THE FIELD GUIDE TO ODEON Reference Document V 1-3-4 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

THE FIELD GUIDE TO ODEON Reference Document V 1.3.4

By Hookedsteward and Konigstein, 2022

Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 3 Changelog ................................................................................................................................. 4 Update 1.3.4 ........................................................................................................................... 4 Odeon: World of the Everywhen ................................................................................................ 6 The First Story ........................................................................................................................... 6 Odeon As We Know It ................................................................................................................ 7 The System ............................................................................................................................ 7 The Planet .............................................................................................................................. 8 The People ............................................................................................................................. 8 Storytellers ............................................................................................................................. 8 Offworlders ............................................................................................................................. 9 Speaking Truth in Power ........................................................................................................ 9 Odeon and Union ..................................................................................................................10 A Struggle for Memory ..............................................................................................................10 Pallbearers Private Military Corporation ....................................................................................13 United In Death .....................................................................................................................13 The Circle of 12 .....................................................................................................................14 Apsara Zaibatsu ........................................................................................................................15 Sign Your Way to Success! ...................................................................................................16 Mood Effectors and You! .......................................................................................................16 Dance through the Danger in your New Best Friend! .............................................................17 The Ultimate Roadies, Here for You! .....................................................................................17 Mech Combat in the Everywhen ...............................................................................................18 New Tag: Rhythm ..................................................................................................................18 New Condition: Entranced .....................................................................................................18 New Talents ..............................................................................................................................18 Raider....................................................................................................................................18 Performer ..............................................................................................................................19 Pallbearers................................................................................................................................20 Pallbearers Core Bonuses .....................................................................................................20 Oseberg ................................................................................................................................23 Kurgan...................................................................................................................................28 Ossuary .................................................................................................................................32 Dakhma .................................................................................................................................36 2

Tholos ...................................................................................................................................41 Grave Hopper ........................................................................................................................46 Pyre .......................................................................................................................................51 Apsara Zaibatsu (AZAI).............................................................................................................56 AZAI Core Bonuses ...............................................................................................................56 CALLIOPE.............................................................................................................................59 CLIO ......................................................................................................................................63 ERATO ..................................................................................................................................67 MELPOMENE .......................................................................................................................71 TERPSICHORE ....................................................................................................................75 URANIA.................................................................................................................................79 GMS Stetind .............................................................................................................................83 IPS-N Calais .............................................................................................................................84 SSC Adonis ..............................................................................................................................89 HORUS Dungeonmaster ...........................................................................................................93 HA Mendel ................................................................................................................................97

Disclaimer The Field Guide to Odeon is not an official Lancer product; it is a third party work, and is not affiliated with Massif Press. The Field Guide to Odeon is published via the Lancer Third Party License.

Acknowledgements Thank you to Alean, Artfulbadger, Arwen, Aurora, Beriare, Bluhman, Chills, Cannonburn, DataMoth, Derphost, Delilah, Dragon, Drakeheart, Fungus, GingerGiant, Guncube, InterationDrive 8, Ikyro, LostDeviljho, Magnadeus, Ozark, Perijove, Psybomb, Ru (the legendary Ghengis Gal), Scotch, Sasha, SgtBrian, Taveena, and the rest of the Homebrew Design channel for aiding with the design and giving feedback on the Pallbearers and AZAI. Bligityblarg, Bobby Ricotta, Chase, Duvalasu, Ffzdf, FourEyesIsAFish, HotTacoTheTaco, letsRaeV, Lloyd_3.0, Mustard, Olonthontor, SavvySavy, Smellydungeondog, SmugLookingBarrel, ursa subpar and Wren.ch for their help playtesting and refining this book’s many, many, many frames. The AZAI ERATO is an original concept by Beriare, adapted with permission by Konigstein. Extra special thanks to Olothontor for a ton of editing and formatting help, as well as to Duvalasur for the feedback, coding, and introducing us both to Lancer. Art for this volume is by Moiderah, Theotime GM and Konigstein. Cover image: Mosaic depicting theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy (Thermae Decianae). 3

Changelog Update 1.3.4 Calliope • Repair Cap increased from 3 to 4 • Sensors reduced from 8 to 5 • System points reduced from 7 to 6 • Speed reduced from 5 to 4 • Walking Calamity Trait reworked • Master Blaster trait replaced by Dynamic Instability trait • Everyone, Lend me your Strength! • Tightened wording to only allow for only Player characters to interact with the CP • Extra damage typified as Bonus Damage • Tightened wording on BREATh Compensators • Gravitic Combustion Mode Removed • Pyrotechnic Plasma Capsules system replaced by Clearcutter Laser “PLATFORM” Main Cannon • Ode to Victory: added a heat cost to its activation in tandem with adding several other weapons that made terrain destruction easier. • GWAR NHP reworked. Removed extra SH mounting and replaced with the BONESNAPPING TECHNO-DESTRUCTOR Full Action. • Taikobooster “ARIA” o Moved to LL 3 • Removed the On hit effect “When you attack with this weapon, all enemies within Burst 2 of your mech must pass a Systems check or become Entranced until the end of their next turn” • Removed the Inaccurate, Knockback 2, and Heat Self tags • Removed the “even” beat die effect • Changed the “Odd” beat die effect to: “When the Beat Die is Odd this weapon may be reloaded as a Free Action. This weapon may not be fired during any turn in which it has been reloaded.” • Added the Loading Tag • Heavy Subwoofer “SUNBLOTTER” Heavy Launcher added to the LL2 Slot Adonis • • •

Increased the Adonis’ Evasion from 10 to 12 Added the Guardian Trait Removed size restrictions of beauty of function

Calais • •

Changed the wording on the Calais' Tout-Tour Shield to try and make its effects clearer Added “unique” Tag to the Hecatonchires SMG

Mendel • Increased the Range of Fungal Overgrowth from 5 to 8. Oseberg

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• • • •

Replaced the +2 evasion on the Speed bonus of the Core Passive to “1/round you may Boost as a Free Action”. Tweaked the Prometheus Sheath to bring its self damage in line with that of the Cauterizer. Added a 1/round Clause on the on Crit bonus damage of the C&PNS. Added a Range restriction of 15 spaces when selecting a target using the C&PNS.

Ossuary • Tightened Femoral-Tibial Servo Shunt’s wording to specify what characters are damaged during the use of the system

Pyre • • • • • •

Added a new frame, the fiery, phoenix-like PYRE. Changed wording on Conflagration of Purpose to "Select either a willing allied or enemy character within Sensors and line of sight" to make things clearer. Cleaned up/simplified Core Power Wording Changed Core Power Action Cost from a Full to a Quick Action Changed the Burst 2 heal of the Core Power to a single target Heal of either the Pyre or an allied character within Range 8 of the Pyre. Replaced the Abjuration Modifications with the Phlegethon Class NHP

Mendel • Added missing description to the Sphaerospermum Nexi General Changes • Hundreds of grammar, spelling, wording clarification and layout fixes, courtesy of our playtesters. • Art for the Grave Hopper by Moiderah added

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Odeon: World of the Everywhen To the modern Union, Odeon is an exciting cultural oddity: a melting pot of a world whose inhabitants excel in the preservation of traditional myths, legends and storytelling. It is equal parts cosmopolitan and terribly backwards, home to the peoples of a thousand worlds and yet deliberately holding itself back by conforming to singular traditions and modes of living thousands of years out of date. The reasons behind this deliberate and self-acknowledged hidebound conservatism can be found in the First Story, the collective memory told by every Odeonian. It is the story of the Serpent Expedition, and the settling of Odeon itself.

The First Story The storyteller tosses a handful of sticks on the fire, staring deep into the coals. A camera drone hovers at eye height, picking up the nuances in his gaze as he looks up and, without preamble, begins to speak. The audience listens intently. When the Ten were still going star-ways, a group of people on Cradle who were too smart for their own good thought they’d be clever and make their own colony ship. They’d seen the Ten built, seen the thinking behind the colony ships, and decided to do better. And so Serpent was made. You might call it Snake, or Quartz Prism, or Great Bat. No one agrees on the name, but everyone agrees it was a colony ship. Serpent showed off all of Cradle’s greatest technology: the miracles they thought could stop the Fall. It was all done by machine-mind. New terraforming tech that could make the soil fertile and the air breathable, printer tech, to build machines better and quicker and new gene-tech, to make colonists faster and smarter and stronger. Into Serpent they put all manner of machine minds, ancient and powerful. The clever ones on Cradle looked at the stars and with the help of the machines set a course to a world they thought was good. This world, the one we stand on. ‘Course the very, very smart people who’d made the Serpent bragged. Who wouldn’t? They were proud. Made enemies. Even before the launch there were parasites in the guts of Serpent. We dunno who they were, what they wanted. What mattered is what they did. The Expedition was launched. Took a long time to make it here, but they made it. Landed in the Great Theatre. The Odeon. That’s how the place was named, and the planet was made green and lush. The First Farmers dug their fields, and planted their seed. Odeon put up its first shoots. Then the enemies did their work. Machine-minds went sour. They tore the atmosphere, wrecked the equipment. Homes crushed, fields burnt, the planet dug full of holes by the terraformers. Most of the First Farmers died, and the survivors fought long and hard to kill the machines before any more damage could be done. Others will tell you about the Thresher War, or the Great Uprooting, or the Battle That Burned the Air. The First Farmers won. The machines died. 6

So the Farmers looked on the wreck of their world, and thought, “what the hell do we do now?” All the big machines were gone. Computer records were dying by the day; useful things to know, just disappearing into static. Only thing seemed to be working was the gene-tech, but custom babies couldn’t live off dirt and ice and ruined machines. So the First Farmers did the only thing they could. They made the Odeonians. They made us. The Storytellers. Proteins and strands, all bent and tweaked into a shape that could remember, where the computers couldn’t. By the time they were done recording and telling their stories, the First Farmers were old and dying, but the Odeonians had grown up. And so we did what we were made to do. We told the old stories and learned from them. We remembered the old machines and got them working again. We remembered how green the planet had been, and helped it to grow back. Without machine-minds we fixed our home, and lived in it, and came back to the stars one day. And here we are, still remembering. There is no applause, just a quiet mutter of appreciation. The storyteller gives up his place by the fire, and another takes over, launching into a great myth from Sparri. Starlight and firelight illuminate the Great Theatre, which echoes with the soft thrum of voices. Around each fire a storyteller. Around each fire, a story. And so the Everywhen grows.

Odeon As We Know It Odeon is a prosperous and successful member of Union, a hub for the performing arts and oral storytelling with a vast cultural reach. It is a popular tourist destination, a center for the preservation and recollection of information thought lost, and a major producer of Omninet programming, all into one. In short, it is one of the foundation stones on which what might be called Union culture is built.

The System A middle-aged blue-white giant in the Pleiades cluster, Celaeno is an unremarkable star of its class, roughly four times the size of Sol. Its planetary system is equally unremarkable, composed mostly of sparse asteroid fields. Two cold gas giants orbit at the edge of the system, their frigid low-density atmospheres devoid of little of interest to anyone save the pilots of longhaul fuel skimmer ships. Mamaragan and Namarrkon, as they are called, are visible from furth in-system as bright blue-white stars, but few Odeonians give much thought to their stellar system. To most they are just the Thunder Men, something to be learned about in childhood and then ignored. Even after millenia of settlement and space travel, the Celaenian system contains relatively little human infrastructure. Small mining settlements dot the asteroid belts, and a few gargantuan hydrogen/deuterium processing stations shriek through the upper atmospheres of the gas giants, but there is frankly not enough of interest in the outer system for travellers to stop. The stripped-down hulks of asteroid-redirect vessels that arrived with the Serpent are of mild curiosity to historians, but for the most part Celaeno’s white glow illuminates a quiet system.

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On the inner edge of Celaeno’s habitability belt sits a single rocky planet, one whose name has echoed through the halls of Union for centuries; the Planet of Storytellers, Odeon.

The Planet The result of almost 10,000 years of on-again, off-again terraforming, Odeon is a lush garden planet with a surface gravity of 0.8g, a rich oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, and several moderately-sized saltwater inland seas. With a strong axial tilt, it demonstrates substantial seasonal climactic variations, characterized by warm, wet summers and cold but extremely dry winters, with a tendency towards extreme surface winds due to the planet’s somewhat exotic geography. Odeon is geologically stable and demonstrates little natural vulcanism, but its crust is riddled with artificial tunnels and unnatural mineral deposits, the results of millenia of subsurface terraforming and mining machinery run amok. The great bowl-shaped craters that dominate much of the planet’s equator are a natural formation; the vast sinkholes, magmatic upwellings and deep rift valleys that scar the planet’s surface are not.

The People When speaking of Odeon’s roughly four billion inhabitants, it is vitally important to distinguish between the major genetic divide that separates the planet’s population into two distinct groups: offworlders and Storytellers. Culturally, Odeon has grown to incorporate elements from hundreds of planets and thousands of backgrounds, but the distinction between those “baseline” humans and those who carry the genetic programming of the First Odeonians in their veins is absolute.

Storytellers Several different templates for the Storyteller gene-patterns exist. They are passed on by genetic inheritance; a child with at least one Storyteller parent or grandparent has a greater than 30% chance of being a Storyteller themselves. The pattern’s most obvious physical manifestation is in the tall, slim build and tendency to hirsuteness of both male and female Storytellers. More important for the planet’s culture is the innate eidetic and genetic memory it enables. All Storytellers are capable of near-perfect recall of any event they have experienced in their lives from the moment of birth, though the sensory associations of these events vary from person to person; some Storyteller families excel at recollecting visual patterns, for instance, while there are others whose recall can only be triggered by certain smells or combinations of taste. Compounding this remarkable recall is the ability of Storytellers to, with a degree of practice and deep meditation, encode information in their genetic coding directly which is then passed on to subsequent generations. The degree to which this information can be actively accessed is one of the more unstable and inconsistent of the Storyteller genetic advantages, and many Storytellers may only experience inconsistent and fragmentary moments of genetic recall, albeit ones which can be easily recounted and analysed. Those Storytellers with more stable and consistent genetic recall can still easily and accurately recount the technical information, terraforming data and historical records encoded into their ancestors thousands of years ago. 8

For all that the Storyteller strain is remarkably stable by the standards of ancient gene-modding, it is not without its flaws. Storyteller brains are chemically much more active than their baseline human counterparts, resulting in a vastly increased upkeep of the minerals dominant in many common neurotransmitters; as a result, Odeonians are prone to suffer the negative psychological side-effects of malnutrition much more easily than baseline humanity, and prolonged malnutrition can cause lasting and chronic brain injuries. Additionally, the higher chemical stressed placed on the amygdala and hippocampus means that, despite longstanding planetary efforts to mitigate and treat these issues, rates of schizophrenia and temporal lobe epilepsy among Storytellers are more than 500% higher than Union-wide averages.

Offworlders Many feel that the term “Offworlder” is reductionist and derogatory, symptomatic of Odeon’s backwards-looking culture. They point out that the planet has had a substantial non-Storyteller population for dozens of generations, and that in many ways it is as cosmopolitan, or even more so, than any other major Union world. Still, the term remains in common parlance, applied broadly and generally without rancour to the inhabitants of other worlds that have chosen to emigrate to Odeon. Much of Odeon’s immigrant population is there on a temporary basis; long-stay tourism on the planet is a major component of its economy. Those who visit Odeon most frequently arrive as curious audience-members, keen to reconnect with the mythic pasts of their cultures, or the uninitiated seeking out a lifestyle rooted in the kind of deliberate low-level primitivism that is less common on Union’s more advanced planets. Still more remain as a kind of technical support base, those who help in the creation, production and distribution of the planet’s massive media exports.

Speaking Truth in Power Perhaps the greatest obstacle to Odeon’s immigrant population is its notoriously complex and Byzantine governmental system, an organisational side-effect of the planetary population’s near-total destruction by terraforming run amok. On paper, Odeon is a corporatist direct democracy with a strong emphasis on appointment by popular acclamation. Individual family dynasties form broader, decentralised tribal/corporatist power structures possessing control over industries and social services, whose strategic planning is governed by small councils based on direct input from the whole membership of the corporation. The collected representatives of these individual corporations, in combination with a planetary system of acclamation, elect members of the World Council, which bears final executive decisions on matters of planetary trade policy and civil stability. In practice, Odeon’s government has been described as a “high-functioning anarchy”, a power structure so replete with delegated and decentralized responsibilities that determining who is actually in charge of any one corporation, municipal council or social organization is borderline impossible. The World Council is almost certainly a figurehead group, with its actual powers fluctuating wildly depending on its size and composition, both of which change regularly as new members resign, are voted out, or acclaimed to the position.

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Small numbers of offworlders have entered Odeonian politics and thrived, but they are the rare exception; it is a generally accepted fact that one needs to be a Storyteller just to be able to remember and understand the extraordinarily labyrinthine structures of influence, social standing and pre-Union legal dogma that actually form what passes for a planetary government.

Odeon and Union The Odeonian government made contact with the Union Administrative Department during the first First Expansion Period, in roughly 2600u. The history of the legal wrangling and intensely prolonged negotiations that led to the planet joining Union by the early 2700s is relatively unremarkable, and for much of its history Odeon was a productive member of wider FirstComm, SecComm and ThirdComm society. Odeon’s ultra-traditionalist society integrated well into SecComm’s ideological framework, and the planet’s long memory has left a lingering stain of anthrochauvinism on Odeonian culture. Simply put, the vast majority of the planet’s population agreed with the methods and goals of the SecComm. Odeon was not particularly active in the civil conflict that led to the foundation of ThirdComm, but its legacy as a former anthrochauvinist hardliner, and continued exclusionist stance towards NHPS, has led many of Union’s more progressive elites to regard the planet as a dinosaur, a culture that follows the Pillars while still not being entirely aligned with correct or just cultural ideals. For all of this tension, Odeon remains one of the few worlds in the known galaxy whose entire culture and way of life are officially considered Union Protected Cultural Heritage. This designation, usually reserved for cultural or historical traditions with a longstanding influence, means that the Odeonians are largely free to go about their business unhindered by overt corpro-state or DoJ meddling. In exchange, the planet and its population have largely committed wholesale to what made them Cultural Heritage; preserving pre-Fall stories, art, oral traditions and other information that is otherwise inaccessible or lost elsewhere in the Human Diaspora.

A Struggle for Memory In 5016u, Odeon is wracked by the early stages of what might be deemed an inter-corporate cold war, or perhaps a proxy conflict, though few of its inhabitants are even remotely aware that anything more serious than a pirate suppression campaign is underway. 5010u, First Quarter: Three tourist liners passing the orbits of the Thunder Men report being tailed by unidentified vessels. Passengers on all three ships experience severe headaches, nausea and mood swings which persist until the arrival of Celaeno System Patrol (CSP) craft. 5010u, Second Quarter: The Hellshakers conduct a successful tour of Odeon, playing 7 major concerts which attract in excess of 3 million attendees. Recordings in a variety of formats become popular Omninet products. The band’s managerial holding company, Torshun Audio, establishes a series of distribution agreements with several Odeonian media groups, including the Rose Garden Family and WordGuild.

