I’m a mecha nerd, you probably know that by now, I used to have a bunch of Five Star Stories information on my old website. The last starship we released had 2 crewmembers AND a Virtual Intelligence to help round out the crew.

In my perfect world, you could build starships and mecha with the same mechanical system, that probably won’t happen in Starfinder, but even if it didn’t you would expect the VIs to be present in Mecha as well as Starfighters and Starships.

In Five Star Stories, the mecha called Mortar Headds are enormous humanoid mechs controlled by a Pilot called a Headliner and either a built-in organic computer called an Etrimil or a living computer in a designer clone body called a Fatima. I would like to simulate the FSS Etriml, which is kind of a giant brain in a jar that lives inside the mecha, by using the Starfinder VI rules. The Etriml are the cheapest solution to the copilot problem, even the cheapest factory-produced standard-grade Fatima are usually more capable than an Etriml. There is probably some overlap between the most capable Etriml and the cheapest factory Fatima. The hierarchy goes like this;

• Etriml
• Factory produced Fatima
• Designer Fatima
• Fatima Masterpiece

The very cheapest mercenary and cannon fodder MH will have Etriml systems. All knights representing their countries are likely to have a factory fatima assigned to them. When Designer and Masterpiece Fatima are unveiled by their Meister, knights come from all over to meet the new Fatima at their unveiling and the Fatima will choose his or her pilot. The Fatima will then bond to their pilot with the exception of the Black Knight’s Est, she picks the next pilot for the Black Knight MH and is linked to the MH but will do her duty for whoever the pilot is.

Mamouro Nagano created the Fatima rating system based on the diamond quality ratings. I’ll reproduce the system here and suggest some overlap between Starship Crew and a VI for the Etriml.

Well here is the very primitive Fatima page for comparing various Fatimas of the Five Star Stories universe, the chart is preceded by three charts explaining of what the Five Fatima ratings are, the scale for those ratings, and the scale for Fatima Clearance. The first and most important set describes the five categories by which all Fatima are judged. Below that in addition to their 5 ratings, Fatima are also given a Clearance rating, but they’re really more like clarity or perfection ratings. Nagano cribbed this scale from the International Diamond rating system.

The Ratings Categories 1 Fighting – outside of MH 2 MH Piloting 3 MH Combat 4 Calculation – Raw processing power? 5 Mind – Personality, intelligence, sanity?

The Ratings Scale A – Fine B1 -Very Very Good B – Very Good C – Good D – Borderline D2 -Nicht (?) E – (I don’t know, but I wouldn’t Go There 🙂

There are intermediary grades like 2A, 3A, B1, etc. These represent greater capability in their respective abilities but do not merit a whole letter grade promotion, (i.e. B1 is better than B but not as good as A) or in the case of A, there is no letter grade above it to be given. The Numbers behind or ahead of the letters seem to better or worse than the letter grade they modify based on their distance from letter grade C. Meaning B1 is better than B, but D1 is worse than D.

Note: Clotho (and only her) has grades of VA for her piloting and combat. This is higher than any A rating, even Bucstual’s 3Ax5.

Rules Stuff: So, for the sake of the argument we’re going to assume that the Etriml use the same scale and they don’t get an outside the robot fighting score, as they never leave the robot. We’re going to rate everybody backwards in order to make a Skill system that progresses up mathematically.

E this rating is really bad, I’d almost say untrained and poorly coordinated but you still get a roll at a penalty, maybe off kilter.
D2 slightly less terrible, so we say unskilled, but you still get a normal roll somehow.
D borderline, let’s make this one a level 1, the least useful of the useful skill levels.
C we call this one Good in the original material, I would be tempted to make this a Good Crew Skill from the Starship Operations Manual.
B
B1
A everyone A or above should probably be at Master Crew Skill level or higher, Gearsonline says that A is the same skill level as a Headliner and should not exist because if they went out of control, who would stop them.
2A
3A
3Ax5
VA This is the tops, nobody is known to be better than this.

