Mechanoids vs Supers

[Warshield73]

In an Mdc setting a high tech populace, like rifts Earth could hold them off. Added benefit the satellite defense system. Good luck using handwavium to knock them outa the sky. Jussayin.

The Earth Containment system is not anti-invasion, it is containment. The satellite defense system didn't do jack to the Arkohn invasion fleet until they started to land on Earth. The only reason the Arkohn did not completely destroy the orbital community is because the Rifts caused them to separate by decades and they were defeated piecemeal. If a small Arkohn force can hurt the orbitals that bad and get a force that large onto the Earth's surface a Mechanoid Mothership can slice and dice.

The Earth orbital stations don't have the numbers to even slow down the Mechanoids and long range missile bombardment by a mobile force against fixed stationary defenses is not handwavium, it's just good tactics.

I came to the conclusion mechanoids blow.

A tad harsh, but some of us still love them. To me they are like technological demons or a force of nature. You can't reason with them and you can't beat them. All you can do is run and survive. But I do understand why some people don't like an enemy this powerful.

In an sdc setting, Bwahahaha supers would own them.

Each Mechanoid is the equivalent of psionic tank with energy weapons, only a few supers in any of the Heroes Unlimited books can stand up to the SDC Mechanoids.

Bullies are only strong against the weak.

True of Mechanoids, true of supers too.

Mechanoids=space roaches.

OK, very harsh. Wow.

Supers do great 1v1 with Mechanoids, but the Mechanoids have the overwhelming numbers that become an issue for Supers. However, I have found Supers make great additional characters to a Mechanoid Invasion campaign.

And yeah, HU should be used with the original SDC Mechanoids books. The conversion stuff is just that much easier.

Mechanoids are like demons, Splugorth minions, CS soldiers, or even super heroes. A player group can beat them if the numbers are not to high and they have to run if the numbers are.

Supers, psychics, mages, veritech fighters are all great additions to a Mechanoid campaign. I have always wanted to do an Aliens Unlimited campaign where a Mechanoid invasion is part of the plot.

If you are going to put Mechanoids in an SDC setting they should be SDC, but I really like the new body styles from the Rifts SB2, so much more imaginative. I prefer to use those instead of the old style.

[flatline]

From a player's perspective, the thing that sucks about the Mechanoids is that it's extremely difficult to make a profit from fighting them.

--flatline

[Warshield73]

From a player's perspective, the thing that sucks about the Mechanoids is that it's extremely difficult to make a profit from fighting them.

--flatline

Unless you use missiles and completely obliterate them there are always parts. Examples of advanced robotics, advanced particle beam technology, new alloys and if they hit a robot or a mechanoid with a lucky shot and it shuts down, you get a reasonably intact mechanoid or combat robot.

My players made millions selling parts and weapons to Northern Gun, Wilks, Triax, even Bandito Arms. Players just have to be imaginative and spend some time making the right contacts.

By contrast they never made much money fighting demons. Even if a demon had a magical weapon that they could take it was usually so evil that the only people that might use it would be people that they would never want to have it.

[eliakon]

From a player's perspective, the thing that sucks about the Mechanoids is that it's extremely difficult to make a profit from fighting them.

--flatline

Unless you use missiles and completely obliterate them there are always parts. Examples of advanced robotics, advanced particle beam technology, new alloys and if they hit a robot or a mechanoid with a lucky shot and it shuts down, you get a reasonably intact mechanoid or combat robot.

My players made millions selling parts and weapons to Northern Gun, Wilks, Triax, even Bandito Arms. Players just have to be imaginative and spend some time making the right contacts.

By contrast they never made much money fighting demons. Even if a demon had a magical weapon that they could take it was usually so evil that the only people that might use it would be people that they would never want to have it.

Three Words. "Mechanoid Power Crystals"
So every mechanoid is a wandering loot piñata (to steal a term from elsewhere). That's BEFORE the value of salvage, or bounties, or rewards......

[Warshield73]

Three Words. "Mechanoid Power Crystals"
So every mechanoid is a wandering loot piñata (to steal a term from elsewhere). That's BEFORE the value of salvage, or bounties, or rewards......

I had forgotten all about this, mainly because my players never sold them (1 or 2 to Wilks, NG, or Triax) they just used them for there vehicles. But you're right, these are the most important items to recover.

[flatline]

From a player's perspective, the thing that sucks about the Mechanoids is that it's extremely difficult to make a profit from fighting them.

--flatline

Unless you use missiles and completely obliterate them there are always parts. Examples of advanced robotics, advanced particle beam technology, new alloys and if they hit a robot or a mechanoid with a lucky shot and it shuts down, you get a reasonably intact mechanoid or combat robot.

My players made millions selling parts and weapons to Northern Gun, Wilks, Triax, even Bandito Arms. Players just have to be imaginative and spend some time making the right contacts.

By contrast they never made much money fighting demons. Even if a demon had a magical weapon that they could take it was usually so evil that the only people that might use it would be people that they would never want to have it.

Three Words. "Mechanoid Power Crystals"
So every mechanoid is a wandering loot piñata (to steal a term from elsewhere). That's BEFORE the value of salvage, or bounties, or rewards......

How do your players learn about the existence of the mechanoid power crystals?

--flatline

[eliakon]

From a player's perspective, the thing that sucks about the Mechanoids is that it's extremely difficult to make a profit from fighting them.

--flatline

Unless you use missiles and completely obliterate them there are always parts. Examples of advanced robotics, advanced particle beam technology, new alloys and if they hit a robot or a mechanoid with a lucky shot and it shuts down, you get a reasonably intact mechanoid or combat robot.

My players made millions selling parts and weapons to Northern Gun, Wilks, Triax, even Bandito Arms. Players just have to be imaginative and spend some time making the right contacts.

By contrast they never made much money fighting demons. Even if a demon had a magical weapon that they could take it was usually so evil that the only people that might use it would be people that they would never want to have it.

Three Words. "Mechanoid Power Crystals"
So every mechanoid is a wandering loot piñata (to steal a term from elsewhere). That's BEFORE the value of salvage, or bounties, or rewards......

How do your players learn about the existence of the mechanoid power crystals?

--flatline

The most common way was finding out when the mechanic/scientist/scholar in the group studies a downed Mechanoid. This is usually done rather quickly so they can understand what they are facing. Its pretty easy to find the power source of something after all. In places where Mechanoids are common enough to warrant bounties or such, its usually already well known enough. If for no other reason than they power crystals are valuable enough to have bounties on them in their own right. (I am talking the smaller crystals that power each individual mechanoid, not the giant mother crystal on the ship btw.)

[Killer Cyborg]

We tend to dissect and analyze what we kill.

Not to mention sell all the parts.

[Warshield73]

We tend to dissect and analyze what we kill.

Not to mention sell all the parts.

Yeah, most of my players even chop up the monsters to sell to scientists and mages. Kind of disgusting to me but as one of players liked to say "medium range missiles aint cheap."

Tech stuff always got chopped up, by every player group I ever ran. Even some of the convention games I have run some players still try to do this, even thought they will never play the character again.