Odds and Ends pt.1

I am going through my big three ring binder full of crap from my Mutant Future campaign today.  I pulled out a few of the gems to share with y'all in a series of posts, hope you enjoy!


Tribe 15:  When I rebooted the campaign on the world of Celestia and included magic in the mix, the party ran across a few members of this group; a little goblin that could teleport and a giant ogre proved particularly troublesome.  Tribe 15 is named after 15 sets of paired glowing spikes designed to be inserted into the eye socket.  The spikes are octagonal in cross-section at their base, and would be totally transparent if not for the intense glowing white light they produce that makes it difficult to look at them directly.  Once both spikes from a matched set are inserted into the eye sockets of a subject, the subject loses normal sight but gains magic detection, x-ray vision, regular vision and heat vision out to a one mile range (telescopic and microscopic only for regular vision, microscopic down to 32x magnification).  The eye spikes can also be used at will to make a ranged attack within 100' for 6d6 damage (energy blast).  In addition, the subject now has a telepathic link (willing or not) with all other members of the tribe.

 Each set of paired spikes has a personality, intelligence and even a spirit bound within, and the spikes constantly attempt to assert dominance over any user.  Once per day, even when just being handled, either spike of a pair may attempt a Willpower attack (WIL 15) to dominate a target in physical contact with the spike.  The spikes were created by the techno-mage known as Mad Albert in the darklands, and basically form a self-perpetuating magic item collection team.  When members of the group fall, the remaining Tribe 15 members search for new "recruits" to stick with the free spikes.  Once dominated by the spikes, the new members meld seamlessly into Tribe 15's unending quest to scour the darklands for magic items and technology to bring to Albert.  The 15 distinct personalities of the spikes fulfill different roles in the group, from squad leaders to melee bruisers to sneaky scout types.

Tribe 15 in play:  The party was really creeped out to discover they were being tailed by a group of mixed creatures with glowing eyes.  All attempts by the party to lose or hide from the pursuers failed (1 mile range xray vision is a bitch!).  When the teleporting goblin isolated a party member and it became clear it was trying to blind the party member with glowing crystal spikes, the party REALLY started freaking out.  This was a great encounter, the powers of the spike, especially x-ray vision and telepathy within the group, really made it hard for the party to run, hide or even effectively engage their opponents.  After a tense combat that ranged up and down the sides of ruined buildings and across a large area of the dark surface, the party managed to escape with one set of these spikes in tow...

Albert's Constructs - Albert's Eyes and Killballs:  The creator of the Tribe 15 spikes also created a number of other constructs that the party heard rumors of but never encountered.  Interestingly, my 4e group HAS encountered these next two, reinforcing the link between Celestia and my 4e campaign world...

Albert's Eye (tiny construct)
HP:1
AC:-4
MV:240' (magical flight, can hover, total maneuverability)
Attacks as 10 HD Creature
AT: 1 (50' stun ray or 10' electric shock )
DMG: stunned for 1d4 rounds / 5d6
Saves as a 20 HD Creature, no damage for effects that would do half damage with successful save

Albert's Eyes are tiny magical constructs that resemble large marbles with a glowing red "A" suspended in the middle.  They can project a 2-dimensional image on any surface out to 50', with the size of the image depending on the distance it is thrown (up to 15' wide at 50' range).  They can also project sound (of volume equivalent to a dozen people being loud) out to 50'.  Objects within 1' can be telekinetically manipulated with 15 pounds of force.

Intelligence:  While not "intelligent" in the true sense, Albert created sophisticated magical artificial intelligences into each eye.  Separate combat avoidance and movement centers allow the eye to fly unharmed while directing other constructs with the impressive battle algorithm that Albert created to enable the eyes to be tiny commanders of his battle machines.  Scouting and tracking modules enable an eye to perform nearly any task Albert needs done in the darklands.

Senses: detect all lifeforms within 50'; telescopic and microscopic regular and heat vision out to three miles; x ray vision to 1000'; hearing augmented to incredible levels with sophisticated magical intelligence filtering out background noise to allow targeted listening of human speech or equivalent at ranges of 1d4 miles (roll once per use, terrain and other conditions result in the variation).

In addition, Albert's Eyes act as a direct conduit for Albert.  Linked to him at creation, he can see and hear through them at any range.  Albert can take direct control of an eye, and by extension, any other constructs that the eye is currently controlling.  It is rumored that Albert can also cast magic through an eye that he has direct control over, but this has not been verified.

Killball (medium construct)
HP: 100
AC:0
Movement: 180' (magical flight, good maneuverability)
Attacks (as 10 HD creature): 3 x longsword AND battleaxe / 3 x machine gun (see below)
Damage: longsword: 2d8+3 / battleaxe: 2d8+4 / machine gun: 2d10 +6

A Killball's HP are divided into half, with 50 HP belonging to a spinning metal ball with three swords for tripod extremities and 50 HP belonging to a metal ball with a battleaxe and heavy machine gun.  Once at least 50 HP damage is taken, roll randomly to see which half is destroyed.  The killball then loses the attacks of that half (either three longsword attacks or the battle axe / heavy machine gun combo).  The two halves of the killball are connected with an invisible magical "tether" that can stretch up to 10', allowing the two halves to potentially engage in melee with two different targets.

The Killball receives +3 bonuses to attack rolls made with the longswords+3, +4 bonus for the battleaxe+4, and +2 bonus for the magical heavy machine gun+2.  These items can be recovered from a downed Killball.  The heavy machine gun has 120 rounds in a belt (40 rounds of continuous fire at 3 shots per round).

Killballs come equipped with a very limited set of pre-programmed actions, including guarding a defined area against intruders, pursuing a target, attacking a target and taking evasive maneuvers.  When within 50' of an Albert's Eye, however, a killball can make use of the eye's combat brain and becomes a very cunning foe.