Cleon
Legend
Guardian Droid Working Draft
Droid, Guardian
Medium Construct
Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Laser
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, radarsight 150 ft. [max 2½ mile, detectable 50 miles], radiospeech 50 miles, robot traits, tracked chassis
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills: Listen +9, Spot +9
Feats: Alertness (B), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Environment: Any land or underground
Organization: Solitary, patrol (2-4) or watch (5-20)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Medium); 9-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —
This entity is obviously not a living creature, but a metallic construct of some sort. Its body is a thick cylinder topped by a dome-shaped head and a two arm-like limbs with hinged joints. Instead of legs, it stands upon a pair of corrugated metal strips that wrap around a row of wheels on either side of a flat rectangular base. A cluster of glassy lenses or eyes is set into its hemispherical head – one is ruby red, the rest are crystal clear.
A droid is an artificial creature manufactured by nonmagical technologies far more sophisticated than exist in most known worlds. The guardian droid is a common design built for security duties. It is normally found patrolling high technology installations, such as outposts built by an extraterrestrial centauroid species who call themselves the masters.
Droids can speak a special language of buzzes and beeps called Code. There are many dialects of Code, most of which are mutually unintelligible. A guardian droid speaks Code Standard (the droid equivalent of Common) and Code Security (a dialect that encrypts the speech with a password). A message sent using Code Security can only be understood by a listener who speaks Code Security and knows the password the message was sent with. A creature can figure out the password of a Code Security message with a DC 35 Decipher Script check.
In addition, most droids are capable of normal humanoid speech. A standard guardian droid speaks Common.
A guardian droid's squat body stands 2 feet tall and it weighs 400 pounds. It can elevate its head and arms to reach as high as a normal Medium sized creature.
Combat
If a guardian droid encounters intruders, it follows whatever "engagement protocols" it has been programmed with. A guardian droid could be instructed to kill intruders, capture them, or issue a warning (e.g "Leave immediately, or I will attack") and attack if the intruders fail to comply. A group of guardian droids constantly uses their radiospeech ability to coordinate their actions against intruders.
Guardian droids will act to preserve themselves if it would not contradict their orders, but will emotionlessly fight to the death or self-destruct if instructed to do so. They are intelligent creatures, so are able to adapt their behavior to some extent to cope with unexpected situations, although only a highly defective one would actually disobey its orders.
Laser (Ex): A guardian droid can attack opponents with a beam of coherent light emitted from the red crystal in its head. This is a ranged attack with a 100 ft. range increment that does 2d6 damage (untyped) if it hits. Targeting sensors give the guardian droid a +3 racial bonus to its laser's attack rolls. The droid does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it attacks with its laser, despite it being a ranged weapon. The laser is powered by the droid's internal energy plant, so it will not run out of shots as long as the guardian droid continues functioning.
Radarsight (Ex): A guardian droid possesses sophisticated microwave radar, allowing it to "see" the shape of objects and creatures. Radarsight ignores concealment caused by darkness, fog or clouds. Invisibility provides total concealment against radarsight, although the droid may still make Spot checks to notice the location of an invisible opponent. Rain has the same effect on radarsight as it does normal vision. Unlike radiospeech, normal radarsight requires line of sight and cannot extend "over the horizon".
Radarsight cannot discern colors and any object or texture smaller than a quarter of an inch will just be a foggy blur. The listed range is the maximum distance radarsight can clearly distinguish shapes. It can detect the presence of objects at longer ranges - out to a maximum of one mile for every 60 ft. of range for extremely big objects such as hills and titanic buildings or creatures - but can't identify their shapes. So it might register the presence of a mountain giant a few thousand feet away with an appropriate Spot skill check, but it couldn't tell the Colossal moving object has a humanoid shape.
A creature using radarsight stands out to radarsight or radiospeech like someone walking around in the dark while shouting and waving a bullseye lantern about. They are detectable out to a maximum distance of 10 miles for every 30 ft. of radarsight range, but this distance is reduced by the same factors that can interfere with radiospeech. A Spot check is still necessary for a radio-sensitive creature to notice a radarsight source, but it has a +10 circumstance bonus.
