The Sixes System Pt 8: Genres
0. Fundamentals (repeated for all posts:)
— The Sixes System is a minimalist game system suitable for any and all genres.
— It has been used in my Dr Who campaign since September 2014, which has just come to a successful conclusion.
— Characters are constructed using a point-buy methodology with NPCs generatable using die rolls for speed.
— Success or Failure on tasks is determined by adding dice to a pool based on ability and circumstances which are then rolled against a target number determined by the GM.
21. Genres and the Sixes System
Skills can be divided into four broad categories. There are (1) skills that are so quintessentially human that they are common to all characters, regardless of species and genre, just because they are being played by Humans; there are (2) skills that define a character’s professional abilities within the bounds and context of genre, often implicitly but in generalities; there are (3) skills that define what knowledge the character has within the bounds and context of genre, but which usually do not actually explicitly say so; and there are (4) skills that define a genre by specifying what a character can and can’t do within that genre.
So far as characters are concerned, Genre comes down to (1) abilities and (2) equipment. Abilities can be further divided into (1a) things they have learned to do, and
(1b) things that the character can innately do for one reason or another. Everything else is up to the GM.
That’s actually fairly profound, when you think about it. If you ‘universalize’ (to coin a term) the game mechanics, characters are 90-95% translatable from one genre to another, and this explains why. You can have a Darth Vader analogue in a superhero campaign, or a fantasy campaign, or a western campaign; you can have s Batman in a medieval setting, or an anime setting, or a spy setting.
Some people might argue that this means that Genre is irrelevant, because characters can survive without it. One or two might grant an exception for any genre elements that are important enough to be enshrined within the game mechanics.
Others – and I’m one of them – would argue that this reflects the potency of Genre. Like a spicy curry, you need to balance it with a lot of fluffy white rice – but it’s the curry that carries the flavor.
The 90:10 rule
I once was told that, to be a success in any job, identify the 10% that is nine times as important as the other 90% put together – then master that 10%. I think the maxim overstates the principle – it should be more like 30% and 3 times as important – but as a generality, it holds up fairly well, and the stronger version is far more memorable.
Take what I’m doing right now. The 30% that is absolutely critical to Campaign Mastery is being able to write well. If I can do that, then it doesn’t matter as much if I’m a little lax at site maintenance, or answering emails, or organizing sponsorship, or map-making, or American spelling, or promotion, or editing. There are technological solutions to some of that, and I think I’m fairly good at some of it, and the rest? I’m good enough to get by. But none of that would matter if I weren’t able to generate the content. Do that right, and I wouldn’t get fired, no matter how poorly I did the rest of it (within reasonable limits, of course).
And it’s true of every job out there – there’s one-third of it that’s absolutely critical, and two-thirds that are useful filler, and are nice-to-have, but they won’t save your job if you mess up that one-third.
Genre-based content is the one-third of a character (less, actually) that really matters. Characters can change professions. Characters can be physically transformed into a different species. Characters can change their personalities (and should, under sufficient provocation). Personal Lives are as changeable as the weather. But genre is the glue that holds characters together, and binds them to the world around them. You can take the Vader out of Star Wars but you can’t take the Star Wars out of this particular Vader; it is the distinguishing feature.

Image by Ralph Klein from Pixabay. Cars like this never look out of place in spy campaigns!
Genre In The Sixes System
In the Sixes System, Profession or Dominant General Ability is expressed through the choice of optional characteristic, and everything else – special abilities, equipment, knowledge (within genre restrictions) – that’s all covered by skills. Everything else is up to the GM to convey through story and setting.
That means that any discussion of genre, and how to adapt the rules system to it, only needs to touch on five critical factors.
- Professions & Stat Choices
- Genre Skills
- Equipment within Genre
- Character Points
- Personality Traits
Some of these will be more important than others, but which ones will vary from genre to genre.
