SRWitP: OOC - Chicks dig Giant Robots

[Prime32]

The official tag for SRW in the Playground is [SRWitP]. Please put that tag on any thread titles that involve this universe.

This is a planning and OOC thread for Super Robot Wars in the Playground.
Character registry here, wiki here. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153984

What is SRWitP?

SRWitP is an RP based on the Super Robot Wars franchise of videogames (sometimes known as Super Robot Taisen). If you're not familiar with it, it's a crossover series which brings together tons of giant robots from different anime, manga, etc. into a single plot, with some original characters to tie it all together. So you could have berserk Eva-01 fighting a Gundam, only to be interrupted by a Rocket Punch.

Basically any giant robot is welcome. Heck, it doesn't even have to be giant - we already have Iron Man. The games balance out power issues by making Super Robots slow and burn through energy quickly, while Real Robots can dodge like nobody's business and attack from long range.

How is it different from Nexus, 'Anime'ITP, or any other RPGs?

This game's main difference is that not all of the PCs are original characters - the majority of the cast come from existing franchises (though Originals are by no means frowned upon). The second is that the plot is a little more directed than other games around here - most of the general events of the series involved will still happen, though they might happen in different ways, and as such the OOC thread contains some planning on how to tie disparate storylines more closely together.

Also note that SRW in the Playground is not connected to any of the other RPGs on this forum in any way. A character for SRWitP is for SRWitP, and cannot travel between it and, for example, Nexus or BleachitP. You can have a version of the same chatacter in more than one RPG, but keep in mind that they are still different characters.

How do I start?

First, post your intent to play in the OOC thread. The other players can give you feedback on an Original concept, or tell you if someone has claimed a character already. If you're submitting an Original character, give an idea of their direction you expect their storyline to take, along with some associated enemies and NPCs. Once we confirm there's no problems you can post it in the Character Registry and get started.

Should I have played all the Super Robot Wars games before this?

Nope. We won't be following the plot of an existing game, and they're hard to find anyway. More important is familiarity with mecha anime, though that's just to provide a greater range of playable characters.

There are rules, right?

Yes, there are.
1) No godmodding (or godmoding). A far better explanation of godmodding than I can give is here.
2) Communication is key. Please remember that the plot is far more directed than some other games, so make sure you talk things out with other players before you start jumping into established plots or fights. Poor communication leads to OOC arguments and hurt feelings, which no one wants.
3) Don't argue in the OOC. If a problem does arise, please don't continue to prod it in front of everyone else. It only makes the atmosphere that much more unpleasant, and could escalate the argument into something far bigger than it may need to be. If you must discuss something with another player, please try to take care of it through private messages or an IM client before taking it to the OOC thread.
4) Have fun!

[Mina Kobold]

Primey!

This looks like a lot of fun but I have a question:

Are we supposed to use an existing Robot character or for that matter an existing type of robot (Ganmen, Gundams, etc.) or can we make our own from scratch?

[Nerd-o-rama]

I see no reason why both wouldn't be allowable, myself. Every actual game but the first one has both original and crossover characters/mech concepts.

[Prime32]

Primey!

This looks like a lot of fun but I have a question:

Are we supposed to use an existing Robot character or for that matter an existing type of robot (Ganmen, Gundams, etc.) or can we make our own from scratch?

Well, we'd probably want to use mostly existing characters. I'll wait for input from others. (EDIT: Ninja'd?)

In general, SRW uses entirely new organisations and classes of mech for its original characters. It rarely has new Gundams, etc. though it may add stuff which only appeared in obscure sources or is non-canon. One notable exception was Mazinkaiser, which was created by SRW as an upgrade for Mazinger Z but later got some anime of its own - now its appearances are based on the anime.

[Prime32]

Shall we say that the main power bases are...

Brittania/Union
China/Human Reform League
Euro Universe/Advanced European Union
ZAFT
(First three are combinations of Code Geass/Gundam 00 factions, last one is from Gundam SEED)


Currently the world is in an energy crisis. After Britannia launched an unprovoked nuclear strike on one of their space colonies, ZAFT spread N-Jammers throughout the Earth which prevent nuclear fission. In response, construction has been accelerated on the Orbital Elevators, and Britannia conquered Japan to seize its plentiful energy supplies.

