D&D 3E/3.5 Converting monsters from Mayfair Games Role Aids product line

[Cleon]

So does the robot count as stunned when its logic circut is going haywire?

When we get around to doing the defective droid, I was thinking it can be confused by paradoxical arguments as part of its "Mite, Mite, Mite..." weakness.

 

[freyar]

Tell you what, I'll go along with the tracked movement SQ if you drop the "hampered movement" bit. Bulldozers and the like can really plow over scree and similar debris that count as difficult terrain.

 

[Cleon]

Tell you what, I'll go along with the tracked movement SQ if you drop the "hampered movement" bit. Bulldozers and the like can really plow over scree and similar debris that count as difficult terrain.

Hmm, well I might yield on the hampered movement regarding debris that's significantly smaller than the droid, but I think it would have more trouble than a legged creature coping with terrain hampered by obstacles that aren't much smaller than it. (e.g. it'd be flustered by a set or stairs or "tank traps" that a legged creature would be able to walk through).

However, one reason a bulldozer is less hampered by scree is traction - it's got a lot of power in those treads to "plow through" obstacles. Our Guardian Droid isn't very strong, so it is more likely to get stuck in an obstacle.

 

[Cleon]

However, one reason a bulldozer is less hampered by scree is traction - it's got a lot of power in those treads to "plow through" obstacles. Our Guardian Droid isn't very strong, so it is more likely to get stuck in an obstacle.

Come to think of it, another reason a bulldozer's good with scree is that it has a low ground pressure compared to a wheeled vehicle.

Perhaps we should alter the "tracked traits" so it's good over soft ground, but bad at climbing over obstacles. Maybe like so:

Tracked Chassis (Ex): This droid does not possess the flexible torso and jointed legs of many living creatures, but has a squat, rigid body that moves upon tractor treads. This gives the droid the following traits:

• Low Ground Pressure: A tracked droid's broad treads do not sink into soft ground like the feet of a normal creature. A tracked droid can charge and run over soft difficult terrain (deep snow, sand, soft earth et cetera), and every odd-numbered square (1st, 3rd, 5th, et cetera) it moves into counts as two squares of movement. Thus, a tracked droid effectively moves at 3/4 speed over soft difficult terrain instead of the 1/2 speed of normal hampered movement.
  A tracked droid has the ground pressure of a creature two sizes smaller than itself (one-sixteen normal), so it may not set off pressure-triggered traps or hazards that it move over. For example, a 6-inch-square pressure plate designed to be triggered by the step of a Small-sized or larger creature is unlikely to be triggered by a Medium-sized tracked droid, since much of the droid's weight will be resting on the ground around the pressure plate.
• Barriers: A tracked droid can not simply step over vertical obstacles or horizontal gaps, since it has no legs. It must use Climb or Jump checks to cross obstacles that are taller than one-fifth the droid's Space or gaps wider than one-half the droid's Space. Any square that contains an obstacle taller than one-twentieth its Space (such as a curb or step) counts as difficult terrain. An obstacle does not hamper the droid's movement if it is light or weak enough for the droid to push aside or burst through by taking 10 on a Strength check.

I like that better, do you?

 

[Cleon]

Come to think of it, another reason a bulldozer's good with scree is that it has a low ground pressure compared to a wheeled vehicle.

Perhaps we should alter the "tracked traits" so it's good over soft ground, but bad at climbing over obstacles. Maybe like so:

Tracked Chassis (Ex): This droid does not possess the flexible torso and jointed legs of many living creatures, but has a squat, rigid body that moves upon tractor treads. This gives the droid the following traits:

• Low Ground Pressure: A tracked droid's broad treads do not sink into soft ground like the feet of a normal creature. A tracked droid can charge and run over soft difficult terrain (deep snow, sand, soft earth et cetera), and every odd-numbered square (1st, 3rd, 5th, et cetera) it moves into counts as two squares of movement. Thus, a tracked droid effectively moves at 3/4 speed over soft difficult terrain instead of the 1/2 speed of normal hampered movement.
  A tracked droid has the ground pressure of a creature two sizes smaller than itself (one-sixteen normal), so it may not set off pressure-triggered traps or hazards that it move over. For example, a 6-inch-square pressure plate designed to be triggered by the step of a Small-sized or larger creature is unlikely to be triggered by a Medium-sized tracked droid, since much of the droid's weight will be resting on the ground around the pressure plate.
• Barriers: A tracked droid can not simply step over vertical obstacles or horizontal gaps, since it has no legs. It must use Climb or Jump checks to cross obstacles that are taller than one-fifth the droid's Space or gaps wider than one-half the droid's Space. Any square that contains an obstacle taller than one-twentieth its Space (such as a curb or step) counts as difficult terrain. An obstacle does not hamper the droid's movement if it is light or weak enough for the droid to push aside or burst through by taking 10 on a Strength check.

I like that better, do you?

After some consideration, I'd amend the last bit to:

• Barriers: A tracked droid can not simply step over vertical obstacles or horizontal gaps, since it has no legs. It must use Climb or Jump checks to cross obstacles that are taller than one-fifth the droid's Space or gaps wider than one-half the droid's Space. Any square that contains an obstacle taller than one-twentieth its Space (such as a curb or step) counts as difficult terrain. Obstacles do not hamper a tracked droid's movement if they are light enough to easily push aside (weight up to the droid's light load).
  A tracked droid can burst through barriers instead of climbing them. This costs 4 squares of movement if the droid can beat the barrier's Break DC by "taking 10" on a Strength check, otherwise the droid must take a move action and beat the barrier's Break DC with a Strength check.

 

[Nookie]

Isnt trying to bust down a door a move action anyway? Because it has tracks are we saying it uses special rules for breaking down a barrier?

 

[Cleon]

Isnt trying to bust down a door a move action anyway? Because it has tracks are we saying it uses special rules for breaking down a barrier?

Curiously, the Rules As Written don't specify what action a Strength check to break an object is.

The breaking objects rules has:

"When a character tries to break something with sudden force rather than by dealing damage, use a Strength check (rather than an attack roll and damage roll, as with the sunder special attack) to see whether he or she succeeds."

That mentions an attack roll, so attempting to bust down a door with a Strength check could count as an attack, but alternatively it could count as a "Manipulate an Item" action (a Move action).

Because it has tracks are we saying it uses special rules for breaking down a barrier?

That's what I was proposing, yes, since the draft has "special rules" for ploughing through barriers.

 

[Nookie]

I think the move action idea works better.

 

[Cleon]

I think the move action idea works better.

The move action is regular breaking through barriers, the "take 10" bit is the special rule, which allows it to bulldoze through multiple light barriers.

We could fiddle with the numbers a bit (e.g. make it "take 8" or more or less than 4 squares of movement) if we wanted to change the speed.

Maybe it needs a bit of rephrasing...

A tracked droid can burst through barriers instead of climbing them. If the droid can beat a barrier's Break DC by "taking 10" on a Strength check, it can enter the barrier's space at the cost of 4 squares of movement (this counts as difficult terrain). Otherwise, the droid must take a move action and beat the barrier's Break DC with a Strength check to enter the barrier's space.

 

[Nookie]

ok that works for me.