I should (once again) point out that these are not intended to be rigorous definitions of genre; they are general in nature, more introductions than anything else. They will assume that the GM and player are reasonably familiar with the genre already, and try not to tell them things that they already know. The question this section is going to try to answer is “What does a Player/GM who is well-versed in the genre in question, need to know in order to use the Sixes System within the genre?”
Let’s get started. Half now, half in the next (and final?) part of the series.
PS: I’ve shuffled the order given in the contents around a little to separate a couple of the bigger categories.
The Secrets Of The Images
Each part of this series has featured illustrations that are representative of one or more of the genres to be discussed. Part one used elements from Dr Who (for obvious reasons, given the immediate history of the game system). Part 2 was illustrated with Fantasy elements. Parts 3 and 4 were Sci-Fi (and a little Cyberpunk on the side). Part 5, Detective and Western; Part 6, Cthulhu and Horror (with a little Sci-Fi on the side); Part 7 was Superhero; and this article is built around a Spies and Secret Agents motif. Next time – ah, but that would be telling!
21. Specific Genre Notes
21a. High Fantasy
High Fantasy is all about stretching the sense of wonder. Adventures can relate to anything from the nature of magic to the fabric of the universe to the machinations of dark Gods.
That’s a lot of flavor to convey, so it’s important to use every opportunity.
Professions & Stat Choices
Avoid any sort of 6th stat choice that doesn’t add to the fantasy flavor. Instead of “Fighter” choose “Swordsman” or “General” or even “Leader”. Where you can’t do so, try to add racial distinction to the profession – “Elven Archer”, “Dwarven Miner”, “Halfling Farmer”. Then make sure to define the difference that the distinction represents. Instead of “Thief”, try “Cut-purse” or “Scout” or “Spy” or “Burglar” or even something like “Adept Hand” or “Shadow Warrior” or “Escapologist”:
Genre Skills
The most important Genre Skills are going to relate to magic and sorcery. The fact that mages have to invest heavily in this area to contain all their spells automatically means that they will want to skimp on non-essential stats – let them, within reason. Anyone that takes a Mage should also take a disadvantage related to Magic or Sorcery; what this might be is up to the GM and the player. This serves three important purposes: (1) It distinguishes the character; (2) It (at least partially) funds spells; and (3) by controlling the value, it enables the GM to determine the overall effectiveness of the character relative to those without spells. This is something that some systems are notorious for struggling to achieve.
It’s also going to be essential to character differentiation that there be some distinction between magic items used by the non-mage and magic spells used by a mage. The most common solution is to restrict magic items to “pre-programmed functions” with limited flexibility of application, while mages are capable of finesse and finer manipulation of effects. Some of this will come down to the way the GM interprets what characters attempt to do with their respective tools and the target numbers that he sets as a reflection of those interpretations.
It’s often better to use broader skill interpretations if they can sustain the sense of genre.
Equipment within Genre
I used examples of magic items in the equipment section, so there’s no need to repeat here. It’s important that the GM limit the number of magic items that can be carried by any individual – “One personal protection, one off-hand, one weapon-hand, one boots, one belt, one cloak, and one miscellaneous for every x-hundred construction points” is a valid formulation. Some might permit a ring instead of a belt; others might simply tally these up and state “no more than 6 plus 1 per x-hundred construction points”.
This becomes important because mages can take magical gear, too, yet the use of such equipment is a vital point of distinction between non-mages and spell-wielders. As an example of the sort of genre-rule that might be enforced, contemplate mandating an extra 6 to cast a spell for each point in protection from magical armor. I would also rule that very few be “at will” magic items; most should require attention, or at the very least, concentration, to activate – so that there is a limit to the number of magic items that can be activated at a time.
Character Points
High Fantasy generally mandates the expenditure of a number of skill points in various forms of exotic knowledge, as well as the purchase of magical equipment, and characters (in general) tend to be verging on the superhuman. 100-150 points is not unreasonable, +25 if your party will be 3 or fewer including allied NPCs.. I would also recommend a limit of 30-40 points from disadvantages.
