Friday 22 April 2016

Fallacies, not Mockeries, and Hitpoints

If Damage, Stress, and potentially Strain can all reduce your hitpoints, it further highlights the fact that HP are not your physical toughness. You could rename them energy or stamina points and you'd probably be better off.

Of course we all know this, it's 2016.

But I still get the occasional question about how it works.

Strawman Questioning Into the Odd Damage and HP

1: I'm a sniper and want to head-shot this opponent that has 12hp. My rifle does d8 damage so I'll never be able to down him in one.

Aside from the fact that this is an issue with standard D&D style roll-to-hit systems, called shots that would end the encounter should just be a regular attack. You're always trying to take your opponent out, so shooting for the head isn't really an interesting spin on the regular attack.

2: So I roll 8 damage, and take him down to 4hp. But my bullet didn't hit, right?

Generally, no. If your attack takes some HP off but leaves HP remaining then you've weakened or tired them but no serious physical harm. With bullets it could be a glancing hit or light flesh-wound.

3. But I have an anachronistic silencer, and I'm perfectly concealed, so if I miss him then why would he lose HP? He doesn't even know I just took a shot at him.

At some point you have to press the "it's a game" button, but I think we can still explain this. For starters, if you've really got the drop on them you should be Enhancing your attack anyway, so roll d12 damage. If you still take some HP off, but it doesn't make sense for them to become aware of you, then get creative. Maybe you miss and they just feel a shiver down their spine. Maybe your shot inadvertently causes them to wander into open ground to investigate that small noise. If you need to know whether you've been detected then there are cases for a DEX Save, a Luck Roll, or even a Dilemma if you're feeling fancy.

4. But I'm fighting this Star-Frog that's immune to earthly weapons, and I have one single bullet made from Stellar-Bone that would cut through his cosmic shell...

Okay here's where we hit an actual issue. There are highly specialist cases like this where you really need to know if a bullet hits. There's a case for including the situation in question 3 in here, but this "magic bullet" scenario is the only one I can really see posing a definite problem. It generally relies on:
- Fighting something that can only be harmed by a specific thing
- Having only a limit number of that thing

This isn't going to come up in your game all that often, and I'd go as far as to say I'd use it against player characters even more rarely.

The temptation is to say that the magic bullet only hits on Critical Damage, but then you've got a weird situation where the players are lifted out of the situation to play a game of counting down the target's HP until the probabilities line up and it's time to use the magic bullet. This could work, but remember in this case the target is immune to normal attacks, so you've got no way to wear them down.

With these situations I feel it's completely fine to bypass the normal attack system and go straight to a Save. In a Magic Bullet scenario the target gets a DEX Save to avoid the shot, or else suffers the major consequences of a hit.

Okay enough mechanical rambling about damage. Let's try and put Stress into practice.

Fallacies

Mockeries aren't just made by one person. The idea of creating false life has really caught on in Bastion and even parts of Deep Country.

Naturally there are going to be spin-offs.

The normal qualities of Mockeries apply to the Fallacies, but they won't self identify as Mockeries. In fact they won't admit to any sort of identity at all, just try to keep you talking.

The names given here are just for reference and so that you can roll d6 if you wish.

Type One Fallacy - False Thinker
STR 3, DEX 6, WIL 10, 10hp, No means of attack or movement.



- Wants to stop anybody doing anything, out of bitterness for her being stuck on a shelf.
- Exaggerate the consequences of your current action, causing d6 Stress if you try to defend your actions.
- If they cause Critical Stress, you fall to the ground with visions of the worst imaginable consequences of your actions,

Type Two Fallacy - False Servant
STR 4, DEX 12, WIL 12, 7hp, Tiny Hidden Dagger (d4).



- Offer to serve, squeaking out to cause d4 Stress to both you and himself if you refuse him.
- If they cause Critical Stress, they immediately turn on their incapacitated master and try to slit their throat with a tiny hidden dagger.
- If they suffer Critical Stress, they die in a melodramatic fashion.

Type Three Fallacy - False Seer
STR 8, DEX 15, WIL 10, 10hp. Feeble Bite (d4).



- Offer you a premonition (ridiculous, but possible). If you listen to it, you take d4 Stress every hour it goes unfulfilled.
- Delay you from your task by engaging in existential debates,
- If you suffer Critical Success at his hands, his life is sustained for another year and he burrows back underground,

Type Four Fallacy - False Warrior
STR 11, DEX 15, WIL 10, 16hp. Weapomised Broom (d6). 



