Monthly Mecha: CHVLR, Susanah Grace, and Lex Kim Bobrow

• A brutal anime-style setting with teenage mecha pilots
• using the Wretched and Alone system (cards, dice, block tower, tokens)
• for solo players
• with a simple but elegant layout

• Brutal stories recorded as a “pilot record.”
• Post-game ritual of “redacting” the record.
• Thought-provoking reflection on war and its victims, the bond between pilot and machine.

I recommend this game! As I’ve said before, if I’m featuring a game, I am likely to recommend it. But I recommend this game for players who want a deep story experience with some fun game mechanics incorporated into it. I expected a solid game, and it exceeded my expectations.

Susanah: CHVLR is massively influenced by two of the major players in the mecha anime genre - Neon Genesis Evangelion and Mobile Suit Gundam. It's a meme that folks can't see the message behind the cool robots, but that's what I find most compelling about those shows and others like it. I made the game as a way for me to really dig into those stories and beats, explore how those poor tortured teens must be feeling. 

In addition to that there are a few other anime that have played a part in influencing CHVLR for a variety of reasons, all of them have a pretty bleak and dark tone, but they are at their core about finding oneself and your courage and pushing through hard times with a little twinkle of hope at the end of the tunnel. All of this is why I knew from the jump that Chris Bissette's Wretched & Alone was the system for this game, you're probably gonna die a horrible death and see terrible things, but it's the glimmer of hope that keeps you going.

Susanah: I think what sets CHVLR apart from other mecha games is that it's really not about the mecha at all. There is a section about the mech, but it's mainly about your relationship with the mech or how it is an extension of your body. There's no rivet counting or mechanical changes depending on what kind of mech you're using. You're forced to think about the human cost of the war, it's impossible to play the game and come away thinking, "wow cool robot".

Susanah: For those who are fans of Gundam or Evangelion, or any of the myriad other mecha shows you will find something in this game for you. If you've ever thought that you can pilot better than Amuro, or that, unlike Shinji, you could just get in the robot, I welcome you to try! As far as I know, there is only one person who has survived their deployment so far. 

And for non-anime fans, if you're looking to explore some dark themes and maybe go out of your comfort zone a little, I definitely think there's something in there to sink your teeth into too. And who knows, perhaps it might convert a few folks into mecha anime fans! (In which case, feel free to ping me on socials, I'll never not want to talk giant robots). 

On a personal note, despite having worked in tabletop for a few years prior, CHVLR was the first thing I've made completely solo. I'm very proud of how it all came together and the reception to it so far, it's a special game to me and I'd love to share it with as many folks as possible.

Susanah: CHVLR would not be possible without The Wretched by Chris Bissette, not only has it been the jumping off point for so many other incredible games, but it's also a great game in its own right.

IMMORTAL GAMBIT by TitanomachyRPG is also a fantastic one pager, for 2-6 players about trying to accomplish your goal and find out who you can trust amidst faction wars and mech battles.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Cursed Captains of Cthulhu by Black Cats Gaming. I'll admit to bias as I worked on this book, it was my first large project as an art director and I'm pretty proud of the work that the whole team put into the book. I also think it's an excellent game that deserves more players and more shine.

Asa: In a reply to one of my posts earlier this year, you said that "genres are toolkits... mech games offer a more focused toolkit that is geared toward the types of stories I'm interested in." Among the stories and tropes that interest you, you list political groups and the kids forced to fight for them, as well the relationship between the mech and pilot.

As in CHVLR, Immortal Gambit features extraordinary children in gigantic war machines. What is it about this trope that made you write this game?

Lex: I wrote Immortal Gambit because my dream is to play in a long-term Lancer campaign one day. After trying for years, I finally got one off the ground in early 2020, and we played exactly one session before COVID hit. With Immortal Gambit, I wanted to create the fastest possible way to get to one of my favorite parts of the mech genre: political and personal drama. Which is all to say, the trope of extraordinary children being the pilots wasn't a starting point for the game. However, it is a trope that's necessary to the mech genre. 

Our leaders in the real world feed kids into the war machine, all for the political elite to move their chess pieces around. A 13-18 year old kid shouldn't die for Uncle Sam's cruelty. Hot take, I know. And yet we have army recruiters at high schools. If a mech story sets out to critique the war machine & colonization, it can't ignore how children suffer. To me, it's such a central trope of the genre that it wasn't even really a design decision on my end. It was more about honoring the themes and tropes of these stories I love.

Asa: My favorite thing about Immortal Gambit is not only that a player can play as a mech, instead of a pilot, but also that you encourage players to choose counterintuitive groupings of roles, such as a pilot and the rival's mech. Why do you encourage players to take on roles other than the pilot in Immortal Gambit?

Lex: In a lot of mech RPGs, your character is a pilot. However, Goodbye World </3 by CrackerJackalope opened my eyes. It's a two-player game where one person is the pilot and the other is the mech. They message each other in the mech's final moments. That game gave me the push to try offering other roles in the genre. Having non-pilot and non-mech roles lets you engage with the other common trappings of mech stories like politics and interpersonal conflicts between people on the same side.

Asa: In Mecha-Hedonics, you address another common theme but in a really creative way: the relationship between the mech and its pilot. What inspired you to approach the relationship between the mech and its pilot through an erotic ttrpg?

Lex: I started writing Mecha-Hedonics for Darling Demon Eclipse's Faggot Games Jam. Whereas Immortal Gambit is Gundam-coded, Mecha-Hedonics is much more inspired by Evangelion. The EVA units are mommy giantesses made of robot parts and fleshy bits. Like I said, genres are toolkits, and every genre has tools for eroticism (remember Rule 34: if it exists, there's porn of it). Not all genres have giants you climb inside and sync up with to the point where your mind can get so stimulated you lose control or consciousness. There's inherent eroticism in many places, if you'd just let yourself be a little horny!

Lex: Like most people (I imagine), it comes from the art I experience and fill my life with. I loved the painting Nighthawks long before I even touched TTRPGs. I also read a lot of tiny indie TTRPGs and I play a lot of tiny indie video games. I like to know what the newest, weirdest games from my fellow indie designers are like. That way I can get even weirder with it.

Lex: For SFW, I will recommend the aforementioned Goodbye World </3 by Crackerjackalope. I admire any game that can create an emotionally resonant experience in so few pages.

For erotic mech games, I love Deus Sex Machina by M Kirin. It's a solo erotic RPG so if you're new to sexy games, this is a great way to start, especially if you're shy.