trapped in to your cockpit, you impaziently wait for the launch signal. Suddenly, a surge of energy, a blast of light, and your 65-ton war machine is catapulted into the vastness of space. Skillfully, you search the silent void around you for signs of the intruder: there! Thrusters at full power, you bring your massi railgun to bear, already dodging a hail of missile launched by the black exo-armor. As opponent's armored hide buckles under multiple hits, its powerplant explodes in a blindin W Sample file a I I IMP #O 1 ISBN 2-921573-07-5 Sample file ................. .......... --c .____. R l_l_.-lllll_-"ll t_...... r .s Written by: ................................................................................................................. Marc A. Vezina Original Concept and Ideas: ..................................................... Marc A. Vezina, Etienne Gagnon Editor for R. Talsorian Games, Inc: ............................................................... Michael MacDonald Copy Editing: ................................................... Jean Carrieres, Judith Lanouette, Robert Dubois Art Direction: ............................................................................................................ Pierre Ouellette Layout: ................................. Pierre Ouellette, Benoit Miller, Dominique Durocher, Jeff Fortier Cover Art: ..................................................................................................................... John Moscato Interior Art: .................................................................................................................. John Moscato Character Design: ........................................................................................................... Alex Racine Mechanical Design: ..................................................................... John Moscato, Marc A. Vezina Logos: ......................................................................................................................... the lhole team Computer-generated artwork: ................................................................... Jeff Fortier, Ben Miller All artwork 0 IANUS PUBLICATIONS Yoshiyuki Tomino, Kim Stanley Robinson, Arthur C. Clarke, for the inspiration; Nick, for being a great friend and appearing in the book; Martin Ouellette, for the enthousiasm and help with the last-minute additions; John, for turning messy sketches into works of art around the clock; Ben, Dom and Jeff, for battling the computers day and night; the R. Talsorian Games people, for letting us work with them; Pierre and Claude, for making it all possible. Brough to you by the letter "C". "Force Ten", Rush, 01987 Anthem Group JOVIAN CHRONICLES, Exo-armor, Jovian Confederation, Central Earth Government & Ad- ministration, and all other names and logos are Copyrights 01993 lanus Publications Inc. All right reserved.Sample file JOVIAN CHRONlCLESisatrademarkofIanusPublications Inc. and is published underlicense from R. Talsorian Games, Inc. Mekton II is a Trademark of R. Talsorian Games, Inc. No part ofthis book can be reproduced withoutwritten permissionfromthe publisher, except for review purposes. Any similarities to characters, situations, institutions, corporations, etc. (without satirical intent) are strictly coincidental. Published by: IANUS PUBLICATIONS, INC. 2360 Avenue De LaSalle, Studio #211 Montreal, Quebec Canada HlV 2L1 Stock# IMP-01 Creative Team: Dream Pod 9 Printed in Canada. To my family, for their support, and to Nathalie (1971-1991), with loving memories. The setting .................................. 5 Mood of the game ........................ 5 GM tips and suggestions ...............5 D Prologue ............. Episodes ............. Map of the solar system, Timeline 6 History ............. Civilisation & Culture .......... ...................... 77 Earth ............... ...................... ai The Moon ..... ..................... 18 Outer Realm .................. ...................... 86 ...................... a7 ...................... a8 Stats ........................................ 20 Careers .................................... 21 Defender ............ Life Path ................................... 21 Important NPCs ......................... 22 Suggested PCs .......................... 30 Supporting Cast ......................... 32 Exo-Armors ............................... 35 Linear frame ..... Powerplant ....... Actuators .............................. 37 Sample file Weapons Technologies ...............38 Electronics ................................ 40 Electronic warfare .......... Poseidon ......... Space engineering ...................... 41 .................... 107 Screens ........... .................... 108 ..................... 45 Personnal Equipment ...................45 Exo-armor files ........................... 46 Retaliator ..................... Vindicator ......... Prometheus ...... Explorer ................................. 54 ..................... 56 Sand Stalker .......................... 59 Syreen ......................... Wyvern ............ Gnome ............. Dragonstriker ......................... 65 ......... " ......" .. " .. ", ... " .................................. ................. .._ ................................................................ a .............................................................................. I U 0 ovian Chronicles is an alternate universe sourcebook for the widely acclaimed Mekton II role-playing game. Greatly inspired by Japanese science fiction and giant robots animations, this book will take you beyond the confines of planet Earth to discover a solar system on the brink of war. Along the way, the players will interact with a rich cast of characters andSample possibly filealter forever the destiny of the Jovian Confederation, if not the human race! To play, you will need a copy of the Mekton II rulebook and will have to learn how to use it. The character generation, technology and combat rules of that game system are the basis for the Jovian Chronicles. Having copies of the Mekton Techbook and Mekton Empire book handy is also advisable, as many mechanical designs use systems described in those books. The year is 2210. Mankind has expanded into space since the beginning of the twenty- first century, establishing colonies on or around the various planets of the solar system. The twenty-third century is a time filled with excitement and promises, as well as More than a century ago, the governments of Earth collapsed, leaving the planet in a deadly phenomena. While humor certainly state of civil war and unable to care for its off-world colonies. The colonies then became has its place, games taking place in the independent, absorbing a steady flow of refugees from the war-torn Earth and surviving Jovian universe should be run with a se- as best as they could. rious outlook. Players must be aware that The war has been over for almost three decades now, and the colonies are now called the consequences of a false move can very the settlements, or "countries". of the solar system. The United Nations still exist, sew- well be fatal to their character. Japanese ing as a neutral ground for the governments of the various planets. The new Earth animation (or "anime") is often based on government, however, has aggressive policies which threaten the new-found peace of four main elements: War, Death, Love, and the solar system. Music. Your campaign will contains at least the first three and, with a well-cho- The tension is building up between most of the settlements and the Earth. For the first sen soundtrack (see GM TIPS), can have time in two hundred years, space is being militarized. Your players will now enter this all four! world on the brink of war. Can they prevent it? Or will they cause it? Another thing the players and the gamemaster must know is that certain artistic liberties have been taken with his- tory and science as we know them today. This book includes a complete gaming universe and a 12-part campaign. You don't have The players will not have to deal with the to play the campaign - the background alone offers rich possibilities for adventures - mundane (!) facts of space life: fuel, oxy- but it will ease the burden on the GM and allow you to start playing right away. gen, orbits, etc. These elements will come into play only if they move the plot along; A good thing to do would be to summarize the background to the players before starting otherwise, they drag down the game and a game in the Jovian Chronicles setting. Not only does this put the players "right in the transform a cinematic, high-action adven- action", but it reinforces the anime feel: indeed, most shows have a short description of ture into an evening of dice-rolling, calcu- their universe at the beginning of the first episode. You will find a sample introduction lations, and paperwork. in the sidebar, but feel free to use your own. A short recap of the previous gaming session ("episode") will do for experimented players. Sample file As stated before, the mood of the Jovian Chronicles is serious. Much like in anime (and . real life), people are going to get hurt and/or killed. Although NPCs will often be the ones to buy the farm, a player character will sometimes do something that will result in his death. If it fits into the story, let it happen, but never kill a character because of poor dice-rolling. This is a cinematic role-playing game, not a roll-playing game! All dice rolls should be concealed from the