Shemarrian-related fan creations

[kronos]

Quick(and fairly crude) illo of a small band of Gothecs trudging through some wilderness in Europe:
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img864_zpsudx9gsya.jpg

Looking good

[kronos]

Something new for the Horrorwoods.

Straw Warriors

"Delta Squad cover the rear! Some how those damn Shemarrians have flanked us!"

Straw Warriors are an expansion of the technology developed from the Vine Missiles. Straw Warriors are stored in pods, similar to those on the Entkin, about the size of a mini missile, and upon striking the ground, or even a larger target, release a bundle of plant fibres that expands four limbs and a lump for a head, in a similar manner to a flower opening its petals, only very quickly, into a humanoid shape about 3.5 feet tall, with a thin and lanky build. Using genetically engineered plant bundle, infused with nanites and several bio-systems for communications and processing units, the Straw Warrior is a plant based drone that can be deployed via grenades or even modified missiles for quick force multipliers. The advantage of these plant based drones is when destroyed, the whole unit degrades like the vine missiles to create fertilizer on the battlefield to begin restoration of devastated landscapes. Straw Warriors have simple programming for combat, and are programmed to pick up and use any weapon they com across, from ranged weapons and melee weapons. However they are not programmed to fix or reload, so if a ranged weapon doesn't fire, they will drop it or use it as a club at the nearest target.
One advantage of the plant based nature of the Straw Warriors is they have a limited capacity to heal. The nanites that help move and hold their shape are able to provide a one time repair, but if allowed remain in an area with plenty of water, sunlight and fertile soil, they can heal and recharge their nanites. This ability allows deployed Straw Warriors to remain on guard in an area or move to other battlefields. If a Straw Warrior survives a fight, it can return to its pod state and be carried and used again, but will have the same amount of MDC as when it entered pod mode.
Straw Warriors are at the moment still difficult to produce and are deployed in limited numbers, but have proven to be fairly effective force multiplier, especially when used to sneak the small drones into flanking positions.
Straw Warriors in pod form are about the size of a mini-missile, and are carried like grenades, although heavier. Specially modified short, medium and long range missiles can carry several Straw Warriors and deploy them to a target location. These missiles will only deal 2d6 MD to anything struck from the physical strike and deploy several pods around it (4 per short, 6 per medium and 8 per long missile) within 5 feet of the impact spot. These missiles will also only have 2/3 of their normal range.

Type: EcoS-R65Hw
Class: Unmanned Semi-Autonomous Combat Drone
Crew: None; robot intelligence Drone
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 60
Head 30
Arms (2) 30 ea
Legs (2) 30 ea

Height: 3.5 ft
Width: 1.2 ft
Length: 8 in
Weight: 20 lbs
Cargo: None
Robotic P.S. of 16, PP 18, IQ 10
Powerplant: Biosystem plus solar, in theory can remain operational for 10 years with sufficient fertile soil, water, sunlight and periodic nanite infusion, or possible longer.
Speed: (Running) 40 mph
(Leaping) 10 ft across, 5 ft up, running increases distance by 50%
(Flying) Not Possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Not applicable (unless specifically outfitted), but generally limited to running along the bottom and can survive pressures down to 800 ft. 
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Biosystem equivalents of normal vision plus passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, radio (5 mile range).

*Deploy/Retract - The Straw Warrior when thrown as a grenade, or deployed from a missile, dropped or even remotely activated opens immediately, surprising those around it. It can retract back into its pod form using 2 actions.

*Nanite Repair - While not as sophisticated as the Bionic Cybernatire repair system the Eshemarrians use, the nanites that help control the Straw Warrior can do a quick repair, able to repair 6d6 MDC. The system can recharge but takes 24 hours if the Straw Warrior has access to fertile soil, water and sunlight.

*Bio-Regeneration - The organic nature of the Straw Warrior allows it to heal 1d4 MDC every hour.

*Kinetic Baffling - Blunt force melee combat strikes such as punches, kicks, hammer strikes, falls, and concussive explosions do HALF damage due to the fibrous nature of the Straw Warrior's body.

*Puncture Resistance - Due to the fibrous nature of the Straw Warrior, stabs, jabs and piercing, including arrows, crowsbow bolts and darts, weapons deal half damage. High speed projectiles such as bullets and railgun rounds have damage reduced by one-quarter.

*Thermal Stealth - Due to the plant nature of the Straw Warrior, thermal sensors do not register the Straw Warrior.

*PPE - due to the organic nature of the Straw Warrior, it actually has 1d4+1 PPE, much to the surprise of the EShemarrians. Any EShemarrian spell caster is able to draw on this PPE, but not anyone else, even upon the destruction of the Straw Warrior.

*Deployable Thorns - The Straw Warrior can extend thorns over its entire body that add to its unarmed strikes, or damages anyone that strikes it. Adds +1d4 MD to unarmed strikes or +2d4 MD for each melee of grappling, and anyone striking with an unarmed strike take 1 MD. Deploying or retracting the thorns immediately taking no actions.

Weapons Systems: None standard (see Options)

Programming: 
Lore: Demons and Monsters 65%
Basic Math 98%
Radio: Basic 98%
Prowl 85%
Tracking 90%
Navigation 86%
Wilderness Survival 80%
W.P. Knife
W.P. Energy Pistol
W.P. Staff
W.P. Spear
W.P. Energy Rifle
W.P. Pistol
Language: Can understand 22 different languages

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (against enemies who don't know of the Straw Warrior, can get a surprise round upon activation)
Dodge +5
Parry +3
Strike +3 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry) 
Roll +3
Pull Punch +3
Restrained Punch 1d6 SDC
Full Strength Punch 2d6 SDC
Power Punch (2 attacks) 2d4 MD
Kick 1d6 MD
Leap Kick 2d6 MD (2 attacks)

Options
Thorn Launcher - The Straw Warrior can launch a number of its thorns as a ranged attack.
Range: 150 ft
Damage: 1d4+1 MD ea
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 20 thorns, regenerates 1 thorn every hour.

Chemical Injection - The thorns can be designed to be hollow to release any chemical on an unarmed strike, or upon being struck.
Damage: Varies upon chemical or poison used.
Payload: Carries 10 doses.

Acid Sprayer - The Straw Warrior is fitted with an acid sprayer system loaded with an organic acid, similar to powerful stomach acids. It can be released as a cloud to affect a large area, or a concentrated stream. The acid can be replenished slowly.
Range: 20 ft area mist or 50 ft stream
Damage: Mist 1d4 MD per melee, filling a 20 foot area, lasting for 1d4 melee rounds, depending on wind conditions.
Stream 3d4 MD plus 1d4 MD for 1d4 rounds.
Rate of Fire: Mist once per melee, Stream ECHH
Payload: 10 uses in either mode. Refills one use per hour.

Extending Limbs - The arms and legs of the Straw Warrior are able to extend up to 20 feet, and can borrow underground to surprise attack a target within 10 feet. Adds 20 feet to melee reach.
Digging attack: The Straw Warrior can use its extending limbs to dig into the ground and strike a target within 10 feet of it by complete surprise as the target won`t know where the tentacles will appear. Deals 1d4 MD, and the target suffers -6 to Dodge this attack, can`t parry. The Straw Warrior can also use this attack in an attempt to hold a target to the ground completely immobilizing it if it successfully entangles it.
Bonus: +4 to entangle.

[taalismn]

Something new for the Horrorwoods.

Straw Warriors.

Haystack soldiers? Mehahahhahahaaahhaahhahahhhaaa!!!!

Pf, of course, there might be some ethicists that will object to the enslavement of plants(like how the original wyrding trees were forcibly cyborgized natural trees), but since we're using genetic-engineered strains, we can blow off the mystics and druids....

[taalismn]

Just a little something while I wait for my muse to revive.

Cultural Notes: Robot Exchanges

“We just can’t keep ol’ Banjo in parts anymore, Dwie! I know you’ve had him since you were a nipper, but it’s costing us more to keep him in repairs than he’s binging in labor, and he keeps breakin’ down! Heck, the NG salesman in Packardville sez they no longer even make parts for that model any longer....any repairs would have to be custom job or handmade parts. I know he was your pa’s, so I figure just scrapping him’s not an option, but there’s a new place over on the edge of Farwood which promises to find new homes for old machines. One of them remar all-yens, and he offers free repair services for any other machine we bring in as well. What you say we give ol’ Banjo an honorable retirement and get the auto-combine fixed as well?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors too; far distant space station on the edge of Central Alliance space, crammed full of obsolete and discarded robomaids, pleasure-bots, and sexoid dolls that somebody’s collected and fixed back up. They’re all in working condition and all longing for a human touch again, and usually it’s some lone male spacer who just HAPPENS to find it, discovers paradise, then has some reason to have to step out a moment, and oh-so-tragically can’t find where he left the place. Pure oxy-deprived whuwha if you ask me, like Planet Playtex and the Stellar Spandex Amazons.”

“Robot Exchange” is something of a misnomer; these are more depots or drop-off points established by some of the friendlier EShemar tribes(or their proxies, such as the Ne’R’Mar) where people can drop off their broken or obsolete robots, often in exchange for a salvage/scrap-value payment or services(such as weapon and vehicle repair). Of course, this is a means for the EShemar to acquire the makings of new oreseme members of their tribes, or, at the very least, advanced technology salvage.
Naturally, there have been some attempts to use the robot exchanges as a means of spying on the Shemarrian Nation(by slipping them spyware-implanted hardware), but after dealing with defusing so many of ARCHIE-3’s spy mechanisms, the EShemar have become rather adept at spotting and neutralizing concealed bugs and espionage programming.
In more advanced nations where personal robots are common, such as Greater New England, these started out as a good idea, but as AIs advanced in sophistication, and even gained sentient rights, business slowed and even stopped in some regions as owners and associates became reluctant to part with the old robo-nanny or gate-guard. These places have become less recycling centers and more ‘safe dropoffs’ for those wanting to retire old, unwanted, or no longer financially maintainable AIs.
The Steel Gaians are best known for their Robot Exchanges in Greater New England, though they’re also the first to begin closing some of them down(as Paladin Steel has adopted a more liberally-humane policy towards recycling and upgrading its more sophisticated androids), but similar operations have opened outside the GNE, hosted by the Steel Gaians, the Ghost Riders, Clan Motron, and Clan Gothec. Outside Rifts Earth, a number of similar establishments have appeared in the Three Galaxies; the Chromites are believed to be responsible for many of them.
Paralleling the establishment of these ‘redemption centers’ are tales of villages or space stations inhabited b old or damaged, but still functional, robots that have been either Awakened, or await Awakening, as well as adoption into a tribe. Though most of these ‘mech-towns’ rely on concealment or their proximity to other EShemar communities to remain safe from trouble, a few have known to sport a few resident Shemarrians or a rebuilt mechanical champion or two(or a robot militia) to drive off intruders.

[kronos]

Something new for the Horrorwoods.

Straw Warriors.

Haystack soldiers? Mehahahhahahaaahhaahhahahhhaaa!!!!

Pf, of course, there might be some ethicists that will object to the enslavement of plants(like how the original wyrding trees were forcibly cyborgized natural trees), but since we're using genetic-engineered strains, we can blow off the mystics and druids....

Hey, they are not just disposable.. they are bio-degradable, able to function cleanly for years protecting areas they fought in before, and when destroyed help replenish nature. so.. is it really enslavement?

