Robot, Collector RobotA soft whirring noise accompanies this flying mechanical creature. Its arms and hands end in spindly, multi-jointed fingers, and four circular rotors hold the creature aloft.Collector Robot CR 3Source Pathfinder #85: Fires of Creation pg. 84
XP 800
N Medium construct (robot)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +8DefenseAC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 31 (2d10+20)
Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +2
Defensive Abilities all-around vision, hardness 10, reactive gyros; Immune construct traits
Weaknesses vulnerable to critical hits and electricityOffenseSpeed 10 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 slams +5 (1d4+3 plus grab)
Ranged integrated stun gun +5 (1d8 nonlethal)
Special Attacks integrated stun gun, integrated trackingStatisticsStr 17, Dex 17, Con —, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 1
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Fly +11, Perception +8, Stealth +5, Survival +4 (+8 to follow or identify tracks); Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Survival to follow or identify tracks
Languages Androffan
SQ adaptive trackerEcologyEnvironment any (Numeria)
Organization solitary, pair, or unit (3–6)
Treasure noneSpecial AbilitiesAdaptive Tracker (Ex) As a full-round action, a collector robot can adapt itself to any environment in which it travels, granting it a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks while in that kind of terrain.
Integrated Stun Gun (Ex) A collector robot has an integrated stun gun slung beneath its body. This weapon uses a powerful sonic amplifier to produce powerful lowfrequency blasts of energy that pummel targets. This weapon has a range increment of 20 feet, and it deals 1d8 points of nonlethal damage. On a critical hit, the robot can attempt a free trip combat maneuver (CMB +12) against the target, which does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Integrated Tracking (Ex) A collector robot has integrated systems that allow it to tag and track creatures. As a fullround action, a collector robot can implant a tracker chipTG into the body of a target that it is grappling or a helpless target. Once implanted, the tracker chip is activated and the collector robot’s chipfinder can detect the presence of the implanted tracker chip within 1 mile. It uses a signal to locate the tracker chips, and this signal can be blocked by 1 foot of metal, 5 feet of stone, or 20 feet of organic matter. A tracker chip can be removed with a sharp tool. Doing so deals 1 point of damage. Once an implanted tracker chip is removed from the body (or remains in a body after it dies) it retains enough energy to continue to be detected by the collector robot’s sensors for 1 week.
Reactive Gyros (Ex) The rotors that grant a collector robot flight also provide quick reactions to threats and external stimuli, granting it a +3 racial bonus on Reflex saves.DescriptionServing as long-distance scouts, trackers, and acquisition agents, collector robots see frequent use in the study and collection of alien life forms on new worlds. They can operate independently for years, cataloging unique species while enduring extreme environments that would overwhelm their biological makers. These machines may tag a captive creature with a tracker chip that can be monitored and tracked with their integrated chipfinders. They do so to observe and document the behavioral patterns of such creatures from afar, studying viable specimens for days until they eventually isolate and retrieve the studied prey again for further examination in the controlled laboratories of the robots’ masters.
Among their more impressive features, collector robots possess a hardened artificial intelligence, maintaining a singular focus on their mission directives even when wandering out of communication range with their owners. They tend to react swiftly to movement and perceived threats to their physical security, either emitting loud tones or alarms as a preemptive warning, or flying upward to gain altitude before assessing a given situation and potentially opening fire in defense of itself. Some collector robots grow more lax in their analysis protocols over time, giving way to a state similar to paranoia if left in the field for too long. This corrupted logic inevitably leads them to interpret even the most innocuous actions as proof of hostile intent. Other collectors become fixated on their directive to retrieve specimens without undue damage, interpreting it as a need to protect their targets from all possible sources of harm.EcologyCollector robots have no defined ecology, as they are built by others and gifted with a unique purpose and skill set. Most often, they emerge from automated factories, engineering shops, and scrap heaps under the direction of a controlling authority that activates them and assigns their missions. Thereafter, the power cores of collector robots last indefinitely. Most collector robots have fusion generators, but some have the ability to derive power from the sun, making them capable of recharging several weeks’ worth of operating power with solar energy in a single daytime “sleep” cycle. During prolonged missions, collector robots often support one another in the absence of their masters, dragging damaged units back to repair facilities and cooperating to achieve any mutual goals. Collector robots have a similar protectiveness toward other robots of various types, treating them almost like siblings.Habitat & SocietyCollector robots have little in the way of organized society, but do array themselves in a rigid hierarchy as designated by their controlling authority. Individual collectors may carry a higher rank than other robots, and thus are capable of commanding lesser machines they encounter or even overriding their programming with new directives as they commandeer aid in carrying out their assigned missions. This often leads to symbiotic relationships with servant robots capable of repairing and assisting with their upkeep.
