One of the things that struck me about Task Force: VALKYRIE from Hunter: the Vigil is that for all of the high-tech military equipment they have, it all still relies on a functioning human being to use (fire) it.
Now, TF:V has been in existence since the assassination of Lincoln, and has worked up a database of not inconsiderable knowledge on "extra-normal entities", yet
I've not seen anything within their Advanced Armory that acquiesces to the fact that some ENEs can disable an operative just by being in the same room as them.
I'm thinking of Werewolf induced Lunacy, as well as Vampiric Dominate, Majesty and Nightmare, and a Mages Mind Arcanum. Any of these supernatural effects can remove an agent from the fight before they've fired a round, and allow the ENE entry and egress without effective opposition.
My solution? The automated Sentry Guns from Aliens Special Edition. TF:V have the technology to create these, easily.
Gungnir Automated Sentry Gun (00000)
The Gungnir Automated Sentry Gun is an automated machine gun post that can provide fire over a full 180 degrees from its front position.
It uses the Gungnir System to identify and target ENEs, and will fire automatically on any identified.
The system can be operated remotely from a distance of up to one mile, or set to automatic fire. It will only fire upon recognised ENEs, allowing it, in theory, to provide support to TF:V operatives during an encounter.
It is more commonly used to guard strategic positions and field base of operations.
The system itself has helped TF:V teams survive encounters that have disabled agents from a distance, as most ENEs presume they need only deal with the humans present.
The same safeguards present in the portable gun-mounted Gungnir system can cause issues for TF:V agents when using the Sentry Guns, as the servants of monsters - cultists, Slashers, retainers etc - can essentially walk up and knock without being fired upon.
The mounted gun is a Generic GPMG (see page 80 of World of Darkness: Armory) and can fire Etheric Rounds, although these rounds have a +1 Merit cost to the standard.
I want to see Blade dodge that!
ReplyDeleteHa! Especially now that Wesley Snipes isn't as nimble as he used to be...
ReplyDeleteThe drawback of the Gungnir system is that it will only fire upon full supernatural templates - Vampire, Werewolf, Mage etc. Someone with a minor template, like Blade (who's a Dhampyr, i believe, which is mechanically similar to a Ghoul) can walk right up, and the computer just keeps going
INVALID TARGET
INVALID TARGET
INVALID TARGET
INVALID TARGET
Right up until the retainer ganks you.