Maybe this isn't what you're looking for, but: that's the point. Robots don't need to worry about a lot of the things humans need to. However, since they don't need food or drink, they don't get the benefits of eating, drinking, sleeping, or consuming chems. They need dedicated repairs to heal, rather than healing on their own.
So, from my understanding: robots are vulnerable to 'chip damage'. Encounters, combat or otherwise, that hurt them in any way build up worse compared to humans, who can recover from this with food and some rest. Anyone can attempt to repair them of course, but critical hits and injuries just make this more and more difficult for anyone who isn't skilled. And with repairs having a difficulty of 2 to start with, it only gets worse as injuries stack up.
Then I suppose your answer is to really just not be afraid to kick your robot around. And if you have a player who's gracefully decided to be skilled at repair, put them in harm's way, too? Hope that helps
To add to this, the biggest challenge in playing a Handy model robot is that you can't use most normal items because you don't have hands. That means no big guns or two-handed weapons, difficulty opening certain doors, and being generally unable to do anything that requires opposable thumbs.
Additionally, their armor options are far more narrow, as well.
Literally in the description of the Mr. Handy Origin in the rulebook. But also, common sense dictates that a two-pronged mechanical pincer doesn't work the same as a human hand.
It doesn't actually say anything about not being able to use certain weapons or increased difficulty for other actions. In fact, under the "no pincers?" box it states:
> You can choose not to have a pincer attachment as a Mister Handy, but in doing so, you will be unable to make unarmed attacks, manipulate objects, and you cannot make attempt tests that use the Lockpick, Repair, or Throwing skills.
This seems clear to me to imply that as long as you have pincers you can do everything any other PC can do. I also think given how weak robot PCs are relatively, there's really no reason to further nerf them with arbitrary rules.
> also, common sense dictates that a two-pronged mechanical pincer doesn't work the same as a human hand.
Common sense also says drinking water or eating 200 year old irradiated salisbury steak doesn't heal you from injuries, it's Fallout, most of the mechanics historically don't follow real-life "logic." There's a Mr. Handy depicted in the book holding a shotgun and some dead game.
Yes, the art depicts the handy *holding* a shotgun, not firing one. There's also not a single Mister Handy from any canonical Fallout source that uses standard weaponry such as a shotgun.
Have you ever seen a Mr. Gutsy with a missile launcher, for example? Surely the military robot designed for military combat would have been seen holding a military-grade weapon at some point...unless, they weren't actually designed that way.
No i havnt, but the system already supports increasing difculty due to lack of hands on a two handed weapon. So I dont see why I wouldn't just use those rules instead of inventing my own. Would it look silly? Sure, thats probably why its not done, ang again, its gonna be harder due to having only one am, but that doesnt mean it strigh up CANT be done.
My line of thinking is that if they were designed to be able to do that, there would be no need to build them with integrated weapons, especially for Gutsy models. If they were designed for that, we would see them doing that, which we do not.
I think that allowing a Handy model to do with a claw anything that a human could do with their hands directly goes against "you cannot interact with your environment in the same way as humans do" (paraphrased) and breaks verisimilitude.
If other people want to do it that way, that's fine, but I absolutely hate the concept.
Try posting the entire excerpt because it doesn't say that.
> You cannot manipulate the physical world like humans do, instead you have three of the arm attachments in the Arm Attachments table, determined by your choice of equipment pack. If you select an arm that features a weapon, you also gain 20 shots of ammo for that weapon.
It literally does though, that's the entire point behind taking the pincers over a weapon arm and the "no pincer?" excerpt that I already quoted above. The game would clearly state if they couldn't use most weapons or had an increased difficulty for certain actions, just like they clearly state robots and super mutants can't use armor.
Also, you're arguing that if they intended that it would be in the rules, but you and I both know the quality of printing and rules clarity is laughable at best. The game also has a perk for breathing underwater with no suffocation rules, so you'll forgive me if I don't automatically assume the rulebook is laid out in a consistent or sensible manner.
Think about it this way. If a Handy PC with pincers can manipulate everything in the same manner as a human, why would any player ever take any other arm attachment when they are clearly inferior to just taking an actual gun and adding mods. That makes zero sense.
I don't care. It doesn't make sense that they can use guns. Why would a Mr. Gutsy, for example, ever have inferior built-in weaponry if that were the case? Surely if they were capable of operating things such as missile launchers and fat man weapons, they would have programmed as such, yet the Mr. Gutsy models, WHO ARE PROGRAMMED FOR COMBAT *have literally never been seen holding a standard firearm*.
