Mekton Mecha Manual - experimental edition

 In the spirit of the two previous official Mekton Mecha Manuals, herein I present a set of designs that push the boundaries of mecha design: non-humanoid and vehicular technologies and principles. They come from different backgrounds and design philosophies, so don’t assume these all belong in the same game setting. The inspiring artwork is from Pinterest and I also supply a design discussion of how and why certain choices were made in the design of each particular mecha. 

Here are a couple examples of BattleTech and Five Star Stories inspired designs: They’re humanoid but have different proportions, different design goals, but are all essentially built using the same principles.

A big portion of designing mecha for your setting is setting consistent themes. BattleTech has a set of design themes. Macross has a different set. What’s a ‘medium’ weight mech in one is a lightweight in another. Different factions can have different design themes, but the setting’s themes also apply to everyone.

But what about non-standard designs? Non-human baselines? A key consideration in designing mecha in the Mekton Technical System is how you want the mecha to play in game. Do you want to track various sub-locations as players blow them off? Or do you want a monolithic block of Kills to whittle down before the entire unit goes kaput? Is this a Player Character’s unit, a minor minion or supporting threat, or a major boss battle?

House Rules and notation style

Scaling Hits and Kills

For Roadstriker and Human scale mecha, I leave the servo and system ‘kills’ values as scaled fractions. This is so that these designs can be ported into Fuzion and Cyberpunk settings if desired, where the Kills to Hits ratios are different (50:1) than in vanilla Mekton Z rules (25:1). 

House Rules

Another house rule I applied to Roadstriker designs: In MTS, Roadstriker scaled mecha have to devote a number of internal spaces based on the BODY stat (rate 2 to 10) of the intended pilot. For a form-fitting suit, this makes sense, but for general car-like vehicles it does not. For simplicity’s sake, I am assuming 5 spaces per crew or passenger space. I’ll rationalize this decision thusly: at Mekton scale (1:1) a crew or passenger space takes 1 space; since Roadstrikers are 1:5 scale, one space becomes 5. I also add 0.5 tons per passenger which should translate to 100 kg per body at Roadstriker scale, a reasonable average.

I have another house rule: the “Penetrating” Special Weapon Effect. This 1.33x multiplier applies to beam weapons with a Burst Value. When a Penetrating weapon hits a target: determine the number of hits and their locations as normal, however when more than one hit strikes the same location, add the hits damages together before applying armor; this simulates beams that drill deeper if they are kept on the same location.

Weapons and systems notation

For weapon systems I use the following data format: Scale-Type) WA, Range, Kills. <then any special modifiers like Burst Value, WUT for Warm-up time, etc.> Some examples: 

“MS-PW) -2, 4/16H, 2k. BV8. [16 AC bursts]” is a Mekton scaled Projectile weapon. It has -2 Weapon Accuracy, a range of 4/16 (effective/max), 2K damage. Burst Value of 8, and 16 shots of ammo.

“MS-MSL) +1, 13/169H, 6K x5” is a Mekton scaled Missile weapon, with +1WA, 13/169 range, 6k per missile and 5 missiles in the pod.

Pseudo historical 

War of the Worlds Martian Tripod

Inspired by H.G. Wells’ famous War of the Worlds, a non-human ‘terror’ weapon. These walking weapons platforms should be massive and intimidating, so it’s Corvette scale. When the human’s get their hands on some martian tech and build their own mecha to fight back, each Tripod will still be a challenge. The frame has three large legs, obviously, plus a Torso as required. A Head servo will act as the Turret for the main armament. Three ‘arm’ servos will serve as home for the main grappling tentacles and toxic smoke missile pods. Some Tripods also carried ‘cages’ for snatched up humans: an empty Pod servo with minimal armor. Overall armor classes are relatively light, since human weapons will start out weak and the Martians depend on the reactive shield for defense. The Beast-form multiplier will represent the alien locomotion model.  For weapons and equipment we start with the classic heat ray gun, which will be Mekton scale and have a burst value to represent its ability to sweep across targets, and a ‘penetration’ effect to make it even more deadly. Toxic smoke launchers will be primary anti-personnel weapons, and double as concealment. The main tentacles will be powerful melee entangling weapons with arrays of micromanipulators to represent the many micro-tentacles for snatching up people. Defensively the Tripod has a Mekton-scaled ranged-only reactive shield, which during the initial phases of the invasion was nearly impregnable to earth weapons. Following Martian social models, the standard tripod will have a crew of three Martians, but this is largely a special effect.

