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What would you expect from a mecha RP?
Topic Started: December 28, 2012, 10:16 pm (492 Views)
Arcvalons
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Lord of the Octoroks, all hail!
We always do fantasy, but never mecha. I wonder if there's a particular reason for mecha not being popular round here. Such wonderings made me make this topic. What would you expect from a mecha RP?

What do you think the story should be about? What kind of mechs would you rather have? In general, where on the sliding scale between realrobot and superrobot?




I'll answer some of my own questions right now. I think there are two options for setting and story:

1. The human race fights for survival against an alien race. The first stages of the story would be about people recognizing and preparing for an extraterrestrial threat, and then the invasion would actually take place;the later stages would be about slowly taking back our planet.

The cons here are that the aliens would be the antagonists in all scenarios, and since they are invading our planet then they cannot be seen as anything other than 'evil' from our perspective. We lose the opportunity to develop them unless they are somehow very human-like. It can be done, but it's harder.

Existing series we could use for inspiration and direction:
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Evangelion, Gunbuster , Super Robot Wars OG

2. A much more earthly and localized conflict. A war between nations, or between the establishment and the revolutionaries in some third-world country. Or maybe the adventures of a special squad which uses advanced mechas to fight against shadowy and manipulative enemies.

The con here is that it would require alot more thought and planning for everyone involved, and there would probably be an upper limit performance that our mechas could reach. On the other hand, batlles could involve strategic planning (one particular member of the squad would be the leader) and real-time tactics.

Existing series we could use for inspiration and direction:
Gundam, Code Geass, Full Metal Panic.


What kind of mecha we would be using? It would actually depend largely on the story and setting.

If we use the first scenario, then the lower limit would be Gundam machines. That's pretty strong already, and the machines could only get stronger as the extraterrestrial technology is understood and assimilated. Battles would eventually involve duels between mecha (though mostly PvE), in which those with the highest firepower would be at an advantage.

In the second scenario, the lower limit would be something akin to Knightmare Frames (see the image I posted in the frontier topic for a IRL version of that), while the upper limit would be Gundams. As I said before, the battlefield would provide each pilot character specific roles, and the battles themselves would be alot more about strategy than anything else. It's not something we have done, butthere's probably a reason for that.

What do you think?
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oniskieth
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The Silver Light
I'd vote for the second scenario, but I really don't care for alien invasions unless they're Mexican honeys >.> but in all seriousness if I see a mech I want it to be a game changing war machine, like the 9th generation Nightmares are in Code Geass. I dunno though...
Katherine's Approval
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Arcvalons
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Lord of the Octoroks, all hail!
At the beginning of Code Geass, even primitive knightmares like the Glasgow and the Sutherland were game-changing war machines. It would start with units like that, and through the RP the mecha would get better. It wouldn't be fun if you couldn't upgrade your machine.
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Onime No Ryu
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I'll be your Undertaker this evening
I like super robots like GaoGaiGar, GunBuster, and TTGL.

But I'd rather see Lost Kingdoms than mechs right now. We can definitely do mechs later though.
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NTNP
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Admin
When I think about a mecha RP, I'd lean closer to scenario 2. I really think of mechas as giant infantry and an integrated part of a military force. Like say a motorized force might consist of: 4 mechas (their big guns), 6 attack planes (moderate guns), 8 recon aircraft (support), 12 recon hummers (support), 8 tanks (moderate guns), 12 motorized personal carriers, 40 mechanics, 30 advanced infantry units (snipers, specialists etc), 120 foot soldiers etc. Reasonably to me, having something like that would make the most sense to me. It would function like a real, honest to god military unit.

With that being said, I don't think the majority of the authors here would be interested in something like that. At it's core, the cons are still entirely present but that is just me.
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Reikakou
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"Alcohol is humanity's friend. Can I abandon a friend? "
EoA had two mech RPs in its entire history.

Etherium and Etherium Legacy both moderated by OswaldTheShadowKnight. Just go to the links for the specifics.

Etherium's tech level was around Knightmare to Gundam class while Legacy almost reached TTGL absurdness that's why it was short lived although the setting in both cases was quite massive involving the entire universe.

Battles in Etherium yields rewards that enables us to modify and strengthen our mechs. Of course Oswald would always curbstomp us in every battle with us winning only by a hairline and leaving us only with wrecked torsos.



Also let me plug-in Coifo's idea from a dead site.

Coifo
 
The Geass Rebellion

The Geass Rebellion is a Code Geass RP based 160 years after the original series. The mechs are more advanced and powerful than the original series, which means we can be crazy as fuck with our mechs. The RP is obviously non-canon being 160 years after the original.

The Geass Order was known to have been obliterated by Lelouch vi Britannia when he was masquerading as the leader of the Black Rebellion, Zero. However, what the Black Knights destroyed in the attack was but a portion of the Geass Order, albeit one of the main portions. The rest of the Order has struggled onward with its Geass experiments and research, having created and manipulated many more test subject people with the power of Geass. In the last 160 years, the Geass Order has still learned little of the mysteries of Geass, but more about how to spread it, as it's power lies in a minuscule node within every human brain. The Code merely activates the node within the brain, allowing the human's unique latent powers to be unleashed. This has allowed the order to have made a great amount of Geass users, that they keep subdued in their underground bases. However, a mass breakout of these Geass users had occurred and they've now spread around, forming a rebellion to fight the Geass order and the rest of the world, to earn themselves a place as the dominant rulers of the human race.
Edited by Reikakou, December 30, 2012, 7:17 am.
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TheConstellation
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How did I get here?
Either one would work for me tbh.
1430. If the party goes out like 300, that's cool. Thelma and Louise not so much.
— Unknowm, "2050 Things Mr. Welsh can no longer do in RPGs"

"Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of."
— Kurt Vonnegut, "Eight Rules for Writing Fiction"
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