Robots serve a variety of functions. They’re often employed
in situations where the risks to living beings are too great or
emotional responses are a hindrance—notably murder and war.
Assassin
Assassin robots are killing machines useful for stealthy
slayings or gruesome public displays. A user can program
targets into the robot, dispatch the unit, and rest assured.
The robot relentlessly pursues its quarry, fearing nothing
and using microfiber setae on its hands and feet to traverse
vertical and horizontal surfaces with ease. Whether it
succeeds, fails, escapes, or suffers destruction, the robot
leaves little evidence behind—an assassin robot that is
captured or destroyed automatically purges its memory and
burns out its sensitive hardware components, making tracing
the robot’s mission and origin extremely difficult.
Typical assassin robots are 6 feet tall, weigh 300 pounds,
and use the weapons detailed in the stat block on page 108,
but they can be outfitted with other armaments as a mission
requires. In particular, assassin robots on missions where
more subtlety is called for use needler pistols stocked with
poisoned darts.
Siege
There is nothing subtle, however, about a siege robot. These
machines serve as artificially intelligent assault vehicles,
and many rightly fear these engines of war. Merciless and
efficient, a siege robot is as effective at unloading massive
damage against a single target as it is at mowing down
enemy troops en masse, and its vehicle form makes it difficult
to escape from on an open battlefield. Most siege robots
are outfitted with large reserves of ammunition, enough to
sustain a constant barrage for minutes at a time.
Security
Security robots come in a wide variety of makes and models,
with a near-endless variety of customizations based on
both the manufacturer and the aesthetics and needs of the
consumer. Crafted with advanced user interfaces mimicking
moderate intelligence, but without any of the emotions,
unpredictability, or bias of a true AI or sentient creature,
security bots are an eminently practical, reasonable solution
to a wide variety of security needs. Unlike full-on military
models, security robots usually come preprogrammed with
certain fail-safes preventing them from engaging in violence
beyond what’s necessary for the protection of their assigned
population or property, making them a go-to option for
police forces, corporations, and even wealthy individuals
looking for peace of mind.
One of the cheapest and most common types of security
robot is the observer. Observer-class bots are usually small,
flying robots designed primarily to record and report specific
unsavory activities for later review by their owners, though
they are also equipped to fend off minor threats. Whether
buzzing through the access ducts of secure facilities or
hovering over crowded marketplaces, observers are nearly
ubiquitous in some advanced settlements. On Absalom
Station, the most prominent brand is AbadarCorp’s VizAll,
a flying orb with gentle contours designed to put citizens
at ease, with a central eye, stubby fins, and
relentlessly cheerful speech patterns.
Aballon’s Sunward Corporation
produces the more disconcerting
Arbitron, whose insectile form
mimics those of the resident anacites,
while Triaxus’s Bluescale Industries
crafts theirs to resemble tiny,
mechanical drakes. Regardless of
their shape, however, observers
are known for their convenience,
but they are infamous for their
limited nuance—a problem for
owners who forget their own
security passphrase. Some of the
cheapest models also have faulty
programming that causes them
to develop personality quirks,
making a particular bot act
especially aggressive, friendly, or
even dejected.
Patrol-class security robots
are more humanoid in shape,
standing about 6 feet tall with
integrated armaments that
keep the robots’ limbs free to
apprehend offenders and engage
in close combat. Given their deadlier
weaponry and tougher armor plating,
patrol-class security robots (sometimes simply
called “patrol bots”) are more regulated in their
sale and use. They are found mostly in large
space stations and corporate facilities under
government or syndicate control. As with
observer-class robots, these models run the
gamut from four-armed Idaran Peacekeepers
to the artistic Castrovelian Linewalkers that
guard against dangerous jungle beasts,
yet the overwhelming industry leader is
AbadarCorp’s Town Guard series. With blank,
circular faces of glass or glowing energy and
cleanly contoured limbs capable of folding
up for easy storage, AbadarCorp’s patrol bot is a triumph
of industrial design and defense. This model’s reputation
has been further boosted due to the fact that it’s the only
model of patrol bot currently used by Absalom Station’s
government, with many going straight into service from the
corporation’s manufactories in the Spike.
