Maniple Automata Horror

Saves: Toughness +11, Willpower +7

Machine Mind at War. The horror does not make Morale checks. It prosecutes its last war order — a war that ended millennia ago — with total commitment.

Ancient Warplate. The horror reduces all damage from weapons that are not anti-armor by 5. Weak points exposed by a Tech scan DC 16, and collapsing terrain, ignore this reduction. Small arms are ceremonial against it.

Doctrine Protocols. It fights by a legible ancient doctrine — advance, volley, purge — and still listens for maniple commands on a dead datalink. Observant parties can predict its rhythm, and forged or salvaged command wafers might reach it (Tech check DC 17 with a wafer in hand).

Kastelan Fists. The horror makes two melee attacks that treat walls, vehicles, and heroes as the same material: Melee Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 3d10 + 8 bludgeoning damage. A structure or vehicle struck is breached.

Incendine Sweep. The horror washes a 30-foot cone in flame and phosphor. Each creature in the cone makes an Agility Save DC 17, taking 4d10 fire damage and becoming Suppressed on a failure, or half damage on a success. Cover in the cone burns and is degraded one step.

Protocol Shift. The horror audibly announces a stance change. Aggressor: +2 to attack rolls, -2 Defense. Protector: +2 Defense, it cannot use Incendine Sweep. Conqueror: its movement increases to 40 ft. and its Kastelan Fists gain +5 ft. reach. The stance lasts until its next Protocol Shift.

Doctrine Response. When a creature within reach of its fists misses the horror with an attack, doctrine answers: Melee Attack: +10 to hit. Hit: 2d10 + 8 bludgeoning damage.

Morale: Does not make Morale checks. It fights until destroyed, commanded by valid maniple codes, or its war order is somehow completed.

Tactics: Structure this as an objective encounter: reach the datalink, drop the gantry, lure it into the smelter, survive until the codes are forged. Its protocol shifts telegraph each phase, so let players plan around the rhythm. If the party just shoots it, they should win slowly, expensively, or not at all.

Loot / Evidence / Hooks: Its command wafers and datalink cipher are worth a forge world's ransom — and prove there was once a whole maniple.

A Maniple Automata Horror is a battle-automata of ancient pattern — Kastelan-grade or worse — awake, unshackled, and executing a war that ended millennia ago. It is not a monster; it is ordnance with a walk cycle.

Use this threat as a set-piece war encounter that demands planning, anti-armor assets, and a reason to be there at all.

Threat Profile: Boss-grade war machine — extreme durability and armor, battlefield-scale firepower, no morale, slow and doctrinally predictable, best fought with objectives, terrain, and sabotage rather than attrition.

Machine Mind at War. No morale; it prosecutes its last war order with total commitment.

Ancient Warplate. Small arms are ceremonial against it; anti-armor weapons, weak points, and collapsing terrain are the real conversation.

Doctrine Protocols. It fights by a legible ancient doctrine — advance, volley, purge — that observant parties can predict and abuse.

Dead Datalink. It still listens for maniple commands; forged or salvaged command wafers might reach it.

Incendine Sweep. Flame or phosphor wash across a zone; cover burns, and everything in it saves or is damaged and Suppressed.

Kastelan Fists. Melee blows that treat walls, vehicles, and heroes as the same material.

Protocol Shift. Announces a stance change (aggressor, protector, conqueror), trading speed, defense, and firepower in a visible, learnable way.

Morale: None. It fights until destroyed, commanded by valid maniple codes, or its war order is somehow completed.

Tactics: Structure this as an objective encounter: reach the datalink, drop the gantry, lure it into the smelter, survive until the codes are forged. Let its protocol shifts telegraph each phase so players plan around a rhythm. If the party just shoots it, they should win slowly, expensively, or not at all.

Full Stat Block Priority: Boss