Mutant Year Zero Mechatron Pdf
Aili Peal
In a huge facility hidden underneath the ocean, an army of robots continues to carry out the final orders of humanity. Waiting for the humans to return, the work tirelessly in decaying factories. But now, decades after the humans left, something has changed. Some robots have started to express their own free will. Will these self-aware robots save the Collective - or lead it to its final downfall?
The cover image ofMutant: Mechatronis painted by none other than the acclaimed sci-fi artistSimon Stlenhag, known from his amazingTales from the Loopartbook. The interior art is made by the skilled artistDanny "Dark Mechanic" Morrison.'
What you get: Your EUR 40,99 or USD 46,99 or GBP 34,99 buys you both the print and the pdf version of Mutant: Year Zero Mechatron, a 240-page full colour hardcover that releases robots and A.I. systems into the unforgiving, survivalist world of the Mutant: Year Zero game line.
The book fills the role of both Player's and Gamemaster's Handbook as the case is in other games. It is split into 12 chapters, 7 of which are form the Player's Section while the other 5 are addressed to the GM. More on the book and the gameplay later on.
Those following the line remember that we examined the two main rulebooks as part of their respective bundles, namely the Mutant: Year Zero Starter Bundle and the Mutant: Year Zero Genlab Alpha Bundle. A bundle also exists for Mechatron (the Mechatron Robot Bundle). It includes the rulebook under discussion, a large full-colour map of the the Mechatron facility, and the necessary custom card deck. priced at EUR 56,99 or USD 62,99 or GBP 47,99. I do not have the cards and the map currently at my disposal; we will examine them together as soon as I do.
Gameplay: What is missing from a post-apocalyptic setting with mutants and talking animals? Robots. Mechatron's initial setting is not the Zone but the huge Mechatron-7 robot collective. Following the sudden and inexplicable abandonment of the base by the humans, the robots continued to work on their last task: 'build what we need to win'. Decades later, the facility is on the verge of ruin, and some of the robots became self-aware. The robot collective is collapsing, fast. That is where the players step in.
The rulebook contains the rules to create such characters (they differ in some aspects when compared to M:YZ and Genlab Alpha characters) and run the long, 8 to 12 session campaign before tackling other adventures like The Eternal War that we will visit together shortly. The PCs will initially be Error Elimination Units, receiving work orders from their robotic hierarchy, their actions however will permanently alter the nature of Mechatron 7.
To do all that however, one first needs to develop his robot. There are eight Models to choose from: Battle Robot, Cleaning Robot, Companion Robot, Coordination Robot, Industrial Robot, Protocol Robot, Scrap Robot, and Security Robot. Each Model has a different special programme, like 'target' for the Battle Robots and 'clean' for the Cleaning Robots. Each write-up extents into two pages. The first is dominated by a drawing of a robot of the particular model and a small blurb of how it understands things. The second page is full of background and starting points. It suggests appearance, secondary functions, personality, relationships to other characters and NPCs, big dreams and gear. The character's relationship with each other PC must be described within one sentence, as well as why an NPC is hated while another must be protected.
Generating a character is both easy and fast. Each has four attributes (Servos, Stability, Processor, Network), which roughly correspond to the Strength, Agility, Wits and Instinct/Empathy from the other two main books. A robot is built out of chassis parts. There are eight different options for each of the head, torso and undercarriage. Each option grants a different number to the four attributes, as well as the robot's Modules and Armour. Fun fact: no two players may choose the exact same part during character creation, seeing how resources in Mechatron-7 are running thin.
There are 12 basic Programmes in the game (3 per ability) available to all characters, plus a single specialist programme per Model. These are almost identical to the ones of the Corebook and of Genlab Alpha (e.g. Scan instead of Scout, Repair instead of Heal). Each programme is measured in levels from 0 to 5.
Secondary Functions are minor abilities that give the robot a small edge. At the beginning of the game each character has only three talents to choose from; they relate strictly to his role. As the campaign progresses however, a pool of 20 additional Secondary Functions opens and is accessible to everybody. Examples include Human Features, Appearance Morph and Infiltrator for the Companion Robot, Mass Production, Mounted Tools and Resistant for the Industrial Robot, while Backup Power, Solar Panel and Robo-Chef are general secondary functions anybody can take. Secondary Functions and Talents (their equivalent in the Corebook and Genlab Alpha) are not interchangeable. Living things and robots are not the same.