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5010u, Second Quarter: More than 45 pirate raids, information breaches and vessel shadowings are reported to the CSP, the highest in Odeon’s recorded history. CSP receives a greater remit from the World Council to conduct anti-piracy operations. 5010u, Fourth Quarter: Despite the mass escalation of CSP activities, the Planetary Visitations superliner Spirit of Joy is scuttled by unknown assailants. Nearly 200 of the ships’ 5000-strong passenger complement are never recovered, and survivors provide vague and inconsistent stories of what actually led to the Joy’s reactor destabilising. 5011-5015u: Rose Garden Family announces an official merger with WordGuild, as well as the acquisition of oversight rights with more than two dozen minor Odeonian-owned corporatist entities. 5011u, First Quarter: Supported by strong lobbyist activity from the League of Concerned Citizens, several defense-minded candidates are elected to the World Council on platforms involving increased funding for civil defense and anti-piracy initiatives. 5011u, Third Quarter: CSP craft are assisted in pirate-hunting operations by various private fleet assets belonging to the Pallbearers Private Military Corporation. Though PPMC operations are approved by the newly-reformed World Council, the exact source of the funds provided by the League of Concerned Citizens to employ them is never clearly established. 5012u, Second Quarter: The Hellshakers return on a new leg of their ongoing multi-system tour. Controversially, several of their concerts include dramatic setpieces reenacting engagements between the CSP and pirate forces in the previous two years. When prompted for an explanation, band sources state that the intent was to keep the performance “fresh, impactful and close to home.” 5013u, First Quarter: Tragedy strikes the Rose Garden Family as an accident aboard a nearlight freighter convoy results in the death of more than 150 company personnel and their families, as well as the loss of nearly 100,000 manna worth of company computer equipment, financial records and spacecraft. Disaster recovery efforts are hampered by the inexplicable destruction or absence of black-box flight recorder units on the ships affected by the accident. The exact cause of the incident remains unclear. 5013u, Second Quarter: CSP presses their advantage against the pirates, with the assistance of the recently-arrived private security vessel PPMCS Mortuum’s Rest. The PPMC’s contract is renewed and expanded by a near-unanimous vote from the World Council. 5014u, Fourth Quarter: After nearly a year without pirate activity, CSP and PPMC forces engage in a week-long series of skirmishes with heavily-armed pirates in the asteroid belts near Odeon itself. A series of inexplicable fires and accidents at several of the planet’s main data centers during the conflict are hushed up by the World Council. Conspiracy theorists claim to have seen unidentified offworld ground forces present in all cases.

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5015u, First Quarter: A series of major earthquakes and resultant ground collapses, floods and landslides cause substantial damage to communications infrastructure in several of Odeon’s most sparsely-inhabited equatorial provinces. PPMC forces deploy planetside for the first time to assist in lifesaving and security efforts. 5015u, Second Quarter: Rose Garden Family, with the financial backing of Torshun Audio, conducts a semi-hostile takeover of Perriman-Wu, an Omninet infrastructure company providing connectivity services to nearly 40% of Odeon’s population. Several members of Perriman-Wu’s board of directors leave the planet soon afterwards. 5015u, Third Quarter: Fans of Lovely Lightning are delighted when a series of sightings of band frontwomen Destinée Thunderbolt and Kawaii Kowaii escalate into a two-month-long stretch of flash mob-style street concerts, widely distributed and broadcast on all Perriman-Wu subsidiaries. 5015u, Fourth Quarter: Citing continued civil unrest and the breakdown of communications infrastructure in the equatorial provinces, the World Council renews PPMC’s contract a second time.

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Pallbearers Private Military Corporation “Through Flesh and Steel we Prove Ourselves” The influence of the Big 4 can be as beneficial to a planet as it can be smothering. Smaller nonstate actors looking to establish themselves on the galactic scale either perish from attrition or “acquired” by larger corpro-states. In the realm of private militaries the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company presents a similar threat. Their holistic “no contract too big/small” approach bars smaller PMCs from developing a niche through simple occlusion. In the face of these titans of industry and war, long-term establishment of a private corporation in either domain is challenging at the best of times. This was the situation the militaristic peoples of the three Pallbearer worlds found themselves in. The Hoptanti, Conrubo and Minleath peoples were independent societies making their way through mixed mercenary work and licensing, and each was on the verge of being consolidated into larger corporations. In the face of overwhelming competition these three turned to the only thing that could keep them independent: each other. Documents were signed, hands were shook, and the Pallbearer worlds relaunched themselves under the umbrella of the PPMC. Although unified on paper, the Conrubo, Hoptanti, and Minleath are not joined at the hip. Each house has their own designs and vision for the company and its three member worlds. These visions are frequently contradictory or actively opposed to each other, and the political structure of the Company shifts and evolves as the fortunes of the Three Worlds rise and fall. To date, none of them have come to wholly dominate the company, but that may change.

United In Death Despite the vast cultural differences between the three Pallbearer member planets, they remain united by a single focal point, namely their shared belief in ancestor-worship through high technology. Though the exact origin of this cultural practice is unclear, it is generally attributed 13

to some common colonial ancestor of the three planets which has held over despite generations of cultural, genetic and ideological drift between them. Some of the oldest recorded electronic media on all three Pallbearer worlds are remembrances of the dead or dying, and what began as a tradition of recording the thoughts and memories of the departed has escalated into fullscale attempts to reconstruct their great historical figures. The extent to which any Pallbearer’s personality is preserved after death is largely dependent both on the success of their career in their field of choice and the personal willingness of their friends and relatives to construct such a record. Most families from the Three Worlds maintain a Circle of ancestors, effectively a simple non-sentient comp/conn unit which can assume an approximation of any one of dozens of different recorded ancestors by analyzing their collected speech, writings and personality profiles. Detailed non-sentient reconstructions of truly notable figures can be accessed via the Omninet, both as sources of guidance and advice but also in ceremonies commemorating or honouring their past deeds. Only the most successful of these figures earn a place, however temporary, in the truly bizarre governing body that forms the core of the Pallbearers.

The Circle of 12 Most who work with PPMC are aware of their near-obsession with consulting simulacra of the dead for wisdom or tactical acumen, but do not grasp to the depth to which that obsession extends. Much of the governance of the company is conducted based on orders and suggestions from the Circle of Twelve , a collection of a dozen simulacra of the Company’s most experienced and successful former pilots and combat personnel. The exact composition of the Twelve varies with time, and personalities are “inducted” or “retired” from it as the Company undergoes losses or new heroes rise through the ranks. The only constant is a utilitarian one, namely that resources previously allocated to a “retired” personality should instead be retasked towards newcomers, ensuring that no personality joins the Twelve a second time. Advice provided by the consensus of these simulacra is not absolute, but is heavily weighted in the long-term strategic and short-term tactical management of PPMC and its military operations. If Company staff are cagey about the exact nature and influence of the Twelve it is for good reason, as the technology used to generate its members toes the line, and in several areas greatly exceeds, the boundaries for decorporation technology established by Union.

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Apsara Zaibatsu “Our Song is in Your Heart” In a galaxy without want and scarcity, humans often define themselves in relation to the media they consume. Society forms naturally into cliques, fandoms and enthusiast’s groups, all seeking media that will bring them joy, fulfilment, emotional release or entertainment. In a galaxy without want and scarcity, the multimedia conglomerate is king. The origins of the Zaibatsu are lost to time and deliberate corporate obfuscation. The scale of the Zaibatsu is equally vague; it is probably Union’s third largest Omninet multimedia licensing and distribution firm, but it is composed of so many holding companies, permanent contractors, franchisees and independent working groups as to be effectively limitless. Apsara’s hundreds of departments produce a substantial percentage of the film, theatre, visual art and literature consumed by Union’s vast Omninet-connected population, but it is music that has come to dominate their interests. Some artists choose to sell out to The Man. Many sell out to the Zaibatsu long before they realise what they have done. The organization is predatory in a uniquely compassionate way; the musicians in their employ will enjoy success proportionate to their talent, skills, and appeal. They will be supported and coddled. They will “make it.” All they must repay the company is a not-unreasonable cut of the profits, and the permanent rights to their identities.

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Sign Your Way to Success! It is a poorly-kept secret that Apsara Zaibatsu is a firm with its finger in a great many pies, many of them wholly unrelated to music and art distribution. It is an equally poorly-kept secret that performers who join with them are frequently required to sign away everything, down to the information contained in their genetic code. These agreements are deeply intrusive, and tend to include punishing non-compete clauses that some critics compare to indentured servitude to the company. That the cage is plush, gilded and in the spotlight shouldn’t matter to the songbird inside, or so they say. What is less well-understood is that the Zaibatsu’s true interest lies not in controlling the arts, but in advertising. The company’s data storage vaults are truly cosmic in scope, their algorithms for predicting consumer success as deep and cold as Cradle’s oceans. This is, partially, the key to their success; the Zaibatsu has acquired the data of generations of popular artists and musicians, and used it to target the creations of new artists to their markets with perfect accuracy. The Zaibatsu is willing to market to the smallest of niches, and will do so ruthlessly. Perhaps the most literal expression of the Zaibatsu’s single-minded obsession with targeted advertising is also one of their most infamous technical innovations; the mood effector, infamous across Union as “the mind-control ray.”

Mood Effectors and You! Several of Union’s largest rights organizations have been trying to litigate the mood effector out of existence for nigh-on a century. The technology is morally questionable, they say. It is a breach of basic human rights. It is likely derived from illegal research into Metavault-derived technology. All of this may or may not be true, but what is certain is that the Zaibatsu’s gigantic legal department has succeeded in keeping such challenges delayed, sidetracked or bogged down in red tape, and seem set to continue doing so basically indefinitely. The Zaibatsu will admit that mood effector technology uses carefully modulated electromagnetic waves to subtly alter the chemistry of the emotional centers of the human brain, and can thus inhibit, enhance or induce strong emotional reactions. They also freely admit that this technology can be used to “read” emotional patterns from a human mind at a distance, and that mood effectors at high enough intensity can induce lethal brain injury. What the company steadfastly refuses to admit is just how widespread the use of the technology is, or what it is used for. When you listen to an album produced by a Zaibatsu subsidiary, is the joy you feel real, some wonder. Is it a manufactured product? If it feels the same as the real thing, does it matter? The Zaibatsu controls the secret to mood effector technology jealously, primarily through the usage of a quantum-encrypted rights-management control system hardwired directly into every effector the company produces. Attempting to copy or reverse-engineer these systems tends to end in failure, or a visit from the paralegals of the Zaibatsu’s Licensing Department, or both. Whatever effectors are, they see their most visible expression in the Zaibatsu’s large fleet of mech platforms.

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Dance through the Danger in your New Best Friend! Performative mech use was not invented by Apsara, nor do they hold the monopoly on the concept. Still, the group is well known for its extensive promotion of performative Lancer groups, from the pop-rock spectacle of Lovely Lightning, the crowdpleasing musicality of The Hellshakers, or the disturbing avant-garde “meta-art” of the Karrakin Amateur Theatrical Society. Apsara markets a small but polished range of entirely humanoid mecha, with a dedication to the mimicry of the human form or its approximation that verges on anthrochauvinist. Many are dualpurpose frames, intended as much for making a performer literally larger than life on a stage as they are as combat, utility or exploration vehicles. All incorporate extensive and powerful sound systems, usually based on phononically-energized plasma technologies. Most use mood effectors in some capacity. All tend to be elegant, brightly-coloured, and visually spectacular. Whether on stage or the firing line, AZAI mechs are backed by extensive quality-control guarantees, the usual intrusive data-sharing agreements, and a tech support service that is second to none.

The Ultimate Roadies, Here for You! Apsara has long maintained a remarkably decentralized corporate structure; they maintain few permanent planetary holdings, and certainly nothing like a central corporate office. That the company’s administration is mobile and based on spacecraft is certain, but the exact size and nature of the Zaibatsu fleet is, naturally, nebulous. The company has made it clear that it places a high importance on keeping a close watch on its performers, and that technical support should never, ever be too far away, no matter where in the galaxy it might be needed. In practical terms, the “AZAI Boogeyman'' is very much real. Zaibatsu ships have a tendency to show up in unexpected places at unexpected times, often bringing with them “surprise concert tours'' as cover for other, less overt corporate actions. A pilot or performer who has licensed equipment from the Zaibatsu does not do so in a vacuum. They will nearly always find the company disturbingly well-informed about their whereabouts and plans, and willing to step in with one of their massive blink-capable Concert Support Vessels to ensure that the show goes on. The company’s track record is clear; it does not exist to win wars, or overthrow planetary governments, or save the lives of its employees if they get themselves into excessive danger. The Zaibatsu exists to market, distribute and sell media, and will use its vast resources to that end. Everything else is just good PR.

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Mech Combat in the Everywhen The Field Guide to Odeon features a wealth of new mechs, representatives of the Big Four as well as the diverse fleets of the Pallbearers and Apsara Zaibatsu.

New Tag: Rhythm You gain a Beat Die: 1d6 starting at 1. At the start of each round after the first in any scene, increase the value of your Beat Die by 1, resetting from 6 back to 1 if it would increase from 6. The Beat Die resets to 1 at the start of each scene. If you would gain Beat Dice from multiple sources, use one Beat Die to track all of them.

New Condition: Entranced A character that is Entranced does not benefit from its H.A.S.E stats for the purposes of making Checks or Saves.

New Talents While the following are intended to specifically synergize well with PPMC and AZAI mechs and systems, they are not manufacturer or homeworld-specific.

Raider When you step onto the battlefield both allies and enemies quake at your footsteps. They whisper that you’re unhinged. Berserk. Maybe they’re right, but who the hell cares about them? You drown the chaff out in the haze of adrenaline, bloodlust, and the screeching mechanical fury of your war machine. Forward unto death Raider.

1. Blood in the Water Oncer per turn, whenever a character in your Line of Sight is critically hit you may slide two spaces as a reaction so long as this movement takes the closest route possible towards the character that was critically hit.

2. Henbane Eater Gain the Henbane Eater Reaction: Trigger: You make an attack, save, or check. Effect: You may make the triggering attack, save, or check with +2 accuracy but become slowed and impaired until the beginning of your next turn.

3. Hamask As a Protocol you may whip yourself into a frenzy until the beginning of your next turn. Until the beginning of your next turn and the first time in a round you take damage from a source other 18

than yourself you must make a melee attack against a random adjacent - hostile or allied character. On hit you deal 1d3+1 AP Kinetic damage to your target. You may frenzy any number of times equal to your grit per scene.

Performer There’s a galaxy full of pilots out there, but none of them make fighting in a mechanized chassis look as good as you do. Where others would dive out of the way, you dodge with a single step just to feel the pressure of ordinance harmlessly sailing by. Sure, all the galaxy may be a stage but you’re the one who makes sure that no one forgets it. Dancing through danger as you belt out power chords, you’re a force in combat that no one can keep their eyes off of.

1. Head Games Whenever you roll an 18 or higher when making a save, the character that forced the save, or owns the system that forced the save, becomes Entranced and Slowed until the end of their next turn. 2. Presence Whenever you would trigger Head Games, you may impose Entranced and Slowed on any character within Line Of Sight instead of the one that forced the Save. Additionally, these conditions may not be cleared by NPC Traits or Systems. 3. Making this Look Easy Whenever you succeed on a Save or a Check, the next Save or Check you make is made at +1 Accuracy.

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Pallbearers Endless generations of conflict between the Three Worlds and their neighbours has led to a huge range of schools of military thought among the Pallbearer member planets. The military industrial output of the Conrubo, Minleath and Hoptanti is as varied as the citizens of those planets themselves, but generally follows their shared meta-traditions. In practical terms, this manifests in mechs which are practical, offensively-oriented, and which scrape every last possible iota of performance out of their technology. Pallbearer mechs exist to fight and to win, plain and simple. Their exotic reactor technology and emphasis on mobility and versatile weapons systems encourage aggressiveness, positioning and fighting on the edge, sacrificing everything for victory.

Pallbearers Core Bonuses Pallbearer Core Bonuses are a personal affair. Taking notes from SSC, these bonuses are pieces of hardware, optimization, or even specialized training that are designed and curated to a single pilot. In combat, these boons are centered around improving combat efficiency and helping Lancers to re-frame opportunities in the Battlefield. You must have at least three License Levels with the Pallbearers to take a bonus from this list, and another 3 levels for each additional bonus after that.

BALEYG OCULAR IMPLANT “Call us archaic if you will, but we believe that nothing should be without cost, knowledge most of all. So, let’s see how long you can stand the burn of an unventilated microcomputer in your skull”

One of your pilot’s eyes is replaced with a powerful microcomputer. Although the pilot no longer has binocular vision, you may Scan or Lock On to a target as a Protocol any number of times equal to half of your Grit/mission.

ADVANCED MECHANISED CHASSIS SQUAD TRAINING “Hoptanti, how can you and your little axes hope to deal with those who can fly so high above you?” “By not being alone.”

Gain access to the A Leg Up reaction: 1/round as a reaction to a willing, and ungrappled allied character of the same size or smaller becoming adjacent to you, you may throw that character 5 spaces in any direction provided it is in a straight line ignoring restrictions on lifting or dragging. This movement counts as jumping but does not trigger engagement or reactions. Your targeted ally character cannot take fall damage as a part of this movement unless they wish to do so.

PAIN IS POWER 20

“It's a little volatile, but by interweaving specialized pressure plates beneath a frame’s armor we could use the kinetic energy created following hits on plate to power secondary, repair-oriented processes. Although knowing you, you’ll just ask me to turn this into something that lets our pilots fight longer anyway.”

Gain an Overrule Die, a d20 starting at 5. Whenever you take damage from an enemy, tick up the Overrule Die by the amount of damage incurred after reductions. When the die reaches 20 you may expend all of its charges as a Free Action or as a Reaction to gaining a condition, resetting it to 5 and clearing one condition from yourself so long as it wasn’t imposed by your talents, systems, or weapons. The charges within the Overrule Die remain between scenes but are reset on a Full Repair.

INHUMATION “This is not a matter of breaking electronic security or the physical defences of a combatant; it is a matter of breaking their identity. They must hold onto whatever grounds them or become as clay to our hands”

Gain access to the Inhume Protocol. Inhume: 3/scene, Protocol As a Protocol you may force 1 enemy character within Line of Sight and Sensors to make a H.A.S.E Save of their choice or have the Biological tag added or removed from them. This effect ends when they succeed on a H.A.S.E save of their choice as a Full Action. If your target had any heat when the Biological tag was added, they immediately clear it but become Impaired. Only 1 character may suffer the Inhume’s effects at a time. This Protocol may only be taken 3/scene and observes restrictions on non-repeatable free actions.

BLINKSPACE ARSENAL A product of Minleath “appropriation” and Conrubo R&D, the BlinkSpace arsenal is a two-way blink beacon able to ferry replacement weaponry to and from a mechanised chassis.

You gain access to a Flex and a Heavy mount. Weapons attached to these bonus mounts may not be used to make attacks in any way (including through reactions), are not valid targets for system trauma, do not interact with any frame traits or systems other than modifications, and you may not mount duplicates of Heavy weapons. Upon the destruction of one of your nonintegrated weapons, you may swap it out for one of those mounted onto the mounts granted by this Core Bonus. This swap observes weapon mount rules and cannot be used to attach weapons to mounts that cannot accommodate them (e.g., attaching aux/aux on a main mount or a Heavy on a flex mount). If a mounted superheavy weapon is destroyed, you may swap out two weapons instead of one when using this Core Bonus. Additionally, when resting you may freely swap weapons between these bonus mounts and your regular ones 21

EXPANDED SENSORY SUITE “Lesser Sight? No, I am not going to teach you how to see, for your eyes may be deceived. I will teach you to notice the displacement air and chaff that shrouds those invisible to the naked eye like a second skin, to hear the footfalls of those that think themselves imperceptible, to perceive the subtle shift of stone and cover that betrays those cowering behind it. I will teach you to feel the world anew.”

Attacks against those benefiting from cover gain +1 Accuracy. Additionally, during your turn, you ignore Invisible for all enemy characters within Range 5.

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Oseberg Striker

The Oseberg, a product of Hoptanti R&D, is the Pallbearer’s catch-all shock trooper chassis. Thriving in the high risk engagements in which it is most commonly found, the Osberg excels at adapting to, and focusing down a single target with brutal close quarters combat. One-on-one combat with this Pallbearer frame should be avoided at all costs. Licensing of the Oseberg is currently under strict regulation from Union officials; in part, due to trace similarities between it and Horus PGs, and in part due to its man-machine interface toeing the line of existing regulations on DeCorp technology. According to Union informants, a previous iteration of the Oseberg - the “Lytta” - dived much deeper into these qualities than the current, marketed version.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM:

Size: 1 Save Target: 10 Armor: 0 Sensors: 5 HULL SYSTEMS HP: 10 E-Defense: 6 Repair Cap: 4 Tech Attack: -2 SP: 6 AGILITY Evasion: 10 ENGINEERING Speed: 4 Heat Cap: 5

Hyper-Adaptive Stimulation Suite

TRAITS OPEN YOUR VEINS 1/round the Oseberg may negate any net Difficulty on a single Quick Action, Full Action, Save, or Check. This negation occurs after any sources of Accuracy or Difficulty have canceled each other out.

