Mekton : ZZ Mekton

As I've said before, I have a strong interest in running Mekton Z right now, but not necessary as-is. The publication date on my copy of Mekton Z says 1995, and while I don't think it's necessary to rewrite all or even most of either that or MZ+, I think it's safe to say that after 12 years, a few improvements can be made. Although the changes I have in mind need to covered individually, I'd like start with an overview:

Character Creation - To be blunt, I plan to dump Mekton's older Interlock mechanics for characters with Talsorian's more recent Fuzion system. Fuzion was created as a hybrid of concepts from the Interlock and Hero systems to produce a streamlined method of character creation that could be adapted to games with more detailed genre-specific rules (powers in Champions, mecha in Mekton, cybernetics in Cyberpunk). Unfortunately Fuzion ended up as staid as older monolothic systems, with the Fuzion-based Talsorian* games Bubblegum Crisis and VOTOMS adapting a few elements from Mekton but still being largely based on the Champions-based "Primary" Fuzion rules used in Champions: The New Millenium. Character creation is the only real weak point of Mekton Z, the rules for mecha creation and combat work just fine.

*I don't want to bad-mouth Mike Pondsmith or R.Talsorian Games, but I will criticize them.

MV, MR, and Actions - One element of "Primary Fuzion" I do want to incorporate is the Champions-style method of handling the number of actions a character can take each round, and the Manuever Value for mecha. Basically, I want to set up a mechanic where characters have a score determining how many actions they can take per round (1-10), modified by the weight-based Manuever Value of the mecha they're piloting. Bigger or less powerful mecha are allowed fewer actions, smaller or more powerful mecha are allowed more.

Legs - As an open, somewhat subjective effect-based system, the genre conventions that inspired Mekton can sometimes be forgotten in the mecha designs of ambitious players. As strange at it may seem, one aspect of the Mekton Technical System that seems to suffer the most from confusing Japanese and Western perpectives of mecha is the simple fact that they have legs. If you look too closely, legs on giant robots can seem pretty silly, especially since so many mecha can fly, but they're an important part of seeing the robot as extension of the character instead of just the vehicle they happen to be operating. I've seen a lot of skeptical players either avoid legs entirely (unusual in iconic mecha), or stuff as many weapons as possible into them (also unusual).

The simplest solution to this seems to be to go to the "servos' section of the MTS and just rewrite legs so that they A: have little or no internal space for mounting weapons and B: are cheaper for the lack of space. Unfortunately changing one aspect of Mekton mecha construction is like eating one potato chip, and with the flexibility of the construction rules changing the basic stats for legs won't matter much if you can't discourage players from just choosing to sacrifice all the kills (structural integrity) of each leg to hollow them out for weapons.

Multiplier Systems - Last and least is my interest in updating mecha "forms" and other multiplier systems, not unfairly often seen as a somewhat "handwavy" aspect of the otherwise straightforward MTS. To be honest, I'm not sure I could really improve on them in general, and I certainly can't beat the thorough analysis Jonathan Lang has already put into the transformation rules.

Mekton : Mecha as Costumes

For many years after it's introduction, I just couldn't talk to Battletech fans. As an anime fan I saw the game itself as offensive, and fans of the game as incredibly naive, chauvanistic*, and stupid. That was in my adolescence, and as I got older attitude gradually softened to just naive and chauvanistic, then just naive, and eventually I realized that what it really boiled down to was that they saw giant robots in a perspective drastically different from mine, and the only thing I could really criticize Battletech fans for would be a stubborn inability to see things in a different way, the same kind of stubborness I had for years.

*In this case, a Westerner's dismissial of Japanese ideas.

Basically, many Americans (and the British, and other Westerners), tend to look at giant robots in anime as advanced, if implausible military vehicles. That is certainly one aspect of mecha, and one not at all ignored by Japanese publishers, but it really is a superficial aspect of giant robots as they appear in Japanese pop culture. Early Japanese giant robot characters like Giant Robo and Tetsujin 28 (Gigantor) were created for "boy and his dog" stories, where the superhero robot was the loyal companion of a young boy who really had no business fighting crime, but spent most his time doing so. Then in 1972 anime/manga icon Go Nagai* introduced Mazinger Z, a giant robot that could be operated by a pilot protected inside the robot's armored body (in the case of Mazinger, the head). When Mobile Suit Gundam made it's debut in 79, it crossed the devide from supehero adventure to science-fiction by introducing a super robot (Gundam) as the pinnacle of futurisitic military technology (mass-produced Mobile Suits). The popularity of Gundam models (the series had poor ratings) led to real robots dominating giant robot anime of the 80s, reinforcing the idea of mecha controlled by pilots sitting inside the robots.

*It's kind of difficult to explain Go Nagai's significance to anime and manga, not to mention my admiration for him, without both overstatement and understatement. The most succinct thing I can say is that he's much like american superhero artist/writer Jack Kirby in that Nagai invigorated his chosen mediums with wild imagination, serious artistic thought, and visceral action/adventure characters and stories.

