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View Full Version : Dwayne the Builder [4e]



Christopher K.
2010-12-22, 01:53 PM
So from Encounters, our DM botched the fight with the statue in the hall and said it could move. Using this to my advantage, I used the Make Whole ritual to repair it the other week(Which he told me he would allow). Deciding that the massive advantages in combat would make Dwayne(as I named him) a huge game-tipper, I volunteered to my DM that Dwayne has to comply to an adjusted set of rules based on the Three Laws of Robotics(to be shown to him today).

-Dwayne may not injure a living creature except in self-defense.
-Dwayne must obey any orders given to it only by Adesh(my Rogue|Wizard Hybrid) or anyone Adesh himself specifies.
-Dwayne must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
-Dwayne must comply if Adesh(and no one else) orders self-destruction only followed by a password(To be determined at a later date) and handed a key which Adesh keeps on his person at all times.
-If asked by anyone, Dwayne must communicate verbally what it is doing.

My questions are thus, 1) What should Dwayne be ordered to do?(I figure that he should be building and maintaining a fortress for Adesh to retire in, myself), 2) Are there any other rules that I should include on Dwayne's list?, and 3) Are there any ways to further protect Dwayne and/or make it more useful?

Kurald Galain
2010-12-22, 02:47 PM
My questions are thus, 1) What should Dwayne be ordered to do?
Fight undead?

Sipex
2010-12-22, 03:20 PM
Some other options:
- Provide flanking
- Restrain enemies
- Block the path to you.
- Provide party members with partial cover.

Kesnit
2010-12-22, 03:27 PM
What kind of restrictions are on Dwayne? If he is left as an independent, sentient being, you risk breaking the action economy (since your PC can carry out twice the actions per round).

1) Treat him like a summons. Don't know what class you are playing, but Artificer has some powers that could replicate having a robotic follower.

2) Treat him as a summon(2). Take a look at Druid and that class's summons. The animals can act on their own without orders, but WILL act on their own doing specific things, which may or may not be beneficial to the party.

3) Treat him as a servant. He follows the party, helps them do things outside of combat, and carries their stuff. But when combat rolls around, he finds a corner and hides.

Christopher K.
2010-12-22, 05:07 PM
Dwayne can't fight or even appear in combat. Servant is probably one of the best ways to classify it.

Mad Wizard
2010-12-22, 08:07 PM
I would add "...as long as these orders do not conflict with the first law" to the second law.

Christopher K.
2010-12-22, 09:39 PM
Well, from the out of character perspective, I don't see that as being important since Dwayne can't participate in combat anyhow. (The only reason I added the 'except in self-defense' clause is so that Dwayne could fight back if villagers or monsters threatened it)

Crossblade
2010-12-23, 02:22 AM
I'd hate to burst your bubble, but those aren't the 3 laws of robotics.
Your rule 3 can be completely ignored because of rule 1. You order him to self-destruct... he attacks Adesh in self-defense.

The 3 laws are (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics):

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Christopher K.
2010-12-23, 02:29 AM
I said they were based on the Three Laws, not identical. And Dwayne's self-defense is reduced in priority to orders from Adesh.