A.H.A.V.

Family: A.H.A.V.

Huge construct (robot), unaligned

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 175 (13d12+91)
Speed 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	26 (+8)	24 (+7)	6 (–2)	18 (+4)	14 (+2)

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages understands the languages of its creator but cannot speak
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Integrated Weapons. The A.H.A.V. has machine guns and flamethrowers welded into its body, making them impossible to disarm or destroy.
• MODEL. An A.H.A.V. is created with one of the Mission Dependent Loadouts, or MODELs, listed below. MODELs are intended to allow A.H.A.V.s to serve in a variety of roles. This list is not exhaustive; the GM is free to design other MODELs at her discretion.
• Integrated Weapons. Dependent Loadouts, or MODELs, listed below are intended to allow A.H.A.V.s to serve in a variety of roles. This list is not exhaustive; the GM is free to design other MODELs at her discretion.
  • Advanced Maneuverability: The A.H.A.V. gains a fly speed of 60 feet.
  • Autoloader: The A.H.A.V. can select 6 targets with its machine gun attack rather than 4.
  • Camouflage Plating: The A.H.A.V. has a Dexterity (Stealth) bonus of +16.
  • Harrying Arms: As a reaction, the A.H.A.V. can cause the guns mounted in its body to fire, causing disadvantage on this attack roll. A creature can negate the disadvantage if they choose to make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) damage on a failed saving throw.
  • Ram: The A.H.A.V. gains a slam attack. The to hit bonus is +10 and it deals 21 (3d10+5) damage on a hit. If the A.H.A.V. moves at least 10 feet before making its slam attack, the damage rolled is doubled at the creature must succeed a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Nanite Repair. At the start of each of its turns, the A.H.A.V. gains 5 hit points up to it hit point maximum as its nanites repair its structure. When the A.H.A.V. is reduced to 50% of its maximum hit points, this feature is disabled.

ACTIONS

• Flamethrower. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 20/60 ft., two targets. Hit: 16 (3d10) fire damage.
• Machine Gun. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 120/360 ft., four targets. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage.
• Sensor Suite (3/day). The A.H.A.V. can activate its sensors for 1 minute which allow it to have blindsight up to a range of 60 feet.

ABOUT

Military marvels of advanced weaponry and artificial-personality programming, A.H.A.V.s are ruthless machines of war, bound by their programming to follow their objectives without pause. The acronym A.H.A.V. stands for “Autonomous Heavy Assault Vehicle,” reflecting the constructs’ ability to operate independently and make basic decisions on the battlefield. While the term originated with a specific and popular early model, the name quickly spread in colloquial use to refer to all robotic war machines of similar designs, and these days many corporations on many different worlds use the term to market their own proprietary models. A.H.A.V.s are built to appear intimidating: sturdy armor-plated tanks that float on hovertreads, armed with various heavy weapons and bristling with antennae. A.H.A.V.s have a full complement of sensors, capable of detecting heat, vibration, and sometimes other signatures, though they don’t usually have enough processing power to activate every available sense at once.

Specialized Programming. Unfortunately, since AHAVs’ basic programming leaves little room for independent thought and nuance, many of them can be easily tricked by those who can figure out the literal outlines of their objectives and work around them. As such, A.H.A.V.s have dropped off in popularity over the past few decades, though the corporations invested in building them are continually working to improve on this limitation.

Before they are programmed, A.H.A.V.s are outfitted with Mission Dependent Loadouts (MODELs for short), which are special abilities and equipment that aid a robot in its particular mission. An A.H.A.V. focused on reconnaissance might have an advanced sensor suite or stealth capabilities, while one intended to go head-to-head with a superior enemy force might have augmented weaponry.

A sufficiently astute observer can use the MODEL of an A.H.A.V. to puzzle out its objective.

Unfinished Business. A.H.A.V.s are built to last—a feature that sometimes means their objectives fail before they do. For instance, an A.H.A.V. programmed to guard a particular site will continue to do so even though its handlers have long since perished. While such a construct might seem to be a sad sight, it pales in comparison to those A.H.A.V.s whose objectives have become unachievable or internally inconsistent over time. Such a state introduces subtle errors into the AHAV’s programming, which can result in behavior that would be called insane if exhibited by a flesh-and-blood creature. A technician who can uncover that robot’s original purpose might be able to speak with the machine, convincing it of the error of its ways or the irrationality of its objective, but A.H.A.V.s have an inherently confrontational worldview and are difficult to reason with. A.H.A.V.s that successfully confront such a misalignment are most likely to shut down entirely, becoming nothing but inert metal and circuitry.