INTRODUCTION

System Reference Document

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the
author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is
coincidental.

Battle Century G is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

© 2021 Juan Herrera Some Rights Reserved

(That means you may copy and share the text of this manual as-is for noncommercial purposes; attributting the author of
the original work; and using the same license.)

Rules Version 1.84

Battle Century G Remastered SRD Version 1.3.3

Credits
Author: Juan Herrera.
Editor: Juan Herrera.
Proofreading: Jason Quintanilla, Fearghal Casey, Connie Tang, Trevor Dennis.
Graphic Design: Connie Tang.
Original Art: Demonic Brute.
Playtesting: Every single player of Battle Century G who contributed with their feedback to the creation of this Remas-
tered version.
Special Thanks: All backers of the original Battle Century G and everyone in the Discord server. This is for you.
Even More Specialer Thanks: Jason Quintanilla, Marcel Hauptmann, Beacon of Chaos, NeonGames, Amos Defamos,
Karthik Adda.

2
 INTRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Using This Manual 3 Typecast Theme 48
The Three Fundamentals 3 Bane Theme 48
Chapter 1 - Playing the Game 4 Genre Powers 49
The Core Mechanic 4 Default Powers 50
Episodes in a Nutshell 5 Alternative Powers 51
Scenes 5 Champion Powers 52
Pilot Attributes 6 Trickster Powers 53
Mecha Attributes 7 Tactician Powers 54
Advancement 8 Miscellaneous Powers 55
Power Levels 9 Rush Powers 56
Genre Themes and Genre Points 9 Restoration Powers 56
Tests 10 Boost Powers 57
Advantages and Disadvantages 10 Limit Powers 57
Defense and Damage 11 Power Level Adjustments 58
Intermissions 11 Roleplaying Details 58
Matches 14 The Character Sheet 58
Zones 15 Example of Character Creation 59
Match Actions 15 Chapter 3 - Building the Mecha 60
Damage and Defeat 16 Mecha Construction Summary 60
Proxies 16 Mecha for Everyone 60
Operations 17 Mecha Points 61
Zones and Ranges 17 Mecha Attributes 61
Operation Actions 19 Areas 62
Offensive Actions 19 Upgrades 63
Utility Actions 20 General Upgrades 63
Damage and Maiming 21 Active Defenses 67
Characters vs Mecha 21 Restoration 69
The Core 21 Mobility 70
The Dramatic Finish 22 Support 71
Terrain 23 Extra Areas 73
End of Operation 24 Alternate Forms 74
Chapter 2 - Writing the Character 25 Combination 75
Character Creation Summary 25 Features 77
Character Concept 25 Design Flaws 79
Character Points 26 Weapons 80
Character Attributes 26 Weapon Keywords 80
Skills 27 Default Weapons 81
General Skills 28 Equippable Melee Weapons 82
Miracle Skills 32 Equippable Shooting Weapons 84
Traits 37 Equippable Beam Weapons 86
General Traits 37 Power Level Adjustments 88
Equipment 41 The Personal Touch 88
Deathblows 44 The Mecha Sheet 88
Anomalies 45 Example of Mecha Construction 89
Alien Anomalies 46 Chapter 4 - Running the Show 90
Genre Themes 47 The Supporting Cast 90
Reason Theme 47 Grunts 90

3
 INTRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Rivals 90
Bosses 91
Squad Power Ratings 92
Enemy Features 93
Boss Traits 94
Boss Powers 95
Boss Upgrades 98
Boss Weapons 101
Boss Capstones 103
Allied Reinforcements 105
Reinforcement Powers 106
Troubleshooting 108
Chapter 5 - Introductions are in Order 112
Episode Summary 112
Other Preparations 112
Background Information 113
A Faction-driven Game 114
Themes and Aesthetics 115
First Meetings 116
Here There be Dragons 116
When Suddenly... 117
Battlefield Setup 117
In-Battle Events 118
Some Additional Combat Advice 118
What if the PCs Lose? 118
Collateral Damage 119
The Epilogue 119
Kendra Nikeja (PC) 120
SDG-011 Swordrake (Player Mecha) 121
Akishiro Kobayashi (PC) 122
SDG-012 Gundrake (Player Mecha) 123
Nilu Flores (PC) 124
SDG-013 Ringdrake (Player Mecha) 125
Charlotte Astalion (PC) 126
SDG-014 Firedrake (Player Mecha) 127
TKD-02 Cannonbot (Grunt) 128
TKM-01 Executioner (Rival) 129
Player Sheet 130
Mecha Sheet 131

4

Using This Manual
This System Reference Document (SRD for short) is a
preview of the full version of Battle Century G Remastered,
which is going to be twice as big with additional content.
This PDF has bookmarks. Make sure that your PDF viewer
supports them and that your bookmarks are enabled.
The SRD’s contents are divided into five chapters (plus an
introduction section to explain the game’s general princi-
ples). It starts with the rules of the game, proceeds into the
creation of PCs and NPCs, then finishes with a basic intro-
ductory scenario you can run to try out the combat system.
The Introduction is what you’re reading right now. It
explains what a general session of Battle Century G looks
like, its terminology and its most basic principles.
Chapter One: Playing the Game contains the rest of the
game’s proper rules that everyone needs to know. In there
you will find what Characters can (or cannot) do and the
same for the Mecha.
Chapter Two: Writing the Character will show you how to
create your PC. Mecha are only as good as the Characters
that control them, so we make a kick-ass Character first.
Chapter Three: Building the Mecha meanwhile is about
creating a giant robot for your PC to ride. Your Mecha is a
character in its own right, so it gets a whole chapter to itself
just like Characters do.
Chapter Four: Running the Show contains the rules for
the creation and use of NPCs. It is primarily meant for the
GM, though other Players may read it, it just isn’t expected
of them.
Chapter Five: Introductions are in Order presents a sin-
gular episodic (or “one shot”) scenario in a prewritten world
with four example Characters and Mecha ready to play.
INTRODUCTION
The Three Fundamentals
As a ruleset, Battle Century G stands out by combining the
three principles below into its rules.
Big Heroes: The Player Characters are badasses on par
with any main character from mecha fiction. They can start
as the equivalent of nameless and faceless grunts, but
will quickly grow in power to be famous (or infamous) Big
Heroes. They will have to, in order to stand up to the Big
Villains that the GM will throw at them. Moreover, half the
point of the system are the cool mech fights, and those are
as over-the-top as you can imagine. Punch a mountain so
hard it explodes, shoot baddies out of orbit and into the
sun, let your imagination go wild with cool mecha action.
Fast Pacing: The ruleset emphasizes cinematics over real-
ism and glosses over exactly how the giant robots work for
a smooth gameplay experience. Outside of combat, most
situations are resolved with a single dice roll. The battles
themselves never slow down, instead they only get more
intense and faster with each passing round of combat.
Fights usually end in no more than five rounds of combat,
most doing so in three or less. You can lengthen the dura-
tion of mecha combat with bigger battlefields or puzzle ele-
ments but, by default, the action setpieces of Battle Century
G are fast and deadly.
Dramatic Plays: Every PC in Battle Century G has a
variety of moves to change failures into successes, buff
a super attack, interrupt enemy actions and more. These
abilities can be combined to create deadly finisher moves
or to render a boss monster’s lethal attack harmless. By
choosing when and how to use said abilities, you can set
up every fight to guarantee you’ll have a cool moment.
By playing intelligently, coordinating with your team and
exploiting weaknesses in the enemy’s plan you can control
the flow of gameplay and make every battle be a kick-ass
and cinematic experience.
5
 INTRODUCTION
The Core Mechanic
Conflict resolution in this game is simple. You roll 1d10
and then check your result against the Difficulty Num-
ber (DN) of what you are trying to do. If your result is equal
to or greater than the DN then your action is a Success.
The act of rolling to determine the outcome of a situation is
called a Test. You almost always want to roll high; and the
higher, the better.
All Characters have different odds to succeed at different
things. A soldier is better at using firearms than a surgeon,
but when the soldier gets shot, the surgeon is who they
will turn to for help. To represent this, all characters have
bonuses to their rolls called Attributes that are added
to their die rolls. The better your character is at doing
something, the higher the Attribute bonus and the better the
result of the Test.
Often you will have an Advantage or a Disadvantage to
your Tests, these represent factors that make it easier or
harder to succeed without bending the odds too much.
An Advantage lets you roll an additional d10 at the time
of making a Test, and you then keep the best (higher)
result out of all the dice rolled, discarding the lesser re-
sults. A Disadvantage works similarly, but in reverse, you
roll additional die and keep the worst (lower) result out
of the many presented.
That about sums it up. You will find a few exceptions to
these general rules here and there, but in the overwhelming
majority of circumstances that’s all you need to know.
6
BASIC SYSTEM PRINCIPLES
If you’re ever confused about how the rules work, it helps to
keep in mind the following four principles:
Rulings Trump Rules:
While Battle Century G is designed to be a relatively airtight
rules system, it can’t possibly cover for absolutely every
scenario that might come up during a game. You will prob-
ably at some point find yourself in a scenario not covered
in the rules, or perhaps one where even the rules make
no sense. In these cases, the GM is encouraged to either
make a ruling on the spot so as to uphold the spirit of the
rules or to ignore the rules entirely and declare what hap-
pens instead. This is especially true if someone is trying to
exploit the rules by using some sort of loophole they found.
The GM has authority over the manual to say said exploit
does or doesn’t work, depending on what the rest of the
group and themselves think is best.
Specific Trumps General:
Whenever the rules text of a character’s special ability con-
tradicts a general rule of the game, the ability wins. Most
PCs will have multiple abilities in their sheets that break the
rules in some way. Some are very minor, but others are the
thing that can turn a weak character into a powerhouse. If
your only weapon is a sword, but you have a special ability
that lets you attack from farther away than usual, then your
sword has the reach of a gun or better.
Halve After Adding/Substracting:
If you ever have to halve a number that has bonuses
or penalties to it, the halving happens at the end of the
operation. For example: If you would deal 10 Damage but
an energy barrier reduces that Damage by 4 and then the
enemy halves all remaining Damage with some kind of
defensive ability, then the final Damage dealt is 3 (10 minus
4 is 6 which halved is 3).
Always Round Down:
When you end up with fractions as a result from halving a
number, you round down to the nearest integer. Which is to
say, if you halve a 7 you don’t end up with 3.5, nor with 4,
but with 3 as the result.

Episodes in a Nutshell
Every time the group gets together to play is called an Epi-
sode. An Episode of Battle Century G is very much like an
episode of your typical Mecha anime, in which the group as
a whole collaborates to create a storyline.
Episodes are divided into Intermission Scenes (when the
Pilots do stuff) and Operation Scenes (when the Mecha
come out). Usually the GM sets the very first Intermission
Scene by gathering the PCs with a common goal.
Perhaps the PCs are doing a teamwork exercise using the
simulators, or infiltrating enemy territory to scout and spy
on the opposition, or they could be simply trying to weather
the boredom of guard duty the best they can.
The PCs roleplay their personalities, roll some Tests if
necessary, have a bit of banter, then move along before the
Scene drags. Characters can come and go but the Scene
continues until the group as a whole is done with it.
When this first Scene is finished, the GM will either have
a new prompt for the whole group or will ask them if they
have things they’d like to do, together or individually.
If the PCs need to take turns having Scenes then don’t
separate the players, instead have them be the audience
for each other’s Scenes. This can be in any order. Going
clockwise from the GM’s perspective or using alphabetical
order in the chatroom’s user list are two such ways to do it.
At some point during an Episode the PCs will board their
Mecha, either in response to an enemy attack or because
they’re doing the attacking themselves. This switches them
from Intermission Scenes to an Operation Scene.
Before the Operation proper starts though, the players
should be informed of who they are fighting and why, where
and when the battle will take place, and any special condi-
tions for victory and defeat. This can be an in-character but
it can also be a quick out-of-character description.
The Operation itself is an action Scene and it’s when the
giant robots fight each other. Most Operations go on until
all enemies have been destroyed or retreat. There can be
other, more varied objectives that can end a mission such
as the extraction of a VIP, destruction of a supply line, etc.
After the Operation ends you might want to have one last,
very short Intermission Scene just to wrap it up, such as
a debriefing for the PCs. Ask the players for their closing
statements or actions of the Episode, and end it there.
THE LENGTH OF EPISODES
Episodes can last more than one session. If you want to have multiple sessions with only a single Operation in the middle
of them that’s fine. Many rules in BCG care about the duration of an Episode though, just make sure that everyone knows
when an Episode ends and a new one begins.
INTRODUCTION
Scenes
Most Scenes are Intermissions, in which PCs take center
stage and help progress the story forward. Mecha are noth-
ing without their Pilot, so the Pilots get more screentime.
Scenes begin with the GM describing when and where it is
taking place, but sometimes Players can be involved in
setting the stage as well. If a Scene takes place in the living
quarters of a PC, for example, the Player who controls said
character should get to describe the place and which NPCs
get invited in.
After the stage has been set by the GM everyone assumes
their roles as Characters and set out to roleplay them, with
the GM controlling the rest of the world—the scenery,
NPCs, and other such minutiae. Players can handle one or
more of those details if the Players are involved with them
as well. For example, a Player whose PC has a recurring
family member NPC could want to be the one to describe
how they are and what they do.
Players who request Scenes might want to follow up on the
main plot or the Episode’s first Scene, or may further their
own personal subplots. Other Players may also participate
in these Scenes if the GM and the Player who request it
agree this is reasonable.
Players will have to speak in character. Which is to say,
they need to be mouthpieces for their PCs and maybe do
some acting or funny accents if they feel like it. Instead
of saying what your character does, you should say that
you’re doing the thing. And so on.
Scenes do not necessarily occur in real time. A single
scene may take up to an hour of playtime but only consist
of ten adrenaline-fueled minutes in the narrative, or it could
summarize hours of hard work for the PCs with just five
minutes of play time.
Scenes often have a specific purpose in mind, in them the
PCs have a goal, which can be low or high stakes. PCs do-
ing maintenance on their Mecha while having a conversa-
tion is a fine low stakes Scene, for example.
In higher stakes Scenes though, the PCs don’t always get
what they want. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose,
and sometimes they scrape by just enough to make things
work out.
That’s where the rules come in. Characters are measured
in what they can do and how well they can do it through
their Attributes, which are used to perform Tests.
7
 INTRODUCTION
Pilot Attributes
Attributes describe the raw qualities of a character. They measure a character’s physical and mental aptitudes, as well as
their social standing. They are the fundamental building blocks of a character, on top of which you add details about your
character. Attributes are measured in a scale from 0 to 10, and the higher the number the better the Attribute in question.
Fitness
Fitness measures a character’s physical ability. It is the
Attribute a character uses to pull of feats of raw strength,
gymnastic flexibility, and long-term endurance. Fitness
makes a character good at traditional heroics like winning a
street brawl against a bunch of thugs.
Characters with high Fitness often live healthy lives and
often look the part. Characters with low Fitness are likely
short, overweight, or even suffer some kind of debilitating
condition.
Intellect
Intellect handles being knowledgeable plus a dose of
worldly awareness. Intellect correlates to but is not neces-
sarily caused by formal education. A character might just
have poor book learning abilities but still have enough wits
to spare in tricking others.
Characters with high Intellect tends to be critical and objec-
tive, always eager to further educate themselves and firmly
believing knowledge is power. Those with low Intellect tend
to barely know enough to get by... And aren’t very curious
about learning new things either.
Charm
Charm helps a character perform well socially. With Charm
a character knows exactly who they should talk with to get
things done. Unsurprisingly, they tend to have more friends
than enemies.
Charming characters are savvy at the social arts and the
one to whom others can’t help but pour their life stories to.
Without Charm, characters tend to be ignored at best and
despised at worst for being a mix of rude, boring and an-
noying.
8
Awareness
Awareness keeps someone attuned to their surroundings,
making one perceptive and memorious of small details.
It also gives an empathic understanding of other people,
telling the truth from lies through body language alone.
Paranoid characters often think themselves to have Aware-
ness when, the truth is, they don’t.
Characters with high Awareness will notice things that most
people miss and pick up on hidden clues to help solve a
mystery or notice an ambush. Those ungraced with a good
Awareness tend to blunder into traps – both the literal and
figurative type.
Willpower
Willpower is a combination of a character’s toughness, com
posure and morale. It helps them stand their ground
against things that wish they rather didn’t. Willpower means
pushing through adversity to get your way.
Characters with high Willpower keep their head cool in the
face of danger and resist blows that would have have
knocked out the average person. Characters with low Will-
power are frail of body and mind, getting knocked out from
a good punch and running away screaming when faced by
an alien monster.
Resources
Resources represents how well grounded a character is
from an economic and social standpoint. It does this in the
form of material wealth, possessions and their social con-
nections.
Those with high Resources own a private residence they
can call their own home and have many people eager to do
them favors. Those without Resources have no economic
fallbacks to resort to in a time of need and very few people
they can ask for help with such a thing as well.

Mecha Attributes
Like Pilots, Mecha have their own Attributes. These are more limited in nature, because giant robots are fighting machines
and thus their Attributes revolve around combat. Measuring how good an individual Mecha is at blowing stuff up or how
fast it can fly is more important than measuring how pretty it is or how expensive its component parts are. Mecha Attrib-
utes are also measured from 0 to 10.
Might
The Attribute that gives big guns to make big explosions
and big hands to rip and tear into enemies. It also covers
things like efficient targeting systems. Might gauges just
how good the Mecha is at defeating other Mecha, basically.
A Mecha with high Might will have an easier time landing
hits on targets and punching through their armor, literally or
figuratively. Conversely, low Might Mecha make poor front
line fighters.
Guard
Guard is the counterpart to Might. It makes Mecha harder
to damage through a combination of evasiveness and
armor. It makes Mecha capable of avoiding or shrugging off
attacks, essentially.
A Mecha with high Guard is not just resilient, it may even
seem invincible once it has a forcefield or other such defen-
sive upgrade equipped. A low Guard Mecha should avoid
being the center of Enemy attention and is going to need
allies to provide cover for them.
Threshold
Threshold is the second half of making a giant robot that
can withstand enemy attacks. It represents how sturdy the
Mecha’s internals are and how it holds against damage
taken. It is, effectively, a Damage Threshold that works
like “HP” (or Life Points, Hearts, etc.) does in most action
games.
With high Threshold, Mecha can take multiple hits before
the pilot considers getting repairs or retreating. With a low
Threshold, Mecha that make a single mistake are doomed
to an explosive fate.
INTRODUCTION
Energy
Energy is consumed every time the Mecha uses certain
abilities, like energy barriers or beam weapons. Mecha will
replenish their Energy reserves constantly, the Attribute just
measures their total output. Energy is a supportive Attribute
that doesn’t do anything by itself but instead can enhance
all other Attributes given the right gear.
With high Energy, Mecha can use all sorts of equipment
and can use more of them at the same time. With low
Energy most special equipment will perform suboptimally or
be straight-up unusable.
Systems
Sometimes you use your Mecha for things that require a
touch of precision and technical know-how. Examples in-
clude detecting hidden enemies, managing fire suppression
systems or performing emergency repairs. Systems also
enhances the range of many weapons and equipment.
Above average Systems makes for versatile Mecha that
may use support equipment competently. Below average
Systems reduces the range of many weapons and the ef-
ficiency of specialized equipment as well.
Speed
To no one’s surprise, giant robots are faster than people.
The method doesn’t matter—Mecha can fly, run or hover
around—but this Attribute is what gauges it. Speed also
handles the Mecha’s reaction times to the pilot’s com-
mands and is the primary factor in moving before the op-
ponent does during turn-based combat.
High Speed is what lets Mecha break the speed of sound.
Low Speed means that a giant robot will walk only slightly
faster than a regular person runs.
9
 INTRODUCTION
ATTRIBUTES IN THE NARRATIVE
Here is a handy list to Attributes and what each value
represents. Attributes are measured in Ranks, so each
number is listed as a Rank. These things should be easy
to notice and readily observable by characters who get to
know each other a little.
Rank 0: Useless - An Attribute this low makes for a char-
acter with a noticeable handicap. They are probably miss-
ing the body parts related to the Attribute in question and
lack adequate prosthetic replacements.
Rank 1 or 2: Poor - The character is either impaired in that
attribute or really doesn’t have any scrap of natural talent.
In the latter case, they probably do not put in the effort to
improve either.
Rank 3 or 4: Mediocre - The character is unexceptional,
neither good nor bad. They’re easy pickings in a competi-
tion against someone who knows what they’re doing.
Rank 5 or 6: Good - The character either has a solid natu-
ral talent or has trained themselves considerably. Their skill
level is enough to stand out from the crowd.
Rank 7 or 8: Notable - The character is distinguished
among peers for their abilities. They are obviously excep-
tional in skill but also practice often to remain at the top of
their field.
Rank 9 or 10: Outstanding - The character has achieved
a level of adroitness only obtainable through impressive
natural gifts and extensive practice. Few reach this point,
and those who do are usually famous for it.
Rank 11 and Beyond: Legendary - The character is a ge-
nius of the kind that is born once every several centuries.
They will be written of in history books and be mytholo-
gized as something beyond normal humans.
If an Attribute gets to the Legendary level, it should become
relevant to the story somehow—the Character is a record-
breaking master of their domain after all—that should be a
big deal to others around them.
10
Advancement
After every Episode (or Episode Arc, depending on how
the game is paced) your PC is granted a few Experience
Points (XP) by the GM. XP is used to measure how much a
PC grows and develops over time, improving their existing
talents and learning new ones. Mecha also get stronger as
the story advances, through enhancing existing equipment
and developing or installing new parts.
Whenever you gain XP you should note down the amount
and add it to your XP total in your character and mecha
sheets to keep track of it. That way you can check just how
far your character and mecha have come.
But XP don’t really do anything on their own. That’s be-
cause whenever you gain XP you also gain the same
amount of Character Points and Mecha Points. Char-
acter Points may be used to augment your PC’s Attributes
and get new Skills or Traits. Mecha Points are spent on
your Mecha’s Attributes and on new Upgrades or Weapons.
To put it simply, your XP can be used to power up your Pilot
and your Mecha in equal measure. The process of learning
new Skills, installing new Upgrades, or whatever it is you
are spending your points on is entirely abstracted for sim-
plicity’s sake.
You may roleplay testing out new weaponry or practicing an
art you want to learn. Or you could simply have your pow-
erups occur offscreen, it is up to you. Just make sure the
GM has an idea of what it is you are trying to do with your
character’s progression, so they can guarantee your new
toys will see use.
 INTRODUCTION

Power Levels Genre Themes and Genre Points

Battle Century G has six different Power Levels to measure
the relative strength of characters. The general rule is that
for every 30 XP a PC earns they go up a Power Level.
A high Power Level has its own benefits: All PCs have a
number of Genre Powers equal to their Power Level and
their starting number of Genre Points at the beginning of a
new Episode is also equal to their Power Level.
Level 0: Faceless (0-29 XP) - Who are you again? Little to
nothing sets you and your Mecha apart from the crowds of
mooks and extras.
Level 1: Talented (30-59 XP) - You are full of potential
and well on your way to making a name for yourself. Your
Mecha might be a smidge better than the norm, but you
can’t draw its full potential yet.
If Attributes define what the characters are like, then their
Themes define what their life revolves around. Themes will
give shape to a PC’s wishes, relationships and flaws.
They’re not necessarily objectives or personality traits
(though they can be), instead they’re more like patterns,
cliches, or leitmotifs that your PC will explore through the
course of Episodes.
There are three types of Themes, and all Player Characters
have one of each. We will check the Themes themselves
later, for now we’ll just go over how they work.
Whenever one of your Character’s Themes helps to ad-
vance the plot, contributes to character development or
makes life harder for your PC, you are awarded a Genre
Point. Genre Points can be used to activate special abilities
during Operations called Genre Powers.

Level 2: Heroic (60-89 XP) - You have earned a name as Your starting number of Genre Points each Episode is
someone of considerable skill. Your Mecha has improved equal to your Power Level. There is no upper ceiling for
performance cosiderably over the norm and, thanks to you, how many you can stockpile, but Genre Points are reset
can show its true power. back to your Power Level when a new Episode begins.

Level 3: Elite (90-119 XP) - You are now a master of your
domain or a true jack of all trades, with your Mecha reach-
ing its expected peak of power. If you started at Level 1 or
0, then a mid-season upgrade is in order.
Level 4: Mythical (120-149 XP) - As a mover and shaker
yourself, you are admired by allies and feared by enemies.
Your Mecha is an early next generation model, or at least
the practical equivalent.
Level 5: Godly (150+ XP) - You and your giant robot are
considered utter badasses and weapons of mass destruc-
tion. Your power is such that you are the equivalent of a
small army on your own.
Note that all characters start with at least 100 XP. This
starting XP does not count towards Power Levels. That
means a PL5 PC has 250+ XP total and one with 120 XP is
not PL 4, but PL 0 instead.
A PC may earn a Genre Point through roleplaying Themes
on their own initiative, but situations that make Themes rel-
evant can be instigated by the GM, other players, or come
up entirely unplanned and by coincidence. Sometimes the
character is not aware or agreeable to these developments,
such as when their biggest character flaw draws the worst
from them, but the owning Player gets the points for going
with it anyway.
Themes naturally change over time. A character’s convic-
tions pursued too strongly can become no different than
their vices. A weakness that is solved with the help of
someone else turns into a bond between them.
Other times, though, you just aren’t having fun with your
Themes. If you don’t like how the Themes you’ve chosen
are playing out, you can change them during the downtime
between Episode Arcs—think it over and give them a last
chance before doing the change.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT POWER LEVEL

Level 0 is better reserved for very special types of games where death is always around the corner and the PCs are com-
plete nobodies that struggle to do anything. The recommended starting point for groups of new Players is Level 1. If you
would like a game where the PCs are already well-rounded and competent characters, start at Power Level 2.

Generally speaking, games should take the PCs up one or two Power Levels from the one they started in. There is no
need to have the PCs reach Level 5, it is just there as an option in case you need it. Indeed, at Level 5 everyone is so
powerful that the game can get a bit difficult to handle. Generally speaking, you should not go over Power Level 3 unless
you know most of the game’s rules by heart, otherwise there’ll be too much going on and everybody will be too powerful
to keep the game balanced.

11
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Tests
Battle Century G adds an element of chance to narratives
in the form of dice. This keeps things exciting, since you’re
never 100% sure if you’re going to succeed or fail at any
given task. Rolling dice to do something is called a Test.
To perform a Test you first roll 1d10 plus the corresponding
Attribute to the result, then compare it against the Difficulty
Number (DN) of the task.
If your result is equal to or higher than the DN, you have
succeeded at what you were trying to do. Depending
on how much you rolled over the result, you might have
flaunted your skills or barely managed to avoid failure.
Here is a list of example DNs for use with a variety of Tests.
Note that these are just examples, and Tests could very
well have a DN that is not a multiple of 5.
DN 5: Easier in Fiction than Real Life - Distracting a
crowd, shooting blanks with a gun accurately, crafting a
Molotov cocktail.
DN 10: Leave it to the Experts - Finding shelter in the wild
during winter, disarming a bomb, seducing someone for
information.
DN 15: Really Impressive Stuff - Kicking open a rein-
forced door, fooling prison guards into coming inside your
cell, understanding and translating a book in a language
you’d never seen before.
DN 20: Against all Odds - Building a giant robot in a cave
with a box of scraps, resuscitating someone who was just
reported to be clinically dead, distracting the big bad with a
monologue of your own.
Important rule of thumb: Most things you do as a PC will
not be Tests. You only roll Tests if what a PC is doing puts
them in danger, someone else is trying to stop them or
there would be negative consequences for failure. Cleaving
robots in two with your giant sword is a Test, crossing the
street is just a thing you narrate.
12
Advantages and Disadvantages
Many, many things can contribute to or impair your odds of
success. Those factors contribute Advantages or Disadvan-
tages to a Test.
Having an Advantage means you can roll two dice instead
of one and keep the better of the two as the result. Multiple
Advantages will all add further dice to the roll, making the
average results of your Tests much better.
Having a Disadvantage means you roll two dice but keep
the worse roll of the two. They stack just like Advantages
do, making Tests with multiple Disadvantages likely to roll
under a 5.
Should a Test be affected by both Advantages and Dis-
advantages at the same time, each instance of both will
cancel out until the balance is broken.
A single circumstance generally does not add more than
one Advantage or Disadvantage to a Test, but having multi-
ple factors making things easier or harder will do.
Players may trade in their Advantages for a bonus of +2 to
the result. The GM may also trade away a single Disadvan-
tage a PC is suffering to give that PC a penalty of -2 to
the result. Four Advantages would grant a +8, being under
three Disadvantages means you’re at a -6 penalty, etc.
Generally speaking, you want to use your first one or two
Advantages to better your odds as extra dice, but Advan-
tages after that should be converted into a flat bonus.
Note that when you have an Advantage you keep the better
result, not the highest one. That means you can choose to
keep a lower one if it would be more beneficial to you.
Some abilities behave differently when you roll an odd or
even result and others hurt the user if the result of the Test
is too high. Having the opportunity to choose a lower result
can prove crucial in the middle of battle.
In the same fashion, when rolling with one or more Disad-
vantages, the GM can make you take a higher result if it
would be more inconvenient than a lower one.
Tests made when you are trying to affect more than one
character at once can end up with a different amount of Ad-
vantages or Disadvantages for each target. When that
happens you should make the roll only for the primary
target then convert the extra Advantages or Disadvantages
against secondary targets to +2 bonuses or -2 penalties
respectively.
When using abilities that set the result of rolls to a specific
number, you should automatically convert Advantages and
Disadvantages to flat modifiers as well.

Defense and Damage
All Pilots and Mecha have a Defense sub-Attribute that pro-
tects them from harm. To strike at a Pilot or Mecha, you
must beat their Defense DN with with your Test.
Defense is a combination of reflexes, ability to read the
moves of others, and quick thinking. For Pilots its value is
equal to Awareness + 5, and for Mecha it is their Guard + 5.
When an attacker beats the defender’s Defense, the de-
fender suffers an amount of Damage equal to the difference
between the result of the Test and the DN.
If you only match their Defense with your result, you deal
no Damage. Some abilities in the game will have special
effects on striking a target, like setting them on fire or stun-
ning them momentarily. For the purposes of these abilities,
just matching their Defense with your Test is enough, even
if you don’t do any Damage otherwise.
All Pilots also have a Plot Armor sub-Attribute, representing
how much Damage they can take before being defeated.
Plot Armor is measured in Layers, of which every Charac-
ter has three. These slowly track Damage as it progresses
from a bruise to a flesh wound to a broken bone. Each
Layer of Plot Armor can withstand an amount of Damage
equal to the character’s Willpower.
When you take Damage you remove a number of Plot
Armor points from the topmost Layer, and once it is out of
points you move on to the next Layer of Plot Armor. Losing
each Layer has a chance of you being Defeated, getting
progressively harder until the loss of the third and last
Layer pretty much guarantees you will go down with it.
For Mecha, the amount of Damage they can withstand is
equal to their Threshold Attribute. This works much like
Plot Armor does, except they have four Threshold Levels
and they lose limbs of their mechanical body instead of
having a chance to be Defeated.
The rules for both will be explained in detail later. Damage
dealt to either track is not permanent, and will heal with
time, so instead of erasing your values just note down
the damage temporarily and erase it later.
If you’re playing with physical paper sheets, it’s best to
have a separate notepad to note Damage taken, so you
don’t make a mess of the Character Sheet every battle with
constant erasing and writing on the same spot.
CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Intermissions
Skill Tests
The most common type of Test during Intermissions is the
Skill Test. After describing what your PC is trying to do,
the GM will assign a Difficulty Number to the task. You
select an Attribute and Skill that are appropriate, then
roll 1d10 plus the Attribute. You gain an Advantage to
the test if you are trained in an appropriate Skill. Some
Skills may incur Disadvantages when you try to use them
without appropriate equipment as well.
If your Test result is equal to the DN or higher, then you
have achieved what you sought to do. If not you will face
the consequences for failure. This could be taking Damage,
wasting time or suffering some other kind of inconvenience.
When you fail a Test to avoid or resist Damage, you lose
points of Plot Armor equal to the amount that you missed
the DN by.
Attribute Tests
Not everything the PCs attempt will have a Skill associated
with it. This is usually the case for tasks that rely solely on a
PC’s innate abilities and lack any kind of formal training.
Examples include using Willpower to resist the effects of
toxins, Intellect to commit the specs of an enemy Mecha to
memory or Awareness to get the gist of what someone is
saying in a language you don’t know.
Other than the lack of Skills, they behave identically to Skill
Tests.
Contested Tests
Contested Tests are used when you are in a direct competi-
tion against another PC or NPC but are not trying to harm
each other. A game of arm wrestling, a chase scene or a
dance-off, for example, would be Contested Tests.
In a Contested Test you both roll at the same time, and the
one who rolls the highest result is the winner. If you
were tied, you continue Testing until the stalemate breaks.
Contested Tests do benefit from Skills, if the participants
have any that are applicable. Generally you both will be us-
ing the same Attributes and Skills. Exceptions do exist: For
example, you can chase against someone who is on foot
while you are riding a vehicle. Advantages and Disadvan-
tages should be granted to both participants depending on
circumstances as appropriate.
Characters involved in a Contested Test can choose to
forfeit and admit their opponent as the victor before making
the first roll or in between rolls.
13
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Extended Tests
Extended Tests involve actions that take a longer amount
of time to finish. Sometimes these Tests can be repeated
until you get them right, but often there are consequences
for failure that stop this from happening. They are much
like regular Skill Tests otherwise. They come in four types
based on how long it takes to perform the Test, which are
described below:
Simple (1 Minute or less): You probably shouldn’t bother
rolling this unless there’s a considerable chance of irrepa-
rable failure, injury or similar. Examples include picking a
lock or driving a vehicle safely.
Challenging (1 Hour): Tasks like these will usually take an
entire afternoon to get them just right. Researching a tough
subject or finding food and shelter in a forest are appropri-
ate examples.
Intense (1 Day): These tasks take about 8 hours per at-
tempt, thus consuming most of your day (but not literally
24 hours in a row) per Test. This could be scavenging high
tech components in an abandoned facility to searching for
a lost child in the wilderness.
Exhausting (1 Week): These tasks take about 8 hours
every day for a week per Test. Because of how much time
they consume, they are best done during the downtime
between Episodes. Good examples include writing a book
or building a new Mecha.
Characters may take extra time to improve their odds of
getting things done right in the first try. By taking double
the suggested time to perform the Test, you gain an
Advantage to it. By taking quadruple as long to do the
Test, you instead gain two Advantages. Taking longer
than that for a single Test is just wasted effort and provides
no additional benefit.
The GM may impose a limit on the maximum number of
times you may take your chances, or simply state that
every roll takes a considerable amount of time for your
character that they cannot quite afford to waste.
Extended Tests can carry dangerous consequences just
like Skill Tests, and failure in those circumstances will deal
Damage to you for each attempt, just like dangerous Skill
or Attribute Tests.
14
Mixed Tests
Sometimes what you’re trying to do isn’t so simple or
straightforward to require only a single Skill, or even a
single Attribute.
Sometimes what you’re trying to do even requires multiple
different actions in quick succession. These actions are
usually unique and fairly different from each other, rang-
ing from trying to shoot pursuers while riding a motorcycle
across a chasm, to sneaking your way behind a guard and
backstabbing them fatally. During those times what you
use are Mixed Tests.
A Mixed Test is, quite simply, two (or more) Tests rolled
at the same time using the same dice, averaging your
Ranks in the appropriate Attributes and doing the same
for any Advantages or Disadvantages as well.
The DN to beat in these instances is that of the most
difficult task of the two. Remember that any fractions you
end up with are always rounded down.
Help Tests
Help Tests take place when you try to aid a friend who is
about to perform a Test of their own. Lifting someone to
help them climb up a wall or being your buddy’s wingmate
so they’ll look cool are both applicable examples.
Test the corresponding Skill and Attribute of what this help
would entail, but don’t compare it against the DN itself.
Instead, your friend will gain an Advantage to their
own Test for each multiple of 10 that you meet with
your Help Test. Granting more than one Advantage is an
impressive enough feat it may overshadow the PC who
was supposed to actually get the work done, but it definitely
helps them succeed.

Healing Tests
Your damaged Layers do not need others to tend to them,
but allies can still help them heal faster than they naturally
would.
Healing Tests are almost always done through the Medicine
Skill. A Healing Test is almost always an Extended Test,
though the specific duration depends on the nature of the
Damage taken.
You may restore all points to a Layer of Plot Armor
depending on how well you roll. You heal the first Layer
on a result of 10 or more, the second with a 15 or more,
and the third layer needs a 20. Higher results include
the healing of earlier Layers as well.
When a character rolls low enough that they fail to heal any
Damage whatsoever to a given other character, the would-
be healer may not attempt to heal the Damaged character
again until new Damage is taken.
Equipment Tests
You can temporarily obtain Equipment, as in the Traits of
that type, through the Resources Attribute. This will usually
require a Scene to go and look for such goods, or at least a
break in the action to give you enough time to do so.
You need a result of at least 10 to acquire Equipment
with a Cost of 5, and a result of 20 to get Equipment
with a Cost of 10.
A PC can also Test Resources against a DN of 5 to
obtain temporary equipment that negates any penalties
for using Skills without said equipment. (Or, in the case
of Electronics and Vehicles, allows the use of said Skills at
all).
Your wallet is not bottomless, though! After a successful
Equipment Test, further Resources Tests during the
same Episode are at a Disadvantage.
This temporary Equipment lasts only until the end of the
current Episode. After that it breaks, you return it to the
rental shop, or it just gets lost in your attic.
CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
IMPROVING INTERMISSION TESTS
The basic rules for Intermission Tests are perfectly function-
al, but not particularly engaging. Here are some sugges-
tions to make Intermission mechanics more interesting.
Critical Failure
When a PC misses a DN by 5 or more, their failure is so
bad that it generates further problems for them. The form
this problem should take depends on what would make
sense for the story. Below are some examples:
• The PC earns the disdain or ire of an important NPC.
• The PC wastes a lot more time on the task than intended.
• The PC technically gets the job done but it’s wrong in
some way, as if an evil genie granted them a wish.
• The PC temporarily loses a piece of Equipment.
• The PC suffers a Disadvantage to all Intermission Tests
for the rest of the Episode.
• The PC takes Damage equal to how much they missed
the DN by.
Failing Forwards
When a PC rolls well but barely misses a DN, failing to
meet a DN by 5 or less, they should either be given a
chance to pass but with something bad happening as a
side effect, or only partially achieving their objective. Effec-
tively, it’s a Success that also happens to have one of the
complications from the “Critical Failure” list above.
Exceptional Success
When a Character gets a result of at least 5 higher than the
original DN, they succeeded so well at the Test that they
gain an extra benefit out of it. Below are some examples:
• The PC makes a good impression on an important NPC.
• The PC finishes the task much faster than planned.
• The PC learns something interesting about the world or
an NPC.
• The PC obtains a clue for what they should do next.
• The PC gains an Advantage to all related Intermission
Tests for the rest of the Episode.
• The PC does not need to make further Intermission Tests
during this Scene on related actions.
Using all these optional rules together makes the game a
lot more fun. Every Skill Test now has one of four possible
outcomes (Critical Failure, Failing Forwards, Success,
Exceptional Success) all of which are more interesting than
the dreaded vanilla Failure, in which nothing happens.
Choosing the appropriate complications and benefits is
something that the GM and the Player should decide be-
tween them. Preferably the Player should suggest the one
they think fits the situation best, but the GM has veto power
over options that don’t make sense, go against the spirit of
the rules or would otherwise be disruptive to the game. The
GM may also have their own ideas to work complications
and benefits into the plot, in which case those take priority.
15
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME

Matches
Matches take place when the conflict in a Scene escalates to the point that two or more characters get overtly violent with
each other, usually lasting until at least one of them can’t fight back any longer. A Match is subdivided in Rounds that keep
track of how long the Match has taken. Rounds are divided into Turns, with one Turn per every character involved in the
Match. During their Turn, a Character takes an Action. Anything of importance that happens during a Turn should be
narrated by the player responsible for said event or by the GM.

Tension

Tension is a dynamic number that increases after every Round has passed, starting at 1 for the first Round. Offensive
Tests, which is to say Tests made to Attack or Suppress an Enemy, add the current Tension to the result of a Test. Tension
bonuses are capped at 10.

Match Structure

Step 0: Surprise
When a Character gets the jump on another, like during an ambush, there is a Surprise Round with a Tension of 0 before
the Match proper begins. The attacking character gets a Turn during this Surprise Round before the defender even gets a
chance to roll for Initiative, and they have an Advantage to any Offensive Tests against those surprised. If multiple charac-
ters benefit from surprise, they go in whichever order they see fit.

Step 1: Establishing Initiative

Determine who goes first with a Fitness Test from each participant. The result will become the Character’s Initiative for
this Match, and it represents how fast they can act in comparison to other characters. Once everyone’s Initiatives are all
rolled, order them from highest to lowest and note their order down. Allies may trade their Initiatives with each other at the
beginning of a new Round if they both want to do so.

Step 2: Setting Tension

Set Tension to 1 before the beginning of the first Round. Tension rises at the end of each Round by 1. Whenever any
Character performs an Offensive Test, they add the current Tension as a bonus to the roll.

Step 3: Starting the Round

Once Round 1 begins, Characters begin taking Turns following the order of Initiative from highest to lowest, and from
fastest to slowest. Each Character has the chance to take an Action during their own Turn. Turns are divided into three
Phases, so we’ll tackle each part of a character’s Turn in order.

Step 4.1: Setup Phase

During the Setup Phase, the Player decides what their Character will do and how. They may also do things that are simple
enough to not require using up a whole Turn or roll any Tests. Talking to each other, readying a firearm or assessing your
surroundings are good examples of things you can do in the Setup Phase. Once the Player is done with these and has
decided on their Action for the Turn, the Action Phase begins. Also any abilities activated during a Player’s last Turn that
have a duration of one Round will end at the beginning of this Phase.

Step 4.2: Action Phase

As part of taking their Action for the Turn, the PC may Move from one adjacent Zone to another, but the movement takes
place before the rest of the Action, not after. Most Actions require you to roll Tests. When all Actions have been resolved
by the rules, proceed to the End Phase.

Step 4.3: End Phase

After Characters take their Actions, the effects of said Actions are to be narrated and described. When a Turn ends, the
character with the next highest Initiative starts their Turn, and the sequence continues until the Round has ended.

Step 5: Ending the Round

When the Round finishes, Tension increases by 1 and the order of Initiative resets back to the first Character. You do not
have to reroll everyone’s Initiatives. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 as necessary until the Operation has ended.

16

Zones
The areas where the action take place are called Zones;
a Zone is essentially a small area people can move in
and out of in just a few seconds. For instance a house is
broken into individual rooms and hallways, each of which is
a different Zone. Characters may only use Tests to attack
Characters in the same Zone. Relocating from one Zone to
another takes an Action. If you’re using maps, a Zone is a
square or hex cell.
Match Actions
These are the special things you can do during a Match,
but they are not the only things you can do. If you need to
do things that don’t involve trying to hurt someone else or
defend yourself, you can still do those as normal.
Only Offensive Tests benefit from Tension, those being
the ones from using the Attack and Suppress Actions.
When using an Offensive Test you can Move towards
the target or circle around them. You can also stand
still, but they don’t let you go backwards or otherwise
increase distance between you and your target.
Attack
Sometimes things inevitably come down to violence, and
that’s what Offensive Tests are for. Offensive Tests are
used during Matches after Initiative has been rolled,
and are much like a Skill Test except that the DN to beat is
equal to the opponent’s Defense.
If you are lucky, talented, or both then you inflict Damage
and cause them to lose points of Plot Armor equal to
the amount you passed their Defense DN by.
If you just barely meet the DN, then it does not have a vis-
ible effect. No Damage is dealt, but other secondary effects
(if any are applicable) may still take place.
Attacks are not always physical, Plot Armor represents
physical and mental health too. A psychic assault will also
cause harm and may paralyze a character with fear, make
them pass out, or worse.
Aim
You take your time to improve your next Offensive Test.
Choose a target, your next Offensive Test against the cho-
sen target gains two Advantages.
Even if you continue to Aim, you will not gain benefit from
it after the first time. If you take any other Action before at-
tacking them, you lose the benefits of Aim.
CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Delay
Choose any other Action and another Character’s Ini-
tiative. You take your Action right after that Character’s
Turn. You don’t need to specify how you want to use your
Action, you can say you want to Attack but not who you will
Attack, for instance.
Suppress
Instead of trying to overpower your foe from the get go, you
interfere with their game plan and make it harder for them
to fight back. Holding someone down or shooting to provide
a friend with cover are good examples.
You make an Offensive Test as normal but you only deal
half the usual Damage you would do. If you at least meet
the DN, then the Enemy suffers a Disadvantage to all
Tests until the beginning of your next Turn.
Maneuver
You don’t want to hurt anyone... Or at least not right here
and right now. For the time being, you’d rather just not get
hurt yourself.
Choose an Attribute you could use to Attack in these
circumstances. You increase your Defense by an
amount equal to that Attribute until the beginning of
your next Turn. You may give this Defense bonus to an
Ally within the same one instead of keeping it for yourself.
Multiple Maneuvers do not stack together, using only the
highest Defense bonus of the bunch.
Run
You pick up the pace and hustle, moving as fast as you can
manage. Move two Zones instead of just one. You don’t
need to roll any Tests, and you don’t have to Move in a
straight line either.
If what you want is to escape from the Match you should
just use a Contested Athletics Test. Otherwise your pursu-
ers can just Run themselves to keep up forever with you. If
you are driving a Vehicle, you Test Vehicles instead, gain-
ing an Advantage if the opposition lacks a Vehicle of their
own—and said opposition suffers a Disadvantage to their
Athletics Test as well.
17
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME

Damage and Defeat DEFEAT IN THE NARRATIVE

Plot Armor is subdivided into three Layers. When you take
Damage, you lose that many points of Plot Armor from
your first Layer. When a Layer is out of points, the
Layer immediately below it is the one to continue los-
ing points afterwards, until the three Layers are empty.
When losing a Layer, you must Test Willpower against
a DN of 5 for losing the first Layer, a DN of 10 for the
second layer, and a DN of 15 for the third Layer. Once
all your three Layers are empty, each instance of Dam-
age taken requires a DN 20 Willpower Test. Failing any
of these Tests means that you are defeated instantly.
Fortunately, Damage to your Plot Armor heals naturally
over time. The first Layer of Plot Armor restores all of
its points between Scenes, the second Layer does so
between Episodes, and the third Layer heals between
Episode Arcs.
Proxies
Sometimes you don’t take the damage, but an object in
your possession does, like your car when you’re being shot
at during a car chase. In these cases you do battle using
Proxies. A Proxy uses your Attributes, Skills, Traits and eve-
rything else that could reasonably apply to an object under
your control.
You perform the Match just as you would any other, but you
don’t suffer the effects of damage yourself at first, instead
you have a fourth Layer of Plot Armor to represent your
Proxy. Damage applies to the Proxy until its single Layer of
Plot Armor is destroyed, at which point the object in ques-
tion breaks down and becomes unusable for the rest of the
current Episode.
Characters duking it out with their fists can fight until one
restrains the other, one of them passes out, or even until
death. There is no strict definition of what it means to ’de-
feat’ someone, other than them not being able to influence
the rest of the Scene. The outcome that is most reason-
able, and most in line with the rules in general, is for the
defeated character to be knocked out temporarily. The
rules do not actually make it explicit that anyone actually
dies from taking Damage in general, not even if they have
already been Defeated and are at the mercy of a much
greater foe.
This means that all characters are potentially immortal. A
PC that messes up big time will continue to live, but they
will have to deal with the consequences of their actions be-
ing injured for a long streak of Episodes.
But such a Character might not be able to move from their
hospital bed, or be locked in a mental institution. This
means they will require Scenes designed around them. The
group will have to work with the owner of the PC in ques-
tion to keep them engaged and prevent them from getting
bored.
This should not be seen as a punishment handed down
from the GM, but as a chance for the PC to develop and
come back a stronger person—and maybe try not to make
the same mistakes in the future. If playing through that
sounds too boring, then consider retiring the PC temporar-
ily (perhaps even giving them up for dead) and adopting
another Character until the original returns triumphantly
several episodes later. The flip side of this is that it also
applies to NPCs, and unless the GM clearly shows the bad
guys explicitly dying ‘onscreen’, they could very well be still
alive and plotting their revenge by the next Episode.

Proxies may benefit from Heal Tests (though they use Skills
like Craftsmanship instead of Medicine) having a DN of 5
to do so, though fixing up an individual Proxy may only be
done once per Episode—more than that is asking for the
items to break down for good.

INITIATIVE TIEBREAKERS

It is inevitable that at some point two or more characters will roll the exact same Initiative. If their controllers insist they
should be the one to go first, use Fitness or Speed scores (depending on whether they’re Characters or Mecha) as tie-
breakers. If they’re still tied, make them them roll another d10 and whoever has the highest result gets to move earlier. If it
is only two Characters then just flipping a coin to see who gets to move earlier minimizes the chances of further ties.

This method can help the GM save time when rolling Initiative for NPCs. You can just roll for all NPCs at once—then
modify as appropriate using their Fitness or Speed. A middle-ground approach is to roll once for every “type” of NPC on
the battlefield, making all identical Grunts share initiative but rolling separately for those with differing builds.

18
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME

Operations
Operations are like Matches, but with giant robots and a few special rules of their own. During an Operation, each com-
batant is called a Unit, referring to both the Pilot and Mecha as one entity. Player Character Units are usually Allies.
All Units that are Allies with each other are collectively called a Squad.

Mecha are superior to regular characters in almost every way. They can cover multiple Zones per Turn with ease whereas
a Character on their own can usually only do one, they withstand attacks that would more or less vaporize a regular
person, and are generally in a league of their own. This is why they, for the most part, operate on rules that are similar but
separate to those of the PCs. A Pilot’s Attributes, Skills and Traits have no bearing on Operations, the grand majority
of the time only their Genre Powers will be relevant.

Operation Structure

Step 0: Choosing Equipment

Units with Combinations or Alternate Forms must choose how they will deploy. This step does not always apply, and it
takes place before the Operation proper begins, hence it is “Step 0”. Under normal circumstances there are no Surprise
Rounds during Operations—ambushes are represented by a positioning advantage during Deployment.

Step 1: Deployment
At the start of an Operation each Unit deploys in a formation, if there is a Base Unit allied to the PCs it deploys first, usu-
ally at the edge of or near the edge of the battlefield. Afterwards the rest of the PCs may either deploy a number of Zones
away from their Base Unit no higher than their Speed or start Docked inside of it. If there is no Base Unit, the PCs deploy
near one edge of the battlefield and up to their Speed away from the invisible line marking said edge. NPCs may deploy
the same way as PCs, deploy after the PCs (to represent an ambush on the PCs), or be predeployed before the PC’s (to
represent being ambushed) at the GM’s call. Units deploy with their Energy reserves full.

Step 1: Establishing Initiative

Determine who goes first by having each Unit Test Speed, and use the result is the Unit’s Initiative. The highest Initia-
tive number goes first, with the order of play progressing to the next highest number and so on. Units may freely
trade their Initiative results with friendlies at the beginning of a new Round.

Step 3: Setting Tension

Set Tension to 1 before the beginning of the first Round. Tension rises at the end of each Round by 1. Units that roll
Tests as part of an Offensive Action add the current Tension as a bonus to Might Tests.

Step 4: Starting the Round

Once Round 1 begins, the Initiative Order proceeds from highest to lowest, giving each Character an Action during their
own Turns. Turns are divided into three Phases, so we’ll tackle each part of a character’s Turn in order.

Step 5.1: Setup Phase

During the Setup Phase, the Unit refreshes all Energy spent and decides how they will act this turn. This means
they decide what they will do and how. They may also use abilities that do not require an Action to be performed, such
as the use of Setup Genre Powers. Once the Player is done using abilities and has decided on their Action for the Turn,
the phase ends and the Action Phase begins. A Unit with multiple abilities that do things ‘at the beginning of a Turn’ can
choose the order in which they happen.

Step 5.2: Action Phase

As part of taking their Action for the Turn, the PC may Move a number of Zones equal to their Speed Attribute
before the Action proper takes place, but not afterwards. Actions generally require Tests, and after resolving the Test
you are to proceed to the End Phase.

