Super Robot Wars: Original FBH

Setting

In the middle of the twenty first century AD, humanity began to push out into space. Motivations differed, but chief among them was the growing lack of resources on earth. Even with the best methods of recycling, the earth's resources were running out. Asteroids were needed for minerals, and solar power, which free of the atmosphere existed in great abundance were needed for continued life on earth.

While great strides had been made in automation, the AIs created proved so strange that it was impossible to leave them completely unsupervised. Humans began to move out into space in great numbers, looking for jobs in the booming new space industries. New World Powers like Brazil and Indonesia rose around the space industries and humanities take off looked assured.

Unfortunately, external events bought this era to a close. A In 2079 a pair of meteors struck the earth, one in the Atlantic, one the Pacific, devastating much of the globe. They briefly cut the orbital elevators, and caused massive damage. Meantime in space, cut off from supplies from earth, the colonists struggled to survive.

It took almost thirty years for the earth to emerge from this period of crisis, and when it had done so a new dating system was declared: Space Era 1. Humanity had found its home world was a fragile thing and that moving deeper into space was a necessity. The Earth based powers, which still had the majority of humanities manufacturing sought to re-establish control over their space colonies, which had by this point become rather wayward. Several brushfire wars developed in space, and several colonies became formally independent. Many of these colonies and several earth nations took steps to adapt themselves to new conditions, or simply improve themselves for the future, becoming the first transhumans.

Humanity was set far back by the meteors, and for over a hundred years, it has been busy re-establishing its self, with little technological change or human life. Ten years ago however, in space Era 128, a third meteor struck the earth, despite efforts to deflect it. The meteor slowed and should have burned up, doing only a fairly small amount of damage to the islands it crashed nearby. Investigation of it's odd behaviour however quickly showed it was not a meteor but a giant alien space ship.

With paranoia running high and belief that the aliens had caused the first meteor strikes common among the public, the nations of the world created the International Defence and Coordination Agency (IDCA) a truly international army made up of many of Earth's best units. In order to research the incredible technology found within the alien space craft a second international effort, the Extra Terrestrial Technology Analysis and Cooperation (ETTAC) Agency was created to work alongside the IDCA, with both agencies funded by block grants from various governments and the patents derived from Extra-Terrestrial technology.

As significant as the confirmation of alien life was the discovery of previous civilizations on earth. Whether these were alien or some distant and advanced civilization of human beings is unclear, but they appear to have existed on a continent in what is now the pacific which was destroyed by some massive calamity almost a one hundred thousand years ago. nicknamed the Mu, this civilization possessed very advanced technology, including mecha which seem to have been in many ways more powerful than the ones created today. Relics of the Mu are being studied by various agencies, including ETTAC.

Despite the confirmation of alien presence, politics between nations continues almost as usual. The world is now dominated by a series of great powers who constantly compete with one another for the favour of various middle ranking powers, as well as engaging in arms build ups and various grand projects to increase their international prestige. India, China, The Pan-Continental Union (taking in North Africa, Russia and Europe), the North American Alliance, South American Union and Organization of Pacific States (taking in the former ASEAN countries, Japan and Korea) are the leading powers or alliances.

Even as human ships push deeper into the solar system, there has been growing political trouble on earth as several nations have accused IDCA and ETTAC of concealing elements of alien technology from the ship (code named giant) from them. IDCA has countered by condemning its accusers for failing to do enough to counter the continued alien threat.

Technology

Due to the massive devastation of the double meteor impact and the need to reconstruct industrial society in a cheap and energy efficient fashion, technology is in many ways little different from what was seen in the 21st century. Computers have not achieved the heights which it was hoped, though they have become far smaller and faster. AI is possible but the results tend to be so alien that they still require humans in most fields. Medicine has prologue life but has yet to lead to immortality.

Most energy is produced by large fusion and efficient fission plants the size of a building, and by space based solar generators. Portable energy is provided by devices called energy fillers, effectively high capacity batteries that contain the energy produced by a reactor or solar cell, allowing it to power a mecha or vehicle. There have been recent suggestions that the ETTAC has produced vehicle mounted fusion plants, however the IDCA has denied these reports.

