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Construct
ConstructAvatar
Description
Name Construct
Creator Rooted Empire
Purpose Defense, manual labor
Status Active


Construct
Construct 5x5
A menace for any smitemaster.
Monster ID 40
Layer Monster
Movement Flexible beelining / Pathfinding(?)
First appears DROD 5.0
Is required Yes
Is brain visible No

Construct debris
ConstructPile WithEnvHazards 5x5
Constructs cannot repair themselves while on hazards.
Monster ID 40
Layer Monster
Movement Stationary
First appears DROD 5.0
Is required No
Is brain visible Yes

Constructs are a robotic monster created by the Rooted Empire to defend their fortifications.

Description[]

Constructs were an early attempt by Empire scientists to create laboratory assistants and manual laborers. After countless nights of burning the midnight tar, the engineers managed to create a design with enough strength, intelligence, and programmability to satisfy the project requirements. Unfortunately, the cost ended up prohibitively expensive: even a single construct required tons of rare materials, hundreds of specialized components, and months of labor from the Empire's most senior craftsmen. Initially, 1st Defense Coordinator thought that constructs' strength and intelligence would make them excellent guards, but after a more thorough investigation, she concluded that enemy combatants could smash constructs as easily as they could smash rock golems. What few constructs had been built were therefore assigned to clerical work and construction supervision, and after a scant few decades, production was halted and existing constructs were no longer repaired.

Millennia later, after studying ancient scrolls penned by a mysterious "von Neumann", 7th Metalsmith and 5th Programmer redesigned constructs by filling them with tiny machines that could use predefined fracture lines, dynamic electromagnetic binding, and other tools modeled on cellular biology in order to repair damage. That way, even if a construct falls into a chasm or is buried under a cave-in, it can still repair itself and continue its task, or at least be recovered and reused without the added hassle of having to rebuild it. This innovation turned constructs into an effective and self-sufficient defense system.

To prevent physical malfunction or programmatic divergence, constructs will not attempt to regenerate if the green door signal is broadcast. They will instead remain in rubble form until they can be retrieved and inspected.

Constructs are smarter and more versatile than most other monsters. They can step diagonally around small obstacles, wade through shallow water, and push fragile objects like mirrors or kegs without breaking them. However, constructs are not intelligent enough to pathfind to their target unless there is a nearby brain that can help override their programming.

Constructs are aware they're made of metal, so they refuse to step onto oremites. Being forced onto oremites has predictably damaging results for the construct. Construct rubble can also be pushed into water to short-circuit it permanently (and create a stepping stone). Furthermore, constructs can't regenerate fast enough to recover from being melted and remelted by hot tiles and firetraps, or from being repeatedly punctured by floor spikes. And as with most things made of matter, they can be vaporized by conventional explosives.

After seeing the intelligence and effectiveness of rock giants, there has been a renewed interest in using constructs as personal assistants for complicated tasks, since unlike rock giants, constructs are small enough to utilize the various tunnels and tools already used by citizens. With sufficient programming, construct bodies are capable of juggling eggs, deciphering handwriting, and even negotiating stairs, a feat no other robots in history have been capable of.[1]

Behavior[]

Target[]

  • Constructs target the player (if not stealthed), decoys, temporal clones, stalwarts, and soldiers.
    • Constructs prioritize the closest target first using Manhattan distance. In the case of a tie, constructs prefer the target with the latest movement order.
    • Decoys are always prioritized last as long as there is another target within five tiles of the construct.

Movement[]

  • Constructs use flexible beelining like guards and aumtlichs, except they don't spend time turning.
  • Brained constructs use pathfinding.
  • Constructs can traverse shallow water.
  • Like armed delvers, constructs drop trapdoors or thin ice they step off of.
  • Constructs treat oremites as impassable.
  • Constructs can push powder kegs and mirrors.
  • Constructs will crush puffs with impunity, and puffs will not target constructs. If a construct is standing on a fluff vent, it cannot spawn.

Remains[]

  • When a construct is killed, its body crumbles into construct remains.
  • Remains do not move, but on the thirtieth turn, they will try to repair themselves, ready to move on the next turn.
  • Remains will not repair themselves if destroyed, if the room is conquered, or if they're sitting on hot tiles, active fire traps, or floor spikes.

Vulnerabilities[]

  • Constructs are vulnerable to sharp weapons, explosions, briar, hot tiles, active firetraps, and floor spikes.
  • Construct remains can be blown up with explosives or shattered with the swing of a pickaxe.
  • If a construct is forced onto a tile containing oremites, it immediately collapses into remains. If construct remains are forced onto oremites, the remains dissolve permanently.
  • If construct remains are forced into a tile of shallow water, the remains become a stepping stone.
  • Constructs (active or otherwise) can be pushed or dropped into pit or water to kill them permanently.

Other[]

  • Constructs are immune to weapons on the turn they repair themselves, so delvers can buy themselves at most 29 turns between killing a construct and it rising again. However, delvers can gain one additional turn of construct downtime if they kill a construct on turn 30, since constructs can't repair themselves on the same turn they die.

References[]

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