Edselator

*“This ‘Henry Ford’ must have been a pre-Rifts witch, consorting with dark forces, if he inspired something so evil as what we faced that night! Metal monsters stinking poisonous fumes, snapping gleaming teeth coming at us out of the darkness, the glare of hell in their eyes!”*

*----Anonymous bandit survivor of an encounter with Clan Motron*

*“Could you hit the windshield wipers, Sister Corvette? I can hardly see the road through that last leechman we hit.”*

## EcoS-K-53 Edselator Cavalry Warmount

The product of a Fringe Splinter Tribe of the Nightmares, Clan Motron, the Edselator was recognized by the Shemarrian Nation as a proper Warmount breed when examples began to appear with the Lost Eclipse. The Edselator shows clearly the Fringe Tribe’s obsession with ancient pre-Rifts automobile culture, which initially confused many observers as to the exact nature of the metal beasts that started appearing in the Great Lakes region. Only when Shemarrians were seen clearly interacting with, and riding in, the auto-beasts did it become clear that they were yet another new wrinkle in the Shemarrian mystery.

### Description

The Edselator looks like the nightmarish offspring of a Monstrex and a pre-Rifts Edsel, writ twice the original’s size. Splindly-legged with long legs that have both paws and wheels, the Edselator can crawl over urban debris and negotiate wilderness terrain with ease. Rather than sitting in an open saddle, its rider(s) enjoy the comfort of an armored ‘bathtub’ pod held high in the back that affords both a good high view and also partial protection. An armored windscreen (using polyglass formulae found in the remains of Old Detroit) and erectable ‘hardtop’ give additional protection from the elements and enemy fire. The Edselator can lower itself to available level and firm ground and engage its four rotary wheel-appendages, allowing it to speed along like an automobile. The Edselator can then spring back to its quad-leg configuration to clear obstacles or pounce on opponents.

Armament and armor are relatively light, but the Edselator is still an agile and fierce Warmount. Most of its armament is focused up front, though it can also spew super-slippery oil-like lubricants and thick choking smoke from its rear pipes to cover its retreat. A pair of hardpoints on either side of its front windshield allow for the mounting of supplemental weapons packs of the type common to most Shemarrian Warmounts. Clan Motron uses the Edselator like a cavalry mount, for fast strike-and-fade attacks or drive-bys.

The Edselator appears primarily in the ranks of Clan Motron, but has also begun appearing with the forces of the Nightmare Tribe, and at least one has been sighted with a party of Wayfinders (though whether this was an attached Lost Eclipse member or a trade to the Wayfinders remains to date unknown).

The Edselator; where once there was derision, there is now FEAR.

## Abilities

The partial protection afforded by the ‘pod’ means that riders are at -6 to strike.

#### Cargo

If not carrying passengers, the front ‘shotgun’ seat and rear seats can be used to
hold cargo. Small glove compartment in the crew cabin, and a 6 ft-wide, 2.5 ft deep truck space is located at the rear of the passenger pod.

### Special Systems

#### Smartskin Camouflage

The Edselator’s skin is surfaced in a nanite-matrix ‘smartskin’ that can change color and texture to camouflage the Warmount quite effectively. A favorite tactic is to take on the appearance of centuries of rust and decay and lie doggo in plain sight, looking like one among thousands of abandoned pre-Rifts vehicles rotting away on the landscape. A color change can take place in 1d6 melees.

### Weapons Systems

#### Laser Headlight Eyes (4)

 Damage
 Rate of Fire

The Edselator’s four headlight-eyes conceal powerful lasers that can scorch a path of destruction ahead of the Warmount.

#### Oil Spray

The Warmount can spray a swath of super-slippery lubricant liquid behind itself, making landborne pursuit somewhat more difficult.

* Range: Each application covers a 30 ft area

* Effects: Anyone trying to move across the slick must make a roll under their Physical Prowess at -8 or go out of control at full speed. Vehicles, power armors, and light

robot vehicles traveling in ground contact across sufficiently large patches of slickspray will be at -15% to their piloting rolls...failure means the vehicle goes out of control and takes on the characteristics of a giant hockey puck. Depending on the hardness of the surface (must be a hard surface, not a permeable surface like dirt or gravel), certain heavy vehicles and robots (like the Triax Devastator) will be unaffected, as they simply stomp the affected surface into the subterranean. Hovercraft are NOT affected either.

