How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

[Pizza Man]

It started with Black Falcon's origin. She's hunted by both Demon and IHA. They even compared notes. BF detects both for magic and mutations.

Major Tom said that this would concern his character greatly if he knew these two groups were cooperating together...just to get him.

 

So I got thinking. How would such cooperation turn out?

Q) Whats the perfect blend of technology and magic?

A) A Minute Man Robot possessed by a lower planar fiend!

 

Without making you guys do a complete write-up, how would you make a possessed robot. (I know there is no 6E MM yet, but I'm just looking for ideas)

 

This post was made in honor of all those great GMs who made Saturday nights a bit more frightening...

[Greywind]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Changed appearance. Maybe alter the SFX for the attacks.

[McCoy]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Tag team. Attacked by what appears to be a perfectly normal Minute Man. Several rounds of combat, BF getting low on END, delivered a final haymakered attack that reduces the Minute Man to smoking junk, and, wait, what in a Minute Man would smell sulfurous as it burned? Why is the smoke getting thicker? What's making it coalesce into the shape of a Balrog?

[Pizza Man]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I would send like 4 Minute Men...all identical after the PCs. One would be possessed. He would have an ego and complications like casual killer, enraged in combat. If hit, the robot would scream and go after the one that hurt it. The PCs would freak out wondering why this one is acting differently. They would mob it, and destroy it first.

 

Unfortunately, this spirit can possess any machine and simply move into the next Minute Man... and then the danger room...

chances are they would never figure out that Demon was involved...

 

As for powers, change environment fiery inferno.

[Pizza Man]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Tag team. Attacked by what appears to be a perfectly normal Minute Man. Several rounds of combat' date=' BF getting low on END, delivered a final haymakered attack that reduces the Minute Man to smoking junk, and, wait, what in a Minute Man would smell sulfurous as it burned? Why is the smoke getting thicker? What's making it coalesce into the shape of a Balrog?[/quote']

BF turns to team. "This is a foe beyond any of you. Fly you fools!"

[Starcloud]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I would take a standard Minute Man robot and remove the "Does not take stun" advantage/power. Then I would choose a DEMON-appropriate fiend and merge the two. Where the Minute Man doesn't have a stat, the fiend's stat would be added/replaced. Whichever of the other stats is higher, that's the one I'd use.

And I'd give the resulting foe all the powers of the Minute Man... but only some of the powers of the fiend.

I'd also debate a triggered transform effect: When Possessed Robot runs out of stun, transform into normal Minute-man with whatever body/end damage was taken. This would be to reflect the possessing spirit being driven out.

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

"Target: Black Falcon. Identified...

"Tactical Option: Flames Of Damnation. Locked On."

 

For visual effect, have unholy glyphs glowing on its hull plating just before it lets rip with screaming, skull-faced jets of blood-coloured fire...

[Christopher]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

So I got thinking. How would such cooperation turn out?

Q) Whats the perfect blend of technology and magic?

A) A Minute Man Robot possessed by a lower planar fiend!

 

Unfortunately, this spirit can possess any machine and simply move into the next Minute Man... and then the danger room...

chances are they would never figure out that Demon was involved...

I don't think you want to make a posessed Robot. You want to make a demon that posesses Machines.

Perhaps make him an Invisible, Desolidifed being and give him and the Robots a Multfirom, Requires 2 Users. The resulting alternate form is then the posessed Robot. The side effect of it is, that you might have to make the Robots weaker than normal to fit the Multiform (after all, accomodating magic in technology shouldn't be easy).

And for the showdown (balrog mode), use an extra Multiform.

 

For BF in particular important: Is this "Posessed Robot" still considered unliving matter after posession? Afaik a lot of her powers only work on dead matter...

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I don't think you want to make a posessed Robot. You want to make a demon that posesses Machines.

Perhaps make him an Invisible, Desolidifed being and give him and the Robots a Multfirom, Requires 2 Users. The resulting alternate form is then the posessed Robot. The side effect of it is, that you might have to make the Robots weaker than normal to fit the Multiform (after all, accomodating magic in technology shouldn't be easy).

And for the showdown (balrog mode), use an extra Multiform.

 

For BF in particular important: Is this "Posessed Robot" still considered unliving matter after posession? Afaik a lot of her powers only work on dead matter...

 

 

Reminds me of the B5 episode where all the Technomages showed up on the

station, and Londo was stupid enough to p*** off the head Technomage --

who promptly retaliated by having Londo's computer "possessed" by a program

that not only went after his personal finances (buying shares in useless items),

but played Narn opera non-stop at the same time. Talk about cruel and unusual

revenge...

 

Still, I suppose it could have been much worse.

 

It could have played Aktuh and Maylota instead ().

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

BF turns to team. "This is a foe beyond any of you. Fly you fools!"

