This one is one of 89er’s brainchildren, and includes some fluff text of his originally written as ideas/guidelines.
Any monkeywrenching and shoehorning, chopwork and repainting done to that is my fault and responsibility.
EcoS-K-93 Gunkyard Sabotage and Salvage Warmount(aka ‘Gungooer’, ‘Gungooper’, ‘Technotwine’, ‘Kludgeyard’, ‘Sludgomatic’)
“This thing was a nightmare to develop. Over a hundred times I thought we’d just created inert and very expensive sillyputty, and another several dozen times I thought we were looking at a rampant gray goo situation. Even the Vatfathers were complaining of netcrash dealing with all the bugs in the hardware and software of this thing. And that was AFTER we decided to formally pursue the project as a whole, and not simply as a kludge of a dozen or so different programs. I’m just glad it’s out.” ---Microwrench-Sister Alna TuringsBlade, Tinker
“Wretched things slippped in before we knew they were there! Next we know, they’ve infested the powerhouse and turned it into a fortress using OUR own guards’ bodies and armor to secure it! That’s why power is out across the base! THEY control it! They’ve sealed every way in with that goo, or else have weapons sticking out of ways in! I CAN’T get power back up to the wall defenses! Yes, I can dislodge them, but I risk destroying the powerplant! As far as I can tell, they’ve filled the building with tentacles and gunk! THEIR tentacles! And my men have to cut their way through the gunk! And when we tried teleporting in, the teams drowned in MORE gunk! You’re going to have to run the wall systems off backups until we can figure another way to kill those abominations without blowing us all up in the process!”
---Kittani Centurion L’kash Avog, Splugorth Long Island outpost, at the eve of the attack that ousted the Splugorth from Long Island.
“That thing just ate my Titan robot! Worse, that’s MY robot’s railgun it just picked up! THAT’S MY RAILGUN YOU’RE POINTING AT ME, YOU SLIMEY ALIEN BASTAR-okay, less shouty, more runny.....”
“Your scoutship was DELICIOUS, and I really like the new weapons that my warmount added to itself. All that encrypted data on your AI? Oh, that was nice too. So nice, in fact, I had to share it with my sisters. But my warmount here smells tech inside you, too, and it wants it and I want it. I may not have psychic powers like you do, but I can pull all sorts of interesting things from neural’ware. I bet you keep your tasty personal secrets on your wetware. So, you threatened to have my head? It’s -your- head I’ll be having.”
Conceived of as an ‘ultimate’ concept Warmount gleam in the eyes of the Hoytist Tinkers and Vatfathers, the Gunkyard became an R&D hot potato for creating something that would represent the planet Hedoro and its fine staff. Originating from a potluck of budget skunk works projects, the Gunkyard was a neat concept that came out at the wrong time. Inspired by pre-rifts elemental embodiments of corrosion and gunk in machines, in-depth study of Malvorian anatomy with paid volunteers formed the concept. At first it was going to be a blob warmount with advanced recycling tech, but the team had to be disbanded due to Minion War reapplication of assets. The real story, however was because of creative differences. The blob faction was getting results(and would roll out the EcoS-K-D11LEx Liquidus Robotic Animal and EcoS-K-91 Myxomyte ), but the adaptive recycler design team became caught up with Malvoran biology, so it was becoming a stringy, muscle bag covering a scrapyard art piece.
Using a programmable ooze intertwined with a smart fiberglass understructure, the original was designed for infiltration and sabotage of high tech enemies. However, the results were less than ideal, due to imperfect designs and execution(early prototypes tended to fall apart after several days or even hours of activity). The mount itself moved so quickly that it threw the rider off and pulled itself apart. Engineers adapted by having the Gunkyard create an exoskeleton for itself out of common mega damage plastics, ceramics and salvage. The exoskeleton would help protect the warmount from damage and keep the rider on. Later experiments adapted a pod similar to that used in the related Mxyomyte, to which the Gunkyard could attach scavenged armatures and structures. Common exoskeletons are hodgepodges of scrapyard animal sculptures with smart glass muscular system and glossy muck dripping from it. Ultimately, after much frustration, experimentation, and reconfiguring, the design crew finally came out with a design that would hold together, accomplish the appointed roles, and be durable enough for the combative lifestyle of the EShemar.