Step 5.3: End Phase

The Player and GM describe and narrate what has taken place during the Turn. When a Turn ends, the character next in
the Initiative order starts their own Turn, and the sequence continues until the Round has ended.

Step 6: Ending the Round

When the Round finishes, Tension increases by 1 and the order of Initiative resets back to the first Unit. You do not have
to reroll everyone’s Initiatives. Repeat Steps 4 through 6 as necessary until the Operation has ended.

19
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Zones and Ranges
Battle Century G abstracts distances and treats all Mecha
as if they were roughly the same size. Very large or very
small Mecha are represented through flavorful distribution
of Attributes. For example, a small and fast Mecha would
have high Guard and Speed but low Threshold and Might.
But back to terrain and movement. Every 1x1 square or hex
of Terrain during an Operation is a Zone, it is a designated
area with no clearly defined range in-character. A Zone can
represent a whole city block or just a 10x10 meters square
of land, depending on the circumstances. It only needs to
be a distance your Mecha could reasonably cover to strike
at someone in melee in a few seconds.
You can represent a Zone in meters, but it works better if
you leave it to the imagination. What matters is that, when
using a map such as a Chess or Hex board, each square or
hex is a Zone. If you want to treat them like a fixed distance
you should use a number easy to remember, like making
each Zone ten square meters or something like that.
Unlike their Pilots, Mecha can move farther than a single
Zone every Turn, and Mecha Weapons can strike at targets
in Zones reaching far beyond the one they’re standing in.
Units have a movement speed measured by the Mecha’s
Speed, while the reach of their Weapons depends on the
Weapon itself and sometimes on the Mecha’s Systems.
Units can provide cover for each other. This means Weap-
ons may not target through Zones occupied by En-
emies to reach other enemies behind them (but they can
target through Zones occupied by Allies—those just get out
of the way). You must make your way around them or try to
break through enemy lines by moving into the same Zone
as the Unit providing cover, or past it.
Units cannot share Zones unless they’re Engaged in a Duel
with each other (or one of them has an ability like Base Unit
or Colossus, which allows Units to share the same space).
20
TIME IS FLUID
Actions vary greatly on how much time they should reason-
ably take and there is no arbitrary time limit of how long a
Turn lasts. Assume that generally a Turn takes somewhere
between 5 to 10 seconds and that a whole Round is some-
where between 30 seconds to one minute.
Likewise, taking an Action is an abstraction. Taking a single
Action to attack with a sidearm does not mean the gun fires
only once, just that you will deal Damage once by the rules.
You should feel free to describe that one sidearm attack as
making several shots, or leading your enemy in a specific
direction then nailing them with the last bullet, or emptying
all of your ammo then reloading at the end. Do whatever
you want through the narration as long as it makes sense
and you you don’t change what happens within the rules.
The listed Actions are not by any means a definitive list of
the things anyone is limited to doing, just the ones with
support from the rules. Actions with less impact than these
are possible and are colloquially called “Free Actions”
because they, well, don’t cost an Action. Examples include
examining your surroundings, switching a held Weapon for
one in its holster and, of course, talking.
Talking does not require the use of an Action, nor is there a
limit to when you may talk—it can be at any point during
your Turn or during another’s. As always, however, please
exercise common sense and try to make it appropriate.
You can give a dramatic speech to an opponent that you’re
engaged in single combat with and you can have members
of the same Squad shout at each other requesting help or
giving orders or the like. What you can’t do is give a lecture
about the types of Greek columns and their use during the
Renaissance as a Free Action between attacks.
In the same way, just because most guns in the game don’t
have a stated amount of supplied ammo, it does not mean
that they may be fired for hours and hours on end. The
rules of the game are guidelines for fair play and for what
might make a better experience, they are not the physics of
the game world and you should never treat them as such.

Operation Actions
There are many types of Actions that can be taken during
Operations and most of them are available to everyone.
The Actions restricted to specific equipment are described
later in the section listing the corresponding Mecha abili-
ties. You can only take one Action per Turn. As part of any
Action you may Move a number of Zones equal to your
Speed before the rest of its effects.
Offensive Actions
These are the bread and butter of Mecha combat. Whenev-
er the rules reference attacking someone, they are talking
about these, all of which involve a Might Test—except Aim,
that is an Offensive Action but does not count as an attack
or makes a roll. When attacking you can only pick targets
within your Weapon’s Range. Offensive Actions only let
you Move towards the target or to circle around them,
they don’t let you go backwards or otherwise increase
distance between you and the target. Offensive Actions
may also be used without making any Movement as well.
Only Offensive Actions benefit from Tension. Remem-
ber the cap for Tension bonuses is 10.
Attack
To Attack you Test Might against the target’s Defense
(or the Defenses of all targets, when you are using some-
thing like a Blast weapon). If you pass, then you deal the
amount that exceeds the DN as Damage, causing the
Enemy to lose that many Threshold points.
Aim
You take your time to make your next attack more precise.
Choose a Weapon and a target, your next Offensive Action
gains an Advantage to the Might Test with the chosen
Weapon against that target. If you continue to take Aim,
you will not gain further benefits after the first Aim Action.
If the target ever becomes invalid for the chosen Weapon
before you make your shot, or you take any Action that is
not to continue aiming before the shot is made, then the
benefits of Aiming are lost.
Assist
You make someone else’s job easier by distracting and
meddling with a common foe. Choose a target and an Ally,
then attack the target at a Disadvantage. Your chosen
Ally gains an Advantage to their own Might Tests against
that target until the beginning of your next Turn. If you
would not be able to Attack the target with said Weapon, or
you would not need to make a Test to do so, you can’t As-
sist with it either. Weapons with the Blast, Burst and Line
abilities cannot Assist.
CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Suppress
You disrupt the opponent’s plan of action by drowning
them in covering fire, entering a grapple to pin them down,
or otherwise using a Weapon in a non-standard way to
provide support rather than going in for the kill. This has the
following effects:
• Halve the final amount of Damage you would have dealt
with the attack.
• If the Enemy willingly Moves with their next Action, they
take the other half of the Damage you would have dealt to
them.
• If you pass the Might Test, the Enemy will suffer a Disad-
vantage to all their Offensive Tests until the beginning of
your next Turn.
• Should you inflict enough Damage to Maim an Area, you
choose which Area is Maimed. If this would Destroy the
Enemy, you may also choose to spare them and disable
their Core instead.
• This attack does not risk friendly fire when targeting a Unit
that is in a Duel.
• Weapons with the Blast, Burst and Line abilities cannot
Suppress.
Engage
You choose one Enemy and attempt to single them out
from the battle at large to have a Duel with them. You must
Attack using a Weapon from Range 0, which is to say,
while in the same Zone as the target. You may Move in po-
sition first and Engage with the same Action. Whether you
actually deal Damage to them or not, both of you are now
engaged in a Duel. This has the following effects:
• Units in a Duel are locked at range 0 and may not Move
with their Actions normally. At the beginning of their Turn
they may make a Contested Speed Test against their op-
ponent. The winner Moves both Units up to a number of
Zones equal to the lowest Speed between either of them,
staying at Range 0 the entire time.
• Anyone who tries to attack either of both engaged Units
will have to Test Might against both of them at once, like
when using a Blast Weapon. If the result of the roll is an
odd number they hit their Ally, but an even result lets them
hit their Enemy. If the Might Test fails against one duelist
but not the other, then the one with the lower Defense is
the victim.
• Attacking any other target than the one you are locked in
a duel with will give your opponent a free Offensive Action
against you.
• Butting into the Duel is impossible—there is just too much
going on. The only way to help break up the Duel is to
destroy one of the participants.
• Similarily, the only way to break out of a Duel is to Disen-
gage or to see that your opponent is destroyed.
• You may not Engage a Base Unit unless you are a Base
Unit yourself.
21
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Utility Actions
Utility Actions let you Move in any direction. Mecha can
do a lot more things than just these few Actions presented
here, but these are the ones you are more likely to need
clear rules for.
Boost
You accelerate as much as possible in one direction,
ideal for charging and pulling back. Move two times your
Speed with this Action instead of the regular move-
ment rate. Boost does not require you to Move in a
straight line.
Maneuver
You make yourself a hard target by taking cover, releasing
chaff or launching dummy balloons similar to your Mecha.
Choose one of Systems or Speed. You increase your
Defense by an amount equal to that Attribute until the
beginning of your next Turn. You may give this Defense
bonus to an Ally within 1 Zone of Range from you instead
of keeping it for yourself (they lose the bonus outside of
that Range). Multiple Maneuvers do not stack, they use
only the highest Defense bonus of the bunch. Docked Units
may not Maneuver for others at all.
Delay
Choose any other Action and another different Unit’s
Initiative. You take your Action right after that Unit’s
Turn. You don’t need to specify how you want to use your
Action, you can say you want to Attack but not say which
Weapon you will use, for instance. Delaying counts as an
Offensive Action if you use it to take an Offensive Action.
Disengage
You can escape from a Duel you’re in and return to the
main battle, moving your Speed away in a direction
of your choice. No Tests are required, but this still uses
your Action for the turn, making for a stalling tactic at best
against a foe bent on engaging you one to one, unless you
have friends to watch your back.
22
Dock
If your Squad has a Base Unit within Move Distance, you
may Dock inside it. This has the following effects:
• Docked Units will move with the Base Unit wherever it
goes.
• Docked Units cannot be targeted by Offensive Actions
and are immune to Terrain effects.
• Docked Units cannot interact with the battlefield outside,
only with themselves, other Docked Units and the Base
Unit itself.
• A Docked Unit can choose to expose itself at the begin-
ning of its Turn to interact with the outside without having
to fully undock. If they do, they may become the secondary
targets of Blasts, Bursts and Lines (but not primary targets)
and become vulnerable to Terrain effects (including Ex-
treme Terrain) until the beginning of their next Turn.
• You may redeploy as a normal Action afterwards coming
out within a Zone of the Base Unit.
MISCELLANEOUS ACTIONS
Let’s say you do not want to do any of these obviously
useful things like “Firing Missiles” or “Taking Cover” and
instead you want to do something fancier. Something like
retrieving an escape pod, extinguishing a building on fire or
even picking up a disabled Mecha. For the most part those
things should be Utility Actions, perhaps making use of a
Might or Systems Test if necessary, but in general shouldn’t
be too hard.
If a PC wants to talk enemy out of the fight, that’s not
something that can be decided through a simple roll. If the
situation has gotten to the point where characters are fight-
ing each other with giant robots, then the NPCs are unlikely
to listen to a PC’s pleading for peace. Persuading NPCs to
stand down and stop fighting (or to retreat so they don’t die)
is something that only happens in very specific contexts at
the GM’s discretion. If a Grunt Squad would rather escape
than fight to the death, then they might do that when their
leader is shot down without the PCs having to talk to them
at all. Named Rival NPCs have their own motivations and it
depends on the story whether they’ll listen to the PCs at all
or if they could end up joining the PC’s side.

Damage and Maiming
Mecha have a Defense equal to their Guard plus 5.
A success with your Might Test will inflict Damage equal
to how much the roll beat the Defense by, reducing the
defender’s current Threshold Level by that much. Mecha
have four Levels of Threshold.
All Damage that reduces the defender's Threshold
down one Level will Maim one of the defender's Areas,
disabling any Upgrades and Weapons installed there. The
affected Area is dependent of the total amount of Damage
that was dealt. An odd Damage total will Maim an Area
of the defender’s choice, and an even Damage total will
Maim an Area of the attacker’s choice.
Areas that have already been Maimed cannot be chosen
twice. In the case that a single instance of Damage would
take down multiple Levels of Threshold, the defender and
attacker alternate who gets to choose.
When the Damage that causes a Maim is inflicted by the
environment or by the damaged Unit themselves, then they
choose the Area that will be Maimed.
However, like any good heroic protagonist, characters will
fight more fiercely the closer they are to defeat. The first
time that a PC loses an individual Level of Threshold
during an Operation, they gain a Genre Point. This
applies to the first three Levels, not the fourth. Losing the
fourth Threshold Level simply Defeats you.
When a Mecha loses all four Levels of Threshold and has
all of its non-Core Areas Maimed, it is Defeated and the
Core ejects immediately. All Damage taken is repaired
away between Operations and Maimed Areas are likewise
restored to normal working condition.
Characters vs Mecha
The entire point of having Mecha is that trying to match
them in power without one of your own is a futile effort.
After all, if you didn’t need your own giant robot to take out
another, the game would not revolve around them.
Using Advantages and Disadvantages is not enough to
cover just how overwhelming a Mecha-scale enemy is
when you don’t have your own. If you really must have
people on foot fighting a Mecha, use these rules:
• Mecha do double Damage to a Pilot-scale target.
• Characters do half Damage to a Mecha-scale target.
• Deathblows have no effect on Mecha at all.
As you can see, the only hope for Characters lies in not
getting hit at all, but Tension will make that race a hard one
to win. They should aim to either blitz Mecha into submis-
sion, or (better yet) run away.
CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
NARRATING MAIMS
“Maims” in this game represent damage that disables
equipment in those limbs, without necessarily having the
limb itself destroyed. So if your Mecha’s Legs are Maimed,
anything installed there no longer works, but that does not
make the Mecha topple over. In the same fashion the Torso
can be Maimed without the body exploding. Otherwise,
combat would consist entirely of making called shots at an
enemy’s weak point to finish them off ASAP. That might be
fun once or twice but would get old and repetitive very fast.
With that said, you can narrate the loss of entire limbs if
you can make it work narratively—maybe your Mecha can
regrow limbs, has telekinetic equipment, or something else.
Generally speaking, it’s best if the defender explains how
the Maim happens, though they should take the attacker’s
input into consideration. You can say you tried to parry a
blade and it cut of your Mecha’s fingers, or you tried to
jump out of the way of an explosion and it caught your
legs, or that you ducked under the giant energy beam but
weren’t fast enough to save the head. Some descriptions
will be more obvious than others, be creative.
When you lose one of your Areas you will want to sacrifice
one that will not be of much use for the rest of the fight, and
when you Maim an opponent you should go for the most
threatening or important Area. The narration will often make
these Areas obvious, like when your opponent shoots la-
sers from their eyes or tries to crush you with a giant claw.
When it is not so evident, you can either guess or use the
Knowledge is Power ability to peek at the enemy’s sheet.
The Core
The Core is what holds the Mecha’s critical systems, such
as the very Pilot riding it. The Core has the following rules:
• Cores have no Upgrades, not even Internal ones.
• Cores have no Weapons, not even Default ones.
• Cores have their base Mecha’s Guard, Systems and one
last Level of Threshold, but their Might, Speed and Energy
are 0.
• After the Core’s Threshold hits 0, spillover Damage is
dealt to the Pilot. (Characters take double Damage from
Mecha).
The mechanical purpose of the Core is to act as a sort of
fifth level of Threshold that protects the pilot from harm until
it is destroyed, at which point they take 2x Damage from
Mecha as normal and will probably die if attacked.
Grunt Mecha always fail to eject and their Pilots explode
violently with their robots. In the case of a Pilotless Mecha
such as an AI Unit or a giant monster there is no Core and
they are completely destroyed. The only way to spare AIs
and Monsters would be with the Suppress Action, in which
case the creature (or robot) is incapacitated and will not be
a threat any further unless somehow repaired or healed.
23
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME

The Dramatic Finish

When the GM confirms that a PC has Defeated an NPC (and after figuring out whether said NPC flees, ejects, dies, lives
or whatever other fate happens to them) the owner of the PC has the right to narrate a Dramatic Finish. This is a spec-
tacular description of the PC finishing that Enemy off.

The description should be appropriate to the result of the Might Test. An attack that massively overkills the enemy de-
serves a more grandiose description than one that barely gets the job done. If there was no Might Test, judge it entirely
based on the Damage dealt. Additionally, Suppression attacks are by definition more controlled and cause less collateral
damage, which should be taken into account as well.

Below you’ll find some examples of how to narrate a Dramatic Finish with your attacks, taking the above criteria into con-
sideration. Do also keep in mind that the appropriateness of a Dramatic Finish depends on the tone of the game and the
tech level of its setting. The group should have discussed, before starting the campaign, the levels of realism and serious-
ness that people should work with for their descriptions.

Melee Weapon Dramatic Finishes Shooting Weapon Dramatic Finishes

Low (15-) Might Test Without Spillover Damage: Your
sword locks against that of your adversary and it doesn’t
look like you’ll be able to beat them in a swordfight. So you
grab their other arm, pull them in closer and proceed to
punch and kick until their mech is a pile of scrap metal.
High (31+) Might Test with 10+ Damage Overkill: Your
super robot burns bright red with a fiery battle aura. Pour-
ing your soul into a mighty battlecry, you punch the enemy
into a mountain so hard that it makes the mountain partially
collapse, if not outright implode, on top of them.
Somewhere Between the Above: You stab your opponent
with your beam saber, pumping the mech’s power reserves
into it. The saber explodes outwards, energy piercing a
hole through the enemy, large enough that what is leftover
of it serves as a windowed shield.
Suppression Finish: You use your sword to cut the enemy
over a dozen times at lightning-fast speeds. You’ve system-
atically dissassembled their mech with such precision that
you can probably use most of the remains as spare parts.
OPTIONAL RULE: MOBILE CORES
Low (15-) Might Test Without Spillover Damage: Your
shot missed the mark, but the bullet ricocheted multiple
times in a frankly unbelievable fashion managing to hit the
enemy where their armor was most worn-off already, leav-
ing them unable to move. That was 100% intentional, you
swear.
High (31+) Might Test with 10+ Damage Overkill: You
bet everything on your beam cannon, bypassing all limiters
and overloading your reactor to fire a single all-or-nothing
shot. The beam is so massive it is as wide and tall as your
mech, and so powerful it goes over the horizon and makes
random civilians far away from the battlefield think they saw
a shooting star crossing the sky.
Somewhere Between the Above: You dodge enemy with
a gracious somersault while spinning up your gatling gun,
landing right next to your target. Half a second after land-
ing, you annihilated them with a furious barrage of bullets
that left their mech with more holes than a piece of cheese.
Suppression Finish: You duck in and out of cover, taking
potshots at the enemy with your hand cannon, until eventu-
ally you catch them right as they’re exposing themselves.
With the accuracy of a competitive shooting champion, you
pick off their limbs until they’re just a harmless torso and
limp on the ground.

By default, Cores have no Speed score, and thus cannot move around. The pilots within are sitting ducks until rescued,
though they’re still more protected from collateral damage that way than they would be on foot.

You may want to change this by giving ejected Cores their Mecha’s Speed to let PCs and named NPCs be able to escape
from the battlefield on their own merits. You can accomplish this by saying the Core is a cockpit with jets installed and can
be flown like a plane, or by making the Core into a suit of power armor that regularly uses a combination of motion and
mental controls.

These mobile Cores are a good excuse for GMs to allow their PCs to go nuts with Dramatic Finishes against NPCs who
intend to use Live Another Day. Yes, you totally punched your rival with a missile that exploded on their face, obliterating
their mech, but they ejected seconds before that and escaped during the explosion.

24

Terrain
Operations must take place somewhere, and every locale
is different: from flat featureless plains to floors made
of lava. Being able to take advantage of the Terrain can
change the outcome of a battle, so make sure that you
know how it affects your Unit.
Plain
The most basic and simple kind of battlefield. Plain Ter-
rain ranges from everyday meadows and outer space to
outright Boss Platforms™ . It is best described by its own
lack of benefits or hindrances. Plain Terrain has no special
rules.
Difficult
Rocky and uneven hills, deserts that clog your Mecha’s
joints with sand and bodies of water waist that force you
to awkwardly swim your way around. These are all good
examples of Difficult Terrain, known for how much it com-
plicates the lives of those trying to cross it. Units Halve
their Speed while they are within Difficult Terrain. This
means that for each Zone of Difficult Terrain you attempt to
cross, you have to spend two units of movement instead of
one.
Defensive
Defensive Terrain is distinguished by having a lot of cover
for Units, making it comparable to the Mecha equivalent of
war trenches. Examples of Defensive Terrain are most ur-
ban settings, deep jungles, and asteroid fields. Defensive
Terrain protects Units in it with a Disadvantage to all
Might Tests against them.
Extreme
Extreme Terrain covers a variety of hazardous environs
that are deadly to both people and giant robots. Examples
of Extreme Terrain include magnetics storm and erupt-
ing volcanoes. A Unit that begins or ends a Turn within
Extreme Terrain must Test either Systems or Speed
against a DN of 10 plus the current Tension. Should
they fail the Test, they then take the amount they failed
it by as Damage. If they begin and end a Turn within Ex-
treme Terrain, each instance threatens them separately.
Impassable
The fifth basic type of Terrain represents things like sky-
scrapers, mountains or large asteroids, things that you
can use as cover but sometimes are also in the way. You
may not move or shoot through Zones of Impassable
Terrain. Battlefields often have Impassable Terrain around
some of their edges, representing geographical barriers. If
you would ever be forced to move against Impassable
Terrain, the movement halts and you take Damage as if
you had crashed into another Unit.
CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
Interference Terrain
Interference Terrain is a specialized version of Defensive
Terrain, which jams sensors and obscures vision. Unlike
Defensive Terrain, Interference Terrain does not provide
real cover, it only makes you harder to pinpoint and is thus
useless against weapons that don’t require precise target-
ing and cover a wide area of effect.
Units attacking from within, into or through Interfer-
ence Terrain will suffer two Disadvantages to the Might
Test unless they are using Weapons with the Blast,
Burst or Line abilities. It is important to keep in mind that
Interference Terrain is one of the few types that can’t be
nullified through Flight or similar abilities.
Withering Terrain
Withering Terrain prevents giant robots (or your game’s
equivalent) from functioning properly. This could be a
strong magnetic disturbance, a swarm of critters that leech
on a mech’s power source or strange glowing crystal for-
mations that cause your giant robot’s systems to malfunc-
tion. Whatever it is, Mecha in Withering Terrain are notice-
ably weakened.
When you start your Turn within Withering Terrain you only
regenerate half your Energy Attribute during that Turn.
Variant Anti-Air Terrain
Unlike other Terrain types, Anti-Air Terrain variants only af-
fect flying Units. You can create variant Difficult Anti-Air and
Extreme Terrain to represent high-altitude stormy winds, for
example. Anytime you would create Defensive, Diffi-
cult, Extreme or Withering Terrain (this includes abilities
like Surprise Minefield and Incinerator) you may choose
to make it Anti-Air Terrain instead. This Anti-Air Terrain
does not affect anybody who is not, well, Flying.
Harmful Anti-Air Terrain is meant to challenge aerial PCs
who are having a considerably easier time than everyone
else without resorting to underwater or space environ-
ments. Even then, it should be employed alongside regular
Terrain to give Players options and make them choose the
lesser of two evils. Use it sparingly, as it otherwise punish-
es Players for having spent MP to gain flight capability.
STACKING TERRAIN
Multiple instances of the same Terrain will stack together.
Here is how that works out:
Defensive: Inflicts one Disadvantage per instance.
Difficult: Halves Speed once per instance.
Extreme: Adds Tension to the DN once per instance.
Interference: Inflicts two Disadvantages per instance.
Withering: Halves the restored Energy once per instance.
Plain and Impassable Terrain can’t stack, for obvious rea-
sons.
25
 CHAPTER 1 - PLAYING THE GAME
OTHER TERRAIN TYPES
The previous listed kinds of Terrain aren’t the only kinds of
Terrain you can use, just the most frequent. There can be
as many specific Terrain rules as your imagination allows.
You can have an Operation take place deep undersea. This
would be is Extreme and Difficult Terrain but also diffuses
Beam Weapons making them suffer two Disadvantages to
their use.
Perhaps you want to have an aerial battle instead, in which
Units would need Flight capability or to stay Docked within
a Base Unit that can Fly. Maybe allow PCs to borrow a
flying platform for their Mecha (granting them the Flyer
Feature) at the cost of a Genre Point.
You can also have explosive or flammable Terrain such as
forest patches or crates of volatile supplies. These would
be Difficult Terrain that becomes Extreme Terrain after be-
ing affected with a Blast, Burst or Line.
When using custom Terrain the GM should state how it in-
teracts with abilities that depend on Terrain like Anti-Gravity
and if Systems or Speed Tests can do anything to mitigate
any debilitating conditions.
This game treats 3D environments such as underwater and
outer space as 2D. Handling elevation and depth is, to put
it bluntly, a huge mess and it’s best to abstract 3D distanc-
es as part of the 2D plane.
26
End of Operation
By default an Operation ends when all antagonist NPC
Units (or the antagonist Base Unit) are Defeated or they’ve
retreated. There can be other, more varied objectives that
can mark a mission’s success besides destruction of all
enemies, up to the GM.
PCs can also end a mission on their own prematurely by
retreating through Live Another Day or Boosting away until
they reach the edge of the battlefield.
Thanks to Live Another Day, escaping alive from a losing
fight is trivial and iti s up to each PC to decide between
retreating or fighting to the very end. However, the same
goes for any NPC with Genre Points, meaning that most of
them can and probably will survive should the GM wish that
to be the case.
Because retreating is always an option for both PCs and
important NPCs, Operations should have stakes other than
the life and death of combatants. For example, civilians
(preferably named NPCs that the PCs know personally)
could be at risk of being killed, captured, losing their homes
or more if the antagonists win. Maybe the territory the PCs
are defending is an important strategic location that will
change the course of the story should it be lost. Perhaps
the enemy is about to launch multiple nuclear missiles and
failing to stop them would result in global nuclear winter.
Anything that can make your Operation more than just an
inconsequential skirmish will do.
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Character Creation Summary Character Concept

Your PC is built of a combination of things that make them
powerful and fun to roleplay. The recommended order to
create a character below tries to streamline the process as
much as possible. Feel free to ignore it, or to retrace your
steps in the middle of it until you feel satisfied with what
you’ve got.
Check with your fellow Players and GM every now and then
while creating your character to make sure it fits the game
they intend to run. Make some changes if you think it would
be necessary, and do not hesitate to ask the others for help
if you are unsure of how a rule works or if your ideas are
good.
Step 1: Concept
The first thing you need to figure out is what kind of Charac
ter you’d like to roleplay. Just a short sentence will do. You
can decide on the fine details as you go along.
Step 2: Character Points
Your PC has 100 Character Points (CP) which you can
spend to assign Attributes or purchase Skills and Traits.
Skills and Traits build upon the base Attributes, being less
general and more specific about what they represent. Don’t
forget to calculate the Character’s Defense and Plot Armor
after doing this too.
Step 3: Genre Themes and Powers
Go a little bit deeper into who the character is and what
you want to do with them during the game by selecting one
Theme for each category: Reason, Typecast and Bane.
Roleplaying these Themes will grant you Genre Points. You
can use the Genre Points gained during play to activate
Genre Powers during battle, breaking stalemates in your
favor and saving allies from the brink of death.
Step 4: Power Level Adjustments
If your Power Level is above 0 then you have extra CP to
spend on more Attributes, Skills or Traits. The amount of
extra CP available is your Power Level times 30.
All Player Characters pilot Mecha. Perhaps you pilot for
honor, duty, or love. Maybe your aptitude is the result of
your endurance, psychic powers, or enhanced genes. The
reasons don’t matter: Your character will sortie to partici-
pate in Mecha combat.
Before all the rules comes the PC's Concept, a single
phrase describing the core of your character. This phrase
needs to describe who they are and what they do. Good
examples are things like "The Strongest Cyborg" and also
"Charismatic Masked Antihero." Don't get lyrical or go over-
board with details, but don’t make it too simplistic either.
A Concept of "Genius" is just as bad as "Schoolgirl With
Three PhDs Who Keeps Making Puns And Cackling Madly
To Herself." Instead of all that nonsense, use something
like: "Eccentric Girl Genius."
A Concept can be spot-on or somewhat open-ended. Both
have their own pros and cons so don’t feel bad if yours
looks like it is too short or too long, just avoid making it too
much like the ‘bad’ examples from above.
Since PCs are all Pilots, they don’t need to make piloting
part of their concept. Only include piloting in the phrase if
you want it to be a very important part of what makes the
character unique, such as “Cocky Ace Pilot” or “Wandering
Mecha Repairman.”
PC concepts are not a science—it does not even have any
effect on the rules of the game. Concepts exists to help you
focus your creative energies and gives the GM and other
players a hint of what to expect from your PC.
Above all, it has to be a concept that you want to play with
for a while and won’t regret later. All PCs grow and change
over time and you can change the concept later if your PC
outgrows it, but do try to define what makes the core of
your character with your Concept. That way you don’t have
to keep rewriting their description every few sessions.

Step 5: Finishing Touches

Write everything down in your character sheet. This section
also has a questionnaire for you to provide your PC a
number of little quirks and perks. These may not have an
impact on the rules of the game but help shape them as a
human being.

EXAMPLE CHARACTER CONCEPTS

• The Strongest Cyborg
• Androgynous Young Prodigy
• Wandering Mecha Repairman
• Protective But Aloof Older Brother
• Cocky Ace Pilot
• Eccentric Girl Genius
• Grizzled Veteran
• Captain Mom
• Pacifist Space Princess
• Salaryman just Doing his Job
• Charismatic Masked Antihero
• Robot Ninja Maid
• Dutiful Western Samurai
• Emotionless Child Soldier
• Pink-Haired Catgirl

27
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Character Points
Characters can do anything, but not everything, and each thing they can do has a price in Character Points (CP). All
Player Characters have 100 Character Points to spend improving themselves. Creating a Character who is average
in all matters costs just a few points, but an invincible superhuman needs a lot of CP. You can spend your CP on three
things: Attributes, Skills and Traits. This chapter will teach you all there is to know about those. Don’t worry if you end
up with leftover CP, you can spend it later during the course of the game but they don’t count towards your Power Level.

Character Attributes
After picking a Concept, it is time to assign Attributes. No PC will never be The Very Best At Everything, so you will have
to prioritize some Attributes over others. It should be easy as long as you know your PC’s strongest and weakest points.
Or you can have a character who is decent at everything but they’re just not the best at anything either.

Attributes start at Rank 0, but you can increase their Rank by spending CP. To increase an Attribute’s Rank you must
spend a number of Character Points equal to the Rank your Attribute will reach. This means that increasing your
Fitness from 0 to 1 costs one Character Point, going from 1 to 2 costs two Character Points, and so on. And because to
get a 2 there you must first earn a 1, the total cost in Character Points from Rank 0 to Rank 2 is of 3 Character Points .

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cost 1 3 6 10 15 21 28 36 45 55

Costs get progressively more expensive because being average at most things is easier than being really, really good at
any one thing. Having one or more Attributes at 11 or higher is possible but prohibitively pricey and not recommended un-
less you are sure that you know what you are doing.

You can have one or more Attributes at 0, but that means the character has a serious handicap of some type. But it does
let you play more unique character concepts, such as a brilliant scientist in a wheelchair. If you want characters with big
strengths and big weaknesses, there you go.

For your convenience here is a quick reminder of what each Attribute does:

Fitness:
Fitness is useful for circumstances that need raw strength,
quick reflexes and physical endurance. With Fitness you
can climb trees, drive a motorcycle, and break down doors.
Fitness is the primary Attribute used to fight other Charac-
tersand contributes to your Initiative during Matches.
Awareness:
Awareness is useful for Scenes that need sharp senses as
well as instincts. With Awareness you can spot someone
tailing you, investigate a crime scene, and notice someone
is lying. Awareness is a key defensive Attribute because it
adds to your Defense.

Intellect:
Intellect is the Attribute for circumstances that need training
in one or more technical skills as well as broad knowledge
of theoretical sciences. With Intellect you can hack com-
puters, perform f rst aid, and decode ciphered messages.
Intellect is important because it governs a lot of Skills.
Willpower:
Willpower is used in instances that require patience and
sheer stubbornness. With Willpower you can keep your
head cool while you’re being shot at or face to face with a
giant monster. Willpower is not just the source of your Plot
Armor, it lets you keep going after you’ve lost it.

Charm:
Charm is the Attribute that lets you make friends and inf u-
ence people. With Charm you can give rousing speeches
and earn the trust of someone you’ve just met. Charm is an
important Attribute because it lets you talk your way out of
problematic situations before they get violent.
Resources:
Resources handles assets external to your character like
money, contacts and status. With Resources you can
get other people to do your work for you or even let your
money do the talking. Resources can substitute for other
Attributes in the right circumstances, making it very useful.

28
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Skills Reading Skills

Skills are the combination of the knowledge and training
in a character has in a specific field. They are more nar-
row in focus than Attributes and define expertise with more
personality. Skills can be gained as Generalist or Spe-
cialist. You can be trained in the General or the Special-
ist version of the same Skill, but not in both. A Generalist
Skill costs you 10 CP, while a Specialist Skill costs you
5 CP. A Specialist Skill can be upgraded to its Generalist
version for 5 CP later during the course of the story.
All Skills are written in the same format, For your reading
convenience, here is everything you should know about
their descriptions.
Skill Name
Immediately below the name is a brief summary of what the
Skill is about, what it can be used for, and what kind of
Characters would find it useful.

The way Skills work is simple: When you make a Test The second paragraph details the Attributes you usually
belonging to something covered by one of your Skills you would Test when using the Skill in question.
gain an Advantage to said Test. Generalist Skills apply to
any situation in which a Skill can be used, while Specialist Possible Specializations: A few examples of how you
Skills only apply to a single subject within the Skill’s portfo- may Specialize with this Skill. Specializations are not lim-
lio. Specialists only gain an Advantage when using that ited to the presented ones, they are just examples.
skill’s chosen Specialization.
Possible Advantages: Example circumstances during
The Resources Attribute can be used to replace nearly any which your Character would have an easier time, gaining
Skill you do not have, as long as you have enough money, an Advantage to the Test.
friends or influence to back it up—and the time to call
someone to solve your problems for you. In Rules terms Possible Disadvantages: As above but reversed, describ-
this means you can Test Resources in place of another ing circumstances in which you’ve got it harder and thus
Attribute and Skill combination to have someone else suffer a Disadvantage.
do your work, but being successful will inflict a Disad-
vantage to all further Resource Tests for that same Sample Tests: A few typical (and sometimes not-so typi-
Episode. Resources alone can only get you so far. Money cal) appropriate Skill Tests, including the Difficulty Numbers
runs dry and contacts have problems of their own. and type of Test necessary. There are near infinite uses for
every Skill though, these are just a demonstration.
The use of Resources depends on having the time and
means to find the help you need. Some urgencies might
place a Disadvantage to the Test, while others make the
use of Resources outright impossible. You can use Re-
sources in place of Craftsmanship to have someone fix a
broken machine while you’re away doing something else,
but you cannot use it to defuse a bomb that is about to go
off.

SKILLS ARE CINEMATIC

One aspect of Mecha fiction—and most fiction in general—that does not often agree with reality is the portrayal of skill-
sets in both theoretical and practical knowledge.

In fiction, most Characters are masters of their fields to a ridiculous degree. A person who is "good at sports" will be good
at all of them at once, the brightest member of the team is an omni-scientist who can juggle most types of applied and
theoretical sciences, and someone with an useful contact will have a network that can conjure favors like they’re magic.

Sometimes this kind of thing is closer to reality. Soldiers are not taught only how to fire a gun without ever touching on
how unarmed combat works, for example. In most cases though, this is not how real skillsets work. A chef is not a mas-
ter of demolitions, the tech support guy is not necessarily a hacker and a chessmaster should not be commanding real
armies.

Battle Century G leaves you to choose how you want to go about things. You may keep the generalist approach and en-
joy all the benefits of the game’s broadly defined Skills or you may choose to use Specializations for a lower CP cost, but
have a harder time when you’re not using your specialty.

29
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
General Skills
Athletics
Encompassing one’s physical fitness and training of the
body, Athletics applies to all those situations in which
strength and endurance are both required. Characters
trained in Athletics can get away from assassins climbing
walls, long-distance jumping from one rooftop to the next,
or just plain outrunning everyone.
Athletics Tests use the Fitness Attribute unless the Test is
about theoretical knowledge instead, which use Intellect.
Possible Specializations: Rock-Climbing, Football, Swim-
ming.
Possible Advantages: Stimulants, high performance bike,
the sports match take place on your ‘home turf.’
Possible Disadvantages: Trying to climb a sheer slope,
running around debris, swimming against the current.
Sample Tests: Jumping from one rooftop to another (DN
10), a foot chase (DN Contested Athletics), crossing the
English Channel (DN 15).
Craftsmanship
What do painters, masons and engineers have in com-
mon? This Skill. Those with Craftsmanship are able to
create and repair physical objects, knowing how to tackle
larger projects like those of architecture or engineering.
Craftsmanship Tests are usually Extended. Craftsmanship
requires Charm when used to create a work of art, uses
Intellect when planning more mechanical, chemical or
architectural projects and Fitness when you’re otherwise
working hands-on to fix or craft something simple.
Possible Specializations: Cooking, Demolitions, Poetry.
Possible Advantages: Extremely rare and high quality
ingredients, you have a bomb defusing manual, someone
else takes care of your responsibilities for the duration of
your crafting.
Possible Disadvantages: Distracting noises all day long,
improvised working area, ingredients are poor quality or
need suboptimal substitutions.
Sample Tests: Building a tree house (DN 10), disarming a
bomb (DN 15), writing a manifesto that will rally the masses
(DN 20).
30
Combat
Combat represents brute strength, well-honed marksman-
ship, and knowledge of strategy and tactics. Two people
engaged in a fisticuff will use Combat to determine the
winner, but so will two generals trying to control their troops
more effectively than the other.
Fighting benefits from Fitness to put it to practical use. Its
strategic uses instead use Intellect.
Possible Specializations: Chess, Swordsmanship, Re-
volvers.
Possible Advantages: Stimulants, attacking from surprise,
attacking from the high ground.
Possible Disadvantages: Taking on someone armed
while unarmed, shooting targets that are behind cover, at-
tacking from the low ground.
Sample Tests: Attacking another with a physical weapon
(DN Defense), engaging another in a chess duel (DN Con-
tested Combat), breaking down a creaking wooden door
(DN 5).
Deception
The art of bluffing, encompassing fast-talk, convincing lies,
and a fair degree of acting skill. Note that putting up an act
that doesn’t actually do anything but get other people’s at-
tention is the domain of the Presence skill instead.
Deception generally uses Charm, though Intellect can
apply in the case of more technically elaborate and imper-
sonal scams. If you want to intimidate someone with physi-
cal harm, that’s Fitness. The target of your Deception must
Test Contested Awareness to resist.
Possible Specializations: Disguises, Threats, Seduction.
Possible Advantages: Victim is desperate for what you
have to offer, the person you are impersonating looks like
you, the papers you are forging are the same kind that you
regularly write officially.
Possible Disadvantages: There are ‘wanted’ signs with
your face on them, trying to fool a wide audience, you don’t
have experience with the papers you are trying to forge.
Sample Tests: Convincing a guard that you just forgot your
ID, selling fake goods, empty threats and intimidatory bluffs
(All DN Contested Awareness).

Diplomacy
Diplomacy expresses a sincere desire to win someone
over. It can be used to calm down an angry person, change
someone’s mind or seduce someone you fancy, but the
interest in doing so must be genuine.
Diplomacy almost always uses Charm, though Intellect
may be used to overwhelm people with information. You
may also use Fitness to physically intimidate others, but
only if you actually intend to throw down with them should
they not back off. The target of your Diplomacy must Test
Contested Willpower to resist. Their failure does not neces-
sarily mean they’ve changed their mind, they might back off
for now but get mad at you for it.
Possible Specializations: Haggling, Negotiating Peace
Talks, Philosophical Debates.
Possible Advantages: Target is greedy and easily bribed,
target respects your good reputation, target fears your
infamous reputation.
Possible Disadvantages: Trying to sweet talk multiple
people at once, convincing someone who dislikes you, you
look like a deranged lunatic that hasn’t slept in days.
Sample Tests: Getting a few free drinks from someone
you just met, making an emotional appeal to the jury, nego-
tiating for a cease-fire (All DN Contested Willpower).
Finesse
Employing flexibility and hand-eye coordination over mus-
cle power and resilience, Finesse is the Skill for pickpocket-
ing and juggling small objects or for walking on a tightrope.
Finesse always is paired with the Fitness Attribute since
slipping out of manacles or picking a lock demands more
physical dexterity than anything else.
Possible Specializations: Escapism, Lockpicking, Pick-
pocketing.
Possible Advantages: An object easy to palm, quality
breaking and entering tools, target is distracted.
Possible Disadvantages: Handling large objects, restric-
tive clothing, watchful eyes on object of choice.
Sample Tests: Diving for cover when a firefight breaks out
(DN 5), cautiously stealing a purse (DN Contested Aware-
ness) cracking open a state of the art safe (DN 15).
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Electronics
This Skill distinguishes those who know how to use elec-
tronic gadgets of all sorts.You may use Electronics as a
replacement for other Skills when a computer could do all
the work for you. This will almost always take more time
than if you did so yourself, though.
Electronics always uses Intellect.
Possible Specializations: Communications, Hardware,
Hacking.
Possible Advantages: Access to a supercomputer, task is
easily automated, vast library of reference material for what
you are researching.
Possible Disadvantages: Computer is old or otherwise
subpar, the task is tedious and the computer easily screws
it up if left on its own, slow internet connection.
Sample Tests: Looking up simple information (DN 5), stop-
ping someone trying to hack into your system (DN Contest-
ed Electronics), disabling a security system (DN 15).
Humanities
The social and behavioural sciences—those that study
people. Humanities as a Skill is used to research a subject,
appraise an antique, and similar tasks that require broad
knowledge of such subjects. Training in Humanities does
not necessarily make a character older, just more knowl-
edgeable. Humanities is only for theoretical knowledge, for
example a therapist needs real people skills to go with their
book learning, such as Diplomacy.
Humanities will use the Intellect Attribute for all Tests.
Possible Specializations: Anthropology, Law, Psychology.
Possible Advantages: You know someone who was part
of the cult you’re researching, one of your parents was a
lawyer who would handle cases related to these laws, this
exact matter was the subject of your thesis.
Possible Disadvantages: Trying to research an unusually
obscure topic, the text wasn’t written by humans, you re-
member the classes related to this subject and not paying
attention during them.
Sample Tests: Checking a legal document for loopholes
(DN 5), analyze human remains to learn about the culture
they came from (DN 10), translating an ancient alien civili-
zation’s hyeroglyphs (DN 15).
31
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Investigation
The investigator gathers information and filters what is true
or useful from that which is false or background noise. You
may use Investigation to notice a secret passage in the
creepy mansion, or to bar-hop and ask if people have seen
a missing child. Investigation takes time and is about trial
and error, where Diplomacy is more straightforward.
Investigation uses Awareness at all times, since it is less
about finding new information (which you obtain through
other Skills) and it is more about interpreting details over a
period of time.
Possible Specializations: Crime Scenes, Interrogation,
Puzzles & Riddles.
Possible Advantages: Unrestricted access to crime
scene, the prisoner fears you, a team to help you notice
things or bounce ideas off of.
Possible Disadvantages: Subjects are unwilling to aid
you, looking for impossibly small objects or clues, some of
the evidence is planted.
Sample Tests: Fishing for information from your contacts
(DN 5), following a paper trail (DN 10), getting information
from a captive enemy (DN Contested Deception).
Presence
Sometimes you just want to get people’s attention, and
Presence does exactly that. When you want to impress
others with a performance of song, fast talk or an elaborate
speech, you use Presence.
Presence draws from Charm the grand majority of the
time. Intellect applies when trying to confuse people with
jargon or buzzwords. Fitness can also apply to do per-
formances via athletic tricks, making a Mixed Test with
Finesse.
Possible Specializations: Dance, Speeches, Technobab-
ble.
Possible Advantages: You’ve rehearsed the act previ-
ously, the public is drunk and in a good mood, your speech
relates strongly to what the audience cares about.
Possible Disadvantages: Terrible ambience, poor quality
microphones or other such equipment, hecklers.
Sample Tests: Telling a very good joke (DN 5), Distracting
others through fast talk (DN Contested Awareness), an epic
speech that will make people drop whatever they’re doing
and follow you (DN 20).
32
Medicine
The old and proud tradition of keeping other people alive
and in good health. Medicine also comes with knowledge
about the capabilities and limitations of the human body
and mind. The most obvious and common use of Medicine
is to diagnose and treat illnesses. These can be physical or
mental, but you can also combine it with Craftsmanship to
do pharmacy work.
Medicine needs Intellect in both its theoretical and practi-
cal applications.
Possible Specializations: Diagnostics, Forensics, Veteri-
nary.
Possible Advantages: Helpful assistants, stable and co-
operative patient, access to family medical histories.
Possible Disadvantages: Treating a patient who is in criti-
cal condition, uncooperative, or with multiple contradicting
symptoms.
Sample Tests: Diagnosing a patient (DN 5), First aid (DN
10), Eye surgery (DN 15).
Sciences
The scientist is a character who pursues one or more of
the ­“hard sciences”. This Skill corresponds to activities like
solving a mathematical problem, identifying a rare breed of
animal, and reciting the table of elements by memory. Much
like with Humanities, Sciences is not necessarily indicative
of an older character, though it does cause more eye rolling
when given to young characters.
Sciences will use the Intellect Attribute for all Tests.
Possible Specializations: Astronomy, Zoology, Physics.
Possible Advantages: Access to a supercomputer, quiet
working space, lots of reference material.
Possible Disadvantages: Subject matter of research is
obscure, analyzing a sample in poor condition or contami-
nated, dealing with impossible geometry the human mind
cannot comprehend.
Sample Tests: Identifying a strange animal (DN 5), accu-
rately predicting the weather for the next day (DN 10), figur-
ing out if and when a meteorite is going to make impact
(DN 15),
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Stealth
The stealthy character excels both at not being seen and
at hiding in plain sight. Stealth can be used to camouflage
or hide yourself, but also to shadow someone while con-
cealing your presence in a crowd. But before you ask, a
character with Stealth cannot just disappear from view
without actually hiding first.
Stealth is a Fitness based Skill, for obvious reasons, and it
would require an unusual scenario for that to change. Often
Stealth is used in Mixed Tests, along with the action that is
attempted to be taken stealthily.
Possible Specializations: Camouflage, Crowds, Shadow-
ing, Silent Movement, Smuggling small objects.
Possible Advantages: Poor lighting, distracted target,
soundless environment such as a vacuum.
Vehicles
This Skill is for operating all sorts of vehicles that aren’t gi-
ant robots. You sail, fly or drive as well as perform mainte-
nance on your machines.
Vehicles depends on Fitness when you are operating the
machines to move around, and Intellect when you are
working in your garage or equivalent.
Possible Specializations: Helicopters, Motorcycles,
Tanks.
Possible Advantages: A top of the line vehicle, luxury or
otherwise high quality tools, a vast stockpile of spare parts.
Possible Disadvantages: Driving through rocky terrain,
toolbox is incomplete or tools are in poor condition, the
parts required for the fix are difficult to acquire.

Possible Disadvantages: Distinguishing clothes, noisy Sample Tests: Tailing, escaping, or being in pursuit of one
equipment such as body armor, paranoid target. or more vehicles (DN Contested Vehicles).

Sample Tests: Sneaking up on someone (DN Contested OTHER SKILLS

Awareness), concealing a gun (DN 5), concealing a gun
from a check (DN Contested Awareness).
Survival
Survival is a broad skillset representing the ability to fend
for yourself without many of the commodities of modern
life. This can cover a wide set of subjects, from knowing
what to eat and where to sleep, to guessing the weather for
the day, and even staying on the good side of wild beasts.
Survival is usually related to Awareness, though if it is
used to pacify animals will use Charm.
Possible Specializations: Animal Handling, Hunting &
Foraging, Navigation.
Possible Advantages: Domesticated animals, camping
equipment, personal in-depth knowledge of the area.
Possible Disadvantages: Hungry or scared animals, no
equipment whatsoever, unknown area.
Sample Tests: Scavenging for food and water (DN 10),
getting hungry feral animals to ignore you (DN 10), using
the sky to find the way (5).
If you want something different from the Skills in the list,
then you may make up your own and discuss with the GM
what areas of expertise this new Skill would cover. Some
branches of Sciences or Humanities that do not have an
obvious skill for their applied use could merit being their
own Skill. Professions using Craftsmanship, Athletics or
Survival could also be good candidates for a single skill
that covers all it needs to make a living but doesn’t cover
what the rest of the aforementioned Skills come with.
Keep in mind not all custom Skills are viable in every game.
A Skill to represent your talent as an attorney is not going
to be very useful in a game about guerilla warfare without
some creative thinking. And just to keep things sane, try not
to make more than one custom Skill for a Character.
For the purposes of piloting giant robots no Skill is needed.
Piloting ability is integrated into the statistics of the Mecha
itself. Battle Century G wants to represent the Mecha
Genre as a whole and there are a myriad of ways in which
you can control Mecha. The rules separate a character’s
talents during Intermissions and Operations, and it is up to
you to define what makes your PC a good Pilot.

SKILLS AND EQUIPMENT

Battle Century G is not a game that cares about inventory management. Someone trained in a given Skill should pretty
much always have whatever they need on hand to use said Skill without issue. Sometimes, though, the PCs are caught
unprepared or lack the training that entitles them to have said gear. In that case, you may need to reference the list here
below to check whether the PC can use said Skill or not and if they suffer any Disadvantages for it.

Combat suffers a Disadvantage only when you’re using it unarmed against someone else who is armed.
Craftsmanship, Medicine and Survival suffer a Disadvantage if you use them without appropriate equipment.
Electronics and Vehicles, logically, cannot be used at all without the items that they’re named after.

33
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Miracle Skills
Miracles are more or less superpowers. They can be
anything from ESP to mutant powers to nanomachines
powered by your blood. With them you can change the
environment, your own body, and even the minds of others.
Their effects range from the subtle pull of gravity to the fiery
brutality of pyrokinesis.
But power comes at a price. Miracles have a side effect
harmful to the user, from a painful headache after trying to
read someone’s thoughts to your own act of pyrokinesis
exploding in your face. Miracles work like Skills do, with
an exception. Using a Miracle will deal Damage to your
Plot Armor by 1 plus another point of Damage per each
multiple of 5 you meet with the result of your Test.
Miracles are more open ended and broad in what they can
do than most Skills. You may purchase Miracles with CP
the same way you do Skills, but a Specialization costs
10 CP and generalist mastery of a Miracle is 20 CP. A
few select Miracles have multiple Specializations, but many
only have one. That doesn’t mean you can only Specialize
one way, it means you should come up with Specializations
of your own instead.
The effects of Miracle Skills take an Action to manifest
and require another Action (but not a new Test) every Turn
if they are to be maintained at length. Unless otherwise
noted, if you are using a Miracle Skill, you cannot be using
a mundane one in the same Test. Unlike with regular Skills,
if you are not trained in a Miracle, you may not use them at
all. You either have superpowers or you don’t, there is no
middle ground.
When you train in a Miracle that can be used to perform
Offensive Tests (Electricity, Force, Phantasm, Phas-
ing, Somatics or Temperature) you may select two 5 CP
Deathblow Traits or a single 10 CP Deathblow Trait.
You learn those Deathblows, but may only apply them
to that Miracle Skill. You can still train the Deathblows nor-
mally to gain additional uses of them. If you pick a Speciali-
zation for those Skills that doesn’t enable making Offensive
Tests, you don’t get the free Deathblows.
34
Electricity
The Electricity Miracle has both subtlety and raw power. It
can recharge a cell phone and operate a computer with a
thought, and of course it can zap baddies left and right.
All these uses require the target to be within line of sight.
Electricity uses Fitness to throw lightning bolts all over
the place, and Intellect the rest of the time. It may also be
used to enhance the Electronics Skill with a single Advan-
tage.
Possible Specializations: Offensive Tests, Electronics
Tests, Charging devices or the atmosphere.
Possible Advantages: You stand in the middle of a thun-
derstorm, High-conductivity materials, Anything that would
make an Electronics Test easier.
Possible Disadvantages: Target is surrounded with light-
ning rods, Low-conductivity materials, Anything that would
make an Electronics Test harder.
Sample Tests: Recharging a battery (DN 5), Shooting a
lightning bolt ffrom your fingertips at someone else (DN
Defense), Charging the local atmosphere with a few hours
of lightning (DN 15).
Force
Similar to the psychic power known as Telekinesis, the
Force Miracle controls kinetic forces between objects, and
essentially controls local gravity. Force may be used to call
a weapon to your hand, pin someone against a wall, or
even to temporarily fly. Force affects targets within your line
of sight.
All uses of Force revolve around Fitness to aim and
manipulate all that kinetic energy properly as if it were an
extension of your own body. You can also use Force defen-
sively. This is a Maneuver Action that also Tests Fitness
to inflict a Disadvantage to anyone who attacks you for
each multiple of 5 met with the result.
Possible Specializations: Offensive Tests, Manipulating
inorganic matter, Affecting living creatures.
Possible Advantages: Local gravity is in your favor, sub-
ject is cooperative, object is very light or has little mass.
Possible Disadvantages: Local gravity is pulling in op-
posite direction, trying to reflect bullets back to their source,
object is heavy or has a large mass.
Sample Tests: Gently moving an object or willing person
your size in a single direction (DN 5), Flying freely at your
normal speed (DN 10), Lifting someone off the ground and
throwing them against the wall (DN Defense).

