New Dwarven Machinist Automaton Design - Kama

General ACKS Forums House Rules
#1

Again, feedback would be appreciated. I especially need technical feedback, if any

 

Kama [5] ******

Armament; an intricate automaton at the pinnacle of ingenuity, designed in the shape of a menacing war-scythe. The blade and handle are black metal carrying eerie veins of red, with wooden grips at its butt and midpoint. It is designed for wide sweeping attacks, reaping fields of enemies as if they were wheat.  (Because it is not sentient and cannot attack on its own, its THAC0 is converted to an appropriate bonus to attack rolls.).

 

HD: 5 (up to twice machinist level)

AC: 2 (½ HD)

Weight:  4* (HD^2 * 10)

Carrying Capacity: 2* (½ Weight)

*Original weight and carrying capacity are 250 and 125, respectively

 

Attack: 15 dmg (HD x 3), dealt by a scythe

Scythe = 15  dmg → Scythe (2d6 + 3)

Bonus to attack rolls: +4 (THAC0 for a 5HD creature is 6+)

 

Exploration Movement Rate: N/A

Combat Movement Rate: N/A
 

Special Abilities: 5 (one allowed per machinist level)

No ambulatory function (-1)

Need operator (-1)

Halve weight and carrying capacity (+1)

Halve weight and carrying capacity (+1)

Halve weight and carrying capacity (+1)

Halve weight and carrying capacity (+1)

Halve weight and carrying capacity (+1)

Halve weight and carrying capacity (+1)

Sweeping attacks at no penalty (+1)

 

Direct Design Cost: 35,000 gp  ((2,000gp x HD) + (5,000gp x # of abilities))

Min. Research Library Value: 35,000 gp (+1 to proficiency throw for every 10,000 gp over that min.)

Design Time: 42 days (1 week + 1 day for each 1,000 of cost)

Design Penalty: +7 to target throw (+1 for every 5,000 gp of total cost)

 

Build Cost: 35,000 gp ((2,000gp x HD) + (5,000gp x # of abilities))

Min. Workshop Value: 35,000 gp (+1 to proficiency throw for every 10,000 gp over that min.)

*Material Quality Bonus: +1 to proficiency throw for every 10,000 gp worth of mats invested (cannot exceed base cost)

Build Time: 42 days (1 week + 1 day for each 1,000 of cost)

Build Penalty: +7 to target throw (+1 for every 5,000 gp of total cost)

 

#2

The rule as written is a little vague on the exact details of automatons being wielded as weapons, but they definitely shouldn't be giving a bonus to the wielder's attack throw like that.  My usual default is that they use the worse of the wielder's or automaton's attack throw (based on the precedent set by siege weapons, which use the worst attack throw of their operators).

#3

That seems extremely fair. The damage is already extremely high. I was also concerened about the sweeping attack bonus and the weight. This ability ignored a -4 penalty entirely. Is that too much? Also most of the weapons are roughly 1~ stone.  Should the weight impose Strength requirements? Or any other requirements to race and such? Or is all of this stuff subtle enough to be decided by the Judge in-game? 

#4

A monster special ability has a lot of power in its budget; I think 'has no penalty on sweeping attack' for a * is fine.

I think it's probably subtle enough to be decided by the Judge, but I do think it's reasonable to have some sort of requirements to use a 4 stone melee weapon effectively.  That's like swinging around a 40-50 lb sack of sand; imagine trying to recover after a miss with something like that, it's not easy.  Maybe just a -3 penalty to attacks made with it (-1 penalty per stone of weight above the normal 1 stone encumbrance of a two-handed weapon), or something like that.  The automaton system definitely does rely a lot on the Judge's judgement and this is one place where I think the Judge at the table needs to decide what works for them.