Clockwork Hound
- HP
- 10
- Defense
- 8
- AR
- 2
- Mettle
- 0
Attacks
| Attack | Pool | WR | Tempo | Qualities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Jaws | 5 | 3 | 4 | — | Grapple on hit; locked jaw requires IRON TN 13 to pry open. |
| Tackle | 5 | 2 | 3 | Charge from up to Near range. |
Traits
- Construct: Immune to Fear, Poison, Bleeding, Strain, Erosion, Psionics, and all mental effects. Cannot be healed — must be repaired (SAVVY + Craft TN 13, 1 hour).
- Tireless: Does not eat, sleep, or rest. Can pursue a target indefinitely.
- Scent Lock: Once a Hound has a target's scent (clothing, blood, personal item), it tracks with +4 to all Awareness rolls for pursuit. The lock persists until a new instruction is loaded or the cylinder is removed.
- Vulnerability: Electricity deals ×2 damage (shorts the clockwork). Water in the mechanism causes 1d3 damage per minute of immersion and jams the Hound for 1d6 Ticks.
Abilities
- Alarm (Tempo 0): When the Hound detects a target matching its instructions, it emits a shrill whistle audible for half a mile. Consortium Enforcers respond in 2d6 minutes.
Consortium law enforcement taken to its logical, soulless conclusion. Clockwork Hounds are steam-powered tracking automatons deployed in Orvain and other Consortium cities to enforce curfew, hunt fugitives, and patrol restricted areas. They are roughly the size of large dogs, built from brass and iron, with articulated legs, rotating sensor-heads, and jaws that can crush bone.
Hounds are not intelligent. They follow a set of punched-card instructions loaded into a brass cylinder in their chest cavity: patrol this route, target this scent, pursue to this distance. They cannot be reasoned with, bribed, or intimidated. They are machines, and machines do not get tired, do not get distracted, and do not feel sympathy.
The whirring of their clockwork motors is audible from a block away — a rhythmic clicking that Consortium citizens learn to dread. The Hounds are manufactured in Factory 7 in Orvain’s Smog-Bottoms. Rumors persist that some Hounds have begun operating without instructions, running on empty cylinders, patrolling routes no one assigned. The Consortium denies this. Speed 9.
Tactics
Patrol assigned route. On detecting a target, sound Alarm, then Tackle to Knockdown, then Iron Jaws to restrain. Hold until Enforcers arrive. If multiple Hounds are deployed, they flank — one drives the target toward the other.
Encounter Design
Clockwork Hounds are pursuit encounters. The party has done something the Consortium disapproves of, and the Hounds are on their trail. The clicking grows louder. The whistle sounds. Now run — or find a river.