Salvage Union
Salvage Union is a post-apocalyptic mech TTRPG about salvager pilots who scour a corporate-ruled wasteland in scrap-built mechs, bring resources back to a mobile Union Crawler, and use salvage to keep their community alive.
Post-apocalyptic mechs | 3-6 players + Game Mediator | Quest-powered d20 rules | Free quickstart, paid core book | Best for salvage campaigns
Salvage Union is strongest for groups that want mechs to be tied to survival, community, and salvage instead of only battlefield optimization. It is a post-apocalyptic mech TTRPG about crews who leave a roaming Union Crawler, strip useful scrap from corporate-ruled wastelands, and bring those resources back to keep their people alive.
It is a weaker fit if your table wants dense hex-by-hex military simulation, highly granular tactical combat, or a setting book that explains every part of the world in deep canonical detail. Salvage Union is more interested in accessible mech action, practical expeditions, and the pressure of making do with whatever the wasteland gives you.
What the game is
Salvage Union is a post-apocalyptic mech TTRPG by Panayiotis Lines and Aled Lawlor, published by Leyline Press. Players are Salvager mech pilots who live outside corporate control in a huge mobile settlement called a Union Crawler. The wider world is scarred by ecological collapse, corporate arcologies, hostile wastelands, raiders, mutants, bio-titans, alien Meld, and corpo forces fighting over what remains.
The core campaign loop is direct: leave the Crawler, take scrap and useful parts from dangerous places, survive the trip back, then use what you found to repair, upgrade, and sustain the community. That gives the game a clear identity between post-apocalyptic survival, mecha customization, and home-base stewardship.
Publication history and current line
The current core product is the Salvage Union Core Book + Digital Edition from Leyline Press. The official product page describes it as a 340-page B5 hardback that includes the PDF, full rules for 3-6 players, the scenario The Downing of the Atychos, Game Mediator advice, setting lore, pilot rules, mech rules, Crawler rules, salvaging, crafting, and a large NPC roster.
The current line also includes the free Salvage Union Quickstart, digital editions, the official collection of downloads and tools, and adventure modules such as False Flag, Rainmaker, and We Were Here First!. That means a new group can start with a free scenario and pregenerated material, then expand into a campaign without hunting for unsupported third-party scaffolding.
What you need to play
The easiest starting point is the free quickstart PDF. It includes core rules, premade pilots and mechs, Game Mediator guidance, NPC profiles, and an introductory adventure. That is enough to test whether the core loop works for your group.
For a campaign, the core book is the real baseline. It expands pilot creation, mech chassis and modules, Crawler creation and upkeep, salvage and crafting, encounter material, and campaign advice. Leyline also links official resources from the Salvage Union hub, including an SRD, mech builder, pilot creator, downloads, Discord, open game license, and errata/change-log material.
Core rules and play structure
Salvage Union uses a simple d20 variable resolution mechanic powered by Quest RPG. The official pages position it as easy to learn, and the quickstart supports that: the basic procedure is approachable, while the depth comes from how pilots, mechs, scrap, Crawler needs, and wasteland threats interact over time.
Play usually moves between three states. First, the crew identifies a job, route, salvage opportunity, or regional conflict. Second, pilots take their mechs into the wastes and deal with terrain, enemies, hazards, negotiations, and combat. Third, the group returns to the Union Crawler, spends or stores scrap, repairs damage, upgrades machines, and makes choices that affect the whole community.
Pilots, mechs, and the Union Crawler
The core book gives pilots 6 core classes and 5 hybrid classes, with more than 80 abilities and more than 40 pieces of pilot equipment. That makes pilots more than anonymous drivers, but the game keeps a lot of attention on what they can do through their machines and their Crawler community.
Mechs are highly configurable. Leyline lists 30 mech chassis and more than 150 mech systems and modules, and the game makes found parts and scrap part of progression. The Crawler matters too: it is home base, social anchor, logistics problem, and upgrade project. A damaged Crawler or poorly supplied Crawler is not just background color; it changes what the crew can risk next.
Signature mechanics
The standout mechanic is the salvage economy. Scrap is not just money. It is maintenance, crafting fuel, community support, mech progression, and the reason to take dangerous contracts in the first place. That gives even a successful mission a cost question: what gets repaired, what gets upgraded, what is saved, and what has to wait?