Collector robots first appeared in Numeria, but some have since wandered further afield, slaves to their dedicated programming as they go about cataloging, tagging, and occasionally tracking various life forms— sentient or otherwise. Some rogue collector robots kidnap people and creatures, and secret them away in remote caves. Others cascaded from the starship Divinity during its original descent, falling to Golarion as newly deployed probes far outside the range of Unity’s control, thus free to pursue individual interests. A few enterprising Technic League wizards and alchemists have managed to control some of these automatons, taming and reprogramming them to suit their purposes. New directives for these automatons typically involve the abduction or assassination of targets that their overseers program into them.VariantsThe chassis developed for collector robots has proven exceptionally versatile over the years, giving rise to multiple configurations and alternate capabilities. These are less likely to be encountered than a typical collector robot. Some of the models include:
Aquatic Collector Robots (CR +0): Adapted for use in marine environments, aquatic collector robots abandon flight for a swim speed of 30 ft. Their integrated stun guns still function underwater, though they are based on frequencies designed to work more eff iciently in aquatic environments.
Extermination Robots (CR +1): Newly encountered life forms can sometimes threaten the safety of landing parties or the ecological balance of controlled environments. Extermination robots serve a more specialized role than collectors, programming themselves to track and annihilate a single type of creature. This ability grants a favored enemy bonus (as the ranger class ability) against a single creature type chosen from the ranger favored enemies table. The robot also comes equipped with a longer-range arc rifleTG.
Trapper Robots (CR +1): Some robots cover a wider range of territory by deploying traps rather than hunting creatures individually. Designed to capture specimens for retrieval and sedation, they have gravity-based snares which function similar to the snare spell. They can deploy up to five of these devices and remain linked to them via tracker chips and an integrated chipfinder. When a snare is sprung, it sends an alert to the trapper robot, which then hurries to retrieve its quarry.Creatures in "Robot" CategorySource Inner Sea Bestiary pg. 42
Products of technology advanced far beyond even those of the gunsmiths of Alkenstar, robots represent constructs animated by engineering and advanced science rather than magic. The people of Golarion think of robots as “automatons” or “metal men”—their proper nomenclature is known to only a few.
The first robots arrived untold years ago, when a ship from beyond the stars smashed into Golarion. The metal vessel entered the atmosphere in a blaze of fire and broke apart, scattering fragments across the plains of Numeria. Over the following centuries, several varieties of robots emerged or were recovered from some of these ruins. A few still follow the alien dictates of their original programming, while others run amok, their directives corrupted or forgotten. Perhaps the best-known robots are the fabled gearsmen, a veritable army of humanoid robots found stored and awaiting orders in a massive hold in Silver Mount.
The means of commanding robots vary from model to model, a source of endless frustration for Numerian artificers. Some obey orders from any humanoid, some bond to a specific master until her death, and others yield only to the command of brooches or rods recovered from Silver Mount. Still others submit after mechanical surgery, or not all. A surprisingly large fraction of uncontrolled robots already speak Common or Hallit. Most models exhibit considerable linguistic talents, and the robots train each other in their new home’s languages. Despite comprehending Numerian languages, most robots rarely speak save for terse acknowledgments and orders. The Robot Subtype “Robot” is a special subtype that can be applied to any construct without changing its CR. Robots share some features with clockwork constructs (The Inner Sea World Guide 256), and as with clockworks, you can simply remove the robot subtype and its traits to transform it into a typical construct animated by magic. A construct cannot possess both the robot and the clockwork subtypes. All robots gain the following traits, unless noted otherwise. - Intelligent: Robots are intelligent, and thus have skills and feats as appropriate for their Hit Dice. Unless otherwise indicated for a specific robot, all robots have Intelligence scores of 10. The following are class skills for robots: Climb, Disable Device, Fly, Knowledge (all), Linguistics, Perception, and Sense Motive.
- Vulnerable to Critical Hits: Whenever a robot takes extra damage from a critical hit, it must make a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid being stunned for 1 round. If it makes a successful saving throw, it is staggered for 1 round. The robot remains immune to other sources of the stunned condition.
- Vulnerable to Electricity: Robots take 150% as much damage as normal from electricity attacks, unless they are immune to electricity via other special defenses.
- Difficult to Create: Robots are crafted via complex methods hidden and well guarded in Numerian ruins or other technological bastions. While the Technic League has developed magical solutions to some of these requirements, actual details on creating robots are beyond the scope of this book.
Numerian Technology Miraculous and deadly treasures lie in wait in Numerian dungeons, and the robots that dwell there often utilize these technological arms and tools themselves. A robot’s weapons and defenses are fueled by its central energy core, and unless otherwise indicated, a robot’s weapons and defenses have infinite ammunition and power.
