For the Mekton Zeta Role-Playing Game System
Metal Storm 2380
Home Base
Copyright 1997, all rights reserved
By R.Talsorian Game
Written By:
Mark Chase
Meta-Earth
http://www.meta-earth.com
Mekton, Mekton Zeta, Cyperpunk 2020, Chromebook 1,2,&3, and Maximum Metal are all trademarks of R.Talsorian Games. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents - Chapter 1: History - History - Current State of Chaos - Money - Chapter 2: Military - Uniforms - Ranks - Protocol - Regulation and Discipline - Survival and First Aid - The Military Career - Warships - Military Divisions - Damage Control - Chapter 3: Worlds - The Imperial Terran Republic - The Grand Star Coalition - Whose side are you on? - Chapter 4: Game - Time Line - Adventure Types - Game Tracks - Zion Track - Project Metal Storm - The Zion Moon - Supporting Cast - Chapter 5: Technology - Starships - CyberTechnology - Mecha Weapons - Ship Weapons - Chapter 6: New Rules - Divers - Ranks and CP - Rules Modifications - Calculating Cannon Sizes - New Hit Location Chart - Mecha Designs - Mecha Design Sheet
Chapter 1: History
History 2000-2040 - the Age of Nano-Technology Scientists uncovered vast amounts of knowledge of the human body with the advancement of nano-technology and genetic engineering. Neuro-electrical interfaces are perfected and the union of man and machine becomes practical. First cyber-systems are developed. Space research gets back on track. The U.S. NASA program is scuttled and private industry takes the lead in space development. The Japan Aero-Space Program and the European Space Agency become the leaders in space colonization, constructing two space colonies and three Lunar bases. Projects to colonize Mars are started. 2040-2080 - the Age of Expansion Advanced knowledge on biospheres and ecology sets the cornerstone of the terraformology (the science of fitting planets to the likeness of Earth). Terraformation of Mars begins. Under the United Space treaty of 2073, JASP and ESA join together to form the United Earth League. USA, Canada, and the Russia are encouraged to join the UEL. Ten new colonies are established on the Moon. Two UEL terraformation vessels begin surveying Venus. 2080-2120 - The Age of Unification Terraformation of Mars nearing completion. Terraformation of Venus is begun. USA, Canada, and the Russia join the UEL. The UEL now controls nearly all of the Northern hemisphere. Twenty other counties request to join and are quickly accepted. Doctor Joel von Brecheinstein discovers the theory of space folding into "hyperspace". Further research discovers that a large gravity wave can, in fact, produce this folding, but no such device could possibly produce enough power to cause the phenomenon. 2120-2150 - The Age of Technology Terraformation of Mars and Venus completed. Hundreds of colonies are established throughout the solar system. A fast STL drive system know as the Momentum Impulse Stream is developed. "Cold" fusion systems discovered (chemo-nuclear disynthesis at only 1540 centigrade). Thermofusion now obsolete. All but a few nations join the UEL. The UEL is now run by the Grand Council and has direct authority over most of the solar system. A group of MIT scientists produce a burst of graviton particles when they mix two streams of heavy bottom quarks and a steam of heavy anti-bottom quarks. This produced a gravitational shock wave equivalent to 10 Gs and over fifty tons of pressure per square inch. In the saddening miscalculation, the particle accelerator and sensor suite exploded outward and killed four technicians. But the procedure worked, and with only minor set backs, gravity technology was discovered. 2150-2180 - The Age of Exploration The UEL builds an unmanned spacecraft, the UEL Pioneer. It is equipped with a large graviton generator and a massive fusion reactor. The Pioneer is aimed for Alpha Centauri. The graviton system is engaged and the ship vanishes in a folding of space. Observes say that, "Space distorted around the ships and it seemed to dive into the space-time continuum". Thus, the term diving is born to describe space folding. Several months later the ship appears 4.54 light years away (a bit beyond Alpha Centauri), but this is not confirmed until the data transmission is received in late 2159. Using the newly acquired data, computers are developed to calculate the exact energy and direction needed to dive to a star system. In 2161 the procedure called Gravity Fold Particle Wave Transmission is discovered. This is a fancy name for FTL communication, now called divercomm. In 2172 the first manned FTL scout ships dove to Alpha Centauri. There they discover the fourth planet has a breathable oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and supports abundant biological life. Science teams detect no evidence of an advanced species or any sign of intelligent life forms. For the most part, the planet seems to be like Earth was about 20 million years ago. In 2179, colony ships arrive in the system and begin colonization of the world, now called Centaur. By 2180, over 50,000 colonist are on Centaur. 2180-2200 - The Age of Colonization By 2185, five other systems have been targeted for colonization. In Procyon the fifth planet is terraformed. In Capella, the fifth planet is terraformed, while in Tau Ceti, the fourth and fifth planets are terraformed. The third and fourth planets in the Sirius system are also terraformed. A full eco- sphere of biological life is discovered on a tropical planet in Epsilon Eridani. The fourth planet in Altair is also found to support biological life. In 2200, scientists studying gravity technology at the Institute of Diver Technologies (IDT) use the polar-magnitude inversion technique (the same process used to produce antimatter) on a stream of free gravitons in the hopes that the gravitons would become anti-gravitons. The process works, and antigravity technology is discovered. 2200-2220 - The Diver Age A generation after diver space travel began, psionic powers begin to manifest themselves in some of the sons and daughters of those explorers. At first, the public is skeptical, but the UEL is quite aware of the reality of psionic powers. (There was even recorded evidence of people with weak psionic powers from the 20th and 21st centuries.) By 2210, most people believe psionic powers were a reality. Scientific analysis proves that psionic powers are being awakened from the ancient recesses of mankind's latent genes. The trigger is caused by massive amounts of psion radiation that exist in diver space, once thought to be as harmless as neutrinos. These psionically active people come to be called divers as their powers harness psions -- a particle native to diverspace. Some divers can project their minds, and even their bodies, into diver space. By the year 2380, nearly 1% of the population is psionic (0.7% of all males and 1.3% of all females). 2220-2300 - The Age of the Stars In the year 2220 several aerospace corporations begin to manufacture thousands of FTL spacecraft for private and leisure usage. But not all people use such craft for recreation. The year 2265 saw the first space pirates. Equipping their ships with relatively low power particle beams and anti-asteroid systems these pirates destroy transports, miner ships, and one colony ship, stealing over five hundred million credits worth of goods and equipment. The UEL forms a new armed service calling it the Space Force. This Space Force is dedicated to hunting down pirates and protecting the populous from all forms of outer space threats. By 2300, the colonies on six explored systems is well established. The populations are successful and growing fast. 2300-2330 - The Age of Stagnation The 24th century saw a shocking reform in the political system of the UEL. The Grand Council is disbanded by the Legislature under the influence of Carl McNefield. Days later, the Legislature places McNefield incharge of the UEL. During his office, McNefield gains total dictatorial control through his allies in the Legislature. All major civilian spacecraft production plants are ordered to stop 90% of production and no plants on any colony world could make spacecraft. McNefield also places a massive "Tech Tax" on all hightech and space related goods and equipment going to colony worlds. The market for space hardware crashed. McNefield officially declares all further space exploration to be closed. On January 1st, 2330, the United Earth League officially becomes the Imperial Terran Republic. Although the ITR stops reaching for the stars, individuals and corporations do not. Many bandits and pirate clans form bases on unknown worlds light-years away from known space. Several corporations set up illegal ship production factories in other unpolluted systems. Hundreds of unofficial colonies spring up on desolate worlds and unexplored jungle planets. There are no laws on the "Frontier". Without the worry of government intervention, it is an age of high adventure... but not for long. 2330-2380 - The Age of Destruction In 2333, with the support of several BIG corporations, Tau Ceti, Altair, and Capella formed their own space militia and declared independence from the ITR. They call themselves the Grand Star Coalition (GSC). The ITR declares war. Starship and spacecraft production booms. The Tech Taxes are dropped for fear of further rebellion and the other colonies in the ITR see a massive increase in space war industry. The GSC colonies begin to produce dozens of their own warships and hireout bandits, pirates, and mercenaries. Several years into the war the ITR begins to hire their own mercenaries. Both sides, being aware of secret bases and production facilities in the Frontier, begin to send in forces to clean them out. Many unofficial colony worlds are destroyed, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. But the Frontier continues to expand and more and more pirates, mercenaries, and corporations form hidden bases and factories. For decades the thunder of war echoes through the vacuum of space. Thousands of ships are produced and destroyed. Thousands of tanks, fighters, and mecha are built and the war rages on. After 46 years, both sides are nearly exhausted by total warfare, but the Great War continues. With most of their resources empty, their money depleted, their worlds devastated, both the ITR and GSC actively raid Frontier worlds and drain them of their money and resources. The Current State of Chaos It is the year 2380. There are seven major systems in the Main Worlds with thirteen populated worlds. The worlds of the ITR are Earth, Mars, and Venus in Sol, Centaur, Centrus, Trishan, Siria, Eridani, and Procyon. The worlds in the GSC are Ozma, Cetius, Altair, and Capellan. Outside the Main Worlds lies the lawless Frontier. In mid-2380 Major Alan Briggs takes absolute control of the GSC. With his outstanding personal charisma and leadership abilities, he leads the flagship Victorious to the GSC capitol, Tau Ceti, and announces himself High General. A brief revolution erupts within the Coalition, but it quickly ends. When the smoke clears, General Briggs is the ruler of the GSC. His determination to rule all of human civilization leads him to push his troops beyond their limit, and he begins a campaign to utterly crush the ITR from existence. The Main Worlds The Main Worlds are the worlds in the seven major systems. Each system is either allied to the ITR or the GSC. Summaries of the Main Worlds and systems will be listed later. The Frontier
The Frontier is the rest of the universe, consisting of countless worlds, few of which have actually been "claimed". The entire galaxy is open to anyone who can navigate it. Throughout are thousands of planets and systems, home to pirates, bandits, mercenaries, lost colonies, and anyone who wants a planet for their very own. All this cannot be described in one book. The location of 90% of all Frontier worlds with people on them are completely unknown, and it's not possible to find them all; with over a hundred billion stars, this galaxy is too darn big! It's possible for an unlucky traveler to stumble upon a pirate hideout or bandit base, especially if they're within 20 light-years of the Main Worlds. If a Main World military force discovers the location of a Frontier World they will send forces to investigate it and will probable conquer it for exploitation. They pay up to 50,000¥ - (or 50 CP worth of equipment) for a farming colony, hundreds of thousands for the location of a pirate or smuggler hideout (or 100-500 CP), and millions for the location of a primary pirate or bandit world (or 1000+ CP). The Frontier is a rough place with no laws save your own. The exceptions to this rule are lost colonies and farming worlds which usually have a well established government of their own. But these worlds are easy pickings when found by the ITR or GSC. Many of these worlds pay heavy prices for mercenary support. Money The current standard monetary unit is the yen credit(¥). This is accepted by all companies and governments and is controlled by the Galactic Bank. All accounts in the Galactic Bank are anonymous to "protect the individual's rights". Even pirates, bandits, and other criminals can conceivably have accounts in the Galactic Bank. Yen credits are transferred by a yenkado, a small card about the size of the 20th century credit cards. To get money in the card one goes down to the nearest Galactic Bank ATM, sticks in his yenkado, and transfers the amount of money he wants from his account and into the card. When transferring from the ATM, the unit sends a signal to the main bank and updates the person's account. By Galactic Bank policy, the transfer is never traced, technically to protect a user's anonymity, but also allowing for shady deals and illegal money exchanges. Money is spent by connecting one yenkado to another person's yenkado, keying in the amount to be transferred, and placing the thumb on the thumb print scanner. If a card is lost or broken one loses only the amount of money in the card (so don't carry all your money). Kash ($) is a paper money that is equal to credits at a 1:1 ratio. Kash cannot be used legally inside the Main Worlds, but is instead used on the Frontier, as there are almost no bank ATMs. On the Frontier kash is treated as usable tender by almost anyone, and can therefore buy goods and services, especially illegal goods and services. It is always a good idea to have kash on hand when going into the Frontier. The Galactic Bank will convert yen credits to kash and vice versa, with only a 5% service charge. Chapter 2: MilitaryUniforms A uniform is a special matching suit used by all military personnel. Personnel are normally given ten uniforms in all -- two dress, two field, and six working uniforms. Undergarments are white, and boots are normally black. Socks are black, belts are black, and side arm holsters are black. Officers have gloves for all sets (though they need not be worn). These are usually black or white. Insignia of the military force is placed on the upper right breast above the pocket. Rank pins are placed on both sides of the collar. On the dress uniform, medals are placed over left pocket. Rank chevrons are placed on either shoulder. All personnel are also given two sweatsuits for exercising. All uniforms are made of a strong, monoweave material making it virtually wear resistant. It also provides protection against damage. The dress uniform has 5 SP, field has 12 SP, and the work uniform has 8 SP. The dress uniform weighs 2 kgs. The field uniform weighs 3 kgs. The work uniform weighs 2 kgs. There is little difference between male and female uniform, other than in the undergarments. Below is a list of uniforms as issued by the appropriate government. The color 'Navy' is dark blue. It does not relate to Navy as a military force. Officer Enlisted ITR
Army (Standard) Dress Tan Coat Gray Coat White Shirt White Shirt White Pants Gray Pants Black Tie Field Red Jacket Tan Jacket White Shirt White Shirt Red Pants Black Pants Work White Shirt Gray Shirt White Pants Gray Pants Army (Mecha) Dress Navy Coat White Coat White Shirt Tan Shirt Navy Pants White Pants Black Tie w/blue stripe Black Cap White Cap Field Navy Jacket Tan Jacket White Shirt White Shirt Gray Pants Tan Pants Work Blue Shirt Tan Shirt Blue Pants Tan Pants Navy Dress Black Coat Brown Coat White Shirt White Shirt White Pants Brown Pants Black Tie White Cap Black Cap Field Blue Jacket Tan Jacket White Shirt White Shirt Black Pants White Pants Work White Shirt White Shirt Blue Pants Tan Pants Officer Enlisted GSC
Army (Standard) Dress Black Coat Brown Coat White Shirt White Shirt White Pants Brown Pants Black Tie Field Khaki Jacket Blue Jacket White Shirt White Shirt Black Pants Black Pants Work White Shirt Tan Shirt White Pants Tan Pants Army (Mecha) Dress Blue Coat Black Coat Tan Shirt White Shirt White Pants Black Pants Black Tie Black Cap Black Cap Field Khaki Jacket Blue Jacket White Shirt White Shirt Khaki Pants White Pants Work Navy Shirt White Shirt Navy Pants White Pants Navy Dress Red Cape White Cape Tan Shirt Blue Shirt Tan Pants Blue Pants White Cap Blue Cap Field White Jacket Green Jacket Blue Shirt White Shirt White Pants Green Pants Work Gray Shirt Tan Shirt Gray Pants Tan Pants Modifications to Uniforms You may wear a watch as long as it is black. Work gloves may be worn, but only in the work uniform. Officers have special leather gloves they can wear at anytime. Officers may wear civilian clothes (called civvies) when off duty. Uniform Care Uniforms should be neatly hung in your closet space. Boots should be placed on the closet floor. Undergarments should be folded neatly in your dresser. Civvies may be hung or folded in the dresser as well. Clothes may be washed in the ship's laundry. Damaged uniforms can be replicated in the ship's nanofac. Damaged civvies will not be replicated. Military Ranks Below is a listing of military ranks for navy and army, in descending order, highest rank first. Naval Executive Admiral Fleet Admiral Vice Admiral Rear Admiral Captain Commander Lt. Commander Lieutenant Lieutenant JG Ensign Non-Com Petty Officer Crewman 1st Class Crewman 2nd Class Crewman 3rd Class Army General Of the Army General Lieutenant General Major General Brigadier General Colonel Lt. Colonel Major Captain First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Non-Com 1st Sergeant 2nd Sergeant Corporal Private Boarding and Leaving a Ship Ships are normally entered through the main gangway when in dock. When two ships are docked to each other, people enter an exit though the docking port(s). The gangway door is a small section of the hull on the main deck. The door is a heavy, reinforced sliding door that when open has a width of five meters. Gangways are present on all ships of frigate class, or above, or of equivalent mass. Smaller ships, such as corvette gunships, dock to a standard docking port. If this is not present, the moorings will hold the ship and the airlock may be used for EVA transit. When docked, the gangway or docking port is guarded at all times by at least one security guard. The officer of the deck (OOD) or one of his assistants should also be present to greet and log in people leaving and returning the ship. Upon entering your own ship, you should salute your nation's flag that is placed near the entrance. Then approach the OOD and say, "Returning aboard, sir," and salute him or her. The OOD may request your name and number. The OOD will return the salute and say, "Very well," and log you into the computer. DNA checks may be required when on security alert. When leaving your own ship step to the OOD, salute and say, "Permission to leave the ship, sir?" The OOD may request your name and number. The OOD will return the salute and say, "Permission granted." He will then log you into the computer. When you leave, salute the flag of your nation. When entering a ship that is not your own you must stand at the gangway and salute the flag, if it is of your nation. Then turn to the OOD and say, "Permission to come aboard, sir?" The OOD should ask for you name and number. The OOD will then say, "Permission granted," unless there is a problem with you coming aboard. He will then log you in. Leaving a ship that is not your own is the same as leaving a ship that is your own. The Salute The salute is one of the oldest military customs, dating back thousands of years. When saluting, come to attention, then make a crisp salute with you right hand. If your right hand is injured or encumbered, you may use your left. You may salute the following: 1. Commissioned and warrant officers of any armed force from your nation, of higher rank. 2. Officers of higher rank of a foreign nation, unless you are at war with them. 3. Officers of higher rank of expeditionary or exploration forces of your own nation. 