Radiospeech (Ex): A creature with this ability can broadcast a radio communication with a radius up to the listed range (the creature can use less than its maximum range if it wishes to). All creature with radiospeech that are within range hears the communication, so it is possible to address many creatures at once using radiospeech, although maintaining a conversation with more than one creature at a time is as difficult as speaking with multiple people simultaneously. Radiospeech relies on words, so two creatures must understand the same language to communicate by radiospeech. Some items can listen to or broadcast radiospeech, allowing creatures without this ability to participate in radiospeech conversations.
Radiospeech cannot penetrate 10 feet of stone or wood, three feet of water, or an inch of metal. Intervening objects and radio noise can interfere with the radio signal and reduce the range by a factor of two to twenty or more depending on how bad the interference is. Electrically conducting objects provide the worst interference. If the creature is inside a building or is surrounded by construction or metalwork their radiospeech range will be divided by a factor of at least fifty. Rainfall and terrain that's mountainous or lightly forested will likely halve the radiospeech range.
Robot Traits: All droids have the following traits.
Defective Guardian Droids
A poorly maintained droid may become defective, causing it to act erratically or even break down. This mostly happens to droids that have been exposed to the weather, since rain or windblown particles eventually wear through the droid's seals and corrode or jam delicate inner workings. Droids that work indoors in stable climate conditions rarely malfunction.
A defective guardian droid has the following changes to its statistics block. Any statistic that is not listed is the same as a normal guardian droid:
Droid, Guardian, Defective
Initiative: -2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 competence penalty, +8 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Laser +1 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Laser +1 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Laser, defective droid
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, defective droid, radarsight 150 ft. [max 2½ mile, detectable 50 miles], radiospeech 50 miles, robot traits, tracked chassis
Saves: Fort +1, Ref -1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +5
Challenge Rating: 3
A defective guardian droid gains the following defective droid traits:
Defective Droid: A defective droid has the following traits in addition to a standard droid's Robot Traits.
Variant Guardian Droids
Many variant models of guardian droids are possible. The following options are some of the most popular.
Jetpack (Ex): A jetpack-equipped droid is capable of powered flight at a speed of 60 feet (good maneuverability). The jetpack only functions when the droid is in normal power operation; a droid operating at low power, emergency power, or standby power is unable to fly.
An operating jetpack generates an excessive amount of heat. It normally takes as long for a flight-heated jetpack to cool down as the duration of its flight. If the jetpack accumulates heat equal to 2 hours of flight, the jetpack overheats and must shut down for at least 10 minutes of cooling before it can fly again. Unusual conditions may cause a jetpack to heat up or cool down at a faster or slower rate. This option increases the droid's CR by +1.
Force Field Generator: This device projects a personal defensive bubble around the guardian droid that provides a DR of DR 10/—. The force field generator can only function when the droid is in normal power operation; the droid can activate the force field as an immediate action and deactivate it as a free action. This option increases the droid's CR by +1.
Plastic Armor: The guardian droid has lightweight plastic armor. Its natural armor bonus is reduced to +6 and it loses the damage reduction 5/adamantine of the standard model. This option reduces the guardian droid's weight by 25% (to 300 pounds for a typical guardian droid) and reduces the droid's CR by -1.
Sleep Projector (Ex): The guardian droid has a built-in projector with a 120 ft. range that produces a 10 ft. radius burst of soporific radiation. Any living creature within this area must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or be affected. Affected creatures fall asleep for 1d3 minutes unless they have more Hit Dice than the droid, in which case they are dazed for 1 round instead. Sleeping creatures can be awoken as if they were affected by a sleep spell. The save DC is Constitution-based. This option increases the droid's CR by +1.
Wheeled Chassis (Ex): The guardian droid moves on wheels instead of tracks. Replace the standard model's Tracked Chassis special quality with the Wheeled Chassis special quality described in the Servitor Droid entry. This increases the guardian droid's speed by +20 ft. but does not alter the droid's CR.
Variant Guardian Droid - Protector Droid
The most common guardian droid variant is the protector droid, a model equipped with the Sleep Projector and Plastic Armor options. A protector droid appears identical to a standard guardian droid, but is less well armored and is able to harmlessly sedate living creatures in addition to the lethal option of its laser.