Servos: (Corvette scaled)

• Head LW Head w/ MS Armor 20 Kills, 4K SP

• Torso STR Torso w/ HS Armor 60 Kills, 5K SP

• 3 Arms SL Arm w/ LW Armor 20 Kills, 2K SP

• 3 Legs STR Leg w/ LW Armor 40 Kills, 2K SP

• Cage STR Pod w/ LW Armor 00 Kills, 2K SP

Systems:

• Head: Heat Beam gun 3 K MS-BW) +0, 10/100H, 3K. BV6+piercing, WUT=1 turn.

• Torso: MS Main Sensors 20K SR: 70 KM, Coms: 10,000KM

• Torso: Three-crew screen cockpit

• Torso: Shield Generator MS-REACT) 10K SP, Ranged-Only, Reset-2

• Pod: Cargo space for captured humans Room for dozens of humans

• Arms: Main grapple tentacles x3 10K ea MS-MW) +0, melee, 12K, Entangling.

• Arms: Smoke Missile launcher x3 2K ea MS-MSL) +0, 12/144H, 10K x3. Smoke, Toxic, BR-3.

• Legs: 3x Micromanipulators x3 ea 1k ea (great for grabbing people)

Multipliers:

• Martian fusion powerplant (cool, standard charge)

• Natural Form: Beast

Totals: CP: 1,720 CP, Weight: 275 tons. MV: -3 MA: 7

Alternate modern day

In this ‘verse, mecha evolved from jet fighters and attack helicopters: designed for speed, agility and high-visibility rather than armor. 

High Mobility Land Strider, Mk.7

The canopy-style cockpit gives better visibility and sticks to the design ethic. Jump jets allow for thruster-powered leaps up to 200 meters. For upgrades: I’d consider adding counter-missile pods on torso weapon mounts; maybe Stealth variants.  Other mecha designs in this ‘verse could have extended bays for troop transport; A fire-support version with a heavy mortar mounted on the back for indirect ordinance delivery; an AA unit with more missiles and so on …

Servos: (Mekton scaled)

• Torso Striker Torso  w/ MS Armor 6 Kills, 4K SP

• 2 Arms Med. Striker Arm w/ LW Armor 5 Kills, 2K SP (1k melee swat)

• 2 Legs Med. Striker Leg w/ LW Armor 5 Kills, 2K SP (1k melee kick)

Systems:

• Torso: HS Main Sensors 2K Sensors: 7km, Coms: 1,000km

• Torso: Canopy Cockpit w/ E-Seat 2SP (low protection, but great visibility)

• Torso: Jump jets (500 km fuel)

• Arms: Weapon mounts x2 1k ea (for Missile and Rocket pods)

• R.Arm Light Cannon 3K MS-PW) +0, 5/25H, 3K. [33 Cannon shots]

• R.Arm WM Missile Pod 2K MS-MSL) +1, 13/169H, 6K x5.

• L.Arm Light Autocannon 2K MS-PW) -2, 4/16H, 2k. BV8. [16 AC bursts]

• L.Arm WM Rocket Pod 3K MS-MSL) -1, 5/25H, 2k x20

Multipliers:

• Overcharged Powerplant (+1MV, +1 MA)

Totals: CP: 85 CP Weight: 26.78 tons (1.275 tons fuel) MV: -1 Ground MA: 6 Flight MA: 4 (200m jumps)

Infantry Assault Strider, Mk.14

A quad walker combining the roles of an assault boat and a fire-support platform, the Mk.14 is designed to transport and protect a platoon of powered-armored infantry across water and open land and provide fire support for the team. The four heavy legs provide walking mobility as well as containing ground-effect propulsion systems for hovering over surfaces like open ground and water. The main body serves as an open cargo bay for infantry; we’ll double its capacity with a house rule that they are partially exposed (50% of shots at the infantry will hit the torso armor instead). The large turret is represented by a head servo and contains the cannon and missile launchers on external mounts. The internal countermissile and prismatic systems are Rocket Pods (which cost the same when the defensive modifiers are applied). All servos feature heavy armor, making the Mk.14 ponderous.

