Fifty-some-odd years ago, something crashed to Earth. A brief study of the object found that it was composed of materials that were completely alien to this world. Further study revealed that whatever the object was made of, it was capable of powering every household in the entire world for an untold amount of time, effectively solving the world’s energy problems.
The most powerful of the world’s governments banded together to take this energy source for themselves, rather that cause conflict over it and risk losing everything. This unification would become known as the Locksley Alliance.
A few years after the Locksley Alliance was formed, the world saw a time of great peace, as the Alliance was fair in their distribution of the so-called Wonder Energy. Aside from a few malcontents, it seemed that the world was well on the way to a new age of prosperity.
That was, until, the Kaiju appeared. Huge monsters from the farthest reaches of space, the Kaiju caused great destruction wherever they appeared; they would demolish entire cities and decimate entire armies. They could be defeated, yes, but for every one that was destroyed, another would take its place. It wasn’t until the seventh Kaiju attack that their motive became clear: The Wonder Energy. The Kaiju seemed drawn to it, like a beacon to a weary traveler.
Immediately, the Locksley Alliance went into action. The power plant that housed the main source of the Wonder Energy quickly became a base of operations for the Kaiju Defense Force. The best and brightest youngsters were brought in from all over the world to become the soldiers in the world’s newest war. They would pilot great war machines, humanoid tanks called Mecha.
The War Against the Kaiju would begin.
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So, what kind of nonsense is this? Simply put, the setting is something reminiscent of Evangelion, but without the depression or world-ending catastrophe. Also, like I said in the title, this is a homebrew system that I whipped up in a couple of days, so there are bound to be hiccups will be no problems at all!
The players are pilots of powerful, humanoid machines called Mecha, and they will be fighting gigantic monsters called Kaiju. Most of the dice-rolling will take place during these battles. In fact, the pilots themselves don't even have stats!
As such, here is the basic character sheet:
Name: What's your name? Age: Teens, or early 20’s preferred Gender: Male, female, something in between? Physical Description: A written description or image is okay. Personality: You can be as detailed as you want to be. Personally, I prefer to let my characters' actions speak for themselves. History: Like, three or four sentences should suffice. Type of Mech you would like to pilot: (There are five options, which are below) Mech Loadout: (There are options for this, as well, which are below.)
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1. Alpha “The Brute”: This mech is the heavy hitter of the mechs. Strong and Tough, he can put a hurtin’ on the enemy and protect other mechs from harm…at the cost of Speed and Energy.
a. Power – 7
b. Armor – 4
c. Speed – 3
d. Energy – 2
2. Beta “The Shield”: A stalwart defender, this mech is suited to both melee and long range combat because of his thick armor and reasonable attack power, but he moves like a sleeping rhino.
a. Power – 4
b. Armor – 6
c. Speed – 2
d. Energy – 4
3. Delta “The Bolt”: This mech is built for speed, but not much else. Able to dart into battle, then out of range before the enemy can land a blow, just hope he doesn’t get hit.
a. Power – 3
b. Armor – 2
c. Speed – 7
d. Energy – 4
4. Gamma “The Mage”: Like its name implies, this mecha is able to modify its reactor core’s energy output to perform some amazing feats of electrical and spatial manipulation.
a. Power – 3
b. Armor – 4
c. Speed – 3
d. Energy – 6
5. Epsilon “The Jack”: The classic ‘all-arounder’ mech, this mech is not strong or weak in any particular field, making it highly customizable and versatile.
a. Power – 4
b. Armor – 4
c. Speed – 4
d. Energy – 4
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Mech Loadouts are fairly simple. Various upgrades include Weapons, Shields, Body Mods, and Reactor Skills. You have a certain number of Kai (XP) that you can spend on these upgrades. The Kaiju Defense Force Academy has an unlimited supply of upgrades for your mech, but you can only equip mechs in between battles. Here are the upgrades and their modifiers: All pilots start with 10 Kai to spend on Upgrades/Weapons
Weapons: 1. Melee Weapons
a. (2 Kai) Spiked Knuckle: +1 PWR. Exactly what it says, spikes for your mech’s knuckles. Can be dual-wielded.
b. (4 Kai) Heat Knife: +2 PWR. A short knife that can be dual wielded. An extra knife can be kept on your mech’s hip as well, as a secondary or tertiary weapon.
c. ( 6 Kai) Vibroblade: +3 PWR. A sword that can be held with one hand, or two (for a little extra damage). Cannot be dual wielded, but a smaller weapon can be put in the free hand. Can be equipped to the hip as a secondary weapon.
d. (8 Kai) Buster Sword: +4 PWR. A gigantic sword used by misanthropic heroes. Can only be wielded with two hands. Can be equipped to the back as a secondary weapon.