[taalismn]

[

Hey, they are not just disposable.. they are bio-degradable, able to function cleanly for years protecting areas they fought in before, and when destroyed help replenish nature. so.. is it really enslavement?

(cue music) ...It's the circle...the circle of life...wait, I don't think that's what they meant.

You know, the Lost Eclipse is going to tweak them into scarecrows...

[kronos]

[

Hey, they are not just disposable.. they are bio-degradable, able to function cleanly for years protecting areas they fought in before, and when destroyed help replenish nature. so.. is it really enslavement?

(cue music) ...It's the circle...the circle of life...wait, I don't think that's what they meant.

You know, the Lost Eclipse is going to tweak them into scarecrows...

I could see that. Also possibly the Chromites taking an interest in the base technology behind the Straw Warriors, and by extension Vine Missiles (which they were derived from), as a they are looking into a better blend of organic and technological.
We need a little more for some of the other fringe tribes, and of course A3..
I am working on a Vespa unit.. just.. get side tracked a lot. Also some dragon based units for the Thousand Dragons.

[taalismn]

Did up a quick sketch of a straw warrior...should be up by tuesday at the latest.

The MacBeth line about 'Dunsenane Wood' keeps going through my mind.

[taalismn]

Here's a Straw Warrior, roughed out:
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img865_zpswdpvlrde.jpg

[kronos]

Here's a Straw Warrior, roughed out:
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img865_zpswdpvlrde.jpg

NICE!

[taalismn]

Here's a Straw Warrior, roughed out:
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img865_zpswdpvlrde.jpg

NICE!

Thanks. I thought of a sheath of straw, or a doll made of bundled stalks.
The head is a departure from the 'lump' you described, because I thought it would look nicer as something like a dried up sunflower head, with unfurled motion-sensitive stalks. Mentally I could see the whole thing unfold.

[kronos]

Here's a Straw Warrior, roughed out:
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img865_zpswdpvlrde.jpg

NICE!

Thanks. I thought of a sheath of straw, or a doll made of bundled stalks.
The head is a departure from the 'lump' you described, because I thought it would look nicer as something like a dried up sunflower head, with unfurled motion-sensitive stalks. Mentally I could see the whole thing unfold.

Yeah, that does add more to it, or a modification of the thorns deployed. But I like the idea of motion sensitive stalks. I'll probably alter the description to better match. Things can be improved with good criticism or suggestions from others.

[taalismn]

[

Yeah, that does add more to it, or a modification of the thorns deployed. But I like the idea of motion sensitive stalks. I'll probably alter the description to better match. Things can be improved with good criticism or suggestions from others.

You're welcome! But I rather got the idea thinking of autumn crafts....farm stand folk art and whatnot. Mind you, I've never actually SEEN a large straw doll or figurine like what I've described(and drawn), though I've seen smaller reed and cornstalk figurines, but I can easily see somebody making one with dried corn husks and pressed flowers.

[kronos]

[

Yeah, that does add more to it, or a modification of the thorns deployed. But I like the idea of motion sensitive stalks. I'll probably alter the description to better match. Things can be improved with good criticism or suggestions from others.

You're welcome! But I rather got the idea thinking of autumn crafts....farm stand folk art and whatnot. Mind you, I've never actually SEEN a large straw doll or figurine like what I've described(and drawn), though I've seen smaller reed and cornstalk figurines, but I can easily see somebody making one with dried corn husks and pressed flowers.

I've seen them, and some pretty impressive large ones too. I just didn't think of them when I was doing up the stats

[taalismn]

[

I've seen them, and some pretty impressive large ones too. I just didn't think of them when I was doing up the stats

We just came at the subject from different directions is all, and the finished product was the better for it.

[taalismn]

Scrumblers
(aka ‘rollerbugs’, ‘thumpballs’)

BOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOPBOP

“That thumping noise? It’s not the local school basketball team arriving for practice, it’s the sound of serious mayhem coming our way!”

Scrumblers are small armadillo-like e-animals believed to have originated as Vatfather-gestated test articles for developmental prototypes of the Burblewrack. The Vatfathers responsible decided that the diminutive test-critters were worth developing on their own, and ultimately refined their ideas into the Scrumblers.
Scrumblers resemble armadillos or sowbugs the size of large medicine balls, with an ovoid, segmented body seemingly made from old tires, and able to roll up into a ball. Rolled up, they’ve been compared to medicine balls made with lead shot inside. Openned up, they present a vicious stabbing beak and four feet fitted with ultra-sharp vibroclaws.
Though scrumblers have four legs, their stubby length precludes them from moving in anything other than a waddling scurry. Scrumblers prefer to roll, tumble, or bounce....and they are EXPERT bouncers. Their thick rubbery hide that helps them brush off kinetic attacks also serves to redirect kinetic energy into jump-lift and landing-cushioning. Punching or kicking a scrumbler only sends it flying away; pinning it up against a wall or fence and htting it, is asking to have it bounce up in your face...and scrumblers have an array of vicious little claws and sharp fangs with which to savage opponents at close range. Scrumblers are instinctive parkourists, readily using any available surface or object to bounce or bank off of, and speed them on their way(and a pack of scrumblers in a densely packed urban environment can be absolutely MURDEROUS). They are also fairly good climbers, and will use their claws as pitons to assist them up to heights, from which they can jump off and start bouncing.
Because they lack ranged weaponry, scrumblers must rely on being able to close with an opponent to rip into them. Since scrumblers are typically deployed in packs of a dozen or more, they can use swarm tactics to overwhelm a target.
Scrumblers were first deployed in number by the Lost Eclipse, but Clan Motron quickly acquired the templates to them. The Horrorwoods use scrumblers to a lesser extent, but their obvious artificial(used tire) appearance doesn’t seem to appeal as much to the ‘green’ Tribe. The Lollipop fringe tribe has also been seen with them, the Kildren innocently dribbling pet scrumblers as enemies charge them, just before tossing the kill-balls in their faces. Klidusian Male Elites and Cadejar are also fond of using the e-animals in their own forms of ball-sports, their bouncing ability and occasional random movements adding an extra element of chance to the play.

Type: EcoS-KRP27 Scrumbler
Class: Robotic Warbeast/Watchbeast
Crew: None; robot intelligence
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 50
Legs(4) 5 each
Height: 6 inches stretched out, 13 inches rolled up.
Width: 13 inches
Length: 2 ft stretched out, 13 inches rolled up.
Weight: 14 lbs
Cargo: None
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 5
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 5 year energy life
Speed: (Running) Can slither across land at a plodding 3 MPH
(Rolling) 40 MPH
(Leaping/Bouncing) Leaps of (Bionic) P.S.x5 ft up/across from a standing start, or P.S. x25 ft across, half that vertically with a running start(in excess of 20 MPH. Allows for jumps down of TWICE horizontal distance.
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Adequate swimmer; can float and paddle at about 5 MPH.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 3 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Tinkers or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL scrumblers have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 25 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Kinetic Ressistance---Scrumblers are so constructed and heavily padded that kinetic strikes such as punches, kicks, concussive explosive blasts, falls, collisions, and even slug projectiles do only 1/4 normal damage(round down). Even blades do only HALF damage.

*Kinetic Absorption---Scrumblers can absorb that portion of a kinetic attack that doesn’t damage them, and convert it into usable motion energy. It can be used immediately in the same melee rd, or saved until the next, but no longer.
The resulting energy can used in one of several ways:
-Speed Boost---The Scrumbler can convert every 1 pt of absorbed energy into an extra 1 MPH speed increase the next action or melee.
-Agility Boost---The Scrumbler can convert every 5 pts of absorbed energy into a dodge/autododge/strike/backflip bonus the next action or melee rd.
-Initiative Boost---Every 2 pts of absorbed damage can be converted into a +1 on initiative in the next melee.
-Leap Boost---Every pt of absorbed energy can be converted into an extra 10 ft of leap distance the next action or melee rd.
-Damage Boost---Every 5 pts of absorbed energy can be converted into an extra 1d4 MD of melee damage the action or next melee rd.
Example: A scrumbler gets kicked by a Northern Gun Samson armor for 2d8 MD...or 10 points of damage, it takes only 2.5 MD, or 2 MD(rounded down), while the remaining 7.5 points...or 7 pts(again, round down) get converted into a speed boost of an extra 7 MPH the next melee, or it can be split into +1 to autododge, and 20 ft of extra leap distance.


*Self-Destruct---A destroyed scrumbler quickly dissolves into a hot, corrosive, tar-like sludge that obliterates all signs of their robotic nature.

Weapons Systems: None, except for its claws, teeth, and body.


Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience. Scrumblers tend to be pack-mentality creatures; most comfortable working in large groups where they can rely on others to help them pounce, strike, and retreat, then attack a target again, wearing them down. Alone, they tend to be more combat-shy, and try to avoid getting caught out in the open where an opponent can wear them down and negate their damage resistances.
Typically has the following:
Detect Ambush 60%
Detect Concealment 60%
Lore: Demons and Monsters 65%
Basic Math 98%
Radio: Basic 98%
Climbing 70%
Prowl 85%
Tracking 90%
Navigation 86%
Wilderness Survival 80%
Language: Can understand 22 different languages

The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Scrumbler intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore (Cattle & Animals, Indians, Juicers, Magic, Demons & Monsters, D-Bees, Faerie---at least with regards to identifying their relative threat level), and Wilderness( Hunting).

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +3
Automatic Dodge
Strike +3
Roll +5
Back Flip+4
Pull Punch/Impact +5
Bite 1d4 MD
Claw 1d6 MD
Leap Attack(2 attacks) 3d6 MD
Restrained Body Slam 4d6 SDC
Body Block/Tackle/Ram 1d8 MD (+1d4 MD in excess of 30 MPH)
Stomp/Dribble Attack(scrumbler basically bounces up and down on a downed opponent---full melee attack) 6d6 MD

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Scrumbler an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of 8 ), but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

[kronos]

Nice new addition

[kronos]

Just uploaded Tuin, VelociClaw and Saurotron to the wikia.

[taalismn]

Nice new addition

Scrumbler-ball; very popular sport with EShemar.

[taalismn]

Hmmmm...Re-Reading Heroes of Humanity....given how in the Minion War, ARCHIE-3's plan is to imitate CS power armors and 'bots, plus a few neural AI 'minders', to sneak them in to reinforce the CS...The Shemarrian Civil War kinda blitzes that plan, unless possibly A3 had some early models stashed away somewhere just for other plans.


Now, imagine an undiscovered Hagan Decoy Drone emerging in charge of such an overlooked depot of A3 look-alike 'bots, only instead of going after the EShemar, he's leading 'his' troops against the Infernals.
Third-party anti-hero/unlikely-hero faction?
The EShemar kinda guess what he is, but since he's not fighting them, they can't just destroy him, and they keep missing the chance to convert/Awaken him(he might be GhostrRider-like), but will this rogue 'bot stay on the side of Good, or will he revert to the control of the Dark One(perhaps in exile by this time)?

The 'bot can believe himself to be the real Hagan Lonovich or decides to take on a new persona? Maybe he has a few faked-up CS officers(really re-faced Spybots) as sidekicks/adjutants? And they can subvert Skelebots? Maybe they pick up a few live CS officers/skelebot specialists after convincing the humans that the 'bots are a 'special unit', hush-hush?

