's Modified Damage vs Armor 11 is -1 damage.. so you'd need multiple successes on your attack/ammo dice to have a chance of damaging your target head-on.

I need to work out some Penetrating/Non-Penetrating tables for these vehicles, too... but I'm right now just trying to get the right feel of damage vs armor... I haven't worked out the maths on the Rear armor stuff yet, either, so they're just eye-balled as of right now.

AFC-01 Legioss Armo Fighter (aka Alpha Veritech)
REL: 5
Combat Speed: Armo-Solder: 10/8 Biped / Armo-Diver/Armo-Fighter: ??? (Need to figure out how to handle flying units)
Travel Speed: Armo-Solder: 10/8 Biped / Armo-Diver/Armo-Fighter: ??? (Need to figure out how to handle flying units)
Front Armor*: 11
Side Armor*: 11
Rear Armor*: 7
Fuel Type: H (HBT/Protoculture)
Fuel Cap: 16
Fuel Cons: 0.01
Crew: 1
Cargo: 10 + 1 Dive/Ride Armor (Cyclone)
Main Weapons: EP-13 80mm, MM-60 Missile System, FCS
Secondary Weapons: Melee, R, Chaff, SD

VR-052T MOSPEADA, T-Configuration (Cyclone)
REL: 5
Combat Speed: Ride Mode: 7/3 W / Soldier Mode: 4/4 Biped
Travel Speed: Ride M<ode: 10/6 / Soldier Mode: 5/5 Biped
Front Armor*: 6
Side Armor*: 6
Rear Armor*: 3
Fuel Type: H (HBT/Protoculture) / G
Fuel Cap: 1 / 15
Fuel Cons: 0.01 / 0.5
Crew: 1+1
Cargo: 0 (Can add up to 3 Cargo boxes with 10 each)
Main Weapons: GR-97 MMS Missile System, FCS
Secondary Weapons: Melee, R

Inbit Iigau (Invid Armored Scout)
REL: 5
Combat Speed: 10/8 Biped / Flying???
Travel Speed: 10/7 / Flying??
Front Armor*: 7
Side Armor*: 7
Rear Armor*: 3
Fuel Type: H (HBT/Protoculture)
Fuel Cap: Unlimited
Fuel Cons: Unlimited
Crew: 1
Cargo: 0
Main Weapons: Plasma Launcher, HBT-Targeting
Secondary Weapons: Claws, R

* = For Mecha, Front Armor is used for any attacks, regardless of the facing. Rear Armor is used if targeting a Weak Spot (2 step penalty).

HBT (Protoculture) Fueled Vehicles are particularly mobile and responsive to their pilot's maneuvers. As such, they impose a 1 step penalty to any attacks from conventional (aka non-HBT/Protoculture Fueled vehicles. Attacks from humans/aliens not in vehicles are not subject to this penalty.

WEAPONS
EP-13 80mm Gun Pod
ROF: 3
RANGE: 40
MAG: 20
REL: 5
DAM: 10
CRIT: 1
ARMOR: -1
BLAST: --

Hydra Short Range Missiles (for MM-60)
ROF: 3
RANGE: 50
MAG: 60
REL: 5
DAM: 12
CRIT: 1
ARMOR: -1
BLAST: B

Scorpion Short Range Missile (for GR-series and RL-series launchers)
ROF: 2
RANGE: 50
MAG: Varies (2 for GR-97, 16 for GR-103, 1 for RL-6)
REL: 5
DAM: 9
CRIT: 1
ARMOR: -1
BLAST: C

Plasma Launcher
ROF: 3
RANGE: 25
MAG: Unlimited
REL: 5
DAM: 9
CRIT: 1
ARMOR: -1
BLAST: --
 
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omnipus
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Tue 20 Jul 2021, 20:06

