Mechageddon!: Our Mecha Magnum Opus

Hiya, Starfinders! It’s Jenny Jarzabski, Starfinder Senior Developer and Sparkly Space Princess. It’s no secret that Mechageddon! was my dream project, but I’m not the only one who feels that way. A group of amazing authors teamed up to make this project a reality, much like the squad of mech pilots you’ll be playing in your Mechageddon! campaign. What we created together is special not just because of its epic story, unforgettable characters, gorgeous art, high CR encounters, and new rules content; it’s special because the whole team is so passionate about Mechageddon! and poured their hearts and souls into its creation.

This passion was evident in the extracurricular hangouts, playtests, and planning meetings the authors scheduled with and without me. To prepare for the writing phase, the writing team got together for a few movie nights. We watched a lot of epic anime and cheesy 80s movies, bonding over our shared passion for mecha media. It was important to us to highlight certain tropes and themes, and our time together created synergy between the adventures and backmatter articles. But don’t worry, Mechageddon!isn’t all anime sparkles and action movie schlock. (Not 100%, anyway.) The authors each brought their own perspectives to the project, pulling inspiration from their lived experiences, favorite media, and more.

On the surface, a tabletop campaign like Mechageddon! is a fun way to pass the time playing a game with your friends. But for many of us, it’s also a way to escape our problems and worries for a few hours. The magic of tabletop storytelling is that it can be a way to explore our dreams, desires, and fears in a safe setting, or a way to play out scenarios that imagine better worlds or tell cautionary tales of timelines gone wrong. In that respect, Mechageddon! can be whatever you want it to be, but here’s what it means to us.

Art by Miguel Regodón Harkness

Joseph Blomquist (he/him)
Adventure 1 Author

I was ten years old, the ideal age for mecha indoctrination, when Robotech hit American shores. Sure, I’d already enjoyed Americanized anime in Battle of the Planets, Voltron, and Tranzor Z, but Robotech was different. For the first time, there was character-driven, dramatic storytelling in an animated show about alien attacks and giant robot combat, and halfway through the first season, my favorite character died! This was a big change for cartoons in the states, and I was sold—hook, line, and sinker.

From there, my media interests changed. I immersed myself in the anime that were the basis of Robotech: Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and most importantly, Super Dimension Fortress Macross. My interests grew to encompass the Fang of the Sun Dougram and Gundam. While my friends identified with their heroes from He-man, GI Joe, and Thundercats, my tastes involved giant robots piloted by the types of heroes that propaganda movies could be made about. And don’t even get me started on kaiju!

My interest in games followed suit with a love of BattleTech, Mekton, and Heavy Gear taking up a great deal of my playtime. So, when my D20-based RPG of choice began building towards mecha stories, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. But I was lucky; I’d already written for Starfinder, and I had been running games for Paizo Organized Play since the beginning—I was a known quantity. Regardless, when Jenny asked if I would be interested in contributing to the project, there was nothing that could have kept me away.

Mechageddon! is one of the most fun projects I could ever have hoped to be a part of. For “research,” I watched a lot of movies, like Pacific Rim and Robot Jox, in addition to diving deep into some of the anime I’d missed over the years—especially the later Macross stuff (oh, how I missed you, Macross). There was a timely renewed interest in BattleTech, Heavy Gear got a new edition, and I had the opportunity to seed some of the tropes and brilliance of the shows I loved into my writing.

Mechageddon! is a love letter to the anime, films, and media that came before it. The adventure is full of dramatic moments and enough giant robot combat to whet any appetite. It’s an adventure where the people you meet matter and where encounters are harrowing and full of meaning, dropping hints and plot points for the future. It’s like no Adventure Path you’ve seen before. For my part, I worked alongside two of the best authors in the Paizosphere, and the three of us even met outside of our shared server to put together something of a story bible to inform our tale that could seed dozens more adventures! I envy you, fearless reader, for the journey you will get to experience and the stories you will tell.

Until that day, New Valor stands!

Oh, and I can be found rarely ever writing on my blog, or on social media under the name DoctorMono.

Dennis Muldoon (he/him)
Adventure 2 Author

Mechaggedon! Oh, what a joy! Over the last few years, I’ve written for nearly every line Paizo publishes, but this is without a doubt the biggest, most challenging, and most exciting project I’ve ever worked on. I love how Starfinder allows us to tell so many different types of stories, and the mech rules are one of my favorite tools in the GM toolbox. My own love for mechs dates to my childhood watching Transformers, Voltron, and of course, that seminal classic, Robot Jox.

For Mechaggedon!, I wrote the middle volume, the space where the plucky heroes get to catch their breath after the initial rush, take stock of their new careers as mech pilots and heroes of New Valor, and find their place in the wider universe. What could go wrong? This volume presents the players with choices to make, opportunities to build relationships and earn allies, and space to truly make their mechs their own. I’m particularly proud of the variety of missions presented in this volume, as they draw inspiration from sources ranging from space operas to westerns to real-world corporate labor politics, before ultimately tying together to lead to something bigger. I can’t wait for you all to play it!