Another Fringe Tribe that wants little if anything to do with the EShemar?

[taalismn]

Hmmmm...Re-Reading Heroes of Humanity....given how in the Minion War, ARCHIE-3's plan is to imitate CS power armors and 'bots, plus a few neural AI 'minders', to sneak them in to reinforce the CS...The Shemarrian Civil War kinda blitzes that plan, unless possibly A3 had some early models stashed away somewhere just for other plans.


Now, imagine an undiscovered Hagan Decoy Drone emerging in charge of such an overlooked depot of A3 look-alike 'bots, only instead of going after the EShemar, he's leading 'his' troops against the Infernals.
Third-party anti-hero/unlikely-hero faction?
The EShemar kinda guess what he is, but since he's not fighting them, they can't just destroy him, and they keep missing the chance to convert/Awaken him(he might be GhostrRider-like), but will this rogue 'bot stay on the side of Good, or will he revert to the control of the Dark One(perhaps in exile by this time)?

The 'bot can believe himself to be the real Hagan Lonovich or decides to take on a new persona? Maybe he has a few faked-up CS officers(really re-faced Spybots) as sidekicks/adjutants? And they can subvert Skelebots? Maybe they pick up a few live CS officers/skelebot specialists after convincing the humans that the 'bots are a 'special unit', hush-hush?

Another Fringe Tribe that wants little if anything to do with the EShemar?

[kronos]

Hmmmm...Re-Reading Heroes of Humanity....given how in the Minion War, ARCHIE-3's plan is to imitate CS power armors and 'bots, plus a few neural AI 'minders', to sneak them in to reinforce the CS...The Shemarrian Civil War kinda blitzes that plan, unless possibly A3 had some early models stashed away somewhere just for other plans.


Now, imagine an undiscovered Hagan Decoy Drone emerging in charge of such an overlooked depot of A3 look-alike 'bots, only instead of going after the EShemar, he's leading 'his' troops against the Infernals.
Third-party anti-hero/unlikely-hero faction?
The EShemar kinda guess what he is, but since he's not fighting them, they can't just destroy him, and they keep missing the chance to convert/Awaken him(he might be GhostrRider-like), but will this rogue 'bot stay on the side of Good, or will he revert to the control of the Dark One(perhaps in exile by this time)?

The 'bot can believe himself to be the real Hagan Lonovich or decides to take on a new persona? Maybe he has a few faked-up CS officers(really re-faced Spybots) as sidekicks/adjutants? And they can subvert Skelebots? Maybe they pick up a few live CS officers/skelebot specialists after convincing the humans that the 'bots are a 'special unit', hush-hush?

Another Fringe Tribe that wants little if anything to do with the EShemar?

Interesting idea.. I don't have that book yet.
We need more info on what A3 and Hagan are up to post civil war.. maybe a secret facility he had just started before out break of the Shemarrian civil war that he had sent such bots to (with this facility being close to Coalition territory, maybe as a location to send his own skelebots and armours from and direct a few new pieces of coalition hardware to for 'inspections/repairs' via any spy bots in the quartermasters and logistics) that was just started, and not in any major data banks as it was just TOO new, and he kind of had to stop or slow construction due to the civil war and resources needed for the war..
Now post war it's his HQ and these bots that are fighting infernals are based from there.. and used to covertly spy on the Reformed Shemarrian Nation?

[taalismn]

[
Interesting idea.. I don't have that book yet.
We need more info on what A3 and Hagan are up to post civil war.. maybe a secret facility he had just started before out break of the Shemarrian civil war that he had sent such bots to (with this facility being close to Coalition territory, maybe as a location to send his own skelebots and armours from and direct a few new pieces of coalition hardware to for 'inspections/repairs' via any spy bots in the quartermasters and logistics) that was just started, and not in any major data banks as it was just TOO new, and he kind of had to stop or slow construction due to the civil war and resources needed for the war..
Now post war it's his HQ and these bots that are fighting infernals are based from there.. and used to covertly spy on the Reformed Shemarrian Nation?

ARCHIE-3's involvement in the Minion War gets a column and 1/4 in coverage. It amounts to him wanting to stay clear but realizing that the sooner the Infernals are stopped the faster everybody can return to the old status quo...so he deploys his forces in the middle of an already running battle or towards its end, to bolster the CS or cover their retreat, under circumstances that the troops are unlikely to question whether the newcomers are specific units of the CS military(although the A3 copycat units always have a designation that incorporates an 'A 3' into them as A3's prank signature...

[kronos]

[
Interesting idea.. I don't have that book yet.
We need more info on what A3 and Hagan are up to post civil war.. maybe a secret facility he had just started before out break of the Shemarrian civil war that he had sent such bots to (with this facility being close to Coalition territory, maybe as a location to send his own skelebots and armours from and direct a few new pieces of coalition hardware to for 'inspections/repairs' via any spy bots in the quartermasters and logistics) that was just started, and not in any major data banks as it was just TOO new, and he kind of had to stop or slow construction due to the civil war and resources needed for the war..
Now post war it's his HQ and these bots that are fighting infernals are based from there.. and used to covertly spy on the Reformed Shemarrian Nation?

ARCHIE-3's involvement in the Minion War gets a column and 1/4 in coverage. It amounts to him wanting to stay clear but realizing that the sooner the Infernals are stopped the faster everybody can return to the old status quo...so he deploys his forces in the middle of an already running battle or towards its end, to bolster the CS or cover their retreat, under circumstances that the troops are unlikely to question whether the newcomers are specific units of the CS military(although the A3 copycat units always have a designation that incorporates an 'A 3' into them as A3's prank signature...

Ah. well I was making up something that tried to tie in cannon with what we'very done. And it kind of fits, as Archive isn't committing huge forces, covering coalition retreats or aiding an on going battle, and post civil war he probably could only do that. Something we can develop?

[taalismn]

Of COURSE we can develop it!!! You doubt we can? This is Spacebat-Palladium!

[kronos]

Hey taalismn.. just wondering.. when you upload pictures for stuff, possible to name them what they are? I've seen a few with the names in them, but most don't.. Makes trying to find them on my drive a little harder when I save the pic and forget to re-name it.
Also.. I'm uploading to the wikia.. Aracha and Apetaur up so far.

Also.. let me know if I'm missing any pictures for anything posted so far.

[taalismn]

Hey taalismn.. just wondering.. when you upload pictures for stuff, possible to name them what they are? I've seen a few with the names in them, but most don't.. Makes trying to find them on my drive a little harder when I save the pic and forget to re-name it.
Also.. I'm uploading to the wikia.. Aracha and Apetaur up so far.

Also.. let me know if I'm missing any pictures for anything posted so far.

Okay, I'll remember to do that. Me, a librarian, and off-work I have some of the worst organizational skills you're ;likely to encounter(contrary to belief, we organize the books in our house not by Dewey pr Library of Congress, but by Pile or Strata)

[kronos]

Hey taalismn.. just wondering.. when you upload pictures for stuff, possible to name them what they are? I've seen a few with the names in them, but most don't.. Makes trying to find them on my drive a little harder when I save the pic and forget to re-name it.
Also.. I'm uploading to the wikia.. Aracha and Apetaur up so far.

Also.. let me know if I'm missing any pictures for anything posted so far.

Okay, I'll remember to do that. Me, a librarian, and off-work I have some of the worst organizational skills you're ;likely to encounter(contrary to belief, we organize the books in our house not by Dewey pr Library of Congress, but by Pile or Strata)

Yeah, I do the same.. I have a pile of books beside my laptop.. ok... 3 piles.. plus the bookshelf with my RPG material 3 feet away.. pile of die.. couple of note pads, pencils/pens and tablet at hand.

[taalismn]

EcoS-K-114 Klangore Cavalry Warmount
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/Klangore_zps1azvjef3.jpg

“Ah, the smell of the sea in our noses, the feel of the wind in our hair, the trumpet of the battle horns in our ears, the reflection of fire in our eyes, the crunch of the enemy beneath our feet...this is the glory of the CHARGE!!! Onwards! Onwards! Until we run out of land or enemies!!!”

“These others have as many ‘battlemechs’ as we have warmounts! So many flavors to choose from! Our battlerams will eat well this day!”

“...***groan***....so that’s what being on the wrong side of the cueball feels like....”

The Klangore is Clan Armorand’s first major effort to design a Warmount embracing their heavily armored philosophy. The Klangore originally started as an armor-and-armament pack meant to be slipped onto a RoboRhinoBuffalo(large numbers of which were becoming popular with the Armorands) transforming it into an artillery carrier. However, so many changes had to be made to the host mount to carry the desired amount of ordnance and protection that Clan engineers decided that a new Warmount was in order, one that would incorporate the modular appliqué systems as integrated standard equipment.
The Klangore‘s most striking feature is its head, which is fully enclosed in a massive bulbous spheroid, fixed in place. This heavily armored sphere conceals sensors behind armored shutters, and a fearsomely be-toothed mouth with protective mandibles. Sprouting from the shoulders of this feature are two ‘horns’ ending in powerful cannon-pods. The crew is carried in a fully enclosed cockpit compartment. The Klangore has a forcefield as standard, and though it is not as powerful as that generated by dedicated defensive Warmounts such as the BarrierHog, the Klangore’s field has the same ability to mesh and synchronize with other Armorand forcefield systems.
As a first effort, the Klangore shows a number of shortcomings, the result of compromises and shortcuts made to reach the desired state of frontal-based aggression. The Klangore’s rear quarters are not as well protected as the front, and the warmount tends to be rather front-heavy. leading to what one Wayfinder called ‘a case of battecruiseritis’(a reference to the ill-fated pre-Rifts Earth naval craze for heavily-armed, but lightly armored, warships that figured on a good hard offensive being adequate protection). Given Clan Armorand’s favored tactics of massed cavalry and infantry providing mutual support, and phalanx-style formations giving overlapping armor and forcefield protection, these shortcomings are forgivable in the Klangore. The Klangore’s rear is typically covered by other units, and it usually only charges forward with the confidence that other units will keep it from being encircled from behind, and provide covering fire for it in retreat. Intelligence-wise, the Klangore brings nothing new to the table, as Clan Armorand saw no reason to try to tinker with the basic Monstrex/Rhino-Buffalo programming(except to gift the Klangore with a mindset that might serve it well in demolition derby). That having been said, the Klangore is being upstaged by the smaller self-supplying Eco-KRP24-KAScr Vola'Dry Robotic Warbeast, which is increasingly filling a similar role for smaller Armorand formations. The Klangore is favored by larger formations, garrison groups, siege armies, and some command units. In formation, it leads, typically followed by BarrierHogs that can feed it forcefield strength, and by units carrying long-range ballistic weaponry.

Type: EcoS-K-114 Klangore
Class: Robotic Warmount, Cavalry
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1-3 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 450
*Head 250
Reinforced Crew Compartment 150
Gun Horns(2) 280 each
Front Legs(2) 210 each
Hind Legs(2) 100 each
Forcefield 500

*The head’s rounded design causes kinetic strikes(punches, kicks, projectiles) do HALF damage due to deflection. Explosives and energy attacks are UNaffected.

