Asking for help with campaign

[darthauthor]

So my players are in the Free Quebec vs CS war.

I have postponed the Coalitions war with Tolkeen.

I did not believe or consider it realistic for the CS to go to war with Tolkeen WHEN they did.
They would not want a war on two fronts.
They would wait until the Free Quebec problem had been resolved.

Instead I have had a Cold War Espionage James Bond Style missions going on between Tolkeen and the Chi-Town.

I am at a cross roads now.

The war between Free Quebec has been going one for over 18 months.

The players have successfully hijacked CS supplies and sold them to Free Quebec, the Black Market and in Old Bones.

The challenge is the CS can't stop their war with Quebec.

I could be wrong but the CS can't use skel-Bots against human beings.
The SkellBots will not shoot a human.

There might be a few exceptions:
1. The human is attacking a man in Coalition Armor (especially with magic)

2. The human attacks the skell-Bot with a magic spell or magic weapon.

3. In the company of a supernatural being while attack the Skell-Bot.

4. Aggressively and REPEATEDLY attacking the Skele-Bot in a way that is obviously not a mistake or accident (BLUE on BLUE: relating to an attack in which soldiers, etc. are injured or killed by their own army or by soldiers on the same side as them).

I'd imagine Skele-Bots are programed NOT to shoot CS vehicles or humans wearing CS armor / uniforms.

SO The CS would not use Skele-Bot against the soldiers of Free Quebec.

TELL me if I am wrong about that or what extra RULES they might have programmed in to them.
I figured they would be programmed with standard Rule of War (Don't shoot unarmed Medics and civilians. That sort of thing.).

BUT they could unleash squads of 10 or more of them with one Dog Boy and one human Corporal or Sergeant to direct them on their advance against Tolkeen.

It is a SLOW process and a LONG road but it is one way to take ground, distrupt trade and supply lines to Tolkeen and wipe out D-Bees, supernatural beings, monsters, and human spell-casters.

The ONLY reasons I can think of, at the moment, for them to do it is because they have hundreds of thousands of Skele-Bots waiting around to be deployed that they can't or won't use against the humans of Free Quebec.
They want to score military victories and political points with victories against the territories surrounding Tolkeen.
They realize it is a war of attrition and the sooner they start the sooner they will win.

Unless, it is ALL a bad idea and they should wait until they "FINISH" the job on Free Quebec.

Suggestion?

[Zenviscaype]

Ok, first you said the team stole from the CS and sold to the Black Market and FQ. That should of put a target on their backs. The BM will strongly interested in getting to know the team and the FQ would love to hire them to sneak in and do it again. The other kingdoms will perk up if the heist is big. What does Archie or the Spluggorth say? Will the CS find out but want to forgive and use the team?

[Killer Cyborg]

Skelebots were designed with the impending war against Free Quebec in mind; that's why they have variable frequency lasers for weapons, along with rail guns--it's to overcome the laser-resistant armor.

They're totally and entirely capable of killing human beings, Free Quebec soldiers specifically.
That's their primary intended purpose.

[darthauthor]

Killer Cyborg,

Thanks.

I never knew how wrong I was.

I am glad I made the post and got straighted out here.

Can you tell me more about what the Skele-Bot are capable of war-wise?

Do you identify acceptable targets for killing by uniform / MD armor?

Holding a weapon?

Do they kill any and all D-Bees / Aliens on sight?

Humans while they are using magic?

Can they tell the difference between a Dog Boy (mutant animal) and a Wolven or Were-wolf?

Will they attack dwarves? Or do they mistake those for midgets and children?

How do they see cyborgs?

What is important is whether or not they can tell IF they are the enemy of the CS.

I'd imagine it would be easy to program the Skelebots with Free Quebec vehicle identification.
Destroying power armor or a vehicle is not the same as killing.

So my questions often come down to how can Skele-Bots decide to shot and not shot and how easy is it to fool them?

[Killer Cyborg]

Killer Cyborg,

Thanks.

I never knew how wrong I was.

I am glad I made the post and got straighted out here.

Thanks!!

Disclaimer:
Now, I don't recall the books ever spelling OUT that the bots were for attacking FQ.
Initially (while FQ was still part of the CS), the bots were scheduled to deploy in the western wilderness, northern wilderness, and the Magic Zone.

SB1 31
..the skelebots are designed to not attack humans if there's the slightest amount of confusion as to whether the human(s) is friend or foe
This is probably where you got the idea they NEVER attack humans.
But in a war against FQ, there wouldn't be any such confusion when dealing with obvious enemy soldiers.
Civilians--or soldiers in disguise--would seem to be rather safe as long as they didn't behave like enemies, unless the CS changed the programming of the bots sent to that front.

SB1 33
...Free Quebec is suspicious of the robots' applications in war, citing that the unmanned units armed with variable frequency laser rifles seem to have been designed to combat the negligible forces that utilize laser resistant armor. Armor used almost exclusively in the construction of Glitter Boys. The government leaders at Free Quebec can not help but be concerned that the skelebots were designed specifically to combat their substantial force of Glitter Boys, should that day come. The more paranoid among Free Quebec's military cite the fact that Chi-Town and other Southern Coalition States have petitioned for over a decade that FQ demolish its Glitter Boy troops in favor of the standard CS war machines. FQ has adamantly declined and has continued to maintain its GB troops...
...Only in recent months have the other Coalition States stopped pestering them [FQ] over the controversy. Shortly afterward, Chi-Town announced the deployment of experimental robot combat units with anti-GB capabilities, as well as a new variable frequency laser rifle for its human troops.
The "coincidence" is disturbing and can not be quietly dismissed.

