Talk:Thrun-2014 Autonomous Car (3.5e Monster)

Ratings

	Psysama likes this article and rated it 3 of 4.
	I like it and I am probably going to use it in my campaign, but I am a little confused. Is it bigger on the inside (extra-dimensional)? Most vehicles of that capacity usually are Huge or bigger, but if it's bigger on the inside, never mind me. Also in fast vehicles AC goes up because it's usually harder to hit a moving target. Other than that, I like the idea!

	Bhu favors this article and rated it 4 of 4!
	This is prolly the only good write up of a self driving car I've seen.

CR

This was a tough one. Speedy Trample can reach some very high numbers, but the DC drops like a rock. If anyone could take a look at it, I'd appreciate it. -- Eiji-kun (talk) 03:00, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

The hardness halves physical damage before applying, or just all energy damage types excepting those otherwise listed? - Tarkisflux ^Talk 05:07, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Physical and energy damage, ignoring exceptions listed. Should I clarify that? -- Eiji-kun (talk) 05:40, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I think it would be helpful to clarify. The normal SRD entry for object damage and hardness doesn't seem to do that (though I am also very tired and might be fail reading).

Between the hardness based damage reduction and the damage potential from the speedy trample, I'm not really feeling CR2. I don't think a party of CR2 guys would be able to do all that much to it and their low saves just make the trample a time bomb before someone fails and gets splatted. Either side could probably just get away.... but that's not really a success. So I think it needs to be higher, but I'm not sure what would really make sense. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 05:54, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

The SRD hardness does not, though I suppose it's because hardness varies from material to material, so it's pretty much DM's call. Fire beats wood, and axe beats wood, acid and pickaxe beat stone, don't use cold on steel, etc etc etc.

Since I'm trying to keep it CR 2 for reasons, if you think of anything please do tell! I figure some things that are obvious is reducing damage (to 1d4, or even to just +1), and/or increasing the distance needed to travel. I appreciate the help. I'll also clarify on the hardness. -- Eiji-kun (talk) 05:59, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

I'll ponder the damage formula when I'm not off to bed, but the solution for keeping the CR low is easy - remove the attack. And while that probably sounds pretty unreasonable, the fluff makes it more reasonable. It's an AI car that isn't going to attack people like that in the first place. So make two versions. One where the Thrun auto-breaks when it determines that it will hit a creature, and deals some much reduced amount of damage. And then also do a hacked version where that limitation has been removed, and one of the passengers can direct it to crash into people, that has a CR a few points higher. Maybe? - Tarkisflux ^Talk 06:11, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

I'd say your fine Eiji. The lowering DC and the maneuverability of the car make up for the damage (it's unlikely in most games you'll be doing 200+ anyway, most roads aren't built for it). You might wanna make some notice of how it handles off-road tho

You think so? That would be good. The idea was just that... the faster you go, the lower the DC drops, the more likely they escape. Basically Power Attack for DCs. Actually, I did address the road thing. The listed speed is for off road, and doubles on smooth roads (which is the same thing as giving the higher speed, and saying it is halved off road). Did some math, and it should mean that in ideal circumstances (running, on a road) it is doing 102 mph.

Yeee, a favor!  :3 -- Eiji-kun (talk) 06:33, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

You don't need to be going full speed to murder a CR 2 party. Your default 90' move is past their charge range and that distance does a bunch of damage to them already without a terrible DC. And since they need to deal 18+ points of damage at a time to even scratch you (half damage, minus 8 hardness), they don't have a lot of options other than to flee before someone fails a save because iterative probability.

This is basically balance by drawback... which works about as poorly here as everywhere else. It only sort of works on puzzle monsters, and this is not one of those. You could make it one by giving it a sensor reliance and making it inoperable when the sensor was damaged (no hardness, different target AC, etc.) / blinded / whatever. I'm not sure that's a great fit, but it's better. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 14:42, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

(RESET INDENT) After mulling over some math with friends, errors were found. I think I now have a solution to my damage dilemma. -- Eiji-kun (talk) 05:43, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

So after realizing I botched the math I've come up with a much more reasonable 5d6 damage max, as well as a reason you can't do it from full tilt running distance. It pretty much means 1d6 damage every 4 mph it's going (20 mph). I may go with 6d6 so it can be every 30 ft, a cleaner number than 35 ft, but I'm already pushing the damage amount for CR 2.

Also, hardness dropped to 6. The hardest part of the car is the frame and it's toughness it built into the Crash Designed feature. -- Eiji-kun (talk) 06:02, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

EDIT: Every 4 mph (up to 20). --Undead_Knave (talk) 07:37, 22 April 2015 (UTC)