SOTDL:Automatons

Automatons

Hands of Iron

For as long as artificers have been building automatons they have sought ways to remove the tedium and danger of manual labor with their creations. A wild array of variously useful designs were constructed, tested and discarded along the road to creating the artificial laborer. It took many years before artificers moved on from creating a general-purpose artificial person to building specialized designs that were engineered to fulfill just a few roles. These automatons were expensive to create and maintain, and remained the purview of wealthy groups doing work too dangerous or detestable for disposable living workforces. In many cases, the owners of these automatons met with untimely ends and their machines mindlessly continue their work still, their mechanical minds, never that complex, slowly degrading and making them dangerous to those who stumble upon them.

Driller

The driller is an exceptionally simple design. A bulky, humanoid body is employed so that it may easily manipulate existing mining gear. One arm ends in a humanoid gripper, while the other terminates in a large drill. Typically found either drilling into rock or pushing loads of ore on minecarts, drillers have uncomplicated minds and follow extremely simple commands. They can, due to deterioration or misuse, be ordered into combat, where their drill arm can be used as a dangerous weapon that causes grievous, deep wounds.

Driller

Difficulty 10

Size 1 automaton

Perception 5 (-5); darksight

Defense 13; Health 25

Strength 13 (+3), Agility 9 (-1), Intellect 5 (-5), Will 11 (+1)

Speed 10

Immune damage from disease or poison; asleep, charmed, diseased, fatigued, frightened, poisoned

Attack Options

Fist (melee) +3 (2d6 damage)

Drill (melee) +3 (1d6 damage [plus Puncture])

Puncture The target must make an Agility challenge roll. On a failure, it takes 1d6 damage and becomes impaired. If the target is already impaired, it instead takes 1d6 extra damage. The creature may take an action to end the impaired affliction. Healing any amount of damage also ends the impaired affliction.

Oreseeker

A small and simple automaton, the oreseeker, as its namesake suggests, seeks out ore and processes it on site. Roughly a foot in diameter, standing upon four thick metal legs, this machine's underside opens up to reveal a set of grinding teeth that the oreseeker uses to pulverize rock and ore. Mounted on the oreseeker's back is a small harpoon gun. Using the harpoon gun to scale vertical surfaces or to reach distant ore seams, the oreseeker then uses its grinder to process the ore for collection by other automatons. If directed to fight, the oreseeker simply replicates this process on its enemies, spearing them with the harpoon gun, attaching to their body, and then applying its grinding mechanism to their form.

Oreseeker

Difficulty 5

Size 1/2 automaton

Perception 5 (-5); darksight

Defense 14; Health 12

Strength 14 (+4), Agility 12 (+2), Intellect 5 (-5), Will 11 (+1)

Speed 10; climber

Immune damage from disease or poison; asleep, charmed, diseased, fatigued, frightened, poisoned

Attack Options

Zap (melee) +4 (1d6+1 damage)

Harpoon (short range) +2 with 1 boon (1d6 damage plus Attach)

Attach The target must make an Agility challenge roll with 1 bane. On a failure, the oreseeker attaches itself to them. They are slowed, and when they move the oreseeker is moved with them. The affected creature or an adjacent ally can make a Strength challenge roll to remove the oreseeker, placing it in an adjacent space.

Special Attacks

Grind The oreseeker deals 2d6 damage to a target it is attached to.