4. During war time, any recognized privateer or mercenary officer of higher rank working for your nation. Addressing Officers Use the officer's title and/or his name. You may say, "Yes, Commander," "No, Doctor Williams," "Yes, Mister Taylor." In long conversation you my say "Yes, sir," and "No, sir." You should use "ma'am" with female officers. When replying to an order you may say, "Aye, aye, sir," (navy only) or "Yes, sir." A senior can reply with "Very well," or "Very good." Addressing Enlisted Personnel Enlisted men and women are addressed by Mister or Miss and last name only. Petty officers can be addressed as "Chief". Civilians should be address by personnel as "Mr." or "Ms" or "Dr." Regulations and Discipline Military Regulations, generalized for all services.Respect all local laws and customs when on shore leave. Do not take unauthorized recordings of the interior of naval vessels. Government materials are to be used only as they are intended unless tactical circumstance require otherwise. Do not transfer government property without proper authorization. Report to the OOD anything that might pose a hazard to the ship or base. Do not use language that would diminish the respect of a superior officer. Respect other peoples' religions, beliefs, and customs. Report any offenses or crimes you may observe. Return all government property when you leave the service unless it is an integral and vital part of your body. If your are separated from your ship, base, or unit through circumstance, disaster, capture, or destruction of your vessel, make all efforts to return to the nearest military unit of your nation. Report any diseases or signs of sickness to the medical officer. If oppressed or mistreated by others or a superior, report it immediately. If it is a superior, continue to follow his or her orders and wait for the authorities to handle the situation. Any crewman or officer may see the CO. It may be necessary to make an appointment. Do not invade, erase, or alter information or programs on government, base, or ship computer systems without authorization. Do not give a gift to a superior or his or her family. Do not have in your possession unassigned government equipment. Do not have in your possession unassigned weapons, explosives, or chemicals. Do not sell government property -- especially weapons. No illegal drugs are allowed on military property. No combat drugs are allowed except when issued to special operation marines or soldiers. No destructive nanite, biowarfare, or nuclear substances are allowed. Do not give any military intelligence to the enemy, the public, and in some cases, our own people. Do not become AWOL. Masters-at-Arms The masters-at-arms are the policemen of the military. They are usually petty officers or sergeants, and are commanded by the chief master-at-arms. All are assigned weapons -- usually energy pistols. The masters-at-arms see to it that all regulations are followed and arrest anyone who violates them. Punishment One of the following punishments may be selected for regulation violators, depending on the severity. 1. Withhold privileges not to exceed ten days. 2. Restriction to certain limits not to exceed 50 days. 3. Extra duties, not to exceed 50 days and not to exceed more than two extra hours per day. 4. Confinement to brig not to exceed seven days. 5. Fine of 10% of one year's pay. 6. Fine of 30% of one year's pay. If the CO decides the violation is deserving of more punishment (i.e. murder, treason, mutiny) he can call a court- martial. A summery court can then decide on the punishment. If the violation was against civil laws, the subject will be accountable to civil justice and may be discharged from military service. Survival and First Aid Space There are three major hazards to a ship's crew: depressurization, explosion, and fire. With the proper precautions, casualties can be minimized. Depressurization A crewman's worst nightmare is seeing the hull rip open before him and getting sucked into the airless void of space. As submariners of ancient times feared the terrible pressure of the ocean, crewmen fear the lack of it. The only thing that separates you from oblivion is a thin metal wall. In wars, all exterior rooms especially rooms with windows, such as lounges and rec halls, are highly vulnerable to being breached. In battle, all exterior rooms are evacuated and usually sealed. It may not be possible to evac under a surprise attack. A lucky hit that rips deep into a ship or buckles the chassis will expose a large portion of the interior, especially if the hit was lengthwise. If this happens, an alarm will sound declaring that "Hull integrity has been compromised." If you are in a vacuum you will not hear this alarm (naturally), but you will certainly know about the breach. When this happens, fifty to a hundred percent of the ship can become depressurized. Almost always, some crewmen will become casualties. There is little that can be done to help crewmen who are lost in such a manner. In a vacuum, you cannot breath. All your capillaries burst, and you will loose a lot of moisture. Your ears will pop rapidly from decompression, and your blood may begin to 'boil'. Overall you will take 2 hits to your torso, 1 hit to your head, and 1 hit to each limb. There is also a chance that you could lose your eyesight or hearing (Referee's discretion). If you are not rescued, you will die in about a minute from asphyxiation. To minimize damage, use your knowledge of vacuum survival (make a survival skill roll against 15). Remember, when air is being sucked out, do not hold you breath. This could rupture your lungs (causing 2d6 damage to your torso). Breath out slowly. Swallow rapidly to minimize damage to the eardrum (negating the chance that hearing loss will occur). Close your eyes and cover them with your hand (negating the chance that visual loss will occur). After the suction is gone, and assuming you did not get pulled out into space, you must try to find a space suit or pressure locker. (It is safe to open your eyes once the suction is gone.) All ships have pressure lockers spaced approximately five meters apart on all main corridors. Space suits are commonly found in control rooms, equipment lockers, and in air locks. Escape Pods When a ship is disabled, on auto-destruct, or about to explode from a reactor core breach, escape pods are available for rapid evac. An escape pod is a small four man ship that is mounted inside a large ship. It has no FTL capacity but has a long range comm system and distress beacon. The computer will pilot the pod to any nearby habitable planet or ship. It has a small airlock, four seats, and two weeks of rations. Ships with escape pods have them spaced equally throughout the ship (even in deep, internal areas such as the bridge). It takes 5d20 seconds to locate one. Then roll 1d10. If it is 5 or less, the pod has already departed and you must find another. It takes five seconds to enter an escape pod and ten seconds to launch. A pod can hold up to four people. There are escape pods deep within the hull, and at least two for the bridge. These pods are ejected through a long tube into space. An escape pod may be launched under the following conditions: 1. There are four people in the pod (full). 2. The ship is about to explode and you must launch to clear the blast. Please, wait as long as possible. 3. You know there is no one else who can get on-board. 4. A superior orders you to launch. You may never launch when: 1. Under quarantine. 2. Under direct orders not to. Inside the escape pod you will find: 2 Medical Kits 4 Personal comms 1 Hand held sensor 2 weeks of rations for 4 people 8 light flashlights 4 hydrocanteens 4 Compasses A small power generator 4 Heavy energy pistols 20 power cells 4 survival knives When it lands, you can also use the pod's reactor for power. The pod can be controlled manually, if desired, but it will normally pilot itself toward the closest inhabited world or friendly ship. Lose of Gravity When gravity fails all persons will be floating in weightless. Almost everyone knows how to handle themselves in zero-G, as it is taught in school as a standard requirement for fitness training. However, zero-G still makes work difficult. All Ref rolls are at -3. You may make an Athletics roll against 15 to avoid the penalty future for your zero-G session. Your MA is halved to get your 'floating MA'. Lose of Life-Support Should life-support fail but hull integrity remain intact, get into a space suit as soon as possible. In most cases there is between two to five hours of oxygen left for breathing inside a ship. If hull integrity has been compromised, the ship will lose one degree of temperature per minute until it reaches that of space (3 degrees Kelvin or -270 Celsius). Lose of Power When power is lost, gravity and life-support will also be lost. If antimatter containment is not breached, the pods will remain stabilized on their own power supply for 1 hour. After that, if they have not been properly disposed of, they will explode. If antimatter containment falters, the ship will be destroyed. When power is lost, everything shuts down and the ship is effectively dead. All lights go out, all computers shut down, all weapons shut down. The drive, sensors, and comm will not function. Only independent systems, such as flashlight, personal comms, hand guns, and such will function. Some ships have back- up reactors that may be turned on manually by the engineering crew, if any are alive. A back-up reactor may supply some power, but usually not as much as the main. Capacitors may be used as an emergency battery after a reactor has shut down. Once the capacitor is empty, that's it. First Aid First aid is the immediate treatment of wounds. If possible, all wounded personnel should be transported to the med bay or field hospital as soon as possible. To do any of the following a successful first aid roll must be made. Stabilizing This is getting a wounded person into a position in which the threat of death has been deterred. It assumes the subject is still alive. Artificial coagulants should be used to stop bleeding. If this is not available, seal the wound with bandages, skin clamps, and/or a tourniquet. Use a tourniquet as a last resort as the limb could be lost, and tourniquets do not work on the head or body. Hyperheal (SpeedHeal) should also be used if available. Make sure the subject is comfortable and in a resting possession. Any broken limbs should be straightened. Radiation Treatment If there has been a burst of radiation, all personnel should use a dose of antirad. If possible, exposed victims should wash down to eliminate contaminated dust particles from their body. Not much more can be done for a critically damaged victim aside from getting him a new body, which can be expensive. Burns There are five degrees of burns: 1st - Skin is reddened and irritated 2nd - Skin is blistered 3rd - Skin is charred or cooked in places 4th - Sub-dermal areas, such as organs and bones, are severely burned. 5th - Disintegration. Burns are normally caused by fire, hot gases and liquids, or explosions. Fourth degree burns occur when a victim has been in a fire for more than a minute or when internal tissues are damaged by an energy blast. Minor, 1st degree burns can be treated by applying a KoldPak(tm) and an antiseptic bandage and giving the subject a dose of pain killers. 2nd and 3rd degree burns should be washed and then bandaged. The subject should be given a dose of hyperheal and pain killers. 4th degree burns are usually the most fatal and deserve immediate medical attention. Treat as in 2nd and 3rd degree burns but get to a doctor as soon as possible. Nothing can be done about 5th degree burns aside from sweeping up the ashes. The Military Career Most military forces will recruit anyone as long as they fit these standards: Be a citizen of the nation whose military you are joining. Not relevant to privateers or mercs. Be between 17 and 33 years old. Some privateer groups accept people as young as 15 and have no maximum age. Be of good character and quality. Be physically fit (a Bod of at least 3). You must give at least two references such as a teacher or former employer. Attend basic training (1 month) or officers academy (1 month). Pay Below is a listing of pay for various ranks. The wages are listed in years and are for naval personnel. To find the pay rates for officers and non-comms in other military forces, see the list placed earlier in this chapter to check equivalent ranks. Executive Admiral 900000 ¥ Fleet Admiral 300000 ¥ Vice Admiral 140000 ¥ Rear Admiral 100000 ¥ Captain 80000 ¥ Commander 60000 ¥ Lt. Commander 45000 ¥ Lieutenant 40000 ¥ Lieutenant JG 35000 ¥ Ensign 30000 ¥ Petty Officer 25000 ¥ Crewman 1st Class 23000 ¥ Crewman 2nd Class 21000 ¥ Crewman 3rd Class 20000 ¥ Fighter or Mecha Pilot +3000 ¥ Ace Pilot +3000 ¥ Medical Career +5000 ¥ Engineering Career +3000 ¥ Warships A warship is any vessel made with the intention of waging war. Warships have guns, armor, and shields. Below is a description of some of the ships and their roles. Gunships These corvette-scale ships range from 20 meters to 80 meters in length and mass between 200 to 1500 tons. They have relatively light fire power, but for their size they can pack a punch. Gunships are used as light recon, ground assault, or anti-mecha vessels. They are also common in pirate fleets and used extensively by bounty hunters. Crews range from one to ten people, possibly higher for military versions. Usually they have a forward bridge, bedrooms, a small lounge/galley, an airlock and/or docking port, and weapons. Transport This is a ship that is used to carry personnel, vehicle, and equipment between orbit and ground. They are either large corvette-scale or small ship-scale vessels. Transports have light fire power, but are more than a match for ground units. They have a crew ranging from 5 to 10 people. Large ones can carry up to 300 troops and 500 to 800 tons of equipment. Escort This is a ship that guards other ships. They are made in huge quantities and are known for they reliability in combat. They are inexpensive and the military usually has twenty for every ship bigger than a cruiser. They have light fire power and light armor. Scout This type of ship is around 140 meters in length and masses about 30,000 tons. They are fast but lightly armed and armored. They typically have a crew of around 50. Frigates There are three types of frigates, the fast frigate (FF), the frigate (FG), and the heavy assault frigate. Frigates are generally considered anti-mecha units, but they can hold their own against warships as well. Frigates mass anywhere from 100,000 tons to over a million tons, depending on the type. They are crewed by 100 to 500 people and have a moderate amount of fire power. Some also carry mecha. Frigates are among the most versatile ships having a wide range of jobs which they can perform. Destroyers There are two types of destroyers, the destroyer (DD) and the heavy destroyer (HDD). Destroyers place their emphasis on missiles and are considered planetary assault vessels. They can rain destruction on ground bases and cities mercilessly. They are also formidable against other ships. A destroyer masses from a million to five million tons and are around half a kilometer in length. They are crewed by a thousand to two thousand personnel and have heavy fire power. Cruisers There are four types of cruisers, light cruisers (CL), strike cruisers (CS), heavy cruisers (CH), and battle cruisers (CB). A cruiser is a general purpose attack ship. They can serve as planetary assault ships, fighter carriers, anti- ship, and garrison and escort units. A cruiser makes up the bulk of most fleets. Cruisers mass from five million to forty million tons and the largest ones are nearly a kilometer in length. They are crewed by three to five thousand personnel and have heavy fire power. Most carry several wings of mecha. Battleships Among the most impressive ships are the battleships. There are three types, the battleship (BB), heavy battleship (BBH), and super battleship (BBX). Battleships are heavy warships designed to destroy other ships. They can also serve other purposes, such as planetary assault. Battleships mass from fifty million to two hundred million tons and are any where from 1 to 3 kilometers in length. Battleships are crewed with six thousand to twenty thousand personal and carry a tremendous amount of fire power. Most have several mecha divisions. Carriers A carrier (CVA) is a ship designed to transport large numbers of mecha into combat. A typical carrier masses from 150 million tons to 500 million tons, and ranges from 5 to 10 km in length. They are crewed by around 8000 personnel, but have over ten times that many pilots. Most carriers have several divisions of mecha. Space Mecha Mecha have proven themselves as formidable war machines on the ground, and they are just as formidable in the void of space. Any mecha with a mecha booster can operate in space. It takes a booster of at least 109 MA to get to orbit. Mecha with less than this must be conveyed by ship to orbit or by a booster pack or mecharidder (mecha booster). In space a division of mecha could rip apart a warship in minutes as mecha can shoot through windows and exhaust ports, and so on, to hit critical regions better. Most ships carry mecha and fighters to fight off other mecha. Naval Fire Power Fire power is the amount of force a ship can give out to destroy an enemy target. Fire power includes energy weapons, projectile cannons, rail cannons, lasers, missiles, and even mecha. Turrets Many weapons are mounted on turrets, especially on big ships. All turret weapons have an independent control booth that is manned at all times in combat. Should the weapon's control system fail, the gunner in the turret can take over manually. Some specialized turret weapons are on an independent control system, and the gunner inside is the only one who can control it. Gun Batteries Batteries are arrangements of guns that are networked to a central control room, either the bridge or a separate weapons control room. Large ships typically have six battery systems: main (dorsal), front, aft, port, starboard, and belly. Main Battery These are the main cannons on this ship. They are usually mounted on the dorsal of the ship on turrets. They are normally the biggest guns and are used against other ships. Secondary Batteries These are the front, aft, port, and starboard guns. They are used against ships and fighters. They are not as big as the main guns, but together they usually total more destructive power. Belly Battery These are gun mounted on the bottom of a ship. They are usually restricted to planetary bombardment, but can be used against other ships as they are normally on turrets. Military Divisions Category is named by the type of unit (i.e. soldier battalion, or mecha wing) Division Total Troops Squad 10 Platoon 3 - 5 Squads 30 - 50 Company 2 - 4 Platoons 100 - 200 Battalion 3 - 5 Companies 500 - 1000 Regiment 3 - 5 Battalions 3000 - 5000 Division 3 Regiments 10000 - 15000 Corps 2 - 3 Divisions 20000 - 40000 Division Total Mecha Squadron 4 - 6 Wing 5 squadrons 25 - 30 Division 5 wings 100 - 150 Force 3 - 5 divisions 300 - 750 Division Total Ships Tactical Division 3 Flotilla 5 Sub-Division 2 flotillas 10 Division 3 Sub-Divisions 30 Full Division 2 divisions 50 Fleet 2 full divisions 100 Armada 3 fleets 300 Starship Damage Control Damage control is a must in insuring the survival of a ship and her crew. There are three main purposes for damage control: 1. To take precautions to minimize damage before it occurs. This includes removing fire hazards, maintaining emergency equipment as spare parts, and sealing off unused areas near the outer hull. 2. To cut down damage by eliminating fires, sealing breached areas, securing antimatter containment, and providing first-aid. 3. To provide repairs to restore the ship to operational capacity by replacing crew casualties, replacing and repairing damaged parts, and repairing armor and structure. Damage Control Central The DCC is usually a small room off to the side of the bridge or engineering. There is also a DC console on the bridge to keep the captain and CO informed and to allow the captain or CO to give priority instructions. The Chief of Engineering is the damage control officer. He, or his assistant (which is usually the case) will be present in the DCC. The damage control officer or his assistant is responsible for: 1. Preventing and controlling damage. 2. Directing damage control crews in fire control, repairs, and keeping the ship air tight. In the DCC there are four computer terminals. One for directing fire fighting, one for monitoring crew casualties, one to control pressure bulkheads and to seal compromised sections, and one to direct repairs. All four send damage summary feeds to the bridge console. All DC crews report to the DCC and take orders from the DCC. There is also an engineering terminal in the DCC for the Chief of Engineering to use should he be in the DCC and wish to control and supervise engineering as well. The DCC can be completely sealed in the case of a total hull breach and has 10 hours of independent life-support and power. Normally, there are six people in the DCC during combat but at least two at all times. Repair Crews Fifty percent of the ship's crew are on battlestations during battle. Fourty percent of these are on stand-by to replace casualties. Ten percent are assigned to damage control. These 10% are usually skilled in electronics, mechanics, and medical skills. There are eight main repair parties. Five in small ships: Repair 1- Forward Repair Party Repair 2- Mid-Ship Repair Party Repair 3- Aft Repair Party Repair 4- Weapons Repair Party Repair 5- Propulsion Repair Party On big ships there are 3 others Repair 6- Starboard Repair Party Repair 7- Port Repair Party Repair 8- 2nd Weapons Repair Party All parties must be able to: 1. Control and Extinguish fires 2. Be able to make on-scene damage evaluations and report them quickly. 3. Be able to make electronic repairs. 4. Be able to seal a hull breach. 5. Give first-aid and transport wounded to the med bay or casualty station. Engineering personnel are responsible for: 1. Maintaining reactor power. 2. Securing antimatter containment. 3. Maintaining shields. 