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THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

Steve Long

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Steve Long Grand Master

Steve Long

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OK, it's time to (slowly but surely) get to work on our next book! And that's The Book Of The Machine, which will do for Mechanon what The Book Of The Destroyer did for Dr. Destroyer. So that means it's time for another WDYWTS thread. :)

 

Here's what the book's slated to contain:

 

Chapter One: History: a complete history of Mechanon, including its never-before-revealed origin! Will run up through early 2009, naturally.

 

Chapter Two: Mechanon: A complete review of (and character sheets for) Mechanon's many forms, beginning with Mark I (which first appeared in 1985) up through Mark XXXVII (the 2009 version, the one that will appear in Champions Online). As with BotD, it will include character sheets for intermediary versions pegged to earlier editions/illustrations, variant forms (such as Mega-Mechanon, who's referred to in CU:NotW), and the like.

 

Chapter Three: Henchrobots: Mechanon's robotic legions! This includes several named "lieutenant" robots (think "supervillain flunkies"; this will include the return of an old favorite, mwah hah hah hah hah!), "generic" robots of various sorts, and so on.

 

Chapter Four: Installations: Mechanon's various secret bases. As in BotD, we'll present both "generic" sections that appear in many bases, and parts of each base that are unique to it.

 

Chapter Five: GMing: Using Mechanon in your game, etc.

 

And there you have it! So... what do you want to see in The Book Of The Machine?

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BobGreenwade Grand Master

BobGreenwade

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

I'll list my thoughts more or less in the order they come to me.

 

I'll second a section for additional information on Mechanon 3000. It might also be handy to place his world physically in the galaxy, so a Terran Empire or Galactic Federation GM can fit him in somehow.

 

Mechanon as an AI Internet "brain/virus" (I forget the jargon term) for a Cyber Hero game would be cool too.

 

We'll also need plenty of Follower robots in Chapter Three, with different functions: sleek assassins, frontal assault robots, artillery mecha, infiltrator androids, warrior robots disguised as more mundane machines (like cars and vending machines), and anything else you can come up with.

 

And what if Mechanon were to "infect" a Destroid or Minuteman?

 

The scary stuff aside, we'll need plenty of plot seeds and ideas in Chapter Five that won't overwhelm a small group of beginning heroes. It's often easier for a GM to challenge a team of nine veterans than to keep things low enough for three beginners.

 

In Chapter One, you obviously won't be having a character sheet for each of the 37 bodies Mechanon has had to date, so you're probably already planning on having a short listing of "here's what to add for the intermediate bodies" to fill in the gaps. What you may not already be planning is specific suggestions for what to add for the Mk. XXXVIII, Mk. XXXIX, Mk. XL, and other future versions.

 

Back to Chapter Five... what if Mechanon were to "accidentally" time-travel back to the Atlantean Age, or even the Turakian Age?

 

For an even more bizarre twist, what if Mechanon were to form an alliance with DEMON, and come out of the deal with enchanted robots?

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CoreBrute Proficient

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

The Steel ninja is a video game level character in the Ninja Hero source book. One of it's possible origins is being made by Mechanon.

 

It would be interesting, if Mechanon could enter his mechanical ninja in Tournament of the Dragon.

 

Actually yeah, could you put how you would make Mechanon into a ninja campaign? Probably the power ranger route, as a giant robot used by the bad guy against the heroes' giant robot.

 

Another thing. Could you put how a GM could use Mechanon as a good guy? How good he could be might be is difficult to say but it would be interesting.

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death tribble Grand Master

death tribble

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Mechanon as a superhero (Option)

 

Mechanon as an agent of Viper or catspaw for same

 

I used Mechanon as having rebuilt several humans as quasi-Mechanons. Part machine and part robot. This could be used.