Fortune
Fortune is the ability to manipulate the threads of fate
through good or ill luck. It is a subtle power, making the
user seem to have an uncanny intuition for who to ask
for assistance or where to look for a plot-critical item. The
blessings of Fortune let you find exactly who or what you
need at the perfect time. You will discover rare items on a
garage sale, catch people when they would be most des-
perate to owe you a favor, and run into your biggest fans
whom you never even knew until just now.
Fortune will enhance Resources Tests with an Advan-
tage and makes it a Miracle Test. It does not take an Action
to activate. A success earned through Fortune does not
make further Resources Tests made during the same Epi-
sode to suffer any Disadvantages.
Possible Specializations: Equipment Tests, Information
gathering, Hiring someone else’s services..
Possible Advantages: As Resources Tests.
Possible Disadvantages: As Resources Tests.
Sample Tests: As Resources Tests.
Life
You feel the pulse of life around you as one more of your
senses. You can expand this special sense over a wide
area to feel the presences of specific kinds of animal life
(humans, small mammals, reptiles, invertebrates) at a
time. This will give you a number and the general location
of each, but won’t let you identify them individually. Not
only that, but you can also transfer your own life essence
through touch to heal other people’s wounds.
Life requires an Awareness Test to sense other lifeforms.
When used as part of a Healing Test with the Medicine
Skill, it uses Intellect as normal. You may not use Life to
Heal yourself.
Possible Specializations: Awareness Tests, Medicine
Tests, A specific kind of animal life (such as humans, birds
or fish).
Possible Advantages: Few targets of the chosen type
in the searching area when looking for a singular specific
subject, outdoors and in touch with nature, you are trying to
heal someone of the exact same blood type.
Possible Disadvantages: Many targets of the chosen type
in the searching area when searching for a specific subject,
surrounded by machinery and electronics, you are trying to
heal someone of an incompatible blood type.
Sample Tests: Detecting human presences in a 100 meter
radius (DN 5), Detecting small mammals in a 1 kilometer
radius (DN 10), as Healing Tests.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Matter
Through this Miracle a character is able to manipulate solid
objects with a touch. They can be anything from complex
metallic alloys to a raw chunk of uranium. Doors can be re-
inforced, swords can be sharpened... And yet turning lead
into gold remains impossible. As a general rule doing any-
thing to objects that are large, complex or huge in mass will
be ludicrously difficult to achieve. Matter may only reshape
things, it cannot create something out of nothing.
Intellect will let you improve anything of solid substance,
break it down or reshape it. It can add an Advantage to
uses of the Craftsmanship Skill and reduce the required
time for Extended Tests by one category (from one Week to
one Day to one Hour to one Minute to Instantaneous) at the
cost of one Disadvantage per tier you’d like to decrease.
Matter has no effect on living beings, at most it only works
on dead tissue, and if you use it on anything electronic the
object will break.
Possible Specializations: Craftsmanship Tests, Destroy-
ing objects, Improving objects.
Possible Advantages: Object to be transformed is similar
in function and origin to the one you desire, object you are
trying to break is very light, of simple structure, or has little
mass.
Possible Disadvantages: Transforming one object into
another that shares little or nothing with it, trying to break
an object that is heavy, of complex structure, or with a large
mass.
Sample Tests: Granting any one item an Advantage to all
tests made with it for a Scene (DN 5), Breaking down rein-
forced steel (DN 15), Anything that you could use Crafts-
manship for.
35
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Phantasm
You possess the power to craft illusions and mirages
that can be just as convincing as the real thing. You must
concentrate and visualize what you want—or don’t want—
others to perceive. Your illusions are no more or less than
implanting sensory perception into the victim so thoroughly
that the effects might as well be real. Phantasms may be
projected within your line of sight.
Phantasm Tests make use of Awareness and need to beat
the Defense of onlookers to be believable. At the cost of
suffering a Disadvantage, Phantasm may be used as a
mental attack, crafting an illusion so realistic others will feel
it real (like shooting someone with an illusionary gun) and
they will suffer Damage like with any Offensive Test. You
can also use it defensively, this way you take a Maneu-
ver Action that also Tests Awareness to inflict a Disad-
vantage to anyone who attacks you for each multiple
of 5 met with the result.
Possible Specializations: Offensive Tests, Defensive
Tests, Self disguises/invisibility.
Possible Advantages: Illusion is well suited to the envi-
ronment, victim is in a suggestive state, gear and clothing
to match your illusory disguise.
Possible Disadvantages: Unbelievable conditions, victim
suspects something is wrong, user has difficulty concen-
trating.
Sample Tests: Imitating another’s looks and voice, chang-
ing the writing on a letter (Both DN Defense), creating an
illusory copy of you to act as a decoy (Special, see above).
36
Phasing
You can turn yourself partially insubstantial to pass through
solid objects like a ghost. This means you can walk through
walls or let speeding cars go through you without harm.
While in this state you can effectively make yourself nearly
immune to anything that threatens you. You can choose
which parts of you are substantial and which ones aren’t
too, so you won’t fall through the floor or suffer other side
efffects. You can even use Phasing offensively, attacking
people through body armor,
Phasing through objects requires a Fitness Test. No matter
the result you can always choose to let things affect you as
normal while this Miracle is active. Using it to enhance an
attack adds an Advantage to a Combat Test. Defending
yourself via Phasing is a Maneuver Action that also
Tests Fitness to inflict a Disadvantage to anyone who
attacks you for each multiple of 5 met with the result.
You cannot protect allies with a Maneuver enhanced
through Phasing.
Possible Specializations: Offensive Tests, Defensive
Tests, Passing through inert objects.
Possible Advantages: Substance is very small, very soft,
or not a solid.
Possible Disadvantages: Substance is very hard, a com-
posite material, or moving at fast speeds.
Sample Tests: Passing through a single solid wall (DN 5),
passing through a vast defensive perimeter (DN 15), de-
fending yourself from enemy attacks (Special, see above).

Portal
Your hands can rip open wormholes in spacetime, creating
oval-shaped glowing “Windows” that lead to other places.
You can step through these Windows to go to the other
side, but both Windows must be set in advance at the spe-
cific locations. You cannot set more than two Windows at
a time. You may also use Portal to create your own pocket
dimension in which you can hide objects, yourself or even
have incoming attacks flail harmlessly at the void.
Portal Tests are always made using Awareness. To set a
Window you must press your hands against the surface
of a solid non-living object. If the object is destroyed, so is
the Window. You don’t have to maintain the existence of a
Window with further Actions and can dismiss an existing
Window or pocket dimension at any time without having to
spend an Action. When you dismiss a pocket dimension,
anything that was inside of it reappears where it was last
seen. Defending yourself via Portal is a Maneuver Ac-
tion that also Tests Awareness to inflict a Disadvantage
to anyone who attacks you for each multiple of 5 met
with the result. Someone punching through your pocket
dimension won’t take damage from it, they’ll just punch
nothing before pulling their arm back.
Possible Specializations: Setting Windows, Pocket Di-
mensions, Defensive Tests.
Possible Advantages: Placing a Window in an area you
know well and access frequently, hiding an object the size
of your palm or smaller, defending against projectiles.
Possible Disadvantages: Placing a Window in an area
that is new to you or that you can’t access easily, Hiding an
object larger than yourself, defending against an explosion
or some other kind of attack larger than your body.
Sample Tests: Setting up a Window for one Scene, an
Episode or a whole Episode Arc (DN 5, 10 or 15), Hiding
up to 1, 5 or 10 objects or people in a Pocket Dimension
(DN 5, 10 or 15), defending yourself from enemy attacks
(Special, see above).
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Probing
The most basic use of this Miracle is reading the minds of
people and communicating with them telepathically. But it
can also manipulate others with the art of suggestion, play-
ing the role of the whispering devil sitting on their shoulder.
You must have line of sight with the subject.
You can send telepathic messages in the form of a voice,
text or images through Charm. The next type of Test is one
of Awareness versus a Willpower Test from the subject
to read their surface thoughts. Finally, you may also Test
Charm against Contested Willpower to plant thoughts
inside someone’s head. Repeated failed attempts, unsubtle
comments or questions, and generally suspicious uses of
this Miracle will make the subject thing something’s up, and
once they become paranoid they will intuitively know you
have something to do with it.
Possible Specializations: Telepathy, Mind Reading, Sug-
gestion.
Possible Advantages: Subject is unconscious, has good
reason to do what you are suggesting or to think about
what you want to ask them.
Possible Disadvantages: Subject is very focused on the
task at hand, decidedly against the suggestion, or even of
exploring a question.
Sample Tests: Reading another’s mood, finding out what
accomplishment another person is most proud of, giving a
sleeping victim nightmares (All DN Contested Willpower).
37
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Sight
Your Extra Sensory Perception provides you with subtle
clues about specific things and warns you of impending
danger, but it does so in odd manners. Perhaps you feel
a certain pressure from important people, or you can hear
the ringing of a bell when something is threatening you,
or you suddenly recall seeing yourself how to do this in a
dream.
Sight adds an Advantage to any Awareness Test and
makes it a Miracle Test (if it isn’t already). It does not take
an Action to activate.
Possible Specializations: General Skill Tests, Miracle
Skill Tests, Unskilled Awareness Tests.
Possible Advantages: As Awareness Tests.
Possible Disadvantages: As Awareness Tests.
Sample Tests: As Awareness Tests.
Somatics
Somatics strengthens your body with superhuman power
for a few moments. With it you will punch holes into con-
crete, outrun vehicles, and shoot targets blind.
The use of Somatics adds an Advantage to any Fitness
Test. and makes it a Miracle Test. It does not take an Ac-
tion to activate.
Possible Specializations: Offensive Tests, General Skill
Tests, Miracle Skill Tests.
Possible Advantages: As Fitness Tests.
Possible Disadvantages: As Fitness Tests.
Sample Tests: As Fitness Tests.
38
Temperature
This Miracle controls the unseen thermal forces around
your person. You can make the environment and objects
cooler or hotter, even using it to attack enemies, but it
draws power from your emotions. It is easier to go cold if
you are calm and to go hot if you are excited. You need to
be within an environment with oxygen in order to use this
power, and it will not work even in a partial vacuum.
You may use Charm to influence your surroundings, gener-
ally no further than your current Zone. This Skill can burn or
freeze others, but it will require the environment to provide
a bonfire or windy frost to draw power from. Attempting an
Offensive Test in an improper environment will be at a Dis-
advantage. You may create these conditions on your own,
but you need to stop maintaining the effects to make your
attack, effectively using them up.
Possible Specializations: Offensive Tests, Cold, Heat.
Possible Advantages: A suitable environment (a sub zero
room or one on fire), being in the proper emotional state
(smooth or furious) or affecting materials that react easily
to temperature (nitrogen or flammables) according to the
desired effect.
Possible Disadvantages: Improper environment, emotion-
al state, or materials for the effect you are trying to achieve.
Sample Tests: Making people feel uncomfortably hot or
cold to vacate an area (DN 10), creating the conditions for
an Offensive Temperature Test (DN 15), creating a bridge
of ice or melting a steel door (DN 15).

Traits
Further down the customization spectrum you have Traits,
representing miscellaneous natural gifts, personality quirks,
or lifestyle choices. Because some Traits are more use-
ful than others, they have varying CP Costs. You will find
each Trait’s CP Cost in parentheses under its name.
Traits are separated into various categories. The first few
you’ll see here are General Traits. Later you’ll find special
Traits with their own rules like Equipment and Deathblows.
Some Traits are meant to be used with certain Skills, and
cannot be used without being trained in them. If you are
only trained in a Specialized verstion of the Skill, the Trait
only applies to that Specialization.
Certain Traits say (Specialist) next to their names,
these are very similar to Specialized Skills in that you have
to choose a topic of the options presented (or come up with
your own). These Traits may be taken multiple times, but
every time you must choose a different Specialization.
Reading Traits
Like with Skills (and nearly all abilities in the game), Traits
share a similar written format. There are many types of
Traits, and some will have slight dif erences here and
there, which will be noted in their description.
Trait Name
The Trait’s Type (And Cost)
Effect: What the Trait does in rules terms is listed in regu-
lar text. Depending on their Type, some Traits also carry
additional rules not listed here. General Traits don’t have
any specific rules to themselves.
What the Trait represents within the narrative is italicized
below its rules text. Feel free to play around with the sug-
gestions here and change them to your liking, as long as
what you end up with still makes sense with the rules.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
General Traits
Animal Person
General Trait (5)
Effect: All Charm and Awareness Tests gain two Advan-
tages when dealing with animals friendly to humans and a
single Advantage otherwise.
You understand and communicate with animals excep-
tionally well. This can be a natural talent, sheer passion-
ate love for them or mycoware to improve your senses of
smell, body language and perhaps even manipulate the
chemicals needed to communicate with them yourself. This
makes you an excellent animal handler.
Adaptable Eyes
General Trait (5)
Effect: You can see in the dark just as well as in the light.
Your eyes have been modified, either with a cybernetic
nightvision mode or genetically engineered eyes that mimic
the darkvision of many animals. This lets you comfortably
keep track of your surroundings even in the total darkness
of a moonless night.
Assassin
General Trait (5)
Effect: If your Initiative is higher than that of all Enemies or
you have taken them by Surprise, the first Combat Test you
make during a Match automatically gets a result of 10.
You prefer not to fight fair. You know how to strike fast,
hard and preferably by surprise. It is terrifyingly effective.
Better Lucky than Good
General Trait (5)
Effect: Any time you roll a 1 when using a Skill you are
trained in, you may treat it as if you had rolled a 10 instead.
You tend to make your apparent mistakes turn into suc-
cesses, or perhaps tend to make your successses look like
mistakes at first glance. You slip and fall to dodge bul-
lets, drop a bomb about to go off in a way that disarms it
and make faux passes that others find amusing, brave or
endearing. It’s a bizarre kind of talent that makes you seem
exceptionally lucky.
Common Sense
General Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode the GM may discreetly inform
you that you are about to act on an idea that is not very
well thought-out or give you a clue as to where you should
go next if you are stumped for ideas. You should probably
pay attention when they do that.
You are fortunate enough to possess that which is the most
uncommon of all senses. You question things that other
people take for granted and make well-grounded decisions
thinking with your feet firmly on the ground.
39
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Danger Instinct
General Trait (5)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to Awareness Tests made
to Contest someone else’s use of the Deception or Stealth
Skills.
A combination of gut instinct, attention to detail and healthy
levels of paranoia help you stay in one piece.
Deceptive Fighter
General Trait (5)
Effect: As an Action you may Test Charm and Deception
against the Defense of one Enemy. If you pass, the target
suffers a Disadvantage to all Tests they make and you
grant an Advantage to all Offensive Tests made against
them until the beginning of your next Turn. For each multi-
ple of 10 you meet with the result of this Test, the number
of their Disadvantages and your Advantages each increas-
es by one or you add another target to suffer the effects.
Rather than directly fight, you are at your best performing
feints and playing tricks on your enemies to confuse them
and leave them open to attacks from your allies.
Entertainer (Specialist)
General Trait (5)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to Craftsmanship, Humani-
ties or Presence Tests involving your chosen field of art.
You are an artist at heart. Your talent conveys the depths
of the human experience, making others feel joy, sadness,
fear and even anger at your whim.
Possible Specializations: Acting, Writing, Painting.
Gamer (Specialist)
General Trait (5)
Effect: This Trait gives you an Advantage to all Tests re-
lated to your competitive hobby of choice.
You are an exceptionally good player of a specific kind of
game and probably have a reputation as the best where
you come from.
Possible Specializations: Chess, Poker, Miniature Bat-
tles.
Gumshoe
General Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode you may turn a failed Humani-
ties, Investigation or Sciences Test into a success.
You always find any information that you need... Or at least
enough clues to point you in the right direction. Maybe you
don’t get the answer right out of the gate, but you always
get something to work with.
40
Ingenious
General Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode you may gain two Advantages
to the use of a Skill that is being applied in a way that is
inventive or of the wall.
Coming up with new solutions to old problems is its own
brand of fun to you. Your ideas might not be the most reli-
able or even all that good but no one can accuse you of
being unoriginal or unhelpful.
Intimidating
General Trait (5)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to all uses of Diplomacy or
Deception to make people afraid of you.
You can be very scary when you try. Your body language
makes others seem smaller, the tone of your voice sends
chills down their spines and looking into your eyes makes
people wish they didn’t.
Jaded
General Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode you may turn a failed Willpower
Test made to resist being frightened, revulsed or psychi-
cally assaulted into a success.
You are largely desensitized to things that others would
find shocking, revulsing or worse. The things you’ve gone
through might’ve even made you cynical or given you a
nihilistic outlook on life.
Make Do
General Trait (5)
Effect: You do not suffer Disadvantages to Tests when us-
ing improper tools or no tools at all.
You are used to working without all that fancy expensive
equipment and can make the best of what you’ve got, and
are better suited to improvising than most.
Polyglot
General Trait (5)
Effect: You understand all spoken and written Languages
except for ones that are supposedly dead or alien.
Even in a world where most speak English, being able to
read and speak multiple languages can be a precious skill.
Your linguistic talent is in demand to frontier explorers look-
ing for other civilizations and cultures. even if all you find
are the remains of the dead it is pretty important to under-
stand whatever documents they left behind.

Skill Synergy
General Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode you may increase the result of a
Skill Test made using a Skill you’re trained in by an amount
equal to 1 per each 10 CP that you’ve spent on Skills. This
can be done after the dice has been rolled.
You know how to combine your expertise in various fields
of study to get the most out of any of them. You could ap-
ply your botany knowledge to the medicinal uses of herbs,
your dance skills to combat maneuvers or your knowledge
of vehicular engineering to architecture.
Sphere of Influence (Specialist)
General Trait (5)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to all Charm and Resources
Tests made to pull strings or deal with people of the chosen
field, background or belonging to a specific organization.
You are famous, or perhaps infamous, with a group of peo-
ple in a way that gives you social capital with them. Maybe
they love you, maybe they fear you. What matters is your
influence on them.
Possible Specializations: Frontiermen Merchants, Ark
#21 Citizens, Steel Dragon Industries.
Superior Immune System
General Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode you may turn a failed Willpower
Tests made to resist venoms, diseases or drugs into a suc-
cess.
Genetic engineering has made you stronger and more re-
silient to malign toxins. You don’t remember when was the
last time you caught a cold and you’re pretty sure you’ve
never had a hangover.
Team Player
General Trait (5)
Effect: You grant an additional Advantage when you use a
Help Test to assist an Ally with a Skill you are trained in.
There is no “I” in Team and you understand this better than
most. Your talent at making others look good means that
others love to have you around.
Weapon Expertise (Specialist)
General Trait (5)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to Tests relating to knowl-
edge or use of the chosen weapon type.
There is a single category of personal-scale weapons that
you are a guru in,and you know everything there is to know
about their craft, maintenance, use and history.
Possible Specializations: Homemade Bombs, Hunting
Rifles, Katanas.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Ace in the Hole
General Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode you may choose one of your
Traits that may only be used once per Episode and use it
again.
You’re a tricky one. Your repertoire of ploys so large that it
is effectively impossible to try and predict what you’ll do
next. Every time someone takes you as finally cornered,
you always pull off something new.
Attractive
General Trait (10)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to all Tests using Diplo-
macy, Deception or Presence with someone who could be
attracted to your character.
Good looks, a magnetic personality and mycoware to re-
lease special seductive pheromones. These and more can
be the weapons in your arsenal that let you influence and
manipulate others.
Comrade
General Trait (10)
Effect: You have a friendly NPC who occassionally comes
to your aid. Once per Episode you may reroll a failed Re-
sources Test, gaining an Advantage to the Test and keeping
the new result.
While nearly everyone has many people they can rely on,
you have an unbreakable bond with a recurring, named
NPC ally that is always eager (but not necessarily always
available) to help you out. Whether this NPC should be de-
tailed enough to have Attributes, Skills and Traits is some-
thing between you and the GM to decide. It is entirely up to
the GM whether they may have a Mecha that helps out in
Operations or not and, should they have Comrades of their
own, those hold no loyalty to you.
Enhanced Human (Specialist)
General Trait (10)
Effect: Choose an Anomaly when you take this Trait. Once
per Episode you may gain the benefits of that Anomaly for
the duration of the current Scene. If you do, you also suffer
its downsides until the end of the current Episode.
Your body is augmented to possess some of the traits that
mycotypal humans have. But because you weren’t given
the symbionts as an embryo your talents are more limited
than those of the genuine article.
Possible Specializations: Animal Hybrid (Wild), Super
Soldier (Undying), Gravagnium Mutant (Technobane).
Genius
General Trait (10)
Effect: You may substitute any other Attribute with Intellect
for the purposes of a Test, and if successful you may not
use this Trait again during the same Episode.
There is no limit to what your cunning is capable of.
Through inventiveness and careful analysis, you can
quickly find novel approaches to old tasks, allowing you to
get the most job done with the least amount of effort.
41
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Hard Work and Guts
General Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode you may choose to ignore any
and all Disadvantages you would suffer and instead trans-
form them into Advantages for a single Test.
You are at your best under the worst pressure and have an
admirable ability to focus. In your mind, complications just
make a challenge much more worth doing.
Living Database
General Trait (10)
Effect: If your character could reasonably have been
exposed to some factoid or experienced something in the
past that you as the Player don’t know about or remember
yourself, the GM should refresh your memory about it.
Your memory is a thing of wonder that has been further
cultivated by extensive learning. Obscure names, dates
and other minutiae rarely escape you and you are able to
recall events with near-photographic detail.
I was Here all Along
General Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode you may Test either Stealth or
Deception against a DN of 15 to reveal that you were pre-
sent in a Scene that did not include you. You were either in
hiding or disguised as an unassuming background charac-
ter as appropriate to the Test in question.
You are sneaky, everywhere yet nowhere, and generally in
places someone else wishes you rather weren’t.
Jack of all Trades
General Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode you may choose a single Skill
and gain training in it until the end of the current Scene.
You’re an exceptionally studious person or someone who
went through many different careers. Either way, you know
a little bit of everything.
Leadership
General Trait (10)
Effect: You may Test Charm and Presence once per Epi-
sode to grant up to 5 other Characters an Advantage to all
Tests until the end of the current Scene, plus another for
each multiple of 10 you meet with the Test. Multiple uses of
Leadership by different Characters will not stack together,
only the highest result will be used.
You can inspire and motivate others, even if they barely
know you. Whether it is through love or fear, you can draw
the best from others so they’ll rise to meet any challenge.
42
Plan B
General Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode you may reroll a Skill Test made
using a Skill you are trained in, gaining an Advantage to
the Test and keeping the new result.
You are nothing if not well prepared, having failsafes for
your contingencies and backups for your auxiliaries. When-
ever something important goes wrong, you already know
where to start in getting it fixed.
Practice Makes Perfect
General Trait (10)
Effect: Any time you roll 4 or less using a Skill you are
Trained in, you may treat it as if you had rolled a 5 instead.
You have a well-practiced, methodical approach to every-
thing that you do that assures you will rarely botch a job. It
helps to know a little bit of everything, so you will never be
entirely out of your depth.
Psychic Power
General Trait (10)
Effect: You reduce all Damage taken from using your Mira-
cle Skills by half.
You have attuned your body to maximize efficiency when
using psychic powers. You’re probably a long-term Glow
user, giving your eyes the distinctive glow that the drug is
named after.
Spirit of Steel
General Trait (10)
Effect: You may substitute any other Attribute with Willpow-
er for the purposes of a Test, and if successful you may not
use this Trait again during the same Episode.
If you don’t succeed at first, try again harder. If it hurts, you
get up again and ask for seconds. There is nothing to look
forward to but victory, because failure is not an option.
The Meat Shield
General Trait (10)
Effect: When Maneuvering during a Match you may share
the Defense bonus with one Ally within 1 Zone without hav-
ing to give up your own Defense bonus.
It is a tough job, but someone has to do it. You are one of
the best around at protecting those under your care, mak-
ing you a great bodyguard.

Equipment
A PC is assumed to have their basic needs covered. They
will have a roof over their head, food to eat and clothes to
wear unless it is relevant to the plot that they are in finan-
cial, social or other similar kind of trouble. PCs don’t need
to specify they’re buying everyday goods or that they’re
spending money on maintenance for their Mecha, that’s
assumed to be taken care of by default.
To further simplify things, all tools with similar roles are
assumed to be the same for the purposes of the game’s
rules. All cars drive the same and all guns shoot the same.
A Character trained in a Skill is assumed to have what they
need to do their jobs. A nurse should have access to at
least a first aid kit, a computer technician to their laptop,
and a car mechanic should have a car to drive. Address
with your GM just what your PC has on hand or can re-
quest, if there is any doubt.
Anything else that you want to have, especially if it wasn’t
predetermined beforehand and having it would get you out
of a jam, requires a Resources Test. Success means you
either have it on hand or can buy/borrow it swiftly.
Otherwise, the rules here deal with Equipment that is
special enough to be worth purchasing it as a Trait. Equip-
ment may also be obtained through Equipment Tests or
by roleplaying, borrowing it from powerful friends or loot-
ing it from enemies. These items are temporary and stop
working, goes missing, must be returned to their owner, or
something to that effect at the end of an Episode. Unless
you have purchased your Equipment as a Trait, it is
not going to be a permanent feature. If you do purchase
Equipment with CP and the item is consumed on use,
breaks down, or has become otherwise useless, it can
be replaced with a new one (or repaired back to function)
between Episodes.
Multiple Equipment Traits that grant Advantages to the
same Skill do not stack. You can still benefit from other
secondary effects, but you only get Advantages to Skill
Tests from one of them at a time.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Body Suit
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: You are immune to the harmful effects of vacuums,
poison gases and radiation. The Body Suit will also impair
any attempts to physically harm you with a Disadvantage,
and grants an Advantage to Willpower Tests made when
resisting extreme temperatures.
Steel Dragon Industries’ Exosuits have kept humans safe
from Mechabeasts for decades. While Exosuit teams strug-
gle against the larger and stronger broods, they’re much
better suited to pest control against the lesser Mechabeast
types. Gears, with their larger weapons and G-Reactors,
are best kept away from settlements entirely.
Call System (Specialist)
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: Choose a Superior Proxy you own when you take
this Trait. At any time, when you don’t have said Equipment
on hand, you may have it come to you. Test Resources with
a DN of 10, if you succeed the chosen Equipment is deliv-
ered to you at the beginning of your next Turn, otherwise it
is delivered to you at the end of the current Scene.
Your equipment delivers itself to you with the press of
a button, following the signal from a specially designed
watch.
Possible Specializations: Smart Car (Vehicles), Automat-
ed Surveillance Drone (Investigation), Wilderness Exosuit
(Survival).
Ether Drive (Specialist)
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: Choose a Miracle Skill and one Specialization when
you take this Trait. You may use said Miracle’s Specializa-
tion, though without any Advantages to Tests. If this Spe-
cialization can make Offensive Tests, you get the bonus
Deathblows as well. The Ether Drive will act as a Proxy
taking the Damage in your stead.
These are experimental Exosuit add-ons of Steel Dragon
Industries’ R&D. Created from body parts of particularly
dangerous Mechabeast types, they can approximate
psychic phenomena without any kickback or addictive ef-
fects on the user. The tradeoff is that they’re much more
expensive to produce than Glow and their internal batteries
are not efficient enough to be used more than a handful of
times per day.
Possible Specializations: Gravity Gun (Force: Offensive
Tests), Healing Staff (Life: Healing), Covert Ops Armor
(Phantasm: Self disguises/invisibility).
43
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Masterwork Tool (Specialist)
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: Choose a General Skill when you take this Trait.
All Tests made to perform the chosen Skill with this item on
hand are at an Advantage.
You are usually considered to have what you need to use
your Skills, but it is possible to acquire inherently superior
equipment that makes things so much easier.
Possible Specializations: Heirloom Sword (Combat), First
Aid Kit (Medicine), Portable Computer (Electronics).
Nanomedical Vest
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: The first time that you fail a Test to avoid defeat
from Plot Armor Damage during an Intermission, you reroll
that Test with an Advantage and keep the second result.
A form-fitting vest stuffed with medicinal nanobots monitor-
ing your vitals. In case of emergency it delivers anything
from first aid to defibrillation.
Portable Barrier
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode, at the beginning of your Turn,
you may activate this item to set up a shield that blocks the
next 5 Damage you or your Allies may take until the begin-
ning of your next Turn, but only if they remain within their
current Zone.
A human-sized energy barrier that can be used as cover for
a short while before it runs out of power. This item can be
made to look like a variety of containers such as a back-
pack, attache suitcase or guitar case. The insides of the
bag or case are the barrier’s battery.
Tracking Device
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode you may make a single Finesse
Test against a Character’s Defense to place a tracker on
them. While it’s on the target, the device will tell you how
far away the target is and in which direction they are until
the target notices the device and removes it at the end of
the current Episode.
This gadget is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
You may fire it from an inconspicuous object like a watch or
pen and it will attach to the target.
44
Smart Manacles
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: You may spend an Action to restrain a target that is
Defeated, helpless to resist or willing to put these on. While
restrained like this, a character cannot take Actions or
perform Tests. At the user’s criteria, the target may also be
forbidden from speaking. Anybody else can release them
using an Action.
These shackles automatically adjust to fit the hands of the
subject and get more firm the more the prisoner struggles.
Smoke Bomb
Equipment Trait (5)
Effect: Once per Episode as an Action you may make a
single Contested Stealth against an Investigation Test from
everyone who can see you. If you beat everyone else this
way, you escape from the Scene and no one can find you
for the rest of the Intermission if you don’t want to be found.
Useful for escaping ninja ambushes and angry signifi cant
others alike.
Backup Bodies
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode Arc you may wipe all Damage to
your Plot Armor in between Scenes, or devoting a Scene
specifically to doing so. If you died, this creates a clone of
yourself from before you got hurt.
An experimental implementation of the Technocracy brain
digitization technology. Test subjects carry within them-
selves a memory chip that records their digitized personal-
ity and genetic information. Regular dumps of the informa-
tion in this chip are made at Tiktaalek Biomedical, where
they can create a clone of dead or missing personnel with
a copy of their last recorded memories and body. Currently,
only ace Familiar pilots are allowed to become test subjects
and the project is highly confidential.
Flight Pack
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode you can fly with complete free-
dom of movement until the end of the current Scene. You
fly at the same speed you can move on the ground and
while airborne you are immune to attacks that aren’t Mira-
cles, Deathblows, using a Range Booster or coming from
characters without Flight Packs of their own.
A winged jetpack that lets you move in three dimensions
without requiring a running start or the favor of the winds.
Many Exosuits have these installed.

Miniature Chemical Weapon
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode and as an Action, you fill a Zone
with a toxic substance. Everybody within the Zone Tests
Willpower against a DN of 20. Should they fail the Test,
they then take the amount they failed it by as Damage. If
they don’t escape the Zone before a Round passes, they
will have to Test again. You can throw this and immediately
change Zones in the same Action. The toxic substance
lasts until the end of the current Scene.
One of the most dangerous and illegal things a character
could carry on themselves. These miniaturized and super-
concentrated breakable orbs pack enough nerve gas to
kill an entire apartment room in seconds. The containers
are small enough to fit within an earring, a watch, or other
similar innocuous object. Anybody who is not careful when
buying—let alone using—this will be paid a visit by a num-
ber of very nice people dressed in black.
Performance Enhancer
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Once per Episode and at the beginning of your
Turn you may activate this item to gain an Advantage to all
Fitness, Awareness or Willpower Tests for the rest of the
Scene.
You carry a number of stimulants with you in the form of
a medicinal patch that can be applied to your skin in a
pinch. With them, you feel like you can do nearly anything.
Use with restraint—they are addictive.
Personal Facility (Specialist)
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Choose two General Skills when you take this Trait.
For as long as you are within this Facility, any Tests related
to the task it was designed to facilitate involving said Skills
gain two Advantages.
Your responsibilities afford you a working space that makes
your job considerably easier. You are free to design what
this facility is for, its equipment and if it has any staff (Com-
rades are ideal here). The facility is shielded from the inter-
ference of G-Reactors, but the higher the tech involved the
greater the oversight from the government is going to be.
Possible Specializations: Library with Pre-Collapse
Books (Humanities and Sciences), Repairman’s Workshop
(Craftsmanship and Vehicles), Local Surveillance System
(Electronics and Investigation).
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Range Booster (Specialist)
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Choose a Skill you can use to make Offensive Tests
when you take this Trait. You can now make Offensive
Tests against targets up to two Zones away from you. If you
have another piece of Equipment to boost the correspond-
ing Skill, both are combined into a single item.
Exosuits these days often come with medium to long dis-
tance weaponry to assist in killing Mechabeast vermin be-
fore they so much as scratch a settlement’s defense forces.
Possible Specializations: Sniper Scope (Combat), Mount-
ed Gun (Vehicles), Psychowave Amplifier (Force)
Speed Booster
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: You can Move two Zones as part of your Actions
instead of just one. If you have another piece of Equipment
that can Move (either on its own or with someone control-
ling it), you may combine it with this item.
Who doesn’t like speed? This item can be made into rocket
shoe s for yourself or a booster attachment for a vehicle or
drone that you own.
Self-Destructing Note
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Test Electronics to plant the Note on any Electronic
device with a screen and camera. After you activate the
note’s self-destruct function, the first person to read the
contents of this note will also be the last—because it ex-
plodes in their face. They (and anybody next to them) must
Test Willpower against a DN of 10 plus the result of your
Electronics Test and take the amount they failed the Test by
as Damage.
An assassination tool that adds insult to injury—though not
necessarily in that order. This is a chip that can be inserted
into electronic devices like computers or phones to make
the screen show a message of your choice. As soon as the
device detects someone’s eyes on the message, it ex-
plodes with no regard for who is or isn’t close.
Superior Proxy (Specialist)
Equipment Trait (10)
Effect: Choose a General Skill when you take this Trait.
This Proxy is applicable when using the chosen Skill. A Su-
perior Proxy also grants an Advantage to all Tests using it
and imparts a Disadvantage to all Tests trying to damage it.
A step above even Masterwork Tools, this equipment not
only enhances your performance but also grants protection
and takes Damage in your stead.
Possible Specializations: Power Armor Exosuit (Combat),
Stealth Catsuit (Stealth), Battle Tank (Vehicles).
45
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Deathblows
How a Character fights is not really all that important to the game’s rules. You can shoot a gun, a sword or yo-yos and it
all means the same thing. Most of the time, anyway. Deathblows are the thing that makes combat specialists stand out
from everyone else, they are special techniques that add unique effects to the results your regular Combat Test. Before
rolling an Offensive Test, you may call out a Deathblow to grant the Test in question its effects. Deathblows may
apply to the Combat, Vehicles and some Miracle (Electricity, Force, Phantasm, Phasing, Somatics or Temperature) Skills.

A Deathblow represents you putting extra effort into your assault to make it more effective. It can be can be anything from
deciding you want to unload your whole cartridge at once to chucking your melee weapons at some poor sap. The use of
a Deathblow grants an Advantage to the Offensive Test if it has a cost of 5 CP or two Advantages if it costs 10 CP.
Each Deathblow may only be used once per Episode. Mecha are immune to Deathblows, they just have no effect on
giant robots.

Called Shot Forbidden Secret Art

Deathblow Trait (5)
Effect: Passing the Offensive Test inflicts that Enemy two
Disadvantages to all Offensive Tests of their own until the
beginning of your next Turn.
You disarm, blind, trip up or otherwise attack your foe in
a way that makes it harder for them to attack you back
afterwards.
Distraction Move
Deathblow Trait (5)
Effect: Passing this Offensive Tests will grant your Allies an
Advantage to all further Offensive Tests against the same
Enemy until the beginning of your next Turn.
You distract enemies or flush them out of cover with flash-
bangs, smoke, ricocheting shots or another similar trick.
Finishing Blow
Deathblow Trait (5)
Effect: If your Offensive Test would force the Enemy to
Test Willpower in order to avoid defeat, they suffer a Dis-
advantage to said Test for each Layer of Plot Armor they’re
missing.
You strike vital areas with the intent to knock out cold
someone in a single or outright kill them in a single blow.
Deathblow Trait (10)
Effect: Passing the Offensive Test with this Deathblow will
destroy that Enemy’s current Level of Plot Armor. This hap-
pens after the Test deals its regular Damage. The addi-
tional Damage is fixed and cannot be reduced or prevented
in any way.
A favorite of martial artists worldwide. No combat style
is complete without a move so lethal it causes foes to co
lapse just when they thought they’d toughed it out.
Sweeping Assault
Deathblow Trait (10)
Effect: Your Offensive Test may target all Enemies in the
same Zone instead of just one.
You attack multiple enemies at once, switching your rifle
into the good old spray n’ pray mode, or maybe use an
underslung grenade launcher.
True Strike
Deathblow Trait (10)
Effect: You may choose to reroll the Offensive Test with
this Deathblow once, gaining an additional Advantage to
the Test and keeping the new result.
You are a master of feinting, lulling enemies into a false
sense of security before swerving your way into landing a
critical hit.

46
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Anomalies Technobane
Anomaly Trait (0)
In a similar vein to Miracles, Anomalies are Traits for those Effect: Once per Episode you may disable any modern
characters who can do things that should by all means be piece of machinery or electronics no larger than yourself
impossible. Unlike other Traits, Anomalies do not cost any in your presence, causing it to malfunction or outright
CP, but they have a hefty downside to them. breaking it for the duration of a Scene. All Tests using the
Electronics or Vehicles Skills, or those involving Equipment
Traits are at a Disadvantage.
Cyborg
You have cybernetic implants to create a miniature and
Anomaly Trait (0)
short-lived electromagnetic pulse with which to disrupt
Effect: You are immune to damage from vacuums, toxins
modern appliances. Unfortunately, this appears to have
and illnesses plus you do not need to eat or sleep —though
an effect even when you’re not trying to make use of it,
doing so does helps you keep your sanity. You suffer a Dis-
as even your own appliances tend to not work properly or
advantage to the use of Charm with any Test, as well as to
break down faster than usual around you. Thankfully, you
any Awareness Test made to contest Diplomacy or Deceit.
do not have any effect on anything bigger than yourself,
You’re the owner of a body more metal than meat. You
such as mechs.
could be one of the rare people who prefer cybernetic mod-
ifications over mycoware, or one of the rare cyborgs that
escaped the Technocracy’s conditioning to join the Grid. Wild
Anomaly Trait (0)
Nightmare Effect: You gain an Advantage to all Awareness Tests and
Anomaly Trait (0) uses of the Survival Skill in the wild. You may speak with
Effect: Once per episode you may Test Charm and Pres- mundane Earth animals, translating sounds they make into
ence as an Offensive Test against any number of charac- simple and short sentences in your head—think “Master is
ters that can see or hear you. Any characters that aren’t angry” or “Timmy fell down the well”. This grants you an Ad-
defeated by this Offensive Test will suffer a Disadvantage vantage to interactions with them. All Tests using Intellect
to all Tests for the rest of the Scene. Any uses of Charm for or Resources that don’t fit the previously mentioned criteria
purposes other than intimidation are at a Disadvantage. are at a Disadvantage.
Your body has been modified to look particularly intimida- You have been genetically engineered with traits taken
tory in some way. Your modifications make it difficult to from other animals rather than fungus-based mycoware.
socialize normally, but weaponize your natural charm to This has made you an excellent survivalist with a natural
paralyze or induce panic in your enemies with a look. talent to communicate with plants and animals. Yes, even
Mechabeasts. The cost of this advantage is that you strug-
gle to deal with abstract concepts, impacting your ability
Undying
to socialize and function in a society defined by things like
Anomaly Trait (0)
“morality”, “economy”, and “identity”.
Effect: At the end of a Scene in which you took Damage
past your first Layer of Plot Armor, you are fully healed
back to normal. But for each Layer beyond the first healed
this way you suffer a Disadvantage to all Tests for the rest
of the Episode.
Most mycotypal humans have a stronger immune system
and a faster metabolic healing rate compared to traditional
humans. In extremely rare mutations, that trait is even
more potent, to the point of being able to regrow missing
limbs. The problem with this ‘advantage’ is that such re-
generation is a notoriously painful and exhausting process
that takes several days of rest. Regenerative Mikes tend to
eat twice as much as other people (or require twice as long
under the sun as other Mikes) to fuel an ability that they
probably don’t even need unless they’re part of the armed
forces and are getting shot at or blown up regularly.

MIRACLES, ANOMALIES AND YOUR SETTING

Miracles and Anomalies may or may not be allowed depending on the game’s setting. A grim and dark war drama going
for realism would not be much of one with characters who can fly, regrow missing limbs, and read other’s thoughts. More
than that, they should be true to their names and feel Miraculous or Anomalous. Rare and unique superpowers stop being
special when every PC and NPC has them, after all.

47
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Alien Anomalies
These Anomalies are a little bit different. When you take one of them, you gain one of two Miracles it offers you without
having to spend any CP to purchase it. You may purchase the same Miracle later with CP to lose the Anomaly and not
have to suffer its downsides anymore. These Alien Anomalies are not compatible with the Enhanced Human Trait.

Alien Anomalies are harsher than other Anomalies and will make PCs have considerable trouble passing as normal hu-
mans. With that said, most have a comedic tone to their flavor text because they’re meant for PCs whose troubles to fit in
result in whimsical shenanigans rather than serious drama. This is ideal for spies in games with lighter tones, where literal
extraterrestrials could send someone over to live among the humans and said spy does silly things like eat food wrappers
or walk into the wrong bathrooms. Alien Anomalies come with their own clause to get rid of them as a way to represent
how the PC finally adjusts to society, as is common for characters of this kind to do in fiction.

As always, remember you can take advantage of the effect-based nature of the system and change the flavor of these
Traits to better suit your character. Some are appropriate for humans coming from (very, very) different cultures and you
can justify the free Miracles as sufficiently advanced technology, instead of being a biological difference.

Augmented Creature Mismatched Body

Anomaly Trait (0)
Effect: You gain either the Force or Probing Miracle. If
you gain it as a Specialist, you suffer a Disadvantage to all
Intellect Tests. If you gain it as a Generalist, you suffer two
Disadvantages to all Intellect Tests instead.
You are an uplifted animal that is still getting used to sapi-
ence. You often find yourself thinking out loud and are
easily confused, sometimes repeating proper nouns in the
form of a question.
Special: You may purchase the chosen Miracle to buy off
the Disadvantages and lose this Trait at any time.
Financially Incompetent
Anomaly Trait (0)
Effect: You gain either the Phasing or Portal Miracle. If
you gain it as a Specialist, you suffer a Disadvantage to all
Resources Tests. If you gain it as a Generalist, you suffer
two Disadvantages to all Resources Tests instead.
There is no concept of money where you come from. You
are so used to barter that you are confused by all these
abstract numbers that don’t mean anything on their own.
Special: You may purchase the chosen Miracle to buy off
the Disadvantages and lose this Trait at any time.
Hivemind Drone
Anomaly Trait (0)
Effect: You gain either the Fortune or Life Miracle. If you
gain it as a Specialist, you suffer a Disadvantage to all Will-
power Tests. If you gain it as a Generalist, you suffer two
Disadvantages to all Willpower Tests instead.
You used to be part of a greater hivemind as a support unit
and find your new sense of individuality rather confusing.
Anything that triggers your self-preservation instincts is
particularly confusing and troublesome to deal with.
Special: You may purchase the chosen Miracle to buy off
the Disadvantages and lose this Trait at any time.
Anomaly Trait (0)
Effect: You gain either the Phantasm or Temperature Mira-
cle. If you gain it as a Specialist, you suffer a Disadvantage
to all Fitness Tests. If you gain it as a Generalist, you suffer
two Disadvantages to all Fitness Tests instead.
You have recently acquired a human body to better in-
filtrate their society with... And it sucks. They don’t have
enough legs to properly move on the ground, depend
almost entirely on their sight, and don’t even have a proper
exoskeleton to protect their squishy organs with! Of course
you’re going to have trouble using this piece of crap!
Special: You may purchase the chosen Miracle to buy off
the Disadvantages and lose this Trait at any time.
Offbeat Senses
Anomaly Trait (0)
Effect: You gain either the Matter or Electricity Miracle. If
you gain it as a Specialist, you suffer a Disadvantage to all
Awareness Tests. If you gain it as a Generalist, you suffer
two Disadvantages to all Awareness Tests instead.
Excessive Glow consumption has affected your senses to
the point that everything is weird. The world is painted in
watercolor, people’s faces are like blobs of old memories
and sometimes you think you can see time itself.
Special: You may purchase the chosen Miracle to buy off
the Disadvantages and lose this Trait at any time.
Wrong Language Data
Anomaly Trait (0)
Effect: You gain either the Sight or Somatics Miracle. If
you gain it as a Specialist, you suffer a Disadvantage to all
Charm Tests. If you gain it as a Generalist, you suffer two
Disadvantages to all Charm Tests instead.
Your installation of the local language data has a bug in
the form of one or more speech quirks. Perhaps you can
only speak in the third person or in archaic Olde English.
While a few find it endearing, most can’t take you seriously.
Special: You may purchase the chosen Miracle to buy off
the Disadvantages and lose this Trait at any time.

48

Genre Themes
Now that you know what your character is like and what
they can do from spending all that CP, you need to take a
step back. Look at who they are at the time of playing the
game, who they have been in their life until then, and who
they want to be in the future—or who they don’t want to be.
Through the following section you will need to figure out
what defines your character, their wants and failings, their
relationships and beliefs.
If you’re making a character by yourself, then you should
consider pausing the process right now. The next step will
be at the very least difficult to do without knowing what kind
of game you will be in and what group of characters you’ll
play with. A big part of this step is figuring out what will
make for the most fun group dynamics.
Genre Themes, or just Themes, are the core of what your
PC’s life revolves around when off the battlefield. They’re
the patterns, cliches, or leitmotifs that your PC will explore
through the course of Episodes. Genre Themes come in
three kinds: Reasons are the PC’s personal motivation,
Typecasts are your PC’s role within their group, and
Banes are your PC’s most fatal flaw. You need one of
each for your PC.
Whenever you roleplay in a way according to your PC’s
Genre Themes and it advances the plot, makes scenes
more interesting, or gets the PC in trouble you gain a
Genre Point. The more a character struggles to overcome
the trials and tribulations in their way, the more they grow
and change as a person and the more Genre Points you
get. Themes benefit you, the Player, even if they tend to be
a complication for the Characters themselves.
The GM can also use Genre Themes to try and compel
PCs to act in a certain way. At any time the GM can offer a
Player a single Genre Point in exchange for their PC taking
a certain action related to their Themes.
This way the GM can persuade PCs into doing what is
convenient for their plan or to roleplay in a way that the GM
thinks will be more interesting, while the PC gets to make
more use of their Themes as well. Everybody wins!
Ultimately, keep in mind that Genre Themes serve two
functions: They facilitate roleplaying and help the PCs tilt
the game’s difficult fights in their favor. If your group does
not need the roleplaying guidance that Themes provide and
prefer their fights to be on the harder side, you can ignore
Genre Themes entirely.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Reason Theme
Every hero has their quest, every champion has their
cause, and every PC have has their Reason. PCs must
have something that they care deeply about and strive hard
to protect or to change. A Reason is the thing that comes to
mind when things look bleak and makes PCs grit their teeth
and stand up one last time to keep fighting. Maybe they
fight for Love, maybe it is for Money, maybe it is the Smiles
of Kittens.
Point is, a PC has something that keeps them going and
drives them forward. It can be a tangible goal (To avenge
their family) or something abstract like a personal code
(To uphold the truth over all else) Discuss your idea for a
Reason with the GM and make sure it has a place in the
game. A PC will earn Genre Points from their Reason when
they actively pursue it, going through hardships for what
they believe in.
EXAMPLE REASONS
Justice: You act out of a deep personal sense of what is
right and wrong. This may entail making a few enemies out
of people you’d otherwise have no need to cross and resist-
ing offers to look the other way when they come up.
Knowledge: The world is full of mysteries and you can’t
help but to search for answers, then share them with oth-
ers. Sometimes your inquisitiveness overwhelms your
sense of self preservation or makes you vulnerable to hold-
ers of secrets whose temptations you struggle to resist.
Nature: You want to protect the environment as a whole.
This means you go to great lengths to minimize damage to
areas with abundant wildlife and oppose those who disre-
gard damage (intentional or otherwise) to local ecosystems
with their actions.
Heir: You are the heir of important figures, seen as heroes
in their own right by many, and carry the burden of expecta-
tions on your shoulders. In trying to live up to said expecta-
tions, sometimes you bite more than you can chew or do
what your parents would have done, instead of what you’d
prefer to do.
Duty: You are the exemplar soldier, a true believer in your
faction’s ideals who honorably serves their cause. You will
stand up for them when they come under criticism and are
even willing to take the fall for any controversies that arise if
it means protecting public opinion of them.
Family: You are doing this to protect your closest loved
ones, for whom you are responsible. The greater good of
the whole world is fine and all, but some people mean more
than the world to you.
49
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Typecast Theme
Typecasts are what a PC brings to their Squad. The role
they play in the team and their individual contribution to
group dynamics. Is the PC friendly and attentive of their
allies’ needs? Would they rather be left alone? Do they as-
sertively establish themselves as de facto leaders and de-
mand respect? Those are the things that define a Typecast.
The Typecast can be a general attitude with the entire
group (“I am your leader”) or a specific relationship with one
member of the group (“Protective older brother“). Consult
with the other Players to see whether the Theme will be ef-
fective or not. The Typecasting can be one-sided or mutual,
it can be positive or negative. As long as a Theme causes
interesting things to happen, you still get the Genre Points.
EXAMPLE TYPECASTS
Leadership: You are—or think you are—a born leader,
and will direct this troupe of unruly jerks to success even
if it is the last thing you do. Chances are that you adopt a
bossy tone with the rest of the PCs, and tell them what they
should be doing more often than they’d like.
Rookie: You are the new recruit on the team and you’re
going to try way too hard to impress everyone else so they
stop seeing you as a rookie. You could end up disobeying
orders to try and show off or end up being a doormat doing
doing other people’s work for them so they’ll like you more.
Peacemaker: No fighting allowed in this house! You have
made it your mission to make sure everyone gets along
and cooler heads prevail when things could get heated. You
might end up giving everyone personal counseling to help
them get their issues in order.
Rivalry: You feel an intense rivalry for a certain other PC
or NPC, so much that foiling their plans and proving your
superiority makes every day that much more enjoyable.
This may be a real feud or an act that you play up for your
own entertainment, shared between you two or a single-
sided affair.
Jokester: You are the least serious person in the group,
often embarrassing or annoying others for no good reason.
When your presence lightens the mood or clears an uneasy
tension, everyone is glad to have you around. Other times,
though, you go too far and (deservedly) get your comeup-
pance for it.
Love: You are romantically interested in another PC or
NPC. Whether this relationship is reciprocal or not, you’d
do anything for them.
50
Bane Theme
A PC’s Bane is their Achilles’ Heel, a fatal flaw that threat-
ens to be their end. Their Bane can be a flaw of character
(Drinking addict) a medical condition (Terminally ill), or an
external factor (Hated by the repair teams). Keep in mind
that this is something you want brought up, so choose a
Bane you are comfortable roleplaying a number of times.
Consider what you think The PC’s worst problem could be,
and maybe even think about what is the worst ending their
story could have, then discuss it with your GM to agree on
how this Bane will make your PC’s life that much harder. A
Bane only rewards Genre Points when it gives a PC trou-
ble, meaning it should be comparable in importance for the
PC as their Reason, so that if the two of them clash the PC
has to struggle to not succumb to their Bane.
EXAMPLE BANES
Failing Body: Your body can’t keep up with what you ask
of it. Maybe you’ve got a debilitating condition or it is the
act of piloting your robot that impacts your health. Whatever
the case, you’ll be bedridden much of the time that you’d
otherwise be spending doing things.
Phobia: You suffer from a crippling phobia that threatens to
make you panic at the worst of times. You could be afraid of
spiders, the ocean or even of being alone. Conveniently for
the narrative, the object of your phobia tends to conspicu-
ously show up every few sessions.
Addiction: You suffer a compulsion to engage in an activity
or to consume a substance. You could be addicted a drug
that gives you confidence and focus or to crushing others in
your favorite competitive game, for example. Whatever it is,
you feel like you can’t live without it, will do the impossible
to get your fix and will react badly when you can’t get it.
Berserker: You have either a short fuse or a legendary
wrath that knows no end. This can manifest as having to
fight (or at least insult) any who offend, cross or provoke
you to their face. Your rage might also be like a volcano,
dormant until it explodes in destructive fury.
Grandeur: You are exceedingly proud of yourself and your
competence, and like to boast about your accomplishments
which might or might not even be real. Naturally, this leads
your mouth to writing checks that you can’t cash.
Softhearted: You are too kind for the trials and tribulations
of war, and your pacifist tendencies will make you do some-
thing stupid eventually. You may go out of your way to save
enemy lives or show mercy to someone who will make you
pay for it in cold-blooded revenge.

