Specialist Dreadguard Armor

[flatline]

When I say "specialist", I mean armor built with a specific job in mind. It's okay if that armor can do other jobs as well as long as it doesn't make him sub-optimal for his specialty. I've got two simple designs that demonstrate what I have in mind and maybe others who have created specialist armors will share their designs as well.

For consistency, I'm assuming that the bio-e roll for all my armors was a 15 and that the ME + PE of the dreadguard is 30 since that's what I did with my first armor (the generalist). Please don't feel like you need to do the same. I'm assuming Carnivore or Parasitic metabolism for another 40 points.

I'm also assuming that volley-able weapons can share upgrades.

Anti-Aircraft:
The Machine prizes air superiority above all else and the loss of an aircraft is easily worth the loss of 100 Steel Troopers, so I thought the first specialist armor I create should focus on this. This will be a stealthy armor that keeps its distance from where the combat is. He'll take shots at exposed targets if it's safe, but his focus will always be to take aircraft out of the air when they come to engage his compatriots.

Level 1:
Enhanced Neuro Connections (20)
Resist Heat (5)
Chameleon Skin (20)
Regeneration: Enhanced (10)
Points saved: 165

Level 2:
Omega Blaster (80)
Omega Blaster (80)

Level 3+:
Mega Upgrade (50)
Stealth Field (50)
Wings (25)

So obviously, the idea is to do enough damage in a single shot to take a fighter out of the air. They fly past pretty quick, so it's possible that you only get one shot on them anyways. 8D8*10 has a decent chance for a 1-hit kill on just about anything, so the idea is to shoot then move, shoot then move, so they never have a chance to engage you directly. You'll be far enough away from the action that they can't trap you with ground troops, so as long as you don't get pinned down by aircraft, it's hard for the Machine to deal with you. If the Librarian or Engineer give you extra points at level 2 and/or 3, you might have enough to the the Mega upgrade at level 3 instead of waiting for level 4. The Super upgrade might be nice for situations where you know you can stay put between shots (like when firing at ground troops a mile away), but I wouldn't call it crucial to the design.

Be very careful about shooting targets near your allies. If you accidentally hit an ally, you have a very real chance of 1-hit killing him.

Once you have the Mega upgrade, you can start using points to flesh out the capabilities of the armor. By level 8 or so, you should be pretty well-rounded.


Close Combat:
So, as much as I detest close combat, others in the forum have implied that most combat ends up this way, so I thought I'd make armor designed specifically for that purpose. I choose Flying Blades as my main weapon because even though the damage per point is pretty weak, there is no upper limit. This guy will be stealthy enough to get near the enemy (or lie in ambush). Regeneration is a high priority since he'll be taking damage all the time.

Level 1:
Regeneration: Enhanced (10)
Chameleon Skin (20)
30 x Flying Blades (120)
Points Saved: 70

Level 2:
Mega Upgrade to Flying Blades (50)
Regeneration: Super (30)

Level 2+:
Wings (25)
Omni Upgrade to Flying Blades (35)
Stealth Field (50)
More Flying Blades as points allow
Motion Detection?

At first level, this guy has a 75MD average attack. At second, it's a 150MD average attack. After the Mega upgrade, every 4 pts in FB gives an additional 5MD on average. Once you have about 240pts into Flying Blades for an average damage of 300MD per attack you've got more than enough to 1-hit kill Steel Troopers and most other drones/robots. At this point, you could also challenge your warlord since, odds are, you could 1- or 2-hit kill him in single combat. I think this guy would be lots of fun to play since you have to figure out how to survive getting into and away from combat. Obviously, you'd carry a rifle or two for longer range...

Oh, almost forgot. You can attack multiple targets with a single action with Flying Blades, so at level 2, you could disarm 2 steel troopers each attack (75MD to a rifle is enough to destroy it, right?). Once you're doing 300MD average, you could attack 3 targets for 100MD each. A quick way to destroy lots of troopers if they've already been softened up by area effect weapons or the efforts of your allies.

Once you do 300MD on average, I would start fleshing out the armor's other abilities. Seriously, once you can do 300MD in a single attack, the only advantage is you can hit higher multiples of targets for decent damage.

--flatline

[Guy_LeDouche]

Flatline I must ask: What is your "day" job? You are a number cruncher extraordinaire! Even better, you make a fabulous argument for "Flying Blades", an enhancement that I considered to be fairly worthless. At least, until your awesome write ups.

Keep it coming; I like the "Specialist" write ups. How about ones for dealing with "mass attacks" (Skitterpods, for example.)

[flatline]

:eek: Flatline I must ask: What is your "day" job? You are a number cruncher extraordinaire!

My background is electrical engineering and computer science, so I'm very comfortable with numbers. I'm currently employed as a system architect.

Even better, you make a fabulous argument for "Flying Blades", an enhancement that I considered to be fairly worthless. At least, until your awesome write ups.