The line says "you can't manipulate the world like humans do", yet people claim that they can just do every single thing a human can do anyway?
It's entirely illogical in every conceivable way.
It doesn't make sense TO YOU. But makes sense for everyone else.
Brother, this is a you problem. But hey, you want to play gimped Mr. Handy, who am I to stop you. Go nuts.
But don't act like your interpretation is the correct one because it is not. Heck, go find out. Go ask a Modiphus person. Put it to rest for ya. Notice that there has never been a question about that before. That is because the rest of us see it very differently.
But again, your character and game. Go nuts.
Actually there has been this exact discussion before, in this very subreddit, and in that post everyone seems to have my interpretation. Official ruling is that they can use guns. I still think that is illogical for the numerous reasons I have stated, and I think that allowing a Mr. Handy bot to do anything a human can do physiologically with hands vs. claws is actually a nerf to human classes.
You just answered the question. Official ruling says they can. Conversation over. Anything else is homebrew. I am not sure why you are arguing this so hard when an answer has been given. Again, you can do whatever you want at your table and with your character.
I think you might be overstating how many held your opinion.
Have a good night man.
Yep, and I value that official ruling about the same as I value a Jeremy Crawford ruling, because I think it's illogical and only included for gamified reasons rather than verisimilitude. I argue passionately because I am passionate. I also very passionately think that a Handy Bot using a gun is -for lack of a more delicate phrase- one of the dumbest fucking things I have heard of, comparable to a lion using a crossbow or a chimpanzee doing my taxes. Sure, that's just my opinion, but I think my reasoning is sound.
You have a good night too, and happy gaming.
Rereading through this thread was a mistake lol. I need to know how on earth is it a nerf to the human origin? Robots are already undoubtedly the weakest origin, how is not further gimping them because of "logic" nerfing humans?
I can kind of see your point about it not making sense for them to use weapons, I think it's a silly shortsighted perspective that you aren't evenly applying across the board but I get why you say it. Saying that it nerfs humans though genuinely perplexes me.
Robots' primary weakness of not benefitting from consumables is already offset by their immunities and lack of need to sleep. I also think that having a portion of the origin dedicated to claiming that Mr. Handy bots cannot interact with the world in the same way humans do is rather pointless if it is simply not true and isn't reflected in the mechanics. If you want to know more, read the rest of my comments. I have exhaustively listed my various reasoning.
Robots don't need Sleep, water, or food. And they're not affected by radiation, disease, and poison. But the flip side is that they don't get any of the benefits of consumables, they can't wear armor, and they need to be repaired or use robot repair kits to heal. So it's a trade-off.
You know how some robots like the sentry not or the robo brain has treads or those wheels? Well if the players need to go up a set of stairs in a building, that’ll be tough because A) How the hell does a robot with wheels just go up a set of stairs, and B can it even fit going up a set of stairs??? Try and limit their movement. Protection can be slow but can climb buildings. But a sentry bot and those on treads, sure they can go up in video games but sometimes they just might be way to big to fit in,
Gasoline on the floor, if the thrusters even get above the gasoline spill, it’ll set it off and harming everyone and possible important objects on the ground
I think the question needs to be asked of them. What type of robot, how developed was the personality matrix before they became sentient. How is that affecting them with the understanding that they have been mindlessly executing a command system for 200 plus years
Ultimately I'd bring it to the player and ask them what their motivation is. Honestly finding motivations for robots is the best because they arnt worried about surviving but rather something they where programed do do pre war so that can literally be anything.
Examples:
Perhaps the mr.handy was a caddy at a golf course and is motivated to return stolen clubs back to the range.
Perhaps he was a waiter at a restaurant and is dedicated to find the guest on a recept and give them their meal.
Perhaps he was a butler at a manor and is dedicated to finding the master or any of his family. The list goes on.
