Necrons in Warspike

[Malika]

Necron Warrior

Mentality	_	Attitude	_
Acumen	_	Reflex	_
Reason	_	Tenets	_
Stature	6	Somatotype	+?

I assumed that the Warrior is somewhat smaller than the Immortal, so a Stature of 6 is most fitting.

Necron Immortal

Mentality	_	Attitude	_
Acumen	_	Reflex	_
Reason	_	Tenets	_
Stature	7	Somatotype	+?

I gave them a Stature of 7 since they equal a Space Marine in height.

I have no real idea on the Somatotypes for both of them, but I can only assume that they are really strong and tough. The problem with them being mechanical is the question if we could still apply humanoid stats for them. I mean, look at how a Necron Warrior/Immortal would fight in close combat. The fact that they have metal fists can already be seen as them being armed with weapons

Then we have the "We'll Be Back" rule, which is basically really fast regeneration. The Necron body autorepairs most basis damage done to the body. So gunshot or close combat damage quickly gets repaired. More serious damage causes the Necron to "phase out" which is basically teleport away from the battlefield to a repair facility. The only way to truly kill a Necron is to probably throw it into the Warp (D-weapons used by the Eldar tend to do this).

Any ideas, suggestions, etc for the rest of the stats and on how to in-corporate them into the 40k Augment for Warspike?

[Edit: Profile Stat names and links have been updated to match the current version found on the WarSpike website]

[Philip S]

I have no real idea on the Somatotypes for both of them, but I can only assume that they are really strong and tough. The problem with them being mechanical is the question if we could still apply humanoid stats for them. I mean, look at how a Necron Warrior/Immortal would fight in close combat. The fact that they have metal fists can already be seen as them being armed with weapons

The Somatotypes is undergoing a revision. I'm thinking of moving it over from it's current position to that of 'stat description'. More in this thread: Stat organisation Brainstorming

This is an adaption to the system to allow for non-humanoids later. it will have very little effect on the tactical game. In essence the 'stat description' is a way to define the range of modifiers that can be applied to the primary stat, and how that stat works (i.e.  a quadruped has a greater stride than a biped, and can bare more load. where as a humanoid biped is good at climbing). I think of it as a stat wrapper.

i mention this because the Orks messed with the system and the Necrons will break it. Now the Orks and Necrons (and Nids) can have a body type description used to define their state ranges and abilities. The Somatotypes are then a subset of Humanoid (or Slannoid in 40K!) that only shows up in the technique Tier.

For most of Tactical 'humanoid' is assumed for historic games and doesn't really show up, but it will show up in fantasy and sci-fi games.

So the next question is: what 'body type' is a Necron?

It doesn't matter all that much, as the real modifiers that make a difference are strength, stamina, speed etc. These will be grouped under a new stat as yet to be named (most likely 'status' or 'state')

As for metal fists this would be a pair of knuckle dusters!

Then we have the "We'll Be Back" rule, which is basically really fast regeneration. The Necron body autorepairs most basis damage done to the body. So gunshot or close combat damage quickly gets repaired. More serious damage causes the Necron to "phase out" which is basically teleport away from the battlefield to a repair facility. The only way to truly kill a Necron is to probably throw it into the Warp (D-weapons used by the Eldar tend to do this).

This could be summed up in a 'body type' for the Necrons. These abilities are unique to the Necrons and so a different set of modifiers (and modifier names) will apply.

Any ideas, suggestions, etc for the rest of the stats and on how to in-corporate them into the 40k Augment for Warspike?

Human
Stature: 6 (Body) Type: biped/ Humanoid/ Mesomorph State: Strength +2 Stamina +1 healing +0
Necron Immortal
Stature: 7 (Body) Type: biped/ Necron/ Immortal State: Strength +2 Stamina +50 (guess) Rapid Regeneration +50 (guess)

Here the human's stamina is comparable to the Necron's Stamina, but the human does not get the rapid regeneration ability, but a regular healing ability, as their bodies work in a completely different way (nanites?). In a cyber punk setting a human could gain rapid-regeneration via nanites, though not as effective as the Necrons (due to purity of the power system).

?

Philip

[Malika]

Hmm, perhaps we could better fully deal with humans first before we move on to aliens such as Orks, Eldar and Necrons. Right now we still don't even have the complete human set of stats yet, meaning that we don't have a complete set of stats for your average human soldier. Once we have that complete and working effectively we could start looking at other creatures  such as animals but also aliens, robots, whatever.

As usual I'm moving ahead of myself here. 

[Philip S]

Hmm, perhaps we could better fully deal with humans first before we move on to aliens such as Orks, Eldar and Necrons.

I've set up a Humans in WarSpike thread to discuss humans.

The stats are still in flux, but I'm starting to pin them down better as I work through it with you and everyone here.

I think we can speculate on the types of power we would like to see the Necrons possess. It may be getting ahead of ourselves but it also give us something to aim for. I have in mind your Ork thread brought to light the problems of non-humans and my thoughts on shifting in the 'somatotype' from a secondary stat position to a 'description' of the primary stat (Stature) to set it's parameters.