I know I said that we’re gauging skill levels here, but some of the Balanche Fatimas are legitimately bad at fighting outside the cockpit, level 1 newb in a non-melee class fighting space goblins. There are others that are that are bad in the computation, intelligence, personality, and sanity categories so Dr Balanche knows what a dump stat is. In typical Min Maxer fashion, Bucstual and VitterSchasse are both savants in mecha combat. I assume the Etriml are ok at computation and maybe intelligence, but are they sane do they have a personality? We only ever see the brains bubbling in their fish tanks.

We’re going to assume that the mecha get better arms and things using the mecha rules and the Fatima get better sensors and computers checks like the starship rules. We could say that according to their factory, designer, masterpiece levels of mecha you could have budget to best sensors and then armor, defenses all depend on the tier of the mecha.

Age & Gender

Every Fatima is designed to look like a young man or woman, how young is up to the designer.

Code	Fatima Type
L	Forming woman type
M	Maiden type
S	Girl type
ML	Adult type
MM	Youth type
MS	Boy type
XXINF	Variable, non-setting (star cluster method violation)
ET	?????
BF	??????????
AKD	Heaven illuminating work

Ethnicity (Ancestry)

Every Fatima is designed to look like some Earth ethnicity, whether this has to do with the source DNA or preference is not said in the materials I’ve looked into.

Code	Fatima Ethnicity
S	??????
G	German
K	Celtic
I	American Indian
ARI	Aryan
CH	China
Su	Throb
M	Masai
Ni	Japan
Gr	????
NA	North Africa
LA	Anglo Latin
US	Anglo Saxon
F	French
Sp	S pas no
ES	Estonia
BG	??????
RO	Romania

Now the Clearance – Quality of the Fatima’s interface, and interface crystal, is scaled from Flawless, to Slightly Flawed

FF – Flawless Fates (only Clotho has this)
F – Flawless
VVS1- Very Very Slightly 1 (?)
VVS2- Very Very Slightly 2
VS1 – Very Slightly 1
VS2 – Very Slightly 2
S1 – Slightly 1
S2 – Slightly 2

Now that that is out in the open, let’s get on to the pretty ladies themselves, I have included All of the Ballanche Fatimas, and further down I have added Est, a Morard Fatima, and one of the only non-Ballanche Fatimas for which I have stats.

