Approved Tech SD Series Mark XI Battle Droid

[Alkor Centaris]

Intent: To revisit the SD series droids and give them a new (terrifying) face.
Image Source: Polycount.com
Canon Link: SD Series Battle Droid.
Permissions: -
Primary Source: -

Manufacturer: Balmorran Arms
Affiliation: Closed-Market.
Model: SD-XI Battle Droid.
Production: Mass-Produced.
Modularity: No.
Material: Durasteel, Advanced Servomotors, Faraday cage inlay, Targeting Sensors, blaster components, plasma thrower components, Deflector Shield components

Classification: Fourth Degree.
Weight: Very Heavy (226.8 kg)
Height: Large (1.9 m)
Movement: Bipedal.
Armaments: Very High Plasma Burst Cannon, Heavy Repeating Blaster, Force Pike.
Misc. Equipment: Ray type Deflector Shields
Resistances

Energy: Average
Kinetic: High
Lightsabers: None
EMP/Ion: Very High

• Reinforced Durasteel plating offers resilience against ballistics, as well as most melee weapons. This makes the SD-XI ideal for assaulting an enemy position at range and in close quarters.
• Ray type Deflector shield generator gives the unit maximized protection from energy based weaponry at a distance, giving the unit a distinct advantage for closing a wide gap or weathering heavy firepower.
• Force Pike armament allows the Droid a fighting chance in close quarters, since its primary weapons are less effective there.
• Faraday Cage inlay prevents systems from losing power to short wavelength electromagnetic pulses.

EM Hardened: pulses intended to kill electronics do not short out the SD-XI's systems completely. Sustained currents, ionic attacks, and large bursts (such as lightning) will shut the systems down and require a reboot, and possibly even try circuitry.

Multiple arms: allow for the use of multiple weapons at a time.

Plating and Shields: increased protection from a distance, allowing the SD-XI superiority in a firefight. They are not intended for close range combat, but are capable of it.

Durasteel isn't immune to high concentrations of heat: The SD-XI should not be deployed on volcanic world's that would cause damage to its systems over time, and if someone gets close enough to bypass the shields, or uses a lightsaber in close combat, its plating would do very little to prevent catastrophic damage.

Heavy: The Unit simply cannot traverse areas that have a low weight threshold, and it is cumbersome to transport. As such, deployment in large quantities takes more time, and should be considered only in lengthy engagements.

Not your low-end battle droid: while droids are always a small price compared to human lives, the SD-10 is an investment worth protecting. One is easily worth ten of their lesser counterparts, and losing a single unit is harsh on one's bank account. You do get what you pay for, though.

Explosive Experience: When the SD-XI is compromised in combat, it is designed to self-destruct, taking the programs used in its creation and anything that can be reverse engineered with it. The problem is, this can happen in close proximity to allied units. Balmorran doesn't take risks with trade secrets, and they're not above friendly fire to prevent it.

Mismatched against opponents geared toward close combat: While capable of fighting at close range, an effective combatant with weapons that can breach its plating can make short work of the unit. It is recommended to supplement them with ample ground forces capable of providing support. It's ability to use the Force Pike is also extremely limited.

Slow moving: While quicker than it's predecessors, the droids are essentially tanks. Slow moving, heavy hitting.

The SD series sank into obscurity after the Gulag Plague ravaged the known galaxy to its fringes. Stories of the destructive power endowed into their programming remained in whispers: a strength enough to rival the might of the Galactic Empire when they came to exert dominance over the company that created the weapons. When the time finally came to dust off the old Droid Factory and create something new and marketable for modern warfare, Balmorran Arms decided to revive the line, and its legend.

The SD series had always boasted a myriad of features that made it more cutthroat than the competition- from self-healing metals to energy reflecting coatings, they terrified anyone unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of an invading force. Unfortunately for Balmorran, those types of resources had grown increasingly scarce in the years that followed the Plague, strip mined away by various Empires and Orders that rose and fell. What they did have, however, were the best design teams and development crew money could buy.

In light of their limitations, the team designed a unit that capitalized on multiple aspects of a combat zone to optimize its utility at minimized expense. Thus, the cost of the Droid overall could be decreased, and less of that expense would have to transfer to the customer- a marketing strategy that was sure to turn heads, when one considered the fact that they were still getting maximum lethality.

Far shorter than its predecessors, the SD-XI. makes up for the lack of behemoth size with increased quickness relative to older models while not compromising on firepower.

 

[Gir Quee]

Under Review.

 

[Gir Quee]

Material: Quadranium, Advanced Servomotors, Carbon Fiber wiring, Faraday cage inlay, Targeting Sensors, blaster components, plasma thrower components, Deflector Shield components

What's the purpose of the carbon fire wiring in this sub?

+ EM Hardened: pulses intended to kill electronics do not short out the SD-XI's systems. A large enough pulse could manage to confuse the sensors and require the Droid to reorient itself.

A Faraday cage can provide a large amount of protection against EMP devices, but ultimately for gameplay reasons, we cannot grant outright immunity or immunity to a weapon's type. In other words, a powerful enough EMP pulse (like from a nuclear bomb) or a series of repeated EMP attacks should be able to short out this droid's systems, though it'd be understandable if this is resistant(but not immune) to things like a single EMP grenade.

Reinforced Quadranium plating offers resilience against ballistics, as well as most melee weapons. This makes the SD-XI ideal for assaulting an enemy position at range and in close quarters.

