Robot Hit Dice

[1970]

Are robots supposed to be stupid powerful in regards to HD? I'd like to have an army of randomly appearing robots, like free-roaming skelebots from Rifts, but if each one can take down a settlement by itself, well, it seems a little excessive.

I know I can just roll my own, but I'm a little lazy. Anyone have any thoughts?

[gentleman john]

Robot HD are whatever you set them to, for your game. Just bear in mind the following:

- The average 1st level PC will have 11 HD.
- Robots are likely to be better armoured than the average starting PC, mainly due to their construction.
- Many advanced weapons, and quite a few mutant abilities, have effects that go beyond raw damage.

If you want to have free-roaming robots, then the HD you assign them should be in accordance with how tough you want them to be. You could take a look at the Monsters section of the rules to make a comparison, rather than looking at the example robots. Just remember that HD affects how hard it is for the robot to hit your PCs, and that it will also affect the amount of XP that the PCs get for managing to defeat it - not necessarily destroy it in combat.

As with a lot of other things in the OSR games, it is rulings rather than rules that you need to be aware of.

[Malcadon]

I just use the old Gamma World rule: Robots gets 5 hit points for every Hit Die.

[1970]

I keep forgetting that 1st level PCs are fairly powerful from the get go, which is why I prefer MF to other OSR PA games, like Other Dust. Having a party of pretty buff PCs would make for a more fair fight. Thanks for keeping me on track.

I don't think I ever really read the old Gamma World books. I had them back in middle school, but other than the cover I don't remember any of it. Seems like a good rule for a manufacturer-ready robot, unless the "perfect" robot has maximum HP per die, which would allow anything less to be construed as damage taken in the field and not repaired. Interesting.

[MythAdvocate]

I would say Rifts-style skelebots might be Basic Androids. Natural Armor, Enhanced Visions, and Intellectual Affinity (Combat). Either that or something like this:

Skelebot

Hit Dice: 10
Frame: Armature
Locomotion: Legs (pair)
Manipulators: Basic Hands
Armor: Duralloy Armor (AC 3)
Sensors: Class III
Mental Programming: Artificial Intelligence (Int 3, Will 12, Cha 2)
Accessories: AV Recorder/Transmitter, Vocalizer
Weaponry: Retractable Vibro-Blade (1d8+16), Hand-held weapons (Advanced Pistol or Rifle)