3 related qs, one unrelated to the others

Unrelated: Would 5 points Backstab+Master training have any effect if you were unarmed? What about Prowl? I don't think so, but I wanna double-check.
Related:
1: Is there a limit to the number of "non-follower followers" you can have? I mean Mechanical Arachnids, Automatons, summoned critters, the Dog, and zombies raised with the Necromizer.
2: Are the zombies that are raised with the Necromizer permanent, or do they fall apart after a short period? And on a similar note, can you re-raise destroyed Necromizer zombies?
3: What variants are there to the robots? All I know of is the Mechanical Arachnid, Poison Arachnid, Medical Arachnid, and Automaton. Are there more?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

There is a diffeent breed of arachnids in the Iron Clan, I believe, but there is no way for you to get them for your own use. They crawl out if you tinker with the machine too much I think, and want your blood.

There should be Automaton gunner schematics, but only avaliable through editor.

 

Well, I do know that backstabbing while prowling (if the person has "perilous" or better) does more damage then plain backstab . . . adds about 100 damage or something, or it did for my stealthy halfling with a katana.
I only asked about the variants cause I saw the gunner automaton once. Forget what char I was playing, think it was a halfling melee/dodge/pick pocket master . . . what's in the shops or chests seems to depend on what your char is, if he's a fire mage he gets one set of stuff, if he's a black necromancer he gets another, so . . .
Also, which followers, if any, use guns?

 

Vollinger uses guns, though he can be a bit tricky to keep around. Sebastian can be acquired in the Boil late in the game. Franklin Payne is also an option. I feel like there might be another, but I can't remember who - it's been a long time since I've played Arcanum.

 

ok. thanx. I'm playing a successful techy for the 1st time right now, and he's got many autos (5) and 3 mech arachnids, probably gonna turn into Poison Arachnids.
New question: do any of you know if using large/small Elite Plate when making autos does anything different? or is that option even available? I'm guessing that, if anything's different, large'll have more st/hp, & small'll have more dx/dodge.

 

There's no effect, in fact I'm not even sure you can make automatons out of small or large elite plate. You definitely don't get a bonus even if you can.

 

I've got 3 Mech Arachnids and 5 Autos. I'll give it a try over the weekend, tell you what the result is. I was thinking that it might make the large like half-ogres and the small like halflings, but I don't think they really did that.
EDIT:
Ahh, I found (on the net) a robo that noone had mentioned . . . the Illuminated Decoy. Interesting. Prbly'd never use it even if I found it, but hey . . .
Anyhoo, does anyone know if the Gunner Automaton uses your ammo, or does he have an unlimited personal ammo storage? Also, does the Explosive Decoy do more damage than the basic Explosive Grenade?

 

hey everybody remember me? i haven't been on here for like a year (ever since i got my gamecube, only now am i playing arcanum again)

back on topic

i tried the automaton gunner, if you make your own character backgrounds (check out the tinkerers workshop thingy) you can get the schematic for it, then in the game if you make it it will work fine, that is until you try to use it, then the automaton gunner turns into a plain automaton.

it turns out the automaton was planned but in the end never fully included in the game, maybe there is a patch for it or somebody has made there own, but officially it never existed