Mekton


Mekton is a mecha game franchise published by R. Talsorian Games starting with a board game in 1984, and then several editions of the first mecha role-playing game in North America, the most recent being Mekton Zeta.

Contents

Board wargame

The first edition of Mekton is a board wargame simulating combat between giant robots, drawing on Japanese animation for inspiration. "Mekton", the name of the giant robots, is a nod to "mecha".

Role-playing game

Mekton advanced from a wargame by adding basic role-playing rules that cover character and robot construction and combat, including a boardgame-combat-resolution system, plus historical background for the world of Algol and an introductory scenario. The rules for giant robot construction are detailed, while the rules of character creation for the pilots who control the robots are sparse.
Mekton II is a complete revision of the original Mekton rules, including expanded character generation and political info on Algol. This version is compatible with the cyberpunk role-playing game published by R. Talsorian, Cyberpunk 2020.

Official settings

  • Algol - 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, 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.
  • Imperial Star - Very similar to Mekton Empire but set in the Milky Way Galaxy.
  • Starblade Battalion - A Gundam-like setting, set in 2180, the far future of the Cyberpunk 2020 world.

    Publication history

Game designer Mike Pondsmith was interested in the Mobile Suit Gundam anime. He decided to design a game that combined this with the Imperial Star game system that he had designed for his own amusement. Pondsmith, with Mike Jones, published the "white box edition" of Mekton in 1984, a role-playing game that focused on giant robot combat. The boxed set included a 32-page book, a large color map, two cardstock counter sheets, and dice.
The following year, Pondsmith founded R. Talsorian Games, which he used to release a second edition of Mekton as a 100-page rulebook. The second edition rulebook also included counters and two maps.
This was followed in 1987 by Mekton II, the third edition of the game and the first game to make full use of the company's Interlock System. Mekton II was designed by Pondsmith and published as a 96-page book, and included art by Ben Dunn.
The fourth edition of Mekton published in 1994 was called Mekton Zeta with cover art by Yuji Maida. A supplement of advanced rules called Mekton Zeta Plus followed in 1995 R. Talsorian published a reprint of that game as the ANimechaniX-branded Mekton Zeta in 2000.

Video game

A prototype of a video game based on Mekton was developed by Silicon Graphics using Coryphaeus Software's Activation Engine for the IRIX operating system. It was presented at the 1995 SIGGRAPH and bundled on CD-ROMs with other IRIX tech demos.

Reception

In Issue 42 of Abyss, Dave Nalle thought Mekton the role-playing game was "considerably more compact and practical as a game than many of the other entries, and it has a surprisingly high amount of emphasis on role-playing over tactics, despite the fact that the characters are robots, though there are some rules covering human controllers." Nalle noted that if the book ended with only the robot creation and combat rules, it would be a good game. But, "the remaining two-thirds of the book concentrate on the role-playing aspects of the setting and on the characters who pilot the Mekton warriors." Nalle didn't like the random aspects of character creation, commenting that it was "a very negative factor in such a game, encouraging players not to think." Nalle concluded, "Mekton is not a perfect game captures much of the atmosphere and technology of its setting and provides the kind of easily learned, playable presentation of this genre which other better known games fall short of."
In Issue 72 of Space Gamer, Allen Varney commented that "its slick appearance and novel topic will sucker any Japanese-robot fan who can't wait for one of the other robot games due out soon. Pass the word."
Phil Frances reviewed Mekton for White Dwarf #87, and stated that "In all, a most worthwhile effort – not as slick as FASA's Mechwarrior or Battletech, but admirably simple and flexible."
In Issue 79 of Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer, David Jacobs commented that "Even if you've seen all of the Japanese animation featuring giant robots, I strongly suggest that you at least give it a once-over, because these guys and gals at R. Talsorian Games know how to put together a good game. This reviewer strongly suggests that Mekton is a must for any game shelf."
David Kling reviewed Mekton: The Game of Japanese Robot Combat for Different Worlds magazine and stated that "Basically, Mekton is a decent game. It's got some flimsy rules, but they can be developed by any adept gamemaster."
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan thought that this game "has more in common with tactical military simulations than RPGs." Swan liked designing the robots, calling the process "fun and simple, easily the most enjoyable part of the game." However, Swan found the character generation rules "the game's weakest feature, apparently included for the sole purpose of generating pilots for the robots... are essentially irrelevant to the focus of the game." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "It's possible to design a campaign setting from the information provided... but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble, because it's merely a way to kill time until the next robotic showdown."
In Issue 25 of the Australian games magazine Australian Realms, Mike Bell reviewed Mekton Zeta, and thought that it "really captures the popular appeal of the Manga/Anime genre in both presentation and game play." Bell found the book well-organized, and thought "the overall presentation of the product is crisp and clean; a far cry from the second edition." Bell liked the updated combat system, as well as the compatibility with Cyberpunk 2020. Bell concluded, "Mekton Zeta is a vast improvment on previous editions, and is an essential buy for any roleplayer who enjoys space opare in the highly dramatic anime vein. 'Pilots to your Mektons!'",rev name=arm />

''Mekton'' publications

  • "White Box" Mekton - tactical wargame
  • Mekton - softcover book using a custom percentile-based task resolution system. Notable for having misspelled its own name in the katakana.
  • * Mekton Advanced Combat System
  • * Roadstriker - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure
  • Mekton II - converted Mekton to run on the Interlock System, later used in Cyberpunk 2020. Cover art by Ben Dunn.
  • * Roadstriker II - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure converted to the Mekton II system.
  • * Operation Rimfire - campaign book. A very Gundam-esque adventure in which representatives of both major political factions on Algol are sent on a long-range interplanetary mission to determine the nature of an anomaly at the edge of the star system. Written to be played as 'episodes' in a 'series'.
  • * Mekton Techbook/''Mekton Technical System - a major conversion of the mecha-building system of Mekton
  • * Mekton Empire - This expansion book reduced the Algol system to just one more star among hundreds in the Bendarian Galactic Empire.
  • Mekton Zeta - general update and improvement of Mekton II
  • * Mekton Zeta Plus - general update and improvement of the Mekton Techbook
  • Gundam Senki - Japanese language Mobile Suit Gundam RPG using the Mekton system. Scheduled for US release, release date unspecified at this time.
  • Mekton Zero'' - crowdfunded project, on indefinite hiatus after being delayed for five years.