Act Three
Synopsis
Joint Base Lewiston was once a military installation dedicated to the research and development of robots for use in America’s war. Now, it is the lair and laboratory of Dr. Trestridge, where she hoards plundered supplies from the vulnerable settlements of the region while working to achieve her personal goal: a body that is impervious to the ravages of deprivation, radiation, and old age, but maintaining the speed and agility that a simple robobrain lacks.
Seeing her companions become victims to the harsh conditions of life beyond the Enclave has traumatized the doctor, and given her a purpose; and Joint Base Lewiston has given her the means to achieve it.
Within the joint base, Trestridge discovered Project Maria: an assaultron prototype that was sent for field testing and evaluation. Unlike standard models, the Maria prototype included sophisticated self-repair systems in addition to the normal suite of weaponry.
It effectively allows the assaultron to “heal” from any damage it sustains. Fusing herself with this machine would make Trestridge effectively immortal, provided her robot body was not obliterated outright.
The PCs encounter Trestridge in battle with Bunker 441’s hotheaded knights. After dealing with her, and potentially facing her new robotic incarnation, they can uncover more about this woman’s past, as well as the source and purpose of the machines that have threatened the region.
Over the course of Act Three, the players will have the opportunity to:
- Engage in a life-or-death firefight with a force of deadly robots, including a semi-psychotic assaultron guided by the damaged mind of Dr. Trestridge.
- Liberate an old world military installation, and discover the motivation of their mysterious opponent.
Joint Base Lewiston lies in a box canyon east of Bleakford. A thick layer of undisturbed dust, blown in off the Midwest, covers everything. The military installation itself is mostly housed underground within the canyon’s walls, with a hardened concrete bunker leading in. Massive metal doors, large enough to accommodate cargo trucks, stand left of the main bunker entrance.
When the PCs arrive on the scene, two power armorclad Brotherhood of Steel Knights are engaged in a firefight with Dr. Trestridge’s robots. The robots are trying to defend the bunker entrance, and Dr. Trestridge herself is inside the main door, using it as cover. Two Laser Turrets flank the door providing covering fire.
The PCs can attempt to enter the box canyon unnoticed. To do so, each must make a Stealth Skill Test.
A successful test means they can move using the cover of vehicles and concrete barricades to get closer before either the Brotherhood or Dr. Trestridge notice them.
They might try to sneak into the bunker without fighting the robots (a challenging effort that requires an AGL + Sneak test with a difficulty of 4) or launch a surprise attack against the machines. Failure means that one or more of the robots spots the PC and fires upon them. They are then engaged in combat and lose the opportunity to initiate combat.
The Brotherhood Knights, Pierce and Macey, are pinned down behind cover in the open area in front of the bunker. When the PCs arrive, if they make themselves known to the knights, both shout for them to take cover.
This battle should be a desperate one. Dr. Trestridge knows that defeat means her death or capture and she is willing to expend as many resources as she can to prevent it. Meanwhile, the knights are facing a superior force of machines and launched their attack underprepared. Falling back would only give Trestridge’s robots the ability to shoot them in the back, or regroup and move to another location in the Wasteland.
Overseer Note
Dr. Trestridge is an Institute Scientist while she is in her human form. She has a Plasma Gun equipped and the Robotics Expert and Nerd Rage perks.
After her second activation, Trestridge moves into cover of the facility to enact her ultimate plan. Using the military autodoc inside, she has her own brain extracted and moved into its new body: a modified assaultron using robobrain components. This process takes her two turns to complete.
If the PCs manage to defeat her sentries and enter the facility before this time, they have an opportunity to stop the process. They can attempt an INT + Science test with a difficulty of 3 to hack the terminal controlling the automated process, attempt to destroy the machine (Defense 1, 18 HP, 2 Physical DR, 1 Energy DR, immune to radiation and poison), or shoot her brain before it is loaded into the chassis (Defense 3, 1 HP, 1
Physical DR, 1 Energy DR, no radiation or poison DR).
Otherwise, she bursts through the doors of the facility in robot form when the procedure completes. The process did not go exactly as planned, however. She broadcasts the shrill sound of pain and confusion, lashing out at the closest target, friend or foe. The following are things she might shout as she activates. These lines are delivered in a loud, robotic monotone as she attacks:
Robot-Trestridge
Level 1, Robot,
Legendary Creature (93 XP)
| BODY | MIND | MELEE | GUNS | OTHER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| HP | INITIATIVE | DEFENSE | ||
| 36 | 14 | 1 | ||
| PHYS. DR | ENERGY DR | RAD. DR | POISON DR | |
| 2 | 2 | Immune | Immune | |
ATTACKS
- UNARMED: BODY + Melee (TN 12), 4dC6 Physical damage
- MESMETRON BEAM: BODY + Guns (TN 12), 5dC6 Stun Energy damage, Range M
- SELF-DESTRUCT: BODY + Guns (TN 12), 4dC6 Physical damage, Blast
SPECIAL ABILITIES
- ROBOT: Robot-Trestridge is a robot. They are immune to the effects of starvation, thirst, suffocation. They are also immune to poison and radiation damage. However, machines cannot use food and drink or other consumables, they do not heal naturally, and the Medicine skill cannot be used to heal them: damage to them must be repaired.