Genre Powers
Genre Powers are some of your character's most powerful
abilities. fueled by Genre Points. The use of a Genre Power
is a tilt in the balance of the fight, such as an improvised
new technique to overcome enemy defenses, a hidden
shield that stopped what would have been a lethal blow, or
even a dramatic speech that encourages battered allies to
rise and keep fighting.
Genre Powers come in two types, each of which may be
used at different times. Setup Powers can only be used
during your own Turn and before you take your Action,
while Reaction Powers can be used any time. Reaction
Powers may be used in response to an enemy’s Actions
or even to other Genre Powers, and take effect before the
thing they are responding to resolves. Some are so power-
ful and represent tricks so difficult to pull off that you can
only use them once per Operation.
All Genre Powers require you to spend one of your Genre
Points to activate them. Remember that you start each
Episode with a number of Genre Points equal to your
Power Level. All PCs have the six Default Genre Pow-
ers, plus you can pick and choose a number of addi-
tional Genre Powers equal to your Power Level when
you create a Character. These bonus Powers can be from
any of the various Power Categories.
You can’t take a Power multiple times unless it is marked
with (Specialist) next to the name. Similarily to Specialist
Traits, you can have multiple versions of that Power if you
make a different choice each time you take it.
Reading Powers
All Powers follow an identical template. There are not many
rules to them other than their speed/type and Effect, so it’s
a pretty short and simple entry.
Power Name
Power Type
Effect: This block of text defines what happens when you
use the Power in question.
Each Power has an example of how to narrate their use.
You should go ahead and use them however you wish,
though. Just remember to make them cinematic!
DIEGETIC GENRE POWERS
Normally, Genre Powers are not diegetic elements. (Diegetic elements of a story are those that exist in-universe, which
Genre Powers, as narrative twists, are not) but you can make them diegetic if you’d like to. If your setting has psychic
powers, then Genre Powers are an ideal manifestation of each PC’s psychic ability manifesting in combat. Otherwise, they
can represent moves and skills like a signature technique, practiced formation between allies, or something else like that.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
USING POWERS WITH STYLE
Genre Powers are a big component of Battle Century G
combat and they are a lot of fun to work into the narrative.
Here are a few ideas to get you started on how to do so.
Cutscene: Your attack stands out because you narrate it
in down to every detail, from how your bullets pierce the
enemy’s own in mid-air to the use of multiple weapons into
one combo string for a particularly flashy finisher. Don’t
forget the speed lines in the background.
Technobabble: You explain, with all the pseudoscience
and made up words necessary, exactly why your super
move is incredible and no one could possibly have seen it
coming or prevented it from being effective. Sometimes it is
okay to tell rather than show.
Flashback: You build up your badassery by remembering
at that exact moment a particular training lesson, emotive
moment, or other such memory that could provide an extra
oomph to overcome a great foe.
Secret Weapon: You did not wish for it to come to this, but
it has, and now you must unveil the forbidden secrets of
your Mecha. Alternatively, you come up with a new way to
use your old weaponry that the Enemy just cannot escape
because they cannot improvise like you do.
Rousing Speech: There is too much at stake to let hard-
ships overpower you. And you are going to make sure
those that would like to stop you know why it is not going
to work. Feel free to elaborate about the meaning of love,
courage, hard work, memories, songs, or whatever it is that
fancies you best as a personal leitmotif.
One Liner: Anything you do is automatically more awe-
some if it is accompanied by a catchphrase, witty retort, or
bad pun. If you’ve got the advantage then you may also
engage in more traditional trash talking. But that is a thing
that suits villains more; You don’t want to be caught saying
that your rival is ten years too early to defeat you, no?
51
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Default Powers
These are the Powers that every PC gets for free, and they’re some of the most useful. Make sure you familiarize yourself
with them and keep them in mind at all times, because they will save you more often than you imagine.
Knowledge is Power
Reaction Power
Effect: Choose one Enemy. You learn that Enemy’s Attrib-
utes, Upgrades, Weapons and Genre Powers.
Nilu used his Ringdrake’s sensors to analyze the approach-
ing Mechabeast. He gasped when he realized what they
were facing. “That big crab is like a giant bomb! Stay away
from it and don’t let it cross the defense lines!”.
Live Another Day
Reaction Power
Effect: You automatically retreat from the battlefield. This
prevents any Damage that would have been dealt to you if
used as a response to an attack.
Her cockpit flashed red, once again. Tch. She couldn’t
afford to let the enemy get ahold of her Gear, but neither
could they just rebuild her Sworddrake from entirely if she
set it to self-destruct. “I’m pulling back, cover me!” Kendra
picked up the enemy’s energy cannon and used it along
with her boosters to get herself out of the battlefield. When
you’re the only frontliner, it’s not a matter of “if” you’ll have
to bail but “when”.
Mid-Scene Upgrade
Reaction Power
Effect: Gain a new Upgrade or Weapon, you must pay
its MP Cost at the earliest opportunity after the Operation
ends. If you would not be able to make the purchase in
the future, for whichever reason, the GM may rule that you
cannot gain that Upgrade or Weapon. You may use this
Power once per Episode Arc and must pay for what you
bought at the earliest possible opportunity, saving up for it if
necessary.
It wasn’t ready, they said. Her Gear had only launched to
keep it away from the enemy’s hands and Charlotte was
told to retreat instead of using the prototype weaponry and
potentially losing the Gear. She knew better, that it was not
just her best option at the time, but possibly her only one.
Charlie lifted the restrictions on her Firedrake’s twin shoul-
der cannons and launched two violent energy pillars at the
enemy. Both enemy mechs melted down... Same as the
cannons themselves.
52
Not so Fast
Reaction Power
Effect: Force an Enemy’s Might Test against an Ally of
yours to be rerolled inflicting it with two Disadvantages and
keeping the new result. This may not be used on Tests that
attack you, even if you are just one of multiple targets. You
can use this Power once per Test.
Missiles approached the Swordrake from behind, its back
exposed. Akihiko promptly aimed his Gundrake’s head
vulcans and shot them down without her ever noticing his
help. Him and Kendra would bicker about whether she was
overextending again or not later, but for now he was going
to do his job of watching her back.
Synchro Attack
Setup Power
Effect: Choose at least one willing Ally to make a combi-
nation attack with, you gain two Advantages to your next
Offensive Action for each Ally that helps you out this way.
This uses up an Action and a Genre Point from every other
participant. Your participating Allies skip their next Actions.
Units may participate in one Synchro Attack per Operation.
The enemy was big, but slow. Charlotte knew exactly how
to handle them. “Alright you three, we’re going with the
Tetra-Formation!” The team all answered in accord. “Roger,
Captain.” “Gotcha, Charlie!” “Let’s kick its ass!“ Four Gears
surrounded the titanic crystal slug monster, two bombard-
ing it with munitions and energy to pin it down, allowing the
third to stab it with their giant sword where the the fourth’s
systems indicated it was most vulnerable.
Try Again
Reaction Power
Effect: Reroll one of your Might Tests gaining an Advan-
tage to it, keeping the new result. You can use this Power
once per Test.
Kendra’s giant sword missed its mark, the enemy Machina
simply stepping back to avoid it and moving in to punish
her mistake with its radiant fist. That’s when the thrusters in
the back of the Swordrake kicked in to make Kendra’s Gear
continue spinning, the added momentum from the apparent
miss increasing the force with which the huge slab of metal
would slam into the enemy. They always fell for that trick.

Alternative Powers
Alternative Powers aren’t acquired like other Genre Powers, instead you can exchange your Default Powers for them.
Each one has a direct analogue in one of the six Default Powers and you can give up one of those for its equivalent Alter-
native Power. The equivalences are listed at the end of each entry.
Fight Smarter
Setup Power
Effect: One Enemy Tests Systems against a DN of 5 plus
your Systems. If they fail you gain the benefit of the Aim
Action and your Weapon gains the Crippling ability for their
next Offensive Action against that Enemy. You can use this
Power once per Round.
Marie adjusted her non-prescription glasses. No one could
see her within her own cockpit, but it helped her get in The
Zone. And getting herself in The Zone helped her own
Mechabeast’s performance. “ ‘Kay Celly, I need you to
lock on to this zippy unhittable guy with your third eye so
I can shoot him down. On the count of three, two, one...
Ka-blam~!“ The shot was a bullseye. As the enemy came
down crashing, she quipped. “See? A little pep talk, and a
lot of highly advanced Extra-Sensory-Perception, can make
great achievements.”
Special: This Power is an Alternative to Knowledge is
Power.
I Don’t Think so
Reaction Power
Effect: Force an Enemy’s Might Test against you to be
rerolled inflicting it with one Disadvantage, keeping the new
result. You can use this Power once per Test.
Hal’s Skydrake maneuvered zigged and zagged between
the enemy formation, launching missiles as he went. A yel-
low window popped up to warn him of incoming flak and he
transformed his Gear from plane to humanoid mode just in
time to block it with the giant robot’s shield. That was close.
Special: This Power is an Alternative to Not so Fast.
It’s Over!
Reaction Power
Effect: Whenever you deal damage to an Enemy and they
survive with 5 or less points of Threshold left, you may acti-
vate this Power to deal that Enemy their remaining amount
of Threshold in Damage.
Rock chewed through his shotgun ammo while burning
holes into the Sweeper-Class Machina. But just to be safe,
he jammed the firearm inside the enemy’s giant dome-like
body and kept pulling the trigger until he was entirely out of
shells.
Special: This Power is an Alternative to Try Again.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Parting Shot
Reaction Power
Effect: Whenever you would be defeated you may activate
this Power to take an Offensive Action against that Enemy.
Your Action takes place at the same theirs does and you
are still taken out after your final attack.
Ashoka was never one to take a loss gracefully. He
could’ve pulled back, but instead chose to accept being
stabbed dangerously close to the cockpit just to grab the
enemy by the arm and empty his shoulder missiles at point
blank range. This way, they were both down for the count.
Special: This Power is an Alternative to Live Another Day.
The Strong Adapt
Reaction Power
Effect: Choose one Feature when activating this Power
and gain that Feature for three Rounds (counting this one).
You can use this Power once per Operation.
Rock knew he wasn’t going to be able to chase down to the
fleeing enemy on his own. “I need a Cloudrider!” He called
out. In response the battleship launched a flying mobile
platform to help Rock fly over the terrain and catch up to
his target.
Special: This Power is an Alternative to Mid-Scene Up-
grade.
This is For My Friend!
Setup Power
Effect: You gain two Advantages to your next Might Test
this Turn. You can use this Power only after one Ally of
equal Power Level to you has been defeated during this
Operation, and you may reuse it once for every Ally de-
feated.
Soran’s Windrake was the last one standing. Everything
depended on her. If she couldn’t pull this off, many would
die and even more would lose their homes to the enemy.
She steeled her conviction. “I am... Windrake!“ Its G-Reac-
tor running at triple the energy output, the Windrake glowed
red as it proceeded to utterly annihilate the enemy with a
relentless sequence of blows. By the time the Gear pow-
ered down, unable to move anymore, its target was a mere
pile of scrap. But Soran didn’t know that, she’d long passed
out from allowing the Windrake to draw from her life energy
to power its stunt, her body moving on its own. All she’d
remember was seeing red and losing consciousness.
Special: This Power is an Alternative to Synchro Attack.
53
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Champion Powers
Champion Powers make the user an offensive and defensive powerhouse, and are thus useful to pretty much all PCs. A
good number of them are so powerful they may only be used once per Operation, so don’t plan to rely too much on them
and consider diversifying a little into other Power types.
Believe in Myself
Reaction Power
Effect: Restore 5 points to your Threshold and treat all
Maimed Areas as normal for three Rounds (counting this
one). You can use this Power once per Operation.
The Flamer Drone had snuck up on Nilu and scorched one
of his Gear’s arms. But this was nothing he couldn’t handle.
Nilu turned the Ringdrake’s repair nanomachines on its
damaged arm and prepared his counterattack “Alright, I’m
all fixed up, and now... AAAAAAA” He promptly turned tail
and ran away. His Gear was an unarmed support model,
after all.
I Cannot be Defeated
Reaction Power
Effect: The next time that you would be destroyed during
this Operation, you remain functional with a Threshold of
1 instead. You can use this Power once per Round and
against any source of Damage except Techniques.
The blast had been big enough that the shockwave would
be felt for kilometers. Nothing could walk out of that in-
tact. And yet, a humanoid figure walked out of the flames.
Ashoka’s Myrmitherion was missing an arm and half its
head, but the Absolute Barrier had somehow stopped the
worst of the explosion. “I am indomitable, inevitable... An
immovable object and unstoppable force all in one!” And
then his Mechabeast charged at the enemy once more. He
still had plenty of fight left in him.
I’m Breaking Through
Reaction Power
Effect: Your current Offensive Action is immune to the ef-
fects of Active Defenses.
Akihiko’s pellets plinked ineffectually against the Execution-
er-class Machina’s forcefield. Annoyed, he pulled back from
the duel while he switched his rifle’s ammunition to barrier-
piercing rounds. Just as the enemy was about to catch up
to him, the reloader was done and he promptly shot the
enemy’s arm off.
54
My Defense is Impregnable
Reaction Power
Effect: Halve the next instance of Damage you would take.
You can use this Power once per Operation.
Reina stood her ground against the beam saber strikes of
the enemy Executioner-class Machina, pushing against
them with her Crustamens’ Psychic Shell to make sure it
couldn’t attack anyone but her. She wondered, sometimes,
if she might’ve been a turtle in a past life. Probably not, she
figured, turtles weren’t this proactive with their shells.
My Style is Impetuous
Setup Power
Effect: Treat Tension as if it were 4 points higher for your
next Offensive Action. You can use this Power once per
Operation.
Kendra leaped into the air, drawing the large sword on her
back and yelled out the world’s longest battlecry as she
descended upon the enemy Mechabeast. It died, as things
impaled with swords tend to do. There was a moment
of silence before somene else spoke. “Can you at least
please switch off team communication before you do that?”
Whined Akihiko, the nerd. Kendra laughed it off. “It’s to
share my fighting spirit with you all.”
Signature Weapon (Specialist)
Setup Power
Effect: Choose any one of your Weapons when you take
this Power. Activate Signature Weapon to make your next
Offensive Action using the chosen Weapon immune to the
effects of Active Defenses and increase the result of its
Might Test by 5. You can use this Power once per Opera-
tion, but if you have multiple Signature Weapons each can
be used once.
Soran readied up her Windrake’s primary weapon—the
Bahamut lance. She had the Gear calculate the optimum
trajectory path against her target and followed it as best
she could while gradually increasing the acceleration of
her boosters to maximize the effectiveness of her jousting
attack. She made the strategy of constantly charging at
enemies look easy and brainless, but it was a very precise
and technical strategy.

Trickster Powers
Trickster Genre Powers are a toolbox for special circumstances where you just need a very specific effect that is com-
pletely outside the reach of other Powers. They might not seem like much at times, but they can prove vital in overcoming
unexpected complications.
Come at Me Bro
Setup Power
Effect: Until the end of your next Turn, if an Enemy within
5 Zones from you makes an Offensive Test against another
Ally, you may Attack that individual Enemy once after their
own Action has finished and automatically get a result of
10 to the Might Test. If an Ally uses this Power while your
own is active, the effects of their Power replace yours. This
Power has no effect while you are Docked onto another
Unit.
Reina stood in front of the mind worm hordes and instruct-
ed her Mechabeast to signal them with waves that would
get their attention. Whatever it was the creature projected
at them, the monsters were so aggravated they turned
away from whatever it was they were looking at and all
charged straight at her.
Gotta go Fast
Setup Power
Effect: You or an Ally may Move an additional 5 Zones with
their next Action this Round. You can use this Power once
per Round.
Akihiko could not help but lecture everyone on a public
frequency as he continued to wear the enemy down. “A
sufficient mobility advantage lets you dictate terms of en-
gagement. Mobility, thus, serves double duty as a facilitator
of offense as well as a method of defense.” This was his
fancy way of saying that hit-and-run tactics were effective
against foes slow and low on ranged options.
My Pain is your Pain
Reaction Power
Effect: The next time an Enemy would deal Damage to
you this Round, you deal half that much Damage back to
them. The Damage dealt by this Power happens after the
Enemy resolves the Damage against you. You can use this
Power once per Operation.
A hail of bullets came in the Gundrake’s direction. With
the poise of an ancient glacier, Akihiko simply called out
the voice command for the defensive system designed for
these circumstances. “Reflecting Barrier.” Some projectiles
came through and dented his armor, but the rest returned
to their owner, shredding them to pieces.
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Take One for the Team
Reaction Power
Effect: You may have the next instance of Damage that
would be dealt to an Ally within a number of Zones equal
to or lower than your Speed be dealt to you in their place
instead. After that, all Offensive Actions made against the
chosen Ally suffer a Disadvantage to their Might Tests until
the beginning of your next Turn.
Reina pushed Shin out of the way of the incoming laser
beam. The attack would punch through her shields and
burn down her partner Mechabeast’s torso. The heat felt
like she was being boiled alive, but she endured nonethe-
less. She promised she would protect him.
The Tacticool Approach
Setup Power
Effect: If your Systems is higher than your Might or your
Guard, you may replace one or both with your Systems
until the beginning of your next Turn.
Marie’s Megacephalus stood still. She knew there was no
point trying to dodge or block railgun fire from over the ho-
rizon, so she waited for her partner’s enhanced senses to
detect it. When it finally came, the duo stepped aside and
the projectile breezed past where Megacephalus’ head was
a moment ago. “Good girl, Celly~ You’re getting extra treats
tonight!”
Trump Card (Specialist)
Setup Power
Effect: Choose any two Weapons you don’t already own.
You gain the chosen Weapons until end of Operation and
they cannot be Maimed by Enemy Attacks. You can use
this Power once per Operation.
Marie preferred to provide support from the back, using
Megacephalus’ psychic powers to play interference against
enemies rather than to fight directly. But if she and her
Mechabeast were forced to do so, they had a fallback plan
ready. “Celly, activate Direct Combat Mode. Enable the
Stumbling Fists Subroutine and draw the Electrosappers.
I’m gonna teach this jerk not to mess with us.“
55
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Tactician Powers
Tactician Powers help you control how the battle is going. They keep friends in top fighting condition and weaken your
foes to make them easy pickings. You can mess with the battle plan of enemy forces, disable special abilities or just turn
the tide by empowering your weakened friends.
Can’t let you do That
Reaction Power
Effect: Any one Enemy loses the benefit of Tension to their
Might Tests until the beginning of your next Turn. You can
use this Power once per Operation.
Hal kept circling around the enemy artillery, waiting for the
time while peppering them with missiles. When they finally
decided to turn away from firing at his team to fire at him,
he shot a multitude of chaff dispensers to null the effective-
ness of their missiles. Just as planned.
Don’t Give Up
Setup Power
Effect: Restore your Threshold or that of an Ally by an
amount equal to your Systems. You can use this Power
once per Operation.
Everything was going to hell in a bullet train. Not that she’d
ever seen a bullet train, but they were mentioned in history
books. Desperate to motivate the only one who could pos-
sibly stand up to the giant moth about to destroy them, Ma-
rie yelled out. ”Get in there, Shin! The princess needs you
now more than ever, so rise to the challenge and become a
legend, young man!“
Mind Over Matter
Reaction Power
Effect: You and all Allies within 5 Zones treat halved Attrib-
utes as normal until the beginning of your next Turn. Mind
over Matter will also stop effects that halve your available
Energy, even if the base Attribute itself remains untouched.
The giant plant ID’ed as “Hydra” had all the team’s Gears
grasped in its tentacle-like vines. Unfortunately for the
Mechabeast, this was a poor matchup for it. Rock’s Explo-
drake simply fired some of his many integrated explosive
launchers, no hands necessary, and hastily freed his entire
team as the beast recoiled back in pain.
56
This is my Battlefield
Setup Power
Effect: Choose one type of Terrain (other than Plain) and
turn a Blast (1) area of Zones into that type of Terrain until
the end of your next Turn. If you create Impassable Terrain
below other Units, they will get pushed out of the way in a
direction of your choice. You can use this Power once per
Turn.
Charlotte needed to do more than destroy the mind worms
coming at them, she had to halt the advance of the ones
behind them too. “I’m using my cannons on the cliffside
at 9 o’clock to stop the enemy advance. Steer clear of it.”
Some mental calculations and careful aiming later, her Fire-
drake’s Double Blaster punched holes into the mountain
and caused a landslide. The enemies would not be coming
through this narrow cliffside anymore, .
You are Going Down
Setup Power
Effect: Choose one Enemy. All attacks against that Enemy
from Units within 5 Zones of you gain an Advantage to
their Might Tests until the beginning of your next Turn. This
includes your own attacks. You can use this Power once
per Operation.
After enough poking and probing at their defenses, Hal
figured out the Expurgator-class Machina’s weakness. “I’ve
got it. Their plating is weakest in the joints connecting the
top and bottom halves. Everyone aim for the abdomen!“
You can do Better than That
Reaction Power
Effect: You turn a failed Might Test of yours or an Ally into
an automatic success, using the current Tension as the
amount it bypassed the target’s Defense. This ignores Ad-
vantages and Disadvantages entirely, but not modifiers to
Tension. You can use this Power once per Operation.
“Aki, I am sending you targeting data!” said Nilu. “No need,
I’m more comfortable using my own.“ “Nuh-huh, who has
the most advanced targeting systems in this lineup? Be-
sides, its already tuned for your motion and weapon prefer-
ences.“ “...Fair enough.”

Miscellaneous Powers
These Powers are a little bit loopier or more situational than the rest. They need a bigger emphasis on strategy and long
term thinking, working very well with some builds or against specific enemies, but not so well the rest of the time.
Hang in There!
Reaction Power
Effect: You or another Pilot that is about to be defeated
through Plot Armor Damage (or was already defeated)
restores their Plot Armor to full and continues fighting nor-
mally. You can use this Power once per Operation.
Soran could hear Tiana’s voice, faintly in the darkness. She
was calling out to her. “Soran, come in! Answer me, Soran!”
her comrade kept going on and on. It was a good thing
she did, otherwise Soran might not have woken up again.
Grasping the controls and reaching for the hand of Tiana’s
gear with her own’s, they together shake the mind worms
off Soran’s Windrake. “Thanks, Tiana.”
I am a Loose Cannon
Setup Power
Effect: Roll 1d10 when you activate this Power. You suffer
that much Damage at the end of your Turn, but until your
next Turn you treat Tension as if it were half that many
points higher (rounding up). You can use this Power once
per Round.
“Myrmitherion, engage Super Soldier Mode. We’re go-
ing all-out from the start this time.” Ashoka’s Mechabeast
let out a guttural bellow and injected itself with a massive
amount of stimulants so powerful even the pilot felt their
effects. They were now in a perfect Flow state and would
fight in complete synchronization with each other.
I am your Opponent
Reaction Power
Effect: When an Ally of yours is being attacked in a Duel
and within a Range equal to your Speed or less, you can
use this Power to Move into that Zone and redirect the
attack to yourself. Your Ally Disengages from the Duel, but
is shifted 1 Zone in a direction of their choice, and you are
now Dueling that Enemy. You can Disengage from a Duel
this way.
Alpha Max’s Gilgangar beelined directly for Charlotte,
sword drawn, but Kendra jumped in front of him and
pushed him back with her own blade. “Where are you
going, you bastard? I’ll be your dance partner this even-
ing.” Alpha Max laughed. “Good, I like my prey with some
fighting spirit. Now put your sword where your mouth is and
entertain me!”
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Stake my Life on it
Reaction Power
Effect: You self-destruct your current Level of Threshold
and increase the result of your current Might Test by the
amount of Threshold points lost this way. That Offensive
action is also immune to the effect of Active Defenses. You
can use this Power once per Operation.
Shin grabbed the enemy with his Polyspina, trapping it in a
lethal bear hug. Afterwards, he purged the Familiar’s extra
armor and jumped away to activate the armor pack’s self-
destruct function. If he’d remembered to turn around, he’d
have looked really cool with the explosion behind him.
Take Cover!
Reaction Power
Effect: An Enemy’s Might Test using a Weapon that attacks
multiple targets loses the benefit of Tension and you halve
all the Damage that would come from that Offensive Ac-
tion to you or your Allies. You can use this Power once per
Operation.
Ashoka didn’t like to be protected, but Reina jumped in
front of the building-melting beam anyway. She projected
her barrier and what would’ve ordinarily vaporized one or
more limbs from Ashoka’s Mechabeast merely singed the
skin of both of them. “I didn’t need the help... But thanks
anyway.“
You are Already Dead
Reaction Power
Effect: Choose one Enemy you have already dealt Dam-
age to during this Operation. That Enemy is dealt an
amount of Damage equal to your Might. You can use this
Power once per Operation.
Shin’s berserking Mechabeast leaped on top of the mon-
ster, clawing at its exposed flesh, stabbing with its tail and
goring it with its large horns. The enemy shook him off, but
the damage was already done—it bled out and collapsed
shortly afterwards.
57
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Rush Powers
Rush Powers have an additional cost to them: They will
use up one of your Actions, meaning they either skip the
rest of your Turn or skip your next Turn. You may only have
one Rush Power active each Turn.
Go, Funnels!
Setup Power
Effect: You can take a second Offensive Action this Turn
to use a Remote Weapon. Your Remotes can Move as part
of this Action as normal. You can use this Power once per
Round and it spends your next Turn’s Action in advance.
Tiana coordinated her Subdrake to attack simultaneously
with her Psychodrake, pummeling the enemy from two
angles at the same time with her Twin Dragon Strike. Only
an experienced telekineticist could pull that off.
Lightspeed Assault
Setup Power
Effect: Move a number of Zones equal to your Speed,
ignoring Enemies and Terrain (even impassable terrain)
on the way. Each Enemy whose Zone you cross this way
suffers an amount of Damage equal to the current Ten-
sion. You may go back and forth when using this Power,
hitting the same Enemy multiple times while doing so, but
repeat hits do half Damage. This Power spends your Action
this Turn in advance. The Action you take with Lightspeed
Assault is a Utility Action. This lets you escape from Duels
without having to Disengage. You can use this Power once
per Round.
Soran turned her G-Reactor output to 120%. His Windrake
charged at the enemy formation, becoming a streak of
light, flashing through the enemy Gears, pieces of them be-
ing neatly chopped off as if by a gust of razor-sharp wind.
On the other side of the battlefield, the Windrake reap-
peared, fuming off its exhaust ports. “This is the power of
Windrake.“
Twin Strike (Specialist)
Setup Power
Effect: Choose two Weapons when you take this Power.
You can make two Attack Actions this Turn against the
same target with both Weapons, using one first and then
the other with your second Action. This second Attack does
not get to Move as part of the Action. You can use this
Power once per Round and it spends your next Turn’s Ac-
tion in advance.
Shin doesn’t use the Polyspina’s ranged options often, but
it does have the ability to launch its eponymous spines as
projectiles. It works especially well when he follows it up by
ripping and tearing with the Mechabeast’s claws.
58
Restoration Powers
Restoration Powers need to be used along with Restoration
Upgrades. Not only are they stronger than other Powers
that restore Threshold Points, they are also repeatable.
I’ll Patch You Up.
Reaction Power
Effect: The next time you use your Jury Rig Upgrade this
Turn, it spends two Restorations but restores twice the
amount of Energy spent on it. You can use this Power once
per Round.
The Gilgangar had just cut down Kendra’s Swordrake and
forced her to eject. This was bad. Very bad. Aki was down
and Charlie’s Firedrake was in poor shape too. “Charlie,
can you hold him down if I supercharge you?” “I’ll do you
one better, kid. I’ll take him down if you can keep me func-
tional.“ Her confidence reassuring him, he restored Char-
lie’s gear back to fighting condition. His small support bot
likes having a big and powerful one to stay behind.
My Last Stand
Setup Power
Effect: The next time you use your Regenerative Upgrade
this Turn, you double the amount of Threshold restored
with it. You also ignore the effects of Maiming and treat
halved Attributes as normal until the beginning of your next
Turn. My Last Stand will also stop effects that halve your
available Energy, even if the base Attribute itself remains
untouched. You can use this Power once per Round.
The Polyspina kept walking forward, regrowing and regen-
erating its damaged body parts as enemies kept shooting
it with machineguns, rockets and beam weapons. Mean-
while, his team repositioned themselves to surround the
enemy. It’s only because Shin is an empathic and mild-
mannered person that his dangerous Mechabeast type can
stay calm under such tremendous pressure.
Who the Hell do you Think I am?
Setup Power
Effect: The next time you use your G-Charger Upgrade,
you restore your Threshold by 5 and will get the extra 5
points of Energy during your next Turn again without having
to use the G-Charger first. You can use this Power once
per Round.
Sonji combined his support plane unit with Soran’s Gear.
He immediately began to micromanage the unit’s systems
as its copilot. No words were shared between the two of
them, they were beyond that. Soran simply kept fighting,
her friend taking care of everything but pure movement and
weapons control for her.

Boost Powers
Boost Powers use Energy as a resource. Two of them can
be optionally used without spending Energy (but are much
worse if you don’t) and the third needs Energy explicitly
to function at all. All of them, though, gain strength as you
spend more Energy on them and can turn battles around if
you boost them enough.
Chain Explosion
Reaction Power
Effect: When an Enemy is destroyed you may use this
Power and spend any amount of Energy. The Enemy ex-
plodes in a Blast (4), dealing an amount of Damage equal
to the current Tension plus the amount of Energy spent this
way. You can use this Power once per Enemy.
Her engineering knowledge allows Tiana to know when
and where to strike Gears to make them explode the most
spectacularly. So she did, shooting at the enemy where
their reactor is located precisely the moment they were
gearing up to fire their own weapon. It’s a good thing
they’re fighting in a barren wasteland, or this would get her
chewed out later.
Shoot it Down
Reaction Power
Effect: Spend any amount of Energy in response to the
result of a Might Test. The Might Test is rerolled, with a
number of Disadvantages equal to the amount of Energy
spent. You can use this Power once per Operation.
While Charlotte attacked with her large shoulder cannons
from a distance, she had her rifle aimed at the enemy.
When the return fire finally came, she used the singularity
projector on the incoming projectiles divert their courses.
Only an ace like her would be capable of coordinating mul-
tiple tasks with such precision.
I Have Control
Setup Power
Effect: Choose an Enemy Grunt and spend an amount of
Energy equal to their Power Level plus the current Tension.
You gain control of that Grunt’s Actions during their Turn,
though you may not have them eject or self-destruct. At the
beginning of every one of your next Turns you may spend
the same amount of Energy again to maintain control over
that Grunt. You can use this Power once per Operation.
Clickity-clack go Tiana’s fingers on the keyboard, her
electronic warfare causing the enemy Cannon-class
drone to reboot. When they came back online, the drone’s
G-Reactor was attuned to her Synchronizer and the unit
solidly under their control. “I have the Cannon-class under
my command.“
CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER
Limit Powers
Limit Powers are merely acceptable at the beginning of an
Operation, but become some of the strongest Powers you
can possibly use after a few Rounds. Their usefulness de-
pends on the current Tension, making a good combo with
Powers and Upgrades that grant Tension bonuses.
I Am Helping!
Setup Power
Effect: You inflict a bonus Disadvantage when using the
Suppress Action this Turn. If the Tension bonus for the
Might Test is 5 or higher, you turn the Zone under the target
into Extreme Terrain until the beginning of your next Turn
You can use this Power once per Round.
“It’s okay, guys, I’ve got this.” “NO ROCK, DON’T-”
*Boom*. “...Don’t worry, Hal. It’s just a small campfire. This
is fine.” Rock had his heart in the right place. He’d just
never really understood that his Explodrake wasn’t really
meant for defensive fire. You’d think the name would make
it obvious, yet here we are.
Jinxed!
Reaction Power
Effect: One Enemy Weapon gains the Overheating abil-
ity if it is a Beam or the Unreliable ability otherwise for this
attack. If the Weapon already has one of these abilities, it
will gain the other one as well. If the Tension bonus for the
Might Test is 5 or higher, either ability will also trigger with
an even result, as if it were an odd number. You can use
this Power once per Operation.
As the Flamer-class drone opened its mouth to spew fire,
the Skydrake activated its Graviton Gun with perfect timing
to make the mobile weapon destroy itself.
Pierce the Heavens
Setup Power
Effect: Your next Offensive Action this Turn gains an
Advantage to its Might Test. If the Tension bonus of the
Might Test is 5 or higher, it also ignores the effects of Active
Defenses. You may use this Power once per Round.
Ashoka and his Myrmitherion Mechabeast fought like in
a trance, moving with flexibility and grace like a dancer in
tune with a silent song of war. This is why anyone with intel
on his unit knows the key is to not let him enter that state.
59
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Power Level Adjustments

Characters of Power Level 1 and higher start with extra Character Points to spend. The bonus equals 30 CP times the
Character’s Power Level. That means an additional 30 CP at Power Level 1, 90 CP at Power Level 3, and so on.

You can spend these points on Attributes (using the rules found after the Attribute templates) or get more Skills and
Traits. The choice is yours, but don’t forget to note down this bonus CP so you don’t lose track of your Power Level.

Roleplaying Details
A PC is more than a collection of numbers. They are people with their own strengths and weaknesses, quirks endearing
and annoying alike. You should strive to make them feel like three-dimensional characters to further bring them to life.

The most crucial of these details is your Character's name, after which come other factors such as age, ethnicity, gender,
mannerisms, favorite food, clothes and whatever else you feel could ever be relevant.

If you are confident in your ability to improvise, leave most of these details blank and come up with them later. That way
you can adapt to what happens in the middle of a gaming session with whatever is most interesting at the time.

Talk with your fellow Players and see if there's any way in which you can use each other's ideas to build up a team that
works well together. Then feel free to go back and change your Attributes, Themes, Powers, and whatever else you want
to change after having this conversation.

The end of Chapter 6 has a Lifepath series of tables that can generate random character names, backstories, etc. Even if
some of the results don’t fit your setting, you can still use the tables as inspiration.

The Character Sheet

You should write down everything important about your PC in a Character Sheet. You can use a printed copy of the one
at the end of the book or find an online character sheet, whatever suits you best. Fill in the spaces with your Attributes,
Themes, Powers and so forth as necessary.

The Character Sheet will be there to remind you of what your PC can do when you’re stumped. It is also useful to keep
track of numbers, like how much XP you’ve earned.

It has enough space for a good number of Skills and Traits as well as a short description of what they do. You don’t
haveto get into details, just note down the basics. Note down any Specializations for your Skills or Traits as well, since
those are important.

CHARACTER DETAILS QUESTIONNAIRE

• What are the Character's age and gender? Do they look and act the part?
• What are the Character's height and weight? Are they below average, above, or just in the middle?
• What is the Character's ethnicity? Do they have any culturally stereotypical physical and personality traits?
• What does the Character look like? Are they attractive? What is their color of hair, eyes and skin?
• How does the Character carry themselves? Are they confident, unassuming, or perhaps an attention seeker?
• What is the Character's social standing? Are they part of a ruling elite? Are they hard-working underclass?
• What did the Character do with their life before piloting a Mecha? Do they still do that? Were they good at it?
• How educated and savvy is the Character? Do they have a Ph.D? Are they street smart?
• What was it like for them to grow up? What was their family situation? Did they have many friends, few, any at all?
• Is the Character religious or spiritual? Do they like to think about metaphysics? Do they like to discuss philosophy?
• Is the Character politically engaged? What aspect of the system would they like to change?
• What does the Character do in their spare time? Do they have a hobby or are they workaholics?
• Is the Character an introvert or an extrovert? If they’re in the middle, what do they prefer?
• Does the Character respect tradition and the letter of the law? Do they believe that right and wrong are immutables?
• Is the Character imaginative and insightful? Do they help others realize their potential or do they help themselves?

60
 CHAPTER 2 - WRITING THE CHARACTER

Example of Character Creation

Let’s make a quick and simple example Player Character. The concept will be “Engineer Ace Pilot”, a man who pilots a
standard mass-produced unit with minor modifications made by himself. We’ll name him Roland Rey, because alliteration
is fun. He’s also going to be Power Level 1, because Power Level 0 PCs aren’t very fun.

The first step are Attributes. Roland is a trained soldier who’s gifted with machines so his highest Attributes should be Fit-
ness and Intellect. Awareness, while less important, also suits an experienced and attentive man like him. The rest don’t
really matter as much and can take whatever leftover points are left. Fitness and Intellect will be at 5, while Awareness will
be at 4, for a total of 40 CP.

Then come Skills. Roland should have Fitness, Electronics and Craftsmanship (With a specialization on Engineering) to
represent his Concept. That was an easy 25 CP.

Few Traits stand out for his concept so we’re going to get creative and expand said concept a little bit. Roland is going to
have a Comrade, a woman by the name of Bertha Solaris who will be the captain of the battleship he’s on. Usually, they’d
be acquaintances, but the purchase of the Trait guarantees a closer and more meaningful relationship. That’s another 10
CP spent on Traits.

So far we’ve only spent 75 CP of the 130 that Roland gets, so we go on a bit of a spending spree making him stand out a
bit more. We end up with 5 Fitness, 5 Intellect, 4 Charm, 5 Awareness, 4 Willpower and 4 Resources for 75 CP on Attrib-
utes. Roland will be given the Combat Skill to become a decent hand-to-hand combatant and specialist. There’s still points
left, so we’ll also give him a form of psychic empathy that can read surface thoughts (Probing with a Specialization on
Mind Reading) for a total of 45 CP on Skills. We keep Traits as they are and, voila, 130 CP spent.

On to calculating his Defenses and Plot Armor. His Awareness is 5, plus 5 that makes Defense a 10. Roland’s Willpower is
5, so every Layer of Plot Armor can take up to 5 points of Damage for a total of 15.

As a PL1 Character, Roland is entitled to a single Genre Power. Usually, we would wait until we’re finished with the mech
to do this, but I’m going to spoil you: He’s going to take Trump Card (Finger Net & Bombardment) to represent the two
weapons he’s adding to his machine.

Our choice of Themes are Kindness, Love and Overworked. Roland is a complicated man, whose compassion for others
can be a source of strength and weakness. We’ve also made his personal life more complicated by giving him a romantic
interest in his boss, who doesn’t reciprocate—or at least not yet. Lastly, Roland is something of a workaholic who is al-
most always tinkering with one or more machines, losing sight of other things. The Character side of this PC is complete!

CHARACTER CREATION TIPS

Below are some useful guidelines to keep in mind when doing the mechanical side of your Character:

• Invest 50% to 75% of your CP into Attributes.

• Have 2 to 4 Skills.
• Have no more than one Equipment Trait boosting any one singular Skill.
• Try to have at least one of Awareness, Willpower or Resources at Rank 4 or higher.

Exceptions to the above guidelines do exist. Characters with high Resources or Jack of all Trades can get by without buy-
ing Skills, for example.

Unlike their mechs, the pilots are not guaranteed to see any direct combat. Talk with the GM and the rest of the group
about the likelihood of using the Match rules before anyone invests heavily into things like Deathblows or leaves their
Awareness and Willpower both at 1.

61
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Mecha Construction Summary
Your Mecha, being an extension of your PC, is much
simpler to create on a conceptual level. The customization
process itself is more complex though, since there’s more
choices to be made.
Step 1: Concept
Decide whether your Mecha is a prototype using new and
revolutionary technology, an ancient magical robot from
a lost civilization, a custom version of a mass-produced
robot, or something else altogether.
Step 2: Mecha Points
Your Mecha has 100 Mecha Points (MP) that are used
much like CP. You will decide with them whether your gi-
ant robot is speedy and fragile or slow and resilient, then
grant it Upgrades and Weapons like forcefields and missile
launchers.
Step 3: Genre Powers
Wait, what? Again? Genre Powers are part of the previous
chapter, yes. But they have more of an impact on Mecha
than on the Pilots themselves. Now that you have your gi-
ant robot you should take another look at them and make
sure they work well together.
Step 4: Power Level Adjustments
You have 30 more MP to spend for each Power Level
above 0. You can use this to enhance Attributes or to gain
even more Upgrades and Weapons.
Step 5: Finishing Touches
Mecha also have their own questionnaire to give it that ex-
tra depth. This way you can truly make it your own personal
machine and fine-tune it to your heart's content.
EXAMPLE MECHA CONCEPTS
• Stolen Military Prototype • Grandpa’s Masterpiece
• Firebreathing Mecha Dragon • Transforming Sports Car
• Mecha Knight Riding Mecha Horse • Regenerating Nanomachine Monster • Giant AI J-Pop Idol
• Walking Artillery Platform • Docile Newborn Giant Alien
• Windmill with Arms and Legs • Old Piece of Junk in the Hangar
62
Mecha for Everyone
Your Character needs a Mecha of their own, otherwise it is
kind of pointless to be playing a Mecha game in the first
place. The process to create Mecha is mostly about how
you want them to fight. We won’t be paying much attention
to the technical details, because this is a game about giant
robots duking it out and not an engineering simulator.
The how and why of Mecha does not matter as much as
the what. You can justify and flavor your Mecha's energy
weapon as an enormous shoulder mounted positron can-
non, eye beams, or a gun that shoots rainbow lasers. It’s
up to you to make it awesome.
In other words, Mecha Construction is more about the
game’s rules and mechanics—If you pardon the pun. You
can make your Mecha as distinctive with its technical or
aesthetic details as you want. There are examples in the
descriptions of each abilty to help you out with that.
Much like with the piloting character, the place to start with
when creating your Mecha is the concept, and it works
pretty much the same. Anything ranging from “Sleeping
Mechanical God” to “Old Piece of Junk in the Hangar”
works. Just keep in mind they’re all going to be equal in
power, so by the time the former awakens to full power, the
latter will have been upgraded to stand toe to toe with it.
Usually, Mecha are given to the PCs by an organization
they all belong to. This can be the standing army of their
nation, the company that hired them as test pilots or a
traveling ship that they’re paid to escort through danger-
ous territory. Often these organizations also have unify-
ing themes and aesthetics for Mecha belonging to them,
which the GM or the group as a whole should decide on
before the game. This guarantees the PCs are not just on
the same side but also they look the part, making them a
cohesive fighting force.
The PC’s Mecha are managed by this organization, they
handle the repairs, maintenance and resupplying. PCs
with an interest in their own Mecha can participate in this,
but it’s not obligatory for them to do so. If PCs don’t want
to spend Intermissions working on their Mecha, that’s fine.
Their robots will still be waiting for them when necessary.
• Sleeping Mechanical God
• Built in a Cave with a Box of Scraps
• Mass Produced Police Mecha
• The Guardian of the Moon
 CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA

Mecha Points
Much like with the Character, you can create and customize your Mecha to your liking. The process is exactly the same
as the one for the pilot, but using Mecha Points (MP) instead of Character Points. You get 100 MP to spend on Attrib-
utes, Upgrades and Weapons all three of which are explained in this same chapter. Remember that if you end up with
leftover MP you can still spend them later during the game, they just won’t count towards your Power Level

Mecha Attributes
Mecha Attributes are assigned exactly the same way you do Character Attributes, but the Attributes themselves are differ-
ent. To refresh your memory, all Mecha Attributes start at Rank 0, but you can increase them with MP.

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cost 1 3 6 10 15 21 28 36 45 55

Your Mecha’s first point in Guard will boost the Attribute from 0 to 1 for a cost of 1 MP. Enhancing their Energy from 0 to 4
will cost 10 MP because you have to pay for four individual increases of 1, 2, 3 and 4 MP.

You can try to take Mecha Attributes to Rank 11 and beyond if you want to, but much like with Character Attributes it will
be very costly and probably not worth the sacrifice. An Attribute at 0 represents a glaring weak point in the Mecha, either
as a design flaw or as a calculated risk. Certain Mecha might not need any Might or Energy at all, while others could get
by with low Systems or Speed. Having no Guard or Threshold is suicidal though. Don’t do that.

And here you can reference what each Mecha Attribute is good for in case you need a reminder:
Might:
Might is a pretty straightforward Attribute: You use it to
shoot your Weapons. You could also use it to lift fallen
buildings or to carry a friendly deactivated Mecha, when
you’re not actively fighting. It is a crucial Attribute if you
intend to use missiles, beam sabers, laser cannons or any
other direct method of attack.
Guard:
Guard is part of what makes your Defense. You are never
going to roll a Guard Test, but it is an extremely important
Attribute. Without any Guard you will be suffering more
Damage and will be shot down or forced to retreat more
often than others.
Threshold:
Threshold is your other defensive Attribute, being entirely
the foundation of your four Threshold Levels. Threshold is
never rolled during Tests either, but it is still of utmost im-
portance to all Mecha. With low Threshold you will explode
after being hit once or twice.
Energy:
Energy is the most versatile of Mecha Attributes, but also
the one that does the least on its own. You have to buy Up-
grades and Weapons that require Energy in order to make
any use of it. All spent Energy regenerates back to full at
the beginning of your Turn.
Systems:
Systems is the most subtle Mecha Attribute, intended for
use with support-oriented Upgrades and Weapons. With
Systems you can extend the reach of Weapons, repair your
Allies out in the battlefield and call for support from NPCs.
Speed:
Speed does what its name says. It determines your Initia-
tive and how many Zones you can Move with your Actions.
Without a decent Speed Attribute you cannot chase down
Enemies who keep their distance and will always go last in
the Initiative Order.

63
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA

Areas
Mecha are a lot more resilient than people. They can
lose one or more limbs and keep fighting, then spend a
few days at the workshop and return good as new. In fact
Mecha do get beat up and lose the function of their body
parts quite often during battle. Bullets pierce a joint and the
limb begins to malfunction. Sensors are burnt out rendering
guns that relied on them unusable. And of course some-
times a giant beam sword chops off your arms and legs. It
just happens.
Core
The Core is the cockpit of the Mecha, functioning as both
the brain and heart of the mechanical body. Many of the
more powerful Upgrades can only be allocated to the Core,
but no Weapons may be installed on it.
Head
Serving thematically as a secondary Core of sorts, the
Head is usually for utility systems, like sensors or jammers.
It is also a good location for cool but impractical weapons
like eye beams or mouth flamethrowers.

The Upgrades and Weapons of Mecha are very similar to Torso

the Skills and Traits of Pilots, but there is one key differ-
ence: Most Upgrades and Weapons must be allocated
to one of your unit’s External Areas (The Mecha’s Torso,
Arms, Head or Legs) and should that Area be Maimed
as a result of Damage, any Upgrades and Weapons
equipped there will stop to function for the remainder
of the Operation. If you restore enough lost Threshold to
bring you back to a previous Level, the corresponding Area
is restored to normal.
There is also a fifth Area, called the Core, which is a llittle
different because the Core is Internal and thus cannot
be Maimed. Internal Upgrades always go in the Core,
while External Upgrades can’t be placed there.
Lastly, some Upgrades and Weapons are labeled as
Separate. These don’t go into any Areas, and represent
a myriad of things that your Mecha does not carry them-
selves. Sometimes they’re sidekicks, sometimes they’re
autonomous Weapons, sometimes they’re backpacks that
represent a whole new External Area.
When allocating External Upgrades and Weapons, you are
free to place them wherever you wish. You should try to
distribute them somewhat evenly and not place everything
in one Area, or a lucky shot that takes it out can leave you
naked.
This Area often carries the bulk of the Mecha’s defensive
Upgrades, like forcefields and reactive evasive thrusters.
These tend to be rather large and make sense here rather
than anywhere else. Certain Weapons also fit this criteria,
having to be mounted into the chest or shoulders.
Arms
Like a soldier needs hands to use its equipment, Mecha
need Arms to use most of their stuff. Although Weapons
can be equipped anywhere, the Arms are the only place
where a lot of them actually make sense.
Legs
The Legs are unsung heroes of mobility without the pres-
tige that most other Areas get. Many veterans favor them to
carry spare caches of ammo or other emergency supplies,
while mounting an extra missile launcher inside their feet or
drill on their knees just in case.
Separate
Separate is a miscellaneous ‘catch-all’ Area for things that
don’t go anywhere else. You don’t get to choose whether to
install things here or not, Upgrades and Weapons either go
always on the Separate Area or they can’t be put there.

RESKINNING UPGRADES AND WEAPONS AND AREAS

Battle Century G is an effects-based game. This means it is easy to ‘reskin’ anything a Mecha can do. To ‘reskin’ some-
thing is to change its narrative aspects, but leave the rules aspects intact. You can turn a Rocket Punch into a giant boo-
merang, for example. Since they both more or less do the same thing and the rules make sense for both, this works out
fine. Reskinning does not change the rules of the game at all, so you should go ahead and do it as much as you want.

Upgrades and Weapons aren’t the only things you can reskin. Areas can be interpreted differently as well, which is
crucial in order to make sense of Mecha with forms that aren’t entirely humanoid. Mecha can have different Left Arm and
Right Arm Areas without Legs, or Wings instead of a Head or even have all Areas renamed to Bow, Starboard, Stern and
Port sides to represent a battleship. Play around with the descriptions of Areas until you get something that you like.

Because Pilot Attributes, Skills and Traits don’t influence directly Mecha performance, you’re free to make any kind of
Character without worrying that they will not be a good pilot. Does this mean you can theoretically play an Intellect 2
Character who operates a Systems 8 Mecha? Yes it does. If you think you can make the idea work, go for it. It is your
responsibility to make a Character who is believable. Battle Century G gives you the freedom to play any concept you can
imagine. Use that freedom responsibly.