FLUID MOVEMENT The Oseberg is not affected by Difficult Terrain and all attacks that are made as a Reaction against it must do so with +1 difficulty.

HEAVY NEUROCOMPUTATIONAL INTEGRATION When either Ejecting or Dismounting from the Oseberg its pilot is Stunned or impaired respectively until the end of the scene.

MOUNTS FLEX MOUNT

HEAVY MOUNT

AUX/ AUX

The Hyper Adaptive Stim Suite escalates and accelerates the plastic qualities of a Pilot's muscular and nervous system. At peak HASS activity, the composition of Pilot and Frame becomes wholly mutable, adjusting their muscle density, reflexes, and neural makeup as the situation demands. The cost for this adaptability is the blending of the line between Pilot and Frame. As the two become more integrated a sudden separation of either can have catastrophic consequences. Forward Unto Death Passive, Free Action At the start of every Scene you gain the Mania Die, a d6 starting at 2. The die ticks up by 1 when you: • Are hit by an attack or are damaged by an NPC’s system or trait • Make a critical hit. • Reduce an NPC’s HP to 0 Each option can only increase the Mania Die 1/round independently. Whenever the Mania Die is at 6 you may, 1/round as a Free Action, gain one of the bonuses listed below. Once a Bonus is selected, the Mania Die ticks down by 2 at the end of your turns. These bonuses end when the Mania Die would drop to 0 whereupon it resets to 1, a new bonus is selected, or it is cancelled as a Protocol. Speed: You are immune to Slowed & Immobilized so long as they weren't imposed by your own systems, talents, Weapons, or due to a Grapple and 1/round you may Boost as a Free Action. Momentum: Whenever you Ram or Grapple a target you always count as the largest character. Your Rams deal 3 Kinetic and Knockback 3 on hit and whenever you end a Grapple you may knock your Grapple target back by 5 spaces as per the Knockback tag. Violence: Whenever you Barrage you may attack with a single non-superheavy weapon as a Free Action dealing half damage upon hit. If the Oseberg is destroyed while benefiting from one of these bonuses or the Mania die is at 6 its pilot becomes Down and Out.

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Active: Nail in Your Own Coffin (1 CP), Protocol The Mania Die is immediately ticked up to 6 and for the remainder of the scene points allotted to the Mania Die are doubled. You gain access to the Explosive Hypertrophy & Expanded Cognition Mania bonuses. Explosive Hypertrophy: the Oseberg is Slowed but gains +2 armor (up to a maximum of 4) and all melee attacks gain the Overkill tag. Expanded Cognition: Your E-defense and Evasion values Swap and when you take the Lock On Quick Tech Action you may Scan your target as a Free Action.

LICENSE I: REDLINE CARBINE, RIPJAW TOMAHAWK

Redline Carbine Main Rifle, 1 SP [8 Range] [1d6+1 Explosive Damage] Use of this weapon cannot trigger reactions. Custom designed by Hoptanti R&D to be lightweight and mobile without sacrificing stopping power, the Redline Carbine is the epitome of ranged hit-and-run combat. Despite having only recently come on the galactic market, the Redline has already attracted attention from both Ungrateful cells in the Dawnline Shore and Union Officials alike.

Ripjaw Tomahawk Auxiliary Melee, Thrown 8, Overkill [1 threat] [1d3 Kinetic Damage] When thrown, you ignore the first point of heat this weapon generates through the Overkill tag. A hallmark of Oseberg frames, the Ripjaw is crafted using High-Speed crucible forged steel and a weighted lead head to help stabilise its flight when thrown. Although less reliable than small scale GMS edged weapons in melee, the Ripjaw excels when used as a projectile.

LICENSE II: OSEBERG FRAME, COLD CORE COFFIN, COGNITIVE & PERCEPTUAL NARROWING SUITE

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Cold Core Coffin Heavy Melee, [2 threat] [2d6 Kinetic Damage] During a turn in which you've used this weapon you may, as a Free Action, place a Size 1 piece of indestructible Hard Cover in a free adjacent space. This piece of cover moves with you during voluntary or involuntary movement, impeding you should it move into a space that cannot accommodate it. This Hard Cover expires at the beginning of your next turn. Little more than a mechanized-chassis scale coffin attached to chain the CCC confused buyers at first. They wondered what utility such an unwieldy weapon could offer in an era of railguns and tachyon-lances. But what the CCC offered was not shock and awe but survivability. Its bulk, while enough to pulp most hardsuits hit by it, doubles as a shield sturdy enough to turn all but the most lethal of blows.

Cognitive & Perceptual Narrowing Suite 3 SP, Unique, Protocol As a Protocol you may Hyperfixiate, choosing a single target within line of sight and range 15. All your attacks against it gain +1 Accuracy, while attacks against any other targets take +1 Difficulty. The target takes +1 Difficulty to hit you. Additionally, 1/round your target takes +1d6 Bonus damage from critical hits you inflict. While this Protocol is active, attacks against you by non-targeted mechs gain +1 Accuracy. This effect ends when the target is destroyed, whereupon you may select a new target with this system as a Free Action, or when the scene ends. By taking advantage of a two-way neural bridge between pilot and mech frame, the CPNS narrows what sensory information received by a pilot’s brain encouraging a state of unbreakable focus. “in this state Nothing matters but the target in front of you. How can you hurt them, crush them, eat them alive? Make it feel all that you feel and watch the thing break under the gravity of your focus.”

LICENSE III: NEUROLOGICAL FAILSAFES. PROMETHEUS SHEATH

Neurocognitive Failsafes 2 SP, Unique You gain the Silence the Voices reaction. Reaction: Silence the Voices 1/round, Limited (2) Trigger: A tech attack is made against you. This Reaction must be made before the tech attack roll is resolved. Effect: You take 3 Irreducible Kinetic damage and become Impaired until the end of your next turn. but ignore all effects from the tech attack. “You realize that the Lytta won’t work right? Its Neural integration is too much, too quickly. Candidate’s minds and ontology will break unless they find something to dampen the new sensations flooding into their nervous systems.”

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Prometheus Sheath 2 SP, Mod, Protocol, Unique Choose a Melee weapon to apply this mod to. As a Protocol, a pilot may draw their modified weapon from the Prometheus sheath and ignite it. In this state the weapon now does Energy damage and +3 bonus Burn damage on a hit until the start of your next turn. However, the act of drawing this weapon deals 1 Burn to the mech frame itself. If you are immune to burn when taking this Protocol you take 1 AP Energy damage instead. Built by the Hoptanti following their escape from their home system, The Prometheus Sheath serves as a symbol of both their exodus and of the first lesson taught to new pilots of the Hoptanti: “To inflict pain one must know it first”.

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Kurgan Defender/Controller

As the only defence oriented frame in the Pallbearer’s marketed chassis, the Kurgan is a slight oddity. While Pallbearer Frames tend towards aggressive tactics and high risk-reward systems, the Kurgan was built to passively defend and suppress. The Kurgan is reportedly a product of Hoptanti R&D, a little believed fact given that their first marketed frame - the Oseberg- is the most aggressive member of the Pallbearer’s Mechanized chassis. Speculation suggests that the Kurgan reflects both a societal shift in the Hoptanti and an attempt to create a more marketable and less volatile frame.

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CORE STATS

CORE POWER

Size: 2 Armor: 2 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 5 AGILITY Evasion: 6 Speed: 4

D.R.G.N Killer Sonic Destabilisation Suite

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 7 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +0 SP: 7 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 4

TRAITS GUARDIAN Adjacent allies may use the Kurgan as Hard Cover.

“It begins subtly. A slight tremor in your arms, nothing indistinguishable from battle jitters really. Wait a little longer and you’ll begin to feel the shakes in your teeth and skull. Tempt fate a little more and the tremors of your hands and legs will become indistinguishable from the convulsing 5 inches of metal that once protected you. And after that, it will stand above your seizing form; a goliath with a rose on its shoulder here to end your suffering.”

INTIMIDATION

OPEN ICHNEUMON’S GAZE Active (1 CP), Protocol

1/round as a Reaction to an enemy in line of sight damaging either the Kurgan or an ally benefiting from the Kurgan’s Guardian Trait with an attack, you may force the attacker to make all attack rolls during their next Skirmish or Barrage with +1 difficulty.

Until the end of the Scene, gain the following Full Action. Select one enemy within Line of Sight. Whenever they begin their turn within Line of Sight of the Kurgan, or they suffer from the effects of its Intimidation trait, your target takes a stacking -2 to all of their attack rolls. This effect can continue to stack up to a maximum of -6 and lasts until the end of the Scene, the target Stabilises to reset the stack, the target Dies, or a new target is selected as a Full Action.

ECHOLOCATION SUITE The Kurgan makes rolls to Search for Hidden targets with +1 Accuracy and ignores the Invisible status of enemies within sensor range during its turn.

MOUNTS MAIN MOUNT

HEAVY MOUNT

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LICENSE I: IMPAIRMENT ACCENTUATOR, STAPES SMG Stapes Submachine Gun Auxiliary Rifle, Loading [8 Range] [1d3 Explosive Damage] This weapon does not need to be reloaded when fired normally. On Hit: You may make a secondary attack against the same or a different target as a Free Action. This attack unloads the weapon and may not benefit from Bonus Damage. The first of the three pieces of weaponry named after the Ossicles licensed alongside the Kurgan, the Stapes SMG is a compact sub-caliber machine gun sporting a variable firing rate letting pilots put more rounds down range at the cost of exceeding the capabilities of auto-loading subroutines.

Impairment Accentuator 3 SP, Reaction You gain access to the Kick’em While They’re Down Reaction

Kick’em While They're Down Reaction, 1/round, Tags Trigger: An enemy within Line of Sight and Sensors gains the Impaired or Slowed condition with a set turn duration. Effect: The target remains Impaired or Slowed for 1 turn longer than specified and gains the Oppression Mark, rendering it unable to clear either Impaired or Slowed through NPC traits or systems. The target may clear its Oppression Mark either through hitting you with an attack or by waiting until it is no longer Impaired or Slowed. The computational resources of many mech frames are multimodal, which is to say every single little process is not handled by their own separate processor but by a single system with a finite capacity. The Impairment Accentuator takes advantage of this by exploiting the chink in the armor of auditory dampening routines exposed during rerouted resources in response to sudden impairment. The result: eardrumrupturing atonal noise localised to a pilot’s cockpit.

LICENSE II: KURGAN FRAME, CONCUSSIVE MAUL, ECHOLOCATION BEACON Malleus Maul Main Melee [2 Threat] [1d6+1 Kinetic] On Crit: Your target Is Impaired until the end of their next turn.

The second of the Pallbearer’s ossicle weapon line, the M.M takes inspiration from its naming. A specialised head on the haft of the maul helps to deliver percussive

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force strong enough to ring heads even when sheltered by a mechanised chassis of order 3.

Echolocation Beacon 3 SP, Deployable, Quick Action, Limited (3) As a Quick Action you may expend a charge from this system to deploy the echolocation Beacon in a free space within Range 5 and Line of Sight. Enemies within Burst 2 of the Beacon count as being within Line of Sight of all allied characters and do not benefit from Invisibility. Once deployed, you may overclock the beacon as a Quick Action, applying Lock On to all enemies within its AOE. This action destroys the beacon. Echolocation Beacon Size 1/2, Armor 0, HP: 5 Evasion: 5 E-defence: 5

The Echolocation Beacon takes advantage of the underutilised modality of acoustics to supplement target detection and IFF.

LICENSE III: MK5 INCUS CANNON, TREMOR RESONANCE Incus MK5 Cannon Superheavy Cannon, AP, Knockback 4 [Cone 3] [2d6+3 Explosive] If your target collides with a piece of terrain or deployable as a result of the MK5’s Knockback the obstruction takes 10 AP Kinetic. If this is enough to destroy it, your target passes through unhindered but takes an additional 1d3 Kinetic for every object it passes through. The final member in the Pallbearer’s ossicle weaponry line, the Incus is designed to deliver a violent explosion of low-frequency sound waves. Although its “payload” is only effective at close range due to how sound propagates, it is enough to send even the most grounded of Frames flying.

Tremor Resonance 3 SP, Full Action Select one target within Line of Sight and Sensors. Your mech begins overtly profiling the composition of your target to find the frequencies at which its components will resonate. As a Protocol on your next turn, you may take 2 Heat and release a burst of these frequencies, Stunning the target until the end of their next turn and dealing 2 AP Explosive. If the target has the Biological tag, or is Size 1/2 they are not Stunned but instead take 15 Explosive damage, which cannot be reduced in any way, as the target's organs violently shake within their meat suits. Targets can only be Stunned or damaged in this way 1/Scene. This action is interrupted if you begin your turn while Jammed, Impaired, Stunned, the target is outside of your Line of Sight, or becomes and remains Hidden before the beginning of your next turn. Your target is aware of this fact. “Y-you fucker! I will find the frequency at which your organs resonate and make them explode!”

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Ossuary Striker/Controller

The Pallbeaer’s Ossuary is a purist assault frame that bears the principles of its creators - the Conrubo peoples - on its sleeve. Its systems waste nothing and use everything, the design of its armor plating is bold and undeniable, and the livery that adorns it is emblematic of an enthusiasm potent enough to burst through most conventional walls. While the Ossuary espouses the principles of the Conrubo peoples in one hand, it also bears their secrets in the other. Every Ossuary frame comes printed with a cold-core reactor that is leagues more efficient than anything on the market to date. So much so that if left to idle, an Ossuary frame can act as an auxiliary power supply to small installations and ships. The secret of this reactor - dubbed the “PERPETUS” - is highly coveted, and any attempts to reverse engineer or modify the reactor in vivo have thus far failed explosively.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armor: 1 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 4 AGILITY Evasion: 8 Speed: 4

PERPETUS Core Reactor

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 5 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 6 Tech Attack: -1 SP: 6 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 7

“We’ll tell you nothing about the PERPETUS. We don't care what you offer or how aggressively you do it. You, and the rest of those fuckers on Ras Shamra can try and take it by force. Know though, that we are not the Vols, we can fly forever.”

TRAITS BREAKTHROUGH ANGULAR CHASSIS As a Protocol the Ossuary can prime its systems for hard breaching. While primed, during its Standard move or a Boost it may only move in a straight line and cannot split its movement but any objects within the path of this movement take 10 AP Kinetic Damage. If this is enough to destroy them, you may pass through unhindered.

Gain a Perpetuation Die, a d20 starting at 1. Whenever you have any unused movement from a Boost and/or standard move left at the end of your turn, tick the Perpetuation Die up by the amount of movement that was not used. As a Protocol, you may add up to 10 points of stored movement in your Perpetuation Die to your standard move ticking down the Perpetuation die by the same amount. You cannot reduce the Perpetuation Die past 1.

SLIP SPEED LOCOMOTION Becoming Engaged cannot stop the Ossuary’s movement.

SUPERIOR REACTOR The Ossuary gains +1 Accuracy on Engineering Checks and Saves

MOUNTS MAIN MOUNT

Waste Not Want Not Passive, Protocol

HEAVY MOUNT

During the turn in which you've used stored movement you may only travel in a straight line during your standard move and cannot Boost. You may not store any additional movement if you are Immobilised or Stunned. The Perpetuation die lasts between scenes but is reset on a Full Repair.

Active: PERPETUS Power Shunt: Positive Feedback Loop Active (1 CP), Protocol For the rest of the scene, whenever you make a standard move or Boost a value equal to your current Speed is stored in the Perpetuation die at the end of your turn. Furthermore, the damage of the Breakthrough Angular Chassis to objects increases to 20 AP Kinetic.

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LICENSE I: REVOLUTION PILEDRIVER, BLINK SPACE HOLSTER

Revolution Piledriver Main Melee, Unique, AP [Threat 1] [1d3+2 Kinetic] During your standard move or a Boost but prior to an attack roll with this weapon, you may sacrifice any remaining movement to add 1 point of bonus damage to the attack per 1 space of movement sacrificed should your attack hit. This bonus damage cannot exceed +3 damage. Most conventional melee weapons in 5016u operate relatively independently of a frame’s reactor. A rare exception to this rule, the Revolution Piledriver, and the servos it uses to function are powered by a stipend from a frame’s cold core. This results in the weapon being relatively lackluster until some of a frame’s power output is re-routed for its purposes.

Blink Space Holster 2 SP, Quick Action As a Quick Action you may holser all of your weapons and extraneous equipment in blinkspace. Until your weaponry is unholstered from Blinkspace as a Quick Action you become unable to make tech attacks, take the Skirmish and Barrage actions and become immune to all ongoing effects caused by your mounted weapons (with the caveat that these effects have not ceased). While this effect is active, you may move an additional 2 spaces during your standard move, make all Agility Checks or Saves with +1 Accuracy, and your mounted weapons are not valid targets for System Trauma. By “sheathing” a weaponry and equipment within blinkspace a frame may significantly reduce the load imparted upon it allowing for greater freedom of movement.

LICENSE II: OSSUARY FRAME, REACTOR CLASH, SERVO-REDISTRIBUTION PROTOCOLS

Reactor Clash 2 SP, Quick Action As a Quick Action, select one enemy Character within Range 5. Both you and your target must make a contested engineering check. The loser of this contest becomes Impaired until the end of their next turn and loses their standard move (counted as having been expended) during their next turn. Conrubo cold-core reactors are often leagues ahead of those housed in the average marketed frame, only finding true competition with Armoury frames. Taking excessive amounts of pride in this fact, Conrbo pilots will often pit their reactors in a contest of strength against others hoping to overload and disrupt critical functions within their opponents' reactor.

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Servo-redistribution Protocols 1 SP, Protocol, Unique, Heat Self (1) As a Protocol you may become Slowed until the beginning of your next turn but your Rams and Improvised Attacks gain Knockback 2 and are made with +1 Accuracy. “Even before the Perpetus was developed we Conrubo always had a reputation for being efficient. Yes, our willingness to use anything and everything is a part of it but it’s more that we know exactly how to use what we have”

LICENSE III: DUALITY GAUSS SHOTGUN, FEMORAL-TIVIAL SERVO SHUNT

Duality Gauss Shotgun Heavy CQB At the beginning of the scene select one of the two profiles following profiles to use. You may swap between these two profiles as a Quick Action.

Full Bore Slug [Range 5, Threat 3] [1d6+3 Kinetic], AP

Shrapnel Packet Inaccurate, Knockback 1 [Cone 3, Threat 1] [2d6 Kinetic] Another instance of the “waste nothing” philosophy espoused by the Conrubo peoples, the Duality is typically loaded with bits of scrap or shrapnel instead of shot or shell. These improvised munitions are converted into a feasible missile by being fused into a slug or a shrapnel packet by the electromagnetic coils that also serve as the Duality’s main form of projectile propulsion.

Femoral-Tibial Servo Shunt 2 SP, Quick Action As a Quick Action, Make a melee attack against an adjacent character. If your target is an ally they may choose to let the attack automatically hit. On hit they are knocked back 5 spaces. If your target collides with an obstruction as a part of this movement they pass through, dealing 1d6 Kinetic damage to the obstruction if it is a character and 10 AP Kinetic to the obstruction if it is a piece of terrain or a deployable. Hit or Miss, you become Slowed immediately after the effects of this system resolve. “Its a big fucking kick. What did you want from a giant robot, martial arts?”

