SRW 1.0 Rules
Character Creation
Character creation rules are NOT done. Do NOT jump the gun and make something now.
Characters are created by assigning their Primary and Secondary stats, with each stat being on a scale of 0 to 6. Primary stats cost 2 points per, Secondary stats cost only 1. You have 16 points to spend and may put up to 3 in any given stat. Going higher will demand appropriate roleplaying and character growth. If your character concept truly demands a starting value above 3 you’ll have to speak to the GM.
You have 4 free points in Mecha and it is limited to level 2 for now (so don't try to spend anything more on it)
Pilot (Primary)
Your character's Pilot rating is an overall measure of how well he or she pilots a mobile suit, covering the breadth of skills as opposed to the specific increases some other stats may provide. It also covers other pilotable things such as fighters or shuttles as determined by the GM. Low Pilot does not in itself prevent access to a powerful suit, but even tremendous Newtype prowess and bleeding edge technology cannot replace basic proficiency in piloting skills.
X: The character is untrained as a pilot and lacks any natural talent that might compensate. She can get her suit to move in the direction she wants, but pre-combat checks are going to be a problem.
●: On par with a mook pilot - can run and shoot but isn't very good, and will squander the strength of even the most powerful machines. All else being equal, as likely to be shot down as to claim a kill. However, someone who is at this level as a first-timer is considered quite talented.
●●: The level of a pilot who is quite experienced and competent, or of a phenomenally gifted mecha hero like Amuro Ray at the very start of his career. Such an operator has situational awareness, sense of movement and a few tricks of the trade at his disposal.
●●●: A highly competent and experienced ace, or the top class graduate of elite pilot training school. Characters at this level are already in a seriously exclusive club. They may be wooed by development teams as a test operator and probably qualify for the early run of a new machine or a tuned up "high performance" version of the current model. They can also meaningfully specialize in certain styles of combat or types of suit: select one combat mode specialty. This specialty cannot be changed, but by no means limits his selection of mobile suit.
●●●●: A true ace goes beyond simply being highly experienced and talented at mecha combat; he really has the thing going. They are famous even among regular ace pilots and well known individually to the enemy because of how deadly they are. These ladies and gentlemen usually have a custom paint job for their mecha, as well as a scary name like "Blue Giant" or "Desert Tiger".
●●●●●: Extremely proficient and wholly complete mobile suit pilots. Your character could be mentioned in the same breath as Kallen Stadtfeld, Haman Karn, and Cornelia Li Britannia. She can pull every ounce of performance out of even a mediocre frame and could decimate entire formations of lesser enemies in a very good one. At this level, pilots often gain custom frames that may or may not pay visual lip service to muggle models.
●●●●●●: The very gods and goddesses of mecha operation, a level reserved for pilots probably more legend than fact. I mean, who really believes in Mister Bushido?
Mecha (this stat is being set at 2)
Mecha is a stat that measures the quality of the character’s starting mecha or piloted vehicle. While all pilots can probably expect upgrades over the long term, those that start at the low end tend to lag behind nonetheless, as this stat also partially governs upgrade potential.
X: Your poor character pilots, drives, or operates an obsolete or lightly-armed craft, or even has nothing at all to call his own. This is popular for "backseats", though oftentimes they combine their Mecha rating with those of the pilot for particularly large, powerful machines. If you do have a machine, it is built with only 3 Mecha Creation Points (MCP).
●: The current model of a standard front line mecha, the proverbial Zaku II. Effective if unimpressive, though it's certainly questionable why an S-class transhuman of your stature is stuck with one. Such suits can be specialized for general roles such as desert terrain, heavy artillery, or whatever. You have 7 MCP to build your machine.
●●: Your character operates a high performance version of a stock machine (the proverbial Zaku II in Aznable red), a low end prototype of some kind, or a cutting edge mass production frame like a Gouf or Dom. Usually, characters driving these will be able to overpower most of their opposition. You have 10 MCP to build your machine.
●●●: Your character flies the, or one of the Gundams in the series. It is a probably one-of-a-kind prototype mobile suit with enough technology and superlative specs to overwhelm a standard frame almost to the degree that a standard frame overwhelms tanks or fighters. Still, it is far from invincible. Early Gundams are built with 14 MCP.