The PCs are most likely allied with the Black Knights (Code Geass) or Celestial Being (Gundam 00). Mithril (Full Metal Panic) may be related to Celestial Being, since it tends to have a lot of splinter organisations which are unaware of each other (for interaction with Gundam 00, the Whispered make use of quantum brainwaves).

[Mina Kobold]

Shall we say that the main power bases are...

Brittania/Union
China/Human Reform League
Euro Universe/Advanced European Union
ZAFT
(First three are combinations of Code Geass/Gundam 00 factions, last one is from Gundam SEED)


Currently the world is in an energy crisis. After Britannia launched an unprovoked nuclear strike on one of their space colonies, ZAFT spread N-Jammers throughout the Earth which prevent nuclear fission. In response, construction has been accelerated on the Orbital Elevators, and Britannia conquered Japan to seize its plentiful energy supplies.

The PCs are most likely allied with the Black Knights (Code Geass) or Celestial Being (Gundam 00). Mithril (Full Metal Panic) may be related to Celestial Being, since it tends to have a lot of splinter organisations which are unaware of each other (for interaction with Gundam 00, the Whispered make use of quantum brainwaves).

... *Blank stare*

Who is what now? I get the part with Britain, China, Europe and those other guys are in trouble because Britain messed up and they are trying to built elevators to get energy from somewhere in space. But who are the Black Knights and Celestial Being?

I apologise if it should be obvious, I don't know much about Gundam

[Nerd-o-rama]

Only the "Celestial Being" and "ZAFT" parts are from Gundam, and that's from the most recent couple of full series, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam 00. A quick rundown of the factions Prime32 is suggesting here:

The Holy Britannian Empire (from Code Geass, merged with Gundam 00's Union and presumably Gundam SEED's Atlantic Federation) - descendants of the original British Empire, though they're now centralized in North America. They're essentially an imperialist absolute monarchy that hold Britannians to be a sort of master race, and their various colonized people (in particular, Japan) as lessers.

The Empire of China (from Code Geass, merged with Gundam 00's Human Reform League) - some bizarre combination of Imperial and Communist Chinas, I guess, and Britannia's greatest rival to advancement in Asia, including Japan.

Euro Universe (from Code Geass, merged with Gundam 00's Advanced European Union) - the third of the major terrestrial superpowers, as well as the least militaristic and most prone to economic manipulation.

Each of these factions controls one of the Orbital Elevators that supports Earth's Orbital Ring, which is basically one giant-ass solar energy collector.

ZAFT, the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (from Gundam SEED, and easily mergeable with a number of other space-based factions from Gundam) - the military arm of PLANT, a collective of colonies built in orbit around Earth for human habitation. ZAFT is mostly made up of Coordinators, genetically engineered humans that are frequently at-odds, socially and politically, with Earth-born non-Coordinators (called Naturals). They're at war with Britannia and possibly the other two Earth-based superpowers due to an unprovoked nuclear attack by Britannia on an agricultural colony (which was prompted by an anti-Coordinator conspiracy within the Earth governments called Blue Cosmos).


Mithril (from Full Metal Panic!) are allegedly a mercenary force, though they function more like freelance counterterrorists, advancing some unknown agenda and keeping world peace. Roughly.

Celestial Being (from Gundam 00) are a group of crazies in insanely powerful mechs that are dedicated to securing world peace by selectively blowing up anyone who engages in or encourages large-scale warfare. Basically, terrorists who hypothetically only target various militaries. Hypothetically.

The Black Knights (from Code Geass) are a resistance group against the Britannian occupation of Japan, led by the mysterious masked figure Zero, who's (it's not spoilers because it's made obvious in the show) actually an incognito disgraced Prince of Britannia who's seeking revenge on his father, the Emperor, for the death of his mother.

Whew. And all that's just from like four shows.

[iElf]

any way I could play someone with a crossover of an EVA and a knightmareframe?

and what about NERV as an organisation? I guess mr. Ikari would have a lot to say about this

[Nerd-o-rama]

...how exactly would that work? Evangelions are cyborgs made out of Angel-clones and human psyches, Knightmare Frames are just small, mass-produced mechanical mechs.

As for NERV, I figure they're off doing their own little paramilitary thing in the mountains of Japan and politely telling Britannia to leave them the hell alone, they're busy saving the world.

