Robots with Human Hair

Obsidian shipwrecks dot the bright white coasts of Piano Island. Automatons kick up pale clouds of sand as they march to and fro, searching for shipwrecked humans. Strands of human hair fall over their emotionless faces; bits of skin have dried onto the glass chambers that house the robots’ brains.

Once they were flawless, shimmering chrome; now they are stumbling, creaking, dirty things, eternally wandering the strange island's beaches. They walk, and walk, and walk, their heads rotating slowly as their visual scanners attempt to find traces of human life; the encased brains pulse, lighting up like dimming bulbs as electricity surges through the preserved neurons. On most days, the automatons find nothing, and still they keep walking.

But, if one of the automatons detects a human, it broadcasts a short-range signal, and suddenly all in the area go into a frenzy. They move with incredible speed, if not quite grace; they fall over each other, climbing over those that have tripped and fallen, as they dart madly towards the detected human. The rusted gears of a single robot in murderous overdrive create an awful and discordant whirring sound; a crowd of them is sheer cacophony.

Brutally, hastily, they engage their razors. They cut to kill. Then, they flay what is dead.

(I won’t even talk about the moon-powered lasers they shoot out of their visual scanners.)

The one that last kills the human is the one to skin the body. When this is done, it stretches the flayed skin over its own body. Some ripping naturally occurs, and the skin hangs bloody and loose off the automaton's hard body, like a dripping, fleshy cloak. Gradually, the skin dries, becoming shrunken and brittle, falling off in leathery clumps until all that is left is a tattered scalp and some hair.

There is much speculation over why the automatons perform this function. Some surmise that the robots were originally medics, built for the express purpose of dragging shipwrecked sailors from the shores and tending to their injuries. Others believe it's a lot simpler than that: they are cruel guards built by a madman.

Regardless of why they exist, the vile automatons are what stand between adventurers and the unexplored depths of Piano Island and its rumored riches. Should any intrepid adventurer manage to cross the sandy threshold undetected, or should they possess the combat prowess necessary to defeat the robots, they may find great rewards waiting for them. (Or, just as likely, further danger.)

Robots with Human Hair

Hit Dice--4.
Hit Points--30.
Armor Class--equal to chain. (So in case of LotFP, which I use, 16.)
Movement--30’.

2 claw attacks doing d6 damage each.

1 laser attack doing d12 damage, plus save or become paralyzed for d4 rounds ...
... but it can only use its laser at night in the light of the moon, as its laser utilizes refocused moonlight. On the night of a full moon, its laser attack does d12+1 damage and can paralyze for d6 rounds instead of d4.

If by chance a human, animal, or otherwise fleshy thing is killed with the laser ...
... their skin flies off their body with a grotesque popping sound. Complete with visceral blood spray.

The lasers can be reflected off of mirrors ...
... and will immediately cause the robot to self-destruct if the laser is successfully reflected back into one of its two visual scanners.

Self-destruction destroys the robot and does d10 damage to any creature within 30’ of it ...
... also, it sometimes sets things on fire.

No morale checks ...
... they are machines and they fear nothing except Machine God (no, you are not Machine God [yes, Machine God is real]).

If a single robot detects a human ...
... it will go into alert mode and send out a signal; all other robots of its kind within 120’ also go into alert mode and immediately rush over to the detected human. If you don’t know how many other robots are around at a given moment, there are probably d4 additional robots in the nearby area that will respond to the signal.

As it is a robot, most magic doesn’t affect it ...
... meaning magic missiles will fly right past it. However, because it has a brain, it can be possessed, mind-controlled, what have you. And, of course, magic that affects inorganic matter, such as heat metal, will totally affect it.

(Thank you so much to Evlyn Moreau for drawing my lil killing machine! She has the best art--please consider supporting her at her Patreon and/or commissioning some art from her!)

Comments

  1. Are you tired of being human, having talented brain turning to a vampire in a good posture in ten minutes, Do you want to have power and influence over others, To be charming and desirable, To have wealth, health, without delaying in a good human posture and becoming an immortal? If yes, these your chance. It's a world of vampire where life get easier,We have made so many persons vampires and have turned them rich, You will assured long life and prosperity, You shall be made to be very sensitive to mental alertness, Stronger and also very fast, You will not be restricted to walking at night only even at the very middle of broad day light you will be made to walk, This is an opportunity to have the human vampire virus to perform in a good posture. If you are interested contact us on Vampirelord7878@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment