By Jack “Spiked Punch” Below ([email protected]) Date: 04/01/11 (Rev. 4.2) Introduction: Welcome to the battle for the future of the Earf Sphere! The document you are reading at this very moment is the first book about the Noah role playing universe, and the events that both have and will shape its and its inhabitants' destiny. This is my first attempt at web-publishing this story which has been an on going and constantly evolving project of mine for since the early 90s. Underwater Combat Unit: N.O.A.H., otherwise known as Noah for short, is an alternate universe inspired by many different science fiction stories, in particularly several different Japanese “anime,” set to work with the Mekton Zeta Plus role-playing game system. This document in your hands should give you all the background information you will need to run a gaming campaign with your players in this world of giant robots, wars, revolutions, and more. When in doubt, wing it. To play, you will need a copy of the Mekton Zeta role playing book, and the Mekton Zeta Plus advanced technical manual, and understand how both of them work. You may also want to have some other source material from the older Mekton publications, or other related materials that you can find on the internet. Several suggested resources will be referred to throughout this document. Synopsis: The setting is based around the planet Earf, a world very similar to our own Earth, inhabited by a race of anthropomorphic creatures known as “Anthrokind,” who are caught up in an on going war fueled by the wills and desires of the several factions that exist amongst its population living on its surface, beneath the waves of its oceans, to even its moon and orbital colonies. For the last 300 years, the planet has been through a golden age and a great tragedy, which has caused its people to move out into space to rebuild their lives and seek their futures. As with any form of life, Anthrokind has spread about far as it can go like the water from an overturned bucket while at the same time it has also tried to keep its world in a rigid structured form. Noah is about the struggles between these two forces of will and philosophical thought. Between the unstoppable force of dreams and desires, and the unmovable structure of order. Legal Bits: Mekton Zeta, Mekton Zeta Plus, Invasion Terra, Starblade Battalion Mekton, Mekton Empire, and Algol are trademarks of R. Talsorian Games, Inc and are copyright 1995. All trademarks and copyrights were used without expressed permission. Mekton Zeta and Mekton Zeta Plus can be purchased from R.Talsorian Games at http://www.talsorian.com Additional support for the Mekton gaming system can be found at Atomic Rocket Games: http://www.atomicrocketgames.com/ The Gundam franchise is trademarks of Bandai Entertainment, Sunrise Inc.., Sotsu Agency. All trademarks and copyrights were used without expressed permission. http://www.bandai.com/ http://www.bandai-ent.com/ http://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/ http://www.gundamofficial.com/ NOAH is copyright of Jack W. Below. ( [email protected] ) This document is by no means a challenge to any copyright, trademark, or authorship referenced here in. I have the utmost respect for the creators of the original materials and media, and only wish to show my support for their outstanding work as a fan by creating this fan-fic to be shared with other fans on a non- profit basis. First off, a personal note: This document represents the sum total of the gaming universe that I have run for my different gaming groups over the last 20 or so years. Producing this book has been a labor of love for not just my own creativity, but also an attempt at sharing those same feelings and devotion as a fan of role-playing games with my other peers. In no way did I set forth to write a “perfect” world, nor should such expectations be placed upon this document. I am sure there will be a few flaws or mistakes that I will had made. But then again, that is part of the creative license that comes with writing anything in the realm of science fiction. Also, the other goal that was set while working on this is to show what can be done when one puts their mind to it. I have tried a few times before to write this book but have constantly ran up against obstacles that either stopped me from progressing further, or distracting me altogether. Some of these were placed in my path by myself, which is a part of the eternal curse of being a perfectionist. At worse, I hope that this book will either entertain other fans of mecha, anime, or role-playing. Or at best, I might inspire someone else to try to lay out their own worlds upon fields of text and graphics. If you do choose to use this book to run a few adventures for yourself and your friends, or any of the other materials, rules, etc with in, please give credit where credit is due. Also, if you happen to have any constructive feed back that you may wish to share, feel free to email me at: [email protected] Notes to both Players and GMs: As you may have guessed by now, Noah was heavily influenced by the Japanese anime “Mobile Suit Gundam.” This series has been popular with mecha fans for over three decades now, and it is only natural that some small or large part of it will be noticeable with in the scope of the Noah universe itself. Understandably, some may question why this is the case. First off, this was done to give the players and GMs a sense of familiarity for the world, events, and the people involved. If both sides of the gaming screen are acquainted and comfortable with the material presented to them, their enjoyment will be enhanced so that everyone is more likely to have an gratifying gaming experience together. Second, at the same time as things may seem to be well known to them, there is still more than plenty of room to throw in new developments, material, concepts, ideas, etc to spice up everything. Anyone reading this document should be warned to not simply assume anything is as they suspect. As the popular word of advice used in the military goes, “when you assume anything, you only wind up making an ASS out of U and ME.” This is one of the many reasons why Noah takes place in an entirely different universe than our own, great effort was made to distant itself from what may be familiar as possible while still offering many new elements to interact with. One difference that is brought up by others is that all characters with in Noah are anthropomorphic animals called collectively “Anthrokind,. With this detail alone, it gives them a much different perspective on their world and ours than we would normally have. If you feel that you are not comfortable with or do not desire to use such “funny talking animals” in your game, you are more than free to work around it. There are no bonuses or other rules that come into play due to whatever species a character may be. In most cases, it is simply a reflection of their personalities. This detail was added to the game to make it more unique than its original source of inspiration. Also, for your entertainment, there are a few jokes planted here and there to liven up the mood a little. So chances are, if you see something that takes you a bit by surprise, then more than likely it was done on purpose. Notes to Players: If you are reading this as preparation for an upcoming game being run by your regular or irregular GM, please be careful to not read over any restricted material which may spoil your gaming experience, or may give you an advantage over your GM in how they are running their game. Doing so will unbalance everything in the game, and bring about a large amount of unnecessary stress and friction with in your group, which will undoubtedly ruin the shared gaming experience over all. Role playing is about having fun, not solely about winning or giving yourself a major advantage. If you are still unsure about the point I am trying to make here, I suggest you go and read the comic “Knights of the Dinner Table” and see how some of the characters there handle themselves and their role playing habits. Note to GMs: This document was meant to help you create new worlds for your players to interact in. It is both a guide, and a suggestion. If you feel as though some parts of it may not be comfortable for you to run “as is,” then you are given the liberty to change some and/or all details if you feel it necessary. Such as if you feel that running the characters as “funny talking animals” is not your thing, then there is very little to stop you from running them as all being human. All I ask is that despite any changes that you make, that you will still give credit where credit is due to both me as the writer of this document, and to the other people who have contributed in their own ways to the creation of this universe and book. Please do not copy or distribute anything from this document without giving credit to the responsible parties in question.