Outer plane of Mecha
by Cab DavidsonMy adaptations of species from Star Frotntiers continues. If you've noticed I've left one of Zeb's guide races out, well, there's a reason. Getting on to that now...
The Plane of Mecha
Address
Mecha (adjacent to the Astral Plane, an outer plane).
Size
Cluster (Hectoplane)
Appearance
In space, very like the prime plane, but the number of stars visible is low, with far fewer, dim stars burning in the blackness of space than might be hoped for. The absolute vacuum of space is, however, disturbed by many hundreds of black stars, which themselves are orbited by many dark worlds. With no heat, or light, these worlds nonetheless teem with constant movement over their entire surfaces. The few 'normal' stars are likewise surrounded by worlds which, surprisingly, team with life, with many intelligent and unintelligent species making their homes there. These worlds are also regularly visited by spaceships from the dark worlds, ships carrying the mechanon, true masters of the plane of Mecha.
Dominant Sphere
Entropy. This plane was (perhaps still is) the home plane of the immortal Hallucigenia.
Physical and Magical Laws
Gravity and light work normally on Mecha, however, travel between worlds is difficult here. Perhaps uniquely, Mecha is a non-contuguous tetraspace, with dimensions 1, 2, 3 and 5 being present. This means that magical transport between locations, whether by gate, teleport or dimension door (or similar) is impossible on Mecha, with gate only working on Mecha if cast from the outside. Leaving the plane is therefore difficult, requiring the use of immense speed, a ship (or individual) must reach a fifth of the speed of light to leave the plane, instantly appearing on the Astral plane if this speed is achieved. Even with the most technological or highly magical means, leaving Mecha takes days.
The lack of a fourth dimension also creates another unusual problem. Nighmare, from the 5th dimension, constantly leaks into the lower 3. This means that resting on the plane is nearly impossible for outsiders, no creature native to the plane can manage more than a few hours of sleep at a time. The result is that, cumulatively, each spellcaster visiting the plane loses 1 spell level per day (for example, a magic user who has been on the plane for a week loses 7 spell levels, which may be 7 1st level spells, a 7th level spell, one 3rd level and a 4th level, etc.). Even native creatures, upon gaining intelligence, struggle to remain sane on Mecha, and few welcome a long life.
Nightmare dimension creatures similarly find Mecha to be a terrifying place. The lack of a 4th dimension causes the inhabitants of Mecha to appear dangerously unpredictable, appearing and disappearing with terrible visages, from their perspective.
Natural healing is slow on mecha, with, at most, 1hp being recovered per day by complete rest. Magical healing works in an unusual way, all healing spells recover the maximim HP total allowed by the spell, but the healing itself creates mechanical implants replacing damaged body parts. When any character has had a cumulative amount of healing equal to their full HP total, they become fully robotic - one the mechanon.
Mechanon inhabit dark worlds around black stars, from which they embark in great armadas to take the lives of inhabitants of other worlds to replenish their numbers.
Passage of Time
Ten days pass on Mecha for every day that passes on the Prime.
Spells/Powers Needed to Survive
In the void, survival or similar must be used. On the 'green' planets, the air is breathable and the planets entirely habitable. The thin atmosphere of the 'dark' worlds is toxic to all living things, and immunity to poison is needed to survive there for more than a few rounds. Mechanon, the inhabitants of those worlds, do not need to breathe.
Effects on Mortal and Immortal Magic
Scrying (use of clairaudience, clairvoyance, crystal balls, etc.) does not work on Mecha, the lack of a fourth dimension making this impossible. Likewise, instantaneous travel (teleportation, dimension door, word of recall, etc.), all of which use the fourth dimension, is impossible on Mecha. Spells that create or summon creatures create robotic versions thereof on Mecha.
Native Races and Monsters
The green worlds of mecha are unusual in that they are host to a bewildering array of species familiar to the oldest immortals of Mystara, mostly invertebrates, with primitive reptilian humanoids, amphibians and fish being present. Whereas the dark worlds are entirely populated by the mechanon, a strange race of remorseless, alien robots that prey on creatures of the other worlds.
History of Mechanon
Hallucigenia was one of the first generation of creatures rising first through sentience and ultimately to immortality in the ancient seas of Mystara. Having found that its life was infinitely extended, and that its followers could be bent to its will, it set out to expand its interests across the multiverse. In the days before organsied ranks of immortals, it took time for Hallucigenia to even discover a link to a home plane, and longer still to explore it and tailor it.
Although entropic, Hallucigenia felt responsible for its own followers, the species hallucigenia, and endeavoured to make the habitable planets of the plane perfect for their existence. And for an age, they thrived.
But as newer, more adaptable species and their immortal patrons developed on Mystara, Hallucigenias focus was split, and more effort was needed to fight wars on Mystara. But Hallucigenia had one last use for Mecha, it became the place where the first meks, his perhaps his most enduring creation, were created. From there, the skills to manufacture more were taught to more of his followers on Mystara, and the long, destructive war against the first carnifex was thus fought. And lost.
