[UA] The Metal Eaters (was Steampunk)

[Nick Wedig]

>Though -- damn -- the idea of a procreating clockwork gives rise to some
>nasty possibilities.  Imagine a clockwork about the size of a lunchbox.  It
>can do about three things: Walk around, gather metal, and reshape the
>gathered pieces of metal into another clockwork like itself.  Then there
>are TWO clockworks gathering metal and recreating.  When they don't find
>any metal, they wander off searching until they do.

Sure, the thing could reproduce, but would it be any use beyond that.  You've got a bunch of little walking lunchboxes that don't do any real good.

>It depends, of course, on how long it takes the gadget to duplicate.  If
>it's eight hours, that's a lot less menacing.  It's still an item with
>tremendous potential for harm though.  Imagine some zany mechanomancer lets
>one loose out int eh desert by some abandoned military base.  By the time
>the PCs roll through  a couple years later, the boxes are eating one
>another, just waiting for fresh meat(al)...

It would be especially neat, if instead of the things attacking the PCs, they totall ignore the fleshy thing, but devour their vehicles and useful items for parts.  Make them think they'll be killed by a horde of clockworks, but be left untouched.

And some dangerous parts of military armaments that are unusable by the machines, just left lying around (eg, the nuclear bits from an atomic bomb)

Mr. Teapot
self replicating clockwork monstrosity

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