Force Fields: A force field sheathes a robot in a thin layer of shimmering energy that grants a number of bonus hit points that varies according to the robot (typically 5 × the robot’s CR). All damage dealt to a robot with an active force field is reduced from these hit points first. As long as the force field is active, the robot is immune to critical hits. A force field has fast healing equal to the robot’s CR, but once its hit points are reduced to 0, the force field shuts down and does not reactivate for 24 hours.
Integrated Weaponry: A robot that has a technological weapon (such as a laser rifle or chain gun) built into its body treats such weapons as natural attacks and not manufactured weapons attacks, and cannot make iterative attacks with these weapons. Integrated weaponry can still be targeted by effects that target manufactured weapons (such as magic weapon spells or sunder attempts), but as a general rule cannot be harvested for use outside of the robot’s body once the robot is destroyed. A robot is always proficient with its integrated weapons. Integrated ranged weapons do not provoke attacks of opportunity when fired in melee combat.
Laser Weapons: These weapons emit beams of intensely focused light waves that resolve as touch attacks and deal fire damage. A laser can pass through force fields and force effects like a wall of force without damaging that field to strike a foe beyond. Objects like glass or other transparent barriers do not provide cover from lasers (but unlike force barriers, glass still takes damage from a laser strike passing through it). Invisible creatures are immune to damage caused by a laser weapon. Fog, smoke, and other clouds provide cover in addition to concealment from laser attacks.
Plasma Weapons: These weapons emit bursts of superheated, electrically charged gas known as plasma. A plasma weapon’s attacks resolve as touch attacks. Half the damage dealt by plasma is fire damage, and half is electricity damage.Source Bestiary 5 pg. 205
Products of advanced scientific technology, the constructs called robots are animated by engineering and advanced science rather than magic. Most people refer to robots as “automatons” or “metal men”; their proper nomenclature is known to only a few. Unlike most constructs, robots are capable of independent thought. However, they still must obey the programming instilled in them at their creation. Any robot whose creator hard-coded limitations into its programming can never be truly autonomous.
Robots almost always arise from cultures that possess technology that is leaps and bounds ahead of other civilizations, though sometimes they appear due to cultural diffusion from such a society. A wrecked spacecraft, a portal through time, or a group of robots mass-producing others of their kind could all bring robots into a world. Robots that appear from another place or time might still follow the alien dictates of their original programming, or could run amok, their directives corrupted or forgotten. Whatever the case, these robots possess technology that is beyond the means of almost anyone to reproduce, and they represent a stark contrast to other constructs, as they have nothing to do with magic.
Some spellcasters, despite lacking any real grasp on the technological principles required to create robots, have managed to create their own robots by cobbling together spare parts and broken machines, filling in the gaps and completing the design with a mixture of magic and barely understood fragments of science. These inferior designs usually lack the inexhaustible power supplies, advanced intellects, and self-repair systems found in the original robots, and the magic used in their creation can potentially render them more susceptible to techniques that work against other sorts of constructs.
Robots serve a wide range of purposes, from warfare and defense to peaceful tasks like excavation, farming, and maintenance. Small villages that find robots and somehow manage to command them will often put them to work quietly tending fields or constructing buildings all day long. Armies and warlords collect the more dangerous varieties of robots, but even the more ordinary varieties can be deadly. Most robots sport alloyed skin as hard as steel, meaning that even the lowliest worker robot presents a potent threat when altered for battle. Furthermore, since most cultures lack a means to reliably repair or understand how to command robots, even the most benign one might malfunction, or even reach a point in its programming where it changes its activity and refuses to follow orders, leading to untold death and destruction among the its former temporary masters.
The means of commanding robots vary from model to model, which can be a source of endless frustration for any who seek to control them. Some obey orders from any humanoid, some bond to a specific master until her death, and others only yield to the command of technological brooches or control rods. Still others submit after mechanical surgery or rebuilding, or not at all. Many must be given extremely precise instructions, for they are unable to process metaphors or other figures of speech, and may interpret them in unanticipated ways, much to the chagrin of those who would command them. A surprisingly large proportion of uncontrolled robots already speak Common, as most models exhibit considerable linguistics talent, and the robots train each other in their new home’s languages. Though they comprehend language, most robots rarely speak save for terse acknowledgements of orders. Their speech typically excludes words they deem unnecessary with their mechanical efficiency, leading to strange disjointed statements that convey the requisite information without emotion, although some robots programmed to interact well with humans are able to speak in a more fluid and less disconcerting manner.
Constructing a robot requires no magic, but does involve advanced and extraordinarily rare materials and technological expertise. Because almost no one possesses the skills and materials to complete the process of constructing a robot, these entries omit the construction sections provided for most constructs. A GM can add the robot subtype to a different type of construct, such as an animated object or homunculus, to create new types of robots. Typically, this doesn’t alter the construct’s CR. A character can’t create a robot from or add the robot subtype to a construct that has already been created; adding the robot subtype to an existing creature is purely a means for the GM to simulate additional robots beyond those provided here.
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