My Life As A Gamer: For Some Games, Play Begins Before The Rules Are Touched At All

Mekton Zeta is one of the many tabletop RPGs that are better run as Braunsteins.

The reason it is seen as difficult is because there are no hard-coded, well-detailed settings that you can plug in and play.

There is a vague implied one, based a lot on '80s mecha anime that Mike was familiar with, which is completely done away with as soon as the build-system supplement--which you need to fully realize what the game offers--is put on the table.

Braunstein style of play doesn't see this as a problem. It just moves up the start of the game to the establishment of the first Patrons and the definitions of their Domains, which leads straight into the use of that second book: Mekton Zeta Plus.

This requires a different approach to the game.

The rules presume the usual Standard Bad Gaming Paradigm, with the sole difference being if you're playing Typical Anime Hotshot Protagonist(s) or Standard Veteran Characters (i.e. what you'd be used to by playing Cyberpunk 2020).

Instead, the Patrons are determined logically; there's going to be two or more factions, each of which has a shot-caller and several lieutenants, all of which are obvious Patrons. Once these are specified, and the initial scenario lined out, the game can get started.

"But you don't have PCs! No mecha statted out. No setting details. Nothing but a set of belligerents and something to fight over."

You can, and should, leave such details to the Patrons to hash out.

"What? Let the players determine the setting? This is madness!

Folks that sign up for a Mekton Zeta campaign are there for giant robots, powered armor, space battleships, and all that other stuff. Maybe things go a little weird and you get giant robots and dragons, or giant robots and castles, or giant robots and Westerns/Samurai fiction, giant robots and idol singers, and someone decides to be a paladin in a giant robot.

Let them figure out how they want to go about their giant robot fantasy wargame campaign. That will determine what short of giant robot adventuring that can go on, and what sort of player characters are suitable to do it. You, oh Game Master, need only sit back and be entertained by what they come up with and adjudicate the results of rules interactions.

Believe me, Anon. There is nothing that players can come up with that hasn't already been done in Japan as a feature film, a television series, a manga, or a light novel.

And I do mean nothing.