Tube Screamer Dungeon

Part Eight: Bad to the Bots

Welcome to part eight of my exploration into converting the electrical schematics of Ibanez’s TS-808 Tube Screamer guitar effects pedal into a fully-realized dungeon map. To those needing to catch up, I’ve placed links to all previous installments at the bottom of this page. Today, I thought we’d take a break from building the map and focus on the robots that maintain the Tube Screamer Dungeon.

Properly maintained, the Tube Screamer Dungeon allows the nearby tribe, the followers of the RaVaugs, to connect with their metal gods. Unfortunately, the Tube Screamer is no longer functioning. The central AI has stopped working, and the robots that help maintain the dungeon have gone rogue. Four types of robots maintain the Tube Screamer Dungeon: Korg A440 Bots, Sparky 120V Bots, Spit and Shine 409 Bots, and Weller 60W Bots. Each bot has a specific function within the dungeon that is vital to the dungeon. When properly working, each helps maintain the functionality of the dungeon. When left on their own, they’re a menace to anyone who encounters them.

Korg A440 Bots
The Korg A440 Bots assist the Tube Screamer’s central AI in keeping the dungeon in peak performance. These basketball-sized floating audio wave generators float throughout the Tube Screamer Dungeon, sending out smooth periodic oscillation waves at various sound frequencies. They can produce four types of waves at varying frequencies; triangle, square, sawtooth, and sine. The dungeon’s central AI monitors and provides instructions to the bots, but has stopped responding. Several Korg A440 Bots were still in service when the AI disappeared. Since then, they have continued their sweep of the dungeon.  Bouncing high-frequency sound waves throughout in the hopes that the central AI will respond. The sound waves broadcasted are out of the range of humans hearing, and their source, the bots, produce harmful electromagnetic radiation. Don’t get to close.

The Korg A440 Bots patrol the Tube Screamer Dungeon bouncing their sound waves off its walls. When an object impedes the natural flow of the dungeon, it moves in for a closer inspection and cycles through its wave types. Each wave produces varying degrees of damaging electromagnetic radiation. The wave sequence is always the least harmful and ends with the most harmful. Characters within 40′ radius of the bot must make a successful Fort Save vs radiation damage. The amount of damage depends on the type of wave the Korg A440 is currently producing. Triangle wave produces the least amount of electromagnetic radiation at 1d4 damage. Square wave 1d6 damage, Sawtooth wave 1d8 damage, and sine wave 1d10 damage. Once the bot has gone through one cycle, it will relay its finding to the central AI, who still isn’t responding, and move on.  

Sparky 120V Bots
A well-oiled machine is a well-maintained machine. To keep the Tube Screamer Dungeon in tip-top shape, the dungeon’s central AI utilizes Sparky 120V Bots for its repair. The Sparky 120V bots are the multi-tool of the service bots with an array of tools at their disposal. When doors get stuck or an elevator needs repair, Sparky 120V Bots are put into service.

Sparky 120V Bots are about the size of a portable metal toolbox. They propel themselves with six magnetized legs, allowing them to cling to walls and ceilings. Openings in their metal shells allow armatures to extend with tools for the job at hand. At the time of the central AI disappeared, the Sparky 120V Bots were out greasing squeaky doors and removing obstructions with their disintegration beams. With no additional orders, they’ve continued, but now their programming has gone askew. They indiscriminately spray slick grease or firing disintegrations beams at anything they wish. Characters encountering a Sparky 120V Bot will find themselves on a slippery and deadly slope.

Spit and Shine 409, a.k.a. SS409 Bots
Cleanliness is close to metal godliness, and that goes for the Tube Screamer Dungeon too. To ensure the halls and rooms of the Tube Screamer Dungeon are free of debris, the central AI deploys Spit and Shine 409 Bots to keep it clean. Also known as SS409, these bots ensure that sweet tones flow throughout unobstructed by dirt and grim. Without the central AI’s custodial management software operating, the SS409 Bots are on their own to keep the dungeon clean. Unfortunately, they haven’t been doing their job very well. Their dirt and dust recognition software has developed a flaw. It can no longer distinguish surfaces as dirty, so everything is dirty to it. 

