Sphere Robot Wars Mechanics

Basic Concepts

(warning: may not be entirely systemic as yet)

The following makes reference to both Second Sphere and FRW and is essentially designed as a drop-in ruleset for the latter using rules originally conceptualized for former. As such it does not exactly represent Second Sphere's tech base, but can instead be considered a demo.These rules exist to allow for fairly quick and dirty mecha-scale combat, in simplified wargame format. They are intended to be played using a webboard I have which once I properly figure out will be sent around.

Sphere Robot Wars (henceforth 'SpRW') has two types of units. They are Craft which are small, fast things like airplanes, mecha, ground vehicles, etc and Ships which are large objects including not just (war)ships but fortifications and land-battleships.

Unit Stats

Everything in spRW has a series of stats that defines how fast they fly, how tough they are, etc.

Unit Stats

Speed: A straight-line measure of how fast something goes in MP per turn.

Agility: How agile something is; this provides both offensive and defensive benefits.

Evasion: A measure of intrinsic difficulty in striking a target. It's approximately an inverse correlation to target size, though things like stealth and ECM can also factor in.

Armor: A measure of resistance to weapons fire.

Structure: A holistic measure of how difficult something is to damage, even after armor has been broached.

Hits: How many points of damage something can take before exploding violently.

Weapon Stats

Range: How many squares something can shoot.

Accuracy: The modifier to attacking fast, agile targets.

Penetration: The weapon's ability to punch through armor

Strength: The weapon's effectiveness in inflicting grievous damage to large targets.

There's also other stuff like sensors and stealth, but we'll leave that for the moment.

Character Stats

Piloting is the core stat here, and controls most of your specialties.

Piloting: Adds to Agility

Dodger Specialty: Adds to Evasion

Speed Demon: Adds to Speed

Sharpshooter Specialty: Adds to Accuracy on ranged weapons

Swordmaster Specialty: Adds to Accuracy on melee weapons

Aleph: Specifics TBD. Primarily unlocks various powers.

Smarts: Replaces Command in any one-one-one situation.

Education: Added to Sensors and ECM.

Command: Added to command rolls

Specific Command (eg, Mecha Command): Stacks with general command

How it Works

Craft do not have a Structure, and defend with Agility and damcon with Armor.

Ships do not have an Agility stat and they defend with Armor and damcon with Structure.

In the simplest form the rules take the form of a stat-modified rolloff, though there's a bit more to it. Specifics can come later.

Special Powers

Everyone loves being an Aleph, but in addition to that, mecha protagonists are infamous for all sorts of added awesome. This section covers both and is currently pretty blank.

Useful Widgets

Smoke Bomb

Actually a sophisticated ion and nanoparticle dispersal device as opposed to something as low tech as 'smoke', the Smoke Bomb rapidly generates a sperical or lenticular bubble of sensor-opaque particles that lingers for one or more turns.

Anti-Beam Smoke

Similar to the Smoke Bomb, Anti-Beam Smoke was first fielded in the Solar War as a protective measure against warship-mounted beam weapons. Like a Smoke Bomb it creates a field of ionized particles that maintain cohesion for some time before their charge dissipates and they scatter.

Anti-Beam Smoke provides the equivalent of +5 Armor against energy weapons only; additionally, any energy weapon with a penetration equal to or less than the ABS's rating is nullified. This even applies to nuclear weapons, though the intense radiation from a nuke will automatically dissipate the ABS after resolution.

Repair Spray

A mecha-sized can of vacuum-rated carbon-titanium dust in a nanomachine/polymer matrix. It comes out sort of like silly string and can be used as temporary patch for damaged armor.

A can of Repair Spray 'heals' 1 Hit of damage, though for calculating how damaged a unit is for repair costs it is treated as nonexistent.

Repair Spray must be used by one unit on another and both must be in the same or adjacent squares and take no other actions that turn other than moving into or out of proximity.

Baddass Normal

Determinator

"I don't know the meaning of the word 'surrender'!... I mean, I know it, I'm not dumb... Just - not in this context."

Every level of Determinator gives your machine +1 Hit

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Made of Iron

Your character shields are so strong they extend to your mecha.