				BALLANCHE
Fatima Fates	Built	Ser #	Type	Clearance	5 Balance P-G	Used by:
Queen	2629	BFK-1	M	VVS1	2A-2A-A-3A-B1	Dimos Hiahraki Douglas Kaien
Parthenon	2635	BFM-2	M	VS2	3A-3A-3A-B-D	Bugle de Leizer VII Velvet Weissmel Upandlah Raymu
Balance		BFG-3	ML
Mahjah		BFI-4	S	VVS1	2A-3A-2A-A-2A	Amaterasu Dis Greens Sairon
Candana		BFARI-5	M	VVS1	A-2A-A-B-B1
Nim		BFCh-6	S	VVS1	B-A-A-2A-A	*jakoh* *kuon* *hash*
EATTA		BFOS-7	M	F	A-2A-2A-A-B1	FULK UGEN ROGNER
Odetto		BFSu-8	M	VVS2	A-A-A-B-B1	*kurohtah*) (*danchiihi*
Aurora		BFSu-9	M	VVS2	A-A-A-B-B1	MAMADOA JUZOTTA
Giselle		BFSu-10	M	VVS2	A-A-A-B-B1
Bucstual		BFOS-11	M	OUT	D-3Ax5-3Ax5-D2-E	Amaterasu Dis Grand Greens Eaighdas III
Daemon		BFCh-12	mL	VVS2	A-A-A-B-B
VitterSchasse		BFAKD-13	L	VVS2	D-2A-2A-C-A	Amaterasu Dis Grand Greens Eaighdas III
Toki		BFNi-14	L	VVS1	A-A-A-A-A
Ssizz		BFNi-15	MS	VVS2	B1-2A-A-A-B1	Muse Van Reyback
Machi		BFNi-16	S	VVS2	A-2A-A-B1-B	Barbaluse V Christine V
Kyo		BFNi-17	M	VVS2	A-A-A-A-B1	Allan Bradford
Reireisha		BFCh-18	S	VVS2	2A-A-A-B1-B1	shubaisah*) (*dorakuun
ANDROMEDA		BFNA-19	L	VVS2	A-A-A-B-A	Krakenbral Mejojo
SPALLITUDA		28				ROTUS BARRNGA
ACHILLES		BFK-29	mL	VVS2	B-A-A-2A-B	DIPPA DOROPS
ICARUS		BFK-30	mM	VVS2	A-A-A-A-B	Mel Atowight Lie Ex Mel Atowight Panahru Ex Mel Atowight Arart Ex
TEATA		BFGr-31	L	VVS1	B-2A-2A-B-B	PARTOLK CRYTHARIS LEOPARD CRYTHARIS MELOW CRYTHARIS KARRER CRYTHARIS
KRACCALEINE		BFLa-32	M	VVS2	B-A-A-B-B1	PICKING HARRIS
EUPHROSYNE		BFLA-33	L	VVS1	B-A-A-B-B1	SHARIE RANDERS KROTENSCHWANZ
KALE		BFGr-34	S	VVS2	A-A-A-A-B1	STATE BALLO KAIEDIA
PASITHEA		BFOS-35	L	VVS1	B-A-A-A-B1	NU,SUOAD GRAPHIGHT
AGLAIA		BFF-36	L	VVS1	B1-A-A-A-B	QUKEY
THALEIA		BFOS-37	M	VVS1	B1-A-A-A-B	XROXS HARMAN HIND KILL
AUXO		BFF-38	M	VVS2	A-2A-2A-3A-B1	DOUGULUS KAIEN MAXIMUM HOLTFORS BALLANCE KAIEN
ALEKTO		BFARI-39	M	VVS1	A-2A-2A-A-B1	AISHA CORDANTE LOOT CORDANTE
MEGAELLA		BFUS-40	M	F	A-2A-2A-A-B1	MISSION ROUATH SWANS UPIZONNA BARDENBARG
TISIPHONE		BFSp-41	L	VVS1	A-2A-2A-A-B	LANDWAUND SPACORN
UPANDLAH		BFG-42	OUT	OUT	2A-2A-A-3A-3A
ATROPOS	2987	BFEsF-43AT	‡	OUT	3A-3A-3A-3A-3A	AMATERASU DIS GRAND GREENS EAIGHDAS IIII UPANDLAH RAYMU
LACHESIS	2988	BFBG-44LC	‡		-UNKNOWN-	AMATERASU DIS GRAND GREENS EAIGHDAS IIII
CLOTHO	2988	BFLuFF-45CH	‡	FF	3A-VA-VA-3A-A	COLUS VI
				MORARD
ULICUL	2957					COLUS III
EST	2876	NS-2=BB3351	FS	F	B-A-A-A-B 2A-3A-3A-3A-2A	Black Knights, AKD Knights etc
PALSUET			S			MICHAEL LESTER JHON WEINZIEL
BUILD			S			PIPER WANDAM HARRER
ELMA			S			PAUROUTH RANDARS
POTAR			S			SPECTOR
SPALUTA			S			BIJOTORN CORLALA
EVEREST						HINNEI MONDATTA
CAPRICORN						ARDEO ZNIYATTA
TOWER			S
KESRA
				KOOP
KRATOUGHMA			S	F		Lader VIII Phillmore
SYUCHA	2988		S			GELLOW SGAS-CONE
PARAHCHA	2988		S			BLRENO CANZIAN
MILAN			S			EIDRIAN TAG
				MISC
La Optical Tai-phone				SF		La Optical Typhoon

If you have any feedback about this post or our books, please feel free to contact us.

Paul

Evilrobotgames at Gmail.com