Burden Mite
Celestial · Crown of Necessity
T1d4Minor
A squat, beetle-like steel construct about one foot long with six articulated legs and a flat back designed for carrying. It moves with mechanical determination, completely silent except for faint grinding of metal joints.
Tier 1 · Role Minor · Pool Vigor 2 · AC 13 · ATK +3 · Save DC 11 · Dmg 1 (flat)
| Stat | Score | Mod | Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 16 | - | - |
| Mind | 4 | - | - |
| Sense | 16 | - | - |
| Heart | 14 | - | - |
| Cunning | 8 | - | - |
| Fate | 14 | - | - |
A Minor has no attribute mechanics: the scores describe the creature, they do not roll.
Passives
Inexorable Labor
Mites collectively carry any weight; six can haul a loaded wagon. Mindless, they never tire or flee, and they attack anyone who keeps a necessary task from being completed.
Steel Skin
Resistant to damage from non-magical weapons.
Maneuvers
Swarm Effort
All Burden Mites within 30 ft heave at one task or one target together, finishing an hour of labor in a round or dragging a grabbed creature 10 ft.
Tactics
GM tactics
Burden Mites prioritize tasks over combat. They only fight when prevented from completing necessary work or when directly attacked. In combat, they swarm a single target using Swarm Effort. Their Steel Skin makes them surprisingly durable for their size.
Running it
Rules
- One Vigor pool of 2 x Tier, no Vitality. It breaks and flees with 1 left, and dies at 0. The pool does not regenerate.
- A hit deals a flat 1, no roll. A crit (natural 20 only) rolls d4 and never lands below 1.
- Crits on a natural 20 only.
- Minor: no stat modifiers or dice in play; its scores describe the creature, they do not roll.
- With 1 Vigor left it breaks and flees, out of the fight but alive; Fanatics fight on to 0 instead.
- At 0 Vigor it is dead: 2 total damage, and a single blow of 2 or more kills it on the spot.
- Vigor damage is simply damage against a Minor: its whole pool is Vigor.
- Group morale: when its group loses half its number, fled or dead, the rest check morale.
- NPCs never take wounds.