Every level of Made of Iron gives your machine +1 Armor

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 10 for level I, every additional level costs +8

Gunslinger

You can use two identical weapons in your mecha's hands (one each), effectively doubling your attacks without needing to have something like paired shoulder cannons.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Itano Circus

You've had the techs cross-wire the fire control system in your machine so it can fire all it's missiles at once. Fwooooooosh.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Never Say Die

When the chips are down, you always seem to manage to walk away from that giant attack.

When your machine is reduced to 0 HP, you can attempt a saving roll to make a last-second dodge, ride the shockwave, etc and as a result, not have the machine explode under you. You'll (almost) always make an eject roll, too.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Taking You With Me!

Even death can't stop your final vengeance.

When your machine is reduced to 0 HP, you may perform an Interrupt attack with all your weapons before exploding.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Crack Shot

Skilled pilots trained themselves to concentrate on the target and ignore all extraneous disruptions, letting them achieve stunning displays of accuracy.

You may take a 19 on any attack roll instead of rolling.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Killer Eyes

A few pilots are known to have an almost instinctive ability to place shots where they'll do the absolute most damage.

You may take a 19 on any damage roll instead of rolling.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Hotblood

Any quote by Domon Kasshu will work here.

Your attack automatically does x2 damage.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 10 for level I, every additional level costs +8

Lucky

Some people just have the devil's luck.

You may reroll or force a reroll on any roll made that directly affects you. If it is an area effect, your reroll does not apply to any others.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Rebel Yell

Some ZOCU pilots became notorious for their piercing war-cries when charging the enemy, broadcast on all intership channels to demoralize the enemy.

Targets may not parry in the round that they're charged by a pilot with Rebel Yell.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Disarm

Expert pilots can get in close and disarm enemy units, knocking beam sabers away or chopping the barrels off guns.

On a sufficiently successful melee attack or on an enemy critical fail, an external weapon on the enemy unit is destroyed.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Swordsmaster

You've trained under the ancient swordsmasters out in the Rim then figured out how to replicate this in a giant robot.

Whenever an enemy fails a melee attack by at least 5, you can perform a melee Counterattack.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Mook Shield

A permutation of Judo and Akido for giant robots, allowing for rapid dominance in faceplate-to-faceplate combat.

When engaged in melee combat, if you are fired upon you on a successful opposed piloting+agility roll you can force the enemy attack to be resolved against any unit in melee with you (so long as it's not larger than you and you have at least one free hand)

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Expert Navigator

The EU's Advanced Navigation Course set the gold standard for jump accuracy for over half a century.

May reroll any FTL roll.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Aleph Trickery

Newtype Flash

Spider Sense, essentially

Force a reroll on one Accuracy-based attack a turn per level, even one that would otherwise be undodgeable (sneak attack, etc)

High Level Control

What Alephs do best

Add your Aleph stat to any attack roll involving Aleph Bits.

Limit Break

"You won't like me when I'm angry"

For one turn, you may attack twice with all weapons (or double their ROF, for weapons that may attack more than once).

Building A Robot

This could get long. Some example stats follow. Anything in bold has a defined effect but I'm too lazy to write out how it works just yet. Trust me on this.

Interceptor (transatmospheric fighter)

A 22nd century aerospace fighter

Speed 10, Agility 7, Evasion 5, Armor 0, 4 Hits

Component Space: 8

Hull Growth Factor: 4

External Carriage: 8

External Carriage Growth Factor: 2

Heavy Fighters (space fighter)

A a boxy space fighter

Speed 7, Agility 5, Evasion 4, Armor 6, 4 Hits

Component Space: 8

Hull Growth Factor: 4

External Carriage: 8

External Carriage Growth Factor: 2

Combat Frame

The standard mobile suit frame

Speed 5, Agility 5, Evasion 4, Armor 6, 4 Hits

Component Space: 12

Hull Growth Factor: 4

External Carriage: 12

External Carriage Growth Factor: 2

Assault Frame

A slower but more robust mobile suit design

Speed 4, Agility 4, Evasion 3, Armor 10, 4 Hits

Component Space: 12

Hull Growth Factor: 4

External Carriage: 12

External Carriage Growth Factor: 2

Mobile Armor

Not very moe at all.