Personality Traits
There is a temptation to make these relatively ordinary, simply because so many other aspects of the characters can be considered extraordinary. Fight this, or mandate that each “ordinary” personality trait be matched with something that is game-world or genre- specific. An “ordinary” trait is one that could be placed on a modern-day character and not look out-of-place – so “alcoholic” and “money-miser” and “gambler” and the like qualify. “Fascinated by myths & legends” skirts the line, because “myths and legends” might have a nuanced meaning in the context of the fantasy campaign, where they might be truths and current information.
I also recommend that you discourage the use of cliches. “Hates Magic” has been done to absolute death. “Addicted To Magic” is better – that’s one of the themes a character is exploring in my superhero campaign. “Mages are security blankets” is a good one. “Magic irritates the Gods” is another. “Magic pollutes the Divine Environment” is an interesting belief that might or might not be true.
It’s not unreasonable for you to provide a list of potential traits that reflect the thrust of the adventures that are to occur within the campaign. “Magic is a strategic weapon” works in a number of contexts – but not all. “Demons pervert everything” is a similar case – being anti-Demon in some way in a campaign that is to feature Demonic manipulation, schemes, or invasion helps explain why this character is one of those at the forefront of the resistance to whatever it is, i.e. is a PC.
Be over-the-top and larger-than-life in this area.
21b. Low Fantasy
Low fantasy is about grit and violence. If there’s a high-level mage out there, he’s almost certainly a bad guy to be opposed by an entire party. Gods are interfering busybodies with feet of clay – and vulnerabilities that can be discovered if they step over the line.

Image by SamWilliamsPhoto from Pixabay, crop and tonal tweak by Mike
Professions & Stat Choices
Embrace the grit. Endorse the mundane. Reject anything too highfalutin. But, at the same time, you need to embrace the genre – once again, “Fighter” is off the menu. Instead of racial alternatives, though, national differentiation is preferable.
Genre Skills
In terms of skill definition, this is better suited to narrow definitions and specifics.
Equipment within Genre
Less magic. You can either make magic more expensive to achieve this, or simply limit the number of items more strictly – maybe to four, maybe less if hems are considered an armor type in their own right when on their own, and part of the suit when partnered with matching pieces. Ditto shields.
Character Points
70-90 character points, plus a maximum of 15-20 in disadvantages, is my recommendation. If you only have a few party members, add another 5-10 points. With an average of 6.5 XP per adventure likely, that’s 10+ adventures before you can even think about matching up with a starting high fantasy character. Except that they get more in disadvantages and more magic and broader skills, so you’ll probably need to double that, minimum. 20-odd adventures is a largish campaign, in my book – so that works.
Personality Traits
The advice in this area is, once again, the exact opposite of that given for High Fantasy. Embrace the gritty and the specific.
21c. Superhero
The superhero genre is a lot trickier than it often seems to the uninitiated. Adventures can span the range from gritty street-crime to cosmic and multiple points in between – with the same characters. It’s easy for characters to be too overpowered for one or too under-powered for the other. Both present challenges to the GM.
The best solution is a two-word term: “Thematically Matched”. The general concept is that each character should have a theme or broad concept, and that each should resolve into a broad item, one or two narrowly-defined items, and two or three extremely narrowly-defined items. Not all areas of the concept need be reflected in abilities. “Items” might be skills, or equipment, or super-abilities.
For example, the theme might be “Mental Abilities”; the broad item might be “Psionic Awareness” (which is so broad that it actually requires further definition before anyone will know what it means), the two narrow items might be “Psionic Search” and “Psychometry”, and three specific items might be “Telepathic Communication”, “Telepathic Whisper”, and “Telekinetic Throw”. High on the shopping list might be “Telekinetic Deflection”.
The idea is that the broader items can be used in multiple ways that gives the character broad utility on the more “Cosmic” occasions, while the specifics permit the character to function in a more “street-level” adventure without the broad item being overwhelmingly powerful. The Narrow items provide flexibility and extra punch under specific circumstances to both; they aren’t applicable all the time, but are useful when they do come to the fore.
