Tag Archives: Mecha

Articles, The Independents

HOME Review – Mechs, Monsters, and Mapmaking

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“One year ago the Rift opened and the Kaiju attacked. It tore our cities apart, rampaging for days until we finally dropped the bomb. We killed the beast but lost so much in the process. We knew this was only the beginning so we built the Mechs: giant war machines, the pinnacle of human engineering, and our only hope for survival. The Rift is reponing. More Kaiju are coming, but this time will be different. Your Home depends on you. Are you ready, Pilot?”

This is HOME, the Mech x Kaiju Mapmaking RPG for 1-4 players from Deep Dark Games!

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: The Cog That Remains

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Mecha, giant robotic weapons of war, fly among the stars and stride across battlefields controlled by pilots – brave, terrified, determined, desperate – who will write the history books with beam fire and missile barrages. That is not my role.

My name is Armand Schole, and I’m the Chief Mechanic aboard the CHS Bern. It’s my job to repair, maintain, and maybe even upgrade a Mecha in-between missions. In doing so, I keep the Mecha in the fight. In doing so, I keep the Pilot alive. At least, that’s the goal.

In reality the supplies are never as plentiful as they should be, the allies not as dependable. I know better than anyone how fragile a Mecha can be. I know that the Pilot is not yet a legend, but an all-too fallible human being. I’ll do the best I can, it’s my job after all, but I’m  all too aware how likely it is that when it comes to this weapon of war I’ll be…

The Cog That Remains.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: CHVLR

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DATE: 01/17/3728 Time: 1523
DESIGNATION: 09272024
UNIT: Paladin CHX-01

Today marks my first week in the CHVLR program, and is the day of my first deployment to the field. My SCS was installed three days ago, and I’ve run a few training simulations, but it’s the first time I’ve even been in the cockpit.

The Colonel says there is no other choice. The enemy is here and I have to stop them.

Paladin initializing. Systems green. Forrest McCoy, signing off.

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Articles, Meet the Party

Meet the Party: Mecha Wasteland – The Crew of the Ulaid

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Last week we took a look at the creation of a Mecha Wasteland (and getting Baba O’Riley stuck in our heads). This week, we turn to some of the people and machines that might populate it. Sticking with the themes, I went with a crew of freelance operators picking up work in the Free Port of Suez and specializing in quick and discrete operations. This group can take on work from all comers, from desperate Free Cities, pirate lords, or be used as deniable assets by the two great powers as a cold war begins to warm.

Without further ado, let’s meet the crew of the Ulaid.

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Articles, Meet the Campaign

Meet the Campaign: Mecha Wasteland – The Crew of the Ulaid

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Every so often, I get the craving to dive into the mecha genre, and each time I have thought about introducing it to some kind of roleplaying. This has stretched through freeform play by post, play by email and even a brief dabbling with the Mekton Zeta RPG. However, as the years have passed the people who I had played with have moved onto other things. While scratching the itch, I looked up the interview that Seamus did with the team behind Mechasys. It was an inspiration and while it doesn’t do everything, it is broad enough that I can do a lot of things and I would really love to play it at some point. With that said, the old formats I played in don’t exist anymore and realization has dawned that the most likely I am to see it in action is if I have run a game myself. A bit rested from my first completed attempt at GMing I began to bandy about a few “what-ifs”. What started as playing around as character creation led to thinking about how I would frame a game…and from there, I leapfrogged into another idea: showing how a campaign can be built.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: I Have No Railgun And I Must Scream

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Hey, so, if you’re reading this, first of all I’d like to know how you got your hands on my diary. Second of all, if it’s because I’m, you know, dead, then thanks for taking the time to read what I’ve written. It’s kind of a comforting thought. Anyway, my name is Hope! I’m seventeen years old, they/them. I like farming sims and books. And I’m writing this because magical extraplanar alien mecha have invaded, and I need some way to vent!

See, it’s not enough that giant bird robots are stomping around trying to kill all of us. My older sister Hazel happens to be one of the Pilots fighting them, using mecha of our own. She gets a railgun. I have to make do with a diary, I guess.

I miss her a lot.

So yeah, I’m going to be scrapbooking headlines right out of the news and recording my own experiences as the world tries to get itself ended by the Nondwellers – that’s what we call the alien mecha. Oh, and hey, if I am dead and you’re going to post or publish this yourself for a quick buck or something, could you at least title it the way I would? I already have it picked out.

“I Have No Railgun And I Must Scream.”

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Articles, Meet the Party

Meet the Party: The Mecha Hack

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A mercenary band of mecha pilots stands prepared to fight another day in the Lodestar Alpha system, all for the credits its various factions are willing to provide for their services. Wing Crusader, Onyx Edge, Jester Epoch, Dagger Alpha, Iron Glory, and Chimera Sunset are the weapons of war that will see their pilots make their fortune and maybe decide the fate of the system altogether. All pilots, get in your giant robots and get ready to launch. Let’s do a quick little review of, and then Meet the Party for, The Mecha Hack from Absolute Tabletop!

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: Laser Beams Like So Many Stars

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I am a huge fan of mechs and their amazing pilots. I love to watch their heroics on the news; I visit when pilots come to my town; I own multiple letterman jackets emblazoned with mech pilots’ insignias. I’m burdened with the dream of piloting and eclipsed by the fear that I will never be more than a spectator. I love that which is unfathomably above me, as they exchange Laser Beams Like So Many Stars.

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Articles, Editorial

Mechasys Review: Mecha-sized Adventures in Genesys

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Sometimes a tank or a fighter jet just won’t do the trick. Sometimes, the best way to deal with a problem is a big, stompy mecha. However, while life is finally returning to Genesys proper with EDGE Studios announcing their upcoming Twilight Imperium supplement,  if you want to be jumping in the cockpit with the Narrative Dice System running the show you’ve been dealing with homegrown material. Now, though, there’s an offering on the Foundry itself which just might turn the tide of your own personal giant robot war. From mecha creation to pilot recruitment, lets head to the hangar to check out Mechasys from Studio 404 Games!

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