Vanilla Lore Expanded: Modern and Ancient Mechanoids (Patreon)

Ancient Mechanoids

Killer machines, hidden in ancient structures, under mounds of dust, or at the bottom of the ocean, mechanoids can self-maintain for thousands of years. These ancient models seem to be unified in purpose, but not well-coordinated in action. While local scholars believe they're autonomous weapons left over from an ancient war, tribal legends describe them as the demonic servants of a sleeping god.

Mechanoids present in ancient dangers are remnants of old conflicts, simply following their previous directive after being locked out in a dark tomb without any new sensory data.

Modern day Mechanoids

Mechanoids are present in normal life across the more civilised planets. They are used in a variety of ways, filling almost every profession. Unlike robots, mechanoids have advanced programming and are created through nano-engineering, with nanites used to construct their bodies. This allows mechanoids to repair any damage done to them as long as resources are provided.

Some Mechanoids are even capable of reproducing themselves. Von Neumann probe is the best example of a mechanoid capable of going to another solar system, gathering resources and building copies of itself.

Whilst it’s a great trait for any mechanoid to be able to replicate itself, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for other directives - that’s why specialised but not-reproducing mechanoids are widely used. From combat mechanoids, capable of not only following orders but also generating those orders based on situational awareness, to building mechanoids, resource harvesting mechanoids and even social mechanoids that a person can have a conversation with, different kinds of constructs are used for different situations.

A number of different mechanoid types working together to achieve a common goal (bear in mind by working together the author tries to say that they are programmed to work together, they don’t have free will) create a swarm. Mechanoid swarms can be anything from three dozens of different machines tasked with constructing a skyscraper, to a few millions of mechanoids launching a ground invasion.

A lair is a centerpiece for any independent mechanoid swarm. All mechanoids work in tandem - harvesters harvest resources - usually different kinds of metal and rock, transporters carry it back into the assembler stations where new mechanoids are formed depending on what the situation requires.

Modern day mechanoids are not created on a factory belt like the old drones and robots used to be. Instead, they are made slowly on a molecular level, piece by piece assembled to fulfil their prime directive. This gives mechanoids their organic, almost insectoid appearance, as their creation is very similar to that of an actual organic being - organ by organ, piece by piece a mechanoid grows inside a specially designated pod.

Mechanoids can come in different sizes - from giganting harvesters the size of a large building, to small nanobots the size of an insect. Space-based mechanoids often resemble ships more than robots, but don’t let that fool you - there is no empty corridors inside of them, they are solid chunks of machinery carefully designed to fulfil its role, and in case any of its parts become damaged, it is more than likely it will slowly fix itself should the resources be provided.

Mechanoid swarms are used by many different cultures to wage war, obtain resources, exploit planets and transport goods and people. Mechanoids are often used to thicken out the space fleet with disposable vessels that are also capable of fighting and defending the capital ships.

Despite the thousands of different applications, mechanoids are still limited when it comes to processing power. They are not super-intelligences, they are simple robots following orders, even though those orders can be very complex. They are capable of analysing situational data and adjust their directives accordingly.

Human commanders are always used to direct mechanoids - without human creativity and imagination, mechanoids would just walk straight towards the enemy to fight them. This can be seen with Ancient mechanoids sleeping in various shelters and ruins across the rimworlds - their commanders are long dead, and mechanoids simply follow their prime directive, which is TO KILL.

Mechanoids are controlled through a series of uplinks, but usually from a single control room. This means that during battle, such a control room is a concentrated target, and removing it from play will mean that mechanoids will only follow their last order patch.