Professions & Stat Choices
It should be obvious from the above that the theme should be reflected in the optional stat choice. Sometimes, that will be easy, and sometimes hard. Where that doesn’t work, the (distant) second choice should something like “World’s Greatest Detective” or “Crime-fighter” or “Defender Of The Earth”. The problem with using these calling-cards as central focus is that more than one can lay claim to the title, and every time someone else does so, it diminishes the uniqueness and cachet of the character – even if their claim is less worthy in some respect. So you should avoid them if you can.
Genre Skills
It’s useful to try and put a super-heroic “spin” on as many skills as possible. Instead of “Oratory”, consider “Inspirational Speeches”. Instead of “Deduction”, contemplate “Instinct For Truth”. There are a lot of skills where this won’t be reasonable or even possible, and more where it won’t be reasonable for the specific character in question, but don’t miss any valid opportunities.
Equipment within Genre
Equipment in superhero campaigns covers four primary fields: (1) Skill Enablers; (2) Fantasy Gear; (3) Sci-Fi Devices; and (4) Pulp Gadgets. The great thing about the universality of the sixes system is that (1) are presupposed to be there, and used, unless circumstances dictate otherwise; and (2) through (4) can be imported directly from the relevant genre or sub-genre.
This is true, even in many inobvious cases. For example, take Cerebro, the mutant-detecting psionic enhancement featured in most of the X-men movies (and in many issues of the comic before that); while overtly it’s a superhero gadget, you could easily work it as Fantasy Gear (a crystal ball), or a Sci-Fi Device (some sort of advanced Sensor) or as a Pulp Gadget.
Character Points
Super-heroic characters are best constructed as a two-phase operation: an initial build followed by a bundle of extra points that can only be spent enhancing or improving something that the character already has, but can’t be spent on anything new. The first part is conceptual, the second part elevates the power levels to the desired baseline.
Conceptual: 100-110 points, plus a maximum of 30 points in disadvantages.
Elevation: Street Level: +10-20 points, +10 in disadvantages; Medium Level: +30-40 points, +20 in disadvantages; High-level, +40-50 points, +30 in disadvantages.
Personality Traits
Superheroes are easy in a different respect: it’s generally easy to get them involved in an adventure, because they have strong senses of responsibility, or are obsessive/driven, or are driven by fate (which includes ‘reluctant hero’). But it’s necessary that the character sheet actually reflects whichever of these matches the character description, and puts an individual spin on it.
21d. Mystery/Detective
Mystery/Detective genres (as distinct from crime and police campaigns) tend to be fairly rare, and even more so in modern times. I’m not entirely sure why that is – except, possibly, that such adventures are a lot more work to write and run.
The Sixes System lends itself very strongly to such campaigns, thanks to its inherent flexibility.

Image by himanshu gunarathna from Pixabay.
Beautiful women abound, and are always dangerous, in spy games!
Professions & Stat Choices
Characters can have any profession that requires the solving of puzzles. Doctors, Lawyers, and Police are obvious ones. Unlike most genres, however, I don’t recommend that the profession be the 6th stat.
Instead, the player should attempt to distill the method by which the character solves mysteries into a single comprehensive term, and use that for their 6th stat. Elimination (the Agatha Christie model), Observation (the Sherlock Holmes model), Interrogation, and (obviously) Deduction are just some of the many possibilities.
A secondary consideration that should be spelt out by the player is how this approach impacts and advantages them in their professional life.
Genre Skills
Without the stat to be the primary driver of profession, the use of skills becomes more important. The temptation would be to list the profession as a single skill, but – even if bought to a high level – that tends to devalue it; the profession becomes easy to lose sight of, as the forest no longer contains the trees.
Instead, the profession should be broken into separate activities and each of those manifested in a separate skill to construct a suite of related abilities and expertises. This prevents the character from over-investing in capacities that are not relevant to the profession, while still retaining enough flexibility that the character can cope with most situations in which they may find themselves.
