Monday, 13 January 2025

Secrets of the grey gnomes






































Still have not got Skerples magic industrial book sigh

Crew can refer to gnomes only 50-90cm/2-3 foot so many of these ate half the equivalent size for a human. So if you want to have it unlikely for played to use keep small. They often carry human size passengers as troops or are built for humans to operate. Troop transports have gnome crews and carry humanoids or automaton soldiers.

Most use advanced steam engines or magical golem engines with faces that can be self driving and require less crew.

d20 Vehichle Powered by
1-6 Coal based furnace 
7-12 Mineral Oil products from deep
13-14 Biofuel  from rendered corpses
15 Ichor pumped from veins of vast underground sleeping beasts in various wells on land or water platforms
16 Koboldium a toxic glowing green mineral used by kobolds, burned in an alchemy furnace or in reaction chambers
17 Gems or gold or valuables burned in an alchemical furnace
18 Soul furnace requiring human or animal sacrifice
19 Spirits animate various components, vulnerable to exorcism, possibly a persons soul bound as a source of mechanical power and just a bit haunted
20 Golem powered with a face, can operate without crew and intelligent and speak, some free-willed. Require magic to harm immune to most magic and damage 

d12 Gnome Vehicles
1 Monocycle - driver sits in wheel hub, good cross-terrain vehicle but mishaps can be fatal 45kph, some are armoured assault spheres
 but slower at 26kph with a gun port or light auto needler
2 Bicycle - two-wheeled mechanical pedal powered contrivance, older ones have one huge and other small and more unwieldy. 1in12 powered, most with a small motor but 1in6 is a golem with a small face on the front 20 on good flat road, half or worse uphill, better down hill 
3 Battlecart - a small 3 or 4-wheeled powered cart with a shield in front and an auto needler gun, some have a separate gunner who stands and fires over driver or from a sidecar 50kph
3 Scooter - a scooter with a 1in10 optional assault scooter with an optional rocket launcher and a d4-1 shells in brackets 65kph
4 Track Cycle - a caterpillar track motorcycle good for off road 40kph
5 Gun Carrier - tracked armoured but open topped vehicle, two crew, a light auto needler gun and room for six soldiers to sit, but others can hold on. 42kph
6 Automobile - armoured streamlined armoured shell with slits for windows and gunports, poorer off-road 65kph
7 Mini-Tank - one crew with a light auto needler 18kph
8 Light-Tank - driver and turret operator with heavy autoneedler or a small cannon 6d6 16kph
10 Battle Tank - with heavu auto needler and a cannon 10d6, 5 crew 16kph
11 Heavy Tank - with 4 cannons nd two autoneedlers and 14 crew 12kph
12 Scout Walker - with 3m tall legs and a bucket for pilot, military will have
 armoured pods with heavy needler or 6d6 cannon. Some have 4 rockets also. Civilian ones may have claws for loading. Some make 3d6 clawed armoured versions for combat vs monsters 40kph
13 Attack Walker - four 6m tall legs, crew of ten plus section of 12 automaton infantry, two 6d6 cannons in head and 4 heave auto needles. Civilian versions are unarmed with a swappable cargo module  20kph
14 Attack Tripod - three legs 9m long with two tentacles for smashing or snatching victims a 12d6 heat ray and a crew of three 45kph
15 Battle Sphere - 3m spare with track rings and 2 guns, 34kph 
16 Crab Walker - 8 legged armoured walker with two claws and a crew of 2. Scoriom variant has a gun or flamer in the tail 24kph 
17 War Wheel - giant wheel with an armoured hub with a crew of 8 with two 6d6 cannons and 2 heavy needles. Wheel has spikes and is 6m wide 36kph
18 Land Train - 12m high wheeled engine that tows 2d4+4 wagons overland, each carrying a squad of troops or supplies. Some cars are armoured with cannons or autoneedlers  12kph
19
 Mole Machine Scout - one gnome mole machine for scouts 16kph
20
 Mole Machine Carrier - carry three crew plus six gnome heavy sappers and 12 automaton soldiers 16kph

