Toys of the Iron Nation
By Rob Pool (robert69@usa.pipeline.com) for the Iron Nation.
G-tek and how it Works
G-tek and those robots created using it are interesting in that they aren't exactly chimera. The only place where glamour is used is the robot's power plant; the rest of the robot is as real as you get. However, this doesn't mean the robot is glamour/banality proof. Because it runs on glamour, it is fully effected by cantrips, dooms, chimera, and treasures. It'd be quite a surprise if a bystander sees a big robot walking down the street chasing a guy who leaps 20' in the air, sticks the robot with a sword and seems to 'kill' it. Note that sentient robots can see chimera, treasures, and a changeling's true seeming. Also, all G-tek robots, because they are designed by Nockers for the most part, have some form of Nocker flaw. Although, in truth, this flaw should vary from machine to machine, the most common flaw is listed with each design.
Common Robot Benefits
All Robots have some form of energy weapon and are equipped with Radios for communicating with HQ or each other. This Radio actually functions without speaking although most robots know the basics of the local language and can actually speak. There are also some cases where the robots are linked together to form one conscious, aka Neural Net (or NN). NN's give their operators/masters better control over them and eliminate the stupidity factor in most Soldier-class bots. However NNs also have the problem of being hacked into by Mad Robots (see the Robot Kith later on in the file).
Robots
IN3 Soldier-class assault robot
Statistics
Physical: Str 5 Dex 1 Sta 4
Social: Cha 1 Man 1 App 1
Mental: Int 2 Per 3 Wits 2Talents: Alertness 3, Brawl 2, Dodge 1, Kenning 3
Skills: Firearms 3 Melee 3
Knowledges: Computer 3
Glamour: 4
Banality: 5
Willpower: 2
Weapons: Laser gun (replaces left arm. Diff. 6 Dmg. 5 rate 1)
Fist does 6 dice of dmg.
Health levels: Ok, Ok, -1, -1, -2, -3, -5, incapacitated.
Armor: 6 (it's that thick) Nocker Flaw: Clumsy (note Dex 1) and bad order taker
Appearance
The Soldier-class robot looks like a cross between a Victorian-style steamtek robot and a walking garbage can. If you've ever played the Video game 'Chrono Trigger', then most Hunters have an uncanny likeness to the character Robo. They stand at about 6'6" and have a larger torso than their arms and legs, although this doesn't hamper their movement (any less than it is now). Hunters can speak but it will always 'sound' distinctly like a robot. Their paint jobs vary between complexes and units, but metallic colors (Silver, Bronze, ect.) are among the more common shades used along with black, red, green, and blue.
ST Notes
The Soldier forms the base of the Iron Nation's Army and serve as their foot soldiers. They are tough and fight well enough on their own to cause major havoc. Their only major problem is they are clumsy due to a dexterity of 1 and have a hard time taking complex orders (roll int. + alertness vs. a difficulty of 8. Failure means the robot will stand around confused for one round responding 'command not comprehended. Please Repeat.') although Neural Nets tend to eliminate this problem and they can acomplish the 'kill intruders' command with no problems. They also tend to clank loudly as they walk (-2 to any perception tests to notice them).
IN5 Panther-class Stealth Robot
Statistics
Physical: Str 2 Dex 4 Sta 2
Social: Cha 2 Man 1 App 1
Mental: Per 3 Int 3 Wits 3Talents: Alertness 2 Dodge 3 Brawling 2 Kenning 3
Skills: Drive 3 Firearms 2 Melee 2 Stealth 3
Knowledges: Computer 3
Glamour: 4
Banality: 5
Willpower: 3
Weapons: Laser pistol (external weapon. Diff. 6 dmg 6 rate 1)
Vibro-knife (diff. 5 dmg str+2)
Health: Ok, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, incapacitated
Armor: 2
Nocker Flaws: *grumble* couldn't think of one...
Appearance
Compared to the Soldiers, Panthers are physically weaker. Their strength and stamina scores show obviously in their thin body although their lighter chassis makes them more dextrous compared to the Hunter.
ST notes
Panthers are the Nation's stealth and reconaisance units. They prowl in the shadows looking onward at the dealings and affairs of the other Changeling Houses and report back. They have a special system that allows them to blend in with whatever the robot is standing against (-2 bonus to most stealth tests) although this won't work if the robot has no place to hide against (it won't make it invisible ya know). There are some rumors that the Nation has recently developed a Hologram-projection Unit for the Panther that allows it to hide itself as whatever is neccessary.
IN3-x Kamikaze-class Assasination robot
ST notes
The Kamikaze is a rather new and frightening variation of the Panther. The Kamikaze comes equipped with a Hologram-Projection Unit and carries a bomb inside it. As the name admits, It was designed for assassinations. It gets close to the intended victim by using the HPU to disguise as a person the victim trusts, getting close enough contact the victim, then goes BOOM. The Bomb does 15 dice of damage and the difficulty to soak is 8 and has a blast radius of 20'. Luckily, the robot is only in its prototype stage and very few have been created. Characters who notice something's up and attacks it will be delighted partially in knowing that only the robot can activate the bomb (you could drop a boulder on it and it won't blow-up) and it takes a full action to do it.
