[Index]
Numenera Destiny
When the distinctive silhouette of a dread excavator lurches over the horizon, it's time to evacuate. Almost nothing can prevent the inexorable advance of these vast wrecking machines whose external metallic shell shelters a pod of organic soup that serves as the creature's brain.
Its enormous central arm is tipped with a spinning wheel lined with diamond teeth—both a blade and a siphoning scoop that can breach nearly any material. Its massive wheels are webbed together by a tread composed of virtuon particles, allowing it to cling to any surface, even water or the sides of much larger structures.
A dread excavator can reach heights of 300 feet (90 m) tall and long, and the toothed disc at he end of its central arm is 70 feet (20 m) in diameter.
Dread excavators are sometimes found disassembled into lone sections, quiescent. Which is how they should be left. If one section is activated, it begins the process of finding other sections, reassembling and repairing itself over the course of several months. When it finishes, it moves toward the nearest intact assemblage of structures and begins its job of wrecking and excavating.
Dread excavator, section: level 6
A dread excavator can be treated as a level 6 rampaging beast.
Motive: Demolish intact structures
Environment: Anywhere structures still stand
Health: 80
Damage Inflicted: Two major wound (15 points)
Armor: 5
Movement: Short
Modifications: Speed defense as level 7 due to size and speed
Combat: Dread excavators prefer to focus on walls, buildings, and installations, but they will defend themselves if directly attacked by foes. A dread excavator can attack foes up to a very long distance away by telescoping the length of its central arm and bringing down the spinning, toothed wheel to inflict two major wounds (15 points) on all creatures and objects in an area a short distance across. If targets caught under the wheel successfully defend, they suffer a single major wound (8 points) instead.
At close range, a dread excavator can eject a couple of 10-foot (3 m) diameter flying drones.These drones primarily serve to repair the excavator, but they can also fight foes by emitting jolts of electricity that inflict a moderate wound (7 points) to everyone within immediate range. When not defending the excavator, the drones can each repair 5 points of damage to the excavator each round.
Excavator drone: level 6; flies a long distance each round
Interaction: If communication can be established with the organic soup that serves as the creature's brain, characters might be able to negotiate, but only if they offer a target that seems an even more tempting place to demolish than whatever the excavator currently has its sights set on.
Use: A dread excavator is a threat that has the potential to destroy any community, no matter its size.
Loot: The salvaged remains of a dread excavator can yield 3d100 shins, 1d10 cyphers, and 1d20 rolls on the Iotum Result Table.
GM Intrusion: A chunk of demolished material flies from the spinning toothed disc and lands on the character who fails to get out of the way, inflicting a major wound (15 points) and trapping the character until they can escape.