# Mad Max: Twilight 2000 or Starforged? tags: #thoughts #game/rpg/starforged ![[Starforged (cover).jpg|300]] ![[Starsmith Mecha Mercs (cover).jpg|300]] This is another one of those things where I pull from my Reddit responses and enshrine it for the long-term future here. In this case, there's actually a little bit of work stuck into it. --- > I’m currently in the process of writing a campaign taking place in a Mad Max style world. But I’ve been having some trouble finding a good system to run it in. Mainly I want a system that has a decently fluid vehicle combat system prebuilt into it, while also not neglecting normal combat either. And from what I’ve heard, just reskining Twilight 2000 might work well enough. Although ide like someone else’s opinion on it first who’s actually ran a game of it, before I commit to buying any of the rules materials. Although i am still open to other systems like gaslands etc, but mainly I want juicy vehicle combat. > > -- https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1twa583/twilight_2000_in_mad_max_style_setting/ You know, a lot of other people have suggested things in this thread (without providing links to them, which is a personal pet peeve). But some of them don't quite hit the mark. Some of them just focus primarily on the combat side of things and not in allowing you to actually interact with the story, which is fine if that's what you want, but I think some other options would be useful. *[[Twilight 2000]]* is a fantastic game, and you could do a Mad Max game in it pretty well as long as you stayed out of the vehicles. It is not a vehicular combat game. A support APC behind your infantry to provide backup fire and transport? Absolutely, it does that great. A one-off tank that you barely keep running with spit and bailing wire? Which puts you head and shoulders above the other warlords in the area because they can't even get a truck running. Yes, fantastic. Mad Max? No. Instead, I'm going to go in a completely different direction. I'm going to suggest *[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]]* with a third-party supplement called *[Mecha Mercs](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/421157/starsmith-mecha-mercs)*. Yes, I know. The default setup for *Starforged* is that it is a fairly far science fiction setting, and *Mecha Mercs* adds giant robots. Why would that be applicable here? The answer is because it gives you all the tools you need to do the things you want to do in Mad Max. A quite nice construction system for building vehicles in general, if you just open your mind a minute. Let's say that you wanted to build a lightweight sports car with a couple of weapons using *Mecha Mercs*. We'll start with the lightweight *Zephyr* chassis, which is effectively the equivalent of an +edge-based character. Also, it starts with the ability to, when you face danger or react under fire, to navigate through obstacles or evade an attack, add +1 and task +1 momentum on a hit. Fantastic. We'll put together the mech stats appropriate for a bike. We're going gritty so we'll start with four components. All the stats start at 2. We can effectively add +1 (up to +2) for each module in Integrity, Edge, Iron, Shadow, Wits, or Module Load for effectively 2 XP each, but we're just going to start with a low budget here. We could even go off the list of components given in the book, but we're going to be a little bit more creative. | Component | Stat | Value | Total | | --------------------- | ----------: | ----: | ----: | | Responsive Front Fork | +edge | +1 | 3 | | High-Rev Engine | +edge | +1 | 4 | | Small Profile | +shadow | +1 | 3 | | Rear Saddle Mounts | module load | +1 | 5 | Pretty straightforward. The thing moves like a bat. It's hard to hit if it's trying to be sneaky. We have those rear saddle storage places to stick modules in, which is going to be relevant right now. Technically, we don't have to take any modules. *Starforged* is a narrative system, and we can effectively narrate anything we want happening as long as we decide that's what the fiction makes sense. If you want to say that it's got side-mounted machine guns and a rocket pack, that's what it's gonna. It won't change any of the mechanics, but those allow you to make those descriptions. We're going to take one module for free because the Zephyr frame comes with one, but we don't need the flight module. That's not what we're going for here. We'll pick something else. Should we want to install more modules later, that'll be 2 XP each and maybe a little wealth if we have some. I'm a real fan of the [*Invid Invasion* storyline for *Robotech*](https://robotech.fandom.com/wiki/Cyclone),[^1] so I'm going to give this little bike a built-in set of concussive missiles in those sidepacks because I can. - [ ] Concussive Missiles Your missile array is armed with 5 ammo. If you Resupply in a place where your missiles can be replenished, you may exchange any earned +supply for +ammo. When you make a move by launching a concussive missile, suffer -1 ammo. On a hit, take +1 momentum and add +1 to your next move (not a progress move). There we go. Not only does it have some mechanics attached to it, it also has a bit of a cost. There is ammo. We could simply narrate that there are whatever weapons on this thing additionally that we want, but I'm feeling very minimalist today. So, the only other weapons on it are whatever the pilot is using for his sidearm. Very Mad Max of us. And we're done. Create the pilot character. Use the bike's stats when you're doing bike things and use the character stats when you're doing character things, and you're good to go. Not only can you play with your group, but the game can be played solo or even co-op so that no one really has to be a GM, though you are going to want to put together some environment tables which speak to the setup of your particular kind of Mad Max universe. Some environment tables which speak to the setup of your particular kind of Mad Max universe. Good luck. Have fun. Get out there and blow some stuff up. [^1]: Okay, fine. I'm really a fan of *[Genesis Climber Mospeada](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SehHbl24gQk)*, but you know, we've got what we've got.