Transhumanism and human augmentation in general is now something of a growth industry, as augmented combat pilots and space explorers come into demand. The Seraphim Industries, also a leader in mobile suit development is one of the leaders in the field.

The war machine of the day is the Combat Frame. Large humanoid fighting vehicles capable of fighting both on the ground and in space. Most designs are capable of running at fifty to one hundred miles an hour, and are armed with large automatic or single fire cannons using electromagnetic or chemical energy, as well as a variety of combat blades and other more exotic weapons. Combat Frames are designed to allow the same troops to be deployed wither on the ground or in space. They are often supported by more specialist units such as fighter jets, tanks and heavy surface units such as ships or land ships.

Potential PC Factions

There are many powers which the PCs could potentially hail from. For this reason, before making a character, please vote on which groups should be opened up to PCs.

China

Perhaps the world's strongest power, China survived the turmoil of the 21st century unified and with its economic development intact. While its power relative to the newly formed blocs has declined compared to that which it enjoyed over the single nations and loose alliances of two centuries ago.

The People's Republic of China is fully democratic, however it's government remains somewhat authoritarian, with many laws against subversion and restrictions on political activity, though considerably fewer on social life.

The PLA's forces are among the world's largest in all areas, and renowned for their tactical, strategic and operational prowess. China's military industrial complex keeps them supplied with the latest combat frames, tanks, aircraft and combat space vehicles, and they maintain extensive holdings in orbit.

The premier Chinese Combat Frame is the Steel Dragon, introduced five years ago and still generally regarded as one of the world's best. It has an excellent combination of speed and weaponry and extremely heavy armour based on a novel armour layout. The Steel Dragon is now being produced in an astounding number of varieties, and widely exported to Chinese allies.

India

Still a rising power rather than a great power, India has a population similar to China, but its economy and industry is less developed and it remains concerned mostly with regional rivalries in Pakistan and other nearby states. India is still democratic, though sometimes rather corrupt, especially in provincial leadership.

The Indian armed forces have a small presence in orbit, and use a mix of PCU and domestically produced equipment.

North American Alliance

Made up of Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, the North American Alliance has a population of around half a billion people, and maintains strong alliance ties with both the OPS, PCU, and SAU. The NAA usually attempts to be a balancer in world affairs, and prevent countries like China from which might easily break out of the norms of international behaviour from doing so. This has led to some major disagreements between them and other great powers, especially China at times, but both are too important as trading partners to these falling outs to become more serious.

The NAA's military is well regarded, with units of all three powers cross training with one another, and frequent personnel swaps and joint weapons development. Unlike the Chinese, they operate several different models of combat frame, including specialist flying, artillery and traditional close assault models.

Organization of Pacific States

Taking in the old states of the ASEAN as well as Japan, Korea and Australia, the OPS formed due to the necessity of rebuilding after the meteor impact which caused heavy damage across the Pacific. The resulting alliance has lasted ever since, and largely made good the remaining rivalries between the states involved.

The OPS is one of the smallest blocks on earth in terms of population, however it has several major advantages which have allowed its economy to rebuild. For one thing, like the SAU it never completely lost contact with its space colonies and was able to use solar energy and materials from orbit in its reconstruction efforts. Secondly, while its infrastructure was perhaps the most heavily damaged in the infrastructure, this allowed the building of entirely new and far superior infrastructure to replace it, which was always too expensive for other blocks. The OPS has continued this tradition and remains one of the highest technology locations on Earth.

The OPS is also the birth place of the combat frame. Created by Japanese and Indonesian scientists out of the need to field armies that could operate at both ends of the Indonesian space elevator, the OPS's combat frame units continue to contest Chinas for the most technological advanced, and despite the ability of modern Chinese designs, the majority of new combat frame concepts have come out of the OPS.

Currently, the OPS is working on transformable combat frames and larger combat walkers they have nicknamed super robots.