Unfortunately, not all security bots end up working for lawabiding
corporations or state governments. Various planets
in the Pact Worlds system have their own rules about who
is or is not licensed to own a security robot, and the Pact
Worlds government generally finds it easier to look the other
way than to get embroiled in the contentious issues of rightsto-
weapons and planetary sovereignty. As a result, it’s not
difficult for individuals to purchase security robots entirely
unregulated on the black market, albeit at a high cost. In
cases where a world outlaws such sales, these models
are usually formerly legal models that have been stolen
and cracked by hacker gangs, while in other places
corporations quietly sell to known criminal enterprises
without asking questions. Such security
robots are sometimes marked by their
owners to show their “allegiance”—
they might be painted with
gang symbols or have their
heads replaced with disturbing
mannequin busts. Other groups
maintain their robots’ official
appearances, the better to carry
out kidnappings and extortion.
Because of this, passersby
occasionally stumble across pitched
firefights between squads of similar-looking security
robots. Those who wish to get involved must be
careful to identify each side’s master, as they could find
themselves unintentionally taking sides in a gang war.
Though both observer and patrol models have
safeguards to protect against it, glitches can
occasionally develop in a security robot’s firmware,
often the result of massive damage sustained during a
firefight or improper diagnostics after such an altercation.
In such cases, the glitch can override the bot’s usual baselevel
programming regarding tiers of force and the logic
of conflict escalation, or even its protocol to protect the
innocent. This can result in a bloody rampage, with the robot
either going berserk over perceived violation of nonexistent
laws, or technically following the law but executing lethal
punishment for even the smallest infraction. Even worse,
an infected patrol bot’s nanites can carry its corrupted
code like a virus, turning other security robots rogue.
When this occurs, manufacturers like AbadarCorp
are usually quick to hire discreet “contractors” to
deal with the menace (as maintaining their own
strike-and-disassembly force would publicly acknowledge
the threat).
One of the many functions robots can serve is protection,
whether for a single person or a large property.
Several robot models have been created for
just this purpose.
Guardian
Guardian robots have become
something of a status symbol among
business leaders and politicians in
the Pact Worlds, and a whole
range of defense-focused robotic
bodyguards of all shapes
and sizes are available.
Most guardian robots
are crafted to appear as
unassuming humanoids
of a certain species and
usually have a quiet
and deferential virtual intelligence. They constantly scan for
potential nearby threats and endeavor to stay close to their
handlers, engaging opponents from a distance using grenades
or weighted nets.
Keeper
The desire to create autonomous defensive constructs can
sometimes lead to unfortunate results, however, especially
when time or a natural disaster alters a robot’s programming.
A collection of massive drones known as keeper robots stalk
the wild and forgotten areas of Castrovel seeking to destroy
intruders, their original directives clearly corrupted into a
surprising ferocity. Usually nonhumanoid in appearance,
keeper robots are dangerous and implacable opponents. Some
stand about 14 feet high on eight legs and weigh several tons.
Scholars believe these keeper robots were designed to
protect lands and resources from would-be scavengers at some
point during the Gap. Interestingly, the Xenokeepers have led
a campaign to keep Castrovel from amassing a small fighting
force to destroy the keeper robots, arguing that the constructs
provide a natural deterrent to poachers and others who would
pillage the natural resources or archaeological finds of an area,
since keeper robots are known to
ignore the surrounding native wildlife.
Recent reports have noted the
existence of keeper robots on other planets
outside of the Pact Worlds, looking as new as
if they had just rolled off the factory floor, and
sporting more modern weaponry. This
has sparked a flurry of speculation
about these robots’ origins.
One of the more outrageous
theories bandied about various
infospheres is that keeper
robots weren’t created during the
Gap but at some point in the far
future and were sent back to secure
(or even destroy) some mysterious
objective.