Another problem that permeates the genre and may explain the relative dearth of representative RPG campaigns is the inherent difficulties raised by multiple characters with the same general focus. I have seen it suggested that there is a 90-95% overlap between such characters, and while I think that an exaggeration, there’s enough truth in there to make it a concern for any GM contemplating such a campaign.
The approach that I have recommended here is designed to actively combat this problem in two ways; firstly, multiple characters in the same profession can have different strengths and weaknesses relative to each other; and secondly, the diversion of skill points into multiple professional activities reduces the scope for overlap, reducing the overlap between characters of different professions.
Equipment within Genre
This tends to be a fairly low-equipment genre, and most equipment will be 1-point gadgets. As a general rule, the GM should think carefully about anything that exceeds this guideline.
Character Points
Characters for this genre should be built on 80 points, plus 5 for each PC fewer than 4. Disadvantages should be initially limited to 10 points, but GMs may wish to increase this to 15 after trying the lower limit.
Personality Traits
Again, this is a problem when you no longer have profession to distinguish one character from another. To resolve it, consider all the detective doctors that you’ve seen depicted on television, and contemplate the differences in personality and mannerism between them. Start with Marcus Welby MD; then Dr Kildare; then Dr Mark Sloan (Diagnosis Murder); then House, and Dr Watson (Sherlock Holmes – multiple interpretations). Where you go from there is up to you – but those are quite enough to prove the point: no matter how similar these characters might be, they are also clearly distinct and different from each other.
This is the goal that you have to set for personality traits. Anything that is too generic, or too routinely associated with the profession in question, should be rejected; encourage things that promote distinctiveness. Now, that’s always good advice, but this genre demands that you be more heavy-handed than usual.
21e. Crime & Cops
At first glance, you might think that everything written about Detective/Mystery campaigns would apply double to campaigns that deliberately focus on Crime and Law-enforcement. And, to some extent, that’s true. But one of the big impacts of TV shows such as CSI and NCIS is that it becomes obvious that there are many different ways of fighting crime, and success generally rests on a combination of all of them.
Which means that there is greater potential for focusing on those differences.
Professions & Stat Choices
With that in mind, if a character is to be a specialist in some specific form of crime or crime fighting – Cybercrime or forensics or even accountancy (“Follow The Money!”) then those professions would be eminently suitable for reflection in stat choice. If, however, a character is to be a generic “Policeman” or “Detective,” then I would apply the techniques described in the previous section with full force.
Genre Skills
See above.
Equipment within Genre
As per 21d.
Character Points
As per 21d.
Personality Traits
As per 21d, but using cop shows instead of medical detectives. Diversity is the key to successfully adapting this perennial television genre to RPGs – something that I’ve never actually seen done.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabaym background by Mike
21f. Spies/Agents
This genre seems to come in waves, becoming popular for a while and then fading away again. Part of the problem seems to be that it is a common sub-genre. within a whole bunch of other genres – you can have a spy/agent campaign within a Fantasy milieu, or in a Sci-Fi setting, or in the old west, and these are still viewed as predominantly attached to the parent genre and not as a variation on the spy/secret agent genre. As a result, it lacks the cohesion and critical mass to receive the recognition and ongoing support that it deserves. It’s fan-base is too fragmented.
Of course, there can be good reasons for such fragmentation. Conceptual Integrity is not a phrase that drops into many conversations, but it goes a long way to explaining the situation, and the approach of the Sixes system bows to it as well, in the form of the following instruction: If there is an element of another genre within the proposed campaign, said campaign will be better-executed using the rules and interpretations associated with that genre and not with the advice within this section.
In other words, if your spy campaign is set in a sci-fi environment, use the sci-fi genre rules; if a Fantasy setting, use the Fantasy genre advice; and so on.
The purist form of the genre is reserved for modern-day campaigns, set between the end of World War 2 and the very near future – not far enough away to be considered cyberpunk, to be more specific – and it is to that “pure” form of the genre that the advice below is intended to apply.