4. Maintaining ship's maneuvering ability. Each party can work on only one component in their designated area at a time. Hull Integrity Priority one for all damage control teams is this: Maintain hull integrity at all costs. If the hull's integrity is compromised, over 80% of the crew could die, crippling a ship's defensive capability. If you have a layout for your ship, you can mark off a large area as decompressed. If there is no ship layout, the Referee should declare the breached areas based on the impact point and extent of decompression. If an area is in question, roll 1d10. On a 5 or less the area is decompressed. Any PC in these areas must act quickly, as described above, for decompression. Damage control parties should secure hull breaches. The party that is assigned to the area where the breach occurred is responsible for securing it. They must spend five minutes getting prepped in space suits and two minutes getting to the location. Once there, they may begin repairs. It generally takes 2d6 minutes to seal a breach. To minimize the damage from a breach, the crew can seal off unused areas before battle. This can be done if the crew knows the ship is going into battle. Doing this will lower the risk of decompression, as the Referee sees fit. Room Breaches Often a single room will be breached. Anyone in such a area must react as described for decompression (above). Damage control may not be as concerned with individual rooms during battle unless the room is important or there are important people inside. If deemed necessary during battle, the a DC party can seal a breached room in 1d6 minutes. Dog-Locking It may be necessary to enter a depressurized area from a pressurized area. To do this, a pressure bulkhead is closed near the bulkhead that sealed the breach forming an airlock out the two bulkheads. This is called a dog-lock ('dog' is from the old naval term for the locks on water tight doors). The DC party would enter the first bulkhead. That bulkhead would close and the small section they are in is depressurized. The other bulkhead then opens, allowing them to enter the breached area without decompressing a larger area of the ship. Restoring Gravity It is up to engineering crews to restore gravity. Remember, where gravity is out all skills involving Ref are at -3 (unless you made the Athletics roll) and movement is restricted half MA. 1d6 minutes must be spent trying to restore gravity. The Referee then rolls 1d10 percentage. If it is 5 or less the gravity is restored. If they failed, they must try again (and spend another 1d6 minutes). If PCs are involved restoring gravity, the roll to succeed is 6 or less, instead of 5 or less. Restoring Life-Support It is up to engineering crews to restore life-support (they cannot restore both life-support and gravity. They must be done one at a time). 1d6 minutes must be spent trying to restore life-support. The Referee rolls 1d10 percentage. If it 5 or less the life-support is restored. If they failed, they must try again (and spend another 1d6 minutes). If PCs are involved in restoring life-support, the roll is 6 or less, instead of 5 or less. Repairing Drive Systems and Reactors This covers diverdrives (FTL), sublight, and thrusters, and all reactor system. Propulsion repair crews work on the drive systems, and the engineering crews work on the reactors. Remember, a repair crew can only work on one thing at a time. Engineer crews could not work on the reactor and gravity. Propulsion repair crews could not work on both the diverdrive and sublight drive. To restore a drive one hour must be spent. The Referee rolls 1d10 percentage. If it is 5 or less the drive is restored. If they failed, they must try again (and spend another hour). If PCs are involved, the roll is 6 or less, instead of 5 or less. Repairing Comm, Sensors, Shields, and Other Units Basically the same above. 1d6 minutes must be spent. The Referee rolls 1d10 percentage. If it is 5 or less the system is restored. If they failed, they must try again (and spend another 1d6 minutes). If PCs are involved, the roll is 6 or less, instead of 5 or less. Repairing Weapons Destroyed weapons cannot be repaired. Damaged weapons can be fixed and each of these take 1d6 minutes to repair, per kill of damage. The Referee rolls 1d10 percentage. If it is 5 or less the weapon is restored. If they failed, they must try again (and spend another 1d6 minutes). If PCs are involved restoring the weapon, the roll is 6 or less, instead of 5 or less. Repairing Armor and Structure A damage control crew can be assigned to repairing armor and structure. A crew can restore 1 kill in 1d6 minutes or 1 SP in 3d6 minutes. They can do only this, and nothing else, for that time. Fires On a ship a fire can be cause by one of the following:
Explosion from enemy fire. Electrical short. Chemical reactions (accidents in labs). Ignition of some coolant or life-support systems. Careless handling of ordinance. Fire, if uncontrolled, will spread through a ship through air ducts, cable tubes, and hallways. Fire will spread to all surrounding rooms in one minute. The next minute it will spread to the rooms surrounding those, and so on. If uncontrolled, a ship can be totally ablaze in a matter of minutes! Fires can prove lethal to humans, and the smoke always chokes down on life-support sucking away vital oxygen. Each percent of the ship that is on fire cuts life-support by that much until extinguished (8% of the ship is on fire, L-S is at 92%). Fire will not damage a ship's structure or armor, but it will destroy the interior, such as beds, carpet, tables, pictures, etc. Any room that had a fire in it must be replaced at a star dock. To extinguish a fire, a DC crew must enter the room with fire suppressor guns. When fired, a thick stream of mush will be launched into the room. When it contacts large amounts of smoke, it will "foam up" into a mountain of crusty, fireproof foam, extinguishing the fire. It takes a DC crew one minute to put out a room-size fire. Securing Antimatter Containment Anytime an antimatter reactor shuts down, antimatter containment could collapse. The backup power on the containment pods will only last for one hour before collapsing. If anyone is left in the ship, they can try to eject the pods from engineering. The Referee rolls 1d10 percentage. If it is 5 or less (or 6 for PCs) the pods are ejected and blasted a safe distance away. Failure would mean 1d6 minutes of time wasted and the attempt must be made again. The pods could, of course, explode in that amount of time... Note About Battle Repairs Battle Repairs are only temporary. A battle repair will last three hours. After which it must be repaired again, or fully repaired. To get full repairs, a ship must go to a star dock. Full Repairs In star dock, a ship can be put up for a few weeks while it gets fully repaired and resupplied. Destroyed parts must be completely replaced. Cinematic Jerry-Rigging This is the ability for heroic characters (like the PCs) to make repairs. If a PC is helping out in a damage control repair, he or she could "use up" one or more spare IP to cut the time to do a job down. For each IP burned up in this way, cut the time in half (in a six minute job, 1 IP would make it a 3 minute job, 2 IP would make it a 1.5 minute job, etc.). The PCs could also use spare IP to double the time the repair lasts. For each IP burned in this way, when making battle repairs, double the repair job's duration (for instance, with 1 IP the repair would last 6 hours, with 2 IP it would last 12 hours, etc.), before the system fails again. Chapter 3: Worlds
The below planets and star systems are categorized and classified under the same familiar system as the worlds of Mekton Empire. Most classifications are self-explanatory, and full definitions for such classes exists on pages 27-28 of the old Mekton Empire book. The port facility classification is unique, and must be reproduced here for clarification purposes only. The following category text is copyright 1990, by R.Talsorian Games, although it is slightly modified from the original. Port Facilities G# - Ground Facilities 0 - Nil 1 - Simple- Basic support facilities 2 - Moderate - Minor starport 3 - Extensive - Starport city S# - Space Facilities 0 - Nil 1 - Simple - Zero-G spacedock 2 - Moderate - Small space station 3 - Extensive - Big station Special Facilities B - Long term berthing R - Repair faculties Y - Ship yards Government Space Control T - Space Traffic Control C - Customs/Trade Control P - Police/Orbit Guard N - Naval Base Summary of Main Worlds of the Imperial Terran Republic Government Type: Imperial Dictatorship President: Aaron Grashein Military: 13.5 million troops/marines, 6,960,000 vehicles, 392 warships, 154,000 mecha Goals: The ITR wishes to restore order. Having dumped their democratic constitution and enacted the "President" as basically a dictator, the ITR is anything but the Federation it had been a mere hundred years ago. The reason for these change was that most of the worlds in the ITR were feudal or monarchical anyway. It was simply a matter of political conformity which was kicked off by McNefield and carried on to this day by Aaron Grashein. The ITR plans to retake all the worlds in the GSC at all cost, as well as all the Frontier worlds. System: Sol Distance: 0 LYs from Earth World: Earth, Capitol Orbit: 3rd Gravity: 1 G Diameter: 12,756 kms Moons: Luna. Population 2,504,600 Population: 12,127,312,646 Govn't Type: Bureaucratic Dictatorship Atmos: Moderate, 74% Nitrogen, 24% Oxygen, 2% others Environment: Temperate Major Cities: Tokyo (Grand Capitol), New York City, Los Angles, Washington, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, Bonn, London, Moscow Port Facilities: G3,S3,BRYTCPN Earth is the homeworld of mankind and the Capitol world of the ITR. Tokyo is, of course, the Grand Capitol where the Imperial Republican offices are centrally based. In Tokyo there are the Executive Building, the Imperial Council building, the Justice Building, the Imperial Headquarters of the Central Intelligence, Imperial Department of Investigations, and many others. The other major cities are roughly the same - 20th century New York to the tenth power. Earth is a world wide urban blight. Earth is also heavily polluted. The air is foul and the seas are sludge. All the rain forests are gone. What oxygen there is, is generated by massive government controlled algae farms. If you are looking for wild life, the only kind you will find is on the 'wild-side' of town. Luna, however, is quite nice. Though it is not tarraformed (the gravity is to low to retain an atmosphere), there are hundreds of underground cites. These cities are connected by a web of subway mag-lev trains. While Earth rots away in its own waste, Luna is prospering at an exponential rate. The Luna cities passed self-sufficiency long ago and now make almost constant shipments of goods back to "Mother Earth". World: Venus Orbit: 2nd Gravity: 0.87 G Diameter: 12,102 kms Moons: None Population: 2,245,891,335 Govn't Type: Feudal Technocracy Atmos: Moderate, 75% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen, 3% others Environment: Jungle (Terraformed) Major Cities: Aphrodite, Helen, Avalonia Port Facilities: G3,S2,BRYTCPN Terraformation of Venus was completed in 2120. Shortly after, a massive migration from Earth occurred. By 2220, the population of Venus was at half a billion. By 2320, it was at one billion. By 2380 it had boomed to 2.2 billion. The climate on Venus is tropical. Temperatures can sometimes reach fifty degrees centigrade at the tropics. The equatorial regions are still uninhabitable. The polar regions are temperate climates, similar to the tropics of Earth. The north polar region has the largest population. At the "arctic" are the three major cities, all of which are approximately the similar to 20th century Los Angles. Like Mars, Venus is a "wild life preserve" of plants and animals which are now extinct on Earth. All plants and animals on Venus came from Earth during the course of its terraformation. The ten last blue whales in the universe have their home in the tropical oceans of Venus. World: Mars Orbit: 4th Gravity: 0.38 G Diameter: 6,786 kms Moons: 2, Phobos, Deimos Population: 1,829,899,150 Govn't Type: Socialist Technocracy Atmos: Thin, 74% Nitrogen, 25% Oxygen, 1%others Environment: Temperate (terraformed) Major Cities: Olympia, Arsia, Syria Port Facilities: G3,S2,BRYTCPN In 2103 the terraformation of Mars was completed. Mars saw a large migration of colonists from Earth, but after Venus was terraformed the migrations declined. The climate on Mars is almost totally opposite from that of Venus. The northern Boreal Ocean (the largest body of water on Mars) is mostly ice. The rest of Mars is rather dry and is similar to the North American Midwest on Earth. There are two other large bodies of water, the Hellan Sea and the Argyrean Sea. Around these two bodies of water (both in the southern hemisphere) is most of the Martian civilization. System: Alpha Centauri Distance: 4.25 LYs from Earth World: Centrus Orbit: 3rd Gravity: .72 G Diameter: 9,499 kms Moons: 1, Cantous. Population: 690,588,362 Govn't Type: Feudal Oligarchy Atmos: Moderate, 70% Nitrogen, 27% Oxygen, 3% other Environment: Temperate/Desert(Terraformed) Major Cities: Jovania, Raveana, Olthombra Port Facilities: G2,S2,BRTCPN When mankind came to the Centauri system, their dreams were fulfilled. They found planets in stable orbits around the two main sequence stars. One, the 4th, was rich with life. But the third world around Alpha Centauri A was also within the systems biosphere, though it was in need to terraformation. Terraformation projects began, and by the early 2200s, the world was ready for colonization. Few immigrants came to Centrus, however, as the world Centaur was a much more interesting to live on. Centaur was the first world to harbor naturally evolved alien life. Centrus, however, is very interesting in that it has both Earth life and plants and animals taken from Centaur. Initially, many of the species died from alien diseases and conflicting and overlapping survival patterns. Many of the large preditorial animals from Centaur were not brought over, so the peaceful plant eaters from Centaur began to choke out the animals from Earth by their sheer number. Eventually, the larger, predators were brought in, but they ended up discovering that the Earth animals were easier, and taster, targets. The Centrus Terraformation Rangers are a highly trained, elite group of hunters whose sole job is to exterminate thousands of rampant gizanllans and other Centaurian grazing beasts, and to make sure the Centuarian predators do not completely wipe out all the Earth animals. It's a wild job, but someone has to do it. World: Centaur Orbit: 4rd Gravity: 1 G Diameter: 11,276 kms Moons: 2, Fox, Hound. Fox colonized at 647,240 population Population: 1,978,228,890 Govn't Type: Feudal Dictatorship Atmos: Moderate, 74% Nitrogen, 24% Oxygen, 2%others Environment: Temperate Major Cities: Nithatica, Omanfort, Jonesberg Port Facilities: G3,S2,BRYTCPN Centaur was the first alien world discovered to harbor alien life. The world itself was very Earth-like, similar to what our Earth may have been like tens of millions of years ago. Large predators roamed the land, hunting for even larger plant-eating animals. These animals are in fact very similar to Earth animals. They are carbon based and have DNA. Many fit into the same categories (bird, mammal, reptile, dinosaur, etc), a fact which supports the theory that life is universally similar. Initially, only scientists could come to Centaur, but within a few years it was opened to colonization. People swarmed in. It was a brave new world, not some pseudo-Earth terraformed rock. Centaur was a New Earth, a sparkling jewel in the abysmal void, which told mankind, "Earth is not alone." System: Sirius Distance: 8.8 LYs from Earth World: Trishan Orbit: 3rd Gravity: 1.1 Gs Diameter: 13,850 kms Moons: Dust Ring Population: 1,480,134,800 Govn't Type: Technocratic Monarchy Atmos: Moderate, 73% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen, 5% others Environment: Jungle (terraformed) Major Cities: New Mecca, Valricce City, Dominqia Port Facilities: G3,S2,BRYTCPN Trishan was colonized during the first part of the 23rd century. Trishan's environment was similar to that of Venus, a hot, tropical jungle, so more people ended up settling on the more temperate Siria. The atmosphere of Trishan was also contaminated with a significant level of sulfur -- significant enough to chase away many settlers. Besides that, Trishan is a very beautiful place to live. The dust ring which circles the plant sparkles like a trillion stars in the night sky, and the vast, shallow oceans of Trishan are as clear as the Caribbean Sea on Earth. World: Siria Orbit: 4th Gravity: 1 G Diameter: 11,250 kms Moons: 2, Ulnex, Domex Population:Govn't Type: Atmos: Thin, 62% Nitrogen, 18% Oxygen, 20% others Environment: Nuclear Wasteland (Poisonous) Major Cities: Port Facilities: For a time, Siria was the perfect world to live on. After it was terraformed, the planet was as close to Earth as was possible. 23 hours, 360 days, exactly 1 G, sub-tropical, perfect ratio of oxygen and nitrogen, an Earth-like seasonal rotation... Perfect. By the middle of the 24th century, two and a half billion people lived on Siria. Then, in 2362, the GSC made a devastating nuclear attack on the planet. Two billion people died. All life was wiped out leaving behind nothing but scorched, irradiated deserts and hyper-radioactive seas. Nothing will be able to live on Siria for the next thirty thousand years. System: Epsilon Eridani Distance: 10.75 LYs from Earth World: Eridani Orbit: 4rd Gravity: 1.2 Gs Diameter: 15,237 kms Moons: None Population: 2,590,150,750 Govn't Type: Feudal Monarchy Atmos: Moderate, 73% Nitrogen, 25% Oxygen, 2% others Environment: Jungle Major Cities: Avia, Yonatria, Falmore-Glave, Durshaan Port Facilities: G3,S3,BRYTCPN Eridani was the second world to be discovered to harbor alien life. This discovery was not quiet as exciting as the scientific community had by now expected to discover another natural Earth-like world. Whereas Centaur was in the Big Predator Age, and Earth was in the Mammal Age, Eridani was in the Bird Age. Birds dominate the ecosystem of Eridani (until humans came). The Eridani Kyrldor is the largest known bird, massing twelve tons, with a wingspan of forty feet, and a top speed to three hundred and fifty kph. Many of the birds, especially the smaller ones (that is, about human-sized), are quite intelligent. It has been estimated that the Yvian is about at the same level (maybe a bit higher) than the Earth dolphin. Eridani has a significantly large population, second only to Earth, within the Empire which is quiet surprising. Siria would have had a larger population had tragedy not struck. There has also been a great deal of feudal conflict on Eridani, especially between House Toshio (of Falmore-Glave) and House Ammar (of Durshaan). System: Procyon Distance: 11 LYs from Earth World: Procyon Orbit: 5rd Gravity: 0.9 Gs Diameter: 9,962 kms Moons: 1, Cordon Population: 1,389,887,276 Govn't Type: Military Dictatorship Atmos: Moderate, 76% Nitrogen,22% Oxygen, 2% others Environment: Cold waste (terraformed) Major Cities: Darkam, Lolamier, Shrimen City Port Facilities: G2,S2,BRTCPN A small, and fairly cold world, Procyon is not an incredibly good place to live. The local government has recently changed to a military dictatorship chasing off nearly a quarter billion of the population. The world itself is unremarkable. It was terraformed because the gravity was at 0.9 Gs, a property which is generally appreciated. Most of the cities sprang up around the equator where the environment is pleasantly sub-tropical, but most of the world is tundra or arctic. There is very little seasonal rotation as the planet itself has an angular tilt of only 4 degrees. Other Worlds The ITR also has 3 other systems, totaling 5 worlds, on the Frontier. These systems are Arcturus (36 LYs from Earth), Barnard (5.8 LYs), and 61 Cygni (11 LYs). Frontier Population: 2,450,870,800 Summary of Main Worlds of the Grand Star Coalition Govn't Type: Military Dictatorship President: High General Alan Briggs Military: 11 million troops/marines, 6,800,000 vehicles, 315 warships, 156,000 mecha Goals: The GSC wants only independence and full recognition of their sovereignty. But the leaders of the GSC (and the people too) know that the ITR will never leave them alone so long as they live. The answer is to eradicate the ITR and consolidate them into the Confederation. The Frontier worlds are secondary to their goal, but the GSC has a bad habit of conquering any world they come across. System: Tau Ceti Distance: 11.7 LYs from Earth World: Ozma, Capital Orbit: 5th Gravity: 1 G Diameter: 13,686 kms Moons: 1, Emerald. Colonized at 4,260,890 population Population: 9,207,670,150 Govn't Type: Military Dictatorship Atmos: Moderate, 75% Nitrogen, 24% Oxygen, 1% others Environment: Temperate (terraformed) Major Cities: Kyoshima (Grand Capitol), Nordenburg, Kalamar, Propendon Port Facilities: G3,S3,BRYTCPN The Capitol world of the GSC, Ozma is as close to Earth as any planet gets. Populated at over nine billion, and almost parallel planetary properties, Ozma's appeal is very great. Except for one thing. The Tau Ceti system is extremely close to the ITR (only four light years from Epsilon Eridani). But, the combined forces in the Tau Ceti system are more than a match for anything from Eridani. The Grand Capitol, Kyoshima, has all the government buildings for the Coalition. Unlike most big cities (and Kyoshima is big), it is very clean. An army of full time civil employees scout the city daily keeping the streets clean and everything in good repair. Kyoshima is also one of the safest places to live. As the saying goes, "In Kyoshima, there is a cop at every corner. There sure are a lot of corners, too." World: Cetius Orbit: 4th Gravity: .82 G Diameter: 8,280 kms Moons: None Population: 8,347,490,740 Govn't Type: Puppet Democracy Atmos: Moderate, 74% Nitrogen, 24% Oxygen, 2% others Environment: Jungle/Desert (terraformed) Major Cities: Tralido, Jonamar, Pralimia Port Facilities: G3,S2,BRYTCPN Cetius is a small, heavily populated world. When the GSC broke away from the ITR, a large migration of GSC sympathizers from the ITR worlds flooded into the