If you want to really lean into the mech aspect, it's hard to find a better point of reference than Lancer. Bridging the divide between Lancer and T2K would be an interesting experiment. But it includes mechs with significantly different roles and personalities, rules for upgrades and customization, heat, hacking, melee, stealth, all sorts of things. I've never actually gotten it on the table because the amount of systems depth in the mech combat is... a LOT (think 5e but with very focused crunch -- characters are mostly taking a backseat to mechs when it comes to personalization and development)... but it's got some real fascinating aspects to it and just oozes tone + mechanics.
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cheeplives
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Wed 21 Jul 2021, 16:26

If you want to really lean into the mech aspect, it's hard to find a better point of reference than Lancer. Bridging the divide between Lancer and T2K would be an interesting experiment. But it includes mechs with significantly different roles and personalities, rules for upgrades and customization, heat, hacking, melee, stealth, all sorts of things. I've never actually gotten it on the table because the amount of systems depth in the mech combat is... a LOT (think 5e but with very focused crunch -- characters are mostly taking a backseat to mechs when it comes to personalization and development)... but it's got some real fascinating aspects to it and just oozes tone + mechanics.
Yeah, Lancer feels overwhelming to me... I've tried a lot of mech games over the years and Lancer is probably the most inaccessible to me right now. I probably just need to spend some more time really digging into it, but it's just been beyond me. As it stands, I don't think I can think of a single Mech game that I *really* like.

I was more hoping to see how much I could get mecha-esque play in T2K, though... since I'd rather focus more on the post-apoc survival feel of T2K (plus, my group would be more interested in mecha apocalypse than crapsack WWIII, I feel).
 
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omnipus
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Mon 26 Jul 2021, 21:09

Lancer does have a lot of complexity to it, that's for sure. It's super crunchy when it comes to the mechs. That said, I think a lot of that complexity is (much like 5e) gated behind special abilities that are only unlocked gradually. But I also have never actually played it. I used to play a lot of Battletech back in the day. And the recent PC game is somewhat streamlined but mostly a faithful translation - so in my opinion the system holds up... but it depends on what sort of mech feel you're going for. What's the nature of a mecha-apocalypse? No spare parts? The few remaining mechs rule the world? Everything is so irradiated that going out in mechs in the only way to traverse the world?
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cheeplives
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Tue 27 Jul 2021, 17:16

Lancer does have a lot of complexity to it, that's for sure. It's super crunchy when it comes to the mechs. That said, I think a lot of that complexity is (much like 5e) gated behind special abilities that are only unlocked gradually. But I also have never actually played it. I used to play a lot of Battletech back in the day. And the recent PC game is somewhat streamlined but mostly a faithful translation - so in my opinion the system holds up... but it depends on what sort of mech feel you're going for. What's the nature of a mecha-apocalypse? No spare parts? The few remaining mechs rule the world? Everything is so irradiated that going out in mechs in the only way to traverse the world?
Well, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (known as the Invid Invasion Saga of the Robotech anime series) is a post-alien invasion apocalypse anime from the 80s. I'm guessing you're not familiar with it. You have freedom fighters with scavenged military supplies (from conventional arms to military mecha) working against alien mecha. The setting includes warlords holding their own, collaborators working with the aliens, scavenging for what little ammo/fuel exists, and a general "survival after apocalypse" feel. The cartoon was a bit silly at places, but file it down and it could easily be a relatively serious post-apoc fiction story, which is why I was thinking of skinning it into T2K rather than one of the various mecha games out there (of which there already is a published RPG in the setting called Invid Invasion by Palladium Books). I really was just looking for insight/opinions on how to make it work in T2K rather than looking for suggestions of other games... I've played tons of mecha games and even re-built a BT RPG using the One-Roll Engine... so I'm no stranger to hacks. I just thought this would be an interesting hack for T2K (also, I doubt I can sell crapsack WWIII to my current group but might be able to sell crapsack mecha WWIII a bit easier).
 
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omnipus
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Re: Alt Setting -- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Mon 02 Aug 2021, 21:43

I hear ya. And I'm sure it could be a fun project. The vehicle rules in T2K are... not my favorite part of the system. I would expect a much more substantial hack would be needed to make mecha feel "right," but I'm sure all the parts are more or less there, somewhere. Maybe mechs get their own skills? And more feat-like versions of specialties? That could be fun.
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