It breaks rules and ignores principles that have been held as sacrosanct in other genre discussions, and that’s appropriate, given that Genre should always override rules and game mechanics – or perhaps that should read “Genre appropriateness”. Anyway…
Professions & Stat Choices
It contradicts the approaches taken with other genres, but there is nothing wrong with characters from this genre using generic labels for their sixth stat like “Spy” or “Secret Agent” or “Mole”. That’s because the differences from one character to another within this genre are much less distinct and more reliant on specific skills than any other.
On the assumption that a GM’s productive time and attention are limited, he is better advised to spend his time scrutinizing those, and ensuring that characters are distinct in their capabilities and that there is not too much overlap, than in looking too closely at the sixth stat; in this context, the sixth stat is just a delivery vehicle for the skill specializations.
That said, a more-than-acceptable compromise is to use the sixth stat to shoehorn additional flavor into the character – there may be a difference between “British Secret Service” and “CIA Agent” and “KGB Operative”, even though these superficially mean the same thing. The differences lie in style, and approach, and attitude, and a whole bunch of unwritten flavor elements – but just because you can’t put your finger on them, doesn’t mean that they aren’t as real, and as important, as the distinction between Strength and Charisma.
This will work very well so long as the GM and the player are on the same page in terms of those undefinable distinctions – which they will be, at least some of the time. It’s when there are differences in interpretation that things can become a little sticky. At such times, the GM should Pause The Game and have a (brief) round-table on the specifics, with the GM going last and taking on board what the players have said. He might change his mind, based on what the players have said, or may revise his position to a third possibility, or may be able to articulate his own position more clearly as a result of the input – but until player and GM agree, the game can’t go forward.
Another way of looking at this is to state that each organization has it’s own style, which is expressed in everything from it’s recruiting practices to it’s attitude, and which will constrain both what they will and won’t do, and how they will do it. Violations of these unwritten rules are even more important (in many ways) than violations of the written rules and laws, insofar as violations of those laws can be excused (internally) or justified in terms of that “unwritten code”.
It follows that the number of players should be limited. The amount of playing time is inverse-exponentially proportional to the number of players. From personal observation with other rules systems – and it seems to apply regardless of game mechanics – four can work well, three requires more work by the GM, two is just fine, and One… one is a special problem in that the one player has to be “on” all the time, and that’s hard when you have to share the burden of creating the right atmosphere and style. If your “one” is capable of that, is at least as big a fan of the genre as you are, then that’s fine; but if not, then trouble will eventually strike, and it will be your responsibility as GM to lead the way out of the valley of darkness.
Genre Skills
There is an art form to defining skills sufficiently narrowly as to enable distinctiveness while being sufficiently broad-based that the character can at least be competent (if not proficient) in other areas.
The simplest approach that I have found is depicted by the diagram below (don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it):
This illustrates three “agent” characters and the relative degree of overlap between their skill-sets. Those expertises have been grouped into 3 broad categories: Specialist skills for the specific character (detailed and usually at a high level), related areas of expertise (broader and at a moderate level), and Other General Spycraft (very generally defined and at a relatively poor level).
The first character has 6 specific specialist skills, 4 related areas of expertise (or one that has been divided into 4 skills), and “other general spycraft” has been broken into 6 general skills.
The second character has a completely different specialty, one that overlaps in part with the “related expertise” of the first, and in part is even more widely separated from the specialist expertise of the first. The second character’s related expertises are also split – half overlap with the specialist skills of the first character, and half overlap with what he considered general spycraft. The two have enough in common that they could communicate professionally, but they are very different characters.
Note that since each player can define his skills as he wishes, within the bounds of what the GM considers acceptable, the skill boundaries don’t quite line up between the two characters.
Character #3 is different again. Like the others, he has 6 specialist skills; half of these overlap with the other half of character #1’s ‘related’ areas of expertise, the other half are in areas defined as “general spycraft” by the other two characters. Unlike those characters, #3 has five areas of related expertise, two of which comprise three of character #2’s specialty, and three which do the same with respect to character #1. Note that there is ‘half a skill’s overlap’ between the “related” areas of expertise of characters #2 and #3.