Protector Droid (Medium Construct; Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp); Init: +0; Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares); AC: 16 (+6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16; Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4; Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1); Full Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.; Special Attacks: Laser, sleep projector; Special Qualities: Construct traits, radarsight 150 ft. [max 2½ mile, detectable 50 miles], radiospeech 50 miles, robot traits, tracked chassis; Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 1; CR: 4)
Skills & Feats: Listen +9, Spot +9; Feats: Alertness (B), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Sleep Projector (Ex): A protector droid has a built-in projector with a 120 ft. range that produces a 10 ft. radius burst of soporific radiation. Any living creature within this area must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or be affected. Affected creatures fall asleep for 1d3 minutes unless they have more Hit Dice than the droid, in which case they are dazed for 1 round instead. Sleeping creatures can be awoken as if they were affected by a sleep spell. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Variant Guardian Droid - Laser Security Tank
A guardian droid far greater than Large size is technically conceivable, but there are few roles for policebots the size of houses that wouldn't be better served by fully military droids. Informally dubbed “laser security tanks”, such oversized guardian droids can be created by adding the Mystaran Gargantuan template to a standard guardian droid.
Originally appeared in FEZ 1: Valley of Trees (1982).
Droid, Guardian
Medium Construct
Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Laser
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, radarsight 150 ft. [max 2½ mile, detectable 50 miles], radiospeech 50 miles, robot traits, tracked chassis
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills: Listen +9, Spot +9
Feats: Alertness (B), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Environment: Any land or underground
Organization: Solitary, patrol (2-4) or watch (5-20)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Medium); 9-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —
This entity is obviously not a living creature, but a metallic construct of some sort. Its body is a thick cylinder topped by a dome-shaped head and a two arm-like limbs with hinged joints. Instead of legs, it stands upon a pair of corrugated metal strips that wrap around a row of wheels on either side of a flat rectangular base. A cluster of glassy lenses or eyes is set into its hemispherical head – one is ruby red, the rest are crystal clear.
A droid is an artificial creature manufactured by nonmagical technologies far more sophisticated than exist in most known worlds. The guardian droid is a common design built for security duties. It is normally found patrolling high technology installations, such as outposts built by an extraterrestrial centauroid species who call themselves the masters.
Droids can speak a special language of buzzes and beeps called Code. There are many dialects of Code, most of which are mutually unintelligible. A guardian droid speaks Code Standard (the droid equivalent of Common) and Code Security (a dialect that encrypts the speech with a password). A message sent using Code Security can only be understood by a listener who speaks Code Security and knows the password the message was sent with. A creature can figure out the password of a Code Security message with a DC 35 Decipher Script check.
In addition, most droids are capable of normal humanoid speech. A standard guardian droid speaks Common.
A guardian droid's squat body stands 2 feet tall and it weighs 400 pounds. It can elevate its head and arms to reach as high as a normal Medium sized creature.
Combat
If a guardian droid encounters intruders, it follows whatever "engagement protocols" it has been programmed with. A guardian droid could be instructed to kill intruders, capture them, or issue a warning (e.g "Leave immediately, or I will attack") and attack if the intruders fail to comply. A group of guardian droids constantly uses their radiospeech ability to coordinate their actions against intruders.
Guardian droids will act to preserve themselves if it would not contradict their orders, but will emotionlessly fight to the death or self-destruct if instructed to do so. They are intelligent creatures, so are able to adapt their behavior to some extent to cope with unexpected situations, although only a highly defective one would actually disobey its orders.
Laser (Ex): A guardian droid can attack opponents with a beam of coherent light emitted from the red crystal in its head. This is a ranged attack with a 100 ft. range increment that does 2d6 damage (untyped) if it hits. Targeting sensors give the guardian droid a +3 racial bonus to its laser's attack rolls. The droid does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it attacks with its laser, despite it being a ranged weapon. The laser is powered by the droid's internal energy plant, so it will not run out of shots as long as the guardian droid continues functioning.
Radarsight (Ex): A guardian droid possesses sophisticated microwave radar, allowing it to "see" the shape of objects and creatures. Radarsight ignores concealment caused by darkness, fog or clouds. Invisibility provides total concealment against radarsight, although the droid may still make Spot checks to notice the location of an invisible opponent. Rain has the same effect on radarsight as it does normal vision. Unlike radiospeech, normal radarsight requires line of sight and cannot extend "over the horizon".
