Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The 'Zotl


The 'Zotl is a common threat-being that can be found lurking amid the ruins on many proscribed dead worlds. They are robots. Or rather they are cyborgs to be exact: the 'Zotl's brains contain small arrays of plastinated neural circuits derived from canids and humans. These tiny circuits make them deadly.

The 'Zotl are most frequently found on worlds that Omega House has placed under Imperial Quarantine. Typical reasons for quarantining dead worlds in the Empire are because someone has discovered a very serious threat hidden among the ruins - or found an unbelievably valuable asset that they want to extract at a later date.

The most popular theory is that the 'Zotl are deployed during Omega House evacuations. Intelligence suggests they are built by a team of renegade Star Surgeons, and engineers from the Rossum Interface, a group that enjoys a special manufacturing retainer with Omega House.

The 'Zotl's software uses a variant of the standard R.U.R. operating system, optimized for long periods of time alone, in low-power states, and off-network. Once they detect an intruder, the 'Zotl will project a series of powerful auditory and visual hallucinations, typically of a human in distress. Once an intruder is sufficiently close to the 'Zotl, it strikes with its telescoping tailclaw, and entraps the victim in an Anti-Life Field.

It is said that the affects of the Anti-Life Field are similar to drowning.

After taking-out its victim, the 'Zotl gains the ability to project hallucinations of the victim's voice and appearance, potentially snaring additional victims.

OGL MECHANICS

The 'Zotl
Psionic trap-cyborg

ASPECTS:
  • High Concept: Ruin-stalking cyborg predator
  • Trouble: Limited by its treads 
  • Aspect: Lurks close to what it guards
  • Aspect: Psionically active
  • Aspect: Anti-Life Field tailclaw
APPROACHES
  • Careful: +3
  • Clever: +1
  • Flashy: 0
  • Forceful: +2
  • Quick: +1
  • Sneaky: +2
STUNTS:
  • Anti-Life Field: +2 to Forceful Attack on an opponent who is Grappled (see Tailclaw Stunt, below) 
  • Cry Wolf: Once per session, project the auditory and visual hallucination illusion of a person crying for help 
  • Psionic Scenthound: +2 to Create Advantage by sensing approaching prey's psionic scent (doesn't work against pure robot/android creatures)
  • Tailclaw: When a Forceful Attack with the tailclaw Succeeds with Style, an opponent has the Aspect Grappled until that opponent Succeeds with Style on an Overcome Obstacle action to escape the Tailclaw's grip.
REFRESH: 2

2 comments:

  1. I like it! Oh and nice easter egg there with the Rossum Interface.

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  2. Thanks, Trey! The Rossum Interface name came to me in an epiphany- I mean, "download".

    ReplyDelete