Quick Robots
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Vajra suddenly tensed up; her keen hearing had picked up something in the corridor behind us. With a curse¸ she spun¸ submachine gun raising in one fluid motion. Her initial burst caught an arachnobot full on. Berlin followed suit¸ targeting his auto pistol at the gloom behind the now-smoldering junkpile¸ where a dozen points of red and a staccato metallic clicking drew close enough for the rest of us to hear. Several of the red lights went out in response to the shots¸ only to be replaced by others. The clicking continued¸ growing louder as the mass of arachnobots drew near. The Colonel hung back¸ SMG ready¸ his tactical mind already working on the problem. I stuck close to him¸ nervously gripping my tool kit in one hand and my auto pistol in the other. It was then I heard the telltale¸ rhythmic whirr-CLUNK-UNK of a much larger mech approaching. A triad of huge red points appeared behind the advancing arachnobots. "Colonel…!" I started¸ stepping backward.. "I see it!" he snapped¸ snatching a grenade from his belt. He thumbed the actuator and hesitated only long enough to decide on the most effective spot to place the explosive. "Vajra! Berlin! Fireanole!" he shouted¸ lobbing the device. Robots are a staple of science fiction¸ and Cepheus Engine and the Original Science Fiction Roleplaying Game (OSFRPG) are no different. But while there are many resources for building them¸ they require a certain investment in time and effort - time a Referee may not have. That's where Quick Robots comes in. Quick Robots is a system to quickly design a robot helper¸ adversary¸ or background character for an adventure. Designed for fast design (most robots can be put together in five minutes)¸ the system includes enough detail to effectively portray a mech while leaving plenty of room for Referee tweaking. Quick Robots. When you have the metal¸ but not the time.