* Rate of Fire: ECHH

* Payload: 50 shots can be carried in internal reservoirs. Regenerates them at a rate of 1 shot every four hours (30 minutes if fed petrochemicals).

#### Smog Dispenser

The Edselator can spew a dense, choking, corrosive vapor from its rear tail pipe(s) to inconvenience pursuers and cover its retreat.

* Range: Each blast covers a 100 ft area.

* Damage: Anyone caught in the cloud of thick, obscuring smoke is unable to see, except with thermal optics. Inhaling, or exposure through unprotected soft tissues like the eyes, the vapor does 1d6 SDC/Hit Points per melee of exposure, and victims are -4 to dodge, strike, and parry, even for 1d4 melees after being removed from the cloud.

* Smoke persists for 1d4+3 melee rounds.

* Rate of Fire: ECHH

* Payload: Has enough smoke-matrix for 12 clouds. Regenerates them at a rate of 1 every six hours (1 hour if fed petrochemicals).

#### Power Jaw

 Range2
 Damage

The Edselator sports a large and powerful set of jaws for biting into opponents.

#### Retractable VibroClaws

 Damage

Each foot sports an array of five vibroblades that are used in slashing and pouncing attacks, or to help traction when scrambling over debris.

#### (Optional) Modular Weapons (2)

The Edselator has provision for torso-mounting two weapons similar to those standard to the Monstrex.

#### (Optional) Pintle-Mounted Weapons

The passengers can roll down their windows and use any personal weapons they have, or, if the passenger pod is uncovered, an un-powered pintle mount can be used on the roll bar to steady a crew-served weapon, like a rail gun or recoilless rocket launcher.

### Programming

The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.

Typically has the same basic programming as for the Monstrex, plus the following:

Pilot Automobile (with regards to pulling stunt maneuvers while in wheeled configuration): 93%

The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Edselator intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language (understanding) and Lore, Espionage (Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness (Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)

### Combat

 Dodge
 Parry
 Auto Dodge
 Roll
 Pull Punch
 Disarm
 Body Block/Ram
 Stomp

The Edselator is aggressive and quick combatant, charging opponents. Often charging in vehicle mode for higher speed, then leaping with its legs to pounce upon the target, hitting with bites and claws before leaping off again to put some distance and striking with ranged weapons before beginning a second charge.

## Ecotroz Fragment

The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Edselator an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. The Edselator tends to be temperamental and intolerant of being taunted or provoked, and it will readily chew on anybody annoying it. They are enthusiastic predators who revel in the chase, and they particularly like harassing enemy convoys and caravans (such as transport trucks and hovertrains). They also show a liking for guzzling and lapping petrochemicals, and chewing on rubber, as treats.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 2d6 hours after such exertion.

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch (takes 3 attacks).

## Options

### Mandible Jaws

Rather than a single unit lower jaw, 30% of Edselators have a split mandible jaw. These do less damage (Bite 2d6 MD, Power Bite 4d6+3 MD), but can extend and have a better chance (+1 to strike with a bite) of grabbing hold of a target to chew on.

### Chrome Plating

Clan Motron doesn’t have the resources for mass-producing Glitterboy-style laser-reflective ‘Glitterchrome’ armor, but they can produce and scavenge enough for limited coverage of their Warmounts (no more than 1d4x10% total coverage, roll percentile for coverage, then roll percentile again when an enemy is attacking with lasers to see if the fire strikes a chrome-plated section, then reduce the laser damage by HALF), typically on the front and back.

### Engine Soup-Up

Adds a more powerful powertrain for the wheeled mode. The Edselator can now hit speeds of 150 MPH on a straight-away.

### Flame-thrower Exhaust

The exhaust pipe can spew fire, up to 25 ft away to the rear of the Warmount, doing 1d4x10 SDC per blast. Add 6 ft to Leaping distance as well. If the Warmount also possesses the Engine Soup-Up Upgrade, increase range to 50 ft and damage is now 2d4x10 SDC per blast. Also add 8 ft to jet-assisted leaps.

## Variants

### Mini-Edselator

A ‘lite’ version of the Edselator, about half the size (bringing it to about the size of the original Edsel), with half the MDC as well. This variant is apparently meant for the smaller-statured NeShemar of the Tribe (though many of the NeShemar profess to LIKING big cars).