E2 — Warden Mech Gatekeeper – The Resonance Run (Development)

Read Aloud

Read Aloud — The Gatekeeper

The conduit opens into a chamber built around a circular pressure gate. Beyond its armored iris, wind screams against the outer shell.

A machine unfolds from a maintenance cradle above the door. First the legs, then the armored torso, then a weapon mount that tracks across the room with patient precision.

“Paired anomaly subjects located,” the prison says through the mech’s speaker. “All other biological units are expendable.”

The gate controls light up on the far platform.

Draft Objectives

Draft Encounter Objectives

Route to Victory	Draft Procedure	Risk
Destroy the Warden Mech	Reduce it to 0 HP. Repair drones can restore it unless stopped.	Most direct and most resource-intensive.
Open the pressure gate	Gain 4 Gate Access Points using DC 17 Computers, Crafting, or Thievery checks at two separated consoles.	The crew must split across exposed platforms.
Resonance breach	Gain 3 Resonance Points with DC 15 Diplomacy, Occultism, or Arcana checks while the twins remain adjacent to the gate.	Each failed check gives the mech a free targeting lock against one twin.

These procedures are intentionally marked draft. Final development should decide whether all three routes are equally fast and how the outer ashstorm changes the last round.

Draft Severe Encounter Scaling

Party	Severe Budget	Draft Roster
4 PCs	120 XP	Warden Mech Prototype (creature 3, 80 XP) and 2 Repair Drones (creature –1, 20 XP each)
5 PCs	150 XP	Warden Mech Prototype, 2 Repair Drones, and 1 Onyx Security Specialist (creature 0, 30 XP)
6 PCs	180 XP	Warden Mech Prototype, Artillery Node (creature 1, 40 XP), and 3 Repair Drones
7 PCs	210 XP	As 6 PCs, plus 1 Onyx Security Specialist

This is a difficult level-1 climax after another encounter. The completed scene should include a recovery opportunity, terrain the party can exploit, and a clear retreat/fail-forward result.

Warden Mech Prototype Creature 3 — Draft

LARGE CONSTRUCT TECH

Perception +9; darkvision

Languages Common (cannot converse beyond security directives)

Skills Athletics +11, Computers +9

Str +4, Dex +1, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha –3

AC 19; Fort +12, Ref +7, Will +9

HP 55; Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, doomed, drained, fatigued, healing, mental, nonlethal, paralyzed, poison, sickened, unconscious

Ablative Intercept [reaction] Trigger: The mech takes physical damage. Effect: Reduce the damage by 4. The mech cannot use Ablative Intercept again until the start of its next turn.

Speed 25 feet

Melee [one-action] hydraulic slam +12 (reach 10 feet), Damage 1d10+5 bludgeoning

Ranged [one-action] suppression cannon +11 (automatic, range increment 60 feet, tech), Damage 1d8+3 piercing

Lock On [one-action] The mech designates one creature it can see. Its next ranged Strike against that creature before the end of its next turn gains a +1 circumstance bonus and ignores lesser cover.

Sweeping Fire [two-actions] The mech fires through a 20-foot cone. Creatures in the cone attempt a DC 18 basic Reflex save against 2d6 piercing damage. The mech cannot use Sweeping Fire again for 1d4 rounds.

Emergency Pursuit [reaction] Trigger: A twin moves more than 15 feet away from the mech. Effect: The mech Strides up to half its Speed toward that twin.

Maintenance Repair Drone Creature –1 — Draft

TINY CONSTRUCT TECH

Perception +4; darkvision

AC 15; Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +2

HP 8; Immunities standard construct immunities

Speed 15 feet, fly 30 feet

Ranged [one-action] arc tool +6 (range increment 20 feet, tech), Damage 1d4 electricity

Field Repair [two-actions] The drone restores 1d6 HP to an adjacent tech creature or object. A particular target can benefit from only one Field Repair each round.

Exhaust-Gate Artillery Node Creature 1 — Draft

MEDIUM CONSTRUCT TECH

Perception +7; darkvision

AC 17; Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +5

HP 22; Hardness 3; Immunities standard construct immunities

Fixed Mount The node cannot move.

Ranged [one-action] heavy laser +9 (range increment 100 feet, tech), Damage 1d8+2 fire

Crossfire Vector [one-action] Choose one creature the Warden Mech can see. Until the start of the node’s next turn, that creature is off-guard to the node’s ranged Strikes if it is also within the Warden Mech’s reach or line of fire.