●●●●: Your character is no longer in anything remotely comparable to the mass-produced chaff she’ll be shooting through; she pilots something comparable to the series’ second Gundam, mid-season "uglies", or the first Gundam in shows where they overwhelm mooks in a similarly obscene fashion. Alternatively, you’ve received a Super Robot, Mobile Armor or similar fifty-meter machine of mass destruction. These machines are built with 20 MCP.
●●●●●: In any normal suit, piloting into the enemy warren, destroying everything, and then flying back to talk to your girlfriend as she ascends in a shuttle to orbit may well be impossible. If any machine can help you do it though, here it is. You fly an Embodiment of Nazi Engineering, like Gawain, Wing Zero, Strike Freedom, or BlackComb. It almost certainly cost more than a CVBG to develop and showcase and something that qualifies is almost by definition the most powerful mecha of its show. It is just as likely to be reviled by fans for how stupidly overpowered it is. Such a monster is built with 30 MCP.
●●●●●●: Truly over the top machines, like Strike Freedom with Meteor pack, Buster Machines, the Neue Ziel or Jehuty and Anubis. It’s either the result of a director losing any sense of proportion or else machines that were ahead of their time, quite possibly made of (almost) magical technology and probably piloted by the primary and final antagonist. You get 50 MCP. Go wild.
Newtype Power (Primary)
Alephs (or colloquially, Newtypes) are, depending on whom you ask, the next stage in human evolution, an ability gained due to the invaders, their faith in God, or something that has been with us all along. Your character's Aleph rating governs her access to "magical" abilities.
X: Normal. You entirely lack Aleph potential. That isn't so bad, welcome to the vast majority of humanity.
●: The faintest spark of the gift runs quietly in your blood. Such people sometimes get a last chance roll to save their hide in real life-and-death situations, but are usually simply carriers of an unexpressed gene. Many never develop further, and go through life quite normally, with only a doubtful glimmer now and again.
●●: Your gifts have become noticeable, at least during intense combat or stress. During dramatically appropriate situations, she finds her spatial and emotional awareness rising to incredible levels. The so-called "Newtype flash" sometimes occurs, allowing her to pre-emptively detect and dodge attacks that would otherwise hit her. You may choose one Lesser Aleph Feat.
●●●: Attuned Alephs are able to function during both light and intense combat and can occasionally access their abilities in normal situations, either subconsciously or with intense effort. Nevertheless, their powers are significantly weaker, less precise, and less reliable than that of full Alephs. You may choose two Lesser Aleph Feats.
●●●●: Full Alephs (or just 'Alephs') are among those lucky and greatly advantaged few with full and regular access to the basic range of supernatural abilities even in normal situations. Many react empathically to other Alephs and/or have distinct psionic powers which might become especially useable with the appropriate research and equipment. Choose three Lesser Aleph Feats and one Greater Aleph Feat.
●●●●●: "Master Grade" Alephs are not only extremely powerful, but have access to arrays of special powers that "normal" Alephs simply could not hope to perform, including the ability to consistently produce astounding and dramatic physical phenomena, though this is usually quite exhausting. Their "ordinary" abilities are powerful, highly refined, and their use becomes second nature. In addition to the usual benefits of being an Aleph, choose four Lesser Aleph Feats and two Greater Aleph Feats.
●●●●●●: As a "Perfect Grade" Aleph, you stretch the definitions of humanity as one of the most powerful superhumans that has, or ever will live. You are so far beyond the ken of "ordinary" Alephs, that they often have the same difficulty relating to you that ordinary people have relating to them. You are explosively powerful, but terribly lonely, like Kamille Bidan or Deianeira. In addition to the usual benefits of being an Aleph (writ large), choose three(!) Greater Aleph feats and all Lesser feats.
Physical
This is the raw physical prowess of your character while she is on her own two feet, governing everything from proficiency with firearms, strength, agility, endurance, athleticism, and skill and/or talent in hand to hand combat. A character with a high rating in this category can make an excellent special forces combatant without other additions. However, it does not reflect her skill with the guns or melee weapons while inside her mecha.
