Doom Striders

Contents
Introduction ................................. 2 3: Combat.................................... 59
Why Doom Striders? .....................................................................2 Energy Costs ................................................................................. 59
How to Use This Book..................................................................3 The Battle Grid ............................................................................ 59
Combat Statistics ......................................................................... 59
Actions ........................................................................................... 64
1: The Campaign ........................... 4 Doom Striders in Mass Combat............................................... 70
The Discovery..................................................................................4
Putting it Together ..........................................................................6
Privateers ...........................................................................................7 4: Captain & Crew .................... 72
Mercenaries ......................................................................................8 The Role of the Captain ............................................................ 72
Operating a Unit............................................................................9 The Doom Strideras Creature................................................... 73
Maintenance .................................................................................. 15 Feats ................................................................................................ 74
Skills................................................................................................ 75
Prestige Classes ............................................................................. 76
2: Construction......................... 18 Doom Strider Captain ................................................................ 76
Materials ........................................................................................ 18 Master Engineer ........................................................................... 77
Size .................................................................................................. 19
Torso ............................................................................................... 20
Head ............................................................................................... 21 5: Allies & Adversaries ........ 79
Limbs .............................................................................................. 22 The Witch Hunters ..................................................................... 79
Craft (Doom Strider) (Int)........................................................ 23 The Lost Angels ........................................................................... 81
Armor and Defenses .................................................................... 26 The Banshees ................................................................................ 84
Controls ......................................................................................... 31 Sun Lord’s Chosen ....................................................................... 86
Miscellaneous Augmentations ................................................... 34 The Blood Watch ......................................................................... 90
Weapons & Accessories .............................................................. 47 Metal Fury ..................................................................................... 93

Credits
Design Cover Artist
Sam Witt Kari Christensen

Editor Interior Artists

Jim Butler and Steve Creech Christopher Herndon, David Hendee, Ed Bourelle,
Jacob Elijah Walker, Jesse Mohn, Joylon Minns, Scott
Creative Director Purdy, Thomas William Babbey, and Yap Chong Aik.
Kevin Melka
Playtesters
Mike Kogan, Ron Freking, and Shannon Bennett
Art Director
Brannon Hollingsworth
Proofreaders
Bruce Boughner, Darrin Drader, Kevin Melkka, Mike
Kogan, Steve Creech, and Thomas Knauss
Distributed worldwide to the book trade by Osseum Entertainment (www.osseum.com); distributed to the toy, comic, and hobby trade by Bastion Press (www.bastionpress.com) and regional distributors.

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trademarks owned by Bastion Press, Inc. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 5.0. Dungeons
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All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

1
 Introduction
W
hether battling lone giants or spaces and are often unable to use all of the weapons
fighting off hordes of hobgob- at their disposal when so confined. Of course, this
lins, defense of land (or other does not prevent adventurers from acquiring these
territory) in a fantasy world can weapons and using them to further their own goals.
be a daunting task. The doom strider is the natural Ever an ingenious and inventive lot, adventurers have
evolution in defensive, magical technology, proceed- done much to expand the role of the doom strider in
ing from magical armor to simple animated weapons, the worlds in which they exist.
to more complex and In this book, you will
powerful golems, and find all the information
finally to the doom you need to add doom
strider. striders to your campaign.
Doom striders From how these powerful
are large animat- weapons might be intro-
ed suits of armor duced into your world, to
controlled by the the ways in which they can
wearer. They incor- transform the battlefield,
porate enormous this book provides you with
strength, speed, and the tools needed to bring
raw offensive power doom striders to life.
into a package that
any warrior can be Why Doom
trained to operate.
More importantly, Striders?
A magically-enhanced
they provide a plat- nimated statues and
form through which
wizards can safely suits of armor are not that
channel magic while far removed from one an-
remaining protected other, so it is not much of
behind enemy lines. a leap to assume that the
A doom strider is two would eventually be
the heavy assault ve- combined. A doom strider
hicle of the fantasy is essentially a powerful suit
world, an enormous of armor that increases the
creation capable of size and power of its wear-
laying waste to vast er. While within a doom
hordes of enemies strider, a captain becomes
or going toe-to-toe much more powerful, capable of wielding weapons
with more powerful individual creatures. that simply cannot be used without the power of a
Above all, these are weapons of war. They are most doom strider to back them up.
effective when deployed to battlefields, where wide Doom striders represent a natural evolution of
open spaces and fields of fire allow them to control the fantasy arms race. Because they are operated by
the environment with superior weaponry and greater mimicking the motions of the captain’s body, they
range. While a doom strider—especially the smaller can be piloted with relative ease and allow skilled
models—could be used to venture into dungeons, combatants to use their natural abilities while within
they can be more difficult to control in such small the construct. Because they are so large, they can be

Illustrated by Jacob Walker

2
 Introduction
crammed with weapons and layered with enormous land filled with shallow swamps, for example, could
plates of armor. As a further benefit, they allow sev- definitely benefit by having large, bipedal constructs
eral individuals to work together as a team to deliver capable of transporting groups through terrain they
even more pain to their enemies than they could ac- would otherwise be forced to traverse on foot.
complish on their own. And, of course, the most likely reason for doom
In addition to their martial capabilities, doom striders to arise in a campaign is through the med-
striders are also powerful deterrents. A horde of orcs dling of a group of adventurers. Wealthy and bored
might not think twice about taking a run at a de- wizards along with their companions are quite likely
fended fortress, but the presence of a 50-foot tall gi- to come up with these massive engines of war simply
ant within that same fortress may very well give them to pass the time, or to test out a pet theory. With
pause. ridiculous wealth and power at their disposal, there’s
Doom striders also serve as a sign of prosperity just no telling what adventurers might devise.
and advanced magical knowledge within a territory.
Any kingdom that fields a doom strider is showing its How to Use This Book
D
neighbors that it has enough wealth to construct such oom Striders is divided into several sections,
a monstrosity and that it has the magical expertise to each of which details a particular aspect of
get it up and running. The doom strider is a formi- doom striders and their use in your campaign. There’s
dable figurehead, one that can give even aggressive, no need to read the book from cover to cover, in-
well-armed bands of attackers serious pause. stead, just flip to those sections you’re interested in
For religions, doom striders serve as iconic sym- and start reading.
bols of faith. A church that constructs a doom strider The first section following the Introduction is the
in the image of its gods or divine servants now has Doom Strider Campaign. In this section is informa-
a powerful, physical representation of its faith. Not tion on how doom striders impact a world, their role
only does this draw in followers (who are probably in society, and two types of individuals that utilize
too frightened to not join a church after seeing its doom striders—mercenaries and privateers.
priests piloting such enormous weapons), but it also Once you’ve read through the possible impacts of
dissuades enemy religions from doing anything rash. introducing doom striders to your world, you’re ready
Doom striders also present a threat that large and to begin Building the Doom Strider. This chapter
traditionally arrogant creatures often take more se- contains all the information necessary to construct
riously than a unit of armored knights. A dragon, one of these monstrosities, from selecting its body
for example, is unlikely to be overly concerned with parts to bolting on every last widget and weapon
your average man-at-arms, but when that is encased needed to create the perfect tool of destruction.
in tons of powered armor and bristling with weap- Now that the doom strider is built, Doom Strider
ons, it becomes a more obvious threat. In a world of Combat shows the mechanics behind operating these
monsters and magical mayhem, the doom strider can constructs on the battlefield. This chapter contains
give a ruler or military leader the space he needs to all the information you need to run combats involv-
negotiate with hostile forces. ing doom striders, including some tips for mapping.
The need to transport valuable cargo can also give Chapter Four: Captain and Crew looks at those
rise to the doom strider. When the sixth merchant who make the doom striders tick. In that chapter are
caravan in a month goes missing, it might be a worth- new prestige classes, skills, and feats that allow you to
while investment to create some doom striders with get the most out of your doom strider and its crew.
cargo capacity to lug the goods from place to place. Allies & Adversaries provides a selection of doom
Fast as a horse and able to traverse difficult terrain, striders and the characters who pilot them, giving the
doom striders may even become the primary means GM six doom strider units ready to drop into any
of long-distance transportation in some cultures. A campaign.

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 1: The Campaign
W
hile having a few doom striders Finally, there needs to be a good reason to de-
scattered around your world is velop the doom strider. While wealthy magic-users
a sure way to add some spice to or haughty priests might fund the experimentation
things, adding dozens of them and construction needed to discover doom striders,
may be just the thing to invigorate a stale setting or the ridiculous expense involved is sure to give them
to begin a new story arc within an existing campaign. pause—unless they have a pressing need for the pow-
In this chapter, GMs can find the information neces- er a doom strider can bring to the table.
sary to integrate doom striders into their campaign The most logical need for a doom strider arises
world—from their discovery, to their proliferation, to from war. A nation besieged by its neighbors is likely
the effects doom striders have on the nations around to scramble for whatever tools and weapons it can
them. Players can explore a few possible options of find—or invent—to stem the tide of invading forces.
their own when determining how much of an effect In areas where magical and technological resources
the doom strider will play in the lives of their own are plentiful, where the expertise exists to build both
characters. armor and magical items, it is very likely that doom
striders also find their way into use.
The Discovery So, for doom striders to be discovered, a campaign

D
oom striders are combinations of area needs to meet the following requirements:
the magical and the technological.
Though their motive force is vir- • An urbanized population that supports techno-
tually always magical, they are also logical and magical study.
elaborate mechanical structures that require a signifi- • Enough disposable wealth and the necessary re-
cant amount of technology to make work. Because sources to allow experimentation and research.
of this, it is very unlikely that doom striders rise up • A pressing need, most likely some sort of ongo-
in a primitive culture. At the very least, the discovery ing conflict or a brewing war with neighboring
of doom striders requires artisans and sages, which states or local tribes of monsters.
in turn require an urbanized environment to flourish.
For most campaigns, the doom strider is going to If all three of these conditions are met, it becomes
first appear in large cities, or within kingdoms or na- more and more likely that doom striders emerge into
tions with several large cities within their boundaries. society.
Though a wandering tribe of nomads might be able Who Discovers Them?

J
to cobble together a flesh golem, they would be hard ust because an area could discover and begin build-
pressed to put together an enormous metal construct ing doom striders, it is not a certain thing that it
as they scuttle across the plains. will. Areas with a high degree of magical expertise
Resources are another issue that can inhibit or pro- but little technical expertise—or vice versa—are un-
mote the creation of doom striders. In poor or strug- likely to ever reach the right combination of both
gling cities, there simply is not enough a material or fields of study that leads naturally to the invention
free wealth floating around to allow the creation of of the doom strider.
doom striders. A wizard in a sooty tower somewhere To simplify things, this most often means that you
might have the plans all written up and ready to put need wizards, smiths, and inventors, all in the same
to the test, but a lack of resources keeps those plans area, before doom strider research becomes feasible.
from coming to fruition. So, doom striders need not Wizards and sorcerers are the most likely individu-
only urban areas, but prosperous urban areas with the als to begin research into constructing doom strid-
necessary steel, wood, and magical materials neces- ers, as their skill with creating magical items makes it
sary to construct the powered suits of armor. very likely they decide to broaden their scope beyond

4
 1: The Campaign

magical swords and suits of armor. In fact, until a workshops to make room for the large components.
wizard decides to start building a full-scale doom Charcoal becomes harder to acquire, as the smiths
strider, it is likely his research either remains secret or and other artisans start ordering more of it to fuel
is mistaken as simply another type of golem. their larger forges.
But once the magical inventor expresses his desire When the construction begins to pick up, keeping
to put his doom strider concepts into experimental the doom strider secret will require either a great deal
production, it is hard to keep them secret. The wiz- of subterfuge or a lot of magic. The simplest, though
ard could—at great expense—move all the experts he most complicated and risky, method for keeping the
needs to some remote location (slowly, so as not to doom strider secret is to remove the components
arouse suspicion by the sudden exodus of smiths and from the city in covered wagons over a period of sev-
other experts) and provide them with the workshops eral days or weeks. The pieces can be transported to a
they need. It is much more likely that news of some remote location and assembled there, though the ex-
new project begins to filter down through the city. pense of keeping the necessary experts in the region
and of supporting the construction efforts might
The Secret of the Doom Strider
prove prohibitive depending. In worlds where expert

I
t’s unlikely that the doom strider will attract a help is readily available, the cost is not as high, but
great deal of attention during its initial construc- in areas where the smiths are regarded as true artists,
tion. There is most certainly going to be an increase their absence from their forges is costly indeed.
in the amount of ore the city is using and the smiths Even if the construction site remains in the city
involved in the project will likely look to expand their and is cloaked with magic to protect it from discov-

Illustrated by Jacob Walker

5
 1: The Campaign
ery, keeping it hidden for long is simply impossible. Finally, there is the matter of theft. Once an enemy
Smiths are absent from their forges, or required to learns of the doom strider, it is very likely some espi-
work into the wee hours of the morning. Other ex- onage and burglary are going to be in order. Stealing
perts and artisans become scarce, as well, as they de- the plans from the wizard, kidnapping the creator, or
vote more time to the project. Eventually, someone simply hijacking some of the more important pieces
is going to start looking into what is going on in the of the doom strider might be enough to slow or even
city, making it quite likely the secret is revealed. halt the entire creation of the doom strider.
Why Keep the Secret? Revelation

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hough it may seem unnecessary to hide the hen the doom strider is finally revealed,
construction of a doom strider, there is at reactions may be extreme. Enemy nations
least one good reason to keep the doom strider un- may decide that they have to attack the doom strider’s
der wraps. Governments become very uncomfortable kingdom immediately before more striders are con-
when someone starts building an instrument of mass structed. The longer enemy forces wait to attack, the
combat in their territory. If the creator is not an agent more the balance of power can tilt away from them.
of the government, he may find himself faced with It is even likely that former enemies may team up just
all manner of unpleasant investigations and legal ac- long enough to tear down the doom strider’s builder,
tion, up to and including the seizure of his prototype crippling the country before it can bring its powerful
doom strider and the forfeiture of his life. weapon to bear.
The other reason a doom strider needs to be kept On the other hand, weaker enemy nations are li-
secret is the effect news of its creation could have able to see this as the final nail in their coffin and sue
on the populace. If the denizens of a city see an for peace. Negotiations might turn a middling power
enormous suit of armor being built in their midst, into a great power, as weaker states surrounding it be-
panic may be the mildest of their reactions. In fan- come vassals under the new truces. This brings more
tasy worlds, where giants and dragons rampage at will wealth and power to the doom strider’s builder, al-
across the countryside, the residents might see the lowing the construction of even more doom striders,
doom strider as proof that something bad is headed which can be dispatched to maintain the peace and
their way. Riots in the streets might not erupt, but to expand into new territories as time and resources
there very well may be a migration out to the coun- allow.
tryside to avoid being near whatever evil this new me- In short, the revelation of the doom strider can
chanical monstrosity attracts. bring about two very different reactions from the po-
Of course, no one wants a rival to know what they litical states surrounding the site of the doom strider’s
are up to. For wizards, hiding the doom strider may construction. For the purposes of a d20 campaign,
be simply part of an elaborate game of one-upman- however, the best answer is the one that provides the
ship, but for nations it is most likely imperative to the most conflict and drama for the characters involved.
security of their holdings. If an enemy state learns Let loose the hounds of war!
of the doom strider’s construction, it is likely to at-
tempt to build such a force. Failing that, they may Putting it Together

N
go to great lengths to have the creators of the doom o matter how it’s done, building a
strider killed or abducted before construction can be doom strider can be a significant
completed. Whenever weapons of great power are at drain on the economy and resourc-
stake, states are likely to act quickly, decisively, and es of a city. If a leader wants more
brutally to either procure them or to prevent others than one doom strider, a nation can be pushed to the
from doing the same. brink of poverty by the strain on its work force and
depletion of its natural resources.

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 1: The Campaign
This means that doom strider construction is not back a portion of the plunder they take as a result
going to be a mass market affair. Doom strider facto- of their newfound firepower. The bigger condition
ries are simply not likely—the cost would be prohibi- for privateers, however, is that they must be willing to
tively high and the return on investment too low to report for duty if the nation in question needs to be
justify such an endeavor. Instead, doom striders will defended from aggressive neighbors.
be constructed in various cities over longer periods Privateers have several advantages. First, they al-
of time, enabling the political state to absorb the cost low governments to have a number of doom striders
of the construction. in the field at all times, even if those doom strid-
ers are not always under the day-to-day control of
Privateers the kingdom. Though the doom strider crews may

A
nother likely solution to the problem still be glory-seeking adventurers, at least they agree
is the creation of privateers—ad- (in theory) to help protect the nation from invaders.
venturers that man their own doom From the privateer’s perspective, this is advantageous
striders for profit. In any nation of as well. It gives his adventuring and looting a legiti-
a reasonably large size, there are likely to be a num- macy he would otherwise be denied and puts him in
ber of powerful creatures with sizeable treasure troves a position to hobnob with the royalty and politically
just waiting to be plundered. Adventurers are autho- elite of the nation in question.
rized to build and pilot their own doom striders in Second, it helps keep the number of monsters
a given nation, under the condition that they kick down. A few doom striders can put a significant dent
in the number of giants in an area and may even deter
orcs and other goblinoids from raiding. This increas-
es the safety of settlements in the wilderness and may
allow isolated, but strategically important locations
such as mines, to become cities. When a population
feels freer to move about the country, then trade im-
proves, resulting in better roads, richer citizenry, more
specialized jobs, and similar perks.
Third, it terrorizes nearby states and keeps them
from moving in or becoming overly aggressive. While
a nation that is just building doom striders may have
some difficulty convincing its neighbors to keep their
distance, that’s hardly a problem once there are a
dozen privateer bands wandering around with doom
striders of their own.
Disadvantages of Privateers

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hile doom strider privateers are clearly cost
effective—the state absorbs none of the
cost of doom striders, yet benefits from their pres-
ence and profits from their activities—they can also
become a great liability to the nations that employ
them. Because most privateers have loyalty to who-
ever offers them the best deal, defections to richer
neighboring countries is a very real danger to political
states that make use of privateers. If one king takes

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Illustrated by Scott Purdy
 1: The Campaign
10% of his privateers’ profits and another only takes
5%, a shift in military strength is bound to happen.
Privateers can also get some grandiose thoughts of
their own, often deciding that they have the power, so
they might as well take a run at the throne. The type
of civil war that can result from several rogue doom
striders can be devastating. Ground troops loyal to
the current ruler can suffer heavy losses, and such tur-
moil might attract the interests of enemy kingdoms
who view the strife as a perfect time to strike their
own incursions.
Most privateers are aware that they could likely
never hold any nation they took by force, no matter
how many doom striders they had. While these con-
structs pack a tremendous amount of firepower, they
cannot be deployed over a wide area, instead provid-
ing focused military strength in one location. This
means that asymmetrical warfare with loyalists would
become a serious problem and, as soon as enough
doom striders were sabotaged or captured to tip the
balance, a second coup would no doubt take place.
Each political state must carefully analyze its needs
when it comes to privateers. Those in danger of being
overrun by an enemy with doom striders of its own
may find privateers an attractive alternative to being
crushed under the iron heel of the local bully nation,
while others may find the arms stockpile not under
their control to be too much of a liability.
With magic, on the other hand, there are ways
to make privateers at least somewhat safe. So-called
‘loyalty bombs’ planted inside doom strider energy
sources can be used as a threat to keep the privateers he fulfills the letter of his contracts. Though failure is
in line. See Chapter 2: Construction, for more in- often inevitable, an out-and-out betrayal or attempted
formation. coup is certain to do irreparable harm to a mercenary’s
Mercenaries reputation. For this reason, many kingdoms prefer to
use mercenaries rather than take the chance on field-

T
hough very similar to privateers, mer- ing privateers.
cenaries owe nothing to individual Mercenaries have the added advantage of mobil-
political entities, preferring instead to ity—they go where the money is, which means they
offer their services to the highest bid- are rarely in any given area long enough to become
ders. For a mercenary to remain successful, he must an issue. By the time they get comfortable and start
stick to his contracts and perform as required. In thinking seditious thoughts about taking a run at the
some ways, this makes a mercenary more trustworthy local king’s throne, a lucrative offer is bound to come
than a privateer. The mercenary knows that his future in from elsewhere and pull the mercenaries off to
livelihood and well-being is tied directly to how well further adventures.

Illustrated by David Hendee

8
 1: The Campaign
Overall, mercenaries and privateers are quite simi- with enough treasure to be worth the trouble of kill-
lar in nature, though mercenaries are more self-suffi- ing. For mercenaries, work comes in the form of con-
cient and require stronger goodwill with many differ- tracts to carry out, as well as the occasional monster
ent factions to maintain their style of living. Which slaying. Neither type of unit can afford to sit idle for
method a kingdom uses to protect itself often says a long, as skilled doom strider crews expect to be paid
great deal about the kingdom. generously for their services.
A strong, wealthy kingdom generally has little With that in mind, there are two factors that will
trouble using privateers as border patrols or for dan- directly affect the ability of any group of doom strid-
gerous missions. If the privateers get too dangerous, ers to find work: location and reputation.
the strong kingdom can simply order its own doom
Location and Value
striders (or other forces) out to deal with the prob-

A
lem and is often able to overwhelm the privateers if s with real estate, the most important detail
they act quickly. As an added bonus, the loyalty a in the business of warfare-for-hire is location.
strong kingdom engenders can create dangerous, fa- No matter your reputation, the value of your doom
natically loyal doom strider captains who are more striders, or your kill-count, you cannot find work in
than willing to put their machines to use devastating isolated areas far from civilization. A unit of doom
surrounding kingdoms. striders walking through the inhospitable wastes has
Weaker kingdoms, however, are more likely to rely little to no chance to find work. Because of this, most
on mercenaries, who can be paid for a job and will doom strider units pick either a large urban area to
then vacate the area. This type of kingdom has little base themselves out of, or look for locations where
use for keeping the mercenaries around, as the longer there is a significant amount of military activity. It
the mercenaries stay in one area the more likely they is in these types of areas that doom strider units can
are to resist moving on. find work; there is enough money to hire them and
there are enough folks with the political or military
Operating a Unit clout to do the hiring.

D
In order to keep things simple, areas are defined as
oom striders rarely operate alone. the land surrounding the urban or military complex;
While it is certainly possible for a usually out to a radius of 50 miles or so. If a mili-
single one of these machines to rain tary and urban complex with the same allegiance have
hell down on its opponents, it can overlapping areas (say a metropolis with a military
be quite dangerous to stand alone. For this reason, base of the same kingdom within 10 miles or so),
doom strider units normally consist of 2 to 6 doom then the GM should use only the highest percentage
striders and their crews, all of which support one an- chance to determine whether a location has any jobs
other. If funded by a government or other agency, for offer.
the doom striders rarely have to worry about support Of course, this is not written in stone. In a par-
services, repairs, or funding to keep their doom strid- ticularly fractious or politically hazardous area, there
ers running. For mercenaries and privateers, things are is no good reason why two rival towns or even rival
quite different. This section offers some information leaders in the same town might want to hire doom
to consider for those who want to operate a doom striders to go after their supposed allies, but that is
strider unit, giving players and GMs alike the infor- a subject for GM fiat: If you want it to happen, it
mation they need to play out a mercenary campaign. happens!
Finding Work The table below is an approximation based on the

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he most important thing a doom strider unit population of an area and the average wealth available
can do is find work. For privateers, this means in a given population size. If the area is dispropor-
looking for enemies of the kingdom or monsters tionately wealthy, or has a far larger military budget

9
 1: The Campaign
than it first appears (such as would be the case with circumstance penalty, depending on the rationale be-
some large frontier keep charged with keeping in- hind the renegotiation.
vaders at bay), then simply use a higher population
count when determining the chance for an available % Change DC
opportunity. Conversely, destitute regions, or regions 1d10 10
with very little experience with open warfare (such as 2d10 15
those in a central area of a strong kingdom, far from
4d10 20
any enemies) should be considered to have a much
6d10 25
lower population. In general, a very militaristic area
can be considered to have an effective population 10 8d10 30
times its actual population for the purposes of find- 10d10 40
ing available work, while a peaceful city far from any
Reputation

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conflicts can be considered to have only 10% of its
actual population. hile location determines wheth-
er or not work is available in an
Area % Chance of Average area, reputation may determine
whether or not the doom strid-
Population Job Available Job Value
er unit can secure a contract for the work. In areas
80 1% 100 gp where several doom strider units operate, it is quite
400 5% 200 gp likely that competition for contracts is fierce and a
900 10% 1,500 gp unit’s reputation is the key to avoiding low-paying,
2,000 15% 5,000 gp high-risk work.
5,000 20% 30,000 gp Reputation for a mercenary or a privateer unit is
12,000 25% 75,000 gp based on the unit’s effectiveness in completing con-
25,000+ 30% 200,000 gp tracts, the value of its doom striders, and its trust-
worthiness. When first created, a doom strider unit
The Average Job Value listed on the table above has a reputation of zero, modified by the value of its
should be used as a starting guideline for negotia- doom striders, as shown on the table below.
tions. Doom strider unit negotiators can use the Di- Value: The total worth (in gold pieces) of all
plomacy skill to attempt to increase the value of the doom striders in the doom strider unit that are avail-
job, by choosing how much they would like to in- able for active duty.
crease it and then making the appropriate Diplomacy Bonus: The bonus to the doom strider unit’s repu-
skill check. Note that the negotiator may add the tation.
unit’s reputation bonus to this skill check. Negotia- Value Reputation
tors may not Take 10 on this skill check. 100,000 +1
If the skill check succeeds, the job’s payout is in- 300,000 +2
creased by the amount shown on the table below. 500,000 +3
If it fails, however, the value is reduced by the same 700,000 +4
amount by which it would have been increased. 1,000,000 +5
It is possible to attempt to raise the value of a
1,500,000 +6
contract more than once, but only until one of the at-
tempts fail (and the contract holder typically expects 2,000,000 +7
to know the reason for the re-negotiation). Each suc- 3,000,000 +8
cessive attempt suffers a cumulative -2 (or higher) 4,000,000 +9
5,000,000 +10

10
 1: The Campaign
Example Baseline: A new doom strider unit, with no ing civilian or religious targets or requiring that the
contracts under its belt, and doom striders worth destruction of certain targets be performed under
500,000 gp, starts with a reputation bonus of +3. specific circumstances. Completing a contract while
Once the hypothetical doom strider unit starts adhering to its conditions grants the unit a +1 bonus
taking contracts, however, it can gain or lose reputa- to its reputation for each condition.
tion at an alarming rate. Like hit points, reputation Complete Primary Objective: If the primary ob-
can drop below 0 if it is damaged; unlike hit points, jective, as outlined in the contract, is completed by
there is no floor to a reputation’s fall. A reputation the deadline laid out in the contract, the unit receives
of -30 is possible, though unlikely, a +2 to its reputation.
so doom strider units must exercise Complete Secondary Ob-
caution when accepting contracts. jectives (Full): If all of the
The action descriptions below secondary objectives outlined
contain information on how each in the contract are fulfilled and
type of action impacts the reputa- the primary objective is com-
tion of a doom strider unit. Wise pleted, the unit receives a +2
commanders take note of these to its reputation.
modifications and act accordingly Complete Secondary Ob-
if they want to be able to continue jectives (Half ): If at least
to land jobs to earn their keep. one-half of the secondary ob-
Beat the Deadline: If the con- jectives of a contract are com-
tract is completed at least one time pleted by the doom strider unit
unit before the deadline outlined in (in addition to the completion
the contract, the unit receives a +2 of the contract’s primary ob-
to its reputation. For example, if the jective), the unit receives a +1
contract states a certain number of to its reputation.
days, then beating the contract by a Excessive Collateral Dam-
day grants this bonus. This bonus age: This applies if the actions
only applies if beating the deadline of the doom strider unit result
is desirable; if the contract specifies in damage to the employer’s
a date on which the contract must property, staff, or subjects.
be completed, this bonus does not Most contracts include a pro-
apply (see Failed Condition). vision for acceptable collateral
Betrayal: If a doom strider unit damage; damage above and be-
betrays an employer with which it yond this amount results in a
has a current contract, the unit suf- -1 to -4 penalty to the unit’s
fers an immediate -5 penalty to its reputation.
reputation. For purposes of this ac- Expense Overrun: If the
tion, betrayal consists of purposely working against expenses during the course of a contract exceed the
the best interests of the contracting client. estimated amount by more than 10%, the doom
Completed Condition: Some contracts specify strider unit suffers a -1 penalty.
conditions which must be adhered to during the Fail Primary Objective: If the primary objective
completion of the contract. For example, a contract for the contract is not completed, the unit suffers a -3
may specify that the unit must defeat a given enemy to its reputation. Note that it is impossible to receive
position on a specific date, no sooner and no later. any reputation modifiers for secondary objectives if
Other examples include prohibitions against attack- the primary objective fails.

11
Illustrated by David Hendee
 1: The Campaign
Failed Condition: If the contract calls for specific Using Reputation
conditions (see Completed Condition, above) to be
A
unit’s reputation score is used as a bonus to
adhered to during the mission, failing to follow those
any Diplomacy skill checks made to secure a
conditions results in a -1 penalty to the unit’s reputa-
contract (see below). Because the difficulty of secur-
tion for every broken condition.
ing a contract is directly proportional to the value of
Missed Deadline: If the deadline for a contract is
the contract, only doom strider units with a strong
missed, the doom strider unit suffers an immediate -1
reputation score will have a chance of garnering such
penalty to its reputation.
highly paid work.
Wipe Out: If a doom strider unit ever suffers the
Reputation is also useful when dealing with other
loss of all of its doom striders during a single mis-
doom strider crews. When attempting to use Bluff,
sion, it suffers a penalty to its reputation equal to
Diplomacy, or Intimidate skills against members of
twice the bonus gained for the value of the doom
other doom strider units with a reputation lower than
striders the unit lost. For example, a doom strider
your own, you receive a circumstance bonus equal to
unit has 1,000,000 gp worth of doom striders, which
the difference between your reputation and the other
provides a +5 bonus to the unit’s reputation. If all of
unit’s reputation. If your reputation is lower than the
these doom striders are destroyed in a single battle,
other unit’s, you suffer a penalty equal to the differ-
the unit suffers a penalty to its reputation equal to
ence between your respective reputations.
twice the bonus it gained. So, instead of gaining a
+5 bonus to reputation, the lost doom striders now
impose a -10 penalty to reputation.