IN8 the 55-C class Combat Boomer
Statistics
Physical: Str 7 Dex 3 Sta 5
Social: Cha 1 Man 2 App 0
Mental: Int 2 Per 4 Wits 4Talents: Alertness 3, Dodge 4, Brawl 4, Kenning 3
Skills: Firearms 3, Melee 2, Stealth 2
Knowledges: Computer 2
Glamour: 7
Banality: 5
Willpower: 3
Attacks: Melee attacks are normal but +1 wound level.
Health: ok, ok, -1, -1, -2, -2, -3, -5, incapacitated
Armor: 4
Mouth Blaster: By spending a point of glamour, The boomer can shoot a blast of dark glamour out of its mouth. It looks like any blasts from the OAVs but it's always a crimson Red. Characters may dodge, or else they take 1 chimeric wound for every success the boomer makes rolling its glamour vs. 6.
Nocker Flaw: Bad at orders (roll willpower vs. 8 whenever taking a complex order)
Appearance
Stands at 8' tall and looks like something straight out someone's nightmares. If you've never seen the anime Bubblegum crisis, think of a T-800 from terminator, add 400 or so pounds of synthetic muscle, give it a dark blue paint job, and you have almost exactly what a 55-C looks like.
ST notes
woo-hoo-hoo. Bumas are big and bad and they to tend kick even Garou ass. I would advise not unleashing more than 1 or 2 on a group at one time as even the most experienced of characters will get smacked around some.
Non-Combative Robots/Special Robots
All the robots presented so far are war machines and are dumb as bricks, but that's not always the case. STs are free to create robots for other non-combat fields of duty. The most common ones might be a construction robot (does heavy lifting and Labor) or a sexaroid (I'll leave it to your imagination on what it does). For those invaluable special NPCs (good or evil), I recommend you use the Robot Kith
G-Tek Mecha (or G-mek)
I'm sure the majority of the people who have stuck around this long to read this are probably saying to theirselves: "MECHA IN CHANGELING! NO WAY! NOT IN MY CHRONICLES BUSTER!" However before you delete this file and flame me til I'm crispy brown, the term 'mecha' includes robotic vehicles of all heights and the ones here are, on average, about 10'/3 meters (a little bigger than most garou in crinos). They are still beatable but they can do hefty damage and are heavily armored. As mentioned under Robots, they are fully susceptible to cantrips/dooms/treasures/chimera as well as real weapons and other supernatural powers. It's not like I'm trying to do Battletech: the Storyteller game of rock'em sock'em robots...
Being a G-mek Pilot
Yes, characters can pilot a G-mek. STs may allow characters with drive (possible with a 3 or better rating) to pilot G-meks if given sometime to get used to the controls or require a new skill for G-mek piloting. For STs, all robots (NPCs) can drive G-meks. Also, in almost all cases, G-meks cannot jump or kick because of their bulkiness.
G-Tek Weapons
All G-teks are equipped with what's called a G-tek Blaster (although there are variations of this. See the flame Dragon). The G-tek blaster is fitted in the front part of the torso is a heavy energy weapons that shoots a large blast of raw glamour. The attack roll for this is dex + firearms vs. a difficulty of 7. Actual damage varies from G-mek to G-mek.
Abilities and other Notes
All abilities are the same as for their pilot and performed as normal for a character. For attributes, Social and Mental attributes are the same. Physical attributes are, obviously, different from G-mek to G-mek. For dexterity, there is usually a positive or negative modifier which means the pilot gains or loses that many pips on his dexterity when making any dexterity based tests while driving the G-mek. A dex of 0 means there is no modifier.
IN-12x Hunter-class G-Mek
Statistics
Physical: Str 8 Dex -1 Sta 6Glamour: 5
Banality: 5
Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -3, -5, Trashed
Armor: 6
Weapons: Punch (diff. 6, dmg 8)
G-tek Blaster (diff 7, dmg 10)
Appearance
To be honest, the idea of G-tek mecha (or G-mek) comes from the video game Final Fantasy 3 as is the name G-tek (it's actually Magitek/M-tek in the game, but I thought I'd change it to glamtek/G-tek to fit in with Changeling). If you've ever played the video game, then you have a good idea how most G-tek mecha looks. If not, I'll try to give as acurrate of a portrait of it as I can. The torso is large and somewhat oval shaped while the legs are short and the arms are a bit too long for the mech's height. There is no head and the pilot rides on top sorta like some people ride a camel (I can't think of a better way to say it). This means the pilot is vulnerable to attacks from ranged weapons/projectiles/cantrips/dooms/etc. although you could always to the heroically stupid thing and jump on top of the G-mek and beat the sh*t out of the pilot. The pilot is free to use the G-mek's arms (if applicable) to block attacks directed at the pilot. Hitting the pilot requires a Called shot.
ST Notes
Hunters are the basic G-mek models that any other ones are based on. This is obviously the type most characters might accidentally run into.
