Early Access
Clockwork automatons powered by steam, these mechanical things patrol about and guard locations of importance to their makers. Lanky and awkward in their movements, these quasi-humanoid automatons stand almost 8 feet (2.5 m) tall. In their three-fingered hands, they can wield a variety of weapons. They can speak aloud, but when communicating with each other they normally use silent radio transmissions, which have a 100-mile (160 km) range.
Some people wonder if a gear-driven soldier could ever truly attain sentience. Most scoff at the suggestion, but some of these automatons seem to act with uncanny intelligence and tactics, and even show an instinct for self-preservation.
Motive: Incomprehensible
Environment: Anywhere, usually in groups of three to eight
Health: 15
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound
Armor: 3
Movement: Short
Modifications: Perception as level 5; athletics as level 3
Combat: A mechanical soldier usually attacks as part of a group using well-organized tactics.
An unarmed soldier can strike with a punch or kick, but most are provided with rifle-like firearms by their creator.
As an action, a soldier can fire its rifle at up to three adjacent creatures; the attacks against the two secondary foes are hindered.
One in four soldiers carries a back-mounted device that allows it to hurl a long-range bomb as an action, which explodes in immediate range and inflicts a moderate wound (or a minor wound on a successful dodge roll); dodge tasks against area attacks are hindered. The device holds 1d6 such bombs.
A mechanical soldier that has lost its original weaponry scavenges whatever is available.
Certain frequencies of sound confuse these clockwork soldiers, hindering all their actions by two steps. Other frequencies prevent them from acting at all for 1d6 + 1 rounds.
Interaction: On their own, mechanical soldiers act on prior orders. Otherwise, they listen to and obey their creator—and only their creator.
Use: An enterprising bandit has captured and repurposed a number of mechanical soldiers, probably using precise sounds. These soldiers remember nothing of their former duties and work for their new master as high-tech brigands and pirates. The bandit has no idea how to repair them if they are damaged, much less how to craft new soldiers.
Loot: A determined scientist might scavenge the body of one of these automatons to find a manifest cypher.
GM Intrusion: A destroyed soldier explodes in a gout of flame, black smoke, and steam, inflicting a moderate wound to all within immediate range.