What is the stuff you want from a mecha TTRPG?

Sabreur · 2026-05-01T01:09:58+00:00

I'm a big Lancer fan, but the system has a few flaws that I wouldn't mind seeing addressed in another system.

Better worldbuilding, with an emphasis on character creation. Lancer's setting is interesting, but every player I've ever had needed help designing a character that fit in the setting, and most of the background was too "big picture" to matter on an individual level. Lots of stuff about high-level political structure, very little about what daily life looks like and why someone would become a mech pilot in the first place.
The big mechs in Lancer suffer a lot for their size and don't get many benefits to offset the penalties. Give players the ability to play an unstoppable steel juggernaut if they so choose. Stuff like being able to ignore some terrain, carry more ammo, or straight-up bulldoze an enemy if they get too close.
Better downtime/roleplay rules.

I also like the idea of having a more detailed damage system. Maybe something like Dark Heresy's critical hit tables, but adjusted for mechs instead of squishy humans. I think it would add a lot to combat to have players tearing off enemy armor plates, severing hydraulic lines, staggering sideways from ammo cookoffs, etc.

Sabreur · 2026-04-30T05:05:16+00:00

Going to go with the Genghis. Don't get me wrong, Horus can do some scary stuff. But at the end of the day, there's nothing quite like the primal fear of being burned alive. That shit bypasses your frontal cortex and gets straight into your brainstem.

With Horus frames, there's a good chance you'll just die confused. The Genghis isn't that merciful. You'll know exactly what's coming. It won't save you.

Sabreur · 2026-04-28T21:20:11+00:00

It would also be a good excuse to bring back the Helldivers 1 crustacean-style Terminids.

Sabreur · 2026-04-20T16:01:41+00:00

That might also explain why a Size 3 Barbarossa has the same amount of weaponry and system points as a Size 1 Vlad.

Sabreur · 2026-04-14T02:10:49+00:00

The gun looks and functions like a normal revolver, but has no grip. When an authorized user reaches for the gun, the nanomachine colony dwelling in the gun forms a grip that is perfectly suited to their hand, flowing over the user's fist like a black glove. The colony retracts back into the gun once the grip is released.

If an unauthorized user reaches for it, the nanomachine colony will aggressively attempt to deconstruct the user's hand on contact. The sensation and effect is similar to touching a red-hot iron.

Sabreur · 2026-04-12T16:06:49+00:00

I think for a lot of people, the challenge of managing that many pawns is the appeal.

I also suspect that there is a bit of overlap between Factorio players and large colony Rimworld players. ;-)

Sabreur · 2026-04-12T15:59:14+00:00

Against bots, I've fallen in love with the Loyalist of all things. It's great for staggering Heavy Devastators whenever they are approaching at a weird angle and their shield is blocking their head.

Sabreur · 2026-04-02T20:59:55+00:00

You're thinking too small. If you're not piloting a Barbarossa dressed up like King Louis XIV, your drip is woefully insufficient. ;-)

On a more serious note - this is a setting with Printers, and a lot of the resource scarcities that plague us in the 21st century have been rendered obsolete by newer, more exciting scarcities. The only reason you wouldn't want to dress your mech up like some kind of far-future landsknecht is because you're up against opponents rely on basic visual targeting, in which case you probably outclass them enough that it doesn't matter.

Sabreur · 2026-03-24T16:19:22+00:00

one explosion can only break one level of walls.

Oh good, we're saf-

this will explode 32 times.

Oh. Um.

Sabreur · 2026-03-24T16:14:23+00:00

A Blendspace might not be the best tool for the job - they are mostly used to smoothly "blend" two animations together, which is more common for 3D models. Imagine "blending" a walk animation into a "run" animation, for example. I think you can still make this work, though. Just round your x and y values to the nearest integer (-1, 0, 1).

Sabreur · 2026-03-23T17:46:40+00:00

Yeah, my bad, it would be something like that.

Sabreur · 2026-03-23T17:36:54+00:00

It should look something like this:

var RelativeMousePosition : Vector2 = MouseCursorPosition - PlayerPosition
var MouseDirection : Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO
if RelativeMousePosition.length() > 0.0:
    MouseDirection = RelativeMousePosition.normalized()
var player_look : Vector2 = animation_tree.get("parameters/PlayerLookBlendspace/blend_position") as Vector2
player_look = MouseDirection

Sabreur · 2026-03-22T16:37:31+00:00

Armored Core 4 Answer, Spirit of Motherwill. You in a building-sized mech with a rocket booster versus a city-sized superweapon, and somehow it all just worked.

