Mechaworldu!

This post is entirely my wife's fault. She demanded that I write a *World mecha game on 0 notice for *World Wednesday. So, if this sucks, blame +Jamie Stefko. If you like it, totally blame me. The title was all her either way.

(I'm basing this off of +John Harper's World of Dungeons, because dammit, this is a blog post, and I don't have the time to go into much more depth than that.)

Mechaworldu!

You are mecha pilots. Why you are together and what kinds of mechs you have, we leave up to you. You know what you're doing.

Rolling Dice

When you attempt something risky, roll 2d6 and add the bonus from the appropriate attribute (below). The GM will tell you some possible consequences before you roll, so you know if you want to try or not.

A total of 6 or less is a miss; things go badly. (The GM says "No, and...") A total of 7-9 is a partial success; you do it, but there is some consequence or cost. (The GM says "Yes, but...") A total of 10 or 11 is a full success; you get what you wanted without fallout. (The GM just says "Yes.") A total of 12 or more is a critical success; you do it perfectly with some extra benefit or advantage. (The GM says "Yes, and...")

Skills: If you have an applicable skill, you can't miss. A roll of 6 or less counts as a partial success, but with a bigger cost or compromise than a 7-9 result.

Character Creation

Attributes: You have four attributes—Speed, Power, Guts, and Smarts. For each one, roll 2d6. On a 6 or less, the bonus is +0. On a 7-9, the bonus is +1. On a 10 or 11, the bonus is +2. On a 12, the bonus is +3.

Skills: Choose one skill, in addition to any provided by your role.

• Athletics
• Awareness
• Deception
• Heal
• Leadership
• Intelligence
• Stealth
• Survival
• Tech

Hits: You can take a number of Hits equal to 1 + your Guts. Don't take more than that. That would be bad.

Scrappers get Athletics. Choose two special abilities: Bruiser (deal +1 Hit); Hardy (take 2 more Hits); Study (you can attempt to analyze an opponents fighting style to gain an advantage); Tough (+1 armor).

Scouts get Survival. You get Recon (when you scout ahead, you always spot the enemy before they spot you). Choose one other special ability: Maps (you can attempt to plot a faster course through difficult terrain); Reflexes (you always go first and can react when suddenly surprised); Traps (you can attempt to set a trap that will disable an enemy).

Medics get Heal. Choose two special abilities: Bug (you can attempt to afflict your enemies with a toxin or illness); Cure (you can attempt to neutralize toxins, remove diseases, or treat wounds); Juice (with drug hypos, you can give someone +1 to any attribute for a short time).

Mechanics get Tech. Choose two special abilities: Miniaturize (you and one ally each get an extra gear slot); Overcharge (with power cells, you can pack more punch into a weapon—deals +1 Hit—for a short while); Repair (you can attempt to patch up a mech or other machine); Tinker (you can attempt to build a gadget out of scraps).

Spies get Intelligence and Stealth. Choose two special abilities: Analyze (read a briefing packet to gain valuable insight into a current problem); Assassinate (you can attempt to automatically kill someone you have gotten close to without their knowing); Crypt (you can attempt to create or break coded messages); Disguise (you can attempt to pass as another specific individual).

Commanders get Intelligence and Leadership. Choose two special abilities: Rally (once per set-piece battle, an ally ignores all Hits from one attack); Reinforce (you can attempt to call in extra help on short notice); Scare (you can attempt to hold enemies at bay with a glare or sharp word).

Make your own role: Choose a skill and two special abilities.

Gear

You have four gear slots. You can swap out any gear after a set-piece battle. Choose from:

• Light Weapon: Melee or ranged. Deals 1 Hit.
• Heavy Weapon: Melee or ranged. Deals 2 Hits. Uses 2 slots.
• Light Armor: Armor 1.
• Heavy Armor: Armor 2. Uses 2 slots.
• Briefing Packets: 5 uses. You may ask a single "yes/no" question per use.
• Power Cells: 5 uses. Powers just about everything.
• Drug Hypos: 5 uses. All the colors of the rainbow.
• Ammo: 5 uses. Needed for ranged weapons.

Mechs

You have a mech. When you are in your mech, you can ignore most dangers appropriate to mere humans. There are mech-scale dangers, however.

Your mech is a near-perfect match for its pilot. Use your attributes when attempting actions in your mech. You can use your own skills, and some mech systems grant additional skills while you are in your mech.

Hits: Your mech can take 3 Hits. After that, you take them.

Systems: You have three slots for mech systems.

• Light Weapon: Melee or ranged. Deals 1 Hit.
• Heavy Weapon: Melee or ranged. Deals 2 Hits. Uses 2 slots.
• Light Armor: Armor 1.
• Heavy Armor: Armor 2. Uses two slots.
• Jump Jets: Gain Athletics.
• Scanners: Gain Awareness.
• Camouflage: Gain Stealth.
• Electronic Countermeasures: Gain Deception.

Set-Piece Battles

An adventure should lead naturally to a big battle at the end. You will have a goal that could be as simple as "defeat all enemies," or it could have many parts, with the enemies just standing in the way. It may take more than one play session to reach the end of the adventure; hopefully you're having fun along the way.

After each set-piece battle, you advance. When you advance, you can increase an attribute by +1 (to a maximum of 3), gain a skill, or gain a special ability.

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