d4 Megavehichles
1 Land Leviathans are battleships for the land and only move 8kph on tracks but were bristling with light and super heavy cannon turrets and a thousand crew. A mobile fortress mostly found as ruins
Walking Citadel with legs with defensive autoguns and cannon turrets and a crew of a thousand and a d4-1 thousand resident passengers 12kph
3 Wheeled Citadel a mobile citadel 16kph with 200 hundred crew and 2d6-2 hundred passengers with plenty of light 6d6 defensive artillery
City Crawler a tracked mobile fortress with defensive autoguns and cannon turrets and a population of a d4-1 thousand passengers 8kph

d10 Marine Craft
1 Powerboat - 2-4 crew, 80kph, some have a swivel-mounted light auto gun or a rack of 4-8 rockets
2 Gunboat - 6 crew, 60kph, two mounted guns chosen from a 6d6 light cannon or autogun 
3 Canalboat - as few as 2 but often a whole family,
 16kph, some towed by horse and not powered, may tow d4-1 cargo barges d4 1=trade goods 2=garbage 3=coal 4=corpses
Riverboat - small powered boat for rivers with 2-4 crew and up to a dozen passengers, 26kph used as fishing boats or small transport 
5 Paddle boat - 12 crew and possibly a hundred passengers at 16kphd4 1=troop transport 2=clan home 3=traders 4=pirates 5=slavers 6=casino (crime guild) 
6 Cargo ship - 12 crew 32kph 
7 Transport Barge - big floating box with 2 crew and 40kph to carry troops for amphibious landings or goods or vehicles. There are some versions that travel underwater at half speed
8 Ironclad - 12 crew 20kph, sits low in water and heavily armoured and angled to deflect cannonballs with 4 light 6d6 cannons and a gatling gun, many have two smoke stacks that are the main vulnerability
9 Dreadnaght - 800 crew warship travelling 40kph, with a dozen cannon turrets and defensive auto guns, two torpedo tubes, depth charges, elite warship. Only a few amphibious tracked versions can be found as wrecks
10 Minisub - one or two crew in diving suits sit on the tube body, used for sabotage and espionage in tight fit harbours or aquatic tunnels 
11 Scout sub - 2 crew up to 6 passengers, no weapons, 26kph, half submerged
12 Submarine - dozen crew with 2 torpedoes tubes and a dozen shots, 6d6 cannon for surface use, 30kph surface, half submerged

d12 Aircraft
1 Spotters Balloon - tethered balloon for observers otherwise vulnerable to wind with d4 crew
2 Airboat - dirigible with 2 crew and up to 12 passengers, 10kph + wind
3 Aerial gunboat - armed with light 6d6 cannon and defensive autogun 30kph, crew of 6 and up to a dozen passengers. Can drop clusters of grenades and incendiaries
4 Airship - dozen crew and 30 passengers good for cargo, armed versions have autoguns for defence, a spotlight or drop bombs from great altitudes prop planes wont fly in, 80kph and very long range
5 Air Dreadnaut - armoured warship with crew of 200 bristling with cannons and autoguns and a landing strip and hooks for smaller aircraft to land. Some have heat rays or death rays and Resistant to anything less than super heavy cannons
6 Gyrocopter - a short takeoff and landing craft for personal use with 1-4 occupants, cheap one-seaters often just a frame with open-air passengers but accident prone. Millitary tested with light autoguns and rockets
7 Fighter plane - mono, biplane or triplane fighters with two autoguns, camera and possible hand grenades or incendiaries the crew drop. Some have a gunner or navigator and a pilot
8 Bomber or passenger biplane - a crew of 2-4 and 10 passengers for air transports or a military version with 8 crew drops bombs and has 2-4 autoguns for defence. Big versions carry d3 small defensive fighters and pilots or airliners up to 30 passengers and extra 2 crew. Some can tow gliders with troops or cargo or land vehicles
9 Airboat - plane with boat hull for water findings otherwise like a passenger plane for cargo, some have a gunner with an autogun for defence
10 Rocket Glider - glider wings and a rocket tube to get speed and altitude then glide to land. Can use bursts for speed as needed (5-20 bursts depending on the model. For the cheapest expendable ones the pilot is strapped to the wings and exposed for thrills or commandoes. Some one or two seat enclosed versions are more durable and reliable
11 Rocket Plane - dangerous experiment, most crash but 869kph for ten-minute burn, armed with a 6d6 cannon, twin autoguns or 6 rockets. They land on skids but many just explode. Some jet models last longer, and don't accelerate as fast but 4x the size and 2 crew. Some are mere rocket drop pods that carry one soldier or two gnomes anywhere in the wastes in minutes then parachutes gently (in theory). Can be salvaged for reuse
12 Lunar Rocket - 21m tall rocket with a crew of six can travel into the sky to visit the moon or the crystal citadels of the celestial star people of the heavens. Landing and returning are risky. Bigger models exist. Some models just deliver explosives to vast distances or are automated for cargo with no support. There is absolutely not a secret brick moon built by astrognomes  

