Created Friday 02 August 2013

Robot heroes who become more powerful as they advance during play never have to wor-ry about level adjustments. It is assumed that the cost of any improvements and accessories in time, Concord dollars, and other resources is commensurate with the advantages gained. Level adjustments are applied only at character creation, and only for those robots whose inherent abilities are advantageous enough to significantly alter the balance of game play. The basic biodroid and bioreplica char-acters described in Chapter 1 take no level adjustment. For all others, use the following guidelines. When determining a robot’s effec-tive level, add it’s level adjustment to its first class level. Thus, a robot that begins play as a 1st level Strong hero and has a level adjust-ment of +3 would be considered as a 4th lev-el hero. If a robot’s total level adjustment is equal to the starting level of the campaign, it is considered to have an XP “debt” of 500. That is, until the robot earns 500 XP, it takes one negative level. Once that XP is earned, the negative level and the 500 XP go away, and the robot begins earning experience normally. In no case should a beginning heroic robot have a higher level adjustment than the level at which other heroes begin in the cam-paign.

Level adjustments aren’t so much calculated as estimated. There are no concrete rules that can state that ability X is worth a higher ad-justment than ability Y, but less than ability Z. As a result, players should never estimate the level adjustments of their robot heroes with-out their GM’s active guidance. The guidelines presented here are just that—guidelines. The level of advantage offered by an ability can vary greatly based on the setting and power level of the campaign. In general, an ability is only an advantage if it is something that other characters can’t do. That said, following is a list of robot abilities that are likely to affect a robot’s level adjustment—or an explanation of why certain abilities shouldn’t. This is not an exhaustive list. Property: Robots start with a –1 level adjustment due to the fact that somebody has to pay for them and either owns them or is hunting them. The fact that robots can be hacked or reprogrammed is also included in this adjustment. Construct Traits: The construct type is worth a +1 level adjustment. When limited by the “critical systems” trait, it is generally con-sidered to be balanced out by the fact that a robot has doesn't heal normally. Ability Scores: The biodroid and bi-oreplica heroic robot, as described in Chapter 1, are balanced so that the inherent ad-vantage of not having a Constitution score to worry about does not impose a level adjust-ment. For other heroic robots, however, the lack of a Constitution score and subsequent immunity to most effects that require a Forti-tude save is worth a +1 level adjustment, un-less the GM feels that its other ability scores are low enough to balance out the ad-vantage. Likewise, other robot traits, particularly the increased Strength of particularly large robots, can carry a level adjustment of +1 or even more, unless otherwise balanced by lim-itations. Size: Robots do not receive level adjust-ments based on their size alone. Instead, they may take level adjustments for their Strength or Reach. Manipulator Damage: Manipulators are treated as natural weapons. In most cases, ro-bot manipulators do not deal enough dam-age to call for a level adjustment. If a robot has enough manipulators to gain a high num-ber of natural attacks, however, a level adjust-ment may be necessary. A robot with more attacks in a single round than a Strong hero with a level equal to the robot’s Hit Dice, a +1 level adjustment is applied. If the robot has more than twice as many attacks as a Strong hero of comparable level, the adjustment is +2. Reach: For every 5 feet of reach that a robot has beyond the standard 5 feet, a +1 level adjustment is applied (eg, +1 for 10 feet, +2 for 15 feet, etc.). Skills and Systems: A robot with three or more equipment bonuses on skill checks from its systems (such as sensors) gets a +1 level adjustment. Damage Reduction: For each 5 points of damage ignored, a robot gains a +1 level adjustment. Special Abilities: Special abilities are the trickiest robot traits to estimate for level ad-justments. When determining whether a spe-cial ability requires a level adjustment, consid-er the following factors: -An ability does not require a level ad-justment if it is something that a character of comparable level could achieve through spe-cies, class features, feats or reasonably availa-ble equipment. -Only abilities granted by a robot’s in-herent systems take level adjustments. Abili-ties granted by equipment that any character could use do not get level adjustments. -An ability that passes the above criteria generally takes a +1 level adjustment. If the ability provides a particularly high bonus, mul-tiple bonuses, or extraordinarily powerful ef-fects, the level adjustment may rise to +2, or even +3.