What Do You Do With A Steam Powered Buddha?

[TheAuldGrump]

One of the pieces of resin terrain I picked up at Gen Con was this little fellow -



Leaving me with the question: What Do You Do With A Steam Powered Buddha?

I know what I am planning, which is a scenario involving a steam powered AI in the 19th Century... and not as the hero of the story, let me tell you.

What would you do with the construct?

The Auld Grump, running off to bed again....

[OverNinja]

That's...

Don't know I don't do SteamPunk.

[Krensky]

That's a steam powered infant.

Obviously it's the secret weapon of a Nanny themed villian in  Victorian game, or you have it whistle and Mom/Nanny shows up and kills everything in sight.

[spinningdice]

The thing doesn't look like it's supposed to get up and walk around, so I'd probably go the AI route - part of me likes the idea of it being the PCs commend centre - an AI which assesses threats and deploys the PC's appropriately, effectively their control.

Of course the use as a mastermind would be quite effective too - especially if it wasn't obvious that this wierd construct was in charge (puppet leaders?)

[Mister Andersen]

That should be the input device for a baby-powered doomsday device.

[MilitiaJim]

It's for causing SAN loss in players and forum visitors.

[Agent 333]

Clearly it's the engine for a Zen powered train.

[ThunderMonkey]

Put him on the dashboard of the car next to a steam-powered saint.

[Krensky]

It's an infant, it doesn't look anything like a Budai.

[TheAuldGrump]

The thing doesn't look like it's supposed to get up and walk around, so I'd probably go the AI route - part of me likes the idea of it being the PCs commend centre - an AI which assesses threats and deploys the PC's appropriately, effectively their control.

Of course the use as a mastermind would be quite effective too - especially if it wasn't obvious that this wierd construct was in charge (puppet leaders?)

Pretty much my plan right there - trevious Mastermind found with his mind diminished to infantile levels. Created as a tool for seeking enlightenment and mystical ascendance, it is instead a parasite, draining will and thought from those who serve it.

I am calling it a Buddha because that is what the package calls it. The more expensive version includes a lotus leaf themed platform. Not what I wanted for my own evil scheme - I picture the thing in the heart of a maze of steam pipes - this is merely the interface for a vast steam powered computational device.

The Auld Grump

[TheAuldGrump]

*EDIT* This was the thread that I should have posted the below in the first time around....

I got ambushed by my subconscious today.

I brought my books to Wendy's planning to do a little planning for a Fallout campaign. Instead, for reasons that escape me. I thought of the steam powered Buddha miniature by Armorcast that currently graces my painting table. Specifically 'I've got to get a better name for that then 'Steam Powered Buddha''.

My subconscious threw up

Moloch, who delights in the scent of burnt offerings.

There was no pause in thought between the question and the answer - my subconscious already knew the answer.

The critter was always going to be the bad guy, but dayum, didn't that just kick all the plans that I already had in the teeth? Makes it both a nastier and more powerful baddie than I had originally planned. Not, perhaps, original - Fritz Lang used Moloch to describe his dystopian vision of the future in Metropolis. (Possibly the very first steampunk movie - decades before the term 'steampunk' was coined.) Holds together better, too - plenty of research material and cryptic clues to use, perhaps some numerology or a derived sigil marking the furnace of the construct.

Research material that I will need to review - Metropolis, Leviticus, Paradise Lost, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa..

When the Scoobypunk game finally wraps (a year and more later than planned...) I may just pick up with steampunk archaeologists... both in forgotten lands and under the sea. Moloch however will be built in Baltimore (literally 'Temple of Baal' - Ba'al is often synonymous with Moloch in biblical studies.  )

The Auld Grump, who wishes that his subconscious had given him more warning....

[TheAuldGrump]

Continuing with a theme of misdirection, the thing will, unsurprisingly, have robotic minions. What the team will be led to expect will be this:

Slow, clunky, clumsy, and not very effective. Prone to freezing up when being demonstrated.

What they will actually face will be this:

Fast, vicious, and violent. Almost Feral (Quality that is... ).

These are free downloads from Paper Make It. Some of their stuff, including Mr. Rippy there, are also going to be used in the Fallout RPG.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* Stats for Mr. Rippy:
Mr. Rippy (Standard NPC — 83 XP): Init V; Atk V; Def IV; Resilience VI; Damage Save: IV; Competence: I; SZ M; Spd 40 ft; Wealth: None; Qualities: achilles heel (cold), augmented (Bladed Claws III, Bladed Claws III), construct, damage reduction (5), damage resistance (fire 5), fleet (+10ft), low-light vision, minion, superior attribute (Str 14, Dex 14).

Part of the difference between what they might expect and Mr. Rippy is that Mr. Rippy is merely a housing for something else. Something hellish.

My thanks to Meadicus for his NPC creator.

[MilitiaJim]

I keep looking at the subject line and thinking back to Avenue Q and singing it to the tune of "What do you do with a B.A. in English."

[TheAuldGrump]

I keep looking at the subject line and thinking back to Avenue Q and singing it to the tune of "What do you do with a B.A. in English."

What do you do with a steam tech Buddha?
What do you do with a steam tech Buddha?
What do you do with a steam tech Buddha,
Early in the morning?

Way hey! And up its rising!
Way hey! And up its rising!
Way hey! And up its rising!
Early in the morning!

Cool its fires with a hose pipe on it.
Cool its fires with a hose pipe on it.
Cool its fires with a hose pipe on it,
Early in the morning!

Scrape its boiler with a four inch grinder.
Scrape its boiler with a four inch grinder.
Scrape its boiler with a four inch grinder,
Early in the morning!

The Auld Grump, filk in the first degree....