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Mekton

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Mekton
DesignersMike Pondsmith
PublishersR. Talsorian Games
Publication1984 (Mekton)
1987 (Mekton II)
1994 (Mekton Z),
GenresHigh fantasy, police drama, mecha science fiction, universal
SystemsCustom, Interlock System (Mekton II & Z)

Mekton is a role-playing game which centers on the conventions of mecha anime and science fiction (although it can easily enough be adapted to other genres like police drama or high fantasy). It has seen several editions since its introduction in 1984, the most recent, Mekton Zeta (メクトン Z; a reference to the seminal mecha anime series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam) being first published in 1994.

The first edition of Mekton was the first anime role-playing game available in North America; the anime influence was muted compared to later editions, but this is in parallel with North America's growing exposure to and awareness of anime in general. The use of katakana to represent the title of the game begins with the "Zeta" edition and may or may not be carried over into future editions. A "fourth edition," usually referred to as Mekton Double Zeta and assumed to be using the Fuzion System rules (Mekton II and Mekton Z use the older Interlock System), has been rumored to be in development by publishers R. Talsorian Games since 1997.[citation needed] According to designer Mike Pondsmith, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the introduction of a new edition is a lack of a true "generic" pre-made campaign setting for the game. Mekton is a moderately supported system (though no new official material has been released since 1996), with a very active albeit small fanbase, centered around the Mekton Zeta Mailing List, an ezmlm based mailing list active since the fall of 1996.

The intricate detail of the mecha that can be built in Mekton is both the game's biggest strength and biggest drawback; while nearly anything can be built with the game's construction system, from personal armor to gigantic spaceships, it is very time-consuming and can make it nearly impossible to play a quick "pick-up" game.[citation needed]

Within the context of the RPG, mecha are referred to as "mektons," abbreviated as "meks" and sometimes alternately called "suits" (as in "power suits" or power armor). Several official settings have been published.

Mekton II is an important historical artifact in that it was among the first RPG books to use the then-new technique of desktop publishing.[citation needed] Mekton Zeta has a more pronounced anime influence than the previous two editions; the full cover title of this edition if read in Japanese and translated into English reads "Super Dimension Mobile Warrior Mekton Z", the title of the game referring to both Macross (The Super Dimension Fortress Macross) and Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam).

Editions of Mekton

  • "White Box" Mekton (1984) - not a role-playing game, rather a boxed tactical war-game including counters and maps.
  • Mekton (1984) - softcover book using a custom percentile-based task resolution system.
    • Roadstriker (1986) - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure
  • Mekton II (1987) - converted Mekton to run on the Interlock System, later used in Cyberpunk 2020. Cover art by Ben Dunn.
    • Roadstriker II (1990) - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure converted to the Mekton II system.
    • Mekton Techbook/Mekton Technical System (MTB/MTS) (1991) - a major conversion of the mecha-building system of Mekton
  • Mekton Zeta (メクトン Z) (1994) - general update and improvement of Mekton II
    • Mekton Zeta Plus (メクトン Z プラス) (1994) - general update and improvement of the Mekton Techbook
  • Gundam Senki (2000) - Japanese language Mobile Suit Gundam RPG using the Mekton system. Scheduled for US release, release date unspecified at this time.

Official Settings

  • Algol - A "grab bag" setting in an alternate universe, mixing many different styles of anime together. This setting originated with the first edition of Mekton, but fell into disuse after line editor Michael MacDonald left R. Talsorian. Algol was the default setting for Mekton and Mekton II, and remains in Mekton Z for legacy purposes. Algol is a long-lost human colony of the Bendar Galactic Empire, where the various factions are locked in a cold war and must deal with an impending ice age and the possible return of their ancient alien enemy, the fearsome Aggendi lizard warriors.
  • Mekton Empire - A space opera setting taking hints from Captain Harlock, Gundam and Voltron, set in the distant Bendar Spiral Galaxy. It added rules for playing aliens (including non-humanoids), space combat, psionics and creating new alien creatures.
  • Jovian Chronicles - A heavily Gundam-inspired licensed setting created by Dream Pod 9, set in the 23rd Century. This would later become a separate game using Dream Pod 9's Silhouette System.
  • Invasion Terra - A Macross-like setting in the future of 2105. Inasmuch as there is a default campaign setting for Mekton Z, this is it.
  • Imperial Star - Very similar to Mekton Empire but set in the Milky Way Galaxy.
  • Quicksilver Blues - Unreleased as of 2004 (complete since at least 2000). As of 2005, Quicksilver Blues is being reworked into a new and separate role-playing game called "Era³" by its original developers, Atomic Rocket Games.
  • Starblade Battalion - A Gundam-like setting, set in the far future of the Cyberpunk 2020 world (AD 2180).

Notable Fan Settings

Because Mekton has a relatively low amount of official support, and because it is designed as a universal "tool kit" role-playing system rather than being themed around a particular anime series (though fans of the system note that it is decidedly skewed toward "hard SF" type mecha anime, like Gundam and Macross), many fan settings have appeared for it since its release. Some of the most notable are indicated below.

External links

  • MektonZeta.com, a semi-official fansite and the homepage of the Mekton Z Mailing List.
  • Mekton Alpha, an officially sanctioned "free" (but stripped down) version of Mekton Zeta.
  • [1] DriveThruRPG's page of Mekton products
  • [2] Mekton entry at the RPG Encyclopedia.
  • [3] Mekton First Edition entry at RPGnet RPG Game Index.
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