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Dakhma Controller/Striker

The Dakhma is a flight chassis with a mired history. Union historians note that the Dakhma, or a frame nearly identical to it, was not always the property of the Pallbearers. The doppelganger in question, only known under the moniker of “Waxwing” was recorded in active engagements post 5016u. As its name implies, the Waxwing was a flying frame that spent most of its time falling thanks to a poorly implemented rogallo wing flash printer. This embarrassing design flaw in tandem with recorded lackluster combat performance eventually saw the Waxwing fall into obscurity. Following the formation of the Pallbearers, the “Waxwing” officially rebranded as the Dakhma reentered the galactic scene. Despite its history, initial fieldings saw Dakhma win fame and glory. Post-op reports suggest that pilots used the short lived glide of the Dakhma not to their detriment but to their advantage. Combatants secured behind high walls were assailed from above as Dakhma pilots fell from the sky to drive specialised pikes into and through their targets.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1/2 Save Target: 10 Armor: 0 Sensors: 5 HULL SYSTEMS HP: 8 E-Defense: 8 Repair Cap: 4 Tech Attack: +0 SP: 5 AGILITY Evasion: 11 ENGINEERING Speed: 2 Heat Cap: 5

Ingenuity of Daedalus

TRAITS WAX WINGS So long as the Dakhma is above the ground, it may Hover until the end of its turn whereupon it falls if it has not landed.

FEMORAL-TIBIAL VTOL 1/round as a Free Action, the Dakhma may jump vertically up to 3 Spaces. The Dakhma does not need to be on the ground to take this action.

“The answer to the Dakhma’s fragile wings was not to make them stronger but to build them faster.” By shunting core power into its flight system the Dakhma can reprint its wings faster than the human eye can perceive. Briefly covering the weakness of its fragile wings and allowing for consistent and stable aerial alacrity. Active - Waxwing Power Shunt Active (1 CP), Quick Action For the remainder of the scene, the Hover of Wax Wings does not end at the end of the pilot's turn and the Dakhma does not trigger Engagement or Reactions during its standard move when Flying or Jumping.

The Dakhma gains resistance to fall damage.

MEANT FOR THE SKY 1/Round and while flying, the Dakhma may Boost as a Free Action.

MOUNTS AUX/ AUX

HEAVY MOUNT

LICENSE I: MOMENTUM RE-ROUTERS, SHADEMAKER MISSILES

Momentum Re-routers 1 SP, Unique

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Whenever you take fall damage, trigger a Mine, or take damage from Dangerous Terrain you may move 3 spaces after you’ve taken damage or the effects of the triggering a mine have fully resolved. This movement ignores Reactions, Engagement, and Difficult Terrain. “Hold a moment, you’re telling me that when you take a blow or fall that’s a kind of energy? Well, then you best make use of it you sprat!”

Shademaker Missiles Auxiliary Launcher, Loading, Reliable 1 [10 Range] [1d3+1 Explosive Damage] On Attack: Mark the area targeted by this weapon or a space adjacent to it. If your target is larger than Size 1, mark one of the spaces they occupy or a space adjacent to them. Until the beginning of your next turn, the first character who ends their turn or moves into or above the space marked by this weapon takes 1d3+1 Explosive Damage. A single space can only be marked more than once by Shademaker missiles; multiple marks stack. “Who wants to fight in the shade anyway?”

LICENSE II: DAKHMA FRAME, DIVE PIKE, PNEUMATIC CHARGES Dive Pike Heavy Melee, AP [2 threat] [1d6+2 Kinetic Damage] You may target hostile Characters in your line of sight with the Dive Pike while above them or above a space adjacent to them. If you do, you may fall directly onto your target, landing in a free space adjacent to them. On hit: you may add the total fall damage taken before reductions to this weapon’s damage roll. The hallmark weapon of the Dakhma frame, the Dive pike is a specialized polearm designed to both bear and drive the weight of a mechanized chassis into a target. Union historians speculate that prior to the Dahkma’s re-release by the Pallbearers, the Dive pike was likely used as a cane to compensate for the Waxwing’s lower half during conventional movement.

Pneumatic Charges 2 SP, Quick Action, Mine, Limited (3) •

Airburst Charge (Grenade, Range 5) As a Quick Action you may throw an Airburst Charge at a character within Range 5. They must succeed on a Hull Save or be Pushed 3 Spaces in a direction of your choice. If your target collides with an obstruction large enough to stop its movement both your target and, if applicable, the obstructing character falls Prone.

•

Airburst Bounce Pad (Mine) As a Quick Action you may deploy an Airburst Bounce Pad to a Space within Range 5. When detonated, the triggering character flies 6 spaces in a direction of your choice, ignoring engagement and reactions and falling at the end of their turn if they have not landed. When allies trigger the bounce pad, they choose the direction in which they fly in lieu of you.

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Modeled after traditional concussion grenades, Pneumatic charges direct its explosive force through a tight aperture into a wide flat head. This head unofficially dubbed a “Bounce pad” is able to deliver enough kinetic energy to propel a mechanized chassis through the air.

LICENSE III: ICARUS FALL CONFIGURATION, TOWER OF SILENCE Icarus Fall Configuration 3 SP, Quick Action While at least 3 spaces above the ground you may activate this system as a Quick Action whereupon you immediately fall landing in a free Space. Depending on the number of spaces fallen, one of the following effects occur: 3-5 spaces: Create a Burst 2 area of Difficult terrain centering around your landing point. Characters adjacent to your landing point must pass a Hull Save or fall Prone. 6-8 spaces: Characters within Burst 2 of your landing point are launched 3 spaces into the air and immediately fall whereupon must succeed on a Hull Save or fall Prone and become Slowed until the end of their next turn. This area becomes Difficult terrain until the end of the scene. 9+ spaces: Characters within Burst 2 of your landing point are launched 6 spaces into the air and immediately fall whereupon they must succeed on a Hull Save or become Slowed until the end of their next turn and fall Prone. This area becomes Difficult terrain until the end of the Scene. “You may break yourselves upon the cruel uncaring ground but we will pick you back up, you may tarnish your names till they have been lost to obscurity but we will remember you, you may return with naught but the clothes on your back and we will nourish you. All we ask in return is that, as you fall, you take the world and our enemies with you. So fall Icari! Fall for the glory of the Conrubo and know that your wax-wings have a home underneath ours.”

Tower of Silence 2 SP, Full Action, Deployable, Unique, Limited (2) As a Full Action you may deploy a Tower of Silence in a free adjacent space. Upon deployment of a new Tower of Silence, the previous instance is destroyed. The Tower is Size 1 but 3 spaces high. When deployed, you may choose one of two configurations of the tower. Sanctuary: Characters at least partially within Burst 2 of the Tower of Silence gain immunity to all tech actions, and can't make tech actions. Existing conditions and effects caused by tech actions are not cleared but characters have Immunity to them while they are in the area, and they can be saved against normally. Babel: Upon selecting the Babel configuration, choose 1 character within the Line of Sight and Range 5 of the Tower of Silence. Every time this character begins their turn within this area they must pass a Systems Save or be Jammed until the end of their turn. When the Babel configuration is selected, the Tower of Silence loses 5 HP at the end of its selected character's turns. Tower of Silence Size 1 HP: 20, Evasion: 5

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The Tower of Silence, once conceptualised as a launch pad for Dakhma frames, has since been augmented to serve as a communications and electronic warfare area denial tool. The tower floods its surroundings with spoofed “high priority” digital white noise; blocking all incoming and outgoing communication by overtaxing electronic communications. When focused on a single target, the Tower’s effects increase to maddening effect.

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Tholos Support Tholi frames house hundreds of flash printer Nanites crews throughout its hardpoints; making it a forerunner of field repair and manufacturing. The drawback to this flexibility is that the amount of printer feed a Tholos can carry before becoming over-encumbered is limited. Thus its nanite crews must often resort to using their host as fuel, melting sections off of tholoi when manufacturing or making repairs. Union historians note that current iterations of the Tholos are a far cry from its predecessors. Prior to the formation of the Pallbearers, Tholi were smaller, lighter, and focused more on hit-and-run tactics and theft. While these traits are preserved in the Tholos’ accompanying licensing, the Tholos frame proper seems to have undergone a radical design shift since its official release under the Pallbearers.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 2 Armor: 0 HULL HP: 12 Repair Cap: 5 AGILITY Evasion: 6 Speed: 4

Minleath Core Worm Silos

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 10 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +0 SP: 7 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 6

“Wait, wait, boss, you want me to do WHAT with the Core Worms? I know the Priest tech we filched from [REDACTED] is just gathering dust and we owe the other houses big for pulling our asses out of the fire but we can’t just let them dictate OUR frames. Wa-, yes, but. . .

TRAITS MUTABLE FLESH The Tholos may still use systems with the Drone, or Mine Tags whose Limited charges have all been consumed. However, the Tholos takes 3 Irreducible Kinetic Damage whenever it uses a system in this way. This damage resolves after the system’s effects have fully resolved.

“SCAVENGER” NEXUS BAY When you rest the Tholos regains full HP automatically and without expending any Repairs.

Dammit, fine. But I won’t rob them of their original purpose; they're bloody Core Worms! Not some teched-up stim.” -Tholos Dev Log Transcript no.21

Spool Core Worm Launchers Active (1 CP), Protocol Upon activation of this Core Power as a Protocol this system gains 2 Charges. These charges last until the end of the scene and may be expended 1-1 to make the Core Worm Drain and the Core Worm Investiture Actions.

EYE FOR AN EYE As a Quick Action, you may sacrifice your frame and flesh to empower an ally, Deployable, Drone, or (at the GM’s discretion) object within Range 8, taking up to 6 + Grit of irreducible Kinetic Damage but repairing your target by an amount equal to the damage taken.

MOUNTS AUX/ AUX

FLEX MOUNT

Core Worm Drain: As a Full Action, expend a charge from this system and select one enemy character within Range 8 of you. For your target’s next 1d3+1 turns they take 1/4 of their Maximum HP as Irreducible Kinetic Damage at the beginning of their turn. However this damage cannot reduce your target below 1 HP. Any damage from this system that would do so only reduces them to 1 HP. For every turn this system is active your target gains a stacking +1 Difficulty on all Checks and Saves. Core Worm Investiture: As a Full Action, expend a charge from this system and select one allied character within Range 8. For the next 1d3+1 turns your target repairs 1/4 of their total HP at the end of their turn. For every turn this system is active your target gains a Stacking +1 Accuracy on all Checks and Saves. An ally may only be

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affected by 1 instance of Core Worm Investiture at a time.

LICENSE I: THIEF_SUITE Ⅰ, PEST DRONE

Th13f_5u1te Ⅰ 1 SP, Quick Tech Gain the Heat Thief Quick Tech option. Heat Thief: Select 1 character within Line of Sight and Range 10. Your target may clear any amount of heat up to half of your current heat cap. However, you gain an equal amount of heat in exchange. Heat gained through this action cannot be reduced by any means.

“A Support System? No, this isn’t some new toy for the Lani jockeys. This is for the mavericks, for the squads who pass around the energy of a dying star like a HotPotato to give them that extra edge. We may be the backline of the Pallbearers but we are no “Supports” no matter what Union analysts say”

Pest Drone 2 SP, Drone, Limited 2 As a Quick Action you may expend a charge from this system and select a character within Line of sight and Sensors. Depending on whether they are allied or an enemy one of the following occurs: Ally: Your target character has a Pest Drone attached to them. This drone occupies the same space as your target character and moves with them but can be targeted separately. Whenever an attack is made against your targeted character through a Reaction (e.g., an Overwatch), it resolves against the attached Pest Drone instead. Enemy: Your target has a Pest Drone attached to them. This drone occupies the same space as your target character and moves with them but can be targeted separately. Whenever your target makes an attack through a Reaction (e.g., an Overwatch), it resolves against the Pest Drone instead of their original target. The above effects end when the Pest Drone breaks adjacency, is destroyed, or is removed with a successful Hull Check as a Quick Action. If Removed but undestroyed, you may redeploy the Pest Drone as a Quick Action. Pest Drone:

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HP: 5, Armor: 0, Speed 5, Evasion: 5, E-defence: 8 “The Minleath ain’t a particularly strong, fast, or even daring crew but they’ll cut off their own arm to get what they want. Take their “Pest Drones” for example. Custom built as meat shields for close quarters engagements and reactionary fire, the blighters will practically crawl into the barrel of your shotgun if it means the host body can move unhindered.” • Transcript from “On Piracy in Union - Interviews with Trunk Security”

LICENSE II: THOLOS FRAME, HELIX BALLISTA, MARTYR’S SHIELD

Helix Ballista Main Launcher, Loading, Reliable 3 [15 Range] [1d6+3 Kinetic] A weapon built on an ancient idea and augmented to lethal purpose, the Helix Ballista relies not on the size of the stake it fires but the violent rotation imparted by its rifling to impale targets. Despite its potential as a main battle cannon, the Gauss Ballista is often held as a reserve by Minleath pilots as an “Ace in the hole”.

Martyr’s Shield 2 SP, Quick Action As a Quick Action you may reduce the HP of one of your Drones within sensor range by half its total HP to deploy a Burst 2 area of Soft Cover centering around the drone. While at least partially in this area, characters cannot draw line of sight outside of its perimeter. The damage inflicted by this system can destroy a drone. This Soft Cover dissipates at the end of your next turn or when the drone that created the soft cover is destroyed. Upon activation, The Martyr’s shield detonates a two-tiered charge. The first creates a circulating cloud of reflective shrapnel and the second produces a violent flash that is propagated through continued reflection by the shrapnel cloud. While potent, the sensor scrambling effect limits its application to disposable, unpiloted actors.

LICENSE III: REDRUM STIMS, TH13F_5U1TE Ⅱ

REDRUM Stims 3 SP, Limited 2, Mine, Quick Action, Unique Fury Charge: (Grenade) As a Quick Action you may expend a charge to throw a Fury Charge at an allied character within Range 5. For the duration of their next turn, they may Boost as a Free Action and their next Ranged or Melee Attack gains the Overkill tag and its damage cannot be reduced. Redrum Injector: (Mine) As a Quick Action you may deploy a RINB to a Free space within Range 5. Upon detonation this mine releases a Burst 1 cloud of Nanites that swarm into the crevices and cracks of affected characters,

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injecting mechs and their pilots with toxic stimulants. Until the Cloud dissipates at the end of the Next Round, Characters within this area gain Soft cover and you gain the Righting of the Flesh Reaction. Righting of the Flesh Reaction, 1/turn Trigger: A character within the Burst 1 cloud of nanites released by the REDRUM Injector makes an attack roll but damage has not yet been rolled. Effect: You may force a reroll of the triggering attack roll. If the target of this reaction is an ally, the forced reroll must be done with their consent. REDRUM Stims do not occupy the usual grey spaces afforded Union-produced combat drugs. Their effects on human physiology and psychology are aggressive, overriding negative feedback loops that maintain homeostasis in the body and giving unprecedented metabolic control. Though their exact origin is unclear, Union Intelligence has determined that the first black-market appearance of REDRUM occurred shortly after the disappearance of several Harrison Armory corvettes in the Dawnline Shore.

Thi3f_5uite Ⅱ 3 SP, Invade, Self Heat (1) Gain the Steal Armour & Steal Sight invade options: Steal Armour: On hit, the next time your target takes damage do not calculate armour. Select one allied character or yourself. They gain Overshield equal to your target's armor. Steal Sight: On hit, until the end of their next turn your target cannot benefit from Accuracy in any form. In addition to this, you may select one system or weapon owned by your target. Your next attack, or the next attack of a selected character within sensors benefits from the listed accuracy of the weapon or system selected by you. [Let me tell you the tale of how a noble man named Min {a THIEF a COWARD} brought light to his people. Seeing his tribe fallen, Min scaled mighty cliffs and delved abyssal caves to search out the vault of the gods {my HOME my SANCTUARY}. Waiting until they slumbered, Min took fire {my LIGHT my FREEDOM} from the gods and hid its glow in a stalk of fennel {a CASKET a PRISON}. But Min’s theft did not go unnoticed. Those who worshiped the gods {my ADHERENTS my FAITHFUL} sought the death of him and his tribe. So Min fled to the stars, ever pursued by those wishing to return the fire he took {no ESCAPE no FORGIVENESS, MIN}.]

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Grave Hopper Controller As far as Union officials know, the “Grave Hopper” has no official designation. Rather, this mechanised chassis of Order 1 seems to have earned its name through consensus. Something that was reached after the GH had been repeatedly reported as “melting”, “jumping”, “crawling”, and/or “melding” into destroyed frames. A mystery prior to the GH’s release for public licensing, Union analysts have now linked this morbid phenomenon to the mutable composition of the GH frame and its “Multipotent Chassis”. In combat, the GH seems to fit well in

infiltrator/guerilla engagements as it fields several systems designed to stay out of both sight and range during combat. However, field reports seem to suggest that prior to its release for public licensing, the GH was fielded exclusively to retrieve and ensure that any deployed mechanised chassis belonging to the Pallbearers were not scavenged following an engagement.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armour: 0 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 3 AGILITY Evasion: 8 Speed: 4

Multipotent Chassis

Save Target: 11 Sensors: 15 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +1 SP: 8 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 5

TRAITS DORSAL CAMOUFLAGE While the Grave Hopper is Prone, rolls made to Search for it gain +1 difficulty. Furthermore, while Prone and stationary, the Grave Hopper may remain Hidden while in LOS. Any movement breaks this effect for its duration.

“Hear that? The crackling and mulching that sounds a little like an industrial meat grinder on full tilt? That’s the brachial segment of your frame mutating to match the composition of the area around it. Only you have the privilege of hearing this, not a soul can hear or see the Grave Hopper. Time to get out, you need to learn how to repair what was just sloughed off of the frame.”

Aggressive Frame Adaptation Passive, 1/round, Reaction While next to a Wreck, Deployable, or piece of terrain, 1/round as a reaction to losing the Hidden status you may Mutate your Frame: take 3 irreducible Kinetic Damage to maintain your Hidden status. If you would still be in a situation where you lose Hidden after this reaction revolves (e.g., being within LOS without being prone or invisible, staying within an area that reveals you, etc.) you still immediately lose Hidden despite taking this reaction.

DUAL PROFILE FRAME While Prone, the Grave Hopper may move its full speed while still being Slowed as normal and counts as Size 1/2 for the purposes of calculating cover and enemy Line of Sight. 1/round, the Grave Hopper may either inflict the Prone status on itself as a Free Action or remove this Status from itself as a Quick Action.

Multipotent Chassis Power Supplement Active (1 CP), Protocol For the rest of the scene the reaction granted by Aggressive Frame Adaptation can be used without being next to a Wreck, Deployable or piece of terrain.

MOUNTS MAIN/ AUX

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LICENSE I: CALL OF THE DEAD, WRECK MANIPULATORS

Call of the Dead 2 SP, Full Tech Your frame releases a cry that echoes unnaturally across the battlefield. Select one of the following to respond to your cries: • 3 Size 1 wrecks arise from the soil or materialise in free spaces within your sensors and Line of sight. These wrecks are destroyed instantly if they are hit by an attack or take damage. • 1 Size 2 wreck arises from the soil or materialises in a free space within your sensors and Line of sight. This wreck is destroyed instantly if it is hit by an attack or takes damage. Enemy characters adjacent to where one of the wrecks has arisen become Grappled by the wreck but automatically succeed on any contests or checks to control or end the Grapple. Though you are not making an attack or forcing a save, taking this full tech action is enough to reveal you if you are hidden. Call of the Dead Wreck: Hp: 1 Eva: 5 “Old killer old killer, don’t you know? Their hands they’ll grasp from the ground, To haunt and drag you down, helbound Old killer, old killer, take it slow Their bones are built from your guilt From corpses and dead housed in silt Old killer, old killer, don’t you know? Their clawing shan’t tire or cease till your mortal coil, released Old killer old killer, hell waits below” - Minleath Children’s Rhyme

Wreck Manipulators 1 SP, Free Action While you are adjacent to a Wreck it counts as a piece of Hard Cover but line of sight is not blocked unless the Wreck is large enough to do so. As a Free Action, you may gain the Slowed condition to pick up a Wreck, ignoring restrictions on dragging and lifting. For the duration of your current turn, the wreck moves with you impeding movement if it would be moved into a space that cannot accommodate it. While carrying a wreck, all attacks made as reactions against you target your carried wreck instead. Carried wrecks are instantly destroyed if hit by an attack or forced to make a save “Sometimes you have to get creative on battlefields with no cover.”