Note, that as Class-S transhumans, you gain +2 dots in physical free. Your physical is limited to a maximum of 5, not 3 like other stats, also, physical does provide a boost to piloting in the form of faster reflexes and the like.
X: Characters who are quite weak either because they are distinctly physically uninclined (though not necessarily unhealthy), quite young, or perhaps conspicuously clumsy like Asahina Mikuru, fall into this category. Obviously these people usually have some redeeming features to counteract their uselessness in a firefight.
●: A mook trooper, or perhaps a young emo protagonist. He is probably a normal human but is at or below par physically, or else is simply is mookishly nerfed.
●●: The standard character is actually stronger than your usual mook trooper; about as strong as an elite trooper in fact. This is largely because most foot troops in mecha stories tend to be stormtroopers.
●●●: These are strong characters; tough veteran barfighters, determined physical heroes, guys with guts, low end coordinators, and so on. Roughly equivalent to enemy special forces.
●●●●: Highly physically proficient, like Kallen Stadtfeld, Cagalli Yula Athha, most coordinators, or really hardcore folks like Navy SEALs.
●●●●●: Utterly peak human in the vein of Kururugi Suzaku or the Rail Tracer or high level coordinators. There are serious questions as to whether you are even human; you are almost certainly a modified one. Completely superlative in all physical pursuits.
●●●●●●: Unlike other characters which are mecha pilots designed for personal combat, these are personal combatants designed for personal combat. This level is reserved entirely for superhumans – cyborgs, androids, and so on – that are so heavily modified it is usually impossible to hide. KOS-MOS and T-ELOS is the archetype here.
Command
Command measures your character's raw proficiency at tactics, strategy, and his or her ability to make awesome plans and have them miraculously flow like water – most of the time. While low Command characters aren't necessarily stupid, high Command characters do tend to be the conspicuously smart ones. Note that Command ability doesn't necessarily have anything to do with rank.
X: She may have other redeeming qualities (goddessly mastery of personal combat, perhaps) but her skills as a commander are exceptionally bad and she is additionally rather hard to command herself. She makes hilarious (though often utterly unpredictable) decisions, frequently lets her emotions take control, and manages to find more traps and ambushes than a column of French lemmings.
●: Equivalent of your usual low level mook commanders. Mook commanders are still inhumanly stupid by our standards but often seem to be just about average among the villains.
●●: Competent leader, though not particularly inspired.
●●●: Inspiring, skilled, and noteworthy. Not the best commander around, but certainly known as one of the better ones. His understanding of war and his experience in winning battles, running campaigns, or even conducting wise retreats makes him an important asset.
●●●●: An excellent officer and uncanny tactician. With her superb judgement and predatory sense for when and where to strike, she has earned infamy and dread among the invaders as well as fame and respect among her peers.
●●●●●: A profound genius. Your enemies are babies in the hands of a giant. He can take the worst of rabble against great odds and still prevail or survive. With more and better troops, their movements under his command are like the dance of the stars themselves.
●●●●●●: At this level, commanders aren't simply incredibly good, but also have some almost supernatural quality or dramatic priority over their foes. They are simply superior and "cooler" somehow than lessers, though perhaps there's also some supernatural reason besides. At level five, many commanders start making enemies in the government. At this level, it's assured. You will be a Galactic Hero and do great deeds, quite possibly turning the war around simply by your skills alone.
Rank
Rank is a fairly straightforward rating of how much ‘pull’ you have in your armed forces. Sergeants don’t command battleships (except under exceptionally unusual circumstances) and Admirals do not go on infiltrations on foot. At higher levels it grants mook underlings and improved equipment.
X: You’re a civilian, or at least someone with no connection to the military. This doesn’t stop you from getting in a giant robot and fighting, but will probably pose problems. Examples could be Kamille Bidan or Ali Al-Sarchez. In this campaign this also represents raw recruits.
●: You’re a grunt pilot, rank of Flight Sergeant in the Space Forces. Your position in life can be summed up as ‘wingman’.
●●: You’re a low-ranking Lieutenant or else a particularly promoted NCO with a title like Gunnery or Master Sergeant. You’d be either the leader of a grunt squad or a member of high end squadron.