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The base automatons here are from vol 1 of Chargrinspire 
I amended the boomer gun to just 6d6 for reasons 

When a star falls adventure from tsr UK and find winding stairs 2024 book was a big influence on my conception of a few things possible in d&d and has fingerprints here.

d12 Gnome Automatons
1 Iron Soldier - basic infantry with a musket, rifle or autogun
2 Pepper Pot - a conical metal pod with a gun and a claw concealing a spherical wheel 
3 Robug - dog size bugs that either scavange materials or used to overwhelm enemies
4 Scavenger - bumpercar size mechanical pillbugs, roll up to roll faster but mostly recycling
5 Trench Spider - mostly observation use can crawl close to ground or stand 6m tall, various accessories and weapon variants, often in trench war areas
6 Iron Hound - mechanical guard dogs, may patrol in packs 
7 Iron Ape - heavy labour or hand to hand
8 Robocrow - surveillance drones 
9 Replicant - white plastic flesh that is malleable and can copy persons they have seen for infiltration, espionage and sabotage. More flammable than humans and melt when they die
10
 Boomer - 2x3m minitank for patrols with a small cannon or an auto gun or flamer and can carry two crew or passengers through heavy fire
11 Trench Walker - 16x4m armoured cabin on four 6m legs, can carry 4 commanders in cockpit and a dozen commandoes, has two 10d6 cannons and 4 autoguns 
12 Iron Colossus - a 60m tall mechanical giant, might home occupant but most seen just eat people 