LICENSE II: GRAVE HOPPER FRAME, WRECK SALIENCE SPOOFER, BLACKBOW DMR

Wreck Salience Spoofer 2 SP, Invade Gain the Morbid Fascination & Morbid Attraction Invade options.

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Morbid Fascination: So long as there is a wreck within LOS of your target, it is unable to make reactions and is Impaired. This effect lasts until the end of your target's next turn. Your target is aware of the conditions of this effect. Morbid Attraction: On hit select one Wreck within Sensors and within LOS of your target. Until the end of your target’s turn or until the selected Wreck is destroyed, your target is only able to draw Line of Sight to the selected Wreck. The selected Wreck is known to all characters and is destroyed instantly if it takes damage or is forced to make a save. “I saw one of those corpse crawlers at the end of yesterday’s engagement. Was about to take a shot when my sensors lit up and IFF pings popped up from all around me. Tangoes we thought were downed just started, writhing. So I emptied my clip into the corpses but when the smoke cleared that crawler was gone.

Black Bow DMR Main Rifle, Accurate, 1 SP [15 Range] [2d3 Kinetic] On Hit: If you roll doubles on this weapon’s damage dice, your target is Slowed until the end of their next turn. “I aim for the knee, always.”

LICENSE III: CHARRON CLASS NHP, REFLEXIVE TIBIAL SERVO SHUNT SUITE

Charon Class NHP 2 SP, AI, Unique Gain the AI property and the Ferryman of the Dead Quick Tech action “You’ve got to be careful with your Charon NHP. They’re punctual and business-like, but also excessive neat freaks that care more about organizing and ordering the inanimate than about the state of the animate. So if you begin to suspect a cascade or if they haven’t been socialized properly, cycle and isolate them immediately. Else you might find your frame embedded in the side of a repair bay with you in its cockpit.”

Ferryman of the Dead Quick tech, Knockback 4 Choose one wreck within Sensor range. You may move the wreck up to 10 spaces in a direction of your choosing counting as voluntary movement. If this would cause the wreck to collide with a character its movement ends and the character it collided with is knocked back 4 spaces. For the purposes of calculating knockback or other effects that care about the size of the originator, the moved wreck is the source of the knockback. If this knockback would cause the target character to collide with an obstruction, they take 1d6 Kinetic and must pass a Hull Save or fall Prone.

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Reflexive Tibial Servo Shunt Suite 3 SP, Unique, Reaction You gain the Combat Dive Reaction.

Combat Dive Reaction, 1/round, Heat Self (2) Trigger: You are targeted by an attack while your Mech is not Prone, Immobilised, or Slowed and the Attack Roll has not yet been made. Effect: You may move your full Speed in a direction of your choice, ignoring engagement but not Reactions. At the end of this movement make an Agility Check. On a failure you are unable to right yourself after the explosive movement of your dive and fall Prone at the end of this movement. In the event that you are out of range of the initial attack as a result of this reaction and are the only target of this attack, the character that targeted you is refunded their action or reaction (if applicable) but their attack against you automatically misses. If you take this Reaction while flying you must land before benefiting from its effects. “Wait, you’re telling me you need some fancy software just to hit the dirt in one of these behemoths? Oi vey, it shouldn’t be that complicated!”

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Pyre Controller Unlike the rest of the Pallbearer’s marketed frames the Pyre was not a holdover from each of the three houses' existing mechanised chases. Instead, the Pyre was a true collaboration between the Pallbearer member states, launched shortly after the incorporation of the company. Thus the Pyre is an amalgamation of the design principles of the Hoptanti, Conrubo, and Minleath peoples. More than this though, the Pyre was built as a promise to the pilots of the Pallbearers, a promise that their consumption by the flames of war would fuel the birth of a new corpo-society, able to stand on its own amongst a galaxy of titans.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Save Target: 10 Armour: 0 Sensors: 10 HULL SYSTEMS HP: 12 E-Defense: 8 Repair Cap: 4 Tech Attack: 0 SP: 8 AGILITY Evasion: 8 ENGINEERING Speed: 5 Heat Cap: 6

Phoenix Protocols

TRAITS EXPLOSIVE ZEAL 1/round as a Free Action the Pyre may take 2 Irreducible Burn to deal 1d3+1 Explosive Damage to all characters within Burst 1.

BUILT TO BURN

“Though you will burn, we promise a reward greater than any material boon for your suffering. We promise that you will be better. Better than you were yesterday, better than you were mere moments before the flames have cleared. As the Pallbearers grow, so to do we all. So go, burn, BURN and when you rise from the ashes we will welcome you home anew.” - Excerpt from the commemoration speech of the Ashwalkers PPMC Regiment

Pyroclastic Regeneration Active (1 CP), Quick Action, Efficient

The Pyre reduces to all damage that would result from failing to clear burn at the end of one’s turn by 2 to a minimum of 0. This reduction occurs before resistances.

The Pyre implodes, clearing all Burn from itself and repairing itself or an allied character within Range 8 by 5 HP for every point of burn cleared using this core power.

While suffering from Burn, the Pyre ignores all difficult terrain and benefits from Soft Cover. This cover is not enough to fully conceal it.

This Core Power is Efficient. At the end of any scene in which it is used you are refunded 1 CP.

SCORCHED NERVES The Pyre recieves +1 difficulty on all Agility Checks and Saves.

MOUNTS FLEX MOUNT

FLEX MOUNT

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LICENSE I: CAUTERIZER, FORCED COMBUSTION Cauterizer Auxiliary CQB, Loading [Line 5] [2 Burn] 1/round this weapon may be loaded as a Free Action by taking 1 burn. If you are immune to burn when taking this free action you take 1 AP Energy damage instead. The Cauterizer is the product official patenting and standardisation of common aftermarket modifications of GMS’s Thermal Pistol. High-output charge packs enable it to function as a miniaturised plasma thrower, though the process of reloading these temperamental weapons comes at great risk to the frame and the weapon itself.

Forced Combustion 1 SP, Unique, Quick Action Select one allied or enemy character within Sensor range and line of sight that is suffering from burn. They immediately clear it and all characters within Burst 1 of your targeted character take 1d3+1 explosive damage. “Ronnie, Ronnie I’m quitting this company. I can’t work with these nut jobs anymore. Sarge got caught out by a Torcher on our last deployment and when she got lit up you know what she did? She laughed. She laughed and she laughed and she laughed. Then the crazy broad walked right up to the Torcher and I swear to God her mech just exploded. Pulped the flame-slinger. And after all that she was fine?!”

LICENSE II: PYRE FRAME, FULMINATION AXE, CONFLAGRATION OF PURPOSE

Fulmination Axe Main Melee, Thrown 5, 1 SP [Threat 1] [1d6+2 Energy] When retrieving the Fulmination Axe you may take 1 AP Energy Damage to retrieve it irrespective of the distance between you and it. When retrieved in this way the Fulmination Axe flies back to you in a straight line passing through objects, characters, and obstructions. Enemy characters within the path of this flight take 1 AP Energy Damage. The Fulmination Axe is an upscaled and charged version of the Pallbearer’s Ripjaw that incorporates an integrated plasma engine to allow for “selfretrieval.” This retrieval is not a gentle process; with the axe returning to its master in a fashion true to its namesake.

Conflagration of Purpose 2 SP, Unique, Quick Action, Heat Self 1 Select either a willing allied character or an enemy within Sensors and line of sight. They immediately take 2 burn but gain +1 Accuracy on all saves, checks and attacks so long as this burn remains uncleared. Characters that are immune or reduce burn in any capacity (including the

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damage that would result in failing to clear it) may not be targeted by this system. Enemy characters may resist this effect by passing an Engineering Check. “THIS FLAME THAT WREATHS ME IS BUT A SPARK TO THE WILDFIRE OF MY SOUL!”

LICENSE III: PHLEGETHON CLASS NHP, NEXUS FLAIL

PHLEGETHON CLASS NHP 2 SP, AI, Unique, Limited (3) Gain the AI property and the Burn Driver Reaction. Beginning as a corpo-wide neural network of comp-con units dedicated to melting down chases for printer feed, Phlegethon Prime manifested shortly after interfacing with select HORUS pattern groups for deconstruction. Pallbearer technicians scrambled to contain the situation as the birth of Phlegethon presented both an unparalleled opportunity for the fledgling company and an unprecedented threat as the laws of thermodynamics began to bend within the scrap bay that was Phlegethon’s nursery. Since its shackling and subsequent cloning, Phlegethon has been a primary driver of the Pallbearer’s military industrial complex, recycling and slagging down wrecked chasses with unprecedented speed and precision. Its role as a combat copilot was fast-tracked when one of Phlegethon’s clones employed the thermobaric weaponry of despoiled Ghengi to increase wreck recycling speed by 121.7%. Pilot reports suggest that Phlegethon clones are pragmatic and creative, willing to use anything or anyone to achieve mission parameters. Pilots are encouraged to monitor their Phlegethon clones with extra vigilance for signs of ethical code decay.

Burn Driver Reaction, Heat Self (1), 1/round, Trigger: A willing allied Character or an enemy Character within Line of Sight takes Burn. Effect: The triggering character immediately makes their Check to clear Burn. Though taking this reaction does not consume a charge you may consume one to give 1 Accuracy or 1 Difficulty to the check.

Nexus Flail Unique This weapon can be freely used with either profile. Modifications and talents which only affect ranged or melee weapons only function when used with the appropriate profile.

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Focused Flail Main Melee [1 Threat] [1d3 Kinetic 3 Burn]

Diffuse lashes Main Nexus [3 Cone] [1d3 Kinetic 1 Burn] This weapon profile ignores ranged penalties from engaged The Nexus flail is an unconventional application of Nexi technology. Rather than being mounted to harpoints, a quartet of nexus blisters are used as the “heads” of the nexus flail with their lethal progeny acting first as an all consuming wreath, and second as a seemingly fluid “chain” that connects the blisters to a half. This innovation gives pilots tactical flexibility in this weapon’s application allowing for both dispersal and concentration of lethal force.

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Apsara Zaibatsu (AZAI) AZAI is responsible for the licensing and distribution of some of Union’s most popular music, especially when said music is performed from, or in, a house-sized combat platform. While the company did not invent the concept of the combat idol, it has propelled performers who hold concerts in mechs in war zones from entertainment curiosities to galactic superstars. It has succeeded in doing so through the creation of superb advertising and marketing programs, esoteric phononic plasma sound systems, mind-altering mood effector weaponry, and giant robots that are better-dressed and equipped than any of the competition. AZAI’s mech lineup exists to create music and spectacular performances, then capture those performances and sell them across the Omninet. To that end, AZAI mechs tend to be mobile, good at handling crowds and well-suited for getting up close and personal with their enemies. Though not particularly tough (armour needs must be sacrificed for better dancing ability, after all), they excel at fighting in time, the flow of their combat moving with the beat produced by their potent internal sound systems.

AZAI Core Bonuses Apsara bonuses give your Mech new ways to spread the beat and fight along to the music, the more dramatically the better. You must have at least three License Levels with AZAI to take a bonus from this list, and another 3 levels for each additional bonus after that.

DNCFTR COILS By using mood effectors to subtly tweak and respond to a pilot’s natural instinctive reactions, the Directed Neural Control and Feedback Transmitter Coil allows even the largest and most ungainly Mechs to move with surprising grace.

Your Improvised Attacks gain the Rhythm tag. When the Beat die is Odd, once per round you may make an Improvised Attack as a Quick Action, and it gains Knockback 1. When the Beat Die is Even, your Improvised Attacks do +3 bonus Energy damage.

PHONONIC GAIN ENHANCERS Though the science is still poorly understood, at high enough energy levels phononic energized plasmas can have unusual and frankly uncanny effects on the fabric of space and time.

You gain a Crescendo Die, a d20 which begins at 1. Each time you or an ally within Range 50 destroys an enemy, increase it by 1. Each time you or an ally roll an unmodified (natural) 20 on any check or save, whether or not the squad is in combat, increase it by 2. Once per mission, when the Crescendo Die reaches 20, reset it to 1 and immediately perform the “Song that

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Saves the World” reaction, regardless of whether or not you are in combat. Your Crescendo Die resets to 1 at the beginning of each mission. The Song that Saves the World Reaction, 1/Mission Trigger: Your Crescendo Die hits 20. Effect: Your mech and the mechs of all of your allies in the Squad are immediately restored to full HP and may choose to clear all Heat if they have any. Every character in the party has a sudden revelation about a new or unexpected way to overcome or resolve their current greatest obstacle in life.

ENTOURAGE No Apsara mech goes into combat without being accompanied by a swarm of camera, speaker, special-effects and choreography-coordination drones which help them look their best on the stage, battlefield or both.

Your Mech gains the following Integrated Weapon: Entourage Nexus Main Nexus, Accurate [8 Range] [1d3 E] On Hit: The target must pass a Systems save or become Entranced until the end of their next turn. If you hit a target which is already Entranced, they must pass a Systems save or become Stunned until the end of their next round. A target may only be Stunned by this weapon once per scene.

DANCING QUEEN “It’s all about realizing that every manufacturer uses different balance algorithms for their frame’s movement; so, for instance, if you can swing off an IPS-N frame hard enough here, and shift your weight juuuust… so, yeah, the frame’s own systems will try to right it and boom, plunk you down just like that. Looks really fancy, too.”

Once per round, as a Protocol, you may immediately switch places with an adjacent allied or enemy mech, drone or deployable, provided there is enough room to do so. This does not count as movement or trigger Reactions.

BURNING SOUL OF A MUSICIAN Every Apsara pilot, great or small, has their core of dedicated fans, who will cheer them on until the very end. Mood effector technology means that this willingness to

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cheer is, in fact, a harvestable resource, which can be fed into the pilot’s psychic matrix to further enhance their engagement with the crowd.

Once per round, when you Bolster an ally, your Mech gains the same effects as the Bolster until the end of your next turn.

SWAN SONG One of the most peculiar quirks of the Mood Effector system is its harmonic resonance with negative emotions; savvy performers use this to their advantage, able to derive the most power from their mechs when the situation is the most desperate.

Increase your Save Target by +1. You gain a stacking +1 bonus to your Save Target for each point of Structure damage or reactor Stress your mech has taken, whichever is higher. Your Save Target cannot be raised higher than 18 by this ability. This bonus is lost as your repair Structure or Stress.

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CALLIOPE Artillery/Striker

“...prompting crew members, notably Mister Gunfyre and the rest of the accompanists, to return fire as per our pre-existing ROE. The 12-second volley that followed resulted in the destruction of 7 square kilometers of protected wilderness, more than 300 million manna in damage to the venue infrastructure, the permanent deafening of, at last count, 54,229 concert-goers, and the best live album sales we’ve had in the past eight fiscal years. Well done, everyone.” Usually custom-built for clients who desire something with a little more percussive oomph than the standard URANIAs or TERPSICHOREs, the CALLIOPE is a barely-coherent turbocharged plasma reactor held together with artificial gravity stabilizers. At this scale, phononic energized plasma fields work less like large speakers, and more like catastrophic seismic oscillation inducers. It goes without saying that anyone who attends a concert or combat where “Callies” are fielded needs to sign a great many waivers first.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armor: 3 HULL HP: 6 Repair Cap: 4 AGILITY Evasion: 6 Speed: 4

SPIRAL EFFECTOR

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 5 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 6 Tech Attack: -2 SP: 7 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 8

TRAITS LISTEN TO MY SONG! The Calliope is immune to being Jammed. It takes +1 Difficulty to contested Search rolls, and attacks against it with the Smart tag gain +1 Accuracy. The Calliope is always equipped with a Sound System.

WALKING CALAMITY When the Calliope attacks a character benefiting from Hard Cover the Cover takes 10 AP Kinetic damage if it is a deployable or piece of terrain, or 2 AP Kinetic if it is an NPC or character, after the attack fully resolves.

DYNAMIC INSTABILITY The Calliope always has a Beat Die, as per the Rhythm tag. When the Beat Die is odd, it takes +1 Difficulty on Systems Checks and Saves. When the Beat Die is Even, it takes difficulty on Engineering Checks and Saves.

MOUNTS AUX/ AUX

MAIN MOUNT

HEAVY MOUNT

The CALLIOPE is too much of a blunt instrument to effectively benefit from the subtleties of mood effector technology, with one exception. Apsara discovered a limited way to reverse a mood effector, using human emotional energy to provide a single, cataclysmic burst of energy which no conventional power system can handle for long. EVERYONE, LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH! Active (1 CP), Full Action As a Full Action, the Calliope makes a paracausal sympathetic link to the hearts of all those who would support you. You may then attack with a single weapon of your choice, including Superheavy weapons. Regardless of its Blast, Line or Cone qualities, this attack hits only one enemy within its AoE. For every relevant Player who expresses support in-character, this attack gains +1 Accuracy and +2 Bonus Explosive damage. There is no upper limit to this attack's damage and the Accuracy gained in this way. This attack ignores cover, the Invisible status, any enemy effect which would cause it to automatically miss, and its damage cannot be reduced by any means. If your character makes a dramatic and impassioned speech before making the attack, you may roll twice to hit and take the higher result. If you do so while playing dramatic music in the background (or, for groups playing online, linking music to play), you may roll another time and take the highest result.

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LICENSE I: BREATH COMPENSATORS, CLEARCUTTER LASER “PLATFORM”

BREATh Compensators 2 SP, Unique, Limited 2 Once per round, while you are afflicted by a condition on your turn, you may expend a charge from this system to perform one Quick Action as if you were not afflicted by any Condition that is not self-imposed, even if your Mech would normally be made unable to perform actions. Apsara mechs are usually called upon to perform at high intensities for long periods of time, and CALLIOPEs are no exception. The Bio-Reactor Energy and Thermal Compensator is a semi-organic damage-control system which can maintain frame stability even in incredibly hostile environments, though it requires careful management from the frame’s pilot.

Clearcutter Laser “PLATFORM” Main Cannon [Range 10] [1d3+1 X, Blast 1] Soft cover, marked spaces, Mines, and ongoing effects within the AOE of this weapon are removed after this attack resolves. This weapon deals triple damage to terrain. “Listen, pal, I don't care if it's a ‘protected nature reserve’ or your mee-maw's grave. In three hours fifteen thousand screamin' fans are gonna be here and they need somewhere to stand.”

LICENSE II: HEAVY SUBWOOFER “SUNBLOTTER”, ODE TO VICTORY

Heavy Subwoofer “SUNBLOTTER” Heavy Launcher, AP, 1 SP [Range 10] [2d6 E] When attacking a character benefiting from Hard Cover from a piece of Terrain or a deployable you may choose to destroy the Hard Cover prior to your Attack Roll. When you do so, your attack deals half damage on Hit. The SUNBLOTTER represents the largest phononic plasma sound system AZAI mounts on their mass-production chassis, though the company has done little to dispel persistent rumours about a device supposedly named “SUNKILLER”.

Ode to Victory 2 SP, Unique, 1 Heat (Self) Once per round when you destroy an enemy or piece of terrain, you may take 1 heat to force all enemies adjacent to the destroyed piece of terrain to pass a Hull Save or take 1 Burn and become Entranced until the end of their next turn. “What, first time in a Callie? Yeah, they have a tendency to shake things to bits, just don’t get caught up staring at the explosions.”

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LICENSE III: GWAR-CLASS NHP, TAIKOBOOSTER “ARIA”

GWAR-Class NHP 4 SP, AI, Unique, Limited (2), Heat 2 (Self) Your Mech gains the AI tag and the BONESNAPPING TECHNO-DESTRUCTOR Full Action. GWARs are very nearly an unviable NHP pattern, largely due to their poor social skills and seemingly unbreakable compulsion to offend, insult or otherwise irritate everyone they encounter. For reasons still unclear, however, they have a natural aptitude for managing the incredible multitasking demands of the CALLIOPE’s reactor, and, when provoked, just as much showmanship and flair as the Zaibatsu’s other NHPs.

