mekton - war of the worlds

7/28/2019 Mekton - War of the Worlds

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A FREE-TO-DOWNLOAD ROLEPLAYING PRODUCT

Atomic Rocket Games Presents a work based on H. G. Wells

The War Of The World


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Mekton Zeta Mini: The War Of The Worlds Odp;y

Translation Into Technical Manifests:James E. Milligan, Esq.

Original Conceptual Creative Vision:

The Honorable George Herbert Wells,Deceased

Original Mekton Zeta Layout:R. Talsorian Games, Inc.

Mekton Zeta Property Owned By:R. Talsorian Games, Inc.

First Degree Creative Consultation:Messrs. Jon Simola, Stuart Palin, Michael

Kirkley, Christian Conkle, and DavidCrowe.

Illustrative Contributions:The Right Honorable Christopher M.

Rubenstahl and Christopher Duke

Cover Illustration Colors:James E. Milligan, Esq.

Mechanical Design Creation:James E. Milligan, Esq.

Editorial Duties:Mr. Matthew Elliott

This Documents Layout And Design:

James E. Milligan, Esq.

Inspiration And Guidance:The Beloved Miss Robin KimmyOur Sainted MothersMr. Michael and Mrs. Lisa PondsmithMr. Bruce Harlick

Special Thanks To:The members of the Mekton Zeta

Mailing List, Paul Romine for taking careof the RTG Website for so long with solittle in the way of thanks, and every singleperson who downloads this documentWithout you, we are nothing.

This Work Of Speculative Fiction AndAdventure Entertainment Has BeenBased On The Works Of H. G. WellsIt Is Free To Distribute And May NotBe Sold For Profit. No Claims To TheOwnership Of The Original LiteraryText, Nor To The Ownership Of TheMekton Zeta Game System AreMade By This Document.

A Mini? Isnt That ACar?

Well, yes, it is, but for thepurposes of Mekton Zeta,a Mini is what youve gotin your hands right this

instant: A freely download-able, 100% official, endorsedby R. Talsorian Games, Inc.,

Mekton Zeta adventure,created by the guys here atAtomic Rocket Games underprovision from R. TalsorianGames, and what all that

means in English is this:

Free Games!Go Play Mekton!

You Know You Want To!

War Of The Worlds Credits

A Few Words From Atomic Rocket GamesWelcome to the rst Mekton Zeta Mini, a free-to-download Mekton Zeta projecbrought to you by Atomic Rocket Games. Many, many special thanks go to Mike andLisa Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games, Inc., for all their hard work, and for bringingus this game in the rst place. More thanks are due to them for helping us to dowhat weve always wanted to do:

Make Games.

For that, we are eternally grateful.

All that being said, there are a few things you need to know about this product:

It is free. You may download it and distribute it as you wish, so long as you do not alterany content, sell it for prot, or attempt to pass it off as your own work.

All trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property rights are reserved by their respective creators. Play nice and nobody gets hurt.

It has been optimized for viewing on a computer screen, and not for printing. The imageare at 300 dpi for color and 600 dpi for black and white. You may experience difcultiewhen printing.

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Anime, as it stands, comes

in a good many forms.Dramatic recreations

of historical events, nearlysoap-opera level retellings ofmythological tales, completelyover-the-top martial arts bat-tles, and, of course, robots: Bigrobots; Small robots; Robotsthat fire lasers out of their eyes;Robots that defend the innocent

with hearts of gold; Robots thatterrorize small planets becausethey were shunned as children,by children. Robots, robots,everywhere.

Equally as prevalent in Animeis the Alien Invasion genre.Terrifying monsters, with incom-prehensible technology, supe-rior intelligence, and one, singleagenda: subjugate and rule the

people of the Earth. The aliens areinvariably evil, save for one fatalflaw, be it a weakness for song, aritualized command structure thatfalls apart in the face of the cha-

otic human element, or anything

and everything in between. If youcan visualize it, odds are, its beenin Anime. In fact, the Japaneseseem to have pretty much cov-ered every aspect of the genreand fairly well perfected it.

