Warmechs

Symbols of Rust’s technological supremacy and highly sought after by gunrunners, these steampunk marvels can change the course of any skirmish.

by Jacob Gray (aka the Faceless Kid)

An example of why people who can afford them love having a warmech around. Art by Kieron O’Gorman.

If Rust had a flag, it would feature a warmech standing on a pile of dead heathens (which could be anybody, let’s face it). When the dust settled and what remained of the One Land stood up to claim what they could, the first warmechs appeared. It’s difficult for many of us alive today to recall a time when the Five Cities were locked down in underground bunkers or hiding behind thick walls from the forces of Chaos, leaving a generation in the dark about the fate of the rest of their world. When these first mechanical marvels appeared, it was clear what the City now called Rust had been up to all these years.

Those who have never seen one before may count themselves lucky for these bring destruction on a large scale wherever they go. Rocket launchers, flamethrowers, static bolts, a sword the size of a person… you name it, they can use them. Their size and bulk make them near impossible to damage, so anyone going up against one (or more) will need some explosive qi powers or weapons to put a dent in them. When the smallest warmech on record is at least 8′ tall, that also means big guns that can double the damage of your more conventional weapons. No two warmechs look alike, each one featuring a signature design and power source created by their engineer. The only thing they truly have in common is that a living person must pilot them from inside. (The one exception being those warmechs guarding the Salvation, of course.) Depending on the skill and intelligence of the warmech’s pilot, it is possible to trick them into exposing weak points in their armour, particularly towards the rear of the machine where the pilots climb into that cramped cockpit.

Some who were never born under the heavy hand of the Council of Iron have tried to build their own warmechs and failed to deliver anything as reliable as those who from Rust. And seeing as quite a few influential engineers have fled this underground City for someplace with actual air to breathe, that’s opened up the door for gunrunners like Dollface, K’mesh, and others operating out of Yung Zhi and Serenity Falls to scoop them up at reasonable rates and sell them at much higher prices along the various black markets set up in the Veil. Nowadays, purchasing your own army of warmechs is simply a matter of negotiating the right terms with the right dealer.

Building Your Own Warmech

Looking to bring your own unique warmech into the story, are you? Then here is a step-by-step method to building original warmechs to suit their inventor.

  • All warmechs are extras. Regardless of the pilot inside, the warmech’s shell is always considered an extra. Once it is defeated, the pilot can escape and be treated as a separate character.
  • Determine a power source. What fuels this warmech and allows it to bring mayhem to the fight? Knowing this information will help the lead characters determine a possible way to deactivate it using complications. A warmech can generally last until the end of the next round after it loses its power source but this is not written in stone.
  • Assign a resource slot. Most warmechs have one dominant weapon to go in their resource slot. Do not feel beholden to this one primary weapon; load them up with whatever weapons or tech best suits the scene. The damage bonus on any warmech is doubled due to their large size. There is no need for an armour-related resources; all warmechs have a special perk below.
  • All warmechs gain the Built To Last perk. It is designed to make any encounter with warmechs memorable and dangerous for your average lead characters.
Built To Last: Reinforced with steel plates to withstand a barrage of gunfire and various weaponry, warmechs are only damaged by explosions. Otherwise, warmechs can only be removed from the scene when they take 3 restriction complications to take them apart (i.e. remove the head, take out their legs, etc.)