GUNDAM STORY

   I'm sure someone's already done this a hundred times, but I feel the need to do it myself. Distilling the Gundam storyline (as seen in Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam F91, Gundam Seed and to a lesser extent Gundam Wing, plus probably a bunch of others I haven't seen) into a generic form. Not every Gundam story of the genre (hence "generic") has all of these elements, but it will have most. Wing departs from a lot of the character stuff, while going nuts with the factional elements.

   So, are you ready to come up with your own Generic Gundam Story? Just run through the elements below, give them all names and flesh out the details! Here's a sample.

The Factions

• The Earth Government (EG): Usually a world-spanning government controlling most of Earth and the space colonies for a generation or more before the story starts, although there may be pockets of independent nations. The EG looks like the good guys at first, but this is because the story is written to make them look like the victims at first. On closer inspection, as the Hero travels to Earth, it is revealed that the EG is hopelessly corrupt and probably needs to be overthrown. The EG starts the story with a numerical and resource advantage, but is disorganized and technologically behind the times.
• The Colony Separatists (CS): An alliance of space colonies organized in a vaguely Prussian or at least European fashion. They probably have a legit beef with the EG, but what starts as a war of independence usually turns into a war of conquest. They start the story as obvious villains, then transition into misunderstood idealists, and then are revealed to be run by obvious villains anyway. Many of their more idealistic warriors may desert them in the Endgame. The CS start with inferior numbers and resources, but vastly superior technology and usually the help of Mutant Pilots. They rapidly carve out a significant chunk of territory in a way that's clearly meant to evoke the Blitzkrieg of WWII...between that, their uniforms, their use of German terms and their racial superiority theme, they are generally meant to look like Nazis at first.
• "Neutrals": Not everyone is with the EG or CS factions, but most people lean one way or the other. "Neutrals" are nations or space colonies that maintain a facade of neutrality while secretly aiding either the EG or CS. The story starts on a "neutral" space colony. "Neutrals" are usually destroyed by one side as soon as it looks like they favor the other.
• True neutrals: There's sometimes a few of these. They're doomed. Seriously. They get blown up or gobbled up by one of the factions pretty early on. If they're very lucky, their cores go on to help found a New Faction.
• New Factions (NF): In many generic Gundam stories, the corruption of both the EG and CS become so overwhelming that the Hero and many others form a New Faction. Or, alternately, the corrupting element within the EG or CS becomes exposed and discards the trappings that it hid behind. Or, often, both: one good NF, one evil NF. Heroic NF's are usually pure and idealistic, as they attract all the characters who can't handle the realpolitik of their home faction.

Concepts

• The Calendar: Current ways of counting years are never, ever used. The calendar has generally been restarted at the year of the first space colony launch, so that it can be vaguely far in the future, but not so far that society can't still have contemporary elements.
• The War: The CS and EG start off at war (or the war starts in the first episode, but usually the war was underway already). The CS generally controls most of space, plus a foothold on Earth.
• The Atrocity: Early in The War, one or both sides committed an Atrocity that wiped out the population of a Space Colony (and possibly more). The Atrocity may or may not have shocked both sides into restricting their actions (i.e. a no-nuke pact), and it often is used as an excuse for milder atrocities later on.
• The Plot Device: Some bit of technology, either by primary design or as a side effect, prevents the war from being a long-range pushbutton war, forcing the kind of close combat that inevitably leads to the dominance of Mobile Suits in battle (well, "inevitably"). It has one or more of the following elements: prevents long range sensing/communication, prevents atomic bombs from working, provides compact power supplies (so that small units can blow up large battleships).
• The Counter Plot Device: There may or may not be a way around the limitations of the Plot Device. Mutant Pilots are usually the main Counter Plot Device, but sometimes a technological solution is found.
• The Mutant Pilot: The next step in human evolution, mutant dead ends, artificially enhanced humans, whatever. These people are natural pilots, and generally have some sort of psychic power that lets them not only kick the skidplate of any other normal pilot, but also overcome The Plot Device. The Hero is always a Mutant Pilot, but the Masked Nemesis is usually not.
• The Apocalypse Plan: By the time the Endgame rolls around, someone has probably put into motion a plan that will kill off all life on Earth, or at least a big chunk of it. It may not actually be intentional, however, as two competing plans may combine in an unpleasant way and turn "win the war" to "destroy the Earth".