Rigby Bendele (they/them)
Adventure 3 Author

I wish I could sit down and tell you every little detail I included in my volume of Mechageddon! However, since I wrote the final book, that mean sharing major spoilers for the plot. Since I can't do that, I'd instead talk about my inspirations!

Devilman is one of the most influential works of art I've ever experienced. It is also deeply weird and even unenjoyable at points, with a complex lore and timeline that honestly hurts my head to think about too much. For my adventure, I drew much on what I found meaningful about Devilman, from its corruption narratives, to the feelings of apocalypse it conveys, to downright weird demon designs. Mechageddon! (at least my section) is also deeply informed by my experience as a queer person, my relationship to religion, and the strange ways that religion might function in a world where you could meet many of the gods. My volume is in part about trying to fight an apocalypse you don't want to be in, but also about what it means to want love from a god who will never love you back. In that way, it's also about work, and about how many people believe that a job you love can never love you back.

Mech stories are also tied into stories about bodies. I finished writing Mechageddon! the day before I underwent gender-affirming surgery. In my section, there's many kinds of bodies and relationships to them: kaiju bodies, bodies that have changed (positive), bodies that have changed (negative), big robot bodies, and more. You also may be thinking, "Wow, Rigby, that's doing a lot!" Well, yes—but this adventure is also a deep dive into the mech genre and will be hopefully played across hundreds of hours with your friends. Many of these things end up naturally intertwined. The demands on the body are often the demands of capitalism, or the demands of patriarchy, or the interpolation of white supremacy into our own desires.

Okay, okay, that's the big philosophy. It's also about punching demons while being in a mech suit, the relationship you have with other pilots, and saving the world! The point is this: it’s going to be fun,it's going to be big, and it's going to be a story you'll remember!

Kate Baker (she/her)
Contributing Author

Hello! I’m Kate Baker, and I can’t wait for you to experience Mechageddon! I couldn’t resist contributing to an Adventure Path that lets the PCs run around in giant mechs. What could be better? I enjoyed watching Pacific Rim, Robot Jox, and even the dubious Robot Wars (on MST3k) to get inspiration. I worked on backmatter, creating both a mech that you’ll encounter and a Side Job you can go do for some extra cash. Just don’t forget to bring your mechs! You can follow more about what I’m up to on BlueSky at @katebakerGM. 

Anthony Dollinger (he/him)
Contributing Author

Mechs are rad.Anyone who’s known me for any amount of time knows that I am a mecha fan, so taking part in Mechageddon! was an opportunity I immediately jumped at. I can distinctly remember walking into a bookstore in New Orleans in 1995, seeing this cool mech book on the shelf, and realizing that MechWarrior was more than just a one-off of the distant past. Many years later, a resurgent Macross’ newest series helped to remind me that everyone loves giant robots no matter what flavor they come in. They have a magic to them that can be used to tell unique stories and lift spirits. In that way, Mechageddon! was something of a dream come true to work on, especially as I was able to design new mechs and had the opportunity to bring the city of New Valor to life. I hope that what we’ve put together can lift your spirits, wherever you are, and help you to remember love as you strive to defend New Valor.

Mikko Kallio (he/him)
Contributing Author

Hey there! I'm Mikko, a cloud architect by day and a game designer when the stars come out. My journey as a Paizo freelancer began in 2014, and since then, I've left my creative mark on around 50 fantastic products. For Mechageddon!, I wrote a Side Job in which you and your trusty mechs venture to a planet of dinosaurs. Get ready for high-speed thrills, breathtaking views of wind-kissed hills, steamy jungles, and fiery volcanoes, plus a hearty dose of head-banging riffs courtesy of Abysshead—the undisputed overlords of the Pact Worlds music scene. Hope you have a blast playing it!

My fascination with mechs and towering robots goes way back. My earliest influences came from shows like Power Rangers and Transformers, and who could forget that iconic moment when Ellen Ripley hops into a power loader and takes on a xenomorph queen? Legendary stuff. A newer fascination of mine is Scythe, a world that seamlessly weaves diesel-punk mechs into a reimagined 1920s setting.

Let me wrap up with a story. Flashback to 2017, when Paizo presented me with an intriguing challenge: writing an interactive special named Assault on Absalom for the Pathfinder Society. One of the missions in that adventure involved unearthing an ancient weapon, and my imagination was on fire. What if this weapon took the form of a gargantuan construct? What if the players could pilot it, controlling distinct limbs and weapons? And so, Gulgamodh emerged—a sentinel that dutifully guarded Absalom and perhaps inspired the seeds of future mech wonders.

