[Desolation Road] Races

[sir_pudding]

Gar'thang class Peshang Assault Battle Construct

TL: 4+5 (with TL 4+2 retrogrades and ammunition)
ST/HP: 18/26
Hnd/SR: 3/2
HT: 11E
Move: 4/8
Lwt: 0.18
Load: .03
SM: 0
Occ: 1
DR: 50/25
Range: 5700
Cost: $1.6M (Technically; Never available for sale)
Locations: gs2A2L

Notes:
Cockpit Instrumentation and Optics:
Telescopic Vision 6
Night Vision 9
Absolute Direction
Absolute Timing
Life Support:
Vacuum Support
Sealed
Temperature Tolerance 10 (comfort range from -5 to 105 degrees F)
4 hours of air
Armor and Protection:
Damage Resistance 50 on the front Torso and "Head" Superstructure. DR 25 elsewhere.
Protected Vision and Hearing
Enhanced Mobility:
Super Jump 1 (max broad jump of 20 feet)
Weapons:
Alchemically-treated Super Dense Claws: 1d+2(5) cut/imp

Internal Blast Rod mounted in R. Arm:
Dam: 3d burn (tightbeam)
Acc: 6
Range: 50/500
Rof: 4
Rcl: 1

12 Darts in shoulder mounted spring launch tubes:
Dam: 7dx2 pi+
follow up: 2d cr ex [1d]
Acc: 3
Range: 1000/5000
Rof: 12!
Shots: 12
Rcl: 4
Notes: Minimum Range of 50 yards (before the dart motors fire).

Other Features:
Shoulder Mounted Spot-Light
Loudspeaker
Quick Release Escape Hatch

Notes:
The Etheric Reactor requires 1 dram of Quintessence for every month of continuous operation.
The armor is alchemically dense and acts as Hardened I versus dense penetrators.

[SonofJohn]

I think Bombaxi would make great travelling salesman....

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by SonofJohn

I think Bombaxi would make great travelling salesman....

How so? For one, they're Mute and not everybody even knows their sign language. They make good surgeons, which is the point. But salesmen? Where are you getting that?

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

12 Darts in shoulder mounted spring launch tubes:
Dam: 7dx2 pi+
follow up: 2d cr ex [1d]
Acc: 3
Range: 1000/5000
Rof: 12!
Shots: 12
Rcl: 4
Notes: Minimum Range of 50 yards (before the dart motors fire).

How hard is it to get more of these?

[Max Schreck]

It looks good so far. I understand your players, actually. These sentients are great for a campaign, but I wouldn't want to play one. They are just too icky and alien in morphology.

I have a general question, though:

You say it's "pulp fantasy space opera," but what exactly is the TL of Desolation Road? I couldn't find it anywhere.

Cheers, and keep up the good work.

EDIT: Never mind, I found it buried in the Perfected paragraph. TL4+5, right?

[SonofJohn]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

How so? For one, they're Mute and not everybody even knows their sign language. They make good surgeons, which is the point. But salesmen? Where are you getting that?

They kind of reminded me of Kafkas Metamorphosis.....

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

How hard is it to get more of these?

Those are Mark VII Heavy Darts and are built with post collapse tech. They are still constructed in Strothos, but the armory is loathe to part with them (as they are needed to hold the Line against the Shaggai). Therefore mercenary Dragoons in the field are required to replace them out of pocket at great expense.

There are still Mark V Heavy Darts (with Armor Divisor (5) and Guided) in the armory, but they are only to be issued in the event of a major Shaggai assault on the Line.

Originally Posted by Max Schreck

It looks good so far. I understand your players, actually. These sentients are great for a campaign, but I wouldn't want to play one. They are just too icky and alien in morphology.

I thought the Eckeck, Peshang, and Perfected are all pretty playable, myself. I have a Peshang character now, actually, hence the posting of his Battle Construct's stats.

I have a general question, though:

You say it's "pulp fantasy space opera," but what exactly is the TL of Desolation Road? I couldn't find it anywhere.

Cheers, and keep up the good work.

EDIT: Never mind, I found it buried in the Perfected paragraph. TL4+5, right?

Actually the Nova Belzorad skerry has generally fallen to TL4+2. At it's peak the Imperium Ratio was TL4+6. The first link in my .sig has more general stuff about the campaign.

[Max Schreck]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I though the Eckeck, Peshang, and Perfected are all pretty playable, myself. I have a Peshang character now, actually, hence the posting of his Battle Construct's stats.

Oh, they are no doubt playable technically speaking. I am just very humano-centric myself, and I would have a hard time playing something too far from a humanoid template. I guess I would prefer in a setting such as yours to play a human that experienced all the alienness of meeting such fascinating other lifeforms rather than being one myself.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Actually the Nova Belzorad skerry has generally fallen to TL4+2. At it's peak the Imperium Ratio was TL4+6. The first link in my .sig has more general stuff about the campaign.

Ah, good. I'll check it out.

[SonofJohn]

Has your setting alchemical Implants for non Perfected?

Have other species something comperable to the peshang battle construct? I could imagine somethig like a wearable battle tank for the Bombaxi... slowly hulking but with decent fire power surgically aplied....

1d+2 seams a little under powered for a ST 18 battle armor....


But as far as i can judge great work you do for sure!

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by SonofJohn

Has your setting alchemical Implants for non Perfected?

It's possible to implant talismans in flesh. Other weird (or lost) sciences are possible. Some Bombaxi chirurgeons are capable of impressive surgical feats, and have retained some TL4+6 surgical technology as dangerous, painful, experimental, painful and expensive procedures.

Have other species something comperable to the peshang battle construct? I could imagine somethig like a wearable battle tank for the Bombaxi... slowly hulking but with decent fire power surgically aplied....

Probably not in the Imperial era, and certainly not in the setting's present. The 453rd retains some TL4+5 technology allowing them to maintain their constructs. They are a deliberate riff on Battletech with it's relic hereditary 'mechs. They are also a riff on Macross; the Peshang built their constructs to fight an invasion by giant aliens (humans). A Peshang Battle Construct is roughly man-sized.

Imperial Forces almost certainly fielded other armored vehicles and constructs, but I really intend piloted mecha to be a Peshang thing. Consider it an important equalizer for the 18' tall warrior race.

Bombaxi in particular would seem ill-suited for shock-troops, I suspect they were mostly in Imperial Hospital units.

A key difference between the two races is that the Peshang were already technologically advanced when Kang'shaa was discovered by the Imperium Ratio. They were incorporated into the Imperium after decades of bloody conflict with an extant military tradition of mechanized warfare. Conversely pre-contact Bombaxi communities scattered through the Tunnelers abandoned complexes are all basically TL0 (Medicine TL0+7) when they were encountered. The Tunnelers whatever they were left no artifacts behind other than the tunnels themselves.

1d+2 seams a little under powered for a ST 18 battle armor....

How so? Thrust for ST 18 is 1d+2, and talons normally do thrust cut/imp.