2. Long Range Weapons – Lasers have infinite ammo, but do less damage, whereas Kinetic weapons do more damage, but require that you have enough ammo.
a. (4 Kai) Laser Pistol +2 PWR. A small, handheld pistol that can be used Akimbo for an extra attack. Can be attached to the hip as a secondary weapon.
b. (4 Kai) Kinetic Pistol +3 PWR. A larger pistol that fires MAOBs. Can also be dual wielded for an extra attack. Can be attached to the hip as a secondary weapon.
c. (6 Kai) Laser Rifle +3 PWR. A two-handed rifle that fires a three-round burst. Can be equipped to the back for use as a secondary weapon. Can also be used as a melee weapon in a pinch for +2 base PWR.
d. (6 Kai) Kinetic Rifle +4 PWR. A rifle that fires MAOBs. Also can be fired in three-round bursts. Can be equipped to the back for use as a secondary weapon and can be used as a melee weapon for +2 base PWR
e. (10 Kai) Positron Rifle +5 PWR. A long range sniper rifle that fires a supercharged laser. Can be charged for multiple rounds for increased damage upon firing. Cannot be used as a melee weapon, but can be equipped to the back for use as a secondary weapon.
f. Ammo goes at a rate of 5 ammo for 2 Kai each.
3. Shields (Shields may only be equipped with one-handed weapons. For Armor upgrades, see Body Mods)
a. (5 Kai) Buckler +3 AMR. A small, round shield that can be used to prevent some damage. Can also be used for Shield Bashing for +3 PWR.
b. (6 Kai) Kite +4 AMR. A larger shield that can completely block attacks with Lucky rolls (Doubles). Can be used for Shield Bashing at +4 PWR.
c. (8 Kai) Tower +5 AMR. A gigantic shield that can completely block attacks when Taking Cover behind it. Can be placed in the ground for others to use as Cover.
4. Body Mods
a. (2 Kai each) Armor Plating +1AMR per level. Exactly what it says; armor plating for your mech. Can be stacked up to 4 times.
b. (2 Kai each) Thrusters +1 SPD per level. Adds thrusters to assist in moving around the battlefield. Can be stacked up to 4 times. Levels 3 and 4 allow for limited flight/hovering.
c. (2 Kai each) Hydraulics +1 PWR per level. Gives your mech a bit more punch. Does not affect long range weapons. Can stack up to 4 times.
d. (3 Kai each) Sensor Array +1 to To-Hit rolls per level. These small drones orbit your mech and interface with its targeting system, giving you improved accuracy. Can stack up to 4 times.
e. (4 Kai each) Shoulder-Mounted Cannon. Can stack 2 times. Gives an extra Long Range attack (up to 2) and can fire either Laser for +3 PWR, or Kinetic for +4 PWR, however Kinetic requires ammo to use.
f. (4 Kai) Ammo Pack. Adds 10 ammunition for when your Kinetic weapons run dry. Only 1 per mech.
g. (8 Kai) Secondary Core. Increases your mech’s Reactor Points by 10, and allows the mech to sustain a Reactor Skill and activate another skill during the same turn.
5. Reactor Skills – These are your “magic” skills. With these, you can repair damage, shield yourself or others, buff, debuff, and use certain attack abilities. All mechs can equip Reactor Skills, but the Mage is best suited to using skills multiple times during a battle, due to its high amount of Reactor Points (RP).
a. (4 Kai) Force Shield (3pts) – Creates a spherical shield around the target, negating half damage dealt to the target. Can be sustained.
b. (4 Kai) Accelerate (3pts) – Creates a semi-frictionless aura around the target. Increases the Speed of a target by +2. Can be sustained.
c. (4 Kai) Battlefield Repair (3pts) – Briefly creates a strong magnetic field around a target that can retrieve lost pieces and reattach them. Restores half of the target’s total Armor Points.
d. (4 Kai) Decelerate (3pts) – Creates a gravitational field around the target, weighing it down and increasing its personal friction. Reduces the target’s Speed by -2, and grounds flying targets. Can be sustained.