64

Upgrades
Upgrades distinguish Mecha by representing specific
pieces of equipment, from flight capability to forcefields to
AI subpilots. All Upgrades will be marked as either In-
ternal, External or Separate. Normally you can only have
one instance of the same Upgrade at a time. If they are
(Specialist) Upgrades you can make a different choice with
each new purchase.
Reading Upgrades
The grand majority of Upgrades stick to the template below.
The ones that don’t will explain why they’re different in their
own entries.
Upgrade Name
Type of the Upgrade (And Cost)
Effect: Between the type and the flavor text goes what the
Upgrade does in rules terms. Some of these are passive
abilities that are ‘always on’, but many require you to spend
Energy or Actions to use them.
Finally you get at least one example of what the Upgrade
can represent in the fiction.
MECHA DONT HAVE A FIXED SIZE
There are no rules for Mecha size. In fact, there’s noth-
ing in the book that outright tells you the size an individual
Mecha should have aside from a few implications here and
there.
The assumption is that most Mecha will have a similar
enough size that the distinction does not matter. Many
shows don’t really keep the size of their Mecha consistent
and it works well enough for them.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
General Upgrades
Commander Type
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 1
Energy to use a single Support Upgrade you own without
having to spend an Action.
You’ve got a special neural interface for the manipulation
of traps on the battlefield and the management of Gears
directly under your command.
Defensive Technician
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: When you use a Technique, you may spend 2
Energy to increase your Defense by 5 against the target of
the attack until the beginning of your next Turn. If you used
Zweihander, you don’t grant the target extra Advantages to
attacking you until the beginning of your next Turn.
Techniques are unusual, difficult attacks that leave you
open to counterattacks. Your Gear is programmed with
defensive maneuvers to turn their eccentric maneuvering
into a form of defense as well as offense.
Early Warning and Control
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: When you use a Support Upgrade with a Cost of 5
you may spend 4 Energy to restore said Upgrade after use.
The EWAC system links your Gear to the rest of your team,
feeding you information on everything they can detect. An
onboard AI processes and relays this information to give
your squadmates battlefield support and improve their
performance.
Expert Support
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: You may always Attack Enemies in the middle of
a Duel without running the risk of hitting your Ally as long
as it is with a Weapon that hits single targets. When using
any area of effect Weapon or Support Upgrade, you may
choose any Zones within their area of influence to be safe
from the attack and from any secondary effects the Weap-
on may carry.
Your Gear is equipped with the cutting edge in targeting
systems, guaranteeing that you will almost never incur
friendly fire.
Master Technician
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: When you use a Technique, you may spend 2
Energy to restore it after use, treating it as if its one-time
Tension bonus hadn’t been spent. If you used Missile Mas-
sacre, you don’t suffer Disadvantages to future attacks
against the target.
Your Gear has combat subroutines installed in it to facili-
tate pulling off tricky combat maneuvers more than once.
This way you can repeat supermoves in a sequence of
cinematic explosions.
65
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Portal Generator
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend any
amount of Energy to create two portals connecting sepa-
rate Zones. One of the portals appears in your Zone while
the other appears within a a Range from your Zone up to
the Energy spent this way. Units that stand on top of either
Zone can treat the other Zone as if it was adjacent to theirs.
These portals last until the beginning of your next Turn.
This device uses the gravitational properties of G-Reactors
through a specially crafted Synchronizer. It opens a rift
in spacetime, creating a stable tunnel between separate
points—what is colloquially called a “Portal”.
Power Conversion
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may increase
your available Energy by an amount equal to the current
Tension until the beginning of your next Turn but you do not
gain the benefit of Tension to Offensive Actions this Round
either.
Through tampering with circuitry that many would never
dare touch, you know how to repurpose power from your
Gear’s offensive systems to other mechanisms.
Slippery Chassis
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: You don’t need to Disengage to move away from a
Duel, and don’t take Damage when you Move after being
Suppressed.
Your Gear’s frame type has superior mobility and is small
enough to make stealth possible as a giant robot. This
makes you ideal candidate for reconnaissance duty and
covert operations in general.
Stealth Field
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: When Maneuvering any Might Tests against you
suffer two Disadvantages unless the attack is made with
Weapons that have the Blast, Burst or Line abilities.
This Synchronizer modification allows the G-Reactor to
surround the Gear with an undetectable field, invisible to
everything outside of the naked senses. Mantaining this f
eld takes a lot of effort and energy from the user, but that is
the price of being invisible to all known technology.
Versatile Model
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: You gain an additional Advantage to Might Tests us-
ing Melee Weapons if your last Might Test was made with a
Shooting Weapon and viceversa.
Your Gear is built to take advantage of balanced loadouts,
mixing close quarters and ranged attacks. It switches
between weapons and attack routines much faster than
normal, catching enemies by surprise.
66
Artillery Frame
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: All your Blast, Burst and Line Weapons gain an Ad-
vantage to their Might Tests and you increase the radius of
your Blasts by 1 additional Zone. This includes your Blast
effects from Powers or Upgrades.
You pack bigger weapons than everyone else. Beams are
wider, missiles make bigger explosions, and you chew
through magazines like candy.
Assistant (Specialist)
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: You gain a Subpilot, who grants you any one Genre
Power from the available lists to your character and an-
other Genre Point to use during Operations.
You get a second pair of hands to help you out in the bat-
tleffeld in the form of a NPC subpilot. The know-how and
support from this subpilot will improve your Gear’s efficien-
cy beyond what you could manage on your own.
Duelist Model
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: When an Enemy uses the Disengage Action to get
away from you, you get a free Offensive Action using a
Melee Weapon against them. Your Melee Weapons gain an
Advantage to Might Tests.
Your Gear was engineered to corner foe and force them
to face you, punishing all that dare turn their backs on you
with extreme prejudice.
Extreme Body
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 1
Energy to have all Zones occupied by your body count as
Extreme Terrain for Enemies in them until the beginning of
your next Turn. Abilities that can usually ignore the effects
of Terrain will not help against this.
Close combat is a terrible idea against your Gear. This
could be due to an electrified armor system, offensive use
of a forcefield or because it’s a biomechanical monster that
spews acid everywhere but especially when wounded.
Integrated Weapons
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: You may use your Weapons even if the Area they
were allocated to has been Maimed.
Your Weapons are integrated to the Gear’s frame. Can-
nons are mounted to the shoulders, blades attached to
the hands and knees. You are now effectively immune to
disarming.

Maneuverable Transformer
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: Whenever you Transform you may choose to either
have all Enemies suffer a Disadvantage to all Might Tests
against you or to gain an Advantage to your Might Tests.
Either benefit lasts until the beginning of your next Turn.
Your transforming robot is built to maximize the advantages
of constant form changes. The shifts keep throwing en-
emies off; even when expecting them, your moves are too
fast for most pilots to keep up with.
Nanopaste Skeleton
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may ignore the
effects of Maiming until the beginning of your next Turn.
If you do, you can’t use this ability again during your next
Turn.
Your Gear has an in-built dispenser of nanomachine paste
used for repairing its internals. It has a slow recharge time
between uses while the dispenser produces more nano-
bots, but it’s as efficient as it gets otherwise.
Pulling Field
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may choose one
Enemy within 1 Zone and inflict on them a Disadvantage
to all Might Tests that do not target you until the beginning
of your next Turn. If you attack the chosen Enemy during
your Turn, you inflict two Disadvantages instead. This effect
persists even if the Enemy moves away from you.
You know how to use the G-Reactors gravitational bending
to subtly draw enemies away from your allies and towards
you instead.
Skirmisher Frame
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: You gain an Advantage to all Initiative Tests. If you
Move at least 5 Zones with your Action during one of your
Turns, all Enemies suffer a Disadvantage to all Might Tests
against you until the beginning of your next Turn.
Your Gear is built for evasive maneuvers while sustaining
acceleration, avoiding obstacles or projectiles on the move.
Sniper Model
Internal Upgrade (15)
Effect: Increase the Maximum Range of your Long Range
Shooting Weapons by twice your Systems instead of just
your Systems. All your Shooting Weapons gain an Advan-
tage to Might Tests against targets at Range 1 or higher.
Equipped with very expensive and sensitive targeting sys-
tems, your Gear could hit a target beyond the horizon with
enough force for strategic bombing of key targets.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Experimental Reactor
Internal Upgrade (20)
Effect: Your Beam Weapons have their base Energy cost
(but not the Boost cost) reduced to 0 and gain an Advan-
tage to all Might Tests.
A specially designed G-Reactor with greater energy output,
with more efficient weapon-feeding capacity and greater
destructive power of all energy weapons.
Guardian of Steel
Internal Upgrade (20)
Effect: When Maneuvering you may spend 5 Energy to
share the Defense bonus with any Allies within 1 Zone
(they lose the bonus outside of that Range). You do not
have to give up your benefits from Maneuvering to share
them this way.
Your Gear is enhanced and optimized to protect your team.
This can be in the form of large clouds of chaff, projecting
multiple holograms on the battlefield or extending a mas-
sive forcefield over nearby allies.
Internal Fortification
Internal Upgrade (20)
Effect: Whenever you lose a Level of Threshold, all dam-
age carrying over from the same instance of Damage to the
next Threshold Level is halved.
The internal systems of your Gear are segmented and for-
tified to protect against massive damage. It doesn’t matter
how much one of your areas gets hit, the damage to the
rest of the body will be minimized.
Invincible Alloy
Internal Upgrade (20)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 2 En-
ergy to ignore the effects of Maiming until the beginning of
your next Turn. The first time that you would be destroyed
during an Operation, you remain functional with a Thresh-
old of 1 instead. This works against any source of Damage
except Techniques.
Your giant robot dons an experimental new composite alloy
reinforced to withstand the rigors of battle better than most
others. Even your internals are reinforced, making your
equipment that much harder to disable.
Limit Engine
Internal Upgrade (20)
Effect: For each Level of Threshold you are missing you
treat Tension as if it was one point higher. This modifier to
Tension applies to everything you use Tension for, even
Extreme Terrain.
The Synchronizer can draw energy from the user in a
pinch, and a specially designed cockpit permits their pilots
to transform anger, courage and the will to live into en-
ergy. The downside of this ‘Spiral Drive’ is that the system
encourages pilots to fight while at the brink of defeat, but in
a desperate enough circumstance that can be considered
an upside.
67
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA

Superior Integration Transpatial Randomizer

Internal Upgrade (20) Internal Upgrade (20)
Effect: You may use your Weapons even if the Area they Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 1
were allocated to has been Maimed. The first time you use Energy to choose a Support Upgrade at random. You get to
each of your Weapons during an Operation, it gains an ad- use said Upgrade at no Action cost. Each subsequent use
ditional Advantage to its Might Test. of this Upgrade costs an additional point of Energy. This
Not only are all your weapons built into your unit’s frame does not spend said Upgrades and you may use Upgrades
but they also have dedicated capacitors that overcharge that you do not own this way.
them with extra power on first use. This handgun-shaped device might just be the most bizarre
use of G-Reactors yet. It uses the Synchronizer to trans-
Superior Morphing form the pilot’s latent psychic energy into unpredictable
Internal Upgrade (20) but largely beneficial results with each pull of the trigger.
Effect: You may switch between equipment Frames at the
beginning of your Turn instead of using an Action, and may Special: Use the table below to choose your Support
Transform for 1 Energy instead of 2. When you purchase Upgrades when using Transpatial Randomizer. Roll two
this Upgrade, make two sets of Features, External Up- ten-sided dice, calling in advance one of them as tens and
grades or Weapons with a total cost of 10 MP for each set. another as units.
Assign each set to a different Form, but all in the same
Areas. The Cost in MP of these sets is already paid by this Transpatial Randomizer Table
Upgrade.
Your robot’s internal framework has been modified to allow Roll Result Support Upgrade
for more versatile changes between equipment. Your jets
can turn into cannons and your wheels into shields. The 01-07 Assisted Targeting
faster transformations are a nice bonus. 08-14 Dividing Field
15-21 Overcharge
The Beast 22-28 Remote Hotfix
Internal Upgrade (20)
29-35 Support Fire
Effect: Your Default Weapons don’t suffer an innate Disad-
vantage to their use and gain an Advantage to Might Tests 36-42 Supply Delivery
for each Level of Threshold you are missing. After attacking 43-49 Surprise Minefield
with a Default Weapon, you might spend 2 Energy to make 50-56 Targeting Disruption
your attack immune to the effects of Active Defenses.
Your mecha is a Familiar, a Mechabeast that has been 57-61 Airstrike
tamed and bonded to you through shared symbiotic cells. 62-66 Blue Screen Virus
Your model in particular eschews most weaponry, prefer- 67-71 Cryogenic Blast
ring to fight using natural weapons instead, and is at their
72-76 Electromagnetic Detonator
fiercest when cornered.
77-81 Ensnaring Trap
Warp Step 82-86 Fire at Will
Internal Upgrade (20) 87-91 Gravity Manipulators
Effect: You may ignore Enemies and Terrain (even Im- 92-96 Jamming Barrage
passable Terrain) along the way whenever you Move with
your Actions. This lets you escape from Duels without hav- 97-00 Any Support Upgrade of your choice.
ing to Disengage.
Some Familiars are capable of instant transmission be-
tween locations in the blink of an eye. The best at Steel
Dragon Industries are still trying to figure out how to
reproduce and replicate this technology for use with more
traditional Gear types.

68

Active Defenses
Active Defenses give your unit a chance to evade or shrug
off attacks that would have otherwise hurt them at the cost
of Energy. Only one Active Defense may be used at a time
against any given Offensive Action.
Absorbing Armor (Specialist)
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: Choose one of Melee, Shooting, Beam or non-
Beam when you take this Upgrade. In response to the re-
sults of an Enemy Might Test against you using a Weapon
of the chosen type, you may spend 1 Energy to increase
your Defense by 3 against it, and if that is enough to block
all the Damage you would have taken from the Might Test it
costs no Energy instead.
Gears can be built out of a variety of composite alloys de-
signed to prevent against specific forms of attack or coated
with special particles that do the same. A neat side effect
of this technology is that they forgo the need to paint your
giant robot, making even dull gray metal look fabulous.
Custom Defense (Specialist)
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: Choose one of Melee, Shooting, Beam or non-
Beam when you take this Upgrade. In response to the re-
sults of an Enemy Might Test against you using a Weapon
of the chosen type, you may spend 1 Energy to increase
your Defense by 3 against it, or 2 Energy to increase your
Defense by 5 against it instead.
You can equip a variety of defensive mechanisms to pro-
tect yourself from enemy attacks at the cost of energy. Ex-
amples include portable shields for close quarters attacks,
nanomachine bubbles that slow down high velocity projec-
tiles and a variety of chaff dispensers or jamming devices.
Learning Computer
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you, you may spend 2 Energy to increase your De-
fense by the current Tension against it. This does not count
Tension bonuses to the Offensive Action.
This self-learning AI compensates for the wear and tear of
battle by looking for openings in the attack patterns of the
enemy and moving the Gear on its own.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Reactive Booster
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you, you may spend 1 Energy to increase your De-
fense by an amount equal to half your Speed against it.
Reactive Boosters read specific patterns and automatically
move the Gear in response to even the fastest of attacks.
Custom variants include CQC footwork and anti-missile
cartwheels, among others.
Reflecting Barrier
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you using a Shooting Weapon, you may spend 1
Energy to increase your Defense by 3 against it, or 2 En-
ergy to also reflect 3 points of Damage back to the attacker.
This Damage is dealt after the rest of the attack resolves.
This highly specialized defense system sends bullets, mis-
siles and even particle beams astray. A minuscule portion
of which are even sent back at their user.
Repulsion Field
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you using a Melee Weapon, you may spend 1 En-
ergy to increase your Defense by 3 against it, or 2 Energy
to also push the target 1 Zone away from you in a direc-
tion of your choice. This push happens after the rest of the
attack resolves. Repulsion Field cannot push Enemies into
Zones with other Units or into Impassable Terrain.
A forcefield that uses gravity manipulation technology to
slow down incoming projectiles and enemies in melee. At
maximum output it can even push close enemies back-
wards to keep them away from you.
Absolute Barrier
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend any
amount of Energy to create a shield that blocks Damage
until next Round. The amount of Damage it can block is
equal to 150% the amount of Energy spent, so 1 point of
Energy blocks 1 Damage but 2 points of Energy block 3
Damage. An active Absolute Barrier means you can’t use
other Active Defenses.
The most common all-round defensive application of the
G-Reactor’s gravity manipulation capabilities is the Abso-
lute Barrier. Most other forcefields are specialized variants
of it. The Absolute Barrier repels things through a constant
series of violent explosions. It blocks nearly everything you
can throw at it this way, while glowing like it is on fire.
69
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA

Attack Absorbers Organic Barrier

External Upgrade (10)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you, you may spend 2 Energy to increase your
Defense by 3 against it. You gain an Advantage to all Might
Tests against your attacker during your next Turn.
This system absorbs some of the kinetic energy behind
enemy attacks and channels that flow into feeding your
own weapons systems against them. It is a favorite among
martial artists turned Gear operators.
Electronic Cloaking System
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you, you may spend 2 Energy to increase your De-
fense by an amount equal to your Systems against it. The
Electronic Cloaking System does not work against Weap-
ons with the Blast, Burst or Line abilities.
An advanced array of rapidly oscillating lasers used to foil
most conventional sensing equipment, from infrared to
common optics. This does not make Gears useful for
stealth operations, as giant robots still leave giant footprints
and produce tremendous noise, but it is a great help for
emergency evasive maneuvers.
Dispersion Aura
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you using a Blast, Burst or Line Weapon, you may
spend 1 Energy to increase your Defense by 5 against it.
You may also use this Upgrade to protect an Ally within a
number of Zones equal to your Systems. This will not stack
with Active Defenses of said Allies.
First seen in Mechabeasts using it to protect swarms of
smaller vermin, the Dispersion Aura is a very large bubble
that deflects indirect attacks away from the user. It fails to
work when someone locks on to the user, however, making
it more useful as a secondary defense system.
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend any
amount of Energy to create a shield that blocks that much
Damage and lasts until the beginning of your next Turn. At
the beginning of your next Turn, you may convert all points
of Damage blocking that remain in the shield into additional
points of Energy, but you may not use Organic Barrier that
Turn. An active Organic Barrier means you can’t use other
Active Defenses.
A more utility-oriented version of the forcefields usually
seen on Mechabeasts. The Organic Barrier is designed to
charge itself up over time. Mechabeasts and Familiars can
use this to overclock themselves and push the limits of their
self-repair abilities.
Shielding Aura
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you, you may spend 1 Energy to increase your
Defense by 3 against it. You may also use this Upgrade to
protect an Ally within a number of Zones equal to your Sys-
tems. This will not stack with Active Defenses of said Allies.
One of the most common forcefields among Mechabeasts
and Familiars. It is an adaptable and easy to sustain form
of defense that can be extended to shield a friend in need.

USING SPECIALIST ACTIVE DEFENSES

The optimal way to use Absorbing Armor and Custom Defense and is to take them twice and choose two opposite types
of Weapons (Melee and Shooting or Beam and non-Beam) so that they protect you against all Weapons when put to-
gether.

We could simply have had one Upgrade that costs 10 and protects against everything, but there are two good reasons we
didn’t:

Flexibility: You can mix and match different Active Defenses or even make a build with only 5 MP in Active Defenses if
you’re really pressed for MP.

Flavor: It lets you make each Active Defense more narratively important by giving them a different purpose and installing
it on a different Area.

70
 CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA

Restoration
Restoration Upgrades enable your unit to support others in
the battlefield by performing quick repairs, handing off extra
ammunition or charging them up with bonus energy during
a battle. You may use Restoration Upgrades a number
of times equal to your Systems per Operation. This limi-
tation is for all Restoration Upgrades you own as a whole,
not for each of them individually.
G-Charger
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: As a Utility Action, you may increase your available
Energy by 5 until your next Turn.
You carry a multitude of batteries that can be activated to
boost your Gear with a surge of short-lived power.
Reload
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: As a Utility Action, you may restock a single One
Shot Weapon or Support Upgrade of yours that has been
spent.
You’ve got magazines attached to your arms, backup
drones in your backpack, and more extras of everything
you use that you could possibly need.
Resupply
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: As a Utility Action, you may restock any number of
One Shot Weapons or Support Upgrades that have been
spent, spending that many of your available Restorations
per Operation instead of just one. You may use Resupply
on yourself or an Ally within 5 Zones, but all Weapons and
Upgrades must belong to the same Unit.
You have a comically big backpack with all the supplies you
and your team could ever need to keep their weapons func-
tional. It does not slow you down much, but it does stick out
like a sore thumb so be careful to not letting it get caught in
the crossfire.
NICHE RESTORATIONS
The Restoration Upgrades with a 5 MP Cost are more
limited than the others. They’re primarily meant for the
Subpilots of Combiner Units, for whom Reload is a cheaper
Resupply and the G-Charger gives the lead bonus Energy
during their Actions.

Jury Rig
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: As a Utility Action, you may spend any amount of
Energy to restore that much Threshold to yourself or to any
one Ally within 5 Zones.
You carry a dispenser of fast-repair nanomachines and
enough metaphorical (or literal) duct tape to keep allies
from falling apart.

Regenerative
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend any
amount of Energy to restore that much Threshold to your-
self. This Upgrade uses two of your available Restorations
per Operation instead of just one.
The Familiar brand of mechs, those made from Mecha-
beasts, often have astounding regenerative properties to
fix their vital areas. These are greatly supplemented by
nanoskin alloy systems that also fix their armored shells.

71
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA

Mobility
Mobility Upgrades enhance your... well, your mobility. They
let you bypass difficult environmental conditions, move
around in ways you normally wouldn’t be able to, or just
bump up your speed considerably.
Maritime Module
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn, you may spend 1
Energy to gain the following benefits until the beginning of
your next Turn:
• You may ignore the effects of Difficult and Withering Ter-
rain.
• You may halve all Damage you would take from Extreme
Terrain.
This Upgrade only works in water Terrain.
Your Gear is designed to thrive in aquatic environments
where others can’t even move properly. It can even with-
stand deep sea pressure.
Zero-G Module
External Upgrade (5)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn, you may spend 1
Energy to gain the following benefits until the beginning of
your next Turn:
• You may ignore the effects of Difficult and Withering Ter-
rain.
• You may halve all Damage you would take from Extreme
Terrain.
This Upgrade only works in space Terrain.
Your unit is outfitted with multiple systems to improve its
performance in space. It comes with two sets of rotating
vernier thrusters to facilitate maneuvering in a vacuum and
its G-Reactor produces a shield to protect the Gear from
space radiation.
Overbooster
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn, you may spend 1 En-
ergy to Move up to 3 extra Zones with your next Action this
Round, or 2 Energy to Move up to 5 extra Zones instead.
Originally thought up as a way to help with space explora-
tion and colonization, the Overbooster has been repur-
posed to provide Gears with frankly excessive bursts of
speed in any environment.
Reversible Thrusters
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: Anytime you take an Offensive Action, you may
Move backwards during it. The target must remain within a
valid range after moving.
These let you move at full speed to get away from the en-
emy without having to turn your back on them.
NO FLIGHT IN WATER AND SPACE
The Maritime and Zero-G Modules grant benefits similar to
flight in Terrains where flying is usually impossible. Be-
ing similar, however, does not make it the same. Anti-Air
Missiles and Ensnaring Trap do not treat the user of the
aquatic and space-based Modules as if they were Flying.

Anti-Gravity
External Upgrade (10)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn, you may spend 2
Energy to Fly until the beginning of your next Turn. Flying
has the following effects:
• You may ignore the effects of Difficult, Defensive, Ex-
treme, Impassable and Withering Terrain (unless they’re
Anti-Air Terrain variants).
• You may shoot through a Zone occupied by an Enemy to
reach another behind it as if they weren’t there. Enemies
may also ignore any cover that you would provide for your
Allies or that your Allies and Impassable Terrain would
provide for you.
• You cannot benefit from Defensive Terrain (unless it is the
Anti-Air Terrain variant).
This Upgrade has no effect in water or in space Terrain.
This system grants the Gear freedom of movement in three
dimensions. It’s only complication is that it doesn’t allow the
unit to higher than a few hundred meters even in optimal
conditions. This means Gears cannot fly over mountains.

72

Support
Support Upgrades represent helping hands that are
separate from your own Mecha, yet they are under your
control. Supports can come in the form of remote oper-
ated weapons, sidekick Mecha buddies or more traditional
mechanized forces such as planes and battleships. Each
Support Upgrade may be used as an Utility Action
once per Operation, with an effective range in Zones
equal to your Systems. The use of a Support Upgrade is
considered an Utility Action even when used to damage or
otherwise harm Enemies. You can Resupply your Support
Upgrades, but that will cost precious Actions, so use them
with forethought.
Assisted Targeting
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: You or an Ally gain the benefits of the Aim Action to
their next Offensive Action this Round.
With assistance from your allies using advanced computer
targeting systems you and your allies can mark and track
targets more efficiently than if you were to do it manually.
Dividing Field
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: All Zones within Range turn into Plain Terrain, los-
ing all other Terrain types, until the beginning of your next
Turn. This includes Impassable Terrain. Afterwards those
Zones return to normal.
A system that bends space to create a circular battlefield
around the user. Land, air and water are simultaneously
frozen and compressed around this Dividing Field until it
recedes, leaving everything exactly as it used to be.
Overcharge
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: Increase the Energy available to yourself or an Ally
by 4 during their next Turn. Multiple Overcharges on the
same Unit do not stack.
The Overcharger looks like a lightning gun that would make
Tesla proud, but actually shoots a stream of nanobots car-
rying a multitude of Gravagnium crystals. These crystals
will essentially overclock a Gear temporarily, making it run
at 200% power for a very brief period of time.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Remote Hotfix
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: You or an Ally ignore the effects of Maiming until the
beginning of your next Turn.
Through redirecting power and manual overrides, any and
all sorts of malfunctions can be fixed. You can reoptimize
systems on the spot, overcoming unforeseen difficulties as
if you had been ready for them all along.
Support Fire
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: You can grant the Crippling ability to one of your
Weapons or that of an ally for their next Offensive Action.
Your sidekicks aren’t all that great at shooting down en-
emies on their own. But they are pretty good at providing
cover fire and flanking the foes you’re already targeting.
Supply Delivery
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: You or an Ally restock a single One Shot Weapon
that has been spent during this Operation.
You can request supplies in the middle of a battle. Planes
can drop crates full of ammo, VTOLs deliver replacement
guns for you to pick up, and sometimes cannons just plain
shoot spare parts in your general direction that you must
catch mid-flight yourself.
Surprise Minefield
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: A single Zone turns into Extreme Terrain until the
beginning of your next Turn.
Your enemies always fall for the same trick. They confi-
dently stride forward, advancing towards you thinking that
the battlefield is in their control already, until the ground
under them suddenly blows them up.
Targeting Disruption
Separate Upgrade (5)
Effect: Choose one Enemy to inflict them two Disadvantag-
es to all Might Tests that do not target you until the begin-
ning of your next Turn.
You hack into an enemy’s targeting systems and make it
harder for them to use their weapons systems. However,
your direct connection to them leaves you vulnerable.
73
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA

Airstrike Ensnaring Trap

Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: All Units within a target area the size of a Blast (3)
suffer an amount of Damage equal half your Systems.
A heavy bombardment run on a designated area with a
specially prepared payload. There is just so much firepower
spread out that forcefields are useless against it.
Blue Screen Virus
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: One Grunt loses their Action during their next Turn.
You spread the fear and terror of operating system fail-
ure among your enemies with a virus that forces them to
reboot, wasting precious time.
Cryogenic Blast
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: All Zones within a target area the size of a Blast (3)
turn into Difficult and Withering Terrain until the beginning
of your next Turn.
You deploy a cloud of freezing gas over the targets. It is
not going to completely disable giant robots, but it will slow
joints down and cause multiple internal malfunctions.
Electromagnetic Detonator
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: One Enemy has their available Energy halved and
will suffer 2 points of Damage per Energy point they spend
until the beginning of your next Turn.
Gears tend to be shielded enough from electromagnetic
pulses to not be disabled by those. However, they are not
entirely immune, a well-placed EMP can still provide a criti-
cal opening to defeat them with.
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: One Enemy has their Guard and Speed halved until
the beginning of your next Turn. If they are using Anti-Grav-
ity or another ability that grants them flight, it stops working
for that duration as well.
This entrapment system, thinly disguised as part of the
background, webs down foes with reinforced wires.
Fire at Will
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: One Enemy Tests Speed against a DN of 10 plus
your Systems and if they fail suffer the amount that they
missed the DN by as Damage.
You have allies behind the front lines ready to provide artil-
lery support. They are not a match versus Gears or Mecha-
beasts on their own, but their firepower can turn the tide of
a battle.
Gravity Manipulators
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: Slide any Unit a number of Zones up to half your
Systems. Should the target be sent in the direction of
another Unit, you may have them both crash and suffer an
amount of Damage equal to the distance moved this way,
then the movement from this Upgrade halts. This can be
used to break up Duels, even ones you are in.
You have deployed gravity manipulators along the battle-
field and can use them to launch allies and enemies alike s
in any direction you please.
Jamming Barrage
Separate Upgrade (10)
Effect: All Units within a target area the size of a Blast (3)
have their Might halved until the beginning of your next
Turn.
A series of missiles that explode into a short lived cloud of
particles that confuse the targeting systems of all enemies
in the vicinity, causing them to be unable to distinguish
friend from foe temporarily.

REPLACING YOUR MECHA AND CHANGING EQUIPMENT

Let’s say you want a new Mecha. Maybe your last one got destroyed, or you want to steal a specific enemy model, or
perhaps your giant robot is simply not that fun to play with any more. Whatever the reason, you want to change your build.
If you have been keeping track of CP and MP separately (which you should have been) then rebuilding from scratch up to
your current XP will be easy enough. Talk it out with your GM so that they may incorporate the change into the story in a
suitably dramatic way.

One way to do so would be to make the change with the use of the Mid-Scene Upgrade Genre Power, but instead of
purchasing another Upgrade you board a new Mecha entirely—it is at full Threshold and Energy, ready to kick ass. By the
same logic, you can use the Mid-Scene Upgrade to try out new things if your current Mecha isn’t quite working for you.
Instead of picking up a new ability during an Operation you can use it to trade out equipment before deploying. Exchange
one Upgrade or Weapon for another worth the same cost in MP or less. You get back your old stuf after the Operation
ends, of course.

This is an optional rule for special circumstances, not a hardcoded one. If you want to have multiple loadouts permanently
you should get Frames or Trump Card.

74
 CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA

Extra Areas
Extra Areas don’t benefit your unit directly but instead provide you with additional space for External Upgrades and Weap-
ons. The main draw of Extra Areas is that your Enemy cannot Maim them and thus everything they hold is safe.

Expansion Pack Secret Equipment

Separate Upgrade (20)
Effect: An Expansion Pack is a separate Area that can
hold up to 30 MP in External Upgrades or Weapons and it
cannot be Maimed by Enemy attacks. Whenever you would
be destroyed during an Operation, you can purge your Ex-
pansion Pack and remain functional with a Threshold of 1
instead. Doing so will render the Pack and its contents un-
usable for the rest of the Operation. Purging works against
any source of Damage except Techniques. You still must
purchase those Upgrades and Weapons with MP.
An additional layer of external armor or a giant backpack
with its own set of equipment. Whichever form it takes, this
Expansion Pack effectively provide an extra limb of sorts,
and should you ever be pushed to the limit, you can even
eject it in the way of an incoming attack to soften the blow.
Separate Upgrade (20)
Effect: When you purchase this Upgrade make a set of Ex-
ternal Upgrades or Weapons worth 30 MP in total. You can
use these Upgrades and Weapons only when Tension is of
5 or higher, but they cannot be Maimed by Enemy attacks.
The Cost in MP of the set is already paid by this Upgrade.
Your Gear has a very advanced AI that is something of a
black box, to the point that it seemingly has a will of its
own. A good portion of its equipment is hidden and locked
away from use until the AI determines the battle has gone
for long enough and needs to end now.

RESKINNING THE EXPANSION PACK

The Expansion Pack is one of the best ways to represent the common mecha trope of equipment that can be purged to
make the unit faster. The ‘shield’ of the Expansion Pack makes for better gameplay than sacrificing your Weapons and
Upgrades to move a little bit faster which can be done more easily via the Overbooster.

75
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Alternate Forms
Alternate Forms let you shuffle your Attributes around at
your convenience, making you a lot more versatile than
other Mecha. All Alternate Forms with the same owner
count as one Unit. You may only have one type of Alternate
Form.
Frame
Internal Upgrade (5)
Effect: Choose two of Might, Guard, Systems or Speed
when you take this Upgrade. You switch the value of the
chosen Attributes around when you Equip this Frame. You
may equip or unequip this Frame before deployment or as
an Action while Docked inside your Base.
You have modular equipment that you can switch around
between missions to sport a stronger or sleeker build when
it is necessary to do so.
Transformation
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: Choose two of Might, Guard, Systems or Speed
when you take this Upgrade. You switch the value of the
chosen Attributes around when you Transform. You may
switch back and forth from this Transformation at the begin-
ning of your Turn by spending 2 Energy or as an Action.
Your Gear is a transformer, going from flying robot to a
faster plane form or a sturdier tank form.
76
OPTIMIZING ALTERNATE FORMS
To get the most bang for your buck when using Alternate
Forms you want to grab Superior Morphing and give at
least one of your Alternate Forms a Feature. Features are a
couple of pages later, but they represent things like plane,
animal or maritime Mecha for a cost of 0 MP, and instead
have a downside like not being able to move on land. They
are a match made in heaven with Alternate Forms, just turn
them ‘on’ when you need them and off when they would get
in the way.
By default you can only have two forms, but you can obtain
more by spending extra MP. You basically just buy multiples
of the same Alternate Form and choose one of them to be
the Default one. When you switch Attributes around, you
are always using those of the Default Form as a baseline.
If you have Superior Morphing, then your extra Transforma-
tions also benefit from the 10 MP granted by that Upgrade,
but you will have to spend another 5 MP to grant bonus
Frames this extra MP. This is entirely a balance mechanism
so that Mecha with many Frames don’t end up receiving
‘free’ MP from Superior Morphing, since it would be spend-
ing 5 MP to earn 10 MP with each new Frame.
 CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA

Combination Unison Combination

This is the Upgrade line that enables multiple PC Mecha to
crash together in a way that defies normal science, mak-
ing a Mecha stronger than the sum of its parts. Combined
Units may even be capable of switching between multiple
forms, as many as the number of individual Mecha that
made it.
Combination Upgrades are meant for PCs. If a character
would like to have an NPC buddy, they should use Assis-
tants instead. When purchasing Combinations you need
to designate the friendly Units you want to combine with.
All Units must purchase the same type of Combination to
be compatible together (except for Universal Component,
which only requires one Unit to have it).
While Combined, all the Units are treated as one and the
same. Combiners usually deploy to battle precombined and
may not decombine into their individual component parts
until the Operation is over.
Super Combination
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: All components must choose one of them to be the
Lead Unit when they take this Upgrade. All Subpilots then
choose one of the four External Areas belonging to the
Lead. Combining has the following effects:
• The lead Unit gains all the Upgrades and Weapons of
the other components, assigning the External ones to their
chosen Area.
• The Attributes of the Combined Unit are the averaged
values of all the components together.
• When an External Area of the combined Unit is Maimed,
the Lead Unit loses Upgrades and Weapons held there
as normal but it does not lose a Subpilot or recalculate its
Attributes.
Some Gears are designed from the start to combine into
something greater than the sum of their parts, with each
component of the body having assigned its own pilot. Their
teamwork creates a giant robot an order of magnitude
more powerful than regular ones.
PLAYING A SUBPILOT
Internal Upgrade (10)
Effect: You and your Allies may now Combine. Combining
has the following effects:
• The new Unit has a number of forms equal to its number
of component Mecha, with each one having a different
component as the Lead Unit.
• Each of these forms has the External Upgrades, Weap-
ons, Might, Guard, Systems and Speed of the current
Lead.
• Its Internal Upgrades, Threshold and Energy are shared,
using the average values of all the components together.
• All Pilots of a Unison Combiner may freely share their
Genre Points with each other and do not need to spend Ac-
tions to participate in Synchro Attacks with each other.
These mechs are designed from the start to crash togeth-
er in an orgy of steel and speed lines. Once formed, this
combiner can transform into multiple forms as the situation
needs it, allowing every participant a chance at being the
one in control according to their skills.
Universal Component
Internal Upgrade (30)
Effect: You can now Combine with any of your Allies. Com-
bining has the following effects:
• You become a Subpilot for the lead Unit.
• The combined Unit gains all of your Upgrades and Weap-
ons, assigning the External ones to their corresponding
Areas.
• The Attributes of the Combined Unit are the averaged val-
ues of both components together, plus 1 to Might, Guard,
Systems and Speed.
Your mecha is a support unit designed to power up other
mechs by attaching to them as a backpack, extra head, or
even transforming into a giant multipurpose weapon for
them to wield.
Special: If you combine in the middle of an Operation,
anything you’ve spent is restored. This means Restoration
Upgrades, One Shot and Technique Weapons are treated
as if they had not been used at all.

PCs that become Subpilots can still take Actions during their Turns, but they can only be Utility Actions and the Subpilot
may not Move the Unit along with it. They will have to Boost if they want to make any Movement at all.

Actions from specific Upgrades like Restoration or Support Upgrades may be used this way, whether they belong to the
Unit in the lead or to a component. Pilots of Unison Combiners may give up the chance to take the lead during their own
Turn to instead act as Subpilots for the current form, without transformng the Mecha to their corresponding form.

Note that because you are now a single Unit, the Pilot in the lead does benefit from Genre Powers that you use as a Sub-
pilot to power yourself up. You may be the same Unit, but you are still different Pilots, so Powers with a limited number of
uses are counted separately for each Pilot.

77
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Invincible Super Combination
Internal Upgrade (Special)
Effect: All Units are restored to full after Combination. This
means Threshold, Energy, Restoration Upgrades, One
Shot and Technique Weapons are treated as if they had not
been used at all. The Attributes of the Combined Unit are
the averaged values of all the components together, plus 1
to Might, Guard, Systems and Speed per Subpilot.
Because the Super Combination was clearly not enough,
all of the component Mecha have been powered to form
the ultimate invincible superhuman warrior of love and
courage. Make sure to give the combiner a name that refer-
ences its number of pilots, such as Sunbot 3 or Voltace V.
Special: You must have Super Combination to have this
Upgrade, and all components must take it at the same
time. The Cost in MP of Invincible Super Combination de-
pends on your Power Level.
Invincible Combination Cost per Level
Power Level Mecha Points Cost
0 20
1 30
2 40
3 50
4 60
5 70
When you gain a new Power Level, you go into an MP
deficit and must spend your first 10 MP to pay that debt.
78
COMBINING MID-OPERATION
Combining in the middle of an Operation takes an Action
from only one of the participants but needs them all to be
within a Zone from at least one of the other components.
Should any of the combining Units have taken Damage or
spent Energy before Combination, the Combined Unit has
the average available Energy and remaining Threshold of
all the Units that just combined. For other abilities spent,
things work differently for Super Combination and Unison
Combination.
Unison Combination: Each form has its own other sep-
arate resources. A Subpilot that assists the lead Unit with
their Restoration Upgrades will use up their own rather than
those belonging to the lead Unit, if they would have any.
Super Combination: Anything spent by the components
other than the Lead is restored. This means Restoration
Upgrades, One Shot and Technique Weapons are treated
as if they had not been used at all. On the other hand,
resources lost or spent by the Lead Unit will carry over to
the combined form. The Combined Unit may have multiples
of the same Upgrade or Weapon, but they are redundant
backups and don’t provide twice the benefit. Restoration
Upgrades may still only be used a number of times equal to
their averaged Systems no matter how many extra copies
you’ve got, and will use up the Combiner’s shared Energy.

Features
Most Mecha are assumed to be bipedal humanoids that
work somewhat like giant suits of powered armor. Features
let you represent other things, such as giant spaceships
and animal Mecha. Features are unique abilities with both
an upside and a downside, like Anomalies, and just like
their Trait equivalents cost no MP.
Some Features can be combined with each other. Cer-
tain combinations make sense when combined, such as
Extreme Fortification and Terrain Specialist. Some Fea-
tures do not make sense to combine, Flyer and any type of
Terrain Specialist being the most glaring example. These
combinations are subject to the GM’s approval.
Some Features might be available to take as temporary
equipment through the Mid-Scene Upgrade Genre Power
for that one Operation. If the GM wants to run an Operation
that takes place on the skies, PCs may be allowed to bor-
row a flying platform that grants them Flyer at the cost of a
Genre Point.
Base Unit
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: Any allied Unit within Move Distance may choose to
Dock inside you as an Action. They may redeploy outside
with another Action, launching a single Zone away from
you. If you are ever Defeated, so is your Squad. Base Units
cannot Engage in or be Engaged into a duel.
Your unit is the carrier that your entire allied formation
revolves around. That makes you the primary target to any
and all enemies, so do try to be careful.
Extreme Fortification
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: You halve all Damage you would usually take
from any source that isn’t a Might Test, but your available
Energy is halved. This also works for abilties that are a
secondary effect of using a Weapon but separate from the
Might Test itself.
You are reinforced internally and externally, at the price of
having to use smaller and less powerful energy reactors.
Through this method, you can survive in the most inhospita
ble places known to mankind and weather some pretty
heavy attacks as a bonus. Just watch your energy re-
serves.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Flyer
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: You always move by Flying. Flight has the following
effects:
• You may ignore the effects of Difficult, Defensive, Ex-
treme, Impassable and Withering Terrain (unless they’re
Anti-Air Terrain variants).
• You may shoot through a Zone occupied by an Enemy to
reach another behind it as if they weren’t there. Enemies
may also ignore any cover that you would provide for your
Allies or that your Allies and Impassable Terrain would
provide for you.
• You cannot benefit from Defensive Terrain (unless it is the
Anti-Air Terrain variant).
You may not Move as part of your Actions while in water or
after being forced to land.
You are capable of atmospheric flight, but it is the only
way you can get around. This can be used to represent any
method of flight as long as it is the only way the machine is
capable of moving.
Oldtype
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: You cannot use Default or Alternative Genre Pow-
ers other than Live Another Day and Parting Shot. Whenev-
er you lose a Level of Threshold, all damage carrying over
from the same instance of Damage to the next Threshold
Level is halved.
You’re hardier and more stubborn than most, much like
your Gear, The downside is that you’re stuck in your ways,
remaining incapable of adapting to unexpected circum-
stances in battle.
Omnienvironmental
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: Ignore all negative Terrain conditions except
Extreme and Impassable Terrain, but only have half your
Energy Attribute to spend every Round.
Your mecha was made not to do battle but for scouting op-
erations and is adapted to all sorts of environments. It is
not shielded for extreme conditions, but the added maneu-
verability is very helpful there.
Power Suit
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: This Unit does not lose any abilities allocated to
its Areas from Maiming. Instead each Area lost to damage
halves one of your Attributes. Losing the Head halves your
Systems, the Torso halves your Guard, the Arms halve your
Might and the Legs your Speed.
Instead of a Gear of your own you ride a more powerful
Exosuit into battle. It is somehow tough enough to stand up
to the big kids of the playground, but the smaller size has a
disadvantage in that direct hits hurt that much more.
79
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Remora Frame
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: You may Dock within a willing Ally as if they were a
Base Unit. You cannot Dock into another Remora Frame.
Halve all your own Movement, Upgrade and Weapon
Ranges. Maximum Weapon Ranges are rounded up in-
stead of down.
A different take on how to build a component unit. This
small Gear instead uses others as carriers and shields.
Sibling Model
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: Synchro Attacks increase the result of your Might
Test by 5 for each participating Ally instead of gaining two
Advantages. You can only Synchro Attack with other Sib-
ling Models.
Your unit is part of a series, designed with combination
attacks in mind. The movements of individual models flow
smoothly into those of its sibling Gears... As long as every
single one of them is in sync. Otherwise it is just a mess.
Terrain Specialist
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: Choose one of water, space, or land when you take
this Feature. While you are in said environment you gain
the benefit of Defensive Terrain, ignore the effects of Diffi-
cult Terrain, and may shoot through a Zone occupied by an
Enemy to reach another behind it as if they weren’t there.
Other environments count as Difficult Terrain for you.
A lot of machines derived from the technology that is used
for Gears are not humanoid. You can find anything from
mecha-crabs for aquatic environments to spidermechs
specialized in ground combat.
Unstable Reactor
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: Increase your available Energy during your Turns
by 1. When you lose your fourth Level of Threshold you
cause a massive explosion dealing your Threshold At-
tribute, your available Energy, and the current Tension to
everything within 5 Zones. The blast includes your ejected
Core and this Damage cannot be prevented, not even Live
Another Day.
Your Gear runs on something that R&D should have known
better than to try. Your power output is unparalleled, but
you know any mistake you make could be your last.
80
FEATURES SHOULD NOT BE BUGS
Features are always subject to GM approval. Base Unit and
Terrain Specialist are some of the most controversial and
not appropriate for every game. If one of the PCs wants to
play “Protect the VIP” but the other three don’t, then Base
Unit should be disallowed. Likewise, Terrain Specialist
shouldn’t be allowed if the GM plans to have every single
Operation take place in the same type of Terrain.
But the most dangerous of all Features is Unstable Re-
actor. A PC with Unstable Reactor is a serious threat to
everyone around them, enemy and ally alike. It is entirely
possible that a Genre Master will back down from harming
PCs that have it it because they don’t want to kill one or
more PCs accidentally. While this makes sense in charac-
ter because nobody wants to set them off and accidentally
get caught in the blast, it also means that a PC just got a
free boost to Energy. This breaks the balance between PCs
and potentially ruins combat as a whole.
As a Player Character, only take Unstable Reactor if you’re
okay with your PC taking so much Damage it might kill
them. Also you might get flak from other PCs and NPCs
because you’re a threat to everything around you.
As a Genre Master, only allow someone to take Unstable
Reactor if you’re okay with making them blow up and po-
tentially kil them. The Enemies of the PCs should learn of
this weakness and exploit it. You don’t have to do this every
Operation, but you should try to make them go kaboom
every few fights.
 CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA

Design Flaws
Design Flaws are similar to Features, giving your Mecha a critical weakness but granting bonus MP to spend on it instead
of having a predefined positive half to them. Design Flaws must be taken during the Mecha construction process, they
cannot be taken later. The Mecha Points granted by Design Flaws are added to your initial Mecha Points pool of
100 and it does not count towards Power Levels. You cannot participate in Combinations if you have a Design Flaw.
Grunt and Boss NPCs may not have Design Flaws. You may pay the cost of your Design Flaws in MP at any point
to remove them from your Mecha.

There are two reasons to take Design Flaws: You take them because their flavor lets you represent your Mecha concept
better or you take them for the extra MP and try to minimize their negative effects as much as possible. The first approach
is fine, but the second merits some discussion. There are certain Mecha builds that can essentially turn Design Flaws into
‘free’ MP. This makes it possible for some PC Mecha to be much stronger than those of their companions and to over-
shadow them, which is not a good thing. GMs must decide on their own whether they want to allow Design Flaws to be
used this way in their game or not. If the whole group agrees to optimize their Mecha as much as possible and wants to
push the system to its limits, it’s perfectly fine. If only one person wants them though, they should probably be banned.

Unarmed
Design Flaw (+10 MP)
Effect: You have no Default Weapons, suffer a Disadvan-
tage to all Might Tests and may not participate in Synchro
Attacks.
This is one of those rare mecha incapable of direct combat.
It may be capable of indirect combat, however.
Miniature Model
Design Flaw (+20 MP)
Effect: Halve all of your Movement, Upgrade and Weapon
Ranges. Maximum Weapon Ranges are rounded up in-
stead of down.
Small Gears emphasize evasive maneuvers, precise at-
tacks and energy efficiency to make up for their lesser
mobility and reach. On the plus side, they also make you
the cool underdog fighting giants with a tiny machine.
Precious Snowflake
Design Flaw (+30 MP)
Effect: You may never ignore the effects of Maiming, can’t
use Extra Areas and can’t gain Upgrades or Weapons
through Genre Powers.
A super prototype full of one-of-a-kind expensive technolo-
gies to improve its peak performance at the cost of making
the internal systems a mess to work with. When everything
goes well, this Gear is a thing of beauty. When things start
to go wrong, they usually snowball out of control.
Berserker
Design Flaw (+10 MP)
Effect: As long as there are Enemies remaining on the bat-
tlefield, you must take an Offensive Action against the En-
emy closest to you during your Turn and attempt to Engage
them in a Duel when possible. If there are multiple Enemies
at the same distance, you may choose which one to pur-
sue. If you can’t reach any Enemies to attack this Turn, you
must Aim while approaching the one who is closest.
You pilot a giant monster that has been restrained and your
control interface can barely keep in check. The fury of the
beast within will only cease when all threats to it have been
destroyed.
Limited Battery Time
Design Flaw (+20 MP)
Effect: You gain no benefits from Tension. At the begin-
ning of your Turn, if Tension is 5 or higher, you take enough
Damage to lose your current Level of Threshold.
This is a prototype so experimental that it cannot run for
more than a few minutes at a time. If forced to participate
in combat for a long while, its limbs will power down one by
one until it can’t move anymore.
Walking Coffin
Design Flaw (+30 MP)
Effect: Double all the Damage that you take (after applying
Active Defenses).
Your Gear is a fragile little thing. The designers have made
it a testbed of every feature they could think of, but appar-
ently forgot to armor it with more than aluminum foil and to
fill the tank with something other than explodium.

81
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Weapons
All giant robots need appropriately-sized implements of
death and destruction, from giant cannons to giant swords
to energy versions of those two. You start with the two
Default Weapons for free. All Weapons purchased with
MP must be allocated to any of the four External Areas.
You may not own multiples of the same Weapon.
What Weapons do is spice up your Might Tests with special
abilities, like granting Advantages or increasing the Range
in Zones you can reach.
Every Weapon is unique, but they all share certain quali-
ties known as Keywords. All Weapons are at the very least
Melee or Shooting, because they’re either meant for use
at close or long range. Then there’s the other Keyword
abilities that show up often, like Beam, Blast or Tech-
nique, which Weapons may or may not have. Those extra
are described ater this paragraph. Many Weapons have
additional abilities unique to themselves wthout special
names. These will be described in the Effect section of the
Weapon.
Reading Weapons
Because all Weapons cost 5 you only really need to pay
attention to their Type and Effect lines. Many Weapons are
a bit like Skills in that they get an Advantage when used
during certain conditions. Most of them have additional,
more specific benefits, along with some kind of drawback
to compensate for it. You can use one Weapon per Of
ensive Action.
Weapon Name
The Weapon’s Type (And Cost).
Effect: What the Weapon does when you use it. Named
abilities go before the rest of the rules text, but the grand
majority of Weapons have more rules beyond those.
A typical description of the Weapon in narrative terms. Most
examples are generic enough to fit in any setting with giant
robots, but some of them stick to the game’s core setting.
82
Weapon Keywords
Melee
Close quarter weapons in giant robot form. their name is
something of a misnomer, because plenty of them can be
used to strike foes at a distance, like the Rocket Punch.
Melee Weapons gain an Advantage when used to En-
gage in a Duel or against a target that is in one. They
have a minimum Range of 0 and a Maximum Range of
1.
Shooting
Encompassing all sorts of firearms as well as missile
launchers and artillery devices, Shooting Weapons are the
best at striking from a distance after taking a moment to ad-
just your sights. These Weapons have a Minimum Range
of 0 and a Maximum Range of 5. When using the Aim
Action with a Shooting Weapon, it gains an additional
Advantage to the Might Test.
Beam (Boost X)
The energy-based equivalent of either of the above, Beam
Weapons can be laser cannons or blades made of heated
particles. All Beam Weapons cost 1 point of Energy
to use and can be Boosted by spending an optional
Energy cost between parentheses. When you Boost a
Beam Weapon it gains an Advantage to its Might Test.
Sometimes, Boosting them also grants another special abil-
ity. You can Boost a Beam Weapon once per Action.
Blast (X)
Some Weapons make really big explosions. Blast Weap-
ons target an individual Zone or an Enemy, then make
a single Might Test against all units within X Zones
from the target. Blasts do not differentiate between friend
or foe, but will not cause you to attack yourself should you
be within their blast radius. You still have to deal with any
potential secondary effects.
Burst
Burst Weapons have a long and wide reach around the
user. They target an individual Zone or an Enemy, mak-
ing a single Might Test against all units within Range
in a circle around you as far as they can reach. You can
attack targets within your same Zone with them, but will not
attack yourself. Unlike Blasts or Lines, Bursts don’t attack
Allies positioned within the area of effect.
Crippling
These Weapons add insult to injury restraining the enemy
on hit or by damaging their internal systems. Crippling
Weapons always have the benefits of the Suppress Ac-
tion but without the penalty to Damage. Instead, if the
Enemy chooses to Move, they will suffer Damage equal
to the distance Moved.

