Zed-F Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 I'm creating a hydra-like robotic summon, and need some help coming up with a suitable defensive power. This robot is not terribly large, about man-sized or a bit smaller, and doesn't have a ton of basic defenses such as PD/ED/CON/STUN (and is not necessarily an automaton either.) However, it is built of 9 independent sub-robots that combine to form the whole. Currently my thought is that its main offensive powers will be (a) a small HKA for bite attacks, and ( fire-based ranged attacks. I'm trying to think of a suitable defense power besides extra PD/ED that would be appropriate for a hydra. One possibility is smoke-based Darkness, but I am concerned that may not be effective as (a) I wouldn't want this to blind its allies too frequently, and ( a darkness field is pretty much a dead giveaway as to the general area it's in. Anyone have other suggestions? Or suggestions on how to make darkness an effective defense power in a relatively crowded combat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEmerged Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 /begin theory Sun Tzu said that the way to be guaranteed a defensive victory was to defend where there is no attack. Often, the best defense is to "beat" the opponent at a game they aren't playing. /end theory /begin practical Images is a wonderfully sutble power with some nasty effects in practice. It really comes into its own when combined with other powers. In my experience, Invisibility makes a "better" defensive power than Darkness or Flash. One nasty example would be to combine it with Images -- so the hydra's smell is in one area, his sound in another, and his visual image in another -- and the hydra in a fourth. If feeling really evil, add teleport to invisibility and Images. Now if the hydra disappears in one place and appears in another -- did he teleport, or go invisible while raising an image? Missile Reflection can get expensive and runs the risk of torquing your players off, but is also quite effective if ranged attacks are the norm. Another good tactic would be to stagger a Force Wall with the monster's main attack. Is your Hydra primarily a melee combatant? Give it an ED Force Wall that is transparent to PD. Is your Hydra primarily a fire-breather? PD Force Wall tranparent to ED. Planning to use the Hydra against a large number of PC's? Then you're going to want some kind of "crowd control" -- a way to reduce the number of opponents actually attacking you at any given time. This can be as simple as a high PRE score -- think shock and awe. It can be as wicked (don't get in the habit of doing this one, that is) as Mind Controlling a PC to attack another PC. It can be as mundane as trapping melee fighters on the wrong side of a Force Wall or trapping mentalists in an opaque entangle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherSkip Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Images is definately the underused crowd control power. think FX. bad guy shoots at "target" blows through image and ends up hitting ally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zed-F Posted October 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Thanks for the suggestions so far. The Images suggestion is possible, at least I can think of a reasonable technical explanation for it. I don't want anything too exotic technology-wise, though, so probably Mind Control is out. Really what I am looking for is something that fits the hydra theme. I thought of invisibility, missile deflection, etc. but I'm not sure how to work it in. What I don't want is a random collection of powers designed to make the robot unassailable. It already has a big advantage of being built with duplication, and being a summon (i.e. there could be more than one.) As such I don't want any individual one to be terribly powerful. A consistent set of powers for a robotic lab assistant cum security guard would be ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 The Hydra was renowned for its ever-regenerating heads; cut one off and another would grow to replace it. Your situation isn't quite comparable, but it strikes me that if the robot is made of nine separate sub-robots, it would be a cool and intimidating effect if blows to its body would break off one of the sub-robots, only to have it immediately re-attach itself to the main body. You'd have to hit it just right to actually cause long-term damage. This could be the SFX of a couple of abilities that I could suggest: extra DCV levels; Healing or Regeneration, perhaps with Burnout; or Desolid Only to protect against damage (FREd allows for not buying Affects Solid World Advantages in this case), with an Activation Roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Heh....give the Hydra a nine charge summon. 1) When they chop off one of the heads it clamps onto the weapon that chopped it off. Build it as an extra monster. A large head could be a triggered Entangle... 2) 1-Hex Area Effect Drain (6d6 versus BODY, does not affect living organics (-1/2), Damage Shield, only activates when Hydra is struck a death blow (-2). "Caustic Blood Spray" This one eats foci, costumes, the ground beneath their feet. You could add an Entangle if it dissolves the ground. 3) 15d6 EB, 2xKB (or Stun Only, Does Knockback if preferred). Damage Shield, death blow "Battery Discharge" 4) Summon two weaker heads...cannot be used unless a head has been destroyed. More ideas will post as they come to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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