[d20 Future] Biodroids and the Vitality and Wound System

[Kuma Kode]

I'm a big fan of the Vitality and Wound system, but I'm having a bit of trouble with biodroids. They're constructs, and lack constitution, so they have no Vitality, only Wound points equal to however many Vitality points they would normally have. This causes a few problems...

1) They are actually weaker than many organic creatures since it rounds out to them having 10 Constitution, if that one-time +10 hit points is considered equivalent to the addition of Wound points for a normal character. This kinda clashes with the idea of robots being tougher than humans. Sure, they get 1d10, but that only matters for the Smart Hero robots. In fact, if read literally, it's actually detrimental to a robot who decides to take Dreadnought or some other 1d12 HP class.

2) They have a vulnerability to critical hits. How should I model this? Without a Constitution, they just have a bunch of Wound points, no Vitality. Critical hits bypass Vitality and strike Wound directly. But normal attacks are already hitting their Wound points.

I considered giving them a psuedo-Constitution score representing the durability of their Construction so they could function like organic characters, with Vitality and Wound points. This solves both 1 and 2, but also makes robots likely worth a level adjustment, since it offers the benefits of being a construct but none of the penalties.

Would that solution be an acceptable patch if things like EMP were considered critical hits? Or perhaps if they still suffered fatigue and such when taking Wound damage (leaking coolant leads to heating troubles, for instance).

Help and ideas on how I can go about this, however random, are requested.

[Doggie_arf]

From what I recall, the sample bioreplica robot in the MSRD had 1d10+10 hp (one construct HD).

I guess you could represent that innate toughness for PC biodroids and bioreplicas by giving them that amount as wound points - possibly maxed out for a straight 20 WP, nothing to sneeze at. Vitality points would be taken from class levels, representing the PC's training rather than their physical durability. (Other robotic monstrosities would have full WPs based off their "racial" hit dice, as they *are* that tough).

Robot PCs still won't have any stat to add to their VPs (giving them less VPs than normal PCs), but that (and their lack of innate healing) could balance all their other immunities.