The Mechanoid Invasion

The Mechanoid Invasion
Front cover of The Mechanoid Invasion core rulebook, illustrated by Kevin Siembieda
Designer(s) Kevin Siembieda
Illustrator(s) Kevin Siembieda, Michael Gustovich, William Messner-Loebs, James A. Osten
Publisher(s) Palladium Books
Publication date April 1981 (1981-04)
Years active 1981–1988
Genre(s) Science fiction
Language(s) English
Website palladiumbooks.com

The Mechanoid Invasion (and its source books, supplements and sequels) was the first role-playing game from Palladium Books, conceived and written by Kevin Siembieda, with contributions from Erick Wujcik.[1]

Concept

The Mechanoid Invasion centered on a powerful, malevolent, and numerous race of bio-driven machines that had come to invade a planet called Gideon E that was colonized by humans. In its original edition, published in 1981,[2] the game was published as a series of three comic-book sized sourcebooks:[3]

  1. the first, The Mechanoid Invasion, dealt with the eponymous invasion of Gideon E
  2. the second, Journey, dealt with human survivors living within a mechanoid mothership after the destruction of the Gideon E colony and introduced "minor magic and some psionics",[4]
  3. the third, Homeworld, dealt with the Mechanoid homeworld itself.

Legacy

The first book was revised and republished in an expanded form in 1985.[5]

In Spring 1991 Caliber Comics also produced a 3-book series called The Mechanoids which adapted the RPG into comic book stories.[6]

In the early 90s "Sourcebook Two" of Rifts was released, titled The Mechanoids, and it included MDC conversions for the Mechanoids for use in a Rifts Earth setting, along with a storyline on how they got there.[7]

In Winter 1998 a Collected Mechanoids RPG was released.[8] By 2001 all 3 books were compiled as the Mechanoid Invasion Trilogy[9] which is still available.[10]

Mechanoids Space, a complete RPG first announced in 1993 for release the following year, was last promised for publication in December 2002 as late as September 2002.[8] As of 2018, it is still available in the store labelled "coming soon".[11]

Reception

William A. Barton reviewed The Mechanoid Invasion in The Space Gamer No. 42.[12] Barton commented that "If you can overlook its amateurish production (and the price helps in this), I think you'll find The Mechanoid Invasion worth the investment. It should provide some enjoyable role playing in an SF setting as a break from Traveller or your other favorite SF RPG."[12]

References

  1. ↑ article: Talking Roleplaying and Computing Careers with Erick Wujcik
  2. ↑ REVIEW OF THE MECHANOID INVASION TRILOGY
  3. ↑ Monster Robots From Outer Space - Kevin Siembieda - Rifts Sourcebook Two Mechanoids - Epinions.com.
  4. ↑ Company Profile, palladiumbooks.com.
  5. ↑ The Vortex Rifts Mechanoids.
  6. ↑ History of Caliber Archived 2014-12-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Rifts Sourcebook 2 retrieved 20 June 2015
  8. 1 2 The Palladium FAQ Version 4.00: September 1, 2002 Section 11: The Mechanoids on Stan Bundy's Website retrieved 20 June 2015: 11.02. When is the Mechanoids RPG going to be reprinted?
  9. ↑ 9 April 2001 archive of Invasion Trilogy for sale
  10. ↑ Palladium Books description of the Trilogy compilation
  11. ↑ Mechanoids Space retrieved 12 February 2016
  12. 1 2 Barton, William A. (August 1981). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. Steve Jackson Games (42): 30.
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