It may be a good idea to know what will be coming later so I can build in the flexibility now 

Philip

[Malika]

Well, if we look at the basic Necron Warrior we will see that this is a figure who has no self control whatsoever. Every action it takes is commanded by the Necron Lords or C'tan themselves. I would thus assume that their own Mentality would be very low, if not 0. They will not get scared, angry, or whatever, no emotion whatsoever, they simply carry out their mission until it's complete, very similar to a Terminator (from the movie, not a Space Marine Terminator mind you).

I don't know how the orders/command structure and such exactly work, but I can only assume that the Warriors get their order and simply carry it out without further thinking. So if they were for example ordered to guard a statue, they will just stand in front of the statue and only carry out any other action if the enemy is near or are ordered to do something else. Incredibly fast regeneration also gives them more reason to do so. Necron commanders don't have to worry about their Warriors getting shot down by gunfire of whatever since the Necron body repairs itself at unbelievable speeds. Only when the damage is too bad (plasma burns or other irreparable damage) does the Necron Warrior "phase out" to the nearest repair facility.

[Philip S]

Well, if we look at the basic Necron Warrior we will see that this is a figure who has no self control whatsoever. Every action it takes is commanded by the Necron Lords or C'tan themselves. I would thus assume that their own Mentality would be very low, if not 0.

In WarSpike (as it currently stands) a Mentality of 0 would be a purely selfish individual out for themselves with no chance of ever putting anyone before themselves. This sound like a C'Tan.

A Necron warrior that sacrifices everything for the group is Mentality:10 or greater. They will always do what is in the interests of the group as defined by the leadership.

I don't know how the orders/command structure and such exactly work, but I can only assume that the Warriors get their order and simply carry it out without further thinking. So if they were for example ordered to guard a statue, they will just stand in front of the statue and only carry out any other action if the enemy is near or are ordered to do something else.

Yeah, that sounds Necronly (?), they would stand their until their power ran out if need be.

Incredibly fast regeneration also gives them more reason to do so. Necron commanders don't have to worry about their Warriors getting shot down by gunfire of whatever since the Necron body repairs itself at unbelievable speeds. Only when the damage is too bad (plasma burns or other irreparable damage) does the Necron Warrior "phase out" to the nearest repair facility.

Agree. This can be handled via a new body type combined with armour modifiers.

Philip

[Malika]

A Necron warrior that sacrifices everything for the group is Mentality:10 or greater. They will always do what is in the interests of the group as defined by the leadership.

I don't think they will do what's in the interest of the group, they will all simply move to the target and not really care about their fellow Necrons. It's not like one Warrior would try to protect the other Warrior or something like that.

Speaking of Mentality (the stat) for Necrons, it makes me wonder if the basic Necron Warrior would be aware of himself. Perhaps the soul/essence/whatever is very much aware of what is going on, but the body isn't, so we don't have to look at the psychology of the "ghost in the machine", just at the machine itself. And yes, I know that Necrons aren't mere robots/automatons, but looking at the way that they operate they could considered exactly that! You might want to check my blog entry on Necron culture for this: Exploring ancient death.... You can check the parallel thread about this on Warseer.

So if a Necron is order to keep on walking forward it will probably do so until it runs out of power or whatever, it will not care about anything else that happens around him, not even to the other Necrontyr and so on. I also don't think that the Necron Warriors would have some sort of parameters similar to the T-800 Terminator in Terminator 2 or Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. This means that a Necron Warrior will not stop it's mission when it's master (be it a C'tan or a Necron Lord) is in danger, it will simply carry out it's order.

The Necron Immortal, Lord or Pariah are another story of course! The Immortals are Necrontyr who voluntarily embraced their transformation and will probably have a very limited form of independence, not like an actual character or anything but some veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery limited form of individuality, perhaps even in a more caring manner towards it's masters. The Necron Lords are pretty much independent creatures, capable of individual thought and so on. However, I do think that they would have some sort of parameters to ensure that they remain loyal to the C'tan, I loathe (biggest understatement of the decade) the idea of Necron Lords rebelling against the C'tan.

[Philip S]

A Necron warrior that sacrifices everything for the group is Mentality:10 or greater. They will always do what is in the interests of the group as defined by the leadership.

I don't think they will do what's in the interest of the group, they will all simply move to the target and not really care about their fellow Necrons. It's not like one Warrior would try to protect the other Warrior or something like that.

We need Mentality:10 to get self sacrificing behaviour for the benefit of others, how we get their is another matter entirely. I think you make a good point that the Necron warriors are not looking out for each other, but they are following order that can result in their death.

Perhaps Mentality: 0 Attitude: Program*+10
* replace with some fancy name for mind control/ indoctrination.

This would make them totally selfish and without care for any other life. Yet act totally selflessly with regard to the C'Tan and obey without question (the effective '10' Mentality when the modifier is applied).

A Mentality:10 is for the greater good of the group, I wonder if the Tau have very high Mentality scores with repressed 'selfish' emotions (may explain their lack of warp sig, no view of 'self').

Philip

PS: Notes: Human Fanatics have slightly lower Mentality than average for a human (tendency to be loaner and distrusting) with a high modifier for 'indoctrination' (where a high number indicates a fanatic). I imagine that this modifier could be used as positive towards the group they are a part of, and negative towards an outside (opponent) group. So not all modifiers are simply expressed as '+' or '-', those without would be 'it depends'.

Hmm, this switch idea is good for many cases where humans group and divide, splitting into factions. I'll have a think abut this!