- IMMUNE TO POISON: Robot-Trestridge reduces all poison damage suffered to 0 and cannot suffer any damage or effects from poison.
- IMMUNE TO RADIATION: Robot-Trestridge reduces all radiation damage suffered to 0 and cannot suffer any damage or effects from radiation.
- IMMUNE TO DISEASE: Robot-Trestridge is immune to the effects of all diseases, and they will never suffer the symptoms of any disease.
- KEEN SENSES: One or more of the NPC’s senses are especially keen; they can attempt to detect creatures or objects which characters normally cannot, and they reduce the difficulty of all other PER tests by 1 (to a minimum of 0).
- AUTOREPAIR: At the start of her turn, if Robot- Trestridge has fewer than her maximum HP, roll 3dC6. She regains 1 HP for each Effect rolled.
- SELF-DESTRUCT: If Robot-Trestridge has both its arms or legs injured, or it has been reduced to half or fewer of its maximum HP, it will move towards the nearest enemy and use its major action to self-destruct. This self-destruct is an attack centered upon itself, and Robot-Trestridge is destroyed after it attempts this attack.
- NIGHT VISION: Robot-Trestridge can see in complete darkness. The NPC ignores all difficulty increases caused by dim light or darkness, and they may attempt skill tests that would normally be impossible.
Inventory
SALVAGE: Scavengers can salvage from a destroyed Robot-Trestridge with a successful INT + Science test with a difficulty of 1. This yields 3dC6 fusion cells, +1dC6 per AP spent, and each Effect rolled yields 1 uncommon material.
Conclusion
After defeating Dr. Trestridge, the PCs have free reign to explore the outpost.
The doctor has converted much of the accessible space to act as a living area and laboratory. She has an array of different terminals into which she’s entered countless lines of code, experiment data, and personal reports.
Included in this information is the rather harrowing account of her flight following the Enclave’s defeat back east. She and a group of others set out west with little more than the clothes on their backs. Over the course of months many were victim to various perils: dehydration, deprivation, radiation sickness, infected mole rat bites, and so on. In one, rather detached and analytical log, Trestridge writes about having to resort to cannibalism to stay alive.
Eventually alone, she discovered the joint base. In her journal she describes it as, “Some sort of Military-Industrial joint effort. Mostly RobCo and the army, but it seems General Atomics was also pushing their products. A sad, too-little-too-late effort to win the war, but perhaps useful to me.” She catalogues the contents of various repair bays and storage facilities, the component parts of the robots she’s used to enact her plan.
Her most recent journals outline her desire to marry together assaultron and robobrain designs to provide herself with a nigh-impervious body. There are several key components she seems to require, and expresses her intent to raid them from the “simple-minded dirt farmers and scrap scavengers that litter this part of the world.” Her checklist of items follows, with its components ticked off save one: phenytoin. A PC can make an INT + (Medicine or Science) test with a difficulty of 2 to identify this compound as a drug used in brain surgery.
Fate Of The Joint Base
Due to the high volume of pre-war technology within, if Knights Pierce and Macey survive, they immediately lay claim to the base in the name of the Brotherhood of Steel. Otherwise, the more open-minded Scribe Galen suggests that he’ll have to report its discovery to the Brotherhood, but can “wait a day or two first,” giving the PCs time to salvage items from within.
The base is a Large Area that has been Partially Searched.
Its Item listing is as follows: 4-6 Ammunition, 1-2 Armor, 2-3 Chems, 2-3 Junk, 0-1 Weapons (Ranged), 0-1 Weapons (Melee).
Where To Go Next
Following the events of the adventure, the PCs have several options. Members of the Brotherhood will have earned a reputation based on their actions during the adventure, and might gain enough notoriety to receive special missions related to the Joint Base. Other characters will have earned the respect of Scribe Galen at the very least, who can act as a helpful contact within the Brotherhood.
The following are some other options for adventures connected to Machine Frequency.
- The irradiated town of Bleakford remains a haven for ghouls and feral wildlife. The Brotherhood of Steel wants it dealt with, but doesn’t want to bother spending resources on simple “clean up duty.” They offer a substantial reward to anyone willing to clear the ruins out and deal with the irradiated waste in the town.
- Scribe Galen needs to return to Bunker 441 at the end of his assignment. On his way out, he’d like to stop by the various settlements he’s learned about over the radio, and see their inhabitants face-to-face. He asks the PCs to accompany him as an escort, which is a solid plan, as the settlements soon become targets for opportunistic raider gangs.
- The PCs could spend time at Joint Base Lewiston or Listening Post Echo to recover from their wounds and recuperate, before setting out on their next venture into the Wasteland. While they do, they hear a transmission over the radio; a strange warbling sound from far away that seems like a response to Dr. Trestridge’s broadcast. Who, or what, could be the source of this transmission? What connection does it have to the ill-fated doc- tor’s efforts? Could it be other Enclave survivors trying to find members of their order?