Tau Ceti system and settled on the two inhabited worlds. Cetius got about half of them As a popular democracy, Cetius has a bit more appeal, government wise, over the Capitol world, Ozma. Holding popular elections (where each citizen has one direct vote) and regular citizen votings and poles for new laws, the government is much less bureaucratic. However, the GSC government is beginning to tighten its grip on the Coalition worlds and these great freedoms may soon vanish. The world itself is hot and relatively dry. Much of the land is desert. Around coastal regions and other bodies of water, the climate is tropical. The ecology is a stable mix of Earth, Eridani, and Altair plants and animals. This blending of ecologies was much better planned than the catastrophic mixing on Centrus. System: Altair Distance: 16 LYs from Earth World: Altair Orbit: 4th Gravity: 1 G Diameter: 11,790 kms Moons: 1, Domanix. Population: 4,370,439,870 Govn't Type: Feudal Democracy Atmos: Moderate, 72% Nitrogen, 25% Oxygen, 3% others Environment: Temperate/Waterworld Major Cities: Solaria, Ythandria, Lomans-burrow Port Facilities: G2,S2,BRTCPN Altair was the third world to be discovered to harbor native life. The life on Altair is quite abundant, and both large reptiles (though not dinosaurs) and mammals live at equal levels in the ecosystem. However, the surface is 90% water. These deep oceans (about twice as deep as Earth's oceans in some places) harbor some of the most alien life known. There truly are sea monsters, and they live in the "bottomless" seas of Altair. Needless to say, few people swim on the beaches. Most coastal life is more deadly than the deep sea life. One of the most fear creatures on the coastal regions is the blade dollar. This animal looks similar to an Earth sand dollar, but is tan instead of brown-green and has a razor sharp edge around it. It floats in the tides and uses the force of the waves to propel itself into its unsuspecting prey (a hapless human, for instance). The prey will die as the blade slices through the skin and the blade dollar injects neurotoxic poisons and digestive juices. There are many other deadlier creatures on Altair. The old saying that man is the deadliest animal does not hold up on this world. If man didn't have guns, he never could have colonized Altair. System: Capella Distance: 25 LYs from Earth World: Capellan Orbit: 5th Gravity: 1.2 Gs Diameter: 15,970 kms Moons: 2, Fromerda, Dalem. Dalem Colonized at 1,344,780 population Population: 2,460,752,320 Govn't Type: Bureaucratic Oligarchy Atmos: Moderate, 76% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen, 2% others Environment: Temperate(terraformed) Major Cities: Chanlanberg, Hartvankov, Randril Cove Port Facilities: G2,S1,BRTCPN Capellan is a pleasant, sub-tropical world. It is the outer most world of the Main Worlds, and has not seen very much action in the War. Attacked only twice by the ITR, the Capellan troops are beginning to get lazy. However, there is enough bandit and pirate activity to keep them on their toes. The world is terraformed and home to over two billion people. Mainly an agriculture world, Capellan would hardly be a tactical target for the ITR. Because of this, the GSC may have several secret bases on Capellan, but ITR Intelligence cannot confirm this. Other Worlds The GSC also has 4 other systems, totaling 5 worlds, on the Frontier. These are Mothair (5.6 LYs from Earth), Hydra (20 LYs), LTT 10099 (48 LYs), and Aldebaron(65 LYs). Frontier Population: 2,146,977,400 Whose Side Are You On Anyway? There are two sides to this war. The ITR and the GSC. As an alternative there is the Frontier worlds; but, unless you want to get kicked around like a rag doll, they're out of the question. In the spirit of mecha anime, this game is based on three main principles: 1. The PCs are in or involved with the primary military group (maybe a mercenary group). 2. The PCs are probably stationed on the big, fancy flagship. 3. The PCs are the heroes. They are the movers and the shakers. They will be the ones who will forge history. The balance of the battle is in their hands. Oh, you say, the heroes, huh? Guess they can't die. Wrong. Remember Roy Fokker from Macross? Or most everyone from Gundam? They were all heroes, or movers and shakers and history makers, but they all died. Who says the heroes aren't expendable? Sure, they aren't cannon-fodder. If a hero does go out, you'd better believe it will be in a blaze of glory. It must be decided before the start of the game which side the PCs should be on. (Hopefully the same side, although double agents or defections are certainly not out of the question!) The ITR may seem like your cut and dry empire, but it does have its good points. The GSC isn't a utopia either. It boils down to whether you want to fight for a Feudalistic Republic or a Bureaucratic Confederation turned Military Dictatorship. In the short story saga, the main characters are actually fighting on the side of the ITR. In no way does this mean the ITR is 'good' or the GSC is 'bad'. It probably means they are both 'bad'. Following the chronology of the saga, the GSC loses to the ITR in the end. Technically both sides lost as the ITR was all but destroyed as well. In no way must this story line be followed for individual campaigns! The game starts mid-2380 and the Referee takes it from there. The Ref and players create their own divergent universe with it's own history, victories, defeats, and revelations. Chapter 4: Game
Mood, Campaign Voice, and Story Metal Storm 2380 has a Medium/Serious voice and mood (see Mekton Zeta, Pg.127-128). The game should be a bit more serious than the standard medium voice campaign, but there is a lot of room for "Die Hard"-style humor. Time Line: 2380 Below is a time line for events from January to May of 2380. Unless the GM plans to follow the "Zion" track (see Game Tracks, below), he may make up everything after this point. In the year 2380... January A GSC agent, under the command of Alan Briggs, infiltrates the ITR Vigilant to capture data on the new psi-amp project and other vital intelligence. The attempt fails, and the spy is killed. The flagship Invincible is destroyed. Admiral Steele is captured, but she is rescued by a pair of valiant mecha pilots. She declares the Vigilant her new flagship. February Alan Briggs (captured in the previous battle) escapes from the Vigilant with the help of a new double agent, planted in the Guardian Squadron. The Vigilant pursues, but he escapes when the GSC flagship Victorious appears to rescue him. March On Eridani, House Ammar begins a war against their feudal enemy, House Toshio. The ITR military cannot interfere, as it is a feudal strife. The GSC hopes to take advantage of the situation, as it may weaken the forces of Eridani. If so, they may be able to make a full scale invasion and capture the system. There are rumors that the GSC may be secretly supporting House Ammar. April Major Briggs declares himself High General and takes over the GSC. He enacts total control and swears to destroy the ITR by the end of the year. There is opposition within the GSC to his ascension. Several military generals are opposed to him and attempt to stop his rise to power by assaulting those fleets he commands. The Ozma Freedom Movement (a band of GSC rebels) makes a final desperate stand against the GSC and Briggs' New Regime. May: 2380 The present. Adventure Types In this galaxy of civil war there are many opportunities for adventuring whether the PCs are in the military, a merc group, the media, or just a civ caught up in it all. Invasion This is the most obvious adventure. The PCs are part of a strike force that is charged with taking a system. Perhaps it is a Frontier world, in which case they will be part of a small scale force. Maybe it is a Main World, in which case they will be going in with a fleet of hundreds of ships, thousands of mecha, and millions of troops. It will take a couple days to arrive at the target during which time the characters can practice and sharpen up on their skills. Most of the action will either be in training on the way or in actual combat at the target system. The real adventuring, though, will be dealing with conflicts between the PCs and cocky NPCs. Perhaps they have to deal with spies (or do some spying themselves), contend with saboteurs (or be the saboteurs!), or maybe they will get captured and have to escape from enemy hands. The PCs could get shot down in enemy territory and have to fight their way out, or, better yet, think their way out. Defenders This is the flip of the above. A massive enemy force jumps into the PCs' system and attacks. The PCs could be part of the defense forces, maybe with the media, or just be civilians caught in the middle. But, whatever the PCs' situation is, they will eventually get a mecha (if they don't already have one) and join the fight to fend off the enemy. As above, the PCs may have to deal with rowdy NPCS, spies, saboteurs, and maybe get captured once or twice. Pirate Maybe the PCs are with a pirate group. The pirates may go around attacking lightly defended merchant ships and Frontier colonies (both ground and space). They will need mecha support as most of these targets have a few mecha and fighters to protect them. Eventually they may try to make a deal with one side and join in as privateers. There is a lot of room for character adventuring with pirates. Most NPCs will be rough and tough overconfident jerks who will push the PCs around. The PCs will eventually have to prove themselves and climb the ranks of the pirate group. The PCs could also act on their own occasionally (AKA, go rogue) and get attacked by the police or militia. A big plot for this is maybe that a double agent on the ship is reporting the pirates' position to the military. Everywhere they go, they are attacked by a waiting military force. The PCs start to piece together who the traitor is and act on it. World ends. Film at 11. The PCs are with a news crew working for FNN (First News Network, of course). Where the wars goes, FNN goes to cover it. The PCs are sent in with an invasion force to cover an attack on a main enemy system. They will, of course, film the battles. But they could run across something they shouldn't have seen. Maybe an officer commits an atrocity and the PCs record it. This officer and his not-so-merry-men will stop at nothing to silence the PCs permanently. Or, maybe the battle goes bad and the PCs are assigned mecha to help out. And, of course, try to get the big scoop all the while. Game Tracks Most Metal Storm campaigns should begin in early May of 2380, but, the Referee may decide for himself any alternatives to this. The Game Tracks below assume a campaign starting in or around May, 2380. What is a Game Track? A Game Track is an alternate time line which diverges from the standard Metal Storm time line. Referees are not bound by any sort of preset conditions or "future history", and no two campaigns are every exactly alike. If he so chooses, a Referee may play in the standard time line, called the Zion Track (for reasons that will become apparent). A future history of this track will be provided later. To get Referees on Track several campaign settings and situations are provided below. Each of these have general information, as well as three sets of special information depending on whether the PCs are on the side of the ITR, GSC, or neutral (independent). Please note that any number of these Track situations may be jumped to and explored during the course of a game. They are all valid and fully compatible with the chain of events in the war. The outcome of many have effects which bleed over to other situations, but the Referee must deal with this on his own as such instances arise.1001 Eridanian Nights Of all the feudal worlds of the Empire, Eridani is the most conflict riddled. For generations, the Barons and Lords of Eridani have fought and feuded with one another over who should be the rightful Duke of Eridani. Currently, House Andelli of Avia claims the throne, with Duchess Dian Andelli. House Toshio, of Falmore-Glave, follows a close second with House Ammar of Durshaan snapping at their heels. The largest cities, Yonatria, ruled by House Ulkan, is lagging somewhat behind as internal strife within that house has damaged its integrity. Many other minor houses also squabble amongst themselves for the scraps of land and islands the larger houses pass by. By Imperial law, no officially declared feudal dispute can be settled by Imperial forces. That is, the houses must settle the matter themselves which usually means war. Only if Imperial holdings are threatened will the ITR intervene. This makes for a very interesting situation. While the Great War rages on, smaller internal wars between the houses of Eridani also pop up from time to time. Recently, tensions between House Toshio and House Ammar have reached a climax. With Ammar's recent assault on Falmore-Glave, all hell has broken lose. But, as stipulated by Imperial Law, the ITR cannot interfere. Both House Ammar and House Toshio are equally matched, but somehow House Ammar seems to be gaining the lead as if supported by some external force... ITR: The ITR will not interfere with any feudal conflicts on Eridani so long as their holdings are not threatened. This includes the planet itself. Should a conflict escalate to the point of damaging the defensive potential of Eridani, the ITR will command a cessation of the dispute. They last thing they want is for Eridani to be weakened enough to allow the GSC to invade. GSC: The GSC would like nothing better to see Eridani weakened by its own internal strife so that they can invade and conquer the planet with little or no trouble. The GSC waits, silently smiling, for such an opportunity to arise. But, they may not be waiting so passively. There are quiet hints and rumors of rumors that the GSC may be sponsoring House Ammar in their strife against House Toshio. Neutral: Though not really neutral, the houses of Eridani may be treated as semi-neutral, and allied to the ITR, for purposes of the game. The PCs could play characters who work in the military of a major house (or a minor house, if that is appealing). Such a campaign will be set on a small, planetary scale, with old, 100-200cp mecha and tanks fighting land battles against each other for the domination of territories and provinces. It's not a bad way to start a campaign that will blossom to something much greater... Not a bad way at all. Assassination! Assassination is commonly practiced. It is employed by the GSC, ITR, and other independent organizations (terrorist). An opposing force may wish to assassinate a high government official, prominent scientist, corporate executive, or even an ace mecha pilot. Alternatively, factions within a political structure may very well employ assassins to eliminate internal enemies. It is not above the GSC military commanders to hire icers to bump off other officers or aces which might stand in their way. Terrorists, especially the OFM (below), resort to assassinations usually as a first or second responce to any given situation. Indeed, assassination runs rampant. It is one of the fastest growing career fields both in the underworld and official military forces. Of course, in the military, assassins known as "Single unit ranged fire support", but its the same thing. ITR: One or more of PCs may find themselves the targets for an assassin. If they are prominent enough and cause enough trouble for the enemy, the enemy may just send in an assassin to finish them off. Alternatively, they could find themselves in a situation where they must assassinate someone, that is, assuming they have the proper training. More malicious on the Referees part, the PCs could find themselves arrested and charged with assassination as scapegoats in a massive cover up! GSC: Same as for ITR. Neutral: Many neutral groups, especially terrorist and gangsters, employ assassins. They may bump off important government officials, police investigators, celebrities, or even scientists. Where Angels Fear to Tread The Barnard system is technically a neutral Frontier world; but, like so many others, the ITR has staked a claim. Here in this red dwarf star system, amidst the frozen, airless plians of the third planet, there may be scattered, secret military research bases. Technically the first world in the system, Barnard III is the only remaining terrestrial planet in the Barnard system. The two other inner worlds were destroyed millions of years ago when the star went nova. Only Barnard III, an asteroid belt, and three gas giants remain. Barnard III is an airless desert world, similar in may respects to Mars. It has no moons, and if it had the past, they were destroyed long ago in the stellar nova. Barnard III was once home to the ITR's Project Deep Dive, a reincarnation of the 'failed' Project Reality Dawn (see Mysteries of Arcturus), attempting to research and construct reliable psi- amps. The project was a success, and the first psi-amp (a ship- scale unit) has been placed on the ITR Flagship Invincible. However, the Invincible was destroyed, and Admiral Steele is now overseeing the construction of a new psi-amp on the Vigilant. The Gamma Facility (disguised as a farming colony) on Barnard III is constructing other ship-scale psi-amps and is researching smaller units, possibly for use with mecha or man-portable systems. On Barnard III there are two other bases, both disguised as innocent colonies. The first of these, Alpha Facility, is researching advanced methods of genetic engineering, cloning, and ultra-tech bio-technology systems. This research is doubled the Prometheus Project. At Alpha Facility there may be primitive techno-organic mecha, biodroids, or half-man/half-beast human hybrid monsters. Beta Facility, slightly less sinister in nature, is the home of the Angel Project, a project concerned primarily with AI and sentient combat droid technologies. Complex thinking super-computers, super cyborgs, and killer combat droids (you know, the anime kind) may be found here. ITR: Players on the side of the ITR may find themselves stationed at one of the bases on Barnard III, most probably as garrison units. At Alpha Facility they may be test pilots for some new, experimental techno-organic mecha. It is also possible they could find themselves as disposable guinea pigs, used to combat new units to test them out. GSC: The GSC may very well know something fishy is going on at Barnard. They may send spies to check it out, and these may very well be the PCs, should the campaign be of a clandestine nature. Otherwise, the PCs may find themselves part of a small task force charged with attacking one or more of the bases and capturing as much technology as possible. Equally possible is the idea that one, or some, scientist may be attempting to defect to the GSC, and the PCs must break into a base and extract them. Neutral: Even some neutral parties may have an interest in Barnard. Pirates, bandits, or even the OFM (see below) could attempt to capture a bio-mecha, combat droid, or psi-amp for their own usage. Such an attack would be terribly risky, but equally rewarding as well. The Mysteries of Arcturus The primary world of the Arcturus system is Arcturus, the third world, orbiting approximately four AUs away from the boiling red giant sun. Arcturus is unique in that it is a naturally evolved tropical jungle world which has never actually been colonized. The reason being -- Everyone says the planet is cursed. Since its discovery, every colonial attempt has met with failure either through plight, plague, famine, or internal strive. It's no wonder the ITR found the world a perfect staging ground for their most ambitious top secret projects. No one even dares fly into the Arcturus system for fear of the great cosmic curse. Thirty years ago, 2350, a project was begun to develop a new branch of super-diver science, dubbed Project Reality Dawn. Initially, scientists were given free reign. But, the head scientists (Dr. Samuel and Kei Gunn) wished to develop diver science for peace. The ITR took measures to give the project a military twist, thus spawning Project Metal Storm (see separate section on Project Metal Storm). Reality Dawn was moved to Arcturus's only moon, the Zion Moon. Alan Briggs, then a young, ambitious military advisor for the ITR, was transfer to the base to oversee Project Metal Storm. Overcome with his own megalomaniac ideals and seeing an opportunity to capture super-technology, he betrayed the ITR and joined forces with the GSC. Briggs, being a charismatic leader, earned the trust of the ITR scientists, and at just the right moment, led a surprise GSC strike against the base. ITR forces quick intervened and halted the assault. Briggs escaped to the GSC empty handed, but swore one day to return. He might not have been as empty handed as many believed (see Zion Track). ITR: Though most of the action ended twelve year ago and the secret base (that officially never existed, of course) is destroyed, there are still a few mysteries. What about the base on the Zion Moon? Could there be something left in the sunken remains of the primary base on Arcturus? The ITR has sent several expeditions to the system only to discover the Zion Moon is missing! That's right, the moon is completely gone, and no sign of the secret base can be found on the planet. Where did the Moon go? And what came of the scientists and their project? See the Zion Track for more information. GSC: Now that Briggs has gained control of the GSC, will he return to Arcuturs seeking the technologies he was forced to leave behind? What technologies did he manage to steal, and how will he use them? See the Zion Track for more information. Neutral: Few neutral parties should get involved with Arcturus. Several pirate and bandit groups have naively