More teasings:
The blue 'bot on the left of the cover is CELERION, the heroic leader of the exiled Alliance mechagens. His alt form is a high-tech supersonic jet fighter.
The red 'bot on the right is CENTURION, the villianous leader of the Legion. His alt form is a massive twin-barreled tank.
MECHAGENESIS is mostly metallic crunch, with some flavor at the end briefly detailing the default setting of an Earth at war with an invading force of morphing robots.
It has rules for making giant, morphing robots that can turn into cars, weapons, technological devices, animal shapes, and even buildings. It contains a simple system for designing futuristic weapons, vehicle combat (naturally!), and special powers based on the core True20 powers.
It even has rules for combining multiple robots into a larger humanoid robot with even greater strength and power.
The rules even allow for a player to run a robot or a human.
Here is some flavor text, and sample characters that I also previewed over at the True20 'boards.
She roared down the highway, free and clear… or so she thought. She heard the distant scream of a police siren rapidly approaching behind her. Muttering curses, she checked her rear-view mirrors. Behind her, dodging cars to the left and right, a heavily modified police coupe blared its siren, lights flashing frantically. It was difficult to see her pursuer, as she was weaving in and out of traffic herself, but she saw enough of him to know that she couldn’t outrun him. She couldn’t risk a confrontation with him on this crowded freeway, either, or even activate her stealth module. It would be too dangerous to the already startled drivers around her. She cursed again. This was the last thing she needed.
Scanning the road ahead of her, she saw an off-ramp free of civilians and decided to make her move. She zipped across three lanes of traffic, ignoring the horns and rude gestures of the drivers she darted past in order to take the fight away from traffic. “You’ll thank me later!” she shouted.
Near the top of the off-ramp she slammed on the brakes, kicking up a great cloud of smoke as high-performance tires screamed and fought for grip. She swerved into a bootlegger turn, nearly rolling over as she skidded to a stop perpendicular to the ramp. Suddenly sparks of energy crackled over the surface of the car, the chassis extended, rotated, unfolded arms and legs.
Ghost rose to her feet, bringing her quantum energy blaster rifle to bear on the police coupe. “Goodbye, Rundown,” she whispered as she squeezed the trigger.
Ghost
Function: Spy.
Quote: Now you see me, now you don’t… now you die.
Description: Ghost is a specialist in subterfuge, and is not fond of combat. As a spy, she feels that if you’re involved in a fight, you’ve failed as a spy. Unfortunately, the state of warfare that now exists on Earth since the arrival of the Legion frequently pushes her into unavoidable combat situations. She tackles the obstacles stoically, however, knowing from the loss of the Alliance foothold on Artifex that the cost of inaction will be devastating to Earth. She prefers to fight on paved ground, since natural surfaces often give away her position with clouds of dust and foot impressions. Such terrain is not something to which she is accustomed, since there’s nothing like it on Artifex.
Abilities: Ghost can angle small crystals embedded in her metallic skin to warp light in such a way as to become invisible. This gives her an excellent tactical advantage in combat, but also enhances her abilities as a spy. She tends to remain in alt form, invisibly zipping around a battle zone to go where she feels she is most needed at a given moment. In primary form she wields a blaster rifle.
Quantum Reserves (Conviction): OOO
Role: Large mechagen Expert 1
Speed: 40 ft.
Abilities: Str +1, Dex +3, Con +3, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +0
Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+7), Bluff 4 (+4), Computers (+6), Disguise 4 (+6), Drive 4 (+11), Intimidate 4 (+4), Jump 4 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 4 (+6), Notice 4 (+6), Search 4 (+6), Stealth 4 (+6)
Bonus Feat: Firearms Training
Favored Feats: Attack Specialization, Greater Attack Specialization
Feats: Quick Draw, Skill Focus (Stealth), Vehicular Combat 2
Upgrades: Increased Acceleration, Increased Vehicle Form Speed 2, Special Power Focus
Power: Int, effective total level 2, rank 5, fatigue save 11, power bonus +10; Light Shaping (invisibility only)
Traits: Built-In Radio, Damage Reduction (4/quantum energy), Energy Resistance 4, Imbued Attacks, Living Machine, Morph
Combat: Attack +2 (−1 size, +3 Dex), Damage +2 (unarmed) or +6 (blaster rifle), Defense Dodge/Parry +2/+0 (−1 size, +3 Dex/+1 Str), Initiative +3
Saving Throws: Toughness +9/+5 (+2 size, +3 Con, +4 DR/ER), Fortitude +3 (+3 Con), Reflex +5 (+2 base, +3 Dex), Will +2 (+2 Wis)
Virtue: Loyal; Vice: Vindictive
Gear
Blaster Rifle: Base damage +3 +1 size +2 extra = +6; Extra Damage +2 (2), Increased Range +100 ft. (2), Longarm (+1); Cost 4.