- Bellow insults that hurt your very being for d6 Stress
- Grossly exaggerate his despair if you insult him back, taking d8 Stress himself.
- If you or him takes Critical Stress, the loser must give the winner an item of value (justified any way they can) before they can part,

Type Five Fallacy - False Judge
STR 10, DEX 15, WIL 15, 10hp, Gouging Beak (d6).



- Offer you a binary choice, and berate you for d8 Stress if you choose either.
- Takes d6 Stress if anyone picks an unmentioned third choice,
- Lash out with his beak if conversation is going against him,

Type Six Fallacy - False Saint
STR 16, DEX 4, WIL 18, 12hp. No means of attack.



- Cause d6 Stress each turn just by shining his annoying light on you, unless you bow.
- Takes d6 Stress himself if anybody does something truly selfless in his presence.
- If they die or suffer Critical Stress, they whistle loudly before popping in an explosion of light, leaving a glowing diamond (5g) behind.

Monday 18 April 2016

Oddular Mechanics

I sometimes say that Into the Odd only has two mechanics, Saves and Damage. 

There's at least one mechanic hidden in the background, and a handful of others that I've been sneaking into some of my games. 

They're not core to the game, but you may have use for them.


Luck Rolls

From the player point of view they're just told to roll a d6 and aim high, preferably with a target number. Want to see if your poorly constructed boat makes it across the river? Roll d6 and on a 4+ it makes it. 

This is like raw RPG matter, and it doesn't really need any more explanation. From the Referee's side it can form the basis of wandering encounter rolls and other instances of chance. For things that are happening outside of any characters' control it's your bread and butter. 

Some elements of this have since drifted over to Saves (reaction rolls, initiative when you need it) and Dilemmas (a load of miscellaneous stuff that comes up) but it's still a useful alternative to bring out when you need it. 

Dilemmas

Give two choices. Players pick one, or try to get both by pushing their luck or expending a resource. It's barely a rule, just a good method for running the game. 

These have their own post already. It's another mechanic that players might not even be aware of, and have no real need to be. 

Not much has changed since my post. I like them, and need to keep reminding myself to use them, hence the snappy new name. I'm working on a few ways to make them come more naturally, but I don't want them to mechanise a load of actions that don't need mechanising. Sometimes you just do-the-thing, you know?


Contests

Brace yourself. Keep adding rules like this and your game will turn into Advanced Into the Odd.

Please don't actually call your game that. 

If someone is at risk, they get to make a Save to try to avoid the consequences. This is a d20 roll equal or under the relevant Ability Score to succeed. Standard mechanic of Into the Odd. 

If someone is in direct competition with another, it might be a Contest. They each roll a Save against the relevant Ability Score, and the winner is decided as follows. 
- If only one side passes, they win.
- If both sides pass, or both sides fail, the higher roll wins. 

So it's the old "roll as high as you can under your Ability Score" trick that you'll see quite a bit in OSR games. Nothing new, but how do I use it?

Contests of STRENGTH

Woo, grappling rules! 

If I wanted to run a proper brawl like some sort of Bastion UFC, I'd give the following options:
Strikes (d4 damage)
Play Dirty (d6 damage and chance of being disqualified)
Takedown (STR contest, the winner/loser has future attacks enhanced/impaired until escaped)
Escape/Submit (On the Ground Only, the winner escapes or forces a submission)

Four types of attack? What is this, Into the Odd 4e? 

it may be the most mechanically intensive fight I've ever suggested in Into the Odd, so it would be a rare instance of crunching things up for a fun event rather than a replacement for regular combat. 

If some giant tries to grab you then just make a Save as normal, don't resort to this mess. 

Contests of DEXTERITY

Into the Odd doesn't have move rates or a speed score. General movement is abstracted to common sense, and chases generally fit into one of the following:
1: One party is faster than the other, so the slower had better come up with a way around that, or else lose the chase. 
2: Both parties are a similar speed, so it comes down to who's got the better plan, or a DEX Save. 

Case 1 comes with its own challenges, but Case 2 particularly leads to having to decide which side has to roll the DEX Save. This is a perfect situation to use the Contest roll and eliminate that issue entirely. 

