[Phantasmagoria] New Class: the Automaton (DCC)

This is a class for my WIP sword and planet/science-fantasy setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics, currently called Phantasmagoria. Theme-wise, I'm thinking Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, with a wee bit of Warhammer 40k. And of course, any genre that begins with science has to have some robots in it! This class is based on Marvin the Paranoid Android and C-3PO in particular, but androids in general.

Automatons

Automatons are the universal debris of ambitious magitechnicians across the universe, thrown aside once they realize someone else has done it before, and done it better. They are left to find a purpose and something to glean from their existence, without any parental figures to guide them. Some automatons form insular communities, either existing under the radar of larger cities or founding their own cities, while other automatons find a group that can recognize them for their talents, not for their past.

Automatons, despite being wholly mechanical, still have a few needs. They will need additional fuel every couple months in order to keep running and need eight hours of rest each night in order to let their batteries recharge. Additionally, the magic wrapping an automaton’s conscience allows mind-affecting magic to affect an automaton, regardless of their artificial status.

Hit points: An automaton gains 1d10 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: An automaton is proficient with any weapon integrated into their chassis. Automatons begin play with one weapon of their choice integrated into their chassis. Automatons do not wear armor of any kind.

Sociopath: An automaton can never truly identify with organic life forms, or ‘organics’, and for this purpose, it has a maximum Personality score of 15. The actual personality score should be recorded in parentheses after the modified score, like this: 15 (17), but for all game purposes, the automaton’s Personality score is 15.

Modularity: An automaton’s chassis is built to accept various modules and upgrades. At every new level, including level 1, an automaton rolls 1d30 and consults the following table to determine what new module they have gained. Ignore any results you have already rolled and roll again.

d30	Module Implanted
1	The automaton does not gain a module this level
2	Integrated weapon: Attacks move up one step on the dice chain with an integrated weapon
3	Reinforced chassis: +1d4 additional hit points
4	Armored plating: +2 bonus to Armor Class.
5	Targeting system: Attacks with any ranged weapons move up one step on the dice chain
6	Mapping module: The automaton has perfect recall of the layout of any building it has been in before
7	Nightvision: The automaton can see in the dark1
8	Vacuum tubes: The automaton has an eidetic memory
9	Spell repeater: The automaton learns to cast one first level spell with an effective caster level equal to one-half of their level
10	Rocket propulsors: The automaton’s speed doubles
11	Nuclear generator: The automaton does not need to rest for eight hours each night
12	Trash compacter: The automaton can crush ten cubic feet of loosely packed matter into a 1’ x 1’ x 1’ cube.
13	Projector: The automaton can project their thoughts or the contents of a holodisc onto any flat surface
14	Empathy unit: The automaton has synthetic emotions and their Personality score can exceed 14.
15	Medical synthesizer: The automaton can synthesize basic medical compounds. This works as the cleric’s lay on hands class ability, except the base disapproval rate is one through four and they roll on the Automaton Malfunction table.
16	Encyclopedia module: The automaton has approximate knowledge of many things1
17	RNG: The automaton can randomly generate numbers
18	Self-destruct: The automaton’s death causes a fiery explosion that deals 3d8 to all enemies in a 20’ radius
19	Navigations system: The automaton can adequately drive a spaceship1
20	Infrared vision: The automaton can see heat signatures
21	Jack of all trades: The automaton rolls a d12 instead of a d10 on all checks for untrained skills
22	Holographic disguise: The automaton can disguise itself through the use of an appropriate hologram1
23	Universal translator: The automaton can understand, but not speak, all common languages
24	Secondary processor: The automaton increases their Intelligence by three points.
25	Beverage dispensary: The automaton can create a nutritious sludge that vaguely resembles tea
26	Taser fists: The automaton can deal 1d8 points of damage with an unarmed attack
27	Luck siphon: The automaton can drain willing targets of their Luck score, up to three points per day
28	Fireproof: The automaton is immune to fire attacks.
29	Nanobots: The automaton heals 1d6 damage/hour
30	Roll twice and gain both results

1Consider this as a skill that the automaton is trained in.

Automaton malfunctions: Whenever an automaton rolls a natural 1 on any roll of an action die, they roll on the following table, adding their Luck modifier to their die roll.

1d12	Automaton Malfunction
1 or less	The automaton catches fire, taking 1d6 points of damage every round until it’s extinguished
2	One of the automaton’s modules breaks
3	The automaton’s circuits explode, dealing 1d12 damage to the automaton
4	The automaton’s gears catch and it cannot move until they are fixed
5	The memory banks are temporarily wiped
6	The automaton is infected with a virus; all dice they roll for 1d7 days move one step lower on the dice chain
7	The automaton runs into a paradox, stopping it from taking any action besides protecting itself
8	The automaton’s speed is halved
9	The automaton suddenly runs out of fuel
10	The automaton cannot hurt any intelligent or humanoid life for 1d14 hours
11	The automaton’s artificial brain stalls; making it completely immobile for 1d8 rounds.
12 or more	The automaton desperately needs an oil bath

Level	Attack	Crit Die/Table	Action Dice	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+0	1d8/II	1d20	+0	+0	+1
2	+1	1d8/II	1d20	+0	+0	+1
3	+2	1d10/II	1d20	+1	+1	+2
4	+2	1d10/II	1d20	+1	+1	+2
5	+3	1d12/II	1d20	+1	+1	+3
6	+4	1d12/II	1d20+1d14	+2	+2	+4
7	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d6	+2	+2	+4
8	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d20	+2	+2	+5
9	+6	1d16/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+3	+5
10	+7	1d16/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+3	+6

[KotR/etc.] Updates and Such

Firstly, I've decided that I will be submitting a 3,000 preview of Knights of the Road to Charlie Mason's The Wizard's Scroll zine! I should be able to knock that out over the weekend, and will be probably putting some additional KotR material in my (recently named) Extinguish the Sun 'zine, coming out at an undetermined date.