The Gear

• The Space Colony: Space habitats of such immense size that they tend to stretch suspension of disbelief, they're big enough to contain cities and have Earth-normal gravity due to rotation. Usually they are O'Neill style cylinders, but alternate designs or even whimsical fantasy architecture are also possible. Putting a few holes in one will generally not do anything more than create dramatic winds.
• The Colony Cluster: A group of several Space Colonies, usually organized as a political unit. Several Clusters can inhabit a single Lagrange libration point, usually the L4 and L5 points leading and trailing the Moon. Less common are Clusters in low orbit that do not use the stabilizing effects of the libration points. Clusters are often given some name like "Side", and may be a group of similarly-sized Colonies, or a single large habitat Colony and its associated resource asteroids and orbital factories.
• The Mobile Suit (MS): Because of the Plot Device, humanoid mecha are better in a fight than battleships or tanks. Don't ask too many questions. The CS always starts with MS's, and if the EG has MS units, the CS's are better in some qualitative way.
• The Mobile Armor (MA): Name aside, these are more like spaceships than armors. Hulking monstrosities, they provide a challenge to the Hero once he's gotten to the point where he can eliminate enemy MS's with ease.
• The Gundam: A prototype developed at the behest of the EG, this unit is as far above the CS's MS's as those units are above what the EG starts the story with. This title may transfer to another machine later in the story if the original is destroyed.
• The Other Gundams (OG): Other prototypes of massive power, but generally not quite as good as The Gundam. An OG may be briefly better, but then The Gundam gets improved, or the Hero finds out he's a Mutant Pilot, or whatever. OGs generally exist on both sides by the endgame.
• The Boss Gundam (BG): The Masked Nemesis usually acquires some sort of insanely powerful Mobile Suit or Mobile Armor for the Endgame. It may be an incomplete prototype, but even incomplete it utterly overmatches The Gundam. It must be defeated via a clever plan, or possibly by pointing out to the Masked Nemesis that the Apocalypse Plan is about to happen.
• The White Ship (WS): Woefully undermanned, captained by someone who would otherwise be a decade or more away from a real command position, and chased by just about everyone at some point, it miraculously survives to the Endgame, if not beyond. The Hero, the Kids, the Junior Officers and the Veteran call it home at least during the first arc, if not for the entire story.

The Characters

• The Hero: A teenager living on a "neutral" space colony, one or both parents are involved in the production of The Gundam. He generally lives with his father, hasn't seen his mother in years, and has some sort of robotic pet. He's an engineering prodigy, a bit of a social misfit (as evidenced by the cute female peers around him whose interest he has not yet noticed at the start of the story), and is a Mutant Pilot. He may or may not know he is a Mutant Pilot, but it always comes out before the Endgame. He doesn't want to fight, and is horrified by the things he has to do to protect his friends. He usually runs away at least once, but he returns to the WS and fights in the Endgame. The Hero has an improbable name, anything from a non-standard transliteration of a Japanese name to something that looks like it was assembled from random words in the dictionary.
• The Kids: Peers of the Hero, and possibly also some younger children, the Kids end up thrown together with the Hero when the "neutral" colony is attacked. They all get stuck on the WS, and the older ones become part of the crew, filling in the many gaps in the WS's table of command. One is usually an early romantic interest for the Hero, another a rival in some capacity.
• The Junior Officers (JO): The WS, for some reason or other (attack, training mission, etc) is missing most of its crew and all semblance of senior officers. The commander of the ship is someone who normally would be at best a third Lieutenant, but does his or her best. The others are rookies fresh out of the academy (or still IN the academy), but they have to grow up fast to be leaders to the Kids.
• The Mysterious Woman (MW): There may be more than one MW. She's someone who is there from the beginning or at least early on, but is later revealed to be a member of one of the powerful families in either the CS, the EG, or one of the Neutrals. She keeps her identity secret for some reason or other, but it comes out eventually, usually in the Midgame.
• The Veteran: The only real pilot on the WS when things hit the fan. He's not necessarily an ace, and he rarely survives the story. He's there to keep everyone alive when the Hero has a hissy fit or breakdown, as well as in the Opening Moves before the Hero gets into The Gundam.
• The Masked Nemesis (MN): An ace pilot who hides his face behind a mask. he's usually not a Mutant Pilot, but is instead the absolute best a normal human can be. He usually has some flashy sobriquet such as Lightning Count or Crimson Comet. He almost always has two secrets: his very identity is somehow shocking, and he's a blood relative of someone on the WS. His identity is often hidden because he's secretly an enemy of his own side, working from within to exact some sort of revenge.
• The Protege: The Masked Nemesis has one or more pilots under his command that get his special attention. They may be Mutant Pilots, or just very talented. Their inevitable deaths drive a wedge between the Hero and the Masked Nemesis, ensuring that no matter how much they may share common cause, they will still fight each other in the Endgame. The Protege is often female, and both the Hero and the Masked Nemesis are romantically interested in her (but can't show it).
• The Peacemaker: This character may start off in some other role (often the Mysterious Woman), but rises to prominence as an advocate of peace. She's rarely successful in any meaningful way, but is often the seed around which a New Faction forms, as well as the leader of any government formed after the Endgame. The Peacemaker is female, young, and of noble birth.
• The Noble Enemy: A CS commander, usually working on Earth rather than in space, who pursues the WS through CS-controlled territory. He meets the Hero in a non-combat situation at some point and imparts some wisdom. The Hero inevitably has to kill the Noble Enemy, and it haunts his dreams. There may be multiple Noble Enemies, in which case some may survive. Note: at least one Noble Enemy is usually a CS commander stationed in a desert territory, with a Rommel-like sobriquet. In fact, Rommel parallels abound for this particular Noble Enemy.
• The Scummy Enemy: Someone who is clearly a bad guy, regardless of faction, who the audience can boo at. Usually introduced after things get muddied enough that it's hard to tell who's the good guy anymore...and this guy is clearly NOT it.