 

Somehow, a winged hottie doing the whole "desperate stand at the bridge of Khazhad-

Dum" number just doesn't have the same kind of vibe as an old wizard doing the same

thing armed only with a staff.

 

Then again, if, after she shouts "You...shall not...PASS!!!", she promptly disintegrates

a large area of the street directly underneath said possessed Minuteman robot...

 

Now that would be pretty spectacular ().

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

First, I'd determine if a demon could possess something without a mind. (My answer would be no, and I'd stop there.)

If yes, then I'd consider the effects of possession, which is simply controlling the body which the demon inhabits.

So ... you'd have a Minuteman that a demon is controlling. Nothing else would change, IMG.

[Christopher]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

First' date=' I'd determine if a demon could possess something without a mind. (My answer would be no, and I'd stop there.).[/quote']

Every automaton has a Mind: Machine Class of Mind.

Even a simple iMac is officially considered a Machine Class of Mind.

 

So either the demon is a new kind of Techno-Posessor (his posession style power only works on Machine Class of Mind), or the Robots were altered to allow him Posession in a meaningfull way.

Also, the Posession Power isn't the only way to do posessions. Especially if the target was intended to be possessed or ordered to allow posession. This makes the robot a willing demon host, so some improved/altered abilites should be possible.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Well, if you have access to it, the DEMON: Servants Of Darkness sourcebook already describes the mechanism the organization uses for creating "Demon-Bound," DEMON Brothers partially possessed by the spirits of controlled demons and gaining superhuman powers from them. I would suggest applying one (or more) of the templates for Demon-Bound to a Minuteman robot(s) (the Minuteman character sheet from 5E Champions Universe should be easy enough to adapt to 6E).

 

As has been pointed out upthread, the Minuteman was built using the Automaton rules, so some adjustments to the costs of various abilities would be necessary, whether you eliminate the robot's Automaton Powers to reflect the possessing demon giving it a type of "life" and intelligence; or leave it an Automaton with its programming in full control, and so change the cost of the Demon-Bound template.

 

Since there are several types of Demon-Bound you'd be justified to use multiple Minutemen, each containing a different bound demon and having different Powers. You should also have fun with the descriptions of the cosmetic changes a Demon-Bound human goes through. For example, the "Face Of The Gorgon" grows scaly and his hair turns to animated tendrils. The robotic version could be covered in what looks like scale-mail, and have electrical cables writhing from its head.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Every automaton has a Mind: Machine Class of Mind.

Even a simple iMac is officially considered a Machine Class of Mind.

 

So either the demon is a new kind of Techno-Posessor (his posession style power only works on Machine Class of Mind), or the Robots were altered to allow him Posession in a meaningfull way.

 

Heh. The OP mentioned that Demon and IHA are cooperating. Perhaps with Demon's help, the IHA has come up with a new model of Minuteman Robot with a human brain inside to allow it a wider range of options / tactics. (Using the brains of deceased IHA fanatics would be best.) It is this neural interface that a summoned demon is possessing.

 

I'd make a story arc on that. PCs interrupt IHA battle with evil mutant team, resulting in deaths of several IHA members at the evil mutants' hands. A few days later, PCs learn that 1-2 of those deceased IHA members' bodies were taken from the morgue, with signs of magical involvement. Perhaps the PCs track the bodies to a funeral home where they have been left, now sans brains. Or, if the GM wants to keep the players really in the dark, they find the bodies have been cremated, thought there are also signs that somebody did surgery on the bodies beforehand (rubber gloves with blood matching the deceased, scalpels and bone saws, etc.). If you want to appear to tie up loose ends, the PCs might uncover a black market organ harvesting operation, run by DEMON -- but the brains are nowhere to be found.

 

If the PCs are REALLY clever, they might discover that something similar has happened in another city or two, giving DEMON access to a half-dozen or so IHA fanatics' brains.

 

A month or so later the IHA fields a new model of Minuteman Robot, exhibiting much wider ranges of tactics. Should one be captured, the heroes may learn of the brain wired into the robot (making it both a machine and human class of mind), but it really shouldn't work. Further inspection reveals there's some kind of dark magic bridging the connection and keeping the brain 'alive.'

 

A week or so after that, the heroes face a few of these robots themselves. During the battle, one of the robots (possessed by a demon) raises magical shields, causing a WTF? from the PCs. It's the only robot there that does this -- until it's destroyed, and the demon moves to the next one.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Every automaton has a Mind: Machine Class of Mind.

Even a simple iMac is officially considered a Machine Class of Mind.

 

Computers built with the Computer/AI rules are part of the Machine Class of Mind by default. However, Automatons are not automically part of that Class, even if they're defined as robots rather than zombies or golems. Automatons by rules definition are immune to all Mental Powers, unless they take a Complication specifically to make them vulnerable. In published books robots are often given an "Affected By Cyberkinesis" Complication to reflect that; mindless undead like mummies given "Affected By Necromancy"; and so on.