The Gunkyard resembles a mass of thin hair-like tendrils immersed on a flowing pool of thick oily sludge, sprinkled with bits and pieces of scavenged tech and metal structure. The warmount is a controlled heap of nanotech and ‘smart’ materials which can grip, rip, reconfigure and redeposit materials at the molecular level. Its amorphous shape allows it to flow over terrain and obstacles like an octopus, or a slime mold, while its tendrils can extend, braid, and reach to pull it up and lower it down vertical obstructions. The same lack of rigidity also allows it to absorb kinetic impacts, and shrug off purely physical hits and falls.
Besides being a disassembler/assembler, the Gunkyard is also a chemical generator; it is able to produce useful chemicals and ‘breed’ nanites from raw material stock. This adds to its overall complexity, but also gives the amorphous Warmount a fantastic rate of damage regeneration.
The Gunkyard is something of an autistic savant when it comes to mechanical engineering skill. While other Warmounts may be instinctive predators, the Gunkyard is an instinctive mechanic and electrician, able to quickly scan and evaluate technology, then incorporate it into itself.
The Gunkyard can split its glassy tendrils into smaller and smaller cilia/digits to allow for ultra-fine manipulation of machinery and electronics at near microscopic and beyond levels. While they can integrate weaponry into their body, they prefer small energy weapons as to not add extra weight and fuel off their own core. If heavier weapons are desired, then the Gunkyard will typically seek to assimilate salvage with a powerplant, such as robot or combat vehicle, and incorporate the power source into its extra tonnage. Any metal in the guns, unless absolutely essential to the weapon’s operation, is replaced by a durable ceramic analog.
An astounding feat discovered is that multiple Gunkyards in one area can merge and separate to complete massive tasks, one amazing example being of a Squirm (Group of Gunkyards) working to animate a Living Death into a Demon base until the last moment when Eshemar burst out.
The main problem with the Gunkyard is that it lacks a stiff mounting structure, so any new additions tend to be temporary, and the Gunkyard cannot carry very large amounts of added equipment without the added mass substantially slowing the Warmount down. It is also a very complex Warmount to produce, so it is actually fairly rare. Ironically, their versatility as field mechanics and salvagers means that most operators of the Gunkyards thus far deployed have found cause to keep the Warmounts out of the front lines, except when salvage and recovery work brings them into contested territory. This has caused some EShemar and Lazlo academicians to want to classify the Gunkyard as a SUPPORT Warmount, and not as a combat type.
As of now, most Gunkyards are being tested by the Ghost Riders who love them to pieces for being able to piggyback onto them without a saddle(they seem to ‘swim’ in the rippling cyber-goo), Steel Gaians to defend places of importance and recycling centers, while a Squirm or two is working under Clan Scelptor to test their capabilities. The Silvermoons also have several to clean up battlefields after them, and already have their own variant.
Type: EcoS-K-93 Gunkyard
Class: Sabotage and Salvage Warmount
Crew: None; robot intelligence
One or two riders may ride on or -in- it.
Height: 7-9 ft
Width/Length: A sinewy mass of tentacles and jelly roughly 30 ft long/wide, it can stretch itself out as long as 60 ft, and narrow itself down to 6 ft.
Weight: 9,500 pounds to start with, but in its ‘mature’ form, it can weigh up to 50 tons.
Powerplant: Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Physical Attributes: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat pod for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Speed: (Crawling) Can slither at a rapid 50 MPH; can hit 70 MPH by laying down a path of super-slipspray ahead of itself on a flat firm surface.
(Leaping) Not possible
(Climbing) Excellent climber; can climb with the skill equivalency of 98%
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Can operate in space, but has no propulsion system.
(Underwater) Can paddle at about 10 MPH, maximum depth of 5,000 ft.
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Tinkers or at the behest of individual riders/owners.
*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Gunkyards have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 6d6 MD per hour, and can repair 250 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.
*Sense Vibrations/Motion Detection---The Gunkyard is very sensitive to vibrations, and can sense motion through otherwise imperceptible ground shocks. Can listen for underground activity, such as burrowing animals, tunneling vehicles, water running thru pipes, etc., as well as surface movement. Passive sensors can detect the surface movement of large animals(2 tons or more), robots, heavy vehicles, or large masses of infantry with 40% accuracy, up to a mile away.