Servos: (Mekton scaled)

• Turret SuperHeavy Head w/ SH Armor 10 Kills, 10K SP

• Body SuperHeavy Torso w/ SH Armor 20 Kills, 10K SP

• 4 Legs MediumHeavy Leg w/ HS Armor 9 Kills, 5K SP (3k melee kick)

Systems:

• Turret: MW Main Sensors 2K Sensors: 15 km, Coms: 1,500 km

• Turret: Screen cockpit for Pilot, Gunner and Commander

• Turret: Beehive defense pod 3K MS-MSL) -1, 5H, 2k x20. Countermissile

• Turret: Prismatic defense pod 3K MS-MSL) -1, 5H, 2k x20. Smoke/Scatter

• Trt.WM: Heavy Cannon & extra mag 9K +1K MS-PW) +0, 9/81H, 9K. 20 shots

• Trt.WM: Missile Pods 2K x2 MS-MSL) +1, 13/169H, 6K x10

• Body: Striker bay 8 Roadstriker mecha, 50% coverage.

• Legs: GES thrusters and 1,000km fuel 36 LP total

Multipliers:

• Hot, Overcharged Powerplant

Totals: CP: 226 CP Weight: 70.4 tons (+6.4 tons fuel) MV: -6 Ground MA: 4 Hover MA: 20

Bio/Synth Wars

The Bio/Synth Wars is a setting where rogue AI’s deploy armies of nanotech infused synthetic drone mecha to take and hold territories against each other. Humanity, thrown down from their dominance of the planet, now surviving in the wastelands and in the shadow of battlefields, looking for a way to do more than survive but hopefully one day take back their world. This setting’s themes involve organic tech mecha fused with traditional tech weapons. Most are ‘dumb’ automatons, but there are some smarter ones out there. Enemy units tend to have simple armaments and direct purposes. Humanity will have to scavenge and adapt this tech if they want to survive.

NEMESIS AI Synth, Assault “LOCUST”

Here’s a ‘biotech’ quad weapons platform. A drone with autonomous protocols, which are represented by the Internal Automation multiplier system. It’s not ‘sapient’ but has the animal cunning of a predator. The Techo-Organics modifier represents its nano-composite body and self-repair abilities. The Beast natural form gives it greater speed, and the Nina Leap modifier is how we give it leaping power without thrusters. It’s armed with a single weapon: a long-yield projectile weapon. The LOCUST is intended to be a minor threat unless encountered in groups, which is naturally how it should be deployed …

Servos: (Mekton scaled)

• Core Striker Class Torso w/ MS Armor 6 Kills, 4 K SP

• 2 Fore legs Striker Class Leg w/ LW Armor 2 Kills, 2 K SP (1K+2K kicks)

• 2 Aft legs Striker Class Leg w/ LW Armor 2 Kills, 2 K SP (1K+2K kicks)

Systems:

• Torso: HS Main Sensors 2K SR: 7km, CR: 1,000km

• Torso: Cyberbrain All Stats @4, 5 Skills @4

• Torso: Light Cannon 3K MS-PW) +0, 5/25H, 3K. [33 shots]

Multipliers:

• Biofusion Powerplant (standard ‘hot’)

• Techno Organic (regenerates 1 Kill for servos per turn. Armor regenerates much more slowly.)

• Internal Automation (‘cyberbrain’ with Stats at 4 and 5 Skills @4)

• Natural Form: Beast (-1 MV, +2 MA, +2K melee)

• SMT: Ninja Leap +4 leap MA

Totals: CP: 84 CP, Weight: 19.5 tons MV: -2 Ground MA: 8, Leap MA 6 (300 meters)

NEMESIS AI Synth, AA “SALMON”

Like the LOCUST, Internal Automation is used for the drone’s ‘cyberbrain’, and Techo-Organics for its nano-composite body and self-repair abilities and it has the same Nina Leaping capability. This model has spotting radar for detecting threats at greater distances and a large missile payload to strike both aerial as well as ground targets. A pair of small lasers are its defensive armament.