Line
These are short range crowd control tools, like shotguns or
flamethrowers. Line Weapons target an individual Zone
or an Enemy, making a single Might Test against all
units in a line extending from you towards the target
until the end of Weapon’s Range. Lines do not differen-
tiate between friend or foe and attack enemies within the
same Zone as you, but will not attack you.
Long Range
Long Range Weapons strike much farther than others.
Increase the Weapon’s Maximum Range by an amount
equal to your Systems beyond the norm for other
Melee or Shooting Weapons. When you take the Aim
Action with one of these Weapons, their Maximum Range
increases by an additional 5 Zones.
Technique
Techniques are special attacks that are stronger, but are
difficult to pull off and push the machine to its limits. Mecha
simply cannot handle using them often and most Enemies
will see them coming after the first time they fell for it. The
first time you use a Technique during an Operation,
it gains double the benefit from Tension to its Might
Test, and increase the maximum bonus to 20. All your
Techniques used beyond the first will treat Tension as
0 until the Operation is over.
One Shot
Many Weapons have limited uses. Maybe they chew
through ammo too fast or perhaps they break on use. One
Shot Weapons may be only fired once per Operation.
Some abilities can recharge One Shots after they’ve been
spent, but they can’t be “pre-recharged” before being used.
Slow
This Weapon cannot be fired continuously, maybe it is a
thrown weapon that takes a while to return or it just reloads
very slowly. A Slow Weapon can only be fired once eve-
ry two Rounds.That means it cannot be used two Turns in
a row, but may alternate firing between every other Turn.
Overheating
The gun is unstable. It will not explode, but its harmful ra-
diation will interfere with your fragile systems. If you keep
a die roll that results in an odd number when using this
Weapon, you take an amount of Damage yourself equal
to the Tension bonus after using it.
Unreliable
This Weapon is inaccurate, prone to misfiring, or jams
more often than you’d like. If you keep a die roll that
results in an odd number when using this Weapon, you
lose the benefit of Tension to the Might Test.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Remote
Remote Weapons are attack drones, capable of moving
and attacking on their own via remote control. At the begin-
ning of your Turn you may deploy them in your own Zone,
and may retrieve them the same way.
Remote Weapons have their own Guard and Speed
Attributes, share your Might and Systems and their
Threshold and Energy is 0. They run off your own avail-
able Energy and are destroyed after taking a single point of
Damage.
Remote Weapons require your direct control and you must
spend your own Actions to attack and move with them.
Once destroyed, Remote Weapons can be repaired by any
effect that can reload or resupply a One Shot Weapon.
Remote Weapons cannot be Maimed. They are not Inter-
nal like Default Weapons or External like the other Weap-
ons that you buy with MP. They go in the Other section of
your Mecha Sheet, like Separate Upgrades.
If you’re a Subpilot, you can’t Move your Remote Weapons
or those of other Units. The lead can, however, use Remote
Weapons available to them as normal. Using Remotes
requires you to expose yourself from being inside a Base
Unit, just like taking any other Action to interact with the
outside. It doesn’t matter if you are attacking via proxies or
not, if you want to affect the battlefield, you need to go out
there and put yourself at risk.
Default Weapons
CQC
Melee Weapon (0)
Effect: This Weapon suffers an innate Disadvantage to its
use, but cannot be disabled through Maiming.
Gears often carry small weapons like daggers as a last-
ditch measure. Others mount small blades and drills into
the frame to give your unit something to use when all other
options are out. Even those that cannot punch or kick can
still ram themselves into the enemy as a last resort.
Vulcans
Shooting Weapon (0)
Effect: This Weapon suffers an innate Disadvantage to its
use, but cannot be disabled through Maiming.
Most giant robots these days come with anti-personnel
guns integrated into the frame, usually going on the arms at
20mm caliber or the head at 10mm caliber. Even those who
don’t can improvise by picking up vehicles or even build-
ings to toss. The collateral damage won’t make you any
friends, though.
83
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Equippable Melee Weapons
Arm Guardian
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Passing the Might Test with this Weapon increases
your Defense by 3 against any Might Tests from the Enemy
you just attacked until the beginning of your next Turn.
A giant shoulder guard with pointy ends might not sound
like much. It is pretty useful for pointmen trying to draw the
heat away from the rest of their team, though.
Assassin Blade
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: This Weapon will not attack your Allies in a Duel
and gains an Advantage against Enemies that are in a Duel
with someone else.
This set of two small blades is awful for a straight up one
on one match but perfect against exposed backs.
Boosted Lance
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Passing the Might Test with this Weapon while
charging in a straight line deals that Enemy an additional
amount of Damage equal to half the amount of Zones you
Moved during the same Offensive Action. You may keep
going in the same direction if you have any remaining
Zones of movement left and it adds to the Damage dealt.
If you end the charge in the same Zone as the Enemy
you may Engage them. Boosted Lance cannot be used to
escape from a Duel.
This rocket-powered lance with a detachable, explosive tip
is a favorite of high-speed shock troops. Ideal for hit and
run tactics and an enabler of pretend-jousting.
Countersword
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Technique. Choosing to use this Weapon skips your
next Action this Turn. The next time an Enemy within your
Movement range would take an Offensive Action against
you before your next Turn, you can Move up to and attack
them. Countersword has an additional Advantage to its
Might Test and interrupts the Enemy’s own attack, making
it possible to destroy or disable them before they hit you. If
no Enemies trigger the counterattack, Countersword is not
spent.
A weapon made for quick-draw techniques. The blade and
its sheath are designed for a faster drawing speed that con-
serves momentum and slays within a single stroke.These
blades are terribly inaccurate otherwise and break often
when used to parry, so don’t do that.
84
Chainblade
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Unreliable. Passing the Might Test with this Weapon
deals that Enemy an additional amount of Damage equal to
the current Tension.
Giant chainsaws are clumsy and jam in the middle of the
action way too often. The rest of the time they are terrifying
and devastating. A favorite of operators who think them-
selves lucky or simply have no idea what they’re doing.
Dueling Blade
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: If at the beginning of your Turn you are in a Duel
with an Enemy, Dueling Blade gains an Advantage against
that Enemy for this Turn.
While not as generally useful as other melee equipment,
fencing weapons remain a formidable threat in the hands of
those that know how to keep their enemies pinned.
Finger Net
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range, Blast (1), One Shot. All Units within
the Weapon’s area of effect have their Guard and Speed
halved until the end of your next Turn.
A giant net made to restrain and capture Mechabeasts for
research. By installing them in a Gear’s fingertips they can
be shot as a surprise in the middle of close quarters com-
bat, making sure they will snare their prey.
Great Crusher
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Blast (1), Crippling, Long Range, One Shot.
A giant hammer filled with explosives that self destructs on
impact. There are certainly smarter weapons out there, but
there aren’t many with its sheer brutality.
Hook Launcher
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range, Crippling, One Shot. When you pass
the Might Test with this Weapon you may have the target
dragged all the way to your own Zone and force them into a
Duel with you.
A nasty piece of work used to single out key targets and
disrupt enemy formations. Its range is not the best and
reloading it is a pain, but when it works it just ruins a whole
enemy squadron’s battle plan.
Jackhammer Stake
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: You may choose to spend this Weapon when us-
ing it, as though it were a One Shot would be. If you do, it
gains two Advantages to its Might Test. Effects that restore
the function of One Shot Weapons can be used to grant
additional uses of this ability.
Bayonets haven’t lost their use in this day and age. They’re
even better when you use them to repeatedly pummel a
foe with firepower as they’re stuck to it.

Kamaitachi
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Line, Long Range.
A sword that releases shockwaves ahead with every swing.
Complaints that research on these was a waste of funding
when we already have guns were dismissed. Those poor
souls lacked the necessary warrior’s spirit to understand.
Magnet Rod
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: This Weapon gains an additional Advantage to its
Might Test when used against Enemies with an Energy At-
tribute higher than yours.
This oversized bat is attuned to home in on G-Reactors.
Assuming there is enough of a difference between the
strength of the G-Reactors between duelists, this weapon
has perfect accuracy.
Pressure Point Attack
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Crippling, One Shot. Passing the Might Test with
this Weapon will destroy that Enemy’s current Level of
Threshold. This happens after the Weapon deals its regular
Damage. The additional Damage is fixed and cannot be
reduced or prevented in any way.
Martial artists know how and where to hit in order to kill any
human with a single blow. It is much harder to do for giant
robots and even tougher on giant monsters, though, so
they have to settle with maiming them instead.
Rocket Punch
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range. Slow. This Weapon benefits from an
additional Advantage to its Might Test and its maximum
Range is your Systems plus three instead of your Systems
plus one.
The Rocket Punch is a staple for those that like keeping to
their fists even at range, even if it is understandably harder
to aim than shooting a proper gun.
Rocket Sword
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: One Shot. Charge in a straight line when using this
Weapon. Rocket Sword deals an amount of Damage equal
to the current Tension to all Enemies that come into Range
during the charge. This happens even if the attack other-
wise misses and includes the target. If you end the charge
in the same Zone as the Enemy you may Engage them.
From the R&D team that brought you the Boosted Lance,
we present the Rocket Sword. This blade cleaves its way
through multiple enemies on the way to its destination and
takes you along for the ride.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Shocking Swordwhip
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Crippling, Long Range, Unreliable. This Weapon in-
flicts an additional Disadvantage on passing the Might Test.
A flexible, upscaled version of the technology employed in
the Stun Rod. The most obvious advantage of these is their
extended reach, but the flexibility of the weapon can be
used to ensnare and hold Mechabeasts.
Stumbling Fists Style
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Slow, Unreliable. Increase the result of your Might
Tests when using this Weapon by an amount equal to how
much the target’s Might Attribute is greater than yours.
You confuse your enemy with awkward swaying and stag-
gering to lure them into a false sense of security, then use
their own strength against them. Watching a giant tentacle
monster smack itself is always fun.
Stun Rod
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: This Weapon inflicts an additional Disadvantage
when using the Suppress Action.
Employed by Mechabeast capture teams to subdue them
rather than to kill them. Multiple units equipped with Stun
Rods can render the fearsome giant monsters largely inef-
fectual.
Whirlwind Attack
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Burst, Slow, Unreliable. This Weapon benefits from
an additional Advantage to its Might Test.
A favorite of close combat specialists for crowd control.
Spinning in place can look rather silly when it fails to ac-
complish much, but it quickly makes up for it with it effec-
tive lethality in the hands of an experienced ace.
Zweihander
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Technique. Enemies attacked with this Weapon
gain two Advantages to Might Tests against you until the
beginning of your next Turn.
Sheer size is the name of the game with some weapons.
From giant tomahawks to enormous spears, there is a lot
of variety out there for Gear pilots who want to just destroy
whatever is on their way without having to resort to energy-
based equipment. The downside is that they are unwieldy
and often leave you open to counterattacks.
85
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Equippable Shooting Weapons
Anti-Air Missiles
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: This Weapon gains two Advantages when used
against targets with Flyer or using Anti-Gravity.
Air dominance is still very much a factor even in this new
era of Gears. Most defensive lines have emplacements
with these, ready to shoot down planes, anti-gravity Gears
and swarms of flying Mechabeasts.
Anti-Mecha Cannon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Crippling, Long Range, One Shot.
A giant single-shot pistol with an armor-piercing round that
explodes within the target. Needs a dedicated reloading
assistant for maximum efficiency.
Assault Rifle
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range. You choose Areas Maimed and will
not attack your Allies in a Duel when using this Weapon.
The standard issue in today’s day and age, useful in all
situations thanks to its solid accuracy and reliable range.
Bombardment
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Blast (1), One Shot. This Weapon deals an ad-
ditional amount of Damage equal to the current Tension to
everything inside its area of effect. This happens even if the
attack otherwise misses.
For those times when you have to pull out all the stops, just
point your massive armaments at the center of the enemy
forces and watch everything go up in flames.
Hyper Launcher
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Blast (3), Unreliable.
A simple launcher for rocket propelled explosives. Difficult
to aim yet brutally effective enough to compensate.
Electro-Sapper Pods
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: One Shot. Passing the Might Test with this Weapon
will deal that Enemy an additional amount of Damage
equal to your Systems.
You launch miniaturized combat drones that will attach to
a target and proceed to interfere with their internal sys-
tems. These drones don’t last very long, but in their short
lifespan they will cause lasting damage.
86
Lockdown Missile
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Blast (1), One Shot. This Weapon turns the outside
border of its area of effect into Impassable Terrain until the
beginning of your next Turn.
A series of split missiles that spread many gravity manipu-
lators around a target area to trap those within in a massive
short-lived but extremely powerful forcefield.
Macrowave Cannon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Line, Long Range, Technique. This Weapon re-
quires one Action be spent Aiming with it and its successful
use will automatically make you lose your next Action after-
wards. Macrowave Cannon has an additional Advantage to
its Might Test and its Line effect is 3 Zones wide, with the
target in the middle line.
The Macrowave Cannon absorbs ambient electromagnetic
energy and releases it while scattering a multitude of pel-
lets. The last thing that the poor souls in the way of the
blast will hear is a loud ‘DING’. It gets less funny when us-
ers notice the recoil will shock even the sturdiest of Gears
and daze the most resilient of pilots.
Missile Massacre
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Technique. After attacking an Enemy with this
Weapon, you suffer a Disadvantage to all further Might
Tests against that Enemy for the rest of the Operation.
A figurative circus display of missiles shot in a pattern that
makes trying to evade them nearly futile. This advanced
maneuver impacts from multiple angles at once to increase
the chances of a direct hit. But most pilots will learn your
patterns from this move, and will have a much easier time
avoiding you afterwards.
Mounted Blaster
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: This Weapon benefits from an additional an Advan-
tage to its Might Test but you may not Move as part of your
Actions when using it. If you’re unable to Move for what-
ever reason, you cannot use it.
These shoulder-mounted guns are too powerful to use
without bracing. They make up for it with accuracy and
armor-piercing power, but the rounds are too large for long-
distance bombardment.
Rail Bazooka
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range, Blast (2), Slow.
Designed to make big explosions at a distance, it is not ex-
actly a sniper’s dream weapon but it is very fun to use. The
auto-loading mechanism is a piece of work though, and it
takes its sweet time getting ready.

Radiation Bomb
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Blast (1), One Shot. This Weapon turns all Zones
affected into Extreme Terrain until the beginning of your
next Turn.
One of the worst payloads you could let anyone take with
themselves to the battlefield. Radiation Bombs are one
step below nuclear weaponry and are only allowed in ex-
treme circumstances.
Rapidfire Machinecannon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: This Weapon inflicts an additional Disadvantage
when using the Suppress Action.
This gun walks the thin line between expensive gimmick
and absolute genius. It has only one thing going for it: A
ridiculous rate of fire and the magazine size to sustain it.
Resonance Cannon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Slow, Unreliable. Passing the Might Test with this
Weapon will destroy that Enemy’s current Level of Thresh-
old. This happens after the Weapon deals its regular
Damage. The additional Damage is fixed and cannot be
reduced or prevented in any way.
This cannon fires sonic bursts that shatter enemies at the
structural level. It is unwieldy and uses up all of its ammuni-
tion with each shot, but a mere graze can be as damaging
as a direct hit.
Riot Weapon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Line.
Sometimes you just want to blow holes in everything
nearby. Claymore launchers or an upsized shotgun will do
that job just fine. Just point it away from your friends.
Sentry Turret
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range, Remote. This Remote has a Guard of
5 and a Speed of 0 plus two innate Advantages to its Might
Test.
The Sentry Turret is a tripodal device, more like a portable
artillery platform than an attack drone. As a stationary at-
tack drone, it has better accuracy than most. Unfortunately,
it is useless without a controller pointing it in the right direc-
tion at all times.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Sniper Rifle
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range. This Weapon cannot be fired without
first taking the Aim Action with it, but gains a third Advan-
tage from doing so.
The weapon of choice for the mecha-scale sharpshooter.
The only issue is that it performs terribly when unscoped,
which is to say, it does not perform at all.
Superheavy Machinegun
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Line, Long Range, Unreliable. This Weapon can be
used to Suppress despite having the Line ability and inflicts
an additional Disadvantage when doing so. You can’t Move
when using this Weapon. If you’re unable to Move for what-
ever reason, you cannot use it either.
An oversized firearm that lends itself to accusations about
trying to overcompensate for something. The recoil is ter-
rible, forcing the Gear to brace itself and remain immobile.
Even then most of the shots go in the wrong direction any-
way, but after all is said and done there is no better gun for
providing suppressive fire.
Torpedoes
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Long Range. This Weapon has two innate Advan-
tages to its Might Test, but may only be used while in water
and against targets that are also in water.
Torpedoes have better range and are cheaper to produce
than beam weaponry. Coupled with Anti-Air Missiles, they
will be the preferred weapon for battle at sea.
Tracer Rifle
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: When you pass the Might Test with this Weapon, Al-
lies who also attack the same Enemy gain an Advantage to
their own Might Tests until the beginning of your next Turn.
The next step in tracer ammunition technology is to outright
build individual computers into their bullets. Enemies hit by
one of these will feed invaluable aiming data to your allies.
87
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA
Equippable Beam Weapons
Beam Saber
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 1).
A favorite for its low energy consumption, solid armor-pierc-
ing power, compact size and overall practicality. Mass pro-
duced and made standard issue for both factions.
Beam Ripper
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 2). When you Boost this Weapon it
gains the Crippling and Slow abilities.
Giant beam weapons taking the shape of axes, scythes or
other similar blades. They are unwieldy devices used for
chopping the key body parts of giant regenerating mon-
sters to assist in subduing and capturing them alive.
Burnout Edge
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 2). When you Boost and pass the
Might Test with this Weapon, you halve the target’s avail-
able Energy.
A weaponized projector of short-lived waves that disrupt
the flow of Gravagnium. Just point the weapon in this
‘Burnout’ mode at things and watch their systems fail.
Magneburst
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 2). When you Boost this Weapon it
gains the Burst ability and increases your Defense by 2
until the beginning of your next Turn.
An offensive use of forcefield technology, releasing gravi-
tational waves around the user. This weapon is harmful to
the environment and is thus usually shunned.
Extending Blade
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 3). When you Boost this Weapon its
Maximum Range becomes 10.
This weapon’s length is theoretically infinite. The only rea-
son it doesn’t go farther than it currently does is because
they just haven’t figured out how to keep the excessive
output from breaking the device itself.
Fangs
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 3), Remote. This Remote has a
Guard of 10 and a Speed of 5.
Fangs are drones with miniaturized beam sabers made for
swarming targets. They have miniaturized Overboosters
for chasing targets and are maneuverable enough to take
advantage of their small size, making them a pain to hit.
88
Beam Rifle
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 1).
Cheap to produce and easy to use, it makes a great all-pur-
pose weapon if you can get around its craving for energy.
Graviton Gun
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 2), Line. When you Boost and pass
the Might Test with this Weapon, you may slide the target
1 Zone in a direction of your choice along the Weapon’s
area of effect. Should it be sent in the direction of another
Enemy whose Defense you’ve also beat, they both crash
and suffer 1 point of Damage.
A gun that can lift enemies off the ground. It does not have
that much controlling power, but it is still very useful to as-
sist with a clutch shot.
Point Singularity Projector
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 2). When you Boost and use the As-
sist Action with this Weapon you may choose to either gain
an Advantage to your Might Test or to grant an Advantage
to two allies instead of one. You gain the chosen Boost plus
the Long Range and Slow abilities.
A variant of the Graviton Gun, this Point Singularity Projec-
tor creates pockets of increased gravity, holding targets in
place momentarily or slowing them down.
Powered Rifle
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 2), Long Range. When you Boost this
Weapon its Maximum Range increases by 5. Powered Rifle
can target only Enemies that are at Range 5 or higher.
A weapon for providing support fire at long distances,
combining accuracy with penetration power. It can pierce
through all but the most heavily armored of foes if you take
a moment to align the sights.
Bits
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 3), Crippling, Remote, Slow. This Re-
mote has a Guard of 5 and a Speed of 5. When you Boost
this Weapon it gains the Long Range ability.
The most common system of remote weapons. Bits pack a
mean punch for their size and are fairly maneuverable.
Charge Cannon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 3). When you Boost this Weapon it
gains an additional Advantage to the Might Test plus the
Blast (2) and Slow abilities.
A pistol-shaped beam cannon with two firing modes. Con-
tinuous fire mode provides a consistent supply of gunfire.
Charged mode releases an explosive shot that can hit
multiple targets but forces the weapon to go on cooldown.

Gravity Knuckle
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4). When you Boost and pass the
Might Test with this Weapon, you may push the target up
to 3 Zones away from you in a direction of your choice. If it
collides with another Enemy, the movement stops. If you’ve
also beaten the second Enemy’s Defense they both take 3
Damage.
An equippable giant knuckle that repulses objects with
tremendous force on activation.
Incinerator
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Line, Long Range, Overheating.
When you Boost Incinerator, all Zones affected become
Extreme Terrain until the beginning of your next Turn. You
can spare your own Zone from its effects.
Someone just had to devise the equivalent of a giant flame
thrower. The Grid shuns this weapon, but the Technocracy
loves it for its unparalleled potential to terrorize enemies
and urban warfare crowd control potential.
Ground Zero
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Burst, Technique, Overheating.
This Weapon turns the Zone you are standing on into
Extreme Terrain. When you Boost Ground Zero it also turns
the other Zones it affects into Extreme Terrain. (Extreme
Terrain created by Ground Zero doesn’t fade with time).
The uninhibited version of the Magneburst. You expel pure,
raw Element G in a highly dangerous explosion with you at
its center. Handle with care.
Radiant Fist
Melee Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Technique, Overheating. When
you Boost this Weapon it gains a second Advantage to its
Might Test from doing so.
The ultimate in close range finishers. The unit is equipped
with an extremely damaging radiation pulse that makes its
hands glow with an awesome power.
CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA
Double Blaster
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4). When you Boost this Weapon
you may choose to have either a second Advantage to the
Might Test or to attack two Enemies instead of one. You
gain the chosen Boost plus the Overheating ability.
A double barreled beam weapon that can be split into two
separate rifles, making it as good as two guns in one. It
is not just versatile but powerful, perhaps too powerful for
its own stability, tending to overload and self destruct after
consecutive uses.
Lux Cannon
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Long Range, Slow. When you
Boost this Weapon it ignores the effects of Active Defens-
es.
A giant laser cannon that pierces through most barriers and
is almost impossible to dodge. It consumes a lot of energy
and has a lengthy recharging period.
Oblivion Buster
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Long Range, Technique, Over-
heating. You may not Move as part of your Actions when
using this Weapon and If you’re unable to Move for what-
ever reason, you cannot use it. When you Boost Oblivion
Buster and pass the Might Test with it, it will destroy that
Enemy’s current Level of Threshold (after dealing its regu-
lar Damage) but you do not regenerate Energy during your
next Turn. The additional Damage is fixed and cannot be
reduced or prevented in any way.
This dramatically named giant cannon creates what only be
described as a miniature black hole at a target point and is
the epitome of weaponized gravity technology. A direct hit
means the target will implode spectacularly and a graze will
still tear away one or more limbs caught in the vortex. Be
careful with it, the Oblivion Buster has a tendency to mal-
function and make parts of its user vanish into the aether.
Reactor Overdrive
Shooting Weapon (5)
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Technique, Overheating. When
Boosted this Weapon gains the Line and Long Range abili-
ties.
You overload and expose the Gear’s generators redirecting
the power surge outside. The brutal energy blast might
cause lasting damage to your machine, but is much more
certain to do even worse for whoever is on the other side of
the scope.
89
 CHAPTER 3 - BUILDING THE MECHA

Power Level Adjustments

Mecha of Power Level 1 and higher have more Mecha Points. Like with Characters, the extra MP equals 30 times the
Mecha’s Power Level. That means an additional 30 MP at Power Level 1, 90 MP at Power Level 3, and so on.

You can spend these points however you like. To raise your Attributes, use the same rules that Characters use to do so,
just spending MP instead of CP. You can also get more Upgrades and Weapons.

The Personal Touch

To truly make your Mecha more than a really bland pile of rules for battle and little else, you are going to have to put some
effort in giving it a unique description.

This step can be as superficial or crucial to the game as you want it to be. You could go to great effort to describe its
unique equipment via appropriate technobabble, tie its tech to the plot and to your PC’s Themes. Or you can just do the
parts of the questionnaire to the right without bothering much about the details. It is up to you, and to the rest of the group,
how much effort you want put into this.

The Lifepath tables at the end of Chapter 6 also include a subset of Mecha tables. Just like with the Character tables,
these can be useful inspiration even if some of the results in them don’t fit your setting.

The Mecha Sheet

Pilots have a Sheet, and Mecha also have their own. The Mecha Sheet has enough space for you to write everything
your Mecha will be able to do, but not enough to go into detail. Be concise and note down the important information that
will help you remember or understand what things do at a glance. Leave specific details and precise wording to the long
descriptions within the book. When writing down Upgrades or Weapons that need choices, make sure to note said choic-
es as well.

MECHA DETAILS QUESTIONNAIRE

• What is the Mecha’s name? Is it part of a series or a unique model?

• What does the Mecha look like? What are its most prominent distinguishing features?
• Does the Mecha follow a theme? Is it alone in that or is it a group theme?
• Is the Mecha brand new? Does it have a history?
• What is the Mecha’s theoretical role? Is it deemed a success, a failure, or simply the best the creators managed?
• Who built the Mecha? Why are you its pilot?
• What are the Mecha's armaments? Why is it equipped with them over other weaponry?
• How does it handle? What would your PC change about the controls or interface?
• Has it been modified since being rolled out? If so, what was done to it?
• What is the Mecha’s greatest strength? What about its greatest weakness?

90
 CHAPTER 3- BUILDING THE MECHA

Example of Mecha Construction

Let’s make Roland Rey’s mech. The mecha concept is “Customized Mass Production Unit” so we want a balanced, all-
round unit. Roland Rey is Power Level 1, so his Mecha is PL 1 too, giving us 130 MP to spend. His mech is a customized
mass production “Drake” painted in white, so we’ll call it the Ivory Drake.

Since we want a balanced and well-rounded unit, we’ll start with Might, Guard, Threshold and Speed at 4. We’ll do Energy
and Systems last once we’ve figured out the Ivory Drake’s external equipment. So far we’ve spent 40 MP.

On to the mech’s Weapons. Dueling Blade and Rail Bazooka allow the Ivory Drake to have options for duels in melee
as well as multiple targets at a distance. RR’s Genre Power gives him two more in Finger Net and Bombardment via the
Trump Card Genre Power so he doesn’t need to buy any more. 10 MP was spent on Weapons.

For Upgrades, we’re going with the simplest of the Active Defense combinations in Custom Defense (Melee and Shoot-
ing). No fancy tricks or complicated math, just big Defense bonuses. The Ivory Drake has three different Blast Weapons
so we also buy Expert Support to exclude friendlies from the area-of-effect of said Blasts. That’s 20 MP spent on Up-
grades.

This amounts to 70 MP spent already and leaves us with 60 MP left considering the PL adjustments. After some quick
mental math, we raise Might to 7, Guard and Threshold to 6 and Speed to 5. With our leftover 9 points, we get 3 Energy
and 2 Systems and that’s all our MP.

Before we forget, let’s write down the mech’s Defense (6 + 5 = 11) and its four Threshold Levels with 6 points each.

Now we install these Upgrades and Weapons: Expert Support is Internal, so it must go in the Core. Everything else is
External, so we have to choose external Areas. We could represent Custom Defense as separate defensive systems (like
a shield for Melee and a chaff dispenser for Shooting) but we’ll keep it simple and represent them both as forcefields going
in the Torso. Both Weapons will go in the arms section, giving us two Areas (Head and Legs) that can be safely Maimed.
Because the Weapons given by Trump Card don’t go in any Areas, they cannot be Maimed, so they can be activated as a
failsafe should the Ivory Drake be otherwise disarmed.

Narratively, we say that Roland Rey’s modifications to his Drake consisted of a magnetic coating applied to his unit’s joints
to reduce friction and increase reaction times by 25%. Additionally, he developed Gear-scale grenades for his mech to
throw in battle. These narrative flourishes represent the mech’s Attributes being well above average as well as the Weap-
ons gained via Trump Card. Roland Rey and the Ivory Drake are ready to see play now!

MECHA CONSTRUCTION TIPS

Below are some useful guidelines to keep in mind when doing the mechanical (pun not intended) side of your Mecha:

• Invest 50% to 75% of your MP into Attributes.

• Have 2 to 4 Weapons.
• Spend between 5 and 20 MP in Active Defenses.
• Try not to have Guard and Threshold lower than Rank 4.

Exceptions to the above guidelines do exist. Support and The Beast specialists do not need to buy Weapons, for exam-
ple.

Mecha are expected to face a variety of challenges, many of which will put them at a disadvantage if they’re hyper-spe-
cialists who only know how to do one thing. Strongly consider shoring up your weaknesses or having a secondary func-
tion before you invest into Attributes over 8.

91
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
The Supporting Cast
The supporting cast, your menagerie of NPCs, will take
many forms. You will need NPCs for the players to interact
with outside the battlefield and enemies to war with once
they step into the cockpit. You need to write friends, rivals,
acquaintances and lovers to instill a sense that the PCs are
interacting with a living, breathing world.
Most of the NPCs that interact with PCs during Intermis-
sions do not have Mecha to call their own. These are
known as Non-Combatant NPCs. We’ll just call them
Non-Combatants to make things simpler. Other NPCs are
defined by the fact that they are faceless Enemies during
Operations and thus lack Pilot rules. These we’ll call NPC
Enemies or Allies depending on their role. The most import-
ant NPCs are those that take part of both Intermissions and
Operations, and that have reasons to make rolls. Those
use the rules for both PIlot and Mecha.
NPC Tiers
Individual NPCs are just as varied as PCs if not more, and
the same could be said of their Mecha if they have any.
NPCs can advance over time, improving their performance
in similar ways as the PCs do. But not all NPCs are created
equal. There are Three Tiers for NPCs, each best suited for
different roles both in the story and during combat Scenes.
They are called Grunts, Rivals and Bosses.
When creating an NPC, whether they’re intended for use
during Intermissions, Operations or both, you go through
the same process you would for creating a PC but apply a
few special rules in between depending on their Tier.
NPCs don’t necessarily have to be humans, nor are they
restricted to humanoid mechs, so they get a couple extra
Features unique to them to represent those concepts.
92
Tier 1: Grunts
These are the nameless extras, the hapless bystanders,
the rank and file mooks. Their only strength lies in num-
bers, and that is only if they have them. As Non-Combat-
ants, they are the forgettable NPCs that get a quirk or two
at most but are there mostly to fulfill a purpose like shop-
keepers or civilian witnesses. As Enemies, they often are
faceless soldiers or AI-controlled machines.
Starting Points: 50 CP and MP.
Advancement: 30 CP and MP per Power Level.
Genre Points: None.
Genre Powers: None.
Balance: Two Grunts are equal to one PC.
Special Rules: During Intermissions, Grunts have only
one Layer of Plot Armor and are automatically Defeated
when it runs out of points. During Operations, they have
access to the Paired Attack Action.
Paired Attack
Grunts fight very well in numbers, making up for being
weaker with superior teamwork. A Grunt can spend an
Action to give another identical Grunt Unit within 1
Zone two Advantages to Might Tests during their next
Turn. Pairing up with another Grunt counts as an Offensive
Action. Teamwork has its limits though, two is company,
but three is a crowd. The same Unit cannot be Paired with
more than one another each Round.
Tier 2: Rivals
Virtually equals to the PCs in all but ownership, a Rival is a
recurring NPC that is more often than not an Enemy. Some
of them are allies, very few of them are non-Combatants,
and even less of them serve as Allies during Operations.
Because Rivals are created and advance over time just
as PCs do, they take a bit more effort to prepare than the
other NPC Tiers, which are simpler affairs to build.
Starting Points: 100 CP and MP.
Advancement: 30 CP and MP per Power Level.
Genre Points: Same as Power Level plus Gaining a Point
when they lose a Level of Threshold.
Genre Powers: Default Powers plus one per Power Level.
Balance: One Rival is equal to one PC.
Special Rules: You may give Rivals Genre Themes to
make them gain Genre Points if the PCs interact with them
during Intermissions, but it is not necessary.

Tier 3: Bosses
The toughest of the tough, Bosses are the movers and
shakers of the setting as Non-Combatants and infamous,
terrifying opponents in the battlefield. Bosses generally
fight until they die in battle, and any given Boss should not
be fought more than once or twice, to keep them special.
A Boss is comparable in power to two PCs of the same
Power Level.
Starting Attributes: 100 CP and MP to spend on Attrib-
utes.
Starting Character Abilities: 15 CP to spend on Skills and
Traits.
Starting Mecha Abilities: One Boss Power and one Boss
Weapon.
Genre Points: Same as Power Level plus Gaining a Point
when they lose a Level of Threshold.
Genre Powers: Default Powers plus one per Power Level.
Balance: One Boss is equal to two PCs.
Special Rules: Bosses do not pick Powers, Upgrades and
Weapons from the usual lists. Instead, they take Boss Pow-
ers, Boss Upgrades and Boss Weapons. They also have
special Boss Traits they can take during Advancement, but
may also take general Traits available to PCs.
Boss Character Advancement
Level 1: 15 bonus CP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Trait.
Level 2: 15 bonus CP to spend on Attributes, 30 bonus CP
to spend on Skills and Traits.
Level 3: 15 bonus CP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Trait.
Level 4: 15 bonus CP to spend on Attributes, 30 bonus CP
to spend on Skills and Traits.
Level 5: 15 bonus CP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Trait.
Boss Mecha Advancement
Level 1: 15 bonus MP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Upgrade.
Level 2: 15 bonus MP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Weapon.
Level 3: 15 bonus MP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Power.
Level 4: 15 bonus MP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Upgrade.
Level 5: 15 bonus MP to spend on Attributes, One Boss
Capstone.
As is the norm, higher Levels have everything from the
lower ones, so for example a Level 2 Boss Mecha has two
Weapons, one Power and one Upgrade plus 130 MP to
spend on Attributes, while a Level 5 Boss Mecha has two
Powers, Upgrades and Weapons plus a Capstone in addi-
tion to a ginormous 175 MP to spend on Attributes.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Further Boss Customization
Bosses can be further customized by replacing some of
their unique abilities for the common equivalents, as below:
Boss Traits: In place of a Boss Trait, you can give them 30
CP to spend on regular Skills and Traits instead.
Boss Powers: In place of a Boss Power, you can give
them any three other Genre Powers instead.
Boss Upgrades: In place of a Boss Upgrade, you can give
them up to 30 MP to spend on regular Upgrades instead.
Boss Weapons: In place of a Boss Weapon, you can give
them up to 30 MP to spend on regular Weapons instead.
Boss Capstones: In place of a Boss Capstone, you can
give them 30 MP to spend on Attributes instead
You can also do the same for other NPCs as well. Con-
sider using these guidelines to grant your recurring Rivals
some Boss abilities to spice them up. Just keep in mind
that some might interact in weird ways with one another, so
you should do this after you have some experience with the
system and are prepared to come up with ad-hoc rulings.
You can technically give anyone Capstones with these
rules, but be really careful because they are too powerful to
hand out carelessly.
This helps Bosses have a little more variety in their build
options for games where you use Bosses more than Grunts
and Rivals. It helps avoid repetition and keeps things fresh.
The existing variety of abilities should let you create nearly
any kind of enemy, especially once you get the hang of
reskinning. Of course, if you want to go the extra mile, you
can just modify the existing content or create entirely origi-
nal Powers, Weapons and more for your NPCs,.
SAVING TIME AND EFFORT WITH NON-COMBATANT NPCS
Just because there are rules to give NPCs Attributes, Skills
and Traits does not mean they need to have them. If you
write up every single NPC, you’ll be there all day. The rules
are there in case you want detailed statblocks for your
NPCs, usually for Matches.
Oftentime it’s much easier to assume any random given
NPC has a 4 or 5 in any given Attribute that they’re not
particularly good or bad at. Give them a 6, 7 or 8 plus Skill
Training if they’re good at it and a 1, 2 or 3 if they’re bad.
If you have an important NPC who is supposed to be a
reference and expert in their field, they can have Attributes
at 8, 9 or even 10 plus the Skill Mastery Trait to show how
good they are at their jobs.
93
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

Squad Power Ratings

If you would like to have more but weaker Grunts per PC, or to throw a single Boss at a group of Characters, then this
section can help you out. We’ll need to assign each PC a Power Rating (based on their Power Level) and add it up with
the Power Ratings of the group as a whole to get the Squad Power Rating. Then we proceed to create the opposition,
aiming to meet the NPC’s Squad Power Rating with that of the PCs. We distribute Power Ratings between Grunt, Rival
and Boss Enemies in a way similar to spending Experience Points to create a character.

A PC’s Power Rating is equal to their Power Level times two, plus four. A Grunt is their Power Level plus two, and a Boss
is Power Level times four plus eight. Rivals have the same Power Rating as PCs. Use the table below for ease of refer-
ence.

Power Level PC Rating Grunt Rating Rival Rating Boss Rating

0 4 2 4 8
1 6 3 6 12
2 8 4 8 16
3 10 5 10 20
4 12 6 12 24
5 14 7 14 28

This means that a Level 1 PC is the equivalent of Level 2 Grunt and a Level 0 Boss is a fair fight for a Level 2 PC. You
can use this table to challenge a Squad of 4 PCs at Level 3 (Total Power Rating of 40) with one Level 5 Boss and two
Level 4 Grunts (Power Rating of 28 + 6 + 6 = 40).

Power Ratings let you get more creative with the types of challenges you can use against your PCs as long as you don’t
mind doing a little math. However, Power Ratings do not take into account Terrain composition nor Genre Points earned
from Roleplaying, so they are ultimately a guideline for what should make a difficult but winnable battle.

You could also give each individual Operation its own difficulty. This way you can make skirmishes with Grunts relatively
easy encounters, then ramp up the difficulty for the big Boss battles to make them stand out more. You may also want
to take the game’s tone and mood into account—bloody combat against all odds suits gritty narratives better. The table
below offers a good starting point for adjusting the Power Rating of your Operations individually.

PC Power Rating Warmup Challenging Overwhelming

4 3 4 5
8 6 8 10
12 9 12 15
16 12 16 20
20 15 20 25
24 18 24 30
28 21 28 35
32 24 32 40
36 27 36 45
40 30 40 50
44 33 44 55
48 36 48 60
52 39 52 65
56 42 56 70
60 45 60 75

94
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

Enemy Features
Some enemies use Mecha rules but are not normal giant robots. They might actually be giant monsters, stationary build-
ings armed to the teeth, or perhaps squadrons of conventional mechanized weaponry. Features can be used to represent
all these various enemies, and you can mix and match them with the ones available to PCs to make some interesting
foes.

These are special Features just like those available to PCs that, for one or more reasons, are better reserved for the use
of Enemies. At the GM’s prerogative, some of these Features might be available to PCs in special cases.

Biological
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend any
amount of Energy to restore half that much Threshold to
yourself. Whenever one of your Areas gets Maimed, one
of your Attributes is halved. Losing the Head halves your
Systems, the Torso halves your Guard, the Arms halve your
Might and the Legs your Speed.You ignore the Ejection
rules, and losing the fourth Level of Threshold kills you.
The larger Mechabeasts will heal any wound that is not
fatal, if given the time to do so. Fortunately, removing their
limbs weakens them enough that it should take them a long
while to regain their full power.
Invasive
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: Halve all Damage you do to Enemy Mecha. At the
end of your Turn, if you’ve dealt 3 or more Damage to any
Enemy Units, those Enemy Pilots lose one Layer of Plot
Armor. Pilots damaged this way Test Systems instead of
Willpower to avoid defeat. For each 3 additional points of
Damage dealt during that Turn, Enemies suffer a Disadvan-
tage to the Systems Test.
Some Mechabeasts can psychically attack Gear pilots,
incapacitating them without having to destroy or cripple the
robot itself. Even more worrying is that the Technocracy
has been fielding prototypes using simlar technology.

Fortress
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: You can not Move as part of your Actions or be
Moved by other abilities, but you increase the Maximum
Range of all your Weapons by your Speed Attribute. This
only counts your base Attribute, ignoring any modifiers that
increase or decrease it.
This unit is a big and stationary target, either a literal build-
ing or so slow that it might as well be a building. On the
plus side, it makes for a fantastic artillery platform.
Squadron
Internal Upgrade (0)
Effect: You are immune to Maiming. All Blast, Burst and
Line Weapons gain two Advantages to their Might Tests
against you.
This is not one unit but a group of them acting in unison,
most often of four. Said units are quite weak by themselves,
having no choice but to emphasize quantity over quality.

INVASIVE DAMAGE IN THE NARRATIVE

Damage dealt to the Pilots from Invasive sources can be difficult to make noticeable. The effects are kind of hard to notice
until they get very serious and people are already coughing up their organs. Here you have a few examples to help you
convey how enemies that attack the pilot directly can affect PCs.

First Layer: Constant pain, dizziness or nausea, uncontrollable shivering and shaking.
Second Layer: Blindness, head-splitting headache, temporary amnesia.
Third Layer: Catatonic state, motor function loss, total amnesia.

The first Layer focuses on weakening the PC to the point they’ll struggle to continue fighting, but they will be fine after the
Operation ends. The second Layer introduces complications that will last until the next Episode and the PC should be re-
ceiving treatment by the end of the current Episode. The third Layer is for complications that straight up make it impossible
for the PC to continue their life as before.

If the PCs pass the Systems Test to stay in the fight, you may want to delay the impact of these effects until after the Op-
eration ends or make it so their mech has pilot support systems to make the PC feel fine as long as they stay inside. This
adds another element of drama to the situation the PC is in: They are further dehumanized by becoming inextricable from
their robot, almost like they’re just a biological component to it.

Just in case you’re wondering, any Mecha whose Pilot has been knocked out are inert and no longer participate in the
fight. No rudimentary AI equipped in PC Mecha can compensate for the lack of a pilot. That’s why you should either use
Invasive Enemies sparingly or clearly inform everyone that there will be lots of them during the campaign, because they
can render low Systems builds unplayable.

95
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Boss Traits
Boss Traits are abilities that go way beyond those of other Characters, be they PC or NPC. Some Boss Traits represent
extraordinary levels of skill or talent, but others only make sense for NPCs that are Miracle or Anomaly users.
Combat Profiling
Boss Trait
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may ask one
Player a single yes or no question about what their PC will
be doing during their next Turn. If the Player abides by their
answer, you also gain double benefit from Tension against
them until the beginning of your next Turn. If they do not,
they lose a Genre Point. You can use this ability three
times per Episode.
You have magnificent observation skills and can read
movement patterns enemies like they’re an open book.
Expect some reckless savages to act crazy in response.
Elusive Form
Boss Trait
Effect: Once per Episode you may slip in or out of any
one Scene no questions asked. If used to enter a Match,
you roll Initiative and arrive at the beginning of your Turn. If
used to escape a Match, it requires an Action.
You could turn into a fast moving cloud, step into a shadow
and emerge from another, or just plain vanish in a puf of
smoke to reappear the next block over. Perfect for daring
escapes and infiltrating enemy fortresses.
Giant Slayer
Boss Trait
Effect: You do not halve the Damage you would deal
against Mecha while on foot and they no longer deal dou-
ble Damage against you. You increase your Defense by 5
against Mecha and may use Deathblows against them.
You can go toe to toe with giant robots, which is every bit
as superhuman as it sounds. Enemies regard you as more
monster than human, and they might even be right.
Homunculus Vessel (Specialist)
Boss Trait
Effect: You have a fiercely loyal minion NPC created using
the rules for Rivals—much like Comrades for PCs. Anytime
you are Defeated, you gain control of your minion until your
recover your body. If you die, you carry over this Trait to the
new body, creating yet another minion.
You have created true, sentient and self-aware life and
indoctrinated it into absolute loyalty to your cause like any
good parent expects of their children.
Living Weapon (Specialist)
Boss Trait
Effect: You can use Deathblows any number of times per
Episode, but repeated uses do not benefit from their innate
Advantages.
You have weapons installed into a body created to spill the
blood of others, and can use all sorts of weapons and com-
bat maneuvers relentlessly until the opposition drops.
96
Mundanity Field
Boss Trait
Effect: Other Characters may not use any Miracle Skills as
long as they are in the same Zone as you. Not even those
from Anomalies or Equipment.
The Technocracy has “Psycho Jammers” among their
ranks to counteract the Grid’s many Glow users, whose
psychic power is to cancel all psychic powers.
Overwhelming Pressure
Boss Trait
Effect: Once per Episode you may spend an Action to
have all other Characters in the same Zone lose a Layer
of Plot Armor for each Power Level you have in excess of
theirs.
The puny minds of mere normals cannot fathom what it is
like to be in your presence. With the snap of a finger you
can bring them all to their kness—their rightful place.
Skill Master (Specialist)
Boss Trait
Effect: Choose any two Skills you are trained in. Whenever
you would perform a Test using the chosen Skills, you may
choose to automatically roll a 10.
There’s being skilled enough to stand out, and then there’s
blowing the minds of everyone around you on a daily basis.
This is the latter, in case you were wondering.
Spectral Body
Boss Trait
Effect: Once per Episode you may turn partly immaterial
for three Rounds (counting this one). While in this state you
can selectively allow objects or substances to pass through
your body, effectively rendering you invincible for its dura-
tion and immune to all terrain effects that you choose to
ignore. You can still hurt or affect other characters or your
surroundings.
Some anti-personnel Mechabeasts can enter a ghostly
state that lets them walk through walls and hails of bullets
alike. They are as dangerous as they are thankfully rare.
Viral Touch
Boss Trait
Effect: Any Enemies that you deal Damage to while on foot
become infected for the rest of the Episode Arc. Infected
Characters must Test Willpower against a DN of 15 at the
beginning of every Scene they are in or lose a Layer of
Plot Armor. A result of 20 or higher will immunize them for
the rest of the Episode Arc, and your death outright cures
them.
Your touch infects others with a highly lethal sickness of
strange properties. This virus kills all but the strongest of
people unless they stay home and do nothing but rest.

Boss Powers
Characters have a versatile assortment of Genre Powers at their disposal, and Bosses have their own special Genre Pow-
ers on top of that. Boss Powers are very powerful, and can disable certain strategies entirely, punishing PCs that special-
ize too much and don’t cover their weaknesses.
Behold my True Power
Setup Power
Effect: Double your available Energy until the beginning of
your next Turn. You can use this Power once per Round.
The giant snail prepared to fire another energy beam from
its forehead. Reina had already protected her allies from
one such attack, the team was confident they could survive
a second one. That’s when the crystals on the snail’s shell
started glowing, supercharging the creature with energy.
It struck like lightning, its radiance blinding them and its
thunderous roar deafening them. The fight was only going
to get harder.
Catch me if you Can
Setup Power
Effect: Move a number of Zones equal to either of your
Systems or your Speed, ignoring Enemies and Terrain
(even impassable terrain) along the way. This lets you
escape from Duels without having to Disengage.
A giant crab should not walk across the land so fast. Yet,
this one did. “Our third eye says it’s not really walking, it’s
floating above land using some kind of gravity biotech.“
called out Marie. As if to emphasize the point that this
creature’s biology isn’t remotely like that of a traditional
crab, it then simply... Phased out of existence. One moment
it had just come into their visual range, the next it vanished
into a purple flash of light. Moments later, the giant crab
reappeared in a similar flash of light, this time right next to
Marie. The thing could teleport.
Crush the Insect
Reaction Power
Effect: One target Enemy Unit’s Pilot loses one Layer of
Plot Armor. Pilots damaged this way Test Systems instead
of Willpower to avoid defeat. You can use this Power once
per Enemy each Round.
As their weapons clashed against each other in melee
combat, Angel Vox spoke within Soran’s mind. “It’s so
difficult to continue resisting the Technocracy, isn’t it? It
would be so much easier to surrender and join them. You
and your friends can all enter Valhalla to have eternal
happiness. All you have to do is stop fighting.“ her words
were like a sweet cup of warm milk in a cold winter morn-
ing, promising she could return to a childhood in which
things were simpler. Soran bit her tongue and shook her
head, jolting herself awake from the telepath’s attack. This
woman was dangerous.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Die for Me!
Setup Power
Effect: Any one Enemy suffers an amount of Damage
equal to half your Systems. You can use this Power once
per Enemy each Round.
There were dozens, if not hundreds of tiny crystals spread
all over the giant crab Mechabeast’s body, each of them
acting like a beam rifle. It didn’t matter how careful Shin
thought he was being, the sheer volume of fire the thing
poured out made it impossible to not get tagged by.
Do you Desire the Power?
Setup Power
Effect: Choose one Enemy. That Enemy makes a choice,
between losing one Genre Point and taking 1d10 Damage
or gaining a Genre Point but dealing 1d10 Damage to any
two Allies of their choice. If they have no Genre Points left,
they must take the second option. If they have no Allies
alive, they hurt themselves instead. You can use this Power
once per Enemy each Round.
Rock always pretended to be the team idiot, but in truth he
was just trying to bury his doubts about his loyalty. So when
Angel Vox reached into his mind and used a telepathic sug-
gestion to make him raise his gun against his comrades,
she found it all too easy.
I Accept your Offering
Setup Power
Effect: Sacrifice a single Allied Grunt to restore your
Threshold by an amount equal to the Grunt’s Power Level
plus the number of Levels of Threshold it had intact. After
that you deal the same amount of Damage to one Enemy
of your choice. You can use this Power once per Round.
Dozens of flying drones surrounded the Technocracy ace
known as Sigma Wolf. One of them perched itself on his
Machina’s extended hand and... Turned itself off, as if it had
been entirely drained of power. Immediately, Sigma Wolf’s
frame began to glow, Gravagnium crystals growing over
his Machina’s damaged areas, as if to bandage a bleeding
wound. “Do you see the folly of your struggle yet? As long
as I have my drones, I am invincible!”
97
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
I Believe This is Yours (Specialist)
Reaction Power
Effect: Choose Melee, Shooting, Beam or non-Beam when
taking this Power. Activate it to increase your Defense by
half your Systems against a single Might Test. If the Might
Test was made using the chosen type of Weapon you also
deal that much Damage back to its source. You can use
this Power once per Offensive Action.
The giant plant Mechabeast at the heart of the fungal
bloom was barely mobile, but it was far from a sitting duck.
Marie and Ashoka simultaneously tried to attack it from a
distance, but their projectiles were somehow redirected
back at them.
I Can Read Your Every Move
Setup Power
Effect: Ask one Player a single yes or no question about
what their PC will be doing during their next Turn. If the
Player abides by their answer, you gain double benefit from
Tension against them with Offensive Actions until the begin-
ning of your next Turn. If they do not, they lose two Genre
Points. If they don’t have enough Genre Points left, they
must do as they said they would. You can use this Power
once per Round.
Angel Vox watched the Skydrake circling around her Machi-
na.These spore huffers were all very simpleminded, it was
going to try to overcome her mind-reading ability by acting
too fast for her to keep up with. Silly tree hugger! That, too,
is well within the bounds of her plan!
Make my Monster Grow
Setup Power
Effect: Restore the Threshold of an Allied Grunt by an
amount equal to your Systems and grant them the Colos-
sus Capstone until they are destroyed. You can use this
Power once per Ally during the same Operation.
Sigma Wolf made a dramatic gesture of waving one of his
Gear’s hands. What followed defies reasonable explanation
even for Tiana, the most logical of the team. Sigma Wolf’s
attack drone grew exponentially in size until it dwarfed
everyone else around them, becoming a weapon of mass
destruction all by its lonesome.
98
Marked for Death
Setup Power
Effect: Choose one Enemy within 5 Zones. You gain two
Advantages to all Might Tests made against that Enemy
and that Enemy suffers two Disadvantages to all Might
Tests that do not target you. Both effects last until the be-
ginning of your next Turn. You can use this Power once per
Round.
The Gilgangar continued to cut through Charlotte’s allies.
She was the last one standing now. “Women, children and
a puny dweeb... Is that the best that your fungus-fetishist
cult can field against me, the great Alpha Max? Pathetic.“
The enemy ace set his sights on her. This was going to be
a difficult fight to win.
Souls Bound by Gravity
Setup Power
Effect: All Enemies within 5 Zones that are using Anti-
Gravity or another ability that grants them flight lose that
benefit until the beginning of your next Turn.
The Aurora Moth—that was what they had classified this
monster as—was spreading spores all around the battle-
field with the flapping of its luminiscent multicolor wings.
As Shin and Ashoka both tried to close the distance with
it, they found their Gears had become heavier and more
sluggish. The spores had attached to their partner’s plates,
somehow affecting their usual ability to defy gravity.
That will not Work Again
Reaction Power
Effect: Increase your Defense by 3 against a single Might
Test. If the source was a Weapon you’ve already been
Damaged by previously during this Operation then restore
your Threshold by an amount equal to half your Systems
after calculating the Damage taken. You can use this Power
once per Offensive Action.
The second volley of fire by Shin’s team was not just much
less effective than the first, but it looked like the Hydra had
healed older wounds afterwards. Luckily, the Megacepha-
lus third eye ability helped Marie understand what had just
happened. “The Hydra’s growing fat off our weapons. It can
evolve a resistance against any weapon we have already
used against it.”