Since then the piloted giant robot has become the default approach to mecha anime & manga, and it's not a coincidence that these piloted robots were usually humanoid. Japan has several traditional forms of theater with elaborate costumes, and banraku troupes feature onstage pupeteers almost wear shophisticated puppets ranging from about 3 feet high to almost-life-sized. Costumes are also very prominent in theater-inspired live action scifi* called tokusatsu. To put it simply, anime and manga allow mecha to be the ultimate costumes, allowing perfectly normal people to become any kind of action hero or superhero and still be able to go back to thier normal lives when the fight is over.

Note : Real/Super Robots

Giant Robots in anime usually fall into two categories, "super robots" and "real robots". Super robots are essentially superheroes, like Superman or Captain America, only a LOT bigger. More accurately, super robots are superhero costumes, allowing heroes to temporarily leave thier normal lives behind to fight larger-than-life monsters and villains. Real robots serve a similar costume function, but in the case of real robots the heroes board the robots to take on more conventional hero roles such as soldiers, police officers, mercenaries, etcetera.

While super robots are usually associated with "super science" (highly implausible or just plain silly), and real robots are usually associeated with more conventional or "hard" science fiction, neither is a hard and fast rule. The setting for Evangelion placed a lot of emphasis not only on "hard" scifi but also on psychological science, even when the robots themselves had supernatural origins, and fantasy series such as Dunbine and Escaflowne took a very practical approach in presenting what were, essentially, military robots powered by magic.

Mekton : (re)Introduction

I wouldn't be suprised if you hadn't heard of the Mekton RPG. Although it developed a pretty loyal following back in the 90s, it was still a relatively small fanbase derived from two different hobbies - roleplaying, and fans of giant robots in Japanese animation.

Giant robots, both super and real types, have been enjoying a rennaissance in anime. Most likely this goes back to the critical success and enduring popularity of Evangelion, but there was also something of a super-robot revival throughout the 90s as OVAs and videogames were mining older anime licenses for new products. Also, the numerous "kiddie" and "harem" comedy shows eventually gave rise to some genuinely impressive mecha shows, such as Gaigaigar and Godannar (I've seen little of Full Metal Panic, but it seems to have a lot of promise as well).

However, the two series I think are the biggest hallmarks of renewed anime mecha popularity are The Big O, a sophisticated dystopian science fiction series featuing a super-robot controlled by the hero, and Gundam Seed, another new take on the classic real-robot earth-vs-colonies space opera with many nods to fan-favourite mecha of earlier shows. While the advent of the DVD market had produced an unsteady trickle of releases for older real-robot series, the strong success of Seed (as well as robots in the videogame market) probably contributed to what seems to be an acceleration in real-robot anime DVDs.

I should also mention that Japanese robot toys seem more popular than ever. Studio Half-Eye, CM's Corp, Yamato, and Bandai's Soul Of Chogokin are producing expensive, high-end toys for adult collectors that many thought would never see the light of day. For the more conventional toy market, Bandai has reinvigorated thier Gundam licenses by switching from die-cast and brittle plastic to softer, more detailed PVC molds with hard plastic joints. Meanwhile Kaiyodo has drastically improved on the sloppy PVC shelf-sculptures popularized by Todd McFarlane into a diverse collection of relatively-inexpensive toys based on famous and popular robots, not to mention quite a few iconic human characters from anime and videogames.

I'm a lifelong gamer and a lifelong fan of Japanese giant robots. My involvement in both has dwindled in recent years, but I've decided I miss gaming too much not to try to get back to it, and there's no point in trying to resist the resurgence of giant robots in anime, video games, and collectible toys - I live for that stuff. In all honesty GURPS, The Hero System, and even BESM would handle anime mecha quite well enough to satisfy other gamers I know, but personally I can't ignore that the best system for fans of mecha anime and toys came out a decade ago and has been collecting dust on my shelf for most of that time...

M&M : Taint

Back in my Champions days, I noticed many players who felt, let's say, detached from the heroic nature of the superhero setting. Another way to put it would be that a lot of players ran thier characters as amoral, bloodthirsty bastards who saw crimefighting as a chance to kill with impunity. For reasons I needn't go into I'll call this the "damian factor".

My plans for MnM are for an idealistic silver-age game, modern characters with classic superhero traditions. The GM supplement for MnM suggests using a "taint" mechanic for characters who have to deal with corruption. I'm considering ways to incorporate this mechanic to reflect the estrangement from normal society superheroes can start to feel if they decide to use thier powers in way that violated regular social standards (killing, torture, mind control). In particular, many psychic powers will need to be used sparingly since they'll run this risk everytime they're used.

I haven't decided the specific effects yet, but basic this "alienation" will show up as social consequences when characters are acting as superheroes: civilians are more likely to be afraid or even panic in thier presence, military forces will be more confrontational, law enforcement will be more inclined to arrest vigilantes, criminals will take a greater interest, supervillians will be less likely to talk out fights, and NPC superheroes will be more likely to show up and interfere with the character's actions.

