Gamma World First Edition – Remarkable Robots.

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Today begins a new mini-series into the wonderful worlds of robots in Gamma World First Edition through Fourth Editions.

The Past According to Gamma World First Edition

Prior to the Black Years, millions of robotic units existed in the service of man. These units ranged from simple household servos to extremely sophisticated and complex military and scientific installations. Of course. Numerous units were destroyed or disabled during the turmoil and destruction of the Shadow Years and the Black Years which followed.

But an equally large number of robots survived the Holocaust completely unharmed; engineering bots performing their appointed duties deep within the bowels of cities razed by The Apocalypse, agricultural and ecological bots operating far from targeted areas, security units housed in protective vaults, military robots designed to withstand extreme punishment, scientific units operating within heavily shielded complexes — many such robots in these installations continue to function as programmed in the new Gamma World.

Robot Basics

Normally the PCs cannot identify a certain kind of robot unless they’ve had some previous experience with that robot and know what it is capable of. Therefore, they should automatically assume all robots they encounter will be dangerous to some degree, especially those that are mobile.

Experience is awarded for either mastering (learning how to control) them or defeating them in combat.

Robot Categories

In Gamma World First Edition, there are three categories of robots — programmed, wild, and controlled.

Programmed

These bots are powered and turned on, still performing their pre-assigned tasks. Because they lack a high order logic system and human direction, they have no idea what has happened over the years. So they still go about their duties as normal.

Wild

These robots are units whose circuitry and/or memory has been damaged. This damage affects each robot differently, from small sparks emitting from the unit, to acting in contradiction to its former directive, to outright hostility to formerly friendly personnel.

Controlled

Another primary robot that has higher logic and discrimination circuitry governs these robots, or possibly by an individual or group of humans, humanoids, or androids. More often than not, the controlling agents have changed the original directive.

Robot Characteristics

 There are four general characteristics for robots in Gamma World First Edition: power sources, sensors, control, and construction.

Power Sources

Nearly all robotic units contain circuitry for the reception and use of broadcast power, with backup energy systems, in the event of a temporary operation interruption. This is normally from a satellite or Wi-Fi system. If a robot is in operation when a disruption occurs, it will continue its assigned task until its internal power is depleted. If it’s not in operation when an interruption takes place, it will remain charged until activated.

Some units have high-capacity on board electricity systems that operate outside of broadcast power. These units normally require some recharging or replacement of their power sources.

Sensors

Robot sensors will operate at different levels of efficiency that approximate the senses of a human being. Some robots will only have one or two sensors, while others may have more.

Control

How a robot is controlled is determined by its design. This can be verbally, or through some electronic means, either direct or wirelessly (broadcast). The key to control is who has authorized access. Some robots can be controlled by just about anyone, while others require certain security measures to be passed before gaining control of the robot.

Construction

Those things which don’t fall into the former three categories are considered part of the robots construction. This includes the frame and or wiring that the unit uses.

Robot Design (Example)

There are many common robotic units that are listed in Gamma World First Edition. However, there is a general system of robot design if the GM wants to make something from the ground up.

I’m going to design my own robot. I’ll be following the Robotic Unit Design Checklist found on page 39 of the Gamma World First Edition corebook (page 40 of the PDF). For those of who are not aware, we’re going pure, which means straight from the rulebook. No additives, no preservatives.

The type of robot I want to design is a hawk. We‘ll go through the four things needed mentioned above, the first being the power source. I decide my hawk has two — broadcast power, and its auxiliary power will be solar energy. Makes total sense. A hawk flies in the air, so solar power fits in nicely with that.

Next are the sensors. I’ll give it some standard audio. In terms of its visual capability, because hawks have the best sight in the animal kingdom, giving it microscopic and telescopic vision fits like a glove. In the natural world, hawks can see further than humans, and their acuity is eight times better.

Next is control. I’ll give it vocal control (because that is just cool), and place a mid-tier security protocol, requiring someone with a Stage III I.D. (see Gamma World 2nd Edition – Robots) to have authorized access.

Last is the construction, the physical design. It is a hawk, so it will have claws, wings, and a beak. Since its eyes are a major asset, I want to put some armament behind them and add green pulse lasers that shoot from its eyes.

As a side note, armament includes Armor Class and Hit Dice. My hawk easily has an Armor Class of 3. That includes its ability to fly, which makes it hard to hit. It’s got to be made of a tough but lighter alloy metal to mimic a bird having feathers and hollow bones.

Those are the basics of robot design. You can add other things if you like, but the checklist always makes sure you cover the basics.