Pan-Continental Union

Consisting of Europe, Russia and North Africa, the Pan-Continental Union is Earth's second largest power. While it has more net resources and an almost equal population to China, it's central government is somewhat weak and it has some difficulty bringing full resources to bear. The Pan-Continental Union is relatively inward looking, and tends to view the outer world as mostly an area to trade with rather than one to interfere with in policy terms.

The major push of PCU policy is now into space, and they are the earth bound power most aggressively promoting space development, with new science exploration and commercial ventures starting almost every day at the top of the PCU's Sahara space elevator. Due to potential hostility from certain factions in space, this has begun to cause the PCU to increase its military forces again, with national armies and international forces created under previous treaties waking to a sudden influx of new funds.

PCU combat frames tend to come in two varieties. Heavily armoured but relatively slow ground types that work mostly in conjunction with heavy surface units and tanks, and fast but lightly armoured high delta-V space types used to patrol the PCU's holdings in space and escort roaming PCU vessels.

South American Union

The South American Union is the newest of the new power blocks, but one of the wealthiest, with a growing population and large holdings in space around its space elevator. Occupying south and central America up to the Mexican border, the SAU enjoys good relationships with other world powers, and continues large scale trade with them. Unlike the PCU however, SAU has become surprisingly interventionist, with various member states being more than willing to send troops to trouble spots and contributing to the IDCA arsenal.

Despite continued efforts at cooperation, the SAU's defence establishments remain more disconnected than those of most blocs, with national commands being the rule rather than the exception. Various peace keeping and insurgency conflicts given the SAU many seasoned units however, and their domestically produced gear tends to be of good quality. The SAU was an early adopter of combat frames and has deployed them both in jungle fighting and at the top of its space elevator. Due to the thick terrain in many areas of the Union, South American mecha tend to be smaller than their counterparts elsewhere.

Tessenagi-Lichter Institute

Officially the Tessenagi Lichter Foundation Institute for Mulian Studies, TLI is a UN funded organization dedicated to the research of both Mulian artifacts and Psychodriver activities. Headquartered in South America's Jaburo Cradle, TLI repairs and refits Mulian mecha and modifies existing combat frames and super robots for Psychodriver use.

NPC Factions

International Defence Coordination Agency

Formed in the wake of the meteor bombardment and the discovery of the alien space craft Giant, IDCA has been hailed by internationalists as the proudest step in a long tradition of global governance and perhaps even a step to world unification. It's critics say something similar, but in a far different tone.

The IDCA's army recruits from all of Earth's states, usually from their militaries, offering soldiers increased pay and better conditions to join it, as well as access to the latest in military hardware. Troops are regularly screened for loyalty to the IDCA however, even beyond their home nation, which has caused complaints from some quarters, as has the deployment of the IDCA to various international trouble spots to gain combat experience.

Space Colonies

Space remains as disunited as earth does. O'Neill colonies are common and house around a quarter of all humans now living. Some are self governing, others under the governance of earth based governments or the UN space commission, while still others are grouped into various different orbital states.

The moon has also been heavily colonized with various mining operations, and bases of the major powers. Seraphim Industries, the largest corporation based entirely off earth is has it's HQ on the moon.

The most powerful space Colonial nation is the Fifth Lagrange Kingdom, located at Lagrange Point 5. The Fifth King is currently ruled by a constitutional monarchy and maintains a hard line pro-independence attitude which has taken it into more than one conflict with earth based powers.

Rules

Your PC can be almost anything providing they pilot a giant robot, whether they're a normal highschool student who now pilots an elemental lord of the earth, a crashed space alien or an ace pilot flying the latest Pan-Continental Union battle frames.

At the start of the game pick three words or short phrases which describe your PCs piloting style. (Such as fast reactions or expert flying) Then pick three words or short phrases which describe your PCs personal skills and useful personality traits the like. (Such as expert strategist or highly charismatic) Finally pick two flaws, one for piloting, and another personal.

Your mecha also has character. It needs three traits attached to it just like your pilot.

Characters

The Novum Twins
LeMat
Isabel Uca (possibly)
Miroslav Chernobyl
Major Rachael Miller
Fujiwara Itsuka
Sho Nakamura
Petra Silverton