It's worth remembering that if you're on foot, running from a guy on a horse, you don't just get to roll the Contest because there's a mechanic for it. Case 1 still stands, so get smart. 

Contests of WILLPOWER

Right after I finished talking about using WIL Saves, let's look at some WIL Contests that might come up. 

You could use this for deception and persuasion, but I'd probably just make that sort of social maneuvering a Dilemma and use a Save if they choose a risky approach.

One place where it could be really fun is when you're really trying to break somebody's spirit. Taming a monstrous creature, or interrogating a suspect. A debate could work here in the right circumstances. 

Even better if you offer up nasty ways to Stress the target, and possibly reduce their WIL ahead of time.  
Ongoing Contests

If you want to zoom in on things makes it a Best of 3 contest, right? 

No. That's boring and lame. Don't do it. 

If it's really something you want to focus in on further then do it like I did with the brawl, or else make it into a Dilemma.

Contests of NO WAIT THIS IS STILL A SAVE

If you start using Contests for everything that involves two parties, you're making a major change to the game. I stand by my original reasoning for using static saves. 

As a rule of thumb, if something could work equally well as a Save or Contest I'd always use a Save for speed, simplicity and transparency. Especially if it's happening: within the mess of combat, multiple times, or to multiple characters. Keep Contests for those special instances you want to treat with special care.



Miscellaneous Mechanical Nuggets

These have cropped up in G+ discussion but don't think I've ever put them here. 

Deprivation
If you're deprived of food, water, warmth, or other vital needs, then you can't benefit from Rests. 

If it gets life threatening, you suffer d6 Damage per hour/day as appropriate to the severity (e.g. dehydration comes quicker than starvation). 

Weapon Effects
Some weapons and attacks list an effect with a target number for a special effect. If you roll above or below the target number as appropriate, apply the extra effect. For example:
Living Whip (d4, Tangle 4+)
Prototype Shotgun (d10, Backfire 2-) 

You don't need to create complex mechanics for these, just apply common sense. 
If it's a good effect, lower the damage by one die type, if it's a bad effect raise it.

Combat Tricks
If you want to do something like disarm or trip someone in combat, consider whether a success here would end the combat. 
If Yes, that effect will occur only when you deal Critical Damage.
If No, the target gets to Save against the effect.

Stress
Stress is identical to Damage, but affects WIL in place of STR once the victim is out of HP. Critical Stress breaks the will a victim, but doesn't kill them. WIL 0 is an absolute breakdown. 

If you find a way to cause mental anguish to an opponent you may cause them d6 Stress.  

Strain
I'm yet to have call for a DEX equivalent to Stress, but if I ever refer to Strain that's what I mean. I guess paralysis or something.

The Great List of Into the Odd Keywords

A Note
Keywords lie on the slippery slope to a mechanical nightmare system, but we have a caveat that keeps us safe. The majority of the new keywords don't need to be known by the player, but instead are useful tools for the Referee to have in their pocket.

Save: Roll d20 equal or under an Ability Score to pass, avoiding something bad.
Damage: Damage taken comes off your HP. If you have no HP left, remaining Damage comes off your STR and you must pass a STR Save to avoid Critical Damage.
Armour: Reduces incoming Damage by its Armour Score.
Stress: As Damage, but replace STR with WIL.
Strain: As Damage, but replace STR with DEX.
Critical: When you take Critical Damage/Stress/Strain you are incapacitated until tended to. In the case of Critical Damage you will also die unless tended to.
Ability Loss: Takes immediate effect, dead at STR 0, utterly incapacitated at DEX or WIL 0.
Short Rest: A few minutes and a drink. Restores HP to full.
Full Rest: A week somewhere comfortable and safe. Restores Ability Scores to full.
Detachment: Ignore individual attacks smaller than a cannon. Enhance attacks against individuals. Break from battle on Critical Damage, wiped out at STR 0.
Contest: Both attempt a Save. If one passes, they win. If both pass, or both fail, the higher die wins.
Dilemma: A choice between two equally good/bad options that can usually be circumvented by a risk or sacrifice.
Enhanced: Increase to d12 Damage.
Impaired: Decrease to d4 Damage.
Deprived: No benefit from Rests until you get what you need. When it gets deadly, take d6 damage each hour/day as appropriate. 

Sunday 17 April 2016

d6 Urban Oddities

Part of the reason I started using Oddities instead of Arcana was to blur the lines between equipment, environment, monsters, and NPCs.

