The Book Of The Machine

[Steve Long]

Here's the back cover text for BotM:

THE RISE OF THE MACHINE

The Champions Universe features many powerful villains, but the deadliest of them all is the evil robot Mechanon. Possessing some of the world’s most advanced technology and determined to destroy all life on Earth, it poses a terrifying threat to humanity.

The Book Of The Machine is your guide to everything Mechanon. It features:

—a thorough look at Mechanon, including its secret origin, the history of its attempts to wipe out all organic life, and how it’s evolved technologically over the years to become more and more powerful

—character sheets and information about Mechanon’s minion robots, ranging from “lieutenants” almost as powerful as their leader, to combat robots, drones, and androids designed to infiltrate human society and destroy mankind from within

—details about and maps of its secret headquarters and bases around the world (and beyond!)

—a chapter on gamemastering Mechanon, with tips on how to work the evil robot into your campaign, ideas about how it can interact with your heroes, and plot seeds

So tell your heroes to get ready — it’s time for them to face the terrifying power of Mechanon!


And it's also worth mentioning that BotM is the first full-color supplement in the history of Hero Games! It's also hardcover, so you can abuse it with near-impunity.

SKU: DOJHERO233
Price: $34.99

You can buy a copy of BotM in our Online Store: https://www.herogames.com/viewItem.htm?itemID=238813

[SCUBA Hero]

I gotta say, the page stock is so thick that I have to look at page numbers *every single time* I turn a page to make sure I haven't skipped a page!

Oh, and btw, the book is teh awesome as well!

P.S. - did not expect to see the 1982 Mark Williams illo of Mechanon. Nice bit of history (as are the other previous illos).

[Checkmate]

Ah man I gotta get the book just for that now.

[JmOz]

I gotta say, the page stock is so thick that I have to look at page numbers *every single time* I turn a page to make sure I haven't skipped a page!

Oh, and btw, the book is teh awesome as well!

P.S. - did not expect to see the 1982 Mark Williams illo of Mechanon. Nice bit of history (as are the other previous illos).

Need to ask...did the pic of ...Peacemaker? I think was the name get in the book? It was Mechnon as a cook (Origin was something about a reprogramed mechnon body or somesuch...)

[Tasha]

Need to ask...did the pic of ...Peacemaker? I think was the name get in the book? It was Mechnon as a cook (Origin was something about a reprogramed mechnon body or somesuch...)

No not that I saw, of course the "Neutral Ground" that he was part of doesn't seem to exist in the current continuity.

Tasha

PS yeah I hope that 6e's pages are on lighter weight paper than this one...

[fredhicks]

There's definitely a pic of Mechanon at a "family cookout" towards the end of the book.

[Steve Long]

Yup, but that picture was something I thought up based on a reference somewhere in the book. It's not a reprint of the picture JmOz is asking about, which is from the early 4E "Classic Organizations" supplement's chapter about Sanctuary, which doesn't exist in the 5E CU.

[arosslaw]

I have to say, this book is BEAUTIFUL. If this is how all the 6E books are going to look, consider me sold. Wow, just wow.

Having read and loved Book of the Destroyer, I have to say I found the history section of this one a bit . . . off. Like Dr. Destroyer, Mechanon is supposed to be a world-class foe, yet where the good Doctor has actually seized control of the world a few times (albeit briefly) and has killed a good many supers, Mechanon seems a constant "almost". Almost killed this hero, almost killed that hero, all his plans come across as just "eh." I just did not get the sense of how terrible and scary he is supposed to me.

Still, all the crunchy stuff was awesome. Not sure about the new look, but that's easy enough to tweak.

[Steve Long]

If this is how all the 6E books are going to look, consider me sold.

Well, the color ones will look a lot like that, with the necessary tweaks and differences based on subject matter. But not all 6E books will be color.

[PKK]

It's pretty, all right, and the colour and the heavy stock are nice, but I'm afraid I was disappointed in the crunchy bits.

For one thing, I don't think the monomaniacal meta-genocidal robot idea meshes well with the nanotech gardener of a mechanized Eden. If there is nothing that stirs it about things organic, then its ideal world should be one of sharp, abstract geometry with no room for steel hawks and chrome porcupines.

For another, I felt that several of the character sheets would have been improved in game terms by using the full set of powers needed to craft these robots. Micro-Mechanon should have had Shrinking, either Persistent and Always On or Inherent, and Giganto-Mechanon and the big robot troopers should have Growth. Any robots whose mass exceeds normal parameters for their size should have Density Increase.

After the incredible Book of the Destroyer, this was a disappointing effort.

[mattingly]

Micro-Mechanon should have had Shrinking, either Persistent and Always On or Inherent, and Giganto-Mechanon and the big robot troopers should have Growth. Any robots whose mass exceeds normal parameters for their size should have Density Increase.

That's not how the size rules have worked for the last several years. See 5ER pages 574-577.

[PKK]

Thanks, Dave. I admit that I had never used those pages, and soon FRED will be obsolete.

[TheQuestionMan]

Hero System 5th Edition Revised will never be obsolete.


Thank you


QM

[Lord Liaden]

Hero System 5th Edition Revised will never be obsolete.


Thank you


QM

I concur, at least for the foreseeable future. It's a great game with a lot of fans, not a few of whom have expressed reluctance to "upgrade" their campaigns to Sixth. There's a vast amount of 5E material that will remain available for some time, not to mention all the 4E stuff which can still be found and is easily usable with Fifth rules (or vice versa).

I expect many 5E (and even 4E) campaigns to continue for years to come.

[dan2448]

I just bought this book and really liked it. The hardback format and color interiors really were a dramatic aesthetic improvement over prior 5e books, more so than I would have expected to be honest.

I also liked the new-look, MMO Mechanon. The styling was a clear modernization from the 5e design, which itself was only a minor change from the 3e version that dates back more than 25 years. But this new look is also "organic" to the character. What I mean by that is, it seemed like a "natural" change from the 5e design.

There were several little touches in the text that I thought evidenced even more imagination and/or thought than I had anticipated. (For example, the fact that Mechanon's bases don't have any visible signage or interior lights.)

I never liked Mechanon's origin from 1e and 2e (i.e. that he was a cross between Batman's butler, Alfred, and a haywire HAL 9000). But I didn't really care for the current origin either, which I found disappointingly derivative of "The Terminator."