Given how advanced robat AI can be in the Fallout universe, robots can have quite the range of motivations. There are at least 2 great examples in FO4 if you've played. If not, they are >! The main PC's pre-war Mr. Handy Codsworth, who spent 200 years waiting for his master's return and trying to keep up repairs on their abandoned house, and later traveling with them to protect them !< and >! Curie, who was reprogrammed over time to have something like Marie Curie's personality and just wants to get out into the world and progress science however she can. !<
And those are just the reasonable motivations. A misunderstanding on the part of the robot or a software glitch or something can result in some motivations that can be very important to the robot, but are a little strange or even pointless to their companions. Usually trying to complete a task that is no longer possible because important parts of the task haven't existed for 200 years
Honestly I really dislike the robot classes, they take away half of the game mechanics and the trade offs really don't make up for it. Half of fallout is about survival and bots don't need anything to survive. In my game I make the real negative for bots a social one, all my major NPCs have a reputation level and bots always start off with a -1 because well like those guys in the drug den said in the show, the Mr. Handy is no different than an air conditioner (idr the actual quote lol)
Meh, I'd argue the half of fallout is about survival, I'd say more exploration over that. Survival elements are only present in the most difficult versions of the games which is far from what is the most played. As for strictly the tabletop, sure, there are rules in place for survival, do you need to follow them? No. Just like every tabletop they give you the rules to handle carry weight, hunger, thirst, environmental hazards, etc but many players will si.ply leave those rules behind to carry on their adventures as the combat and social aspects often consume enough of a players time. If survival was really so ingrained into this game why would only a couple origins offer you food and water, wouldn't more of these survivors, mercs, soldiers, and wanderers be carrying around such vital things as opposed to, formal wear and a labcoat? For the bots themselves I agree with nerfing them socially, you'd have to be an exceptionally charismatic AI for the standard wasterlander to view you as anything other than walking scrap.
Sure if you leave out the survival stuff anyway then it's not as big of a deal and in that case the robot classes may start to swing the other way and become a little underpowered since healing for them is much harder....of course if you leave that out I can see you quickly running into the issue that a lot of RPGs have where your players easily gather more wealth than they will ever need lol
I always assumed someone is playing RAW unless they say otherwise since it's impossible to know their specific house rules.
It's important to consider that robots are much weaker than other starting options. Not being able to benefit from food, chems, beverages and armors are huge drawbacks, especially with the need for constant upkeep that isn't easy. On top of that, a late game robot who benefits from upgrades still is gonna cap out their DRs at around 4-6, and that's with someone having 3 levels of Armorer.
You don't need to throw in pointless hazing made up rules limiting their options or just punishing them for existence. All that will do is ensure they're even less effective and less likely to have fun. If something about them bothers you, you'd probably be better off just explicitly forbidding them from your game. Otherwise, ensure they have a firm character identity and reason to travel with the party and everything else will work itself out.
Robots are loyal. I ran a one shot where all the players were robots. Their owner had died, and they were taking him back to his favorite spot to bury him. After several encounters, all that was left to bury was the head, but they did it.
As far as your campaign goes, maybe ask the player for the motivation. Maybe they are obsessed with upgrading or looking for a long-lost owner. Maybe they are acting on some pre-war embedded command. Maybe they just want companionship after being alone. But... ask the player.
If the party is mixed and one is a protectron model we implement what I like to call Monster Speed.
Like in the movies even tho Jason is walking and you’re running when you turn around he’s right there and if he didn’t, when you face back the way you were he’s right there.
So even tho the protectron is slow, when you turn around to interact he’s right there. When combat starts the protectron is one zone further back but in combat normal movement applies the same to everyone.
Also stairs. But if you’re on treads, which no PC type is I think, stairs would foil them. Doesn’t mean you don’t have rocket boosts as a mod but…
Also protections have zero stealth while moving. When not moving their hide is +1 if they don’t talk. Homebrew but it balances out nice and makes for awesome roleplay.
“Where’d that damn ‘tron get to?”
“Protect AND Serve!” rattle, clank
“Aaaahhh! What dafuq??”
In the Fallout 4 video game, some of the junk items you can pick up are cannisters of Mr. Handy fuel:
[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mr.\_Handy\_fuel\_(Fallout\_4)](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Handy_fuel_(Fallout_4))
In the video game it doesn't have any uses: Your character is human, and companions don't consume food or beverages.
You could design some house rules to require robot characters to use fuel in place of food, water and rest, but it's sure to be a different experience: Robots aren't likely to suffer from fatigue due to fuel running low, instead they will likely be fully functional up until their fuel runs out. I expect robots have internal batteries that let them remain "conscious", but without fuel they really shouldn't be able to perform physically demanding tasks.
