Mount Snapmaw

This control algorithm works with your Focus and Override Controller. After you have overridden a Snapmaw, and it has returned to an idle state, you can instruct it to reconfigure itself as a rideable mount.

Unlike light-armored Striders, Broadheads, etc., which are ready to ride as soon as they have been overridden, Snapmaws need to make structural reconfigurations. Armor plates drop from their bodies to the ground, reducing their defense to light armor, but also making them more maneuverable. This reconfiguration takes 1 minute, during which the Snapmaw cannot do anything else. Once complete, the armor cannot be reattached, and the Snapmaw is permanently without it.

One rider, paired via Focus, may mount the reconfigured Snapmaw. The machine can be ridden both on land and in the water. It can be instructed to submerge while mounted, and will monitor the rider’s vitals through the Focus to surface when needed.

The Snapmaw will not participate in combat with a rider. Instead, it will move away from the conflict as fast as possible until it can get to a safe place where it can allow its rider to dismount. Once riderless, it can be instructed to join the fray. This does not give it back its lost armor.

The Snapmaw can be instructed to return to its ecological duties. It will not begin until its rider dismounts, and will discontinue them again if remounted. It may also be instructed to perform it duties (without a rider) for some amount of time, or until it has collected contaminants is some specific capacity, thus “recharging” its Chillwater supply.

With enough training in this control algorithm, you could learn additional reconfigurations which:

TODO: Stat blocks