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Mecha Heroes - Sign-Up and Concept Discussion Thread

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Willy Vereb:
Mecha Heroes


Mecha Heroes is a new roleplaying game idea, focusing on giant robots.
Join a team of quirky mecha operators to save the world!

Mecha Heroes draws lot of ideas from the setting of Super Robot Wars, so expect robots of various kind appearing in a flexible and malleable world where anything can happen.
The game is segmented into "Missions" where the plays usually need to fight but there are often other objectives.
It's to streamline the game and not meant to limit the roleplaying experience.
To ensure this, between each mission there's a "free interaction phase" when characters can talk and mingle in a less tense setting.


There are many more elements but for now let's focus on what's important.


First, I promised the character/mech creation guide.
Here's

(start with an image of your character's appearance, not obligatory but it generally helps to enhance your post)

Name: (your character's name)
Gender: (Male or Female)
Race: (you can ignore this if your character is human)
Age: (Your character's age in years)
Height: (Your character's height. You can express it in either feet/inch or centimeters format. I don't mind either.)
Weight: (Your character's weight. Either in kilograms or lbs)
Rank/Title: (Your character's status in the military or other special titles he/she might be known as)
Special: (anything else worth noting, be very brief and categorical)

(You can add a few more other information you want but generally these are the minimum.)

Appearance:
(You can describe how your character looks. Ignore this if the picture on the top was more than enough)

Bio:
(Write a short introduction about your character. Who is he/she? Where did he/she come from? How did he/she became a mech pilot? What he/she can do? How skilled he/she is? What are his/her motivations? Etcetera,etcetera...)

Personality: (Describe your character's personality. What he or she's like?)

(Following that we can get to the next part, creating a profile for your mech.)



(image for your giant robot goes here, not obligatory but helpful)


Name: (how's your mecha called? With model/serial numbers and everything)
Type: (What is it categorized as? Ie: Mobile Suit, Orbital Frame, etc. Is it a Real or Super Robo?)
Dimensions: (How big is your machine? If it's a humanoid robot then you only have to mention its height in meters)
Weight: (How heavy is your machine? Preferably expressed in metric tons)
(If you want you can include other stats like armor material, powerplant, propulsion systems and such. Whatever you find important enough to list here.)

Stats: (The 7 parameters showing the power of your machine.They range from 1 to 100 but the differences aren't linear. For further details, see below)

* Strength: (Your machine's strength. How hard its punches and kicks? How much weight it lifts?)
* Armor: (How tough is your machine? Mechs with high armor can easily withstand even the most powerful attacks.)
* Firepower: (How much destruction you can deal? Applies to guns, missiles, energy cannons and any other ranged means to attack)
* Performance: (How fast is your machine? High-performance mechs are so fast the enemy has problems to target them)
* Mobility: (Determines how easy your machine performs turns and generally how agile it is)
* Energy Output: (How much power can your machine generate? Generally it shows that for how long can your machine last in combat.)
* Sensors: (Radar and other sensing/detecting stuff. Allows the detection of stealth/cloaked units. Also if your machine has auto-targeting systems your sensors determine their effectiveness.)

Description:
(Describe your machine, including its appearance, development and special features)

Weapons:
(What kind of weapons your machine possesses? If it has hidden weapons that you either want to keep secret or your character has yet to become aware of them, then they're an exception. We'll treat those kind of weapons as "upgrades" in the future.)

Abilities:
(What sort of special abilities your mecha has? It can be anything from a temporally speed boost to a whole transformation sequence that changes your machine completely. This includes exotic skills or abilities that your character has while piloting his/her mecha.)

Signature Moves:
(Mostly the property of Super Robots. What kind of character defining attack you have? It can be a flashy finishing move or a combination of various attacks. If your mecha has energy attacks that aren't connected to any weapons, they belong either here or to the "Abilities" section.)



...
Feeling confused a bit?
Don't know where to start?
Well, then I show you an example:
Spoiler for Test Profile:

Name: Average Joe
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 37
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg)
Rank/Title: Private
Special: He's average

Appearance:
Average Joe is the ultimate example of average. He has average height, average looks and hair below the average ("Not Bald!"- Average Joe).

Bio:
Average Joe grew up in an average ultra-militaristic family. He had a dog with above average intelligence, Tony. The dog became a Mobile Suit pilot years before Joe could even graduate, starting a heated rivalry between the two. Average Joe was dreaming of becoming the average Mobile Suit pilot ("I wanna be a Mook!" - yelled he). But his average level of intellect proved to be "too high" to meet the military standards. Saddened but all-so-determined, Average Joe took up a hellish training to kill his brain cells. Through the years he watched hundreds of Soaps, went to talk shows and for 10 minutes he even became a minor celebrity in a Reality TV program. By the age of 35 the results were stupefying and the military welcomed Average Joe with open arms. He survived 6 battles and expectantly waits for the time he'll be promoted to Private First Class.

Personality:
Average Joe unsurprisingly has no personality. His devolved mind is honed to methodically follow any order. He has no private life and is cyrogenetically frozen between missions. Joe is unreasonably brave and prepared to sacrifice himself for the stupidest reasons. He also bears mysterious rivalry with ESF's new ace Tony, a genetically engineered Newtype Canine created to pilot the advanced GUNDOG suit.