 

What Mechanon does when his defeat is not logical. ie during a fight against other heroes the vigilante Cutie Pie takes out a giant hammer from her handbag which is obviously too small for said hammer. Mechanon is ignoring her as she is not doing anything and other organics are presenting a bigger threat. Cutie Pie winds up and up (takes several phases) and then hits Mechanon on the head knocking the head into the body. Mechanon blows up.

When Mechanon and Cutie Pie clash again, she hits him with a giant water rifle containing water again taken from her ubiquitous handbag. She manages to evade his attacks but keeps spraying him with water. Mechanon is avoiding electricity to avoid short circuits, then find he is shrinking in size and power of his attacks. When about 8 to 12 inches in height Cutie Pie puts him in a plastic container as the latest exclusive toy from Mcfarlane toys. Mechanon not wanting to be remembered as the treasure toy of a child activates self destruct and as Cutie Pie puts it 'Naughty robot go boom boom !'

Mechanon examines the data from these fights and concludes the data is corrupted. That it did not happen, could not happen and looks therefore at Cyber attacks on his databases and transmission signals. The fights are therefore purged from memory. This is how I would interpret it but What Would Everyone's Least Favourite Bipedal Dalek Impersonator Do ?

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The Main Man Veteran

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Mechanon as an AI Internet "brain/virus" (I forget the jargon term) for a Cyber Hero game would be cool too.

 

And what if Mechanon were to "infect" a Destroid or Minuteman?

 

Back to Chapter Five... what if Mechanon were to "accidentally" time-travel back to the Atlantean Age, or even the Turakian Age?

 

For an even more bizarre twist, what if Mechanon were to form an alliance with DEMON, and come out of the deal with enchanted robots?

 

The time portal he falls into to the year 3000 could have easily led him to any other period .

 

I like the idea of him cavorting with DEMON.

The idea of actually evil robots is a bit unsettling when one thinks about it.

 

There could also be a Fantasy HERO version that is an evil golem that is hellbent on the world's destruction

 

I'm thinking of two Pulp HERO ideas: one is a man disguised as a genocidal robot like a Doc Savage villain while the other is just plain a genocidal robot.

 

I wish I could think of a Dark Champions analog...

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Steve Long Grand Master

Steve Long

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Thanx for the suggestions so far folx! Keep 'em comin'!

 

To save time and speculation bandwidth, let me be clear that I do not intend to cover Mechanon 3000 at all in this book. I do hope to get back to the Galactic Champions setting/era/power level at some point, perhaps after 6E Champions is out, and I don't want to "cross-pollenate" so to speak. Some of the reasons for this will become clear when you see what's in BotM. And to be fair, I do intend to have something in the book that could be considered the "predecessor" of M3K, or the inspiration for it... :eg:

 

I don't plan to reprint The Engineer or any other villains from other books in BotM at this time. I won't swear I won't change my mind, though. ;)

 

I'll definitely cover Mechanon in other genres; that's part of Chapter Two. :)

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Certified Mentor

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

The victory scenario: What would a world dominated by Mechanon look like? By this I suppose I mean the transition period before it exterminates all organic life. Since Mechanon has always lived in the range of 'might actually pull this off' I think it could generate some great resistance storys. Along those lines plot seeds and plans of our new robot overlord.

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Legatus Mentor

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Mechanon Industries: Where are all of his henchrobots built? How does he obtain all the necessary material? How are logistics organized?

 

Nasty Mechanon: Since the stupid humans seem bend on destroying each other, why not help them. Give them the necessary arms for a revolution. Instigate "events on the border of enemy states (e.g. Pakistan and India). Lend henchrobots to warlords in Africa. This would all lead to major geopolitical consequences.

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Lord Liaden Grand Master

Lord Liaden

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Definitely Mechanon for other genres. Mechanon-as-golem is a great suggestion for the fantasy genre; but a clockwork mechanism could also work there. Mechanon for a pulp game would probably be a bulky, awkward but powerful Buck Rogers-style robot. Alternatively he could be a human being accidentally seriously injured, who has replaced lost body parts with various prostheses, probably gimmicked with sundry gadgets. Obviously Mechanon could work at a reduced power level for a sci-fi game pretty much as is, but for that setting or a Cyber Hero game he could be a cyborg whose goal is the melding of all humanity with machines, sort of a local version of a Star Trek Borg.

