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. |
War Machines
While some tinkerers sought to remove people from the unenviable position of heavy labor, others toiled to change the shape of the battlefield. They envisioned legions of gleaming metal soldiers arranged in neat rows, marching into a bloodless carnage while their controllers watched from afar. The reality has been far from this utopian vision. Designing machines that kill has long been easier than making machines that work, and from the beginning these murderous machines have been highly effective relative to conventional soldiers. Baroque in construction and expensive in the extreme, war machines rarely fight one another, instead they are more often deployed against flesh and blood soldiers. Unlike the original artificers' vision of clean and orderly combat, this has always resulted in horrific injuries and messy deaths for the conventional troops. War machines rarely lose, but at the same time their heightened degree of independence and more complex design leads to them going haywire at higher rates than other automatons. A war machine that has gone rogue can be extremely dangerous, and oftentimes their irresponsible owners simply let them go rather than risk other investments to destroy them.
Iron Guardian
Designed for operation in populated areas and in close quarters with people, the iron guardian pattern is focused on preventing violence rather than dispensing it. Often dressed in concealing clothing, this stocky metal humanoid wields a blade that folds out for easy concealment, while its other arm ends in a high-caliber pistol built for stopping power. Constructed with protection in mind, the iron guardian puts itself between its charge and any threats, taking blows meant for them while warding off enemies who get within its reach.
| Iron Guardian | Difficulty 25 |
| Size 1 automaton |
| Perception 12 (+2); shadowsight |
| Defense 16; Health 40 |
| Strength 15 (+5), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 8 (-2), Will 11 (+1) |
| Speed 10 |
| Immune damage from disease or poison; asleep, charmed, diseased, fatigued, frightened, poisoned |
| Bodyguard At the beginning of its turn, the iron guardian may choose one creature. While that creature is within the iron guardian's reach, the iron guardian imposes 1 bane on attacks against the chosen creature. Additionally, the iron guardian may spend a triggered action when the creature is hit by a ranged or melee attack. If it does so, the iron guardian takes the damage and any effects of the attack instead. |
| Attack Options |
| Foldable Blade (melee) +5 (2d6 damage) |
| Arm Pistol (short range) +1 with 2 boons (1d6 +2 damage) |