Radarsight cannot discern colors and any object or texture smaller than a quarter of an inch will just be a foggy blur. The listed range is the maximum distance radarsight can clearly distinguish shapes. It can detect the presence of objects at longer ranges - out to a maximum of one mile for every 60 ft. of range for extremely big objects such as hills and titanic buildings or creatures - but can't identify their shapes. So it might register the presence of a mountain giant a few thousand feet away with an appropriate Spot skill check, but it couldn't tell the Colossal moving object has a humanoid shape.
A creature using radarsight stands out to radarsight or radiospeech like someone walking around in the dark while shouting and waving a bullseye lantern about. They are detectable out to a maximum distance of 10 miles for every 30 ft. of radarsight range, but this distance is reduced by the same factors that can interfere with radiospeech. A Spot check is still necessary for a radio-sensitive creature to notice a radarsight source, but it has a +10 circumstance bonus.
Radiospeech (Ex): A creature with this ability can broadcast a radio communication with a radius up to the listed range (the creature can use less than its maximum range if it wishes to). All creature with radiospeech that are within range hears the communication, so it is possible to address many creatures at once using radiospeech, although maintaining a conversation with more than one creature at a time is as difficult as speaking with multiple people simultaneously. Radiospeech relies on words, so two creatures must understand the same language to communicate by radiospeech. Some items can listen to or broadcast radiospeech, allowing creatures without this ability to participate in radiospeech conversations.
Radiospeech cannot penetrate 10 feet of stone or wood, three feet of water, or an inch of metal. Intervening objects and radio noise can interfere with the radio signal and reduce the range by a factor of two to twenty or more depending on how bad the interference is. Electrically conducting objects provide the worst interference. If the creature is inside a building or is surrounded by construction or metalwork their radiospeech range will be divided by a factor of at least fifty. Rainfall and terrain that's mountainous or lightly forested will likely halve the radiospeech range.
Robot Traits: All droids have the following traits.
- Vulnerability to Criticals: A droid's delicate internal components means it takes normal damage from confirmed criticals, despite being of the construct type. Particularly robust droids may have the fortification special quality to decrease this vulnerability.
- Vulnerability to Logic: Droids are immune to mind-affecting powers, but a droid with an intelligence of 3 or more is susceptible to logical argument. An intelligent droid can be affected by Bluff and Diplomacy checks that are based on logic. A properly functioning droid will ignore any argument that is illogical, and can not be confused by paradoxical statements such as "I am lying".
- Vulnerability to Power Failure: A droid runs off some kind of power supply, and if it loses power it becomes helpless and unconscious until its power is restored. Most droids have internal batteries that allow them to operate independently for a certain period of time. A standard droid can run on normal power for 10 days before its batteries start to flag; it then has energy reserves to continue for 5 days on low power followed by 5 days on emergency power, after which it is forced into shutdown.
— A droid operating on low power acts as if it was fatigued, a droid on emergency power acts as if it were exhausted. A droid can switch its own power off using emergency shutdown, becoming helpless and unconscious until it is reactivated (either by an internal timer or another creature flipping the droid's "on" switch). A droid can also operate on standby power, it can observe its surroundings and cogitate but cannot move (treat as if the droid were paralyzed).
— Switching power regimes is a move action. A droid can run at a lower power regime than its battery power dictates, thereby extending the duration of its operation. For example, a droid reduced to low energy reserves is unable to operate at normal power but can operate at low power, emergency power or standby power. One round of normal power is equal to two rounds of low power, four rounds of emergency power or 20 rounds of standby power. The power ratios are the same for droids operating on reserve power, so 1 round of low power equals 2 rounds of emergency power and 5 rounds of standby power.
- Low Ground Pressure: A tracked droid's broad treads do not sink into soft ground like the feet of a normal creature. A tracked droid can charge and run over soft difficult terrain (deep snow, sand, soft earth et cetera), and every odd-numbered square (1st, 3rd, 5th, et cetera) it moves into counts as two squares of movement. Thus, a tracked droid effectively moves at 3/4 speed over soft difficult terrain instead of the 1/2 speed of normal hampered movement.
