Slaved Armour - Modular Mecha Damage and Construction Rules

22 Sep, 2026

Slaved Armour are constructed from modules affixed to mass-produced shells. Represent it as a list from 1-6, each row with modules arranged left to right. Left is outwards, right is inwards. When struck by an enemy weapon roll a d6 for each Hit to determine the row of the SA: Apply it to the leftmost undamaged module. One hit destroys one module. When a critical module is destroyed the SA is destroyed or mortally wounded. Hits against modules render them unusable and may have special effects, such as starting fires. When constructing SAs, the difference in width between the longest and shortest row of the armour may not be more than 1 (i.e. the arrangement should be as rectangular as possible).

Critical modules Always the rightmost module in each row, one per row for the first five rows.

1. C - Cockpit - if hit the pilot is killed
2. B - Brain&Computer - if hit, crab dies instantly 1-2, thrashes then dies 3-4 (preventing bailout for 1 turn), runs amok then dies 5-6 (attempt to eat / nearest food sources, including the pilot if they bail out)
3. H - Heart - When last heart is hit die instantly: Blue blood sprays on all nearb surfaces. One heart can power two muscles.
4. L - Lungs&lifeSupport - Die instantly if hit. The default module is suitable underwater, or for a standard or tainted atmosphere. Further modules are needed for operations in vacuum.
5. G - Guts - Necessary for the crab to survive: If hit, the crab has a 50% chance of dying each subsequent round.
6. The sixth position does not contain a module. Carried items are kept here. If all carried items are destroyed or none are carried, then any hits to the empty cells have no effect.

Integral Modules Cannot be jettisoned, so are placed adjacent to critical modules.

• M - Muscle: Needed to carry loads (other modules and items held in hands). Powered by Heart(s).
• P - Powerplant. Needed for certain modules. Ignites if hit.
• R - RollerPitons: Emblematic of combat SAs. The rollers allow high speed skiing. The pitons allow steep slopes to be climbed, and piton-turns. It can also be used to perform a coup de grace on fallen SAs, and with a powerplant as a jackhammer to destroy obstacles.

Attached Modules / Paylods Modules without a letter designation are labelled 1-9 and listed. Any attached modules can be jettisoned instantly with explosive bolts, though anything to the left of them is also lost. Weapons and tools can be integrated in the body of the Armour rather than carried.

• A - Armour: Eats hits. Meant to be jetisoned if on fire or an enemy weapon is embedded.
• T - Thruster - 6 fuel: Dashes and dodges burn 1, jumps burn 2. If any fuel remains it can be fired as a short-range rocket dealing 3D. Ignites if hit.
• X - Passenger (Pax) Pod, can contain 2 occupants.
• Z - Azipod thruster for subsea manoeuvre
• P - Grapnel - can be fired to aid turns, climb, secure targets or cargo. Can be electrified if a powerplan is carried.
• V - Grav Belt
• Zero-G Manoeuvre Kit
• Orbital Reentry Kit
• Parachute Kit
• Sensor Pod
• Communications Pod
• Electronic Warfare Pod
• Anti-Laser Chaff Pod
• Vacuum Life Support Kit
• Damage Control Kit: Can extinguish 2 fires and negate 1 gut shot
• Each module devoted to cargo contains 12 slots. Armour-scale magazines take up 2, 3, 4, or 6 slots. If any amount of ammunition is in a cargo cell it is Explosive and Ignites if hit.

Carried Items Carried items may be armoured: This represents a gun shield or a held shield.

• Weapons are usually carried due to their size and so they can be discarded and replaced. A two-wide weapon that loses one module checks for jamming.

For example, the Imperium's ubiquitous SA-1 Sightpig.

1. A A 1 C
2. A 2 B
3. A M H
4. A T L
5. A T R G
6. 3 3 4

• 1. Head mounted antipersonnel machinegun
• 2. Mission-specic payload or ammunition
• 3. Weapon
• 4. Ammunition affixed to the weapon itself

Slaved Armour ("SAs" or "Slays") and their users are ubiquitous in civil and military life. Their pilots are as commonplace as truck drivers and equipment operators in our world, and occupy much the same social and economic position. Pilots use a haptic harness strapped to the arms and hands, replicating and magnifying their actions. The pilot's non-dominant hand can be disconnected momentarily from motor functions to use its armature as a corded keyboard to control the unit's functions. Civil armour generally have a transparent cab; Military cockpits are almost always fully enclosed and the pilots depend on a visor connected to external cameras to see.

They are not robots: Titanic Pseudocrabs were discovered on the archipelago world of Carce. They have an extremely flexible morphology, and are placed within empty Slaved Armour shells which they grow into and come to articulate. The crabs are lobotomised, and their brain integrated with a computer to suppress their instincts and translate the pilot's commands into actions. They retain their eyes and certain functions, such a balance and reflexive defence from incoming objects. Should their control computer be destroyed they occasionally run amok, tearing to pieces and eating anything in reach.

Slaved Armour are remarkably cheap when produced at scale in hatcheries, and easy to maintain. They need rations, air, and water, and can digest most biomatter if their usual ration bricks are unavailable. A crab takes about 2 months to grow and has a lifespan of a decade. When it dies, its meat can simply be recycled and a new crab grown into the shell.

Their blood is pressurised and a rich blue that does not mix with the red of their pilot's. It happens to be inflammable.

Infrastructure is built with their use in mind: Institutional buildings and spaceships have large corridors, elevators, and ramps, heavy equipment has large handholds for their hands. Construction of huge infrastructure happens very quickly indeed.

Military SA are invariably equipped with a roller-piton kit: They slalom at great speed across the battlefield, and utilise chemical thrusters to speed up and dodge projectivles. Though impervious to regular small arms fire they fail quickly against the weapons of their peers.