Useless!
Setup Power
Effect: This Power prevents an amount of Damage equal
to 5 plus the current Tension until the beginning of your
next Turn. You can use this Power once per Round.
You’d think a giant snail that shoots lasers wouldn’t be so
tough to kill. Not when they’re Mechabeasts, apparently.
This thing has a forcefield that keeps it protected and
regenerates constantly, each time coming back a tiny bit
stronger as if adapting to external pressure.
You are in my Sights
Setup Power
Effect: You or an Ally gain the benefits of the Aim Action to
their next Offensive Action this Round.
The team had walked into an ambush by Sigma Wolf and
his small army’s worth of attack drones. “Hahahahaha...
HAHAHAHAHA--*cough*” He was, it seemed, in a very
laughing mood. “--*wheeze*. Ahem, sorry. Now, where was
I? Oh right. Fun’s over, now you all die!”
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
You are too Slow
Reaction Power
Effect: Force an Enemy to reroll an Offensive Action they
took against you and impart a Disadvantage to its Might
Test. After that you may Move a number of Zones up to
your Speed in a direction of your choice. You can Disen-
gage from a Duel this way.
“Get back here!” Ashoka called out, angry that the moth
had gotten away once again. The giant monster was slowly
wearing everyone down with its energy-draining weapons.
What was worse was that, every time one of them caught
up to the Mechabeast and tried to pin it down, the thing
flapped its colorful wings with unnatural alacrity and some-
how wormed its way out of their grasp.
Your Fate is Sealed
Setup Power
Effect: One Enemy loses the benefits of Tension and may
not restore their Threshold until the beginning of your next
Turn.
The sight of the returned Gilgangar drained the color off
Nilu’s face. His team needed him to get their Gears in as
best condition as they could be, but he couldn’t help it. The
poor lad had frozen in terror.
99
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

Boss Upgrades
Boss Upgrades are substantially more powerful than most abilities the PCs have at their disposal. Their one drawback is
that they are not always active. Instead they provide a base ability that ‘Levels Up’ as the Boss takes Damage and loses
Threshold Levels.

Boss Upgrades have no regular effect while a Boss is in the First Level of Threshold, but after entering further Levels (and
for as long as they stay in those Levels) they activate and will likely only get more powerful from there. These abilities trig-
ger immediately after taking enough Damage, using the new Level instead of the old one.

Most of them provide a passive bonus, but some will cause an effect the moment their Threshold Levels are breached.
They will not trigger multiple times if a Boss regenerates health causing it to enter the Level more than once.

Adaptive Morphology Bloodlust

Internal Upgrade
Level 2: Choose one of Beam or non-Beam when taking
this Upgrade. Increase your Defense against Might Tests
made with Weapons that are the chosen Type by 5. This
counts as an Active Defense.
Level 3: As above, but you increase your Defense by 10
instead.
Level 4: As above, but you may change the chosen Weap-
on Type at the beginning of your Turn.
Your body is more like an amorphous blob than anything
resembling a giant robot, making you intrinsically resistant
to many forms of attack. Because that obviously is not un-
fair enough, you can also shapeshift to change that weak-
ness in the middle of battle.
Afterimages
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: In response to the results of an Enemy Might Test
against you, you may spend 1 Energy to force them to
reroll the Test while imparting a Disadvantage to them. You
may only do this once per Might Test and it counts as an
Active Defense.
Level 3: As above, but with two Disadvantages instead.
Level 4: As above, but with three Disadvantages instead.
A technique favored by experienced warriors. You move
with superior speed and grace around your opponents,
faster than the eye can see, tricking them into seeing you in
multiple places at the same time.
Aura of Dark Majesty
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: When you enter this level, you get to use the “Do
you Desire the Power?” Boss Power for free against one
Enemy of your choice. You do not need to know the Power
nor do you need to spend any Genre Points.
Level 3: As above, but you also use Die for Me! against the
chosen Enemy.
Level 4: As above, but you also use Your Fate is Sealed
against the chosen Enemy.
You can fight your own battles, but you would much rather
watch your enemies fight themselves. And if that is not
enough, you’ll still find a way to cheat a victory for yourself.
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: Increase the result of your Might Tests by 5 when
Engaging in a Duel or against a target that is in one.
Level 3: As above, but you also increase your Defense by
5 against targets Engaged in a Duel with you.
Level 4: As above, but you increase both values by 10
instead.
An enemy with little to no self preservation instinct will al-
ways go all out. At some point you will make a mistake and
let them get too close, that’s when they will capitalize on
and exploit it mercilessly.
Bullet Hell
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: When you enter this Level, Enemies within 5
Zones suffer an amount of Damage equal to half your
Systems.
Level 3: As above, but using the current Tension plus half
your Systems as Damage instead.
Level 4: As above, but using the current Tension plus your
Systems as Damage instead.
When you’ve got more enemies than limbs, it is a good
idea to pack several dozen energy cannons. A neat bonus
is that your ever-growing colorful patterns of destruction are
almost hypnotic to look at.
Caustic Touch
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: Your non-Beam Weapons ignore the effects of
Active Defenses.
Level 3: As above, but your non-Beam Weapons also gain
the Crippling ability.
Level 4: As above, but when you pass the Might Test with
your non-Beam Weapons, you destroy the target’s current
Level of Threshold. This happens after the Weapon deals
its regular Damage. The additional Damage is fixed and
cannot be reduced or prevented in any way.
Mechabeasts have been evolving more fearsome weapons
over time. Some of them even have properties specially
effective against Gears, piercing through forcefields and
disrupting Gravagnium flow systems to disable limbs with a
single touch.

100

Eye for an Eye
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: When you enter this Level, you deal an amount of
Damage to an Enemy of your choice equal to the current
Tension plus 3.
Level 3: As above, but using the current Tension plus 5
instead.
Level 4: As above, but using the current Tension plus 7
instead.
A sadomasochistic fighting style if there was one, turning
the user into both the bait and the trap. All who dare lay a
hand on the user will suffer the consequences.
It Keeps Coming Back
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: At the beginning of your Turn you restore 3 points
to your Threshold.
Level 3: As above, but you restore 5 points instead.
Level 4: As above, but the first time that you would be
destroyed during an Operation, you remain functional with
your full fourth Level of Threshold instead.
Lots of baddies can regenerate their wounds to the point
it is easy to see it as a repetitive gimmick. A true devil can
even seemingly come back from the dead, requiring to be
struck down a second time to end them for good.
Nanoskin Shell
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: When you enter this Level, you create a shield
that negates an amount of Damage equal to your Power
Level plus 3 and lasts until destroyed.
Level 3: As above, but the shield negates your Power Lev-
el plus 5 points in Damage instead.
Level 4: As above, but the shield negates your Power Lev-
el plus 7 points in Damage instead.
Coated in layers of self-repairing nanites, this is not an ac-
tual repair or regeneration system. Instead, it is a sandwich
of armor plating that keeps coming back to protect you.
Overheating Field
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: Enemies within 5 Zones will suffer 1 point of Dam-
age per Energy point they spend.
Level 3: As above, but they suffer 2 points of Damage per
Energy point spent instead.
Level 4: As above, but you affect all Enemies within 10
Zones instead.
You are surrounded by strange energies that distort the
flow of Element G around you. To those within, raising a
defiant hand against you is self-defeating... Literally. The
more power they use while opposing you, the more likely
they are to burn out first.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Portable Battlefield
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: All Zones within a Range of 5 count as Difficult
Terrain for your Enemies. Abilities that can usually ignore
the effects of Terrain will not help against this.
Level 3: As above, but it also counts as Defensive Terrain
for you and your Allies.
Level 4: As above, but with two instances of Difficult and
Defensive Terrain instead.
One of the strangest abilities of the larger Mechabeasts is
their control over dimensional boundaries that lets them
take their preferred environment with themselves wherever
they go.
Phantom Predator
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 5
Energy to gain the benefits of Maneuvering at no Action
cost.
Level 3: As above, but after Maneuvering your next Of-
fensive Action this Turn is immune to the effects of Active
Defenses.
Level 4: As above, but any Might Tests against you suffers
two Disadvantages unless the attack is made with Weap-
ons that have the Blast, Burst or Line abilities.
Certain Mechabeasts possess stealth that is effective
against nearly all methods of detection. They cannot be
seen or heard and most sensors will have a tough time
locating them..
Power of Despair
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: After Boosting a Beam Weapon, you may spend
any number of additional Energy to increase the result of
the Might Test and your own Defense by half that amount
until the beginning of your next Turn. This counts as an Ac-
tive Defense.
Level 3: As above, but the bonuses use the full amount of
extra Energy spent this way.
Level 4: As above, but the bonuses use twice the amount
of extra Energy spent this way.
The dark mirror of the Steel Dragon Industries’ Limit Engine
is fueled by hatred, jealousy and pain. Much like with the
Limit Engine, its users are the eye of a storm of energy that
only gets stronger the longer the battle goes on.
101
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

Rules of Nature
Internal Upgrade
Level 2: At the beginning of your Turn, you may spend
2 Energy and choose an Enemy to halve their Might and
Guard until the beginning of your next Turn.
Level 3: As above, but you may spend 2 additional Energy
to also increase your own Might and Guard by the amount
stolen for the same duration. If the Enemy restores their
Might and Guard to normal, you still get this bonus.
Level 4: As above, but you may spend 1 additional Energy
to also deal them an amount of Damage equal to the cur-
rent Tension and restore that much Threshold to yourself.
This world is all about survival of the fittest. The strong
devour the weak, and in the battlefield the strongest one is
none other than yourself.

Three Times Faster

Internal Upgrade
Level 2: At the beginning of your Turn you may choose one
Enemy to increase the result of your Might Tests by half
your Speed against them until the beginning of your next
Turn.
Level 3: As above, but you also increase your Defense by
half your Speed against said Enemy for the same duration.
Level 4: As above, but you increase both values by your
Speed instead.
You triple your energy output to maximize your speed.
Often this makes your figure glow bright red. You move so
fast that you leave afterimages in your wake, and to the un-
trained eye it even seems that the afterimages have mass.

We are Many (Specialist)

Internal Upgrade
Level 2: Create a Power Level 0 Grunt according to the
NPC creation rules when you take this Upgrade. This Grunt
is deployed one Zone away from you when you enter this
Level, sharing your Initiative. These Grunts count as a
single Unit for the purpose of abilities with limited use like
Restoration Upgrades and Make my Monster Grow.
Level 3: As above, but you deploy two Grunts instead.
Level 4: As above, but you deploy three Grunts instead.
You embody the idea of strength in numbers, able to spawn
minions from your own body. They could be automated ma-
chines built from scraps or your own flesh and blood given
autonomous form. Regardless of origin, they are suicidally
loyal. You are Legion.

102

Boss Weapons
Boss Weapons are nasty, and in more ways than one. Some disrupt the PC’s game plan, while others are just plain over-
whelmingly powerful. All Boss Weapons are immune to Maiming.
Constrict
Melee Weapon
Effect: Crippling. This Weapon gains an additional Advan-
tage when used to Engage in a Duel or against a target
you are Dueling and inflicts an additional Disadvantage to
Offensive Actions on passing the Might Test.
You have more appendages than most people can count or
even identify. Any enemies caught won’t be able to escape
their combined might.
Merge
Melee Weapon
Effect: After passing the Might Test with this Weapon you
restore 5 points to your Threshold.
This Mechabeast can latch on to any Gear or other piece
of technology equipped with a G-Reactor, then dissolve its
attached limb to temporarily fuse with the victim. While in
this short-lived combined state, the Mechabeast parasitizes
the host, absorbing their structural components to fuel its
regenerative abilities.
Tentacle Lash
Melee Weapon
Effect: Burst, Long Range.
There is nowhere safe against this monster other than very,
very far away. And that is only until it catches up to you.
Terrifying Attack
Melee Weapon
Effect: When you pass the Might Test with this Weapon,
it deals an amount of Damage to the target equal to the
current Tension and denies them the benefit of Tension until
the beginning of your next Turn.
This Mechabeast carries parasites that eat and dissolve a
Gear’s joints, rendering its limbs nonfunctional. All it takes
to get infected is for it to make physical contact.
Whirling Death
Melee Weapon
Effect: Burst, Long Range, Slow. Any time you roll 4 or less
using this Weapon, you may treat the Might Test it as if you
had rolled a 5 instead.
This Mechabeast extends its many long-reaching limbs
in all directions, becoming the eye of a storm that can cut
through steel.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Antimatter Shot
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Slow. This Weapon always gets a result of 10 when
Testing Might. When you pass the Might Test with this
Weapon, it deals that Enemy an additional amount of Dam-
age equal to the current Tension.
A single, extremely powerful projectile that annihilates the
target from inside with a chain reaction of implosions.
Magic Bullet
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Long Range. Trace a line covering an amount of
Zones equal to this Weapon’s Range starting from your
own, Magic Bullet attacks all targets along that line. It will
not strike the same target twice, even if it crosses the same
Zone multiple times. This Weapon benefits from an innate
Advantage to its Might Test.
An intelligent projectile that pierces through most materi-
als without losing momentum. This Magic Bullet can even
shoot around corners, making it an assassin’s best friend.
Needle Storm
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Long Range, Crippling. This Weapon inflicts an
additional Disadvantage to Offensive Actions on passing
the Might Test.
A rush of syringe-like projectiles that disrupt and incapaci-
tate movement and weapons systems.
Technoleeches
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Blast (2). This Weapon will cause everyone within
the area of effect to halve their available Energy until the
beginning of your next Turn, even if the attack otherwise
misses.
A rain of worm-like Mechabeasts. These creatures are
suicidal, vampiric extensions of their master. They latch on
to Gears and drain their energy reserves, then release that
energy as a toxic gas into the air.
Ultimate Bomb
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Blast (5), Long Range. This Weapon benefits from
two additional Advantages to its Might Test and will cause
you to attack yourself if you are within the area of effect.
The Technocracy sometimes employs these, one of the
most fearsome tools of mass destruction ever devised.
They destroy whole city districts at once and are only al-
lowed during scorched-earth situations.
103
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Suicide Swarm
Melee Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 1), Blast (3), Long Range. When you
Boost this Weapon it destroys your current Level of Thresh-
old. You increase the result of the Might Test by the number
of Threshold points lost this way.
These Mechabeast vermin are small grotesque abomina-
tions the size of a human hand that latch on to their targets
and violently explode like plastic bombs.
Corrosive Sting
Melee Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 2). When you Boost and pass the
Might Test with this Weapon, the target’s Might, Guard,
Systems and Speed are halved until the beginning of your
next Turn.
The Mechabeast secretes an acid that disrupts the flow of
energy along a Mecha’s body, impairing all functions.
Sonic Blades
Melee Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 3). When you Boost and pass the
Might Test with this Weapon, you destroy the Enemy’s
current Level of Threshold. This happens after the Weapon
deals its regular Damage. The additional Damage is fixed
and cannot be reduced or prevented in any way.
Your claws emit a vibrating frequency that makes them
glow like a beam saber. Once activated this way, they will
cleave through anything you so much as graze.
Shadow Fist
Melee Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Slow. This Weapon ignores the
effects of Active Defenses. When you Boost Shadow Fist, it
gains the Crippling, Line and Long Range abilities.
The evil opposite of the Radiant Fist Technique, for those
who have given their souls to darkness. The Shadow Fist is
usually employed by Technocracy martial artists who seek
power at any cost.
Telekinetic Strike
Melee Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost Special), Long Range. Spend any
amount of Energy when you Boost this Weapon. When you
do and pass the Might Test with it, you slide the target up
to 5 Zones in a direction of your choice. Should the target
be sent in the direction of another Enemy whose Defense
you’ve also beat, they both crash and suffer an additional
amount of Damage equal to the Energy you spent Boosting
it, then the movement from this Weapon halts. Targets that
share an occupied Zone may still crash into each other but
may not be moved to another Zone this way.
This giant psychic octopus uses its mind powers to make
Gears crash against each other like it is playing bowling
with robots.
104
Gravity Blast
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 1), Blast (2). When you Boost this
Weapon, it turns the affected Zones into Difficult Terrain un-
til the beginning of your next Turn and all Units within lose
the benefits of Anti-Gravity or any other abilities that grant
flight as well for the same duration.
This weapon pulls all matter in a very large radius together
towards a fixed point. Unlike with a black hole, nothing is
cast into the void, but the extreme violence is usually more
than enough to destroy anything that was there anyway.
Ultrabeam Cannon
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 2), Line. When you Boost this Weap-
on its Line effect is 3 Zones wide, with the target in the
middle line
This mounted blaster has all the upsides of portable beam
rifles but with enough potency to burn the small fry around
your real target as an afterthought.
Overfreeze
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 3), Line. When you Boost this Weap-
on it turns the affected Zones into Difficult and Extreme
Terrain until the beginning of your next Turn. You can spare
your own Zone from its effects.
Some Mechabeasts possess weather-altering properties,
including the ability to cause a a freezing blizzard strong
enough to affect a Gear’s internals.
Assimilation Sweep
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost 4), Blast (4), Slow. When you Boost
this Weapon, you restore an amount of Threshold equal to
your Systems and turn the affected Zones into Withering
Terrain until the beginning of your next Turn.
One of the most dangerous traits of the Aurora Moth is that
it can absorb up matter into a swirl of energy that flows into
its body, healing its wounds.
Final Beam
Shooting Weapon
Effect: Beam (Boost Special). This Weapon always gets a
result of 10 when Testing Might and targets the entire bat-
tlefield, though it does not directly attack the user. To Boost
it you must spend all your remaining Energy dealing that
much additional Damage to all Units, even to yourself, and
even if the rest of the attack misses. Final Beam requires
one Action be spent Aiming with it (targeting everyone
except itself) and its successful use will automatically make
you lose your next Action afterwards.
Among the most dangerous Mechabeasts are those that
are essentially walking bombs. Giants with zero self-preser-
vation instincts seemingly made to destroy civilization. They
are slow to attack but their potential as weapons of mass
destruction is unparalleled. They should never be allowed
to fire their main weapon, because they can set an entire
city aflame with a single use.

Boss Capstones
These are the big ones. If Bosses are relatively rare, Bosses with Capstone abilities are the most rare of them all. A Boss
with any of these abilities is the single most powerful entity that PCs will likely ever see. A good number of them have de-
scriptions that cross the line separating technology from magic, because their power simply defies all reasonable explana-
tion. Bosses of Power Level 5 or higher are Enemies with powers vast and unknowable, or so inordinarily powerful that
they are on a league of their own. Use Capstones with care, both because they are very powerful, and because you don’t
want your PCs to treat them like a routine challenge.
All Becomes Dust
Internal Upgrade
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend any
amount of Energy to turn all Zones within a number equal
to the amount spent into Withering and Extreme Terrain
until the beginning of your next Turn. You may spare your
own Zone from this effect.
It is the fate of all things to wane and die, but your footsteps
leave only decay behind. Plant life withers, electronics stop
working, and even color itself fades from sight.
Aura of Misfortune
Internal Upgrade
Effect: All Enemy Weapons gain the Overheating ability if
they’re Beams or the Unreliable ability if they’re not. Weap-
ons that already have one of these abilities will gain the
other instead. This effect lasts until you are destroyed.
The mere presence of this Mechabeast causes equipment
to malfunction in horrible ways, always to their benefit.
There has to be some explanation for this, possibly related
to Mechabeast’s relationship with Gravagnium. Alas, it’s a
shame the monster keeps trying to eat everyone, otherwise
it might be possible to figure out how it works.
Colossus
Internal Upgrade
Effect: You occupy 9 Zones in a shape of your choice,
chosen when you take this Capstone. All Zones occupied
by your body count as Extreme Terrain for Enemies in
them. You cannot Engage or be Engaged in a Duel, but all
your Melee Weapons gain an Advantage to their use, and
Shooting Weapons used against you suffer a Disadvantage
to their Might Tests. Abilities that can usually ignore the
effects of Extreme Terrain will not help against you if you
have a similar ability that works in the same kind of Terrain.
Giant robots are huge, yet you make them look like ants.
You could raze a city to the ground in minutes just moving
around, and without having to fire any of your Weapons.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Embodiment of Evil
Internal Upgrade
Effect: Enemies must spend two Genre Points instead of
one to activate Genre Powers. This effect lasts until you are
destroyed.
Your hatred for everything that lives is pure and relentless,
flowing through all of your being. The heroes think they can
face you with their clever plans, dramatic speeches, and
great sacrifices. But you hate them so much that none of
those things will matter.
Energy Drain
Internal Upgrade
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn choose an Enemy.
That enemy loses one half of their available Energy and
you increase your available Energy by that much.
Particularly big Mechabeasts have demonstrated the ability
to make some Gears power down in their presence, tempo-
rarily absorbing a G-Reactors’ output as if it were their own.
Hypersonic Striker
Internal Upgrade
Effect: Anytime you take an Offensive Action, you may also
Move backwards during it. The target must remain within a
valid range after moving. You also increase the Maximum
Range of all your Weapons by 5.
The big flaw of most big bads is that they play fair, pos-
sibly due to some misplaced sense of sportsmanship or a
need to prove themselves. You don’t. You are an infuriating
marksman that will do everything in your power to attack
with impunity, from angles and distances that make return
fire difficult if not impossible.
My Final Masterpiece
Internal Upgrade
Effect: Create a Grunt of Power Level 5 when you take this
Upgrade. At the beginning of your Turn you may deploy this
Grunt one Zone away from you and it shares your Initia-
tive. Should either of you two be destroyed, the other may
spend an Action to resurrect their partner with 1 point of
Threshold left. This will not restore abilities with limited use
like Support Upgrades or One-Shot Weapons.
Your last work of art is the most beautiful yet, both perfect
servant and your lifeline to this mortal coil in one. Truly, you
are God among mortals.
105
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Possession
Internal Upgrade
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 5
Energy and choose one Enemy. The Enemy must use an
Offensive Action against one of their Allies using one of
their Default Weapons. You make all corresponding choices
and may force the target to Move as part of this attack, but
not to spend Genre Points. This takes place immediately
and does not use up the chosen Enemy’s next Turn.
You emit a pulse of strange energy that engulfs an enemy
temporarily in what can only be described as a shifting pat-
tern of colors. Victims will temporarily lose control of them-
selves while they feel they are being watched by an un-
countable number of presences, all yearning to keep their
new toys for a little while longer.
106
The Ultimate Shield
Internal Upgrade
Effect: At the beginning of your Turn you may spend 2
Energy to increase your Defense by 10 until the beginning
of your next Turn. This counts as an Active Defense.
This Mechabeast can rearrange the configuration of carbon
atoms along its whole form, transforming its skin into gra-
phene and making it as hard as diamond.
Tyrant of Lost Souls
Internal Upgrade
Effect: Whenever an Allied NPC is defeated, you re-
store an amount of Threshold equal to their Power Rat-
ing. Threshold that would exceed your maximum amount
instead deals the surplus in Damage to an Enemy of your
choice.
The fall of each of your loyal minions only strengthens you
further, their faithful souls only too willing to serve you one
last time. Their angry spirits will turn on those who try to
put them out of their misery by lashing out one last time
against the fools who oppose you.
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

Allied Reinforcements Using Reinforcements

The Allied Reinforcement rules are there to facilitate having
NPCs helping out the PCs in battle. Maybe you want to
design a large battle with several Grunt and Rival NPCs
on both sides. Or perhaps you just want to have a safety
blanket in case the PCs are near defeat and in need of
assistance. Usually you’d have to write up a bunch of NPC
statblocks and then give them individual Turns during com-
bat. These rules simplify the process greatly..
Reinforcements are an amalgamation of all NPC forces
allied to the PCs bundled up as one Reinforcement Unit. If
there are multiple NPCs helping the cast of PCs out, they’ll
have to take turns sharing the narrative spotlight. This Unit
has a single pool of Reinforcement Points that represents
its combat strength, which goes down through the course of
an Operation.
A Reinforcement Unit has a Reinforcement Level that is es-
sentially its equivalent of Power Level for PCs. Their Power
Level determines how many Reinforcement Points they get,
as described below.
Reinforcement Power Levels
Level 0: Protect the VIP (8 Reinforcement Points)
Reinforcements of this level provide minimum assistance.
They’re very vulnerable and need the PCs to be actively
protecting them in order to survive.
Level 1: Conventional Forces (12 Reinforcement
Points)
Comparable in power to a well-organized fighting force
without Mechas of their own. These Reinforcements lack
raw power and versatility, but can come in useful if they use
their abilities intelligently.
Level 2: Elite Mook (16 Reinforcement Points)
Equivalent in narrative power to a Grunt Unit, these Rein-
forcements are strong enough to tilt an even match in the
PC’s favor.
Reinforcements can be deployed on the battlefield but they
can also support from outside of it, because the ranges
of all their Powers extend to the whole battlefield. If you
deploy them, they can be targeted by enemies and provide
a distraction to draw fire away from the PCs. If you don’t
deploy them, they’re safe from attacks but can’t protect
the PCs as much. You can give Reinforcements a single
stationary body to represent an armed fortress, many small
bodies to represent a multitude of named allied Mecha
pilots or keep them off the battlefield to represent remote
support from far away.
Reinforcements have their own Initiative always set at
20, thus moving before most of the other combatants get
their own Turns. They have a list of Reinforcement Powers
to use during their own Turns, many of which cost Rein-
forcement Points to use. Using a Reinforcement Power is
an Action, and they can Move up to 5 Zones with each
Action taken.
Their Defense is of 10 and they lose Reinforcement
Points when Damaged instead of Threshold. If they
ever need to roll a Test, consider all their Attributes to be
5. Reinforcements with multiple bodies are only affected
once by Blasts, Extreme Terrain and other area of effect
hazards. Reinforcements are unaffected by abilities that
would destroy Threshold Levels, restore Threshold points,
or anything to do with Energy.
When a Reinforcement Unit is reduced to 0 Reinforce-
ment Points, either because of Damage or because
they’ve spent the last of them, it is removed from the
battlefield. Maybe they’ve retreated, maybe they’ve sacri-
ficed themselves to protect the PCs, maybe they’re just out
of ammo. It depends on what makes sense for the narra-
tive.

Level 3: Friendly Rival (20 Reinforcement Points)

As the narrative equivalent of facing another full-blown
Rival NPC, these Reinforcements make great allies for the
PCs.

Level 4: The Cavalry (24 Reinforcement Points)

These Reinforcements are so powerful narratively that
they’re the equivalent of having a squad of Rivals, an army
of Grunts, or even your own Boss NPC as an Ally.

Level 5: Deus Ex Machina (28 Reinforcement Points)

The Reinforcements are overwhelmingly powerful and vic-
tory is all but assured to PCs that have them on their side.

107
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Reinforcement Powers
Reinforcement Units start with three Reinforcement
Powers available to them at Level 0 and gain one more
Power with each Level. If you want to balance combat
around their presence and to include more enemies to
compensate for how much Reinforcements help the PCs,
then consider a Reinforcement Unit’s Power Rating
equal to that of PCs of the corresponding Power Level.
A Reinforcement Unit of Power Level 2 would have a total
of five Reinforcement Powers and 16 Reinforcement Points
to use them with.
Reinforcements must balance the Powers they use with the
Damage they expect to take... Unless they’re not present
on the battlefield. Those can just use them with abandon
and say they’ve run out of ammo when they hit 0 or simply
stay at 1 Point to continue helping with 0-cost Powers until
the battle finally ends.
You can create and control the Reinforcement Unit yourself
as the GM, but consider giving the other Players a say in
their abilities or even to let them control the Reinforcements
themselves as a group. This way their side feel a tight-knit
fighting unit.
You can even have a Player who specifically is in charge
of Reinforcements, but doesn’t have a Mecha of their
own. This creates the possibility of having a Player who
participates in combat without having to use the regular
Operation rules, thus engaging with a lighter version of the
game’s ruleset and necessitating a lot less investment on
their end. It’s a great way to include an additional Player as
a guest star or a recurring (but inconsistently present) ally.
108
Reading Reinforcement Powers
Reinforcement Power Name
Reinforcement Point Cost
Effect: This is what the Reinforcement Power does.
Like Genre Powers, Reinforcement Powers are actions
rather than individual traits or skills. Their flavor text entries
are examples of them in use rather than abstract descrip-
tions of what they represent.
Barrage Fire
Cost: 0 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: One Enemy takes an amount of Damage equal to
the current Tension.
Apollo and Roberta stayed behind the rest of the team
taking potshots at the enemy from cover. They knew they
were not ace pilot material and never pretended otherwise.
Their job was to support Lt. Fourier from the safety of the
backline to the best of their ability and not die in the pro-
cess. Nothing more.
Distracting Charge
Cost: 0 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: One Enemy is forced to spend their next Action at-
tacking the Reinforcements. This ability has no effect if the
Enemy couldn’t possibly target the Reinforcements during
their Turn.
When Lt. Fourier was pinned by the Gilgangar, Apollo and
Roberta both immediately jumped out of cover to charge at
the enemy ace. They’d successfully tackled the Gilgangar
off their comrade, but now he’d set his sights on them. This
heroic act might cost them their lives.
Combat Scanner
Cost: 1 Reinforcement Point.
Effect: Choose one Enemy. The PCs learn that Enemy’s
Attributes, Upgrades, Weapons and Genre Powers.
The supercomputer’s analysis finished, Luli relayed what
she found out from examinig the enemy’s defenses.
“Athena says Beam weaponry has a 99.4% chance of be-
ing absorbed. Use ordinary munitions instead.”
Formation G
Cost: 1 Reinforcement Point.
Effect: One PC gains the benefit of the Aim Action and
their Weapon gains the Crippling ability for their next Of-
fensive Action.
Quadran and Lea trailed behind Meltrania as she gave her
orders. “This is Wyvern 1, I’m going in! Wyvern 2 and 3,
cover me!” Both of them started providing cover fire im-
mediately. “Aye aye ma’am.” “Let’s give ‘em the good ol’
Wyvern Strike!” with their help, Meltrania closed in on the
enemy and carved them up into scrap metal.
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

I’ll Grant you Power Confusion in the Ranks

Cost: 2 Reinforcement Point.
Effect: One PC gains a single Genre Point.
Through the telepathic bond that both of them shared, Tina
shared her ESP foresight with Garret. “I see it now... Yeah,
got ‘em!” Suddenly he could see the enemy’s attacks like a
flash in his own head, making it so much easier to dodge.
Raise the Shields
Cost: 2 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: Increase the Defense of one PC by 10 until the
beginning of your next Turn.
Minako had been waiting for this moment. She and her
exosuit squad weren’t much help in a straight fight be-
tween mechs... Ordinarily. This time, her side had the home
field advantage. She had placed a myriad of mecha-scale
forcefield projectors around the battlefield and cackled with
glee every time she remotely sprung one up to frustrate the
enemy’s plans. This is what those zealots get for underesti-
mating her and her men.
Focus Fire
Cost: 3 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: One Enemy takes an amount of Damage equal to 5
plus the current Tension.
The exosuit squad had been lying in wait. They would only
get one shot at this, more than that would be pushing their
luck. Right after the allied mecha team led the enemy into
the designated killzone, Minako gave out the order. “All
units, fire on the enemy Mechabeast!” A dozen men armed
with rocket launchers and other anti-mech weapons fired at
the same time, making the giant monster’s legs buckle and
bleed. They had grievously wounded it. It was not enough
damage to kill it on its own, but it would help their side
secure a victory.
Cost: 3 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: All Enemies lose the benefits of Tension until the
beginning of your next Turn.
The enemy’s communications and sensory systems had
gone entirely dark. They now had to rely on what they
could see from their cockpits and yell at each other with
loudspeakers in order to communicate. Liliana reclined in
her captain’s chair. The Digital Pixie, that’s what they called
her. She didn’t mind it much. She saw herself as more of a
technowitch, but Pixies were cute.
Carry our Hopes
Cost: 4 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: One Ally can take an additional Action during their
next Turn.
Hiro’s Granlion and the Pi Avatar had been trading blows
for a while now, either of them could collapse at any time.
Hiro threw one last punch... But it wasn’t enough. He was
done for. He didn’t have any more energy left in him to
keep fighting. But then he heard everyone’s voices, calling
out for him to not give up, to finish this, to be the hero they
needed. With a shout that emptied out the air in his lungs,
he got one more punch in before his enemy could hit him
back. The Pi Avatar stumbled back, tried to recompose
itself one more time... And collapsed on its back. It was
over at last.
Live!
Cost: 4 Reinforcement Points.
Effect: Restore a PC’s Threshold by 10 points.
“Release the Engineers!-” said President T, with a dramatic
gesture and pose to go with it. “-They will be the Key to Vic-
tory!” What launched out of G-Base was a large crowd of
flying repair drones, who proceeded to weld, reattach and
otherwise put back together the broken Drakes.

REINFORCEMENTS NEED PROTECTION

Reinforcement Units have low defensive stats and their better abilities cost them points from their own health pool to use.
As a result, they do not handle focus fire, or really any kind of fire, particularly well. To get the most out of them during
Operations, you must plan around their vulnerability in one of the three following ways:

The simplest and most obvious solution is to just not put them on the battlefield and have them support from behind the
front lines. If you do this, consider making them one or two PLs lower than they would otherwise be, to rebalance them
around the fact they won’t be getting attacked.

The second method is to have all but one or two antagonists prioritize targeting the PCs over the Reinforcement Unit. This
is less interesting from a tactical gameplay standpoint but still makes enough sense narratively. By having a pair of Grunts
or one Rival gun for the vulnerable Reinforcement Unit, you add an element of uncertainty to their safety while still letting
them contribute to the battle.

The third and most involved option is for the GM to inform the Players that the Reinforcements are fragile and in need of
protection, to make guarding them an actual mission objective. This is the most interesting option with the most potential
for fun intersections of narrative and gameplay but it also changes the dynamic of Operations from an all-out brawl be-
tween two sides to a series of escort missions.

All three of these methods work well regardless of whether the GM or the Players are in control of the Reinforcement Unit.

109
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW

Troubleshooting Tension Modifiers

Abilities that modify Tension temporarily will affect the
whole Offensive Action. Impetuous Style will boost the
Straight Lines
Damage from Chainblade but also make Overheating
If you’re using a hex board or treating Zones as a fixed
Weapons more dangerous. Multiple Tension modifiers are
distance in meters you should have no problem with the
applied consecutively to the previous total, so if you are us-
few Weapons that shoot in straight lines. If you are using
ing a Technique and my Style is Impetuous, you treat Ten-
a chess board then shooting in a diagonal line is more
sion as if it were 8 points higher. But be careful, because if
debatable. In the interest of not breaking immersion, the
you get hit with Can’t let you do That, it gets reduced all the
line does not need to be perfectly horizontal, vertical or
way to 0 and no other modifiers can change that.
diagonal—just trace a line between you and the target then
affect all touched Zones.
Damage Modifiers
Like with Tension, multiple modifiers will stack together. Un-
The Beginning of a Turn
like with Tension, abilities that halve Damage always apply
Abilities that have an effect at the Beginning of a Turn
at the end of a calculation. So if you get hit for 1 Damage
only trigger once per Turn, thus Commander Type may be
with a Chainblade’s Might Test and then take 3 Bonus
activated only once each given Turn. If there are multiple
Damage from its on-hit effect then the total Damage dealt
effects about to happen, the order is decided by the owner
gets halved to 2.
of the Unit whose Turn it is. You can use Regenerative or
Anti-Gravity before Extreme Terrain kicks in, for example.
Forced Movement and Suppression
Bonus Damage from the Suppression Action or a Crippling
Innate Melee/Shooting Advantages
Weapon requires the subject to willingly make a Move.
Melee Weapons are stronger while Dueling, but they also
Subpilots using the Boost Action will trigger this Damage,
gain an extra Advantage when someone else is dueling
but being forced to Move while in a Duel will not.
the target. Aiming with a Shooting Weapon will grant two
Advantages, but Aiming for multiple Turns does not provide
stacking bonuses. Overlaid Terrain Modifiers
Abilities that turn existing Zones into a specific Terrain type
don’t override its current properties. This means that if you
Weapon Effect Layering
aim Incinerator at Defensive Terrain, the result will be a
When Weapons cause special effects, these always take
Zone that is both Defensive and Extreme Terrain. Also do
place after the Might Test itself. That means Finger Net
remember that multiple instances of the same Terrain type
lowers Guard and Speed after its attack resolves and after
can stack.
calculating the Damage dealt. Chainblade resolves its
Might Test first then creates another instance of Damage.
Some of these abilities will affect targets whether they are Blasts, Lines and Friendly Fire
hit or not (like Bombardment), but still happen after the Allies caught in the area of effect of a Blast or Line Weap-
Might Test. on will always be attacked. The only way to spare them is
to exclude the Zone they are occupying from the area of
effect with Expert Support.
Anti-Maiming Exceptions
When an ability changes the way the Maim rules work for
you, it only does so for your External Areas. Expansion Blasts and Targeting
Packs remain broken even if you have Invincible Alloy or You can target empty Zones as the center of your area of
Power Suit. Speaking of which, Invincible Alloy works fine effect Weapons if you so wish, in case that makes it easier
with Power Suit, but Integrated Weapons does nothing. for you to avoid friendly fire or maximize the amount of
Enemies hit. When you Aim with an area of effect Weap-
on, you can focus on one Unit or you can aim it at a set of
Escaping from Duelists
Zones as well, either works, but do keep in mind that the
With Duelist Model you get a free attack against Enemies
latter basically tells all Enemies to get out of the area ASAP.
that use the Disengage Action, but not if they use other
If you are in a Duel, you must target your Duel opponent
methods to escape. Slippery Chassis lets them just walk
directly (or their Zone), else will get a free attack on you.
away, for example. Units forced to move (such as those hit
with Telekinetic Strike) don’t trigger the free attack either.
If you have Slippery Chassis, you can also use Boosted Component Units with Upgrades
Lance to charge out of a Duel. As a component in a Super Combination you grant both
your Internal and External Upgrades to the lead Unit, while
also benefitting from the lead’s Internal Upgrades. Supports
Disengaging after Forcing a Duel to Move
work as normal for their owner, while Extra Areas grant
If you force your Duel opponent to Move, you can’t Move
their effects only to the Lead.
afterwards, not even with Disengage or have Slippery
Chassis. Moving the Engagement is a replacement for your
regular Move for the Turn.

110

Enduring Lethal Damage
Abilities that let you survive lethal Damage don’t block the
special effects of Weapons. This is especially important
for Weapons like Chainblade and Bombardment, because
even if I Cannot be Defeated lets you survive the Might
Test, the bonus Damage they do will defeat you.
Using Genre Powers at the time of Defeat
You can use Genre Powers in response to taking Damage
that Defeats you, but it can’t save you from being Defeat-
ed. This happens even if your third and fourth Levels are
destroyed at the same time. Just remember that your fourth
Level of Threshold does not give you a Genre Point.
Rerolling with Advantages and Disadvantages
There are several abilities that grant or force rerolls (often
specifically for Might Tests) with either an Advantage or a
Disadvantage to the Test. When more than one of these
apply to the same roll, subsequent Tests apply all of the
Advantages and Disadvantages together, not just the
Advantages or Disadvantages from the last ability. So if
you use Try Again on your Might Test and then an Enemy
cuts into it with Not so Fast, the last roll would have one
Disadvantage, not two, since Try Again cancels out the first
Disadvantage from Not so Fast.
When your Threshold is 0
Having a Threshold Attribute of 0 means you’re defeated
the moment you take Damage, period. No amount of In-
vincible Alloys can save you by making you stay alive at 1
point of Threshold left, because you can’t have any points
of Threshold at all. A base Threshold of 0 is the only way to
have a functioning Unit with 0 points of Threshold, because
anyone else at 0 points has all of their Areas Maimed and
is defeated.
Riding Base Units with Terrain Adaptation
While you are Docked within a Base Unit, you are consid-
ered to have all the benefits of Terrain Adaptation Upgrades
that they also have. If the Base Unit is flying, you can shoot
over enemies providing cover. If the Base Unit is on Defen-
sive Terrain from Terrain Specialist, then you also get said
benefit.
Tracing Paths
The line following the path of Lightspeed Assault can go in
any direction, making twists and turns along the way until
its reach in Zones has been spent. It can even make a per-
fect U-turn without spending any further Zones curving.
Moving Through Occupied Zones
You can move through a Zone that is occupied by an Ally,
but you cannot occupy the same space as them at the end
of your Movement. You cannot cross a Zone that is occu-
pied by an Enemy, period.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Halved Resources
When your Energy or Systems are halved, and you have
spent Energy this Turn or Restorations this Operation, it
doesn’t take points from resources you haven’t yet spent
when possible. This means that if you have 6 Systems and
Power Suit, use two Restorations and then your Systems
is halved from a Head Maim, you still have 3 Restorations
left. Likewise, if you have 4 Energy and Transform (using 2
Energy) to a Form with Extreme Fortification, your available
Energy is 2—you did not actually lose anything!
Restoring halved Attributes to normal.
Whenever you have multiple debuffs to your Attributes halv-
ing them more than once, any abilities that restore them to
normal will completely remove all debfufs at once. Other
effects of the abilities that caused those effects remain in
place, however, thus something like Electromagnetic Deto-
nator still causes Damage per Energy point spent.
Targeting Debuffs and Blasts
Pulling Field, Targeting Disruption and Marked for Death af-
fect Tests that do not have the user as the target. Burst and
Line Weapons just have to include the user within the area
of effect, but Blast Weapons will need to center the Weap-
on’s area of effect on the user to avoid the Disadvantages.
Vertical Forced Movement
Abilities like Gravity Knuckle or Gravity Manipulators can’t
knock Enemies into the air or force flying ones to land.
Number of Combiner Components
Super Combination and Invincible Super Combination work
with any number and combination of components, you
don’t need four components to power up a different Area
each. You can have component Units for the Legs and
Arms but not the Torso, or two components for the Arm—
each representing a different limb.
Portals and Targeting
When you move through a portal created with Portal Gen-
erator and attack an Enemy with the same Action, it is fine
to Move away from your target on the way to the portal as
long as going through it still takes you in their direction.
Deciding the use of Advantages
When you roll using Advantages (and Disadvantages),
all dice are rolled at the same time. This means you must
choose whether to roll two dice and pick one or add a +2
before the roll. If you forget one or more of them, apply
them later as a +2 to the rolled number (or as a penalty, if
using Disadvantages).
Stacking Suppress
You can stack multiple instances of Suppression on the
same target as long as they’re coming from different
sources.
111
 CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Mind Reading and Maiming
If you have an ability that can temporarily negate the ef-
fects of Maiming, you can call your next Action in response
to I Can Read Your Every Move to use a Maimed ability.
Obviously, you must activate whatever Anti-Maim you have
in order to actually use the ability you called out.
The Specifics of Mind Reading
I Can Read Your Every Move and Combat Profiling function
a bit like the Delay Action for the person who must answer
their question. They don’t need to specify exactly what they
do, they just have to state the kind of Action chosen. If they
choose the Attack Action, it doesn’t matter who they target
or which Weapon they use. But if they try to use a different
Action, even a similar one like Suppress or Engage, they
will lose Genre Points.
Aim Requirements
You must have line of sight to Aim at someone or to sustain
your Aiming at them. They don’t have to be in reach of your
attack, you just have to be able to see them.
Aiming and Weapon Resources
Aiming does not consume Energy. Or Oneshots. Or Tech-
niques or Slow or pretty much anything that matters.
Remotes and Duels
Remote Weapons will never attack their owner while in a
Duel. Furthermore, if you are in a Duel and use them to
attack a different Enemy, you do not trigger an Offensive
Action. Both of these rules also apply to you if your Remote
is in a Duel and you are the one attacking.
Attacks of Opportunity
Offensive Actions from Duels and Duelist Model all take
place immediately, before the Enemy that triggered them
gets to finish their Action. For Duels this means they don’t
get to Attack until you do first. In the case of Duelist Model,
it happens before they Move. This can potentially destroy
or Maim them so that they can’t finish the triggering Action.
Come at Me Bro does not have this benefit as its extra
attack takes place after the opponent finishes their own
Action.
Subpilots and Terrain
Subpilots trigger Terrain effects just like lead pilots do.
Extreme Terrain will cause Damage and Withering Terrain
will drain Energy.
Zigzagging with Boosted Lance
The Movement done when attacking with Boosted Lance
does not have to be in a straight line, but only the straight
line leading up to the attack roll (and potentially past the
enemy) will be accounted for bonus Damage purposes.
112
Double Blaster has two targets
If you Aim a Double Blaster, the bonus is vs both targets. If
you’re in a Duel, you’re fine as long as your duel opponent
is one of the two targets.
Huge Enemies and AoEs/Terrain
Giant Enemies only trigger Terrain once, even if they oc-
cupy multiple Zones with Extreme or Withering Terrain.
Blasts, Bursts and Lines also only affect them once even if
multiple Zones with their body are targeted
Timing your Active Defenses
You only have to commit to using an Active Defense after
the Enemy has already made their roll. Having said that,
the GM doesn’t have to let you know of any on-hit effects
until after you’ve already decided whether to use it or not.
Transparency is recommended to establish good lines of
communication between all parties, but a GM who really
wants to surprise their Players this way is allowed to do it.
Weapons that take three Turns
When using a Weapon like Macrowave Cannon or Final
Beam you spend one Action charging up the cannon, a
second Action firing it, and must skip your third Action. You
may Move as part of the process in the first two Actions.
You don’t skip your third Turn, just your third Action, this
means that you still regenerate Energy and trigger things
such as Extreme Terrain.
Synchro Attack
When performing a Synchro Attack, all units involved must
spend 1 Genre Point but do not need to delay their actions
to attack all at the same time. The initiator alone gets an
Advantage for each participant, and only the initiator carries
out the Synchro Attack. The other participants skip their
next Actions. They still get Turns, so they still regen Energy,
trigger Extreme Terrain, etc.
Characters Recovering from Defeat
Defeated Characters recover from unconsciousness (or
whatever condition incapacitated them) when the layer of
Plot Armor that they failed the roll is restored through a
Heal Test or it heals naturally.
Blasts, Bursts, Lines and Impassable Terrain
Impassable Terrain will protect people on the other side
from area of effect attacks. If someone is flying over
Impassable Terrain, Impassable Terrain does not provide
cover.
Slippery Chassis vs Crippling Weapons
You do not take the extra Damage from Crippling weapons
when you Move with Slippery Chassis.

Damage to the Core
All Damage exceeding the fourth Level of Threshold will
directly be dealt to the pilot along with the Core. Once
Damage destroys the Core, further Damage is doubled
(which is what happens to regular characters under attack
from Mecha).
Take One for the Team and AoEs
When shielding an Ally from a Blast, Burst, Line or any
other kind of area of effect that also targets you, you take
the Damage for you and them both. The Damage redirect-
ed from shielding your Ally uses their Defense, not yours.
Default Weapons and Genre Powers
Default weapons can be chosen for Genre Powers such as
Signature Weapon and Twin Strike. In the latter case, you
cannot use the same Default Weapon twice.
Remote Weapons and Targeting
Remote Weapons benefit from your Internal Upgrades and
your own personal Buffs. They are considered separate
Units for the purposes of attack targeting, using debuffs, or
abilities that protect Allies such as Shielding Aura.
Deploying Without Frames
If your Mecha has multiple sets of Frames, you can techni-
cally choose to not equip any of them when deploying. This
provides no benefit and is a huge nerf, so you probably
shouldn’t, but the option is there.
Invasive Math
Invasive triggers for each Unit that was done 3 Damage to.
If the NPC deals 1 Damage to three different Units, it does
not trigger. If the NPC deals 3 Damage to one Unit but only
1 to another, only the first loses a Layer of Plot Armor.
Threshold Restoration
Threshold restored during an Operation will always heal
the current level of Threshold first. Any leftover healing will
carry over to the last Maimed Level and restore functional-
ity to that Area. You cannot choose which Area or Level to
heal.
Limit Engine’s Drawback
Limit Engine does not affect any Weapons or special abili-
ties used against you, but it does affect your own abilities
or Terrain effects. So, while Bombardment from Enemies
won’t do additional Damage from your Tension bonuses,
Extreme Terrain will do additional Damage to you.
Taunting While Docked
If you’re Docking and use an ability that penalizes an
Enemy who doesn’t attack you, such as Come at Me Bro
or Pulling Field, the effects instead apply when the Enemy
doesn’t target the Unit you’re Docked inside of. This also
applies if you use the ability first and then Dock.
CHAPTER 4 - RUNNING THE SHOW
Compensating Terrain Specialist’s drawbacks
The negative effects of Terrain Specialist can be nullified
with Omnienvironmental. Anti-Gravity won’t work, as it will
make you airborne which is a different kind of Difficult Ter-
rain for you. Maritime Module and Zero-G Module will work,
however.
Using Shielding Aura with area of effect attacks
Shielding Aura can be used to protect multiple people at
the same time, including you. Just keep in mind that the
limit of one Active Defense per Unit applies, whether they
own said Active Defense or not.
Abilities shared between Alternate Forms
Weapons and upgrades are shared between your forms
unless specifically acquired through Superior Morphing and
assigned to specific forms.
Bypassing Damage Prevention Barriers
Effects that bypass Active Defenses will leave Absolute
and Organic Barrier intact, it will simply be ignored for the
purposes of resolving the attack.
Restorations and Alternate Forms
If one of your forms has Systems 4 and another has Sys-
tems 8, then one has 4 Restorations and another has 8. If
you switch in the middle of battle, you lose the Restorations
that you have ‘spent’ on the form with the most Restora-
tions first.
Bosses and Features
Even if they don’t have any MP to spend on Upgrades (at
least not without sacrificing other abilities), Bosses can still
take Features meant for PCs and NPCs alike.
Targeting your own zone with Blast Weapons
You may target your own zone (range 0) with a Blast
Weapon. You are not Damaged by the Might Test, but you
are still susceptible to any additional secondary effects.
This lets you use the Weapon in a Duel without triggering a
counterattack.
Reflecting Barrier’s Reflected Damage
Reflecting Barrier always does 3 damage to the attacker
when 2 Energy is spent, regardless of whether the Active
Defense prevented damage from the attack or not.
Proxies in Operations
Superior proxies cannot be used while riding Mecha (and
therefore will not grant an additional layer of Plot Armor
even if they normally would on foot).
Buffing and Protecting Remotes
Your Remotes benefit from buffs to your offense, such as
Tension and Might bonuses, but defensively they count as
separate Units. That means regular Active Defenses won’t
protect them, you need one like Shielding Aura that can be
used to protect others.
113
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
Introductions are in Order
Introductions are in Order is an Episodic (also known as
“one-shot”) scenario for PCs of Power Level 2. It can work
as the opening act of a longer storyline or be a standalone
romp with giant robots. It is written for use with the four
premade PCs at the end of this Chapter, but you can make
your own PCs (or let the group do so) just as well if you
adjust some names and descriptions accordingly.
The scenario has two different versions; Full Narrative
and Combat Only, with two difficulty settings; Tutorial and
Challenging. Full Narrative is a longer and more charac-
ter-driven experience meant to immerse the players in their
roles. Combat Only is for a quick trial of the ruleset’s main
attraction - the mecha combat. The Tutorial difficulty is, as
the name suggests, for groups that are trying out Battle
Century G for the first time and need some help with learn-
ing the ropes. Challenging is for groups that don’t want the
GM to leave the training gloves on, even if it means poten-
tially losing in the process.
Episode Summary
The crew of the battleship Soaring Dragon is putting togeth-
er a team of Gear pilots to field-test Steel Dragon Indus-
tries’ new line of mechs. The PCs, four complete strangers
of various talents and personalities, were chosen as the
most appropriate for the job. After introductions are made, a
surprise enemy attack sees the PCs deploying for a trial by
fire in their first mission together.
The plot is very basic and there are no Intermission Tests
at all. The Scenario is mostly a platform for players to
have fun roleplaying their characters for a bit while they go
“Wow, cool robot!” until the enemy forces them to scramble.
If you intend to run a longer campaign of Battle Century G,
this kind of simple introductory session is a great starting
point, because it focuses on the two most important parts of
a good BCG game, which is the characters and the com-
bat. In future sessions you can introduce them to the rest
of the rules, maybe even put them through an Intermission
fight or two. All that good stuff.
At least, that’s for the Full Narrative version. If you’re in
this for the giant robot combat and don’t care about silly
things like “plot”, “worldbuilding” or “characterization” then
none of what is written above is relevant. The Combat Only
version of Introductions are in Order is a simple brawl that
starts with the PCs being told they have run into enemies
and must defeat them all to win. There won’t even be any
secondary objectives in that version, so as to not distract
from what everyone is here for.
114
114
Other Preparations
This Scenario includes four premade PCs you can share
with the other Players to make things easier. These come
not just with everything they need to function ruleswise but
also with their own motivations, backstories and playing
advice. If you require additional PCs or anyone would like
to make their own, you can use those four as guides.
You may have noticed said PCs are also lending their
names (and those of their Gears) to many of the Genre
Powers in the rules. You can point the players to those if
they’d like some additional bits of inspiration for portraying
them. These bits of flavor text are just examples of how
the characters can act though, they’re not “canonical” and
should not be treated like fixed historical events. They’re
mere illustrative examples, they’re not meant to restrict
anyone’s roleplaying experience.
You don’t need to know the fine details of the game’s set-
ting to run this Scenario or to make PCs. If anyone has
any questions about it, you can just make something up
that sounds cool. The “plot” of the Scenario is very simple
and can be adjusted to nearly any circumstance in which a
team meeting for the first time has to jump into the cockpit.
Battle Century G is so easy to reskin that you can simply
make up your own lore and replace everything you’ve read
about Synchronizers and Gravagnium with your own termi-
nology and it’ll work out pretty well.
Having said all of that, the Scenario is written with a
specific worldbuilding and lore in mind. You’ll get a more
consistent experience if you’re all onboard for the official
Battle Century G Remastered setting. The next two pages
have a summary of the game’s own fictional universe in
case anyone’s up for some light reading about an optimistic
solarpunk future with giant robots.
You can tell the group to read the two pages in advance,
print the pages and hand them out before the session, or
summarize the parts you find interesting for them. Do what-
ever you find most convenient, up to and including saying
“Screw the lore, I just want to make the robots punch each
other.” That’s why this Scenario comes in Full Narrative and
Combat Only versions, after all.
The complete setting is included in the full version of Battle
Century G Remastered. You can find further tidbits of lore
in the various flavor text entries of this manual, if you’d like
to get a further taste of the world and its lore.
While reading the Scenario you’ll find gray boxes like this
one with text in italics. These sections have in-character
descriptions of places, events and dialogue.
You can read them out loud, copy-paste them into your
roleplaying server’s chatroom, paraphrase or summarize
them however you see fit.