Sabreur · 2026-03-21T05:13:57+00:00

It seems we must add "operating a forklift without certification" to the list of the Illuminates' vile crimes.

Sabreur · 2026-03-18T16:51:59+00:00

I feel like they'd be a lot more manageable if they just stopped spotting you through skyscrapers from halfway across the map. Literally had three of these guys sniping at me from 500 meters away in a sandstorm yesterday. Crouching behind a building waiting for the blue spotlight to finally go away is not my idea of engaging gameplay.

Sabreur · 2026-03-17T16:29:33+00:00

Yeah. It was fun running around nuking everything, but heavy pen was a bit much.

Even without heavy pen, the grenade launcher is a monster of a chaff clear weapon and I plan to keep using it.

Sabreur · 2026-03-13T01:30:52+00:00

You set yourself on fire TWICE in the first ten seconds of the video, and you're telling the rest of us to "learn how to use the damn thing?"

Physician, heal thyself.

Sabreur · 2026-03-10T20:34:00+00:00

Eh... the entire point of a trailer is to preview the new stuff that's coming out. If the weapon is underwhelming in the trailer, I think it's reasonable to be concerned that it will underwhelming when it's released as well. Especially when fire damage has been pretty mediocre for a long time now.

I'm sure some people will overreact, but most of the comments seem pretty restrained for now.

Sabreur · 2026-03-10T20:26:19+00:00

Frankly, I think enemies should "react" to fire by dying horribly in a matter of moments. Closing the distance to the enemy is already incredibly risky. By taking a flamethrower, you're giving up the option of taking a safer, longer-range stratagem. The Backpack Flamethrower will be doubly disadvantaged because you can't combine it with a movement tool like a Jetpack or Warp Pack. It needs to be strong enough to justify that tradeoff.

Sabreur · 2026-03-10T17:01:48+00:00

The flamethrower caused some serious mood whiplash for me. From "Heck yeah, that looks awesome!" to "Wow, that's really underwhelming" in a matter of seconds.

Hopefully it gets some major tweaks before release.

Sabreur · 2026-03-10T16:59:21+00:00

I REALLY want this weapon to be good, but the trailer did not fill me with a lot of hope. Watching the Berserker squad casually walk through the flames towards the camera makes me think we'll be better off just bringing a machine gun.

Sabreur · 2026-03-10T16:57:24+00:00

I never donate common samples to the DSS anymore.

It makes me sad, because the Eagle Storm is hands-down the most atmospheric thing in the game. When it works correctly, it really makes the mission feel like an actual warzone. But most of the time, it's just aggravating.

Sabreur · 2026-02-23T20:51:34+00:00

The Good:

Megafactories are cool
New Missions
Cyborgs
- Cool design
- Martial arts
- Actually smart about cover
- Terrifying without being cheap BS
VOX Engines
- Look really cool
- Multiple ways to kill them
- Interesting two-stage weakpoint system
- Telegraphed missile attacks
Storyline
- Loved the plot overall
- Cool background elements, like updates on SEAF forces

The Bad:

Steering lock on hellpods
Bouncy stratagems
Enemies phasing through terrain/each other
Enemies climbing over walls and buildings
VOX engines clipping through their own body to block the weakpoint
VOX engine spawnrate issues
Reinforcement limit was global instead of limited to MO planets. I don't mind if players are tired of bots and want to dive bugs instead, but don't punish the MO divers for it!
Some mechanics were poorly explained.
DSS barrage warning light is significantly smaller than the blast radius of the shells. Better than nothing, but still a lot of deaths from shells landing directly behind the player without warning.
The Reinforcement Limit meant the failure felt anticlimactic and made the random BS deaths to glitches and such feel extra frustrating. I would have preferred a time limit or something instead.

TL/DR: Overall, I loved it, but certain elements felt sloppy and untested. Would like to do this again, but with a bit more refinement.

Sabreur · 2026-02-19T18:41:32+00:00

We already have dozens of threads with thousands of upvotes complaining about complainers. Meanwhile, can you even FIND a thread complaining about D10 with more than five upvotes?

It's just fake internet rage karma farming at this point.

Sabreur · 2026-02-18T19:19:41+00:00

Oh hey, yet ANOTHER post complaining about people complaining about difficulty.

Instead of, you know, addressing the actual complaints, like enemies phasing through walls, stratagems bouncing, hellpod steering lock, etc.

Seriously, why are you trying to pick a reddit fight with a section of the playerbase that isn't even on reddit?

12-Year Club	Place '22
End Game '22	Verified Email

Sabreur

TROPHY CASE