Or have they?Imagine a foe so implacable,

so unstoppable, that an entirecivilization verged on the brinkof annihilation. A foe so far aheadof the people of Earth that theywere like unto Gods, their powerimmense, the decision of life anddeath theirs to command withbut a flick of a switch. Imaginethe screams of the innocent as,ripped from their homes in themiddle of the night, panic andterror filling their hearts, they fleebefore the enemy. Behind them,

they hear the shouts of soldiersrunning through the middle oftown. Theyre coming, cries afather, half dressed, clutching hisbelongings to his chest as his wifestumbles, desperate to protect herchild. Weve got to get to theriver! The ship, its going to waitfor us, isnt it?

In the distance, a thunder cracksthrough the night. A sound so hor-

rible that nothing like it has beenheard before, or will be, againOn the horizon, a bright flashsears through the darkness likelightning. Explosions. ScreamsThe father stops in his tracks, hiswife staring at the flames leapingfrom what was their last hope forsalvation.

But who shall dwell in these worlds if they be inhabited?. . . Are we or they Lords of the World?. . . And how are all things made for man?

KEPLER (quoted in The Anatomy of Melancholy)

Why The War Of TheWorlds?

Well, why not? Seriously,

if were going to be deal-ing with the oldest carrotin the anime universe, why

not start with the storythat kicked the whole ballout there into the field in

the first place?

Most people dont associ-ate a late 19th century

novelist with anime. Whichis a shame, really, consid-

ering how many animeare based in and around

the concepts of Victoriana,Steampunk, and the like.The amount of borrow-ing done by these Anime

sometimes comes very, veryclose to outright trans-

plantation of the materialinto an anime-esque envi-ronment. If all you do tosomething is change thenames and hair colors, is

it now miraculously anime,or is it still 19th century

fiction, but just with a bitof ink and paint added?

Thats what were here tofind out.

So kick back, read it over,play it through, and have

fun.

Were sure H. G. wouldapprove.

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Behind them, the soldiers turnas one, and aim their cannonsat the behemoth that unleashedsuch fury against the ship thatwould have saved the populace,

wouldnt it? The commandershouts an order, and his men,brave and loyal soldiers of theirhomeland, all, fall into place.Cannons and guns are leveled atthe invader, rapidly loaded, and,with a thundering crash, fired asone. The invader staggers, stum-bles, and falls. Throughout thetown, a cry of hope goes up, andthen falls into a wail of despair as,

from the North, another of theterrible machines crests the topof a church, crushing the roofbeneath its monstrous foot. Fromthe South - look, there! - another,and then another! The invadersare here!

The father closes his eyes andholds his wife and child to himas the tripods sweep their heat-rays across the roofs of the city ofLondon, burning away centuriesof history and culture. Silently, heprays that it will be quick

Sound familiar?

It should. What youve just readis a short recap of any number ofscenes that take place within thework of the Master - H. G. Wells.

The book? The War Of TheWorlds, written in 1898, and,arguably, the definitive text onAlien Invasion. It starts very, verysimply

No one would havebelieved in the lastyears of the nine-

teenth century that this world wasbeing watched keenly and closely

by intelligences greater than mansand yet as mortal as his own; thatas men busied themselves abouttheir various concerns they werescrutinised and studied, perhapsalmost as narrowly as a man witha microscope might scrutinise thetransient creatures that swarmand multiply in a drop of water.With infinite complacency menwent to and fro over this globe

about their little affairs, serene intheir assurance of their empire overmatter. It is possible that the infu-soria under the microscope do thesame. No one gave a thought tothe older worlds of space as sourcesof human danger, or thought ofthem only to dismiss the idea oflife upon them as impossible orimprobable. It is curious to recallsome of the mental habits of thosedeparted days. At most terrestrialmen fancied there might be othermen upon Mars, perhaps inferior tothemselves and ready to welcomea missionary enterprise. Yet acrossthe gulf of space, minds that areto our minds as ours are to thoseof the beasts that perish, intellectsvast and cool and unsympathetic,regarded this earth with envious

eyes, and slowly and surely drewtheir plans against us. And earlyin the twentieth century came thegreat disillusionment.

-The War Of The Worlds,Book One: The Coming Of TheMartians, Chapter One: The EveOf The War

And so the stage is set. Verysoon after this, vast goutsof green flame are seen byobservers of the planet Mars,signaling the imminent arrival

of the invaders, who would, intheir own time, bring aboutthe near total destruction ofthe greatest human civiliza-tion of the time.Which one is that?Why, the British Empire, of

course.

An illustration of the faceof the enemy, presentedto the public in The Timesbut a few short days afterthe rst landing.

