The Mecha Grid Combat game

Woke up thinking AEDU actually makes sense as a mecha game, where abilities and powers have a reason to suddenly be unusable (encounters and dailies need to be literally recharged).

So I will be dropping ideas here about how it would work, as well as prior work and inspirations. :slight_smile:

Thread where some ideas are thrown down:

  • Hex grid rather than squares
  • Ability categories (AEDU) represent different levels of powers between weapons (machine gun versus orbital bombardment, for instance)
  • Roles as mecha type
  • ā€œRaceā€ as manufacturer (whatevs, just another axis for abilities)

Not thrilled by everything there, but they had some fun. :slight_smile:

Iā€™m at a point in my life where the classes and races in D&D either irritate or bore me. Human Fighter, Elven Wizardā€¦ these are weird and D&D, but then we get Aasimar Invoker or Tiefling Warlock, and youā€™re playing a different game, setting-wise.

But I do love the balance of play for the combat simulation in 4e, and I like Roles and Power Sources. Much more than Classes or Race. But letā€™s look at each of them, since they are all pools of abilities and themes.

I donā€™t think AEDU is the best system for mecha combat. I just think mecha combat is the best use of the AEDU system.

All those weird things they try to abstract by didnā€™t quite figure out how to work in the fiction, it totally works for big robots. And you donā€™t even have to get all steampunky or Gundam for neat action, though you can certainly go there, by building on top.

Lotā€™s can be drawn from the franchise, but for this I just like the mecha, the slightly weird science setting a minute in the future, and how emotional stress can affect strange tech.

The size of the mecha are great, too! Even the giant mecha make for great boss battles!

The Front Mission series in general is great, and there are so many things I like from this series that would make tabletop war gaming:

  • The extensive stats and parts
  • The various sub-systems, can be used to distinguish ā€œroleā€ in squad
  • The mission-based story-telling

That last one is huge. Basically, all the violence happens in combat, and outside of that is talking and comms. 4e is known for basically making non-combat talking or a skill check. Iā€™d like to think we could use some entire other sub-system for RPing and trading social or mental resources that could then be used as bonuses in combat.

Imagine talking smack to an enemy over the comms, or when they get really mean in Poldark, to each otherā€™s faces at a ball!


Side note: change spaceships to mecha, play Legends of Galactic Heroes.


Then, when you face them off personally, you get a bonus. Or you were such a good dancer at the last ball, you get a bonus for confidence.

I say make it really fun in its own silly way! Have that part inform the background fiction, but focus on the combat, and make bonuses more about being cool than being actually swingy. Maybe something to serve as a catalyst for making combat more interesting (maybe activating terrain that could go either way).

And use a fun game for that. Like a tiny Fate or PbtA, just for moving tokens around or progressing a track.

I link to Front Mission 4 in particular because I was just fascinated by the story and characters. Huffman Island is dope and all (:roll_eyes:) but here are two groups of people with very different motivations falling in with each other across space and time to prevent very bad things from happeningā€¦ it is totally hopepunk!

The mecha themselves can largely be described as equipment. It works, even for alternate frames or whatever we call them; it isnā€™t different from having multiple magic swords or sets of armor. If the math is simple enough, it should be less admin and more nerding.

It also deals with slots well enough. It makes a lot of sense of why you canā€™t load it up with power: you have to balance energy, heat, weight, speed, all that jazz.