BONESNAPPING TECHNO-DESTRUCTOR Full Action, 1/Scene Expend a charge and take 2 Heat to choose a Blast 2-sized area on the ground within line of sight and Range 15; all characters know that it has been chosen. At the end of the next round this space suddenly and violently fills with ionized plasma. All terrain, deployables, and Soft Cover are instantly destroyed and characters within the affected area take 6 Burn and must make an Engineering Save or become Exposed.

Taikobooster “ARIA” Superheavy Cannon, Rhythm, Loading, 1 SP [Range 12] [3d6 E, Blast 1] When the Beat Die is Odd this weapon may be reloaded as a Free Action. This weapon may not be fired during any turn in which it has been reloaded. Project ARIA was an attempt to scale infrastructure-grade phononic energized plasma systems to a level a single reasonably-sized frame would be able to support. Though the final product is reasonably stable, the concussive shockwaves produced by its activation and firing are not.

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CLIO Striker/Controller

“¡Venid, amigos, a bailar! ¡Baila o muere!” The closest to a dedicated “infantry” platform in the publicfacing AZAI lineup, the CLIO frame is nearly 50 years old, kept relevant by its high degree of versatility and the suitability of its systems for retrofitting and upgrades. Usually marketed as a “dancer” frame, it offers a solid combination of last-gen mood effector, phononic plasma weaponry and lower-end concert support equipment for performers looking for AZAI quality at a less taxing price range. The incredible invasions of privacy entailed by the process of “preregistering” for use of the CLIO line also provides the company with useful information on up-and-comers, and their exploitable foibles. On both the stage and in battle, CLIOs are considerably more brutal and aggressive than their counterparts, with their musical output heavily overshadowed by their raw physicality.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Save Target: 10 Armor: 1 Sensors: 10 HULL SYSTEMS HP: 7 E-Defense: 8 Repair Cap: 4 Tech Attack: -1 SP: 6 AGILITY Evasion: 8 ENGINEERING Speed: 5 Heat Cap: 5

Bespoke Blade

TRAITS LISTEN TO MY SONG! The Clio is immune to being Jammed. It takes +1 Difficulty to contested Search rolls, and attacks against it with the Smart tag gain +1 Accuracy. The Clio is always equipped with a Sound System.

FLOS DUELLATORUM The Clio always has a Beat Die, as per the Rhythm tag. It gains bonus Kinetic damage equal to the value of the Beat Die on its first melee attack of each turn.

BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR The Clio may use its Main/Aux mount to equip a single Heavy weapon, at a cost of 1 SP in addition to the weapon’s regular cost.

MOUNTS MAIN/ AUX

The Apsara Zaibatsu Bespoke Weapons Office provides custom armaments solutions that border on the obsessively sociopathic. Applicants are required to submit to extensive physical and psychological profiling, as well as a deeply intrusive telemetry and data-collection agreement. The end result: a one-of-a kind weapon tailored to a single pilot and only that pilot. Indeed, clients who request arms too similar to those already produced have been known to "retire" suddenly. Bespoke Blade Integrated Main Melee [Threat 2] [2d3 K] When you reprint your Mech, select a number of your Talent trees equal to your Grit. Once per round, when you attack with this weapon, it counts as any relevant weapon types and sizes for the sake of those Talents.

Ballroom Blitz Active (1 CP), Protocol For the remainder of the scene, as a Protocol, you may move a number of spaces equal to the value of the Beat Die. This movement ignores Engagement and Reactions. Pick one weapon-based Talent tree that you do not currently possess ranks in. Your Bespoke Blade counts as being a weapon relevant for the sake of that Talent tree, and you gain the effects of that Talent tree, for the rest of the scene.

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LICENSE I: “CHERRYBOMB” CAPSULE DEPLOYER, “DIRTY” DNCR CHARGES “CHERRYBOMB” Capsule Deployer Auxiliary Launcher, Limited 6, 1 Heat (Self), Inaccurate [Range 3 Cone 3] [1 Burn] One of the lower-end pyrotechnics systems in the AZAI catalog, the CHERRYBOMB is substantially more dangerous than its contemporaries due to its heavy use of magnesium and white phosphorus filler.

“DIRTY” DNCR Charges 2 SP, Limited 3, Unique, Quick Action You may spend a charge from this system for one of the following effects: • DNCR Grenade (Grenade, Blast 1 Range 5): All characters within the blast radius must pass a Systems save or become Entranced until the end of their next turn, and move 3 spaces in a direction of your choice. This movement ignores Engagement and Reactions. • DNCR Mine (Mine, Burst 1): All characters within the Burst area must pass a Systems save or become Entranced until the end of their next turn, and move up to their speed in a direction of your choice. This movement ignores Engagement but not Reactions. This more aggressive take on the Digitally Networked Cooperative Repositioning system also used on Apsara’s TERPSICHORE frame instills brief but overriding feelings of disorientation and giddiness.

LICENSE II: CLIO FRAME, VERVE NEXUS, A* MOOD EFFECTOR

VERVE Nexus Main Nexus, Smart, Accurate [Range 8] [1d3 + 2 E] On Critical Hit: The target becomes Entranced until the end of their next turn. If the target is already Entranced, they take 2 Heat instead. The Violent Emotional Release through Vibratory Energetics project was the first generation of semi-functional mood effector technology, though its tendency for inducing what was euphemistically termed “cerebral thermal stress” limited its adoption as an entertainment system.

A* Mood Effector 3 SP, Unique Reaction Gain the So Near and Yet So Far reaction. “Tus tacones golpean la tierra impulsan a los efectores, y hacen que la multitud no pueda apartar los ojos de ti; solo te dan ganas de bailar más fuerte, ¿no?” [Your heels striking the earth power the effectors, and they make the crowd unable to take their eyes off you; just makes you want to dance harder, doesn't it?]

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So Near and Yet So Far Reaction, 1/round Trigger: An enemy Character ends a movement within Threat of one of your weapons. Effect: The target becomes Slowed. They must also pass a Systems save or become Entranced. Both of these effects last until the end of their next turn.

LICENSE III: TAIKOBLARER “ALPHORN”, ELVIS-Class NHP

Taikoblarer “ALPHORN” Heavy Rifle, Loading [Range 10][2d6+4 E] When this weapon is unloaded, it may be used as a Heavy Melee with a Threat of 2, dealing 2d6 + 1 Kinetic damage. One of the earliest in the Taiko series of phononic plasma weapons, the ALPHORN is characterized by its brass-lined plasma amplification chambers, and the need for a complicated set of external control valves and “metamaterial reed” regulator.

ELVIS-Class NHP 3 SP, AI, Unique Gain the AI property and the All Shook Up Quick Tech Action. The result of a successful NHP knowledge-sharing agreement with the Armory, the ELVIS is bold, energetic and charismatic to a superhuman degree. Its showy and over-the-top displays of grace and song are superficial, yes, but ELVIS clones show a remarkable aptitude for precision use of mood effector technology.

All Shook Up Limited (3), Quick Tech Every enemy within line of sight and Sensor range of your Mech must pass a Systems save or their Save Target is halved until the end of your next turn. Mood effectors running at full power create substantial visual artifacting and noticeable hallucinations; subjects describe emitter-equipped objects as “sparkling,” “mesmerizing” or “hard to look away from.”

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ERATO Controller/Artillery

Increasing AZAI incursions and military activity on and near Odeon have resulted in sightings of a dedicated military frame that is clearly a sidegrade of their well-known TERPSICHORE platform. Rumored to leverage a variety of illegal technology sourced from HORUS databases, the ERATO lacks any of the performative touches of its parent company. Equipped with a devastating array of offensive mood effector technology, and emitting the absorptive/reflective nano-swarm fields known sarcastically as “Love Shacks”, the matte-black silhouettes of the ERATOs have developed a nightmarish reputation on local conspiracy forums, even as AZAI strenuously denies the frame’s existence.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armor: 0 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 4 AGILITY Evasion: 10 Speed: 5

Exotic Reactor System Designate “CAT PEOPLE”

Save Target: 11 Sensors: 10 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 10 Tech Attack: +1 SP: 8 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 4

TRAITS MY ENDLESS LOVE Once per round, characters Entranced by the Erato suffer 2 heat if they fail a save while Entranced, provided the save is triggered by the Erato.

The high heat output of the ERATO platform indicates that it is fitted with some form of heavily overpowered exotic/paracausal gravitic reactor, perhaps derived from the CALLIOPE’s systems. The mood effectors running off this powerplant have emission spectrums that are closer to high-power UV lasers than their more subtle origins. Hunka Burning Love Active (1 CP), Full Action Designate a Blast 2 area within your sensor range. Each hostile character in the area must make a Systems save and an Engineering save. On a failed Systems save, they are Entranced until the end of your next turn. On a failed Engineering save, they take Burn equal to the value of the Beat Die.

THAT LOVIN’ FEELING The Erato always has a Beat Die, as per the Rhythm tag. When the die is odd, increase the Erato’s Sensor Range by the amount on the die. When the die is even, increase the range of all ranged weapons equipped to the Erato by the amount on the die.

For the remainder of the Scene, you treat your Beat Die as both even and odd for the purposes of the That Lovin’ Feeling trait, regardless of the value shown on the die.

LISTEN TO MY SONG! The Erato is immune to being Jammed. It takes +1 Difficulty to contested Search rolls, and attacks against it with the Smart tag gain +1 Accuracy. The Erato is always equipped with a Sound System.

MOUNTS AUX/ AUX

FLEX MOUNT

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LICENSE I: DROPS OF JUPITER, CUPID, DRAW BACK YOUR BOW

Drops of Jupiter Main Launcher, Arcing [10 Range, Blast 1] [1d3+2 Energy Damage] On Critical Hit: Target becomes Entranced until the end of their next turn. Clearly a weaponized version of AZAI’s much-beloved pyrotechnic systems, this weapon energizes phononic plasma to the point that it sparkles like burning magnesium.

Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow 2 SP, Unique, Invade Gain the following Invade option: Lovestruck: On hit, choose one allied character within your Sensor Range. Your target cannot willingly attack the chosen ally with weapons until the end of its next turn. If your target is Entranced, it also cannot willingly attack you with weapons until the end of its next turn. Triggered damage (such as mines) and areas of effect that include at least one character other than you are not affected by this system. A character can be targeted by this system only once per scene. The hacking and mood effector algorithms employed by the ERATO are undeniably similar in form and function to HORUS liturgicode, much to the alarm of Union analysts.

LICENSE II: ERATO FRAME, LOVE GUN, LET ME LOVE YOU

Love Gun 1 SP, Auxiliary Rifle, Smart [10 Range] [1 Explosive Damage] If your target is Entranced or Impaired, this weapon also deals 2 Burn damage. This conventional solid-projectile weapon is entirely out of AZAI’s military wheelhouse, but its semi-guided incendiary rounds are unquestionably effective.

Let Me Love You 2 SP, Unique, Invade Gain the following Invade options: Walk This Way: Your target moves its maximum speed directly toward you by the shortest available route. This movement is involuntary, but provokes reactions and Engagement as normal and doesn’t count as Knockback, pushing, or pulling. If the target ends this movement adjacent to you, it is knocked Prone.

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Empress of My Heart: Until the start of your next turn, your target treats your allies outside its Sensor Range as Hidden, and your allies inside its Sensor Range as Invisible. The target ignores the Hidden and Invisible conditions on you for the same duration. This Invade option can be used only once per scene.

Many of the e-warfare systems the Erato employs are functionally nearly identical to their “public” counterparts, but with greatly reduced safety tolerances and far more aggressive tuning.

LICENSE III: DIANA-CLASS NHP, LOVE SHACK

DIANA-Class NHP 3 SP, AI, Unique Gain the AI property and the Heat Wave Protocol. “Como una ola de calor Ardiendo en mi corazón No puedo evitar llorar Me está desgarrando” -Ancient Proverb Only two things are firmly established about Eratos; they make heavy use of an NHP, and that NHP is entirely unlike any others fielded by AZAI.

Heat Wave Protocol, Heat 2 (Self) Each hostile character within Burst 2 of you must make a Hull save or take 2 Burn and 2 heat.

Love Shack 2 SP, Deployable, Unique, Quick Action, Limited 3 Expend a charge from this system to deploy a Love Shack to a free space within your Sensor Range. The exact nature of the “Love Shack” device is the subject of much debate: its bizarre “inky” visual properties could be paracausal or nanotechnological in nature, and it is flimsy to the point of being borderline incorporeal. More than anything, the sudden filling of a combat area with swirling spheres of impossible darkness has become the identifier for the presence of ERATO platforms. Love Shack Deployable, Size 3, 15 HP, 5 Evasion Characters may enter or exit this Deployable at will. Hostile characters that start their turn in the area or enter it for the first time on their turn are Entranced until the start of their next turn. You and allied characters at least partially in the area gain Soft Cover. All characters at least partially in the area cannot target other characters that are partially in the area with hostile abilities or attacks. The Love Shack lasts until the end of the scene or until it is destroyed, and does not block line of sight.

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MELPOMENE Defender/Support

“...then one of their frames starts broadcasting… I think it might have been Johnny Cash, over an open frequency? Something with acoustic guitar. I’ve seen units break before, ma’am, but nothing like this. The entire company was weeping like children when they overran us.” Originally an experimental derivative of the TERPSICHORE, the MELPOMENE line of frames are the flagships for the company’s paracausal mood effector technology. Though Apsara has dealt with years of litigation on the part of Union and various military ethics advocacy groups, “Mellows” are still fielded in both the performance and combat roles. More solidly built than most of the Zaibatsu’s frames, they are capable of wide-broadcast emotional manipulation; the discovery that feelings of loneliness, regret and yearning were particularly easy to induce cemented the MELPOMENE’s role as a battlefield interdictor and defensive platform.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armor: 1 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 4 AGILITY Evasion: 6 Speed: 4

MOOD EFFECTORS

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 10 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +1 SP: 7 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 8

Mood effector technology has been called “mind-control rays”, but this is not, strictly speaking, true. Rather, it uses paracausal quantum entanglement to directly alter the chemical states of the human brain, inducing strong emotional responses at the press of a button.

TRAITS MOURNFUL GUARDIAN Allied mechs may use the Melopmene as Soft Cover. The Melpomene is constantly accompanied by a constrained cloud of phononic plasma. This is a Size 1 indestructible object which counts as a Deployable. As a Protocol at the start of each turn, you destroy the previous instance of this object and place a new instance of it in a free space within Burst 1 of your Mech. Allied mechs may use it as Hard Cover.

LISTEN TO MY SONG! The Melpomene is immune to being Jammed. It takes +1 Difficulty to contested Search rolls, and attacks against it with the Smart tag gain +1 Accuracy. The Melpomene is always equipped with a Sound System.

LILTING RHYTHM The Melpomene always has a Beat Die, as per the Rhythm tag. When the die is odd, allies who are adjacent to the Melpomene or its deployables gain +1 armour. When the die is even, allies who are adjacent to the Melpomene or its deployables gain Resistance to heat imposed by enemy attacks and systems.

MOUNTS MAIN/ AUX

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Melancholy Passive Allied characters who are within Burst 2 of you may choose as a Protocol to become Entranced, even if they would normally be immune to Entranced. If they do so, they become immune to Slowed, Immobilized, Shredded, Impaired and Lock Ons that are not self-imposed so long as they remain in the burst. This effect does not end any ongoing effects that allies were suffering from when they entered the Burst. The Entranced condition, and immunity to other conditions, ends when they leave the burst.

ZETSUBOU Amp Active (1 CP), Protocol While this Protocol is active, all characters affected by your Melancholy Core Passive also become immune to Stunned, Exposed and Jammed, and the Burst radius of the Melancholy effect increases to 3. Characters may also choose to become Immune to any other negative condition listed in homebrew frames or manufacturers.

LICENSE I: HEART TAP, WALL OF RAIN

Heart Tap 2 SP, Unique, Quick Tech, Invade Gain the following options for Invade: Veil of Tears: Your target cannot draw line of sight to targets adjacent to you or your deployables until the end of their next turn. Haunting Dirge: Your target is Slowed until the end of their next turn, and must pass a Systems Save or also be Entranced until the end of their next turn. The triple-threat of mood effector, subliminal-trigger memetics and direct electronic warfare attacks are a potent psychological warfare combination.

Wall of Rain 2 SP, Unique, Limited 3, Quick Action, Rhythm As a Quick Action when the Beat Die is odd, you may expend a charge from this system to place three Size 1 deployables in adjacent free spaces within sensor range, filling them with impermeable plasma fields. These deployables have no HP and cannot be targeted, but block line of sight and are impassable by standard movement, though they can be flown over or teleported through. This action may be performed multiple times in one turn, though every time you perform it after the first you gain 1 Heat. When the Beat Die is even, the deployables violently detonate in a Burst 1 explosion at the end of your turn. Enemies caught in this area must pass a Systems save or take 1d6 Energy damage and become Entranced until the end of their next turn. Enemies are only affected by the detonation once per turn. Allies within the detonation’s AOE are not damaged but instead are caught within plasma clouds, obscuring their position and granting them Soft Cover until the end of their next turn. Phononic energized plasma can theoretically be formed into solid, discrete structures. Apsara struggled for years to make PEP structures that could remain coherent, but eventually abandoned the project, deciding that exploiting the tactical possibilities of these fundamentally-unstable forms was more practical. LICENSE II: TAIKOBEAMER “LAMENT”, CATHARTIC LINK

Taikobeamer “LAMENT” Auxiliary Launcher, Knockback 2 [8 Range] [1 E] The Taikobeamer series of weapons are available in both infantry and mech-scale versions, and are tuned for high-powered phononic concussions.

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Cathartic Link 2 SP, Quick Tech As a Quick Action, you may force an enemy within Sensors to make a Systems Save. If they fail, they gain the same negative conditions you or one ally within Burst 3 of your mech are suffering. You may still use this system while Jammed, though doing so causes you to gain 4 Heat. You may only use this system to inflict Exposed or Jammed once per character per scene. You may not Stun enemies with this System. In its performance role, the Cathartic Link system broadcasts the emotions of a performer to an audience. In its combat role, the Link collects, amplifies and focuses the negative emotions of a pilot, then attempts to forcibly inject them into an enemy’s psyche.

LICENSE III: TOWER OF SONG, MIDNIGHT-CLASS NHP

Tower of Song 2 SP, Limited 2, Full Tech, Rhythm As a Full Action when the Beat Die is even, you fill a Size 3 space within Sensors with energized plasma This area counts as a Size 3 Deployable, though it cannot be destroyed or targeted. Enemies caught within this space must pass a Systems save with 1 Difficulty to be able to leave it; failing does not consume any movement, but they are only able to move within the space until it dissipates. So long as an enemy is within this space, all of their ranged and melee attacks do half damage, and targets they Invade receive only half the usual Heat they would normally gain from being Invaded. At the end of every one of your turns in which the Beat Die is odd, the plasma detonates. All enemies within the space take an amount of Heat equal to 1 + your Grit. Most performers who use MELPOMENEs are not particularly interested in pyrotechnics or large, showy performances; however, its frame leaves room for considerable phononic energized plasma field output if needed.

MIDNIGHT-Class NHP AI, Unique, 3 SP Gain the AI property and the Mono No Aware Reaction. MIDNIGHTS are usually described as exceptionally good listeners, with an ability to instill trust or a willingness to divulge in others that verges on the manipulative. In the combat role, they can build psychological profiles of enemies that provide terrifying, crystalline-clear detail.

Mono no Aware Reaction, 2/round Trigger: An ally within Sensors gains one or more negative conditions as the result of an enemy attack or System. Effect: With your ally's permission, they may instead gain the Entranced condition until the end of their next turn. If the ally would gain the Exposed condition and you use this Reaction, your ally does not lose Exposed but it is instead automatically cleared at the end of their next turn.

