What’s So What you
Cool ABout need to play
Giant
RoBOTS?
Writing, Design & Layout:
Legendary Vermin
What’s So Cool about Giant Robots? Is based on
What’s So Cool About Monster Blood? By G.
Michael Truran which is based on What’s So Cool
About Outer Space? By Jared Sinclair. Some of
their words are used unaltered.
This game takes additional inspiration from
Ironsworn by Shawn Tomkin, and owes a lot of its
shape to the Mobile Suit Gundam series as a whole,
and in particular to the characters and mechs and
situations from Iron Blooded Orphans.
Fonts Used:
PingFang HK
Capture It
D Day Stencil
• Some Friends, 2-4 is ideal but go ham
• A nice quiet place to roll dice, either together or
over the web
• Somewhere to write for note-keeping
• Two six-sided dice, and one eight-sided die
• This book!
One of you is going to be the CONTROLLER. The
CONTROLLER frames the action by narrating the
environs of this Sector, be that city, planet, or
outer space. They will also represent Corps, Gov‐
ernmental Agencies, the Revolutionaries, and the
various people and mechs controlled by each.
The rest of you will be YOUNG PILOTS. Your job is
to describe, narrate and perform your character’s
reactions to the environments and situations the
CONTROLLER narrates, and when necessary,
throw the dice to find out what happens.
If there are conflicts about the rules, discuss what
the most interesting outcome for the situation
would be, and do that.
 We threw
off the yoke
of the officers
who used us.
Our planet is kept under the heel of the MEGA‐
CORPS. After dividing up power in the INNER
SPHERES, they turned their gaze toward exploiting
the planets in the OUTER SPHERES. The AGEN‐
CIES are puppets to the MEGACORPS or worse,
moving at their beck and call to quash the whis‐
pers of open rebellion.
We were hired by the REVOLUTIONARIES to take
a SPIRITED REBEL to the INNER SPHERES, where
they intend to speak to parliament. Some MEGA‐
CORPS want to stop them, some want to use
them, and some want them genuinely to succeed.
Our coup now complete,
we plug ourselves into
mechs and do what they
trained us to do:
Make War.
Make a Character
_who is Ready
__to Pilot
1. Give yourself a TRAGIC and HEROIC name,
describe what you look like and how you
break dress-code.
2. You’ve got some stuff! Write it all down:
▪ Some MILITARY clothes or
armor!
▪ A SIGNATURE weapon!
▪ An INDISPENSIBLE tool!
▪ A memento! From a ROBOT!
▪ Another cool thing!
3. Before you joined the merc group you did
what you had to in order to survive. What was
it?
4. You’re good at some non-pilot things (like fi‐
nances, flirtation, or mechanics). Write down
the four things you’re the best at!
5. If you’re using paper, FLIP THAT BABY
OVER! (Otherwise just… IDK do a page
break?)
Make a Mech that
is Yearning to Fly
1. Give it a MAKE and MODEL, then give it a
COOL nickname.
2. Your group didn’t always own this mech.
Have the CONTROLLER write down the
CORP or whatever that used to own it, while
you write down how you got it and how you
made it your own.
3. It’s got some equipment! Write it all down:
• Some ARMOR, ACCESSORIES or
JETS
• A MASSIVE weapon!
• A SECRET tool! Or ANOTHER
WEAPON!
• Another cool thing! (A
WEAPON!?!?!?)
4. It’s good at some stuff (like hairpin turns,
smashing armor, or instant reflexes). Write
down the one thing its best at.
How to do stuff
as an Ace Pilot
When you attempt to do something uncertain or
risky (attack an enemy, dodge a barrage, chat up a
fellow pilot that you have a crush on):
1. Tell everyone what you’re trying to do and
how you’re trying to do it!
2. Roll two dice (the kind with six sides)!
3. Take +1 for each ADVANTAGE you have. Like:
▪ A MASSIVE weapon!