●●●: As a Commander or Major, you can (and presumably do) command a full squadron of mooks or a squad of aces. At this rank you can also pull strings with the maintenance teams, getting one additional point to upgrade your mecha (note: not one additional rank in Mecha)
●●●●: You’ve reached the rank of Colonel and as such are the highest ‘field’ rank. You command all flight assets in combat, reporting to the CAG onboard the mothership or airbase. The maintenance crews always make sure your machine is tuned up, giving you two additional points to upgrade your mecha.
●●●●●: You’re the CAG on board the battleship the party is on, or else are the Captain of said battleship. Everyone onboard answers to you, but it comes with real responsibility. If you’re the CAG, you will have three points of upgrades which are normally distributed among your pilots as you see fit. If you’re a Captain, you have a freaking battleship.
●●●●●●: You are The Brass, with multiple warships or equivalent forces under your command, with a rank starting from Commodore and going up. You might even lead your own autonomous peacekeeping (read: warmaking) force. You get no upgrade points, because you can simply order entirely new weapons from your organization.
Charisma
Charisma measures the likeability of your character in several ways. Although few characters are anything but superior in physical attractiveness, those with high Charisma do tend to be the coolest or hottest, and they do tend to sell more figurines. More importantly though, charisma attracts followers, suitable romantic partners, and helps keep the faction together. Charisma is also the ability that governs your ability to get new or replace old/destroyed humanoid frames.
All INTACT pilots recieve +1 free Charisma due to their transhumanism and training in negotation and the fine (and not so fine) art of diplomacy, and the maximum is raised to 4
X: Shinji.
●: Many people start the series doubting you or tire quickly of you doubting yourself. Take care that you don't get Brightslapped.
●●: No real charisma but not hated either. Just another character. Keeps Bright's hands occupied with chicken.
●●●: Strong willed mecha heroes don't usually wind up leading big factions or competing in politics. However, their admirable characters do lend them to gain friends, admirers, and mecha donations.
●●●●: Definitely charismatic. Characters at this level tend to be conspicuously attractive or handsome and often have big dreams or tons of funny habits that make her quite loveable. If going the leader route, she will make a good one, though not the best.
●●●●●: A very prominent and well liked leader such as Char Aznable. Probably very famous for one reason or another, and steals Gundam and girlfriend alike with impunity. Politicians are worried because you may well wind up putting together your own faction if some of their skeletons fall out of their closet.
●●●●●●: You are the lustre star of guidance, the pink princess herself. Popular opinions, freedom fighters, veteran pilots, and damn near anyone else flocks to your cause and willingly make sacrifices for your beloved behalf. Your charity hands out Gundams on the first Monday of each month.
Conspiracy
While Charisma is a measure of how well you deal with people, Conspiracy is a measure of how well connected you are to the political machinations that underpin the story. In essence, it is how much of the ‘big picture’ the character sees. Conspiracy is an effective way of acquiring information, supplies, allies and even new machines, but remember that there is rarely any loyalty, only self-interest in this.
X: Most mecha protagonists. Probably thinks adults are distorting the world. Definately sleeps well at night.
●: You’ve seen a bit and it’s opened your eyes. Chances are you’ve got a few unofficial contacts. Typical for mercenary or veteran pilots.
●●: You definitely know more than you’re letting on, probably the result of a shady past you’ve left behind you (or have you?).
●●●: At this rank you’re an active conspirator. You should consider getting a License so you’ve got free hand to do all that dirty work. You may know The Plan, but are not in a position to actually do anything about it.
●●●●: You’re up to your eyeballs in secrets, like any good high-ranked government official, leader of an autonomous military or spymaster. Your closet is assuredly full of skeletons.
●●●●●: Fuckin’ Ribbons. If you’re not the power behind some power block, what is wrong with you?
●●●●●●: Gendo Ikari. Just . . . Gendo Ikari.
Special Skills
This is for miscellaneous skills and abilities of particular note such as being an expert fencer, skilled painter, pilot-mechanic, computer hacker, etc. They are primarily meant to round out characters that have exceptional abilities outside of the stock stats above. It may include a certain amount of fame among those ‘in the know’, and at higher levels even random bystanders would recognize your name.
X: Nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Average Joe.
●: A talented amateur, or someone who’s just started a promising career.
●●: You could support yourself comfortably just selling art, or else you’ve made a name for yourself as a minor-league athlete. If you’re a mechanic, you’re the best one in the city and all the serious mechajocks come to your shop.
●●●: You probably have an art school named after you, or are a bestselling author. Maybe you’ve spent time as a big-name professional athlete. You could crack all but the most heavily-protected computer networks and make it look easy.
●●●●: Your name ranks up there with Wayne Gretzky, Chuck Norris and Madonna. You are the most gifted mecha designer of the age. You are the emergent intelligence that resides inside the Internet.
Traits
Advantages
The Huge/Tough Guy
Cost: 0
This trait indicates that you are "the huge/tough guy" archetype of the cast. You're much bigger, stronger, and tougher, but also slower.
Veteran
Cost: 0
While most protagonists tend to be relatively new at this whole ‘heroing’ thing (though not, let it be known, does this mean it is solely the domain of the young – see James Links) there are some who have had their time in the spotlight in the previous anime. These characters are better pilots, generally higher ranked and simply more skilled, having had an entire season or more of combat under their belt (or the backstory equivalent, if you’re Roy Fokker). They get +1 to Piloting and thus cap at 4, as well as 4 additional character points. The downside is that they’re already at the top of their game, and increasing all stats (save Mecha) costs double XP. Furthermore, as the Earth Forces has been oblivious to the existence of Newtypes until recently, all Veterans suffer a -1 penalty to their effective Aleph Potential.
Type Master
Cost: 1
You’ve intensive trained, having never been defeated in 2000 simulated engagements. Unfortunately your winning streak comes to an end when you encounter a Gundam. But just wait until you face off against a force of Mobile Dolls . . .
You are particularly skilled against a particular type of unit or pilot, such as Mobile Dolls, Super Robots, Mobile Armors, Gundams, Newtypes, etc. You can expect to have the equivalent of at least one rank increase in your piloting skill if facing off against said, due to your almost instinctive understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Note that ‘Conventional Mecha’ is not a valid choice.
License Holder
Cost: 1
For whatever reason, you’ve been issued a ‘License.’ This effectively grants you autonomy from the command structure; you still get all the perks of your rank, but you can also chose to hare off on your own wild misadventures. While in theory a license holder answers to no-one but those who issued it, in practice excessive abuses will result in consequences.
Special Patronage
Cost: 1
While you’re probably part of the normal EF rank hierarchy, somewhere along the way you’ve become the protégé of someone with a lot of pull. This ensures that you’ll get the newest and best gear (+3 MCP) as well as additional help whenever your patron decides to pull strings for you. The downside is that this is a two-way street, and you may be called upon to do ‘special’ tasks for your patron. This advantage goes best with License Holder.
Cybernewtype
Cost: 2
You’re a government experiment in pilot uniform. You got the benefits of being able to control funnels, dodge incoming blasts you shouldn’t really be dodging, but you also got the downside of ranging from ~moe pill~ addition, being eccentric to batshit crazy and also technically being government property. You pay half cost for all ranks of Aleph.
Fan Favourite
Cost: 2
You are The Patrick. You might not be omnicompetent and flying the top-end craft like some, but your popularity ensures that you’ll survive all but the most ridiculous situations (or, of course, deliberate self-sacrifice). Note that generally this advantage won’t apply if you’re the best of the best; Kira Yamato never needed to be a Fan Favourite to survive.
Disadvantages
Obsession
Bonus: 1
Perhaps you're a (very) persistent womanizer (no matter your gender), mechaphile or have some other sort of very noticeable personal trait. Essentially have acquired an (un)healthy interest in someone or something else to the level that you have little self-control when faced with it. This goes far beyond schoolgirl yuri or a wandering eye; at the extremes it can reach the level of creepy stalker crush.
Code of Honor
Bonus: 1
You abide by a code of honor consisting either of one huge schtick (never kill anyone – just disable their suits) or a general mode of behaviour, such as being polite at all times, not taking advantage of people when they're down and so on.
Intolerant
Bonus: 1
You hate some group. Maybe baselines killed your father, or your little sister was captured by pirates. You never associate with them, abuse them if they're prisoners, and always go after them in combat with extra berserk.
