Train Tuesday P53: Probe Strobe

We’re going full Star Wars geek mode today as we usher a classic Empire Strikes Back mech into our Forgotten Rails campaign setting! Probe Droids are critical to Acquisitions Incorporated defense monitoring and Hovertrain expansion! Let’s strobe on.

Big wigs in power hate surprises and always, always want to know what’s happening around them. Waterdeep’s Omin Dran is no different and decided the most essential Construct to his vast empire was a probe droid. Thankfully, Aether Studios had the perfect STL.

First, we must discuss the inspiration for this new iron rover. The gang here at 3DRPG Studios in sunny AZ grew up on Star Wars. The original Big Three movies have been watched over and over again — classics!

And one of our favorite scenes is the Empire launching a series of exploration objects, also known as Imperial Probe Droids. When one slams into Hoth’s surface and slowly rises from the snow, we get literal chills down our arms.

So imagine our glee when we uncover this Defensive Guardian Probe Golem by Aether Studios! This rolling Construct comes from their nifty Dwarven Kingdom Promenade set. The STL details are sa-weet, and we quickly sliced a whole plate of ’em for our tireless resin printer.

Novice painter DM Ben quickly volunteered to color these zippy golems, mainly because there are no human skin tones or microscopic eyes to paint. For efficiency’s sake, he did a set of them in a single Saturday paint sesh. Clear bases seemed like a solid choice, although it was tempting to do an earthy-style version.

Inspirational pics from Google Images are a big part of our painting process. We really wanted to utilize the darker browns and greys, along with the classic red light scanner. DM Ben added two subtle touches of dark red (the camera) to help make the whole 3D print popped a bit more. We also included our standard blue “power-on” light.

No need to mess with a good thing, so these pesky buggers will indeed be called “Probe Golems” and will begin to pop up around the High Forest (which is coincidentally near our players’ new Bastion). DM Ben wants to keep dropping subtle hints about The Forgotten Rails, including peculiar sightings of Corederite Glass, Stone Scar Elementals, early Construct prototypes, and now, these roaming Probes.

In terms of stats, these sweeping mechs will have a meh AC of 12, thanks to their thinner armor and lower intelligence, and fewer hit points (12) because Omin Dran didn’t see the need to invest too much capital. In terms of audio, we like the idea of these oversized rolling Polaroids emitting a high-speed golf cart sound effect.

Drones are all the talk these days, so players should be jazzed to see them pop into their DnD campaign. Besides, this DnD Golem Probe 3D-printed miniature is frickin’ cool as all get out!

Until next time!