set up outposts of their own in the Arcturus system. If things do heat up, they might find themselves in the middle of a massive crossfire. See the Zion Track for more information. Encounter at Mothair Mothair is a rather desolate, empty Frontier system unofficially controlled by the GSC. There are no planets in Mothair, but there is a unique accretion disk of cometary debris and asteroids surrounding the G-class star. A few mining colonies are scattered throughout to mine the asteroids and ice particles, refining them for fuel and other industrial uses. What is not known is that the GSC is using the system as a staging ground from which they plan to launch assaults on Eridani, Alpha Centauri, and Sol. The asteroids and debris provide sufficient sensor cover that, should any ITR ships enter the system, they will most likely miss detection. Then again, a few scout ships on patrol might accidentally run across a division of GSC ships. If that happens, there's no way the GSC will let those scouts get away. Should the ships escape, they could warn the ITR of the amassing GSC fleet, and all would be lost... At least for the GSC. Either that, or the GSC will be force to attack Sol a little earlier than planned. ITR: Of course, the ITR has no idea the GSC is in the Mothair system, though they are wary of the possibility. The ITR does send in a few scout ships from time to time to see if anything is amiss, but they never find anything. They might accidentally, as mentioned above; and, if they do, a battle will most likely ensue. If the PCs are mecha escorts for those scout ships, they'll be fighting for their very lives. They may even fight to the death to allow the scout ship to get away. Should the PCs survive, but their ships and mecha get destroyed, they may be captured and taken prisoner. How unlucky it is for the GSC to have captured the heroes, huh? GSC: Naturally, the GSC has a very strong interest in Mothair, nearly 35% of all their forces are there, most of which the ITR has completely over looked (therefore, the ITR's intelligence on the GSC's strength is less than accurate). Should any ITR ships find them, despite measures to stay hidden, they will have to fight and destroy them, and hope the ITR does not follow up. Otherwise, the GSC will be forced to either pull out of Mothair or just go ahead and invade Eridani, Sol, and possibly Alpha Centauri. Neutral: Only one neutral group exists in Mothair -- Miners. And miners really don't make exciting PCs. Of course, nothing is to stop pirates or bandits from entering the system, searching for an unguarded mineral freighter or such. How sad it would be for such a pirate to run across the GSC fleet! Ozma Freedom Movement The OFM, led by Kyle Suavarre, is the primary anti-Coalition alliance within the GSC. The OFM is concerned mostly with freeing Tau Ceti, or at least Ozma, and making it an independent democracy. That's a tall order, especially since Ozma is the capital of the GSC! But, Ozma is also the second most popular world in known space, and the supporters of OFM simply want freedom for their planet. For years, the OFM fought a peaceful campaign of protests an sit-down riots. But, within the past few decades, their methods became more active. They became guerrillas, terrorists, saboteurs, and double agents. They have obtained weapons, ships, mecha, battlesuits, and supplies, mostly from raids, but it is necessary to point out that the OFM uses large numbers of old- style Raptors and other ITR equipment, an indication that they may be secretly supported by the ITR. With the recent rise to power of General Alan Briggs, the OFM has become more determined than ever to overthrow the GSC government. Naturally, Briggs is determined to stamp the OFM out of existence, once and for all. ITR: The ITR smiles upon the actions of the OFM. Though the public of the ITR sees the OFM as nothing more than terrorists and murders, bombing buildings and blowing up space- liners, the ITR government is keenly aware of the adverse and demoralizing effect this has on the GSC populous. It is a terrible, but sanctionable, shadow war. As mentioned above, there are indications the ITR is supporting the OFM. If they are, they must be very careful, for the citizens of the ITR hate the OFM as much as the GSC does. If word of the ITR's involvement got out, there could be major trouble. GSC: It goes without saying that the GSC hates the OFM. Neutral: The OFM is a neutral party, sort of. Needless to say, they are completely against the GSC, but have little love for the ITR, even though the ITR may be supplying them with weapons and equipment. Coup d'etet For ten years, Alan Briggs worked hard at building networks and contacts within the political and military system of the GSC, even serving as a Senator for four years. By 2380, he had made a name for himself, and was a Major in the Coalition Mecha Force, His reputation far exceeded his actually rank, and Major Briggs could make any warship captain, and even a few admirals, his puppet. Briggs had power and knew how to wield it. Charismatic and silver tongued, Briggs was also a genius military tactician and a formidable mecha pilot. No sane military commander would dare question his judgment, and even generals were nervous around him. Even so, Briggs' enemies were many, and several assassination attempts have been made on his life, though all failed. In April of 2380, Briggs made his big move. Taking control of the flagship Victorious, he led a force of thirty warships to Ozma and declared himself High General. He ordered the arrest of all government officials who opposed him. With an inspiring speech on his part, half the GSC military joined him. The executive leaders and senators of the GSC quickly found themselves dead or on the run. Briggs' master plan calls for complete and total devotion to military conquest. In the months to come, Briggs plans to turn all industry to the war effort and to hell with the economy. He promises that once the ITR is crushed the people of the GSC will be well rewarded for their sacrifice and support. Many think this is an empty promise and believe Briggs to be nothing more than a fascist dictator. Several generals and admirals dislike Briggs and his attitude and may attempt to break away, defect to the ITR, or attack Briggs outright. For sure, the GSC is at a decisive moment. If all goes well for Briggs, he will be able to double, maybe even triple, the production rate of ships and mecha, thus leveling the playing field of war in their favor. But, if all does not go well, and Briggs is faced with a counter-coup, he may well be over his head in scrap metal. ITR: The ITR may stand to gain from this coup. If Briggs is forced to wage an internal revolutionary war against those who oppose him, the GSC strength will dwindle, instead of increase, as Briggs promised. But, should Briggs take absolute control and crush his enemies before they have a chance to fight back, the GSC may become more powerful than ever before. The PCs may find themselves in direct conflict with Briggs and his top generals and commanders. Or maybe not. Whatever the case, those GSC forces they will be fighting are under the driving influence of Briggs charismatic leaderships, and they are more determined than ever to crush the Empire once and for all. GSC: The people of the GSC are split two ways. Some believe Briggs is the savior of their cause, others see him as the Anti-Christ himself. He is a man to love and fear, an man who promises ultimate victory by way of total war. The PCs may be supporters of Briggs, or may be against him. If they are in the GSC army or navy, they should be supports, unless they are double-agents or simply hiding their distaste. The PCs may also be with a rogue ship which opposes Briggs' take over. This would make for an interesting campaign, as they and their ship are on there own, seeking out other rebels, taking refuge where they can, and fighting Briggs forces from the inside. Maybe they'll even defect to the ITR. Neutral: The OFM, of course, is the primary neutral force in opposition against Briggs (see the above section). Briggs employs a few mercenary and privateer groups from time to time, and they fight for the GSC against the ITR whether they like Briggs or not. Most mercenaries tend to like Briggs for his war- monger attitude. Divolution In 2200 the Diver Era begin and has been continuing to this day. Now, 180 years later, much has been learned about diverscience, and it has become the foundation for our modern understanding of the universe itself. Diverdrive and divercomm bend matter and energy though the sub-dimension of diverspace, a plane of existence psychically obtainable to divers or powerful gravitic machines. Mankind has been evolving to a new level of consciousness. Energy is matter, and matter is energy. It has been put forth that the boundaries between these two states may be merely an illusion, and transcending such boundaries may easier than we have yet calculated. All divers have a distinct psychic resonance, or aura, and their power is a direct function to their psychic potential. Some believe that divers, especially powerful divers, are boarding on the state between matter and energy. Could one day our race spontaneously convert to a state of pure energy transcending the limits of flesh and become nothing less than gods? Or, will the transition to energy be as destructive and deadly as contacting matter with antimatter, destroying all thought, memory, and consciousness? We could be on the boarder between eternal godhood or a bottomless abyss of darkness... So far, no diver has made the transition, but a few are powerful enough that they one day might. It has been estimated that within the youngest generation there may be super-divers with such a potential. Super-divers may be latent or untrained, but given proper training they could become extremely powerful psychics. A super-diver is treated as a normal diver for all intents and purposes, but has, effectively, an unlimited 1/10 scale psi- amp built-in. Needless to say, such a powerful character is restricted to NPCs, and they will be young -- probably less than 10 years old. ITR: The ITR (or GSC) would be incredibly interested in obtaining a super-diver. Such an asset could turn the tides of war. An entire plot might revolve around rescuing, finding, capturing, or kidnapping a super-diver child. GSC: Same as for ITR. Neutral: Who knows what independent colonies and secret bases might have in store for the rest of the universe. Somewhere, out there among the stars, there might be a lost colony ruled by super-divers, or a lurking armada of psi-ships just waiting to reclaim the home world of humanity. Then again, it could all be sheer fantasy. The Cobra Project Ah, Innocent Capellan... floating silently in space, far out of harms way of the War... A quite agricultural world, the ITR has deemed Capellan as a low priority target. No wonder the GSC made it home to the ultra-classified Cobra Project. Deep under the brown and green corn fields and orange groves something sinister is brewing. For years farmers have reported seeing strange things in the sky and huge footprints in their tobacco fields. Some said a race of giants were roaming the countryside, others said aliens were visiting the plants, while yet others smacked those farmers and said the culprits were secret government prototype mecha! Of course, the tabloids thought the Giant Flying Alien story was much better. In reality, the GSC was using Capellan as a testing and manufacturing facility for their new line of Cobra Advanced Tactical Mecha. Cobra ATMs are stealth mecha, equipped with radar absorbing armor, ECM and ECCM suits, advanced sensors, and powerful weapons. Plans are underway to use them in the war within four to five months. It is unknown how many have been manufactured as prototypes, but there maybe as many as twenty. In four months, there could be hundreds... ITR: The ITR is unaware of the secret facility on Capellan, but they have their suspicions that something is going on there. The PCs might find themselves on a secret mission to Capellan to investigate the sightings of night-flying humanoid craft and odd footprints in ground. This might lead them to the secret GSC base and to unraveling the mystery of the Cobra Project. The ITR would also find any information from such a base invaluable, and a Cobra mecha, in whole or in part, would be extremely well received. Even if they don't go to the base, the Cobra mecha will start to show up in battles about August or September ready to kick some serious butt. GSC: PCs stationed at the secret base (known as Zone 14) will most likely be part of a garrison force or the test pilots themselves. Being a test pilot is far from boring (see Macross Plus, for example) and may be a great way to lead into a larger campaign. Of course, Cobras are pretty exotic mecha for starting characters, and the Referee should be well advised of this. Neutral: Just the farmers, and they don't do much. Of course, if the OFM ever found out about the secret base, things might start to heat up... Zion Track A Sample Game Track Presented here is a sample Game Track based on the premise of the Mysteries of Arcturus with a few other elements mixed in to create a vivid, exiting saga. Though this is the default Time Line for the Metal Storm universe, it need not be followed. Referees who find this Game Track appealing may place their characters in it, as they see fit. Zion Track Time Line March: 2380 On Eridani, House Ammar makes a secret pact with the GSC and are given arms and equipment in exchange for disrupting the military integrity of Eridani. They lead a strike against their feudal enemy, House Toshio. The ITR cannot interfere as it is a feudal strife, however, Taeon Toshio goes rogue with his mecha to assist his family in their crisis. Ryo Gunn is sent to bring him back. After being captured, Taeon Toshio and Ryo Gunn discover the GSC's plot, and the ITR intervenes to stop the feudal coup. Eridani is saved, for the time being. April Major Briggs declares himself High General, and takes over the GSC. A brief set of battles are fought, but in the end the GSC military sides with Briggs. He enacts total control and swears to destroy the ITR by the end of the year. May The spy on board the Vigilant captures the information on the psi- amp. Ryo Gunn discovers that the holodisk from his father may contain some vital information. The spy is after the holodisk as well, and he will not leave until it is captured. June The spy, who turns out to be Kay Sabre (a member of the Guardian Squadron) steals Ryo's holodisk and flees with it, as well as the psi-amp tech specs. In the ensuing battle, the Victorious appears to retrieve her, but Taeon destroys Kay's V Raptor with a well placed shot. Though she ejects, the pod is damaged and decompressed. Kay transmits the data for the psi-amp to the Victorious, but the holodisk tumbles out into space where Ryo retrieves it. Briggs rescues Kay. Her body is badly damage, and he swears vengeance. July Some information from the holodisk is retrieved, though most of it was corrupted from the damage. Based on a precognitive dream of Taeon, Ryo suspects there is a secret base at Arcturus where his parents worked to devise new technologies. In the GSC, General Briggs increases production of weapons and mecha and accelerates training for pilots. He prepares for a major offensive. Without warning, the top leaders of the ITR are assassinated by several of Briggs' agents. Chaos ensues. August The GSC forces invade Eridani with such aggression that the ITR is forced to pull out. They retreat to the Sol system. From here, Admiral Steele sends an advanced scout ship to Arcturus, to investigate the possibility of a secret base being there. Imperial Intelligence reports that at one point there was a secret base, but there was an "incident" and it was destroyed. The Guardian Squadron is dispatched to the scout ship, the FF Stinger, which heads off to the distant star system. September The Stinger arrives at Arcturus. The planet's only moon seems to be missing. They also discover an abandoned base buried deep underwater, thrusted down by some great cataclysm several years ago. They are unable to salvage the large super-mecha they find in the base as the base collapses and is flooded with water. Before leaving, Ryo discovers the missing moon "teleported" to a certain area of the system's asteroid belt. As the Stinger prepares to investigate, the GSC advanced survey fleet also arrives. The Stinger jumps to the coordinates, but the moon is not there. The GSC fleet follows them and attacks. The Stinger and Guardian Squadron try to hold them off. The Stinger is sunk, and several members of the Guardian Squadron die. Luckily, the primary ITR fleet arrives, led by Admiral Steel. They quickly dispatch the GSC forces. October The lost Zion Moon appears having been cloaked, and contact is established. Ryo discovers his mother is still alive, and she has been working on the secret colony on the hidden moon all these years. He, Taeon, Admiral Steele, and others go down to the peaceful research colony to negotiate for the use of their advanced technology in the fight against the GSC. The Zion scientists agree. Having foreseen events, they know what must be done. Ryo gets Metal Storm Beta as his brain had been altered before birth to be a perfect interface with the new systems (see Project Metal Storm). November More GSC forces arrive in the system vastly out numbering the ITR fleet. Admiral Steele sends a group of decoy ships with new-tech holoprojectors to the fourth world to draw off half the GSC fleet. The rest of the ITR fleet then jumps to Arcturus to secure or destroy Metal Storm Alpha before Briggs gets hold of it. The battle is costly, and the ITR is defeated and forced to withdraw back to the Zion Moon. In a desperate last ditch strike, the Moon diver-jumps back to Arcuturus with the reorganized remains of the ITR fleet. The battle erupts once more. Taeon and Allen infiltrate the Victorious in the hopes of finding and destroying Metal Storm Alpha, but they are caught and captured by X Meridian, a powerful GSC diver. They eventually escape, and return to their ship. Nov. 18th Xandra vanishes into the astral plane. She creates the Fate Blanket and a psi-shock wave hits creating a "psi-buzz" which blocks out all precog and danger sense abilities. The astral plane becomes an empty void. Xandra "steals" the Zion Moon and takes it to the Sol system using the Reality Horizon to create the Fate Blanket over the local space-time. As the battle rages on, Xandra takes the Zion Moon to Mars and destroys the planet utterly with the massive energies granted to her by the Reality Horizon. She proceeds to Earth and takes orbit. She is subdued. The base is destroyed but not before discharging the Horizon's power and sending arcs of energy through the fleets of ships and across Earth's surface. The battle is over, but the devastation is terrible. December Rebuilding begins. The last of the GSC forces are hunted down and destroyed. Begin planning for campaigns to retake Eridani, Alpha Centauri, Sirius and the former GSC worlds. For further information, consult the Metal Storm: 2380 short story saga, available at: http://www.meta-earth.com/metal/metal.html Project Metal Storm Project Metal Storm started thirty years ago as Project Reality Dawn. It was secretly funded by the ITR military, and lead by Dr. Samuel Gunn, Dr. Kei Gunn, and Alan Briggs (as military science advisor). The ITR military eventually insisted on a new project, Project Metal Storm, to adapt the discoveries of Project Reality Dawn to military usage. Knowing that their discoveries could be used for terrible destruction, the scientists refused. The ITR insisted, and had several people eliminated as an example. The scientists were then forced to work on Project Metal Storm. Samuel and Kei Gunn had their son, Ryo, genetically altered before birth. Not only was he given boosted reflexes, super- human eyesight, stronger bones, and so on, but he was also engineered to be an interface pilot with Metal Storm Alpha, a super-mecha based on the new technologies. He was not, however, kept at the base as his parents wanted to keep him as far from the project as possible. He lived with his uncle on Venus, until he was old enough to train as a mecha pilot. Meanwhile, something went terribly wrong. Briggs convinced everyone that if they defected to the GSC, they would be treated fairly and given freedom over their project. They agreed and defected. But, Briggs had lied. He brought in the GSC troops in an attempt to steal the Metal Storm technologies. He had double- crossed the ITR and defected to the Coalition. However, ITR forces soon arrived and a battle ensued. Terrified, the scientists smashed everything and burned their labs. Samuel Gunn transferred as much data as he could to a holodisk and gave it to his wife who fled with many of the scientists to the colony on the Zion Moon. From there, they used the immense Reality Horizon generator to teleport the moon to a hidden place in the asteroid belt and cloak themselves from view. Kei immediately had an agent transport the holodisk back to Venus where, by underground contacts, it finally reached Ryo Gunn. Kei had hopes that by the time the war ended, Ryo would have discovered the true contents of the disk and announced it to the scientific community. But all did not go as planned. The divers at the Base on the Zion Moon foresaw the events that were to come, and knew they must be prepared. They constructed Metal Storm Beta, ready to accept Ryo Gunn as its pilot when he returned. Briggs wanted to retrieve the lost Metal Storm Alpha. He genetically engineered a pilot for interfacing with the MS- Alpha's systems -- Kay Sabre, a genetically engineered pilot based on the DNA plans for Ryo Gunn. When Kay was nearly killed in combat, Briggs could save only her brain, but that was all he needed. He had her brain transferred to a fully cybernetic body. When the time came, she would be transferred to Metal Storm Alpha and used as its primary control system. New Tech of Project Metal Storm Project Metal Storm introduced many new technologies. These were: Improved shields, with no restrictions Energy Reflector Fields Gravitic Thruster Systems Electro-Optical Cloaking (or Active Cloaking) Phased-Electro-Optical Cloaking (advanced cloaking options) Holofield Shadow Projector System (or Shadow Imager) Themodynamic Energy Pile Armor (TEPA) (RAM armor) Energy Missiles (See below) Other Experimental Technology Systems Nanotech repair system (Regenerating option, at TL:8) Microtechnologies for Diverdrives (small enough for mecha) Bio-Neural Control System (see below) Energy Missiles The specs for making Energy Missiles is as follows:
Energy Missles Damage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Cost 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 Range 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 14 15 15 16 Accuracy -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3
Cost x0.6 x0.8 x1.0 x1.3 x1.6 x2.0 Range 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 500% 1000% 3000% 5000%
Cost x.5 x.62 x.75 x.88 x1.0 x1.12 x1.25 x1.38 x1.5 x3.0 x5.5 x15.5 x25.5 Shots 0 1 2 3 5 10 inf Warm-Up Time 0 1 2 3
Cost x.33 x.5 x.6 x.7 x.8 x.9 x1.0 Cost x1.0 x.9 x.7 x.6 Smart 1 2 3 4 Skill 6+ 9+ 12+ 15+ 18+ 20+
Cost x2.5 x3.0 x3.5 x4.0 Cost x1 x1.3 x1.6 x1.9 x2.2 x2.5 Blast Radius 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20
Cost x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x7.5 x8 x8.5 x9 x10 x20 Long Range: x1.33 Disruptor: x2.0 "Mega-Beam": x10.0 CounterMissile: x1.0 Armor-Piercing: x2.0 Shock Added: x3.0 Shock Only: x2.0 Variable: x1.8 Energy Missile Special Note: Energy missiles cannot be shot down and move at the speed of light (hypervelocity). Homing energy missiles use gravity manipulation fields (enabled by TEQSAC technology). All missiles contain transient energy/matter electronics, in a state of energy but equivent in function to its matter counterpart. Kills are calculated the same (sum the damage the missiles should do, multiplied by the number of launchers in the pack and divid by 15). Example: Metal Storm Alpha has a a ten-pack energy missile launcher. Each missile does 10 points of damage, has 0 accuracy, and a range of 11. Each missile is smart, for 3 rounds and has a skill of 18+. The laucher can fire an infinite number of times (once per round), and each launcher has a warm-up time of 1 round (it can fire a full volly of 10 every other round). It has no blast radius and not other options. The total cost for the ten-pack laucher is 10 x2.0 x.9 x3.5 x2.2 = 138.6 CP, 139 spaces, and has 6 kills. Space efficency is take to reduce the total spaces to 5, costing an additional 67 CP for a total CP of 205.6 CP. After this is done, it is also scaled up to corvette size. About the Bio-Neural Control System The bio-neural control system is a direct, fully integrated neural interface system. Unlike the standard neural interface, which reads thoughts indirectly by picking up brain wave activity, the BNCS is part of the brain itself. A pilot must be genetically engineered at birth to be capable of using this system. The genetic alterations allow for seemless comunications between the pilot's enhanced brain and the biological interface system that melds with this head. This is by no means uncomfortable, and in fact, the pilot will lose all sense of self as he becomes the mecha. This system provides several advantages, not unlike the standard neural interface, but to a much higher degree.There is a +2 MV bonus, which can incress the total MV above 0. The mecha recives a +100% MP bonus. All weapon accuracies are increase by +1 Control multiple for remote systems is x2 The pilot has 3 actions, instead of just 2. For every 3 kills internal of damage that are sustained (may be scalled) the pilot on hit of damage to his head, ignoring armor protection. This system also includes a secondary control facility, which is a VR control system, for pilots who are not capable of using the interface. Only one pilot may use this system, that is, for a multipule person crew only one may use the BNCS. All others must use other systems, including standard neural interfaces if desired. This system cost x1.0 And remember, only pilots "built for the job" may us it. The Zion Moon One of the biggest questions asked is "Where did Arcturus's moon go?". According to the Zion Track (above), the rogue scientists of the Arcturus base teleported to the secondary base on the Zion Moon. They used the newly invented Reality Horizon to teleport into the system's asteroid belt where they hid for twelve years developing diver sciences and super-technology. Besides the technology of Project Metal Storm (above) the most outstanding feature of the moon is the Reality Horizon -- the epitome of Project Reality Dawn. The Horizon consists of three major parts. The first is a massive pair of belts that circumscribe the surface of the Zion Moon across the equator and prime meridian and that contain millions of powerful psion amplifier nodes, power conduits, and energy focusing lenses. The second is the primary power station used to "kick start" the amplification reaction, consisting of one of the largest antimatter powerplants constructed and one whopper of a capacitor (if the powerplant goes the moon blows!). The final component is the Reality Throne, a huge machine twelve kilometers below the main base and accessible only by a single elevator shaft. In the chamber sits the great machine, your typical sinister-looking full-body interfacing super-machine lined with pipes and cables and crowned with glowing, pulsating spheres. Up to five divers may interface with the machine. Each diver linked adds to the amplified power level but also reduces the overall skill to use it. Therefore, a single super-diver could really power the machine! Below is the chart (in x1,000,000 excessive scale). # of Divers Ranges Weights Damages Skill Pen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1 x25,000,000 x1,000,000,000 x15,000,000 0 2 x40,000,000 x1,750,000,000 x25,000,000 -2 3 x60,000,000 x2,500,000,000 x35,000,000 -4 4 x75,000,000 x3,000,000,000 x45,000,000 -6 5 x85,000,000 x4,000,000,000 x60,000,000 -8 These numbers are multiples of the power level of the diver with the greatest Psi attribute. If the diver is a super-diver, his or her additional multipliers for being a 1/10 scale psi-amp are further multiplied in. Alternatively, a super-diver interfaced with the system could simply have infinite power at his or her discretion. The Reality Horizon is also a Psi-Amp with an unlimited portfolio, x1/2 draw, and zero backlash (as it's a moon, not a mecha, backlash would not make much sence). Aside from the Reality Horizon, the Zion Moon also has a colonial research base of several thousand people. This base consists of three main bio-domes, a small space port, a couple of mecha bays (housing some experimental mecha using the new Metal Storm technology), hydroponics domes, two small factories, and a power station. Supporting Cast Alan Briggs, High General of the GSC Age: 40 Stats: 7 Int, 7 Cool, 10 Rfx, 10 Emp, 6 Bod Important Skills: 10 Leadership, 7 Tactics, 5 Handgun, 10 Mecha Gunnery, 10 Mecha Piloting Characteristics: Long and dramatic silver-white hair, amber eyes, always wears a noble-looking uniform with matching cape. Personality: Arrogant and melodramatic. Has a tendency to make speeches at the slightest provocation even to the enemy. Especially to the heroes. Wishes only to conquer all of known space, and beyond. Sees himself as a god-emperor to be. Rome Valmore, GSC Grand Admiral Age: 56 Stats: 10 Int, 8 Cool, 6 Rfx, 8 Emp, 6 Bod, 10 Psi Important Skills: 9 Leadership, 6 Tactics, 7 Handgun, 6 Precog, 5 Telepathy, 6 Telekinesis, 7 Clairvoyance Characteristics: Short gray hair, gray eyes, tall and well built. Personality: A tough military veteran, loyal to the death to General Briggs. He has no tolerance for failure, and is known for killing insolent fools with a thought. Currently using the Victorious as his flagship. Ithica Orion, Captain of the GSC Victorious Age: 47 Stats: 8 Int, 5 Cool, 7 Rfx, 6 Emp, 6 Bod Important Skills: 7 Leadership, 5 Tactics, 6 Handgun Characteristics: Short crew-cut black hair, boardering on being overweight but fairly well built despite this. Always wears uniform gloves. Personality: Quite, nervous, and overly cautious. He's a perfectionist and obsessive compulsive when it comes to cleanliness. He can't stand dust or dirt, and is maniacal when he get dirty. Somewhat fearful of Admiral Valmore, but is deeply loyal to Briggs. With both Briggs and Valmore aboard the Victorious, Captain Orion has found himself merely a figurehead and nothing more than a yes-man for these two exalted leaders of the GSC. But he doesn't mind it so much. Hans von Meinkompf, Leading GSC Scientist Age: 74 Stats: 10 Int, 8 Cool, 5 Rfx, 3 Emp, 4 Bod, 10 Tech Important Skills: 10 Mecha Design, 8 Mecha Tech, 10 Science, 8 Astrophysics, 5 Quantum Science Characteristics: Old man, wears a white lab coat, always hunched over and uses a cane. Personality: A bitter old man, who'd sooner growl at you than talk to you. But he's smart, and he knows it. He has little patience and is always mumbling about all the work he has to do. X Meridian, Top GSC Diver Age: 26 Stats: 8 Int, 10 Cool, 10 Rfx, 7 Emp, 7 Att, 5 Bod, 10 Psi Important Skills: 6 Mecha Pilot, 5 Mecha Gunnery, 10 Telepathy, 10 Telekinesis, 8 Energy Manipulation, 6 Clairvoyance, 8 Teleportation Characteristics: Long brown hair, tall, beautiful. Always wears dressy, noble-looking costume. Personality: Arrogant, proud, cocky, conceited, overconfident, etc. She belittles nearly everyone she sees as inferior, which is most everyone, even General Briggs. But she serves Briggs under the delusion that she's using him to gain power. Gunther Colt, Diver and ace mecha pilot for the GSC Age: 28 Stats: 7 Int, 8 Cool, 10 Rfx, 4 Emp, 5 Bod, 7 Psi Important Skills: 7 Mecha Pilot, 6 Mecha Gunnery, 6 Telepathy, 4 Telekinesis, 3 Energy Manipulation, 4 Clairvoyance, 8 Healing Characteristics: Black hair, gray eyes, tall, broad shouldered. Personality: Moody and rash, he's always gunning for a fight. The fact that he's a diver makes him doubly dangerous, and he knows it. Gunther is Briggs' wingman of choice when he goes into battle. William Savant, 1st Lieutenant, GSC ace mecha pilot Age: 22 Stats: 10 Int, 8 Cool, 10 Rfx, 4 Emp, 4 Bod, 6 Edu Important Skills: 8 Mecha Pilot, 8 Mecha Gunnery, 7 Mecha Design, 8 Mecha Tech, 5 Basic Repair, 4 Instrument (guitar) Characteristics: Thin, lanky, wild orange hair and has to wear glasses (but that does not impair him in combat). Personality: Somewhat nerdy and anti-social, his IQ has been rated at 200+. Savant is quite and spends most of his time reading, playing his guitar, or training. He loves flying, and really doesn't care if he fights for the GSC or ITR (he just so happens to have been born on Altair, so he fights for the GSC). Despite his social shortcoming, nearly every squadron in the GSC wants him as he is one of the best mecha pilots who ever lived.
Aaron Grashein, President of the ITR Age: 48 Stats: 7 Int, 6 Cool, 6 Rfx, 8 Emp, 5 Bod Important Skills: 10 Leadership, 8 Politics, 7 Fast-Talk, 6 Human Perception, 7 Social Characteristics: Clean cut politician, swept-back black hair, always wears a business suit. Personality: Your typical smooth-talking politician, always saying the right thing and double-talking everything else. Inside he is corrupt and power hungry, wanting noting but money, money, and more money. Sylvia Steele, ITR Fleet Admiral Age: 51 Stats: 10 Int, 9 Cool, 6 Rfx, 7 Emp, 4 Bod, 10 Psi Important Skills: 9 Leadership, 7 Tactics, 4 Handgun, 8 Precog, 7 Telepathy, 4 Telekinesis, 8 Clairvoyance Characteristics: Black, graying hair, elderly appearance for her age. Wears her uniform only when on duty, dresses in more comfortable civvies when off duty. Personality: Patient, friendly, but serious. She is forgiving, but strictly enforces Imperial law. Though she liberally rewards success, she rewards failure with equal penalty. James Avenger, top ITR General Age: 47 Stats: 8 Int, 7 Cool, 9 Rfx, 6 Emp, 7 Bod Important Skills: 7 Leadership, 8 Tactics, 7 Handgun, 4 Human Perception, 5 Social Characteristics: A big fellow, but in bulk not fat. Keeps in good shape despite his age. Black hair beginning to show lines of gray. Rock hard facial expression. Personality: Cold, removed, demanding, and hard to please. He is determined and driven to put an end to the GSC's reign of terror. He is outwardly disappointed in his son's (Michael Avenger's) performance as a mecha pilot. Currently stationed on the ITR Sri Lanka. Richard Armour, Captain of the ITR Vigilant Age: 41 Stats: 8 Int, 10 Cool, 7 Rfx, 8 Emp, 6 Bod Important Skills: 8 Leadership, 4 Tactics, 8 Handgun, 7 Piloting Characteristics: Short black hair and mustache. Wears an old navy cap which casts a shadow just over his eyes. Keeps his uniform crisp and clean. Personality: Stable and serious. Values honor above all else. Sometimes smokes a pipe and bumps his head on the top of small hatches. Edward Chrome, Leading ITR Scientist Age: 68 Stats: 10 Int, 9 Cool, 6 Rfx, 8 Emp, 4 Bod, 10 Tech Important Skills: 9 Mecha Design, 9 Mecha Tech, 10 Science, 7 Divology (study of diver science), 7 Computer Science Characteristics: Balding with a bit of wild hair behind his head. Always seen in lab coat. Personality: Friendly and helpful, but somewhat eccentric and obsessed with his work. Destiny Gray, ITR lieutenant and ace mecha pilot Age: 32 Stats: 10 Int, 10 Cool, 10 Rfx, 6 Emp, 5 Bod Important Skills: 10 Mecha Pilot, 10 Mecha Gunnery, 4 Handgun Characteristics: Long black hair. Always in uniform. Wears an emotionless expression at all times. Personality: Intellectual and detached. Selfish and self- centered. Lost his entire squadron at Barnard (they were used as a pawn in an experimental test of a psychic weapon), and was reassigned to the ITR Vigilant. Rarely talks, and when he does, his words are cold and cryptic. Ryo Gunn, ITR Lieutenant, mecha pilot Age: 26 Stats: 10 Int, 8 Cool, 10 Rfx, 5 Emp, 7 Bod Important Skills: 7 Mecha Pilot, 7 Mecha Gunnery, 4 Awareness, 5 EMC Characteristics: long blue hair, amber eyes, tall and physically well built. Reflexes are genetically engineered as is his hair color. Personality: Quiet and secretive, very private and only opens up to those close to him. Has in his possession a mysterious holodisk from his departed father of which he is very protective, as it's his only remaining recording of his father. He is an ace mecha pilot and obsessed with being the best of the best. Taeon Toshio, ITR Lieutenant, mecha pilot Age: 24 Stats: 5 Int, 10 Cool, 10 Rfx, 4 Emp, 5 Bod Important Skills: 5 Mecha Pilot, 6 Mecha Gunnery, 4 Handgun, 3 Mecha Tech Characteristics: Short red hair, green eyes, tall, average build. Personality: Outwardly acts proud and arrogant, but it's mostly an act. He is deeply concerned for his House on Eridani, and for the fact that Kanis may become hair to Falmore-Glave if his father dies. Balmor Toshio, Baron of Falmore-Glave Age: 66 Stats: 7 Int, 5 Cool, 6 Rfx, 7 Emp, 5 Bod Important Skills: 7 Leadership, 5 Fast-Talk, 6 Human Perception, 8 Social, 6 Tactics Characteristics: Somewhat out of shape, he's not the powerful man he used to be. But, he's still strong and proud. Personality: His once noble presence has dwindled in the awesome shadow of his megalomaniac son, Kanis Toshio. When his wife died during the birth of his last child, Xandra Toshio, Balmor became more distant and removed. He became more eccentric in his wealth and power -- building casinos, hotels, and parks throughout the Inner City of Falmore-Glave in the hopes it would bring him happiness. But, it did not. He is proud of his son, Taeon, and the elder daughter Sara, but looks down on Kanis. He fears and avoids Xandra. Kanis Toshio, Heir designate of Falmore-Glave Age: 28 Stats: 6 Int, 8 Cool, 8 Rfx, 8 Emp, 6 Bod Important Skills: 6 Leadership, 10 Fast-Talk, 7 Human Perception, 6 Social, 5 Tactics, 5 Handgun, 6 Mecha Gunnery, 5 Mecha Piloting Characteristics: Short black hair, black eyes, always smirking and smug. He often wears a Royal Toshio Guard uniform, flaunting his rank pin, that of General. If not in uniform, he's in a dramatic nobleman's getup. Personality: Stuck-up, arrogant, proud, and aloof. Kanis would like nothing better than to see his Father, Baron Balmor, croak so he can take the throne. He knows Taeon dislikes him, as does his sister, Sara. And he'd just as soon kill them, too. Xandra Toshio, first recorded Super-Diver Age: 10 Stats: 10 Int, 10 Cool, 5 Rfx, 1 Emp, 3 Bod Important Skills: unknown psionic abilities... Characteristics: A small, innocent little girl with flowing blond hair and lucid black eyes. Personality: Very distant and removed. Speaks only in cryptic riddles. Never refers to anyone by their name, only by title, relation, or description, and will always add the prefix 'little' (Little Brother, Little General, Little Servant, etc.). She is feared by many for her sheer alienness, and has been declared clinically insane, and under house supervision by ten psychologists. The true extent of her diver powers is unknown at this time. Muhhad Ammar, Baron of Durshaan Age: 87 Stats: 6 Int, 6 Cool, 5 Rfx, 8 Emp, 5 Bod Important Skills: 8 Leadership, 6 Fast-Talk, 5 Human Perception, 7 Social, 7 Tactics, 4 Handgun Characteristics: An old man of Arabic decent, balding, hunched over, and always wears kingly robes. Personality: Stubborn and always serious, he can never take a joke (the court jester has long since been put to death). He's a sharp man, but at his age, his mind is beginning to slip. He forgets little things from time to time, but never anything of importance. Wishes only to see Balmor Toshio dead and Falmore- Glave burn to the ground before he dies. Kyle Suavarre, Leader of the OFM Age: 26 Stats: 7 Int, 10 Cool, 7 Rfx, 10 Emp, 6 Bod Important Skills: 9 Leadership, 8 Human Perception, 4 Social, 7 Tactics, 5 Handgun, 6 Mecha Gunnery, 6 Mecha Piloting Characteristics: Long black hair, usually tied behind his head. Calm brown eyes, usually always smiling and cheery. Personality: Friendly, outgoing, charming, witty, and humorous, he's a leader who's loved not only for his personality, but his brilliant tactical mind and combat ability as well. Angila Maxxillian, ITR Special Operative Age: 24 Stats: 7 Int, 8 Cool, 8 Rfx, 5 Emp, 8 Att, 6 Bod, 8 Psi Important Skills: 7 Survival, 5 Shadowing, 7 Interrogation, 5 Resist Torture, 7 Streetwise, 7 Seduction, 8 Handgun, 8 Telepathy, 6 Clairvoyance, 5 Psi Blast, 7 Pyrokinesis Characteristics: Long red hair, blazing green eyes. She always dresses in the latest style and rarely goes anywhere without shades and a cool jacket. Always carries a heavy laser pistol. Personality: Quiet and determined, but does like to have fun every once in a while. She likes a good fight, and will rarely pass one up. Her superiors in Imperial Intelligence call her "a reckless liability" but her skills in clandestine operations are unparalleled. Chapter 5: Technology