What monster doesn't have the potential to end up as a resource on your character sheet? What bit of the environment can't be made mobile somehow?

It might sound like a stretch, but the idea is to put strange phenomena everywhere, rather than feel it has to be bound to a little item you can carry around.

Of course your starting Oddity needs to be a thing you can carry, but for the rest of the game just make odd stuff and let the players decide what they do with it.

Roll d6 to see what Oddity do you find in this bit of Bastion.

1: Bitter Water - Gigantic snake of pure water.
STR 18, DEX 18, WIL 12, 13hp, d8 Pressure Jet (can be toned down for gentle cleaning).
- Furiously blast away any dirt, which it is most likely surrounded by.
- Communicate in single words you can just make out amongst the splashing.
- Ignore any damage unless it would freeze/boil water.

2: Explosive Temper
The next person you encounter has this condition. If they get even slightly riled, their emotions boil up to extreme levels, eventually forcing them to make a WIL Save or else combust violently, burning to death. Anyone burnt by the fire of this conflagration is subject to the same condition, even if the fire has been kept for a long time or spread to other fuel (hint!). The only way to rid the body of it is to bathe in the icy waters of the polar ocean.

3: Aggressive Surgeon
STR 3, DEX 15, WIL 3, 4hp, Tiny (non-blast attacks are Impaired), Scalpel-Beak (d4).



- Spend a short rest patching up a recent wound (if it caused STR loss, restore half of that lost)
- Attempt to perform on anyone it sees, friendly or otherwise.
- For scenes of mass injury it will scream out like a siren, and a flock of surgeons will arrive.

4: Mock Forest
Twisting masses of collapsed pipes, discarded machinery, and dead vermin has somehow willed itself into non-organic trees, vines, and even Mock Fauna. Equal chance of neighbouring boroughs seeing it as a place of wonder, unholiness, or utter disinterest.

5: Spirit Buffer
Anyone dying in contact with this sealed glass tube has their essence trapped inside. As long as the tube remains in contact with them, they continue to live an unnatural life. If contact, or the tube, is broken, they die a sudden but painful death.

6: Unquenchable Fire Angel
STR 13, DEX 13, WIL 18, 13hp, Burning Onslaught (d10).



- Ignore physical damage, violently reject any fuel, and burn on pure will.
- Ask only two questions. "Who has wronged you?" and "Why are you worthy of Revenge?"
- Finally be quenched when it carries out a vengeance killing for a worthy being.

Saturday 16 April 2016

A Place for WIL

When I wrote about how Oddities don't have to be magic item equivalents I also touched on my lingering issues with the WIL Score.

A Place for WIL

As it stands, WIL is used by players in the following ways:
- Making a good impression in risky situations (Active, but not always used. Would be trumped by character action)
- Keeping up morale and other leadership things (Active, but relies on having NPC followers)
- Bending an Arcanum to do something different to its usual function (Active, but less of a focus with the new Oddity framing)
- Resisting mind-control and other psychic effects (Passive)
- As a pool that can be drained away as any other stat by nasty effects (Passive)

So as you can see, if you roll a character with a high WIL your active things you can use it for all carry some sort of caveat. The passive uses work fine and I find myself using them pretty often.

It's great for NPCs, No issues at all for how it works there.

So my train of thought goes like this:
- WIL is sort of a lame stat to have your high score in
- It doesn't matter from a balance perspective because it's random chargen anyway
- It matters even less because you get one stat swap, so if people roll 18 WIL and don't like it they can just swap it over into STR or DEX
- If everyone dumps WIL then it makes monsters that attack WIL even scarier, because you end up with a lower average WIL amongst PCs
- If dumping WIL seems like a smart choice and the player gets punished for it later by some monster that they didn't know exists, that's unsatisfying
- I absolutely want to keep WIL, as I like the three stat spread and want a non-physical stat in there
- WIL should have clearer uses that can be explained to new players rolling up a character

So, a brand new player is sitting down to roll their 3d6 in order. I explain that STR is doing strong stuff, DEX is being quick, agile, and precise. WIL is...

Well let's forget mechanical stuff and look at how I see the WIL score as a concept. Originally it was the D&D scores of INT, WIS, and CHA mashed together, minus the bits I didn't want to be mechanised.