Modules are a robot's most powerful assets and have a unique effect that never fails. Modules are risky and might overheat. This can have detrimental effects for the robot, like wiping out its memory or temporarily shutting the robot down. A player needs to spend Energy Points (EP) to use them. When a robot runs out of EPs (and it cannot have more than 10 at any given point) it goes into sleep mode. It is aware of its surroundings, but it cannot act until recharged. There are 25 Modules, including extra arms, grenade launchers and medical unit.
Each robot also has a Hierarchy score, something that allows it to give and receive orders from other robots. Self-aware robots do not have to follow orders and may try to refuse them, even though they risk being seen as defective.
Genlab Alpha had 'tainted' animals, Mechatron has Scrap Robots, i.e. robots that have been discarded as rubbish and start the game with a Hierarchy of 0. These are not a part of the Collective and are not expected to obey other robots.
Skill resolution (Progamme resolution, to be precise) is practically identical to the Corebook and Genlab Alpha. Mechatron uses six-sided dice. If a skill is used, the character rolls as many green skill dice as his skill level plus as many yellow base dice as the attribute number relevant to the skill. Gear dice can also be added if gear is used. If he rolls at least one 6 (ionizing radiation) irrespective of the amount of dice rolled, he succeeds. The more sixes are rolled the better; they can be used for stunts. Each skill description states how the skill is used, what happens in case of a success or a failure and what potential stunts might be. If however no sixes are rolled, things go wrong. Rarely does this mean 'nothing happens'. The GM is actively encouraged to state the consequences of failure. However, the player can always decide to push his roll in order to change his predicament. All dice that did not come up as biohazards can be rerolled. That strains the robots however. For every biohazard that was rolled in either of the two rolls, the PC either sustains a point of trauma or he immediately spends an EP. Explosions on the gear dice mean that the gear degrades; it might or might not get fixed in the future.
Combat is fast and furious, a mirror image of the one in the Corebook and Genlab Alpha; miniatures are not needed. It starts with a single initiative that will be used in the following turns. In a turn everybody can perform either an action and a manoeuver or two manoeuvers. Rolling for a programme and activating a Module are actions. Pretty much everything else (moving, seeking cover, drawing a weapon etc) is a manoeuver. If a hit bypasses a character's armour, he is hurt. His armour might degrade and the mechanical systems in his body (namely his four attributes and his modules) might suffer. That is determined randomly and might lead to lack of mobility, inability to perform certain tasks etc. Since we are talking about robots and not about humans however, as long as a robot has at least one attribute left everything can be repaired. Rules also include situations like darkness and falling, different weapons, computer viruses etc.
Experience is handled session by session. There are six ways a character can obtain an XP (by participating in the session, eliminating an Error as ordered, risking for his buddy, risking for his favourite NPC, risking in order to mess with the NPC he hates or risking to achieve his big dream). The GM has the final say on how many XPs a character gets, however the process is handled through open discussion amongst the players. When five XPs are obtained the player can either improve a Programme by a level or obtain a new Secondary Function. This is also the time when, depending on how the session went, the players might wish to modify their robots. This means even replacing parts amongst themselves or in the black market for other parts, or even EPs.
The Ark/Paradise Valley of the Corebook and Genlab Alpha give way to the Mechatron-7 facility, a gigantic facility with a 3 kilometre radius and almost a kilometer deep. The facility is broken down into 15 districts like Warehouses, Factories and Military Headquarters. The facility runs under NODOS, the most powerful construct of them all, with another seven constructs (be them robots, AIs, stationary machines or what have you) answering to it directly. The new setting explores the theme of knowing nothing but the Collective for your entire life and, due to a change in programming, now understanding that there are more things outside of it. Being online and a part of the hive mind was the natural state of things before the robots developed self-awareness. Now, partially unfettered by orders, they can act as they wish, undertaking excursions to the outer world, or even try custom-made robot drugs. Guess what might not end well.
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