Name: MS-06F Zaku II, (nicknamed: "Garbage")
Type: Mobile Suit (Real Robo)
Dimensions: 17.5 meters
Weight: 737 tons
Armor: Super Steel Alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky-type Ultra-Compact Fusion Reactor (rated 1951 kW)
Propulsion: Rocket Thrusters&Verniers


Stats:

* Strength: 10
* Armor: 10
* Firepower: 10
* Performance: 10
* Mobility: 10
* Energy Output: 10
* Sensors: 10
Description:
The Zaku II is an imposing nearly 18 meters tall robot. Its armor is several times more durable than M1A2 Abrams'. Its primary weapon shoots 120mm APFSDS shells on full auto and has the huge Zaku Bazooka for extra firepower. The Zaku II is outfitted with rockets and apogee motors, allowing it to freely maneuver in space. On Earth the same rockets can be used to perform multi-kilometer jumps through the air. Lastly the control system is a perfect meld between manual and computer-assisted movements, allowing the Zaku II to act and move almost like a human of its size would.
The Zaku II is a truly fearsome machine...or at least used to be many decades ago.
Nowadays, the Zaku II is little more than a joke, assigned to the lowest of mooks.
This fact makes Average Joe very proud of himself.

Weapons:

* MMP-78 120mm Machinegun: Primary weapon of the Zaku II. It's a large machinegun fed by a 100-round drum magazine, shooting 120mm APFSDS shells.
* H&L-SB25K/280mmA-P Zaku Bazooka: Powerful, large but slow-reloading weapon. Each missile must be manually inserted before firing. Has enough firepower to blow another Zaku II into pieces.
* Heat Hawk Type 5: Tomahawk-like axe used in melee. When active the axe's blade is covered in orange plasma, increasing its cutting power. This is the Zaku II's most powerful weapon. Which doesn't say much.
Abilities:

* Critical Failure: Due to its age and poor maintenance, the Zaku II has a high chance of suffering inexplicable reactor failure in combat, resulting in a small-scale nuclear explosion, enough to damage space colonies.
Signature Moves:

* Trans-DUMB!: The Zaku II undergoes radical transformation that makes it appear glowing red. Following that the Zaku's reactor output and performance triples as Average Joe tries to ram straight into the enemy. On impact the Zaku II suffers a critical reactor failure resulting in a huge explosion that wipes Average Joe and hopefully even his enemy.

Willy Vereb:
Ok, to further elaborate.

Mecha stats only exist for your convenience.
It's an easy way to tell what can each other's machine do.
On request there would be also stats for the enemies you're fighting against. Sometimes even without it.

Another thing, like I said, these stats aren't linear.
If anything they follow a weird exponential scale.

So a mech with the firepower of 20 isn't just 4 times stronger than a mecha with the firepower of 5.
Try maybe a hundred.

Of course this being an RP instead of some strict battle simulator, the limits aren't clearly drawn.
Even if you're mecha "only" has 20 for firepower it could damage another with the armor of 30.
Albeit only through considerable effort and by using your stronger if not the strongest attacks.
Similarly even if the enemy is faster and more mobile it doesn't mean you have no chance of hitting it.
You'd only be at a disadvantage. Sometimes terribly so.
But nothing you would be unable to solve with a surge of creativity.

So yeah, it's more or less just an ordinal scale.
It basically just tells who's better in what category.

Also for people who plan to create a profile now:
Keep the stats low

Unless your machine is very specialized, don't raise any of the stats above 20 or maybe 30. Overall point distribution should be between 100 to 200.
Super Robots are a slight subversion to this rule but I advise them to also remain lowish, still.

Like I said through the RP you're going to have a lot of chance to "upgrade" your mech.
And that can only be done if there's a reasonable room for improvement.

Spoiler for "Real Life" examples for stats:
M1A2 Abrams
Stats:

* Strength: 3 (for towing)
* Structure: 5
* Firepower: 5
* Performance: 1
* Mobility: 5
* Energy Output: 1
* Sensors: 3
F-15 Eagle
Stats:

* Strength: 1
* Structure: 1
* Firepower: 2 (10 w/ bombs)
* Performance: 7
* Mobility: 2
* Energy Output: 1
* Sensors: 7
AH-64 Apache
Stats:

* Strength: 2
* Structure: 2
* Firepower: 5
* Performance: 2
* Mobility: 5
* Energy Output: 1
* Sensors: 5

KAIZA:
Average Joe and Garbage are best characters. :3
I'll be working in a profile. Hopefully I'll have it done soon.

Xamusel:
I have to agree with KAIZA. They are best units.

...at least for jokes.

Now, I also am going to work on a profile, though consider this more Real Robot than KAIZA's (we spoke on Skype about this).

Willy Vereb:
Another thing we'd need to discuss is the setting. That's why this is called "Sign-up and Concept Discussion Thread".

The classic SRW set-up is that there's a world-wide government which is under attack by some alien threat.
Shall we go with this?

Another thing to consider is the average tech level. But I suppose we can judge that more accurately once the RP profiles are ready.
There are many other details we can go over.
Basically I don't wish to hold monopoly in this story. So I give you a chance to formulate it from the beginning.
Otherwise I can come up with the setting and basic plot quickly and sadly that's what I had to do in the previous such game.

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