Roadbug Follies

An adventure for those stuck in traffic.

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Mayor Larry has a problem.

He has always had big dreams for Ed Town and restoring it to its former glories.

He hired a third party contractor to fix the long suffering roads of Ed-Town.

But there is a problem.

The company he hired: Western Alliance Street Preparations (or W.A.S.P. for Short), was so cheap he couldn’t resist giving them the contract.

As a result, he didn’t know he hired a bee people engineering core until it’s too late.

They themselves aren't the problem.  They actually have a good reputation in the field.

However, the road bugs they were using to prepare are running amuck all over Ed-town.  They are blocking off roads using resin walls Willy-nilly, not putting up proper signs (scent markers aren’t good enough) and putting trees in the middle of roads.

The Bee people have lost control of the road bugs and are scrambling to find out why.

They have one week before the   starts and the civic council is getting worried.

Enter the Player Characters.

They have been hired to slow down the road bug menace and to find out why they are no longer finding orders.

Potential Twists:

1.       Doctor D has psychically taken over the minds of the road bugs and is using it to redesign the town to direct its inhabitants where his radio signals is strongest.

2.       The harvesters have infected the road bugs with a pheromone that has overridden the bee people control.

3.       This was W.A.S.P.s intention all along; they are taking over the town for the colony! 

                             Road Bug

You see a man sized beetle, that seems intent in flattening a road.  Their shells are a bright combination of yellow and orange.
Medium Vermin
CR				7 (3,200 Xp)
Alignment				Neutral
Initiative				+5
Senses				Blindsense 10 feet, Low light vision, Tremorsense 100 feet, Perception +5
Languages				Vermin Communications
Defenses
AC			18 (+1 dex, +7 natural armor); flatfooted ac 17, touch ac 10
HP			49 (11d4+22)
Defensive Abilities			Fast Healing 3,
Combat
Space/Reach		5 feet / 5 feet
Speed		40 feet; burrow 20 feet; climb 20 feet
BAB		+7
CMB/CMD		+12/23
Attack		+11 Bite (1d8+8)
Full Attack		+11 Bite (1d8+8)
Special Attacks		Pack Tactics, Gloop attack (pinning effect; 50 foot cone;  +8 to Att, recharges in 1d4 rounds)
Abilities and Other
Abilities		Str			Dex	Con		Int	Wis	Cha
		18			13	15		---	8	6
		4			1	2		---	-1	-2
Carrying Capacity (light/med/hv)							90/180/360 lbs.
Feats	All-terrain, Improved Initiative, Savage Strike, Speed-Improved, Toughness, Vicious Striking
Skills	Acrobatics +5, Athletics +8, Perception +3, Stealth +5
Environment				Any, but usually found in plains and urban areas
Groups				Solitary or a lovely of 2 (CR 9), 4 (CR 11) and 8 (CR 13)

Combat Options

·          When Flanking an opponent, the road bug gets +4 to attack as long as it adjacent/next to the same enemy as an ally (i.e. providing flanking even if not in normal flanking position).

Feature Details

Gloop Attack (Ex):  The Road bug sprays a resin that is used to fill in gaps of roads and to create barriers.  It can be used as a weapon as needed.

·          Creatures are pinned for 1 minute or until they escape; any new application replaces the old one.

·          Targets may cut their way out with an attack that does damage equal to CMB check that trapped them in a single attack roll.

·          The Road bug can choose to spray a square and create a square of difficult terrain that can be destroyed if 10 hp are done to the square.

Tactics

·          While the Road bug usually doesn’t fight, if it does, it releases pheromones to get other Road bugs to join.  They attempt to surround, spray and entrap the opponent, and then use their powerful jaws to remove the target.

Knowledge

Appearance: a man sized beetle that has a yellow and orange painted shell that looks suspiciously like a safety vest.

Common:  They are surprisingly easy to train for a specific task to ensure proper road structure.  Wild road bugs create huge hives using their gloop and natural materials.

Unusual: Road Bugs are a common “domestic bug” on the African Continent and are used by all the major factions to ensure good travel routes

Secret:  The Road Crews of the Cybercult hate these guys and often consider any action against them “pest control.”

Reveal with Knowledge check: Knowledge (Nature), Handle

Animal at +5 DC. DC 17: common knowledge, tactics, speed,

normal attacks, and senses. DC 22: unusual knowledge, special

attacks and feats.  DC 27: Secret Knowledge

Treasure

The goop glad of each road bug is worth 1,750 GB as a road repair chemical compound.

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