— A tracked droid has the ground pressure of a creature two sizes smaller than itself (one-sixteen normal), so it may not set off pressure-triggered traps or hazards that it move over. For example, a 6-inch-square pressure plate designed to be triggered by the step of a Small-sized or larger creature is unlikely to be triggered by a Medium-sized tracked droid, since much of the droid's weight will be resting on the ground around the pressure plate. - Barriers: A tracked droid can not simply step over vertical obstacles or horizontal gaps, since it has no legs. It must use Climb or Jump checks to cross obstacles that are taller than one-fifth the droid's Space or gaps wider than one-half the droid's Space. Any square that contains an obstacle taller than one-twentieth its Space (such as a curb or step) counts as difficult terrain. Obstacles do not hamper a tracked droid's movement if they are light enough to easily push aside (weight up to the droid's light load).
— A tracked droid can burst through barriers instead of climbing them. If the droid can beat a barrier's Break DC by "taking 10" on a Strength check, it can enter the barrier's space at the cost of 4 squares of movement (this counts as difficult terrain). Otherwise, the droid must take a move action and beat the barrier's Break DC with a Strength check to enter the barrier's space. - Unagile: A tracked droid has a -6 racial penalty to Climb, Jump, and Tumble checks.
- Stability: A tracked droid is hard to push aside or knock prone, but also has difficulty righting itself if it falls over. A tracked droid gains a +6 racial bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground). If a tracked droid is in a prone position it can not stand up with a move action like a normal creature, it must take a standard action to right itself.
- Heavy Lifting: A tracked droid has twice the carrying capacity of a normal creature of its size and strength.
Defective Guardian Droids
A poorly maintained droid may become defective, causing it to act erratically or even break down. This mostly happens to droids that have been exposed to the weather, since rain or windblown particles eventually wear through the droid's seals and corrode or jam delicate inner workings. Droids that work indoors in stable climate conditions rarely malfunction.
A defective guardian droid has the following changes to its statistics block. Any statistic that is not listed is the same as a normal guardian droid:
Droid, Guardian, Defective
Initiative: -2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 competence penalty, +8 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Laser +1 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Laser +1 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Laser, defective droid
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, defective droid, radarsight 150 ft. [max 2½ mile, detectable 50 miles], radiospeech 50 miles, robot traits, tracked chassis
Saves: Fort +1, Ref -1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +5
Challenge Rating: 3
A defective guardian droid gains the following defective droid traits:
Defective Droid: A defective droid has the following traits in addition to a standard droid's Robot Traits.
- Faulty Circuits: A defective droid's misfiring circuitry give it a -2 competence penalty to all its Dexterity-based abilities (including AC, Initiative, Reflex saves and ranged attacks) and a -4 competence penalty to all Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks.
- Laser Targeting Failure: A defective guardian droid laser does not have a +3 racial bonus to its attack rolls.
- Paradox Break: If a defective droid is presented with a paradox it must succeed at a DC 10 Intelligence check or suffer a cognitive breakdown. An opponent can force paradox check by making a Bluff or Diplomacy check (DC equals 20 plus the droid's HD) to present the defective droid with an anti-logical argument. A defective droid must also make a paradox check if it in a situation that isn't covered by its programming (e.g. a defective security droid that is programmed to remain within a fortress would suffer a paradox check if it finds itself outside the fortress and has no instructions as to how to address the situation. If it succeeded on its paradox check, it could use its Radiospeech to ask for assistance, or set out in search for the fortress). Once a defective droid fails a paradox check, it immediately starts performing a random, nonsensical behavior determined by a roll on the Paradox Breakdown Table (see below). A paradox breakdown continues until the defective droid is repaired.
| d6 Roll | Behaviour |
| 1 | The defective droid judders to a stop, emits a shower of sparks, and goes into emergency shutdown (see Power Failure under Robot Traits). |
| 2 | The defective droid starts moving in a straight line or rolling in circles (50% chance of each) while repeatedly saying "Mite... Mite... Mite...". Sages theorize this word means "error" or "does not compute" in the language of the droids' original creators. |
| 3 | The defective droid acts as if it were affected by a confusion spell. |
| 4 | The defective droid obsessively tries to perform its core function - a miner droid could try to dig to the center of the planet; a guardian droid may select a random object and attack any creature that tries to move or damage it; a valet droid might try to launder any clothing it sees, and so forth. |
| 5 | The defective droid gets stuck in a "loop", mindlessly repeating whatever actions it took in the 1d4 rounds before its breakdown. It does adjust its actions to account for changes in the circumstances. For example, a guardian droid that got "looped" after it charged out of its sentry post and attacked an intruder would keep on returning to its post, then charging out to attack a square the intruder was in. If there is a creature or object in that square, the "looping" defective droid attacks it with a 50% miss chance, since this is equivalent to blindly attacking. |
| 6 | The defective droid goes into self-destructive spasms, thrashing itself with its limbs and smashing into objects. Every round the droid moves 20 feet in a random direction and does its slam damage to itself. If the droid succeeds at a DC 15 Wisdom check at the end of its turn, it goes into Emergency Shut Down to stop damaging itself. The droid can destroy itself if its spasms continue for long enough. |
Variant Guardian Droids
Many variant models of guardian droids are possible. The following options are some of the most popular.