Adventurous
Bonus: 1
Whenever in a situation where direct instruction from higher command or even when direct instruction is somewhat interpretable, your instinct is to go ahead and drag along a partner along if you have one! This will put you in a lot of dangerous situations, though you will also have a useful streak of fearlessness.
Damaged Goods
Bonus: 1
At some point in your past, you encountered something terribly traumatic that set your angst temporarily at 11. You may pick a circumstance, though if the GM doesn't think it'll affect things enough, he may pick one for you or expand on it. Often, people with this disad are very bright and cheerful but may have constant nightmares, try to keep themselves, and suffer debilitating flashbacks, seizures, or freezeups during battle.
Type Failure
Bonus: 1
Your training had gaps, perhaps due to a rushed schedule or simple lack of experience. There’s one type of enemy unit or pilot that you simply cannot handle.
You are particularly unskilled against a particular type of unit, such as Mobile Dolls, Super Robots, Mobile Armors, Gundams, etc. You can expect to have the equivalent of at least one rank decrease in your piloting skill if facing off against said, due to your limited skillset.
Berserker
Bonus: 1
You go crazy in battle, forget to cover your friends and kill more shit then you need to. Even when you’re not in a berserker rage, you’re not likely to be terribly subtle. You may have a hair-trigger temper, or you just might have some ‘buttons’ that get pressed often.
Dark Secret
Bonus: 1-3
You have something hide, maybe it’s your face behind some mask....
1: It’s just really annoying to have it be found out; typical social issues that can be resolved with good roleplaying. “You mean you’re a Coordinator?!”
2: Your secret will result in jail time or demotion if it’s uncovered. In past you’d committed significant crimes, cowardice in the face of the enemy, a failure to obey orders, etc.
3: You have done or are actively doing something treasonous or dangerous. It would mean getting executed or having highly controlled in freedom of movement if it’s discovered.
Rival
Bonus: 1-3
In the past you’ve cultivated a rivalry with another skilled pilot. They will always seem to end up getting in your way.
1: You might have a fellow pilot as a rival with the inevitable complications that entails, or else an enemy pilot who’s not quite as good as you but it nonetheless determined to defeat you.
2: Your rival is every bit your equal, with your repeated clashes being often inconclusive and the talk of the ship.
3: You’ve managed to earn a grudge from someone who’s a better pilot and with a superior machine to you. You’d better hope you’ve got buddies who can bail you out.
Newtypes
These are the feats you pick and choose from. They come in two grades; Lesser and Greater. Most Alephs will only ever manifest Lesser powers, those few that do reach Greater level are veritable psionic supernovae with only poorly understood powers. The following lists are not complete and if you desire something not here, feel free to ask.
Lesser Feats
Peak Senses
Your natural senses are incredibly tuned and the smallest detail will not escape you. Not too useful inside a giant robot but you’re a commando leader’s wet dream.
Spatial Awareness
You have tremendously heightened spatial awareness. Your judgement of speeds, distances and dimensions is superhuman.
Newtype Flash
When in immediate mortal danger, even when unaware or only vaguely aware of it, you may suddenly get the instinct to dodge, get out of the way, or otherwise remove yourself from danger instinctively.
Empathic Detection
You resonate empathically with other Alephs in a particularly strong manner. You can usually feel one if he or she is nearby, although being around other Alephs regularly may provide some cover from your senses. You may also be able to judge their moods or emotions.
Greater Feats
Clairvoyance
Out and out scrying. This may or may not be a voluntary, controllable thing, but you can sense events with amazing acuity without being anywhere near them.
Telepathy
You can communicate telepathically with other Alephs, and at higher levels, all humans, and finally, anything that has a mind.
High Level Control
You are exceptionally talented with machine interfaces. You can expand your mind to control drones, guide missiles, or even control extra limbs or something.
Limit Break
Everyone can go a bit beyond their usual their abilities with an adrenaline rush. This goes way further. When in desperate straits, you can really push yourself way beyond what you ought to be able to manage, to the extent you may well seriously damage your physical body. Stock footage of a seed exploding into a rainbow optional.