Speed 2, Agility 2, Evasion 2, Armor 7, 10 Hits

Component Space: 60

Hull Growth Factor: 20

External Carriage: 20

External Carriage Growth Factor: 10

Component Space is a holistic measure of how much 'stuff' can be fitted inside of a mobile suit. Likewise, External Carriage is what's bolted on the outside or held in the machine's hands.

Growth Factor is how much additional space you get as you 'level up' your machine; machines with 0 growth levels are generally fairly bargain-basement models, older types that are distinctly inferior, though the League's Raptors are 0 growth for reasons of compactness. Ones with 1-2 are mainline designs, with the standard Federation Fleet types being level 1 and INTACT's normal models level 2. 'Ace' suits would be level 3, with ones beyond that being custom or testbed models, too expensive for mass production.

Almost everything takes up space, as seen in the following example of a generic Level 1 model (The ZOCU OMF-06 Hoplite).
Note that the Hoplite is a Sphere design and may not match up exactly with the final results for FRW. For example, while power systems are a key Sphere technology tree, they will probably be ignored in any FRW component list as everyone is using the same Made-in-SpaceChina powerplants.

Frame Expansion x1

16 internal and 14 external space

Fusion Thrusters x4

4 internal space

Fusion Verniers x4

4 internal space

Fusion Reactor x4

4 internal space

Armor x4

4 internal space

Note that while armor doesn't take up a huge amount of space, it does add significant weight and thus inertia, eventually penalizing agility.

Pulse Gun x1

6 external space

Beam Saber x1

1 external space

Anti-Missile Laser x1

1 external space

Strike Missiles x2

4 external space

2 external space left over for various lightweight equipment

Mobile Armors and Super Robots have not yet been written up. Conceptually however, Mobile Armors will be large Craft whereas Super Robots (and presumably Super Mobile Armors) will be rule-modified Ships.

Orbital Frames, as a concept, are Sphere-only. They are a low priority and have not been fully conceptualized.

Weapons

Note that all stats below are, ultimately, provisionary. I can't say for sure that they're properly balanced and aren't over/underpowered, so they might change over time.

Melee Weapons

Beam Saber

A fairly simple energy sword.

Range M, accuracy +5, penetration +0, Strength +3, Armor Piercing (halves Armor), Parry +5

1 Space, 1 RP

Beam Knives

Smaller beam weapons, beam knives or beam daggers are usually thrown or used as a secondary weapon with a beam sabre or alpha edge.

Range M, accuracy +8, penetration -2, Strength +0, Armor Piercing (halves Armor), Parry +3

1 Space, 1 RP

Mega Beam Saber

A much more powerful beam saber, though a bit clumsier on the defense.

Range M, accuracy +5, penetration +3, Strength +6, Armor Piercing (halves Armor), Parry +3

2 Space, 3 RP

Hyper Mega Beam Saber

More Sword = More Better

Range 1, accuracy +4, penetration +6, Strength +10, Armor Piercing (halves Armor), Parry +1

3 Space, 8 RP

Alpha Edge (sword)

Rather than a standard beam sabre, a mobile suit can employ an Alpha Edge, a sword built of advanced composite alloys and exotic, high density matter. The Alpha Edge integrates various disruption and beam surfaces, and its weight allows it to smash through enemy beam weapons that attempt to parry, as well as cutting enemy armour.

Range M, accuracy +4, penetration +4, Strength +0, Parry +5, Brutish

2 Space, 1 RP

Alpha Edge (Pole)

A polearm version of the Alpha Edge; larger and more capable of inflicting damage.

Range M, accuracy +6, penetration +5, Strength +1, Parry +8, Brutish

4 Space, 3 RP

Alpha Edge (Giant Sword)

"I AM THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL"

Range M, accuracy +2, penetration +10, Strength +8, Parry +1, Brutish

8 Space, 8 RP

Electro-Grappler

A rocket-propelled magnetic grapple attached to a high-speed winch.

