Hey... little help here?

[Smoke and Mirrors]

Hey, I was looking to create an uber nasty mechanical monstrosity for my PCs to take on in an upcoming adventure. I'm new to DMing so I didn't want to make it too underpowered, but on the same token I didn't want to kill them all by pushing the envelope too far. I'm hoping that maybe one of you could lend your expertise into the stats and attacks for this thingie. Piloted by two gobbers, is this steamworks tank of mass destruction. It is loaded with weaponry of all kinds, almost to the point of inpracticality. I was hoping to make it about a CR 15 or so. What do you think... can you help me?

 

[Devon]

That's a tall order, if only because there are so many possibilities within the vague parameters you have laid out.

You might consider brainstorming some ideas as to its abilities, purpose, the creatures who created it, etc.
You might want to start with 23 - 28 HD, with a decent array of abilities, if you want to keep it at CR 15.

Some other guidelines:
Size: Gargantuan
Strength 32-33
Dex 6-7
Con --
Int --
Wis 10
Cha 10

Melee attacks:
Slam 2d8, Bite 1d8, Claw 2d6, Gore 2d8

- Devon

 

[demiurge1138]

Alright, CR 15ish, Gargantuan construct...
Some ideas for weaponry:
Ballista mounts (+1 repeating ballista of speed = good!)
Molten iron cannons
Magic missiles
Lightning bolts

A possibility is that the thing is powered by a fire elemental, or something of that nature. Every round of combat has a 1% chance to have the craft explode, catch fire, overheat and shut down, or something of that nature. So, create a steam cannon, similar to a steam mephit's breath weapon (only more powerful) that lowers the chance for overheating.

Hope that helps.
Demiurge out.

 

[Smoke and Mirrors]

Thanks for the help... I like the idea of the fire elemntal powering it (and it's potential for interesting results). I'll get cracking and finish this thing up, so I can chuck this to my unsuspecting PCs next week