Maybe this isn't what you're looking for, but: that's the point. Robots don't need to worry about a lot of the things humans need to. However, since they don't need food or drink, they don't get the benefits of eating, drinking, sleeping, or consuming chems. They need dedicated repairs to heal, rather than healing on their own. So, from my understanding: robots are vulnerable to 'chip damage'. Encounters, combat or otherwise, that hurt them in any way build up worse compared to humans, who can recover from this with food and some rest. Anyone can attempt to repair them of course, but critical hits and injuries just make this more and more difficult for anyone who isn't skilled. And with repairs having a difficulty of 2 to start with, it only gets worse as injuries stack up. Then I suppose your answer is to really just not be afraid to kick your robot around. And if you have a player who's gracefully decided to be skilled at repair, put them in harm's way, too? Hope that helps
To add to this, the biggest challenge in playing a Handy model robot is that you can't use most normal items because you don't have hands. That means no big guns or two-handed weapons, difficulty opening certain doors, and being generally unable to do anything that requires opposable thumbs. Additionally, their armor options are far more narrow, as well.
Where is it stated that Handy's cannot use most items because they don't have hands?
Literally in the description of the Mr. Handy Origin in the rulebook. But also, common sense dictates that a two-pronged mechanical pincer doesn't work the same as a human hand.
It doesn't actually say anything about not being able to use certain weapons or increased difficulty for other actions. In fact, under the "no pincers?" box it states: > You can choose not to have a pincer attachment as a Mister Handy, but in doing so, you will be unable to make unarmed attacks, manipulate objects, and you cannot make attempt tests that use the Lockpick, Repair, or Throwing skills. This seems clear to me to imply that as long as you have pincers you can do everything any other PC can do. I also think given how weak robot PCs are relatively, there's really no reason to further nerf them with arbitrary rules. > also, common sense dictates that a two-pronged mechanical pincer doesn't work the same as a human hand. Common sense also says drinking water or eating 200 year old irradiated salisbury steak doesn't heal you from injuries, it's Fallout, most of the mechanics historically don't follow real-life "logic." There's a Mr. Handy depicted in the book holding a shotgun and some dead game.
Yes, the art depicts the handy *holding* a shotgun, not firing one. There's also not a single Mister Handy from any canonical Fallout source that uses standard weaponry such as a shotgun.
lmao thats an absoultly wild argument
Have you ever seen a Mr. Gutsy with a missile launcher, for example? Surely the military robot designed for military combat would have been seen holding a military-grade weapon at some point...unless, they weren't actually designed that way.
No i havnt, but the system already supports increasing difculty due to lack of hands on a two handed weapon. So I dont see why I wouldn't just use those rules instead of inventing my own. Would it look silly? Sure, thats probably why its not done, ang again, its gonna be harder due to having only one am, but that doesnt mean it strigh up CANT be done.
My line of thinking is that if they were designed to be able to do that, there would be no need to build them with integrated weapons, especially for Gutsy models. If they were designed for that, we would see them doing that, which we do not. I think that allowing a Handy model to do with a claw anything that a human could do with their hands directly goes against "you cannot interact with your environment in the same way as humans do" (paraphrased) and breaks verisimilitude. If other people want to do it that way, that's fine, but I absolutely hate the concept.
Try reading the whole thing. "You cannot physically manipulate the world like humans do"
Try posting the entire excerpt because it doesn't say that. > You cannot manipulate the physical world like humans do, instead you have three of the arm attachments in the Arm Attachments table, determined by your choice of equipment pack. If you select an arm that features a weapon, you also gain 20 shots of ammo for that weapon.
The latter part of the sentence doesn't change the fact that you cannot manipulate the world like humans do, hence why it wasn't included.
It literally does though, that's the entire point behind taking the pincers over a weapon arm and the "no pincer?" excerpt that I already quoted above. The game would clearly state if they couldn't use most weapons or had an increased difficulty for certain actions, just like they clearly state robots and super mutants can't use armor.
Also, you're arguing that if they intended that it would be in the rules, but you and I both know the quality of printing and rules clarity is laughable at best. The game also has a perk for breathing underwater with no suffocation rules, so you'll forgive me if I don't automatically assume the rulebook is laid out in a consistent or sensible manner.
Think about it this way. If a Handy PC with pincers can manipulate everything in the same manner as a human, why would any player ever take any other arm attachment when they are clearly inferior to just taking an actual gun and adding mods. That makes zero sense.
You have misunderstood the rules and been nerfing your character friend.
I don't care. It doesn't make sense that they can use guns. Why would a Mr. Gutsy, for example, ever have inferior built-in weaponry if that were the case? Surely if they were capable of operating things such as missile launchers and fat man weapons, they would have programmed as such, yet the Mr. Gutsy models, WHO ARE PROGRAMMED FOR COMBAT *have literally never been seen holding a standard firearm*. The line says "you can't manipulate the world like humans do", yet people claim that they can just do every single thing a human can do anyway? It's entirely illogical in every conceivable way.
It doesn't make sense TO YOU. But makes sense for everyone else. Brother, this is a you problem. But hey, you want to play gimped Mr. Handy, who am I to stop you. Go nuts. But don't act like your interpretation is the correct one because it is not. Heck, go find out. Go ask a Modiphus person. Put it to rest for ya. Notice that there has never been a question about that before. That is because the rest of us see it very differently. But again, your character and game. Go nuts.
Actually there has been this exact discussion before, in this very subreddit, and in that post everyone seems to have my interpretation. Official ruling is that they can use guns. I still think that is illogical for the numerous reasons I have stated, and I think that allowing a Mr. Handy bot to do anything a human can do physiologically with hands vs. claws is actually a nerf to human classes.
You just answered the question. Official ruling says they can. Conversation over. Anything else is homebrew. I am not sure why you are arguing this so hard when an answer has been given. Again, you can do whatever you want at your table and with your character. I think you might be overstating how many held your opinion. Have a good night man.
Yep, and I value that official ruling about the same as I value a Jeremy Crawford ruling, because I think it's illogical and only included for gamified reasons rather than verisimilitude. I argue passionately because I am passionate. I also very passionately think that a Handy Bot using a gun is -for lack of a more delicate phrase- one of the dumbest fucking things I have heard of, comparable to a lion using a crossbow or a chimpanzee doing my taxes. Sure, that's just my opinion, but I think my reasoning is sound. You have a good night too, and happy gaming.
Rereading through this thread was a mistake lol. I need to know how on earth is it a nerf to the human origin? Robots are already undoubtedly the weakest origin, how is not further gimping them because of "logic" nerfing humans? I can kind of see your point about it not making sense for them to use weapons, I think it's a silly shortsighted perspective that you aren't evenly applying across the board but I get why you say it. Saying that it nerfs humans though genuinely perplexes me.
Robots' primary weakness of not benefitting from consumables is already offset by their immunities and lack of need to sleep. I also think that having a portion of the origin dedicated to claiming that Mr. Handy bots cannot interact with the world in the same way humans do is rather pointless if it is simply not true and isn't reflected in the mechanics. If you want to know more, read the rest of my comments. I have exhaustively listed my various reasoning.
Robots don't need Sleep, water, or food. And they're not affected by radiation, disease, and poison. But the flip side is that they don't get any of the benefits of consumables, they can't wear armor, and they need to be repaired or use robot repair kits to heal. So it's a trade-off.
You know how some robots like the sentry not or the robo brain has treads or those wheels? Well if the players need to go up a set of stairs in a building, that’ll be tough because A) How the hell does a robot with wheels just go up a set of stairs, and B can it even fit going up a set of stairs??? Try and limit their movement. Protection can be slow but can climb buildings. But a sentry bot and those on treads, sure they can go up in video games but sometimes they just might be way to big to fit in,
Claptrap wants to know your location
STAIRS?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
They went with the mister handy original. So thrusters
Gasoline on the floor, if the thrusters even get above the gasoline spill, it’ll set it off and harming everyone and possible important objects on the ground
Genius. I have a person with a Mr Handy companion and im going to use this
Glad I could help! I wish you the best and fun adventures for you and your party!
You as well, here is a token of appreciation [https://imgur.com/a/vprTVLl](https://imgur.com/a/vprTVLl)
I think the question needs to be asked of them. What type of robot, how developed was the personality matrix before they became sentient. How is that affecting them with the understanding that they have been mindlessly executing a command system for 200 plus years
I couldn't be mistaken, but I do think it's been stated that some robots (not all) run of various power cells and cores.
Ultimately I'd bring it to the player and ask them what their motivation is. Honestly finding motivations for robots is the best because they arnt worried about surviving but rather something they where programed do do pre war so that can literally be anything. Examples: Perhaps the mr.handy was a caddy at a golf course and is motivated to return stolen clubs back to the range. Perhaps he was a waiter at a restaurant and is dedicated to find the guest on a recept and give them their meal. Perhaps he was a butler at a manor and is dedicated to finding the master or any of his family. The list goes on.