Range 2, accuracy +4, penetration N/A, Strength N/A, Winch

2 Space, 2 RP

Ranged Weapons

Beam Rifle

A basic beam rifle. Generic.

Range 10, accuracy +5, penetration +3, Strength +0

8 Space, 3 RP

Beam Cannon

A larger energy cannon, typically fitted to the shoulders of mobile suits.

Range 15, accuracy +3, penetration +5, Strength +2

10 Space, 5 RP

Pulse Gun

A fairly compact energy weapon that spits out a hail of shots.

Range 6, accuracy +7, penetration +1, Strength +0

5 Space, 3 RP

Sniper Beam Rifle

A longer ranged harder hitting but slower firing version of a standard beam rifle, the Sniper beam rifle is employed widely by federation designated marksman and sniper suits to engage targets beyond normal beam weapon range, as well as knocking out heavier targets with precision strikes.

Range 10, accuracy +0, penetration +4, Strength +0

Sniper mode

Range 20, accuracy +6, penetration +6, Strength +3

10 Space, 5 RP

Plasma Gun

A stubby, short-ranged weapon that fires a blast of semifusing plasma. While the actual amount of fusing materiel is tiny, it's enough to threaten ships.

Range 4, accuracy +0, penetration +6, Strength +4

5 Space, 3 RP

Particle Acceleration Cannon

A massive weapon that can cut through most armor like a proverbial knife through metaphoric butter. Generally only found on mobile armors, super robots or warships.

Range 25, accuracy -2, penetration +10, Strength +8, 3 damage

20 Space, 20 RP

Linear Gun

A very high rate of fire coil gun, the Linear Rifle was for a long time the mainstay of mobile suit, tank and infantry armament, up until the advent of energy fillers and reactors small and powerful enough to supply a beam rifle.

Range 8, accuracy +5, penetration +0, Strength -2, burst +2

6 Space, 2 RP

Rail Gun

More powerful but somewhat slower firing than a linear rifle, rail guns tend to launch larger, slightly faster projectiles than a linear gun.

Range 12, accuracy +2, penetration +5, Strength +2

10 Space, 3 RP

Heavy Rail Gun

A larger, clumsier railgun meant for anti-ship work.

Range 15, accuracy +0, penetration +8, Strength +4

12 Space, 5 RP

Smart Grenade Launcher

The only electromagnetic weapon that still remains in wide use, smart grenade launchers are used to deliver a wide variety of explosives at longer distances than even a mobile suit can throw.

Range 6, accuracy +3, penetration +0, Strength -2, Guided +2

5 Space, 2 RP

Bazooka

A venerable and widely used anti ship weapon, the use of a bazooka converts any mobile suit into an anti ship striker.

Range 4, accuracy +0, penetration +8, Strength +6, 3 shots, 2 damage

8 Space, 2 RP

Giant Bazooka

880mm of explosive fun.

Range 4, accuracy -4, penetration +12, Strength +12, 2 shots, 3 damage

12 Space, 3 RP

Panzerfaust

A light, relatively agile weapon that fires a stabilized but usually unguided warhead.

Range 4, accuracy +0, penetration +8, Strength +6, '1 shot, 2 damage

3 Space, 1 RP

Missiles do not get the advantage of the firing unit's agility, but do get its sensor rating.

Cluster Missiles

A pod of short-ranged missiles.

Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots

4 Space, 2 RP

Anti-Air Missile

A single long-range anti-air missile. Deadly against lightly-armored craft.

Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot

3 Space, 1 RP

Strike Missile

A single multi-purpose missile, capable of punching through heavy armor and inflicting damage to ships.

Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot

3 Space, 1 RP

Assault Missile

A single short-ranged heavy missile with a powerful warhead, primarily meant for antiship work.

Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage

3 Space, 1 RP

Antiship Missile

A big, beefy missile, practically a small aircraft in and of itself. Hits fast and hard.