M&M : Science Fiction

I'm not sure I know how to express this properly, but for the Mutants and Masterminds game I'm planning, I really want to focus on thoughtful science fiction as the origin and theme of superhumans. That isn't to say that I don't plan on incorporating supernatural elements like Lovecraftian horror, I want to keep things like that out of the (natural) world that the characters actually interact with. I guess another way to say it would be characters can reflect/imply supernatural origins, but the powers the actualy use have to some sort of engaging science-fiction explanation for how they work (and yes, psychic powers can fall into that category, and can go a long way to imply supernatural elements).

Another aspect of this is that I'd like to discourage the flashy effects comic book readers have come to associate with superhero illustration. I can't name the mechanic off the top of my head, but the default assumption for most characters will be that standard super powers aren't normally visible/audible unless they specifically create those effects (fire control powers wouldn't be obvious themselves, but the fire they control would be). The most likely powers that would be obvious when used would be equipment such as bullet-firing guns, rockets, or laser gadgets.

Since I mentioned cosmic characters from Starlin and Kirby previously, I should also address cosmic powers here. In DC and Marvel comics cosmic powers are a "catch all", representing laws of reality so mysterious that they blur the line between science and magic, and characters who can wield pretty much any power that fits thier theme by virtue of "being able to tap into cosmic energy". As far as this goes, I'll just mention that I expect more imaginative ideas for PLAYER-characters

M&M : Supercities

Batman's Gotham City is Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November.

-Dennis O'Neil

Atlantis, Lemuria, Shangri La, Carcosa, Walla Walla. One thing I plan to do for Mutants and Masterminds is to structure the setting around various mythical cities, both hidden and open.

I'm a big Jack Kirby fan, and while I can't say for sure that he's responsible for all of them,, I associate strong associate Kirby with classic hidden superhuman societies societies in Marvel & DC Comics: The Inhumans(Attilan/Atlantis), the Eternals (Olympia, Titan), & The New Gods (New Genesis & Apokolips). While Jim Starlin's creations really don't fit into the "cities" theme, I just wanted to give him credit as the only other "cosmic" superhero creator I consider comparable to The King.

However, imaginary cities in comics predate Kirby, and they predate modern comics in Lovecraft-era pulp horror. Although technically seperate locations, Superman's Metropolis and Batman's Gotham have long been associated the dark and light sides of New York City, and Lovecraft created Arkham as sylized version of salem, giving it a pervasive atmosphere of dread ideal for horror stories from Lovecraft and several of his peers.

For MnM, I plan create (or just steal) several distinct cities that either represent part of the background for superhumans, or as places with thier own rules that focus on certain types of game-play. For example, I plan to include a version of Metropolis (Chicago?), Gotham (Seattle?), and Arkham (Portland, Oregon?). The Metropolis city would encourage over-the-top heroism, the Gotham city would focus on gritty, hyper-realistic action and intrigue, and the Arkham city would emphasize occult-themed characters and powers.

I'm also considering a "sin city" gestalt of Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Las Vegas (it's a post-world-war-III setting, and LA could just as well go the way of NYC). While I like the idea, it presents two problems. First, would it overshadow the street-level atmosphere of Gotham? Second, as much as I like the name, can I really get away with creating a major american city called "Babylon"?

Mutants & Masteminds

Tentative Mutants & Masterminds background, details subject to change.

15 years ago, aliens attacked and tried to wipe out all life on earth, especially humans. The initial attack was stopped, but the defenders were almost as shocking as the genocidal assault: armies from cities once thought legendary, human-looking alien allies, and more costumed superheroes than anyone had seen since WWII.

The war lasted three years. Most of the initial attacks during the first year were prevented, but a few were disastrously successful - it only took moments for New York City to become a flooded crater. The resulting chaos was brief, and soon human society settled into a tense calm and a semblence of normal life. While this involved an instinctive acceptance of superhuman defenders coming out of the woodwork, it also involved a consolidation and unification of humanity's conventional military forces.

During year two, the attackers switching to disruptive tactics, namely robots and monsters. In densely populated regions such as China and India, that attackers released giant monsters (kaiju), to run rampant. Throughtout the rest of the world squads of robots roamed independently, harassing and ambushing population centers. Many of the robots were designed as humanoids to mock and demoralize soldiers and terrify civilians.

Year three saw the arrival of reinforcements for the attackers. While earth's defenders prepared for the last battle, they also revealed humanity's secret weapon, super soldiers. Every human-enhancement project of the Cold War era was dredged up, even mad-science like reviving/enhancing dead soldiers. Although most of the civilian population survived, both sides sufferred enourmous losses in the final battle, and the attackers were finally forced to withdraw not only from earth orbit but also from the solar system.

The next few years were a period of uneasy recovery. Allies from hidden cities and outer space abruptly withdrew contact. Costumed superheroes had returned, but so had super-criminals. The fear of worldwide martial law quickly faded, too many soldiers just wanted to go home. Infrastructures, economies, cities, and even some whole nations had to be rebuilt, and while humanity had survived, almost 20% of the population had been lost.

15 years later a new generation now has to face a world full of hidden scars and unanswered mysteries thier parents never had the chance to deal with.