Height: 25 ft
Width: 10 ft, 20 ft at horns
Length: 40 ft
Weight: 18 tons
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the cockpit for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 75 MPH
(Leaping) Not really designed for leaping, as the Klangore is rather front-heavy. Still, the Warmount can manage a 10 ft up/across standing jump without fear of plowing in on its face. Increase distance by 50% with a running start.
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Limited to running along the bottom at about 15 MPH. Maximum depth of 1,000 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Klangore have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 150 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Forcefield Generator---The Klangore can generate its own protective forcefield. Like other Clan Armorand forcefield generator systems, the Klangore’s can synch with others in its immediate vicinity; with a maximum proximity range of 10 ft, and a shield increase of 30%. Infantry/personal forcefields within that 10 ft range also benefit, increasing strength by 30%. Note, however, that vehicle screens only benefit with an increase of 5% per every ten personal/infantry screens within close proximity.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Gun Pods(2)---The two massive protruding boom-mounted ‘horns’ on the head are really large gun pods, giving the Klangore a double-barreled ranged attack. These gun-horns can swing back around out of the way to permit the Warmount to engage in ramming attacks, and to shoot behind itself if necessary. This caused some early problems, as the complicated ammunition feed systems had a tendency to jam when the guns were rotated so radically(and especially after hard ramming attacks/parrys), so the Armorand engineers added the option for mounting energy weapons instead. Tinkering with the self-repair systems cleared the jamming problem, but not entirely.
Typically both horns are of the same time, though different weapons can be fitted to the two sides(this configuration is rare).
a) Heavy Rail Gun---Glitterboy-style rail gun.
Range: 12,000 ft
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per 30-rd burst, only fires bursts.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 500 rd drum per gun

b) 80mm Electromagnetic Howitzer
Range: (Direct Fire)25,000 ft (6 miles)
(Indirect Fire) 62,500 ft (14.5 miles)
Damage: High Explosive(HE)----1d4x10 MD to 15 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)---- 3d4x10 MD to 5 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 5d6 MD to 30 ft radius
Plasma----- 1d6x10 MD to 20 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 3d6x10 MD out to 6,600 ft, 2d4x10 MD out to maximum range
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 200 rds per gun

c) Laser Cannon
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

d) Plasma Cannons----These cannons can be ‘hot-shotted’ with a deuterium gas-injection system feeding from reservoirs on the back.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage:(Direct Stream) 5d6x10 MD per blast
(Bolt) 3d6x10 MD to a 15 ft wide area.
*Can be increased by 50% with a ‘hot shot’ injection of deuterium gas
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Deuterium Gas Reservoir has enough gas under pressure for 60 shots each gun.

e) Ion Cannons
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Options:*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel mod that turns the cannon into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 2,000 ft, but does 5d6 MD to a 30 ft wide area.
*Ion Booster Module---Another mod that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 1d4x10 MD, but boost range to 7,000 ft.

f) Particle Beam Blasters
Range: 11,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast, critical(DOUBLE) damage on an unmodified 19-20.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

g) Sonic Cannons ---Short range, but very versatile and effective antipersonnel weapons. It’s rumored that several Armorand ‘battle choruses’ have been formed to use these weapons.
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast, plus 3d6 MD to a 10 ft diameter area around the blast area(double damage and range underwater)
Sonic weapons do HALF damage through light ‘soft’ armors like MDC barding and padded armor.
Unprotected personnel must save versus non-lethal poison (16 or higher) or be stunned for 1d4 melee rds. People in sealed power armor save at an 8 or higher for the wide area blast, but make a standard save for the concentrated blast.
The sonic vibrations can also be used to set up a resonance in hard armor that can stun or disorient living beings. Humans(and those most like them) will find these subsonic vibrations particularly irritating, the barely audible buzzing setting up painful discordance in their eardrums and auditory apparatus. Beings with enhanced hearing are particularly vulnerable to this attack(DOUBLE all penalties). Cyborgs and those with baffled hearing implants will NOT be affected by this.
Save versus psionic attack(12 or better) or be -1d4 to initiative, HALF all bonuses to strike/parry/dodge, and -1d4 to Maintain Balance. Roll under P.E. or fall unconscious for 1d6 melees.
Power Armor and EBA-wearers will be more susceptible to the effects of resonance, owing to their close proximity to the materials being affected. The effects are greatly diminished to occupants on a vehicle owing to the many interior structures that serve to dissipate and insulate the sound waves.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

h) Pneumatic Cannon(aka ‘PneumoGun’)----Observers raised eyebrows when seeing a Klangore mounting what appeared to be copies of Northern Gun’s NG-C58 Variable Projectile ‘Thunder’ Cannon(See Rifts Northern Gun, pg. 182-183), but were hardly surprised, given Clan Armorand’s trade connections. Presumably one of the Rifts Earth Tribes traded the Armorands the specifications, though in return for what, is unknown. The 24-inch bore cannon have lousy range compared to the other weapon types, but the Thunder Cannon do allow the Klangores to ‘live off the land’ with regards to ammunition. In a siege situation, the Klangore can use battlefield scrap or even local rock and rubble to feed its guns(the example first seen was using the carcasses of its slain opponents, an arachnid species with tough exoskeletons, as ammunition).
The EShemar HAVE made a few improvements, though; the PneumoGun has a far faster computer processing system for scanning projectiles, the cannon can ‘shotgun’ multiple small loose projectiles, and the feed system is much more efficient
Range:(Varies) 1) Battlefield scrap and junk typically flies about 700 ft. Loose garbage can ‘shotgun’ in 30 ft radius. No strike bonuses.
2) Roughly aerodynamic projectiles such as spheres and cylinders go 1,000 ft. Loose garbage can ‘shotgun’ in 30 ft radius. Half strike bonus.
3) Proper artillery shells and mortar bombs designed for the gun can travel 1,400 ft. Half strike bonus.
Damage:(Varies) 1) SDC scrap and non-aerodynamic projectiles/junk typically does 4d6 SDC, +30 SDC for every 150 lbs of heaved weight. Megadamage scrap will do 2d6 MD +10 MD for every 150 lbs of heaved weight.
2) Spheres and cylinders will do damage similar to 1), depending on whether they’re SDC or MDC.
3) Original-issue NG artillery shells tend to do 1d6x10 MD to a 10 ft radius. The Armorands favor their own ammunition types; a fragmentation round that does 1d4x10 MD to a 50 ft radius, and a plasma shell that does 2d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius.
Note that random explosive shells and projectiles CANNOT be made to function properly with this weapon, as their fusing/detonation mechanisms typically require special conditions to arm. (Optional) Roll a second ‘to strike’ roll(no bonuses) when firing unexploded non-spec munitions; on a successful 6 or better, the projectiles strike as scrap. On a fumble of 5 or less, the munitions explode prematurely, within 1d4x10 yards of being fired.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 50 shots per gun(or 100 if a PneumoGun and an energy weapon are mounted on the horn-mounts). A single shot-load can be up to 300 lbs in weight.

2) Eye Lasers(2)---They’re not very obvious, but they’re there, hidden behind armored slits in the hemispherical head. These are standard EShemar eye-lasers.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single blast, or 6d6 MD per double blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) (Optional) Modular Weapons(2)---The Klangore has provision for head-mounting two weapons similar to those standard to the Monstrex.

Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the same programming as the Monstrex.
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Klangore intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +3
Strike +4 (+3 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +3
Parry(w/ head horns) +1
Bite 3d4 MD
Gun Horn Gore Attack(delivered running in excess of 60 MPH) 4d6 MD
Gun Horn Swat 1d6 MD
Foreclaw Swipe 3d6 MD
Hind Leg Kick/Claw 2d4 MD
Tail Swat 1d4 MD
Ramming Attack(2 attacks) 2d6x10 MD, plus 80% chance of knockdown(lose 1 APM and Initiative) for humanoids/animal targets up to 20 ft tall in size.


Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Klangore an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Klangores tend to have bull-like demeanors, very aggressive and fearless, especially at the charge(one Wayfinder compared them to a Cape Buffalo in terms of temperament). Even when in groups of allies, Klangores will more often than not attempt to place themselves on the edge, ideally the LEADING edge, of any formation where they have an unobstructed view of potential targets.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of , but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

Options:
*Extendable Body Spikes---These retract into the body when not in use. Deployed, they add 1d6 MD to a body block/ram.

*Appliqué Armor---Ironically, while the Klangore originally began as an appliqué armor kit for the roborhinobuffalo, the Warmount now benefits from a similar add-on kit that sheaths the hindquarters in armor barding, as well as adds a rocket launcher hardpoint for additional punch. The added protection comes at the cost of some mobility, however. The extra armor adds +300 MDC to the main body, and +100 MDC to each rear leg, but reduces overall speed to 50 MPH, and leap distance by HALF.

*Back Hardpoint---The Klangore can mount a large hardpoint on its back, allowing it to carry around heavy weapons such as heavy grenade launchers or missile racks. Outfitting it reduces speed to 60 MPH, but gives the Klangore some extra forward-facing long range firepower.

a) Mini-Missile Launcher----A ‘Calliope’-style launcher similar to those carried by pre-Rifts WW2 tanks.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 30, or 60
Payload: 60 tubes, 1 missile each tube

b) Katyusha Bombardment Rockets---A larger bombardment rocket system
Weight: (Rocket)
(Short) 102 lbs
(Long) 170 lbs
Range:(Short) 7 miles
(Long) 13 miles
Damage: Both missile types use a 122mm warhead, typically the following warhead types(damage may vary as much as 50% by the quality of warhead manufacture):
(Fragmentation) 1d6x10 MD to a 60 ft blast radius
(Incendiary) 1d4x10 MD to a 50 ft blast radius, plus 01-75% chance of setting combustible materials aflame
(High Explosive) 2d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Plasma) 3d4x10 MD to a 40 ft blast radius
(Smoke) Covers a 100 ft area in thick obscuring smoke. Typically disperses within 1d6 melees, depending on local wind and humidity conditions.
(Chemical) Varies, but typically used to dispense CS or nerve agents(currently only the Sovietskii uses chemical munitions, though it is rumored that Warlord Sokolov has been seeking to acquire such weapons). Typically covers a 100 ft area. Like the smoke, local weather conditions determine the dispersal rate.
(Submunition)---Detonates airburst style over the target and scatters a small cloud of grenade-like sub-mines, that can be used to infilade an area with contact explosives or delayed-fuze mines. Carries over 18 submunitions, scattering over a 100 ft area, and doing 5d6 MD to a 10 ft blast radius each.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 10 per launcher
Penalties: Katyushas use the standard rules for unguided artillery with regard to deviation from target. Best fired in salvoes of 4 or more rockets.

Variants:
*EcoS-K-114F “Cremonster’---This variant carries two Heavy Flame-throwers in place of the horn cannon, fed from ejectable fuel tanks on the back, and all armor faces are surfaced in heat-refractory tile(heat- and plasma-based weaponry do 1/4 normal damage). Examples of this variant are said to have successfully defended an Armorand keep from being inundated by an army of zombies sent to invade Armorand territory.
Range: 500 ft, and can cover a 25 ft wide area at maximum fan.
Damage: (Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 100 blasts. Can carry additional fuel in external armored (300 MDC each) panniers carried on the backside. Each magazine pod holds an additional 100 blasts. Up to four can be carried. If compromised or set on fire, the fuel pods can be ejected(often exploding in spectacular fashion).