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TERPSICHORE Controller/Support

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! YEAH! YEAH! YEAAAAAAAAAAH!” The TERPSICHORE series has been Apsara’s flagship line for nearly 50 years, and though its design has changed dramatically over time, its core concept has not. “Corries” are equal parts ECM, signal broadcast and psychological warfare platform, their light, slim frames smashing into enemy lines with a volume and energy that few are equipped to handle. Agile and effective performance or racing platforms, the TERPSICHOREs were the original testbed for AZAI’s signature mix of phononic energized plasma weaponry, as well as their more controversial paracausal “mood effectors”. Though not all TERPSICHOREs are humanoid, the vast majority of the options offered come with the standard Idoru bodywork, in a plethora of added-cost male/female/chibi/neuter sub-variants.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armor: 0 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 3 AGILITY Evasion: 10 Speed: 5

“BACKUP” DNCR

Save Target: 11 Sensors: 8 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 10 Tech Attack: +1 SP: 7 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 4

TRAITS FEEL THE BEAT! The Terpsichore always has a Beat Die, as per the Rhythm tag. When the die is odd, the Terpsichore gains +1 Difficulty on all attacks and gains immunity to Engagement and the Slowed condition from any source. When the die is even, the Terpsichore gains +1 Accuracy on all attacks but cannot Boost.

DYNAMIC INSTABILITY At the end of each of the Terpsichore's turns, if it did not voluntarily move during that turn, it takes 2 Heat.

LISTEN TO MY SONG! The Terpsichore is immune to being Jammed. It takes +1 Difficulty to contested Search rolls, and attacks against it with the Smart tag gain +1 Accuracy. The Terpsichore is always equipped with a Sound System.

MOUNTS AUX/ AUX

FLEX MOUNT

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The Digitally Networked Cooperative Repositioning protocol uses a combination of mood effectors and datasharing algorithms to synchronize the TERPSICHORE’s tactical (or choreographed) position with nearby frames, allowing a seemingly disorganized group of platforms to move with surprising elegance and coordination. Takes Two To Tango Active (1 CP), Protocol, Rhythm For the remainder of the Scene, any time you start a move while adjacent to an allied character, they may choose to move with you. They move as many spaces as possible in the same direction as you move, ignoring engagement and reactions and remaining adjacent to your Mech. If your Mech flies, hovers or teleports, so does the character moving with you. If this movement would be blocked by terrain, it immediately ends. A character who moves in this way when your Beat Die is odd gains 2 Overshield. A character who moves in this way when your Beat Die is even clears 2 Heat. Characters who are Slowed when they move with you ignore that condition for the duration of the movement, but do not clear it. Any number of characters may move with you in this way any number of times per turn, provided they are adjacent to your Mech.

LICENSE I: OSU STACK, TAIKOBLASTER

OSU Stack 2 SP, Rhythm, Limited 6, Quick Action, Drone, Unique OSU Stack (SIZE 1/2, 1 HP, 12 E-DEFENSE, 12 EVASION, TAGS: DRONE) Expend a charge to deploy an OSU Stack to a free square within line of sight and sensors. It creates an area of Burst 1. Once per turn, when you move through this space, you may move an additional 3 spaces in addition to your regular movement. When the Beat Die is odd, enemies who move or start their turn within the OSU Stack’s AOE must pass a Systems Save or become Entranced until the end of their next turn. Allies who start their turn or begin a movement of any kind within this Burst gain 1 stacking Overshield, to a maximum of 3 per turn. When the Beat Die is even, enemies who move or start their turn within the OSU Stack’s AOE take 1 Heat and treat its AOE as being Difficult Terrain. Allies who move or start their turn within this area do +1 bonus Explosive damage on all attacks until the end of their turn. Onboard Sympathetic Unit Stacks are equal parts robust sound-projection system and mood effector. They can be rapidly ejected from a mech’s frame to build a highfidelity sound system in nearly any environment, and their ability to paracausally influence human brain chemistry means that anywhere they deploy is guaranteed to become the heart of the party.

Taikoblaster Main CQB [Line 5, Threat 1] [1d6 E] On Hit: The target must succeed on a Systems save or become Entranced until the end of their next turn. Allied characters caught in the area do not take damage or this weapon’s On-Hit effects, but instead may clear 2 Heat. This effect may only trigger once per target per round. The Taiko series of phononic energized plasma weapons use a coherent cloud of vibrating plasma to both catastrophically erode targets, and provide crisp, clear sound, even in a vacuum.

LICENSE II: TERPSICHORE FRAME, POMPOM RELAYS, PEP NEXUS

Pompom Relays 2 SP, Rhythm, Unique When the Beat Die is odd, you may take 2 Heat to Bolster as a Protocol. When the Beat Die is even, targets you Bolster gain 4 Overshield. “-kick and step and one-and-two and turn and back and fire-off-chaff and weapons-up and-”

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PEP Nexus Auxiliary Nexus [6 Range] [2 E] On Hit: The target must pass a Systems Save or it reduces its Save Target by 1+ your Grit until the end of its next turn. This effect may only trigger once per target per round. Apsara Zaibatsu made a small fortune off the patents for phononic energized plasma speaker technology, and a line of compact camera/surround-sound/antipersonnel weapon drones.

LICENSE III: MASTER OF CEREMONIES, MEATLOAF-CLASS NHP

Master of Ceremonies 3 SP, Unique, Rhythm, Full Action While the Beat Die is odd, your Mech’s Save Target increases by 3. While the Beat Die is even, you may expend a Full Action to grant every allied mech within Burst 2 Overshield equal to 1 + your Grit. “Focus, people, focus! We’ve got a concert to run and a Karrakin assault lance to redirect!”

MEATLOAF-Class NHP 2 SP, AI, Unique, Reaction Your mech gains the AI tag and the Hallelujah, Bless My Soul Reaction. The venerable MEATLOAF, despite its quirks, remains one of Apsara’s most popular offerings on the music circuit. Possessing unusual musical intelligence for an NHP, it is also a more-than-competent stage manager, with a penchant for dramatics and charismatic flair that many performer-pilots appreciate.

Hallelujah, Bless My Soul Reaction, 1/round, Rhythm Trigger: An enemy makes a successful ranged or melee attack against an ally within Range 5 of your Mech. Effect: If the Beat Die is Odd, after resolving the attack, the targeted ally may move up to 2 spaces in any direction. This movement ignores Immobilized, Difficult Terrain, Engagement, and does not provoke Reactions. If the Beat Die is even, after resolving the attack, the enemy must pass a Systems save or become Entranced until the end of their next turn.

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URANIA Striker/Defender

“ARE YOU READY? FOR THE BRIGHTEST? LOUDEST?! MOST SPECTACULAR?!? LIGHT SHOW IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE!!? HERE… WE… GOOOOOOOOOOOO-!!!!” Many media conglomerates who seek the spectacle offered by AZAI frames but don’t want the sheer destructive excess of the CALLIOPE frequently turn to the URANIA model instead. The smallest of the mainline AZAI frames, it forgoes mood effector technology for the Tubular Bell system, a complex of plasma lasers and cooling systems with a theoretical maximum output well in excess of 250,000 lux. Combined with external sound systems, the URANIA excels at the big “sound-and-light” concerts that made AZAI famous. As a combat platform, URANIAs are effective at both short and medium ranges, though the visual bleed from their weapons systems is notoriously unpleasant for friendly infantry to cope with.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: ½ Armor: 1 HULL HP: 7 Repair Cap: 3 AGILITY Evasion: 10 Speed: 4

Tubular Bell Transmitters

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 8 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 10 Tech Attack: +1 SP: 6 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 6

Equal parts weapon system and highbandwidth optical data transmission system, the Tubular Bell array, and its Taikobanger output system, generate phononic energized plasma lasers of spectacular intensity.

TRAITS

Taikobanger Electrolaser Harp Integrated Heavy CQB, Rhythm [Line 6] [1 E]

INTERSTELLA PULSE LASERS The Urania always has a Beat Die, as per the Rhythm tag, and deals bonus Energy damage when using non-integrated weapons equal to half the value of the Die. This bonus damage is only applied to the first hit of each turn.

PHOTONIC REACTOR COOLING As a Reaction to the start of a round, the Urania may stop its Beat Die from increasing. If it does so, it becomes Immobilized until the end of its next turn, and adjacent allies treat it as Size 1 hard cover. At the end of its next turn, its Beat Die increases as normal.

Hirasawa Crowdsurf Transmission Active (1 CP), Protocol While this Protocol is active, the Taikobanger Electrolaser Harp resolves 4 non-overlapping lines instead of the usual 3. You may choose to trace one of these lines from the space of any ally within line of sight and sensor range. The ally you trace the line from becomes Invisible until the end of their next turn.

LISTEN TO MY SONG! The Urania is immune to being Jammed. It takes +1 Difficulty to contested Search rolls, and attacks against it with the Smart tag gain +1 Accuracy. The Urania is always equipped with a Sound System.

MOUNTS FLEX MOUNT

Each time you attack with this weapon, you resolve 3 separate non-overlapping lines. When the Beat Die is 3 or 4, this weapon does 2E + 1 Burn. When the Beat Die is 5 or 6, this weapon has 1 Heat (Self) and does 2 E + 2 Burn. This weapon does not hit allies in its area of effect. Instead, they count as being in Soft Cover until the end of their next turn.

In addition, activating Photonic Reactor Cooling Slows you instead of Immobilizing you.

MAIN/ AUX

This ability lasts until the end of the scene, or until you deactivate it as a Protocol.

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LICENSE I: IDOL GLOW BATON, VANGELIS TIGHTBEAM OVERRIDES

“IDOL” Glow Baton Auxiliary Melee, Thrown 8, Unique [Threat 1] [1d3 E] When Thrown, after resolving damage, this weapon emits a Blast 1 area centered on the target’s space until it is retrieved. Characters who end their turn within this area must pass an Engineering Save or they can only draw line of sight to adjacent spaces or your Mech until the end of their next turn. You may always choose not to retrieve this weapon after throwing it. AZAI manufactures a gigantic range of chemical and electrical glowsticks for civilian and military-industrial use. The IDOL is their most powerful and restricted, equal parts emergency flare and less-lethal dazzler weapon.

Vangelis Tightbeam Overrides 2 SP, Unique, Quick Tech, Invade Gain the following options for Invade:. Blaster_Beam: The target cannot draw line of sight to adjacent characters other than your mech, and acts as Hard Cover for you and your allies until the end of its next turn. Termen_Vox: The first time the target takes Energy damage before the end of its next turn, it must pass an Engineering Save or take Heat equal to the amount of Energy damage received, to a maximum of 3 Heat. “Are we confident that they’ll have laser receptors we can hack?” “No idea, but I know the bass is gonna be like ‘bwum bwum bwumwumbadda-badda’, and then the electric harp comes in with like ‘beeeowbeeeeow wa-boooooow doo daa doo daa dee’, and then we come in with the big arrays and it’s like ‘PREEEEEOW-CUHRASH WUHBOOM-!’”

LICENSE II: URANIA FRAME, SYNCHROTRON PYROTECHNICS, SHIELDED BY THE ART OF NOISE

Synchrotron Pyrotechnics 2 SP, Unique, Reaction Gain the Blinded by the Light reaction. Early versions of the URANIA were subject to a drawn-out false-advertising lawsuit, after it was asserted that their laser systems were not “brighter than the sun”, as claimed. Several years of work by AZAI engineers produced a new generator of synchrotron lights, accompanied by the absolutely-verifiable slogan “brighter than 85% of common stellar bodies at ranges of 120km or less.”

Blinded by the Light Reaction, 1/round Trigger: Your mech gains the Lock-On Condition.

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Effect: You immediately lose Hidden, if you had it. The closest enemy to you must pass a Systems Save or is only able to draw line of sight to your mech until the end of their next turn. Every character with the Biological tag within Range 50 and line of sight takes 1 Energy damage, and is immediately aware of your location.

Shielded by the Art of Noise 2 SP, Unique, Shield, 3 Heat (Self), Rhythm, Quick Action, Reaction Select a target within line of sight and Sensors. They count as being in Hard Cover relative to all enemies within Burst 2 of themselves until the end of their next turn. You may use this ability as a Reaction to the Beat Die changing to 1 (except in the first round of combat), in which case it imposes no Heat cost. “Yeah, if they start the intro to Cataclysmic Doom Explosion you’re gonna want to step back from the speakers a bit, man. When that drop hits… wowee!”

Shielded by the Art of Noise Reaction, 1/round Trigger: Your Beat Die becomes 1, and it is not the first round of combat. Effect: You may use the Shielded by the Art of Noise Quick Action, with no associated Heat cost.

LICENSE III: ACTIVE DAZZLE CAMOUFLAGE, JARRE-CLASS NHP

Active Dazzle Camouflage 2 SP, Limited (2), Full Action When you use this system, all enemies within line of sight and Range 10 of your mech must pass a Systems save or treat every character other than you as being Invisible until the end of their next turn. “My eyes are closed but I can still see it!”

JARRE-Class NHP 3 SP, AI, Unique Your mech gains the AI property and can perform the Chants Magnétiques Quick Tech option once per round. The JARRE resulted from the fusion of the more violent tendencies of the GWAR with the psychological manipulation capabilties of the MIDNIGHT. Though level-headed and careful planners off the battlefield or concert stage, in the heat of the moment they lash out with incredible viciousness.

Chants Magnétiques Quick Tech, 1/Round, Rhythm, 2 Heat (Self) A number of enemies in line of sight and Sensor range up to the value of the Beat Die must pass an Engineering save or take AP Energy damage equal to your Grit. Project OXYGÈNE pushed the Mood Effector system to its limits, creating a brain chemistry alteration field strong enough to induce lethal aneurysms and hemorrhaging if tuned correctly.

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GMS Stetind Striker A hyper-simplified Everest variant designed for the mech sporting scene, the Stetind’s ultra-minimalist design is better suited for mobility than for outright combat. Its elaborate power management suite and regenerative servo systems allow its aggressively overengineered joints to accelerate with surprising force.

CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1 Armor: 0 HULL HP: 6 Repair Cap: 4 AGILITY Evasion: 8 Speed: 4

Full-Frame Synergy

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 10 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 12 Tech Attack: -1 SP: 5 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 5

“Every mech has its limits. This… is what breaking those limits looks like. And THIS… IS TO GO EVEN FURTHER BEYOND!” Hands of Steel Integrated Main Melee [Threat 1] [1d6 K]

TRAITS Replaceable Parts While resting, the Stetind can be repaired at a rate of 1 Repair per 1 structure damage instead of 2 Repairs.

High-Accel Servos Once per scene, the Stetind may Grapple, Ram or make an Improvised Attack as a Free Action.

Enkelhet The Stetind increases its Armour and HP by +1 for each Weapon Mount it is equipped with that does not have a weapon attached.

Regenerative Power Cycle When you reprint the Stetind, you may choose to increase its Speed, Save Target or Sensor Range by 1 for each unused System Point on the chassis. Each of these stats may be increased by no more than +3 in this way.

MOUNTS MAIN MOUNT

MAIN/ AUX

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Once per round, you may attack with this weapon as a Reaction to making a successful Ram or Improvised Attack attempt. On Hit: Select one of the following: -The attack counts as having Knockback 2. -The target must make an Agility Save or be knocked Prone. If the target is already Prone they must save or be Immobilized until the end of their next turn.

Regenerative Cycle Overload Active (1 CP), Protocol Your Mech dumps all of its stored power into its basic motive systems. For the remainder of the scene, you gain +1 Accuracy on rolls to Grapple or Ram. Your Improvised Attacks gain Threat 2, Overkill and AP.

IPS-N Calais Defender

A close relative of both the Tortuga and the Drake, the Calais is designed explicitly for capture operations. Equipped with both a range of mobility-kill systems and adaptive weapon systems designed for limited-lethality combat, it has earned a grim reputation as a pirate hunter; tearing high-value targets from their hardsuits and cockpits for future processing and “aggressive debriefing”. Whole squadrons of Calais-specialist paralegal asset recovery teams have deployed to Odeon space, the better to accommodate the delicate legal situation ongoing there.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 1/2 Armor: 0 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 6 AGILITY Evasion: 8 Speed: 4

Hermitage Class CompCon

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 10 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +0 SP: 6 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 6

TRAITS NOBLESSE OBLIGE The Calais may obstruct Line of Sight to adjacent Size 1/2 allied characters and Size 1 or 2 allied characters that are Prone. Allied characters may drop Prone as a Reaction to adjacency with the Calais.

TOUT-TOUR SHIELD At the end of its turn the Calais may draw a Cone 9 area from a space adjacent to it as a Free Action. If the Calais moves, this area moves with it. Until the beginning of its next turn the Calais' evasion is reduced by 2 and it cannot make reactions but the Calais gains resistance to all damage from attacks that originate within this area.

MOUNTS MAIN/ AUX

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Substantially more sophisticated than the Watchdog system it is derived from, the Hermitage supplements its base tactical programming with an elaborate ethics/fuzzy logic suite, the better to maximize enemy capture target survivability rates while minimizing the potential for friendly casualties. To Protect the Castle Active (1 CP), Protocol For the rest of the scene, when using the Tout-Tour Shield trait you may draw a second Cone 9 area of effect for the trait. This second area cannot overlap with the first.

LICENSE I: LINE DRIVER SLUG SHOTGUN, RAPID DEPLOY CERAMICS

Line-Driver Slug Shotgun Main CQB, AP, Reliable 1, Inaccurate [Range 3, Threat 3] [1d3+2 Kinetic] On Crit: Draw a Line 3 originating from your target but in the same direction of your attack. All enemies within this line take this weapon’s reliable damage. Little more than a rechambered Deck-Sweeper with a rifled barrel, the LineDriver is better suited for disabling and mobility-killing hardsuits and mechscale targets via precision high-impact fire.

Rapid Deploy Ceramics 1 SP, Limited 3, Shield, Deployable, Unique You may expend a charge from this system as a Quick Action to prime it, readying a ceramics flash printer until the end of the scene. While primed, you gain the Terracotta Shield Reaction. Terracotta Shield 1/ Round, Reaction Trigger: You are targeted by a Ranged attack originating from within your line of sight but the attack roll has not yet been made. Effect: You count as being in Hard Cover for the duration of the attack. If you are hit by the triggering attack or take Reliable damage you may deploy a piece of Ceramic Cover in an adjacent free space that is closest to your attacker. This is the only way you may deploy Ceramic Cover. You may expend a charge from this system to maintain the Rapid Deploy Ceramic’s charge otherwise it loses its charge. Ceramic Cover Size: 1 Hp: 3 Evasion: 5 Flash-produced ceramic plating is usually insufficiently robust to absorb substantial kinetic bombardment, but can provide an effective ablator source when closing on well-defended enemy strongpoints.

LICENSE II: CALAIS FRAME, LACHRYMATOR CANISTERS, CONCUSSIVE ROUNDS

Lachryma Nanite Canisters 2 SP, Quick Action, Unique Launch a Lachrynma Nanite Canister into a space within Range 5. The area within Burst 1 of this space becomes blanketed by corrosive gas. During their turn, Characters within this area are Impaired until they leave its Area of Effect or until the gas disperses at the end of your next turn. Units with the biological tag take 2 AP energy damage whenever they begin their turn or enter this system’s AOE for the first time in a round in addition to the above effects

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Chemical weapons of sufficient potency to harm a mechanized chassis are usually instantly lethal to dismounted infantry; the introduction of greywash “regulators” into the mix allows for a degree of target prioritization.

“Can Opener” Concussive Rounds Modification, Restricted to: Rifles, CQB, Cannon, 1 Sp When using a weapon with this modification you may declare that you are using Can Opener Rounds prior to your attack roll. While doing so, on hit your attack deals - 3 damage to a minimum of 1 but gains the AP tag. Furthermore, upon declaration of the use of Can Opener Rounds, your attack gains the following effect: On Crit: Your target becomes Impaired until the end of their next turn. Targets that would be destroyed while using Can Opener Rounds are instead Shut Down and its Pilot (if applicable) is Down and Out until the end of the Scene. In the event that your target is a Squad or a Biological, reducing their HP to zero while using Can Opener rounds renders them Down and Out until the end of the Scene. The the are the

Can Opener is more accurately a beanbag round, though on a scale that dwarfs conventional notion of less-lethal ammunition. CO shots reconfigure as they fired, assuming an impactor shape that distributes the maximum force over maximum surface area of a target.