I, too, was skeptical until I started playing with them in the "volleyable bioweapons" thread a short while back.

Keep it coming; I like the "Specialist" write ups. How about ones for dealing with "mass attacks" (Skitterpods, for example.)

Well, the Flying Blades armor would do quite nicely against hordes of weak attackers since he can hit multiple targets per attack, but I'll give it some thought.

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

i'd think you would want to add in a spore discharger (even without upgrades, it's nasty vs groups) for swarm destruction.

maybe also needle death blossom.

i think it would also be interesting to see your take on stuff like living armor... not many get upgrades per level, but there's at least some that get bio-e to spend on it at first level

i think other specialisations might include:

preparing secure and/or ambush locations (obviously the gardener is best at this, but only given enough time)
scouting/information gathering
mobility
stealth
anti-machine
anti-biological

now, not all of these will necessarily be something that should take up a full allotment of points. i mean, just because you are specialised in, say, mobility, doesn't mean you won't have any weapons or defenses.

also, i wasn't saying all combats will become melee. i was saying that it is inevitable that eventually some combats will become melee. well, unless of course you die before you reach that point.

[flatline]

I definitely agree that against mass numbers of machines, the spore discharger is ideal since you can fire it without worry of running out of ammunition or of hurting yourself or allies. There's no dodging the area of effect and the damage is significant (2 direct or 4 area effect hits to kill a cable snake and twice that for a skitterpod).

In fact, at 10 points, it's one of the best bargains in the game against the machine. Certainly every non-specialist armor should have one and any specialist that can spare the points (say at mid level?) should get one, too.

Since none of the mass attack style machines can fly, having wings or organic thrusters would also be a good idea. Cover everything in spores and fly away, waiting for the lingering damage to finish them off. If you can wait for things to die, then one area effect hit is sufficient to kill the cable snake and 2, maybe 3 to kill a skitterpod. Don't wait around because the Skitterpods will tear you up with their railguns if you don't kill them quickly.

However, since the spore discharger is totally worthless against biological opponents (gore hounds, for instance), another solution will be required for house vs house conflict.

--flatline

[Ectoplasmic Bidet]

I have a problem with the spore discharger as it is written because of it's unlimited ammunition. That just doesn't make any sense, not does it fit in with certain metabolisms. Ammunition generation is covered quite thoroughly with some weapons but totally ignored for the spore discharger. Infinite spores and infinite "liquid medium" is provided, as if by magic.

Thermosynthetic and Photosynthetic armors, and Parasitic armors to a lesser extent, should be drastically limited in the types of ranged bio-weapons they can acquire simply because they don't take in enough biological matter to reasonably create the ammunition for them. For that matter, a Thermosynthetic armor shouldn't be able to mount a heat cannon, but that's going even further off topic.

It's one of the reasons I wrote up a host armor version of the pod launcher and limited its availability to specific metabolisms. Thinking back on it, I should have included a spore delivery pod along with the standard explosive option.

[flatline]

I have a problem with the spore discharger as it is written because of it's unlimited ammunition. That just doesn't make any sense, not does it fit in with certain metabolisms. Ammunition generation is covered quite thoroughly with some weapons but totally ignored for the spore discharger. Infinite spores and infinite "liquid medium" is provided, as if by magic.

I've been going out of my way to mentally treat this as a video game because there's no way any host armor can be explained without violating a whole host of conservation laws. Also, there's no way that Splicers should be a Mega Damage environment. How on earth can a soft squishy grub do 1D10MD on impact unless the Splicers MD:SD ratio something like 1:3 instead of 1:100? It makes no sense.

Hence, a video game.

--flatline

[flatline]

Okay, so we've got one example each for Anti-Aircraft and Close Combat specialist armors.

Other specialties suggested so far:
Scouting/Reconnaissance
Stealth
Mobility
Anti-Machine
Anti-Biological
Anti-Horde (biological and/or machine)

I'd also like to add some specialties that combine some of these suggestions:
Harasser--fast unit that makes frequent attacks against a larger force
Tank--able to absorb lots of damage and tie up multiple opponents
Combat Engineer--besides resin ducts, I'm really struggling with this one
Hunter Killer--seek out and destroy high value targets with little or no support

I'll see if I can come up with something worth posting for any of these over the next couple of days, but I'm willing to bet some of you guys already have designs for some of these.

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

engineers could also make use of spider webs. depending on how you mean it, trench foot mines could work. any sort of explosive could work regardless, because you can use explosives to quickly alter terrain and remove obstacles. modifications that let it scale trees and sheer cliff faces, or that let it spot weaknesses in buildings. greater strength for lifting. stuff that improves your grip so that you can actually apply that greater strength. underwater modifications for underwater construction. a super light cell for precision cutting. that ability that lets them feel vibrations in the ground.

there's a fair amount of stuff you can do with it. though again, you would definitely want to make sure to leave at least some room for a few weapons (preferably the most cost-effective, of course)...