Jetpack (Ex): A jetpack-equipped droid is capable of powered flight at a speed of 60 feet (good maneuverability). The jetpack only functions when the droid is in normal power operation; a droid operating at low power, emergency power, or standby power is unable to fly.
An operating jetpack generates an excessive amount of heat. It normally takes as long for a flight-heated jetpack to cool down as the duration of its flight. If the jetpack accumulates heat equal to 2 hours of flight, the jetpack overheats and must shut down for at least 10 minutes of cooling before it can fly again. Unusual conditions may cause a jetpack to heat up or cool down at a faster or slower rate. This option increases the droid's CR by +1.
Force Field Generator: This device projects a personal defensive bubble around the guardian droid that provides a DR of DR 10/—. The force field generator can only function when the droid is in normal power operation; the droid can activate the force field as an immediate action and deactivate it as a free action. This option increases the droid's CR by +1.
Plastic Armor: The guardian droid has lightweight plastic armor. Its natural armor bonus is reduced to +6 and it loses the damage reduction 5/adamantine of the standard model. This option reduces the guardian droid's weight by 25% (to 300 pounds for a typical guardian droid) and reduces the droid's CR by -1.
Sleep Projector (Ex): The guardian droid has a built-in projector with a 120 ft. range that produces a 10 ft. radius burst of soporific radiation. Any living creature within this area must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or be affected. Affected creatures fall asleep for 1d3 minutes unless they have more Hit Dice than the droid, in which case they are dazed for 1 round instead. Sleeping creatures can be awoken as if they were affected by a sleep spell. The save DC is Constitution-based. This option increases the droid's CR by +1.
Wheeled Chassis (Ex): The guardian droid moves on wheels instead of tracks. Replace the standard model's Tracked Chassis special quality with the Wheeled Chassis special quality described in the Servitor Droid entry. This increases the guardian droid's speed by +20 ft. but does not alter the droid's CR.
Variant Guardian Droid - Protector Droid
The most common guardian droid variant is the protector droid, a model equipped with the Sleep Projector and Plastic Armor options. A protector droid appears identical to a standard guardian droid, but is less well armored and is able to harmlessly sedate living creatures in addition to the lethal option of its laser.
Protector Droid (Medium Construct; Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp); Init: +0; Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares); AC: 16 (+6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16; Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4; Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1); Full Attack: Laser +6 ranged (2d6) or slam +4 melee (1d6+1); Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.; Special Attacks: Laser, sleep projector; Special Qualities: Construct traits, radarsight 150 ft. [max 2½ mile, detectable 50 miles], radiospeech 50 miles, robot traits, tracked chassis; Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 1; CR: 4)
Skills & Feats: Listen +9, Spot +9; Feats: Alertness (B), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Sleep Projector (Ex): A protector droid has a built-in projector with a 120 ft. range that produces a 10 ft. radius burst of soporific radiation. Any living creature within this area must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or be affected. Affected creatures fall asleep for 1d3 minutes unless they have more Hit Dice than the droid, in which case they are dazed for 1 round instead. Sleeping creatures can be awoken as if they were affected by a sleep spell. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Variant Guardian Droid - Laser Security Tank
A guardian droid far greater than Large size is technically conceivable, but there are few roles for policebots the size of houses that wouldn't be better served by fully military droids. Informally dubbed “laser security tanks”, such oversized guardian droids can be created by adding the Mystaran Gargantuan template to a standard guardian droid.
Originally appeared in FEZ 1: Valley of Trees (1982).
Last edited:
