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After the Aeolian-Zentraedi war, Robotechnology began to flourish on Aeolis III. Much of its surface had been damaged by a Zentraedi orbital bombardment late in the war, so the reconstruction relied heavily on technology contained in the repurposed battle fortress. During the war, a series of non-transformable battloids, termed "Destroids", were produced for military purposes. Early examples of Aeolian Robotechnology, and designed as combat units against the 10 meter tall Zentraedi, these early destroids were massive, slow, and heavily armored.
Post-war, the technology was refined, and a new series of non-transformable battloids was produced. Smaller, taking advantages in advances in design and a mission not centered on fighting 10 meter tall humanoids, they were also built without the expense of basic space maneuverability units. The older destroids were designed to be operated on the hulls of capital ships, serving as supplemental anti-fighter weapons. As such, they had basic zero-gravity maneuvering thrusters, allowing them to return to their ship should other safeguards fail. The civil defense-oriented Southern Cross battloids largely disposed of these, decreasing cost. Renegade Zentraedi, a problem on post-war Aeolis III, would be engaged with other units (including the VHT-1 and remaining VF-1s)
Built from a standard, 6 meter, frame, they were then equipped with purpose-built sensor nodes in the "head", and various tools and weapons in the arms and shoulders, with the pilot nestled in the chest. Not truly interchangeable, as the later Cyclone weapon systems would be, the common frame nonetheless allowed for more rapid deployment of designs, and a pool of common replacement parts, easing the logistical difficulties faced by the nascent "Army of the Southern Cross" (so named for the arrangement of stars that Aeolian primitve stellar cartography perceived Tirol to be in).
After the war between the Aeolians and the Tirolians (commonly called the "Second Robotech War" on Aeolis III), few cohesive forces of the battloids remained; the civil service designs had taken heavy casualties in the war environment, and so many existing during and after the Invid invasion of Aeolis III were cobbled together from multiple sources and designs, similar to an Ugly fighter.
Non-transformable battloids, such as the ASC Battloid frame variants, might have built-in weapon, but also possess hands, and are capable of using weapons designed for their 6m size. Despite being operated from the cockpit, via robotic arms, these weapons are treated as being fired by the character, due to the nature of Protoculture and its effect on Robotechnology. In some sense, the battloid is very akin to a powersuit, but its direct operation is governed by the Walker Operation skill. In game terms, they are given a fire arc identical to "Turret"; the limitations on their aim are only those imposed by the physical form.
ASC Battloid Frame
Craft: Various Designations depending on specific design
Type: Non-Transformable Battloid
Scale: Walker
Skill: Walker Operation
Crew: 1
Crew Skill: All skills typically at 4D
Cargo Capacity: 60 kilograms
Consumables: 1 day
Cost: 180,000 (new), 145,000 (used), both prices are black market value
Move: 35
Body Strength: 3D
Hand-held Weapons:
EU-11 Gun Pod
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Blasters
Scale: Walker
Fire Control: 3D
Atmosphere Range: 50-300/800/1.5 km
Damage: 5D
The gun pod is hand-carried by the battloid, similar to a rifle. It can be stowed over the shoulder, but not fired until drawn. Drawing and readying the weapon is a non-roll action.
GU-13 Triple-barreled Gun Pod
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Blasters
Scale: Walker
Fire Control: 3D
Range: 250/750/1750
Damage: 3D
Ammo: 40 bursts; the system will auto-reload 5 times, but requires a full round to do so (total of 200 bursts)
The triple-barreled gun pod fires ballistic chunks of metal at a great speed. It was favored by many units precisely because of its lower damage and reduced range; while it reduced fatalities among the opponents, it also reduced collateral damage. That it was much cheaper to produce and maintain certainly did not hurt its popularity with ASC accountants.
FU-1 Water Cannon Pod
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Blasters
Scale: Walker
Fire Control: 4D
Range: 30/60/90
Damage: 1D
Ammo: Special
The FU-1 is capable of a wide spray or narrow stream of water, and was used in both fire suppression and and riot control. Its on-board water tank could only manage a single round of fire, but the system had an integral hose attachment, allowing it to connect to municipal water-based fire-suppression infrastructure, or to large bodies of water, though the second would reduce the rate of fire to 1 per two rounds, as the pump would need to refill the on-board reservoir in the absence of pressurized water.
When fired at rioters, characters would be forced to make a lifting check against the weapon's damage code (adjusted for scale, this becomes 5D for character scale) or be pushed back .3m per point by which they fail the check. The high fire control is due to the weapon's continuous flow nature; for at least 1 round, a stream of water can be directed at all within a single fire arc.
Excavation Spade
Skill: Melee Weapons
Scale: Walker
Fire Control: 0D
Range: Melee
Damage: 4D
As civil defense battloids, the ASC Battloid Frame variants might, at times, be engaged in various engineering projects, including creating earthworks. When pushed, their excavation spades, backed by robotic strength, could inflict significant damage.
Hand to Hand Combat: Battloids can engage in hand to hand combat with all the skill of their pilots. ASC Battloids have an effective strength of 2D; the 3D available to them for resisting damage is the result of ceramic armor, a descendant of which is used in the Cyclone and CVR-3.
Semi-modular Equipment:
These are termed semi-modular because, while they are designed to work with the same frame, they do not do so easily. While a Moderate Walker Repair roll is sufficient to move arms or equipment between two Battloids of the same model, it becomes Very Difficult between ASC Battloids of a different model (it is suggested that the GM set the Moderate difficulty, then roll an additional 3D; the vagaries of design differences can make some changes very hard, and others surprisingly simple.
Arm Equipment:
Each arm may only have 1 weapon system installed, aside from climbing claws.
Climbing Claws: The ASC can be equipped with claws on its hands to aid in climbing cliffs, buildings, or crashed hulls. These claws as +1D to climbing skill checks, and +1 to hand-to-hand combat damage.
MRL-9 Shoulder-mounted grenade Launchers
Fire Arc: Back
Scale: Speeder
Skill: Missile Weapons: Mounted Grenade Launcher
Ammo: 9 grenades
Fire Control: 1D+1
Range: 3-21/60/120
Blast Radius: 0-4 / 10 /20 /30
Damage: 6D/4D/3D/2D
The MRL-9 is mounted on the back of the shoulder, three tubes, each capable of firing independently. Designed for crowd control, they most commonly contain either smoke, concussion, or gas grenades; the above load-out assumes a more lethal option, the fragmentation grenade, was chosen.
Vickers 40mm Grenade Launchers
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Character
Skill: Missile Weapons: Mounted Grenade Launcher
Ammo: 50 grenades
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 14/40/80
The Vickers system was built into the forearms, allowing superior fire control of a very large amount of grenades. Often equipped for crowd control, with concussion or gas grenades, high explosive or fragmentation grenades could be used in combat situations.
Semi-modular Head Equipment:
E-4 Pulse Lasers (2; fire-linked)
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Character
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 3D
Range: 50-150/600/1.25 km
Damage: 6D
The E-4 lasers were mounted on either side of a "head" module, and were optimized for anti-personnel actions, using a high damage and significant targeting assistance against smaller foes.
E-5 Pulse Lasers (2; fire-linked)
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Speeder
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 2D+2
Range: 50-150/600/1.25 km
Damage: 5D
Designed as an anti-vehicle weapon, the E-4s were known for a high sustained rate of fire.
E-18 Medium Lasers
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Walker
Skill- Vehicle Blasters:
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5 km
Damage: 4D
The EL-8 laser is a singular laser, mounted independently of the head. Most often used with a robust sensor system, the E-18s were designed to target and destroy missiles.
Optional Jet Pack:
FU-1 Water Cannon Pod
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Blasters
Scale: Walker
Fire Control: 4D
Range: 30/60/90
Damage: 1D
Ammo: Special
The FU-1 is capable of a wide spray or narrow stream of water, and was used in both fire suppression and and riot control. Its on-board water tank could only manage a single round of fire, but the system had an integral hose attachment, allowing it to connect to municipal water-based fire-suppression infrastructure, or to large bodies of water, though the second would reduce the rate of fire to 1 per two rounds, as the pump would need to refill the on-board reservoir in the absence of pressurized water.