- Durasteel isn't immune to high concentrations of heat: The SD-XI should not be deployed on volcanic world's that would cause damage to its systems over time, and if someone gets close enough to bypass the shields, or uses a lightsaber in close combat, its plating would do very little to prevent catastrophic damage.

This weakness largely seems to be negated by the Reinforced Quadranium plating.

- Mismatched against opponents geared toward close combat: While capable of fighting at close range, an effective combatant with weapons that can breach its plating can make short work of the unit. It is recommended to supplement them with ample ground forces capable of providing support.

This weakness also seems to be largely negated by the quadranium plating's description.


This seems to have good speed, solid armaments, and good protection. While it's possible to have droid that has all of these characteristics at the levels they are currently described as, this would not be mass-produced unit, but rather of something that is limited or semi-unique.


I'd recommend looking at one of the three (weapons, defense, and speed) and lowering it. Alternatively, you could write some caveats into several of those areas to make more balanced and nuanced.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

[member="Gir Quee"]

Revised Quadranium to Durasteel, reduced EM hardening to reflect weakness to concentrated pulses, and removed the carbon fiber wiring.

 

[Gir Quee]

Faraday Cage inlay prevents systems from losing power to Electromagnetic pulses.

+ EM Hardened: pulses intended to kill electronics do not short out the SD-XI's systems completely. A large enough pulse could manage to confuse the sensors and require the Droid to reorient itself, and a concentrated burst could cause the Droid to go offline for a minute before it can reboot entirely.

There's different types of electromagnetic pulses. What you're describing here as the effects would be appropriate for many of types of electromagnetic radiation (especially from a distance) caused by large, area of effect EMP devices. However, some EMP effects also include a surge of high-voltage lightning. The farraday cage would provide protection against this, but it's also entirely possible for that lightning to be too strong for the cage, which in turn would manifest as massive power fluctuations within the droid itself. This would not be a matter of the droid losing power then, but having so much power that it couldn't handle it. Circuits would fry out and need to be replaced. This isn't permanent damage (circuits and fuses could be replaced in the field), but it's not something that can be "rebooted" away. Someone or something would physically have to repair it.


Can you explain your balancing concept to me please? I'm not sure I quite follow it right now.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

As I personally was not factoring weather into electronic warfare, I added that into the weakness because the designers most likely would not have, either.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Alkor Centaris"], I'm not talking solely about weather, though it's a remote possibility. EMP grenades actually produce this lightning effect as well (the 2nd picture in the wookiee article is particularly salient).

I still would like a general overview of your balancing scheme in terms of rough offense, defense, and mobility.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

Could you give me a better idea of what you're asking me for? I'm not following.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Alkor Centaris"], absolutely.

Here's an example:

The SD Mark XI has relatively defenses because it has thick armor. The SD Mark XI has about average offensive power because it has typical battle droid weapons for its size and role. The SD Mark XI is relatively slow because the weight of the armor makes it harder for the servos to move.

I'm looking for relative strengths, almost like a rating system that we use for other things. Right now, I'm having trouble figuring out exactly where this stands in those general areas. Once I have an idea of what the balancing scheme is, I can either approve it or offer some suggestions towards getting this approved.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

Okay, awesome, I'll do that for you right now.

Also, would it be fine to specify short wavelength electromagetic interference? Anything concentrated such as ion, or a current with a duration over a few seconds would be sufficient to overload the Droid?

Edited to remove the quickness of the Droid; while faster when compared to its predecessors, the Droid is not incredibly nimble and has no advantage as such on the battlefield. Shields and armor allow for the Droid to take heavy punishment at a distance, where it does its best work (with the plasma thrower tech and heavy blaster), but the Force Pike serves only to slow the inevitable. A melee combatant can subdue the SD-XI in close combat in short order, so they should be deployed as heavy support/artillery and not as a force unto themselves.

So-

Range: Very High.
Melee: Low.
Speed: Low.
Shields: Ranged only
Armor: Average.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Alkor Centaris"], that looks like a very solid balance scheme to me.

Also, would it be fine to specify short wavelength electromagetic interference? Anything concentrated such as ion, or a current with a duration over a few seconds would be sufficient to overload the Droid?

That sounds fine.

Edited to remove the quickness of the Droid; while faster when compared to its predecessors, the Droid is not incredibly nimble and has no advantage as such on the battlefield. Shields and armor allow for the Droid to take heavy punishment at a distance, where it does its best work (with the plasma thrower tech and heavy blaster), but the Force Pike serves only to slow the inevitable. A melee combatant can subdue the SD-XI in close combat in short order, so they should be deployed as heavy support/artillery and not as a force unto themselves. So- Range: Very High. Melee: Low. Speed: Low. Shields: Ranged only Armor: Average.

If you'll add the low speed to the weaknesses (that doesn't seem immediately apparent me in the sub right now, though I could have missed it).

- Mismatched against opponents geared toward close combat: While capable of fighting at close range, an effective combatant with weapons that can breach its plating can make short work of the unit. It is recommended to supplement them with ample ground forces capable of providing support.

Based on what you've just written, I'd mention here it's limited ability to use the Force-pike.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

[member="Gir Quee"]

Fixed!

 

[Gir Quee]

Approved.

 

[Runi Verin]

Moved to Pre-Factory now. Please remember to make a note at the bottom of your submission summarizing the changes you have made and tag a member of the Factory Staff once you're ready for active judgement.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

Runi Verin

Thanks!

• Updated Template
• Fixed Hyperlinks
• Added Art from Alden

 

[Vora Kaar]

Approved