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At the time that Wells wrote The War OfThe Worlds, Great Britain controlled arather large portion of the world, both

economically and literally. Just as a certainnuclear energy altered, dinosaur-like, fire-breathing giant monster always picks Tokyo ashis primary point of contact with humanity, so,

too, did the writers of the time focus on theirhomelands as the major focal point of any andall great disasters. Doubt that it still holds,today? Look at how many modern films focuson the United States. As a particular SecretAgent once said; Its amazing how Englandlooks nothing at all like Southern California!At its heart a human drama, The War Of The

Worlds is not only a tale of alien invasion, but can

also be considered one of the greatest examples the ideals that really good Anime strives to achievIts got action, romance, loss, adventure, and thbest technology afforded to it by the time-framin which it falls. The good ship Thunder Childfor instance, is a relic by todays standards, but the letter of the day, was a capital ship of the fine

caliber, with gleaming guns, sturdy plating, anboilers capable of moving it through the water awhen you consider that most people were unuseto anything faster than a horse-drawn carriage coal-fueled train at the time, what must have beea terrifying speed... Fully thirty miles an hour, perhaps a bit more with a good stiff current.A critical point to mention about the War Of T

Worlds is that the Martians, ultimately, succeede

A Quick Lesson On The Importance Of Great Britain Kp v;vw HL

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Weapons Of MartianDestruction

The Martians come toEarth intent on domi-nating the planet. Tothis end, they bringwith them three terribleweapons: The Heat Ray,The Black Smoke, andThe Red Weed.

In the case of The HeatRay, we have chosen to

illustrate this in simpleMekton Zeta terms:for that it is an energyweapon is evident toany reading Mr. Wellsmanuscript.

For The Black Smoke, wehave Mr. Wells indefati-gable genius to thank forthe first definite instanceof biological weaponsin Science Fiction. Wehave chosen to use theSpecial Effects Weaponsrules from Mekton ZetaPlus to generate this vileconcoction of Martiandepravity.

As to The Red Weed,

however, it is but a plant,possibly brought to thisorb by accident. Wehave not described it ingame terms, but will saythat it grows voraciously,chokes waterways, and isvirulent and inedible.

in doing something, howevertemporarily, that no nation onEarth had been able to do: Theybrought the British Empire to itsknees. Shipping was disrupted,

government was obliterated, andthe people of the nation weredriven into exile or captured forinsidious, secret purposes knownonly to the invaders. Centuries ofculture and history were nearlyobliterated in the space of justunder four weeks. While, ulti-mately, the Earth itself proved tobe the ultimate weapon againstthe invaders, the month-longreign of terror changed mansway of life in far-reaching, as-yetundiscovered ways.

And so, we would like to presentyou with the first example of theAlien Invasion Genre in Anime.Written by an Englishman, fromthe perspective of an Englishman,

but good, solid, Alien InvasionAnime, nonetheless.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as webegin our illustrious production,please, remember that this is buta fiction. There are no Martianswaiting for you outside the the-atre, and the sounds you hear arebut newly pressed wax record-ings, played for you in synchro-nous presentation from the fourcorners of the hall.

For your enjoyment tonight, wepresent to you H. G. Wells spec-tacle, The War Of The Worlds.

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Mekton Zeta Mini: The War Of The Worlds Odp;ySERIES NAME

REFEREE

H. G. Wells The War Of The Worlds

You!

BASIC SERIES INFORMATION

PREMISE TURNOFTHECENTURY ENGLANDISINVADED!

GENRE ALIEN INVASION

LIGHT, MEDIUMOR SERIOUS? SERIOUS, I DARE SAY. REALISM AS REALISTICASITCANBE, OLDFELLOW.

TECH LEVEL FOUR (4)

STARTING YEAR 1898

PLAYER CHARACTER INFORMATION

ROLEOFTHE PCS PCSARESOLDIERS, DOCTORS, JOURNALISTS, ORSIMILAR, EACHOFTHEMFIGHTINGAGAINSTTHEMARTIANINVADERS!

RANDOM, CONCEPTOR CINEMATIC? CHARACTERSARECONCEPTDRIVEN, BUTBUILTWITH 60 CHARACTERPOINTSEACH.

REQUIREMENTS ALLCHARACTERSMUSTHAVEAFIELDOFEXPERTISE, SUCHASJOURNALISM, TAXONOMY, SEAMANSHIP, ORTHELIKE.

