Mechanus is the plane of law and order, or so I remember from Planescape guides from 2nd Edition. For many reasons, the idea of a plane of existence ruled by, what my young brain could only imagine as robots, set inside of a fantasy game caught my attention. I imagined that plane of gears, and cogs, and machinery as a huge unknowable pattern, and much to the chagrin of the DM, I was set on exploring it and understanding what fueled the mechanics, what made it tick, and why those gears the size of a continent.
Little did I know, playing D&D all those years, was to set into motion a method or, maybe even a mindset, that impacted almost every game I played afterwards. From the mild summers of the early 90s onwards, it was set that every time I ran into a game that caught my attention, I was going to breakdown the mechanics, the design, and try to figure out how a game ticked, what types of decisions were made to arrive to the final experience that I was playing.