[Mina Kobold]

Only the "Celestial Being" and "ZAFT" parts are from Gundam, and that's from the most recent couple of full series, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam 00. A quick rundown of the factions Prime32 is suggesting here:

The Holy Britannian Empire (from Code Geass, merged with Gundam 00's Union and presumably Gundam SEED's Atlantic Federation) - descendants of the original British Empire, though they're now centralized in North America. They're essentially an imperialist absolute monarchy that hold Britannians to be a sort of master race, and their various colonized people (in particular, Japan) as lessers.

The Empire of China (from Code Geass, merged with Gundam 00's Human Reform League) - some bizarre combination of Imperial and Communist Chinas, I guess, and Britannia's greatest rival to advancement in Asia, including Japan.

Euro Universe (from Code Geass, merged with Gundam 00's Advanced European Union) - the third of the major terrestrial superpowers, as well as the least militaristic and most prone to economic manipulation.

Each of these factions controls one of the Orbital Elevators that supports Earth's Orbital Ring, which is basically one giant-ass solar energy collector.

ZAFT, the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (from Gundam SEED, and easily mergeable with a number of other space-based factions from Gundam) - the military arm of PLANT, a collective of colonies built in orbit around Earth for human habitation. ZAFT is mostly made up of Coordinators, genetically engineered humans that are frequently at-odds, socially and politically, with Earth-born non-Coordinators (called Naturals). They're at war with Britannia and possibly the other two Earth-based superpowers due to an unprovoked nuclear attack by Britannia on an agricultural colony (which was prompted by an anti-Coordinator conspiracy within the Earth governments called Blue Cosmos).


Mithril (from Full Metal Panic!) are allegedly a mercenary force, though they function more like freelance counterterrorists, advancing some unknown agenda and keeping world peace. Roughly.

Celestial Being (from Gundam 00) are a group of crazies in insanely powerful mechs that are dedicated to securing world peace by selectively blowing up anyone who engages in or encourages large-scale warfare. Basically, terrorists who hypothetically only target various militaries. Hypothetically.

The Black Knights (from Code Geass) are a resistance group against the Britannian occupation of Japan, led by the mysterious masked figure Zero, who's (it's not spoilers because it's made obvious in the show) actually an incognito disgraced Prince of Britannia who's seeking revenge on his father, the Emperor, for the death of his mother.

Whew. And all that's just from like four shows.

I see. Thank you a dozen

Am I allowed to use a robot from another show than these? I was thinking it to be less like that I screw something up if I used something I know about (not much )

[Nerd-o-rama]

I'm not in charge by any means, but I'd say if you want play a character from any giant robot/power armor-related show, go for it, and just figure out how to work it into the setting. This is a freeform game, right?

[Prime32]

As for NERV, I figure they're off doing their own little paramilitary thing in the mountains of Japan and politely telling Britannia to leave them the hell alone, they're busy saving the world.

Seems more like something that would require Britannian backing, with Ikari as a noble. Heck, I could see him being on pretty close terms with the Emperor, given his goals.

I see. Thank you a dozen

Am I allowed to use a robot from another show than these? I was thinking it to be less like that I screw something up if I used something I know about (not much )

Sure. Those series just provide good material for factions, that's all.


Also Dr. Hell, the main villain of Mazinger Z, is an ally of Britannia (though he plans to betray them, obviously). Britannia's Knightmare Frames run on Photon Power, and they want to find Juuzo Kabuto so they can perfect it.

Britannia found the Saotome Research Labs, but all the men they assigned to research Getter Rays died or went mad, so now they just leave them the **** alone.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Seems more like something that would require Britannian backing, with Ikari as a noble.

That, or NERV's collection of city-destroying weapons and the backing of a global conspiracy.

I feel like we should put UC Gundam in this (we've got CE Gundam, so we might as well, it's the same effing story)...I guess starting with 00 Season 1 and SEED (rather than 00 Season 2 and SEED Destiny) means we would start with original Gundam as well, making Zeon and ZAFT all part of the same alliance. As the plot advances and time moves ahead, then we'd get into Zeta Gundam and further.

[Prime32]

How do you reconcile the 0 Gundam and RX-78?

(EDIT: For those who don't understand - Gundam 00 had a blatant expy of the original Gundam, the RX-78)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Celestial Being gave the basic frame design the the Feddies (...UN? Alliance? Whoever's fighting Zeon/ZAFT) when they didn't need it anymore.