LIMITS NOMECHASKILLSATGAMESTART. HEAVYWEAPONS COVERSSHIP-BASEDANDLAND-BASEDCANNON.

PROS & TEMPLATES ALLPROFESSIONSEXCEPTASLISTEDBELOW, ALLTEMPLATESBUTANIMEHERO, MODIFIEDAPPROPRIATELY.

ESPERS THEREISNOEVIDENCEOFPSYCHICPHENOMENAIN WELLS WORK.

ESPER PCS? NONE.

ESPER POWER LEVEL IRRELEVANT.

FREQUENCYOF ESPERS ZERO.

ALIENS THE ALIENSIN THE WAR OF THE WORLDSARETHEPRIMARYFOESOFTHE PLAYER CHARACTERS.

HOW COMMON? THE ALIENSRAVAGE ENGLANDBYTHEHUNDREDS. THEIRNUMBERSAREUNKNOWN, BUTSEEMINGLYENDLESS.

ALIEN PCS? MOSTASSUREDLY NOT!

MECHA TECHNOLOGY

SUPERHEROICOR MILITARY? VERY MILITARY

ROLEOF MECHA HUMANTECHNOLOGYISUSEDTOBETTERMANKIND. MARTIANTECHNOLOGYISUSEDTOCONQUERANDSUBJUGATE.

AVAILABILITY STEAMSHIPS, TRAINS, ANDTHELIKEAREREADILYAVAILABLETOHUMANS. MARTIAN MECHAMUSTBECAPTURED!

REQUIREMENTS HUMANTECHNOLOGYISLOUD, INEFFICIENT, ANDDANGEROUS. MARTIANTECHNOLOGYISNOT. QUITESIMPLE, REALLY.

WEAPONRY HUMANWEAPONSAREAT 19TH CENTURYTECHLEVEL. MARTIANSHAVE HEAT RAYS, SPACE TRAVEL, ETCETERA.

MTS SYSTEMS NOT AVAILABLE REFLEXCONTROLS, A.C.E., INTERNALAUTOMATION, CLOAKING, STEALTH, SHADOWIMAGER,

ESPER LENS, THOUGHT CONTROL, TURBO CHARGER, TECHNO-ORGANICS, LIGHTSPEED, TELEPORTATION, TRANSFORMATION, COMBINERS.WEIGHT EFFICIENCY LIMIT NOTAPPLICABLE. WEIGHTINEFFICIENCYMUSTBETAKENFORHUMANMECHA (STEAMSHIPS, TRAINS, ETC.)

SPACE EFFICIENCY LIMIT MARTIANSMAYREDUCEALLSPACECOSTSBY 50%. HUMANSHAVENOSUCHTECHNOLOGY.

STANDARDS SFX WEAPONS (HEAT RAY) AND ENTANGLING MELEE WEAPONSAREAVAILABLEAS SMTSTO MARTIANS.

GOVERNMENT & CULTURE INFORMATION

GOVERNMENT ENGLANDISRULEDBYA MONARCHIC PARLIAMENTARYSYSTEMATGAMESTART, ANDANARCHYBYTHEENDOFTHE WAR.

CULTURE THEBRITISHEMPIREISTHEPINNACLEOFCIVILIZATIONON EARTH, HOMETOSCIENCE, EDUCATION, ANDCULTURE.

PLANETS THECONCEPTOFLIFEONOTHERPLANETSISLAUGHABLE, OLDCHAP. COMENOW, SERIOUSLY, MISTER WELLS. SYSTEMS ONE SYSTEM, ANDTHATIS SOL.

LANGUAGES THEQUEENS ENGLISH, PLUSALSOPOSSIBLYFRENCH, GERMAN, LATIN, ITALIAN, ORTHELIKE.

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

STARSHIP AVAILABILITY MARTIANSHAVE THE SPACE GUN, WHICHFIRESTHEIRFORCESTHROUGHTHEVASTCOSMICVOIDS.

SPACE TRAVEL AVAILABILITY THECONCEPTTHAT MANCANFLYTHROUGHSPACEISLUDICROUS. NOTON GODS GREEN EARTH!

SUBLIGHT DRIVE UNKNOWN TL.

HYPERDRIVE NONE.

SPACE ENVIRONMENTS NONE.

IMPORTANT NOTES

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY BASIC SURGERY AND TAXONOMY.