Servos: (Mekton scaled)

• Core Hvy. Striker Torso w/ HS Armor 10 Kills, 5 K SP

• 4 Legs Striker Leg w/ MS Armor 4 Kills, 4 K SP (1K+2K kicks)

• 2 Pods Hvy. Striker Pod w/ MS Armor 0 Kills, 4 K SP

Systems:

• Torso: HS Main Sensors 2K SR: 7km, CR: 1,000km

• Torso: Cyberbrain All Stats @4, 5 Skills @4

• Torso: Spotting Radar 4K 10x sensor range when active

• Torso: twin Light Beam Guns 1K x2 MS-BW) +1, 4/16H, 1K x2. Fire linked

• Pods: quad Missile Pods 2k x4 MS-MSL) +1, 13/169H, 6K x5 (20 missiles total)

Multipliers:

• Biofusion Powerplant (standard ‘hot’)

• Techno Organic (regenerates 1 Kill for servos per turn. Armor regenerates much more slowly.)

• Internal Automation (‘cyberbrain’ with Stats at 4 and 5 Skills @4)

• Natural Form: Beast (-1 MV, +2 MA, +2K melee)

• SMT: Ninja Leap +4 leap MA

Totals: CP: 210 CP, Weight: 35 tons. MV: -3 MA: 7, Leap MA: 6 (300m)

The Arsenal Gears are a different line of AI designed automatons that vie for control of the world with the biotech AI’s forces. Arsenal Gears are fewer, but generally stronger units, with more battlefield drone control over their subunits rather than autonomous drones.

ARSENAL AI Gear “Koloss”

Here we have an exotic form of mecha: a ‘sentinel’ drone platform consisting of several floating servo and weapon systems. It’s also quite large, so we make it Corvette scale. The ‘floating’ nature of the various components is a ‘special effect’ and is simulated with a Quick-Change Mount applied to each servo location.  As an automated sentinel kind of mecha, this one has an Internal Automation system for its stats and skill values. It relies on escorting fleets of missile and gun drones so it also has a Remote Control system. The external drone racks can carry a total of two Mekton scale drones and the internal bay has room for four Roadstriker-scale drones.  (Examples of Mekton and Roadstriker scaled drones for this design are on the following pages).

Servos: (Corvette scaled)

• Oculus Striker Head w/ HS Armor 30 Kills, 5K SP

• Ring LightWeight Head w/ HS Armor 20 Kills, 5K SP

• Core HeavyStriker Torso w/ HS Armor 100 Kills, 5K SP

• 4 Legs Striker Legs w/ HS Armor 40 Kills, 5K SP (+2K kick)

• QCM also applied to every servo location, representing the exotic ‘binding’ tech this culture possesses.

Systems:

• Ring: MS Main Sensors 20K SR: 70km, Coms: 10,000KM

• Ring: Advanced Sensor Package

• Oculus: Oculus Beam 10K CS-BW) +0, 20h/400H, 10K. BV6+Piercing, WUT-1

• Core: Drone mounts 2 Mekton scaled drones.

• Core: Drone Bay 4 Striker scale drones.

• Core: LH class Drone Controller Control Multiplier: 6, Control Range: 50H, Ops Range: 150H

• Core: Drone parts and fuel storage (ten tons of fuel and parts)

• Legs: Gravitics 4LP each, 16 total

Multipliers:

• Cool Powerplant

• Internal Automation (AL@5, Portfolio 5)

Totals: CP: 4,931 CP, Weight: 325 tons. MV: -3 Grav MA: 10

+Drones costs

ARSENAL AI Gear Heavy Gun drone

A Mekton scaled gun drone for use with the KOLOSS example previous. It has the same ‘floating’ technology that the KOLOSS deploys. It’s a simple design otherwise: a Torso and two Arms for turrets. Energy weapons don’t require reloading. Variations exist that swap the Pulse lasers for Missile Pods, either one or both, with no impact to cost or performance of the unit. Servos: (Mekton scaled) Core MS Torso  w/ Striker Armor 8K,  4K SP 2 Arms MS Arm    w/ Striker Armor 5K,  3K SP QCM also applied to every servo location, representing the exotic ‘binding’ tech this culture possesses.