[Guy_LeDouche]

I've been going out of my way to mentally treat this as a video game because there's no way any host armor can be explained without violating a whole host of conservation laws. Also, there's no way that Splicers should be a Mega Damage environment. How on earth can a soft squishy grub do 1D10MD on impact unless the Splicers MD:SD ratio something like 1:3 instead of 1:100? It makes no sense.

HAHAHAHAH! In a way, I know what you mean. As much as I love Splicers, the M.D. setting is what I have the biggest issue with, settings wise. I would have much preferred an S.D.C. setting. There are loads of character/story potentials with in an S.D.C. world that would be difficult to translate to M.D.C.

For example, I'd love to have feral and/or tribal type characters running around, but the game would end pretty quick. With no access to bio-tech and no ability to work with metal, I don't see these type characters coming up with high impact plastics anytime soon. A stone ax simply isn't going to cut it.

I've dabbled with a few ideas to try and get around this, but nothing I really like.

[dargo83]

i second that everything should be sdc and when i do run a Splicers game i ru it all sdc

[flatline]

Before this thread gets completely derailed, let's talk about what it means to be a Tank.

Even though the Tank is on the front line, it is not his purpose to break through the ranks of the enemy or even to kill many of them. Instead, the Tank is a supporting character that takes pressure off his allies so that they can focus on strategic priorities rather than tactical necessities. He does this primarily by making himself the "obvious" target so that the enemy focuses a disproportionate amount of resources on engaging him. This serves to "pin" one edge of the enemy formation and perhaps create a bottleneck while the Tank's allies choose their targets. The Tank's goal is not to kill as many enemies as possible, but instead to engage the enemy as long as possible to give his allies as many chances as he can to inflict meaningful harm against the enemy. It is very difficult for the Tank to inflict meaningful harm directly since, almost by definition, he will mostly be engaging expendable enemy units whose destruction are inconsequential to the capabilities of the enemy.

A good Tank should be able to:
1. absorb lots of damage before needing to disengage.
2. surround himself with enemies who can't hurt him badly to act as a barrier against enemies who can hurt him badly (only effective in close combat)
3. weaken as many enemies as possible so that any that break away from him to engage his allies are easier for his allies to deal with.
4. disengage the enemy at will

#1 probably means a combination of lots of MDC, regeneration, and resist laser/physical/kinetic/etc. Having a force field can't hurt, but since the force field regenerates relatively slowly and doesn't benefit from resist laser/physical/kinetic/etc, it actually doesn't seem like a very good use of points.

#2 might be accomplished by disarming the foes that are closest to you and then focusing on shooting past them as much as possible rather than finishing them off.

#3 is most easily accomplished by using area of effect weapons.

#4 is tricky, but perhaps most important since a Tank that dies stops being a useful Tank. Organic Thrusters seem useful here, or using stick-em or something to impair the enemy's ability to pursue.

I don't have a Tank designed yet, but I am wrapping my mind around the problem. Perhaps I'll have something to post in the next couple of days.

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

i find that the best attention-grabbing stuff would be just about anything that inflicts "status conditions" so to speak. damage over time is a bit annoying, but not really all *that* bad. that said, one thing i will disagree with is that the tank won't do much damage. that works fine in an MMO or a setting where you are going with game mechanics over common sense. but simply put, if you want verisimilitude, that won't work; if two equally threatening enemies face you, and one goes out of their way to annoy you you might go after that one. if there are two, and one is a brick wall while the other is a glass cannon, you're going to take care of the glass cannon first, plain and simple. "status effects" (again, for lack of a better way to describe it) can be a most effective method of persuading someone to come after you, as can high damage. being tough to kill simply means that you are a poor target, and should be shifted to the bottom of the list, especially if you have poor offensive capabilities.

so, the kinds of stuff i would throw in (other than the obvious damage-dealers):

ranged:
tangle foot (immobilize either biological or machine, but short range and single smaller target)
viral immobilizer (immobilize machine only, moderate range, single target)
screamer grenades (deafens biological, short range, multiple target)
chemical sprayer (biological only, short range, multiple target)
electrical weapons (biological only, short range, single target)
acid nodules (can blind machines, short range, single target)

melee
tendril injector (machine only, single target)
serrated whip (biological and machine, single target)
combat spurs (machine only, single target... and suffer from your knowledge of what makes sense )

additional enhancements that make a lot of sense to me are horned defense and quill defense, as well as acid blood.

also, spinnerets and webbing, and resin ducts. for good measure, and to help with your goal of being able to disengage, slime defense also seems wise.

obviously, not all of these can be taken at once. but these are the sorts of things i would look to if you want to have an effective 'tank' character; simply being able to take the hits is not enough, you must represent a sufficient threat for the enemy to want to hit you (or at least, have some means of appearing to be such). something like a needle death blossom (substantial damage in an area) is a poor choice for a damage-dealer, because of the lousy payload and short range. but it's kinda nice on a tank, because they don't know whether this is your first of many uses, or your last of many uses... but they do know that if you have more uses of it, you're going to be a threat they need to pay attention to.