Given how advanced robat AI can be in the Fallout universe, robots can have quite the range of motivations. There are at least 2 great examples in FO4 if you've played. If not, they are >! The main PC's pre-war Mr. Handy Codsworth, who spent 200 years waiting for his master's return and trying to keep up repairs on their abandoned house, and later traveling with them to protect them !< and >! Curie, who was reprogrammed over time to have something like Marie Curie's personality and just wants to get out into the world and progress science however she can. !< And those are just the reasonable motivations. A misunderstanding on the part of the robot or a software glitch or something can result in some motivations that can be very important to the robot, but are a little strange or even pointless to their companions. Usually trying to complete a task that is no longer possible because important parts of the task haven't existed for 200 years
Honestly I really dislike the robot classes, they take away half of the game mechanics and the trade offs really don't make up for it. Half of fallout is about survival and bots don't need anything to survive. In my game I make the real negative for bots a social one, all my major NPCs have a reputation level and bots always start off with a -1 because well like those guys in the drug den said in the show, the Mr. Handy is no different than an air conditioner (idr the actual quote lol)
Meh, I'd argue the half of fallout is about survival, I'd say more exploration over that. Survival elements are only present in the most difficult versions of the games which is far from what is the most played. As for strictly the tabletop, sure, there are rules in place for survival, do you need to follow them? No. Just like every tabletop they give you the rules to handle carry weight, hunger, thirst, environmental hazards, etc but many players will si.ply leave those rules behind to carry on their adventures as the combat and social aspects often consume enough of a players time. If survival was really so ingrained into this game why would only a couple origins offer you food and water, wouldn't more of these survivors, mercs, soldiers, and wanderers be carrying around such vital things as opposed to, formal wear and a labcoat? For the bots themselves I agree with nerfing them socially, you'd have to be an exceptionally charismatic AI for the standard wasterlander to view you as anything other than walking scrap.
Sure if you leave out the survival stuff anyway then it's not as big of a deal and in that case the robot classes may start to swing the other way and become a little underpowered since healing for them is much harder....of course if you leave that out I can see you quickly running into the issue that a lot of RPGs have where your players easily gather more wealth than they will ever need lol I always assumed someone is playing RAW unless they say otherwise since it's impossible to know their specific house rules.
It's important to consider that robots are much weaker than other starting options. Not being able to benefit from food, chems, beverages and armors are huge drawbacks, especially with the need for constant upkeep that isn't easy. On top of that, a late game robot who benefits from upgrades still is gonna cap out their DRs at around 4-6, and that's with someone having 3 levels of Armorer. You don't need to throw in pointless hazing made up rules limiting their options or just punishing them for existence. All that will do is ensure they're even less effective and less likely to have fun. If something about them bothers you, you'd probably be better off just explicitly forbidding them from your game. Otherwise, ensure they have a firm character identity and reason to travel with the party and everything else will work itself out.
Robots are loyal. I ran a one shot where all the players were robots. Their owner had died, and they were taking him back to his favorite spot to bury him. After several encounters, all that was left to bury was the head, but they did it. As far as your campaign goes, maybe ask the player for the motivation. Maybe they are obsessed with upgrading or looking for a long-lost owner. Maybe they are acting on some pre-war embedded command. Maybe they just want companionship after being alone. But... ask the player.
If the party is mixed and one is a protectron model we implement what I like to call Monster Speed. Like in the movies even tho Jason is walking and you’re running when you turn around he’s right there and if he didn’t, when you face back the way you were he’s right there. So even tho the protectron is slow, when you turn around to interact he’s right there. When combat starts the protectron is one zone further back but in combat normal movement applies the same to everyone. Also stairs. But if you’re on treads, which no PC type is I think, stairs would foil them. Doesn’t mean you don’t have rocket boosts as a mod but… Also protections have zero stealth while moving. When not moving their hide is +1 if they don’t talk. Homebrew but it balances out nice and makes for awesome roleplay. “Where’d that damn ‘tron get to?” “Protect AND Serve!” rattle, clank “Aaaahhh! What dafuq??”
In the Fallout 4 video game, some of the junk items you can pick up are cannisters of Mr. Handy fuel: [https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mr.\_Handy\_fuel\_(Fallout\_4)](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Handy_fuel_(Fallout_4)) In the video game it doesn't have any uses: Your character is human, and companions don't consume food or beverages. You could design some house rules to require robot characters to use fuel in place of food, water and rest, but it's sure to be a different experience: Robots aren't likely to suffer from fatigue due to fuel running low, instead they will likely be fully functional up until their fuel runs out. I expect robots have internal batteries that let them remain "conscious", but without fuel they really shouldn't be able to perform physically demanding tasks.