Mechanoids

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The Mechanoids refers to both a product line within the Palladium Books megaverse and a species which it centers around.

The Books

The Mechanoid Invasion Trilogy was a set of 3 interlinked RPG settings released by Palladium Books between 1981 to 1982, and were the very first RPGs produced by Palladium.

The first book, Mechanoid Invasion, is the invasion of the Human colony world Gideon-E by the Mechanoids. The second, "The Journey", is about the Mechanoids slicing Gideon-E to pieces and the survivors of the invasion stowing away on the Mechanoids' continent-sized spaceship, as they try to survive and sabotage the Mechanoids from within. In the final book, "Homeworld", The Mechanoids have mysteriously disappeared, so the worlds who battled them for survival set out for their homeworld to learn their secrets and search for answers.

The Mechanoids would later return, having been accidentally summoned to RIFTS Earth by Archie 3, in RIFTS Sourcebook Two: The Mechanoids.

The Race

At their core, mechanoids can be simply described as "Daleks, if the BBC had a better budget". They are a race of bio-engineered, genetically altered human off-shoots, reduced to little more than a giant disembodied brain, installed in highly advanced mechanical bodies. They reproduce through a combination of cloning and engineering, and have a pseudo-caste system where different mechanical bodies are paired with cloned bio-brains specifically genegineered for compatibility with that body's function.

Originally, the mechanoids were intended to be a way for their homeworld to start exploring space, since humans aren't actually all that well suited for being out in the vacuum. Countless brave would-be astronauts signed up for the procedure and were transformed into a new life; only the smartest, most emotionally stable were chosen to undergo the physical, cybernetic and genetic reconstruction surgeries, which transplanted them into powerful new mechanical bodies and unlocked the long hidden secret for psionics. Unfortunately, the humans created them and, sending only a portion of the race out into the void, suddenly got cold feet and started debating over the ethics of the whole mess. Then they basically went mad with paranoia about having created an "alien" race and slaughtered the thousands of mechanoids still stuck on the Homeworld.

Amazingly, despite having a tele-empathic link that let them be remotely aware of this, the spacefaring mechanoids didn't initially go kill-crazy in response. Instead, they blamed themselves and began a massive upgrade project, upgrading their bodies, augmenting themselves further, and learning how to breed through cloning, before swarming off through the galaxy on a mission to learn as much as possible. Once they had learned what they felt was enough, they returned home to present their knowledge as a gift to the creators.

...Who promptly flew into paranoid frenzy at the thought that the mechanoids had come back for revenge and demanded they leave or be destroyed. This reaction, combined with their newly enhanced psionic abilities letting them feel the hate, fear and guilt of their creators, drove the mechanoids mad. They annihilated their creators, and dedicated their existence to exterminating all humans and humanoid species through the universe. They terrorized the universe for thousands and years but then they suddenly vanished.

...Until RIFTS brought them back into the Megaverse, and exposed them to the wider megaverse.

Mechanoid Models

• Overlord -- The known Supreme Leaders of the Mechanoids. They look like the top half of a giant robot with a large thruster for legs. A bulbous "hat" sits on their heads, which is actually a powerful particle-beam cannon.
• Oracle -- Once Kind-hearted artists and contemplatives, some Mechanoid Oracles even sympathized with the Humaoids. That went away once the Mechanoids re-engineered themsevles, and now they are as dedicated to the cause as any of them. Their 40-meter long cigar-shaped housing has no limbs or weapons. But their Psionic powers are pretty much listed as "Yes".
• Brain -- A scientist and leader among the Mechanoids, the Brain is basically a multi-eyed lump of flesh in a ten-foot-tall tank-treaded robot body. A newer version upgraded to spider legs.
• Runner -- A field commander with a half-dome-shaped body and a multi-weapon arm.
• Brute -- The Brute is a commander of the Mechanoids' robot legions. It has a shape vaguely like an egg on its side, with long legs and arms with a pair of tiny particle blasters for weapons.
  • Type One -- The upgraded Brute looks more like a walking gunship. Larger and tougher, with hardpoints on the sides and top which mount heavy weapons.
  • Type Two -- The Type Two is smaller (similar to the original Brute), can only carry two weapons, and the top half can detach from the legs and fly on its own.
• Wasp -- a flying Mechanoid with a wasp-shaped body with two arm-mounted cannons on the underside. Wasps are aggressive predators that swoop down to planets in sun-blotting waves in their millions.
• Exterminator -- A Mechanoid that strides on two long legs. Standing over four meters tall, it is armed with a cluster of Ion, Particle Beam, and Plasma guns.
• Seeker Pod -- A Small-sized floating pod with a pair of tiny arms and a dual laser turret hanging from the bottom. Typically accompanies Exterminators.
• Tunnel Crawler -- A Mechanoid with a 1.5 meter spider-like body. Armed with a pair of mini particle blasters and Nerve gas dispensers.
• Mantis -- A giant engineer Mechanoid with a flying body. Not designated for combat(but the upgraded version is armed), but don't get near one.
• Octopus -- An even bigger construction and repair Mechanoid. Has two major body styles.
• Digger -- A huge mile-long Beetle-shaped Mechanoid used to dig tunnels and help carve the planet.
• Black Widow - This giant spider-like Mechanoid(it could wear a Digger as a hat) has no weapons, but if this large-scale cargo carrier shows up on the planet, you've already lost.
• Cargo Freighter -- This massive vehicle is big enough for a Black Widow to ride on it. It's used to cart away entire chunks of planet.
• Hauler
  • Type One -- A Planetary-scale cargo transport that hangs in space, as its sections are measures in kilometers.
  • Type Two -- A smaller(about the size of a Digger counting the wings) Cargo Mechanoid.
  • Type Three -- Another smaller cargo carrier that can spit into three parts, of which only one is the actual Mechanoid
• Battle Cruiser -- Probably the largest single Mechanoid. Yes, this nineteen-kilometer Star Destroyer is one being.

Mechanoid Robots

Whilst all mechanoids are cyborgs, consisting of an organic core to a mechanical body, they also supplement their forces with a number of true robots:

• Thinman -- A 9ft tall, lanky Terminator-like combat robot. It has a humanoid shape because the Mechanoids think they're funny.
• Runt
  • Combat Unit -- A smaller 3ft tall combat robot. Also humanoid. Would be kinda cute if it weren't trying to kill you.
  • Repair Unit -- A less-humanoid robot that kinda looks like a deformed Zentradi Battle Pod with spindly arms and legs.
• Assault Probe
• Skimmer
• Weevil

Aberrant Mechanoids

The reason behind the sudden vanishing of the mechanoids for centuries in their own universe was the sudden rise of a mutation in their genetic material; for unknown reasons, millions of mechanoids mutated to lose their will to continue the genocidal campaign of their peers. This ultimately led to a civil war, that ended with the mechanoids seemingly exterminating each other to the last with bio-mechanical viral weaponry. Of course, the truth is that a few mechanoids on both sides survived, and slowly began to rebuild their populations - until Hagan and ARCHIE-3 accidentally drew the "true" Mechanoids to RIFTS Earth.

At the games master's option, Aberrant Mechanoids can be PCs in games of RIFTS, with the following castes (Racial Character Classes) available:

• Brain
• Runner
• Wasp
• Brute
• Exterminator
• Seeker Pod
• Tunnel Crawler