Also, I think this is a good time to pimp out giantitp user Behold The Voids's version of this concept, done as a freeform roleplay on LiveJournal and AIM.

[Prime32]

Also, I think this is a good time to pimp out giantitp user Behold The Voids's version of this concept, done as a freeform roleplay on LiveJournal and AIM.

Doesn't letting Nanoha and Digimon in kind of dilute the concept?

...well, Digimon at least. I'm just curious what happened when Lamia met Signum.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Doesn't letting Nanoha and Digimon in kind of dilute the concept?

...well, Digimon at least. I'm just curious what happened when Lamia met Signum.

Massive confusion.

Also Signum can now use Mirage Sign.

Digimon is still weird to me, but there are robotic Digimon

[Prime32]

any way I could play someone with a crossover of an EVA and a knightmareframe?

...how exactly would that work? Evangelions are cyborgs made out of Angel-clones and human psyches, Knightmare Frames are just small, mass-produced mechanical mechs.

Actually, an Arm Slave equipped with a Lambda Driver comes pretty close.

(from Full Metal Panic - they're a little larger than Knightmares and the Lambda Driver basically generates an AT Field)

[Mina Kobold]

Doesn't letting Nanoha and Digimon in kind of dilute the concept?

...well, Digimon at least. I'm just curious what happened when Lamia met Signum.

There are no mechas in those series...

There are robots sure but none made for anything having to do with this kind of world. Might have missed something though *Shrug's*

So, can I use one of the mecha Monster-of-the-week from Megas XLR with changes made after it's appearance in said show (such as being adapted to space-travelling and having weapons added)?

[Prime32]

There are no mechas in those series...

There are robots sure but none made for anything having to do with this kind of world. Might have missed something though *Shrug's*

Nanoha is blatantly based on SRW and mecha anime in general.

Which is why I was asking what happened when Lamia met Signum.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Actually, an Arm Slave equipped with a Lambda Driver comes pretty close.

(from Full Metal Panic - they're a little larger than Knightmares and the Lambda Driver basically generates an AT Field)

Well, if small robot with a forcefield made out of willpower is all iElf wanted, yeah that'd do it.

[Prime32]

Well, if small robot with a forcefield made out of willpower is all iElf wanted, yeah that'd do it.

How quickly do you think you could watch a 25-episode anime, iElf?

[Nerd-o-rama]

Counting all three seasons, FMP is 49 episodes (plus one OVA episode). Although, just the first season of 24 eps would probably cover how Mythril, ASes, and Lambda Drivers work.

[iElf]

...how exactly would that work? Evangelions are cyborgs made out of Angel-clones and human psyches, Knightmare Frames are just small, mass-produced mechanical mechs.

Genetic engineering to create smaller versions of them, with an smaller entry plug...you know, forget it. I'll be playing a black knight instead, with a 7th gen frame, and have another character with NERV

[Creed]

big...robotty words...Creed's IQ has low...and so many acronyms...
Can't I just make a backyard beater with a rocket launcher?

[Prime32]

big...robotty words...Creed's IQ has low...and so many acronyms...

If it helps, NERV isn't an acronym - they just write it in capitals because it's cooler that way.

On another note, for the love of Banpresto don't let Lelouch Lamperouge near an Evangelion.

[Creed]

If it helps, NERV isn't an acronym - they just write it in capitals because it's cooler that way.

Oh. That makes me feel better. But seriously, can I make a mech out of random stuff?

[Prime32]

Oh. That makes me feel better. But seriously, can I make a mech out of random stuff?

You should decide on allegiances first (see post #7 by Nerdo).

[iElf]

On another note, for the love of Banpresto don't let Lelouch Lamperouge near an Evangelion.

what about using an EVA mounted Ragnarok weapon?.... or combining N2 mines with FREIJA?

[Nerd-o-rama]

If it helps, NERV isn't an acronym - they just write it in capitals because it's cooler that way.

On another note, for the love of Banpresto don't let Lelouch Lamperouge near an Evangelion.

You know, since Evangelions are living things with eyes...

Spoiler

Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mgIQCywETk

Also, build a mech out of crap you found in a junkyard. You can hang out with Coop from Megas XLR. Or the first monster of the week from GaoGaiGar.