ALLTHEBESTTHEBRITISHEMPIREHASTOOFFER, OFCOURSE!

NEW

TECHNOLOGIES

MARTIAN

HEAT

RAY

, THE

RED

WEED

,THE BLACK SMOKE, ANDTHE TRIPOD WALKERS

SPECIAL RULES NO HUMAN MECHA, STEAMSHIPSARETHE

PINNACLEOFEARTHTECHNOLOGY.


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So, how do you actually

play in this setting? Rela-tively easily, actually. Very

few modications need to bemade to the existing Rookie and

Professional templates to play ina rousing game of The War OfThe Worlds.

The obvious changes are simple:Remove all mecha and drivingskills from the templates, andreplace them with skills that areappropriate to the concept of thecharacter. Such things as Expert,Paint/Draw, Play Musical Instru-ment, Dance, Blade, Photography

& Film, and the like are all perfectlysuitable, and t well within the eraand genre. In fact, as you can seeon the Series Synopsis sheet, char-acters are indeed required to havetheir own area of expertise at thestart of the game, be it Journalism,Seamanship, or some other worth-while pursuit. Skills such as Riding,Navigation, and Heavy Weaponsare suitable for this game, andshould be left intact.

Next, modify the equipment andstarting cash for each template.Hip Hop Clothing, for instance,becomes a Gentlemans Suit andaccessories (pocket watch, hat,long coat), while Motorcyclecan become a carriage and driver,or perhaps a personal horse. TheReally Racy Set Of Clothes that

The Girlfriend is too shy to wearbecomes a new French gown,straight from Paris, which is kept inits packing box to be dreamt aboutwhen no one is nearby. Large Cali-ber Handguns become huntingries (2-Barrel Shotgun in MZ), du-eling pistols (Single shot CombatPistols in MZ), or the like.

Professions are even simpler tomodify. First, remove from thegame any Mecha based Professionand replace them with Artillerists,Gunnery Technicians, Marine In-

fantry, and the like. The Mechajockbecomes the Chief Gunnery Sear-gent onboard the HMS ThunderChild, his Mecha skills replacedwith Heavy Weapons, Expert: Na-val Weapons, Expert: Seamanship,and the like. The ERT Member be-comes a skilled physician, plyinghis trade out of a bustling Londonhospital, trying to stem the tide ofthe sick and dying with newfound

techniques in electroshock, chemi-cal treatments, and surgery.

Its all in how you play it, yousee.

Building Mecha is also verysimple, because one side of thisght doesnt really have any, andthe other is locked into a resource-limited design scheme. The Mar-tians come to Earth with enoughmaterials to build a few Tripodsper transport rocket. The Humanspossess Steamships (Ironclad De-stroyers, Frigates, and TorpedoRams are the letter of the day),while eld artillery (in the form ofsmall, mobile cannons that requirehighly skilled and trained crewsto operate), and both foot (infan-try) and horse-mounted (cavalry)troops are the de facto standard of

modern warfare. At the start of theWar, the Humans have no conceptof what the Martian Technology iscapable of. Only through cunningand perseverance are they able tostrike back at the Martians.

Every victory brings them closerto the doors of the Future.

Tripod FormCOST:...x0.2MODIFIERS:...-3 to Maneuver Value2x Land MAPROPULSION:Land: Legs (See Notes)Other: AnyHARDPOINTS:..Torso, Head, Pod, Binder,Hand Held WeaponsSPECIAL:May change facing 1/turnat no MA cost, height is

10x Leg Servo Level inMetres.NOTES:The Tripod can be con-sidered a midway pointbetween the Tank andBeastmecha modes. Whilegaining a terrific mobilityincrease from its long, stilt-like legs, the Tripod is vul-nerable to being tripped,and requires all threeof its legs to walk. AnyEntangling Melee Weaponused to attempt to tripa Tripod is considered tobe at +2 WA for purposesof the trip. Tripods arealso considered to be oneweight category less thannormal for purposes of

determining knockback/knockdown effects in com-bat. Because of its uniqueconstruction, any Headtype servo can be declaredto operate as a turret forweapon arc puprposes.

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Actitious ship, the HMS Thunder Child ismentioned by H. G. Wells in only passingdetail, for very good reasons. It is listed

as an ironclad torpedo ram, a common vesselof the day, and anyone readingThe War Of

The Worlds would instantly recognize it assuch. They would know its size, shape, andoverall performance, just as any modern dayreader would instantly have a vision of an ap-

propriate vessel spring to mind upon readingthe term Aircraft Carrier.

