A is for APEMaN

The pride of the US Army in the period right before The Night of Blood and Tears was the Extended Mobility and Neutralization piloted robot. Designed for long term survivability they were the first successful attempt at larger than human sized fighting armor. While very few were deployed prior to the war they were very effective against demons, dragons, and inter-dimensional beings. As society collapsed one or more pilots were able to build fiefs by protecting the local populace with the suits as the stiffener to local militia.

While not hugely common between their strong survivability and the occasional unit found now and then in military caches they are still seen. Most suits are family heirlooms and most of those are held by de facto or outright noble families ruling over a small barony or county across the country side. Many adventurers fantasize about finding a suit and becoming a baron in their own right. While they are able to stand up to an individual dragon or demon, massed contemporary combat equipment, such as deployed by Superior and the other Lake States, can defeat an individual unit or even a small squad despite the individual superiority of the EMaN robot.

As Superior drives to expand they are pushing many barons out of their fiefs and the few that survive with their armor intact, or more often their children after a coup, have taken to the wilds as mercenaries and adventurers look for revenge or a new home.

Creating a APEMaN (Armor Pilot, Extended Mobility and Neutralization)

Requirements and abilities

Dexterity Requirement: 10+
Weapon and Armor Restrictions:APEMaN are trained in warfare and, as such,
have no restrictions on the kind of weapons or armor they can use.
Saving Throw:APEMaN receive a +2 bonus on saving throws vs. death and
poison (if using the alternative “Saving Throw Matrix” save as a fighter).
Experience Bonus for Dexterity: The APEMaN's prime attribute is Dexterity and he thus gets a 5% XP bonus for a Dexterity of 15+.
Initial Skills: Armor Pilot and Field Mechanic at 2. Survival all at 1.

Level Advancement

Use the experience point totals, hit points, to-hit, and saving throws from the S&W Whitebox Edition.

In addition, starting at level 2 the APEMaN gains one skill point per level.

Starting Equipment

Armor Selection 2d20
2-4	No armor
5-10	Fully Functional Teutonic Armor
11-15	Hospitaller Armor with max half-hitpoints
16-17	Fully Functional Hospitaller Armor
18-19	Templar Armor with max half-hitpoints
20	Fully Functional Templar Armor

APEMaN characters also start out with 3d10 rounds of rail gun ammo. The rail guns can be armed with improvised ammo but with two effects. First, improvised ammo does 1d6 Extraordinary Damage, not Superhuman. Second, on a roll or 1 on any attack roll with improvised ammo the rail gun will jam. Clearing it in combat is hard task and fumbling it makes it impossible to clear in combat. Clearing can be done automatically in 1d8 hours outside of combat.

Given PC APEMaN are wanderers despite their equipment they tend to have little money. They start with 2d4x10 gold pieces or Superior Dollars (their choice).

Notes:

1. The EMaN Robot will be described on Wednesday, April 6 as the E entry in the challenge.
2. The hit point and damage types will be described on Tuesday, April 5 as the D (damage) entry in the challenge.
3. Skills are chance the chance in 12 on a d12, the same as finding secret doors in the S&W rules.

All RDR material is seriously alpha at this point. My first play test game will be the first Saturday in May.
Licensing