*Molecular Analyzer---like its Liquidus ancestor and Myxomyte kindred, the Gunkyard is constantly ‘sniffing’ its surroundings, looking for chemical clues. A favorite tactic is to send a feeler ‘sniffing’ after a target, snaking into buildings and close quarters where they might have taken shelter, before the bulk of the Gunkyard tears a way in to grab them. It also likes to send tendrils into debris piles, seeking metals and usable chemicals like oils and solvents. Can effectively track by smell 84%.
*Magnetic Imaging---By wrapping its tendrils around an object, the Gunkyard can map its magnetic field and produce a 3d image of the object, including its interior structure, in a process similar to an MRI(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device. Very handy for scrutinizing an object prior to assimilating it.
*Magnetic Senses---The many superconductive fibers in the Gunkyard’s body act as a Magnetic Anomaly Detector(MAD). Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy. Can pick up active rail guns, electrical systems, and fusion reactor containment fields at 8,000 ft.
*Kinetic Resistance---As a ‘blobster’ the Gunkyard takes only 1/4 damage from projectile and kinetic damage, such as rail gun rounds, punches, kicks, and impacts.
* Integrate Armor---The Gunkyard can armor itself in bits and pieces of scrap, held together by its fibers and secreted cements. In the same way as the Myxomyte, the Gunkyard can increase its physical armor by attaching materials(typically battlefield wreckage) to itself. It can add as much as 600 MDC before becoming encumbered(reduce speed by HALF, and -1 to dodge if carrying over 600 MDC of extra material reinforcement). Maxes out at 1,000 MDC at which point the Warmount can barely move(no dodge bonuses).
*Melding Nodes---Gunkyards can merge with others of their kind to form synergistic ‘Squirms’ that dramatically increase the rate of regenerative self-repair and internal chemical production. The naturally occurring organs that allow for Squirms to merge also allow them to separate with no strain(takes one melee/15 seconds).
Squirms lose the agility(-1 if merged with another Gunkyard, -2 of with two others, lose ALL dodge bonuses if merged with three or more other Gunkyards) and speed(reduce speed by 10% with each added warmount) of individual Gunkyards, but gain the following bonuses:
-Increase Chemical Secretion production(see respective chemical weapons).
-Increase Regenerative Rate by 50% per each additional Gunkyard in the Squirm.
-Increase Physical Strength by 50% per each additional Gunkyard in the Squirm.
-Increase Tendril Length/Reach by 50% per each additional Gunkyard in the Squirm.
*(Optional) Ejector Pod--- Same as for the Myxomyte, the Gunkyard can be controlled from a special enclosed cockpit pod. However, many GhostRiders like to interface directly with the amorphic Warmount. The Command Pod is fully enclosed and equipped with booster jets capable of blasting the pod free of a destroyed or compromised Warmount and lofting it some 11,000 ft away. Some ‘riders go even further and have a hoverjet system installed(150 MPH, maximum altitude of 800 ft) allowing the ‘rider to get even further away, or to continue the fight still ‘in the saddle’.
*Horror Factor----The Gunkyard is just so ALIEN in its movements that it gets an effective H.F. of 13
*Nano Assembler: Breaks down salvage and incorporates it into its body.
*Fractal Digits: Splits its limbs into two and onwards into ultra-fine manipulators for machinery and electronics. Can also disassemble an enemy with cold affinity.
Weapons Systems:
1) Gunk Squirt---The Gunkyard can generate and expel various useful chemical secretions.
Range: 150 ft, and can cover a 15 ft wide area per application.
Damage: Varies:
(Ink-Paint)----Indelible paint. It takes several HOURS of hard scrubbing with chemical solvents, or several minutes with a sandblaster, to remove the stuff. We’re talking days or weeks before the stuff begins to fade if it stains skin.
(Lubricant/Slipspray)---Rather than trap, this makes it impossible for people and many vehicles to gain purchase. A single application(a tablespoon) will cover nearly four square feet. Slipspray is very nearly water-resistant----it takes A LOT of water, roughly 6-10 gallons, to wash away an ounce of slipspray---or regular industrial solvents will do the trick. Slipspray breaks down after 1d4 hours of exposure to air.