Sadly, we today do not have that luxury. Wecan read about Ironclads in history books, andsee them in museums, but beyond that, we haveno real day to day knowledge. So, we have toapproximate, based on what we do know, using

other ships of the period as character examples,if you will, and keep those things in line with thestatistics needed to make a suitable Mekton unit.

For the purposes of this supplement, it has beendecided that the Thunder Childwould be built us-ing the rules from Mekton Zeta Plus. She is builtas a x10 scale, Boat Form Mekton, with an internalcombustion powerplant. The powerplant is listedas hot due to the explosive nature of the Thun-der Childs fuel. The Thunder Childis built with theWeight Inefciency modier, raising her MV to awhopping 10. This is lowered to a 5 by way ofthe Commander/Multiple Actions rule in MektonZeta Plus. While the Bridge Crew of the ship istechnically 10, only the Captain, First Ofcer,Navigator, Helmsman, and Master Gunner haveany real importance when it comes to the opera-tion of the ship in combat. The Captain gives theorders, the First Ofcer interprets and relays them,the Helmsman and Navigator keep the ship mov-ing properly, and the Master Gunner gets his lads

in the turrets operating at peak efciency.According to our sources, the Torpedo Rams of

the day sported anywhere from two to twentyguns, although it was certainly possible that theymight have carried more. For purposes of thegame, the Thunder Childhas its guns lumped intoa pair of turreted, +2 WA, 3 Kill, Burst Value 2 pro-jectile weapons. The guns are bought with a +2Weapon Accuracy to represent not only the sheer

volume of ammunition the guns of the ThundeChildputs into the air with each shot, but also tomodel the skill and training of the British Navyone of the most powerful and well equipped eetof the time. The Burst Value of the weapons is used

to mimic the potential for volley re, allowing foa quick series of retorts from the guns of the shipresulting in a decent amount of damage to thopponent. While both sets of guns are turretedallowing them a full 360 degree range of re, theyare not in any way linked. Aiming and ring eachset of guns requires an action from the commandcrew. Both sets of guns draw from the same ammunition store.

The Ram Prow of the Thunder Child is a seldomused last ditch tool. Unlike the small, four- or ve

man crew torpedo boats of the 1700s, shipsuch as the Thunder Childrarely engaged in ramming tactics, as they were simply too valuable tobe lost in such a way. Despite the sharp, chisel-likshape of her prow, and the extra reincorcemenprovided by the slabs of iron armor, it was therare and desperate captain that would order hihelmsman to set for ramming speed and crashpositions.

Because of her small size and large engines, thiclass of vessel was actually quite fast, for the tim(despite her slow surface MA of 2), and thucould be used as a stopgap interceptor, holding line while the larger, slower vessels steamed (yessteamed) into position. Like most Ironclads, hedraft was very low, and thus she did not providmuch of a target when facing the enemy directlyEven against broadsides, she would prove a difcult foe to strike, thanks to her low prole andshort turning radius. The most vulnerable parts othe Thunder Child, her stacks, through which a

of the venting of her engines took place, were anunprotected, choice target.

The sharp eyed player or Referee will note thawhile the Thunder Childis built as a x10 scale unither weapons are built as x1 scale, and that furtheher armor is bought as unscaled. This is intentional, as it serves to model the fact that while typicahand weapons could not hope to damage such avessel, infantry portable cannon could and did.

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The Martian Tripod Walker representsthe lower end of the Martian InvasionTechnology. While formidable, it pales

in comparison to the technology necessary tolaunch the Invasion forces across the void of

space, and in essence is little more than a vehi-cle for the devastating arsenal that it carries.

The description Wells gives of the Tripods is veryclear: They move awkwardly, with a jerking, tiltingmotion, and look for all the world like someonehas set a milking stool turning as they walk. Theyhave several long, nimble tentacles, with whichthey can manipulate objects, damage structures,and capture humans, which they place into largemetal baskets at the rear of the Tripods body forsome never-quite-revealed, nefarious purpose.