▪ An INDISPENSIBLE tool!
▪ An open angle of approach!
▪ Professional experience!
▪ A relevant skill!
▪ They have a crush on you!
4. Take -1 for each DISADVANTAGE you have.
Like:
▪ No weapon or appropriate tools!
▪ You have nowhere to hide!
▪ Your opponent is in their mech,
and YOU AREN’T
▪ Your target is behind cover!
▪ You have unresolved feelings for
them!
▪ You’re really far away!
5. If your total is 8 or higher, you succeed at
what you were trying to do! If the total is
lower than that, you don’t! Either way, the
CONTROLLER will tell you what happens.
If You’re in a Tight
_Spot While
__Piloting…
You can PUSH YOURSELF. When rolling, you may
add in your eight-sided die to the roll and use the
two highest dice rolled to calculate success.
If the eight-sided die is greater than or equal to the
sum of the two other dice, your machine’s neural
interface TAKES A TOLL. Choose an ability that
your pilot has and scratch it out. Then, add a new
ability to your mech.
If your pilot has no abilities, they can be present in
scenes where they aren’t piloting, but can’t do any‐
thing unassisted, and can no longer make rolls.
For the
__CONTROLLER
Here’s some stuff to keep in mind:
Something is always happening! The mech spotted
you—they’re about to shoot! The door is locked—
you hear voices from around the corner! That cute
engineer is loudly complaining about the damage to
your mech, but they’re smiling! Are they flirting with
you?! Give the players a problem and ask, “What do
you do?”
Nothing never happens! If a player fails a roll, make
something bad happen instead! If you’re having
trouble coming up with something good, just ask
the players for an idea.
Make things big and/or make things personal!
That’s not just another pilot, that’s the new com‐
missar of the galactic fleet! That’s not just a rebel,
he’s your long-lost brother! The person who be‐
trayed you isn’t just a nobody, it’s the person you
have a crush on!
These aren’t all the rules! It’s just a place to start.
As your group comes up with new rules to handle
specific situations, make sure to write them down!
If there’s a rule you don’t like, scratch it out with a
permanent marker!
Be excellent to each other! These are your friends
we’re talking about. Treat them with kindness and
empathy. Use safety tools and set boundaries be‐
fore play.
What’s Happening on the
way to the INNER SPHERES?
1. Trellian Systems has put a bounty on your ship
and which the notorious pirate outfit Astra Mortia
intend to collect. But when you hear the voices of
the pilots on the enemy comms, you recognize an
old friend.
2. Your sworn siblings the Jet-Sharks have been at‐
tacked by the bourgeoise space cop Anjeli Huron.
He’s using banned weaponry and firing on the es‐
cape pods of non-combatants!
3. You’ve accidentally wandered into the turf of the
dreaded Reticent Seven, who control all the
smuggling lanes that the Agencies don’t bother to
watch. Only a bold display of piloting and nerves
through an asteroid field will convince Marjian
The Haggard that your worthy to pass.
4. This was supposed to be a quick stop in the
Glacial Industries IV space station to pick up sup‐
plies, but when word gets around that you’re
transporting the SPIRITED REBEL you get sucked
into a sudden land war. Only by exposing the vio‐
lent tactics of the so-called Peacekeeper Fleet
can you hope to make it back to your ship.
5. You’ve been in space for days, and the crew
needs something to keep them busy, or there
could be a second coup. Lemigold Jebis keeps
spreading rumors that the PILOTS are to blame
for all the problems. Taking them out would just
cause more problems, so you need a non-violent
solution.
6. An ancient weapon has appeared out of the earth
near an OUTER SPHERE settlement, programmed
to kill all people it finds. It’s tactically brilliant, and
takes careful coordination to attack without pilots
being torn apart by its minion bots. Unfortu‐
nately, Lieutenant Governor Nes has decided that
it would be a real feather in his cap if he took it
down, and you know that if he dies, you’ll be the
ones who get blamed.