This simple game was inspired by a much maligned (and unjustly so) movie of the early 1980s, the only live action giant robot combat movie ever to hit the big screen. Sure, when compared to the standards of today’s CGI effects, the film looks very dated, but at the time of its release, it was visually stunning (if somewhat short on plot).

Creating “jox” (i.e., giant robot pilots)is a simple affair. Jox, as they stand, are defined largely by three different things – their physique, their piloting skill, and their ability to talk trash on other pilots. Write these three things down on a blank sheet of paper, thus:

Now, next to each of these three things, you’ll need to write a number. What number? Well, that depends ony o u. You begin with 10 points to distribute amongst these things. The more points that you allocate to a given trait, the better your jock will be for it.

The only restriction on allocating these points at the present time is that each of these three traits must have atl e a s t 1 point allocated to them. All of these traits are important, so while you may be tempted to skimp on some of them, my advice is as follows –d o n ’ t .

Finally, after you have done the above two things, take a few moments to give your jock a name and define their personality, as well as what country’s team they pilot robots for (robot combat is a bit like the Olympics).

Now that you’ve created a jock, whose role you will assume during actual play, you need to create the robot that they will pilot.

Creating robots is simple. Robots are initially defined by two different qualities – their range of motion and their structural integrity. Write these two things down on your sheet of paper, as shown directly below:

As was the case with your jock’s traits, you’ll need to allocate some points amongst your robot’s traits, as well. Here, you have 15 points that you may allocate amongst these two things, with more points allocated to a trait indicating more X (X being said trait).

Again, the only restriction on allocating these points at the present time is that each of these two traits must have atl e a s t 1 point allocated to them. Both of these traits are important, so while you may be tempted to skimp on some of them, my advice is as follows –d o n ’ t .

Now, after you have allocated points to your robots’ basic traits, as described above, you’ll need to bolt some optional attachments onto its chassis in order to give your jock a fighting chance in the arena. Here’s how customizing your robot works....

All giant robots in the world of Jox are built in humanoid form. All such units have a head, torso, two arms, and two legs by default. Each of these chassis parts has a number of

weaponry – heads have 2 spaces, torsos have 4 spaces, arms have 3spaces each, and legs have 2 spaces each.

Some players may want to customize the appearance of their robot by doing away with one or more of these body parts. If this is the case, those spaces normally attributed to the chassis parts that the player foregoes are,

instead, distributed amongst the remaining chassis parts evenly (or as close to evenly as mathematics allow).

By default, every robot in the Jox setting comes front-loaded (i.e., pre-equipped) with the following equipment, none of which takes up spaces:

Past these stock features, you’ll need to choose what other armor, weapons, and tech your robot will be equipped with. What follows is a list of equipment, with specific space requirements noted. Choose equipment until you have filled the spaces available to you.

A large, ten-barreled, liquid cooled, rotating machine gun, the .50 Gatling Gun is largely ineffective against other robots.

A large kinetic cannon (pre-loaded with 4 shots) which propels a large, steel shell down an electromagnetically charged barrel.

This unit is actually a suite of smaller systems that automatically sense and extinguish cockpit fires, seal cockpit breaches, and rout power to auxiliary back-up systems in case of emergency. Mechanically speaking....

Having a DCU installed in your robot adds 1 to its Structural Integrity rating and, if a given piece of equipment is Taken Offline during combat, can re-route the power from another piece of equipment to bring the damaged equipment back online.

This combat computer upgrade allows pilots to aim their ranged weapons with more precision by crunching numbers faster and more accurately than stock computers. Mechanically speaking....

An improved combat computer grants pilots a +2 bonus to their Piloting Skill when making ranged attacks against another robot or other target that registers on their sensors.

This sensor array upgrade adds both bio (i.e., life) and stealth detection capability to a robot’s basic sensor array, and increases its effective scanning distance to 30" inches. Mechanically speaking...

A pilot whose robot is equipped with an improved sensor array suffers no penalty when attempting to fire on soft targets (i.e., targets that don’t register on radar, such as stealth equipped robots or living beings).

Enhanced servomotors grant a robot a greater Range of Motion in the arena, making them very dangerous opponents. Mechanically speaking....

Improved servomotors add two to a robot’s Range of Motion ratinga n d allow the pilot to make one additional attack every round spent in the arena. In order to benefit from a servomotor upgrade, new servomotors must be placed ina ll of a robot’s limbs.