User:Bill/Randy O'Leary's Robotic Ranger
Background[edit]
Randy O'leary is 14. That's not so uncommon. The world's full of wandering kids who ain't got nothin' or nobody. Randy O'leary is special though. An alien machine fell out of the sky in front of him. The pilot, some six armed insect like monster lived just long enough to attach a probe to the back of Randy's skull. This implant links his brain to the machine's AI, granting him control of it's movements. The AI is slowly learning to communicate through the implant with Randy, and he's starting to realize that the robot has tremendous powers that he hasn't even begun to tap. If he can keep it long enough he might even learn how to use them.
What do the players do when they encounter Randy clumsily fighting off a small group of bandits? Who is Randy working for now? Is he under the influence of a righteous person? Or has he become the pawn of a warlord? Will they try to help Randy or will they try to take his robot from him?
I would probably try to sell this as a character concept to one of the players, and let them stat it up as a 1st level Vagabond with Robot Combat Basic and not a lot else in the way of technological savvy. That would open up other story ideas such as, where did the robot come from, is anybody looking for it, what powers does it actually possess, what kind of havoc will learning them cause, how will they get such an alien device repaired etc.
Characters[edit]
The players are either members of a group of adventurers or a band of mercenaries, which option the group picks should be decided before characters are generated. Adventurers offers a slightly wider range of available character concepts, but I'll be more lenient about gruesomely overpowered characters if the group decides to be mercenaries.
Rules[edit]
I do not normally use the Palladium Role Playing System if I can avoid it. While it can be made serviceable, I just don't like it. I would be willing to use it though; if only to point out how bad it is. Alternatively, I would be happy to use any point-based generic game in my collection or use my own Rifts-inspired homebrew.