The Story

• The Pregame: Before the story starts on screen, the War has started and the Atrocity has been committed. Several characters on opposing sides have interacted, with bonds of friendship and love forming between future enemies.
• The Opening Moves: The CS attacks the "neutral" colony where The Gundam, the WS, the Hero, the Kids and usually the MW can be found. The Hero ends up in The Gundam and defeats a few enemy MS's before everyone boards the WS and tries to run away.
• The Run To Earth: The WS is short on everything but guts, so tries to hook up with EG forces. A few early tries in space are unsuccessful or only of mixed results. The MN pursues the WS, his amazing skill barely compensating for the technological advantage of The Gundam.
• The Midgame: The WS has made it to a CS-controlled part of Earth (a battle during the descent keeping them from just going straight to a safe haven), and spends a lot of time trying to get to an area still controlled by the EG. Along the way, they meet Noble Enemies and see the corruption of the EG. They also fight at least one Scummy Enemy, possibly an EG commander.
• The Muddle: Secrets are starting to come out, both sides look bad, and if New Factions are going to arise, they do so now. Having seen both Noble and Scummy Enemies, the Hero finally reaches some sort of ethical or philosophical position that gives him a reason to keep fighting. The MN may actually ally with the Hero briefly at this point, and any surviving Noble Enemies may join the Hero.
• The Endgame: The War does not end in a treaty, or with exhaustion, it ends with one big winner-take-all battle. The Apocalypse Plan may be invoked as well, and you'll see more new MS's, MA's and Other Gundams in this part than in any other segment of the story. The BG usually appears now, piloted by the MN. At least a few major characters on both sides will die now, although the Hero always survives. The MN dies if he was unsympathetic, could go either way otherwise. All secrets remaining unrevealed are revealed, and the power of the Mutant Pilots is key to turning the tide.
• The Side Stories: Dozens of manga and videogames crop up to tell the stories of minor players in the War. Other Gundams usually appear, even ones supposedly better than The Gundam, diluting the franchise. Side Stories rarely follow the Generic Storyline, but will grab elements from it.
• The Sequels: Mostly manga, but sometimes miniseries or even entire regular series appear that show that victory wasn't really final. The Hero and the MN may be allies now against a new threat, or the MN may be behind it all. The mecha designs will be better, but the writing strangely unsatisfying.

Gaming

• The Hero should always be a PC when there's 2-4 players. If you're using a build-style system, hold back some of his abilities. He should start out weaker than the other PCs, but be able to rapidly come into his own.
• The other 1-3 players should take one of the following roles: The Veteran, the Mysterious Woman, and the Junior Officer who captains the White Ship. I'd suggest only using the captain in a 4 player game.
• In a 2-3 player game, the Mysterious Woman should have a fire control job on the bridge of the White Ship, so that she can participate in combat without having to be a pilot. However, if you're using the captain as a PC, the Mysterious Woman should graduate to an Other Gundam or at least a Mobile Suit or fighter craft soon.
• You will probably want some ship combat rules ready in case any PC is pulling bridge duty.
• Be prepared to run side scenes with just one character, especially the Mysterious Woman.
• The Hero will dominate later on, be sure the players are all okay with that.
• If you want to add a player later on (or the Veteran dies, as is his wont), a Noble Enemy can convert to the PCs' side.
• In the event you really want to play the Generic Gundam Story and have more than 4 players, I suggest making the four character types above into NPCs and split the players between Junior Officers and Kids. Then concentrate on the smaller stories in between the big battles, or get them all into Mobile Suits ASAP. Alternately, if you have 5-6 players, split the Hero role two or three ways, with no one of them being quite as powerful a Mutant Pilot. Maybe in the Endgame, their three Gundams can combine into something capable of fighting the Boss Gundam!