Effects: Anyone trying to move across the lubricant must make a roll under their Physical Prowess at -8 or go out of control at full speed. Vehicles, power armors, and light robot vehicles traveling in ground contact across sufficiently large patches of slipspray will be at -15% to their piloting rolls..failure means the vehicle goes out of control and takes on the characteristics of a giant hockey puck. Depending on the hardness of the surface(must be a hard surface, not a permeable surface like dirt or gravel), certain heavy vehicles and robots(like a Behemoth Explorer) will be unaffected, as they simply stomp the effected surface into the subterranean. Hovercraft are NOT affected either.
(Mire-Munge)---A material similar to foamed concrete. Each half-gallon application of this quick-set plastic covers about 5 cubic feet, and to cover a human sized target completely, the attacker must roll a 12 or better on the Strike roll. Anyone caught in the goo must have a supernatural or robotic P.S. of 30 or better to escape; otherwise, the target is stuck until released by an outside agency. Gloop has 2d4 MDC per application, and breaks down after 1d4 days of exposure, unless treated with a special binder chemical, and allowed to cure for 1d4 hours, in which case it stabilizes and has an MDC of 2d6+1.
(Nano-Disassembler)---Tears apart stuff, doing 4d6 MD for 1d6 melees.
(Molecular Cement)---A ‘superstickum’ normally used to hold together kludged-up weapons and armor. The goo takes 1d4 melees to take hold, after which it holds with the equivalent of a molecular adhesion pad.
(Resin)---This is a thick, translucent silicon-based resin that hardens into a glassy shell. It sets in 1d6 melees, and has 5d6 MD per application, which can cover 5 cubic feet, and to cover a human sized target completely, the attacker must roll a 12 or better on the Strike roll.. Sprayed on a living being, it can be used as temporary armor, or can suffocate them like a fly caught in amber.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 40 applications of each secretion. Or 200 applications total. The Gunkyards systems can catalyze and produce a new tankload of ONE of the above secretions within 24 hours. If merged with another Gunkyard, the Warmounts can produce TWO tankloads of different secretions per 24 hours.
2) Fractal Lash----The micro-fine molecular assembly/disassembly appendages act like a monomolecular chainsaw.
Range: Can reach up to 25 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD on a slash, 6d6 MD if it is allowed to ‘bite in’, beginning to disassemble the target.
3) Integrated Firearms----The Gunkyard’s trademark attack is to assimilate and integrate scavenged weaponry.
While the Gunkyard can effortlessly integrate multiple small arms such infantry pistols and rifles, larger weapons take considerably more effort to successfully integrate and power up. Self-contained weapons such as cyborg- and robot-scaled handheld rail guns and missile launchers will require a successful Armorer roll. Larger weapons will require a successful Mechanical Engineering roll to add such features as cooling systems and targeting systems not already integrated into the weapon, and Electrical Engineering if adding an accessory powerplant is necessary.
Example: A Gunkyard comes across an abandoned Coalition HellRaiser and the remains of its crew and instinctively decides to rearm itself. The dropped CS laser rifles and pistols are easily assimilated and linked up, but removing and mounting the H-4 Quatro Gun will take a successful Mechanical Engineering roll to repair and remount, and an Electrical Engineer roll if the Gunkyard decides on removing the Hellraiser’s still-operable nuclear powerplant and hook it up.
4) Pod Weapons(2)----These are heavy weapons mounted directly to the upper sides of the command pod. The command pod can spin in its gelatinous seating as fast as any mechanical turret in order to bring these weapons to bear.
a) Shemarrian Long Rifle---Standard and familiar heavy-hitter for the Shemarrians.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 820 rd drum
b) Pulse Laser Lances---Adapted from the Kittani Energy Lance; modest damage, but good range, and excellent accuracy(due to its light weight and integral laser sighting).
Range: 6,000 ft in hi-mode, 3,000 ft in lo-mode
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot in hi-mode, 6d6 MD per blast in lo-mode
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Bonus: +2 to strike
c) Ion Cannon---Giving a nod to the Obsidian Edge, some Gunkyard crews have modified their ion cannons to stun and paralyze targets for capture(or for enhanced psychological horror).
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Options:*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel mod that turns the cannon into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 2,000 ft, but does 5d6 MD to a 30 ft wide area.
*Neural Disrupter Blaster---A knockoff of a Northern Gun weapon(industrial espionage being alive and well), but tweaked for greater efficiency and range.