The technology of Metal Storm is TL 8: The age of biotechnology and anti-gravity. The following technology from Mekton Z Plus is valid. Other technologies may be invented as per Invention rules on page 10 of MZ+.Most mecha are humanoid (two arms, two legs, and a head). However, beast or semi-humanoids are possible (but rare). Transformers and combiners are non-existent, but are also possible. Driods, bioroids, and power armor are made as per 1/10th scaling rules. Roadstriker are common and are called battlesuits. Transforming power suits are normally restricted to motorcycles. Corvette mecha are quite rare, but are possible as superweapons. They probably will not be transformable. Metal Storm Alpha and Beta are corvette scale. Most small ships (shuttles, transports, gunships) are corvette scale. All armor is valid except RAM armor (Zion tech: called TEP Armor). All weapons are valid. Standard shields are valid. Reactive force shields are new, and at least one weakness must be taken on these, except for ship- scale shields. No reflectors, but they could be invented. All sensors and recon systems are valid except gravity lens. All ECM and ECCMs are valid. Remote drones may be used. All forms of propulsion and booster-packs are valid except gravitic. Command armor is called Ironclad (a Raptor with command armor is called an Ironclad Raptor). Balance verniers are standard, and installed to negate the bad effects of this extra armor. The following power plants are valid: MHD (underpowered, cold) RIG (underpowered, hot) Cold Fusion (standard, cold) Laser Fusion (standard, hot) Dynamo Reactor (overcharged, cold) Core Furnace (overcharged, hot) Gravitic Turbine (supercharge, cold) Antimatter Reactor(supercharged, hot) Other power plants: Internal Combustion (hot or cold, any charge level) Power Cell (hot or cold, any charge level) Any cockpit control may be used, including mind control (called neural interface control). NIC is quit common, despite its high price. All hydraulic systems and special environment adaptations may be used. Maneuvering verniers, ACE, and internal automation may be used. All cloaking systems may be used except active cloaking Shadow imager is not valid, but it could be invented. ESPer Lens are valid. Psychic powers are rare, but exist nonetheless. ESPer Lenses are very rare, but they can be installed for special individuals. ESPer Lenses are called psi- amps. Only ship-scale versions are available, and only one built to date. Turbochargers (V-Maxes) may be used and are called dynamaxes. Techno-Organics may exist as experimental tech at Barnard. Light-speed (and faster) is just for ships. Use the drives in the main Mekton book. Speed is 3 light years (around 1.1 parsec) per day. Called "Diverdrives". Sublight drives move at 3 AU per days. Teleportation does not exist as a device, but is possible with a psi-amp if the user has that power. Again, transformation and combiners are possible, usually restricted to 1/5 scale motorcycle battle-suits. All Stupid Mekton Tricks are invalid as this is a hard SF anime game. The exception is 'oid. It is possible to make an 'oid and place it in a human brain, making it a full cyborg body. Starships Starships play a very important role in Metal Storm especially since the campaign spans many star systems. For the most part, starships work the same as they do in Mekton Zeta with just a few exceptions. Construction Cannon-fodder ships may be built with the simple rules presented in Mekton Zeta, but more important ships are built using the Mekton Technical System presented in Mekton Z+. Ships built using the MTS can have many 'servo' locations. Below are some equivalents: Torso = Hull - you may have only one Head = Turret - used to hold several large, linked guns Head = Bridge - a non-moving head can be declared the Bridge Wings = Wings Pod = Pod - useful for thruster pods, boosters, or cannons Ships are then, of course, scaled up as normal. Armor is not normally double-scaled (as per MZ+ page 108), and most ships do not have command armor, though they often have shields. Force shields may be constructed as per the MTS, but you may also use the shields presented in the basic Mekton Zeta book. STL Drive System Ships must have a standard thruster system for close-in and combat maneuvering, or a sublight drive. The standard thruster system uses the rules in Mekton Zeta, p.78. The sublight drive, using the more expansive Momentum Impulse Stream system, uses the rules for MZ+, on p.81, costing x.75. However, the MIS can move a ship at 3 AUs per day (that's better than TL 10, but its the only way to get anywhere in space in a reasonable amount of time!). MIS drives may also be slowed down and used for close-in combat maneuvering drives, rated anywhere between 15-20 MA. FTL Drive System All ships that are to cross the stars must have a diverdrive. The diverdive is a massive gravitational rift generator that pulls the ship into the sub-dimension of diverspace. The drive is kept in a cryo-room at practically absolute temperature, and it usually masses several tons. It's linked directly to the main power plant, and it often uses nearly 80% of all available power when active. When a ship goes into the sub-dimension, it seems to sink away into space-time hence the terminology for diving and diverspace. Diverdrives are capable of reaching a relative speed of 3 LYs per day (slightly better than TL 8). FTL Communications FTL communications are accomplished by divercomms (also called Gravity Fold Particle Wave Transmission). As you might expect, this is done by folding intense gravity waves, patterned to carry messages, just as radio waves are carried, into the sub- dimension of diverspace. The transmission folds such that it will return to normal space at or near the receiving station which will then detect and decode the gravity waves. There is a complex network of permanent divercomm transmitters and receivers scattered throughout known space, and little effort is needed to contact another world (a citizens on Centaur can pick up his vidphone and dial up a friend on Mars, though it would cost a fortune!). Mobile transmitters (that is, ships) must spend several minutes actively pinging their divercomm searching for a deep space receiver station through which they can link a message into the d-comm network. If they want to hit a specific receiver (that is, the one for the Imperial Space Force Command on Earth, for instance) it may even take several hours to link-up. It is almost impossible for one ship to locate another ship light-years away, as mobile units are not on any standard nav- charts. Likewise, ground bases and other transmitters will find it hard, if not impossible, to locate a target ship to send a message. It is, therefore, standard military procedure for a ship to stop and link-up with a military receiver/transmitter and download orders and upload logs and reports. Naturally, if the ship is in a friendly system (such as an ITR ship in the Sirius system), they can communicate by normal radio comm with the main world, receiving from them orders and messages, and gaining the ability to link into the global network, if necessary, without having to use their own transmitter. CyberTechnology Metal Storm is set in an era where biotechnology has been perfected to the point of human prosthetic enhancement (a common occurrence in anime). Therefore, any cybernetic augmentation from Cyberpunk 2020, Chromebook 1, 2, 3, or 4 maybe used to enhance a character. It is possible to construct a 1/10 'oid (a droid) and replace the computer brain with a human brain. It must take concealment:human (x.1) to look human and a neural interface (mind control system) to control the body. Environmental protection, armor, internal weapons, and good sensors are strongly recommended. The brain takes up one space in either the head or torso. Just think of Largo, from Bubblegum Crisis, or Gally from Battle Angel, when you are making one. If computers are needed, create them and use them as per rules in CP2020. Anything else from CP2020 should not be used (i.e. weapons and vehicles from Maximum Metal, etc). Drugs from CP2020 may also be used if needed. 1 eb = 1 ¥ for conversion purposes. Humanity points work the same. 10 HP = 1 EMP. Your EMP will be reduced with increasing cybernetic enhancements. Sample Mecha Weapons
Weapons for power suits should be created per scaling rules. You may scale these sample weapons as well. Burst of 1/1 means fire then wait one round. 1/2 means fire then wait two. Other weapons may be designed as per rules in MZ+, including energy pool weapons. Energy Weapons WA Range DMG Shots Kills Burst Cost Spc Light Laser +2 6 2 inf 2 1 5 4 Medium Laser +1 9 5 inf 5 1 8 6 Heavy Laser +1 11 8 inf 8 1 12 12 Mega Laser +0 15 15 inf 15 1/1 21.3 12 Auto Laser Gun -1 8 4 inf 4 5 18 7 Particle Gun +0 16 8 inf 8 1 15 10 Particle Cannon +0 17 12 inf 12 1 22 18 Plasma Arc -2 9 10 10 10 1 12 30 (60/ arc beam) Fusion Cannon -2 36 20 inf 20 1/1 14 30 Pulsar Cannon +0 13 8 inf 8 5 49 10 Laser Anti- missile System +1 8 4 inf 4 1 8.5 1 Energy Melee WA DMG Kills Cost Spc Beam Sabre +2 4 4 7 4 Beam Sword +2 6 6 11 5 Plasma Halberd -2 15 15 9 9 Melee Weapons WA DMG Kills Cost Spc Ax +0 5-AP 5 5 5 Mace +0 6 6 3 3 Sword +2 6 6 6 6 Mono-Sword +2 6-AP 6 14.5 7 Halberd +0 14-AP 14 14 14 Missile Weapons WA Range DMG Shots Kills Cost Spc 20-Pack, Light +0 7 4 20 5 10 4 10-Pack, Medium +1 14 6 10 4 10 4 10-Pack, Heavy +2 11 10 10 7 19 10 6-Pack, Heavy +2 11 10 6 4 14 6 3-Pack, Heavy +2 11 10 3 2 6 3 Mega Missile +3 36 20 1 2 7 4 Swarm Pack Alpha +0 8 1 25 2 5 2 Swarm Pack Beta +0 8 1 50 3 10 4 Swarm Pack Gamma +0 8 1 100 7 18 9 Projectile Weap WA Range DMG Shots Kills Burst Cost Spc Light Autocannon +0 5 3 30 3 3 7.5 3 Medium Autocannon -1 7 5 20 5 4 12.5 5 Heavy Autocannon -2 8 8 16 8 4 15 6 Vulcan Cannon +0 6 4 24 4 8 24 6 Vulcan Hellfire +0 8 8 24 8 8 49 10 10cm Cannon +0 9 10 10 10 1 10 10 20cm Cannon -1 12 15 10 15 1 12 12 30cm Cannon -2 26 20 10 20 1 18 18 Rail Gun +1 18 10 10 10 1 28 12 Super Rail Gun +1 22 20 10 20 1 55 15 Hand Grenades WA Blast DMG Fuse Kills Cost Spc Lt Conc Grenade +1 1 5 0-9 1 1 1 Hvy Conc Grenade +0 2 10 0-9 1 3 1 Plasma Grenade +2 3 15 any 1 10 1 Ammo Clips HEX HEX-Kinetic APX Incendiary API |Spc Lt.AC(per30) 3 cp 7 cp 9 cp 9 cp 36 cp| 1 Md.AC(per20) 3 cp 7 cp 9 cp 9 cp 36 cp| 1 Hv.AC(per16) 3 cp 8 cp 10 cp 10 cp 39 cp| 1 Vulcan(per24) 8 cp 19 cp 25 cp 25 cp 95 cp| 1 Hellfire(per24)17 cp 41 cp 52 cp 52 cp 194 cp| 1 Ammo Clip HEX HEX-Kinetic APX AP-K Spcs Rail Gun(per 10)3.5 cp 9 cp 12 cp 34 cp | 1 SuperRail(per 10)8 cp 18 cp 24 cp 68 cp | 1 Ammo Clip Blast1 Blast2 Blast3 Blast4 Blast5 Spcs 10cm(per 10) 6 cp 8 cp 10 cp 12 cp 14 cp | 1 20cm(per 10) 7 cp 10 cp 12 cp 14 cp 17 cp | 1 30cm(per 10)11 cp 14 cp 18 cp 22 cp 25 cp | 1
Sample Ship Weapons The cost of these weapons have been scaled. However, if you plan to make your ship, then scale it up later. Please divide all cost by 5, for the time being, so you do not inadvertently double scale the weapon systems. Energy Weapons WA Range DMG Kills Burst Cost Spc X-Laser +2 600 200k 200 1 2500 4 Electron Lance +1 900 500k 500 1 4000 6 Plasma Arm +1 1100 800k 800 1 6000 12 Mega Laser +0 1500 1500k 1500 1/1 10650 12 Fusion Cannon -1 3600 2000k 2000 1/1 16800 30 Core Cannon +0 1800 1200k 1200 1 11750 7 Pulsar Cannon +0 1375 800k 800 5 24500 10 Antimat.Cannon +2 5400 2000k 2000 1 132750 9 Disrupter Super Cannon +0 1800 2000k 2000 1/1 544500 9 Mega-beam, 60 degree arc CID WA Range DMG Kills Burst Cost Spc CIDS 360 Arc +0 9 5k - inf 86 0.5 Dx CIDS 360 Arc +0 13 10k - inf 172 1 Missile Weapons WA Range DMG Shots Kills Cost Spc 20-Pack, Light +0 700 400 20 500 5000 4 10-Pack, Medium +1 1400 600 10 400 5000 4 10-Pack, Heavy +2 1100 1000 10 700 9500 10 6-Pack, Heavy +2 1100 1000 6 400 7000 6 3-Pack, Heavy +2 1100 1000 3 200 3000 3 Mega Missile +3 3600 2000 1 200 3500 4 Swarm Pack Alpha +0 800 100 25 200 2500 2 Swarm Pack Beta +0 800 100 50 300 5000 4 Swarm Pack Gamma +0 800 100 100 700 9000 9 Note about Missiles All these missiles have zero blast radius (they are shaped- charged). Any missile may be made a smart missile, as per rules in MZ+, under the MTS. Most smart missiles are very smart (18+) for 3 rounds giving a totally multiplier of x7.7. Multiply 7.7 by the missile systems cost and space to make it smart. You may have to increase its space efficiency after this. Nuclear Weapons You want nukes? We got nukes! Lotta nukes! Despite what it says in MZ+ (under Advanced Rules), Metal Storm uses nuclear weapons quite liberally. Why? Well, its a war, dammit! Why not use nukes? There are two distinct types of nukes -- Fission and Fusion. Fission is the splitting of uranium or plutonium to create a big bang. It also creates massive amounts of radioactive fall out. Fission nukes are created as normal without too much in the way of 'extra options' as they are crude and primitive devices. Fusion weapons, on the other hand, are much more elegant and clean. They create little or no fallout and make a bigger bang for the buck. Effectively to make any nuclear weapon fusion, simply make it incendiary. That's right, nuclear incendiary is fusion! For example, when it goes off, the chain reaction will cause it to explode and burn like a mini-sun for several minutes before it dies away. As you might imagine, this is extremely devastating. For this purpose only, you may bring the x4.0 multiplier and rules for incendiary ammo over to missiles when building a fusion missile. The guidelines in Mekton Zeta should still be followed; but, in addition to starting a scenario with a nuke, it's also possible to end a scenario with a nuke. That may not be a very cheery ending. Nukes can also be used in the background. That is, during a massive fleet battle, ships can be launching nukes at each other and at the planet below. The PCs can watch as dozens of ships are consumed in brilliant, swelling balls of hellish fire. Though they may be affected by EM pulses, the PCs should be well out of nuclear-harms way. Stealing a nuke, or trying to stop a nuke from being launched or detonated, could be the basis of an entire mission. Chapter 6: New Rules Divers
Divers (ESPers) are people who possess psychic powers. All rules from MZ+ are followed exactly. When a character is created and matches the prerequisites (LUK 7, INT 5), the player should roll to see if his character possess diver powers. If not, he may ditch the character and make a completely new one (none of this twin brother or sister stuff!). If the character gets a PSI stat, he should roll 1d10 to determine its point value. Both Active and Latent powers for characters are possible, but active is recommended even though you must add 4 years of training to your lifepath. Why are they called divers? One, it sounds cool (and for some unknown reason, many psychics in anime movies are called divers). Two, the nature of the psychic force. The psychic force taps a sub-dimension (the same sub-dimension that ships travel through when they 'dive') called diverspace because it exists below normal space in much the same way that water is normally below the air (space folding is also commonly called "diving"). Diver powers are much more common in 2380 than they were in the 20th century because, as the human species traveled through diver space more and more, our brains evolved to harness these powers better and better. However, it took a generation for this to show up. Taking a thousand trips through diver space will not enhance your own diver abilities. Teleportation is the mental version of space folding. Astral projected souls travel through diverspace as well. They can see into the "real" world, but cannot effect anything (as per normal rules). Teleportation For the most part, teleportation works exactly the same with one added difference. Teleportation creates a castling effect. That is, if a person teleports into solid rock, he will switch places with the matter. He will appear immediately in the rock, and a stone statue of himself will appear where he had been just before. This goes for any medium -- air, water, or even empty space. Momentum is also conserved in accordance to the laws of physics. For instance, in teleporting between two ships moving in opposite directions, not only will your body be swapped with the air (of equal mass) of your target location but your respective momentums will be swapped as well. Otherwise, you will go tearing out the front of the ship at several thousand meters per second! Precognition Foretelling of the future is a major aspect of diver powers in Metal Storm. Nearly every diver can do it, but most are terrified to do so. Why? Because once seen, the future is set. Period. Like the laws of quantum mechanics, if you cannot witness an event, there is an infinity of possiblilites. But once observed an event cannot be changed. This has some terribly interesting implications. A diver may want to foresee an event, but he will know that if he sees it badly it can't be changed, and he's left with the knowledge that nothing he, or anybody else, can do will change it. In game terms, if a character foresees an event, it will happen, no matter what! That may be a terrible burden on the Referee, except for one little loop hole. The vision might have been a symbolic one. For instance, a character may foresee his best friend (another PC) being killed. This, of course, is a very bad thing. It does not have to mean he will be killed literally (though he may well be). It could signify a change in personality, betrayal, defection to the other side, or the death of someone he is close to. Also, divers have only two degrees of foresight. That is, there are three major circles from which he can witness visions. Level zero visions concern himself. These are the most common and easiest to interpret (difficulty target 10). Level one concern close friends, relatives, and people with whom he comes into daily contact. These visions are uncommon, but do happen, and are often symbolic and hard to interpret correctly (difficulty 15). The second level involves people with whom those of the first level come into daily contact or people who the diver has met once or twice. These visions are foggy, completely symbolic, and very hard to interpret (difficulty 20). A diver may attempt to bring on a precognitive (or retrocognitive) vision by intense meditation. It generally takes a hour, and he must roll his Psi skill roll against 20. If he succeeds, he will foresee an event but has no control over what he will see. If he is trying to foresee a specific event, such as the outcome of a battle, the difficulty is 25 instead of 20. His roll is Psi stat + Psi skill + extra psi points + 1d10, as normal. Holocost of Darkness Most divers are well aware of a bizarre void in space-time. For years they have known of the problem, and there is deeply seeded concern that it may well mark the end of the universe. Others believe it to be nothing more than a ripple in time. Whatever it is, the effects are obvious. No diver has foreseen events beyond November 18th, 2380. Could it be the end of history or could it simply be a ripple in time? No one knows, and no one will until that grimly awaited day comes. One thing is for certain, there is no future history beyond that point. Technically, there is an infinite number of future possibilities. Players and Referees need not worry about this unless they are playing in the Zion Track. If they are, it is nothing more than a massive Fate Blanket created by the super-diver Xandra to keep other divers from foreseeing her actives. If the Zion Track is not played, the Referee may declare the Void just a ripple in time or a minor psionic anomaly. Ranks and CP As characters increase in their rank, they will have better access to equipment. Or, inversely, the more access the characters get, the higher their rank. Therefore, a character will be given a certain amount of CP when he or she is created. This CP maybe used to build or buy mecha, tanks, fighters, power suits, or whatever. If they want to buy non-CP equipment (anything that cost money) the conversion of CP to ¥ is 1:1000 for equipment purposes (a 200 CP mecha is not worth 200,000 ¥, but a 200 CP pool for a character is worth 200,000 ¥ for obtaining normal equipment). In each game session, this free CP pool may be spent on equipment that will be issued to the character for that game. If he needs a mecha or vehicle, he must pay for it out of this pool. If the character bought cyberware with this pool in an earlier game (not his normal salary), he must pay for it again out of this pool or have it removed which could prove painful. Basically, anything the character is assigned is paid for through this CP pool which is directly proportional to his rank. After each mission, the character is given more CP to add to his pool which can be used in the next game. The CP given to the character is equal to 5x the number of IP (direct experience) he was given for the game. As the character increases his CP pool, he may also increase in rank. Rank Total CP pool Private............... 100 Corporal.............. 150 Second Sergeant....... 200 First Sergeant........ 300 Sergeant Major........ 400 Second Lieutenant..... 500 First Lieutenant...... 600-------------- Ace Pilot Access Bonuses Captain............... 800 Ace 25 -- x1.15 Major.................1000 Ace 30 -- x1.25 Lt. Colonel...........1200 Ace 40 -- x1.5 Colonel...............1500 Ace 50 -- x1.75 Brigadier General.....1750 Ace 60 -- x2.0 Major General.........2000 Lieutenant General....2250 General...............2500 General Of the Army...3000 For instance, Sergeant Major Ultrar has 420 CP. He chooses to keep his old 340 point mecha, but also gets two 30 CP drones. He then converts the remaining 20 CP to ¥, giving him access to 20,000 ¥ worth of equipment. He pays for all the cyberware the military gave him (5500 ¥ worth). He then pays for his armor and laser rifle, and uses the rest of his money to sign out an APC his team needs to use. All characters will start out as privates working up to higher levels. However, if any character has any two attributes at a level of 10, he will by-pass private and become a corporal at the start of the game. Please note that at the rank of 1st Lieutenant the player may get an access bonus for being an ace pilot. To be an ace, the total of your mecha skills (piloting, fighting, melee, gunnery, missiles) must be at least equal to the Ace level listed. This bonus would apply to any rank at or after 1st Lieutenant. For instance, Captain Richard is an Ace 40. He has access to 1200 CP of equipment (probably a state-of-the-art mecha). However, he has 800 for calculating rank. When he has 900 CP, he will be half way to Major but have access to 1350 CP of equipment. When he becomes a Major, he will have 1000 CP, and that is equal to having access to 1500 CP of equipment. You can also earn CP outside of your rank. Any money you get outside the military can be converted to CP on a 1000:1 basis. For instance, discovering a pirate base may bring you a 200,000 ¥ bonus which could be used as 200 CP. You may use this to permanently purchase equipment; but, it will be up to you to fix it, repair it, maintain it, protected it, and so forth. If it is damaged or destroyed, the military will not cover it. Special Rules Modifications (as authorized by the "You Can Change the Laws of Physics" rules in MZ+, pg. 97). Calculating Cannon Sizes Ever want to know how big your Really Big Gun is? Here's a nice new rule for calculating the millimeter barrel diameter of a cannon. To see what your gun's mm caliber is (for projectile weapons), take its kill damage times its range (in x1 hexes, combat range only) and divide this by two, then take the square root of that total and multiply by 10 (round up or down one mm if it seems logical). This equation reads: (SQRT[(Kills*Range)/2])*10 = Barrel's mm. For instance, a 4 kill gun with a range 6 six would have (SQRT[(4*6)/2])*10 = 35mm. To figure the armor penetration of a projectile, in millimeters, simply multiply the kills by 10. This equals the mm penetration factor, used by most military scientist today. Hit Location Chart The hit location charts in MZ are not at all acceptable for a realistic game. This is a more reasonable chart for Metal Storm.