 

I'd like to see more about his interactions with other "organics" over time. Whatever his origin, and despite his attitudes, to survive this long and have such resources he must have less-than-hostile connections among humanity. Unscrupulous scientists or industrialists could see great profit in "using" Mechanon to further their own agendas, even if they would stop short of aiding his genocide. Perhaps there's a cult of humans that reveres Mechanon as a god of technology, or radical anti-humanists who agree the world would be better off without organic life -- something like the "goodlife" that served Fred Saberhagen's Berserkers.

 

A "hero" version of Mechanon, like the 4E Peacekeeper from Classic Organizations, is an intriguing idea. Since Mechanon can have multiple bodies, and in theory one of them could be programmed with a more positive agenda, it's at least a possibility. Mechanon would probably devote much of his attention and resources to eradicating this embarrassing aberration, which would make a good plotline at least.

 

I was struck by Mechanon's avowed desire to "free" Sennacherib as mentioned in Book Of The Destroyer. What are his intentions toward other sapient machines in the Champions Universe, like UNTIL's Hugin? And what are his attitudes toward cyborg supers like Interface, Halfjack or the Engineer? Are they more acceptable to him as allies and servants because they're partly machine, or even more loathed as monstrous mockeries of pure artificial intelligence?

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Matt the Bruins Mentor

Matt the Bruins

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

I'd definitely like to see a version of Mechannon built with pre-industrial technology as a clockwork automaton. At least one published Hero character has the ability to fling those big Kulan Gath-style turn-everything-into-its-ancient-equivalent spells, and it would be neat to see what Mechannon would end up like if caught in such an effect.

 

Oh, and orbital death-ray platforms are always fun, too.

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bubba smith Grand Master

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

The Steel ninja is a video game level character in the Ninja Hero source book. One of it's possible origins is being made by Mechanon.

 

It would be interesting, if Mechanon could enter his mechanical ninja in Tournament of the Dragon.

 

Actually yeah, could you put how you would make Mechanon into a ninja campaign? Probably the power ranger route, as a giant robot used by the bad guy against the heroes' giant robot.

 

Another thing. Could you put how a GM could use Mechanon as a good guy? How good he could be might be is difficult to say but it would be interesting.

a HEROIC mechanon interesting VERY interesting

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Captain Obvious Grand Master

Captain Obvious

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Plots and schemes. One thing I've always had trouble with when dealing with mastermind type villains is coming up with schemes that a) pose a threat that can be countered (in an interesting fashion) by the PCs, B) fit the villain's personality, and c) don't seem to be a rehash of the last big scheme. Mechanon is particularly hard in this respect, since the extermination of all organic life is unlikely to be the sort of thing you could blackmail the victims into carrying out. The plot seed in Legatus's last post is the sort of thing I'd be in seeing more of.

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Sketchpad Grand Master

Sketchpad

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Another possibility would be to have Mechanon's "children", detailing analogies like Ultron's relationship to the Vision and Jocasta (as well as other heroes and villains that he's created).

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Lord Liaden Grand Master

Lord Liaden

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Re: THE BOOK OF THE MACHINE: What Do *You* Want To See?

 

Chapter Three: Henchrobots: Mechanon's robotic legions! This includes several named "lieutenant" robots (think "supervillain flunkies"; this will include the return of an old favorite' date=' mwah hah hah hah hah!), "generic" robots of various sorts, and so on.[/quote']

 

If I were to hazard a guess as to that "old favorite,"

AVAR-7. If it were to retain the original mission of AVAR-7's earlier incarnation -- peaceful long-term survey of Earth -- the best fit for its creators in current continuity would probably be the Mandaarians.

 

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