Please forgive the Kickstarter plug.
Mekton is back! The original mecha anime tabletop RPG is back!
While so many gamers were plodding around the battlefield, micromanaging heat output of a couple of walking tanks in that other game in the mid-1980’s*, the rest of us were recreating what we saw on Mazinger, Gundam, Macross, Dougram, Votoms, Escaflowne, Five Star Stories, or any number of other mecha anime worlds with Mekton. And, unlike some other, more well know RPGs, Mekton kept getting better with each new edition!
Mekton was always a great mecha anime wargame wrapped in a very good RPG. This time, Mekton Zero will be a specifically designed to work as a wargame as well as an RPG. Mekton Zero is also designed to be compatible with Mekton Zeta, so you can port over your characters and mecha. And there will be new miniatures.
Yes, it’s a Kickstarter, but Mr. Pondsmith and R. Talsorian Games have been making tabletop RPGs for over 30 years; classics like Castle Falkenstein, Teenagers from Outer Space, Cyberpunk, and series specific games like Bubblegum Crisis and V.O.T.O.M.S.
From the Kickstarter page:
”What about previous editions?
Zero is based on same systems as Mekton Zeta and Zeta +
Build your own Mekton using Zeta and Zeta+ and use it in the Zero setting.
Play as a role-playing game
Play as a squad based tabletop wargame
Play in customized arena combat.
What's next?
New gaming miniatures for Mekton Zero.
New mecha figures
New hero character figures
Giant alien beast and monster figures
Follow-on books with new mecha for factions in the Zero setting
New and interesting hero/villain characters
Novels and manga planned to support the RPG.
Future online world and video games being developed”
Give it a look. If it’s for you, then become a backer.
* Please note: there’s nothing wrong with plodding around the battlefield, micromanaging heat output of a couple of walking tanks, but it didn’t do on the table what the mecha did on the TV screen – which is what got me interested in gaming giant, stompy robots to begin with!
<< UPDATE >>
I have no idea what happened to this project. The last official word was back in March of 2014. Rumors abound. It's sad that this happened to my favorite RPG. But Mekton Zeta is still available as a PDF download (and of this posting - on discount!) from Drive Thru RPG.
OK, SUPER excited about there being a new, streamlined Mekton - about time! - but couldn't care less about Algol if you made me pay for a low price for the rulebook book but I got the Algol information for free in a second book. I would basically give the second book to someone else.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved Mekton, I have every edition of it. I have run a dozen campaigns with it and played in at least 6. Not one used Algol. Not the background, not the character, not even the Mecha really.
I used it was more like the original, with Algol as a sample setting if you need one but the focus being set on emulating all different kinds of Japanese Anime and Manga involving Mecha.
Still happy to hear about Mekton Zero, will definitely support it but probably won't get the supplemental material unless it adds new rules and/or has great art.
Never used the Algol info either. The games I ran were more Gundam, or Dougram, or wandering mercenaries, and, of course, The Vision of Escaflowne. Wanted to do a post apocalyptic super robots game, but that never took off.
ReplyDeleteI did two of those...One was basically Gamma World but there happen to be mecha in the world and the other was inspired by/based on a manga called 'The Last Epitaph'.
ReplyDeleteIn a post-apocalyptic setting, those with working mecha roam the world as Soldier-of-Fortune/Ronin types, adhering to a code of honor passed down from generation to generation. One key ritual is that after killing an opponent, an epitaph, often a short poem, is etched into the remains of their robot using a scanning laser (hair thin, very powerful laser often used at an anti-missile defense).
The manga revolves around a young man who kills his mentor's killer and then must write the epitaph for both. When he next comes into battle with another Mecha pilot, the guy has heard of his deed and makes certain the fight is fair and honorable.
Our hero...loses. Yep. It would appear he is killed. The killer writes a fairly long epitaph on the young man's shield, noting what a terrible place the world has become that some men must survive by killing other men such as this brave and valiant boy. He ends it with, "Let this be the last epitaph."
A day or two later, the kid aways from a coma, largely dehydrated and in bad shape. He limps his way to the nearest town (or rather his mecha limps) to get help, healing and repairs. When the people see him, they believe him to be a ghost and run from him. He eventually kinda, sorta kidnaps a girl about his age to help him not die for real. Eventually the two become a team with the typical Anime/Manga romantic tension and go on many adventures. The epitaph still etched into his shield means most people view him as a ghost, zombie or some other sort of supernatural entity.
Fun book, cool art and mecha designs and neat world view. A post apocalyptic take that actually made some sense to me.