These hovering torsos bots glide throughout the dungeon, spraying and wiping anything that gets in their path. They are highly meticulous, focusing on a single target before moving on. They will not stop until it sparkles. A nozzle in the center of the torso sprays a powerful solvent, grim fighting chemical up to 60′. This toxic chemical breaks down organic material for three rounds, accompanied by a clean lemony scent. As the organic dissolver loosens dirt, the bots scrubbing arm featuring a coarse scouring pad takes over. It vigorously scours the dirty surface for two rounds finishing with an Isopropyl Alcohol rinse from the central nozzle. Now clean a second arm affixed with a high-speed rotating buffer wheel polishes the surface for an additional two rounds. The end result is a clean surface with a high sheen and a fresh scent.

Weller 60W Bots
The Weller 60W Bots provide a special function within the Tube Screamer Dungeon. Their job is to apply solder to key connection points producing a clean, shiny globular of solder on solder joints. They also replace dull tinny-looking bad solder joints with their heat ray and high suction vacuum. Solder joints are found at the entrance of every room and elevator. Its what connects the dungeon together and keeps it functioning. If a solder joint breaks or develops a dull tinny-look, the Weller 60W Bots are brought into action to remedy the situation. With the central AI no longer active, the Weller 60W bots are left to their own discretion. They often mistake other objects for broken or dull solder joints and will attempt to repair them. They are especially attracted to moving pieces of metal; a clear sign of a break.

The Weller 60W Bots are tracked rolling bots three feet in height with two large tanks on their backs. One tank holds molten solder while the other is the vacuum’s waste container. The bots have two armatures that articulate from its center torso. The armature on the left side shoots molten solder up to 40 feet while the second armature produces a heat blast at 400°C at point-blank range that can melt metal followed by an intense suction action capturing the molten material in its waste container. Metals like tin and lead will instantly melt under the heat ray. The bots sensors located on top of the torso are malfunctioning. The bots don’t recognize what they should be soldering and can’t distinguish between metal and organic material. Anything that moves other than the dungeon doors is deemed broken and targeted for repair. The bot begins its repair first with the heat blast to melt the old solder off the joint. At the same time, it quickly vacuums it up. With the joint clean, it applies a healthy dose of solder, three or four globs to be safe. With the repair complete, it continues to search for more items to fuse.

Adventurers entering the Tube Screamer Dungeon and attacking any of these bots are actually harming the whole system. These bots are necessary for the health of the dungeon. Destroying too many will deprive the dungeon of its workforce required to maintain it in good functioning order. But try telling that to a character when their under attack from a bot just trying to do its job.

Well, that was a nice diversion from map building. It’s always good to take a break once and a while and focus on other aspects related to the dungeon you’re creating. I’ll be continuing on this tangent in our next installment, Part Nine: And Artifacts For All, with the ancient artifacts of the Tube Screamer Dungeon. We’ll get back to the map soon, but in the meantime, remember to use the links below to look back on our journey. Thanks and I’ll see you soon.

~Stephen Pennisi

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Follow my journey with the links below:
Part One: Proof of Concept
Part Two: Design and Refine
Part Three: Moving On Up
Part Four: An Isometric Point of View
Part Five: Capacitors as Elevators
Part Six: Diodes and Resistors
Part Seven: Transistors & Opamp
Part Eight: Bad to the Bots
Part Nine: And Artifacts For All
Tube Screamer Dungeon – Part Ten: Block Party

Want detailed stats and more information on the bots given here? Then become a Patreon backer today. Each Patreon backer received the bots describe above fully statted for the Mutant Crawl Classic Roleplaying game. Additionally, backers received other exclusive Tube Screamer Dungeon material as well as other Rolling Boxcars perks. Hop on board and become a Rolling Boxcars Patreon Supporter today.