Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

Another thing that has me super excited over my Expanded Extended Mission campaign is that it finally allows me to fulfill a long time gaming goal, create a Robot Role Playing Game Campaign.

Even before discovering RPGs I was fascinated by robots in cartoons, movies, television show and books. In one of those peculiar twists of fate the year 1977 would not only cause my interest in robots to explode but I would also get my first take of gaming. The droids of Star Wars were amazing and I played my first game of D&D (Red Box I believe) a few months later. Now much to my dismay at the time we didn't know of any other RPGs as I'm sure I never would have played D&D if I knew science fiction games existed.

Fast forward to the future world of 1985, where with years of playing Star Trek, Traveller and other sci-fi games under my grav-belt I discovered an article in Dragon Magazine announcing a new game called Proton Fire. According to the article the game focused on players playing custom designed robots destined for exploration and adventure in a far off star system (or systems. The promos talked about the Matri system but also seemed to imply exploration of space beyond the system).

Alas, the Proton Fire game came to naught. Never released, at least in its entirety, the game became little more then vaporware remembered only by those who, like me, who were clamouring for its premise.

The game is believed to have survived, in whole and in parts, by being reprinted as articles in White Wolf magazine as a game called Nuts & Volts and as a supplement for Gamma World called Epsilon Cyborgs.

While Mekton served me well for my mecha anime needs (and always will I'd wager), I never found the game or the idea that let me really go crazy with the "Sentient Machine as PC" space adventure game I was longing for.

Happily, Extended Mission is that game. A very simplified version of the robot construction rules from Nuts & Volts is used to make the PC robots. Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto.


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