THIS is the backbone for my claim that the bots were designed for FQ.
Sure, it could have been real coincidence, but I don't see any reason to assume so.

Can you tell me more about what the Skele-Bot are capable of war-wise?

That's a bit contentious, because different people have them operating different ways.
Some gamers and writers seem to treat them like they're ED 209-level morons, others treat them like they're closer to the Terminator.

Frankly, I'd lean more toward the latter than the former.

Some relevant quotes from SB1, where the Skelebots were introduced:
p. 31
Each bot is programmed to function as a member of a combat team, communicating sliently by means of a scrambled radio broadcast computer code. In addition to various rudimentary combat functions, each is programmed for standard strategic and tactical field maneuvers that are executed with expert efficiency (standard squad maneuvers, assault and defensive actions). The combat computer automatically selects the best action, working as a team, to contain or subdue the enemy.

THIS seems to describe more Terminator-level capabilities when it comes to combat than just rather stupid bots stumbling around firing only at specific, VERY clear targets.

I tend to run them as being as good as regular soldiers on the battlefield, as long as they're dealing with something normal tactics/strategy would cover.
If they have to come up with new tactics/strategy when facing a new enemy they're not programmed to deal with?
That could be a problem.

Say they're not programmed to fight vampires, for example, they might well just keep firing their lasers uselessly, instead of figuring out what vamps' weaknesses are and exploiting them.

Do you identify acceptable targets for killing by uniform / MD armor?

SB1 31
The combat computer is also programmed to recognize over 2000 enemy targets, from vehicles to insignias.

Uniforms, specific styles of armor, or even just insignias could do it.
Potentially other features like "Juicer Harness" would also work.
Against FQ, any chromium armor would likely be seen as an enemy, along with anybody with a FQ insignia, flag, etc.

Also, SB1 35
Programming and memory enables the skelebot to identify all CS military ranks, uniforms, insignias, soldiers, dog packs, robots, power armor, vehicles, weapons, equipment, generals, and the Emperor and his son. CS data also includes the location of current Coalition territories and major military bases.
Memory also includes the identification of 2000 different enemy targets including specific races, non-human features and powers, insignia, uniforms, enemy robot and vehicle designs, acts of aggression, and notorious enemies of the state.=

Holding a weapon?

They come standard (SB1 35) with the following Weapon Proficiencies:
Sword, Blunt, Automatic Rifle, Energy Pistol, Energy Rifle, Paired Weapons.

They're also 8th level in HTH: Expert.

So they're as good with weapons (or bare hands) as most cops, soldiers, etc.

Do they kill any and all D-Bees / Aliens on sight?

SB1 31
...the skelebots will usually be programmed to seek out and destroy as few as one to about a dozen specific enemy/targets. This single-mindedness should avoid unnecessary violence, complications, and distractions.
For example: skelebots sent inot Minnesota may be programmed to only terminate Xiticix life forms and will ignore all others (of course, in practicality, the skelebot's range of possible targets is seldom that narrow, and is likely to include all monsters and mutant animals. In some cases the skelebots WILL be programmed to eradicate ALL live not human or clearly Coalition.

Humans while they are using magic?

I'd assume that if a human is visibly using magic, like throwing a fireball or wearing Armor Bizarre, they could be identified as targets.
More subtle spells like Call Lightning might be trickier, because the bots would have to be able to identify the act of casting a spell, and I have the impression that there's no real uniformity to the hand gestures or even words used to cast spells.

Can they tell the difference between a Dog Boy (mutant animal) and a Wolven or Were-wolf?

Good question!

I don't have an answer.

I suspect they'd be about as easy to fool as a human who isn't super-familiar with the various kinds of critters.
If a Wolfen tried to sneak into a CS compound wearing a Dog Boy uniform, skelebot guards may well NOT be able to identify him as an enemy.

Of course, if they ask for a password or something, that might be bad for the intruder.

Will they attack dwarves? Or do they mistake those for midgets and children?

I think they'd be able to tell the difference between those three categories.

How do they see cyborgs?

They'd probably be good at recognizing "CS Borgs" or "Non-CS Borgs," but not more specific than that, I think.
Of course, a Borg wearing a FQ uniform during wartime would probably be targeted because of the uniform.
And borg armor might be unique enough in various factions to be identifiable.

I don't know that they'd be able to specifically determine "This man has bionic implants," BUT they do have the "Intelligence" skill at 76%.

What is important is whether or not they can tell IF they are the enemy of the CS.

I'd imagine it would be easy to program the Skelebots with Free Quebec vehicle identification.
Destroying power armor or a vehicle is not the same as killing.

So my questions often come down to how can Skele-Bots decide to shot and not shot and how easy is it to fool them?

I'd say it's NOT easy to fool them, unless you put on stolen CS uniforms and gear (and are human or Dog Boy or similar enough to pass).
If/when they're programmed to not kill civilians, disguising oneself as a civilian could also work.
But the moment they detect hostility, the jig is up.

Keep in mind, skelebots have FULL optical systems: regular, polarized, infrared, ultraviolet, etc.
So they might be able to pick up on a lot of details that normal humans would miss.
If Wolfen have a significantly different body temperature from Dog Boys, for instance, that might blow the cover of an infiltrator. Or it might not.
And read up on the Intelligence skill, because one of the things it covers is identifying enemy troops and such.