*EcoS-K-114Sm ‘KlangKhrome’----About a dozen modified Klangores have been observed with the Silvermoons. Given the two tribes’ shared liking of massed protective phalanxes, trade and technology exchanges are hardly surprising.
The EcoS-K-114Sm carries laser-chrome armor cladding(laser do HALF damage) and the laser horns(modified for 25% greater range and damage). The lasers also reportedly have a ‘spray mode’ that does 1d4x10 MD to a 30 ft wide area.

[kronos]

EcoS-K-114 Klangore Cavalry Warmount

Nice. Also love the call back to the Vola'Dry.
I'm working on a few Armorand variants of a few warmounts and animals.

[taalismn]

Declaring numbers EcoS-K-115-116 reserved for me...I got a major surge in productivity today after shoveling a few dozen cubic yards of HARD-PACKED ice and snow...

[kronos]

Declaring numbers EcoS-K-115-116 reserved for me...I got a major surge in productivity today after shoveling a few dozen cubic yards of HARD-PACKED ice and snow...

Looking forward to them.

[taalismn]

And they will be forthcoming! Amazing what chisel-shoveling plow-compacted ice will do for your imagination!

Now...imagine what would happen if Ava met DESTINY(okay, aside from the perverse chance of a being of infinite evil being born to balance the universe...)

[DhAkael]

And they will be forthcoming! Amazing what chisel-shoveling plow-compacted ice will do for your imagination!

Now...imagine what would happen if Ava met DESTINY(okay, aside from the perverse chance of a being of infinite evil being born to balance the universe...)

MEEP! Agatha Heterodyne meets S.H.O.D.A.N.

[taalismn]

And they will be forthcoming! Amazing what chisel-shoveling plow-compacted ice will do for your imagination!

Now...imagine what would happen if Ava met DESTINY(okay, aside from the perverse chance of a being of infinite evil being born to balance the universe...)

MEEP! Agatha Heterodyne meets S.H.O.D.A.N.

"I don't know what they're saying to each other in there, but we're neck-deep in fresh-baked cookies out here..."

[kronos]

And they will be forthcoming! Amazing what chisel-shoveling plow-compacted ice will do for your imagination!

Now...imagine what would happen if Ava met DESTINY(okay, aside from the perverse chance of a being of infinite evil being born to balance the universe...)

MEEP! Agatha Heterodyne meets S.H.O.D.A.N.

"I don't know what they're saying to each other in there, but we're neck-deep in fresh-baked cookies out here..."

I know Agatha Heterdyne, which reminds me I have over a year's worth of reading to catch up on, but 'S.H.O.D.A.N?

[taalismn]

I know Agatha Heterdyne, which reminds me I have over a year's worth of reading to catch up on, but 'S.H.O.D.A.N?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHODAN

My best-case scenario would be a re-embodied Sister of the Hearth Cooking Mage meeting a TW Network Intelligence with access to mass production lines.
...which raises the prospect of Shemarrian Girl Scouts going door to door selling cookies....

Homeowner: (looking up...and up...and up... ) "Sure I'll buy some mint creme-doped silicon wafers! ...just don't hurt me...."

[taalismn]

EcoS-K-115 Scapterus Utility Warmount
(aka ‘drillbugs’, ‘cicuttas’)
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/Scapterus_zpsy4cr0wsh.jpg

“The way I see it, we have two choices. We can wait until the Nightmares get here with their HellMoles, or we can go in now with our Scapteruses. Personally, I favor going now; the element of surprise of us coming up through that fort’s basement will be greater, and we won’t have to share the loot with the Lost Eclipse, especially since they jumped the gun on us LAST time.”

The Scapterus is another utility warmount specifically designed for mining and excavation. Although earlier models of this type were introduced fairly early in the EShemar history(particularly during the Shemarrian Civil War, when the Ecotroz Tribes were creating fortified sanctuaries to hide their clandestine factories and cyber-nurseries), the type was not formally identified until fairly recently(by which time the design had been finalized). This is because the Scapterus’s role as a subterranean tunneling machine has kept it out of the eyes of outside observers.
Scapterus Warmounts resemble giant mechanical mole crickets; insectoids with three-segmented bodies, four long legs, large abdomen, and large foreclaws. The foreclaws are heavily armored and feature integral rotary cutting saws for chewing through rock. The mouth, not normally seen, is hidden under the heavy armor plates of the head, which is sharp-angled for wedging open cracks in rocks and pushing aside rubble. The mouth itself sports extendable cutters and drill-tongues. The legs sport the ability to deliver jackhammer-like kicks. The Scapterus is also one of a growing number of Warmount types that feature a fully enclosed crew cockpit, right behind the rear plates of the head, straddling the neck and thorax, where the rider is safe from falling rock and dangerous fumes.
It would surprise many to learn that the Scapterus has its origins with the Hawkmoons, who developed smaller and simpler robot mining drones, from the scraps and parts of various commercial mining robots and vehicles, to help carve out their fortified aeries. The Steel Gaians were next to get hold of the design, enlarging it to its current size, and from there the Horrorwoods naturally acquired it. From there, the design has spread, with almost all Tribes and many fringe tribes either producing or utilizing the Scapterus in one form or another. The Scapterus’s unexpected agility and limited flight capabilities are a reminder of its origins as a Hawkmoon design, as such traits were needed to allow the work drones to reach the remote mountainous locations favored by the Hawkmoons for their ‘nests’. The flight capability and smaller size of the Scapterus also make it rather more common than the HellMole and Terragore Warmounts for utility tunneling work, as the EcoS-K-115 can be more readily transported to work sites.
Like most utility warmounts, the Scapterus carries only light armament, but has some combat capabilities, including the by-now standard eye lasers. Its armor, meant to withstand cave-ins and tunnel collapses, can shed all but the heaviest small arms fire, and its claws can quickly slice through the hide and hull of an opponent. Though generally not regarded as a front-line combatant, the Scapterus is often called upon as a specialist in countering enemy sappers, undermining enemy positions, and assaulting hardened fortifications and bunkers from below.

Type: EcoS-K-115 Scapterus
Class: Robotic Warmount, Utility
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1 passenger
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 300
Head 100
Enclosed Cockpit Pod 100
Foreclaws(2) 150 each
Legs(4) 90 each
Wings(2) 95 each
Height: 7 ft
Width: 8 ft
Length: 20 ft
Weight: 7,800 lbs
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 50 MPH
(Flying) Limited; hover to 250 MPH, maximum altitude of 1,000 ft.
(Tunneling) Can generally cut a passable tunnel through hard rock and concrete at 6 ft a minute.
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Limited to running along the bottom at 20 MPH, maximum depth 3,000 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Tinkers or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Scapterus have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 40 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Antennae Probes(4)---These are head-mounted antennae developed from Glitterboy laser pylons. Normally concealed retracted into the head, these probes can quickly drill into surrounding earth and rock and serve as seismic sensors.
When in use the seismic probe emits ultra-low frequency sound waves, acting as a sort of subterranean sonar. The return waves are detected by ground sensors in the Pathfinder's feet(or deployed on other vehicles), and
a computer compiles a graphic map of the underground topography. This has proven to be an extremely useful tool for locating buried ruins, charting geological resources, and finding underground installations.
Note that when in Active Mode characters with amplified/enhanced hearing, like Dog Boys or cybernetic Ultra-ears, standing within 500 feet of the warmount will hear an annoying low-key buzz, and may feel nauseous/suffer from headaches if exposed to the noise for more than a minute.
Ground scans will take 2-4 times as long as a standard radar/sensor sweep. Typical range on a ground scan is 1,000 ft.
In passive mode, the Ground Sensors can be used alone to listen for underground activity, such as burrowing animals, tunneling vehicles, water running thru pipes, etc., as well as surface movement. Passive sensors can detect the surface movement of large animals(2 tons or more), robots, heavy vehicles, or large masses of infantry with 40% accuracy, up to a mile away.


Weapons Systems:
1) Eye Lasers(2)---Standard Shemarrian warmount eye-lasers. These lasers are mounted in the head behind armored slits, and are used for both rock cutting and self-defense.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single blast, or 6d6 MD per double blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Rotary Disc-Cutter Claws(2)---Each of the large forelimbs sports a rotary disc cutter capable of slicing through rock and armor with relative ease.
Range: Melee
Damage: 6d6 MD per slash, 1d6x10+10 MD per full melee cut

3) Head Laser Antennae(4)---The head seismic drill-probes can be used in melee combat as impaling appendages.
Range: Can extend out 20 ft
Damage: 1d6 MD for the laser drill

Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience. Only about 30% of Scapteruses end up being Awakened, however, as many are deployed only as around-the-clock tunneling machines and excavators.
Typically has the same programming as the Monstrex, plus the following:
Excavation 70%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Prowl/Hide 65%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Scapterus intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore (Cattle & Animals, Indians, Juicers, Magic, Demons & Monsters, D-Bees, Faerie---at least with regards to identifying their relative threat level), and Wilderness( Hunting).

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +3
Strike +1 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +2
Pull +2
Bite 3d6 MD
Mouth Drills 3d6 MD
Power Bite/Chew(2 attacks) 6d6 MD
Laser Antennae Impale Strike 1d6 MD
Head Butt 1d6 MD
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 1d6 MD
Power Punch(2 attacks) 2d6 MD
Rotary Saw Cut 6d6 MD per slash, 1d6x10+10 MD per full melee cut
Kick 2d4 MD
Jack Hammer Kick 2d6 MD

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Scapterus an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Scapteruses are quiet, patient, diligent workers, used to toiling long in the darkness. They sometimes get into the habit, however, of drumming their legs on surrounding rock, communicating with their fellows, or to echolocate through the rock strata. Though this is normally done to keep track of multiple diggers working the same area, some EShemar claim that some Scapteruses seem to do it more than necessary, and that the warmounts ‘sing’ to each other.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of 8 ), but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

Options:
*Resin Dispenser---An early problem with the Scapteruses was digging through soft earth. As the mole-mount lacked any sort of shoring mechanism to reinforce or fuse the sides of its tunnel as it progressed, the tunnel would collapse after it. In order to give it some ability to make lasting excavations in soft earth and clay, EShemar Tinkers have modified a special abdomen module that sprays a quick-set resin that acts to bolster the tunnel walls, at least long enough for both extensive measures to be brought to bear.
Each half-gallon application of this quick-set plastic covers about 5 cubic feet, and to cover a human sized target completely, the attacker must roll a 12 or better on the Strike roll. Anyone caught in the goo must have a supernatural or robotic P.S. of 30 or better to escape; otherwise, the target is stuck until released by an outside agency. Gloop has 2d4 MDC per application, and breaks down after 1d4 days of exposure, unless treated with a special binder chemical, and allowed to cure for 1d4 hours, in which case it stabilizes and has an MDC of 2d6+1. The Scapterus typically carries 300-400 gallons of resin ready to use. More advanced models of this module can, if kept supplied with the right materials, produce new resin at a rate of 5 gallons an hour.
In some cases, the EShemar have deliberately let resin-walled tunnels be discovered by enemy forces, especially if the EShemar are in retreat. By spraying a special enzyme that ‘unzips’ the polymer resin, the suddenly deteriorating tunnel walls, in conjunction with carefully placed demolition charges or sonic munitions, can be made to collapse on a pursuing enemy.