WIL is NOT:
- How smart a character is when it comes to making decisions (you make the decisions)
- How knowledgeable a character is (that's also down to you)
- How good you are at talking to people (well, sort of, but see below)
- Anything that makes decisions for you. In the same way that STR alone won't win fights and DEX won't let you pull off a great burglary.

WIL is:
- How well you can impact others, socially
- Your strength of mind against mundane mental fatigue and supernatural effects
- Contentiously, I see an element of Spirit or Luck within the stat. High WIL is that charismatic person that seems to have things fall into place for them? WIL is almost the "Other" stat for non-physical factors.

There's a conflict when it comes to using WIL in social situations. I don't want it to replace talking things out at the table and making smart choices, but I want it to be a factor.

I've probably created a false dichotomy in my head over this. The Choice come before Saves in every case, so as long as there's a choice before you roll then what's the problem?

If you have WIL 5 you can still make good and bad decisions when it comes to social situations. When they're good, they're just less likely to be outstanding, and when they're bad you've got a higher chance of it going really sour. 

As as Referee, I will do the following to help raise WIL's presence in the game:
- ALWAYS use the Reaction Roll, even in extreme cases where the encounter is immediately hostile/friendly. Just apply impact for passing/failing the Save. Only one of you failed the Save with the Mushroom Dealer? He takes an irrational dislike to you and gives the others preferential treatment. Half of you passed your Save with the Insatiable Devourer? The other half are the prime targets, they must smell especially tasty.
- Make early and frequent use of the Pick or Push system in social interaction, and tie that in to a WIL Save if they're going to push.
- Drop some WIL damage early on. I've started using a mechanic called Stress that's essentially damage, but instead of moving to STR after running out of HP it moves over to WIL.

It's becoming increasingly clear that social interaction is really where WIL can shine. Into the Odd is at least equally as much about talking to people and weird creatures as it is about fighting them.

So to boil it down to something I can say to players at the table when they ask where to swap the 18 they just rolled.

STR is for if you want to fight and be tough. 

DEX is if you want to sneak or run past hazards and dodge stuff.

WIL is if you want to talk your way to success. and resist mental stress. 

Monday 11 April 2016

Bastionland, the Mouse Queen, and Getting Shrunk

The story goes that the Mouse Queen came to Bastion centuries ago, and gave us the knowledge of chemicals, guns, and dutiful work.

Before her arrival we were no better than the Deep Country idiots, whacking each other with wooden bats and cramming sour apples into every orifice for our own amusement.

Bastion is more occupied with being a city than being a nation. Nationalism usually only stirs into action when you have:
  1. An idea for a flag
  2. Neighbours that talk and act like you and like your flag
  3. Neighbours that talk and act differently and have their own flag
But the now impossibly old Mouse Queen has put forth a declaration of Nationhood from her hidden palace.

Don't let the name fool you. She looks somewhat mouse-like, but easily fills a room with her mass.

Bastionland




Maps are not appropriate to the idea. Instead, she simply proclaims our nation to reach all connected lands and islands reachable by ship.

Now we have something to work for. A unified world beneath our happy queen. She asks only that you spread Bastionland's Ten Modern Laws to the un-modern world.
  1. You shall worship only until it interferes with work.
  2. You shall not consume the meat or eggs of flighted birds.  
  3. You shall accept no excuse for idleness. 
  4. You shall honour your Industry.
  5. You shall kill with modern methods, not savage.
  6. You shall create more children under your Queen.
  7. You shall respect the legal process.
  8. You shall know your place in society. 
  9. The foolish deserve to lose their wealth. 
  10. The wise have a duty to rule. 
A side-note on being Mouse-Sized

With all this talk of mice, you know at some point you're going to get shrunk. I've spoken about this before but could do with clarifying it for more general use.

If you shrink or grow then everything remains the same. You're just working on a different scale now that you're ant-sized or whatever. Things that may have been trivial or challenging before can be flip-flopped in terms of difficulty.

For contested things like combat you just have to work out if one combatant is Giant in comparison to the other. Anything mouse-or-smaller treats us as Giant. From a human point of view it would have to be a giant monster, something big enough to see you as a mouse. No real living land animal is big enough to apply. Whales, sure.

Combatants treat a Giant as a Detachment for the purposes of combat (they ignore individual attacks, and attacks against tiny-beings are Enhanced). Time to get creative with your plan of attack or form your own detachment of mice.

