Mekton

Mekton

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

Editions of Mekton

• "White Box" Mekton (1984)
• Mekton (1984) - softcover book using a custom percentile-based task resolution system.
  • Roadstriker (1986) - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure
• Mekton II (1987) - converted Mekton to run on the Interlock System, later used in Cyberpunk 2020. Cover art by Ben Dunn.
  • Mekton Techbook/Mekton Technical System (MTB/MTS) (1991) - a major conversion of the mecha-building system of Mekton
• Mekton Zeta (メクトン Z) (1994) - general update and improvement of Mekton II
  • Mekton Zeta Plus (メクトン Z プラス) (1994) - general update and improvement of the Mekton Techbook
• Gundam Senki (2000) - Japanese language Mobile Suit Gundam RPG using the Mekton system. Scheduled for US release, release date unspecified at this time.

Official Settings

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

Notable Fan Settings

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

• Metal Storm 2380 - Mark Chase; a particularly notable early fan setting, including an original story based on its campaign setting.
• Nova Team Arcol - Christian Conkle; based on the official Algol campaign setting.
• Mekton F: Dragon Knights (Bubblegum Conundrum 2050) - Christian Conkle; based on Bubblegum Crisis.
• Powersuit City; based primarily on a cross between Galaxy Fraulein Yuna and Teenagers from Outer Space.
• Virtual Mekton - A semi-official setting created by the Mekton Z Mailing List and its spin-off, the Virtual Mekton Mailing List. Loosely based on the video game Virtual On and the manga Break-Age.

I guess you're gay now

It is possible for your character to be outed as homosexual during character creation (one of the "friends" listings is "ex-lover," and since you roll gender for your friends randomly. . .)