The Martian Tripod is operated by a lone Mar-tian, who sits in an open air control chair, undera hooded canopy. From within this control seat,the Martian breathes labored breaths, strainingagainst the heavier gravity of the Earth. Beneathit, the galvanized metal limbs of the Tripod hurtleit across the landscape at speeds even an educatedman of the day might doubt possible. From highabove the ground, the cold-hearted Martians cansweep their deadly Heat Rays, striking targets over

half a kilometer away, devastating the landscape.At night, they unleash the insidious, creeping furyof their Black Smoke rockets, spreading death overthe land like a creeping fog.

The Tripod Transformation listed earlier in thissupplement was devised as a way to show the ex-ibility of the Mekton Zeta ruleset. Using the Tripodform, mecha can be designed that gain a tremen-dous height advantage (or disadvantage, depend-ing on the use of height and stature in individualcampaigns), as well as a substantial increase in

Land MA. However, they are more susceptibleto being tripped by entangling melee weapons(including their own Gripper Tentacles, if turnedagainst another Tripod), or toppled by rammingattacks and body blows.

The Martian Tripod is a very low cost, light-weight unit, as bets a device that must be ca-pable of being stored, in pieces, within a relativelysmall delivery vessel. While it is unknown precisely

how many Martians were transported within eacof the cylinders that were red from the surface oMars by the Space Gun, each of those cylinderwas capable of constructing one tripod relativelyquickly, with others following shortly therafter. I

would be a safe assumption that each Martian invader could easily have obtained and operated itown Tripod Walker. It is possible that there couldbe hundreds of them on the loose in England aany given point in time during the war.

The Heat Ray, that devastating weapon of thMartian Invasion force, is built as a 4-Kill BeamWeapon. Its Weapon Accuracy is unchanged, buits range has been increased to 16 hexes, allowingit to re at a range of 800 metres before incurringany penalties. It is bought with a Burst Value of

to simulate its sweepingeffect. Needles to sayit is also purchased with a large amount of spacefciency so that it can t into the head of the Trpod, where it is wielded by the Martian pilot withdeadly accuracy.

The Black Smoke weapon has been constructedas a 6-shot salvo of missiles. Each missile is a 10Kill smoke warhead, which has had the SpeciaEffect Weapon modier added to it. The SFX fothe Black Smoke Rockets are as simple as they

are deadly. Upon contact with the Black Smokewhich clings low to the ground, and is capable oclimbing up low stairways and slipping throughthe cracks of doors, any human or terrestrial lifeform must make a roll of 1D10 + BODY vs. a DIF20 effect, or, quite simply, die. The Martians, envisioned by H. G. Wells, have created a weapondesigned to destroy the dominant forms of lifeboth plant and animal, on the Earth, while leavingthe buildings and water supply intact. The BlacSmoke cannot cross water, and is in fact rendered

inert upon contact with it. The smoke ceases toblock line of sight after 5 rounds, but lingers fo1 hour per Kill of the warhead (an average of 10hours per rocket).

Finally, the Gripper Tentacles are just tha Handy, Entangling Melee weapons attached tothe small, bulbous arm junctions beneath thequally small trunk section of the Tripod War Machine.

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Where to from here,you ask? The Mar-tians are defeated

in but over a single month ofthe calendar, and not by the

hand of Man, whom until thecoming of the invaders reignedsupreme among the creaturesof the Earth, but by the lowlymicrobe, a virus innoccuous tohumanity, but lethal to thosenot born of this good, greenworld. Now, honestly, wheresthe fun in that, you ask?

The fun in that, you see, is theadventure of sneaking into the

Martian camps late at night,as they huddle beneath theirTripods, their large, bear-sizedforms laboring to adjust to theheavier gravity and thicker air ofMother Earth, as you and yourcompatriots seek to try and stealor destroy the giant, glitteringwar machines.

The fun in that comes as theMartians are destroyed, one byone, by small resistance cells hid-ing out among the forests andtowns of England, seeking to de-fend their land For Queen andCountry isnt just a saying, youknow, its a way of life.

The fun in that comes from theroleplay, as the war escalates andends, the tension of perhaps los-ing loved ones, perhaps nding

new compatriots. The fun in thatcomes from watching as a wayof life ends, and a new one, withthe dawning of the 20th Cen-tury, begins.And when The War is over?

What then? Where, then, doesthe tale of The War Of TheWorlds take our brave heroes?