When fired at rioters, characters would be forced to make a lifting check against the weapon's damage code (adjusted for scale, this becomes 5D for character scale) or be pushed back .3m per point by which they fail the check. The high fire control is due to the weapon's continuous flow nature; for at least 1 round, a stream of water can be directed at all within a single fire arc.
Excavation Spade
Skill: Melee Weapons
Scale: Walker
Fire Control: 0D
Range: Melee
Damage: 4D
As civil defense battloids, the ASC Battloid Frame variants might, at times, be engaged in various engineering projects, including creating earthworks. When pushed, their excavation spades, backed by robotic strength, could inflict significant damage.
Hand to Hand Combat: Battloids can engage in hand to hand combat with all the skill of their pilots. ASC Battloids have an effective strength of 2D; the 3D available to them for resisting damage is the result of ceramic armor, a descendant of which is used in the Cyclone and CVR-3.
Semi-modular Equipment:
These are termed semi-modular because, while they are designed to work with the same frame, they do not do so easily. While a Moderate Walker Repair roll is sufficient to move arms or equipment between two Battloids of the same model, it becomes Very Difficult between ASC Battloids of a different model (it is suggested that the GM set the Moderate difficulty, then roll an additional 3D; the vagaries of design differences can make some changes very hard, and others surprisingly simple.
Arm Equipment:
Each arm may only have 1 weapon system installed, aside from climbing claws.
Climbing Claws: The ASC can be equipped with claws on its hands to aid in climbing cliffs, buildings, or crashed hulls. These claws as +1D to climbing skill checks, and +1 to hand-to-hand combat damage.
MRL-9 Shoulder-mounted grenade Launchers
Fire Arc: Back
Scale: Speeder
Skill: Missile Weapons: Mounted Grenade Launcher
Ammo: 9 grenades
Fire Control: 1D+1
Range: 3-21/60/120
Blast Radius: 0-4 / 10 /20 /30
Damage: 6D/4D/3D/2D
The MRL-9 is mounted on the back of the shoulder, three tubes, each capable of firing independently. Designed for crowd control, they most commonly contain either smoke, concussion, or gas grenades; the above load-out assumes a more lethal option, the fragmentation grenade, was chosen.
Vickers 40mm Grenade Launchers
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Character
Skill: Missile Weapons: Mounted Grenade Launcher
Ammo: 50 grenades
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 14/40/80
The Vickers system was built into the forearms, allowing superior fire control of a very large amount of grenades. Often equipped for crowd control, with concussion or gas grenades, high explosive or fragmentation grenades could be used in combat situations.
Semi-modular Head Equipment:
E-4 Pulse Lasers (2; fire-linked)
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Character
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 3D
Range: 50-150/600/1.25 km
Damage: 6D
The E-4 lasers were mounted on either side of a "head" module, and were optimized for anti-personnel actions, using a high damage and significant targeting assistance against smaller foes.
E-5 Pulse Lasers (2; fire-linked)
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Speeder
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 2D+2
Range: 50-150/600/1.25 km
Damage: 5D
Designed as an anti-vehicle weapon, the E-4s were known for a high sustained rate of fire.
E-18 Medium Lasers
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Walker
Skill- Vehicle Blasters:
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5 km
Damage: 4D
The EL-8 laser is a singular laser, mounted independently of the head. Most often used with a robust sensor system, the E-18s were designed to target and destroy missiles.
Optional Jet Pack:
Some variants were built with mounts to allow the attachment of a jet pack, while others were built with integral packs; many units, especially of older models, were not built to accommodate jet packs at all. The packs would provide movement of 30m vertically or 120m horizontally per charge, and could operate in continuous-charge mode. Generally, each would only have 25 charges; integral jet packs would recharge at a rate of 1 charge per 10 minutes, while external jet packs would require removal and refuelling..
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