[sHaka]

Here's a cut and paste from an older thread where I posted the Rock Sloth - it's a specialized "Stealth sentinel", its pilot sits and waits for the enemy in a forest environment:

The rock sloth was an idea for a Mountain based house I'm working up. The lower slopes of the mountain range are covered with a giant conifer forest which is a great resource, but has the nasty side effect of being good cover for curious drone/robot patrols.

The house wanted to whip up a design for host armour that could be dispatched long term into the forest in squads and keep watch for enemy patrols. The design brief had to allow for stealth, a quick brutal strike in close quarters or a rapid retreat as necessary. Inspiration came from Librarian files on the humble three toed tree sloth. Their brilliantly lazy solution to their poor diet (don't rush around eating more, sit still and do less) lent itself perfectly to a HA design that could hang silently from sturdy giant conifer branches/trunks, slowly and quietly munching the bark whilst keeping watch - the low rest/sleep requirements of the herbivore metabolism was also ideally suited.

The engineers took the sloth as their template and ran with the idea - chameleon skin was a no-brainer as was giving the HA good all-round vision. The climbing claws became lethal slashing blades and their lanky arms more akin to an armoured gorrila's lined with wickedly sharp spines. The hands and feet were honed to provide excellent mobility around the forest and an increased leaping ability means the Rock Sloth only has to touch the ground when pounding an unsuspecting steel trooper into so much scrap metal. A casting gun rounds out the design and opens up sniping opportunities as the HA matures. The result looks something between a giant ground sloth, a thorny lizard and a silverback mountain gorilla.

NEXUS has recently taken an interest in the House's territory as a potential site for a new industrial centre and has planned some exploratory patrols.

The Rock Sloths are waiting...

Rock Sloth Host Armour

Concept: Long term, stealth sentinel.

Class: Host Armour
Crew: One.
Level: One
Total Bio-E Used: 200
Bio-E Remaining: 0

Base M.D.C. By Location:
Hands (2): 124
Arms (2): 137
Legs (2): 147
Feet (2): 97
Head: 107
Main Body: 280

Speed
Running: 110 mph
Leaping: 40 feet high or 60 feet across from a standing position
Digging: 20 mph through sand or dirt, but one quarter as fast through rock
or concrete.
Climbing: 37 mph
Swimming: 30 mph
Underwater Depth: 700 feet down
Flying: N/A
Statistical Data:
Height, Width and Length: Standard with an extra 4 ft reach.
Weight: Adds 430 lbs. to the weight of the pilot.
Cargo: None, other than what the character can carry
Physical Strength: 27 Splicer/Robotic
Production Cycle: Standard
Lifetime: 43 years
Horror Factor: Standard
Bio-Regeneration: Standard
Senses and Features: Standard for all Host Armors, plus enhanced amplified hearing: able to hear whisper at 900ft (274.3 m) away, Extra eyes (1 additional pair; compound, located on shoulder blades), Increased MDC (x1), Chameleon Skin, Reinforced Exoskeleton, Resistance to Cold, Righting Reflex, Non-skid pads (hands and feet), Suction cups/Griping Hairs (hands and feet), Medium non-retractable climbing claws (2; hands), Armoured Skin: Hands, Elongated Arms (+4ft reach), Reinforced Knuckles, Enhanced leaping ability (+20ft), Casting thrower, Spines and Blades (10 along forearm/kunckles, both sides).

Penalties: See Splicers pg. 73
Feeding/Metabolism: Herbivore
Sleep Requirements: Requires 1D4 hours of sleep/rest/inactivity
per day.
Combat Bonuses: See Splicers pg. 73 for details, plus the following summary:
+4 Initiative, +3 Parry, +1 Strike, +5 Dodge, +5 Roll with Fall/Impact, +1 Pull punch, +10% Maintain Balance
Bonus Skills: ID Plants/Fruit 90%, Land Navigation 70%, Wilderness Survival 60%, Climbing 70% (or +50% if known by pilot).


Bio-Weapon Systems:

Bite: 1D8 MD
Head Butt: +1D6 MD
Running ram/Body Block +3D6 MD
Punch: 7D6+6 MD (including claws/arm enhancements)
Power Punch: 9D6+6 MD (including claws/arm enhancements)
Kick: 2D4+2D6 MD

Casting Thrower (1):
Damage: 1D8 per single shot, 3D8 per three round Burst
Range: 1200 ft
Payload: 60 pellets

Spines and Blades (20)
Damage: 1D10 per blade thrown, maximum of three thrown at a time for 3D10.
Range: 80ft
Payload: 20 blades, 2d4 +24 hours to regrown when removed

[flatline]

That's a brilliant concept! I love how they're tailored to their intended environment!

As they level, is the priority to upgrade the Casting Thrower or did you have something else in mind?

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

just had a thought for your tank specialist.

cosmetic modifications.

for example, it's expensive to get dual omega blasters, but any host armor with them is going to make any opponent sweat quite a bit with the massive damage and the AOE nature of the blast, with incredible range. but that's a lot to put into a weapon for something that is primarily focused on defense. but if you just make your host armor *look* like it has them... you can become a priority target, at least until the opponent figures it out.

likewise, if you were to mix in a bunch of what appear to be organic rockets to your shoulders and such. in fact, i think organic rockets and other expendable explosives might be the perfect choice for this; especially if you can make them look like they're mega enhanced. they're the perfect thing to make a person want to get you out of action ASAP, and yet you have a legitimate reason to not just fire it off at the first opportunity. you may not like organic rockets because of their lack of sustainability, but when it comes to a massive volley of doom, they do quite nicely. you can very quickly kill a target with them, or even a group of targets. but, their very drawback is what might make someone hesitate to fire them and instead rely on more sustainable weapons.

so, looking like you have 15 or more rockets is a great way to get people to attack you specifically and ignore the other people with heat projectors... those people with heat projectors are a big threat now and will still be in 30 seconds no matter what, but you're a super big threat right now and if they can get to you before you fire off that very scary volley of doom, that could really change the course of a battle. or at least, it could if you actually *had* a volley of doom. ironically, if you actually had the rockets and fired them, that would actually make you a less important target, so for these purposes, a cosmetic change to look like you have them is imo the right choice. if you want you could mix in a handful of real ones just so they don't get too convinced you have no teeth

[flatline]

just had a thought for your tank specialist.

cosmetic modifications.

for example, it's expensive to get dual omega blasters, but any host armor with them is going to make any opponent sweat quite a bit with the massive damage and the AOE nature of the blast, with incredible range. but that's a lot to put into a weapon for something that is primarily focused on defense. but if you just make your host armor *look* like it has them... you can become a priority target, at least until the opponent figures it out.

likewise, if you were to mix in a bunch of what appear to be organic rockets to your shoulders and such. in fact, i think organic rockets and other expendable explosives might be the perfect choice for this; especially if you can make them look like they're mega enhanced. they're the perfect thing to make a person want to get you out of action ASAP, and yet you have a legitimate reason to not just fire it off at the first opportunity. you may not like organic rockets because of their lack of sustainability, but when it comes to a massive volley of doom, they do quite nicely. you can very quickly kill a target with them, or even a group of targets. but, their very drawback is what might make someone hesitate to fire them and instead rely on more sustainable weapons.

so, looking like you have 15 or more rockets is a great way to get people to attack you specifically and ignore the other people with heat projectors... those people with heat projectors are a big threat now and will still be in 30 seconds no matter what, but you're a super big threat right now and if they can get to you before you fire off that very scary volley of doom, that could really change the course of a battle. or at least, it could if you actually *had* a volley of doom. ironically, if you actually had the rockets and fired them, that would actually make you a less important target, so for these purposes, a cosmetic change to look like you have them is imo the right choice. if you want you could mix in a handful of real ones just so they don't get too convinced you have no teeth

Definitely. Probably not too effective against the machine (the machine only seems to prioritize flying targets and warmounts), but when fighting other houses, that kind of deception could be extremely effective.

--flatline

[flatline]

So here's a pretty boring Tank.

Classic Tank

Lvl 1
8 x Increased MDC (80)
Reinforced Exoskeleton (5)
Regeneration: Enh (10)
Resist Heat (5)
Resist Kinetic (20)
Resist Laser (15)
Resist Physical (15)
Organic Thrusters (35)
Spore Discharger (10)

Lvl 2
Regeneration: Super (30)

Lvl 2+
Heat Cannon (35)
Needle Death Blossom (30)

Nothing surprising or even very interesting. Lots of MDC, takes half
damage from the most common set of attacks, super regeneration,
and organic thrusters to blast out of there when you need to save
yourself. Coat the hordes with spores and then heat cannon whomever
you're most worried about before Needle Death Blossoming and jetting
away to safety.

It would probably work okay. But it's boring. Instead of relying on
damage capacity, perhaps autododge would make things a bit more exciting.