The other signature is the way mech customization emerges from in-world scavenging. A heavier tactical game might encourage pre-planned builds from a catalog. Salvage Union is more interesting when the table treats every recovered chassis, module, system, or odd part as a story object: something bolted on, traded for, argued over, or risked because the Crawler needs it.
What play feels like
At the table, Salvage Union should feel scrappy and expedition-driven. The crew leaves a moving home, crosses hostile ground, finds a crashed ship, ruined facility, corporate cache, mutant nest, or wastelander settlement, and then has to decide how much danger is worth the haul. The mechs make the characters powerful, but not secure. Damage, heat, enemy scale, supply pressure, and Crawler upkeep keep the game from becoming clean superhero action.
The game also gives the GM a clear way to frame consequences. If the crew spends too much, breaks too much, or comes home empty, the Crawler feels it. That is the main reason Salvage Union is more than a light mecha skirmish game: the machines are exciting, but the community gives them stakes.
Running the game
The Game Mediator has a moderate workload. Salvage Union provides scenario structure, NPC profiles, faction pressure, and advice for building regions and campaigns, so it is not a blank-canvas story game. At the same time, the GM still needs to make salvage sites matter, connect missions to Crawler needs, and avoid letting the scrap economy become either too generous or too punitive.
It should be easier to start than heavier mech games such as Battletech or Lancer, but it is not prep-free. The best sessions need a place worth entering, a reason the crew cannot take everything, and at least one hard choice between safety, reward, and community need.
Campaign fit
Salvage Union can run a one-shot through the quickstart, especially with premade pilots and mechs. Its stronger form is a campaign where the Union Crawler changes over time, pilots modify machines from recovered parts, and the crew learns which factions, communities, and corporate forces define their stretch of wasteland.
Use it for short-to-medium campaigns if your group wants a strong loop without a huge rules investment. Use it for longer campaigns if everyone is excited by Crawler upgrades, scavenged mech parts, and region-scale conflict. It is less ideal for groups that want mostly social drama away from the machines or a pure tactical arena game.
Reception and awards
Salvage Union has credible external support. The 2024 ENNIE Awards listed it for Best Game, Best Rules, and Product of the Year, and the UK Games Expo awards page lists Salvage Union by Leyline Press as the 2024 People's Choice Roleplaying Game winner.
Review sentiment is broadly positive. Tabletop Gaming praised its accessible approach to mech fiction, strong customization, and solid core. Cannibal Halfling Gaming was more critical of the setting depth and some softer edges in the design, but still found the salvage loop, mech options, and Quest-based chassis compelling for groups that want narrative mecha without going fully into heavy simulation.
Where it is strongest
- Mech play where scavenging, repairs, and community pressure matter.
- Groups that want a clear campaign loop without the weight of a full tactical war game.
- Players who like customizing machines from parts recovered in play.
- Campaigns built around a mobile home base, faction pressure, and wasteland expeditions.
- Tables that want post-apocalyptic mecha with accessible rules and a free quickstart.
Where it can frustrate groups
- The setting premise can feel broad rather than deeply explained if the GM wants dense canon.
- Mech roles and pilot niches are lighter than in heavier buildcraft games.
- The salvage economy needs GM judgment; too much scrap can flatten the pressure, while too little can stall progression.
- Groups expecting granular tactical maps may find the combat too abstract.
Content and safety notes
Salvage Union deals with corporate control, ecological collapse, hostile wastelands, violence, deprivation, dangerous mutants, and communities trying to survive outside oppressive power structures. The tone can be adventurous, but the campaign premise still centers on scarcity and life after disaster. Groups should align on how bleak, political, and lethal they want their wasteland to feel.
Best starting path
Start with the free quickstart and run The Downing of the Atychos with premade pilots and mechs. If the table likes the rhythm of salvage, repair, and Crawler pressure, move to the core book for full pilot creation, mech customization, Crawler advancement, and campaign tools.
After that, use the official Salvage Union collection to pick modules or digital tools based on what the campaign needs next. The best reason to expand is not more lore for its own sake, but more salvage sites, factions, and hard choices for the Crawler community.
Research notes
Last checked: July 5, 2026.