The first version uses the power Drain as its base. Drain goes against the rare defense "Power Defense". PD and ED (which everybody has at least a little bit of) do not stop Drain. As a result, an NND advantage simply changes the attack from going against one rare defense to another. Therefore, it's a +0 advantage.
Blast, on the other hand, attacks the most common set of defenses. PD and ED. So to change it from a defense that everybody has, to one that almost nobody has, requires a +1 advantage.
I'd suggest something like this for general guidelines:
--Build your Sentinels to the desired power level compared to your PC group. Sometimes the X-Men would have to team up to defeat a single Sentinel, sometimes each X-Man could take out one or more on their own. So the first step is to decide which of these you want to emulate. My preferred version is that a lone Sentinel is more powerful than an individual hero, but their tactics are fairly simple and they don't travel in as large a group as the PCs do.
--You don't have to worry about building them as Automatons, just do them as normal characters and give them a Disadvantage "destroyed when reduced to 0 Stun".
--Give them a range of attacks that would be useful against different character types. Sentinels are expected to fight all different sorts of mutants. Rely on pseudo-real world attacks instead of Star Trek colored lights (i.e., a gas attack could theoretically affect most Desolid characters, as they still need to breath -- so use that instead of some ghostbusters energy beam). Likewise they should have a wide range of sensory abilities to detect Invisible characters and the like.
--Moderate OCV and low DCV. They're dangerous on offense but easy to hit. Moderate defenses and Stun. They aren't as tough as pure bricks, but are tougher than energy blasters/martial artists. Speed just a tad lower than average.
So for a 12D6 game, where your normal character is going to have around an 8 OCV/DCV and 5 or 6 Speed, 25-30 Def and 40 Stun, they might look something like this (5th edition rules):
Sentinel knock-off
Str 55 (lower than the pure brick)
Dex 15 (slow)
Con 30 (very hard to stun)
Body 10 (once you get past their defenses, they break easy)
Int 5 (easy to trick)
Ego 10 (fairly simple programming)
Pre 25 (big scary robot)
Com 10
PD 25 (on low end of average)
ED 25 (same)
Spd 4 (slow)
Rec 17 (baseline figured characteristic)
End 60 (same)
Stun 53 (also normal figured, higher than most non-bricks)
15/15 Damage Resistance (enough to make them bulletproof, and won't take Body from an average roll of 4D6 RKA)
Life Support: Full
30 pts Mental Defense, not versus telemechanics (or you can classify them as machine minds if you want to go that direction)
10" Knockback Resistance
+4 OCV (9 total -- they're quite accurate and can hit most fast characters unless they are actively dodging)
KS: Known mutants and their vulnerabilities 10-
Tactics 10-
63 pt Multipower "attack powers"
--12D6 Energy Blast "ion beam"
--6D6 Entangle "steel alloy constricting net launcher"
--4D6 Energy Blast, Area Effect Hex, NND (no need to breathe), Affects Desolid "knockout gas"
--8D6 Energy Blast, Explosion "concussion rockets"
--10D6 Energy Blast, variable special effects (fire, cold, electricity, chemical acid) "various hidden weapons"
--12D6 Flash vs Sight "blinding flares"
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And there you go. Each Sentinel probably wouldn't have the full range of attack powers. Most of them might only have two or three. But the idea is that ideally they'd be prepared for anybody they ran across. Fast characters get the Explosion attack because their defenses probably aren't as high. Desolid characters get the gas attack, as do people who seem to shrug off too many hits. Entangles go against people with foci or who need to move their arms around. Otherwise the Sentinel will default to the basic Energy Blast, unless it identifies somebody with a key vulnerability (vulnerable to fire, cold, electricity, etc). I try to keep those "real world" as opposed to gravity beams or something too technologically out there.
The Sentinels' plan will be fairly straightforward. One plan might be that one will be visible while another 1 or 2 hide nearby (in a body of water, or inside a convenient warehouse) and hold action. When the heroes show up, the hidden Sentinels reveal themselves and attack from surprise. They don't try to wear heroes down by trading blows. They'll pick whatever they think you're most vulnerable to and blast with that, hoping to drop you or incapacitate you with one shot. Flash vs Sight is great for stopping a lot of bricks. They'll hope to drop several characters in the opening volley, and then gang up on the others.
The way the heroes beat them is by using clever tactics. Sentinels fall for every trick in the book. They don't hold action, and they don't block or dodge. They don't think on their feet well at all. They are vulnerable to coordinated attacks. If your heroes are just getting stomped, it's easy enough to have the Sentinel use the "wrong" attack against a hero. Who knows what their files say. Feel free to use that 8D6 Explosion against the brick if you need to keep the heroes conscious, and just blame it on a programming error. Likewise you can assume that a lot of their files are at least several months out of date, if not years. Any character who has had a major change on their character sheet will surprise them.
Mimer reacted to massey in Problems with NND advantage with Gas attacks etc.