Lvl 1
Serpentine Lower Body (60)
Enhanced Neural Connections (20)
Motion Detection (15)
Resist Heat (5)
Resist Physical (15)
Non-Skid Pads (hands and tail) (6)
Slime Coating (5)
Organic Thrusters (35)
Spore Discharger (10)

Lvl 2
Regeneration: Super (30)
Heat Cannon (35)

Lvl 2+:
Needle Death Blossom (30)
Ultra upgrade to Needle Death Blossom (10)
Ambidextrous (15)

Similar weapon strategy, but now the idea is to duck and weave through
the enemy forces coating them with spores, using needle death blossom
whilst in the midst of the enemy to damage as many as possible and destroying
select targets with the heat cannon. You take half damage from heat
and explosions since with your +11 autododge, AoE weapons are your biggest
worry. Slime prevents you from being grappled. I see this guy dual
wielding acid blades against machines and concussion staves against
biologicals. If he survives to mid levels, it would be a good idea to
add some more resist enhancements and more MDC unless you decide to make
this a more general purpose HA.

Honestly, I'm not particularly happy with either of these, but that's
probably because I do not like tanking. I'd much rather be the guy
taking out high value targets than the guy wading through the enemy's
cannon fodder.

But it takes all kinds...

--flatline

[flatline]

I envision a Hunter-Killer specialist to be something like the marine
sniper moving stealthfully through the jungle, skirting around the regular
troops in order to find high value targets that he can knock out and
slink away from. Since he'll be away from friendly supply lines, I've
decided to give up 20 Bio-E points by choosing the Lithovore metabolism
for the convenience of being able to feed the armor rocks and dirt
(easily found just about anywhere).

So the qualities I have in mind are:

1. Stealthy: rather than fighting through hordes of cannon fodder to
reach the high value targets, I'd prefer to sneak past them. With this
in mind, Wings are preferable to Organic Thrusters since the thrusters
are noisy. Also, weapon can't be a beam weapon that announces my
position to robot optics (no Heat Cannon, no Omega Blaster, etc, although I would
like a heat cannon for when stealth isn't paramount or when things have gone
horribly wrong and I run out of ammo). A 1 point cosmetic
enhancement to extend and vent the Casting Thrower/Launcher/Rifle/Cannon
to act as a flash suppressor is included, but probably requires negotiation
with the GM (heck, if he rules there is no muzzle flash, then you can
save the point).

2. Information Gathering: Enhanced vision should give me more information
than advanced sight by itself. A Forked Tongue should make it easier to
detect hidden things such as the special minerals the armor occasionally
needs, flora and fauna (for feeding the pilot), or robots (to engage or
avoid, depending). Alternatively, I could save 5 points and get Nightvision
eyes instead of Enhanced vision.

3. Self-Sufficient: Lithovore metabolism makes it easy to feed the
armor. I also need to feed the pilot. The Forked Tongue should make
it easier to find potential food. Stealth and a single flying blade
should make hunting game relatively easy.

4. Sufficient firepower to destroy the target once it's identified.
I'm not worried about being ammo constrained since I just need enough
ammo to destroy the target and maybe have enough left over to help make
good my escape. I've chosen the casting cannon as my weapon of choice
even though it won't be optimal until level 5. At level 5, the 4d8x10+20
(+20 is from being a lithovore) burst should handle just about anything
with just a few attacks At 6th level, the Ultra upgrade will ease the
ammo constraint significantly. Buying the Mega upgrade at level 3 gives a
2d8x10+20 burst one level sooner (at slightly reduced range) than if I
upgrade to the Casting Rifle first.

Lvl 1
Chameleon Skin (20)
Regeneration: Enhanced (10)
Forked Tongue (20)
Casting Thrower (5)
Cosmetic Enhancement: flash suppressor for Caster (1)
Flying Blade (4) (for hunting with)
Wings (25)
Enhanced Sight:UV-,IR-,Thermo-vision (10)
10 points on something else (spore discharger? bio-e vent? resist heat in preparation for heat cannon?)
Points Saved: 95

Lvl 2
Stealth Field (50)
Casting Launcher (15)

Lvl 3+
Mega Upgrade to Casting Launcher (50)
Casting Rifle (20)
Casting Cannon (40)

This design doesn't really take off until level 3, so care must be
taken to survive levels 1 and 2. We need to save 95 points at Level
1 to guarantee that we can purchase the Stealth Field, Casting
Launcher, and Mega upgrade at levels 2 and 3 even if we roll
the minimum for Bio-E at levels 2 and 3 and get no bonus points
from an Engineer or Librarian.

If you roll lucky or get extra bio-e points awarded, consider
a weapon that you can use when stealth isn't paramount (heat cannon?)
and maybe some more sensor enhancements (extra eyes with night vision?)
or super regeneration (always a good idea).

--flatline

[Ectoplasmic Bidet]

A full volley of 15 upgraded organic rockets would make an excellent one shot kill for an ambush-type armor over the greatest possible range.

[flatline]

A full volley of 15 upgraded organic rockets would make an excellent one shot kill for an ambush-type armor over the greatest possible range.

It is certainly hard to argue with 15d10x10MD, but I still don't like depending on organic rockets for a couple of reasons.