Alt Form: Sports Car
Character Scale Speed: 245 squares per round.
Surface Scale Speed: 49 squares per round.
Air Scale Speed: 4.9 squares per round.
MPH: 245 mph.
Maneuverability: Good, +4 bonus on Drive checks.
Acceleration: 52.5/10.5/1.05.
Priorities
1 – Alt Form; Sports Car.
2 – Gear; 4 points.
3 –Special Power, level +0; Light Shaping (invisibility only, +1 priority boost)
4 – Upgrades; 4.
5 – Abilities; 8 points.
Rundown
Function: Fugitive Pursuit.
Quote: You can’t run from the inevitable.
Description: Rundown is a loose cannon in the Legion ranks, dangerous to Alliance ‘bots and sometimes even his own team. He is, however, extremely good at what he does — chasing down and ruthlessly destroying Alliance ‘bots — so Centurion keeps him around. He cleverly adopted the alt form of a police cruiser, allowing him to move at high speeds through human communities without drawing the wrong kind of attention.
Abilities: In primary form Rundown wields a powerful quantum energy autoblaster carbine. Despite his speed, accuracy, and lethality, his primary weakness is his singular weapon. It is powerful, certainly, but if removed from him he is left defenseless. In alt form he can reach top speeds of 245 miles per hour, and is agile enough to swerve in and out of traffic with ease. In either form, he can manipulate the sequence of flashing lights on his police light bar to mesmerize an opponent.
Quantum Reserves (Conviction): OOO
Role: Large mechagen Warrior 1
Speed: 40 ft.
Abilities: Str +3, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +0
Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+7), Drive 4 (+15), Intimidate 4 (+4), Jump 4 (+7), Notice 4 (+5), Search 4 (+5)
Bonus Feat: Firearms Training
Favored Feats: Elusive Target, Sneak Attack
Feats: Attack Focus (blaster rifle) Point Blank Shot, Vehicular Combat 2
Upgrades: High Performance, Increased Acceleration, Increased Maneuverability, Increased Vehicle Form Speed 2
Power: Int, effective total level 1, rank 4, fatigue save 11, save Difficulty 12; Suggestion
Traits: Built-In Radio, Damage Reduction (4/quantum energy), Energy Resistance 4, Imbued Attacks, Living Machine, Morph
Combat: Attack +3 (−1 size, +1 base, +3 Dex) (+4 with autoblaster carbine), Damage +4 (unarmed) or +7 (autoblaster carbine), Defense Dodge/Parry +3/+3 (−1 size, +1 base, +3 Dex/+3 Str), Initiative +3
Saving Throws: Toughness +8/+4 (+2 size, +2 Con, +4 DR/ER), Fortitude +4 (+2 base, +2 Con), Reflex +3 (+3 Dex), Will +1 (+1 Wis)
Virtue: Determined; Vice: Rash
Gear
Autoblaster Carbine: Base damage +3 +3 extra +1 size = +7; Autofire (2), Extra Damage +3 (3), Increased Range +50 ft. (1), Longarm (+1); Cost 6.
Alt Form: Sports Car
Character Scale Speed: 245 squares per round.
Surface Scale Speed: 49 squares per round.
Air Scale Speed: 4.9 squares per round.
MPH: 245 mph.
Maneuverability: Perfect, +8 bonus on Drive checks.
Acceleration: 52.5/10.5/1.05.
Priorities
1 – Alt Form; Sports Car.
2 – Gear; 6 points.
3 – Special Power, level +0; Suggestion.
4 – Ability scores; 7 points.
5 – Upgrades; 5.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