*Bomb-Layer---Some Scapteruses fit the rear abdomen with a munitions module, allowing the warmount to deposit explosive charges for breaking up rock or mining tunnels and other underground structures.
The module has enough capacity for carrying 2,000 lbs of explosives, usually in the form of encapsulated charges or satchels. Grenades range in weight from 0.5 - 1 lb each, fusion blocks 8-16 lbs, mines 10-25 lbs.

Variants:
*EcoS-K-115Wf ‘Frakker’---An experimental variant being developed by the Wayfinders supposedly uses sonics, rather than mechanical cutters, to pulverize rock into dust, greatly increasing tunneling speed and debris removal, but the systems reportedly due uncontrollable fracture damage to surrounding rock and are EXTREMELY noisy, making detection of tunneling K-115Wfs a fairly simple matter.

[taalismn]

EcoS-K-116 ‘Arcus’ Aerial Warmount
(aka ‘Ice Dragon’, ‘Fridge-Bird’, ‘White-flier’, ‘Aura-breather’, ‘Aura-flamer’)

“Storm fliers they are. Come with the high winds when everybody’s hunkered down and not expecting attack. The hail and ice is bad enough, but when the ice comes metal-hard and traveling near sueprsonic, fast enough to punch through weather covers, storms take on a whole new level of menace.”

“Looks like we get another snow day off courtesy of the Aurorans.”
“...I do NOT consider having all our grounded aircraft and our entire motorpool destroyed by a freakishly violent storm and a curiously coincidental air strike to be ‘another day off’!”

Although the Aurora Warriors are still fairly small as a tribe, and well-equipped at present, they clearly anticipate future expansion, having already designed and produced two new Warmounts. The Invictor was the first, while the rather more ambitious Arcus is the second. A small number of these fearsome new aerial warmounts have already been produced, apparently to combat-test their concept.
When first spotted flying over arctic wastes, the Arcus was at first thought to be a winter-camouflaged variant of the EcoS-K-73 Drakar or the EcoS-K-100 Pomolar, but more extensive eyewitness reports revealed it to be a wholly original design developed by the Aurora Warriors. The large Arcus would seem a rather extravagant expenditure of time and resources for the still small fringe tribe, especially since it already has a full roster of WarMounts in its TOE, but some observers speculate that the tribe is borrowing a page from Clan Motron in developing more new WarMounts than they actually need and trading the designs to other tribes with the need and production capability. The IceFlames in particular are cited as a possible ‘buyer’ for Auroran designs, given their operational overlap into environments with extremely cold temperatures. Collaboration with the Wayfinders on designing the Arcus also cements the new tribe’s connections with other tribes. The Arcus seems to be overbuilt with regards to its many innovative and experimental systems, making it rather expensive resource-wise to construct, and its large size means that it requires the larger fabrication systems to construct it; template-exchanges with other tribes may result in less-sophisticated ‘economy model’ variants that don’t sport all of the features of the AW ‘deluxe’ warmounts.
The Arcus has a vaguely dragon- or swan-like body configuration, with large semi-retractable wings(that double as forelimbs when landed) and a long-necked serpentine head. An enclosed cockpit sits on the back between the wings. Two bird-like articulated landing legs/claws complete the appearance of a snow goose or ice drake.
The Arcus is an exceptional foul-weather flier, allowing it to operate in the violent ice storms common to Aurora Warrior territory. This capability also increases the speculation that the Arcus was produced with an eye towards currying favor with the IceFlames, most likely trading the design with an eye towards favors later when the IceFlames secure their homeworld.
Currently only a half-dozen Arcui have been produced, but the experience and field-testing have certainly allowed the tribe’s Tinkers to iron out any problems and modify the design for future mass production if and when the ‘Warriors’ needs and numbers increase.
As noted, the IceFlames would be a likely adopter of the Arcus. The Thousand Dragons, DarkWaters, Wayfinders, Silvermoons and Hawkmoons are also potential customers for the Arcus. If so, then the Arcus would certainly be paying off in its creators’ gamble.

Type: EcoS-K-116 ‘Arcus’
Class: Robotic Warmount, Aerial
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1 passenger
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 470
Head 110
Cockpit Pod 100
Wings (2) 300 each
Tail Fins(3) 95 each
Ice Cannons(8, four each wing) 55 each
Foreclaws(2) 90 each
Legs(2) 120 each
Height: 18 ft
Width: 80 ft maximum wingspan
Length: 56 ft
Weight: 57,000 lbs
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 40
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 50 MPH running on all fours
(Flying) Hover to Mach 1.6. Maximum altitude of 50,000 ft.
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Not possible. Can land on and take off from water, but are not terribly submersible.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Tinkers or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Arcui have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 120 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Thermal Insulation----The Arcus has superb insulation and thermal control systems, and can, contrary to what many opponents might think of a cold-adapted warmount, can handle heat VERY well, diverting high temperatures and redirecting thermal spikes to be safely dissipated. Heat- and plasma-attacks do 1/4 normal damage.

*Laser-Reflective Armor---Surfacing the thermal insulation is an energy-reflecting coating, supplemented by a thin layer of ice, that breaks up the cohesion of lasers; lasers do HALF damage.

*Exceptional Control---The Arcus is very adept at flying, a plus in severe weather. Reduce penalties for flying in extreme weather by HALF.

Weapons Systems:
1) Eye Lasers(4)----The Arcus mounts no less than four laser eyes, positioned to give it a good arc of fire both forward and down, and to the sides when the Warmount angles its head.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD for a pulse burst
8d6 MD dual shot, 2d4x10 MD for a dual pulse burst(counts as one attack)
All four firing in burst mode simultaneously(again, one attack) does 4d4x10 MD(!)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) ‘Midnight Sunstorm’ Mouth Plasma Blaster----Copied from the FireDrake, the Arcus mounts a mouth plasma projector. This has been modified to produce a particularly bright and spectacularly energetic plasma stream discharge that snakes out from the mouth of the warmount and slashes across large swathes of area, doing great damage.
Range: (Plasma Shot)2,500 ft
(Plasma Scattershot) 900 ft
Damage:(Plasma Shot) 1d6x10 MD
(Plasma Scattershot) 6d6 MD to 20 ft wide area
(Blinding Flash) The MSS plasma is particularly bright and can blind, or at least distract, the unwary and the unprepared. Those without eye protection or polarized vision will be affected similar to a Blinding Flash spell; -10 to strike, parry, dodge for 1d4 melees. Affects a 300 ft wide area, either side of the plasma beam/shot.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Ice Cannons(8, four each wing)----The leading edge of each wing sports four protruding ‘superchiller’ rods that generate and fire hyperdense cryogenic ice slugs. The system uses some as-yet-undisclosed super-efficient heat sink technology(or magic) to reach its super-cold temperatures. The system would seem to have problems without a reliable water supply, so the Arcus carries reservoirs of liquid to condense into the cannons’ ammunition, and the Aurora Warriors have also reported been experimenting with various in-flight replenishment systems(including apparently some form of electrostatic attractor system---observers have reported seeing Arcui flying low over snow fields and apparently scooping up surface snow via a ‘reverse snow storm’ under their wings).
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD each ice-slug, plus frostbite damage to living beings; roll versus non-lethal poison or be numbed, taking an additional 1d4 MD, loses 1 APM, -2 to initiative, -1 strike, parry, dodge, and roll, and speed is reduced by 10%. for 1d6 melees.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Conditionally unlimited: insulated magazines for each cannon hold 60 slugs each. The Arcus can generate/condense 10 new slugs per gun per hour(or 80 rds per hour).

4) Shard Launchers(2)----Between the wing-mounted ice cannons are sections of temperature-controlled plating that can be supercooled to grow coatings of ice from ambient atmospheric material, or liquid reservoirs from inside the Warmount. The ice coverings can then be blasted free to act like high-density shrapnel. Though short range and rather inaccurate, these launchers can act like claymore mines in lacerating masses of ground targets, or intercepting incoming missiles.
The Shard Launchers can also be used to create a rapidly subliminating icy vapor that forms a cloud of chilling fog around the warmount when it is on the ground.
Range: (Ice Shrapnel) 1,000 ft, to a 60 ft wide area, per wing.
(Cloud of Fog/Frost)) 200 ft radius
Damage: (Ice Shrapnel) 1d4 MD per shard. Human-sized objects caught in its way will get hit with 1d6 shards, each doing 2d6 MD. Fighter- and Robot-sized targets (16 ft or larger) will get hit by 1d4x10 shards. Ships and targets 50 ft and larger will get hit by 2d4x10 shards.
(Cloud of Fog/Frost) The cold fog is thick and can confuse thermal imaging and targeting systems. Those caught in the fog cannot see beyond 7-20 ft, and are -2 to initiative, strike, dodge, and parry, and speed is cut by HALF.
Furthermore, in ambient temperatures of under 30 degrees F, the mist will freeze on the ground, creating slippery conditions(reduce speed by HALF to reduce the chance of falling to 32%; going faster the chance rises to 80%. -4 to strike, parry, roll, and dodge, while attempting to move on the slippery surfaces), as well as on exposed surfaces such as windows and optics, fouling them until they can be scrapped clean.

Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Conditionally unlimited: Can recharge a new sheathing of ice every melee.
Internal reservoirs carry enough liquid for 12 shots per wing.

5) Flare/Chaff Dispenser---Mounted in the empennage is a countermeasure launcher:
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 18 per launcher

6) Underwing Hardpoints(6, 3 under each wing)--- As a backup to the ice weaponry, the Arcus carries more conventional hardpoints on its wings. Each hardpoint can accommodate ONE of the following.
a) Mini-Missiles---19 shot pod
b) Short Range Missiles---6 shot pod
c) Medium Range Missiles---4 shot pod
d) Long Range Missile---1 cruise missile-style weapon
e) 20mm Vulcan Cannon---Patterned after a modified M-61 Six-barrel Cannon, fixed forward.
Range: 9,000 ft
Damage:(Proximity-fuzed High-Explosive) 4d4 MD single shot (2 ft blast radius)
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
2d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst
4d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 1,210 rds

f) 30mm Cannon
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single round, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst, 3d6x10 MD per six-shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 124 rds per gun

g) Heavy Rail Gun---Modified Shemarrian long-gun. Because this weapon fires single shots and not bursts, it requires greater skill to accurately put its rounds on target.
Range: 6,000 ft/1.1 miles in atmosphere, 2.2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 1.1 miles in atmosphere, 110 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per cannon.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 820 rd drum per cannon

h) Ghost Spoofer---A powerful EW system that can create up to EIGHT sensor ‘ghosts’ and project them up to 8 miles away from the Warmount.

i) ) Bombs--- Up to 750 lbs of freefall ordnance can be carried per hardpoint
*250-lb Bomb----2d4x10 MD to 50 ft blast radius
*500-lb Bomb----4d4x10 MD to 60 ft blast radius
*750-lb Bomb----4d6x10 MD to 65 ft blast radius
Bonuses for ‘Smart’ munitions: Hitting a large stationary target like a building, bridge, or large immobile vessel/vehicle is automatic! To hit a moving target, roll to strike(with a +6 to strike), A volley can target one target, or separate to attack several targets.

7) (Optional) Modular Weapons(2)---The Arcus has provision for cockpit-mounting two weapons similar to those standard to the Monstrex. These are typically mounted so as to allow the rider/passenger to cover the Arcus’s back from pursuers.

Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Has all the same standard programing as the Monst-Crane, but is configured for aerial movement and combat.
Has the equivalent of the following(for aerial maneuvering purposes):
Pilot Jet Fighter 70%(+5% per level of experience).
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Arcus intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore (Cattle & Animals, Indians, Juicers, Magic, Demons & Monsters, D-Bees, Faerie---at least with regards to identifying their relative threat level), and Wilderness( Hunting).

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 7
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +3 (+6 in flight)
Strike +4 (+4 w/ ranged weaponry)
Parry +3
Roll +2(+5 in flight)
Pull +3
Bite 1d6 MD
Beak Strike 2d6 MD
ForeClaw Strike 2d6 MD
Footclaw Slash 4d4 MD
Leap Kick 3d6 MD
Wing Slash 1d8 MD

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Arcus an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Arcui seem modeled after arctic birds of prey; patient, observant predators unphazed by the extreme climates they operate in.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of 8. The Arcus has an IQ of 11, making it very intelligent for a warmount/predator ), but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

Variants:
*EcoS-K-116TWWf----A technowizardry-enhanced variant, with actual magical weather control capabilities, would seem a logical route for a Wayfinder variant to take. PPE generators would be added, as well as spell projectors built in.
-PPE Capacity:--- 400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 20 PPE per hour, 60 PPE/hour at a leyline, 120 PPE/hour on a nexus

-PPE sensors---Detects the presence of high(20+) PPE concentrations, active magic, and ley lines in a 1,000 ft radius
-Super-Stealth(Invisibility: Superior) --- 3 minutes per 20 PPE.
-Chameleon Cloak---Useful for parking against a snowfield. One hour per 5 PPE(24 hours for 60 PPE).
-Protective Energy Field---50 MDC and 10 minutes’ duration for 10 PPE.
-Calm Storm---900 ft radius, 150 minutes’ duration per 10 PPE.
-Northern Lights----60 ft area, 120 ft range, 10 minutes per 6 PPE.
-Snow Storm---500 ft range, 300 ft area, and lasts 20 minutes per 20 PPE.
-Summon Storm---10 mile range, 4 hour duration per 50 PPE.
-TW Ice Cannon----This weapon actually has two modes,. The Ice Cannon can cause an area to be bombarded by a minutes-long hailstorm, or can generate a giant ball of ice that slams into targets, then bursts into a storm of superhard ice shards and freezing vapor(this combines aspects of several different ice spells).
Range: (Hail)4,000 ft, and affects a 50 ft radius
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)7,000 ft
Damage: (Hail)8d4 MD for 8 minutes(32 melees) to a 50 ft radius
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)2d6 MD on impact, then explodes, 60 ft blast radius, shedding hundreds of icy shards. Human-sized objects caught in its way will get hit with 1d6 shards, each doing 2d6 MD. Fighter- and Robot-sized targets (16 ft or larger) will get hit by 1d4x10 shards. Ships and targets 50 ft and larger will get hit by 2d4x10 shards. Victims must save versus magic or suffer debilitating numbness; -1 APM, -2 initiative, -1 strike/parry/dodge, and speed is reduced by 10%. Effects last 1d4 minutes, and are NOT cumulative. The Ice Ball has 70 MDC.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: (Hail)10 PPE per shot
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)25 PPE per shot


*EcoS-K-116Dw----A DarkWater variant would likely incorporate space operations capability, adding Navigation: Space, and Movement/Combat: Zero Gravity to its programming.
Speed: (Space) Mach 6

[taalismn]

Inspired by a brief remark by Blue_Lion about homebrewed belt-fed TX-Pump machine guns.

EcoS-K-117 Nitroid Utility Warmount
(aka ‘Ammo-Cow’, ‘PowderPig’)
http://s408.photobucket.com/user/taalismn/media/nitroid_zpspvabnkox.jpg.html

“It eats gargoyle and brodkil bodies and $#!+s bullets! I can put up with the sounds and the smells for that!”

It’s rare and unusual that a Warmount is designed around a single weapons system or end product, but that’s the case with the Nitroid, a utility warmount designed to produce specific munitions for a Shemarrian tribe, in this case Clan Gothec.
Though the Gothecs have long made their living scavenging the battlefields of Europe and using mainly Triax gear, especially the lower-end, commercially available, systems openly, a major bottleneck in their tribal logistics has been ammunition. When a Gothec Tinker adapted a design they’d heard about for rapid-fire machine guns using the Triax ‘pump’ round, the simple and effective weapon caught on quickly with the Gothecs and their affiliates. However, the speed with which the weapon was taken up, and at which it fired, meant that available supplies of TX-cartridges quickly dwindled. While the Gothecs could, without too many questions asked, buy from Triax of the Black Market, resupply wasn’t always fast, convenient, or discrete, and large orders of munitions were sure to attract unwelcome attention from the NGR military authorities. Second-sourcing from such smaller kingdoms as Spanish Dantegard and the New Roman Republic, who were producing knockoffs of common Triax munitions, was possible, but again, subject to what those kingdoms were willing to sell, especially in times of conflict, when the priority was to supply their own forces. Too, there was also the matter of such orders taking up credits that the Gothecs wanted to spend on other projects.
Hearing of such utility manufactory Warmounts as the Mixmaw, the Gothecs asked their North American EShemar benefactors in producing a mobile Assembly Forge-style apparatus capable of producing munitions from scratch. Because the Gothecs didn’t have the available R&D resources to do it themselves, the Horrorwoods obligingly did it for them, and soon delivered the Nitroid.
The Nitroid resembles a partially-cyborged Eurotorpid neo-dinosaur, a common enough beast in Europe, so even a cyborged example isn’t likely to attract too much attention. Internally, however, the Nitroid is a walking munitions plant! The compact nuclear-powered internal processing equipment uses a version of the Haber Process to separate nitrogen from the atmosphere, and combine the refined nitrates with other gathered materials to produce explosives(handy secondary products of all this processing include ammonia and fertilizer-grade nitrates). The Nitroids’ internal works produce TX-’pump’ style explosive rounds, casings, and disintegrating belts, all compatible with Triax weapons that use the rounds, such as the TX-5, TX-6, TX-16, and TX-17 guns.
Though heavily armored, and packing at least basic self-defense armaments, the Nitroid is not considered to be a front line unit. The onboard stocks of chemicals, not to mention finished munitions, give the Nitroid a rather unhealthy tendency to violently catch fire and explode when heavily damaged. The Gothecs will typically only bring the Nitroid up to ‘feed’ in areas they have already secured, and if attacked will hasten to get the lumbering ‘ammo-cow’ out of the line of fire and to safety.
Nitroids also tend to smell bad(especially of ammonia), and their internal workings tend to produce a lot of noise(organic gurgling and groaning) as well as outbursts of (foul-smelling) gases, giving the overall impression of a constipated, flatulent, cud-chewer(this ironically works to further the illusion of the Nitroid being a living animal, rather than a robotic mini-factory).
The Nitroid’s lumbering performance, susceptibility to catastrophic detonation, and product-specific configuration limit its utility in the field. Some Gothec Tinkers have considered patch modules that would allow the warmounts to manufacture explosive devices other than the TX rounds, using the same explosive fillings, but these upgrades are still in the offing. For now, Clan Gothec is introducing the Nitroid in numbers to its various bands and enclaves, building their infrastructure.
Since their introduction, Clan Gothec’s Nitroids have decreased the tribe’s ammunition supply problems somewhat. In times of relative peace, they’ve managed to save up enough reserve supplies to cache for trouble, or sell small amounts to affiliates, though the tribe is still reliant on what they can scavenge/buy from other sources.
Nitroids first appeared with Clan Gothec, but the Horrorwoods produced a few for their own use, and both the Skullcrushers and Wayfinders have since acquired a few for their own use. Other EShemar users would appear likely, with different Nitroid ‘breeds’ producing different ammunition types(or using a module system similar to that under development for the Nitroid) alongside existing ‘munition beasts’ such as the ‘Gretcher’ and Vola'Dry .

Type: EcoS-K-117 Nitroid
Class: Robotic Warmount, Utility
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1 passenger
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 960
Head 240
Legs(4) 175 each
Cooling Horns(2) 175 each
Height: 12 ft
Width: 8 ft
Length: 16 ft
Weight: 14 tons
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms. Additional materials are typically carried in net bags or panniers attached to the external armor plates.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 50
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 50 MPH
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Can swim at 25 MPH, or run along the bottom at 15 MPH. Maximum depth tolerance of 500 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Tinkers or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Molecular Analyzer---Nitroids have the equivalent of advanced smell for sniffing out the necessary materials to make munitions. The Nitroid can also track by smell with 60% proficiency.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Nitroids have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 150 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Internal Munitions Factory---If kept supplied with the right materials, the internal munitions factory in the Nitroid can produce TX-rounds, their propulsive cartridges, and disintegrating fiber belting(for machine guns). The system works best with already refined/processed materials, but the Nitroid can produce the necessary materials from scratch(this slows down the rate of production, though). Gruesomely enough, Gargoyle and Brodkil corpses have proven to be excellent fodder for the Nitroids’ needs.
-TX Rounds can be produced at a rate/ratio of ingested 5 MDC for every 5 rounds, and takes 10 minutes, or 30 rounds an hour, 720 rounds a day.
The internal munitions fac runs off an independent sub-brain of the Nitroid, so even when the Nitroid’s AI ‘persona’ is estivating, its internal fac can continue working on churning out ammunition.
A Nitroid typically carries about 3,000 rounds of ammunition production around inside itself.

Vulnerability:
If the Nitroid’s Main Body MDC is taken down to 15, there’s a 25% chance of the warmount catching fire, and producing jets of flaming gas that do 4d6 SDC to a 20 ft radius of the warmount. There’s also a 10% chance of concussive blasts that do 1d4x10 SDC to a 50 ft radius, as nitrate cartridges start going off.
At 0 main body MDC, the Nitroid goes off like a bomb, exploding with a force of 2d4x100 MD to a 50 ft radius, and an additional 4d6 MD shrapnel damage to an extra 60 ft beyond that.
Few Gothecs bother with fitting their Nitroids with self-destruct mechanisms, given that track record of self-immolation.

Weapons Systems:
1) Eye Lasers(2)---Standard Shemarrian warmount eye-lasers. These lasers are mounted in the head behind armored slits, and are used for both material cutting and self-defense.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single blast, or 6d6 MD per double blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Heavy Machine Gun(1)---Concealed in the head is a heavy machine gun using the same TX-style rounds that the Nitroid was created to manufacture.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per round, 1d4x10+4 MD per three round burst, 2d4x10+8 MD per six-round burst.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Reserve of 300 rounds. This can be restocked from the internal manufactory.

3) Nitric Acid Spray----A product of the Nitroid’s internal artificial nitrogen fixation processes, this acid can be sprayed from ports in the head or rear on targets.
Range: 150 ft and can cover a 15 ft wide area.
Damage: 1d8 MD per melee for 1d6 melees.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Reservoir with enough for 10 shots. Can regenerate supply at one burst per 20 minutes.

4) Ammonia Vapors---In the alternative, the Nitroid can spray choking acrid ammonia vapors that burn unprotected eyes and respiratory passages.
Range: 150 ft and can cover a 15 ft wide area.
Damage: Victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, plus lose one attack/action per melee for 1d6+1 melees.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Reservoir with enough for 30 shots. Can regenerate supply at one burst per 10 minutes.