1. rockets announce my position to the enemy (smoke trail plus slower, more visible projectile)
2. the 20 hour average regrowth period (half that with ultra upgrade) means that if my first volley misses, I don't get a second chance. Or if I find another high value target after I've dealt with the first, I might not have the rockets to take advantage of the opportunity.

But at mid to high level, organic rockets are certainly a great addition to any host armor if only for covering your escape.

Edit: I corrected the volley damage.

--flatline

[Ectoplasmic Bidet]

A full volley of 15 upgraded organic rockets would make an excellent one shot kill for an ambush-type armor over the greatest possible range.

It is certainly hard to argue with 15d6x10MD, but I still don't like depending on organic rockets for a couple of reasons.

1. rockets announce my position to the enemy (smoke trail plus slower, more visible projectile)
2. the 20 hour average regrowth period (half that with ultra upgrade) means that if my first volley misses, I don't get a second chance. Or if I find another high value target after I've dealt with the first, I might not have the rockets to take advantage of the opportunity.

But at mid to high level, organic rockets are certainly a great addition to any host armor if only for covering your escape.

--flatline

Yeah, lots of drawbacks going that route, especially the expense vs the long term throughput. Just a thought for when a large high value target needed to go boom.

15d10x10 MD will wreck a Land Dominator or Sentry Tower in grand style.

[flatline]

A full volley of 15 upgraded organic rockets would make an excellent one shot kill for an ambush-type armor over the greatest possible range.

It is certainly hard to argue with 15d6x10MD, but I still don't like depending on organic rockets for a couple of reasons.

1. rockets announce my position to the enemy (smoke trail plus slower, more visible projectile)
2. the 20 hour average regrowth period (half that with ultra upgrade) means that if my first volley misses, I don't get a second chance. Or if I find another high value target after I've dealt with the first, I might not have the rockets to take advantage of the opportunity.

But at mid to high level, organic rockets are certainly a great addition to any host armor if only for covering your escape.

--flatline

Yeah, lots of drawbacks going that route, especially the expense vs the long term throughput. Just a thought for when a large high value target needed to go boom.

15d10x10 MD will wreck a Land Dominator or Sentry Tower in grand style.

15d10x10MD will do on average 825MD. The Land Dominator and Sentry Tower both have a 1000MDC force field and 3600MDC and 3200MDC main bodies, respectively. Your volley wouldn't destroy either of those targets, but it would sure speed up the process.

--flatline

[Ectoplasmic Bidet]

A full volley of 15 upgraded organic rockets would make an excellent one shot kill for an ambush-type armor over the greatest possible range.

It is certainly hard to argue with 15d6x10MD, but I still don't like depending on organic rockets for a couple of reasons.

1. rockets announce my position to the enemy (smoke trail plus slower, more visible projectile)
2. the 20 hour average regrowth period (half that with ultra upgrade) means that if my first volley misses, I don't get a second chance. Or if I find another high value target after I've dealt with the first, I might not have the rockets to take advantage of the opportunity.

But at mid to high level, organic rockets are certainly a great addition to any host armor if only for covering your escape.

--flatline

Yeah, lots of drawbacks going that route, especially the expense vs the long term throughput. Just a thought for when a large high value target needed to go boom.

15d10x10 MD will wreck a Land Dominator or Sentry Tower in grand style.

15d10x10MD will do on average 825MD. The Land Dominator and Sentry Tower both have a 1000MDC force field and 3600MDC and 3200MDC main bodies, respectively. Your volley wouldn't destroy either of those targets, but it would sure speed up the process.

--flatline

I was thinking that while the robot/tower itself wouldn't be destroyed, all of the components that makes them dangerous would be. If not for that pesky force field...

[flatline]

15d10x10MD will do on average 825MD. The Land Dominator and Sentry Tower both have a 1000MDC force field and 3600MDC and 3200MDC main bodies, respectively. Your volley wouldn't destroy either of those targets, but it would sure speed up the process.

--flatline

I was thinking that while the robot/tower itself wouldn't be destroyed, all of the components that makes them dangerous would be. If not for that pesky force field...

My understanding of the canon rules is that area effect damage only applies to the main body, so you don't get to do 825MD to the main body and 412MD to every other hit location that is within the blast radius. I think it's totally stupid, but it's a game balance rule to prevent explosives from doing thousands of MD to targets with multiple hit locations (like robots and power armor) but comparatively little damage to targets that only have a main body (like most supernatural baddies...).

If they've changed the rule for Splicers, please let me know. I am, perhaps stupidly, applying the Rifts rule to Splicers assuming that it carries over as is.

--flatline

[flatline]

Considering the extreme numerical advantage the Machine has over the
Resistance, being able to pick your battles is more important than ever
which makes stealth extremely important in the Splicers setting. Stealth
Field is an obvious first step towards being a stealth specialist, but
there are other decisions that are actually more important if you want
not to be seen.