Systems:

• Head: LightWeight Main Sensors 1K CR: 2km, Coms: 500km

• Torso: Gravitics 7 Lift Points

• Arms: 2 Pulse Laser(s) w/ Fire link 2K ea MS-BW) +0, 5H/25H, 2K. BV3. ea.

Multipliers:

• Hot Powerplant (XS 5)

Totals: CP: 45 CP, Weight: 16.5 tons. MV: -1 Grav MA: 8

ARSENAL AI Gear Utility Drone

A Striker scaled drone for use with the KOLOSS example previous. It has the same ‘floating’ technology that the KOLOSS deploys. It’s a simple design otherwise: a Torso and single Arm with a full sized manipulator plus a set of micromanipulators. Servos: (Roadstriker scaled) Core HS Torso  w/ Heavy Striker Armor   2K,     1K SP Arm SL Arm     w/ Striker Armor 0.4K,  0.6K SP QCM also applied to every servo location, representing the exotic ‘binding’ tech this culture possesses. Systems: Torso: LW Sensors 0.2K SR: 0.8KM, Coms: 100KM Torso: Tech Analyzer Torso: Gravitics 8 Lift Points Arm: Manipulator 0.4K Striker scaled Hand Arm: Micromanipulator 0.2K Human scaled hands Multipliers: Hot Powerplant (XS 5)

Totals: CP: 10 CP, Weight: 2.3 tons. MV: -1 Grav MA: 14

Mekton Empire

The Zephyr grav bike is commonly seen on urban worlds as well as frontier worlds. This is a high-tech universe, so antigravity tech is common and even biker gangs have flying hogs. 

Zephyr-Tech’s Zt-900 grav bike

Here’s a flying bike, a human scale vehicle. It naturally features a ‘saddle’ style cockpit and minimal sensors. It only needs a single Torso servo location so the sensors, cockpit and grav propulsion all fit in there. It also has ‘saddlebag’ storage which we can simulate with a pair of Weapon Mounts with Quick Change Mount option. I added one ton of weight for the pilot, which scales to 100kg at Human scale. Adding another passenger doesn’t impact the bike’s ground speed (though they will be hanging on for dear life). The bike is limited to a ground speed of 300 KPH, which is stupid fast, but at altitude it can reach 1,350 KPH assuming the pilot can hold on when it breaks mach 1. Servos: (Human scaled) Body Striker Torso  w/ SuperLight Armor 0.6K, 0.1K SP Systems: Body: SL Main Sensors 0.1K SR: 100m, Coms: 30km Body: Saddle Cockpit (no protection, but great view) Body: Saddlebags 0.1K ea x2 (50kg human spaces each) Body: Grav engines 5 Lift Points Body: Weight Efficiency (-0.5 tons, pre-scaling) Body: Fancy paint job and sexy lines (+3 Cool) Multipliers: Hot, Overcharged Powercell Powerplant (24 hours charge) Natural form: Cycle (+5 MA) Totals: CP: 2.3 CP, Weight: 0.5 tons MV: +1 Grav MA: 12    Flight MA: 20

H.F. M-111 Police Automech Spinner

Yes, a transforming version of the police spinner from Blade Runner: an A-grav powered air/ground car that transforms into a humanoid form to support officers in the field. The transformation is simple enough: no servos get combined or split when changing forms. Weight Efficiency was used to bring the weight down to make the unit more agile.  Aside from the Pilot and Co-Pilot, there is room for two passengers (or suspects). The Spinner includes an AI support unit, and while it is broadly programmed with police procedures, it isn’t sapient. Aside from its large and powerful manipulator hands the Spinner has no weapons, but it can carry hand-held weapons when authorized. Giant riot shields and GLOO guns are common for riot suppression missions, but powerful railguns and precise beam cannons are available to deal with armored mecha threats to the peace.

