Magic Susceptibility. All forms of machine life are unsuited to resist magic, except for mind-affecting magic. (Machine “minds” work differently from organic minds.) Walkers have disadvantage on all saves against spells. Against spells that cause physical harm, sheens always suffer one additional point of damage per die of damage delivered. Thus, a 6d6 fireball affects a sheen as a 6d6+6 fireball.
Grade 1 defensive field. Walkers automatically generate a physical protective field from virtual particles. Though generally invisible, the defensive field drains 1 point of damage from every successful attack directed at the walker, to a maximum of 6 hit points/day. For example, a longsword that would inflict 3 points of damage actually inflicts only 2 points of damage on the walker, while depleting the defensive field by 1 point. (The field can absorb only 5 more hit points that day, 1 hit point at a time.) Magical attacks that deliver direct damage, such as fireball, lightning bolt, etc., are also affected by the defensive field, but only after respective saving throws are made (see Magic Susceptibility).
Electrical discharge. Walkers store electrical energy in their outer carapace. Up to three times per day, a walker can release this energy as a powerful electrical shock. When a walker does so, the next foe struck in melee with the sampler arm suffers and additional 2d4 points of electrical damage in addition to physical damage. Alternatively, if an attacker strikes the walker with a metallic weapon while the walker contains an excess charge in its carapace, the foe also receives 2d4 points of electrical damage. Each excess electrical build-up depletes the walker’s energy stores, forcing it to return to its cyst one day sooner than it otherwise would to replenish its energy.
Sampler Arm. Melee Weapon Attack: -1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d6 - 1) bludgeoning damage.
Description
Walkers number among the simplest sheens observed outside a machine cyst. A walker’s body is composed mostly of a lumpy metallic obloid. Dim lights flicker across the surface of a sphere in different patterns, depending on the walker’s situation. The main body is supported by two slender metal legs, each ending in a wide, hooflike iron pad. Another limb, called a sampler arm, emerges from beneath the sphere. The sampler arm contains small metal teeth, perfect for gripping samples but also useful in defending the walker from threats it can’t escape.
The Vital League believes that walkers serve as advance scouts for an expanding machine cyst. Cysts require a specialized mix of resources, which walkers are suited to locate. When a walker finds the appropriate mineral and environmental conditions, it returns to its cyst with the report. Teams of up to six walkers usually work together.
Walkers must return to their machine cyst once per month to replenish their energy. If a walker’s energy is depleted and not replenished, it becomes inert. Sheenchasers have had some success in “recharging” walkers with finely focused shocking grasp spells, then following the walker back to its home cyst.
Note: Stronger variants of the walker have been sighted. Additionally, walkers specialized for ore recovery (called miners) are common in areas rich in the mineral resources sought by a growing cyst. Miner sheens possess digger arms instead of sampler arms, as well as a “plasma shovel” in the form of a focused plasma burst that can unearth soil and stone quickly. The plasma shovel can also be directed at organic nuisances.
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