On the far right, I’ve done a symbolic representation of the trio as a team, using a score of 4 for areas of specialist expertise, 2 for areas of related expertise, and 1 for areas of general spycraft. First, I totaled the expertise of the three characters; as you can see, this has produced a narrow 1/2 skill in which both Characters #2 and #3 are experts, and Character #1 knows what the other two are talking about. There is a second area where both characters #2 and #3 have related expertise in an area in which Character #1 is a specialist; so the total is 8 out of a possible 12. Everywhere else, they are collectively at 7 or less, in total, and there is a small area in which all three of them are completely inexpert.
Which is as good a time as any to talk about why three characters don’t make a great foundation for a spy/agents campaign. With four, you can have two strands of action running concurrently, two teams of two agents – one functioning as support/backup for the other. With three, you either have one team “unprotected” or you have all three on their own – that’s either extra work or a diminished capacity for character interaction and roleplay for someone. Yes, you can work around that, but it’s not easy to do so.

Image by Majabel Creaciones from Pixabay, background by Mike.
….Right, ALWAYS dangerous.
Equipment within Genre
Gadgets in this genre tend to be more powerful than in pulp, but are often not intended to survive an adventure. Where a character has spent points on such gadgets, the GM either has to replace the item at the end of the adventure or give the points back. Few gadgets would be worth more than 2 dice, however, with the potential exception of vehicles – but, having said that, Bond didn’t leave many of his vehicles in one piece at the end of a case.
Character Points
As a general rule of thumb, I would recommend 65-70 character points, plus 20-25 for specialist skills, plus 10-15 from disadvantages. Characters should generally have no more than 10 points in equipment (including weapons) – it’s more about improvising with what you’ve got than having a tool for every occasion. But there can be exceptions to this last guideline, especially for characters that need to buy multiple knives or dual-weapon use as a choice of fighting style.
Personality Traits
Color and Glamour run hand-in-hand with this genre. Most characters should reflect this in some respect. Obsessions of any sort can be tricky for a character, but not as much as the icy-cold professional; the last should really be reserved for GM use in villains and their henchmen. The right balance is for the characters to care about something, even if they aren’t sure quite what it is, but not to the point where they will sacrifice Queen and Country (or equivalents thereof) to further them.
21g. Anime/Mecha
I’ve never GM’d this genre, so take this advice with a grain of salt. The closest I’ve come was running some NPCs in my superhero campaign – one bunch of villains, and one bunch of Soviet Heroes forcibly inducted into the PC team for a while. I’m actually going to lean rather heavily on the latter experience in this context.
Each branch of the Soviet military took a stock-standard Iron Man -type super-suit and modified it to suit their particular combat style, then selected a “Hero” to wear it from amongst their ranks. The Pilot went for speed, maneuverability, missiles, and cannon. The Tank driver went for strength and armor, and could barely get off the ground, and so on.
The end result was that each was clearly a derivative of a common foundation, but each also had a distinctive personality both in action and in more “yak-yak-yak” moments (to quote one of them). And that’s what you’re aiming for with this genre.
Characters should be generated as they are outside their armor. Players should then generate a “variant” character, preserving anything non-physical in nature from the first, which reflects their “In-Mech” abilities. GMs may provide a limited pool of additional points for stats and skill enhancements – a small number goes a surprisingly long way. For example, a Mech with a 1-point “Sensor platform” may enhance many skills that have been defined individually.
This works because the two characters are at different scales, but those scales don’t interact, or if they do, the machine generally wins. If a Mech (of STR 3) grips you and squeezes and you aren’t in a Mech yourself, it doesn’t matter much if you have STR 20 – the hydraulics will win (if you are in another Mech, that’s a different story!)
Anything that can stand up to a Mech – say, a dragon – will likewise make easy work of any character not in their Mech. The two scales simply don’t intersect.
The same is true of Mech-mounted weapons vs personal weapons, but the GM should use common sense – if a character fires a bazooka at a Mech, whether it has an effect or not depends on the campaign, but it seems reasonable that it should.