Consider which of the giant's attacks will actually benefit from this size disparity. Ever try shooting a gerbil? Stabbing a cricket with a pike? Generally only big sweeping attacks that are going to overcome your new smallness should be Enhanced in this way.

Thursday 7 April 2016

Save vs GOD

Gods are not good. But they are powerful.

This is a world where it pays to know how to avoid angering the gods.

Each of the Gods ties to one of the classic D&D Saving Throws. Patrick wrote about this four years ago and he's looking the other way now so it's ready for stealing.

The dumb idea is this: No ability scores, just Saves.

You get the classic five Saves based on your class. Each of these ties to a god. Affinity with a particular god means you're more suited to avoid their wrath, not necessarily that there's any affection toward or from them.

The Gods

Death (Death/Poison)


- Just waits for you to die, no hurry
- Somewhat curious of life, or at least watching them move closer to death
- The greatest of the gods, because he always gets what he wants in the end

Zap (Wands)



- Punishes anyone that lets their guard down
- Sends lightning bolts and guns and blade traps
- Appears to have a sense of humour when it comes to methods of death

Stone (Turn to Stone)



- Wants you to give up
- Wants things to stay the same
- Thinks you should just follow orders

Fire (Dragon Breath)



- Wants to burn and explode everyone's hard work
- Wants you all to die in a bloody war
- Wants something big to come along and eat you and blood everywhere arrrgh

Words (Magic/Spells)



- Wants you to ask too many questions and seek too much power
- Wants things to spiral out of your control
- Wants us to end up tearing reality apart and killing the other gods

Want to do something that doesn't fit one of these Saves?

You still have attack rolls, reaction rolls, morale rolls etc.

If it doesn't use one of these, and it isn't risky enough to fit a Save, then it probably doesn't need a roll.

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Boxmen and Gun-Idols

Too much time in the Far Lands changes people.

If they travelled via the Underground, they have moved beneath time. What seems like a month-long jaunt from Bastion may have been several lifetimes of existence in an alien realm.

Some pick up a new look or religion. Others encase themselves in a metal shell and worship a bio-mechanical slaughter beast.

2d6 Boxmen Worship-Team
STR 8, DEX 4, WIL 5, 4hp, Lead Sarcophogarb (Armour 2), withered arms, theatrical voice.

  • Gather new worshippers for its Gun Idol, or prompt it to destroy heretics.  
  • Tip over onto something for d8 damage, needing help from two other boxmen to get back up.  
  • Act based on its Order (see below image)



Roll d8 for the Boxmen's Order
1: Blood Box: Require fresh blood poured into their face-slit each day to avoid going into a cannibalistic frenzy.
2: Protectors: Always looking for a victim to protect, or more accurately a villain to punish.
3: Eat-Noise: Elitists that believe they have the duty to move across reality consuming everything.
4: Un-Rulers: Want to take down anyone claiming to rule another, to allow pure worship of the Gun Idols.
5: Downfallers: Really love watching things crumble.
6: Scab-Band: Believe that the holiest act is to almost destroy something and let it grow back stronger.
7: Sinking Ships: Believe that reality is ending any minute now, so help it along any way you can.
8: Ultimate Violets: Seek out all other false Gun-Idols and destroy them.

Gun Idols
STR 16, DEX 7, WIL 4, 20hp, Huge Bio-Organic Body (Armour 2), Gun-Organ (d12 plus see specific details below).

  • Tremble, roar, and blast things. 
  • Stop for a rest at the worst time, prompting a ritual by the worship-team. 
  • Act based on its specific type (see below). 



Roll d6 to see which type of Gun Idol the Worship-Team is following.

1: Redbird:  Beat its flabby useless wings (d6) and fire a beam of liquid red energy (d12).
2: Alchemiphant: Eats lesser minerals and excretes gold. Fires explosive blasts from a corrugated trunk (d12).
3: Sun Dog: Spends the whole day basking in the sun to fire a beams of black energy by night (d12).
4: Birther: Blind, its eyes gouged out in a past battle, it releases a swarm of explosive flying-things from its maw (d12 blast).
5: Melt-Child: Doesn't have a gun as such, but can glow with energy to melt everything within 50m (d12 ongoing damage, can sustain for rounds before requiring a day's rest). The worship-team have adapted their suits to be immune to this.
6: Raggy: All rotten and mangy, his gun has fallen off and his jaw hangs limp, but his team still worship him.