Illustrated by David Hendee

12
 1: The Campaign
Contracts While it is possible for a contract to contain more
than one primary objective, most doom strider units
T
he wise doom strider unit leader ensures that
try and shy away from such agreements due to their
his contract is in hand before he commits his
increased difficulty and the likelihood that some ran-
men and machines to any conflict. While contracts
dom event outside the unit’s control will jeopardize
issued by the local nobility do run the risk of being
additional objectives. Particularly vexing are linked
revoked at inconvenient times, they are at least proof
objectives that become progressively more difficult as
that the doom strider unit had the permission, even
prior objectives are completed.
the financial encouragement, of the local government
Secondary Objectives: Though not critical to a
to engage in mayhem.
contract, the secondary objectives are things the em-
In more lawful areas, contracts are also backed up
ployer would like for the doom strider unit to accom-
by a court system and the higher powers of the land
plish, if they are able to do so without jeopardizing
(kings, emperors, etc.). This gives the doom strider
the primary objective. These objectives are one of the
unit a fallback position if their employer decides to
primary sources of extra cash for doom strider units;
renege on a deal.
negotiators for doom strider crews often encourage
Most importantly the contract spells out what the
the employer to include as many secondary objectives
doom strider unit is expected to do and what they
as possible. While it is sure that the doom strider unit
will be paid for accomplishing the stated goals. This
will be unable to complete all secondary objectives,
helps both the employer and the unit, keeping the
the larger the number of objectives, the greater the
expectations of both parties in sync. A good contract
chance the doom strider unit will complete one or
keeps both sides of the agreement happy and honest,
more and pick up some extra gold in the process.
making it a valuable tool, indeed.
If the primary objective of a contact is to destroy
A contract has the following major sections, each
all of an enemy unit’s doom striders, a secondary ob-
of which details a specific piece of the agreement.
jective might be to kill all the enemy unit’s officers.
The Parties Involved: This section simply spells
While this is not critical to the success of the prima-
out who is doing the hiring and who is doing the
ry objective, it is a nice bonus for the employer and
work. This section should contain:
is something that could be reasonably accomplished
given the primary objective.
• The name of the employer.
Conditions: There are very few employers who are
• The name of the unit commander.
willing to give doom strider units carte blanche to ac-
• The number of doom striders and crews that
complish their goals. In virtually all contracts, there
will be assigned to the contract.
are a number of conditions that limit the activities
and provide some rules of engagement for a doom
This sets the playing field for any further nego-
strider unit that accepts the contract.
tiations. The employer has put his name on the line
Primarily, conditions revolve around time limits
and the doom strider unit has committed a specific
and property damage. The most common condition
amount of resources to the job.
places a deadline on the contract, after which time
The Primary Objective: Only the most foolish
any objectives not completed are considered a failure.
doom strider units sign a contract that does not clearly
This type of condition is most commonly mandated
spell out their primary objective. This section of the
according to the military timeline of the employer.
contract explicitly details what objective the doom
If he needs to get his troops across a bridge before
strider unit is expected to achieve. The objective must
winter, the doom striders guarding that bridge better
be spelled out in enough detail to avoid future con-
be destroyed before the troops arrive.
flicts, while still allowing some wiggle room for both
A second type of time limit puts a definite start
sides to feel as if they have come out ahead.
and end date on the contract. In these cases, the doom

13
 1: The Campaign
C
strider unit is being coordinated with other activities
onditions are a good way for a GM
and it is just as important that the unit not begin
to turn an otherwise standard seek-
too soon as it is that they not finish too late. These
and-destroy mission into something
‘windowed contracts’ are dangerous and difficult be-
a lot more challenging. Hunting
cause the time limits are often quite severe and may
an enemy through the holy lands while not de-
not allow the doom strider unit the time it needs to
stroying any religious shrines can lead to difficult
prepare itself. Of course, they also pay handsomely
tactical choices, as can ambushes launched by the
and there are a number of doom strider units that
enemies in urbanized regions. Used wisely, condi-
fare quite well only working windowed contracts on
tions turn straightforward attacks into challeng-
tight deadlines.
ing adventures.
Property damage conditions are common, as well.
When doom striders start throwing around heavy for each of the primary and secondary objectives. If
firepower, it is not uncommon for a large chunk of conditions can alter the payments for objectives, this
land to become scorched and pitted from explosions. is detailed here as well.
While this is of little concern on a battlefield, it be- An important factor here is when the payment
comes much more of a problem in populated areas will be made. Most employers tend to offer contracts
or where agricultural properties are involved. The that pay only after completion of objectives has been
most common property damage condition demands verified. This can take anywhere from a few weeks to
that no hostile actions be taken in populated areas months or, in the case of a doom strider unit not get-
without prior approval from the employer and that ting the time period for verification in writing, end-
hostile actions undertaken in agrarian areas be un- less years. A smart doom strider negotiator makes
dertaken with reasonable caution. While it may be sure there is a waiting period for the cash, but that
a calculated risk to use a wyrm throat in an orchard, the waiting period is reasonable—a month or so is
using a starfire would earn the ire of an employer standard in most realms.
quite quickly.
Other conditions can be set to prevent damage to
Expenses and Salvage Rights

D Maintenance and Repair, below, for more in-

specific targets, such as religious sites. Prohibitions oom strider units are not cheap to run (see
against firebombing temples are common in con-
tracts, especially when the conflict may occur in an formation). Given the fact that doom strider engines
urbanized area. typically burn magical items to generate energy, it can
While the above examples are some of the more be critical to be sure the expenses of the unit are cov-
common conditions on a doom strider contract, there ered during the course of the contract.
is no limit to the conditions that can be included. Failure to negotiate the coverage of expenses can
Some employers demand that their own people not be crippling; even the most lucrative of contracts can
be harmed by the actions of the contracted doom quickly become worthless when expenses begin to
striders, while others forbid the taking of prisoners mount. Reasonable employers often cover expenses
(“Kill ‘em all, let the deities sort ‘em out!”) as a con- totaling 10% or less of the contract’s value per week,
dition of the contract. but rarely volunteer this information. Negotiators
who do not push for expense coverage are dooming
Payment: For a doom strider crew, all the above their unit to a life of poverty.
information is useful and will help them complete Salvage is another critical aspect of the doom
their job to the employer’s satisfaction. What they re- strider business. An incapacitated enemy doom strid-
ally want, though, is the reward at the end of a dif- er can be a gold mine, stripped for parts enemy doom
ficult mission. This section of the contract spells out striders can provide a substantial increase in profit
how much the doom strider unit receives in payment (by selling the bits and pieces to other units) or re-

14
 1: The Campaign
duction in expenses (by using the stripped armor and provide energy for them, vampiric converters need a
other components to repair damage to friendly doom steady supply of sacrifices (unless the crew is willing
striders). to sacrifice themselves, a counterproductive concept
Many employers have gotten wise to this, however, at best), and arcanofurnaces eat 1,000 gold pieces
and now dictate that salvaged profits be used to offset each and every day of operation. This is true even
their expense payments. For privateers, this situation if the doom striders do nothing during the day but
can be even worse, as their kingdoms may believe that sit around and wait for some action. The clock never
the privateer is earning enough profit from salvage stops on fuel expenses, unless a doom strider unit is
that he does not need to be paid to complete mis- willing to shut down their doom striders completely
sions. and hope no one attacks them while they are pow-
ered off. This option is quite feasible for government
Maintenance forces, which can be protected by conventional arma-

D
oom strider maintenance is not ments and soldiers while inoperative, but is not an
cheap. Simply keeping a single doom ideal way to handle things for mercenaries or priva-
strider operational can burn up thou- teers, who must constantly worry about attacks by
sands of gold pieces each month in rivals or other contracted fighters.
fuel (either magical items or slaves fed into vampiric Calculating the fuel costs for arcanofurnaces is
harnesses), an expense that is unavoidable. Leaving easy; it costs 1,000 gp worth of magical items per day
doom striders idle is a possible way to reduce fuel for every doom strider in the unit. Vampiric convert-
expenses, but without power and a captain nearby, ers are more difficult and depend on the campaign
a doom strider can be quite easily destroyed, cost- world: What price can be placed on life? Most doom
ing the unit hundreds of thousands of gold pieces. strider units who use this type of power also capture
Doom striders must also be kept in operational order their own sacrifices, favoring a few powerful creatures
by regular care at the hands of an engineer, not to over hordes of weaker creatures that are harder to
mention the workers and facilities needed to repair keep an eye on and which provide less fuel per body.
or upgrade a doom strider and its components. The Prayer engines get off cheapest, as the worship of the
following sections detail the maintenance needs of faithful costs the church nothing.
doom striders and provide would-be unit leaders Upkeep: Doom striders are delicate in many ways.
with the information they need to keep their troops Their infrastructure is composed of thousands of
up and running. gears and levers, not to mention all the arcane circuit-
Fuel: Even when a doom strider is not moving or ry that is used to transfer the power from the energy
performing other actions, it still requires energy. An source to the rest of the strider. All of this intricate,
arcanofurnace burns up 1,000 gp worth of magical involved machinery requires a dedicated engineer to
items, each and every day. Prayer engines are clearly keep running.
more efficient, but have a range severely limited by the During each week in which a doom strider un-
strength of the worshipers who provide the power. dergoes any activity—even something as simple as
Vampiric converters may be the most efficient of the walking or lifting objects—it needs attention from
doom strider power sources, but the owners of doom an engineer to avoid a possible breakdown. Naturally,
striders equipped with this type of power source is the more activity a doom strider undertakes during
most likely going to have to contend with living fuel the week, the more attention it needs to keep it up
that attempts to escape or wreak havoc whenever pos- and running.
sible. To determine how much attention a doom strid-
Fuel, then, is the biggest limiting factor for the er needs, first calculate its active hours. During any
actions of a doom strider unit. Striders powered by hour in which the doom strider performs an action,
prayer engines must remain close to the followers that it earns an active hour. If it walks for a full hour or

15
 1: The Campaign
simply spends a few minutes hoisting some material, their time on a single doom strider, allowing them to
it does not matter; the doom strider still earns an get even a Colossal doom strider ready for the check
active hour. At the end of each week (or seven days in a relatively short period of time.
if your campaign world has longer or shorter days), Cost per Check: This is the cost, in materials, that
the GM should roll percentage dice (d100) for each the engineer must pay in order to perform the skill
doom strider in the unit. If the d% total is less than check for upkeep. This is very important for doom
a doom strider’s number of active hours, the doom strider captains to remember before they take off
strider suffers a breakdown at some point during the into the wilderness, where parts and other materials
following week (roll 1d8 to determine the location cannot be purchased.
of the breakdown). See Breakdown below, for more
information about what happens when a doom strid- Size Time per Check Cost per Check
er is not properly maintained. Medium 1 hour 20 gp
Characters with the Profession (doom strider engi- Large 2 hours 50 gp
neer) skill can greatly alleviate the risk of by spending
Huge 5 hours 100 gp
some time with a doom strider to keep it up and run-
Gargantuan 10 hours 200 gp
ning. To determine how long an engineer must spend
with a doom strider during the week to perform this Colossal 20 hours 500 gp
skill check, see the table on this page. The engineer
must pay the upkeep cost and then make a Profession
(doom strider engineer) skill check (DC 10). If the
check succeeds, the doom strider’s number of active
hours for the week is reduced by the skill check result
minus 10 (minimum of zero). If the skill check fails,
the number of active hours are not reduced by the
ministrations of the engineer.
If a doom strider does not suffer a breakdown, its
active hours carry forward to the next week, unless
they are reduced to zero by the efforts of an engineer.
Captains that do not take proper care of their doom
striders soon find themselves stranded in a broken-
down heap.
Note that each skill check for upkeep requires ma-
terials in addition to a skilled engineer. These materi-
als take the form of spare parts, grease, simple magi-
cal accoutrements, and other vital items. These items
can be purchased in any city in 500 gp packages, each
of which weighs roughly 30 pounds.
Size: The size of the doom strider.
Time per Check: The number of hours an engi-
neer must spend with the doom strider during the
week before it can make a skill check for upkeep.
More than one engineer can spend time with a doom
strider, but it is the engineer with the lowest Profes-
sion (doom strider engineer) skill who must make
the check for the week. Up to four engineers can pool

Illustrated by Yap Chong Aik

16
 1: The Campaign
Breakdown the skill check succeeds, the character has repaired

I above, it is in grave danger of destruction. It is

f a doom strider breaks down, as determined 2d6 hit points of damage, provided he can pay 50
gp in materials (see above for where materials can be
treated as if it had no captain for purpose of attack purchased) per hit point to be repaired. If he cannot
and it cannot be used for any purpose. Its energy pay the entire amount, he only repairs the hit points
source ceases to work and the whole construct sim- which he can pay for.
ply stands there waiting for an enemy to find it and Component repairs come much closer to actually
take it apart. replacing the damaged part than they do to repairing
Recovering from a breakdown takes a great deal of it. To repair the damage to a component, a character
time and a bit of luck on the part of the doom strider with the Craft (doom strider) skill must make a suc-
engineer in charge or repairing the strider. First, the cessful Craft skill check using the system under Put-
doom strider is inoperable for a minimum number ting it Together (page 6), determining the ‘price’ of
of hours equal to twice Time per Check (based on its the repair as follows.
size as shown in the table above) plus an additional First, divide the cost of the component (in gold
1d10hours. The engineer must also pay double the pieces) by the number of slots it requires to install.
Cost per Check (taken from the table on page 16, Reduce this number by 50% to find the ‘per slot’ re-
based on the size of the doom strider). When the pair cost. Multiply the number of slots by the per
time has passed and the materials are paid, the engi- slot repair cost to determine the ‘price’ for the craft-
neer is allowed to make a Profession (doom strider ing check. Like other craft skill checks, repairs can be
engineer) skill check (DC 25). If the check succeeds, done in daily or weekly increments, provided the cost
the doom strider is operational. If it fails, the engi- in materials is paid.
neer has not found the cause of the breakdown and Salvage

A
must wait for time to pass and must pay the price s mentioned previously, salvage is important
in parts before he is allowed another skill check to for doom strider units. It provides replace-
repair the breakdown. ment parts for their own striders as well as supple-
Once a doom strider recovers from its breakdown mental income from the sale of redundant parts.
it can be used as normal but its active hours are not To salvage a component from a doom strider re-
reduced by the repairs made to get it operational. The quires a successful Profession (doom strider engi-
active hours can be reduced by an engineer with the neer) skill check equal to the Creation DC of the
correct parts on hand and the time necessary, how- component. It also requires a doom strider of at least
ever. Large size to help remove the component from where
Repairs it lies, or an appropriate doom strider repair facility

D
oom striders are quite powerful, but they are (see below). If the check succeeds, the component is
also prone to damage during battles. Unlike removed in one hour per slot it occupies, plus 1d4
heroes, who can be healed with a simple spell or two hours. If the check fails, the same amount of time
after a battle, doom striders require repairs to get passes, but the component suffers one slot of damage
them operational. There are two types of repair that (which may destroy smaller components).
doom striders need: hit point repairs and component
repairs.
Hit point repairs are by far the most commonly
needed repair as virtually every doom strider needs to
have them performed after every battle. To perform
a hit point repair, a character with the Craft (doom
strider) skill must make a skill check (DC 10). If

17
 2: Construction
A
doom strider is not a simple ma- 6. Select components for the doom strider. These
chine; one cannot simply stop by the components must include, at a minimum, the
local blacksmith and order one up. following: one control mechanism for each crew
They require not only the hands of member and one power source. Though armor
a skilled craftsman to shape the doom strider’s body, and weaponry are critical to the battlefield suc-
armor, and weapons, but also powerful magicians cess of a doom strider, they are not required to
and clerics to give the doom strider life. The follow- get a doom strider up and running. See “Outfit-
ing sections describe the process necessary to create ting the Doom Strider” for more information.
a doom strider, as well as the materials and magical 7. Get out there and bust some heads. Your doom
power needed to create one of these war machines. strider is built, now go put it to use.
All doom striders are composed of the same ba-
sic parts: a head, torso, limbs, and components. To Materials

A
build a doom strider, simply follow the steps below. ll doom striders are composed of
Be sure to keep a total of the costs accrued during the same basic materials – wood,
each step. leather, iron, quicksilver, and other
1. Choose a construction material. Using an ex- more arcane substances are used to
otic type of material for your doom strider can create the majority of the body, armor, and internal
provide benefits, but also increases the cost. components. However, it is possible to use more du-
2. Choose a torso size. The size of the doom rable or lighter components when creating a doom
strider’s torso is used to determine its overall strider, at an increased cost.
size category, as well as the number of limbs it Adamantine, darkwood, and mithral are three of
can possess. See “The Torso” below, for more the most common exotic materials used in the cre-
information. ation of doom striders, and each provides its own
3. Pick a head. Not all doom striders need heads, benefits. Adamantine, for example, is much stron-
and no doom strider of size Medium or Large ger and durable than mere iron, while mithral is far
may be equipped with one. Heads on Huge or lighter. Darkwood is favored for its flexibility and
larger doom striders are an option but may be a low weight, especially for smaller doom striders in
requirement for certain components (see “Out- great need of agility and speed. The table below il-
fitting the Doom Strider” for more component lustrates the benefits, and increased costs, for using
information). these alternative materials in the construction of a
4. Choose the number of limbs, and each limb’s doom strider.

D
size. Note that the maximum number of limbs
is determined by the size of the doom strider’s oom striders are not magic items
torso, as are the maximum and minimum limb in the traditional sense. Neither
sizes. See “Limbs” below, for more informa- are they constructs. Rather, they
tion. are items which can make use of
5. Total up the cost for the torso, head, and magical energies to power their own special abili-
limbs, then multiply this amount by the cost ties. This means that anyone can build a doom
modifier for exotic materials (if necessary). See strider, provided they have the skills and knowl-
“Construction Materials” for more information. edge to do so. Of course, without magical items
This is the base cost for the doom strider’s body, to power the thing, the exercise could be pointless,
which is used for the Craft (doom strider) skill but it is nevertheless possible for a horde of bar-
checks for constructing the doom strider. See barians or a sect of holy warriors to create a doom
“Putting it Together” for more information. strider of their own. Magical energy is the fuel of
doom striders, but it is not how they are created.

18
 2: Construction
Table 1: Construction Materials
Cost
Material Multiplier Bonus
Adamantine ×3 This material provides a +3 armor bonus to AC, +2 circumstance
bonus to all melee weapon damage, and a +2 circumstance bonus to
all Fortitude saves. Adamantine doom striders are more difficult to
create then standard doom striders (+5 to DC).

Bone ×1 Bone increases the amount of energy produced by vampiric engines

by 25%. It also reduces the total hit points of the doom strider by
25%, after all other hit point calculations are made.
Brimstone ×1 Doom striders built from brimstone gain a 25% increase in the
amount of energy produced evil worshipers. However, the doom
strider is treated as if one size category larger for purposes of deter-
mining any Armor Class and Attack penalties.
Darkwood ×1.5 Darkwood doom striders receive a 10-foot increase in their base
movement rate.
Living Wood ×3 This technique, mastered by a consortium of druids and elven wiz-
ards, creates a doom strider from living wood. This incredibly resil-
ient doom strider receives a +2 circumstance bonus to all Fortitude
saves, as well as +1 deflection bonus to its Armor Class. The DC to
create a doom strider of living wood is +5 harder then normal.
Mithral ×2 When constructed from mithral, a doom strider is treated as if it
is one size category smaller for the purpose of determining Armor
Class and Attack penalties. This increases the DC to create the
doom strider by +3.
Sanctified Silver ×1.5 This blessed material provides the doom strider with the ability to
channel divine energy from good-aligned worshipers more effective-
ly. The base range for channeling spell energy becomes 1,000 feet,
rather than 500 feet.
Necrotic Tissue ×2 Doom striders constructed with this material receive DR 2/- (which
stacks with other forms of damage reduction) and any fear-like ef-
fects generated by these doom striders are more difficult resist (add
+2 to their DCs). Reduce the hit points of any doom strider con-
structed from this material by 10%, and increase the DC required
to create the doom strider by +3.

both to intimidate foes and to incorporate as many

Size weapons and other weapons and components as pos-
sible—there are a growing number of forces who en-

A egories the same as those used for monsters.

ll doom striders are measured in size cat- joy the use of Medium-size and Large doom strid-
ers. These smaller weapons of war are still extremely
Though many doom striders are extremely large— powerful, serving as faster, lighter support on the

19
 2: Construction
battlefield, or as the spearhead unit to lead standard
troops into combat. Torso

T
A doom strider’s size category is determined solely he most important piece of the strid-
by the size of its torso. A colossal torso with gargan- er is its torso. The torso contains the
tuan limbs is still a colossal doom strider, while a captain and the control mechanism, as
gargantuan torso with colossal limbs is still a gargan- well as the energy source. The torso
tuan doom strider. Keep in mind that the torso of also determines the overall size of the Doom Strider
the doom strider will also limit the size of the limbs and the size of the other components that can be at-
it can support, as no doom strider can be equipped tached to it.
with limbs more than one size category larger or The table below details the different sizes of tor-
smaller than its torso. sos available for constructing a doom strider and
Medium and Large doom striders are different provides the necessary information for each type of
from larger constructs – they house only a single torso. The sections of the table are:
individual, who wears the doom strider more than Size: The size of the torso (Medium, Large, Huge,
he pilots it. These are essentially a variant type of Gargantuan, and Colossal).
magical armor, equipped with powerful weapons and Cost: The cost of the torso in gold pieces.
other devices to augment the combat abilities of the Slots: The number of component slots available
wearer. in the torso. Each type of component will use up a
number of these slots, as detailed in the individual
descriptions below.

Illustrated by Thomas Babbey

20
 2: Construction
T
here’s nothing saying a doom strider Crew Space: The number of crew members the
cannot be piloted by a single indi- doom strider can accommodate. Each crewmember
vidual. However, larger doom strid- requires the addition of a control mechanism.
ers cannot take advantage of all of Space: The space occupied by a doom strider.
their weapons or possible attacks each round with Maximum Dex Bonus: Each doom strider has a
only a single crewmember, because the captain is maximum dexterity bonus based on its size.
still limited to his normal number of attacks. Addi- Strength Bonus: The bonus applied to the doom
tional crew members allow the use of all of a doom strider for performing Strength-related activities.

Head
strider’s weaponry and increase the number of at-
tacks it can make each round,

T
he head of the Doom Strider is used
Limbs: The number of appendages (arms, tails, primarily for doom striders through
legs, etc.) that can be attached to the torso. This does which spells can be cast. In doom
not include the head, which is a separate hit loca- striders with a focus on conventional
tion. weapons, the head is normally used as a small weapon
Min Size: The smallest size of appendage that can mount, rather than wasting the money and space on
be attached to the doom strider. link crystals or channel receptors.
Max Size: The largest size of appendage that can The head of a doom strider must be either the
be attached to the doom strider. same size category as the torso or one size smaller.
HP X: To determine the doom strider’s hit points, Thus, a doom strider of Gargantuan size could have
multiply the captain’s hit points by this number. a Huge or Gargantuan head, but could not support a
AC/Att: The Armor Class and Attack modifier Colossal head. Note that Medium and Large torsos
for a doom strider of this size. This applies to all at- cannot support a head in any case – the head of the
tacks made by the doom strider. doom strider is really nothing more than an armored
helm for the pilot of the doom strider.
The table below details the different sizes of heads

Table 2: Doom Strider Torsos

Size Cost Slots Limbs Min Size Max Size HP X AC/Att
Medium 20,000 4 4 Small Large 1 0
Large 30,000 6 4 Medium Huge 1.5 -1
Huge 50,000 8 4 Large Gargantuan 2 -2
Gargantuan 75,000 12 6 Huge Colossal 4 -4
Colossal 100,000 20 8 Gargantuan Colossal 8 -8

Crew Max. Dex. Strength

Size Space Space Bonus Bonus
Medium 1 5-ft. +4 +0
Large 1 10-ft. +2 +2
Huge 1 15 +1 +5
Gargantuan 2 20 +0 +10
Colossal 4 30 -1 +20

21
 Table 3: Heads
Size Cost Slots
Huge 10,000 1
Gargantuan 15,000 2
Colossal 20,000 3

available for constructing a doom strider and provides

the necessary information for each type of head. The
sections of the table are:
Size: The size of the head (Huge, Gargantuan, and
Colossal).
Cost: The cost of the head in gold pieces.
Slots: The number of component slots available in
the head. Each component uses up a number of slots,
as detailed in the individual descriptions below.

Limbs

O
nce the head and torso are selected, it
is time to select the limbs. There are
three types of limb: tails, arms, and
legs, each of which has its own ben-
efits and disadvantages.
Tails are the strongest of the appendages; they are
capable of supporting the largest weapons and can
also be used as powerful weapons in their own right.
However, they are somewhat clumsy and cannot be
used to climb or perform any other action that an
arm with hands is capable of performing. Tails suffer
a –2 circumstance penalty to all attack rolls —they
simply are not as easy to control as arms in combat.
Arms are the least powerful and smallest of the
appendages, but are critical for the use of non-inte-
grated weaponry. A doom strider with arms can carry
extra weapons and switch between them as needed,
while striders without these appendages are limited
to their installed weaponry. Note that all Medium
and Large doom striders must be equipped with a
number of arms and legs equal to those possessed
by the pilots. This does not, however, allow a doom
strider to have more arms and legs than what its torso
allows – a centaur cannot pilot a doom strider of
Medium or Large size for this reason, because it has

Illustrated by Elijah Walker

22
 2: Construction Cost: The cost of the limb in gold pieces.
Table 4: Limbs Slots: The number of component slots available
Arm Size Cost Slots Damage Reach in the limb. Each type of component will use up a
Medium 7,000 1 1d4 5 number of slots, as detailed in the individual descrip-
Large 12,000 2 1d4 10 tions below.
Damage: The damage caused by a melee attack
Huge 15,000 2 1d6 15
with an unarmed limb.
Gargantuan 30,000 4 2d4 20 Reach: The limb’s reach distance, in feet.
Colossal 45,000 6 2d6 30
Craft (Doom
Leg Size Cost Slots Damage Reach
Medium 15,000 1 1d4 5 Strider) (Int)

A
Large 20,000 2 1d6 5 fter determining the size of the
Huge 30,000 4 1d6 10 torso, the head, and each of the ap-
Gargantuan 45,000 6 2d4 15 pendages, it is time to put them all
Colossal 60,000 8 2d6 25 together. This process involves the
Craft (doom strider) skill and a host of assistants to
Tail Size Cost Slots Damage Reach work with the engineer overseeing the process. The
Medium 20,000 2 1d4 5 cost of hiring and housing assistants is taken into
account in the cost listed in the tables above, with
Large 30,000 4 1d6 10
approximately five assistants working with the chief
Huge 45,000 6 1d8 15 crafter for every 5,000 gp value of the war machine.
Gargantuan 60,000 10 2d6 20 To create the body of the doom strider, total up
Colossal 100,000 12 2d8 30 the cost (as noted in the tables above; do not forget
to include the cost multiplier for working with exotic
a total of six limbs, while doom striders of this size
materials) for the head, torso, and each of the limbs.
can only support four limbs.
This provides the base price of the doom strider for
Without legs, a doom strider is immobile and un-
use in the crafting skill. The chief crafter must then
able to move about the battlefield. Immobile doom
follow the standard use of the Craft skill (detailed
striders tend to be blown apart in short order, so this
below), making checks each week using the Craft
type of creation is quite rare, save as fortification de-
(doom strider) skill (DC 20).
fenses. In order to move, a doom strider must have
To determine how much time and money it takes
at least two legs; a doom strider may never be con-
to make a doom strider, follow these steps:
structed with fewer than two legs, if it has any legs
1. Calculate the doom strider’s price and then con-
at all. There is one final restriction on legs – in order
vert it into silver pieces (1 gp = 10 sp).
for the doom strider to be able to move effectively, all
2. Pay one-third of the item’s price for the cost of
of its legs must be of the same size. Doom striders
raw materials.
equipped with legs of different sizes may as well have
3. Make a Craft (doom strider) check represent-
no legs at all, as they will be unable to walk.
ing one week’s work. If the check succeeds, multiply
Table 4: Limbs details each of the different limbs
your check result by the DC required to create the
and different sizes of limbs available for constructing
doom strider (normally 20, but special materials can
a doom strider and provides the necessary informa-
increase this DC). If the result × the DC equals the
tion for each type of limb. The sections of the table
price of the item in sp, then you have completed the
are:
item. (If the result × the DC equals double or tri-
Size: The size of the limb.
ple the price of the item in silver pieces, then you’ve

23
 2: Construction
completed the task in one-half or one-third
of the time. Other multiples of the DC re- Table 5: Abilities
duce the time in the same manner.) If the re- Ability Determine By
sult × the DC doesn’t equal the price, then it Hit Points Doom striders have hit points equal
represents the progress you’ve made this week. to the captain’s hit points multiplied
Record the result and make a new Craft check by the Hit Point modifier for the size
for the next week. Each week, you make more of the torso.
progress until your total reaches the price of Initiative Doom striders have initiative modi-
the item in silver pieces. fiers equal to the captain’s initiative
Failure: If you fail a check by 4 or less, you modifier.
make no progress this week. If you fail by 5 Speed Determined by the doom strider’s
or more, you ruin half the raw materials and size and number of legs as shown
have to pay half the original raw material cost in Movement and Movement Rates,
again. below.
Progress by the Day: You can make checks by Armor Class The AC of a doom strider is equal
the day instead of by the week. In this case to 10 + torso size modifier + any
your progress (check result × DC) is in cop- armor, shield, or deflector modifiers
per pieces instead of silver pieces. (see Outfitting the Doom Strider,
Repairing Items: You can repair a doom strid- below).
er by making checks against the same DC that
Attacks/Damage Each of a doom strider’s attacks
it took to make the doom strider in the first
should be calculated separately, us-
place. The cost of repairing an item is one-
ing the captain’s (or crewmember’s)
fifth of the item’s price.
BAB + the torso size modifier + the
Fast Creation: You may voluntarily add +10
doom strider’s Strength or Dexterity
to the base DC (20) to craft a doom strider.
modifier (as appropriate). Unarmed
This allows you to create a doom strider more
attacks cause damage based on the
quickly (since you’ll be multiplying this higher
size of the appendage making the at-
DC by your Craft check result to determine
tack, as shown in the Limbs section,
progress). You must decide whether to in-
above. The damage modifier for all
crease the DC before you make each weekly
melee attacks is based on the captain
or daily check.
of the doom strider.
Try Again: Yes, but each time you miss by
5 or more, you ruin half the raw materials and Saves The doom strider’s saves have a base
have to pay half the original raw material cost equal to the captain’s saves. The AC/
again. Att modifier is applied as a penalty to
Take 10: You can Take 10 on the creation the doom strider’s Reflex saves, but as
of a doom strider. Each time you do, it takes a bonus to its Fortitude saves. Note
10 weeks and costs 10% more in materials that the maximum Dexterity bonus
then a standard weekly check. based on the size of the doom strider
Take 20: You can’t Take 20 on the creation affects its Reflex save.
of a doom strider. Abilities The doom strider has ability scores
Special: A dwarf has a +2 racial bonus on equal to the captain’s abilities, modi-
Craft (doom strider) checks that are related to fied by any components installed in
the creation of doom striders composed of the doom strider.
stone or metal.

24
 2: Construction
T
When the body is complete, the doom strider is he careful reader will notice that vir-
still not quite ready to roll out on the field of battle. tually all items found in this section
Though weeks and months have been spent on its are created using the Craft (doom
construction, there are weeks yet to go to get the strider) skill and require no magi-
weapon ready for the battlefield. Weapons must be cal know-how, whatsoever. This is because doom
mounted, armor attached, and crew controls installed, strider components use technological means to ma-
before the doom strider will ever see combat. nipulate the magical energy of the arcanofurnace
The Doom Strider’s Abilities (or other energy source) to produce a wide variety

A
doom strider is treated as a creature with the of effects. This can, at the GM’s discretion have
same basic abilities as its captain (not the ad- some interesting applications for a doom strider
ditional crewmembers. To determine the basic abili- campaign, opening up the world of magic to those
ties of a doom strider, consult the table below. Note with no magical skills of their own. See Chapter
that the information provided in this table may be 1: Campaigns, for further information.
modified by components installed at a later date;
blood batteries, for example, allow another member Critical: The chances of a weapon inflicting a crit-
of the crew to provide the base hit points for the ical threat and the damage multiplier for all damage
doom strider. if a critical hit is confirmed.
Range Increment: An attack at this distance is not
Outfitting the Doom Strider penalized for range, but each full range increment af-

T
hough the main body of the doom strider is ter the first inflicts a –2 penalty to the attack roll. Un-
an impressive sight, it is of precious little use less otherwise noted in the weapon’s description, all
if it is not outfitted with weapons, an energy source, weapons have a maximum range of five increments.
and other items that transform it from an articulated Slots: The number of slots a component takes up
statue into a powerful weapon of destruction. Each in a doom strider. Note that installed components do
of the additional components needed to get a doom not change in size in relation to the doom strider in
strider active is detailed in its own section, from the which they are installed. A shard cannon is the same
captain’s controls to strength enhancers to the re- size, whether installed in a Medium-sized doom
mote linkages. Simply select the items you need from strider or a Colossal doom strider.
these sections and pay the cost to have them installed Type: The type of damage a component causes.
in your strider. Installation is a simple process and Power Component: Some weapons require a pow-
normally requires one day per 5,000 gp value of the er component, normally a magical item, in addition
items being installed. Installation charges are figured to energy from the doom strider’s energy source.
in to the cost of the item in question; if the items Energy Cost: The number of energy points, per
are not installed by the seller, discount the purchase use, the component needs to function. This section
price by 10%. also details information on how long a use lasts.
Component Legend Craft DC: This is the Difficulty Class needed to

T
craft the item using the Craft (doom strider) skill.
he items detailed below have the following
Note that crafting these items uses the standard Craft
properties associated with them.
skill procedure outlined in the Player’s Handbook.
Cost: The cost of the component.
Mass Combat: If an item has a use in a mass com-
Dmg: The amount of damage the component in-
bat situation, the mechanical adjustments are listed
flicts. Weapons that come in various sizes have their
here. Note that mass combat refers exclusively to the
damage listed for each size.
mass combat rules found in the Bastion Press supple-
ment, Oathbound®: Arena.

25
 2: Construction with an area of effect, because they cannot leap out
Armor and Defenses of the way or hurl themselves clear. This device was

T
he items listed below provide a doom designed to temporarily remove control of the doom
strider with AC, additional hit points, strider from its crew and direct it through a random
and the ability to avoid damage. For set of evasive maneuvers. Because the piloting is han-
the costs of these items, refer to Table dled by this system, there is no chance of the doom
6: Armor & Defenses. Items with a paranthetical des- strider falling over, but it is out of the control of
ignator (x) in their title are illustrated on page 27. the crew for the remainder of the round in which it
Ablative Shielding (a): A combination of metal controls the doom strider.
and wooden shields, these simple constructs provides An avoidance system has three possible states: on,
the doom strider with additional hit points that pro- off, and activated. Turning the avoidance system on
tect it without the need for more expensive armors. or off is a free action that can be performed only by
While armor is more effective in the long run, these the captain. While on, the avoidance system is ready
breakaway shields are very useful when funds are to take control of the doom strider at a moment’s no-
tight or when a doom strider simply needs to be able tice and the avoidance system requires one point of
to stand up to more damage to fulfill its objective. energy each round. If a doom strider with an avoid-
Each slot of ablative shielding increases the hit ance system turned on is targeted by a spell or other
points of the doom strider by 5%, rounded down. attack that requires a Reflex save, the avoidance sys-
These hit points are reduced first, before the doom tem immediately activates.
strider begins to suffer actual damage. More impor- Once activated, the avoidance system makes the
tantly, any ablative shielding slots are destroyed be- doom strider leap, duck, and perform other evasive
fore slots containing other
components, even if the
Table 6: Armor & Defenses
shielding’s hit points have Item Cost Slots Craft DC Energy Cost
been totally reduced. Ablative Shielding 500 1 15 —
Armor (b): Armor may Armor 1,000 1 15 —
be installed in any slot, Avoidance System* 1,000 1 30 —
and each slot equipped Barbed Armor** 1,250 1 20 —
with armor provides a +1
Crossbow Cluster 10,000 1 20 —
bonus to the doom strid-
Crossbow Cluster (auto) 15,000 3 25 —
er’s Armor Class. Heavily
armored doom striders Dragonscale Varies 1 25 —
are not uncommon, as Energized Armor 2,000 1 25 1 per 5 slots
they represent a very ex- Filtration System 10,000 1 20 1 per minute
pensive investment that is Glyph Plate 3,000 1 25 —
protected as cautiously as Lightning Soul◊ 5,000 1 25 1 (3 for overload)
possible. Slots used for ar- Reactive Armor† 1,500 1 25 1 per round
mor may not be used for Reinforced Infrastructure‡ 1,000 Varies 15 —
any other components.
Shiver Cloak 10,000 1 20 1 per round
Avoidance System
(c): Doom striders are Vine Armor 1,500 1 15 —
* Must be installed in torso.
not very agile constructs, ** Must be installed in half of all slots in the torso, plus one slot in each limb
which leaves them prone ◊ Must be installed in head or torso. Each control mechanism requires its own lightning soul
to suffering great dam- † Must be installed in one torso slot, and one slot in each limb.
‡
age from spells or attacks 1 slot for huge, 2 for gargantuan, 3 for colossal

26
 2: Construction

maneuvers for the remainder of the round. During check. If the attack was made by a doom strider arm,
this time, it is unable to make attacks, move, or per- leg, or tail, that appendage is snared just as if it were a
form any other action. When switched off, an avoid- weapon. If the attack was made by an unarmed crea-
ance system costs no energy points and cannot be ture, that creature is not snared on the barbs.
activated. A snared weapon can also be abandoned – in this
Barbed Armor (d): This armor provides some mi- case, it remains attached to the doom strider until it
nor offensive capability along with its protection. The is removed. The doom strider can remove the weap-
surfaces of the armor plates are covered with assorted on at any time by retracting the barbs (a free action
barbs and hooks designed to injure opponents who taken by the captain), or it can leave it in place. If
choose to grapple the doom strider, but they are also the snared weapon is a mounted weapon, it obviously
useful for catching and tearing away weapons used to cannot be abandoned. In addition, a doom strider
make melee attacks against the doom strider. with a snared, mounted weapon or snared appendage
Whenever an opponent makes a melee attack loses its Dexterity bonus and cannot move until the
against a doom strider with natural weapons, the weapon or appendage is freed. Likewise, the doom
opponent suffers 2 hit points of damage. If a me- strider the weapon is snared on is unable to move un-
lee weapon is used to attack the doom strider, there til such time as the weapon is freed from the barbs.
is a chance it will catch on the barbs. If an attack The exception to this is if either doom strider is
misses by 3 or less, the weapon (if any) used to make two size categories, or more, larger than the other. In
the attack is snared on the barbs. It can be retrieved this case, the larger doom strider can pull the smaller
as a full-round action or as a partial action if the one around at one-third the larger doom strider’s
weapon’s wielder beats the doom strider in a grapple normal speed. If the smaller doom strider wishes to

Illustrated by Thomas Babbey

27
 2: Construction
stop this movement, it must succeed at a grappling of the doom strider. A successful Fortitude save (DC
attempt against the larger doom strider. If the smaller 20), results in a target suffering no damage from this
doom strider does succeed, it stops the movement of attack.
the larger doom strider for that round only. While Bronze Dragonscale: Provides resistance to electricity
being pulled, the smaller doom strider receives no 15. Doom striders equipped with this type of armor
Dexterity bonus to its Armor Class and also suffers a receive a +5 bonus to their Armor Class, in addition
–4 circumstance penalty to all attacks it makes. to all other armor bonuses (including those provided
To gain the benefit of barbed armor (other than by the slots this armor is installed in).
the standard Armor Class bonuses it provides) at Copper Dragonscale: Provides resistance to fire 15.
least one-half of the slots in the torso must be used Doom striders equipped with this type of armor re-
for this type of armor and at least one slot in each ceive a +5 bonus to their Armor Class, in addition to
limb (though not the head) must be equipped with all other armor bonuses (including those provided by
barbed armor. the slots this armor is installed in).
Crossbow Cluster (e): This item is detailed in the Gold Dragonscale: Provides resistance to fire 15.
Weapons section on page 51. Doom striders equipped with this type of armor may
Dragonscale Armor (f ): Wrapping dragonscale cast the bless spell three times per day, as if a cleric of
around a suit of armor is a sure way to make it more 10th level. The use of this ability requires no energy
durable and resistant to damage. When incorporated expenditure.
with the power of a doom strider, dragonscale ar- Green Dragonscale: Provides resistance to acid 15.
mor creates an incredibly resilient defense. The skin The doom strider equipped with this armor can also
of each type of dragon offers its own set of defen- become water tight and able to walk through water
sive and offensive capabilities when used to armor a as if it was not there, for the cost of 1 energy point
doom strider, as shown below. per round spent within the water. The water in no
In order for a doom strider to gain the benefits of way hinders the doom strider, which can move at its
dragonscale armor, its entire torso must be protected normal movement speed across the bottom of a river
by this type of armor. This means that at least one- or lake, but does reduce the range of all of the doom
half of the slots available for the torso must be used strider’s ranged attacks by one-half.
to mount dragonscale armor. See the table below for Red Dragonscale: Provides resistance to fire 15. Doom
information on how many slots worth of armor a striders equipped with this armor are able to generate
dragon of a given size can provide when slain and a sphere of heat around themselves, inflicting 1d6 hit
properly dressed. All slots equipped with dragonscale points of damage on all targets adjacent to them. A
armor provide a +1 bonus to the doom strider’s Ar- successful Fortitude save (DC 20) results in a target
mor Class in addition any other enhancements of- suffering no damage from this attack.
fered by the dragonscale. The benefits provided for Silver Dragonscale: Provides resistance to acid 10,
each type of dragonscale armor are also provided resistance to cold 10. Doom striders equipped with
below: this type of armor receive a +5 bonus to their Ar-
Black Dragonscale: Provides resistance to acid 15, mor Class, in addition to all other armor bonuses
ability to cast the darkness spell as if a caster of 10th (including those provided by the slots this armor is
level at the cost of 2 energy points. The darkness abil- installed in).
ity may be used 3 times per day. White Dragonscale: Provides resistance to cold 15.
Blue Dragonscale: Provides resistance to electricity Doom striders equipped with this armor are able to
15. For the cost of 2 energy points, doom striders cast the fog cloud spell (as if a caster of 10th-level) at
equipped with this type of dragonscale armor can the cost of one energy point.
surround themselves with lightning, which causes
1d6 hit points of damage to all targets within 5 feet

28
 Dragon
2: Construction
Slots of Dragon Slots of Whenever a doom strider with one or more glyph
Size Armor Size Armor plates installed is hit by a magical attack (either a
Small 2 Huge 8 spell or the magical energy type), there is a chance
the glyph plate will absorb the spell. The more glyph
Medium 4 Gargantuan 12
plates installed on a doom strider, the greater the
Large 6 Colossal 20 chance it absorbs the spell – the famed Witch Hunter
mercenary company has several doom striders almost
Energized Armor (g): The crystalline lattice of entirely covered with glyph plates to absorb the spells
energized armor is naturally rigid and provides the of their enemies.
same defenses as standard armor (+1 Armor Class To penetrate the defenses of a doom strider
for every armored slot). However, when energy is equipped with glyph plates, a spellcaster must make
channeled into this type of armor, it provides a more a successful caster level check (DC 10 + 1 per glyph
potent defense that not only deflects damage more plate installed). If the check fails, the spell is ab-
efficiently, but also inflicts damage to any other doom sorbed by the glyph plate, providing the doom strider
strider or creature foolish enough to make a melee with a number of energy points equal to the level of
attack against the glowing armor. the spell minus three (a spell can provide zero energy
When activated, the crystalline lattice consumes points, but never negative energy points). These en-
one energy point per round for every five slots, or ergy points can be spent in the same round they are
fraction thereof, in which it is installed. While en- absorbed, just as if they were energy points from the
ergized, the armor also provides an additional +1 doom strider’s energy source, but dissipate harmlessly
deflection bonus for every two slots in which it is if not used before the end of that round.
installed. Any creature or doom strider who makes Mass Combat: Any unit using spells to attack the
a melee attack, either with a weapon or with natural doom strider must make a successful caster level
weapons, while the armor is energized automatically check, as noted above, or the attack is wasted and
suffers 1d4 hit points of electrical damage. causes no damage. Glyph plates absorb one point of
Mass Combat: Energized armor causes 1d4 points energy for every level of the spellcasting unit attack-
of damage to any unit which attacks the doom strider ing them.
in melee combat while the armor is energized. Lightning Soul (i): To prevent doom striders from
Filtration System: Because poisonous or corrosive being shut down by spells that affect the minds of the
gases present such a danger to the crew of a doom crew, engineers designed the lightning soul. This de-
strider, it was only natural that some enterprising en- vice attaches to each control mechanism in the doom
gineer would develop a defense against such attacks. strider, creating a link to every crew member. This
The filtration system encapsulates the crew area of device can be activated as a free action, at any time,
a doom strider in an attempt to prevent exposure to even in response to a spell or other attack.
harmful gasses. All crew members in the crew area When activated, the Lightning Soul provides a +2
of a doom strider equipped with a filtration system bonus to all Will saves during the current round. The
are granted a +6 circumstance bonus to all Fortitude device can be ‘overloaded’ to provide a +5 bonus to
saves to resist poisonous or corrosive gases. all Will saves for the current round, but if this oc-
Glyph Plate (h): This type of armor provides a curs, all members of the crew suffer 1d6 hit points of
powerful defense against magical attacks and is even damage as the device overloads their systems.
able to absorb arcane or divine energy and redirect it The Lightning Soul works by channeling raw
to power a doom strider’s weapons or other equip- magical energy into the crew in an effort to counter-
ment. The glyph plate provides no physical defenses, act any will-sapping spell effects.
however, making it useless against standard attacks. Reactive Armor (j): This type of armor uses mag-
ical energy to strengthen certain points of the doom

29
 2: Construction
strider, helping it to better resist attacks that affect reactive armor to ward off only the most devastating
those areas. When in use, however, reactive armor re- attacks, because each use of the reactive armor makes
duces the overall effectiveness of the doom strider’s the rest of their doom strider more vulnerable to at-
defenses, making it much more likely to suffer dam- tacks.
age from attacks which target other locations not When a doom strider is operating with reactive
currently protected by the reactive armor. armor activated, resolve attacks against the doom
Whenever a doom strider suffers a hit to a par- strider with the –2 Armor Class penalty in place. If
ticular location in combat (such as the torso or a an attack hits the location that is currently receiving
limb) the captain must the bonus to its Armor
decide whether or not Class (as noted above),
to activate the reactive it may still miss, how-
armor. If the captain ever.
activates the armor, that To be effective, reac-
location receives a +2 tive armor works with
deflection bonus to its other types of armor.
Armor Class for the re- A doom strider must
mainder of that round. have at least one slot of
This increase in Armor reactive armor in each
Class occurs before the hit location, as well as
attack is resolved and one other type of armor
can cause an attack that (which provides an ar-
would otherwise have mor bonus) in each hit
hit to miss. location, as well.
Example: Slautheris fires Reinforced Infra-
his doom strider’s nightmare structure (k): When
lance at a doom strider piloted installed in a doom
by his nemesis, Volshorok. strider’s limb or other
Volshorok’s doom strider has body part, a reinforced
an Armor Class of 22 and infrastructure makes the
Slautheris has an attack result doom strider much less
of 23, after all modifiers. likely to suffer a criti-
After determining where the cal hit, and those hits it
attack is going to hit, it looks does suffer are less likely
like Volshorok’s doom strider to be crippling in sever-
is about to take a hit to the ity.
torso. All attack rolls to
But Volshorok’s doom confirm critical hits to
strider has reactive armor and doom strider hit loca-
he decides to activate it. This tions equipped with re-
increases the Armor Class of the doom strider’s torso to 24, inforced infrastructures suffer a –4 circumstance pen-
making it just a little bit too hard for Slautheris to hit it. This alty. In addition, when a critical hit is confirmed, its
increase in Armor Class persists for the current round, only. damage multiplier is reduced by one, to a minimum
While the benefit from reactive armor is in effect, of 2.
all of the doom strider’s other hit locations suffer a Shiver Cloak (l): When activated, this device sur-
–2 Armor Class penalty. Wise captains will use their rounds the doom strider with an aura of shifting light

Illustrated by Christopher Herndon

30
 2: Construction
and shadow, making it difficult to accurately target the When there is more than one control mechanism,
construct. During each round in which this device is the builder must tie each of the limbs (and all associ-
active, it provides the doom strider with concealment ated weapons and components) to one of the control
(20% miss chance). The protection provided by this mechanisms. While a control mechanism may control
device can only be penetrated by a true seeing spell or any or all of the appendages and attached compo-
similar magic. nents of a doom strider, each appendage is controlled
Stinging Cloud (m): This item is detailed in the by a single control mechanism. Note that while each
Weapons section on page 56. of the doom strider’s arms and tails may be assigned
Vined Armor (n): Though not as adept at deflect- to any controller, all of the doom strider’s legs must
ing blows as metal armors, vined armor is quite effec- be assigned to a single control mechanism (which is
tive at absorbing and dissipating damage. For every normally the mechanism used by the captain).
five slots used to mount vined armor, the doom strid- For Example: Slautheris’ doom strider has four arms and two
er receives DR 3/- and a +1 deflection bonus to its legs. There are three control mechanisms – the captain’s controls
Armor Class. This type of armor is also resistant to and two additional control mechanisms for crewmembers. Two
electrical, acid, and fire damage, and has Energy Re- arms (and any items installed in those arms) are controlled by
sistance 5/- against all attacks of this energy type. the first crewmember, while the other two arms are controlled
by the second crewmember. The captain’s control mechanism has
Controls control over all other aspects of the doom strider. If one of the
—Required for all doom striders of Huge or greater size— crewmember control mechanisms is destroyed, then the two arms

T
he control mechanism provides the controlled by that mechanism cannot be controlled by any of the
interface between the captain and other mechanisms.
his doom strider. The quality of this Note that regardless of how many crew members
mechanism can greatly affect the abil- are inside the torso, one of them must be nominat-
ity of the captain to control his strider in difficult ed as the captain, who makes all Profession (doom
circumstances or the ability of crew members to use strider captain) skill checks and is used as the basis
the weapons or limbs of the doom strider in combat for the doom strider’s hit points, saves, and other core
or to perform other tasks. Even the best doom strider abilities. In addition, the captain can seize control of
is of little use if its control mechanisms are not in the doom strider’s body at any time. This control al-
good repair and of sufficient quality to let the crew lows the captain to move the doom strider as he sees
members do their jobs. fit and to make attacks with any of its appendages.
Each doom strider has a number of ‘crew spaces’ The captain is not able to make attacks with weapons
as determined by the size of its torso (see Table 2: mounted to the limbs, however, unless they are inte-
Torsos). Each crew space can hold a single Medium- grated melee weapons.
size creature, or two small-size creatures and the con- Regardless of the size of the captain, no Medium
trol mechanisms they need to do their work. A Large or Large doom striders need control mechanisms.
creature requires two crew spaces, while a Huge crea- These types of doom strider are more worn than
ture requires three crew spaces and a Colossal crea- driven, with the limbs and other components of the
ture needs no fewer than four crew spaces to accom- doom strider conforming very closely to the body of
modate their massive bulk. The designers of a doom the captain. Because of this, the captain receives no
strider can cram in as many crew members as they bonus or penalty to any maneuver checks or attack
think will fit, keeping in mind that each crew member rolls made.
will need his or her own control mechanism, each Table 7: Controls details each of the different
of which eat up some of the doom strider’s available types of controls available for constructing a doom
equipment slots. strider and provide the necessary information for
each of them. The sections of the tables are:

31
 2: Construction Quality: The type of con-
Table 7: Controls
trols.
Creation Maneuver
Cost: The cost of the controls
Control Cost DC Slots Mod
in gold pieces.
Mechanical, Poor 1,000 12 1 -4
Creation DC: The DC of the
Mechanical, Low 2,000 14 1 -2
Craft (doom strider) check used
Mechanical, Average 4,000 28 1 0 when creating the mechanism.
Mechanical, Good 8,000 20 1 2 Slots: The number of slots (in
Mechanical, Excellent 20,000 25 2 4 the torso) this control takes up.
Mental, Poor 20,000 25 3 0 Maneuver Modifier: The bo-
Mental, Low 40,000 25 3 2 nus (or penalty in some cases)
Mental, Average 60,000 30 3 4 provided by this control mecha-
Mental, Good 80,000 35 4 6 nism to all maneuver checks or
Mental, Excellent 150,000 35 4 8 attack rolls made by the captain
Grafted, Poor 2,000 15 1 -3 or controlling crew member.
Grafted, Low 4,000 17 1 -1 Control Automaton: By com-
Grafted, Average 6,000 20 1 0 bining clockwork mechanisms
Grafted, Good 10,000 25 1 3 with divination magic, the inven-
Grafted, Excellent 25,000 30 1 5 tors of this device created a con-
Organic, Poor 5,000 15 2 -2 trol module that executes a series
Organic, Low 10,000 20 2 0 of orders in sequence. Though no
Organic, Average 20,000 25 2 2 replacement for a crew member,
Organic, Good 50,000 30 2 4 control automation does allow an
Organic, Excellent 75,000 30 3 6 individual to pilot a doom strider
Remote, Poor 10,000 20 3 -6 that would normally require ad-
Remote, Low 20,000 25 4 -4 ditional crew members to operate
Remote, Average 40,000 25 5 -2 efficiently.
Remote, Good 80,000 30 6 0 The control automaton can
Remote, Excellent 150,000 30 8 2 receive up to three orders, which
Automaton, Pilot +1 1,000 25 1 — it then executes on the doom
Automaton, Pilot +2 2,000 25 1 — strider captain’s initiative, starting
Automaton, Pilot +3 3,000 25 1 — on the round after the orders are
Automaton, Pilot +4 5,000 25 1 — received. Issuing orders is consid-
Automaton, Pilot +5 8,000 25 1 — ered a free action, but once the
Automaton, Attack +1 1,500 25 1 — orders have been issued, the con-
Automaton, Attack +2 3,000 25 1 — trol automaton will not accept
Automaton, Attack +3 4,500 25 1 —
further orders until its queue is
Automaton, Attack +4 7,500 25 1 —
emptied.
Automaton, Attack +5 12,000 25 1 —
Orders must be very simple
and clear. The following are valid
Automaton, Siege Engineer +1 1,500 25 1 —
orders:
Automaton, Siege Engineer +2 3,000 25 1 —
• Fire [this weapon] at [that
Automaton, Siege Engineer +3 4,500 25 1 —
target]. (For a control automaton
Automaton, Siege Engineer +4 7,500 25 1 —
with an Attack or Siege Engineer
Automaton, Siege Engineer +5 12,000 25 1 —
bonus)

32
 2: Construction
• Fire [this weapon] at [that target] when it comes er. Indeed, there are not even automatons capable of
within 500 feet (or any other distance). (For a using both direct and indirect fire weapons, as these
control automaton with an Attack or Siege En- fall under two different bonus types.
gineer bonus). Grafted Controls: While rarely used due to their
• Move [a certain number of feet] in [this] direc- invasive and rather disgusting nature, grafted con-
tion. (For an automaton with Piloting skill) trols provide the greatest degree of interaction be-
• Stay [this far] from [that target]. (For an autom- tween doom strider and crew. The cost is quite high,
aton with Piloting skill) however, as the grafted controls create organic links
• Follow [that target]. between the crew and the
(For an automaton doom strider – crew mem-
with Piloting skill). bers have tiny orifices creat-
ed in their skin by the intru-
No other commands sion of the grafted controls.
can be given to a control This causes crew members
automaton – attempting to to take more damage when
do so results in the automa- the doom strider suffers
ton ignoring the command. a hit in combat and has
If, for any reason, a control been known to lead to the
automaton can no longer death of crews that would
carry out a command (such have survived had they used
as if a target moves out of more conventional control
range of a weapon or is mechanisms.
destroyed), it will simply If a slot containing this
ignore that command and type of control mechanism
carry on to the next com- is damaged in combat, the
mand. Once a control au- crew member using the
tomaton begins performing control mechanism suffers
the commands it was given, full damage from the attack,
it cannot be stopped until rather than the half damage
those commands have run normally caused by damage
their course. to a set of controls.
Control automatons have Mechanical Controls:
senses the same as a human, The most common and
for purposes of identify- affordable type of control,
ing and tracking targets and mechanical controls allow
cannot be ordered to attack targets they cannot see. the crew to command a doom strider using an in-
They can, however, launch indirect fire weapons at tricate system of levers, pulleys, wires, and chains.
target areas, using the same rules as other siege engi- The legs of the doom strider are controlled by press-
neers. The cost of a control automaton is based en- ing down on pedals, weapons are aimed using levers
tirely on its expertise as a pilot and a combatant, as and rods, and other aspects of the doom strider are
shown on Table 7: Controls. similarly directed. Mechanical controls are reason-
Control automatons are very specialized pieces of ably compact, affordable, and reliable enough to
equipment. It is not possible to combine functions make them the standard control mechanism in use
within a single automaton, so there are no automa- for doom striders.
tons that both fire weapons and pilot the doom strid-

Illustrated by Jesse Mohn

33
 2: Construction
Mental Controls: These incredibly intricate con-
trols require no contact between the crew member
and the controls, only proximity. The mental con-
trol guides the doom strider at the mental command
of the crew member, allowing the strider to respond
very rapidly and very accurately to commands. As
an added bonus, the mental control provides a sym-
pathetic feedback loop with the crew members, al-
lowing them to sense the orientation and motions
of the doom strider in much greater detail than is
normally possible.
On the other hand, the mental control creates
such a close link between crew members and their
doom striders that it can be quite dangerous. When-
ever a slot containing a mental control is damaged,
the crew member using that control suffers an ad-
ditional 1d6 hit points of damage.
Organic Controls: Much more expensive and
difficult to create than mechanical controls, organic
controls use living matter (including magically pre-
served muscle tissue and bones) to tie the doom
strider more closely to the bodies of its crew mem-
bers. This type of control mechanism provides a
much more fluid reaction from the doom strider,
at the penalty of drastically higher costs and in-
creases in the number of slots needed to install the
controls.
Remote Controls: In some cases, doom striders
are sent into clearly hopeless battlefield situations.
While such a sacrifice is very great, it may be an
even greater loss if the crew of the doom strider is
destroyed along with their magical armaments. To not least, they allow doom striders to venture into
prevent the loss of valued personnel, the creators of areas that are otherwise too dangerous for humans
doom striders developed remote controls. – unstable cavern complexes or areas known to con-
These controls are quite bulky, do not provide very tain magical traps activated by living creatures, for
good control to the crew, and place a serious drain on example.
the doom strider’s arcanofurnace, but they do have
several benefits. First, they allow veteran crew mem- Miscellaneous
Augmentations
bers to stay out of a doom strider they control. Sec-
ond, they can be linked together (see “Strider Link-

T
ages” below) to allow a single crew to control several here are many pieces of equipment
doom striders. In this way, a relatively small group that may be installed in doom strid-
of individuals can generate a tremendous amount of ers to provide them with expanded
firepower, enabling small but wealthy kingdoms to capabilities or to shore up their weak-
field impressive numbers of doom striders. Last, but nesses. In this section, you’ll find a broad selection

Illustrated by Scott Purdy

34
 2: Construction Cargo Container (b): These ex-
Table 8: ternal containers can seriously bur-
Miscellaneous Augmentations den a doom strider, but do allow
Item Cost Slots DC Energy it to carry a considerable amount
Cargo Container 5,000 1 15 — of extra material. Cargo containers
Climbing Rig 10,000 1 20 1* cannot be used to store ammuni-
tion, but they can be used to hold
Damage Compensator (25%) 5,000 1 25 —
supplies and spare parts the doom
Damage Compensator (50%) 15,000 1 25 — strider may need.
Damage Compensator (75%) 40,000 1 25 — Each cargo container is attached
Detection Lamps 15,000 1 25 1†† to the outside of the doom strider
Fearsome Mark 40,000 1 30 4** – the slot required to install it is
Fire Protection 5,000 2 15 2** converted into a reinforced mount
Item Harness 50,000 1 30 1** to hold the container. Containers
Jumpers 30,000 2 25 1-5 † can only be mounted on the torso
of a doom strider.
Limb Extender 20,000 2 or 3 20 —
Each container can hold 500
Link Crystal 10,000 1 20 1*
pounds of cargo. Note that each
Mindshaker Medallion 80,000 1 30 5** cargo container does contain the
Passenger Platforms 5,000 1 15 — infrastructure and other enhance-
Power Coupling 5,000 1 20 — ments necessary to carry the con-
Powered Torches 1,000 1 15 1* tainer when full. A doom strider
RDFM 10,000 1 25 1 ‡ equipped with four cargo containers
Speed Catalyst 20,000 1 20 1 ◊ can carry all four containers, even
Spellcasting Array 30,000 2 30 1◊ when they are fully laden, without
suffering any encumbrance penalty.
Strength Booster 19,000 1 20 —
This does not increase the Strength
Strider Linkage 50,000 2 30 1* score of the doom strider, however
Targeting Beam 10,000 1 20 1* – it is simply geared to carry the
Temple Banner 10,000 1 25 2* weight in those specific containers.
Weapons Link 10,000 1 20 — Climbing Rig (a): A combination
†
* Per round ** Per use Based on strider size of hooks, chains, and gear-driven
†† ‡
Per 5 minutes of use Per attack
◊
rotors allow doom striders to climb,
Energy use for these items is for every 5 feet of additional movement or per level
of spell cast. albeit slowly. To use the climbing rig,
the doom strider must first either be
of items you can use to equip your doom striders, adjacent to a wall (or other vertical
from damage buffers to protect the crew from attacks surface) it wishes to climb. Keep in mind that the sur-
that damage their control mechanisms, to support- face must be able to support the weight of the doom
ive infrastructures that allow the doom strider to ab- strider, which is often going to measure several tons,
sorb more damage than would otherwise be possible. at best (see Chapter 1: Campaigns for information
Specific information on these items can be found in on doom strider weight and the types of structures
Table 8: Miscellaneous Augmentations. Items with that can support them). Assuming the doom strider
a (x) in their titles refer to a specific illustration on is in position, it can begin climbing.
page 41 as a reference to the augmentation. Each round, the captain of the doom strider must
make a successful Profession (doom strider pilot)

35
 2: Construction
skill check (DC determined Damage compensators
by the surface being climbed come in three varieties, reduc-
as defined in the Skills sec- ing the damage caused by hits
tion of the Player’s Handbook). on the control mechanism by
If the skill check succeeds, the 25%, 50%, or 75%. Note
doom strider advances 10- that these reduce only damage
feet (regardless of the size of caused by a hit to the controls
the doom strider or its move- itself – spells or attacks that
ment rate). If the skill check directly damage the crew are
fails by 5 or more, the doom not affected by the presence
strider immediately loses its of damage compensators.
grip on the surface and falls Detection Lamps (d): In-
to the ground below. A doom visible creatures, especially
strider may not make any me- those with the ability to cast
lee attacks while climbing, spells or otherwise unleash
but may fire any of its mis- destructive powers, are a great
sile weapons with a –2 cir- threat to an army. With their
cumstance penalty (except for inability to deal with small
those weapons which require targets, this can be especially
the doom strider to remain true for doom striders, mak-
immobile during the firing). ing the early detection of an
Depending on its size, a invisible creature a very high
doom strider may need to priority.
install more than one climb- To this end, the detection
ing rig in order to climb at lamp was created. Normally
all. The table below notes the housed in the head of a doom
number of climbing rigs needed per for each of the strider (to allow the strider captain to easily switch
doom strider size categories. the direction the lamps are facing), these lamps pro-
duce a dim, blue light in a cone 200 feet long. Any in-
Size Rigs Size Rigs visible creature entering the cone is not only rendered
Medium/Large 1 Gargantuan 3 visible, but is also illuminated with the equivalent of
Huge 2 Colossal 4 a faerie fire spell.
Though quite powerful, the energy consumed by
The exact location of the rigs is not important, these lamps is outrageous. The lamps require one
but at least one rig must be installed in the torso of energy point per minute of operation, making them
the doom strider. If a doom strider does not install very useful only in circumstances in which it is rea-
enough climbing rigs, based on its size type, it may sonable to suspect an invisible creature may be sneak-
not climb at all. ing up on a doom strider’s position.
Damage Compensator (c): Damage to the crew, If mounted in the head, the detection lamp can
especially injuries that reduce the captain’s hit points, be swiveled up to 180-degrees at the beginning or
can have a profound negative impact on a doom end of a given turn, at no action cost to the captain
strider. Damage compensators provide a buffer be- or a crewmember. If mounted elsewhere, they can be
tween the crew members and the control mechanisms rotated 90-degrees at the beginning or end of a given
meant to protect them from damage to the controls. turn, but require a partial action from the captain or
a crewmember. Note that the lamps cannot ‘sweep’ an

Illustrated by Elijah Walker

36
 2: Construction
area, they are only effective when focused on a specific each round that the fire is put out. If the flames are
section of the battlefield. not extinguished, they continue to cause damage to
Fearsome Mark (e): When provided with power the doom strider as normal.
from the doom strider, the fearsome mark flares to Item Harness (f ): This device allows a single mag-
life as a baleful brand of sickly green flame hovering ical item to be installed in a doom strider. This may
over the doom strider. Any creature that can see the be any type of magical item, from wands to won-
mark must immediately make a Will save (DC 15). drous items. However, items that normally provide
If this save succeeds, a creature suffers no ill effects a persistent effect (such as an amulet of natural armor)
from seeing the mark and will not be affected by any to their wearer or wielder only provide their effects
further sightings of the mark for the next 24 hours, for five minutes at a time and require regular infu-
regardless of which doom strider ignites the mark. sions of energy from the doom strider to keep them
For those who fail their save, however, the mark is a operating.
dreadful sight indeed. Targets who fail their save im- The items in an item harness work as they would
mediately suffer a –1 penalty to all attack rolls and a if wielded by a character capable of using them, with
–1 penalty to all saves versus fear effects. This penalty the following exceptions:
persists for 1d4 minutes. Items that provide a persistent effect must be acti-
Mass Combat: The fearsome mark is capable of vated (requiring a standard action). Activation costs
keeping entire units at bay during the crush of mass one energy point; at the beginning of the round im-
combat. Each unit that can see the Fearsome Mark mediately following the activation, the item provides
is required to make the ap- its effect to the doom strider
propriate saves or suffer the (and only the doom strider,
effects as noted above. not the creatures inside it)
Fire Protection: Fire is a and continues to do so for
very real threat for a doom five minutes, at which point
strider and designers who do the item stops functioning
not protect their inventions and must be reactivated be-
from this natural enemy are fore it provides its benefits
sure to see their creations again.
engulfed in flames at some Items that normally re-
point. Fire protection consists quire activation, such as
of a series of magical sensors wands or staffs, can be acti-
scattered over the body of vated by the captain of the
the doom strider. When one doom strider, regardless of
of these sensors detects fire, whether or not she is of the
it activates a magical fire-sup- proper class. Items that may
pression item installed in the only be used by creatures of
doom strider, hopefully ex- a specific race or alignment,
tinguishing the flames. however, cannot be activated
During any round in which if the captain does not meet
the doom strider is on fire these requirements. Potions
(not merely hit by a flaming may not be used in an item
projectile, but on fire), the harness, nor may scrolls.
fire protection attempts to Jumpers (g): There are
extinguish the flames. There times when it is necessary for
is a cumulative 20% chance a doom strider to get above

37
Illustrated by Jesse Mohn
 2: Construction
the field of battle. Crossing rivers, reaching higher perform other movement actions during the follow-
ground, or simply evading closing enemies are all ing round, if it is still able to do so.
good reasons for a doom strider to receive some sort During the following the round, a hovering doom
of limited ability to jump. strider may either jump again or land in its current
The jumper uses the power of the arcanofurnace location. If the doom strider jumps again, the captain
to propel the doom strider up and away, allowing must make another Profession (doom strider pilot)
it to gain limited flight. The energy cost for such a skill check (DC 30) as noted above. The pilot may
jump is high, however, and controlling the jump can continue jumping from round to round, though the
be difficult. Profession (doom strider pilot) skill check increases
Jumpers must always be installed in the torso, to by 2 for each jump after the second.
keep the doom strider as stable as possible during its Limb Extender (h): Gear-driven, telescoping
jump. When activated, a jumper expends a number of joints are used to enable a limb to stretch well beyond
energy points based on the size of the doom strider, its normal reach. Limbs equipped with an extender
as shown in the table below: are treated as if they were one size category larger
than they actually are for the purpose of determining
Size Energy Cost their reach.
Medium 1 Link Crystal (i): This enchanted crystal provides
Large 2 a source of communication between the captain and
other doom striders with synchronized crystals. The
Huge 3
captain speaks and the link crystal simply transmits
Gargantuan 4
his words to the ears of all other captains within
Colossal 5 2,000 feet, provided their doom strider is equipped
with a properly synchronized crystal.
Activating a jumper is a full-round action and may On Huge or lager doom striders this device must
only be executed by the captain of the doom strider. be mounted in the doom strider’s head – the interfer-
A jumper pushes the doom strider up to 20 feet into ence from the torso disrupts the link and prevents
the air and allows it to move up to 50 feet in any di- communication while the sudden movements of the
rection. To safely land, however, the pilot must make a limbs are just as disruptive. For smaller doom striders
successful Profession (doom strider pilot) skill check (those of size Large or Medium), the link crystal can
(DC 20). If the skill check fails, the doom strider be placed in the torso.
falls and suffers damage as normal, ending its move-
ment prone in the square in which it attempted to Magical and Exceptional
land. The doom strider may stand or perform other Weapons of Great Size

A
movement actions during the following round, if it is
doom strider can use magical
still able to do so.
weapons as easily as can a charac-
A captain can attempt to keep his doom strider in
ter, provided the captain or con-
the air for additional rounds, but doing so is difficult.
trolling crew member is able to
At the end of the first jump, the pilot must make a
use the weapon himself. When creating a magical
Profession (doom strider pilot) skill check (DC 25)
weapon, the cost is increased for purposes of creat-
to keep the doom strider from landing. If this check
ing the base weapon (and its masterwork compo-
is successful, the doom strider remains at its current
nent) but not the cost of the enchantment itself.
altitude at the point at which it would have landed.
The masterwork component for the weapon
If the check fails, however, the doom strider falls
costs 300 gp, plus an additional 250 gp for every
to the ground at the location at which it would have
size category above Large.
landed and suffers damage as normal. It may stand or

38
 2: Construction
Link crystals can also be used to transfer informa- When used to power a hand-held weapon or other
tion from a targeting beam, enabling doom striders device, the power coupling can transfer up to the ca-
to work together to more carefully target their attacks pacity of the arcanofurnace each round to the item.
against their enemies. See the individual descriptions If the doom strider is equipped with bottled light-
of components for information about their use with ning (see Power Sources, below), it can also use any
link crystals. stored energy points to power a hand-held device,
A link crystal expends one energy point from the even in the same round as energy is transferred from
arcanofurnace at the end of each round during which the arcanofurnace.
it was in use. Powered Torches (m): Normally installed in the
Mindshaker Medallion (j): Activating this device torso or head of a doom strider, this device provides
causes the doom strider to emit a nearly inaudible the doom strider with a powerful, long-lasting source
sound of such intensity it causes the ground to shake of illumination. When activated, the powered torch
and bones to vibrate in sympathy. Living creatures provides light in a 100-foot cone in front of the
within 50-feet of the doom strider which activates doom strider or, if installed in the head, in the direc-
this device must immediately make a Will save (DC tion the doom strider happens to be facing. Each ac-
20). Those who fail suffer 1d4 hit points of damage, tivation requires one energy point and provides light
and are stunned for 1d6 rounds. for one hour.
Mass Combat: The medallion can affect any unit Additional powered torches can be installed
which has any part of its membership within 50 feet around a doom strider, creating cones of light that
of the doom strider. extend away in all directions, if so desired. Each ad-
Passenger Platforms (k): These augmentations ditional powered torch requires one energy point per
can only be mounted on the torso of a doom strider activation.
and enable it to carry additional passengers. These Reflexive Defense Firing Mechanism: Doom
passengers receive no protection from attacks – the striders conduct a great deal of ranged combat, often
passenger platform is open to the air and simply con- firing at one another across the battlefield. When a
tains seats for passengers. Each slot used can carry doom strider comes under such bombardment, it is
one medium-sized passenger, two small passengers, critical for the crew to respond as rapidly and force-
or one-half of a large creature. As with cargo con- fully as possible.
tainers, the passenger platform includes the augmen- This device assists the crew by automatically fir-
tation necessary to carry the additional passengers ing available ranged weapons back at targets that have
without hindering the strider. fired upon their doom strider. Though not terribly
Power Coupling (l): This device allows a doom accurate, the reflexive defense firing mechanism pro-
strider to transfer energy from its arcanofurnace to vides a significant deterrent to those who would oth-
another doom strider or to a hand-held weapon or erwise fire upon the doom strider with impunity.
other device. To transfer energy, both doom striders The device must be attached to a specific ranged
must be equipped with a coupling and be in physical weapon on the doom strider. Whenever an enemy
contact with one another (they must be in adjacent doom strider (or creature of Huge size or greater)
squares to maintain physical contact). fires upon a doom strider equipped with an RDFM-
The power coupling can transfer up to five energy enabled weapon, the captain (or crewmember to
points each round from one doom strider to another which the weapon is assigned) is immediately allowed
– these energy points can be stored in the receiver’s a Spot check against the attacking Doom Strider. If
arcanofurnace (provided there is enough storage ca- this spot check succeeds, the RDFM-enabled weap-
pacity) or can be used in the same round by the re- on immediately fires back at the target – neither the
ceiver. Spot check, nor the firing of the weapon, requires an
action from the crew member who makes the Spot

39
 2: Construction
check. The RDFM-enabled weapon fires back using Strider Linkages: One of the most important ad-
the Attack bonus of the crew member who controls vances in doom strider technology is the ability to
it, but suffers a –4 circumstance penalty. All attacks control more than one doom strider from a single
made by the RDFM require the weapon to expend set of doom strider controls. Strider linkages provide
the appropriate number of energy points and do not the connection between the ‘master control’ and the
allow the weapon to be fired more often than normal other doom striders.
(weapons with reloading times, for example, may not Any doom strider equipped with a remote control
be fired until the reloading time has passed). mechanism and a strider linkage can be controlled
An RDFM-enabled weapon may not be fired more from a ‘master control mechanism.’ This master con-
than once per round, regardless of how many attacks trol mechanism can be any radio control mechanism,
are aimed at the doom strider. If the Spot check fails, either inside a doom strider or at another location,
the RDFM is unable to get a fix on the attacker and but it must have a strider linkage, as well.
the weapon is not fired. When controlling more than a single doom strider,
Mass Combat: The RDFM fires back at any unit that the captain or crewmembers must execute the same
fires upon the doom strider. commands to all doom striders. If one doom strider
Speed Catalyst: Though most doom striders are walks forward, all the doom striders must walk for-
ponderous by nature, it is possible to briefly increase ward by the same amount. If one doom strider fires
their speed by expending energy points. These devic- its weapons at a particular target, then all doom strid-
es improve the base speed of a doom strider by 5 feet ers fire their weapons at that target.
per energy point spent for one round. At no time can The number of doom striders controlled by a
a doom strider increase its based speed by more than single master control can make things very difficult
100% using a speed catalyst. for the doom strider captain and his crew. To reflect
Spellcasting Array (n): This device must be in- the difficulty of managing additional doom striders,
stalled in one arm or the head of the doom strider. all Profession (doom strider pilot) skill checks made
It allows any crew member to cast spells from within suffer a cumulative circumstance –1 penalty for each
the doom strider, passing the energy of the spell controlled doom strider after the first, and all attack
through the spellcasting array. rolls suffer the same penalty.
The array does more than simply transfer the en- For Example: Slautheris is in control of his own doom strider
ergy of the spell, however, instead augmenting it with and three other doom striders. All four of the doom striders are
energy from the arcanofurnace or other power source equipped with a remote control mechanism and a strider linkage,
of the doom strider. This has the effect of adding the tying them all together. Whenever Slautheris must make a Pilot
following feats to any spell cast through the array: skill check, he suffers a –3 penalty (-1 for each of the additional
• Empower Spell doom striders other than his own) and his crew members suffer a
• Enlarge –3 penalty to any attack rolls they make.
• Widen Spell Despite the difficulties inherent in controlling so
The addition of these feats to the spell does not many doom striders at the same time, there are sig-
change its effective level, because they are a direct re- nificant advantages, as well. The sheer amount of fire-
sult of the energy provided by the doom strider. Use power this allows a single crew to control is enormous,
of the spellcasting arrays costs one energy point. allowing a very small number of individuals to rain
Strength Booster: Used to increase the strength of death and destruction down upon their foes. It also
the doom strider, these devices are powered by gaunt- enables small forces comprised of very skilled doom
lets of ogre power. For every strength booster installed, strider crews to take on much larger, less-skilled foes
the doom strider’s Strength is increased by +2 and with a reasonable chance for success.
there is no limit (other than the slots consumed) to Targeting Beam (o): This device greatly assists
the number of boosters that can be installed. siege engineers with their attacks, allowing them to

40
 2: Construction

more accurately target their weapons. When activat- of a targeting beam in the same round in which this
ed, this projects an illusion, allowing him to ‘see’ the tactic is used.
path of his projectile before it is fired. All other doom striders involved in this tactic
Activating this device requires the expenditure must make ranged touch attacks against the same tar-
of 2 energy points, after which the crewmember or get. These attacks must be made by the crewmember
captain who activated it receives a +4 bonus to all to which the targeting beam is assigned. This target
Profession (siege engineer) checks made to target in- must be in range of the weapons of the attack leader,
direct fire weapons. This bonus lasts only during the but does not have to be visible to the attack leader.
round in which the item is activated and the round For each successful ranged touch attack, the attack
immediately following. leader receives a +2 competence bonus to all Profes-
Targeting beams can also be used to provide more sion (siege engineer) checks and a +2 bonus to all
accurate targeting information to other doom strid- attack rolls, provided these checks and rolls are made
ers. To use this tactic, all participating doom striders against the target attacked by the other members of
must be equipped with link crystals that are attuned the attack. Note that this tactic requires the doom
to one another. One doom strider is nominated as strider captain to hold his actions until after the last
the attack leader, and this leader receives the attack doom strider involved in the targeting attacks com-
bonus generated by the other doom striders. The at- pletes its actions.
tack leader does not need to be equipped with a tar- If the target cannot be seen by the attack leader, he
geting beam, nor does it gain any bonus from the use may only use indirect fire weapons (those which re-
quire a Profession (siege engineer) skill check, rather

41
Illustrated by Thomas Babbey
 2: Construction
than an attack roll). The bonus applies only to attacks attack. Linked weapons cannot be fired individually
made by the captain of the doom strider, as only the and must be of the same type – both either line of
captain can use the link crystal. The bonuses persist sight or indirect fire. The energy cost for both weap-
for the round in which the tactic is used, only. This ons must be paid at the time they are fired; the weap-
tactic can be used in consecutive rounds, however. on link does not reduce these energy needs.
Temple Banner (p): This massive banner juts from While any number of weapons can be linked to-
the back of the doom strider and emanates a power- gether, there is a cumulative –2 penalty to all attack
ful aura which benefits creatures of a specific religion. rolls for every weapon after the first. Because all at-
Any creatures that worship the deity associated with tacks from all weapons are resolved with a single at-
the banner (which is decided at the time of the item’s tack roll, linking too many weapons will result in a
creation) and are within 50 feet of the doom strider barrage of attacks that all miss the target.
receive a +1 morale bonus to all attack and damage
Energy Source and Energy
rolls as long as the banner remains active.
Activating the temple banner requires a standard Transfer Devices (Required)

A of some sort. The most common is an ar-

action and the expenditure of 2 energy points. Once ll doom striders must have an energy source
activated, the temple banner provides its benefits for
five minutes before deactivating. canofurnace, which is capable of converting magical
Mass Combat: During a mass combat situation, this forces into energy the doom strider can use to fuel
banner is far more effective, providing its bonus to its attacks and move its enormous frame. There are
all units within 500 feet, provided they can see the other types of power, however, from the life force of
banner. Note that a unit may not gain the benefits the land itself to the prayer energy of the faithful. All
of more than one temple banner, regardless of how doom striders must have one, and only one, power
many such banners it can see. source selected from those detailed below.
Weapon Link: This device allows two or more Unlike other components, doom strider energy
doom strider ranged weapons to be fired as a single sources are created as magical items. At the end of
Table 9: Energy Sources
Type Cost Slots Capacity
Arcanofurnace, Small 5,000 1 5
Arcanofurnace, Medium 10,000 2 10
Arcanofurnace, Large 15,000 3 15
Arcanofurnace, Huge 20,000 4 20
Arcanofurnace, Gargantuan 25,000 5 25
Arcanofurnace, Colossal 30,000 6 30
Channel Receptor 40,000 2 25
Prayer Engine 10,000 1 25
Vampiric Translator, Small 10,000 1 10
Vampiric Translator, Medium 20,000 2 20
Vampiric Translator, Large 30,000 3 30
Vampiric Translator, Huge 40,000 4 40
Vampiric Translator, Gargantuan 50,000 5 50
Vampiric Translator, Colossal 600,000 6 60
Vampiric Harness 10,000 1 --

42
 2: Construction
each description are the prerequisites required to ity) it must begin converting more energy until its
create the energy source. The procedure is identical capacity is once again filled. An arcanofurnace can
to the process for crafting other wondrous items. convert magical power into energy points while it
The cost, slots required, and capacity of each power still has some energy in storage, but it will stop the
source is detailed in Table 9: Energy Sources. conversion process when its capacity is filled.
Arcanofurnace (Power Source): Doom strid- An arcanofurnace immediately transforms every
ers are most commonly powered by arcanofurnace, level of spell energy transferred to it into one point
which convert magical power into energy the strider of energy. An arcane or divine spellcaster may trans-
can use. This is accomplished by ‘burning’ magical fer energy to an engine by voluntarily sacrificing one
items or directly converting spells – in either case, the of their available spell slots. The amount of energy
resulting power is measured in energy points. that can be transferred in a single round is equal to
All arcanofurnaces have a capacity, which indicates the number of slots the arcanofurnace requires (de-
the maximum amount of energy they can contain, tailed below). Transferring a 6th-level spell requires six
measured in energy points. Each point of energy rounds for a doom strider with a small arcanofurnace
can be used to provide basic motive force, to power (which gains one point each round), and but a single
weapons, or to activate one of the components of round for a doom strider with a colossal arcanofur-
the doom strider. When an arcanofurnace depletes nace.
all the energy it can hold (as determined by its capac- Magical items placed in a small arcanofurnace
generate one point of energy per round for every
1,000 gp value of the item (rounded down). As with
spell energy, this amount increases based on the size
of the arcanofurnace (up to 6,000 gp per round for
a colossal arcanofurnace). Any item placed in the ar-
canofurnace becomes useless slag after the first round
of contact. Artifacts and relics are unaffected by be-
ing placed in an arcanofurnace, but they also cannot
power it. Cursed items do not power a doom strider
and render the arcanofurnace inoperable until the
cursed item is removed (a standard action).
The maximum amount of energy an arcanofur-
nace can generate in a single round is equal to twice
its slot requirement (and that would require both the
sacrifice of a magical item into the furnace, and a
spellcaster channeling magic into it). While the ar-
canofurnace doesn’t consume a magic item unless
it has spare capacity, it is possible that a spellcaster
can generate more energy then the strider can use (in
which case it harmlessly dissipates).
Despite the great cost of powering a doom strider
in this fashion, it is very convenient for groups of
doom striders that expect to travel far from their
spellcasting support, or for instances when the doom
strider is expected to operate for long periods of time
without support.

43
Illustrated by Joylon Minns
 2: Construction
The table below details each of the different sizes caster’s current position. Thus, spells with the ‘Self ’
of arcanofurnace available for constructing a doom and ‘Touch’ ranges can’t be used to power the strider.
strider and provides the necessary information for A channel receptor cannot receive more points of en-
each of them. The sections of the table are: ergy in a single round then the number of slots it
Size: The size category of the arcanofurnace. requires to be installed. Thus, Slautheris has received
Cost: The cost of the arcanofurnace in gold piec- all the power he can for this round.
es. A channel receptor can also be used to allow a
Slots: The number of slots (in the torso) this ar- doom strider to serve as a conduit for a spell cast
canofurnace takes up. from outside of the doom strider. Any spell with a
Capacity: This is the number of energy points the range other than ‘Self ’ or ‘Touch’ can be cast by a
arcanofurnace can contain. spellcaster through a channel receptor. In order to use
the channel receptor in this way, a spellcaster must
Size Cost Slots Capacity meet the following criteria:
Small 5,000 1 5
Medium 10,000 2 10 • Be within range of the doom strider that con-
tains the target channel receptor
Large 15,000 3 15
• Have a target for the spell within range of the
Huge 20,000 4 20 doom strider. That is, the target must be within
Gargantuan 25,000 5 25 range of the doom strider as if the doom strider
Colossal 30,000 6 30 was casting the spell. The spellcaster must be
able to see this target. This can effectively double
Strong Abjuration; CL 10th; Craft Wondrous the range of a spell cast in this way – the normal
Item. range from the spellcaster to the doom strider,
Channel Receptor: This powerful array of crys- then again from the doom strider to the target.
tals and copper wires receives magical power from • Have approval of the doom strider captain
friendly spellcasters and transfers it to the arcano-
furnace for conversion into energy points. The chan- If all of the above criteria are met, the spell is cast
nel receptor can receive energy from up to 500 feet as if the caster was standing at the doom strider’s
away without any reduction in the power produced. location for purposes of determining range. When
However, for every additional 500 feet, the sacrificed a channel receptor is used in this fashion, it expends
spell slot produces one fewer energy points, as some one energy point. The energy source in the doom
of the power bleeds away on its way to the receptor. strider must have enough energy left to pay this cost,
This is treated the same as transferring a spell to the or the spell is lost.
arcanofurnace in all other ways. The amount of en- Strong abjuration; CL 10th; Create Wondrous
ergy transferred is determined at the time the process Item.
is complete, not at the time it is begun. Prayer Engine (power source): Communities with
Example: Slautheris is piloting a doom strider with strong religious ties can greatly benefit their doom
a large channel receptor toward the enemy when he striders by channeling their faith to provide energy
realizes he is low on energy. The spellcasters are cur- on the battlefield via the prayer engine. Each prayer
rently 1,000 feet away. A wizard ally sacrifices an ice engine installed in a doom strider must be dedicated
storm spell to provide three points of energy. Ice storm to a specific deity. Though the prayer engine may be
is a 4th-level spell, but since the doom strider is so far able to receive energy from members of other allied
away it loses one point. faiths, only the followers of that deity provide the
In order for a spellcaster to sacrifice a spell, the most efficient source of energy. A prayer engine is
spell must be able to target the doom strider from the dedicated when a cleric of the appropriate deity casts

44
 2: Construction

imbue with spell ability upon the engine. A prayer engine crew member. Spell sacrifice works exactly as it does
cannot be re-dedicated to a different deity, regardless for an arcanofurnace.
of any other spells cast upon it by clerics of other
faiths. Worshipers Total Energy Points
A prayer engine has the same statistics of an ar- HD and Levels Per Round
canofurnace. The capacity of the prayer engine is in- 5-20 2
creased by the slot requirement of the power source
21-40 3
if the captain is a devout follower of the god, and it is
50-70 4
increased by twice the slot requirement if the captain
is a holy warrior or priest of the church. Only devout 71-100 6
followers of the god can operate the prayer engine. 100-150 8
For example, a doom strider with a large prayer en- 150+ 10
gine would have a capacity of 18 if a follower oper-
ated it, or 21 if a priest or paladin operated it. The worshipers must all generally follow the deity
When a prayer engine is used, there are only two to which the prayer engine is anointed to, and they
methods that it can regenerate power. The first is by must be within 500 feet of the doom strider for it
the number of faithful within 500 feet (as measured to recharge each round. As would be expected, doom
by their total Hit Dice or levels) and the second is striders with prayer engines are the focal point of any
through divine spell sacrifice by the captain or other holy war, as they represent some of the most efficient
power sources available.

45
Illustrated by Yap Chonkg Aik
 2: Construction
Strong Transmutation; CL 12; Craft Wondrous Slots: The number of slots (in the torso) this
Item translator takes up.
Vampiric Translator (power source): All living Capacity: The capacity (in energy points) of the
creatures are sources of power, but getting the power vampiric translator.
out of them can have unpleasant—often fatal—side
effects. While most good- and neutrally-aligned char- Size Cost Slots Capacity
acters would blanch at using the lives of others to Small 10,000 1 10
power their doom strider, there are plenty of evil Medium 20,000 2 20
creatures who do not have such moral dilemmas.
Large 30,000 3 30
Vampiric translators draw their power from one
Huge 40,000 4 40
of two sources – either the doom strider’s captain
and crew, or captives attached in harnesses to the out- Gargantuan 50,000 5 50
side of the doom strider. In either case, the result is Colossal 60,000 6 60
the same: Whenever the number of energy points in
the vampiric translator reaches half of its capacity,
the doom strider immediately inflicts 1d8 hit points
of damage to either a crew member (chosen by the
captain) or a captive. The point at which the vampiric
harness inflicts damage can be controlled by the cap-
tain, but it can only be performed once per round.
This damage is transformed immediately into energy,
which is then stored in the translator’s battery. Every
point of damage caused generates one point of en-
ergy.
For example: Slautheris lost his own doom strider in a shoot-
out with a group of Rosthrak cultists, but managed to incapacitate
two of the enemy striders in the process. As the sole survivor of
the battle, Slautheris needs a doom strider to get him out of the
area so he can join up with his unit once again. He hops in the
Rosthrak striders and spends the night in the control harness, at-
tuning himself to the thing.
When he fires it up the next morning, the vampiric translator
immediately inflicts 1d8 hit points of damage to Slautheris to
generate power to store in its battery. The roll is a ‘5’ and 5 points
of energy are collected.
Any energy in excess of the storage capacity of the
translator is lost, though the damage is still caused to
the captives or crew. The table below details each of
the different sizes of vampiric translator available for
constructing a doom strider and provides the neces-
sary information for each of them. The sections of
the table are:
Size: The size of the translator.
Cost: The cost of the translator in gold pieces.

Illustrated by Scott Purdy

46
 2: Construction
Strong Transmutation; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous selection of weapons with which to equip your doom
Item; Slay Living strider, along with other options which can be used
Vampiric Harness: The vampiric harness is used to make weapons even deadlier. A complete list of
to hold captives to the outside of a doom strider, pro- these weapons can be found on Table 10: Weapons.
viding a ready source of energy for vampiric transla- Letters in parantheses indicate that the weapon has
tors without the need to tap into the life energy of an illustration (as shown on pages 50 and 55).
the crew. Each harness can contain but a single cap- Beak (a): This weapon can only be mounted on
tive, the size of which is limited by the size of the the head and provides the doom strider with a power-
harness. ful bite attack that can be made during close combat.
Creatures locked into a harness may make an Es- This is treated as a standard melee attack.
cape Artist skill check (DC 30) to attempt to free Blizzard Thrower (b): When fired, the blizzard
themselves, but doing so is taxing. If the skill check thrower unleashes a cloud of 3-inch long iron spikes
fails by 5 or more, the would-be escapee actually suf- in a 50-foot cone. While this weapon has a relatively
fers 2d6 hit points of damage as the jagged restrain- short range, it packs a significant punch and can in-
ing hooks tear into their flesh. flict serious injuries on doom striders who wander
If the vampiric harness is ever struck as a result into its area of effect.
of a critical hit in combat, the creature in the har- The blizzard thrower makes a single attack roll
ness suffers full damage before the harness suffers any when the weapon is fired. The result of this attack
damage at all. Only when a creature caught in a har- roll is applied to all targets in the area of effect. The
ness is killed will the harness suffer damage. attacker then makes a single damage roll, which is
The actual size of creatures that fit in a vampiric likewise applied to all targets in the area of effect.
harness is based on the size of the doom strider on Creatures which take up more than a single 5-foot
which the harness is installed. Creatures within a square suffer damage multiple times, however, suf-
vampiric harness must be at least two size categories fering the damage rolled plus one-half the damage
smaller than the doom strider hit location to which rolled for each additional 5-foot square they occupy
they are attached. No doom strider may ever have and which is within the blizzard thrower’s cone.
more than two harness attached to its torso and one Mass Combat: This weapon is horrifying in mass
harness for each of its limbs. combat and wreaks havoc when fired into troops in
Mass Combat: Any doom strider with hands can at- formation. This weapon causes double its normal
tempt to cram enemies from a unit into the vampiric damage when fired against a unit in mass combat.

A
harness. Doing so requires a successful Profession mmunition does not occupy slots
(doom strider pilot) skill check (DC 20). If the skill on a doom strider, but is stored in
check succeeds, the attack causes a single point of external racks on the doom strider.
damage to the unit and one of the units members Each rack holds up to 10 pieces of
is crammed into the vampiric harness to power the ammunition (shells, spikes, or bolts) which can be
doom strider. used to reload the weapons carried by the doom

Weapons & strider. A doom strider can have a number of am-

munition racks on each of its limbs and its torso
Accessories equal to the one-half the total number of slots on
that limb (an arm with 2 slots can carry one rack

D
oom striders are typically built to per limb, one with 4 slots can carry two racks).
kill things as efficiently as possible. Racks are easily removable from a doom strider and
To that end, doom striders need can be salvaged along with their ammunition (see
weapons and they need them to be Salvage in Chapter 1: Campaigns).
big, powerful, and impressive. In this section is a wide

47
 2: Construction
Table 10: Weapons
Craft Ammo
Name Cost Slots Dmg Crit Range Area Type Energy DC Cap.
Beak 2,000 1 1d6 ×2 0 No S None 15 —
1
Blizzard Thrower 30,000 2 3d6 ×3 50* Cone P 2 25 5
Bolt, Vine Clot 1,000 A 2d8 ×3 100 No P (C) — 25 —
Chain Cannon3 20,000 1 1d4* ×2 30 No B 1 20 1
Close Combat Blades 20,000 2 2d6 ×2 0 No S 2 20 —
-Each Extra Blade 5,000 1 2d6 ×2 0 No S 2 20 —
Corrosive Cannon 40,000 3 1d4* — 50 No Acid 5 25 U
Crossbow Cluster 10,000 1 1d8 ×3 20* Special P 1 20 1
-Autoload Version 15,000 3 1d8 x3 20* Special P 1 25 10
Devourer Pod 20,000 2 1d6* ×2 40 No P 3 25 —
Force Caster 60,000 1 5d6 18-20/×3 15 No Energy 4 25 U
Grappling Limb 10,000 1 * * 0 No B — 20 —
Grinder Club 30,000 1 4d6 19-20/×2 0 No B 2 25 —
Lash Hammer 40,000 2 3d4 ×2 10* Special B 3 20 —
Life Shock 30,000 3 1d4 Con -- 50 Burst Energy 5 30 —
Lightning Spike 5,000 A 2d6+1d4* ×3 100 None P 2 20 —
Negative
60,000 5 1d6+ NA 150 Burst (15’) Energy 4 30 U
Energy Blaster
Scroll Bolt 1,000 A 1d8+special* ×3 150 NA P+ 1 15 —
Shard Cannon5 25,000 4 3d4 NA 75 20+5/die S 2 20 10
Shell, Armor 200 A 3d6 ×4 — No P NA 20 —
Piercing
Shell, Concussion 200 A 3d6 ×2 — — B — 20
Shell, Double 350 A 2d6/2d6 × ×2
2/ — — P — 15 —
Shell, Flesh Tearer 200 A 2d6 18-20/×4 — — P — 15 —
Shudder Fist 10,000 1 — — — — — — 30 —
20 ft.
Starfire6 50,000 5 1d4+fire NA 50 Energy 2 30 1
Burst
Stinging Cloud1 3,000 3 Special NA 20 Radius — 2 20 3
Surge Capacitor 10,000 +1d4 NA — — — 1-5 25 —
Thundergun3 30,000 3 By Ammo By Ammo 200* No — 5 30 10
5
Troll Gum Cannon 40,000 4 1d8 ×2 75 No B 2 25 5
Water Cannon4 70,000 3 (T) 2d4+1d4* 19-20/×3 20 No P 3 20 10
Wyrm Throat1 30,000 2 By ammo By Ammo 40 No — 2 20 15

Ammo Costs: Shard and Water cannons have an ammo cost of 20 gp/shot. A starfire and troll gun cannon have an ammo cost of
500 gp. Stinging cload has an ammo cost of 500 gp. All other weapons have an ammo cost based on the type of ammo they are
firing.
Rate of Fire: All projectile weapons have a Rate of Fire of 1/round, except for the force caster (3/round); negative energy blaster
and troll gun cannon (1/2 rounds); the thundergun and wyrm throat (2/round); and the water cannon (1/3 rounds).
A: Ammo slot C: Constricting T: Torso slot U: Unlimited
1 Reload Time of 1 minute 2 Reload time of 2 minutes 3 Reload time of 3 rounds
4 Reload time of 10 minutes 5 Reload time of 5 rounds 6 Reload time of 5 minutes

48
 2: Construction
Chain Cannon (c): This weapon was not designed or tail to which it is mounted (legs cannot support
to injure foes, but to trip them up and make them mounted weapons) and may be up to one size larger
vulnerable to follow-up attacks. Any creature hit bythan the appendage to which it is mounted. Thus, a
the chain cannon suffers normal damage, but must huge tail could support a gargantuan weapon, while
also make a successful Strength check (DC 30) to a gargantuan arm could support a colossal weapon.
avoid being tripped. Those who fail their save are im-
In addition, the doom strider may apply 150% of its
mediately tripped and knocked prone. Strength bonus to both damage and attack bonuses,
If an attack with this weapon scores a confirmed just as if the weapon was wielded in two hands.
critical hit, the target is also entangled and must Another advantage to mounted weapons is the
spend 1d3 rounds to free themselves before they can ability of the doom strider to use a mounted mis-
stand or take any other movement action. sile weapon on each appendage. This increases the
Mass Combat: While not terribly damaging, the cost of the weapon by an additional 2,000 gp. This
chain cannon is able to inconvenience mass combat additional cost pays for the automated loading and
units by tripping them up and throwing them out of cocking mechanism, which allows the weapon to be
formation. When a unit is struck by a chain cannon, fired once per round. Note that this applies only to
it suffers a –2 penalty to all actions it takes for the
conventional weapons used by the doom strider – the
next 1d4 rounds and is unable to move during the weapons listed in this chapter are already optimized
round in which they are struck by the chain cannon. for the doom strider’s strength and are never consid-
Close Combat Blades (d): Grappling is danger- ered mounted.
ous for doom striders – they are unable to make the This increased power makes mounted weapons
best use of their built-in weaponry while grappling very powerful and popular, though it does reduce the
and are at much greater risk of attack from ground ability of the doom strider to change its tactics in
forces while they are immobilized. Because of this, response to unexpected situations. Furthermore, a
doom strider designers created the close combat doom strider without two hands is unable to be used
blade, which makes it extremely dangerous to grapplein salvage and cannot load its own cargo containers,
a doom strider. nor can it reload its own weapons once their maga-
When activated, this device causes a set of jagged,
zines have run dry. While this is perfectly acceptable
serrated blades to emerge from strategic points across
for a doom strider that works with support crews
the doom strider’s body. These blades whip back and capable of performing these functions, it can prove
forth in their sockets and rotate on the end of pow-very limiting to doom striders that operate alone or
erful gears. Any creature currently grappling with the
in very small units.
doom strider, or being grappled by the doom strider, Conventional Weapons, Unmounted (f ): Doom
must make a Reflex save (note that both targets are de-
striders with arms can use those arms to wield weap-
nied their Dexterity bonus while grappling) to avoidons that are not mounted to the war machine. This
suffering 2d6 hit points of damage from the blades. allows a doom strider to switch between a crossbow
The DC of this save is determined by the number of and a greatsword, for example, depending on his
locations in which the blades have been installed: needs. An arm may wield any weapon equal to or less
than its own size, but two arms are required to wield
• One location: DC 15 a weapon larger than either of the arms.
• Two Locations: DC 17 For example: Slautheris’ doom strider has two arms, one size
• Three Locations: DC 20 huge and one size gargantuan. He can wield a huge weapon in
• Four Locations: DC 25 the smaller arm and a gargantuan weapon in the larger arm. If
he wishes to wield a colossal weapon, however, he must use both
Conventional Weapons, Mounted (e): A mounted arms. As with creatures wielding weapons with two hands, the
melee weapon uses one-half of the slots for the arm

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doom strider may add 150% of its strength bonus when calcu- these targets, quickly demolishing fortified positions
lating attack and damage bonuses. and revealing the cowering troops within.
Melee weapons are the most reliable weapons Corrosive Cannon (g): This weapon converts
available for doom striders and remain popular and magical energy into a corrosive projectile that is es-
efficient choices on these war machines. To determine pecially effective against doom striders. To use this
the damage caused by a weapon, scale it up using weapon, the doom strider must have a crew member
Table 2-2: Increasing Weapon Damage by Size in capable of casting acid fog, a spell receptor array that
the DMG. can receive this spell, or a wand with the spell loaded
To determine the cost of a weapon, double its cost in an item harness. When the spell is cast, the crew
for every increase in size category. A falchion (which member must cast the acid fog spell immediately or
starts as a large weapon) has a base cost of 75 gp. If receive the spell in the round in which the weapon
it is increased to huge, however, its price is doubled is fired. If a wand is used to provide the power for
to 150 gp. If it is again increased in size to colossal, the spell, one charge is used each time the weapon is
its price doubles once more to 300 gp, and doubles fired. The spell is then converted by this weapon and
again to 600 gp when the weapon’s size is increased to a projectile is fired at a doom strider within range.
gargantuan. Each size increase also cubes the weight This is treated as a ranged touch attack. If the attack
of the weapon. succeeds, the target is covered in a magical, corrosive
In general, melee weapons are used primarily slime.
against other doom striders or structures, where the The target doom strider is entitled to an immedi-
massive strength of the doom strider can be targeted ate Fortitude save (DC equal to the DC of the acid fog
against a single target. With their enormous strength, spell cast by the crew member or received by the spell
doom striders are able to wreak great havoc against receptor array). If this save is successful, the doom

Illustrated by Thomas Babbey

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strider shrugs off the effects of the corrosive and suf- tial attack roll. If there are fewer than six targets in
fers no damage. If the save fails, however, the doom range, they are each attacked twice.
strider loses 1d4 armor components from the hit lo- A crossbow cluster can be used to attack a doom
cation struck by the attack. The armor components strider, but the dispersion of the bolts which makes
are lost in random order, and this attack affects only it so effective against foot soldiers makes it much less
armor components. Each round thereafter, the doom effective against doom striders. If used in this way,
strider must make the same save. If it succeeds, the the attack suffers the same –4 circumstance penalty
effects of the corrosive cannon end immediately, but and causes a mere 2d4 hit points of damage if the
if it fails it suffers the loss of an additional armor attack succeeds.
component from the affected area. The effects of the The more expensive and larger crossbow cluster
corrosive cannon persist for a number of levels equal (listed in the chart) includes a mechanism that au-
to the spellcasting levels of the spellcaster who fires tomatically reloads the crossbows and requires two
the corrosive canon, until the target doom strider rounds to do so.
makes a successful Fortitude save, or until all armor Mass Combat: These weapons cause double their
components have been lost in the hit location struck normal damage when used against mass combat
by this attack. The effects of the corrosive cannot re- units.
duce a target’s Armor Class below 0. Devourer Pod (h): This combination of living
Any reduction in Armor Class caused by the cor- creature and machine was originally designed by ogre
rosive cannon must be repaired as detailed in Chap- magi to terrorize their foes. When fired, the pod flies
ter 1: Campaigns. If the corrosive cannon misses erratically toward its target and begins chewing away
its target, the energy from the projectile dissipates at it upon contact. Powerful muscle fi bers are attached
harmlessly in a cloud that stinks vaguely of rotting to crushing mandibles, allowing the pod to continue
vegetation. chewing for days without any further guidance. More
Mass Combat: This has the same effect against mass importantly, devourer pods that miss their targets can
combat units as it does against doom striders – it eats make short hops to attack large creatures that come
away at their armor, lowering their defense rating just near them, keeping the pod active on the battlefield
as it would a doom strider’s Armor Class. even on a miss.
Crossbow Cluster: Because doom striders of The devourer pod is an indirect-fire weapon and
Huge or greater size cannot target creatures who are is used as such. If it hits its target, it latches on and
smaller than Huge in size with their main weaponry, inflicts 1d6 hit points of damage each round until the
they need some system of close point defense to pro- target falls or the pod is destroyed. Because of their
tect their legs from swarms of smaller creatures. The large size, devourer pods ignore any creature that is
crossbow cluster is just such a defense, positioning not of the Huge size category or larger.
ten heavy crossbows around a central mount. Though If the pod misses, determine its landing point as
each cluster can only be used a single time before it normal and mark it on the battle map. Whenever any
must be reloaded (a manual operation), the deter- Huge (or larger size) creature or doom strider comes
rent it provides is often enough to keep unseasoned within 30 feet of the pod’s location, the pod lunges
troops from swarming the legs of the doom strider. toward the creature and attempts to latch on. This
When the cluster is fired, the captain or control- is treated as a charge and the attack is resolved as a
ling crewmember makes an attack roll, which suffers touch attack (the pod has a +10 bonus to its attack
a –4 circumstance penalty. This fires the crossbows, roll). If the pod hits, it has latched on to the target
which pepper the area with bolts. Up to 10 creatures and inflicts 1d6 hit points of damage on the follow-
within 20-feet of the doom strider are targeted by ing round. If it misses, it lands next to the target and
these bolts and all attacks are resolved using the ini- may make another attack next round.

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If a pod kills or disables its target, it will fall off tinuing to focus the force caster. If the attack is un-
and wait for another target to pass near. Pods are in- leashed, the crewmember must make another attack
satiable killing machines and can live for hours but, roll against the same target – if the attack succeeds,
once fired, they are expended and cannot be recovered the force caster causes its base damage +1d6 for ev-
for later use as they literally starve to death during ery round of focusing. If the crewmember chooses to
their battle frenzy. continue focusing, another attack roll is made – if it
The pod may be attacked by a doom strider who is successful, the crewmember must make the choice
can see it. The pod has an Armor Class of 15 and during the following round, otherwise the attack
has 50 hit points. If the pod is attached to a doom ends and the force caster is unable to focus on the
strider, that doom strider suffers one-third the dam- target. Likewise, if the crewmember loses sight of his
age caused to the pod in combat. Any attack at the target during a round, the focusing attack automati-
pod that misses is considered a new attack against cally fails.
the doom strider and is resolved as normal. A doom When the attack is finally unleashed, it uses only
strider that attacks a pod attached to itself suffers a the standard number of energy points. When used
–2 penalty to all attack and damage rolls. wisely, a force caster can deal tremendous damage for
Mass Combat: If a pod falls in amongst a mass com- a relatively low energy cost.
bat unit, it causes its normal damage to that unit. A Grappling Limb (j): A properly equipped doom
unit may attempt to destroy the pod in their midst, strider can be at a significant advantage over a living
but suffers a –2 penalty to all attack and damage rolls creature. This device improves the ability for a doom
they make while doing so. strider to grapple and enables the construct to inflict
Force Caster (i): Though it has a very short range, more damage during a grapple.
this weapon needs no ammunition and packs a con- For each arm or tail to which this device is at-
siderable punch into a remarkably small size. The tached, the doom strider receives a +1 bonus to all
force caster is a favorite amongst the pilots of smaller grappling checks. In addition, for every two grap-
doom striders, who are often able to sneak into range pling limbs attached to a doom strider, that doom
and deal devastating damage against those who cap- strider is treated as if it is one size category larger
tain larger constructs. than its actual size. A huge doom strider with three
The force caster simply allows energy from the grappling limbs, for example, will receive a +3 bonus
doom strider’s energy source out of containment, to all grappling checks and will be treated as if it is a
which causes a flickering bolt of energy to be fired Colossal doom strider for the purposes of resolving
from the weapon. Focusing mirrors around the aper- grappling attacks. If successfully holding a target, the
ture of the weapon significantly increase the damage doom strider is also granted an additional point of
caused by forcing the energy into a more condensed damage for each grappling limb.
and powerful state. While its short range limits its use Grinder Club (a; page 55): This club-like weapon
as a strategic weapon, force casters remain a strong is tipped with rotating metal bands lined with steel
tactical choice. studs. When powered up, the device spins rapidly and
More importantly, force casters can be focused the studs catch on edges of armor or other protru-
on a target over the course of several rounds, greatly sions to grind them away or tear them loose. Though
increasing their damage-causing potential. If a force it consumes a great deal of energy, the grinder club
caster hits an opponent, the crewmember that makes can inflict an enormous amount of damage when it
the attack must decide whether or not to focus the at- punches through an opponent’s armor.
tack. If the attack is focused, only a trickle of energy This weapon can be installed on the tip of a tail
is released from the force caster, causing no damage. or arm (requiring one slot and taking the place of
During each round thereafter, the crewmember must a hand) or held in the hand like a standard melee
declare whether he is unleashing the attack or con- weapon. A doom strider must be equipped with a

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power coupling (see Miscellaneous Augmentation) Lightning Spike (d; page 55): This bolt must
in order to provide energy to this weapon when it is be fired from a crossbow of at least Huge size. If it
used as a hand-held melee weapon. In the hands of strikes a target, it begins attracting lightning to its
a doom strider that is not equipped to power it, or location. At the beginning of the round following
in the hands of a creature that happens to snatch it the round in which the spike hit a target, the target
up, the grinder club causes a mere 2d4 hit points of is struck by a blast of lightning that causes 2d6 hit
damage. points of damage to the target and 1d4 hit points
Lash Hammer (b; page 55): Composed of nu- of damage to all targets within 30 feet of the doom
merous weighted heads attached to lengths of chain, strider’s location. Each time the spike is struck by
this weapon is designed to hit multiple small targets lightning, there is a cumulative 10% chance it will be
or to inflict serious injury to a single, larger target. destroyed. The spike’s owner should make this check
The weight and balance of this weapon prevent it each round, just after the target suffers the damage
from being used effectively as a hand-held weapon; it from the lightning strike.
must be integrated into arm or tail of a doom strider Mass Combat: Mass combat units can easily move
to be used. away from the lightning blasts and will only suffer
When a lash hammer is used, it can either be swept damage as long as they remain in the same location as
through an area or targeted at a specific creature. the lightning spike.
When it is swept through an area, it crosses through Negative Energy Blaster (e; page 55): This
five contiguous squares, and none of those squares weapon fires seething balls of negative energy at its
may contain a creature of greater than Medium size. opponents. While these missiles have no effect on
A single attack roll is made and compared against the inanimate structures, it is devastating to living crea-
Armor Class for all targets in the affected area. A sin- tures—such as the crew of a doom strider. Firing
gle damage roll is also made, which is applied to the this weapon is treated as a ranged touch attack. If it
hit points of all creatures hit by the lash hammer. succeeds, a 15-foot burst of negative energy erupts,
If a lash hammer is used against a creature of Large centered on the designated target. If the attack fails,
size or greater, the attack is resolved as normal. How- the crew member is unable to sufficiently focus the
ever, the lash hammer inflicts its full damage against a negative energy through the weapon and it dissipates
struck target a number of times equal to the number harmlessly. Whenever a doom strider is hit by this
of squares the creature occupies. weapon, regardless of its size, it is assumed that the
Example: Slautheris attacks a doom strider that occupies four crew is caught in the burst radius.
5-foot squares. His lash hammer hits and will cause damage four Any living creature caught in the burst radius must
times – once for every square the target occupies. make a Fortitude save (DC 20). Those who succeed
Mass Combat: Lash hammers cause double normal suffer 1d6 hit points of damage. Those who fail suf-
damage against mass combat units. fer 4d6 hit points of damage and must make a Will
Life Shock (c; page 55): This device emits a pow- save (DC 15) to avoid losing consciousness for 1d4
erful aura of magical energy designed to debilitate rounds.
living targets. When activated, any living creature Mass Combat: This weapon causes double its normal
within 50 feet of the doom strider (including those damage against mass combat units.
encased in doom striders of their own) must imme- Scroll Bolts (f; page 55): Though expensive, scroll
diately make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or suffer 1d4 bolts are widely regarded as an excellent alternative
points of temporary Constitution damage. to deploying wizards or priests onto the battlefield.
Mass Combat: This device damages all units which Scrolls containing a single spell are threaded into a
have any members within 50 feet of the doom strid- copper rod, which is then loaded into a Huge cross-
er. bow bolt (which must be fired from a Huge cross-
bow). If the scroll bolt hits a target, the scroll dis-

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charges the spell it contains, otherwise, the scroll mate objects, or creatures wearing armor, this shell
burns off harmlessly and the magical energy dissi- receives a +2 circumstance bonus to attack rolls and
pates in a colorful spray of harmless light. a +6 bonus to damage rolls. It does not receive this
A scroll bolt can contain any spell that has an area bonus against living creatures, only as a damage bo-
of effect and causes hit point damage. Spells with a nus against the armor they’re wearing.
burst or emanation radius use the point of impact Mass Combat: This shell causes one-half its normal
as their center, while spells with other areas of effect damage against enemy combat units.
mark the beginning of the effect from the point of Shell, Concussion: Intended to stun targets rather
impact, with the rest of the area moving away from than simply kill them, the concussion shell explodes
the direction in which the bolt was fired. on impact, releasing a powerful concussive charge.
Shard Cannon (g; page 55): This weapon uses a Targets struck by this type of shell suffer half of the
wand of fireballs to hurl shards of twisted metal at en- damage as nonlethal damage, while the other half is
emy troops. Though capable of inflicting some dam- actual damage.
age against doom striders, the shard cannon is most Mass Combat: This shell causes double normal dam-
effective when used against massed numbers of flesh- age against mass combat units.
and-blood targets. Shell, Flesh Tearer: This shell is designed to frag-
Firing this weapon requires a successful Profession ment after puncturing soft tissues, erupting into doz-
(siege engineer) skill check (DC 15). If this check ens of jagged shards that devastate targets as they rip
succeeds, the targeted area is affected by the blast through their flesh. This weapon is worthless against
from the shard cannon (see below for effects). If the constructs or targets that have more than a +10 ar-
check fails, however, roll 1d6 + 1 for every range in- mor bonus to their Armor Class.
crement of distance between the doom strider and Mass Combat: This shell causes triple normal dam-
the target location. Multiply this number by 20 to age against mass combat units.
determine how many feet away from the target loca- Shell, Scatter: This type of shell is actually com-
tion the blast lands. Then roll 1d8 and consult the posed of dozens of smaller shells, all of which are
Grenadelike Weapons chart found in Chapter 8 of fired at once. This type of shell scatters missiles
the Player’s Handbook to determine the direction of de- through an area, potentially injuring anyone in the
viation. area of effect.
The shard cannon has a blast radius of 20 ft. + 5 When this shell is fired, it fills a 30-foot cone. All
ft. per die of damage normally caused by the wand of creatures caught in the area of effect must make a suc-
fireballs used to power the cannon. All targets in this cessful Reflex save (DC equal to 10 + the attacker’s
area of effect are entitled to a Reflex save (DC 20). Attack Bonus with ranged weapons) to avoid taking
Those who fail their Reflex save suffer 3d4 hit points damage. Creatures who succeed suffer no damage.
of damage, while those who succeed suffer one-half Mass Combat: This shell causes one and one-half
this damage. times its normal damage against mass combat units.
Doom striders caught in the blast of this weapon Shell, Double: Actually two shells in one, this
suffer a mere 1d4 hit points of damage, as the small ammunition is used to punch through two locations
projectiles tend to bounce from its surface with no of a doom strider at once. On a confirmed critical
ill effects. hit, this weapon not only punches through the hit
Mass Combat: This weapon is particularly effective location, but also an additional location, determined
against massed troops, causing double its normal randomly.
damage against mass combat units. Shudder Fist: While melee attacks from a doom
Shell, Armor Piercing: This shell contains a heavy strider are certainly very powerful, this device makes
core designed to punch through the armor of enemy them even more dangerous by allowing doom strid-
doom striders. When fired at doom striders, inani- ers to inflict two hits at once. A shudder fist can only

54
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be mounted in the arm of a doom strider and only is also incredibly dangerous to ground troops, as it
affects melee attacks made with that limb. This does can set them ablaze with even greater ease than it
not include attacks made with two-handed melee does doom striders.
weapons, unless the doom strider has a shudder fist A starfire weapon consists of a large tube filled
mounted in each of the arms used to hold the weap- with a thick, flammable paste. This paste is fired to-
on and make the attack. ward a target and splatters across anything it touches.
Whenever an attack with a shudder fist causes The impact sets the paste alight, causing it to burn
damage, the attacker is immediately provided with a with a hellish intensity for several rounds. Even if the
second attack roll with a +5 circumstance bonus. If starfire misses its intended target, it catches fire on
this second attack hits, it causes damage just as a nor- impact and burn ferociously until it is extinguished
mal attack, in addition to the damage caused by the or burns itself out. Because starfire provides its own
initial attack. Note that the second attack provided fuel, it burns even underwater or when in contact
by the shudder fist cannot score a critical hit. with otherwise flame resistant materials.
Starfire: Fire can be deadly to doom striders; if a Firing this weapon requires a successful Profession
doom strider catches fire, it may continue to burn, (siege engineer) skill check (DC 20). If this check
causing damage to components and the arcanofur- succeeds, the targeted area is splattered with starfire,
nace and, eventually, destroying the doom strider which immediately begins to burn. If the check fails,
altogether. Starfire is designed to capitalize on that however, roll 1d6 + 1 for every range increment of
weakness, by greatly increasing the chances of a fire distance between the doom strider and the target lo-
engulfing a doom strider. As an added bonus, starfire cation. Multiply this number by 20 to determine how

55
Illustrated by Thomas Babbey
 2: Construction
many feet away from the target location the starfire damage. Mass combat units, however, receive a +4
lands. Then roll 1d8 and consult the Grenadelike circumstance bonus to all attempts they make to ex-
Weapons chart found in Chapter 8 of the PHB to tinguish the fire.
determine the direction of deviation. Stinging Cloud: Another device used to protect
Starfire has a splatter radius of 20 ft. All targets in doom striders from troops on the ground, the sting-
this area of effect are entitled to a Reflex save (DC ing cloud releases a cloud of fine, powdered pepper
20). Those who fail their Reflex save suffer 1d4 hit suspended in a clinging medium of sawdust. Those
points of damage, while those who succeed suffer caught in the area of effect risk debilitating irritation
one-half this damage. Doom striders hit by starfire to their eyes and lungs, not to mention the painful
are immediately coated in the substance and imme- welts and blisters that result from exposure to the
diately suffer 1d4 hit points per 5-foot square of peppery cloud.
their space encompassed by the splatter radius of the The stinging cloud can be activated as a partial
starfire. action by any member of the crew. When activated,
Starfire burns for 4d4 rounds. During the first it creates a cloud of pepper with a 20-foot radius
round, starfire inflicts 1d6 hit points of damage. This centered on the doom strider. Any creature caught in
damage increases by 1d6 up to the midpoint of its this cloud must immediately make a Fortitude save
duration and then decreases by 1d6 until its fuel is (DC 15) or be dazed for 1d4 rounds and blinded for
extinguished. For example, a 5-round duration of twice that time. After this time has passed, the crea-
starfire inflicts the following damage: ture may act as normal, unless he is still within the
Round 1: 1d6 peppery cloud, in which case another Fortitude save
Round 2: 2d6 is required.
Round 3: 3d6 The cloud remains in the area in which it was
Round 4: 2d6 activated for 1d4 minutes, hovering in the air like a
Round 5: 1d6 reddish stain. Anyone that enters the cloud must im-
mediately make a Fortitude save, as noted above.
Any creature that suffered initial damage from the Mass Combat: This cloud is large enough to discom-
Starfire is entitled to a Fortitude save (DC 20) each fort entire units. When a unit fails its Fortitude save,
round (after the first) to successfully smother the it is considered dazed for 1d4 rounds, after which it
flames. Characters may take no other actions during may resume acting normally.
the rounds in which they are burning and may move Surge Capacitor (h; page 55): This device can be
no more than 5-feet per round while ablaze. Immer- attached to any mounted melee weapon, or to any
sion in water does not stop the burning, only getting doom strider limb with a power coupling installed,
it off the skin suffices or robbing it of oxygen ends and is capable of channeling energy directly from the
the flames. A quench spell is also effective at stopping doom strider’s power source into an enemy.
the flames (though any fire source in the area after the A weapon attached to a surge capacitor can be
quench spell will reignite the remaining starfire). used with or without power. Without power, it causes
Doom striders that are set ablaze are not entitled normal damage for a weapon of its type and size. For
to Fortitude save, but must rely on magical means to every point of power used in the attack—prior to the
extinguish the flames. On the other hand, they are far attack roll—the weapon causes an additional 1d4 hit
less susceptible to burning damage than living crea- points of electrical damage if the attack hits. A maxi-
tures, suffering a mere 1d6 hit points of damage each mum of five energy points can be spent in this way.
round they are ablaze, regardless of how long they Thundergun (i; page 55): Designed by dwarven
have been burning. engineers and named after the distinctive rumbling
Mass Combat: Starfire is brutally effective against roar it makes when fired, this weapon is capable of
mass combat units. Units suffer double the normal throwing projectiles an incredible distance with enor-

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mous force. While it requires an exorbitant amount two full-round actions to wither the stuff enough to
of energy to fire, its incredible distance allows doom allow the target to resume normal movement.
striders that wield it to begin firing on targets long For creatures of Large size or smaller, there is a
before most weapons are in range to retaliate. greater danger than the reduced movement, howev-
The downside to the thundergun is its inability to er. After three rounds in the troll gum, creatures of
fire accurately on targets within 200 feet. The gears Large size or smaller are unable to breathe, as the
and other mechanisms used to give the weapon its troll gum froths up to cover their nose and mouth.
incredible long-range accuracy begin to lose precision Victims may attempt to hold their breath, using the
at such short distances. rules for Drowning found in the PHB.
Troll Gum Cannon (j; page 55): Troll gum is an Mass Combat: Troll gum is dangerous against mass
alchemical mixture that combines troll tissue with a combat units, because it can quickly prevent them
sticky organic froth that promotes growth. The result from moving and is able to whittle away at their
is a rapidly expanding, sticky, mess that can clog ma- numbers. Any unit hit by the troll gum suffers nor-
chinery, blind foes, and even suffocate those caught in mal damage during the initial round and must make
its area of effect. The troll gum cannon is primarily a Fortitude save (DC 20) at the start of each round
used by smaller doom striders to put larger doom thereafter. If the save succeeds, the unit has destroyed
striders at a disadvantage, most often by gumming up the troll gum and may act freely. If the save fails,
the outer gears and fusing joints in a mass. however, the unit is mired in troll gum and may not
Any doom strider limb hit by a troll gum cannon move during the current round; in addition, the unit
immediately begins suffering effects from the rapidly suffers 3d4 points of damage. When a unit is de-
expanding, fleshy froth. If a leg is hit, the captain stroyed, the troll gum remains on the field, seething.
suffers a –1 penalty to all Profession (doom strider Any unit that moves through the troll gum suffers
pilot) skill checks. If both legs are hit by troll gum 1d4 points of damage and must being making the
cannons, the captain suffers a –4 penalty to all Pro- saves as noted above.
fession (doom strider pilot) skill checks. In addition, Vine Clot Bolt (k; page 55): Druids have long
any location (limb, torso, or head) with troll gum on known the power of living things over the inani-
it is more difficult to use in combat. All crewmem- mate—simple lichens slowly break down even the
bers that make an attack that uses a troll-gummed mightiest of mountains and the roots of plants worm
limb suffer a –1 circumstance penalty to their attack their way through solid rock to shatter it over the
rolls, or any Profession (siege engineer) skill checks years. Thanks to magic, this process is greatly accel-
made instead of an attack roll. erated and the vine clot applies the power of plants
Troll gum inflicts this penalty on a limb until to warfare.
it is removed, which requires at least one hour per This bolt’s head is actually a highly condensed
slot of the affected limb. Additional troll gum hits pod of thorny vines, specially treated in an alchemi-
on the same location do not further incapacitate a cal nutrient solution to prevent it from drying out
doom strider, as the excess will simply drip off and and becoming brittle. Upon contact with a doom
be wasted. strider (or other creature of size Huge or greater),
If living creatures are hit by a troll gum cannon, the vegetation begins growing at a greatly accelerated
they have much greater difficulty freeing themselves rate and attempts to constrict the movement of the
and may suffocate. A living creature hit by troll gum target.
may only move at half speed until it frees itself from There are two effects from this bolt; the first lasts
the trollish mess. Ripping free of the substance re- for 1d6 rounds after the round in which the target is
quires a successful Strength check (DC 25). Oil will struck, the second persists until the vines are cleared
also remove the troll gum, requiring 2 pints of oil and off the target. During the first phase, the target must
make a successful Strength check (DC 30) at the start

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of each round. If this check is successful, the target is age caused by this weapon is considered base damage
able to continue moving normally. If the check fails, for the purposes of determining damage inflicted by
however, the target’s base movement rate is reduced by a critical hit. Thus, a shot from the water cannon that
5 feet. This reduction in base movement rate remains causes 4d4 hit points of damage would inflict 8d4 hit
in effect until the end of the second effect. If, at any points of damage on a critical hit.
time, the base movement rate of the target is reduced This weapon can only be fired every three rounds
to 0, the target must immediately make a Dexterity – after it is fired, it takes some time for the decanter of
check (DC 20). If this check succeeds, the target is endless water to build up the needed pressure to fire the
simply immobile. If the Dexterity check is a failure, weapon again.
the target falls over (see page 62 for information on Wyrm Throat: The wyrm throat is a projectile
the effects of falling on a doom strider). weapon designed for use at close range against heav-
As the first effect of the bolt comes to an end, the ily armed attackers. The weapon is capable of firing
secondary effect begins. The vines begin to constrict much heavier projectiles than the Thunder Gun and
as they dry out. At the beginning of every round, has gained a popular reputation amongst doom strid-
starting in the round immediately following the end er captains who spend a good deal of time in con-
of the first effect, the target must make a success- strained terrain where close combat is more likely.
ful Fortitude save (DC 20). If this save is successful, The Wyrm Throat is useless at ranges beyond 200
the target has successfully sloughed off the vines and feet, but up to that point it is quite accurate. It gains
suffers no further ill effects. Its movement rate is re- most of its power from the size of the projectiles it
stored to normal and the target is no longer affected can hurtle at the opponents, and from the fact that
by the vine clot bolt in any way. several wyrm throats can be bundled together to cre-
If the Fortitude save is failed, however, the subject ate a devastating weapon that fires a massive barrage
suffers 1d6 hit points of damage and must continue of missiles at foes.
making Fortitude saves each round until one of the The price and other information listed for the
saves succeeds. wyrm throat is the cost for a single barrel. Up to five
Mass Combat: The vine clot bolt is unable to target additional barrels (for a total of six) can be attached
individual members of a unit with any effectiveness. to the base wyrm throat, for a cost of 2,000 gp per
This bolt causes its normal damage against mass com- additional barrel. These barrels must be purchased at
bat units, but its secondary effects are easily avoided. the same time as the first wyrm throat; they must be
Water Cannon (l; page 55): Looking much like added as the weapon is created and cannot be built
a steel wine cask, this weapon can be mounted only on later.
in the torso of the doom strider and is normally po- The advantage of additional barrels is twofold.
sitioned above one of the doom strider’s shoulders. First, all of the barrels for the wyrm throat can be
The weapon generates enormous pressure in its bar- discharged at once, creating a withering hail of fire
rel through the use of a decanter of endless water. When from the weapon. This will create a lengthy reload
the pressure reaches its maximum, the weapon can be time, but can inflict tremendous damage against a
fired, releasing a volley of bolts at a target. single target. Second, additional barrels allow the
Though the weapon has a very short range, the wyrm throat to continue firing each round, rather
sheer number of bolts fired can wreak havoc on an than having to wait for the significant reload time.
enemy doom strider. On a successful hit, the water Because it takes two rounds to reload a wyrm throat,
cannon inflicts it’s normal damage, plus an additional having three or more wyrm throats installed allows
1d4 hit points of damage for every two points by the weapon to be fired once each round without the
which the attack roll (after modifiers) exceeded the need to worry about downtime for reloading.
Armor Class of the target. This weapon can never in-
flict more than 10d4 hit points of damage. All dam-

58
 3: Combat
D
oom striders follow the same rules in fighting. To complement this type of battle grid,
in combat as a creature or character, you may find it convenient to have a second battle
with a few key differences, which are grid using 5-foot squares and use this to track the
described in the sections below. movement of creatures who enter the ‘long range’
squares on the main battle grid.
Energy Costs
Combat Statistics
M
ost actions the crew of a doom strider takes

D
expend energy to one degree or another. oom striders have combat statistics just like
Moving, making attacks, and firing weapons all ex- those for creatures and characters. A doom
pend energy from the doom strider’s energy source, strider, in essence, is an augmentation of its captain.
limiting the amount of activity a doom strider can The following sections explain the exceptions or ex-
engage in each round. pansions of the existing rules for combat, allowing
you to integrate doom striders easily into any com-
The Battle Grid bat.

D
oom strider battles can be played out Attack Roll

S
on the same battle grid you use for tandard attack rolls are made for most doom
standard encounters, but the great strider weapons, including direct-fire missile
ranges of doom strider weapons and weapons. These attack rolls work exactly as an at-
their enormous size may make it cumbersome. The tack made by a character or creature, though there
following tips may prove useful when using a battle are attack bonuses and penalties for different sizes of
grid to play out doom strider battles. doom strider and doom striders equipped with vari-
Bigger Squares: If you are dealing primarily with ous modifications. See Chapter 2: Construction for
large doom striders and creatures of a similar size, more information.
you can safely increase the size of a given square to Some weapons, particularly those which resolve
20 feet. Though this loses some precision you would their attacks using indirect fire, do not use standard
enjoy while using a grid that is 5-feet to the square, attack rolls. Instead, attacks with this type of weapon
it saves a considerable amount of space on the grid are made using the Profession (siege engineer) skill.
without changing the strengths and weaknesses of Rules for these types of weapon are found in the de-
the doom striders or their enemies. scriptions of the weapon themselves.
Obviously, this solution does not work as well Attack Bonus: Striders use the attack bonus of the
when smaller creatures or doom striders are in use crew member who makes the attack, modified for the
and you need to know where in that 20-foot square Strength and Dexterity modifiers of the doom strider.
the wizard is hiding. This option is best used when See Chapter 2: Construction for more information
all opponents are of the same size. on the Strength and Dexterity of a doom strider.
Variable Squares: Another tactic is to draw a All but the smallest of doom striders must con-
square in the center of your battle grid and make tend with the size modifier. Doom striders suffer the
all of the spaces inside this square equal to 20 or 50 size penalties noted in the Attack Bonus section of
feet. In this way, the distances across the battlefield the combat chapter of the Player’s Handbook.
remain the same, while allowing doom striders and
other combatants around the edge of the battlefield Damage and Critical Hits

D
to engage in close combat without a loss of detail in oom striders suffer damage just as creatures
scale. do. Any time a doom strider suffers damage,
This option is best used when there are many sides some of this is passed on to the captain. For every die
in a battle, involving long-range missile fire and close- of damage the doom strider suffers from an attack,

59
 no matter what type of die it is, the captain suffers 1
hit point of subdual damage. The link between cap-
tain and doom strider is a close one, and what hurts
one hurts the other.
When the captain suffers hit point damage (but
not subdual damage), the doom strider’s hit points
may be reduced. If the doom strider’s current hit
points are lower than the captain’s hit points times
the doom strider’s hit point modifier, the doom
striders hit points remain as they are. If, on the other
hand, the doom strider has hit points greater than the
captain’s current hit points times the modifier for the
doom strider’s size, its hit points are reduced until
they are equal to the captain’s current hit points times
the multiplier for the doom strider’s size.
If the captain’s hit points are reduced to zero, the
doom strider is considered to have hit points equal
to zero, as well. Until it can be reactivated with a new
captain, or the current captain is healed, it is in great
danger of destruction. Despite their great power and
immense size, doom striders are highly dependent on
their captains for their survival.
When a doom strider’s hit points are reduced to
zero, it is considered inactive – it can perform no ac-
tions and its arcanofurnace begins leaking energy at
the rate of one point per round. A doom strider that
is reduced to –10 hit points is downed, falling to the
ground (and causing 1d6 hit points of damage to all
crew in the process). A doom strider reduced to –50
hit points is considered destroyed, its torso ruptured
and its limbs shattered. All crew members inside the
doom strider when this occurs suffer 4d6 hit points
of damage immediately, no saving throw allowed.
A doom strider that suffers a critical hit, however,
does not suffer additional damage. Instead, randomly
determine which part of the doom strider was hit,
using the table below.

Roll Affected Part

1 Head
2–6 Torso
7–8 Limbs

Illustrated by Christopher Herndon

60
 3: Combat
If a limb is hit, randomly determine which limb still contained and causes 1d4 hit points of damage
is struck, with each limb having an equal chance of for every energy point contained in the arcanofurnace
sustaining the critical hit. when it explodes. Creatures outside the doom strider
Next, roll the appropriate die (as shown on the when this occurs are allowed a Reflex save (DC 15)
doom strider record sheet) to determine which slot for half damage. Any creatures inside the doom strid-
was damaged. If the item in that slot takes up only er, however, suffer the full, maximum damage, with
one slot, it may be destroyed. If the item in the slot no saving throw allowed.
takes up more than one slot, then it is only damaged
Special: Damage to the Crew
until its last slot is damaged by a critical hit.

I
When an item is going to be destroyed as a result f a slot containing a control mechanism is dam-
of a critical hit, the captain of the doom strider is aged, the crewman or captain using that mecha-
entitled to a Fortitude save (DC 20). If this save suc- nism also suffers damage. One-half the normal hit
ceeds, the slot is not destroyed and the item contin- point damage caused to the doom strider by the at-
ues to function. tack is also inflicted on the crewman or captain cur-
If the Fortitude save fails, however, the slot is de- rently using the control mechanism.
stroyed and the item along with it. When a slot and Note that this damage to the captain may also re-
the item it contains are destroyed, it becomes useless. duce the doom strider’s hit points, as detailed above.
The destroyed item no longer provides any benefit In addition, if the captain is killed, the doom strider
(including any benefits from armor installed in the shuts down immediately; see above for more informa-
now-destroyed slots). Even worse, if an appendage tion about the relationship between the doom strider
suffers the loss of all its slots, it is considered de- and its captain.
stroyed. If a crewmember is killed, his position may be as-
Any weapons held by an arm that is destroyed sumed by another crewmember, if needed.
are immediately dropped to the ground. If one-half Ability Damage

W
of the doom strider’s legs are destroyed, the captain hen a captain suffers ability damage, this
must immediately make a Profession (doom strider is reflected in the doom strider’s abilities.
captain) skill check (DC 25) or the doom strider falls At all times, the doom strider’s abilities are equal to
prone. In this case, the crew immediately suffers 2d6 the abilities of the captain, multiplied by any abil-
hit points of damage. ity multipliers, plus or minus any ability modifiers.
If a doom strider remains standing on half of It is critical to remember that the doom strider abili-
its original number of legs, the captain must make ties with multipliers are multiplied before additive
the same check each round, which requires a move- or subtractive multipliers are applied. For example,
equivalent action. If this check fails, or the captain a doom strider that multiplies hit points by 3 and
does not take the move-equivalent action, the doom provides a +10 hit point bonus first multiplies the
strider immediately falls over, with the consequences hit points by 3, then adds 10 hit points to that total.
detailed above. Adding or subtracting before multiplying can severely
When the last of a doom strider’s legs are de- distort the true strength of a doom strider, positively
stroyed, it falls to the ground and the crew within or negatively.
suffers 2d6 hit points of damage.
Damage Without a Captain
Special: The Energy Source
A
doom strider without a captain is in dire dan-

I
f the power source of a doom strider is destroyed, ger of being destroyed. These doom striders
things get ugly fast. Any remaining energy points are treated as relatively delicate machines that can be
are released in a blast of eldritch power. This blast crippled with a little effort. A doom strider without
covers a radius of 10 ft. + 5 ft. per energy point a captain has a number of hit points as shown on the

61
 3: Combat
table below – this number is modified by any ablative to touch armor class unless it is specifically stated in
shielding or other modifications (such as construc- the component’s description.
tion material) made to the doom strider. Any attack Any spell that can be delivered via a touch attack
against a doom strider without a captain automati- can be delivered to the captain of a doom strider by
cally hit and all damage caused by such attacks must making a touch attack against the strider. The link be-
be repaired normally. For this reason, it is rare for tween captain and strider is strong enough to transfer
a doom strider to go more than a few days without the energy of the spell directly to the captain. Because
being attuned to a captain, making the doom strider of the insulating factor of the doom strider and its
considerably hardier than it would otherwise be. power supply, however, the captain receives a +2 sav-
ing throw against any spells delivered in this way.
Overcoming Damage Reduction
No other crew member can be targeted by a touch
A
ll doom strider attacks are considered magical attack; their connection is strictly mechanical and is
for purposes of overcoming damage reduc- not as intimate as that shared by the captain.
tion. By default, all attacks made by a doom strider
are assumed to have a magical bonus equal to the Hit Points

A
number of energy points spent to make the attack, doom strider’s hit points are always a reflec-
for purposes of overcoming damage reduction. Thus, tion of the hit points of its captain. The
a melee attack that requires 1 energy point to make doom strider—powerful as it is—should never be
is considered an attack made by a +1 weapon, even regarded as more than a tool of the captain, for it
though the attack itself receives no magical bonus to is the captain that provides its basic abilities and de-
hit or damage rolls. This is a side effect of the magi- termines the ultimate strength of the doom strider.
cal energy that permeates the body of a doom strider See Chapter 4: Captain & Crew for more informa-
at all times while it is active. tion about the relationship between doom strider and
A captain or crewmember can, if they choose, up captain.
the bonus for purposes of overcoming damage reduc- A doom strider’s hit points are always equal to the
tion by expending additional energy points on the captain’s current hit points multiplied by the doom
attack. Each additional energy point spent in this way strider’s hit point multiplier. If the captain suffers an
increases the bonus of the attack (but only for over- injury that reduces his hit points (subdual damage is
coming damage reduction) by +1. disregarded for this purpose), the hit points of the
doom strider may be reduced. If the doom strider’s
Armor Class
current hit points are greater than the captain’s hit

T
he Armor Class of a doom strider is deter- points times the hit point multiplier, the doom strid-
mined as detailed in Chapter 2: Construction. er’s current hit points are reduced until they are equal
To reiterate, the size of a doom strider determines its to the captain’s current hit points times the hit point
base Armor Class, which is further modified by the multiplier. Otherwise, the doom strider’s hit points
number of armor components installed on the doom remain as they are.
strider. Shirking armor components is a fast way to Remember, too, that for every die of damage the
lose a doom strider, so most are as heavily armored doom strider suffers, no matter the type of die, the
as possible. captain suffers 1 hit point of subdual damage, as
Touch Attacks well.

B relatively easy to get in close enough to deliver a

ecause most doom striders are so massive, it is Speed

E
ach doom strider has a speed score, which rep-
touch attack. The doom strider’s touch armor class is resents the speed at which it can move on the
equal to its base armor class plus any Dexterity modi- battlefield. Unlike creatures, doom striders of Huge
fiers. Armor components do not provide any bonus or greater size can only walk – they are not able to

62
 3: Combat
hustle or run. A doom strider of Huge or greater ed by terrain if moving overland, just as any walking
size also may not swim, climb, jump, or move in any creature would be.
other way save for walking. All doom striders may During each round in which a Huge (or larger)
charge, but those of Huge size or larger are only able doom strider moves, it expends energy points. Me-
to charge up to their normal movement rate when dium or Large doom striders must expend 1 energy
doing so. Doom striders of Medium or Large size are point per movement action taken during a round. A
able to hustle or run and may continue to do so for Huge doom strider burns 2 energy points per move-
twice as long as would otherwise be possible. While ment action, a Gargantuan doom strider burns 3
a doom strider of Huge or greater size may take two energy points, and a Colossal doom strider burns 4
movement actions in a turn, doing so requires a suc- energy points for every movement action taken.
cessful Piloting (doom strider) skill check (DC equal Each doom strider has a movement rate based on
to the speed of the doom strider). its base size and the number of legs it has, as shown
If the check fails, the doom strider stumbles and on the table below.
must attempt to recover. Recovery requires a success-
ful Profession (doom strider pilot) skill check (DC Size Movement Rate
15) at the beginning of the following round. This Medium 30 feet
check requires the pilot to take a standard action. Large 30 feet
If the skill check to recover fails, the doom strider
Huge 25 feet
goes to its knees; it may stand as normal on the fol-
Gargantuan 20 feet
lowing ground but is immobile for the remainder of
this round. See “Movement” for further information Colossal 20 feet
Each leg (for the third or additional legs) add +5 feet
about standing and kneeling doom striders.
Doom striders of Medium or Large size that charge
may move up to double their normal rate, just as for Saving Throws

U states otherwise, the saving throws for a doom

characters or monsters, and may take a double move nless an installed component specifically
action without needing to make any Piloting (doom
strider) check. While a doom strider of Medium or strider are equal to the captain’s saving throws. It is
Large size may climb, jump, or swim, its pilot suffers possible that the Reflex save will be different, how-
the maneuverability penalty to all such skill checks ever, given the maximum Dexterity bonus imposed
In addition, doom striders are allowed to make a by larger doom striders.
single turn of up to 90-degrees during a move. If
they wish to turn more than once, or more than 180- Initiative

T
degrees, this requires a Profession (strider captain) he captain of the doom strider determines
skill check, with a DC determined from the table his own initiative and the initiative on which
below. the doom strider moves. Initiative is determined as
normal, though the captain may find he is somewhat
Maneuver DC slower than normal due to the Maximum Dexterity
Additional turn during the round 15* penalties of the doom strider.
Each crew member is also allowed to determine
Turn up to 135-degrees in a single turn. 20
initiative for themselves, just as the captain does. This
Turn up to 180-degrees in a single turn 25 determines when the weapons or other items con-
* Increase the DC by 2 for each additional turn
trolled by these characters are used during the round.
Captains and crew members must coordinate care-
Other than the differences listed above, the doom fully to make sure the weapons and other offensive
strider moves as a creature. Doom striders are affect-

63
 3: Combat
tools are not rendered useless by careless piloting that (that is, a doom strider is never considered to be
moves the doom strider’s target out of range. making an unarmed attack, save when it is grap-
If the captain of a doom strider is flat-footed, then pling).
the doom strider is considered flat-footed as well. • Activate one of the doom strider’s other com-
ponents (such as a crossbow cluster). Activating
Attacks of Opportunity
any component requires a standard action from
D
oom striders with melee weapons or limbs a character at a control mechanism that is linked
that can be used for attacking threaten all ar- to the component.
eas within their reach, just as normal for a creature. If • Activate a magic item other than a potion or oil.
the crew members who control these limbs are nor- Remember, a magic item can only be used on
mally able to take an attack of opportunity, then so targets outside the doom strider if it is directed
too can the doom strider. Note that all doom strider through a spellcasting array. Additionally, magi-
limbs are considered weapons for purposes of deter- cal items which normally affect the character
mining threatened areas. have no effect on the doom strider they are in,
Doom striders also provoke attacks of oppor- unless they are the captain and the magic item
tunity as normal. In most cases, they only provoke changes their abilities or hit points.
attacks of opportunity when they pass through the • The Aid Another action is freely available to
threatened squares of other creatures. Doom striders doom striders and their crews. Note that the en-
are not considered to be ‘casting a spell’ while their tire crew of the doom strider may only perform
crew wizards are working the spellcasting array, so a single Aid Another action during combat. If
concentration checks to cast on the defensive are un- there are three crew members in a doom strider
necessary. and one of them performs the Aid Another ac-
Actions tion during a round, no other crew members
may use that action during the same round. In

D
oom striders do not take actions; the this case, it is as if the doom strider is a creature
crew members within them take ac- who performs the action.
tions, which the doom strider carries • Doom striders may perform the bull rush ac-
out for them. This is an important tion. A doom strider may only take one bull rush
concept to remember: The number of crewmembers action each round and must abide by all restric-
inside a doom strider can allow it to perform many tions related to movement while taking this ac-
more actions than a creature would be able to make. tion.
There are some restrictions on the number of actions • Crew members inside doom striders can only
that the crew members of a doom strider can make, cast spells at targets outside of the doom strider
as outlined below. if the doom strider is equipped with a spellcast-
ing array. Any number of spellcasters may use
Standard Actions
the array, but only if the energy cost for the ar-

C
haracters can do the following with standard ray is paid at the time of use.
actions while within the doom strider: • Crew members can concentrate to maintain an
• Make an attack with one of the doom strider’s active spell as normal. When a doom strider’s
weapons. Note that the weapon must be one crew member concentrates to maintain an active
that is linked to the control mechanism of the spell, it never triggers an attack of opportunity
character making the attack. against that doom strider.
• Make an attack with one of the doom strider’s • Crew members may dismiss spells as per nor-
limbs. All of a doom strider’s limbs can be used mal (and may only dismiss spells outside of the
to make attacks and are considered weapons doom strider if their doom strider is equipped

64
 3: Combat
with a spellcasting array). This does not cause an seat of his doom strider, a captain may volun-
attack of opportunity. tarily lower his spell resistance, but this does not
• Any crew member may take a standard action affect the overall spell resistance of the doom
to drink a potion or apply oil. Keep in mind strider.
that the effects of a potion or oil are treated as • The crew of a doom strider may attempt to sta-
the effects of a magical item when determin- bilize a dying friend in the crew compartment
ing whether or not they affect the doom strider with them, but the quarters are cramped and
while the crew member is inside. difficult to move around, imposing a -2 circum-
• Any crew member may attempt to escape a stance penalty to all such attempts.
grapple, provided they are in a control mecha- • Doom strider crew members may make use of
nism that has control over one or more of the the overrun standard action. This is resolved
doom strider’s limbs. Use the doom strider’s normally, using the ability scores and size cat-
ability scores and size and the character’s attack egory of the doom strider.
bonus to determine the modifiers for an escape • A crew member may read a scroll, but may only
attempt. cast the spell from a scroll at targets outside of
• The crews of doom striders are unable to use the doom strider if the doom strider is equipped
the feint special attack; they simply lack the fine with a spellcasting array and the energy cost for
control necessary to use such a maneuver. that component is paid.
• The spell resistance (SR) of a doom strider, if • The sunder special attack may be used by the
any, cannot be voluntarily lowered. While in the crew of a doom strider against a weapon or ob-

65
Illustrated by Joylon Minns
 3: Combat
ject, using the abilities and size modifiers for the any way, except as they affect the ability scores or
doom strider and any appropriate weapon the hit points of the captain of the doom strider.
doom strider is currently using. • Crew members and captains can make use of su-
• The captain, and only the captain, of a doom pernatural abilities, as well, but these abide by
strider may make use of the total defense ac- the same restrictions as spell-like abilities.
tion. Movement Actions: Doom striders cannot move
• A character capable of turning or rebuking un- faster than their movement rate unless a specific piece
dead may only use this action if his doom strider of equipment allows them additional movement or
is equipped with a temple banner. a crewmember pushes the doom strider to move a
• If a crewmember of a doom strider has any ex- little quicker than normal. See “Speed” above, for
traordinary abilities, these may be used but have further information about doom strider movement.
no effect on creatures or other targets outside of Thus, a doom strider captain could move his doom
the doom strider. In addition, if a captain uses strider 50 feet in one round, while a crew member in
any ability of this type, it only affects the control of the left arm draws one weapon
ability scores and hit points of the doom as a movement action and the
strider he currently controls. crew member in charge of the
• Characters inside a doom right arm redirects an active
strider may use any of their spell.
own skills, provided If a crewmember directs
those skills do not re- the doom strider to move,
quire movement. Doom that is considered a move
striders, subject to the action for the character and
judgment of the GM, the doom strider as a whole.
do not typically use Thus, characters who direct
skills, even if the captain the doom strider to move are
in control uses a skill. unable to take a full-round
Doom striders do not action.
have the fine control nec- Doom striders are not able
essary to use skills, even to take a 5-foot step as a free
when directed by a crew- action. Crew members of a
member or captain. For doom strider may use the fol-
example, a doom strider lowing move actions.
cannot use the Heal skill • A spellcaster in a doom
to tend the wounds of strider may direct or redirect an
another, even if the cap- active spell, but doing so requires
tain is an expert healer. the use of a spellcasting array (and
• If a captain or crew the payment of the appropriate
member has access to any energy costs for that array).
spell-like abilities, these may be • A doom strider may be directed to draw or
used as a standard action. However, they have no sheath a weapon as a move action performed by
effect on targets outside the doom strider unless any crew member in control of an arm with a
they are channeled through a spellcasting array hand. Similarly, a doom strider with hands can
and the appropriate energy cost is paid. Addi- reload its own hand or light crossbows. This ac-
tionally, they do not affect the doom strider in tion provokes an attack of opportunity. Note
that a weapon cannot be sheathed and drawn in

Illustrated by Christopher Herndon

66
 3: Combat
the same round, regardless of how many limbs an action from occurring in the cramped quarters of
or crew members a doom strider may have. a doom strider. Crew members and captains may per-
• Crew members can direct a doom strider to open form the following actions while in a doom strider:
a door, provided the door is no more than three • The full attack action is available to the crew of
sizes smaller than the doom strider. a doom strider. A doom strider crew member
• Doom striders may not ride or control a mount, may not always get all of the iterative attacks to
regardless of its size. which they would normally be entitled, however,
• Given their immense strength, doom striders are if the doom strider does not have enough weap-
often called upon to move heavy objects. Use of onry to support the full number of attacks.
this action counts as movement for the doom o Each doom strider limb may make a single
strider, preventing it from moving during this melee attack (punch, kick, tail bludgeon) per
round, though other crew members can safely round.
take movement actions for other purposes. o If a doom strider is equipped with a melee
• Doom striders with hands can be directed to pick weapon (such as a sword or morning star of
up items. For medium and large doom striders, the appropriate size), the crew member in
they can pick up any object that can be seen by control of that weapon may use the weapon
a member of a race of that size. Huge and gi- to make a full-round attack just as if the crew
ant doom striders can pick up objects no smaller member herself was in combat. Thus, a 15th-
than a human head, gargantuan doom striders level fighter in charge of a doom strider’s
can pick up items roughly the size of a Small greatsword could make all three of his attacks
creature, and colossal doom striders cannot pick in a round using the greatsword.
up objects that are smaller than Medium size. o Weapon melee attacks are in addition to the
• The captain of any doom strider can attempt to attacks made by the doom strider’s limbs. A
get the doom strider back on its feet after it is doom strider can—if it has crewmembers
knocked (or falls) prone. A doom strider can rise with enough attacks available—kick, punch,
from prone to kneeling as a movement action, tail bludgeon, and execute several attacks with
and then use another movement action to rise a melee weapon.
from kneeling to standing. However, only one o All ranged weapons have a Rate of Fire. This
of these movement actions may be performed in is the number of times, per round, they can
a single round. To stand faster, the captain (and be fired. A weapon can never exceed this Rate
only the captain) can make a successful Profes- of Fire.
sion (doom strider pilot) skill check (DC 20) • A doom strider can deliver a coup de grace just as a
to rise from prone to standing in a single round. character can.
This is a Standard action, however. • Doom striders that become entangled in nets
• Doom striders with hands that have arms can may attempt to extricate themselves in the same
use shields, just like other creatures. A doom way as characters. Use the doom strider’s size
strider may only use a single shield, however. and ability scores when determining whether or
Crew members can use the ready or loose shield not the doom strider can escape from the net.
action to get a shield in hand or stow it for later • If a doom strider is equipped with a heavy or re-
use. peating crossbow of the appropriate size, it can
reload this weapon as a full-round action for a
Full Round Actions
crew member. While reloading, the doom strid-

T
he crew of a doom strider is not prohibited er cannot attack with two of its arms. Ranged
from taking full round actions, but there may weapons attached to those arms may attack as
be restrictions due to their location that prevents such normal, however.

67
 • Doom striders cannot run.
3: Combat Conventional weapon attacks may only be made
• A doom strider cannot deliver touch spells to against creatures more than one size category smaller
friendly doom striders, under any circumstances. than the attacking doom strider. The doom strider
The spells will not work on the doom strider (see lacks the fine control necessary to target smaller tar-
spellcasting above). Doom striders can deliver gets using a conventional weapon. For attacks against
touch attack spells, provided they are equipped smaller creatures, the doom strider must rely on un-
with a spellcasting array and the energy cost is conventional weapons (such as the shard cannon).
paid. This is an important tactical problem with doom
• Doom striders can withdraw from combat in the striders: Several smaller striders could get in close and
same manner as characters or other creatures. maul a larger doom strider, because the larger strider
would be unable to target them. This is why it is so
Free Actions
rare to see an unescorted doom strider and why Me-

T the free actions normally allowed as defined

he crew of a doom strider can take any of dium and Large doom striders are still so common,
despite their relative weakness compared to the larger
in Chapter 8: Combat of the Player’s Handbook. This constructs.
includes casting quickened spells though, the doom If more than one control mechanism is installed in
strider must be equipped with a spellcasting array the doom strider, all crew members may make their
and the energy cost must be paid. normal attacks for the round, but each appendage
• Doom strider crew members may delay their ac- may only be used by a single crew member per round.
tions. This is most often used by crewmembers Thus, a doom strider with three control mechanisms
when following the lead of another doom strider and two arms would only afford two of its crew
or taking orders from individuals outside of the members with attacks. The third mechanism can be
doom strider. Remember, all creatures inside a used for movement or other actions, but it cannot be
doom strider are considered to have the same used to make an attack, because all of the appendages
initiative as the captain in combat, as long as have already been used in combat.
they remain within the doom strider. Conventional melee weapons—whether mounted
• Disarm, grapple, and trip attempts are all valid or not—have reach, based on the size of the smallest
attack types and use the standard rules for crea- limb wielding the weapon, as shown on the table be-
tures. When attacks of this type are made, use low. Any melee attack (including a grapple), regard-
the relevant base attack bonus for the creature in less of whether the weapon is mounted or unmount-
control of the attack and the ability score and ed, requires the expenditure of 2 energy points.
size modifiers of the doom strider making the
attack.
Limb Size Reach
• Doom strider crew members can use any feat
Huge 10 feet
they can normally use.
• Doom striders cannot take the free 5-foot step Gargantuan 15 feet
available to creatures. Colossal 20 feet
Mounted on Tail +5 feet
Weapon Attacks and Reach
Gargantuan Weapon +5 feet
A ing conventional weapons using his Base At-
doom strider’s captain makes all attacks us-
Colossal Weapon +10 feet
tack Bonus, modified by the Strength or Dexterity of Magically Powered Weapons

W
the doom strider he is captaining. The doom strider eapons that require the use of a power
is able to make all attack actions a character could component (such as the shard cannon’s
make, provided it has a conventional weapon either need for a wand of fireballs) can be used by individuals
mounted or ready for use.

68
who are unable to use the power component itself.
This applies to the use of weapons which require
spells for power, as well; a corrosive cannon can be
fired by anyone, but it must have the proper spell cast
into it, first.
Spellcasting

T may cast spells from their control mechanism

he captain or crewmembers of a doom strider

position. The crew area provides a clear enough view

of the field of battle to allow spells to be cast from
within the doom strider, and all spells are assumed
to originate from a point at the center of the doom
strider. See the section on Spellcasting Arrays in
Chapter 2: Construction for further information.
Doom striders of Huge or greater size may not be
targeted by spells which affect ‘a creature.’ The doom
strider is not a creature, despite the fact that the crew
is. Any spell that can target the crew may be used
normally, but the crew of a doom strider cannot nor-
mally be seen while operating the doom strider, as
they are concealed within the doom strider’s torso.
Smaller doom striders can still be targeted by spells,
as these doom striders are only marginally larger than
standard armor worn by characters and are treated as
extensions of their captains, rather than as separate
constructs. Spells with an area of effect can still af-
fect the crew of the doom strider if they are caught
in its area of effect.
Spell Resistance

A
ll attacks made by a doom strider that are
powered by a magical item or a spell are
treated as magical attacks for purposes of overcom-
ing spell resistance. In this case, use the level of the
caster of the spell or the creator of the magic item
in order to determine whether or not spell resistance
is overcome.
Special Maneuvers

G
iven their enormous size and immense
strength, doom striders are able to make sev-
eral special attacks, each of which is detailed below.
Grapple: Doom striders can grapple and use the
same system as other creatures, with the follow-
ing modifications. Doom striders cannot grapple a

69
Illustrated by Elijah Walker
 3: Combat
creature more than two size categories smaller than doom striders day-to-day battles with smaller units,
themselves; they simply lack the ability to effectively huge creatures, or fortifications, this section details
grapple smaller creatures. Second, doom striders with the use of doom striders in battles with thousands of
a more than two arms or tails gain a +2 circumstance units on each side. It is here that the doom strider can
bonus to all grapple checks, provided they use all truly shine and its ability to scythe through massed
their limbs while grappling. troops becomes its greatest asset.
Stomp: Doom striders may attempt to stomp on The following sections parallel those found in
creatures that are at least two sizes smaller than they the Mass Combat chapter of the Oathbound®: Arena
are. This is resolved as a standard attack. If the attacksourcebook and describe the manner in which doom
succeeds, it inflicts 1d6 points of damage for each striders adhere (and sometimes break) those rules.
size category difference (plus the Strength bonus of Units: Each doom strider is considered to be a
the doom strider) and the target must make a Forti- unit all its own.
tude save (DC equal to the captain’s base attack bo- Initiative: Doom striders use the level of their cap-
nus plus one-half the doom strider’s Strength score) tain as their level. They are significantly more power-
or be knocked prone. ful than standard units, as their massed firepower and
Tail Sweep: Doom striders that are at least gar- great size allows them to inflict significant casualties
gantuan in size and equipped with a tail may make against massed forces.
a tail sweep attack. Each tail may only make a single Actions: While doom striders are more powerful
such attack per round. A gargantuan doom strider than most units, they have a great deal of difficulty
makes a tail sweep that covers a half-circle with a 20- keeping up with units capable of performing more
foot radius, while a colossal doom strider covers a or faster actions. This is one of the primary reasons
25-foot half-circle with its tail attack. Any creatures additional crewmembers are used in situations where
within the affected area that are two size categories or the doom strider must deal with large-scale combats.
smaller than the doom strider are potentially affected For each crew member at a control mechanism, the
by this attack. doom strider is able to take one action per mass com-
The crewman or captain who makes the attack bat round. Note that the rules above still apply; no
makes a standard attack roll, which receives a +4 cir- appendage or component may be used in more than
cumstance bonus. The result is used to resolve the one action per round. The following are the actions a
sweep attack against all creatures in the area affected doom strider may take during a mass combat round.
by the tail sweep. Those who are hit suffer damage Where these deviate from the rules presented in the
equal to the doom strider’s current strength bonus Mass Combat chapter, the differences are detailed
(rounded down). Affected creatures must make a suc- here.
cessful Reflex save to avoid being knocked prone, as Charge (Wade In): Doom striders are not terribly
well, with a DC equal to the captain’s Base Attack adept at charging, because they are not able to ef-
Bonus plus half the doom strider’s Strength score. fectively increase their speed beyond their standard
Smaller doom striders may use their tails to trip movement rate. On the other hand, when engaged in
targets, but are unable to perform sweep attacks. close combat, they are able to inflict serious damage
to units. Thus, rather than a charge action, the doom
Doom Striders in strider may ‘wade into’ an enemy unit, stomping and
thrashing its limbs as it goes.
Mass Combat When a doom strider wades in, make an attack

B
ecause they were designed to operate in roll as normal. A Huge doom strider receives a +2
large battles, doom striders are quite pow- damage step on the Damage Mitigation Table, while
erful when facing massed troops. While a Gargantuan doom strider receives a +3 damage
the above information details the use of

70
 3: Combat
step, and a Colossal doom strider receives a +4 dam- Retreat: If the doom strider performs the defend
age step bonus. action in the round preceding its retreat, the oppos-
However, the doom strider suffers a circumstance ing units do not gain a free attack when the doom
penalty to its Armor Class equal to the damage step strider retreats. Otherwise, the doom strider retreats
bonus during the round in which this action is per- as normal (see the Mass Combat chapter).
formed. Note that the doom strider must expend 2 Support: Doom striders can provide support jus
energy points, in addition to any energy points re- as other units do.
quired by the movement, in order to use the Wade Saving Throws: Doom striders use their captains’
In action. saving throws, as normal, during mass combat.
Attacks: Each crewmember in the doom strider
Damage
(including the captain) may make a single attack dur-

D
ing each mass combat round. However, each append- oom striders are powerful machines, capable
age or item may only be used during a single attack of knocking men senseless with a single swipe
during the round. Because each control mechanism of their massive tails or a hammering blow of their
only controls a specific set of appendages, this means metal fists. To determine the damage a doom strid-
that those appendages may only be used to make a er causes with an attack, simply double its normal
single attack during the round. damage, including damage bonuses from strength.
Each doom strider may only target one unit at Its weapons cause double their normal damage when
a time, but otherwise uses the rules for mass com- fired into the mass of troops, unless otherwise not-
bat attack actions as presented in the Mass Combat ed, as they are specifically designed to shred through
chapter. See above for information about the energy large groups of combatants.
costs for different types of attack. In addition, during any round in which the doom
Cast Spells: The crew of a doom strider simply strider rolls maximum damage, it may strike fear and
does not have the number of spellcasters necessary to dread into the heart of the damaged unit. This is
effectively cast spells during a mass combat turn. This treated as the Demoralize special ability in the Mass
option may not be taken by members of the doom Combat chapter, with the required Will save DC
strider’s crew during any mass combat turn. equal to 15 + the captain’s level.
Defend: When doom striders defend, they are able Modifiers

W rifying to troops on the ground. When the

to actively deflect incoming attacks at the cost of all hen doom striders enter the scene, it is hor-
attacks for the following round. When this maneu-
ver is performed, the captain makes a regular Attack first doom strider enters the fray, all units within 500
Roll. The result of this roll is added to the doom feet of the doom strider must immediately make a
strider’s Armor Class for this round, but the doom Morale check. In addition, any unit attacked by three
strider may not make any further attacks during this or more doom striders in the same combat turn must
time. Note that defending costs the doom strider 3 make a morale check.
energy points.
Move: When doom striders move during mass
combat rounds, it burns 10 energy points per round.
In addition, doom strider captains do not need to
make checks to maneuver their doom striders and
may make up to three turns (of any type) during this
movement. To determine the distance a doom strider
moves during a mass combat turn, quadruple its nor-
mal movement rate.

71
 4: Captain & Crew
A
doom strider, while certainly a pow- machine’s destruction, but will not be harmed by the
erful construct that can significantly ‘death’ of the doom strider. Similarly, a doom strider
augment the strength of anyone, does not suffer damage when a captain who is out of
is limited by the strength and skill the control mechanism is injured or killed.
of its captain and crew. The captain is important to The captain, then, is the heart of the doom strider.
the doom strider, for it is his personal fortitude that She provides the strength and skill necessary to turn
determines the overall durability of the construct. the doom strider into a powerful weapon. In turn,
Without a captain, a doom strider is simply a vulner- she ties her life energy to the doom strider, making
able collection of intricate gears and magical com- it a part of herself. Because of this, a doom strider
ponents. cannot be operated until a captain binds herself to
the doom strider.
The Role of The Binding
the Captain
T
his is a relatively simple process; the captain

I
takes a seat in the control panel and remains
n a doom strider, the captain is the ultimate in contact with the doom strider over the next eight
authority. He is mystically bonded with his hours. This procedure mingles the energy of the
machine, his life force flows through the con- doom strider with the captain’s life force, creating the
duits and wires of the doom strider as surely bond that brings the doom strider to ‘life.’ At the end
as the energy produced by an arcanofurnace. Without of this time, the captain is considered bound to the
its captain, a doom strider is nothing—an oversized, doom strider and may then power it up and begin
fragile suit of armor with a few weapons strapped piloting it immediately.
on. Once bound to a doom strider, the captain re-
At its heart, a doom strider is simply a different mains bound until the link is severed, she dies, or the
type of magical armor. Though much more powerful doom strider is destroyed. The captain can, at any
than a simple chain shirt, a doom strider is still just time, sever the link between herself and the doom
a tool, unable to do much of anything on its own. It strider. Doing so, however, immediately shuts the
is the captain and—to a lesser extent—the crew that doom strider down, reverting it to an inanimate state.
turns a doom strider into a weapon to be feared. Other crew members will be unable to make use of
The captain is the key to all of this. When he the doom strider’s weaponry or move it until a new
binds himself to a doom strider, his life essence be- captain is bonded. If this occurs while the doom
comes intertwined with the construct, forging a bond strider is in action, the doom strider immediately
that strengthens the doom strider and allows the cap- stops moving and its energy source will bleed away
tain to command it more effectively. Through this any stored energy at the rate of 1d4 energy points
bond, the doom strider becomes more resilient and per round. See “Unbound Doom Striders” below, for
life-like. While still an inanimate collection of parts, more information.
it becomes an extension of the captain. When a captain dies, the link is also severed. If
But just as the link between doom strider and cap- the captain was not in the control mechanism at the
tain strengthens them both, it can also weaken them. time of her death, there are no other ill effects on
Damage to the captain weakens a doom strider, just the doom strider outside of the need to bond a new
as serious damage to the doom strider can lead to the captain. If the captain dies while in the doom strid-
incapacitation—even death—of the captain. er’s control mechanism, however, things become a bit
Fortunately for the captain, this link is much more dangerous. The doom strider is reduced to 0 hit
weaker when he is not in the control mechanism of points, putting it one good hit away from a devastat-
the doom strider. A captain whose doom strider is ing end. Crew members are advised to evacuate the
destroyed while he is away from it is aware of the

72
 4: Captain & Crew
doom strider as fast as possible should their pilot be • Doom striders have hit locations. Unlike crea-
killed in action. tures, damage to a specific part of a doom strid-
Lastly, if a doom strider is destroyed while the er’s body is important to track. While doom
captain is still in the control mechanism, odds are striders do have an aggregate hit point total,
better than good that she has been killed. The sudden critical hits cause specific damage to a doom
feedback from a destroyed doom striders forces the strider’s components. See Chapter 3: Combat
captain to make a successful Fort save (DC 20) or be for more information about critical hits.
instantly slain by the sudden surge of energy through • Doom striders cannot, normally, move faster
her system. Captains who succeed at their saves are than a walk and they can only take one move
not dead, but are reduced to 0 hit points and will cer- action each round. They are powerful, but they
tainly die if they do not receive medical attention are also quite slow in comparison to most
as soon as possible (though see “Personal Gear” living creatures. See Chapter 3: Combat
below, for more information). for more information about
Nature of the Bond: The bond is magical doom strider movement.
in nature, but it cannot be severed by nor- • Doom striders are not af-
mal magical effects such as disjunction or an- fected by spells that require a
timagic shell. See Anti-Magic in the target of ‘a creature.’ These spells
following chapter for more cannot target the doom
information about the ef- strider, as it is not truly a
fects of such spells on creature. Similarly, the
a doom strider and its crew of a doom strid-
captain. For all intents er cannot normally
and purposes, the bond be targeted by a spell
between a doom strider and that must target them
her captain can only be broken specifically. Their con-
by a miracle or wish spell, or in the nection to a doom strider
ways outlined above. treats all such spells as if
they were targeting the
The Doom doom strider, elimi-
nating the usefulness
Strider of ‘creature’ targeted
spells.
as Creature • Magical items worn

W
hen using by a crewmember or cap-
doom strid- tain do not affect the doom
ers in your strider. The only exception
game, it’s to this are items which increase
easiest to think of them as hybrid the ability scores or hit points of
creatures that modify the captain’s abil- the captain. The captain’s modified
ities, saves, and other mechanical features. scores and hit points are used to
They work—except as outlined below—exactly as determine the ability scores and hit
other creatures and follow all of the same rules for points of the doom strider. Thus, while a cloak of
them. The differences are minor, but important to resistance provides no benefit to the doom strider,
take into account. In order of importance, they are: gauntlets of ogre power increase the Strength of the

73
Illustrated by Elijah Walker
 4: Captain & Crew
captain and therefore increase the Strength of tion. You may only use this ability while you are the
the doom strider, as well. captain of a doom strider and in the control mecha-
• Crew members and the captain use their own nism. As a full-round action, you may extract 1d4
Base Attack Bonus when they attack, but use the energy points from the doom strider’s energy source
ability scores of the doom strider (Strength or and heal 1 hit point of damage to yourself in return.
Dexterity as appropriate) as modifiers. Magical This process can be used as often as you like, pro-
items, spells, or special abilities that provide an vided the doom strider has the energy to pay for its
attack bonus apply to attacks made by the cap- cost.
tain or crew. If your power source is a prayer engine, you may
extract a single point and heal yourself 1d6 points
Feats of damage.

P
iloting a doom strider brings with it some Hardened [General]

Y
new challenges and those who spend a ou suffer less damage when the doom strider
great deal of time working with these you’re in takes damage.
constructs pick up a few new tricks. The Benefit: Whenever you are a crew member, or cap-
following feats are of primary use while piloting a tain, in a doom strider that suffers damage which will
doom strider, but may prove useful in other contexts, injure the crew, you suffer less hit point damage than
as well. normal. Reduce any damage caused by an injury to
Blood Donor (General) your doom strider by 2 hit points.

Y fuel for vampiric translators. Natural Pilot [General]

ou are particularly adept at being a source of

Y doom striders.
ou are particularly adept at the operation of
Benefit: Whenever you are used as the power source
for a vampiric translator, you suffer 1 less hit point Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus to all Profession
of damage than normal and provide an additional 2 (doom strider pilot) or Profession (doom strider en-
energy points. gineer) skill checks.
Your thicker blood also clots more easily than oth-
ers, making you a much easier patient for the use of Scavenger [General]

Y the best parts when salvaging a doom strider.

the Heal skill. Anyone who attempts to use the Heal ou are able to see through the junk and find
skill to stabilize you or provide long-term care for
you receives a +2 bonus to their Heal skill check. Benefit: You are quite skilled at getting the best
You are also somewhat more likely to stabilize if you bits out of other doom striders. You receive a +2 in-
do not receive first aid, giving you a 20% chance to sight bonus to all Profession (doom strider engineer)
stabilize without treatment each round. skill checks you make when scavenging.
Normal: There is normally only a 10% chance per
Surge Control [General]
round of stabilizing without receiving treatment.
Y
ou have so mastered the intricacies of doom
Feedback Regeneration strider operation that you are able to generate
[General] more benefit from energy than would normally be

Y
ou can draw power from a doom strider to possible.
heal your own injuries. Benefit: Using this feat is a free action and may be
Benefit: You are able to extract energy from the done as often as you like, provided the doom strider
doom strider to repair damage to your own body. is able to provide the necessary energy. When this
This process is slow, but it can be critical in keeping feat is used, any energy points expended to increase
yourself conscious and the doom strider in opera- the ability of an attack to overcome damage reduc-

74
 4: Captain & Crew
tion (see Chapter 3: Combat, Overcoming Damage a doom strider above Large size and suffer a -2 pen-
Reduction) apply to all further attacks made by the alty to all actions made while operating a Medium or
doom strider during the current round, rather than Large doom strider.
only the current attack. Check: This skill is required to successfully oper-
Normal: When energy points are spent to over- ate a doom strider under difficult circumstances. See
come damage reduction, they apply only to a specific Chapter 2: Construction and Chapter 3: Combat
attack, not to all attacks made from that point on for more information about circumstances under
during the same round. which this skill is used.
Action: Varies, but always pertains to the doom
Vent Control [General]
strider.
Y
ou have mastered the art of using the natu- Try Again: Not usually, varies by the specific ac-
ral exhaust from your doom strider’s energy tion.
source to damage other targets. Synergy: You receive a +2 bonus to all Profession
Benefit: Doing this does waste some energy, as you (doom strider pilot) skill checks if you have 5 or
must temporarily increase the rate at which energy more ranks in the Balance skill.
is used up by your doom strider, but many find this
trick to be worthwhile. Venting the exhaust causes Profession (siege engineer)
1d6 hit points of damage to all targets within 5 feet (Wis; Trained Only)

Y
of your doom strider. A Reflex save (DC 20) is re- ou are skilled in the complex construction and
quired to avoid this damage. Using this feat is a full- operation of doom strider weapons.
round action that uses up 2 energy points from your Check: This skill is required to use some doom
doom strider. strider weapons (most often those which use indirect
Monster Feats and Captains fire). See individual weapon descriptions for more in-

D
oom strider captains can learn several mon- formation about how this skill is used in conjunction
strous feats (found in the MM) that they can with different weapons.
Action: Using a doom strider’s weapons.
use while in a doom strider. To use any of these feats,
Try Again: No
the captain must meet all prerequisites while piloting
the doom strider. The available feats are: Awesome Profession (doom strider
Blow, Multi-Attack, Multi-Weapon Fighting, and engineer) (Wis, Trained Only)

Y
Snatch. Note that for purposes of Multi-Attack, the
ou are trained in the assembly, care, and main-
doom strider’s arms, legs, and tails are all considered
tenance of doom striders.
natural weapons. Doom striders may only initiate
Check: This skill is required to repair or otherwise
Snatch attacks when making attacks with an arm that
work on a doom strider.
is equipped with a hand.
Action: Repairing or making changes to a doom
Skills strider.
Try Again: Varies by action type.

T
he following are new skills an individual needs Synergy: You receive a +2 bonus to all Profession
in order to get the most out of a doom strid- (doom strider engineer) skill checks if you have 5
er. or more ranks in the Profession (doom strider pilot)
Profession (doom strider pilot) skill.

Y strider operation, able to urge the construct to

ou are trained in the intricacies of doom

heroic acts deep in the throes of combat. Individuals

without at least one rank in this skill cannot operate

75
 4: Captain & Crew
Prestige Classes Class Skills

T
The doom strider captain’s class skills (and the key
he following are prestige classes de- ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int),
signed for use with doom striders. The Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str),
captain is a master of controlling a Profession (doom strider pilot) (Wis), Ride (Dex),
doom strider and getting the most out and Swim (Str).
of these giant machines. The engineer is skilled at Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int Modifier
repairing (and damaging) doom striders, with a keen
eye toward both the mechanical and magical aspects Class Features
of these intricate creations. Finally, the crew member All of the following are class features of the doom
is a generalist that can fit into a doom strider in many strider captain prestige class.
different roles with enough skill to make a real differ- Bonus Feat: The doom strider captain may select
ence on the battlefield. any of the fighter bonus feats as bonus feats, as well
as the following additional feats: Blood Donor, Feed-
Doom Strider back Regeneration, Hardened, Natural Pilot, Surge
Control, and Vent Control.
Captain Command: As a full-round action, the captain can

T
he captain of a doom strider is more issue commands to the crew of his doom strider, pro-
than merely its pilot; he is the very life viding them with a +1 morale bonus to all attack and
of the construct. This prestige class damage rolls.
provides an individual with the physi- Flawless command: You are able to impart a +2
cal training they need to get the most out of their morale bonus to all attack and damage rolls made by
doom strider, but also enables them to lead their crew any crew members in a doom strider you are piloting.
members and other doom striders more efficiently. Using this ability is a free action.
Hit Die: d10 Lead by example: As a full round action, you can
coordinate the activities of up to three other, allied
Requirements doom striders (provided they are all equipped with

T
o qualify to become a doom strider captain, link crystals). As a result of your leadership, the cap-
you must fulfill the following criteria: tains and crews of these doom striders receive a +2
Feats: Leadership bonus to all attack and damage rolls, and all Pro-
Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks, Profession (doom fession (siege engineer) or Profession (doom strider
strider pilot) 10 ranks pilot) skill checks they make during the following
round.

Doom Strider Captain (DoC)

Base
Attack Fort. Ref. Will
Levels Bonus Save Save Save Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Command
2 +2 +3 +1 +1 Narrow Profile; bonus feat
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Target Weakness; bonus feat
4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Partial Deflection; bonus feat
5 +5 +4 +2 +2 Flawless Command; Lead by Example

76
 4: Captain & Crew
Narrow profile: At the beginning of any round, Class Skills
you can indicate any one doom strider on the field of
The master engineer’s class skills (and the key abil-
battle. Your doom strider receives a +2 circumstance
ity for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Climb (Str),
bonus to Armor Class against attacks made by this
Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int),
doom strider.
Knowledge (Int), Listen Wis), Profession (doom
Partial deflection: You receive a +2 circumstance
strider engineer) (Wis), Speak Language (Int), Spell-
bonus to all Fortitude saves made to avoid the de-
craft (Int).
struction of a component as a result of a critical hit.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int Modifier
Target weakness: You are able to fire ranged weap-
ons at the weak points of enemy doom striders. To Class Features
use this ability, you must have scored a critical hit All of the following are class features of the master
against your target in the past three rounds. When engineer prestige class.
this ability is used to make an attack, that attack hits Boosted efficiency: By making a successful Pro-
the same hit location as the previous critical hit, pro- fession (doom strider engineer) skill check (DC 20)
vided the attack hits at all. you are able to eke an extra 2 energy points out of
the energy source of a doom strider you are currently
Master Engineer operating (as captain or crew member). This works

W
hile there are usually quite a with all energy sources, increasing the capacity and
few engineers associated with current charge by 2 points.
a group of doom striders, the Crosswire: You are able to reroute the input from
master engineer is normally one control mechanism to different components of a
tied to a single doom strider, which he cares for with doom strider. Doing this essentially combines the ar-
slavish devotion. Master engineers are also compe- eas of control of two control mechanisms, which can
tent doom strider crew members and have no qualms be very useful if a control mechanism is destroyed or
about contributing to a fight as well as the clean-up if a crew member suffers a debilitating injury. Use
afterwards. of this ability requires a successful Profession (doom
Hit Die: d6 strider engineer) skill check (DC 20). If the check
succeeds, one control mechanism can now be used to
Requirements control both sets of components for 1d4 hours.
To qualify to become a master engineer, you must Damage Control: When a component is destroyed
fulfill the following criteria: as a result of a critical hit, you can attempt to get re-
Skills: Appraise 4 ranks, Disable Device 6 ranks, pair the weapon. This ability may only be used in the
Profession (doom strider engineer) 10 ranks

Master Engineer (Eng)

Base
Attack Fort. Will
Levels Bonus Save Ref. Save Save Special
1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Boosted Efficiency; Rapid Repair
2 +1 +1 +1 +3 Crosswire; Improved Siege Engineer
3 +2 +1 +1 +3 Scavenger; Weapon Tuning
4 +3 +1 +1 +4 Damage Control; Smooth Operation
5 +3 +2 +2 +4 Energy Pulse; Efficient Conversion

77
 4: Captain & Crew
round immediately following the component’s de- Rapid Repair: You are able to repair the damage
struction. Use of this ability is a full round action. caused to doom striders at an accelerated rate. By ac-
To use Damage Control, you must make a suc- cepting a -5 circumstance penalty to your Profession
cessful Profession (doom strider engineer) skill check (Doom Strider Engineer) skill checks, you are able to
(DC 20). If this check is successful, the component reduce the time needed for repairs by 25%.
you are working on was not truly destroyed, only Scavenger: You receive a +2 insight bonus to all
damaged enough to keep it from working. The com- skill checks made to salvage components from a
ponent is once again available for use, but a second doom strider. This bonus stacks with the Scavenger
destruction destroys it completely. feat bonus.
Efficient Conversion: You are skilled at operating Smooth Operation: By making a successful Pro-
an energy source at the peak of its efficiency. As a fession (doom strider engineer) skill check (DC
full round action, you may attempt to recharge the 15) you are able to improve the balance and overall
furnace by reclaiming some of the energy naturally functioning of a doom strider for the next 5 rounds.
lost in the process of converting During this time, all Profession
magical, divine, or necromantic (doom strider pilot) skill checks
energies into power for the doom made by the captain or crew of
strider. This requires a Profes- the doom strider receive a +2
sion (doom strider engineer) skill circumstance bonus.
check (DC 20). If you succeed at Weapon Tuning: You are able
this skill check, the doom strider to boost various aspects of a
automatically gains a number of doom strider’s integrated ranged
energy points equal to one-half weaponry for a short period of
your total ranks in this skill (up time. To use this ability, you must
to the maximum capacity al- succeed at a Profession (doom
lowed by the power source). This strider engineer) skill check (DC
ability may only be used once per 20). If this skill check succeeds,
minute. you may make any of the follow-
Energy Pulse: You are able ing modifications to a weapon,
to overload the energy source of which remains in effect for the
your doom strider to produce a remainder of this round and the
powerful pulse of energy. Use of next round. Only you may fire a
this ability immediately reduces weapon that has been modified
the energy stored in your doom in this way.
strider to zero and causes 3d6 • Increased range. You may
hit points of damage to all tar- increase the range increment of
gets within a 30-foot radius of your strider. This also the weapon by 25%. This increase also raises the
causes 2d6 hit points of damage to the captain and energy cost of the weapon by 1.
all crew members in the doom strider. • Increased damage. Attacks with a weapon modi-
Improved Siege Engineer: You receive a +2 bonus fied in this way inflict an additional 1d6 points
to all Profession (siege engineer) checks you make of energy damage. This modification increases
while operating a doom strider or a doom strider the energy cost of the weapon by 1.
weapon used to attack another doom strider. This • Increased accuracy. You receive a +2 insight bo-
benefit does not apply when you use this skill in any nus to all attack rolls made while this modifica-
other way. tion is in effect. This increases the energy cost of
the weapon by 2.

Illustrated by Joylon Minns

78
 5: Allies & Adversaries

T
his chapter contains information on BAB +6; Grp +5; Atk +7 melee (1d8-1/19-20, +1
several doom strider units, which can longsword of spell storing); Full Atk: +6/+1 melee (1d8-
be used in an existing campaign as al- 1/19-20, +1 longsword of spell storing); Space/Reach 5
lies, competitors, or enemies, at the ft./5 ft.; SA --; SQ Elf traits, familiar; AL LN; SV
whim of the GM. Each unit contains all the infor- Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +9; Str 8, Dex 15, Con 10,
mation needed to drop them into your campaign, in- Int 20, Wis 12, Cha 12.
cluding statistics, adventuring equipment, and their Skills and Feats: Concentration +16, Craft (doom
preferred doom strider (all doom strider schematics strider) +21, Decipher Script +21, Knowledge (doom
are found in the following chapter.) striders) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Profession
(doom strider pilot) +18, Spellcraft +21; Martial
The Witch Hunters Weapon Proficiency (longsword), Martial Weapon

A
n older, experienced group of mer- Proficiency (rapier), Martial Weapon Proficiency
cenaries, the Witch Hunters are ad- (longbow), Martial Weapon Proficiency (shortbow),
ept at finding and destroying magic Scribe Scroll, Combat Casting, Empower Spell, En-
users of all types. Whether you need large Spell, Eschew Materials, Extend Spell, Far Shot,
a wizard’s tower razed or an evil temple blown up, this Point Blank Shot,
group of mercenaries is the right choice for the job. Racial Traits: Immunity to magic sleep effects,
In addition to the unit members detailed below, the +2 saving throw against enchantment spells or ef-
Witch Hunters have a support staff of varying sizes. fects, low-light vision, +2 on listen, search, and spot
When operating near civilization, this unit generally checks, search check when within 5 feet of secret or
has a half-dozen engineers on hand to care for their concealed doors
doom striders, along with a hired healer or two, and Spells Prepared (6/5/5/5/5/3/2/1): 0 – daze,
usually a single wizard if Reiella feels such is neces- detect magic, flare, light, message (x2); 1st – cause fear, color
sary. Further from towns or other settled areas, spray (x2), grease, obscuring mist; 2nd – blur, darkness, detect
thoughts, fog cloud (x2); 3rd – blink, clairaudience/clairvoyance
Reiella Flickerthorn (x2), fireball, lightning bolt; 4th – arcane eye (x2), hallucinato-

W
hen most of his home city was destroyed ry terrain, lightning bolt (enlarged), ice storm; 5th – cloud kill,
by a rampaging pack of enemy wizards and fireball (empowered), interposing hand; 6th – bull’s strength
sorcerers, Reiella vowed to devote his life to bring- (mass), forceful hand; 7th – invisibility (mass).
ing such reckless destruction to heel. Since purchas- Spellbook: Reiella’s spell book contains all of the
ing this doom striders and putting together his unit, spells above, as well as the following: 1st – alarm, com-
Reiella has sold his services in a dozen nations, each prehend languages, disguise self, mage armor, magic missile, ray of
time accepting tasks to bring down out of control enfeeblement; 2nd – arcane lock, ghoul touch, obscure object, web;
spellcasters and their minions. 3rd – heroism, keen edge, nondetection; 4th – fire shield, globe of
While serenely calm in most circumstances, Rei- invulnerability, rainbow pattern; 5th- dominate person, mirage
ella is a demon in the control mechanism and many arcana, prying eyes, wall of force; 6th – circle of death, true see-
other mercenary units have come to fear his unmis- ing; 7th – grasping hand, hold person (mass), spell turning
takable, all-out style of fighting. Reiella handles all Possessions: 3 cloudkill scrolls (812 gp, 5 sp each),
negotiations for his unit, despite their grumbling that 3 Bull’s Strength (mass) scrolls (975 gp each), 3 fireball
he sometimes accepts a little less payment than a job scrolls (487 gp 5 sp each), all scrolls scribed at 13th
is worth. level; amulet of natural armor +2 (8,000 gp), +1 long-
sword of spell storing (normally stores a lightning bolt spell)
Reiella Flickerthorn: male elf wiz 13; CR 13; (8,000 gp), ring of counterspells (currently contains light-
medium humanoid; HD 13d4; hp 33; Init +2 (+2 ning bolt) (4,000 gp), ring of sustenance (2,400 gp), wand
Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12; of magic missiles (5th-level, 20 charges remain)(3,750

79
 5: Allies & Adversaries
gp), 2 potions of cure serious wounds (750 gp each), +16, Survival +4; Improved Initiative; Iron Will,
425 gp. Power Attack, Multiattack, Improved Bull Rush,
Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Sunder
Hundrag the Burner
Racial Traits: 20 ft. movement in heavy armor,

H
undrag joined the Witch Hunters after his under heavy load; darkvision 60 ft., stonecunning,
last unit was destroyed by a rampaging lich Weapon familiarity (dwarven urgosh, dwarven
and its minions. Though disfigured by an explosion waraxe), +4 on ability checks to avoid being tripped
in his last doom strider, Hundrag has a sunny dis- or bull rushed while standing on the ground, +2 bo-
position at odds with his appearance. In most cases, nus to saves against poison, +2 save against spells or
he is more likely to crack a joke than take a shot at effects, +1 bonus to attacks on orcs or goblinoids,
someone. Hundrag is a soldier, though, and follows +4 dodge bonus against giants, +2 bonus to appraise
orders when they are given.

Hundrag the Burner:

male dwarf ftr 5/bar7;
CR 12; medium hu-
manoid; HD 5d10+25
+ 7d12 + 35; hp 131;
Init +5 (+1 Dex, +4
Imp. Init); Spd 20 ft.;
AC +15, touch +11,
flat-footed +14; BAB
+12; Grp +15; Atk
+14 melee (1d10+5/
X3, +2 dwarven waraxe);
Full Atk: +14/+7 me-
lee (1d10+5/×3, +2
dwarven waraxe) or +14
ranged (1d6+3/×3, +1
composite shortbow (+2));
Space/Reach 5 ft./5
ft.; SA --; SQ dwarf
traits, rage 2/day, un-
canny dodge, trap sense
+2, Improved Uncanny
Dodge, Damage Re-
duction 1/-; AL NG;
SV Fort +16, Ref +6,
Will +5; Str 17, Dex
12, Con 20, Int 10, Wis
10, Cha 10.
Skills and Feats: Climb
+13, Intimidate +12,
Jump +8, Profession
(doom strider pilot)

Illustrated by David Hendee

80
 5: Allies & Adversaries
checks (stone or metal only), +2 to bonus to craft Possessions: ring of feather falling, +1 leather armor, +2
checks (stone or metal only). buckler, +2 short sword, 165 gp.
Possessions: +2 dwarven waraxe, +3 mithral shirt, +2
Fear
cloak of resistance, +1 composite shortbow (+2), 15 sleep ar-

F
rows. ear was another gnome rescued by Reiella.
Where Shock became reclusive and stealthy,
Shock however, Fear took on a more martial calling and be-

R
escued by Reiella during a hobgoblin raid on gan training as a ranger. She now serves as a forward
his village, Shock has never really recovered scout for the Witch Hunters and spends most of her
from the violence he witnessed. Naturally quiet and time living off the land around the unit’s current lo-
stealthy, Shock is a brutal fighter when it is necessary cation.
and the rest of his unit is more than a little con- Fear feels protective of Shock and does her best
cerned that the gnome is starting to like the fighting to look after him. While the two are not lovers, they
a bit too much. could be, if Shock could let himself open up and let
Shock is rarely seen away from the rest of the unit go of the tragedies of his past.
and, like Fear, is never introduced to clients if such a
meeting can be avoided. While on business, Shock is Fear: female gnome rng 11; CR 11; small human-
disciplined and ready to take orders, but when left to oid; HD 11d8+11; hp 60; Init +5 (+5 Dex); Spd
his own devices he tends to get himself into one spot 20 ft.; AC 21, touch 16, flat-footed 16; BAB +11;
of trouble after another. Grp +9; Atk +13 melee (1d6/×3, +1 gnome hooked
hammer); Full Atk: +13/+8/+3 melee (1d6/×3,
Shock: male gnome rog 10; CR 10; small human- gnome hooked hammer) or +19 ranged (1d4/×3,
oid; HD 10d6+30; hp 65; Init +4 (+4 Dex); Spd +2 shortbow); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA special at-
20 ft.; AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16; BAB +7; Grp tacks; SQ Favored enemies: humanoid (goblinoid)
+5; Atk +9 melee (1d4-1/19-20/×2, +2 short sword); +6, Giant, Dragon; Wild Empathy; Combat Style
Full Atk: +9/+4 melee (1d4-1/19-20/×2, +2 short (archery); Endurance, Animal Companion, Improved
sword); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Sneak Attack 5d6; Combat Style; Woodland Stride; Swift tracker; Eva-
SQ racial traits, trapfinding, evasion, trap sense +3, sion; Combat Style Mastery; AL CG; SV Fort +8,
uncanny dodge, improved uncanny dodge, defensive Ref +12, Will +4; Str 10, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 12,
roll; AL NE; SV Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +4; Str 10, Wis 12, Cha 10.
Dex 18, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 8. Skills and Feats: Climb +10, Concentration +11,
Skills and Feats: Appraise +12, Balance +14, Bluff Handle Animal +8, Heal +11, Hide +13, Knowl-
+4, Climb +12, Escape Artist +16, Hide +17, edge (geography) +11, Knowledge (nature) +8,
Move Silently +17, Profession (doom strider pilot) Move Silently +15, Profession (doom strider pilot)
+17, Search +12, Sense Motive +6, Sleight of Hand +15, Search +7, Spot +9, Survival +12,; Track, Point
+14, Spot +8, Tumble +14; Dodge, Combat Exper- Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Farshot, Manyshot, Dodge,
tise, Improved Trip, Mobility Mobility, Improved Precise Shot.
Racial Traits: small, low-light vision, weapon fa- Racial Traits: small, low-light vision, weapon fa-
miliarity (gnome hooked hammers), +2 bonus to miliarity (gnome hooked hammers), +2 bonus to
saves against illusions, +1 DC to all saves against il- saves against illusions, +1 DC to all saves against il-
lusions cast, +1 bonus to attack against kobolds and lusions cast, +1 bonus to attack against kobolds and
goblinoids; +4 dodge bonus against giant type crea- goblinoids; +4 dodge bonus against giant type crea-
tures; +2 bonus to Listen, +2 bonus to Craft (al- tures; +2 bonus to Listen, +2 bonus to Craft (al-
chemy); spell-like abilities: 1/day – speak with animals chemy); spell-like abilities: 1/day – speak with animals
(burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute), dancing

81
 5: Allies & Adversaries
lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, caster level 1st; Save DC Skills and Feats: Appraise +6, Diplomacy +16, Gath-
10 + CHA Mod + spell level. er Information +13, Intimidate +9, Perform +13,
Spells Prepared (2/1): 1st – entangle, longstrider; 2nd Profession (doom strider pilot) +15, Sense Motive
– spike growth +11, Sleight of Hand +5; Mobility, Dodge, Com-
Possessions: +2 studded leather, +1 gnome hooked hammer, bat Expertise, Leadership, Spring Attack, Whirlwind
+2 shortbow, 50 +1 arrows, Type I bag of holding, bag of Attack
tricks (gray), 80 gp. Bardic Abilities: Bardic music, bardic knowledge,
countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1, inspire
The Lost Angels competence, suggestion

W
hen their parents were slaugh- Spells Prepared (3/3/2): 0 - dancing lights, know direc-
tered by assassins sent by an- tion, messages; 1st – alarm, animate rope, comprehend languages;
other mercenary unit, this band 2nd - enthrall, hold person
of teenagers decided to get Spells Known: 0 – dancing lights, detect magic, know direc-
revenge. They attuned their parents’ doom striders tion, messages, read magic, summon instrument; 1st – alarm,
and took to the field of battle, learning as they went. animate rope, comprehend languages, remove fear; 2nd – alter self,
While they do their best to look professional, their enthrall, hold person, suggestion, 3rd- charm monster, tiny hut
inexperience shows through during negotiations. Possessions: +2 chain shirt, +1 merciful longsword, chime
When it comes time to fight, though, the kids have of opening, 435 gp.
the goods. Crayn

P
The Lost Angels unit spends its time wandering ayce’s brother, Crayn has not adapted to life af-
the countryside looking for work while they pursue ter his parents’ deaths as his sister. Battle is a
the unit that killed their parents. release for his inner demons, but one that he heeds
Payce too well. The other Angels believe it is only a mat-

T
he oldest of the Angels, Payce does her best ter of time before Crayn either dies in battle or gets
to hold the unit together and keep her friends someone else killed.
from becoming too depressed over their lot. While Outside of his doom strider, Crayn is quiet and
Payce is only average as a doom strider pilot, her peo- reserved. He knows all too well that the world is a
ple skills are excellent and her bardic abilities come dangerous place and its inhabitants are dangerous and
in very useful when dealing with potential employers. untrustworthy. While those who earn his faith have
Friendly and outgoing, Payce is also fiercely protec- a friend for life, few are able (or willing) to spend
tive of her unit and will do anything in her power to the time necessary to chip away at the walls he’s built
protect them. around himself.

Payce: female human brd7/DoC 3; CR 10; me- Crayn: male human ftr 5/bar 3; CR 8; medium
dium humanoid; HD 7d6+14+3d10+14; hp 69; humanoid; HD 5d10+20+ 3d12+12; hp 79; Init +1
Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 18, touch 12, (+1 Dex); Spd 40 ft.; AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed
flat-footed 16; BAB +8; Grp +9; Atk +10 melee 17; BAB +8; Grp +11; Atk +12 melee (2d4/18-20,
(1d8+1/19-20/×2, +1 merciful longsword); Full Atk: +1 falchion); Full Atk: +12/+7 melee (2d4/18-20,
+10/+5 melee (1d8+1/19-20/×2, +1 merciful long- +1 falchion); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA --; SQ fast
sword); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA bardic abilities; movement, rage, uncanny dodge, trap sense +1; AL
SQ bardic abilities, command, narrow profile, target CN; SV Fort +11, Ref +2, Will +2; Str 16, Dex 13,
weakness, hardened, natural pilot; AL NG; SV Fort Con 18, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8.
+7, Ref +7, Will +7; Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int Skills and Feats: Intimidate +10, Jump +9, Profes-
13, Wis 12, Cha 16. sion (doom strider pilot) +12, Survival +6, Swim

82
 5: Allies & Adversaries

Illustrated by Christopher Herndon

83
 5: Allies & Adversaries
+9; Blindfight, Endurance, Diehard, Power Attack, harm than good to chase after the murderers, espe-
Cleave, Multi-attack, Surge Control, Vent Control cially to young Raysa. Given a choice, he would like
Possessions: +2 chain mail, +1 falchion, ring of jumping.
to turn the hunt over to someone else and have a go
at a normal life for a few years.
Raysa
He will not desert his friends, however, as they

T
hough only in her early teens, Raysa is already are now his only family. Though he may be unhappy
proving to be the best-rounded members of about it, Tayger knows they need him and will not
the Lost Angels. She has picked up the mechanical abandon them as long as they want him around.
skills she needs to keep the doom striders in running
order and is also honing her skills as an ‘acquisitions Tayger: male human ftr 6/DoC 3; CR 9; medium
expert.’ Though still too young to fully appreciate her humanoid; HD 6d10+12+3d10+6; hp 67; Init +4
situation, Raysa knows how to be serious when the (+4 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed
situation warrants. Her identity is concealed from 16; BAB +9; Grp +11; Atk +11 melee (1d6/18-20,
most employers, more to protect her than to avoid +1 scimitar); Full Atk: +11/6 melee (1d6/18-20, +1
explaining her youth to a potential employer. As the scimitar); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA special attacks;
mascot and unofficial little sister of the unit, Raysa is SQ Command*, Narrow Profile*, Target Weakness*;
used to being protected and watched over. AL NG; SV Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +3; Str 12, Dex
18, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 10.
Raysa: female human rog 4/eng 4; CR 8; medium Skills and Feats: Climb +5, Diplomacy +6, Profes-
humanoid; HD 7d6+21+1d6+3; hp 52; Init +3 sion (doom strider pilot) +17, Profession (siege en-
(+3 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed gineer) +13; Point blank shot, Rapid Shot, Far Shot,
14; BAB +5; Grp +5; Atk +5 melee (1d6/19-20, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Dodge, Feedback
+1 short sword); Full Atk: +5 melee (1d6/19-20, +1 Regeneration, Leadership, Shot on the Run, Surge
short sword); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA sneak attack Control, Multi-Attack, Snatch
+2d6; SQ evasion, trapfinding, scavenger, weapon Possessions: +2 chain shirt, +1 scimitar, brooch of shielding,
tuning, damage control, smooth operation, trap sense handy haversack, potion of invisibility, potion of spider climb,
+1, uncanny dodge, boosted efficiency, rapid repair, potion of fly, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of reduce
crosswire, improved siege engineer; AL NG; SV Fort person.
+5, Ref +8, Will +6; Str 10, Dex 16, Con 16, Int *Doom strider captain abilities
14, Wis 13, Cha 13.
Skills and Feats: Appraise +6, Balance +10, Bluff The Banshees

T
+7, Climb +6, Craft (doom strider) +6, Disable
Device +13, Gather Information +5, Hide +13, his pair specializes in jobs most doom
Jump +2, Listen +4, Profession (doom strider pilot) strider captains would not even con-
+13, Profession (doom strider engineer) +11, Search sider, with dungeon exploration and
+12, Sleight of Hand +12, Spot +11, Tumble +13; inside work their specialties. Using
Dodge, Mobility, Scavenger, Spring Attack. some of the smallest doom striders, Polosian and
Possessions: +2 leather armor, +1 short sword, 6 potions Maniris have proved themselves quite capable of
of cure serious wounds. 430 gp. working in close quarters time and again.

Tayger Polosian

T P
he same age as Payce, Tayger does not share her olosian got into the doom strider business early
zeal for the hunt. A critical hit to his doom on, convincing several of her employers to con-
strider caused serious trauma to his face and hands, tribute to her purchase of a medium-sized strider
which gave him plenty of time to convalesce and con- that she continues to use to this day. Polosian brings
sider his lot in life. Tayger feels that it is doing more the skills and negotiation talents to the Banshees and

84
5: Allies & Adversaries

Illustrated by Thomas Babbey

85
 5: Allies & Adversaries
is smooth and polished even in the heat of battle. Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +4; Str 20, Dex 12, Con 16,
Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 9.
Polosian: female half-elf rog 7/ftr 3; CR 10; me- Skills and Feats: Climb +7, Intimidate +13, Jump
dium humanoid; HD 7d6+7+3d10+3; hp 51; Init +8, Profession (doom strider pilot) +14, Survival
+8 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 40 ft.; AC +11, Swim +6; Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush,
19, touch 14, flat-footed 15; BAB +8; Grp +9; Atk Cleave, Great Cleave
+11 melee (1d6+2/18-20, +1 scimitar); Full Atk: Racial Traits: Darkvision 60 ft., orc blood.
+11/+6 melee (1d6/18-20, +1 scimitar); Space/ Possessions: +2 hide armor, +1 keen greatsword, boots of the
Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA special attacks; SQ special qual- winterlands, and rope of climbing.
ities; AL CN; SV Fort +6, Ref +9 Will +4; Str 14,
Dex 18, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14. Sun Lord’s Chosen
T ders of the wastelands, a shining beacon of
Skills and Feats: Appraise +5, Climb +9, Diplomacy he Church of the Sun Lord stands at the bor-
+7, Disable Device +13, Gather Information +5,
Hide +13, Intimidate +7, Profession (doom strider faith and hope for those who follow the Blazing God.
pilot) +13, Profession (siege engineer) +11, Search But the Church is at risk every moment of the day
+6, Sleight of Hand +8, Spot +11, Tumble +13, from its enemies, forcing it to mount powerful de-
Use Magic Device +7; Blindfight, Alertness, Com- fenses. The Sun Lord’s Chosen is a religious doom
bat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Improved Critical, strider unit in the service of the Church of the Sun
Dodge Lord. They operate near the temple, primarily, but
Possessions: goggles of minute seeing, +2 leather armor, +1 may be dispatched for longer missions, especially
scimitar, gloves of Dexterity +2, boots of striding and spring- when assisting pilgrims.
ing.
Callius
Maniris
T a devout priest and capable doom strider cap-
he leader of the Sun Lord’s Chosen, Callius is
M
aniris was purchased out of a gladiatorial
slave ring by Polosian, who was in need of tain. Under his leadership, the Chosen have yet to
some muscle at the time. After freeing the half-orc lose a battle and have never seen one of their doom
from slavery, Polosian trained her in operating a doom strider’s fall in battle. Given his record, Callius’ ar-
strider and the two became fast friends. Maniris has rogance is understandable, if a bit worrisome to his
little use for talk and is present at negotiations only teammates.
to back up Polosian with a strong physical appear- Callius tends to do the talking for his team and has
ance. Though Maniris has a good sense of humor no compunctions about telling others exactly where
and is fond of playing pranks on Polosian, few others to take their problems if they offend him. He is also a
ever get to see this side of the half-orc. zealot, prone to outbursts of rage against infidels and
unbelievers. In battle, Callius is a powerful warrior
Maniris: female half-orc bar 10; CR 10; medium with little sense of mercy; foes he downs tend to end
humanoid; HD 10d12+30; hp 95; Init +1(+1 Dex); their days under the heel of his doom strider.
Spd 40 ft.; AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15; BAB
+10; Grp +15; Atk +16 melee (2d6/17-20, +1 keen Callius: human male clr 15/doc 5; CR 20; me-
greatsword); Full Atk: +16/11 melee (2d6/17-20, +1 dium humanoid; HD 10d8+10+10d10+10; hp
keen greatsword); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA special 120; Init +0 (+0 Dex); Spd 20 ft.; AC 23, touch 10,
attacks; SQ Fast movement, rage 3/day, uncanny flat-footed 23; BAB +17; Grp +20; Atk +23 me-
dodge, trap sense +3, Improved Uncanny Dodge, lee (1d8+3/×2, +3 morningstar of brilliant energy); Full
Damage Reduction 2/-, Racial Traits; AL NG; SV Atk: +23/+18/+13 melee (1d8+3/×2, +3 morn-
ingstar of brilliant energy); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA

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87
Illustrated by Jesse Mohn
 5: Allies & Adversaries
special attacks; SQ special qualities; AL LG; SV Fort +12, Spellcraft +9; Augment Summoning, Combat
+15, Ref +6, Will +14; Str 16, Dex 10, Con 12, Int Casting, Brew Potion, Empower Spell, Extra Turning,
13, Wis 18, Cha 13. Quicken Spell, silent spell
Skills and Feats: Climb +9, Concentration +7, Di- Spells Prepared (6/6/6/6/5/4/3/2): 0 – create wa-
plomacy +18, Heal +8, Intimidate +9, Jump +9, ter, cure minor wounds, guidance, light (x2), virtue; 1 – bless,
Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, command, divine favor, doom, obscuring mist, summon monster
Profession (doom strider engineer) +27, Profession I; 2 – bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, eagle’s splendor, owl’s
(doom strider pilot) +23, Spellcraft +6, Swim +9; wisdom, summon monster II (x2); 3 – bestow curse, daylight,
Eschew Materials, Extra Turning, Feedback Regener- dispel magic, searing light, summon monster III (x2); 4 – death
ation, Natural Pilot, Enlarge Spell, Improved Coun- ward, divine power, imbue with spell ability, summon monster
terspell, Maximize Spell. IV (x2); 5 – break enchantment, flame strike, summon monster
Spells Prepared (6/6/6/5/4/3/2/1): 0 – cure mi- V (x2); 6 – bull’s strength (mass); heal, summon monster VI;
nor wounds, detect magic, guidance, light, mending, resistance; 1 7 – control weather, summon monster VII; 8 – cure critical
– bane, bless, divine favor, entropic shield, sanctuary, shield of wounds (mass)
faith; 2 – aid, augury, bull’s strength, darkness, resist energy, Possessions: restorative ointment, wand of monster sum-
silence; 3 – daylight, dispel magic, invisibility purge, prayer, wind moning IV (17 charges), wand of cure critical wounds (23
wall; 4 – dimensional anchor, lesser planar ally, sending, spell charges), robe of useful items, elixir of truth, sustaining spoon
immunity; 5- commune, flame strike, true seeing; 6-heal, word
Candida
of recall; 7-resurrection.

