Career Option: Copperhead (Ironhead)
Prerequisites: None
Only a character who begins the game with the Ironhead career can be a Copperhead. A character cannot have both the Copperhead and standard Ironhead careers.
A character taking this option:
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Begins with the Copperhead ability but does not begin with Ironhead.
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Begins with Lore (submarine zoology) 1 but does not begin with Connection (mechaniks association).
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Begins with a suit of copperhead armor with a single equipment upgrade but does not start with a suit of ironhead armor.
Copperhead Armor
Cost: Copperhead armor is constructed by the Copperhead who wears it and is not typically available for sale.
SPD Modifier: –3
DEF Modifier: –3
ARM Modifier: +8
Description: Copperhead armor is a heavy suit of mechanically augmented armor powered by a pressured air chamber mounted on its back. Like the armored diving suit, copperhead armor may be attached to a diving bellows (NQ#67, p. 110). Without a diving bellows, it will deplete a full load of pressured air in 8 hours of general operation or in 1.5 hours of combat operation. Its pressured air chamber can only be refilled using a specialized steam engine.
Special Rules: A character must have the Copperhead ability to use copperhead armor. Each suit of copperhead armor is customized to the body of its manufacturer and can only be worn by characters with similar proportions.
Putting on or removing copperhead armor takes five minutes. A character receiving assistance in taking off the armor can do so one minute faster for each character assisting him, to a minimum of two minutes to put on or remove the armor.
Copperhead armor is heavy and ponderous. A character wearing it cannot run or charge.
A character wearing copperhead armor gains +1 STR.
A character wearing copperhead armor gains the Amphibious ability and is immune to gas effects.
A character wearing copperhead armor gains six additional damage boxes that must be lost before the character starts losing vitality on his life spiral. These boxes represent additional protection granted by the armor. After these boxes are gone, the wearer suffers damage to his life spiral normally.
Copperhead Rules
A copperhead armor uses the ironhead armor rules for building, damaging, and destroying it. See No Quarter #52, pp. 35–36 for details. However, it gains a modified internal damage table.
Copperhead Armor Internal Damage Table
Despite being incredibly durable and resilient, copperhead armor houses a complex array of sophisticated machinery that is subject to potential damage. Whether damage is applied to the armor’s damage boxes or the wearer’s life spiral, when a character wearing copperhead armor suffers 5 or more damage as a result of a damage roll, a roll must be made on the armor’s internal damage table to determine if any internal systems are also damaged.
| d6 | Result |
| 1 | No Internal System Damaged – No additional penalty. |
| 2 | Upgrade Damaged – A random equipment upgrade is crippled and no longer functions. |
| 3 | Arm Damaged – One of the arms is crippled. Randomize which arm is damaged. Until the damage is repaired, the character suffers –3 to attack rolls made with the damaged arm. |
| 4 | Loss of Power – The air pressure has been compromised, resulting in a severe loss of power to the armor. But the character was lucky, the air is not leaking. Until repaired, the character loses the armor’s STR bonus. |
| 5 | Movement Damaged – The vessel’s movement systems have been damaged. Until repaired, the character suffers –1 SPD and DEF. |
| 6 | Air Leak – The armor’s pressured air chamber has been damaged, resulting in air dangerously venting out of the suit. The character has ten minutes or until no air is left to return to safety. After ten minutes or if no air is left, the character wearing the armor suffers d3 damage points at the end of each of his turns. Outside of combat he suffers this damage once per minute. |
Copperhead Upgrades
A copperhead armor can be customized with all ironhead upgrades (see No Quarter #52, pp. 36–38) except the Amphibious Construction upgrade (copperhead armors are specifically tailored with this in mind) and the Heavy Boiler upgrade (which is replaced by the Heavy Pressured Air Chamber upgrade). Additionally, it may be customized with all copperhead armor upgrades. Of course, powder-based light artillery cannot be fired on a submerged copperhead armor. Have a look at the Heavy Harpoon Gun instead.
Copperhead Armor on Land
Due to its less effective power source, the copperhead armor is not as effective as ironhead armor on land. It has a SPD Modifier of -4 and a DEF Modifier of -4 on land and its wearer does not gain +1 STR.
Abilities
Amphibious
The character treats water as open terrain and gains concealment while within water. Amphibious characters never make Swimming skill rolls and can always advance their full SPD while swimming.
Copperhead
The character knows how to use and control mechanically enhanced submersible air-pressure-powered armor, such as copperhead armor.
Copperhead Armor Upgrades
Note: In addition to the upgrades below, a copperhead armor can be customized with all ironhead upgrades except the Amphibious Construction upgrade and the Heavy Boiler upgrade.
Heavy Pressured Air Chamber
Cost: 400 gc
Effect: The armor gains a heavy pressured air chamber. The armor’s air consumption increases by 25 percent. The target number of rolls to integrate subsequent upgrades is reduced by 1, and the character can run or charge normally.
Adding a heavy pressured air chamber requires six hours of labor followed by a successful INT + Mechanikal Engineering roll against a target number of 14.
Ranged Weapons
Heavy Harpoon Gun
Cost: 350 gc
| Ammo | Effective Range | Extreme Range | Skill | Attack Modifier | POW | AOE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (harpoon or grapple) | 60 feet (10˝) | 300 feet | Light Artillery | -2 | 14 | – |
Description: The heavy harpoon gun is a specially designed firearm made to propel a heavy harpoon over long distances. Like the smaller harpoon guns, they typically have short, stout barrels and are fitted with iron rings that can be used to tie off the harpoon line and to anchor the harpoon gun into secured mounting, such as on a ship or on a copperhead suit. The true range of the harpoon gun is limited by the rope or cable attached to the harpoon.
The harpoon gun can also be used to fire a heavy grappling hook and line.
There is a variant of the Heavy Harpoon Gun that does not use powder but pressured air to fire the harpoon or grapple and can be used while submerged.
Special Rules: If this weapon damages a target with an equal or smaller base, immediately after the attack is resolved the damaged character can be pushed any distance directly toward the character armed with the harpoon.
A heavy grappling hook has a –4 attack modifier instead of –2 and has POW 12.
It costs 1 gc for blasting powder and casings for five charges. Additional harpoons or grapples cost 2 gc each.