Background Information
The setting of Battle Century G Remastered is a solarpunk future that takes place in the post-post-apocalypse. The world
ended a long time ago, but is well on its way to recovery. The game presents an optimistic, inclusive and environmentalist
society opposed against an expanding industrialist empire.
The world is suited for both lighthearted games where straightforward good heroes fight against obviously evil villains as
well as more serious affairs exploring transhumanist and environmentalist themes. It depends on what you and your group
want to roleplay.
Two Thousand Years in the Future.
After the apocalyptic event known as the Collapse rendered
the planet uninhabitable, humans hid within underground
shelters called Arks to survive. Nature has reclaimed the
world from civilization since then. The greatest capitals of
the world have been reduced to piles of stone; Taken over
by dense jungles, sunk beneath the waves or become in-
distinguishible grains of sand in vast deserts. Only a hand-
ful of landmarks built by human hands still stand. Places
like Mount Rushmore, the Great Wall and the Pyramids re-
main recognizable, though eroded by the passage of time.
The Planet has Changed.
The Earth is a warmer planet now, with higher sea levels
and harsher weather. Entire ecosystems have changed;
many flora and fauna have become either outright danger-
ous or highly invasive pests. Most fearsome of all are the
Mechabeasts, biomechanical monsters hostile to human
life, which make their homes in massive, city-sized colonies
of Gravagnium, a fungus with potent energy and medicinal
applications. It’s a lush, green world out there...but also a
hostile one, which humans must learn to adapt to in order
to survive.
CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
Gravagnium’s Many Applications.
The Gravagnium fungus is the most important natural re-
source in this era and is crucial to humanity’s survival. The
fungus naturally produces crystals, known as Element G. It
can be transformed into G-Reactors to provide power and
its networks can be used for and instant communications
or even matter transmission. Element G can also have
profound biological applications: it can be refined into a
drug called Glow, which can grant humans psychic abilities
such as precognition, telepathy and telekinesis. It can also
be used in the manipulation of Gravagnium to create fungal
symbionts which can be used to engineer and direct the
growth of human embryos, granting them powerful physi-
cal augmentations, from regeneration to metamorphosis.
These enhanced humans, known as Mycotypes, Mycos or
Mikes, can even bond with tamed, lab-grown Mechabeasts
to steer them from within. These Mechabeasts think of their
mycotypal humans as family and are very similar in func-
tion to regular mechs, they just have different origins and
sometimes different specializations.
The New Weapons of this Era.
First designed to explore the wilderness, the power armor
Exosuits of Steel Dragon Industries were then upgraded
and repurposed to be used in security against Mecha-
beasts and outlaws. While Exosuits still see use these
days, those who want the best protection available employ
Gears, mechs between six and ten meters tall. Gears use
an advanced control interface known as Synchronizer,
which lets the pilot move the suit as if it were an extension
of their own body. Additionally, Gravagnium technology
allows gravitational manipulation, which can be used for
offense, defense and mobility to let these giant humans fly,
deflect projectiles and many more incredible feats.
115
115
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

A Faction-driven Game
Battle Century G differs from most roleplaying games in that the PCs need a support structure behind them. In most other
games, the PCs are individuals who might even be constantly traveling around the world without any lasting relationships,
but that’s not possible when your characters are riding giant robots. Mecha need a lot of logistical support, and every
group of PCs needs to have one or more NPCs to help them fix, resupply and transport their robots. Said NPCs also need
food, housing and payment for their work, which means that the group gets even larger.

I say Battle Century G is “Faction-driven” because the PCs are, almost always, part of a greater organization that sup-
ports them. The PCs might have signed up as pilots for ideological reasons or simply because it was the only job they
could get. But they won’t be fighting alone, which is why it’s important to figure out who they’re aligned with. By default,
the PCs belong to the Solar Grid, but they could be Frontiermen or even part of the Holy Technocracy. These groups, plus
another “faction” consisting almost entirely of monsters, are described below:

Factions of the World

The Solar Grid.
Founded by the direct descendants of the people who cre-
ated the Arks, the Grid is the largest group of settlements
on Earth, and reflects the values of its founders. Thus they
seek to minimize ecological damage and prioritize biologi-
cal research over weapons development. As their settle-
ments were built on top of the infrastructure and equipment
of the last remaining functional Ark, in the beginning they
had no realistic challengers, and many groups and settle-
ments that originally diverged from them converted to their
way of life again over the years. This would change at the
beginning of the second half of the century.
The Frontiermen.
When people emerged from the Arks to colonize the
surface, they scattered as far as they could reach without
much organization. This resulted, predictably, in a chaotic
era during which might made right. While many of these
colonies would eventually join with other factions, just as
many would choose to remain independent. The people
who continue to live their wild west way of life call them-
selves Frontiermen. Frontiermen territory is very dangerous
to trawl, full of raiders and Mechabeasts. Some of their
lands are full of merchants and mercenaries who might do
business with the Grid, while others are insular pockets of
civilization in the middle of nowhere.
The Holy Technocracy.
One day, a group of Frontiermen settling on the remains
of another Ark announced their “discovery” of an Artificial
Intelligence from the past called Deus Machina and found-
ed the Holy Technocracy to live under its guidance. Deus
Machina is the Technocracy’s living god, teaching them the
old world’s way of life and recreating its lost technologies.
The Grid and the remaining Frontiermen were, at first, in-
terested in being on their good side to reap the fruits of said
technologies. This changed when the Technocracy started
annexing Frontiermen settlements, kidnapping their citizens
and brainwashing them into zealous worshippers of Deus
Machina. The Holy Technocracy desires nothing less than
to take over the world and they have the terrifying technol-
ogy to force anyone into agreeing with them.
Mechabeast Plagues.
The Mechabeasts are cybernetic beings hostile to hu-
mans that can be found anywhere that Gravagnium grows,
which is all the world’s forests. The Mechabeasts have a
symbiotic relationship with the Gravagnium fungus, often
‘spawning’ from the earth itself when the blooms they live in
are threatened or damaged, which includes the harvesting
of Element G. Even after the Solar Grid stopped harvest-
ing Gravagnium blooms (and instead started growing their
own, Mechabeast-free colonies) the Technocracy continues
to pluck natural Gravagnium, drawing out Mechabeasts
that attack everyone in equal measure. Over the years,
what first were small swarms of cyborgs have given way to
megafauna armed with energy weapons. There is no telling
how powerful they’ll grow if provoked further, and many fear
the Mechabeasts would wipe out humanity if they were to
go all-out.

116
116
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

Themes and Aesthetics

The themes and aesthetics are different from the lore in that, while the lore gives you the facts, the themes and aesthetics
give you the feelings behind said facts. If the lore is the skeleton, the themes are the musculature and the aesthetics are
the surface-level traits.

To put it another way, they’re what makes Battle Century G feel unique. A Mecha setting several thousand years in the fu-
ture with antagonists both human and monstrous is not exactly an innovative concept. Its the other bits of the setting that
make it stand out. This means that you can change the setting to be radically different just by removing or rewriting a few
of the narrative elements described below. Change the “Heroism” theme for “Gray Morality” and “Super Robot Action” for
“War is Hell” and you’ve got a radically different game. You don’t even need to reskin any Upgrades or Weapons to make
that change, you just have to sell the fighting as a horrible and dehumanizing tragedy where everyone is human instead of
making the baddies over-the-top evil while focusing on how cool the robots are.

Themes of the Setting Aesthetics of the Setting

Heroism: This is a game of Big Heroes vs Big Villains.
Humanity is at war with itself and with the planet. The Holy
Technocracy brainwash people, ruin the land and chew
the scenery while doing it. To make matters worse, Mecha-
beast plagues attack both sides with a vast and seemingly-
infinite army that cannot be stopped or reasoned with. The
PCs and their allies are the only ones who can fight against
both of these threats on equal footing.
Transhumanism: Humans must evolve and adapt to the
new era in order to overcome its challenges. The Holy
Technocracy want humans to fuse with machines and view
the uploading of their brains to the Valhalla Network as
heaven on Earth. The Solar Grid uses genetic engineering
to create Mycotypes, humans better suited to this harsher
world. While traditionalists still exist, old humanity is on the
way out. Some fear that humanity may become unrecog-
nizable by the many changes it is going through, others
embrace the potential brought by said changes.
Environmentalism: The worldwide catastrophe known as
the Collapse pushed humanity to the brink of extinction two
thousand years ago. To avoid repeating the mistakes of the
past, the Solar Grid wants to protect the environment and
stop the development of WMDs as much as possible. The
Holy Technocracy sees things differently and their rapid
industrialization and colonization of the planet has made
the Mechabeasts grow in ferocity and size, like a force of
nature determined to stop humanity’s encroachment of the
planet. To prevent another Collapse, humans must make
peace with the Mechabeasts, stopping the Technocracy by
force if necessary.
Solarpunk Future: The cities of the Grid are beautiful,
clean and green. You won’t find homeless people going
hungry in the streets, and people there are socially con-
scious. If you’re wondering what’s “Punk” about that, it’s
because Solarpunk is the odd child in the -punk genre
family. It posits that, since grim and dark dystopias with
rapid technological advance have mainstream appeal now,
they’re no longer counter-cultural critiques of modern soci-
ety. Solarpunk goes in the opposite direction, presenting a
hopeful vision of a future that scales back on the lawless,
individualist and consumerist use of technology present in
other genres, most notably Cyberpunk.
Super Robot Action: While much of the worldbuilding pur-
posefully reduces technology to its practical uses instead
of making it seem fun, the giant robots are just plain cool.
The point of the system is the mech fights, and those are
as flashy as they can be. If the enemy is a giant monster
that regenerates from any wound, you can shoot a beam so
large and so powerful that it vaporizes them instantly or you
can hammer them with so much force you send them down
to the magma layer where they melt down. During combat,
you are not just allowed but encouraged to turn off the real-
ism and go by rule of cool, as a treat.
Moments of Beauty: Life can be hard and cruel, but it can
also be beautiful. Characters in Battle Century G are under
intense pressure to protect their loved ones, and they will
have to make tough choices and suffer great losses all the
same. But it’s not the epic life-or-death struggles to save
the world that keep them going, nor it’s the fame and pres-
tige they will earn from doing so. What keeps them going,
what gives them life, are the little things like staring at the
night sky with their significant other, finding a nice book that
they can lose themselves into or cooking a good meal to
share with friends that make life beautiful.

117
117
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
First Meetings
The PCs, all able Gear pilots with varying degrees of expe-
rience and accolades to their name, are being introduced to
each other for the first time. Share the following introducto-
ry text (either by reading it or using copy and paste if you’re
playing by text) with the group:
It’s a warm, yet breezy morning. A good day as any to be-
gin your new job as a test pilot for the newest and flashiest
Gears—that’s the term they use for their mechs—of Steel
Dragon Industries. The four of you are gathered outside the
base’s mech bay, where a portly, middle-aged man with a
dusky complexion and thick eyebrows greets you with a re-
laxed smile. His uniform bears the markings of an ace pilot,
but he wears the jacket open, casually playing it down. He
is carrying a folder in one hand.
“Hey kids—” he seems like the type that would call anyone
kids regardless of their age “—I’m your executive officer,
my name is Ioseph, but you may call me Io or Coach. It’s
what I’m most used to. I’m gonna show you to your Gears
now, you guys met each other yet?”
This is the prompt for the other players to start talking,
make their introductions and the such. He wants them to
feel at ease around him, to get to know each other and to
gauge their interest in their job as test pilots. Depending on
how much conversation they’re up for, he mightask them
what expectations they have and how excited they are
about it or just hurry everyone on to the next scene.
Studious or older PCs (like Akishiro and Charlotte) know
this guy. His full name is Ioseph Australis and he’s famous
for being one of the first generation mech pilots who helped
establish many piloting techniques that are common nowa-
days.
Here are some prewritten lines for Ioseph you can use dur-
ing the conversation:
• If anyone brings up Ioseph’s credentials: “That’s all in the
past, these days I’m just an officer.” He gives his modest
gut a pat and smirks. “I’m no longer in the shape I used to
be in, so I’ll be making you all do the hard work for me.“
• If they have any personal questions for him: “There’ll be
time for that later. We’re here for the Gears now.“
• If they ask about the Gears themselves: “We’re getting
there. These were personally assigned to you four with
input from the development team as well as my own. I think
you’re gonna like them.”
• If there seems to be friction between members of the
team and/or someone expresses doubts about their quali-
fications or someone else’s: “You kids are just like me and
the boys back then. You’re gonna be just fine.“
Once the Scene seems like it has run its course, proceed
inside the bay and to the Gears themselves.
118
118
Here There be Dragons
On entering the mech bay, hand out the Mecha sheets to
their respective PCs (if they don’t already have them). If
you’re using the premade Mecha, also read out their de-
scriptions here:
Four robots stand before you. All between 6 to 9 meters
tall. The Drakes, the mass-production units that you’re used
to piloting, are impressive on their own, but these four have
striking designs that stand out even compared to them.
The first is clad in red and gold. It’s a stout unit armed with
a giant sword, retractable claws on one hand and a mount-
ed whip on the other.
The second is blue and white. It is sharp and angular, with
missile launchers mounted on one shoulder plus a sniper
rifle and machinegun attached to both arms.
The third is an unassuming, smaller yellow mech. Its
weapon seems to be some kind of hose and has a large
backpack with a ring larger than its torso on the back.
The fourth sports a reptilian dark green paintjob. It has a
bulky frame with two large shoulder cannons plus a mount-
ed beam saber and beam cannon in its arms.
Ioseph passes each of you a single sheet of paper from the
folder he’s carrying. They’re the names of your assigned
Gears and their specifications.
“There we have them. They’re the Swordrake, Gundrake,
Ringdrake and Firedrake. You were all hand-picked to be
their pilots, each of you for their own reasons, and once the
Gears register your biometrics they won’t take anyone else,
so treat them well. Any questions?”
Ioseph has a few prewritten lines to use in this section:
• If they quip about the names of the Gears: Ioseph sighs
audibly. “Look, the Steel Dragon people want us to know
their line of mechs is made by them, so they’re all Drakes.
It stops sounding like a real word after a while.“
• If they want to change Gears: Ioseph frowns, but doesn’t
sound upset, just serious. “This is not a diner where you
can pick what you want out of a menu. You were selected
because your individual skills are suited to each of these
machines. If you don’t want to do the job we called you for,
we’ll find someone else.“
• If the characters want to take them for a ride: “Yeah, we’ll
be setting up an exercise for this afternoon. Until then just
familiarize yourselves with their specs.”
• If you’re playing with the premade PCs: “Oh right, before I
forget. Charlotte, I’m appointing you team leader. Unless, of
course, you object to that.“
When the conversation here dies down and/or you’ve
judged it’s time to move on, transition to the next Scene.

When Suddenly...
A klaxon sounds across the base. Ioseph freezes for a
second, then with a look of recognition in his face hurries
off to a communication device on the wall. He picks up the
handset there. “What’s the situation?” He asks.
After they answer him, he gives you four a look. “Got it.”
He covers the receiver to speak to you. “Hey kids, how do
you feel about a surprise trial by fire? The enemy is com-
ing here and our other Gears are away on patrol.” He is
grinning. He knows that sending you off in machines you’ve
never used is risky, but it’s also the best chance you’ve got
right now.
This is it, the moment everyone’s been waiting for, the call
to adventure. Six enemies (Four on Tutorial Difficulty) are
heading this way, and no one but the PCs can stop them.
Describe the boarding of the machines like so:
Ioseph waves over half a dozen technicians to help you
get into the machines and to get them ready for launch.
Using stepladders, you climb up to the cores—their cock-
pits—located in the chest and sit there. You all know how
Steel Dragon Gears work. You put on a fancy helmet with a
bunch of cables topside, grip the controls and lay your feet
on the pedals. The system is primarily neurological, so you
control the mech with your thoughts as if it were your own
body. The various locks on the machines are released and
you’re free to walk on them. Just in time.
“Enemies are less than a minute away!” You hear Ioseph
call out from the ground. When you start to move, there is
a clear look of relief in his face, like a part of him was not
even sure the machines would move at all today. The large
double doors of the mech bay open for you. It’s time.
What About Genre Points?
Combat in BCG is difficult and every single encounter is a
supposedly even match that could go either way depend-
ing on the PC’s tactics, builds and luck. Part of the reason
Genre Themes exist (other than, you know, roleplaying)
is to increase the odds the PCs will succeed at any given
fight, by giving them one to three extra Genre Points per
Operation. Since the Intermission Scene this time was very
short and light on content, it’s very possible they won’t have
earned any Genre Poitns through roleplaying. That’s okay.
The Scenario is purposefully designed to be straightforward
and, even on Challenging Difficulty, not all that hard. If one
or more Players stand out for their roleplaying, do reward
them with bonus Genre Points for it—especially if it was
consistent with their Themes. They’re heroes and you want
them to feel like it, so making things a little bit easier as a
roleplaying reward is alright to do.
CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
Battlefield Setup
The enemy roster depends on the chosen difficulty set-
ting. At Challenging difficulty, the enemies consist of four
Cannonbot-class Drones (Grunts) and two Executioner-
class Machinas (Rivals). If you’re playing this as a Tutorial,
it’s just four Cannonbot Drones.
The battlefield should be about 20 Zones long (or 20x20 if
you’re using a map). The PCs start 5 Zones away from one
edge of the battlefield, the Cannonbot Drones are at the
far other end a full 20 Zones away from the same edge (15
Zones away from the PC’s starting positions) and the two
Executioners, if they’re present, are 15 Zones away from
the edge (10 Zones away from the PCs).
You can put some patches of Difficult and/or Defensive
Terrain to represent trees and buildings in the area, but it’s
not necessary. If this is a Tutorial, everything is better off as
Plain Terrain for the sake of simplicity.
The PC’s primary objective this Operation is simply to
Defeat all Enemies. Their secondary objective is to protect
their base from the enemy. Consider all the Zones behind
the PC’s starting position to be said base. They should
avoid fighting on top of the base or very close to it, as that
will result in Collateral Damage. As long as the PCs keep
away from the area, preferably by moving forward, enemies
won’t cause any Collateral Damage.
The Collateral Damage rules will be summarized later, right
before the epilogue.
Do let the players know about this mechanic beforehand,
don’t spring the Collateral Damage mechanic as a surprise
on them after the fact. Maybe even include Ioseph calling
out to them to watch out for reducing risk to the base. On
Tutorial Difficulty, ignore the secondary objective and Col-
lateral Damage as a mechanic entirely.
And that’s all for preparations. If you’re using a map, have
the PCs place their Units there, aligned 5 Zones away from
the edge of the map. Then place their enemies in their
corresponding starting locations, and point out any notable
Terrain features (including the PC’s base). Then you’re
ready to Test Initiatives and start combat for real.
Personally, I like to roll a single die for all Enemies of the
same type and have them act at the same time. You can
also roll a single die for all Enemies entirely, though that
may lead to every one of them acting at the same time if
their Speed scores are similar and could result in the fight
being too easy (if they’re slow and all act after the PCs) or
too hard (if they’re fast and all act before the PCs). Your
mileage may vary here.
119
119
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
In-Battle Events
At the beginning of the battle, describe what the PCs see
as such:
You spot four insectoid machines skittering between the
trees in the distance, over a hundred meters away. They
appear to be cannons on legs, like a mobile artillery plat-
form half the size of your mechs.
A more immediate and closer threat are the two giant
robots between you and the drones in the back. These are
sleek, domehead machines with energy blades on their
right arms and an energy shield on the left side.
The enemies here are on a mission to capture or destroy
the four machines that just arrived to this base. That’s the
Gears the PCs are piloting. They’ve been told to do this at
the cost of their lives, if necessary, and to not allow them-
selves to get captured.
The descriptions, rules text and battle tactics of the enemy
units are detailed at the end of this Chapter, after the exam-
ple PC’s character and mecha descriptions and rules.
Here’s some example lines for the Executioner pilots:
• When Engaging or attacking in Melee for the first time:
“The god-machine guides my blade. En garde!”
• When using Believe in Myself for the first time: “My
Machina is impervious to your inferior weapons!“
• When Defeated via Suppression: “N-no, my Machina, why
won’t you move!? Don’t... Disgrace me like this...!”
• When self-destructing: “GLORY TO DEUS MACHINA!”
and “GLORY TO THE HOLY TECHNOCRACY!”
120
120
Some Additional Combat Advice
Since this is people’s first time playing the game and it is
a tactically-oriented system, here are some tips for you to
dispense to the other Players when necessary:
• As you set Tension to 1 and begin combat, remind every-
one that, even if they can’t make an Offensive Action this
Turn, they can still Boost to move closer to the enemy or
Maneuver to make themselves harder to hit while they get
in position.
• Always notify the PCs when the Cannonbot Drones are
Aiming at them, and tell them the next attack from said unit
is going to be a big one. This gives the PCs the opportunity
to prepare for it by Maneuvering, moving into Defensive
Terrain or, in Charlotte’s case, even creating cover to ne-
gate the Aim and possibly even stop the attack entirely.
• When it is the PC’s turn to choose how to Maim an En-
emy, tell them of the Areas with the Weapons and Custom
Defenses that have been used during combat so far.
• Remind the group that Genre Powers exist when it is
appropriate. If they roll very low on an attack or only miss
making a Maim by 1-2 points, tell them about Try Again.
When the NPCs roll very high attacking them or they would
critically Maim a PC, tell them about Not So Fast. The lat-
ter is particularly important, because BCG is a very lethal
system and the only way the PCs can win without suffering
any losses is by backing each other up through smart use
of Not So Fast.
• After the first use of Electronic Cloaking System, which
will likely entirely negate an attack, tell them that they can
get around it with a Blast, Burst or Line. And after the first
use of Ground Zero, tell them that the best way to pre-
vent the next one is to destroy the mech before it has the
chance to use it or by waiting for Believe in Myself to run
out then Maim the Torso.
What if the PCs Lose?
While unlikely, it’s entirely possible that the PCs will all be
Defeated. That’s okay. The story doesn’t have to anticlimac-
tically end on the first session. If you’re on Full Narrative
mode, a secondary team of four allied Gears arrives from
the same direction the enemies came from and promptly
exterminate the weakened enemies with a surprise attack
from behind. This the team that was out on patrol, riding the
basic white and gold Drakes that the PCs used to pilot until
today. This way, you can proceed with the epilogue of this
Scenario as normal.
This sells that the PCs are not alone. They may be the he-
roes of the story, but there’s a lot of people watching their
backs out there. Some NPCs will get to share the glory with
them at times, others will support from the sidelines. But
everybody has a part in this play.

Collateral Damage
It’s a given that the enemies will all be defeated, either by
the PC’s hands or by those of allied NPCs. What is not a
given is the state of the base afterwards.
We’re going to measure how much Collateral Damage the
PCs caused (or allowed the enemies to cause) during the
fight. For this, we’re using the Rules Module of the same
name in Chapter 5.
To summarize, Collateral Damage starts at 0 and you make
a note of every time one of the following things happen,
then up the Collateral Damage by that much:
• Missing an Offensive Action with a non-Blast, non-Burst or
non-Line Shooting Weapon: +1
• A Flying Unit is Defeated without Suppression: +1
• Creating Extreme Terrain: +2
• Using a Blast, Burst or Line ability (whether it is a Weapon
or otherwise): +2
If the PCs lose, increase the amount of Collateral Damage
equal to the number of enemies left as those get a single
turn to wreak havoc before the cavalry arrives.
The base is considered Urban Terrain while the outsides of
it are considered Rural Terrain. Track points that happen on
top of the base separately from those that happen else-
where. At the end of combat, halve the Collateral Damage
that happened outside the base and add both values up.
That’s the total Collateral Damage inflicted.
And now here’s the Collateral Damage count results:
Collateral Damage 0: Excellent job! The wilderness
around the base might’ve been roughed up a little, which
might attract Mechabeasts to the base later, but the PCs
did as well as they reasonably could have under the cir-
cumstances. Ioseph and the rest of the base will commend
them for their exemplary performance here.
Collateral Damage 1-4: It is regrettable, but within expec-
tations after a surprise enemy attack like that. A handful
of staff suffered minor wounds but no one is seriously hurt
and the damaged buildings can be repaired. All in all, they
did okay and it could’ve been much worse.
Collateral Damage 5-9: While everyone on base is thank-
ful that the PCs just saved their lives, their reckless fighting
has made a mess of the base. Miraculously, no one died,
but half a dozen people are seriously wounded and it will
take weeks to repair the damage to the base itself.
Collateral Damage 10+: Multiple buildings have collapsed,
killing or hospitalizing base staff. Whether this amount of
destruction was out of incompetence or negligence on
the PC’s parts, they’ve made a very bad first impression.
Ioseph is already thinking of replacing one or more of them.
CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
The Epilogue
If you’re playing this Scenario as Combat Only... That’s
it! Session end. Everything in this section is for the Full Nar-
rative version.
After the dust settles, transition to the aftermath of the fight.
Gather the PCs out of their units, outside the mech bay
where the session started. A few things can happen here,
depending on the events of the battle:
• If any PCs were Defeated and refused to use Live An-
other Day, they are carried off in stretchers at the beginning
of the Scene.
• If the PCs Defeated one or more Cannon Drones by Sup-
pression to capture intact Cores, Ioseph mentions these
can be analyzed for data by the electronic intelligence
team. Whoever pulled that off earns themselves some
props for their good thinking.
• If the PCs Defeated one or more Executioner Machinas
by Suppression to capture intact Cores, Ioseph invites the
PCs to have a look inside with him. Forcing it open, they
find the pilot inside is a famished, bald husk of a man wear-
ing a skintight pilot suit, his body plugged into the machine
and modified to accept various tubes and devices all over
the cockpit. He is unconscious. Ioseph explains many ene-
my pilots fuse with their machines permanently to increase
their performance. There is clear pity in his voice.
• If the PCs lost the fight, then the other team of four pilots
is also here. Make up whatever looks, personalities and
backstories you want for them. Or none, since they are
super minor characters. If your PCs have any important
NPC relations that could pilot mechs, this is a great spot to
introduce them formally to the plot.
Work in any details about Collateral Damage you want de-
pending on the events of the fight and let the PCs help out
with rescue efforts or argue about who really got the most
kills or whatever they want. Then, if they kept Collateral
Damage under 5 and captured an intact Executioner Core,
Ioseph will confide in them that he thinks this attack was
set up by someone inside. There’s a spy somewhere in
the base that told the enemy four brand new Gears would
arrive to the base and that the other team would be away at
this time of the day. So the PCs should watch their backs.
121
121
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

Kendra Nikeja (PC) Description: A mycotypal woman of imposing presence.

If you somehow miss her towering height, you’ll still notice
Kendra’s around because she laughs the loudest, cries
Power Level: 2 (160 CP)
the loudest and even eats the loudest. She possesses the
distinctive gleam in her eyes of someone who consumes
Attributes Glow, the drug that awakens psychic powers in humans.
Fitness 8 Intellect 5 Charm 6
Awareness 6 Willpower 6 Resources 3 Background: One of many mycotypal humans engineered
to help humanity adapt to the new era, Kendra found her
life calling when she read a comic book about a wander-
Skills: Athletics, Combat, Phasing. ing martial artist who would punch bad guys so hard they
Traits: Nanomedical Vest, Sweeping Assault (Phasing). exploded. She thought this guy was incredibly badass and
Genre Powers: Knowledge is Power, Live Another Day, wanted to grow up to be like him. And now here she is, hav-
Mid-Scene Upgrade, Not so Fast, Synchro Attack, Try ing just graduated from the Gear Academy with top marks
Again, Impetuous Style, I am your Opponent. in all forms of combat. Humans can’t make people explode
Power Level: 2 with their fists, but giant robots can totally pull that off.

Skillset: Kendra’s augmented genes and singleminded

dedication to physical perfection have made her frankly
superhuman. She has minor regenerative enhancements to
let her shrug off things that would knock out lesser human
beings and her psychic talent manifests as the ability to
phase through objects and even living beings, giving her
unparalleled mobility. Kendra’s reflexes, fighting instincts
and close-quarters-combat training make her an excellent
choice of pilot candidate for the Swordrake. She does not
carry any weapons with her, but if forced into a potentially
lethal fight, she will make use of improvised weaponry with
terrible efficiency.

Reason - Hero of Justice: Being a Gear pilot, in Kendra’s

mind, is the closest thing there is to being a heroine who
punishes evil and protects the innocent. It’s an overly ideal-
istic way of looking at things that’s not going to last forever,
but for now it spurs her forward to do her best at her job.

Typecast - Rivalry (Akishiro): Kendra and Akishiro are

similar in many ways but they’re also each other’s opposite
in just as many. At their best, they’re frenemies who en-
courage the other to perform at 110%. At their worst, they’ll
be too busy sniping and trying to outdo each other to do
their jobs competently.

Bane - Hypercompetitive: When Kendra takes an interest

in doing something, she gets really invested in it. She loves
the thrill of competition but also needs the joy of victory.
Whether it is martial arts, chess or speed-eating, she won’t
back down from a direct challenge and losing at anything
will ruin her day as she goes over how she could’ve done
better for hours. Kendra’s competitive sprees are so bad
that she’s always spending everything she’s got on equip-
ment and manuals for activities she’ll only ever try once or
twice for a single competitive match and never again.

122
122
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

SDG-011 Swordrake (Player Mecha)

Power Level: 2 (160 MP)

Attributes
Might 7 Guard 5 Threshold 5
Energy 6 Systems 0 Speed 6

Upgrades and Weapons

Core Torso (Front) Torso (Back)

Custom Defense
Duelist Model Rocket Sword
(Melee)
Custom Defense
Invincible Alloy
(Shooting)
Separate Left Arm Right Arm
Dueling Blade Whirlwind Attack

Full Name: Steel Dragon Gears Series Eleventh Unit -

Frontal Assault Type “Swordrake”.

Characteristics: The Swordrake is a durable and powerful

unit designed to engage in close quarters and destroy ene-
mies without giving them a chance to escape. It is equipped
with a retractable claw on its right hand and a mounted
whip on the left to rend and grapple with enemies. The
Tarasque sword it carries on its back can cleave through
or smash down enemies, but is so unwieldy it needs the
use of thrusters to make effective attacks against moving
targets with it. Defensively, it possesses a standard-issue
forcefield generator on its front side, capable of putting up
a decent defense against most direct forms of attack.

Operator’s Guide: Piloting the Swordrake is

relatively simple. You want to get in melee range of
the most dangerous-looking enemy and Engage
them so they’ll keep their eyes on you. If you can’t reach
the Enemy during your Turn, Maneuver while closing the
distance to keep your defense up. Use either Dueling Blade
or Whirlwind Attack depending on the circumstance and do
your best to not explode. When choosing your Maims, you
want to lose Rocket Sword first and your other Weapons
second (you can get them back with Invincible Alloy when
you really need them). Don’t hesitate to ask your allies for
a for a Not so Fast when you’re about to take a big hit—
you’re the only frontliner in the team, they need you alive to
keep the heat off themselves. When you think it’s time to go
off and try to finish off the most threatening enemies, use
Impetuous Style and Rocket Sword to kill one or multiple
enemies with it. Lastly, keep an eye on your allies and don’t
forget about I am your Opponent, it can be a clutch Power
not just to protect them but also to help you reposition so
that you can use your Rocket Sword more effectively next
Turn. With the help of Supply Delivery, you can refuel or
repair Rocket Sword to use it multiple times per combat.
Just be careful not to hurt your allies with it.

123
123
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER
Akishiro Kobayashi (PC)
Power Level: 2 (160 CP)
Attributes
Fitness 2 Intellect 8 Charm 2
Awareness 5 Willpower 5 Resources 5
Skills: Craftsmanship, Electronics, Humanities, Sciences,
Traits: Better Lucky Than Good, Genius, Practice Makes
Perfect, Ether Drive (Electricity:Electronics Tests).
Genre Powers: Knowledge is Power, Live Another Day,
Mid-Scene Upgrade, Not so Fast, Synchro Attack, Try
Again, I’m Breaking Through, My Pain is your Pain.
Power Level: 2
Description: A skinny and tall man whom his childhood
peers mockingly called “The Stork”. Akishiro would be
handsome, with those green eyes of his, if he took better
care of himself and smiled more often. He’s the reserved,
lonesome type who only really gets invested in his job,
though, so he won’t be doing that.
Background: Akishiro belongs to a prestigious family of
Exosuit and Gear developers, growing to idolize not just
the machines themselves but also the ideals they are used
to defend. The Kobayashis wanted him to take on a less
dangerous job, but Aki’s passionate idealism would not be
stopped. After years of military training, his precise control
of the Synchronizer in a combat scenario got him recom-
mended for the field-testing of new Gears.
124
124
Skillset: Akishiro has spent two full decades of his life do-
ing nothing but studying and practicing to become a test
pilot. He barely passed the physical aptitude tests, but his
spatial awareness and Synchronizer control are top notch.
He is also licensed to carry a Cybergun, a tool for the re-
mote operation of electronic devices, often used in elec-
tronic warfare. His aptitude to handle simultaneous move-
ment, shooting and the management of finnicky defensive
systems makes him an ideal pilot for the Gundrake.
Reason - Patriotic Standards: A true believer of the Solar
Grid’s stated ideals and a staunch defender of their way
of life, Akishiro loathes the threat the Technocracy repre-
sents to humans and the environment. More importantly, he
insists on holding himself (and his Gear-piloting allies) as
symbols of goodness in the people’s eyes. While he could
stand to chill down a little with the perfectionist discourses,
at least his heart is in the right place.
Typecast - Rivalry (Kendra): Akishiro and Kendra are
similar in many ways but they’re also each other’s opposite
in just as many. At their best, they’re frenemies who en-
courage the other to perform at 110%. At their worst, they’ll
be too busy sniping and trying to outdo each other to do
their jobs competently.
Bane - Arrogant Smartass: Akishiro’s greatest character
flaw is that he thinks of himself as the smartest person in
the room at all times. He will not hesitate to correct others
if he thinks they’re wrong, beginning sentences with the
infamous “Actually...” when he does so. Moreover, he can
be goaded into picking fights he can’t win by repeatedly
insulting his intelligence or ideals through a combination of
jeers, pedantic technicisms or, worst of them all, pointing
out the Solar Grid’s flaws.
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

SDG-012 Gundrake (Player Mecha) Characteristics: The Gundrake is a medium-to-long-range

unit that uses its superior mobility to keep enemies where
its pilot wants them to be. It is equipped with a multitude
Power Level: 2 (160 MP)
of mounted weapons, including a gatling gun, a sniper
rifle, missile pods and a deployable stationary Juryu sentry
Attributes drone. The lower side of its torso is overstuffed with a va-
Might 6 Guard 5 Threshold 5 riety of auxiliary thrusters it can use to assist in backwards
Energy 3 Systems 5 Speed 5 movement, unlike most Gears. Its forcefields are tailored to
specifically repel not just attacks but also push away other
mechs or giant monsters in close combat. It can even send
Upgrades and Weapons projectiles back at their source.

Core Waist Shoulders Operator’s Guide: The Gundrake requires some finesse
Sniper Model Reflecting Barrier Rail Bazooka to use properly. The Sniper Rifle and Sentry Turret are very
strong against single targets but one requires Aiming and
Nanopaste
Repulsion Field the other is easily destroyed. Superheavy Machinegun
Skeleton
can lay down a curtain of suppressing fire but prevents
Reversible you from moving and the Rail Bazooka is Slow. You need
Thrusters to think tactically, predict your opponent’s actions and
Separate Left Arm Right Arm probably ask for Assisted Targeting, Supply Delivery and
Superheavy Support Fire when appropriate. Reserve My Pain is your
Sentry Turret Sniper Rifle Pain for attacks big enough they take out one or more of
Machinegun
your Threshold Levels, preferably using it in combination
with Reflecting Barrier to hopefully make the enemy destroy
Full Name: Steel Dragon Gears Series Twelfth Unit -
itself. You have a large enough loadout that you don’t mind
Mobile Gunner Type “Gundrake”.
losing some Weapons, but you’re relatively fragile so do
your best to stay away from enemies and use Repulsion
Field on anyone who Engages you. Keep in mind that Su-
perheavy Machinegun and Rail Bazooka can incur friendly
fire, even if you’re suppressing with Superheavy Machine-
gun it will still hit any friendlies in the area of effect, so be
careful when you do use them.

125
125
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

Nilu Flores (PC) Description: A short, mycotypal teenager with apparent

animal ears. Careful observation reveals said ears are ac-
tually an expertly disguised headband the same color of his
Power Level: 2 (160 CP)
hair. Nilu was designed to look non-threatening and cute to
facilitate his job as a PR mascot. His body even releases
Attributes specially designed pheromones that make him impossible
Fitness 3 Intellect 5 Charm 8 to say no to. It’s a good thing that Nilu is a morally upstand-
Awareness 3 Willpower 6 Resources 6 ing and friendly person who doesn’t want to take advantage
of anyone, or he’d be a terrifying social weapon.
Skills: Deception, Diplomacy, Presence (Encouraging
Speeches). Background: Genetically engineered and surgically modi-
Traits: Sphere of Influence (Steel Dragons), Entertainer fied for the job of handling notoriously difficult Gears and to
(Encouraging Speeches), Attractive, Leadership. be likable while doing it. Nilu was born and raised not just
Genre Powers: Knowledge is Power, Live Another Day, to do a dangerous job but also to do it in a way that doesn’t
Mid-Scene Upgrade, Not so Fast, Synchro Attack, Try upset or scare the part of the population that doesn’t like
Again, Believe in Myself, I’ll Patch You Up. mycotypal humans. Nilu’s studies, hobbies and relation-
ships were all tightly regulated from an early age and, it
goes without saying, even his career was chosen for him.

Skillset: Nilu’s primary skillset is social, he was trained to

be not just personable but also emotionally intelligent and a
skilled negotiator. He also carries a backpack stocked full of
trinkets of varying degrees of uselessness that can, some-
times, come in handy to solve an unexpected problem. He
is a born pilot who can handle any Gear, but his personality
makes him an ideal rider for the Ringdrake.

Reason - Mycotypal Rights: Nilu does not hold his up-

bringing and destiny against the people that designed or
raised him, but he wants future generations to grow up with
more freedom than he did. He views his service as a way
to legitimize mycotypes in the eyes of those who disap-
prove of his kind. Nilu uses his talents and influence to help
better the lives of other “Mikes” like him whenever he has a
chance to.

Typecast - The Heart: When personality differences cause

friction in the team, it’s Nilu’s job to make sure everyone
gets along. Likewise, he’s there to inspire them in difficult
times and to act as a moral center when the lines between
right and wrong get blurry.

Bane - Omnicollector: Nilu is a pack rat. His living quar-

ters are cluttered with all sorts of meticulously organized
piles of crap he insists will come in useful some day.
Moreover, he can’t help but to pick up any shiny, colorful or
vaguely useful objects he finds to add to his collection. He
won’t steal from others, but he may make puppy dog eyes
to get them to give him whatever it is he wants.

126
126
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

SDG-013 Ringdrake (Player Mecha)

Power Level: 2 (160 MP)

Attributes
Might 0 Guard 4 Threshold 4
Energy 9 Systems 5 Speed 4

Upgrades and Weapons

Core Head Torso

Early Warning
Organic Barrier
and Control
Commander Type
Power
Conversion
Separate Arms Legs
Assisted
Jury Rig
Targeting
Supply Delivery
Support Fire
Surprise
Minefield

Full Name: Steel Dragon Gears Series Thirteenth Unit -

Backline Support Type “Ringdrake”.

Characteristics: A support unit that appears relatively

inoffensive (by giant robot standards), and possesses only
the bare minimum integrated weapons built into every
Gear. The Ringdrake’s eponymous G-Ring is a device
that expands the reach of the Synchronizer and enhances
its sensors and gravity control capabilities making it into,
essentially, a giant clairvoyant telekineticist. The unit is
equipped with supplies it can remotely hand out to allies in
need and carries a mine dispenser to control the battlefield
by placing traps everywhere. In addition, its sensors can
assist allies with more precise targeting for their own at-
tacks in a fraction of the time it would usually take them to
do so themselves. The Ringdrake’s final trick up its sleeve
is its Alebrije nanospray gun. It fires a short-ranged concen-
tration of nanobots that find and repair surface-level dam-
age on any Gear, just enough to keep it from falling apart.
Defensively, the mech is very poor and relies on its large
energy supply to keep itself safe using a meager forcefield.

Operator’s Guide: The Ringdrake is likely the most com-

plex and difficult of the four example mechs in this section.
You should be using either two Support Upgrades per Turn
(spending 8 Energy to refresh them) or Jury Rig (preferably
with I’ll Patch You Up) to heal your Allies when they need
it. Half of your Areas are empty, and the two others aren’t
super important, but Nilu does have Believe in Myself for
emergency Jury Rigging if it becomes necessary.

127
127
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

Charlotte Astalion (PC) Description: A middle-aged blond woman who is never

seen in public without her mask. Charlotte is charming and
Power Level: 2 (160 CP) friendly on most first impressions, yet is resolute and seri-
ous when she needs to be. However, for all of the warmth
she presents at first glance, she is an expert in keeping oth-
Attributes ers at arm’s length on closer inspection.
Fitness 5 Intellect 5 Charm 5
Awareness 8 Willpower 6 Resources 2 Background: Charlotte is a survivor from a brutal Mecha-
beast attack that razed the city of Blarde. Seemingly
Skills: Investigation, Survival, Sight (General Skill Tests). endless numbers of the things poured out of the earth’s
Traits: Make Do, Ace in the Hole, Jack of all Trades. vowels, overwhelmed the city’s defenses and decimated
Genre Powers: Knowledge is Power, Live Another Day, the population in a massive attack like never seen before
Mid-Scene Upgrade, Not so Fast, Synchro Attack, Try or since then. She naturally flocked to life in the military, so
Again, This is my Battlefield, Shoot it Down. she could keep hew new home safe from the monsters. In
the many years since then, she’s racked up a sizable kill-
count of Mechabeasts, qualifying her as an ace pilot. Now,
her experience led to her being recommended as one of
the test pilots for the new Steel Dragon prototype Gears.

Skillset: A career pilot with a multitude of skills, who can

adapt to any circumstance. Charlotte is an attentive and de-
tail-oriented person who takes notice of many things others
miss. Moreover, she is a licensed Glow user whose psychic
talent manifests as Extra-Sensory-Perception, a form of
enhanced intuition that clues her in to things that she would
have ordinarily missed. She is the most apt candidate to
pilot the Firedrake, as that machine can cause tremendous
collateral damage if used irresponsibly.

Reason - Vengeance: Charlotte does not think the Mecha-

beasts can be coexisted with and she looks at some of the
“tamed” Mechabeasts raised as soldiers of the Solar Grid
with mistrust. In particular, she is hoping to one day have
the chance to hunt down and slay the Aurora Moth, the
monster leading the Mechabeast attack on Blarde, a crea-
ture that has only been seen a handful of times since then.

Typecast - Leadership: Charlotte is used to being the

most responsible person in the team and also to not be ap-
preciated for it. Her temperance and experience have paid
off at last, as she is in charge of leading her team this time,
an obligation she welcomes to be performing officially for a
change.

Bane - Glow Addiction: Charlotte says she wears a mask

to hide scars that are too horrible to let anyone see. The
truth is, the mask is more like glorified contact lenses,
meant to disguise the gleam in her eyes—the sign of Glow
addiction. Without using Glow, Charlotte feels at unease
and defenseless, like a sleeping animal. When taking dou-
ble her recommended dosage, she is sharp and observant.
It’s a matter of time for someone to find out this extremely
expensive habit of hers, then she’ll have to admit she has a
problem.

128
128
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

SDG-014 Firedrake (Player Mecha) Characteristics: Bigger, tougher and stronger than most
other Gears, the Firedrake is a fairly straightforward pow-
erhouse of an unit. Its primary weapon are its Lernean
Power Level: 2 (160 MP)
shoulder cannons, which have two fire modes for short
and medium range fire. Additionally, it is equipped with
Attributes two mounted weapons on the back of its hands, an energy
Might 7 Guard 6 Threshold 4 blade for the unit to defend itself in close quarters and a
Energy 5 Systems 3 Speed 4 long-distance beam rifle designed for marking units so
allies will have an easier time targeting the designated en-
emy. The machine has an experimental G-Reactor model
Upgrades and Weapons that powers up all of its weapons, at the cost of leaving little
to no energy for defensive purposes. Instead of deflect-
Core Waist Shoulders ing incoming attacks, the Firedrake tries to disperse their
Experimental Absorbing Armor impact throughout its shock-absorbing armor. This leaves
Incinerator more power for the Gear to use its high-yield weapons with.
Reactor (Beam)
Superior Absorbing Armor
Double Blaster Operator’s Guide: The Firedrake is primarily a ranged
Integration (non-Beam)
unit, using Point Singularity Projector or the Double Blaster
Separate Left Arm Right Arm to attack from a distance, but keeping the Beam Ripper
Point Singularity or Incinerator as fallbacks for when the need arises, such
Beam Ripper as during a Duel. Your Weapons are all Maim-proof so go
Projector
ahead and choose any Area other than the Waist for your
Full Name: Steel Dragon Gears Series Fourteenth Unit - Maims when you lose a Threshold Level. Also, Charlotte’s
Heavy Weapons Type “Firedrake”. This is my Battlefield is a fantastic battlefield control tool,
creating Impassable Terrain to use as cover or block move-
ment and Extreme Terrain to do potentially massive dam-
age with. If you need a quick justification for the creation of
instances of Terrain such as Impassable or Interference,
have Charlotte topple a bunch of extremely large trees
or borrow one of Nilu’s mines and mess with it to create
some kind of gravity bubble or magnetic disturbance
in the area. The Shoot it Down Power gives you a way to
use your excess Energy during any given Round to protect
yourself or another ally as well, albeit only once per fight.

129
129
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

TKD-02 Cannonbot (Grunt) Cannonbot Tactics

Power Level: 2 (110 MP) Cannonbot Grunts each pick one individual PC and Aim
then Attack with their Sniper Rifles at them for as long as
they’re allowed to do so. If the PCs Engage any of them
Attributes into a Duel, they switch to using Riot Weapon. Though they
Might 6 Guard 4 Threshold 4 can use Expert Support to exclude an Ally’s Zone from Riot
Energy 2 Systems 5 Speed 3 Weapon’s area of effect, they will still hurt their Allies with
it if they shoot at a PC that is in the middle of a Duel with
Executioners or other Allies.
Upgrades and Weapons
While half of their Areas are empty and thus ideal choices
Core Cannon Torso for Maims on their side, PCs can critically cripple their func-
Electronic tions by choosing to Maim the Cannon or the Torso. Even
Sniper Model Sniper Rifle
Cloaking System so, Cannonbots will fight until they are Defeated, using their
Expert Support Riot Weapon Vulcans to do so if they must.

Separate Head Legs Because they are A.I. units with no pilot, they have no
Cores to eject with and are destroyed after their Threshold
is zeroed out. If any of them are Defeated with the Sup-
Full Name: TheonKapp AG Drone Series Second Unit - press Action, then they can be disabled and captured for
Gunner Class “Cannonbot”. analysis.

Characteristics: An arthropod-looking autonomous ma-

chine designed for medium-to-long distance combat. Six
legs support a cannon on the robot’s abdomen, which has
two firing modes for long and medium range combat. The
joint the turret is mounted on can rotate to the left and right.
On top of the machine’s main body is located a stealth de-
vice that can momentarily render it invisible, but consumes
so much power it only works for a second or two; Enough
to confuse an enemy trying to hit them, not enough for
covert operations.

130
130
 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

TKM-01 Executioner (Rival) Genre Powers: Knowledge is Power, Live Another Day,
Mid-Scene Upgrade, Not so Fast, Synchro Attack, Try
Again, Believe in Myself, Stake my Life on It.
Power Level: 2 (160 MP)
Full Name: TheonKapp AG Machina Series First Unit -
Attributes Melee Specialist Class “Executioner”.
Might 7 Guard 5 Threshold 5
Energy 6 Systems 0 Speed 6 Characteristics: The Executioner is assigned to the most
skilled and zealous of the Technocracy’s close-quarters
combatants. It is armed with an energy blade on the right
Upgrades and Weapons arm and an energy shield on the left. It also possesses an
interceptor beam emitter on its dome-shaped head that can
Core Head Torso divert away or sometimes shoot down incoming projectiles.
Custom Defense These units come with self-destruction systems that the pi-
Duelist Model Ground Zero lots of these units will not hesitate to use if they’re going to
(Shooting)
lose, as they would rather die with honor than be captured.
Experimental
Reactor
Separate Left Arm Right Arm
Custom Defense
Beam Ripper
(Melee)
Extending Blade

Executioner Tactics

The Executioner Rivals will attempt to Engage the closest

PC in a Duel and use a Boosted Beam Ripper every time
it’s available, falling back to Extending Blade when it
isn’t or there are no PCs in range.

Upon either having their Right Arm Maimed or losing

two Areas (whichever happens first), they’ll activate
Believe in Myself to continue using said Weapons.
When they’re on their final Threshold Level or are
unable to use their Right Arm in any fashion, if their
Torso is still useable, they will activate Ground Zero
with Stake my Life on It to self-destruct and try to
take one or more of the PCs with them. If none of
their Weapons are available, they’ll fight to the
death using CQC.

If the PCs destroy an Executioner Machina

through a Suppression attack or the excess
Damage they do is less than 5 (the amount it
would take to destroy the Core), then the pilot
inside is knocked out instead of dead.

Ground Zero does not, technically, going by the

rules-as-written make the Unit self-destruct. If you really,
really need a rules justification for their self-Defeat, just
consider them to have rolled low on the Extreme Terrain
Test at the end of their Turn to Defeat themselves.

131
131