The Culture: When Swords & Robots Mix

A bit of a divergence today.

It's been a while since I mentioned it. In case you're new here, I love mecha anime; if it's been in (or should have been in) Super Robot Wars, I've seen it or heard of it.

The Japanese have not shied away from what many in the West consider "genre-bending". Mixing fantasy adventure and giant robots has happened several times over the decades; sometimes this is more akin to Planetary Romance than the Swords & Sorcery of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition, but Appendix N wasn't so dogmatic about such lines so neither shall I. Below is a handful, a cursory survey, and not at all an exhaustive list of fantasy mecha anime.

That's just what I could find in a few moments. Five of them also qualify as isekai (Galient is pure Planetary Romance.) Some have sequels (e.g. Dunbine) and original creations persist (e.g. Super Robot Wars X, the original setting is Mecha Fantasy, and one of the Original Generation favorites is a literal Elemental God as a robot (Cybuster)).

Why do I mention all of this?

Because this video exists.

Nevermind that it comes from Spelljammer, or that it's a loose adaptation of Aura Battlers by the author's admission. The point here is that, like other adaptations from Non-Pink Slime Fantasy (i.e. Walmart-brand Tolkien knockoffs), there has been and continues to be a strong reaction of disgust and revulsion at mixing things that "don't fit" into an AD&D campaign.

To which I have to say "Have you played the game? My brother in Christ, we've had flying ships and ray guns from the get-go. Blackmoor is all that and more, and Greyhawk had White Plume Mountain.

The big issue people have with such things is the same problem MMORPG players have when they're told to take over this NPC for an encounter: they hate it. Why? They are not playing their character.

You joke. That's exactly the problem.

The other, of course, comes from the "RPGs Are Tolkien" faggotry, which is all too common. They sees Elves and Dwarves and think Muh Middle-Earfs. That's not what AD&D is; this is:

And you know what's in a post-apocalyptic milieu? Automata. Iron Golems are all the precendent I need for fantasy mecha--go read the Monster Manual entry--and they are not the only kind already in the game.

"But that doesn't fit!"

Really? Fantasy wargame campaign that doesn't have players develop new and novel techniques, technologies, and methods to defeat opposition and achive Win Conditions? You're mad; if the setting permits--and the default does so--then fantasy mecha are on the table. They may not look like those above, but instead like the Myceaneans of Mazinger Z (their base Warrior is either an Iron or Stone Golem), yet fantasy mecha they remain.

"But how does that fit with how the game runs?"

I remind you that two the shows cited treats (some) mecha as superpowers or characters in their own right (Rayearth and Wataru); the rest treats them as gear- highly customized gear, but still gear, akin to an Ace Custom fighter. That means they are treasure and monsters, no different than the Apparatus of Kwalish or a flying warship. Particularly potent ones can have their own quests just to activate them (e.g. Escaflowne), complete with prerequisites like Alignment.

That's right, I'm comparing them to magic weapons- approriate since they are weapons. (e.g. "Aura Battler" also translates as "Holy Warrior"; imagine this as a Paladin's Holy Avenger, or something he needs that sword to pilot to prove his worth)

"How can you get there from the game as it is?"

Now there's the question. Stick around. This week I will answer it, starting tomorrow.

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The cited series, in order:

1. Aura Battler Dunbine, 1983
2. Panzer World Galient, 1984
3. Magic Knights Rayearth, 1988
4. Mashin Hero Wataru, 1990
5. The Vision of Escaflowne, 1996
6. Knights & Magic, 2017

The author behind the Spirit Warrior also did the Bionoid, which is a Guyver adaptation by his admission.

The titular Guymelf Escaflowne should be seen as akin to a Mobile Suit with a Psycho-Frame installed given its connection to its pilot, but as Mobile Suits remains Real Robots so does Escaflowne.