e. (4 Kai) Kinetic Wave (4pts) – Overcharges the reactor core to send a wave of force out from the caster. All entities (enemies and allies) within 50yrds must succeed an Armor check or receive damage as if they were struck in unarmed melee.
f. (4 Kai) Repulsion Blast (4pts) – Exposes the reactor core briefly to fire a straight line blast at a target. If target fails a dodge check, the Repulsion Blast deals standard damage based on the caster’s Energy stat.
g. (4 Kai) Repulsion Lance (4pts) – Exposes the reactor core over a sustained period to fire a straight line blast at a target. Deals the same kind of damage as Repulsion Blast on the first round it is used and half damage each successive round until resulting damage is <1, or the caster stops sustaining it. Obviously, it can be sustained.
h. (Free) Reactor Core Critical (All Remaining pts) – The ultimate sacrifice and fireworks show all rolled into one! The caster exposes his/her mech’s reactor core while overcharging it, causing a catastrophic meltdown. Allies and enemies within 50yrds must succeed a dodge check to escape the blast radius or suffer damage equal to 2d12 + caster’s Energy. Nothing can negate this damage. The casting pilot is automatically ejected to an area outside the blast radius from the mech before meltdown.
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And, now, a brief (as brief as I can make it, anyway) explanation of how gameplay is going to work:
1. Half of the roleplay will be freeform, and half (the battles) will be dice-based (I’ll be using d12s…12-sided dice). I’ll make sure to inform you which is which.
2. Battles will play out like so:
a. Initiative (Turn Order). I’ll tell everyone the turn order.
b. Players announce their actions and targets.
c. I roll some dice.
d. I post the results.
e. If the battle doesn’t end GoTo10. (a.k.a. Rinse, Repeat until the battle’s over.)
f. Distribute Kai
3. The pilots themselves don’t have stats because I don’t intend to have any ‘battles’ between humans or human-sized creatures. If a situation arises where dice would be needed, I can whip something up. This isn’t my first rodeo. :)
4. Hit Points, Mana Points, and Experience Points:
a. The mech’s hit points are called Armor Points (AP). AP is equal to twice the mech’s Armor stat, plus 2d12. (AP=AMRx2+2d12)
i. When AP is reduced to exactly zero, that mech gets one more turn, then Powers Down for the remainder of the battle, unless it is repaired. Mecha that are Powered Down cannot act, but the pilot can Eject if that’s his/her choice.
ii. When AP is reduced to between zero and negative half of the mech total AP (For a mech with 10AP, that would be -5, for example), it immediately goes into a Powered Down state.
iii. If AP is reduced any less than that, the mech goes Critical, and the power core explodes, resulting in the same effect as the Reactor Skill “Reactor Core Critical”. The mech is destroyed permanently and the pilot will be required to get a new one.
b. The mech’s mana points are called Reactor Points (RP). Reactor Points are used to use Reactor Skills. The number of RP that a mech has is equal to its Energy stat, times 2, plus 2d12, just like AP. Reactor Points regenerate at a rate of 1RP every turn, at the end of the round. Reactor Points can also be used to increase dice rolls, but only 4 RP can be spent this way per turn. There are no special rules regarding total loss of Reactor Points.
c. Experience Points are called Kai. Kai is earned by winning battles, or performing special actions when not in a mech. Basically, at my discretion. Kai can be spent on upgrades and equipment for you mech. I might implement a mechanic to use Kai to upgrade weapons, too. I’m not sure yet.
5. Equipping your mech.
a. Mechs have three equipment slots: Hips (2), and Back (1). Two-handed weapons can only be equipped to the back, while the Hips can only hold one-handed items.
b. Starting equipment for every mech is one (1) Heat Knife and one (1) Laser Pistol.
6. Earning Kai:
a. Kai is earned two ways:
I. At the end of each in-game day, players make two rolls of the dice (2d12). The amount shown on the die is the amount of Kai earned.
II. After battle, a flat amount of Kai is distributed evenly between all participants, depending on the challenge level of the encounter.
If any of this is confusing, please ask and I'll explain things to the best of my abilities. This is my first time trying something on this scale. And I'll work on my formatting, too.
We can go with just two. I'll start working on an OP sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, I've been able to work on a lot of different mechanics for the game.
