Gunwave is a free tabletop role-playing system using giant robots. The rules focus on speed, flexibility, and excitement, in a simplification of elements from D&D 4th Edition and World of Darkness in an attempt to capture the fast-moving fun of an anime mecha series.

After developing Gunwave through alpha and into beta testing, I discovered Mekton, an older and much more polished game that accomplishes almost exactly what Gunwave set out to do. So, I've abandoned Gunwave in pursuit of other goals, and put all my materials here. Gunwave is very much playable; I'm just not actively updating it any more.

• Gunwave Colony War Core Handbook (114 pages, 1.3 MB) The central guide to the system. Read this first. This handbook is customized for the Colony War (Gundam-like) setting; I had planned to publish others in other settings.
• Gunwave Rule System (7 pages, 209 KB) A concise list of the core rules of the Gunwave system, useful for looking up rules on the fly, or for seasoned role-players to understand the whole system.
• Gunwave Settings (24 pages, 440 KB) Descriptions of six anime-inspired universes in which to set your adventures: Angsty Military (Gundam), Epic Space Action (Robotech), Hulking War Machines (BattleTech), Freewheeling Mercenaries (Outlaw Star), Powered Armor (Starship Troopers), and Mighty Warrior (Mazinger Z).
• Gunwave Narrator's Guide (20 pages, 184 KB) Includes a lot of suggestions on GMing in general, advice on Narrating Gunwave specifically, and a number of campaign and encounter ideas.
• Gunwave Vehicle Compendium (12 pages, 184 KB) A list of non-mecha, pilotable vehicles for use in Gunwave. Care to pilot a hovertank?
• Gunwave PDFs, Complete (5 PDFs, 2.4 MB) A .zip file of all Gunwave PDFs.

In Gunwave, you play with a pilot character and a mecha.

Each pilot character has the following stats:

• Name
• Race — Human (flexible), Augmented (uses psychic blasts), Super Human (has various psychic abilities), Mutant (super-strong), or Shinken (gives bonuses to allies)
• Specialty (class) — Brawler (fighter), Infiltrator (spy), Cyborg, Munitions Expert (destructive), Scavenger (repair expert), Sniper, or Squad Leader (helps the team)
• Stats — Body, Brains, and Charisma
  • 0 — Average
  • 1 — Good (works out at the gym; above-average IQ)
  • 2 — Excellent (wrestler or full-time negotiator)
  • 3 — Amazing (world-class bodybuilder or genius)
  • 4 — Nearly superhuman (Einstein or Jackie Chan)
• Skills — Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Dual Mecha Weapons, Dual Personal Weapons, Hacking, Insight, Martial Arts, Massive Machinery Operation, Mecha Intuition, Perception, Ship Schematics, Stealth, and Toughness
• Traits — Twisted Psychic Blast, Rescue of a Loved One, Mutated Power Boost, Unbelievable Domination, Making It Hurt; about 5 available, from a pool of about 75. Some can be used every turn, some once per battle, and some only once a day.
• A Background Trait, which is some event in your past or present that gives you a special ability now. Examples include Parents Killed, Was Super-Soldier, Child Soldier, and Lover Is Spy.

Each mecha has the following stats:

• Type — Bio Armor (Evangelion), Bruiser (heavy Gundam), Combiner (Voltron), Converting Fighter (Valkyrie or Veritech), Drone Swarm Commander, Giant Fighter Power Battler (Mazinger Z), Heavy Missile Platform (BattleMech), Penetrator, or Striker (standard Gundam)
• Stats — Armor (how much damage it can take), Energy (how long it will last in battle), and Speed (how fast it can move)
• Traits — Missile Barrage, Fist Rocket Attack, Massive Bombardment, Air Strike; about 7 available, each specific to the type
• Weapons — Up to three at a time, choosing from 13 energy weapons and 5 ballistic weapons, with 9 different kinds of ammunition.

In combat, you use a weapon's dice value to get a count of the dice you roll. You then roll that many 6-sided dice. Every die that rolls 5 or 6 deals one point of damage to the enemy, and is subtracted from the enemy's Armor (for mecha) or Body (for people) score.

You can have as many weapons active as your mecha has hands (usually two). However, each active weapon consumes energy during every turn it's out, and consumes the same amount of energy every time it's fired. Your mecha also consumes energy for every square it moves.

Outside of combat, when performing a difficult operation you use one of your traits (such as Acrobatics or Perception) to get a count of how many six-sided dice you roll. If any of the dice roll 5 or 6, you succeed. Extremely difficult maneuvers may require multiple 5's or 6's. If you roll many 5's or 6's, you may succeed beyond your expectations.

As with D&D's powers, traits are divided into three classes: At-Will, which can be used every turn; Battle, which can be used once per fight; and Daily, which can be used once per day. Daily powers usually do double or triple normal damage, and have cool effects. At-Will powers usually give you some side effect, such as more speed or resistance against certain attacks.

At the beginning of every day, your character gets a Hero Point, which you can trade in to re-roll any dice pool, or to take an extra attack/heal action. More Hero Points are earned by exemplary playing.

Several different universes are available for you to play in, depending on your play style and story preferences. Detailed universes include Angsty Military (Gundam), Epic Space Action (Robotech), Freewheeling Mercenaries (Outlaw Star), Hulking War Machines (BattleTech), Powered Armor (Starship Troopers), and Mighty Warrior (Mazinger Z).

You can also pilot other vehicles, such as fighter jets, hovertanks, and space yachts. See the Vehicle Compendium for a list of vehicles.

If you do play Gunwave, please let me know.