Servos: (Roadstriker scaled)

• Head HS Head w/ HS Armor   1K, 1K SP

• Body SH Torso w/ HS Armor   4K, 1K SP

• 2 Arms AH Arms w/ HS Armor   2K, 1K SP (+0.4K melee, 50m throw)

• 2 Legs SH Legs w/ HS Armor 2.2K, 1K SP (+0.8K melee)

• 3 Wheels HS class (1/Leg, 1 torso)     1K ea.

Systems: (head has 2 spaces free; each arm has 4 internal spaces free)

• Head: MW Main Sensors 0.4K SR: 3km, Coms: 300km

• Head: Radio/Radar and Target Analyzers

• Body: Screen cockpit for driver and co-pilot, Passenger space for two people.

• Arms: 2 Hands 1K RS-MW) +0, Melee, 1.4K. Quick, Handy.

• Arms: 2 Micromanipulators 0.2K ea

• Legs: Grav engines 11 Lift Points ea, for 22 total

• (34 pts weight efficiency subtracts 17 tons from pre-scaled weight)

Handheld:

• None by default, but each ‘hand’ can carry 10 spaces of RS-scaled weapons. 

• 1h GLOO gun 1.2K RS-PW) +2, 50M, (Entangling attack @18), 12 shots

• 1h Riot Shield 2.4K SP RS-Shld) +0DA, 2.4K SP.

• 2h Railcannon 2.4K RS-PW) +0, 850m, 2.4K. 10 shots / clip, +5 clips

• 2h Beam Cannon 1.6K RS-BW) +2, 750m, 1.6K. ∞ shots

Multipliers:

• Cool powerplant

• Transform: Car (-1MV, +5 MA)

• Internal Automation [Stats & Skills @6, 7 Skills portfolio]

Totals: CP: 100 CP, Weight: 9.4 tons MV: -4 (-5 Auto)

Ground MA: 40mpt (11 auto) Flight MA:  9

A Ghibli ‘verse

The Ghibli verse is somewhere between post-apocalypse and alternative history; a world where a very different implementation of mecha tech has led to unique and quirky vehicle designs. Not many traditional ‘mecha’ tho.

Sow Buggy

The ‘Sow Buggy’ is a strange vehicle: in ‘bug’ mode it can scramble easily over rough terrain, and in ‘ball’ mode it can zip right along on roads and open ground. This is simulated with the Transformation: Automobile modifier. The saddle style cockpit is an aesthetic choice, but gives great visibility and the driver can wear powered armor. Inside the body is a gyroscopically level cargo space that can carry a ton of cargo.

Servos: (Roadstriker scaled)

• Body Heavy Striker Torso  w/ Heavy Striker Armor 2 K, 1K SP

• Legs Heavy Striker Legs w/ SuperLight Armor 1.2K, 0.2K SP (many legs as one location)

Systems:

• Body: SL Sensors 0.2K SR: 200 meters, Coms: 60km

• Body: Saddle cockpit (no protection, but great view)

• Body: Cargo space 1.0 tons cargo (with a bit of space efficiency)

Multipliers:

• Hot Powerplant (XS 5)

• Transformation: Automobile (-1MV and +5 Ground MA in ‘ball’ mode)

Totals: CP: 9.3 CP Weight: 3.4 tons MV: -1 (-2 in Ball mode) MA: 60 m/t (11 MA in Ball mode)

Sparrowhawk

An Avian-form flying, saddle-style Roadstriker mecha. It has superior sensors, as an aerial hunter should. Servos: (Roadstriker scaled) Head STR Head w/ SL Armor 0.6K, 0.2K SP Body STR Torso w/ SL Armor 0.8K, 0.2K SP 2 Wings STR Wings w/ SL Armor 0.6K, 0.2K SP 2 Legs SL Legs w/ SL Armor 0.4K, 0.2K SP Systems: Body: LH Sensors 0.4K SR: 4km, CR: 360km Body: Saddle cockpit (bring a parachute!) Multipliers: Hot Powerplant (XS 5) Native form: Avian (-1MV, +0.4K melee, +6 FMA)

Totals: CP: 5.2 CP Weight: 2.5 tons MV: -2 Flight MA: 14