The Explorator comes with a servo-skull, now he is about to recieve a Grapplehawk as a gift. Can he use them both at the same time? Furthermore, how do these work in combat? Do they roll initiative as the rest of the characters, or are they controlled at the Explorator's turn?
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asked Feb 12, 2014 at 18:01
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1\$\begingroup\$ It might be a good idea to split these into two questions, in case someone can answer one but not the other. \$\endgroup\$– Doktor JCommented Feb 13, 2014 at 15:55
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2 Answers
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They act on their own initiative to commands you give them (Command/Tech-use as per rules/the GM). If the GM prefers to simplify, they can act either at the end of your action, or the end of the round.
As long as the requisite commands are given, I see no reason why you couldn't use both at the same time. Giving differing actions will take additional effort though ("All of you, initiate combat macro delta" is a command that can be given to multiple units easily, whereas "You, attack them and you, heal him" is two separate commands that takes longer to convey.).
It's also up to the GM whether that necessarily constitutes an action to issue the command. It's probably technically a half-action to give a command to a subordinate (no rulebooks to hand), but some handwaving can be done for regularly repeated tasks (if your servo-skull is preset to heal someone when it sees they've been cut open, then you don't need to make a separate command for that action).
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\$\begingroup\$ After rereading this answer I still don't know where's the "pet" limit for an Explorator. That is, what's stopping him from buying 10 servitors and 10 servoskulls and basically bringing an army to every combat? Is there any rule in the book regarding that topic, or should I make a house rule to limit this number to say, 2 or 3 at much? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 26, 2014 at 9:45
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1\$\begingroup\$ I don't recall any such rule. Common decency? Repair costs? There are limits on how many people/servitors you can command at once (see the Command skill), and you need to give separate commands to each group. So if you've managing squads of servitors in a fashion that isn't just "kill everyone except your designated safe targets", you can only order around two squads a round at best - and then you're not participating yourself. \$\endgroup\$– EligosCommented Feb 26, 2014 at 11:59
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\$\begingroup\$ Regarding multiple servitors, does the explorator have to spend a half action for every order, or does he have to spend a half action to command every servitor? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 26, 2014 at 12:16
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1\$\begingroup\$ One half-action to Command up to your Command limit in followers. I think (top of head), it's Fellowship bonus for the number of people you can Command. There's a talent (name escapes me) that boosts the number of people you can Command with a single action to 10 + Fellowship bonus (I think). But even with that, you're giving a single command to multiple people. "You two attack him, and you two attack her" is two separate commands, and thus two separate actions. \$\endgroup\$– EligosCommented Feb 26, 2014 at 12:20
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Our house rule for when a Pc wants pets or servants or whatever is they can only have an amount of pets equal to half their Fel bonus. That keeps things less complicated for us, and smooths play.
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\$\begingroup\$ We actually made an identical house rule a while ago. Great minds think alike. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 11, 2014 at 0:28