Range 40, accuracy -1, penetration +12, Strength +12, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 3 damage

8 Space, 3 RP

Bits are conceptually incomplete, but attack with only their intrinsic accuracy and depending on the type, the controlling pilot's Aleph value. A possibility:

INTACT Mk 1mod7 Attack Funnel

The standard 'bit' system for INTACT mobile suits. While the quartet of small remote attack robots can lay down a dangerous field of fire, their weapons do not have significant intrinsic power.

Range 12, accuracy +15, penetration +0, Strength +0, No Range Penalty, Aleph

4 Space, 4 RP

Type-Four Semiautonomous Attack Drone

The League is ahead in subweapon drones and the Type Four is the current League design. The lack of an Aleph transceive allows for a more powerful pulse gun to be fitted.

Range 12, accuracy +18, penetration +1, Strength +0, No Range Penalty, Command Bonus

4 Space, 4 RP

Components

IOW, everything that's not a weapon. All Components take up double the amount of space if they're fitted externally in External Carriage.

Thrusters

Fusion thrusters provide linear speed and a small boost to Evasion.

+1 Speed, +0.5 Evasion

1 Space, 1 RP

Verniers

Verniers increase Agility and also provide a small increase to Evasion.

+1 Agility, +0.5 Evasion

1 Space, 2 RP

Armor

Provides . . . Armor. Also decreases agility somewhat, due to the intrinsic mass of all that heavy plating.

+1 Armor, -0.25 Agility

1 Space, 1 RP

Nephilim Hyperalloy

The armor alloy used by the mysterious Nephilim is currently beyond Human science's ability to replicate in any quantities, though it can be salvaged and reshaped.

+1 Armor, -0.25 Agility, +1 additional Armor against energy strikes

1 Space, 10 RP (or special dispensation)

Reinforced Frame

Strengthens the basic structure of the machine .

+1 Hits, -0.25 Agility

2 Space, 2 RP

Scattering Field

Bubble-field system. Immune to any forms of special armor-piercing effects.

+3 Armor, -1 Evasion (non-stacking)

2 Space, 5 RP

Microjump Drive

Lets you make short-range FTL jumps

2 Space, 6 RP

Aleph Matrix

A compact computer system that enhanced the natural abilities of all Alephs.

+1 Evasion

0 Space, 3 RP

Building a Spaceship

There's rules for this, too, but for the time being they're less critical and meant for GMs anyhow.

Given that this is meant for a character-level RPG, I'll probably come up with rules for disabling components on warships, so you can shoot off gun turrets and the like.

Persistant Gameplay

Many ships in Sphere Robot Wars include one or more automatic fabricators. Autofabs use sophisticated robotic assembly and nanotech synthesis equipment to output a vast array of products ranging from ammunition to weapons to replacement armor plates right up to complete infantry robots. Large fixed ones can roll out entire vehicles and the components that are assembled together to build starships. This has revolutionized long distance operations as a crew is no longer required to bring along absolutely every item they will need along the way. Instead, they can run off whatever is needed on demand, manufactured out of simple chemical feedstock.

Of course not everything is lolipops and puppies; despite the efficiency and convenience of autofabs, output is not unlimited. Furthermore, the more complex the product, the longer it takes to complete; a slab of carbon-fibre armor can be rolled out en masse with low tolerances whereas a complex electronic warfare unit must be constructed slowly. And finally, outside of major military bases or other places with unusual requirements, supplies of specialized substances such as depleted uranium will be short to nonexistent. Thus, most designs intended for 'non-industrial' production have simplified chemical makeups, normally to the detriment of performance.

Using Autofabs

All autofabs are rated by their Output; this is how much 'stuff' they can build per cycle. By default this is a week, though for dramatic purposes this can be lengthened or shortened as desired. Major industrial fabs will not have a linear relationship between output of simple things and complex things, but this is again the domain of dramatic license.

Buildable items are rated by Complexity; this is how many Output points it takes to build one (or one run, in the case of things like smallarms/ammunition). They also have a Feedstock Cost, which is generally representative of one ton of feedstock (though not necessarily one ton final product). Some things may also have a Dust cost.

Items may be recycled as desired; they return a variable amount of feedstock depending on how much time is taken. Dust is always recovered 100%.