Stealth Field is awesome. but it only hides your passive emissions so Echo
Location and Radar are off limits since Robot senses can detect both. It
would be like trying to sneak around with a strobe light on your head.

There are few weapons that you can use without giving up your
position. Obviously, melee attacks are out unless you can overpower your
opponents so quickly that you can hide again before help arrives. Any
beam weapon will draw a bright line right back to your position, so
this rules out Heat Projection Cannon, Super Light Cells, Bio-E Vents,
etc. Visible projectiles, espeically if they leave a trail, also give you
away, so no Gore Cannons or Organic Missiles. Casting guns
are probably the best direct fire weapon you're going to be able to build
into your armor, but even it would have muzzle flash and plenty of noise.

The Pod Rifle uses compressed gas, so there would be no muzzle flash and
much less noise. It's GM's call as to whether the pods are large enough
to be seen when flying through the air.

So we're left with indirect fire. And even here, the options are pretty
limited. Chigs can't be lobbed, so they're basically a direct fire hand
grenade. Screamers can be lobbed, but the whole screaming thing sucks for
stealth. Spore Dischargers and Pod Rifles have enough area effect that
even though it's a direct fire weapon, you could target something close
to your victim and catch him in the area effect without having a line
of sight on him. But the damage is so small that once he knows you're
out there, there's plenty of time for him to search for you before you
could completely whittle him down to nothing with splash damage.

I think that if they're probably going to find me anyways, I may as well
hit with enough damage to be worth exposing myself and then get away and
hide again. The Casting Cannon seems like the best choice since it does
pretty significant damage without drawing an arrow back to me like the
Heat Cannon or Omega Blaster would.

I'm a huge fan of flight, but flight isn't really stealthy since you're
moving too fast for Stealth Field to do you any good and even if you
weren't, you're visible to radar unless you're below the treeline,
which means you might as well be running since there's no way you'll be
zig-zagging through trees at any great speed. Wings are relatively silent,
but Organic Thrusters must be pretty loud. Thrusters are advantageous
if you need to make a quick escape and already have had your cover blown.

Sometimes the most effective way to not be seen is to be someplace they
don't often think to look. Having Suction Cups and Gripping Hairs to
let you cling to ceilings, walls, etc might be handy in this regard.

In summary, stealth is hard. You don't have many weapon options, you're
easily compromised, and the enemy has superb senses. You can make armor
that has more stealth design features than just Stealth Field and maybe
choosing Wings over Organic Thrusters, but I'm not convinced that it's
worth the effort. The Hunter-Killer design I posted earlier in this
thread is as much a stealth specialist as I'm likely to create.

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

you could also look at options like setting up enough trench foot mines in advance that you don't get hit.

additionally, sometimes, getting information is reward enough of it's own. it doesn't need to be a perfect sniping machine of doom that slaughters everything with trivial ease in addition to being super-stealthy.

you're looking at it from the perspective of stealth as a weapon. that's all very nice, but sometimes you want stealth so that you can get information. knowing when and where to send your main forces because you're getting realtime reports of enemy positions is a powerful tool.

[flatline]

you could also look at options like setting up enough trench foot mines in advance that you don't get hit.

additionally, sometimes, getting information is reward enough of it's own. it doesn't need to be a perfect sniping machine of doom that slaughters everything with trivial ease in addition to being super-stealthy.

you're looking at it from the perspective of stealth as a weapon. that's all very nice, but sometimes you want stealth so that you can get information. knowing when and where to send your main forces because you're getting realtime reports of enemy positions is a powerful tool.

If you're just gathering intelligence, then obviously you don't need to worry about your weapons giving you away and Stealth Field combined with the absence of Echo Location and Radar is probably sufficient to your needs.

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

you could also look at options like setting up enough trench foot mines in advance that you don't get hit.

additionally, sometimes, getting information is reward enough of it's own. it doesn't need to be a perfect sniping machine of doom that slaughters everything with trivial ease in addition to being super-stealthy.

you're looking at it from the perspective of stealth as a weapon. that's all very nice, but sometimes you want stealth so that you can get information. knowing when and where to send your main forces because you're getting realtime reports of enemy positions is a powerful tool.

If you're just gathering intelligence, then obviously you don't need to worry about your weapons giving you away and Stealth Field combined with the absence of Echo Location and Radar is probably sufficient to your needs.

--flatline

as you pointed, there are a number of modifications that let you get into hard-to-reach places as well. there's also an awful lot of rather nice passive information-gathering modifications that are quite nice.

and there are even things you could use as a distraction, potentially. like firing a shot from a weapon at a far away trench foot mine, for example.

[ffranceschi]

Flatline, did you write something for The Rifter? Reading several of your threads/posts, I think that they would make wonderful articles.