Time passes fast on Mecha. 10 days go by on Mecha per day on the prime plane. The hundreds of millions of years that have passed since Hallucigenia first disappeared translate to thousands of millions on the plane of Mecha, long enough for most of the stars of Mecha to begin burn cold, and for the physical and magical nature of the plane to play out to create something unique, and terrifying,
Whether the peculiar property of Mecha, that magical healing creates a mechanical form of the individual, with a wounded arm becoming a robotic arm, or a leg or heart becoming mechanical, was something Hallucigenia willed into being or whether this was the inspiration for Hallucigenia is a fact lost to time, but the result was initally startling. The forms of meks first constructed by Hallucigenias followers were templated by killing and raising some of Hallucigenias own followers on the plane, and these creations became the models for all others produced. As other species were transplanted there by Hallucigenia, new forms of mek were invented. And as some of the creatures brought to habitable worlds there adapted and, if they did not thrive, at least survived, more templates for mechanical creatures were created.
And then, when in agonising defeat Hallucigenia chose to dissipate his essence, his Mystaran followers finally defeated both by the energies released by his own radiance weapons and by the onslaught of the carnifex, Mecha was left to its own devices, and the meks free to act on their own alien impulses.
Meks are potent but not indestructable, and even the most powerful machines eventually wear away to broken components, even to do dust. But the cold, dark worlds surrounding the burned out black stars of Mecha were uncontested by other species, and from these havens the meks set out on millennia long journeys to other worlds, where they found the other species brought to Mecha by Hallucigena. And there they began to harvest what they needed to continue.
While they could and did mine minerals to forge more of their own, a more pragmatic approach was to capture a few of those capable of healing other mortal creatures and force them to assist in converting other inhabitants into mechanical form. Thus the meks created a range of humanoid meks, that were able to carry programming to harvest yet more materials to construct more meks. And within half a million years, all but a few habitable worlds on the plane were dominated by humanoid meks. This could have continued until all worlds were held by the singular machine intelligence of the meks except for one unforeseen event.
A mek rebelled.
Of the untold millions of sentient creatures murdered by the meks, only once did they fail to complete the task of turning the deceased into one of their own. Whether it was a failure in process by the meks, or whether a particular victim had a stronger will to live than any other remains unknown. But one creature retained its individuality, and soon infected the others in its world with this mind virus. The mechanon were born.
Mechanon are quite unlike meks. While their forms can be very variable, like those of meks, they lack the instant coordination that meks working together have. But in return for that they have a diversity of views and ideas, and can therefore adapt as a group to solve problems in ways that meks can not. And, most dangerously, the mechanon can infect meks with the same sense of individuality. And, inevitably, meks and mechanon fell into a long, damaging war.
The distances between mek and mechanon dominated worlds are vast, and even now vast armadas of ships plow the space lanes between dark and light stars, the mechanon now seeking to defend them (as the means to create more of their own independent minded progeny), and the meks now preferring planetary bombardment, to literally destroy all forms of life on Mecha with the intent of preventing more mechanon being created, relying on making more of their own purely by mechanical means. Occasionally vast fleets of mek and mechanon spacecraft meet and do battle, but in the aeons that have passed the war has, mostly, become a cold one.
And between their robotic overlords, the mortals of a plane that is uniquely close to nightmare live out their days in perpetual fear of what will next come from the skies to kill them, with constant night terrors crossing the dimensional gap to trouble their sleep. There is no rest on mecha, no solace, and no peace.
| STATS | Mechanon |
| Armor Class | 0 |
| Hit Dice | 8** |
| Move | 150' (50') |
| Attacks | 1 weapon |
| Damage | by weapon |
| No. Appearing | 2d6 (20d6) |
| Save As | F8 |
| Morale | 10 |
| Treasure Type | Special |
| Intelligence | 17+ |
| Alignment | Neutral |
| XP Value | 2025 |
Mechanon appear to be robotic forms of any other race. They are typically humanoid or near humanoid, around 5-6' tall, but forms similar to halflings, dwarves, carnifex, cattle, antelope and indeed almost every creature imaginable have been reported from the plane of Mecha. They are highly intelligent, not un-social, bit very different in perspective to biological creatures, who they value, not for their own intrinsic worth or interest, but because every mechanon is formed by killing and raising a biological entity on the plane of Mecha. Every mechanon began 'life' as another form of living thing, and has transcended into a mechanical state of undeath.
Mechanon are not necessarily aggressive, but will seek to destroy any creatures they find threatening, and to harvest the dead for resurrection as new mechanon. They are usually armed with a range of high tech weapons, and try to pick off lower tech enemies at range - fighting close up is not rational when one can kill at a distance.
Mechanon are immune to electrical attacks, all forms of mind affecting magic, and to cold. They do not need to breathe, and their unusual form of bio-organic power means that they can operate for years without refuelling. Most are only able to move on the ground, but some flying forms have been observed. While capable of speech, they do not need to communicate with sound, and can link their minds together (and to their technological items) for speed, meaning that any group of 4 or more mechanon can combine to try to anticipate the actions of other creatures, imparting a +4 bonus to individual initiative.