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

[freyar]

Hmmm, I guess if the PCs led some droids on a long chase, that could come into effect. I'm not sure that standby mode makes much difference; the droid can be hacked apart just as easily as if it shuts down completely.

 

[Cleon]

Hmmm, I guess if the PCs led some droids on a long chase, that could come into effect. I'm not sure that standby mode makes much difference; the droid can be hacked apart just as easily as if it shuts down completely.

Its still aware of its surroundings in standby mode, so as soon as it detects an intruder it can "power up" and deal with them.

We'll need to say what action it needs to switch power consumption modes - I'm thinking a move action to change from any mode to another.

 

[freyar]

If it had to standby to conserve energy, shouldn't it have some kind of penalty when it turns on? Or its batteries run out in just a few rounds? I want this to have some kind of effect potentially.

 

[Cleon]

If it had to standby to conserve energy, shouldn't it have some kind of penalty when it turns on? Or its batteries run out in just a few rounds? I want this to have some kind of effect potentially.

What did you have in mind?

It doesn't take very long for, say, a car to go from idling to full throttle, or for a computer in sleep mode to boot up.

 

[freyar]

Well, let's see, you suggested something like this:

Vulnerability to Power Failure: A droid runs off some kind of power supply, and if it loses power it becomes helpless and unconscious until its power is restored. All droids have internal power reserves that allow it to operate normally for a certain period of time, normally X. A droid can adopt a power-conservation regime to extend the duration of its activities. A droid running on low power acts as if it was fatigued and consumes power at one-half its normal rate. A droid on emergency power acts as if it were exhausted and consumes power at one-quarter its normal rate. A droid on standby power can observe its surroundings and cogitate but cannot move (treat as if the droid were paralyzed) and consumes power at one-twentieth its normal rate. A droid can simply switch its own power off using emergency shutdown, becoming helpless and unconscious until it is reactivated (either by an internal timer or another creature flipping the droid's "on" switch).

How about they are forced to go into power conservation mode when they are down to X days of power. Then they can leave low power mode (ie fatigued) a max of, say, 3 rounds per minute? Like their batteries are a bit dodgy.

 

[Cleon]

Well, let's see, you suggested something like this:

How about they are forced to go into power conservation mode when they are down to X days of power. Then they can leave low power mode (ie fatigued) a max of, say, 3 rounds per minute? Like their batteries are a bit dodgy.

That seems inordinately fiddly.

I toyed with the idea of saying if it only has X days of stored energy left it cannot run in full power mode, and if it is reduced to Y days of battery power left it can not run at higher than emergency power mode.

 

[freyar]

That would work just as well for me.

 

[Cleon]

That would work just as well for me.

How's this...

Vulnerability to Power Failure: A droid runs off some kind of power supply, and if it loses power it becomes helpless and unconscious until its power is restored. All droids have internal batteries that allow it to operate normally for a certain period of time, normally 10 days. A droid can adopt a power-conservation regime to extend the duration of its activities; switching power regimes is a move action. A droid running on low power acts as if it was fatigued and consumes power at one-half its normal rate. A droid on emergency power acts as if it were exhausted and consumes power at one-quarter its normal rate. A droid on standby power can observe its surroundings and cogitate but cannot move (treat as if the droid were paralyzed) and consumes power at one-twentieth its normal rate. A droid can simply switch its own power off using emergency shutdown, becoming helpless and unconscious until it is reactivated (either by an internal timer or another creature flipping the droid's "on" switch). Once a droid reaches the end of its normal power duration, its batteries have enough energy reserves for it to continue for 5 days of low power followed by 5 days of emergency power, after which it is forced into emergency shutdown. A droid operating on reserve energy can also adopt power-conservation regimes at the standard ratios (20 rounds standby power = 4 rounds emergency power = 2 rounds low lower = 1 round normal power).

 

[freyar]

Almost, but I wouldn't allow it to operate at normal power at such a small penalty. Otherwise, there's no effect as far as PCs are concerned. Maybe in the first reserve period, it can't act at normal power for more than 3 consecutive rounds, etc. Do you see where I'm trying to go with this? The problem is that it's getting quite fiddly.

 

[Cleon]

Almost, but I wouldn't allow it to operate at normal power at such a small penalty. Otherwise, there's no effect as far as PCs are concerned. Maybe in the first reserve period, it can't act at normal power for more than 3 consecutive rounds, etc. Do you see where I'm trying to go with this? The problem is that it's getting quite fiddly.

Eh? In the latest draft it can't operate at normal power at all in in the first reserve period. That's a worse penalty than being able to act at normal power for a few rounds.

Surely being able to boost to normal power for three rounds when in "reserve period" is more fiddly, since it's one more thing to keep track off - how much "reserve power" it has left and how many rounds of normal power it's used up.

Besides, there's a good chance it'll only last a few rounds of combat, so three rounds of normal power may well be all it's able to use.

It's easier if the DM only needs to know what its current maximum power is and how much duration they have left, and they only need to keep track of the duration if they expect the droids to be operating on a strategic timescale.

In breaking news, I'm happy with the current draft.