Additionally, I've begun to collect a few OSR tidbits and house rules in case I want to make a B/X retroclone incorporating them... There may be more news on that later, or not, based on how far I get with it. I'm also working on a DCC RPG compatible Spelljammer-esque setting that I should get more information on later.

[KotR] Driving Mechanics

This post is about how driving works in Knights of the Road, my WhiteBox compatible post-apocalyptic setting.

Driving systems, in my opinion, are always too complex in most RPGs, with players having to juggle several numbers just to make a U-turn. Because of this, I've decided to reduce any driving check to one roll. But, a d20 has a tad too much randomness for my liking, as good drivers should be able to consistently drive well. In order to fix this, I've decided to make driving checks use 2d6.

The most relevant attribute would be Dex, but I would rather use Wisdom as a modifier (using the to-hit modifiers for Strength). This means that when you are driving in dangerous circumstances, you roll 2d6 and add a number based on your Wisdom score. I do like even numbers, so target numbers can be 6, 8, 10, or 12.

Combat in cars should also be simple, but vehicles do provide additional protection when compared to regular armor. How I'm handling this is somewhat inspired by WotC's Star Wars Saga Edition's force fields. Each car has an armor rating. Any damage that exceeds this number goes towards the crew and reduces the armor rating by 1. Attacking cars is the same as regular ranged attacks.

Example: Alice opens communication with Bob via a sheet of lead bullets. She rolls a 14, adding 1 for a high Dexterity score, beating Bob's AC of 12. For damage, she rolls 6 on 2d8, which surpasses Bob's car's armor rating of 4. Bob takes 6 damage and his car's armor rating is reduced to 3 until repaired.

Knights of the Road Inspiration

Knights of the Road, my Swords and Wizardry WhiteBox setting/expansion, is primarily based on the following sources in media:
Movies:

• Blade Runner
• Dr. Strangelove
• Five Deadly Venoms
• Mad Max
• Master of the Flying Guillotine
• The Matrix
• Wizards
• Zardoz

Books:

• Tank Girl
• Railsea
• The Postman
• Dying Earth series
• The Dark Tower series

TV Shows:

• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
• Thundarr the Barbarian
• ThunderCats
• Xena: Warrior Princess

These sources of inspiration are almost exclusively from the 80's (Mad Max, Tank Girl, He-Man, etc.), except for a few outliers like the Dying Earth series and Dr. Strangelove. In order to create this list, I started off with a few key points (Tank Girl, Mad Max, He-Man) and started finding other sources that I had read or seen earlier and that I felt would be a good inspiration for the genre of game that I'm working on, like related cartoons to He-Man (Thundarr the Barbarian, ThunderCats, etc.), movies that had a more martial arts/cinematic vibe (Five Deadly Venoms, Master of the Flying Guillotine), and sources that had a similar setting (Railsea, Dying Earth, Wizards, etc.).

Now I have a list of shows, books, and movies that I feel, as a whole, more completely encapsulates the genre of game that I'm trying to reach (cinematic, post-apocalyptic fantasy with a focus on vehicular combat) and can evaluate my rules and game based on how true to the base material the game is.

Knights of the Road

Knights of the Road is my name for a minor wargame/S&W WB supplement I'm working on, that is trying to emulate Mad Max and Tank Girl in a fantasy-esque setting. Think WH40k meets Car Wars via OD&D. Hopefully I'll be able to post more about it soonish. It may end up going in that 'zine I was talking about earlier.

More Musings on an OSR Zine

I'm still working on getting an OSR zine together and have contacted a few artists about doing some art for it. If all goes well, maybe it'll all be together sometime next year. Format wise, it will be a 32 page, 8.5"x11", saddlestitch booklet published through Lulu and a PDF version through DTRPG. It'll probably have a polished version of the Troika! inspired RPG I posted about yesterday, a polished version of the LotFP monk class I posted a while back, and some other gaming miscellany.

And all of this is after I write the last bit for the OtSoG stretch goals and at least the majority of the DCC compatible version.

On Designing an OSR RPG

After reading Troika!, designing my own OSRRPG went to the forefront of my mind. So of course, after two days of work in my free-time, I now have a (quasi-almost) playable draft.  It basically uses proficiencies from Skills and Powers, random magical power based on IQ like AD&D psionics, and is around as rules-light as TBH/Troika!. Currently I just have to write all... 99 spells before it's playable and I can start playtesting. (Maybe having a d100 table for which spell you learn wasn't a good idea...)

Link to the WIP Draft

If I can finish writing the spells, play test the system, and throw a framework of a setting around the rules, I might commission some artwork and publish it, but that's a far ways away right now.

EDIT: After a long time brainstorming spells in my free time, I managed to get a complete list and will hopefully finish the rules skeleton this weekend.