# VOTOMS - How Would You? tags: #thoughts #thoughts/mecha You know, I actually quite like it when I get to repurpose content inspired by a question in another forum. It's inspirational, I get to talk at length about something I know about and I enjoy, and then I can put it here so that it doesn't just disappear all ephemeral. ![[VOTOMS (cover).png]] In this case, someone wants to know if there are some good systems for doing **[Armored Trooper VOTOMS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_Trooper_Votoms)** in a modern RPG.^[I may have conveniently forgotten to mention that there is [an already extant **Armored Trooper VOTOMS** RPG based on Mekton from R Talsorian Games from 1997](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_Trooper_VOTOMS:_The_Roleplaying_Game), but mainly it's because you can't get your hands on that book for love or money, and I would be willing to trade either for it.] Oh boy, are there! --- All right, so this is literally my wheelhouse. Mecha, infantry, emotional intrigue – I've been doing this for literal decades and I would not steer you wrong because that would be immoral. Plus a violation of everything I stand for. So let's start at the top: Stay as far away from most traditionally architected TTRPGs as possible. They do not handle the scale differential between the interplay between mecha and individual conflict. I don't *just* mean battlefield scale. That's bad… But what I'm really talking about is the conflict between the emotional stakes of a fight and the mechanisms for playing out that fight. Screw **[[Palladium]]**. It's bad on its face for everything and doubly so for that. --- ![[Lancer (cover).jpg]] You will be suggested **[[Lancer]]**. - https://massifpress.com/lancer It's a beautiful game. It focuses on of very unique setting with very unique conflicts and really has a fascinating mechanical architecture. It's wrong for what you want to do. It is truly very wedded to its setting to the point where you can't easily do anything else with it. I wish it were different. Worth owning just for the art, but not for what you want to do. --- ![[Heavy Gear RPG 4E (cover).jpg]] The closest thing to what you want is **[[Heavy Gear]]** if you lean toward a traditional GM/player dichotomy with the very traditional combat flow that we are familiar with for the last 30 years. - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/heavygearblitz/heavy-gear-roleplaying-game-fourth-edition/description On the positive side, fourth edition should literally be seeing the light of day for purchase in the next week or two. Which means third edition should be extremely cheap if you just want to pick it up.^[This was written on May 7th, 2024. Reality may yet surpass prediction.] On the negative side, while it is a wonderfully architected *traditional* game… It's still a traditional game design with *traditional* game flow. Still, quite possibly the closest thing to what you want to actually be playing.^[My fave Gear is Southern, of course, the *Blazing Iguana*, a ridiculous light gear with a 128-rack of micro-incendiary missiles on its back. Yes, I used it for racing …] --- If you don't actually mind throwing down a little bit of money and you lean toward a more wargame-forward experience (often referred to as *["adventure wargaming"](https://www.wargamer.com/adventure-wargames)* these days")… ![[5150 Star Army 2nd Tour (cover).png]] I would be remiss if I didn't suggest [[Two-Hour Wargames|Two Hour Wargames]]' **[[5150: Star Army]]**, but not the latest edition. The last edition. - https://rebelminispress.com/products/5150-star-army-2nd-tour-pdf I prefer the presentation and overall shape of the last edition of the mechanics. They just feel more consistent and responsive to me. Plus the last edition is going to be a little bit cheaper overall. ![[5150 No Quarter (cover).png]] You aren't going to want just the core book. You're going to want **[[5150: No Quarter]]** as well. That's your mecha construction and focused book. - https://rebelminispress.com/products/5150-no-quarter-mecha-combat-pdf The line covers everything from grunts in the mud up to battalion on battalion battles, aerospace, deep space… Pretty much everything you might want to do. Plus it plays solo, co-op, and head-to-head, which is some pretty amazing flexibility and one of the things I look for in games I play these days. --- But if were getting down to brass tacks on what I, personally, would use to play VOTOMS, it would be the following: ![[Starforged (cover).jpg]] First, start with **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]]**. It's a fantastic game, well-designed, works great solo, same side, or traditionally guided. It's probably the best RPG design of the last five years for certain and possibly last decade. - https://www.ironswornrpg.com/product-ironsworn-starforged ![[Sundered Isles (cover).jpg]] Seriously consider picking up the new **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Sundered Isles]]** expansion for **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]]**. It's in late pledge and the PDF is ready to drop right into your hot little hands. - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shawntomkin/sundered-isles-expansion-for-ironsworn-starforged/ The reason that you might want this largely rests in the expanded discussion of faction design and mechanics for same along with discussion of fleet tactics. Why do you care about *fleet tactics*? Because mass ground scale combat really does lean on many of the same aspects. Where's the mecha? Glad you asked. One of the great things about **Starforged** is that the entirety of the mechanics are effectively open source. Third parties can create things which leverage pretty much everything. There are a lot of in the third-party things floating around for **Starforged** and its predecessor, **[[Ironsworn]]**. ![[Starsmith Mecha Mercs (cover).jpg]] One of the best I've seen is **[[Starsmith: Mecha Mercs]]**, which has fantastic mechanics for creating your own mecha, using them, enjoying them, and working them into what is effectively a narrative-forward game. - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/421157/starsmith-mecha-mercs --- If I were going to do VOTOMS today, it would very likely be with **Starforged**/**Starsmith**, without hesitation, first and foremost. Weaving together the inevitably very differently charged emotional connections between pilots and the physical differences between mecha such that you could have situations driven by the narrative first and foremost and not by simply trying to manipulate mechanics for greatest outcome… That's really a dream job. It's exactly what you want for VOTOMS. If I really wanted to focus on combat and of the story of warfare but with the ability to dip into the RPG side of things and make things very personal, it would be **5150**. If you want to hit hard, hit fast, and hit repeatedly but still have room for the pilots to be human beings with human foibles and human wants and human desires, this might well be the way to go. It would certainly work, it would be fun, and it would be a very different approach than most people might take. Worth pursuing just on that basis alone. That's where I'm at, anyway. I welcome any input which might leave me down on a different interesting path.