LICENSE III: HECATONCHEIRES SUBMACHINE GUN, HELLBREACHER BUNKERS

Hecatoncheires SMG Auxiliary CQB, Unique, Modifications attached to this weapon cost -1 SP to a minimum of 0. At the beginning of the scene choose a weapon profile to use. You may swap between profiles anytime you would reload a weapon (e.g., stabilising, end of the scene, etc.).

RPM Optimization Overkill [Range 5, Threat 3] [1d3+1 Explosive], Knockback 2

Cold Core Tap Heat self (2) [Range 5, Threat 3] [1d3 Energy + 2 Burn]

Recoil Dampening Reliable 1 [Range 8, Threat 3] [1d3+1 Kinetic] The release of mechanized chasses unofficially designed for piracy like Waffenfabrik Zalewski’s Jade Clipper and C&H’s Kallarani have resulted in IPSN’s more conventional CQB armaments becoming too rigid to respond to the sheer diversity of pirate threats. Their answer to this problem - the Hecatoncheires

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SMG - is a lightweight sub-caliber weapon sporting a variety of hot-swappable barrel options granting pilots tactical flexibility in close quarters engagements.

Hellbreacher Drop Pod Bunkers 2 SP, Full Action, Deployable Limited 3 Expend a charge and select a 2x2 space within Sensors that is unoccupied by any characters. At the end of your turn a Hellbreacher Bunker makes contact with the ground, destroying all destructible Terrain or cover, removing any mines, marked spaces, and difficult or dangerous terrain completely within its deployment area. Hellbreacher Drop Pod Bunker Size 2, HP 20, Evasion 5 All characters completely within the Bunker's 2x2 area gain Hard Cover from attacks originating outside of it. This bunker has a true ceiling and prevents attacks made by those outside of the bunker that target spaces within it (e.g., arcing attacks). Characters smaller or equal to its size may enter, exit, or pass through it freely. Joint MSMC - IPS-N economics analyses suggest that pilot casualties are highest when advancing on fortified encampments or firing platforms. Seeking to ameliorate these costly engagements, IPS-N developed the Hellbreacher Orbital Deployment Platform. Operating along similar lines as the KID’s Jolly Roger, the Hellbreacher launches modified Drop Pods that, upon landfall, reconfigure into a compact but sealed bunker. As an added effect, the landfall of a Hellbreacher Bunker is violent enough to clear any obstructing terrain, mines, or environmental hazards.

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SSC Adonis Defender SSC has not traditionally presented itself as a media entity; indeed, it undertakes little in the form of “mass marketing”, preferring to direct its advertising against organizations and societies wealthy enough to afford it. In the new era of combat idolatry, as Apsara Zaibatsu slowly extends its tentacles through the collective consciousness of humanity, the experiencemarketers of SSC cannot stand idle. Their solution? A shimmering, splendorous addition to the LUXIconic line. A performance frame that puts AZAI to shame. Mechanized, systematized beauty. ADONIS.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 2 Armor: 0 HULL HP: 8 Repair Cap: 5 AGILITY Evasion: 12 Speed: 5

CODE BLUE MOTIVATORS

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 10 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +0 SP: 6 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 4

SSC has devoted nearly a decade of research to attempting to reverseengineer AZAI’s mood effector technology, with limited success. Their closest alternative is Code Blue, a suite of low-level fractal basilisks incorporating DHIYED-derived engrams that can induce substantial mood alteration on individual minds over short distances.

TRAITS UNDENIABLE PRESENCE 1/round, as a Quick Action, the Adonis may Make Itself Known; Select one character within Line of Sight. They must make a Systems Save or be unable to draw Line of Sight to any character other than the Adonis until the end of their next turn. After this action resolves, the Adonis gains the Lock On Condition.

Perpetual [E]motion Engine Core Passive, Reaction A number of times per round equal to your Grit, as a Reaction to the start of an ally or enemy's turn, you may immediately move 1 space, ignoring Engagement and Reactions. You may forgo this motion to instead take the Lock-On or Scan action against a target within Sensors, but you gain 2 Heat each time.

GUARDIAN Adjacent allied characters can use the Adonis for hard cover.

ADULATOPHILE 1/round when an attack that consumes a Lock On hits the Adonis or an adjacent allied character it may, as a Reaction, either reduce the resulting damage by 1d3+1, calculated before applying Resistance, or give the target +1 Accuracy against any saves the attack might enforce.

MOUNTS MAIN/ AUX

Anywhere Is [Yours] Active (1 CP), Free Action Your Mech no longer acts within the standard turn order. Instead, all of your Mech's default actions (one movement, two half actions/one Full Action) become Reactions to the end of an ally or enemy's turn. These reactions ignore the standard "one reaction per turn" limit, but your standard Reactions do not. You may activate Protocols on the first Reaction you take in a round. Immediately after taking any Reaction, you may activate one or more Free Actions. If you inflict or start an effect that ends "at the end of your next turn", it instead resolves at the end of the next turn of the ally or enemy you are reacting to. If you gain an effect that ends "at the end of your next turn", that effect instead ends "at the end of the next round."

MAIN MOUNT

You may end this effect as a Reaction to the end of an ally or enemy’s turn. Otherwise, it lasts until the end of the scene.

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LICENSE I: HEARTSPIKE V2, BEAUTY OF FORM

Heartspike v2 3 SP, Unique, Quick Tech, Invade Gain the following options for Invade: Lyrebird Code: Each time your target attacks a character other than you until the end of their next turn, they first take 3 Heat. Glamour: Until the end of its next turn, your target takes +2 Difficulty to attack characters other than you unless it consumes Lock On. “I need her. I need to cheer for her. She knows that- she must, surely? I’d rather die than exist without her. She’s everything- anyone can see that. If they don’t, they don’t deserve to be real.”

Beauty of Form 1 SP, Unique You gain the All Eyes on Me Reaction. Ordering an Adonis does not include a choice of colour schemes; instead, the mech’s chromo-reactive outer hull layer subtly shifts in tone and texture to make it visually (and electronically) identifiable in any environment.

All Eyes on Me Reaction, 1/round Trigger: An ally within Sensor range gains the Lock On condition while you do not have it. Effect: You gain the Lock On condition instead.

LICENSE II: ADONIS FRAME, BEAUTY OF FUNCTION FRACTON BARRIER

Beauty of Function 2 SP, Unique, Mod Choose one weapon: when you attack with this weapon and consume Lock On, you may choose to gain an additional +1 Accuracy. If you do, your mech gains the Lock On condition. “The loading system has been calibrated so that its servos will vibrate in tune with your sound system. We’ve balanced the barrel so that shots will deliver exactly the right range of bass harmonics. If that’s not beauty, I don’t know what is.”

Fracton Barrier 2 SP, Unique, Shield When a character within Burst 2 of your mech Braces, you may choose to take the damage they would receive after calculating Resistance instead. You may then apply your own Resistances to this damage. When you Brace, allies within Burst 2 of you count as being in Soft Cover until the start of your next turn.

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SSC’s advanced fractonic sound generation systems use quantum entanglement to induce harmonic vibrations at a distance, delivering powerful sound without the need to muck about with messy and unstable phononic plasmas.

LICENSE III: SARASWATI-CLASS NHP, HYPNOSPANGLE WEAVE

Saraswati-Class NHP 3 SP, AI, Unique Gain the AI property and the Deific Diva Full Tech Action. A semi-civilianized fork of the TLALOC, disarmed Saraswatis are used across the Constellar as organizers, data archivists and, above all, influencers and marketers. Their grasp of multi-level psychological and cultural memetics, when combined with the vast well of segmentation, target audience and societal shift data available on the Constellar, makes them the ultimate tour manager. Or so the ad copy goes.

Deific Diva Full Tech, 2 Heat (Self) Until the end of your next turn, all allies within Burst 3 of your Mech cannot gain Lock On, and any ally that enters this radius has their Lock Ons cleared. Each time you or any character within the burst would gain or inflict Lock On, you gain 2 Overshield, which can stack with other Overshield gained from this ability.

Hypnospangle Weave 2 SP, Unique, Protocol, 2 Heat (Self) At the end of any of your turns in which this Protocol is active, if you haven’t been hit by an attack since the end of your last turn, the nearest enemy within Sensor Range must pass a Systems save or take Energy damage equal to 1d6 + your Grit. Some of the plant-equivalent life forms endemic to the DHIYED vault proved to have surprising visual and olfactory characteristics; light gene editing resulted in a hull coating material that is phototrophic, olfactorily attractive to most baseline humans, and which naturally generates low-level basilisk fractals when viewed through a range of common image processing algorithms.

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HORUS Dungeonmaster Support/Controller

I met a mech, upon the field Who insisted that I up and yield I would not throw my weapons down So it proclaimed to all aroun’ That up was left, and bottom wrong And what had once been weak was strong And back was fast, and front so slow And that I had no place to go Then suddenly its rage was past And I, left lying on the grass Pondered peace and pondered war In a world left crooked, forevermore.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 3 Armor: 3 HULL HP: 6 Repair Cap: 4 AGILITY Evasion: 6 Speed: 2

Arneson-Carr Anomaly

Save Target: 10 Sensors: 15 SYSTEMS E-Defense: 8 Tech Attack: +1 SP: 8 ENGINEERING Heat Cap: 5

TRAITS Drifting Nightmare The Dungeonmaster can Hover when it moves.

“-so much more than a dimensional disjunction. It’s strong enough to forcibly intersect higherdimensional branes with our subjectivity on a scale that should rip most matter apart, but delicate enough that an unprotected human can just walk right into the field unharmed. Assuming what’s on the other side doesn’t kill them.”

GRPS Engine Active (1 CP), Protocol

Loremaster When the DUNGEONMASTER takes the Scan Quick Tech action it may choose to obtain 2 of the listed pieces of information instead of 1.

Narrativist Before the first round of any combat and before any deployment takes place the DUNGEONMASTER may place a Blast 1 area in a space of the map that isn’t a deployment zone. This area contains one of the environments listed on page 278 of the Core Rulebook. Any resistances granted by this area do not apply to damage or heat that is self-inflicted. Work with your GM to determine what is appropriate when utilizing this trait.

Slow The DUNGEONMASTER takes +1 Difficulty on Agility saves.

MOUNTS MAIN/ AUX

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Choose one of the Environments listed on page 278 of the Core Rulebook. For the rest of the scene, this environment applies to all characters save for those in the Blast 1 area created by Narrativist.

LICENSE I: FUDGE_Reality.exe, Serene Eminence

FUDGE_Reality.exe 1 SP, Quick Tech Select either yourself or an ally within Sensor range. Your target’s next attack benefits from one of the following effects, chosen by you: • The penalties from cover are reversed: your target gains +1 Accuracy instead of +1 Difficulty to hit targets in Soft Cover relative to itself, and +2 Accuracy instead of +2 Difficulty to hit targets in Hard Cover relative to itself. • Each time your target rolls a 1 or a 2 on an Accuracy or Difficulty die, it may clear 1 Heat, up to a maximum of 4 Heat per turn. ʍou noʎ ǝʌɐs ʇ,uɐɔ ǝɔᴉp ǝɥʇ

Serene Eminence 3 SP, Protocol, 2 Heat (Self) Upon activation of this protocol, select one Mount on your Mech or the Mount of an ally within Sensors. All weapons on that Mount gain Arcing if they do not have it. You may also select up to 2 characters within range 2 of your mech, including yourself. They are treated as Hovering on their turns, an effect which lasts until the end of their next turn. “General, are we sure this thing is even a ground asset? I mean it has legs, sure, but the upper levels are nearly 500 feet up.”

LICENSE II: Dimensional Squash, Munchkin-Pattern Simulated Weapon

Dimensional Squash 2 SP, Protocol, 1 Heat (Self) Pick two opposing edges of the current map and draw an axis between them that is parallel to the grid on which you are playing. Your speed is doubled when moving parallel to the axis, but halved otherwise. You may draw a new axis, replacing the old one, each time you activate this protocol. When activating this Protocol, you may instead select a character within Range 2 of your mech to benefit from its effect on their next turn. g o

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Munchkin-Pattern Simulated Weapon Main Cannon 15 Range, 1d6 E On Crit: You may take the Scan Quick Tech action as a Free Action against your target after the attack fully resolves.

“Do your paperwork. Crunch the numbers hard enough, and you can justify anything.”

LICENSE III: Dimensional Torus, Worldgen

Dimensional Torus 2 SP, Quick Tech Select an allied character within Sensor Range. Their next ranged or melee attack may treat the edges of the battle map as closed and contiguous- if their attack passes off the edge of the map, it continues to be measured in the same direction from a parallel point on the opposite edge of the map. Attacks made in this way take +1 difficulty. TARGETING GTARGETIN NGTARGETI INGTARGET TINGTARGE ETINGTARG GETINGTAR RGETINGTA ARGETINGT

Worldgen 2 SP, Unique, Invade Gain the following Invade options: Railroad: Your target treats all terrain as difficult terrain, even if flying, until the end of their next turn. Funnel: Your target treats all movement beyond its standard move as if it was through Dangerous and Difficult Terrain even if flying. “Where the hell is 4th Battalion? What? No- butwell how did they get there? Listen- I- how the hell should I know? I don’t even know where I am!”

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HA Mendel Defender/Controller

Spurred on by the wild success of SSC’s forays into exotic materials, Harrison Armoury’s Think Tank has released the Mendel. A marvel of armoury technology and genetic engineering, the Mendel incorporates living, radiotrophic fungi referred to as Cladosporium sphaerospermum into its armour plating to act as both a heat shield and - when the plating fungi have been sufficiently “fed” - as additional armour. Looking to kill two birds with one stone, the Armoury has set the Mendel loose in Odeon space to test its capabilities in a less-than-regulated Union space and to maintain its borders with the aggressive actors within.

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CORE STATS

CORE SYSTEM

Size: 2 Save Target: 11 Armour: 1 Sensors: 10 HULL SYSTEMS HP: 10 E-Defense: 8 Repair Cap: 5 Tech Attack: -1 SP: 7 AGILITY Evasion: 6 ENGINEERING Speed: 3 Heat Cap: 8

Fungal Radiation Shunt

TRAITS RADIOTROPHIC PLATING

“Many ask: “what exotic world did you find the Cladosporium sphaerospermum on? what distant system on the long rim contained it?” to which I reply: “it was found right on our doorstep; buried within the home of humanity at coordinates 51°23′21″ N, 30°5′58″ E. It took the Think tank years to breed and bend it to our purpose but the result was more than worth it.”

When the Mendel is in the Danger Zone it gains an additional point of Armour.

Swarm Host Passive

FEED THE COLONY

The Mendel is surrounded by a Burst 1 area of Soft Cover that moves with them. Only Allied characters may benefit from this cover.

As a Protocol the Mendel may reduce its health by 4 to clear up to 4 Heat. Release Swarm Tethers Active (1 CP), Quick Action

MOUNTS FLEX MOUNT

HEAVY MOUNT

On activation, Swarm Host’s Burst 1 area becomes Difficult Terrain and Enemy Characters that enter this area for the first time in a round or begin their turn in this area take 3 AP Explosive damage. For the remainder of the scene, each time the Mendel clears 4 heat or more, the radius of the Burst grows by 1, to a maximum of Burst 3.

LICENSE I: SPHAEROSPERMUM NEXI, FUNGAL OVERGROWTH

Sphaerospermum Nexi Main Nexus, Smart, Heat (1/2/3) [10 Range] [1d3+1 Explosive] On Attack: you may choose to take either 0, 1, 2, or 3 Heat. For every 1 point of Heat taken in this way the Sphaerospermum Nexi deals 1 point of Bonus Energy Damage. When you choose to take 3 Heat in this fashion this weapon gains Accurate. Very early on the Think Tank discovered that there was an upper limit to their genetically engineered Sphaerospermum’s capability to absorb radiation. Anything that exceeded this would result in explosive cell death. The Think Tank being what it is immediately saw the potential of this as a weapon.

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Fungal Overgrowth 2 SP, Quick Action, Limited 3 Choose 1 Deployable, or Size 1 Wreck or piece of Terrain within Range 8 and make a ranged attack roll against it. On hit, your target gains the Mine tag with the caveat that a successful Engineering Check is required to disarm it rather than a Systems Check. When this modified mine is triggered, enemies within Burst 1 must make an Engineering Save or take 2d6 AP Energy Damage or half as much on a successful save, and the deployable or piece of terrain targeted by this system is destroyed. Building off of the Spaerosperum’s explosive properties the Think Tank played with the idea that by imparting the ability of other species of fungi to “shoot” their spores to the Sphaerosperum it could be used as a makeshift Landmine. Their experiments yielded a viable system with the caveat that it did need a defined space on which to grow.

LICENCE II: MENDEL FRAME, DIRECTED MYCELIAL BARRIERS, THERMITE LAUNCHER

Directed Mycelial Barriers 3 SP, Quick Action, Deployable, Heat Self (2/4/6), Unique As a Quick Action you may take 2, 4, or 6 Heat and deploy 3, Size 1 pieces of Mycelial Cover in a free space that is either adjacent to you, or to an instance of Mycelial Cover. Sections of Mycelial Cover that are deployed during this action satisfy the adjacency clause for this system. Depending on the heat cost chosen, the Mycelial Cover gains increased HP. Mycelial Cover counts as Hard Cover and has HP equal to to the Self Heat taken to activate this system multiplied by 5. Mycelial Cover: Hp: Heat cost x5 Evasion: 5

Though the SP Nexuses had been successfully developed, the Armory was unable to fully control the growth of their modified fungi making their biological heat sinks unstable and unreliable. It wasn’t until an enigmatic Myocologist under the codename “Aminata” and his NHP co-pilot joined Armory R&D that they were able to corral their Spaerosperum’s growth in a satisfactory manner.

Thermite Launcher Heavy Cannon, Loading, Self Heat (2) [10 Range] [1d6 Kinetic + 4 Burn Damage] On Attack: After any attack with this weapon fully resolves, you can place a size 1 piece of Dangerous Terrain dealing Energy Damage in a space within Burst 1 of your target. This piece of dangerous terrain follows the regular rules for Dangerous Terrain but dissipates at the beginning of your next turn. Existing first as legacy weaponry for the Ghengis Mrk2, the Thermite Launcher was packaged alongside the Mendel’s licensing to supplement its potent area denial capabilities.

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LICENCE III: FUNGAL INFESTATION PRIMERS, TIDE NEXUS

Fungal Infestation Primers 2 SP, Full Action, Unique Make a ranged attack against a target within Range 10. On hit their chassis is infested with a voracious Radiotrophic Fungi and is Impaired until they succeed on a Engineering Save taken as a Full Action. This Impairment may not be cleared through any means other than this Save. Until this infestation is cleared, your target takes 1d6 AP Explosive damage at the end of their turn. The initial strains of the modified Spaerosperum prior to Aminata’s arrival were kept as potential bio-weaponry but are only released to highly qualified pilots. Misuse of these fungal primers can and has resulted in entire chasses falling to a black flood of fungi.

Tide Nexus Superheavy Nexus, Smart, Accurate [Burst 2 / Cone 5] [2d6 Explosive Damage] This weapon’s range may be treated as either Burst 2 or Cone 5, chosen whenever you make an attack with it. Furthermore, this weapon ignores ranged penalties from engagement. On Attack: This weapon’s AOE lingers until the beginning of your next turn. Enemy characters that end their turn within this area are caught in the swarm of nexi flowing back to your frame and take 1d6 Energy damage. The Tide nexus functions along similar lines as the Iskander’s Broad Sweep Seeder. Although its area of effect is more constrained relative to the Seeder, the Tide nexus makes up for it by completely saturating an area with Spaherosperum Nexi. When undetonated Nexi are recalled they have a chance to inflict secondary hits on targets foolish enough to remain in its kill zone.

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