Professions & Stat Choices
Avoid, at all costs, professions such as “Sentinel Pilot”. Instead, the stat choice should be something the character is good at whether they are suited up or not. Wearing the Mech should enhance that action, but more importantly, that field of expertise should impact the way the wearer uses his Mech.
Genre Skills
Mech-related skills should be defined in terms of things that the character is likely to want to know how to do. “Repair” and “Field Repair” or “Jury Rig” should be kept separate – one assumes spare parts, specialist diagnostic equipment, and every tool you are likely to need, and the other assumes their absence. No more than a dozen points should be permitted in these skills, collectively.
Equipment within Genre
There’s an important distinction to be made between the Mechs and related equipment, and equipment for use when the character is not wearing their combat suit. Thinking about that distinction is what gave rise to the notion of treating the two as two separate characters who share one directing consciousness.
Personal equipment is probably only 6-10 points. Mechs may be built on 10-20 points, plus everything that is saved from stats, skills and abilities that don’t transfer – that includes everything from STR to shotgun skill, and definitely includes some of the Purposes – Attack and Defend, for example! Analyze could go either way, and deserves careful thought on the GM’s part.
And note that because the character scales are different, it’s entirely acceptable for a character “In Mech” to have a lower Stat or Purpose than he has “Ex Mech”.
Character Points
Build the normal characters on 70 points, plus 10 points from non-mech disadvantages. Provide the points for mech-related skills as a separate pool, to be used for nothing else.
Characters can “reserve” character construction points “Ex-Mech” to expend on beefing up their Mech. The actual value should depend on the campaign that the GM intends to run – if the action is to be 50% in-Mech and 50% ex-Mech, two for one is justifiable. Save 5 points from your character and you could get 10 points to spend on your Mech. If the ratio is 66% to 33% (more out-of-armor adventure content than in-heavy-metal adventure), then 3-to-1 is called for.
In other words, divide 100 by the In-Mech percentage and that’s the exchange rate.
A more difficult question is whether or not to permit the exchange to operate in the other direction – effectively, characters compromising their Mechs because they have overspent on primary construction. I have to admit to being of two minds on this question; it might be permissible under some circumstances and not under others. Decide on a case-by-case basis.

Image by Toby Parsons from Pixabay, contrast adjust by Mike.
….and hot cars are NEVER out of place.
Personality Traits
This is a really interesting discussion. A character can have more insecurities than you can shake a two-by-four at – out of armor – and feel totally invulnerable in his or her Mech. At the same time, a different character could be totally self-confident outside of their Mech, and still feel inadequate, forced to attempt to over-achieve, in armor.
The personalities can therefore be totally different in some respects – and yet, they are both outgrowths and expressions of the one characterization. Players and GMs should consider the question of how the character’s mindset changes when wearing their Mech, and ensure that this is reflected in their personality traits.
And, still to come, in the final part of this series:
21h. “Low” Sci-Fi
21i. “High” Sci-Fi
21j. Dr Who / Time Travel
21k. Cyberpunk
21l. Pulp
21m. Wild West
21n. HorrorI’d like to promise this for next week, but my experience in writing the above shows that it is harder to shift mental gears between genres than I think it used to be! That means that I’m likely to need to post something else, which eats time away from writing the series. So one week’s delay can become two, three, or even four.
Oh yes, you might wonder about those strange labels – “Low” and “High” aren’t normally terms associated with Sci-Fi genres. Well, not until now, anyway. Stay Tuned, it will all make sense in the end!
- Introducing The Sixes System: A Minimalist Universal RPG
- The Sixes System Pt 1: Fundamentals
- The Sixes System Pt 2: Education, Abilities, and Tools
- The Sixes System Pt 3: Doing Things 1
- The Sixes System Pt 4: Doing Things 2
- The Sixes System Pt 5: Campaign Infrastructure
- The Sixes System Pt 6: Doing More Things
- The Sixes System Pt 7: Characters
- The Sixes System Pt 8: Genres
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