[Orion]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I see IHA mentioned here, and it seems to be a Genocide replacement. What does IHA stand for, and how is it different from the Genocide from the old books?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I see IHA mentioned here' date=' and it seems to be a Genocide replacement. What does IHA stand for, and how is it different from the Genocide from the old books?[/quote']

 

IHA stands for "Institute for Human Advancement." It began as an anti-mutant lobby group (which the public and most government institutions and superhumans still think it is), but in recent years has begun building a paramilitary force to wage direct war against mutants. From information released to date it's nowhere near as large or technologically advanced as Genocide was. Even its version of the Minuteman robot is not as powerful as the previous organization's. OTOH the IHA has been a secret "consultant" to both the American and foreign governments, and various criminal groups, on how to handle their own "mutant problems." This has enriched the IHA and given it many useful contacts.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I see IHA mentioned here' date=' and it seems to be a Genocide replacement. What does IHA stand for, and how is it different from the Genocide from the old books?[/quote']

 

The primary difference is that IHA has positive publicity because they don't have such a loaded name as 'Genocide'.

[Orion]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Where is IHA detailed at? I have no 5e or 6e material, but might make an exception for this. Genocide (anti-metahuman, not just anti-mutant) plays a large role in my campaign, but I handle it much closer to how Liaden describes IHA. Sounds like I may need to switch villain agencies, or at least take a good look and steal ideas.

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

I'd say look in 5th Ed. Champions Universe.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Armitage]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Where is IHA detailed at?

 

A book entitled Profit & Purity, detailing the IHA and ARGENT, has been on and off the release schedules for several years. It's currently on the 2012 schedule...for now. As Major Tom mentioned, the only current source for details is 5e Champions Universe.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

The background information for the IHA is mostly in Champions Universe 5E and 6E, and nearly identical in both; but the 5E version includes stats for a Minuteman robot. However, neither version gives much detail regarding their human combat agents, and almost nothing about their organizational and command structure.

 

Note that both the IHA and ARGENT will be jointly detailed in a sourcebook entitle Profit And Purity, tentatively scheduled for late 2012.

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

"Genocide" could be the internal codename for the IHA's planned 'purification campaign'... If memory serves, 4E's The Mutant File goes into detail about how Project Safeguard's information and resources were co-opted to kick start Genocide. An army of robotic 'soldiers' with anti-superhero-class weaponry, with the ability to adapt to enemy tactics and actions... hmm, starting to sound a bit Skynet here...

[Orion]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

Well, until I grab Champions Universe, I've decided to introduce the IHA as a secret political, moneyraising, and lobbying arm of Genocide. They don't take such a hard-line stance as Genocide, and so gain support in that way. They want criminalization of the use of metahuman powers, but not of metahumans. All heroes must be publicly known, but they don't call for registration. The voice of reason, so to speak. Only the upper level leaders know the two are connected, and there have been attacks on IHA offices by Genocide at times. Eventually, the news will then get out, and the IHA will fall apart. Whether they merge into Genocide, or reform as the 5e writeup, I'll decide when I get CU.

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: How would you make a Possessed Minute Man Robot?

 

This thread got me to wondering: what would a giant robot created through

the collaboration of DEMON and Genocide/IHA look like?

 

Well, this was what I came up with. I had initially intended for this to be a

battlesuit, but there's no reason that it couldn't be a much larger unit...

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38871[/ATTACH]

 

The long spikes in the forearms are morphic-metal weapons (sort of like what the

liquid-metal Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgement Day was using), which can also

be used to deliver an electrical shock, either by direct contact or at range.

 

The horned skull emblem on the chest area conceals a weapon of its own, called the

Eyes of the Basilisk. When the beam from this weapon strikes a victim in his or her

face, he or she is instantly paralyzed and helpless.

 

The gauntlets also house gas projectors, which can either spray a lethal nerve agent

or a fast-acting knockout gas such as halothane, depending upon the type of mission

(capture or extermination).

 

The primary defense mechanism of the unit is an energy-shield that extends out-

ward from its super-alloy shell, protecting it not only from conventional attacks

but also from metahuman powers such as those of Black Falcon.

 

The unit is capable of rapid flight by means of the huge thruster pack on its back,

and the attached wings provide increased stability while airborne.

 

The sensor suite of the unit is a bizzare mix of technomancy and technology; elec-

tronic sensors of several different types operate in conjunction with divination mag-

ics to identify its targets and their capabilities.

 

The battlesuit version is designed to be operated by a trained human DEMON-warrior,

while the 'Minuteman'-sized version is designed to be inhabited and controlled by a

'techno-demon' -- a malign, mystical entity which is capable of possessing and con-

trolling machinery of any type.

 

 

So, Pizza Man, how do you like my infernal imaginings?

 

 

Major Tom 2009