Chris Wasko (he/him)
Contributing Author

I had a ton of fun writing an alien, a mech, and a Side Job for Mechageddon! The first came easily after I found a video of a starfish walking along the beach. The creature's form was so familiar and yet so alien, so I thought of how I'd stat it if I turned it upside down and made it mech-sized. Considering its environment reminded me of the long history of otyughs as both violent monsters and a source of curious social encounters, a perfect fit for my armored junkyard behemoth. The latter two took some time, and ultimately became homages to my online Roll20 campaigns that withered as life got complicated.

My Mummy's Mask campaign fell off right after Book 5, when the PCs encountered the flying pyramids of ancient Osirion. Not having those mythical structures as some form of airborne vehicle in the Starfinder setting's distant future struck me as a ripe design space, especially for a book about mechs. Meanwhile, my Fly Free or Die campaign wound down in the middle of my own installment, Crash and Burn. The party was composed of eight people with variable schedules that usually led to split sessions of four PCs each, so I would write concurrent homebrew adventures alongside the published content so the two groups could swap stories offline. One of those original adventures involved an ecological mission to Osoro to study the irokirois, one of my favorite Alien Archive creatures, which I adapted into what appears in Mechageddon! I hope you enjoy our work!

Nick Wasko (he/him) and K. Fox (they/them)
Contributing Authors

Nick and Fox have been writing together since Nick Wasko won Paizo's RPG Superstar Season 9 contest. Nick inspired Fox's interest in Pathfinder and Starfinder, and together they enjoyed creating new mechs for this Adventure Path. Nick and Fox drew upon their backgrounds in health care for the idea of the Hecatomb, which draws upon the operator's life force to function. High-level characters have plenty of health, so sacrificing hit points to power a mech made a better thematic and mechanical fit for a high-risk, high-reward playstyle among low-level players.

Meanwhile, the Terrotodile started out as a thought experiment for mechs designed for purposes other than combat. Its original intent was to protect laborers mining for resources, but like so many inventions meant for the betterment of society, it was repurposed for battle. Nick and Fox enjoyed this opportunity to explore a departure from the high-powered war machines often seen in this genre. Since they’ve recently struggled to make time for tabletop gaming, they are especially excited for the opportunity to contribute to this project. You can find more of Nick's work with Paizo here, or his academic writing here. For more of Fox's innovations outside of tabletop gaming, check out their adaptive clothing designs.

(Jenny’s Note: DO IT! The fits are super cute AND MOST OF THEM HAVE POCKETS!!!!)

Diego Valdez (he/him)
Contributing Author

I’ve always enjoyed robots and mechs. I’ve been a huge Transformers fan since I was small, and I regularly build Gundam models (as well as watch the shows), so creating a mech was an opportunity I was excited for. I wanted to make something a little more unique, different from a robot with a theme. One of the best toy lines on the market, in my opinion, are the Diaclone Reboot figures. They’re super modular, so it’s easy to swap parts and make your own creations. I really like that, so I wondered: What if I could do that for a Starfinder mech? With that, the Mobile Disunion was born. Just like the Diaclone Reboot figures, the Mobile Disunion can be customized by players and their characters. Swap out the legs, the arms, the head—whatever you want! Like with a Transformer, you can even change the configurations in combat. I hope everyone enjoys playing with the Mobile Disunion as much as I enjoyed creating it (and playing with some of my toys while I did)!

Jenny Jarzabski (she/her/xe/xem)
Narrative Lead and Contributing Author

Mechageddon! is a love letter to one of my favorite things in all the universe: mechs. But you knew that. Now listen up, because I’m about to tell you a secret! I wasn’t really into mechs growing up. I know, I know; it’s SACRILEGE! But listen, the mecha media in the United States at that time targeted a more masc audience, and I was more of a princesses and ponies type of kid. If Sailor Moon had summoned a sparkly mech and fired its moon tiara magic laser, I would’ve been all in, but alas, that wasn’t on offer at the time. It wasn’t until much later in life that I discovered the joy of mechs that transform and power up to catchy music using the power of friendship.

One day a friend showed me a video clip from what would become my favorite mecha anime, Macross Delta. In the video, a group of magical girls team up with military mech pilots to defend a city from an alien attack, and they do it by singing. I desperately wanted more context for this video, so I dove into the show headfirst. Fast-forward to now: I’ve become a Macrosssuperfan, a player of MechWarrior, a builder of model kits, and an all-around mecha enjoyer. 

What really draws me to mechs, though? First and foremost, mecha as a concept is inherently both badass and ridiculous, and there’s as many wonderfully absurd gems out there as there are epic, grimdark treatises on the realities of war and the nature of humanity. But I’ve identified some themes most mecha media shares, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum from military drama to super sentai. I’m inspired by these themes of friendship, loyalty, courage, and hope in the face of doom. And who among us wouldn’t hop into a gigantic robot and help their friends save the world if they had the chance?

Now’s your chance!

I should clarify that we’re not actually saving the world, but that we are going to save a planet in a TTRPG adventure. And for the record, while saving the real world isn’t part of this campaign, I encourage you to do your best at that, too.

From all of us on the writing team, we truly hope you enjoy the book we made for you! Use it well.