It is said that the secret of defy-ing gravity, that which will allowman to y, is discovered by re-searchers after the Martians haveall been accounted for, and their

machines have ceased prowl-ing the land. The Heat Ray isexamined, and will surely be un-derstood one day. And the vari-ous technologies the Martiansbrought with them, save forThe Black Smoke, are all withinthe grasp of Humanity to under-stand, given time. And, perhaps,even that most insidious of Mar-tian weapons will one day be un-

derstood, too, although we praythat no one would ever turn itupon their foes.

Perhaps the other nations ofthe Earth, upon hearing of andconrming the new technologi-cal might of the British Empire,seek to counter this advancewith technology of their own?Imagine a world where the Rus-sians and the Americans conspireto counter the English TripodThreat with multi-legged warmachines of their ownAnd what of the impacts, seen

from observatories, upon Venus?What of the Martians that madetheir way there? Will they have tobe reckoned with, one day? Willthey come to the Earth intent onnishing what their predeces-

sors could not? Perhaps they willcome, and man will still not beready for them.And perhaps Just perhaps,

Man will not wait to see whatthe Martians do. Perhaps he willgo to them. Who can say thatMan will not build a Space Can-non of his own, and point it sky-

ward, thoughts of explorationor perhaps conquest, fresh anvital in his mind?We leave you now with a clos

ing, the only one suitable fo

a work such as this. We havenjoyed your company this evening, good audience. May yobe seen safely home.

Good night.

I go to London and see the busmultitudes in Fleet Street and thStrand, and it comes across mmind that they are but the ghostof the past, haunting the street

that I have seen silent and wretched, going to and fro, phantasms ia dead city, the mockery of life ia galvanised body. And strangetoo, it is to stand on Primrose Hilas I did but a day before writinthis last chapter, to see the greaprovince of houses, dim and bluthrough the haze of the smokand mist, vanishing at last intthe vague lower sky, to see thpeople walking to and fro amonthe ower beds on the hill, to sethe sight-seers about the Martiamachine that stands there still, thear the tumult of playing chidren, and to recall the time wheI saw it all bright and clear-cuhard and silent, under the dawn othat last great day

And strangest of all is it to hol

my wifes hand again, and to thinthat I have counted her, and thashe has counted me, among thdead.

-The War Of The Worlds, BooTwo: The Earth Under ThMartians, Chapter Ten: ThEpilogue

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14/14

DESIGNED FOR USE WITH AND USING R. TALSORIANS ANIME ROLEPLAYING GAME

The Invasion Has Begun!

From across the stars they come,launched into the void from anangry red planet. Night after

night, the cylinders fall, crashing intothe countryside falling stars bearing

the doom of Man.For six long nights, they fall into the

elds and hills of England: cylinderscontaining the arms and means of agreat and terrible war. From the greatcraters created by the impacts lumberthe Tripods, three-legged instruments ofMans demise.

Heat rays sweeping the streets, the

Martians set London aame, bringingthe mighty British Empire to its knees.Anarchy and terror rule the day, theMonarchy displaced and ed across theChannel to France. Fields and forests liein ruin, as thick, death-bringing cloudsof The Black Smoke roll forth heraldingthe Martian advance.

High above the terried masses, their

terrible, inhuman eyes looking downupon the last vestiges of humanity with-in the British Isles, the Martians marchacross the Earth. Seeking to make it theirown, they sweep their malice to and fro,their anger and hate for a species sovastly their inferior incomprehensible.They are without mercy, they are with-out remorse, they are without souls.

But all is not lost. You and your com-panions, thrown together by fate andhappenstance. Your leader has a plan,and your group is ready. You will stealone of the war machines one of the

Tripods tonight, as the Martiansmake camp. You have guns, knives,and swords as your weapons. Yourleader was a member of the infantry. Hefought the Martians at Coventry, whereone of the machines was brought downby cannon.

Though the Martians have their HeatRay, they are but esh, and blood. They

can be injured. They can be killed.For Queen and Country, you will take

the ght to the invaders. You will winthis War Of The Worlds.

Take up arms against theforces of Mars in this free-to-download supplement

for R. Talsorian Games Mekton

Zeta roleplaying game.Set in 1898, this Victorian-era

adventure takes the game ofMekton Zeta to the dawning ofthe 20th Century, to the Empireof Queen Victoria, and into thepages of history.

For Queen and Country! RuleBrittania!

Copyright J. Milligan 2003.War Of The Worlds, by H. G. Wells, used as inspiration and resource material. No claim to ownership of theproperty is made by Atomic Rocket Games.