Hi everyone.
First I want to say: sorry for the long post. It is my first one, but I wanted to thoroughly explain my questions. I have asked these things in parts on other forums/reddit. But many people came up with answers that are contradicted by the books or contradict each other so her I go. And I don’t see how this can be resolved without some official ruling.
I really grew to love this game (and had much fun with it), there are some nitpicks to be had and while many rules questions can be resolved by just logic or what seems more fun; the automatron rules seem like such a mess that I can’t “hand-waive” them as a GM since a single ruling can make entire chapters useless and robot PC’s work drastically different.
Issue 1: Pincers/Claws/Hand
One of the more often asked questions seem to be: Can robots do EVERYTHING like humans do including wielding Guns.
- Lore showed only Robobrains ever wielding human weapons. All other automatons only wielded fixed arm replacements.
- RAW say they can “manipulate objects similar to humans” which implies not exactly as humans. Some Robots’ descriptions mention they can manipulate objects, some mention they can do it with precision like humans (Robobrains) some don’t mention it at all (Protectrons) some mention only rudimentary actions (Securitrons) but those are fluff descriptions and not rules. Most notably the Box on “no pincers” mentions many skills like Unarmed, Lockpick, Repair and Throwing (Attack skill) as impossible conveniently ignoring melee and ranged attack skills… which again leaves it very unclear.
- Logic says: They absolutely cannot do it. Not only are pincers and claws too clunky and to big to fit into the trigger guards. 2-point pincers have no possible way of holding a gun without also holding down the trigger at all times (unless using an additional arm to operate just the trigger)
- Game balance says: Robots should not be able to wield human weapons otherwise almost ALL the rules and entire chapters on replacing robot arms/hands with fixed weapons are rendered completely useless. And giving robots just free use of any weapon makes a major part of being one (parts exchange) less impactful.
- Robobrain Exception: The robobrains are also the ONLY robots that are mentioned to be able to specifically wield human weapons. But this is only a description, and not a rules text. But it strongly implies that Only robobrains (or custom Automatrons with the Robobrain hands) are capable of wielding them.
- Art: The Art for a Mr Handy Character shows them with a hunting rifle. Which could be a clue… but could also be just that, an art piece. The Robot could be just a ‘Caddy’ that holds the rifle for its master and fetches the shot ducks, like a hunting dog would. And most importantly. The artists could have drawn the art before the rules were in place or without considering them. There is also evidence of other art discrepancies as the Protectron Fire Brigadier both having the arms switched and showing a cryo jet replacing the whole arm while the text mentions an integrated one.
Here I would hope to get a definite answer: Yes robots can wield human weapons. No Robots cannot wield human weapons at all. or Maybe "Robots can use human weapons but at a permanent +1 do difficulty for the awkward firing mechanism. This Difficulty can be ignored if an additional arm is used (2 arms for 1 handed guns, 3 arms for 2 handed guns)
Issue 2: Attached/Integrated weapons
The second major point is connected to the previous but only partly. Namely on the topic of what can be attached to a robot arm.
- RAW: Settlers book mentions that there are specific Robot attachments, and that guns can also be attacked pointing us towards the human guns in the core rulebook. this implies that every gun could be attached to an arm, the ambiguity here being that it mentions crafting them even though you cannot craft weapons at all, only mods. Base weapons have no complexity rating or crafting recipes so one could assume the weapon is just an ingredient that needs to be attached with a repair roll. There is no general rule saying that such an attachment removes the 2-handed quality but there are examples where it works that way (Railway Gun on a protectron, or the Flamer from Rust Devils) So we might assume it is so.
- “integrated”: The problems start when integration appears. both protectrons and securitrons mention they have weapons integrated into their hands. Which makes both their claws and the weapons usable at one. This is a MAJOR gamechanger as it means the major downside of weapon attachments is gone completely. The problem is… its inconsistent at best. The Securitrons have integrated weapons into the body as well as arms. While in game the securitrons are shown to “switch out” their weapons from one weapon to the claws and back. Which implies a minor action needed for a switch. But the protectrons just have lasers in their palms without the need of changing them. There are also some weapons like the Flame Jet and Cryolator which are SAID to be integrated but are shown to be whole arm replacement on the arm. In the video game Fire Brigadiers have both integrated cryolators (Base Game), as well as whole arm replacements, when built by players (Automatron DLC). In addition, the SmokeClaw implies that a “weapon/claw” combo is a separate attachment from a normal claw. But there are no laser or cryo jet claws included. Only the smokeclaw. Meanwhile the Equipment loadouts give the Protectrons Integrated claw-lasers.
- Mr Handy: Mr. Handy attachments seem to be special. As they have a separate list in the corebook and the Settlers guide does not link to it except when specifically mentioned what can be attached to the Mr. Handy Arms. Which implies again that there is some form of exclusivity between those arms. Now while on way it is not a problem, it becomes one the other way around.
If Mr. Handy arms, can take any attachment, and the Core Book attachments are an exclusive addition, then that is not a problem as all the attachments can be reproduced by the “all human guns can be attached to arms” rule in settlers.
But if this rule implies that Mr Handy arms are special (in that they are especially weak) and can only carry the attachments from Core and NOT the attachments from Settlers… that’s a whole different approach and a big downgrade… possibly as a trade off for having 3 instead of 2 of them.
Questions: Here the speculations are even murkier than the previous issue and are rather dependent on the previous answers. If Robots can wield human weapons, then attachment is basically not an issue as there is no reason to do it, safe for maybe saving one arm on a two armed weapon but even then being able to just pickup any tool is rather not worth it (admittedly that is an opinion not fact).
BUT if robots cannot wield human weapon it becomes more interesting and more important to clarify it. Can all weapons be integrated into robot arms so a claw is left operational or are Laser,Cryo and Flame jets (Rust Devils) special in that regard? Or can only 1 handed guns be integrated, while 2 handed ones need to be attached? Can only some arm types do it and others not? (maybe Handy Pincers are too thin for that?) If they are integrated does it take a Minor action to swap (draw) the weapons like securitrons do? If integration is possible is there a raise in Repair skill difficulty as opposed to just attaching them like the Mr. Handy 10mm autopistol? Or is there an additional perk Required like Robot Expert 2?
And that is mostly it. Sorry again for the long post.