d12 Gnome Weapons
1 Folding sword - turns from 30cm d4 to a 60cm d6 blade but breaks on roll of 1
2 Chainsword - a shortsword size 2d6 noisy chainsword works 10 minutes on a fuel cell 
3 Impact Truncheon - d6 club with a shotgun shell loaded does +2d4 damage but is awkward to reload and on a critical gets stuck in the enemy requiring a might roll to break free
4 Torch sword - flaming shortsword +3 fire damage and fuel backpack lasts two hours
5 Shock Truncheon - d6 club can stun ten uses per beltpack batterey 
6 Light Flintlock pistol, might carry several, d6 damage, variants include d6 1=knife bayonet 2=knuckleduster 3=extra barrel 4=d8 damage 5=hatchet blade 6=roll a d4 twice
7 Light Musket - d6 cheap, for hunting or militia or small folk 
variants include d6 1=spike bayonet 2=hatchet blade stock 3=extra barrel 4=d8 damage
8 Auto Pistol - pneumatic needle pistol d4 with clip of 10 shots and requires a minute per shot to pump enough per shot, variants include d6 1=silent 2=improved ammo 20 shots 3=poison well for one clip 4=burst fire capacity 
9 Light Auto Gun 
pneumatic needle gun d4 with clip of 40 shots, bulky and has a noisy crack from air compressor each shot, variants include d8 1=silent mode only d3 damage 2=improved ammo 100 shots 3=folding stock 4=burst fire capacity 5=IR lamp and scope with batteries 6=Golem smart gun will fire on own, LN sentient weapon communicate by empathy with wielder and has centuries experience but is a jerk, will seek to kill chaotics and may have a d4 prejudices against factions or species or a monster
10 Grenaides with steel shell, a rod can be inserted to fire it from an autogun readying and pulling a pin is one action, another to throw it, goes off end of next round. Safer to carry than blackpowder era grenades and smaller 30mm without a lit fuse. d4 1=smoke 3m/round xd4 rounds then lasts d6 rounds or 1 if windy, rounds 2=frag 3d6 save halves over 6m 3=incendiary 3d4 save or on fire d4/round damage for a d4 rounds 4=acid vapour 6m area 2d4 save or lose 1pt a round for a d4 rounds, scarifies most materials 5=spore 3m cloud save or infected with respiration disease, if breathe and fail save, each round you exert self save or spend d4 rounds helpless trying to breath 6=magical darkness 9m cloud lasts 3s4 rounds 7=faerie fire on all living or undead in 3m area food 2d4 rounds 8=fear gas 6m area for a d3 rounds or one if windy, save or panic d4 rounds 9=confusion gas 6m area for a d3 rounds or one if windy, save or confused d4 rounds 10=necrogas spreads over 6m inflicts 2d4 on living (save halves), heal d4 on undead and any corpses expose arise as uncontrolled angry zombies
10 Hand flamer 2d4 3m 90 degree cone or 30 degree 6m shot, save or on fire 1pt for a d4 rounds. Versions d4 1=Pistol or wrist version one shot 2=gun with 3 shot cylinder 3=7 shot cylinder 4=small bound elemental in a jar if released attacks abuser, otherwise infinite shots and its magic fire
11 Lightning Rifle 3d6 bolt action each shot uses an alchemical cell, discarded cells are toxic waste leading to mutants in the future. Each cell is 1enc
12 Rocket Tube a disposable rocket-propelled grenade that can fly hundreds of metres

d12 Confusion
1 Change sides
2 Panic and flee from personal threat
3 Curl into a ball
4 Stand still, indecision paralysis, (friends might help)
5 Scratch and strike 1pt damage on self around to get the bugs and snakes
6 Deep in a thought monologue
7 Stands drooling and staring
8
 Fall over laughing at the clowns 
9 Drop everything, state of awe paralysis
10 Fantasysing about its awesome chosen one power
11 Attack the caster to be free of this spell 
12 Berserk, will attack visible enemies first than anybody else 

Gnome Peasant militia
AC 3 HD d6 Att Sickle d4 or small pitchfork d6 or light musket Morale 

Gnome Guard defence force LN
AC 5 HD d8 Att light musket officer has light flintlock and small sword

Gnome Storm trooper LN
AC 5 HD d8 Att Folding sword d6 or light musket d6 or Light Autogun Morale
Elite also have gasmask, and a grenade and a regimental dagger

Gnome Sapper LN
AC8 HD 3d8 Folding Trench Tool d6 or spiked club Morale 11 Mov 9
One gun from Blunderbus or Flamer or Auto pistol or Auto gun
Carry small bullet-resistant shield, two grenades and an air mask with an hour's supply

Heavy Weapons
1 Auto gun are intended to shot at vehicles, defend trenches or pin down enemy
2 Heavy Flamer 4d6 save or on fire d6 damage for d4 rounds, 30 degree cone 70m  
3 Light cannon 6d6 light gun for wheeled fieldpiece or boat defence or small tank
4 Cannon 10d6 typical battle tank gun or larger field piece
5 Heavy cannon 20 d6 fired from a battleship or mounted on a train carriage
6 Rocket noisy and cover battlefield in smoke, 2d4 damage over 3m save halves 
7 Hand bomb 5d6 fin stabilised 4kg bomb with impact fuse
8 Aerial bomb 10d6 for a huge bomb 12m area save halves
9 Incendiary cluster bomb scatter incendiaries over 12m area or more from height 
10
 Heat Ray 10d4 save or on fire d4 rounds, line effect 
11 Death ray save or die
12 Disintegrator ray or gone

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