IN-15X Prowler-class Scout G-mek
Statistics
Physical: Str 5 Dex +1 Sta 4Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -2, -3, -5, Trashed
Armor: 4
Glamour: 5
Banality: 5
Weapons: G-tek Blaster: diff 7, dmg 10
Appearance
The Prowler is very different looking that the Hunter since it was built for stealth/scouting and not to play rock 'em sock 'em robots. In all truth it looks like a Zentraedi battle pod but 8' tall and the pilot rides on top of it similar to how on rides on a Hunter.
ST notes
The Prowler was built for doing stealth and reconnaissance although the panther robot, because it's smaller, can do a better job. However, when up against deadly opposition on the field of combat, the Prowler is more like to return alive if caught in cross-fire. The prowler is the only G-mek that can run (60 mph) and can also jump (same as for normal jumping test-roll strength vs. a difficulty of 3. each success equals 2' vertical or 4' across/horizontally).
IN-16X Flame Dragon
Statistics
Physical: Str 6, dex 0, Sta 5Health: OK, OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, Trashed
Armor: 5
Glamour: 6
Banality: 5
Weapons: Flame Blast: diff 6, dmg 13
Appearance
Looks somewhere in between the Hunter and the Prowler. It has the prowler's legs but the chasis is heavier but not as heavy as the hunter's. It also is missing arms which it makes up with its own G-tek weapon, the Flame Blaster (hence the name, Flame Dragon) which is quite a bit more lethal the regular Blaster as it can not only do plenty of aggravated damage to supernaturals, but all start fires. FD's tend to serve as the command unit for a squad of Hunters.
Other G-tek Wartoys
Another possibility is a G-mek Tank but I may or may not write it up. It could be possible to do G-tek Vehicles if you or a player wants to make one up. I'm already thinking of doing G-tek conversions to Rifts's Techomagic items...
The Arsenal of House Dougal
heh. While the other Houses think of the Iron Nation as a Joke, House Dougal and its own brigade of Seelie nockers and gearsmiths have devised several pieces of personal weaponry for use in the possible war that's brewing between the sidhe Houses and the Nation. Here are a few new treasures/equipment that might come in handy. The common ability of all these new toys is simple: they cut through robot armor like butter. for Robots, the armor rating is not added to the soak test. For G-meks, divide the armor by 3. House Dougal is fairly strict as far giving people access to these weapons so STs should take care in giving their players access to such weaponry.
The Lightsaber
Diff: 7
Dmg: Str+4
Conc: PWhile its source is quite obvious (I'm sure you can hear the Star Wars theme song in the back of your head right now), a lightsaber in the right hands can strike down a robot with little effort. Like in movies, The saber can be turned on and off as the character pleases and even hums (although a little louder since it's probably made by a Nocker).
Vibro-Weapons
Diff: As weapon
Dmg: As weapon +1
Conc: As weaponVibro-weapons (vibro-blades/vibro-knives/vibro-axes/ect) are any bladed melee or throwing weapon that uses high-frequency vibrations to increase the weapon's damage.
Blasters
Heh. Another Star Wars toy. These are basically come in the form of a heavy pistol and a rifle. They have a limited number of shots and run on G-tek batteries (discussed a wee-bit later). Note that Blasters' Nocker flaw is a G-tek dud. STs should secretly roll a d10 and on the result rolled, the blaster's shot is a dud and does nothing (other than piss off the player). This is done for every new battery popped into the gun.
Blaster pistol
Diff: 7
Dmg: 6
Conceal: J
Rate: 1
Ammo: 15
Blaster Rifle
Diff: 7
Dmg: 8
Conceal: T
Rate: 1
Ammo: 10
Afterword
Ahhh. Just about done. All that's left is to include a few little 'adventure seeds'. I've seen enough of these in other RPG supplements and usually they suck so hopefully I do a better job than them.- House Dougal wants some dirt so they can prove the Iron Nation's existence and threat to other Houses which continue to think the Nation is but a gag. Characters might be nobles or associates of the House although Mercenaries (shadowrunners? ;-)) are possible. The Nation might accidentally leak out the whereabouts of a new complex being built near-by But when they find the new complex, it's heavily guarded and very well hidden. Characters will have to use their smarts to survive as there are 4 Soldiers and 1 Hunter G-mek on guard duty not to mention the 5 panthers that are on patrol in the woods. If they get caught and somehow survive, They can always try, try, again although the security will get tougher. If they're smart, one of the characters will have a camera with him/her. This could lead into other things such as an assault on the local freehold/castle or even a war.
- A Robot (see the Robot Kith) has come to his sense and run away from his Makers, the local Branch of the Iron Nation. In its haste to get away from the soldiers obviously on his tail, the poor bot gets befriended by a group of Changelings (the PCs). But when the bot's enemies show up to haul his butt back to HQ for reprogramming (or worse, immediate termination), can the PCs defend their new friend and survive? Might be particualrly interesting to spring on a group a childlings/little rascal-type characters.
Well that's about it. Feel free to use this all as you please and if you make any new bots or anything, mail me them -- I'd luv to check them out. If you want to put this up on your web page, feel free to do it as long as you include my name, e-mail adress, and my homepage's URL (http://www.best.com/~kenobi/SR/kyrin.html). All comments and flames should be mailed to the adress below.