A
Possessions: +3 morningstar of brilliant energy, +5 full powerful paladin and beautiful woman, Can-
plate of heavy fortification, ring of invisibility, 42 gp. dida is wholly devoted to the Sun Lord’s ser-
vice. There are many rumors that she found her way
Braginos to the church after losing her husband and child to a

T
he spiritual leader of the Sun Lord’s Chosen, plague, but she refuses to discuss the rumor and more
Braginos does not often venture far from the than one aspirant has ended up with a severe thrash-
temple. Though his defense of the church’s holdings ing when he pushed her too far on this subject.
is fanatical, he rarely finds it necessary to venture off Candida lives for service in the field and becomes
church grounds. Braginos does, however, follow the irritable and anxious for action when confined to the
Chosen when necessary and has proven himself a temple for too long. She is often at the forefront of
valuable member of the team on several occasions. the Chosen, leading them into battle or simply di-
His facility with summoning spells and his ability to recting them from one point to another.
heal a large number of troops very quickly make him While Candida could call a very powerful special
more useful in a support role, however. mount, she currently refuses to bring a creature to her
when she spends so much time in her doom strider.
Braginos: human male clr 15; CR 15; medium hu- If she ever returns to her position in the cavalry, she
manoid; HD 15d8+15; hp 82; Init +2 (+2 Dex); will surely call her mount, but for now she rides only
Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 dex), touch 12, flat-footed her strider into battle.
10; BAB +11; Grp +12; Atk +12 melee (1d4+1/
X2, club); Full Atk: +12/6 melee (1d4+1/×2, club; Candida: female human pal 16; CR 16; medium
Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA --; SQ --; AL LG; SV humanoid; HD 16d10+48; hp 136; Init +0 (+0
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +13; Str 12, Dex 14, Con Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 21, touch 9, flat-footed 21; BAB
13, Int 10, Wis 19, Cha 13. +16; Grp +19; Atk +23 melee (1d8+3/×3 +4 war-
Skills and Feats: Concentration +11, Knowledge hammer); Full Atk: +23/18/13/8 melee (1d8+3/X3
(arcana) +8, Knowledge (religion) +9, Profession +4 warhammer); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA smile evil
(doom strider pilot) +12, Profession (siege engineer) 4/day; SQ aura of good, detect evil, divine grace, lay on

88
 5: Allies & Adversaries
hands, aura of courage, divine health, turn undead, sion (doom strider engineer) +26, Profession (doom
special mount, remove disease 4/week; AL LG; SV Fort strider pilot) +20, Spellcraft +11, Spot +22; Alert-
+13, Ref +4, Will +8; Str 16, Dex 9, Con 16, Int ness, Endurance, Diehard, Deceitful, Leadership,
10, Wis 16, Cha 15. Negotiator, Diligent, Skill focus (Profession).
Skills and Feats: Concentration +13, Diplomacy Possessions: carpet of flying, eyes of charming, cloak of ethe-
+14, Knowledge (religion) +5, Profession (doom realness
strider captain) +15, Sense Motive +17; Power at-
Pondol
tack, Cleave; Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Im-

T
proved Overrun, Surge Control, Vent Control hough Pondol’s faith is only rarely called into
Spells Prepared (3/3/2/1): 1 – bless weapon, divine question, his lifestyle tends to be a bit more
favor, virtue; 2 - bull’s strength, resist energy, shield other; 3 suspect than the rest of the unit. While the others
– Daylight, dispel magic; 4 –cure serious wounds live on the temple grounds while not out on patrol,
Possessions: helm of telepathy, +4 full plate, +4 warham- Pondol spends most of his off-duty hours carous-
mer, 38 gp ing in town and frequenting the taverns. His love for
gambling is well-known, especially as he seems to be
Lucisia borrowing against his future paychecks so often.

H
ighly skilled and mechanically adept, Lucisia His indiscretions are tolerated, however, because
is the only non-combatant in this unit. Given he is an expert at dealing with the shadowy side of
her ability to keep doom striders running Lucisia is society. His contacts keep the church abreast of de-
a valued member of the temple. Her contributions velopments in nearby cities and his ability to acquire
to the church do not hurt her standing either, given information through stealth and guile are of great
the immense wealth left behind by her late husband. benefit to the unit as a whole. Pondol is also occa-
For Lucisia, every adventure is just another moment sionally employed as an assassin by the church, but
of excitement in her jaded life. While the Church has he is quite resistant to performing these duties very
offered her salvation, she would likely be just as inter- often.
ested in carrying on with the unit for the experiences
it offers. Pondol: male human rog 16; CR 16; medium hu-
manoid; HD 16d6+32; hp 88; Init +8 (+4 Dex, +4
Lucisia: female human exp 14/eng 5; CR 19; me- improved initiative); Spd 30 ft.; AC 20, touch 14,
dium humanoid; HD 14d6+14+5d6+5; hp 85; Init flat-footed 16; BAB +12; Grp +15; Atk +18 me-
-1 (-1 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed lee (1d6+2/18-20, +2 rapier of wounding); Full Atk:
9; BAB +13; Grp +12; Atk +12 melee (1d3/×2, +18/+13/+9 melee (1d6+2/18-20, +2 rapier of
unarmed attack); Full Atk: +12/+7/+2 melee wounding) or +17 ranged (1d4+2/19-20, +1 dagger
(1d3/×2, unarmed attack); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 of returning); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA sneak attack
ft.; SA special attacks; SQ boosted efficiency, rapid +8d6, crippling strike, opportunist; SQ trapfinding,
repair, crosswire, improved siege engineer, scavenger, evasion, trap sense +5, Improved Uncanny Dodge,
weapon tuning, damage control, smooth operation, slippery mind; AL N; SV Fort +7, Ref +14, Will
energy pulse, efficient conversion; AL CN; SV Fort +7; Str 16, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 9.
+7, Ref +5, Will +11; Str 9, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 18, Skills and Feats: Appraise +15, Balance +14, Bluff
Wis 16, Cha 16. +16, Decipher Script +5, Diplomacy +10, Dis-
Skills and Feats: Appraise +26, Climb +3, Craft able Device +14, Disguise +10, Escape Artist +11,
(doom strider) +24, Decipher Script +23, Diploma- Gather Information +10, Hide +14, Move Silently
cy +23, Disable Device +20, Forgery +21, Gather +14, Open Lock +14, Profession (doom strider pi-
Information +20, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowl- lot) +18, Search +10, Sense Motive +12, Sleight of
edge (religion, cross class) +15, Listen +12, Profes- Hand +11, Spot +9; Improved Initiative, Dodge,

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 5: Allies & Adversaries
Mobility, Improved Critical (rapier), Lightning Re- men would like to avoid using the Blood Watch, more
flexes. Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (rapier). than one righteous king has found himself bringing
Possessions: +4 leather of shadow and silent moves; +1 on this elite unit when his back is against the wall.
dagger of returning; +2 rapier of wounding; 4 potions of reduce
Sarndilar
person, 4 potions of misdirection, 2 potions of fly, potion of

T pains to keep her face and other features hid-

nondetection, ring of mind shielding. he founder of this unit, Sarndilar takes great

Tasos den at all times. She uses a variety of techniques to

W
hen Candida found Tasos, he was undergo- camouflage her voice and wears full-length, feature-
ing severe torture at the hands of a pack less robes to obscure her sex and general shape. Sarn-
of gnolls. After freeing him, Candida discovered that dilar is ruthless, both on the battlefield and at the
Tasos had sustained serious brain damage, as well as negotiating table—she rarely fails to get her way. Her
being rendered mute by damage to his face and throat. hold over the rest of the unit is based on fear and un-
She nursed him back to health and he has remained a certainty; she constantly plays them off against one
loyal companion ever since. Sheltered by the church, another to keep them in line and is always on the
Tasos has grown in strength and skill, becoming a lookout for new talent to replace old and complacent
powerful, dedicated fighter for the cause. members of the unit.

Tasos: male human bar 14; CR 14; medium hu- Sarndilar: female half-elf sor 18; CR 18; medium
manoid; HD 14d12+70; hp 161; Init (+1 Dex); humanoid; HD 18d4+54; hp 99; Init +0 (+0 Dex);
Spd 40 ft.; AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12; BAB Spd 30 ft.; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10; BAB
+14 Grp +19; Atk +21 melee (1d8+5/×3, +2 +9; Grp +8; Atk +9 melee (1d4-1/×2, staff of nec-
flaming burst warhammer); Full Atk: +21/16/11 me- romancy); Full Atk: +8/+3 melee (1d4-1/×2, staff of
lee (1d8+5/×3, +2 flaming burst warhammer); Space/ necromancy); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA --; SQ racial
Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA special attacks; SQ fast move- traits; AL NE; SV Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +12; Str 8,
ment, rage 4/day, trap sense +4, Improved Uncanny Dex 10, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 20.
Dodge, greater rage, damage reduction 3/-; AL CG; Skills and Feats: Concentration +14, Knowledge
SV Fort +14, Ref +5, Will +3; Str 20 (+2 from (arcana) +11, Profession (doom strider pilot) +21,
gauntlets of ogre power), Dex 12, Con 20, Int 8, Wis 8, Spellcraft +22; Combat Casting, Improved Coun-
Cha 8. terspell, Empower Spell, Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell,
Skills and Feats: Climb +19, Intimidate +9, Jump Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell
+14, Listen +1, Profession (doom strider pilot) Racial Traits: Immunity to sleep spells or effects, +2
+16, Survival +15; Power Attack, Cleave, Dodge, racial bonus against enchantment spells or effects, +1
Mobility, Spring Attack, Great Cleave racial bonus to Listen, Search, and Spot skill checks,
Possessions: +2 flaming burst warhammer, gauntlets of ogre +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Informa-
power, ring of protection +2, potion of cure serious wounds. tion checks, Elven Blood (character is considered an
elf for all effects related to race)
The Blood Watch Spells Known (6/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/5/3): 0 – acid

T
his bloodthirsty unit is well known splash, disrupt undead, detect magic, read magic, daze, resistance;
for its policy of accepting any mission 1 – endure elements, grease, mage armor, magic missile, ray of
that comes its way and its willing- enfeeblement, shield, shocking grasp, true strike; 2 – protection
ness to utterly destroy its targets. Us- from arrows, detect thoughts, see invisible, scorching ray, ghoul
ing vampirically-powered doom striders, the Blood touch, spectral hand, web; 3 – dispel magic, fireball, lightning bolt,
Watch rampages from region to region, hiring out to sleet storm, hold person, vampiric touch, gaseous form; 4 – black
whoever can afford their services. While many good tentacles, contagion, solid fog, wall of fire, animate dead, enerva-

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Illustrated by Jesse Mohn

91
 5: Allies & Adversaries
tion, stoneskin; 5 – cloudkill, cone of cold, hold monster, mind Darnol
fog, overland flight, teleport, transmute rock to mud; 6 – acid fog;
T
his grungy little halfling is far tougher than he
chain lightning, create undead, disintegrate, dispel magic (greater),
appears, a fact he uses to his advantage. Of all
true seeing; 7 – control undead, finger of death, forcecage, hold
the members of the Blood Watch, Darnol is the least
person (mass), prismatic spray, vanish; 8 – create greater undead,
disciplined and the least trustworthy. On the other
horrid wilting, maze, sunburst, symbol of death; 9 – meteor
hand, he does manage to procure fresh fuel for the
swarm, prismatic sphere, wail of the banshee.
doom striders, most often in the form of other half-
Possessions: Staff of necromancy, cloak of displacement, wand
lings or gnomes, which he can more easily transport.
of charm person
Gutripper Darnol: male halfling rog3/bar 12; CR 15; small

A
fter winning her freedom from the gladiato- humanoid; HD 3d6+3+12d12+12; hp 90; Init
rial pits where she earned her name, Gutrip- +5 (+5 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 20, touch 16, flat-
per wandered for several years before hooking up footed +15; BAB +15; Grp +11; Atk +16 melee
with Sarndilar. Though extremely disciplined and (1d4+1/19-20, +1 short sword of speed); Full Atk:
well trained, Gutripper is also sadistic and willing to +16/+16/+11/+6 melee (1d4+1/19-20, +1 short
fight others just to prove she can beat them. Though sword of speed); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Sneak at-
very effective in a fight, Gutripper has the unfortu- tack +2d6; SQ trap finding, evasion, trap sense +4,
nate habit of completely destroying her foes’ doom rage 4/day, improved uncanny dodge, greater rage,
striders, making salvage difficult at best. Damage Reduction 2/-, Halfling traits; AL CE; SV
Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +6; Str 10, Dex 20, Con
Gutripper: female human mnk 16; CR LE; me- 13, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 12.
dium humanoid; HD 16d6+16; hp 72; Init +8 (+4 Skills and Feats: Disable Device +11, Gather Infor-
Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30 ft.; AC 21, mation +7, Hide +11, Intimidate +16, Jump +14,
touch 21, flat-footed 17; BAB +12; Grp +14; Atk Listen +20, Move Silently +13, Open Lock +11,
+19 melee (1d6+5/19-20, +2 keen kama or 1d6+5/ Profession (doom strider pilot) +23, Sense Motive
X2, +2 kama of ki focus); Full Atk: +12/+12/+7/+2 +7, Sleight of Hand +11, Survival +18, Swim +5,
melee (1d6+5/19-20, +2 keen kama or 1d6+5/X2, Tumble +11, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Com-
+2 kama of ki focus); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA flur- bat Expertise, Whirlwind Attack, Improved Trip.
ry of blows, greater flurry, ki strike (magic), ki strike Racial Traits: small size, +2 racial bonus to climb,
(lawful), ki strike (adamantine),. Quivering palm; SQ jump, and move silently checks, +1 racial bonus on all
evasion, still mind, slow fall 80 ft., purity of body, saving throws, +2 morale bonus to saves versus fear,
diamond body, diamond soul; AL LE; SV Fort +11, +1 attack bonus with thrown weapons and slings, +2
Ref +15, Will +13; Str 20, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10, racial bonus on listen,
Wis 14, Cha 18. Possessions: +4 leather, +1 short sword of speed, cape of the
Skills and Feats: Balance +9, Climb +14, Escape mountebank, 450 gp.
Artist +22, Hide +23, Listen +14, Move Silently Haros
+14, Spot +14, Tumble +15; Stunning Fist 1 (bo-
T spends more time with machines than he does
he mechanic of the Blood Watch unit, Haros
nus), Blind-Fight 1, Dodge 1, Improved Unarmed
Strike, Deflect Arrows, Combat Reflexes, Improved
talking to the living. Of course, the hump on his back
Grapple, Improved Trip, Improved Initiative, Light-
and his perpetually snarling countenance are repuls-
ning Reflexes, Mobility.
ing enough to keep others from approaching him,
Possessions: +2 keen kama, +2 kama of ki focus, ring of
which makes him even more isolated. Still, if some-
protection +2, belt of giant strength +6, 396 gold
thing needs fixing, Haros is the one to fix it.

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 5: Allies & Adversaries
Despite the reputation of the Blood Watch as a been known to fire into melee situations when allied
bloodthirsty pack of deviants, Haros is well-known infantry charged the enemy.
amongst other units as a master mechanic that can fix Despite this, the unit has a reputation as a solid
just about anything if the price is right. His freelance group of fighters capable of extraordinary feats if
mechanical work brings in a significant amount of given enough room to operate as they see fit. For
cash to the unit, which is the only reason that Sarndi- most governments, this simply means hiring the mer-
lar allows it to continue. cenaries and then looking the other way until they
report a job well done.
Haros: male human rog 12/eng 5; CR 17; me- Metal fury does not work with other doom strider
dium humanoid; HD 12d6+12+5d6+5; hp 76; units under any circumstances, an idiosyncrasy that
Init +4 (+4 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 25, touch 16, costs them a few jobs here and there but protects
flat-footed 21; BAB +12; Grp +13; Atk +13 melee them from rivals who might end up on the same con-
(1d8+1/19-20, +1 longsword of defending); Full Atk: tract.
+13/+8/+5 melee (1d9+1/19-20, +1 longsword of
Gakin
defending) or +16 ranged (1d6/×3, +1 shortbow of frost);

T
Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA sneak attack +6d6; SQ he leader of Metal Fury, Gakin has a longstand-
trapfinding, evasion, trap sense +4, improved uncan- ing reputation amongst mercenary companies
ny dodge, crippling strike, boosted efficiency, rapid as a capable leader with a bit of a temper problem.
repair, crosswire, improved siege engineer, scavenger, As long as he is treated well and his contracts are paid
weapon tuning, smooth operation, damage control, as agreed, Gakin is the consummate professional. If,
energy pulse, efficient conversion; AL NE; SV Fort however, it appears things are going south, he is likely
+5, Ref +8, Will +9; Str 10, Dex 18, Con 12, Int to engage in preemptive action meant to harm his
16, Wis 14, Cha 12. employer while gaining as much benefit as possible
Skills and Feats: Appraise +23, Climb +17, Craft for Gakin and his people.
(doom strider) +23, Disable Device +24, Disguise Gakin is also extremely protective of his unit
+10, Hide +15, Listen +17, Move Silently +15, members and is more than willing to lay waste to an
Open Lock +14, Profession (doom strider pilot) entire city if needed to save one of the Metal Fury’s
+24, Profession (doom strider engineer) +22, Search members. This devotion to his unit is often under-
+6, Sleight of Hand +13, Spellcraft +13, Tumble estimated by others, and more than one mercenary
+13; Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Blood Donor, unit has been destroyed after slighting a member of
Hardened, Stealthy, Nimbler Fingers. Metal Fury.
Possessions: +1 rapier of defending, +1 shortbow of frost,
+3 leather, +3 buckler, +2 ring of protection, cloak of the bat, Gakin: male elf ftr 7/doc 5; CR 12; medium hu-
mask of the skull, hand of the mage manoid; HD 7d10+21+5d10+15; hp 127; Init +3
(+3 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed
Metal Fury 14; BAB +12; Grp +14; Atk +14 melee (1d6/18-20,

D
scimitar); Full Atk: +14/+9/+4 melee (1d6/18-
riven solely by a concern for prof- 20, scimitar); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA ; SQ com-
it, Metal Fury is a competent, if mand, narrow profile, target weakness, partial deflec-
amoral, mercenary unit that has tion, flawless command, lead by example, elf traits;
seen active duty in dozens of con- AL NE; SV Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +3; Str 14, Dex
flicts. Though professional to the core, Metal Fury is 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 13.
known for their lack of restraint in pacifying targets Skills and Feats: Climb +12, Diplomacy (x class)
and their lack of concern over friendly fire incidents. +16, Intimidate +11, Profession (doom strider
They make it explicit in their contract that they do pilot) +18, Swim +9; Dodge, Mobility, Combat
not work well with standard military units and have

93
 5: Allies & Adversaries
Expertise, Spring Attack, Leadership, Combat Ex- Possessions: 2 +1 vicious light picks, +2 chain shirt, 145
pertise, Whirlwind Attack, Hardened, Feedback Re- gp
generation, Improved Critical.
Yace
Racial Traits: Immunity to magic sleep effects,

T
+2 saving throw against enchantment spells or ef- urko’s partner, Yace is a more cautious fighter
fects, low-light vision, +2 on listen, search, and spot with a penchant for attacking at range. His
checks, search check when within 5 feet of secret or doom strider reflects this, coming equipped with a
concealed doors variety of weapons most useful for launching a bar-
rage of long-distance attacks to soften up enemy
Possessions: ring of invisibility, bag of tricks (tan), 1 potion
of cure moderate wounds. defenses. When working with Turko, Yace hammers
the opposition to allow Turko to get into position to
Turko finish them off. When all else fails, Yace can cover the

A
specialist at fighting in close, Turko believes retreat of his fellows using his Troll Gum cannon to
in using his opponent’s size against him. Al- tie down the more difficult foes.
ways sensitive about his own stature, Turko was over-
joyed when he was given the task of piloting a doom Yace: dwarf male ftr 12; CR 12; medium human-
strider. Not only did it play to his natural strengths, it oid; HD 12d10+36; hp 102; Init +3 (+3 Dex); Spd
also allowed him to overcome issues with his size and 20 ft.; AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18; BAB +12;
leveled the playing field for him. Now, he takes every Grp +14; Atk +19 melee (2d6+9/19-20, +3 great-
opportunity to get into his strider and take it out on sword); Full Atk: +19/+15/+10 melee (2d6+9/19-
the battlefield where he can dominate the field. 20, +3 greatsword); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA --; SQ
racial qualities; AL NE; SV Fort +11, Ref +7, Will
Turko: male Halfling ftr 11; CR 11; small human- +6; Str 15, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
oid; HD 11d10+11; hp 76; Init +4; Spd 20 ft.; AC Skills and Feats: Intimidate +3, Profession (doom
21, touch 16, flat-footed 16; BAB +11; Grp +13; Atk strider pilot) +16, Profession (siege engineer) +14;
+18 melee (1d3+5+2d6/×4, +1 vicious pick, light); Full Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Sunder, Quick Draw,
Atk: +16/+11/+6 melee (1d3+3+2d6/×4, +1 vi- Great Cleave, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Weapon
cious pick, light) or +15/+10/+5 (1d3+5+2d6/×4, Specialization, Greater Weapon Focus, Improved
+1 vicious pick, light) and +13/+9 (1d3+3+2d6/×4, Critical (greatsword), Greater Weapon Specializa-
+1 vicious pick, light); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA spe- tion, Combat Reflexes, Iron Will
cial attacks; SQ special qualities; AL LE; SV Fort Racial Traits: 20 ft. movement in heavy armor,
+8, Ref +7, Will +3; Str 16, Dex 18, Con 12, Int under heavy load; darkvision 60 ft., stonecunning,
10, Wis 10, Cha 12. Weapon familiarity (dwarven urgosh, dwarven
Skills and Feats: Climb +8, Intimidate +6, Profes- waraxe), +4 on ability checks to avoid being tripped
sion (doom strider pilot) +17, Swim +8; two weapon or bull rushed while standing on the ground, +2 bo-
fighting, two-weapon defense, weapon finesse (pick, nus to saves against poison, +2 save against spells or
light), weapon focus (pick, light), weapon specializa- effects, +1 bonus to attacks on orcs or goblinoids,
tion (pick, light), Improved Two Weapon Fighting, +4 dodge bonus against giants, +2 bonus to appraise
Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack. checks (stone or metal only), +2 to bonus to craft
Racial Traits: small size, +2 racial bonus to climb, checks (stone or metal only).
jump, and move silently checks, +1 racial bonus on all Possessions: +3 greatsword, +3 breastplate.
saving throws, +2 morale bonus to saves versus fear,
Fosora
+1 attack bonus with thrown weapons and slings, +2

F
racial bonus on listen, osora is Gakin’s daughter, though the two do
not publicize the fact. She serves as her father’s
advisor and helps soothe his temper if he becomes

Illustrated by Joylon Minns

94
95
 5: Allies & Adversaries
too agitated, but he otherwise treats her as just an-
other member of Metal Fury. No one is entirely sure
who her mother is, not even Gakin. Fosora was liter-
ally dropped off at his doorstep in the middle of
the night; Gakin has attempted to locate the mother
several times, but to no avail.
Fosora loves her father dearly and is fanatically de-
voted to him. She fears that losing him would leave
her all alone in the world and is desperate to prevent
that from coming to pass. Fosora has undertaken her
own investigations into who her mother might be,
but so far even her magic has drawn a blank.

Fosora: female half-elf wiz 10; CR 10; size me-

dium humanoid; HD 10d4+10; hp 35; Init +2 (+2
Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13;
BAB +5; Grp +6; Atk +7 melee (1d6+2, +1 quar-
terstaff); Full Atk: +7 melee (1d6+2, +1 quarterstaff);
Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA special attacks; SQ spe-
cial qualities; AL N; SV Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +10;
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 10.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +14, Craft (doom
strider) +8, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Profession
(doom strider pilot) +15, Profession (siege engineer)
+15, Spellcraft +17; Dodge; Combat Casting; Es-
chew Material Components, Improved Counterspell
Spells Prepared (4/5/5/4/4/2): 0 – detect magic,
dancing lights, flare, message; 1 – mage armor, shield, true strike
(x2), magic missile; 2 – acid arrow (x2), web, hideous laugh-
ter, summon swarm; 3 – deep slumber (x2), rage, fireball; 4
– arcane eye (x2), charm monster, solid fog; 5 – cone of cold,
sending
Spells Known: 0 – all; 1 – mage armor, shield, true strike,
sleep, burning hands, magic missile; 2 – arcane lock, acid arrow,
summon swarm, web, hideous laughter, knock; 3 – magic circle
against good, deep slumber, rage, fireball, ray of exhaustion; 4
– lesser globe of invulnerability, arcane eye, charm monster, solid
fog; 5 – cone of cold, sending
Possessions: wand of magic missiles (5th level), +2 quarter-
staff, bracers of armor +1, necklace of fireballs (Type I), cloak
of resistance +1

96
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 Index
Contracts, Payment 14
A Controls 31 G
Control Automaton 32
Ability Damage 61 Gakin 93
Conventional Weapons, Mounted 49
Ablative Shielding 26 Glyph Plate 29
Conventional Weapons, Unmounted 49
Actions 64 Grafted Controls 33
Corrosive Cannon 50
Actions, Free 68 Grappling Limb 52
Craft (Doom Strider) (Int) 23
Actions, Full Round 67 Grinder Club 52
Crayn 82
Actions, Standard 64 Gutripper 90
Critical Hits 59
Arcanofurnace 43
Crossbow Cluster 28, 51
Armor 26
Armor and Defenses 26
H
Armor Class 62 D Hardened [General] 74
Attacks of Opportunity 64 Haros 92
Damage 59
Attack Bonus 59 Head 21
Damage, Mass Combat 71
Attack Roll 59 Hit Points 62
Damage Compensator 36
Avoidance System 26 Hundrag the Burner 80
Damage to the Crew 61
Damage Without a Captain 61
B Darnol 92 I
Detection Lamps 36
Banshees 84 Initiative 63
Devourer Pod 51
Barbed Armor 27 Item Harness 37
Disadvantages of Privateers 7
Battle Grid 59
Discovery 4
Beak 47
Beat the Deadline 11
Doom Strideras Creature 73 J
Doom Strider Captain 76
Betrayal 11 Jumpers 37
Dragonscale Armor 28
Binding 72
Blizzard Thrower 47
Blood Donor (General) 74 E L
Blood Watch 90 Lash Hammer 53
Energized Armor 29
Braginos 88 Legend, Component 25
Energy Costs 59
Breakdown 17 Life Shock 53
Energy Source 42
Lightning Soul 29
Energy Transfer Devices 42
C Excessive Collateral Damage 11
Lightning Spike 53
Limbs 22
Expenses and Salvage Rights 14
Callius 86 Limb Extender 38
Candida 88 Link Crystal 38
Cargo Container 35 F Location and Value
Chain Cannon 49 Value and Location 9
Failed Condition 12
Channel Receptor 44 Lost Angels, The 81
Fear 81
Climbing Rig 35 Lucisia 88
Fearsome Mark 37
Close Combat Blades 49
Feats 74
Combat Statistics 59
Completed Condition 11
Filtration System 29 M
Finding Work
Complete Secondary Objectives 11 Magically Powered Weapons 68
Work, Finding 9
Component Legend 25 Maintenance 15
Fire Protection 37
Contracts 13 Maniris 86
Force Caster 52
Contracts, Betrayal 11 Mass Combat 70
Fosora 94
Contracts, Completed Condition 11 Mass Combat, Modifiers 71
Free Actions 68
Contracts, Complete Primary Master Engineer 77
Fuel 15
Objective 11 Materials 18
Full Round Actions 67
Contracts, Deadline 11 Mechanical Controls 33
Contracts, Excessive Mental Controls 34
Collateral Damage 11 Mercenaries 8
Contracts, Failed Condition 12 Metal Fury 93

126
Doom Striders.indd 126 3/1/2004 11:13:31 PM
Mindshaker Medallion 39
Index Table 9: Energy Sources 42
Miscellaneous Augmentations 34 S Targeting Beam 40
Monster Feats and Captains 75 Tasos 89
Salvage 17
Tayger 84
Sarndilar 90
N Saving Throws 63
Temple Banner 42
Thundergun 56
Scavenger [General] 74
Natural Pilot [General] 74 Torso 20
Scroll Bolts 53
Negative Energy Blaster 53 Touch Attacks 62
Secret of the Doom Strider 5
Troll Gum Cannon 57
Shard Cannon 54
O Shell, Armor Piercing 54
Turko 93
Shell, Concussion 54
Operating a Unit 9
Opportunity, Attacks of 64
Shell, Double 54 U
Shell, Flesh Tearer 54
Organic Controls 34 Upkeep 15
Shell, Scatter 54
Outfitting 25
Shiver Cloak 30
Overcoming Damage Reduction 62
Shock 80 V
Shudder Fist 54
P Size 19
Vampiric Harness 47
Vampiric Translator 46
Skills 75
Passenger Platforms 39 Vent Control [General] 75
Special Maneuvers 69
Payce 82 Vined Armor 31
Speed 62
Payment 14 Vine Clot Bolt 57
Speed Catalyst 40
Polosian 84
Spellcasting 69
Pondol 89
Powered Torches 39
Spell Resistance 69 W
Standard Actions 64
Power Coupling 39 Water Cannon 58
Starfire 55
Prayer Engine 44 Weapons & Accessories 47
Stinging Cloud 31, 56
Prestige Classes 76 Weapon Attacks and Reach 68
Strength Booster 40
Privateers 7 Witch Hunters, The 79
Strider Linkages 40
Profession (doom strider engineer) 75 Wyrm Throat 58
Sun Lord’s Chosen 86
Profession (doom strider pilot) 75
Surge Capacitor 56
Profession (siege engineer) 75
Putting it Together 6
Surge Control [General] 74 Y
Yace 94
R T
Table 1: Construction Materials 19
Raysa 82
Table 10: Weapons 48
Reactive Armor 29
Table 2: Doom Strider Torsos 21
Reflexive Defense Firing Mechanism 39
Table 3: Heads 22
Reiella Flickerthorn 79
Table 4: Limbs 23
Reinforced Infrastructure 30
Table 5: Abilities 24
Remote Controls 34
Table 6: Armor & Defenses 26
Repairs 17
Table 7: Controls 32
Reputation 10
Table 8: Miscellaneous Augmentations
Revelation 6
35
Role of the Captain 72

127
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128