LEKADS

Long ago upon an irradiated war-torn planet a sorcerer-scientist plotted to save his species, creating from the mutated population a lineage of xenophobic squid-things locked within armored shells. A perfect race in their estimate. And the damned things have stuck around ever since.

Lekad (warrior)

Hovering cone, eye-stalk protruding from dome head, plunger manipulator and ray-gun arms

• Reactionary, xenophobic mutant squid-things locked in sturdy armour.
• Their ray-guns kill or stun at range and preference.
• Plunger manipulator grapples poorly but suffices for interaction.
• Vulnerable to blinding and close range attack.

Subtypes

• Coordinators
• Big spherical head full of stratagems and orthodoxy.
• Ringed with manipulator arms for maximum coordination.
• Individually egotistically though this is a heresy.
• Heavies
• Driven insane by radiation, feared as abominations by the other soldiery.
• No manipulator, only a heavy-duty ray-cannon.
• Bulky, thickly armored shells resistant to most damage.
• Drones
• Dull, nearly mindless, perform rote maintenance tasks.
• Two manipulators instead of a plunger and ray-gun.
• Lose power if taken off their city conduit floors.
• Slaves
• Face shields to hide their 'ugliness' from the masters.
• Psionic dampener helmets make them compliant.
• Considered vulgar if necessary and useful.
• Beasts
• Genemodded mutant critters from their homeworld and the stars.
• Specialized for tracking, guarding, or other capacities.
• Controlled with obvious psionic collars, go feral if removed.

Statblock

5 HD, AC as Plate, 2d6 Ray-Gun Attack

Inner Creature : 1/2 HD, AC as Unarmored, 1d4 Strangle Attack

Running Lekads :

• Reoccurring villain-of-the-week antagonists, let them become a known variable for players to manipulate, occasionally throw some sub-types or such in to mix it up.
• Dangerous but easily thwartible, play up their goofiness but keep them deadly in a straight confrontation.
• They have two modes, elaborate monologuing or amusingly abrupt declarations.
• Shout TERMINATE! a lot.

Lekad Rumours :

1. A distant emperor, arch-coordinator, commands the lekad imperium.
2. Longstanding (and one sided) rivalry with a creed of robot men.
3. In the recent past there was a fanatical civil war dividing the lekads in two, it still echoes on.
4. Travel in teleporting invasion spheres and saucers.
5. Their ancient creator controls them in secret from their laboratory-bunker.
6. Whacking lekad armour at close range will knock it open, exposing the wriggling pilot.
7. They are color coded into different caste-roles. 
8. Brutally factional over petty issues and differences.
9. Hate change and difference to the point of refuting all but the most critical of improvements.
10. Love to gloat, keep them talking to survive.