Range: 1,400 ft
Damage: (Setting One) 2d6 SDC and victim must roll versus non-lethal poison(16 or better). On a successful save the target is -3 to strike, parry, dodge, and loses initiative and 1 APM for 1d4 melee rounds. A FAILED save means the target is -7 to all actions, loses initiative, reduce APMs to ONE, skill performance is -60%, -90% to Speed, and suffers convulsions that do 1d6 SDC per round for 2d4 melee rounds.
(Setting Two) Does 2d6x10 SDC(or 1 MD), and victim must roll versus non-lethal poison(16 or better). On a successful save an augmented human(oid) is -5 to strike, parry, dodge, and loses initiative and 1 APM for 1d4 melee rounds. A successful save by UNaugmented human(oid)s results in -10 to strike, parry, dodge, lose initiative and is reduced to 1 APM, skill performance is -80%, speed reduced 95%, and suffer painful convulsions doing 1d6 SDC per melee for 2d4 MINUTES.
A FAILED save by augmented human(oid)s means the target is -7 to all actions, loses initiative, reduce APMs to TWO, skill performance is -60%, -80% to Speed, and suffers convulsions that do 4d6 SDC per round for 2d4 melee rounds.
Note: Works through most body armor up to 50 MDC. Those in armor protection of 51-80 MDC are +6 to save. Those in heavier armor, power armor, full conversion cyborgs, vehicles, robots, or who are MegaJuicers or Dragons are impervious.
d) Particle Beam Cannon---(Un)Friendly atoms.
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
e) Plasma Cannon----Based on an ARCHIE-3 knockoff of a Mechanoid weapon. Rumored to have been acquired through trade with the Blood Riders.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast. Can also fire a scatterbolt that does 4d6 MD to a 15 ft wide area, but reduce range by HALF.
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
f) Flame-thrower-----Fire and slime seem a curious mix, but being caught between being devoured alive by two inexorable forces seems to drive some opponents into gibbering mad flight from the battlefield.
Range:(Direct-Stream Mode) 230 ft
Damage:(Direct-Stream Mode)
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Note: The flame-thrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire:(Direct-Stream Mode) Standard
Payload:(Direct-Stream Mode
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 20 blasts
(Napalm) 60 blasts
(MD Fluid) 100 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 120 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 200 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
Note: If given time and preparation(and chemical stocks, especially petrochemicals or wood), the Gunkyard CAN synthesize gasoline/alcohol equivalents, producing enough for 10 blasts per hour. Increase this rate by 50%(to 15) if merged with other Gunkyards(so between them, three merged Gunkyards could recharge their supplies by 15 per hour each, or 45 total).
g) 40mm Grenade Launcher----Mini-artillery, allowing the Lost Eclipse to pin down opponents before they’re even seen, and allowing the Gunkyard to make an unhindered approach.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: (Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to blast area of 12 ft
2d6x10 MD to blast area of 40 ft w/ 10-rd burst
(Armor Piercing) 1d4x10 MD to blast area of 3 ft
3d6x10 MD to blast area of 8 ft w/ 10-rd burst
(Chemical) Varies, but typically creates a cloud 15 ft in diameter
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 250 rds
h)Dual Laser/Mini-Missile Launcher----Somehow, the Eshemar managed to get hold of a stock of Paladin Steel PS-MMLR-14 Mini-Missile Launcher Rifles, copies of the Coalition States’ CCT-M20 Missile Rifle, complete with mini-lasers.
Range:(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type(usually about 1 mile)
(Laser) 2,000 ft in air
Damage:(Mini-Missiles)Varies by Missile Type
(Laser) 2d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire:(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1, 2, or 4
(Laser) ECHH
Payload:(Mini-Missiles)20 per launcher(10 per launch tube)
(Laser) Effectively Unlimited
5) Laser Headlights(2)---Another weapon mounted directly to the command pod.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single blast, or 6d6 MD per double blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
6) Engulfment Attack-----The Gunkyard can hold targets with an effective grip that takes a robotic or supernatural PS of 50 or greater to break free. Creatures with a greater strength can break free in 1d4 melees. The Gunkyard can also contract on an entrapped target, crushing it.
Range: Melee
Damage:
(Suffocation) A typical air-breather will smother in 60-75 seconds.