5) (Optional) Modular Weapons(2)---The Nitroid has provision for torso-mounting two weapons similar to those standard to the Monstrex, or, more likely, using modified small arms available in Europe.

Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Baseline Shemarrian Animal Programming, plus:
Salvage 90%
Mining & Excavation 85%
Recycling 95%
Chemistry 98%
Chemistry: Analytical 80%

The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Nitroid intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore (Cattle & Animals, Indians, Juicers, Magic, Demons & Monsters, D-Bees, Faerie---at least with regards to identifying their relative threat level), and Wilderness( Hunting).

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +2
Strike +2 (+3 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +2
Bite 1d6 MD
Stomp/Kick 2d4 MD
Body Block/Ram 4d6 MD
Full Speed Ram(2 attacks) 1d4x10 MD
Head Butt 3d6 MD
Horn Gore 4d6 MD

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Nitroid an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Nitroids tend to emulate their Europtropid inspirations in terms of temperament; they are slow to anger and stodgy, but if pushed can respond with surprising ferocity. For the most part, they’re content to move along, graze, and excrete ammunition and fertilizer.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of 8 ), but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

Options:
*Blast Plate---The Eurotorpids on which the Nitroids are based were noted for having vulnerable bellies. In the case of the Nitroid, the reverse is true; the Nitroid can be fitted with ventral plates that serve to both protect from mines, but also to redirect any internal blast damage AWAY from bystanders. Armors the underside of the Nitroid against IEDs and land mines. These weapons now do HALF damage, and adds 200 MDC (applicable to the UNDERSIDE only). But the warmount is now 1,000 lbs heavier, and reduce maximum speed by 10%. With regards to internal explosions, reduce the effective blast radius and damage by HALF(except in the UPWARD direction, in which case DOUBLE damage and range).

*Internal Fire Suppression---Another modification aimed at decreasing the volatility of the Nitroids. This negates the chance of fire at 15 MDC Main Body, and also reduces the damage done by incendiary weapons to the Nitroid by 1/4, and negates any chance of fire ignition. This is an active system, with 25 shots of fire retardant chemicals.

*Appliqué Armor---This is additional armor added as animal barding. Up to 300 MDC of additional protection can be added, but reduce maximum running speed by 25%.

[kronos]

Inspired by a brief remark by Blue_Lion about homebrewed belt-fed TX-Pump machine guns.

EcoS-K-117 Nitroid Utility Warmount
(aka ‘Ammo-Cow’, ‘PowderPig’)

Nice!

[taalismn]

Inspired by a brief remark by Blue_Lion about homebrewed belt-fed TX-Pump machine guns.

EcoS-K-117 Nitroid Utility Warmount
(aka ‘Ammo-Cow’, ‘PowderPig’)

Nice!

Thanks. Another addition to the Nomadic Industrial Complex.
Now I just have to sketch up this Ensign-Bickford On Legs.

[Blue_Lion]

Inspired by a brief remark by Blue_Lion about homebrewed belt-fed TX-Pump machine guns.

EcoS-K-117 Nitroid Utility Warmount
(aka ‘Ammo-Cow’, ‘PowderPig’)

Nice!

Thanks. Another addition to the Nomadic Industrial Complex.
Now I just have to sketch up this Ensign-Bickford On Legs.

Interesting.
And thank you for crediting the remark.

[taalismn]

[Interesting.
And thank you for crediting the remark.

And combine it with what Kronos quipped, and...well, you'll see...

[taalismn]

What happens when I combine comments by Blue_Lion and kronos:


*Gothec EsCGRG01 ‘Gausser’ Rail Gun
(aka ‘Kludgebolter’, ‘Jawbreaker’)

<<“Sweet shooting, Herr Wrencher! Those brodkil seemed to be expecting to sneak up on us, but didn’t expect us to detect them so far out! And certainly not take action against them so quickly! They were so surprised their heads exploded! That burst of yours took that one right in the mouth! Hah! Take that, mouth-breather!”>>

The Gausser is a Clan Gothec effort to create an exploding ammunition rail gun based on the Triax TX-’pump’ round. In order to make the composite-cartridged TX round suitable for firing from rail guns, it was necessary to add two small rings of electro-conductive metal to the shell to allow the gauss magnets to take hold and repel the round. The propellant cartridge still goes off in a conventional firing chamber, but adds velocity to the shell going into a stator ring-lined barrel that further accelerates the round for added range. Fortunately, not much metal is needed for this, so production of the munitions was not significantly hindered by the necessary additions, and the altered rounds can still be fired frm regular TX-style projectile weapons compatible with the ‘pump’ round. The dual propellant/electromagnetic accelerator system requires a little more maintenance, especially barrel cleaning to remove powder residue that can build up past the firing chamber, but otherwise the design is very rugegd and reliable. In a pinch, if the electronics fail or are neutralized(as with a spell or EMP attack), the weapon can still fire as a conventional blowback-actuated grenade launcher.
By EShemar standards, the Gothec Gausser is a large, chunky, unwieldy weapon, typically mounted on warmounts and vehicles, but occasionally carried by the stronger and larger tribe members. Clan Gothec loves their homebrewed hybrid weapon, however, and Gaussers have been showing up with increasing frequency with their forces. The Gausser gives Clan Gothec a good solid, hard-hitting, long-ranged weapon in keeping with their Shemarrian origins, scrounger culture, and European surroundings, without having to import obvious ‘alien’ technology(such as Shemarrian rail guns), or use large obvious heavy weapons like Triax-made rail cannons.
Note: The improved Gausser first sees use in upgrading Clan Gothec’s Nitroid Warmounts, replacing the more conventional head-mount heavy machine gun.

Weight: 95 lbs, plus 30-100 lbs for the ammunition drums.
MDC: 80
Range: 5,500 ft. 2,000 ft without the stator ring boost.
Damage: 4d6 MD per round, 1d4x10+4 MD per three round burst, 2d4x10+8 MD per six-round burst.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Belt-fed, with a typical belt having 240 rounds. Rifle-model gaussers can use ‘saddle drum’ magazines with 30 rounds each(60 total).
Special Features:
*Power Link---Links to a warmount, vehicle, or robot powerplant to power the gauss element of the weapon.
*Dual Electric/Blow-Back Operation
Cost: Exclusive to the Shemarrian Tribes, but Triax would, if they learned of the Gausser, pay 60,000 credits or more for a working example of the weapon, with an eye towards possibly copying it for their own use.
Options:
*Attachable Buttstock(Rifle version)

[kronos]

What happens when I combine comments by Blue_Lion and kronos:


*Gothec EsCGRG01 ‘Gausser’ Rail Gun
(aka ‘Kludgebolter’, ‘Jawbreaker’)

Yup, one of the best parts of this thread is some off hand comment sparks ideas, like the wolf breeds,the above two Gothec items, and others.

[taalismn]

What happens when I combine comments by Blue_Lion and kronos:


*Gothec EsCGRG01 ‘Gausser’ Rail Gun
(aka ‘Kludgebolter’, ‘Jawbreaker’)

Yup, one of the best parts of this thread is some off hand comment sparks ideas, like the wolf breeds,the above two Gothec items, and others.

Not quite Spacebattles, where they weaponize just about everything, but pretty close. We did, after all, weaponize kitten launchers.

[taalismn]

Illo for the Nitroid now up:
http://s408.photobucket.com/user/taalismn/media/nitroid_zpspvabnkox.jpg.html

[taalismn]

*GOPT-01 Plasma Burner

<“That thing looks like it’s been hit by a blast furnace blow-off . With all that carbon scoring, I can hardly tell that there’s a Triax Black Knight under all that soot and char! Excellent work, Freidric, you raise faux destruction to a fine art!”>

<<“I don’t care if that fleshbag DID ask you to light her cancer-stick! You don’t show off with your plasma torch like that! Now our business contact’s afraid to meet with us and we’re banned from that bar!”>>

This is actually a very low-powered incendiary plasma torch meant as a burning tool for clearing brush and quickly burning paint off scavenged wrecks, but it can double as a fearsome anti-personnel weapon, as it looks just plain menacing. The frame is that of the Waffentek WT-10 Laser Pistol, but instead of feeding power into a lasing crystal, the e-clip/powerlink powers a tubular superheater coil that draws in ambient atmosphere and superheats it to ‘cool’ plasma temperatures and then uses a magnetic expulsion ring to project it. The plasma is cool enough to not damage megadamage materials, but hot enough to scorch and vaporize SDC materials.
Clan Gothec and Steel Gaian techs both developed this device almost simultaneously and independentally of each other. The Gothecs use theirs to quickly remove telltale paint schemes from scavenged wrecks and vehicle hulls, or to weather or rough-up equipment, making it look aged or wrecked from a distance(a good way of disguising, from a distance, the fact that a robot or vehicle is fully functional, by making it look like a scorched hulk). It’s also pretty good at melting zombies.

Weight: 2.3 lbs
MDC: 6
Range: 100 ft
Damage: Focused stream does 1d6-5d6 thermal SDC to a 1-10 ft wide area, and has an 80% chance of setting combustible materials on fire.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 150 shots per standard e-clip, or 15 minutes of continious cutting per e-clip.
Cost: 3,000 credits
Options:
*Metal-Mister---This originated in solder-application devices mounted on the barrel, but some engineers took it it further. This allows the weapon in tool mode to produce a fine mist of metallic vapor, for spray-plating surfaces in a quickset metal paint or, with repeated applications, thicker coatings. Used offensively, this can be used to clog air intakes, cover sensors, and mess up sensitive external electronics on machines; against living targets the metal mist is stinging and burning on bare flesh, blinds if hitting unprotected eyes, and can prove lethal if inhaled.
` The material usually used is solder, lead- or aluminum-based, though some engineers have experimented with nearly pure silver(spraying a vampire with it will do 4d6 HP...and spraying a vaporous-form vampire with silver will cause it to drop out of its vaporous form---bear in mind, though, it will be at best 60 ft away from the shooter, so have help ready with better weapons).
Range: 60 ft range; short range because the vaporized metal condenses quickly. A single application can be typically used to cover a 10 ft square area of surface with a thin (paint-thin) coating of metal.
Damage: Does 4d6 SDC burn damage against unprotected flash, 3d6 Hit Point damage if directly inhaled. Can cause (60%) chance of permanent blindness if sprayed into unprotected eyes. Will clog air filters within 1d4 melees. If sprayed on electronic antennae, it interferes with their operation(cut range and effectiveness by 1d8x10%), and if sprayed on artificial optics, the cooling metal becomes congealed and difficult to remove(victim is effectively blinded until the coating is removed....typically takes 1d4 minutes).
Payload: Typical soldering rod can give up to 3 spray applications....A ‘melt’ takes 1/3 of a normal MD shot(1 MD shot = 3 spray-melts)

*Flare Spray---This barrel attachment sprays a cloud of very fine metal dust into the plasma cloud, the metal combusting in a very bright conflagration, producing an effect similar to Blinding Flash, and lingering in a glowing cloud for 1d4 melees, making it difficult to see anything through the burning cloud. Anybody caught in the cloud without respiratory or eye protection takes the same damage as for metal mist as described above.
Payload: Dust bottle has enough for 12 shots.

[DhAkael]

Happy International Woman's Day
From the entirety of the Shemarrian Star Nation, Terran Freeholds and the various fringe-tribes!