More Mechanical Horses

Previously, we built a mechanical horse for the broken clockwork world. That's awesome, but what else can we do with this horse? surely not everyone uses the same design? What will people want? What can we do with it? Here, we look at tweaks we can make to the horse using the spaceships design system.

Long Range Mechanical Horse

ST:25	HP: 50	Speed: 5.50
DX: 10	Will: 6	Move: 10/20
IQ: 6	Per: 10	Weight: 2000 lbs
HT: 12	FP: N/A	SM:+1
Dodge: 8	Parry: 8	DR:7

Built with expensive alloys to save weight and add more spring, the long range mechanical horse still heavier and a bit more expensive at $21,300, but can run for 72 hours strait without rewinding: over twice as long as the basic mechanical horse. They take twice as long to wind up, but the increased range is often worth the increased price. 200 lbs of cargo space has been taken up by extra springs, so they can't carry quite as much.

To build this horse, we upgraded the armor to be metallic alloy, swapped out three of them for more springs, and added two more springs to leave no cargo space.

Steam Horse

ST:25	HP: 50	Speed: 5.50
DX: 10	Will: 6	Move: 10/20
IQ: 6	Per: 10	Weight: 1800 lbs
HT: 12	FP: N/A	SM:+1
Dodge: 8	Parry: 8	DR:10

For mechanical riders who want an actually unlimited range on their steed, there is the steam horse, which runs on coal, requiring no engine, or even wood, should you be stranded somewhere without the basic amenities of civilization. Steam Horses cost $19,100, only slightly more than the mechanical horses, and are fairly similar in most other respects. 

A single load of coal for this horse weighs 213 lbs, costs $14, and lets the horse run for 21 hours. When substituting wood for coal, there is only space for 100 lbs of the stuff, and it will only run for 2 hours 40 minutes-- but it runs!

The steam horse was based on the original horse, but the four spring systems were swapped out for two simple steam engine systems from pyramid 64. If advanced steam engines are used instead, the cost drops just a little to $18,900 as we only need one engine, and the coal weighs 312 lbs, costs $20, and lasts for an impressive 250 hours. When using wood, the load weighs 150 lbs and lasts for 31 hours.

Fast Mechanical Horse

ST:25	HP: 50	Speed: 5.50
DX: 10	Will: 6	Move: 10/30
IQ: 6	Per: 10	Weight: 1700 lbs
HT: 12	FP: N/A	SM:+1
Dodge: 8	Parry: 8	DR:5

 Sometimes speed is all that matters. These contraptions are built to move at high speed. They are sleek, and require their riders minimize drag to reach top speeds. Cutting edge alloys allow a strong horse to devote more of its mass to moving quickly. Not only can they move quickly, but they can do so across reasonably rough terrain. They may not be the most practical mechanical horse, but they remain popular, especially as they only cost $19,800. With their powerful legs and weight-saving measures, they can actually carry quite a load, though not at their top speeds.

If the rider is not properly dressed for fast riding, the horse's top speed is 25, not 30. 

To build this horse, we removed three systems of armor, added two more systems of legs, upgraded the remaining armor to an alloy and made it streamlined. 

Traction Behemoth

ST:50	HP: 100	Speed: 5.50
DX: 10	Will: 6	Move:5/10
IQ: 6	Per: 10	Weight: 6.5 tons
HT: 12	FP: N/A	SM:+3
Dodge: 8	Parry: 8	DR:10

A massive iron creature with an emphasis on transport, the traction behemoth focuses on cargo capacity rather than speed. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: this one is merely one example. 

It costs $85,000, and can carry 3.5 tons before its load counts towards its encumbrance. It take a ton of coal to fill this machine, costing 120$, and fueling it for 18 hours. It can run for 2 and a half hours on a half ton of wood. 

If advanced steam engines are used instead, a ton and a half of coal can be loaded, costing 180$, and lasting for 10 days of continuous operation.

This example is built with a 10 ton chassis, a control room, engine room, 4 double down shifted cheap legs, two steam engines, two fuel tanks, and 3 systems of iron armor, leaving 3.5 tons of "cargo" which in this case is just external (7 extra systems). that makes 10 systems that either armor or nothing, giving the Behemoth boost to its DR (see pyramid 34). The mind metal brain still costs a flat $10,000. If the advanced steam engine is used, one steam engine is swapped out for a fuel tank.

 The base cost of this chassis is 75, plus the $10,000 worth of mind metal to make it run and think, and we're dropping the size category by one. A version based on a 5 ton chassis would cost $47,500, and have 1.75 tons of payload.

Using Tricked Out Rides

The modifications above were done by moving systems around. By using the rules in Action 6: Tricked-Out-Rides, we can alter the results by spending more money instead. The section "Available in Many Models", starting on page 4, is the most useful part of the book for us.  Rugged, Fast, and Fuel efficient models are among the most popular, and allow us a wide variety of options.

I hope you enjoyed this look at mechanical horses, and all the different ways they can appear. Happy riding, and happy tinkering!