(Crush/Squeeze) 2d6 MD
Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience. The Gunkyard is programmed as a mechanic savant with a proficiency for salvage and repair.
Typically has the following:
Climbing 98%
Prowl 65%
Land Navigation 94%
Radio: Basic 94%
Weapons Systems 90%
Mathematics: Basic 98%
Salvage 80%
Recycle 88%
Jury-Rig 80%
Basic Mechanics 90%
Mechanical Engineer 86%
Electrical Engineer 86%
Armorer 70%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)(applicable only to itself)
Demolitions Disposal 92%
Trap/Mine Detection 91%
W.P. Energy Pistol
W.P. Energy Rifle
W.P. Energy Heavy
W.P. Heavy
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Gunkyard intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 10(!)
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +3 (-1 if merged with another Gunkyard, -2 of with two others, lose ALL dodge bonuses if merged with three or more other Gunkyards)
Strike +3 (+3 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +4
Parry +5
Pull Punch +5
Entangle +6
Disarm +4
Tendril Lash 4d6 MD on a slash, 6d6 MD if it is allowed to ‘bite in’, beginning to disassemble the target.
Tendril Crush 2d4 MD
Body Crush/Squeeze 2d6 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d8 MD (+1d8 MD per Gunkyard in the Squirm)
Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Gunkyard an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Gunkyards, though, come off as strange combinations of curious tech-seeking animals and idiot-savant mechanics. They are happiest when sorting technological debris and playing in wreckage, seeking out useful things.
The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of
, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this)
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).
Variants:
-Transluquid(aka ‘Lucistorm’)---Silvermoon variant that relies on a pure smartglass body. The variant loses its nanite corrosion capabilities, but the translucent material can absorb and redirect laser beams similar to Shemarrian Elites such as the Celestar.
*Laser Energy Absorption---The Transluquid takes NO damage from laser beams up to 500 MDC per melee(so a main battle cannon doing 1d6x1,000 MD per blast would do full damage with the overkill), and it can redirect the laser energy down fiber optic conduits and reradiate it as either harmless (if very bright) light or more concentrated laser beams, albeit at HALF the range of the original strike. The Transluquid can also split a laser attack, dividing up the MDC of the beams in variable pulses, and fired in different directions(example, the warmount gets hit with a laser that does 2d4x10 MD with a range of 4,000 ft; the damage rolled is 20 MD. The warmount can split the attack into two attacks that do 1d10 MD, with a range of 2,000 ft. If attack damage cannot be evenly split into diceable damage, add the remainder damage as bonus points; if the attack had done 25 MD, the warmount can fire a beam doing 1d10+3 MD and the other 1d10+2 MD, for example).
-Barnicade--Older and more massive Gunkyards, and Gunkyard Squirm-Gestalts, can reach a critical mass that allows them to metamorphose into a giant barnacle-like static installation form. The Gunkyard digs into the ground(ideally into a seam or deposit of minerals, although deep ruins or very large wreck do just as well) and becomes roughly bowl shaped, with a large massive central cavity lined with tendrils, and roofed over by a hard thick layer of armor plates(2d4x1,000 MD). Particularly long(can stretch up to 300 ft) and strong (effectively Supernatural PS of 40, and 200 MDC each) tentacles line the rim of the upper end, reaching to draw in additional material to feed the new machinery lining the interior. Absorbed weaponry also line the rim, providing the transformed Warmount with ranged defensive capabilities. The chemical sprays now have an effective range of 500 ft, and effectively endless supply to spray(some barnicades will build up a cone-shaped mound of hardened resin, gunk, and mixed junk around their upper works). Enemies unlucky enough to be grabbed for ‘recycling’ are dropped into a corrosive nano-bath that does 1d6x10 MD per melee, on top of being physically disassembled by lasers, plasma cutters, and mechanical tearers. The Barnicade now acts as a refinery, factory, and repair depot equivalent to an Assembly Forge, turning out chemical stocks, MDC stocks, refined materials, and circuitry. The Barnicade can also repair/refurbish Warmounts and equipment dropped inside.
In an emergency, the Barnicade’s core can still disengage and flee as a regular Gunkyard, but it reverts back to its original stats, and the rest of its built-up being is presumably destroyed(or, without its controlling intelligence, quickly breaks down in self-destruct).