Roll odd/even for choice selections if applicable. Front Right Side 1- Head 1- Head 2- L.Leg 2- R.Leg 3- L.Arm or L.Hand held object 3- R.Arm or R.Hand held object 4- Torso or two handed object 4- Torso or (R.) Pod 5- R.Leg 5- R.Leg 6- L.Leg 6- Torso 7- Torso 7- Torso or two handed object 8- R.Arm or R.Hand held object 8- R.Arm or R.Hand held object 9- R.Leg 9- R.Leg 10- Special 10-Special Left Side Back Side 1- Head 1- Head 2- L.Leg 2- L.Leg 3- L.Arm or L.Hand held object 3- L.Arm or L.Wing 4- Torso or (L.) Pod 4- Torso or (L.) Pod 5- L.Leg 5- R.Leg 6- Torso 6- L.Leg 7- Torso or two hand held object 7- Torso or (R.) Pod 8- L.Arm or L.Hand held object 8- R.Arm or R.Wing 9- L.Leg 9- R.Leg 10- Special 10-Special
Mecha Designs Raptor Name: RTX-60 Raptor (ITR) Cost: 99 Weight: 35 Scale: x1 Configuration MV Land MA Flight MA Mecha -3 5 none Servos: Armor: Location Class Kills Space/Left Cost | Class Type SP Absorp DC Cost Torso St 6 6/1 6 | HS S 5 - 1 5 R Arm St 4 4/3 4 | HS S 5 - 1 9 L Arm St 4 4/3 4 | HS S 5 - 1 9 R Leg St 4 4/0 4 | HS S 5 - 1 9 L Leg St 4 4/0 4 | HS S 5 - 1 9 Head St 3 3/2 3 | HS S 5 - 1 8 Cost: 55 Weight: 27.5 Sensors: Sensor Type Range Comm Kills Location Cost Space Main MS 7km 1000 km 1 Head 4 1 Backup - 1km 300 km 2 Torso 2 2 Cost: 6 Weight: 1.5 Weapons: Name WA Rng Dmg Sht Kills BV CP Space Loc Notes 2 Hands +0 - 1k - 1x2 4 2 arms Lt. AC +0 5 3k 30 3 3 6 6 2-H 2-APX clips 30x2 8x2 hip On Hip Mega Missle +3 36 20k 1 2 1 7 4 RLeg Bang Mega Missle +3 36 20k 1 2 1 7 4 LLeg Bang Swarm Pack A +0 8 1k 25 2 any 5 2 Torso Boom Cost: 45 Weight: 5.5 Movement Systems: System MA Location Kills Space CostCost: Powerplant Source: Laser Fusion (hot, standard) XS: 5 MV: MA: M-Pool: Cost: -x.1 Control System Type: Screens M-Pool: Other: Cost: P+C+H Cost Multiplier: -x.1 P+C+H M-Pool Bonus(+%): +0% P+C+H Other Notes: Cost Multiplier Systems: System Cost Space Special Total Multiplier: -x.1 Total M-Pool Bonus(+%): +0% Subassemblies System Loc Space Cost Notes Cockpit Torso 1 - Liftwire Torso - .3 Anti-Theft Torso - .2 E-Seat Torso - 1 Cost: 1.5 Weight: 0 Final costs: Base Weight: 35 Fuel Weight: 0 New Weight: 35 Base Cost: 110 Cost (after Multipliers): 99 Efficency ( tons): 0 Cost (w/Efficency, links): 99 Final Weight: 35 Remote Cost (Total for All): 0 Command Armour Cost: 0 Scale: x1 Scaled Cost: 99 Scaled Weight: 35 (w/Command Armour): 35 Notes: The RTX-60 Raptor is the standard attack mecha of the ITR. It is a cheap, but deadly mechasuit. Armed with two mega-missiles, the Raptor can easily make short work of even the heaviest targets.
Raptor Ironclad Armor Name: Ironclad Armor for Raptor series (ITR) Cost: +85 Weight: +12 (only 5 tons count against MV and MA) Command Armor: Location Class Type SP DC Absorp. Space B.Mod Cost Notes Torso HS S 5 - - 10/0 .4 10 R Arm HS S 3 - - 6/3 .2 6 L Arm HS S 3 - - 6/3 .2 6 R Leg HS S 3 - - 6/0 .2 6 L Leg HS S 3 - - 6/0 .2 6 Cost: 34 Weight: 8.5 Balance Verniers Location B.Mod Space Cost Torso .4 -5 5 R Arm .2 -3 3 L Arm .2 -3 3 R Leg .2 -3 3 L Leg .2 -3 3 Cost: 14 Weapons: Name WA Rng Dmg Sht Kills BV CP Space Loc Notes 6-Pack Heavy +2 11 10k 6 4 15 5 Torso Swarm Pack B +0 8 1k 50 3 any 11 3 RLeg Swarm Pack B +0 8 1k 50 3 any 11 3 LLeg Cost: 37 Weight: 5 Notes: The Raptor Ironclad Armor is basically a suit of armor for Raptor class mecha. It may be used on RTX-60s, V Raptors, and Raptor Xs. This armor also mounts a heavy array of missiles, and has extra storage space in both arms for easy customizing. The armor is ejectable and adds about 12 tons to the mecha's total weight. However, due to the armor's vernier system only the 5 tons from the extra weapons effects the mecha's proformace.
Gallant Name: GS5-90 Gallant (GSC) Cost: 185.2 Weight: 46.2 Scale: x1 Configuration MV Land MA Flight MA Mecha -5 3 8 Servos: Armor: Location Class Kills Space/Left Cost | Class Type SP Absorp DC Cost Torso St 6 6/1 6 | MW S 6 - 1 6 R Arm MS 5 5/0 5 | MW S 6 - 1 6 L Arm MS 5 5/0 5 | MW S 6 - 1 6 R Leg MS 5 5/2 5 | MW S 6 - 1 6 L Leg MS 5 5/2 5 | MW S 6 - 1 6 Pod MS 8/0 4 | MW S 6 - 1 6 Head St 3 3/2 3 | MW S 6 - 1 6 Cost: 75 Weight: 35.5 Sensors: Sensor Type Range Comm Kills Location Cost Space Main MS 7 km 1000 KM 1 Head 4 1 Cost: 4 Weight: .5 Weapons: Name WA Rng Dmg Sht Kills BV CP Space Loc Notes 2 Hands +0 - 1k - 1x2 4 2 arms Vulcan Rifle +0 6 4k 24 4 8 22 10 2-H 3 HEX clips 24x3 6x3 hip On Hip Mega-Missile +2 16 20k 1 1 35 4 RArm Smart 18+, 3 turns Mega-Missile +2 16 20k 1 1 35 4 LArm Smart 18+, 3 turns Swarm Pack A +0 8 1k 25 2 any 5 2 Torso Boom Swarm Pack A +0 8 1k 25 2 any 5 2 Torso Boom Cost: 124 Weight: 6 Movement Systems: System MA Location Kills Space Cost Main Thruster 4 Pod - 8 8 RLeg Thruster 2 RLeg - 3 3 LLeg Thruster 2 LLeg - 3 3 TOTAL COST: 14 Powerplant Source: MHD (Cold, Underpowered) XS: 1 MV: -1 MA: -1 M-Pool: Cost: -x.15 Control System Type: Screens M-Pool: Other: Cost: P+C+H Cost Multiplier: -x.15 P+C+H M-Pool Bonus(+%): +0% P+C+H Other Notes: Cost Multiplier Systems: System Cost Space SpecialTotal Multiplier: -x.15 Total M-Pool Bonus(+%): +0% Subassemblies: System Loc Space Cost Notes Cockpit Torso 1 - Liftwire Torso - .3 Anti-Theft Torso - .2 E-Seat Torso - 1 Cost: 1.5 Weight: 0 Final costs: Base Weight: 42 Fuel Weight: 4.2 New Weight: 46.2 Base Cost: 218 Cost (after Multipliers): 185.2 Efficency ( tons): 0 Cost (w/Efficency, links): 185.2 Final Weight: 46.2 Remote Cost (Total for All): 0 Command Armour Cost: 0 Scale: x1 Scaled Cost: 185.2 Scaled Weight: 46.2 (w/Command Armour): 46.2 Notes: The GS5-90 Gallant is the primary mechasuit of the GSC. Larger and more powerful than the ITR's standard Raptor, the Gallant makes a formitable opponent in combat, with it's Vulcan rifle, 2 swarm missle packs, and a pair of mega-missiles. However, its bulky and clumsiness makes it less than desirable most pilots.
Moray Name: Moray (GSC) Cost: 259.4 Weight: 67.6 Scale: x1 Configuration MV Land MA Flight MA Mecha -2 4 11 Servos: Armor: Location Class Kills Space/Left Cost | Class Type SP Absorp DC Cost Torso MW 12 12/0 12 | MW S 6 - 1 6 R Arm HS 6 6/3 6 | MW S 6 - 1 6 L Arm HS 6 6/3 6 | MW S 6 - 1 6 R Leg MW 7 7/0 7 | MW S 6 - 1 6 L Leg MW 7 7/0 7 | MW S 6 - 1 6 R Wing HS 5 5/0 5 | MW S 6 - 1 6 L Wing HS 5 5/0 5 | MW S 6 - 1 6 Head MS 4 4/1 4 | MW S 6 - 1 6 Cost: 100 Weight: 50 Sensors: Sensor Type Range Comm Kills Location Cost Space Main MS 7km 1000 km 1 Head 4 1 Cost: 4 Weight: .5 Weapons: Name WA Rng Dmg Sht Kills BV CP Space Loc Notes 2 Hands +0 - 1k - 1x2 4 2 Arms SuperRail Rifle+0 20 20k 10 20 1 32 11 2-H 3 HEX clips 10x3 6x3 Hip On Hip 6-Pack Hvy +2 11 10k 6 4 - 14 6 Torso 6-Pack Hvy +2 11 10k 6 4 - 14 6 Torso Cost: 73 Weight: 15 Movement Systems: System MA Location Kills Space Cost Leg Thruster 4 RLeg - 7 7 Leg Thruster 4 LLeg - 7 7 Wing Thruster 2 RWing - 3 3 Wing Thruster 2 RWing - 3 3 Cost: 20 Powerplant Source: Dynamo Power Cell (cold, overpowered, 6hr powercell) XS: 1 MV: +1 MA: +1 M-Pool: Cost: +x.0 Control System Type: Screens M-Pool: Other: Cost: P+C+H Cost Multiplier: +x0 P+C+H M-Pool Bonus(+%): +0% P+C+H Other Notes: Cost Multiplier Systems: System Cost Space Special Space Enviro. x.05 Veriers +2 x.2 10 +2 MV Total Multiplier: +x.25 Total M-Pool Bonus(+%): +0% Subassemblies: System Loc Space Cost Cockpit Torso 1 - Liftwire Torso - .3 Anti-Theft Torso - .2 E-Seat Torso - 1 Cost: 1.5 Weight: 0 Final costs: Base Weight: 66 Fuel Weight: 6.6 New Weight: 72.6 Base Cost: 198.5 Cost (after Multipliers): 249.4 Efficency ( 5 tons): 10 Cost (w/Efficency, links): 259.4 Final Weight: 67.6 Remote Cost (Total for All): 0 Command Armour Cost: 0 Scale: x1 Scaled Cost: 259.6 Scaled Weight: 67.6 (w/Command Armour): 67.6 Notes: The Moray is a first strike killer. It's job is to devistate enemy lines, pull back, restock on ammo, and strike again. It's eqiuped for space combat, and was specifically designed for space and arial operations.
Mecha Design Sheet Name: Cost: Weight: Scale: Configuration MV Land MA Flight MA Servos: Armor: Location Class Kills Space/Left Cost | Class Type SP Absorp DC Cost / | / | Cost: Weight: Command Armor: Location Class Type SP DC Absorp. Space B.Mod Cost Notes Cost: Weight: Shields: Location Class Type DA SP DC Absorp. Spaces Cost Binder Notes Cost: Weight: Sensors: Sensor Type Range Comm Kills Location Cost Space Cost: Weight: Weapons: Name WA Rng Dmg Sht Kills BV CP Space Loc Notes Cost: Weight: Movement Systems: System MA Location Kills Space Cost Cost: Boosterpacks: MA Points Max Thrust Location Cost Kills B-Mod Powerplant Source: XS: MV: MA: M-Pool: Cost: Control System Type: M-Pool: Other: Cost: Hydraulics Space: +Melee Dmg: Lift: Cost: P+C+H Cost Multiplier: P+C+H M-Pool Bonus(+%): P+C+H Other Notes: Cost Multiplier Systems: System Cost Space Special Total Multiplier: Total M-Pool Bonus(+%): Subassemblies: System Loc Space Cost Notes Cost: Weight: Remote Control System: System Control Mult. Cost Control Range Operation Range Remote Build information: Servo Class Space/Left Cost | Armor Type Cost / | / | Remote Weapon Systems: Name WA Rng Dmg Sht Kills BV CP Space Loc notes Other Remote Systems: Drone Information: Name Manuver Value Actions/Turn M.Pool Land MA Flight MA Cost per drone: Weight per drone: Final costs: Base Weight: Fuel Weight: New Weight: Base Cost: Cost (after Multipliers): Efficency ( tons): Cost (w/Efficency, links): Final Weight: Remote Cost (Total for All): Command Armour Cost: Scale: Scaled Cost: Scaled Weight: (w/Command Armour): Notes:
