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Denise Robinson
Introduction
Steam Technology in a Fantasy Setting Effects of Introducing Steam Tech Steam Power Styles
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2 6 12
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21 19 21 22
Spider Sentinel Steel Sentinel Stalker Steam Wurm Steam Spirit Steamwork Creature Steamwork Lich Zealot
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103 106 106 107 108 108 110 110 111 111 112
26 37 40
40 54 60
64 73
79 80
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82 83 85 87 88 89 90 91 92 92 94 94
Prestige Classes
Balloonist Inspired Inventor Mechanist Metalworker Steel Knight
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113 114 116 117 119
Spells Appendix
Legal
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Introducti on
magine a world where the magic of fantasy and the power of science is thrown together to create and exciting new mixture of the eldritch and the mechanical. Industrializing cities spread and grow, becoming cityscapes of roofs and chimneys, vents and smokestacks, smoke pluming upwards from the incessant toil of hundreds of smithies and alchemists and factories. Mechanics and arcane engineers assemble mighty beasts of steel, designing armoured constructs to take to the field of battle and ironclad vehicles to travel far and wide. Elves seek to defend the boundaries of their ancestral lands from the burgeoning cultures around them, bringing their advanced technology, magic and skill to bear against their foes, fighting from graceful flying airships and wielding blades and armour augmented by steamwork power. Dwarves delve deeper than ever before in their mines with massive drilling machines, their fortresses sporting massive chimneys to gout forth the fumes of a thousand machines forging weapons of war. Evil goblin necromancers craft sinister and deadly war machines that feed off the souls of the dead to fuel their engines, darkening the skies above their hordes with the smoke of burning corpses. The clergy of a machine cult spread their word far and wide, bringing with them new technologies and crafting steel prosthetics to replace weak flesh and blood. Turmoil and change grips a land that is undergoing the transition from feudal and ancient cultures to dynamic and powerful industrial nations. This guide is aimed to allow a Dungeon Master to take a more conventional fantasy setting, a campaign rich with fantastic beasts and exotic magic, and to integrate the marvels of steam technol-
ogy into it to create a world like that described above - one made exciting from the opportunities to be had from the power and possibilities of steamworks. Steam & Steel presents rules and ideas for a DM wishing to incorporate steam technology into their campaign setting, however much or little they may desire. From small everyday steamwork devices to the massive machines employed by heavy industries, to steamwork prosthetics and deadly constructs, this guide presents a framework of rules that cover many different forms of steam technology, and explores the possibilities of meshing magic with machinery to get a unique feel for a fantasy world. As well as rules, Steam & Steel covers the impact that steam technology has in a setting, on a wider scale than just the items that adventurers can get their hands on, delving into the effects and ramifications of the changes that advancing technology brings about and the advance of industrialization.
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tional aspects that it brings to a campaign and the impact that steam power has on the societies and cultures that it is brought to.
team power works on a relatively simple basis. Any piece of steam-powered technology is based around a boiler engine, which heats up the water within its system to boiling point. The water then becomes steam and moves around the system under pressure. Various methods of harnessing this movement are available, depending on what the designer of the machine had in mind when creating it. By harnessing the steam engine to pistons and gears, translating the energy of the steam into mechanical movement, an iron-shod war con-
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hen considering how much steam power and technology to introduce into a fantasy setting, it really all comes down to how much do you want to introduce? It is easily possible to tailor it so that there is as little or as much steam technology in a campaign as is desired. Steamworks could be incredibly rare, perhaps found only in the ruins of a now dead culture from the distant past, with the present era being one in which understanding and knowledge of arcane steam engines has been lost. Alternatively, steamwork devices might be examples of the technological advancement of some far-off society, only the occasional specimen making
antasy settings commonly seem to be quite static in their levels of cultural and technological advancement. Ancient cities and nations change little over hundreds of years, with great monolithic institutions like religions, guilds, and royal lines of descent keeping a lock on societies. There is little active progress in the development of new scientific disciplines or advancements in pre-existing ones. There are plenty of arguments as to why this is a perfectly valid setting. Long-lived races like elves are naturally conservative and slow to progress, since their understanding of the meaning of time and urgency are quite different to those with shorter lives who face death within a mere century. Even for species like humans, relatively fast breeding and short-lived compared to some more ancient races, the push to achieve and discover is abated by the presence of magic. Advances in medicine and biological sciences
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Outside Influence
fantasy setting might well be brought out of a technological rut by some outside influence. Steam spirits (see Beasts of Steel, below), perhaps working for some unknown power or perhaps on the request of a progress-minded deity from the setting's pantheon, might be responsible for a sudden rash of technological breakthroughs and discoveries that sweep across a land, bringing grand new machines into common use. Of course it is unlikely that anyone realizes it is the work of steam spirits, and most native scholars and sages of the setting would simply assume that it was a case of natural development and not outside influence. Alternatively, some plane-spanning culture or organisation that walks between worlds might pay a visit. This could be in the form of a friendly delegation, giving as a gift the knowledge of steam technology, or it could be in the form of a brutal, ravaging invasion. In the aftermath the survivors would piece back together their old societies as well as incorporating the new sciences that the invaders brought with them.
Natural Development
lowly but surely, steam technology begins to be developed. Inventors, alchemists and scholars discover how to build simple steam engines, using them for a number of purposes on a small scale. Here and there examples of steamwork devices appear, strange and new machines, and before long steam technology is a new revolution spreading faster as knowledge of how to build the engines is disseminated amongst sages, guilds and governments. This is simply a natural progression of science, and is often accompanied by discoveries in other fields such as gunpowder and chemistry.
Alien Culture
n this case, a pre-existing culture or society in the setting discovers steam power, but it does not spread and is not taken up by other cultures. The sorcerers of a tyrannical nation might discover how to craft necromantic engines, building sinister constructs to keep the populace in line and to subjugate those around them. Strange monstrous scientists from a far-off land might build weird arcane steamworks to serve them and perform their manual labour. In this case, steam technology appears as some odd, unique form of
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Industrialisation
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War
f a nation suddenly gains the capability to field clanking, smog-belching automata on the battlefield against a rival who is still confined to more conventional troops, it definitely has the upper hand. Massive iron juggernauts can break up infantry formations just by charging into them and sending terrified troops running in fear. More heavily armoured than a knight and more resilient too, they can crush opposing melee troops and shrug off any missile fire less powerful than siege weapons. This distinction that a force with steam power has is lessened in a fantasy setting where magic, monsters and exotic styles of warfare mean that machinery on the field of conflict is less of an overpowering advantage. Nonetheless this does not mean that steam power should be discounted in a land with wizards and dragons. Obviously the raw fighting power of steamwork constructs is something to be feared, with their strength far surpassing a normal man and their metal hides turning arrows and blades alike with ease. Tacticians need to take into account the positioning and behaviour of such mechanised troops, and develop new strategies to make the most of them. However steam power also brings opportunities for steamwork armour and weapons, usually only to the elite troops of an industrialising nation although a highly advanced civilisation such as an ancient elven empire might routinely equip its warriors with such devices. Super-heavy armoured troops are able to rout enemies who are far superior to the common human soldier and capable of shattering fortifications. Improved communications and transport due to steamwork devices also change the way that
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Magic
n a fantasy setting, steam technology can find in magic either its closest ally or its most vehement opponent. Steam technology can easily be made into either the antithesis of the magical arts, a discipline firmly rooted in the scientific and the logical, or most people might just
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ith such a potentially important change as the invention of steam technology, different religions and faiths can take quite extreme views on the matter. Steamworks might end up being condemned as works of demons because of their seemingly magical abilities and workings that are incomprehensible to the religious investigators. Steamwork devices might run counter to the dogma of a faith, and hence be denounced as heretical creations. A faith might also decide that the very act of creating steamwork constructs is evil because it attempts to copy the work of the divine creators, so a society might have all forms of steamwork device except for constructs. A particularly conservative and static religion is especially likely to take this view, and is unlikely to see the changes in society wrought by steam power to be a good thing. There might be a great rift caused between the religions and the sciences (perhaps including the arcane disciplines), with believers drifting away from their faith due to the power and possibilities of science and less need for belief in deities who are no longer in tune with the changing world. On the other hand, religions might embrace steam technology like any other institution, building zealot constructs and employing steamwork devices to supply their cathedrals with running water and mechanised defences. They might simply remain neutral on the matter, caring little for it one way or the other. If it was the result of a god's influence that introduced steamworks in the first place (as per the outside intervention method of introducing steam-tech to a fantasy setting), then the reactions of other deities might be varied. Theological debates between religions that differ on the matter might arise, or in more extreme cases even rifts and holy wars. The religion of a god of invention and machines would whole-heartedly embrace the concept of steam. It might be from the hard work and research of the clergy of such a religion that steam technology originates, and such science might be solely their province as they are the only ones who understand it. The faith might see it as
its purpose to spread the knowledge of such wondrous technology; but then again it might choose instead to keep such knowledge closely guarded so that only its own initiates might benefit from it. In such a religion, the very act of creating a steamwork device could itself be an act of worship. This guide introduces two new domains, those of Steamworks and Invention. These domains are for clerics whose deities concern themselves with the mechanical and machinery, and with invention and technical innovation. Invention Domain Granted Power: A cleric with the Invention domain gains Inspired as a bonus feat. 1: Divine Favour 2: Augury 3: Machine Savant* 4: Divination 5: Fabricate 6: Major Creation 7: Genius* 8: Mind Blank 9: Awaken Machine*
The Gearlord
he Gearlord is a powerful deity of machines, inventions and metalcraft, worshipped by mechanics and blacksmiths alike. A Lawful Neutral god, the Gearlord is mostly worshipped amongst the dwarven and human species, as well as the more advanced kobold civilisations. Represented by a mesh of interlocking cogs and gears, the Gearlord represents both the inspiration of the engineer as well as the endurance of the craftsman putting his all into forging metal, and is not particularly warlike nor expansionist - but his followers will happily fight if pushed to it. The Gearlord has the Invention, Law, Steamwork, and Strength domains. His favoured weapon is the heavy mace.
Sample Deity
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Gnomes
Despite their knack for ingenuity and inventiveness, and an aptitude for complex mechanisms, gnomes are not always eager in their acceptance and use of steamworks. Many species of gnome retain a strong tie to nature and the fey, and they are not quick to make use of machines that might cause the woodlands to be despoiled and the air and water to be befouled with fumes and effluent.
Other Sciences
n a setting where steam technology is developing or is already a firmly entrenched part of a culture, it is very likely that it will not be the sole science that has advanced beyond medieval levels of progress. Other spheres of scholarship and research also benefit from the flourishing power of steam, with all sorts of new disciplines springing up from the side effects and side-products of the processes of steam engines. Forging, smithing and construction, all so essential in the crafting of steamwork devices, are bound to see advances, improvements and refinements as mechanics and engineers seek to push back the limits to which they can exploit their machines. Furthermore, construction and architecture can be revolutionised by the use of steam-powered cranes and heavy lifting constructs that make transport of raw materials and assembly of struc-
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H T
ere are presented three different styles in which steam technology can be presented in a campaign, exploring different themes and concepts made possible through the technological and social changes that steam power can provoke. Each entry also includes a brief example of just what a fantasy setting designed with it in mind might be like.
Steampunk his style of campaign often focuses on society undergoing the process of industrialisation, and all the problems that it can bring with it. The science of steam power plays an important part in this kind of setting because it is the source of the industrialisation and all its ramifications. A steampunk setting may well be grim and gritty, depicting dystopian cities full of factories belching smog and fumes. Slums and squalor dominate the lives of an oppressed working class, kept down by the factory bosses and institutions of power. Class struggle comes to the fore, only aggravated further by the presence of magic and different races. In the countryside steamwork engines fell forests with mechanical purpose, and
The Victorians
he Victorian period in the real world is one of rich pickings for inspiration with a steam technology setting. The class struggles and divides between the rich and wealthy and the poor labourers, the steam technology and developing scientific ideas, and the many stories and tales from the period, present a great variety of concepts that can be poached. A fantasy society could be based on that of the Victorians, with their same biases, emphasis on social etiquette amongst the upper classes, and grimy and unhealthy lives amongst the working classes.
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High Steam-Power
his is the progression of steam technology to its pinnacle of achievement. Steam technology becomes almost flawless, advanced to amazingly complex levels capable of crafting even living steel (see Beasts of Steel). It becomes an integral part of everyday life for those who live in a culture of high steam-power, who
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Epic Scale
his is steam power brought to a huge scale - the scale of huge empires pushing the possibilities of steam technology to the limit. Massive armies march into battle, accompanied by monumentally massive steamworks like Behemoths, constructs the size of fortresses that shake the earth with every clanking step, battering one another around on the field of battle as thousands of warriors and smaller constructs swarm around their feet. Huge arcane steamworks perform amazing tasks, supplying the streets and boulevards of entire cities with eldritch light and harnessing power for a dizzying array of other purposes. Mighty dirigibles soar through the air like lords of the skies. High level characters abound. This is steam technology in epic proportions. Steam technology in such a style of campaign can be anything from clanking, industrial steamworks that belch out clouds of smog from their furnaces, to expertly crafted designs built with grace and an eye for the aesthetic, even on the kind of scale as city-shattering war machines. Whatever it is, it's big. Machines, logistics, empires and plots, nothing in epic scale is small. Steam technology is accompanied in this by other aspects also being of the same epic scale. Magic is used often and the campaign may well be magic-saturated with the
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heavy with steam technology, the DM may decide that this skill is available as a Craft skill to all classes. Steam technology in such a setting is so common and generally available that even fighters and clerics will have a good chance of picking up enough ranks in the skill to be able to use basic steamworks without too much trouble. In a setting where steam power is much more restricted in both knowledge and use, then it is a good idea to limit the skill to fewer classes. If steamworks are a new phenomenon then it might only be Inspired Inventors who have access to the skill (see Paths of Power). If it is only skilled mechanics and scientists who can figure out and build steamworks, then limiting the Craft (Steamworks) skill to only be available as a class skill to Experts is recommended. If use of steamworks has an arcane connotation within a setting, it should be limited to wizards and maybe sorcerers, while if it is only the province of a religion that dominates the flow of scientific knowledge then it could be limited only to the clerics of that faith. In cases where steam technology is exceptionally rare it may be necessary for a character to unearth hidden lore and ancient (and perhaps forbidden) sciences to be able to gain any ranks in the skill at all.
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n the same way that many arcane spells grant enhancement or deflection bonuses, holy items grant sacred bonuses and some powerful magics grant inherent bonuses, steamwork devices often grant a machine bonus. For instance, a suit of heavy piston-augmented steamwork armour grants a +6 machine bonus to Strength, which stacks with enhancement bonuses from spells and magic items, but does not stack with the +2 machine bonus to Strength given to attacks made with a steamwork arm prosthetic.
question. A natural roll of 1 on such a check is always a failure. There are a number of different situations in which a Maintenance check must be made for a device: Activation: When a character activates a steamwork device, having already warmed up the engine, a Maintenance check is required. Long-t term Wear: Steamwork devices that are on for long periods of time need careful attention and maintenance due to the continual stresses of activity. For every 24 hours that a device is active for, it needs a suitable amount of maintenance (which takes 5 minutes per size category of the device, from 5 minutes for Fine to 45 for Colossal). If this is not done the Maintenance DC of the machine increases by 1, which accrues for every day the machine is not maintained properly. This can only be reset by giving the device a full day of inactivity and triple the amount of maintenance time that is needed normally. Battle-S Stress: Although steamwork constructs are immune to critical hits, it is none the less possible that a particularly powerful or damaging strike might cause the machine to suffer a malfunction. Whenever a steamwork construct or character wearing steamwork armour suffers a hit on which a natural 20 was rolled, a Maintenance check must be made. Prosthetic Stress: Whenever a character with steamwork prosthetics undergoes a situation in which their prosthetics undergo a taxing amount of use, a Maintenance check is needed. Whenever such a character enters combat, a Maintenance check is needed for a randomly selected prosthetic that is employed during battle, such as a fighters steamwork arm used to wield a weapon. When a character uses a prosthetic as part of an action over a long period of time which may fatigue them, for instance a character with a steamwork leg running for a long period of time, a Maintenance check is needed for the prosthetic in question. In these circumstances, a character with the Endurance feat benefits from the +4 bonus to
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Malfunction Table
1 - Slow Warm-u up: The device takes a while to start working properly, activating a round late. 2-4 4 - Pressure Dip: A momentary loss of pressure means the device stops working for one round. If the item is just being activated, it just activates a round late, as per the Slow Warm-up result. A steamwork construct, or someone wearing steamwork armour of any kind, suffers a -2 penalty to Dexterity for one round instead. 5-7 7 - Steam Vent: A spray of steam vents out of the machinery in a billowing, scalding cloud. Anyone in contact with the device must make a Reflex save (DC 10) or suffer d4 damage from the hot steam. The machine itself suffers from a Pressure Dip. 8-9 9 - Clunk: Something in the machinery makes an ominous clunk. The Maintenance DC of the device is increased by 2 until fixed. 10 - Catch the Bouncing Cog: Part of the machinery simply comes springing free from the innards of the device, usually a small and fiddly cog. The Maintenance DC of the device is increased by 3 until fixed; and if the missing piece is lost then the character will need to find or make a new replacement. 11-1 12 Smouldering Embers: If the device has a conventional furnace then it goes out. This results
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f a machine breaks down, or suffers a Maintenance penalty or some other negative state from one of the results on the Maintenance table, a character can attempt to fix it. This process takes ten minutes and requires mechanics tools (see Tools of the Trade, below).
After spending ten minutes attempting to fix it, the character must make a Craft (Steamworks) check against a DC of the Maintenance value modified by any effects from the Malfunction table. A success indicates that he has managed to fix it and a negative state or penalty is removed. Note that if a machine has suffered various different malfunctions and breakdowns the character must take ten minutes and make a separate check for each one to try and fix it. A character can take 10 or take 20 when fixing breakages.
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s well as fixing such machines, it is of course equally possible that a character might be in a position where they wish to deliberately damage and sabotage steamwork devices. Whether a saboteur deep behind enemy lines, carefully incapacitating the sleeping hulks of steamwork war constructs the night before a battle, or a mechanic throwing a sabot into the grinding gears of an industrial steamwork hammer as a form of covert protest at low wages breaking and tampering with steamworks is often easier than keeping them working. Sabotage takes ten minutes and requires a Craft (Steamworks) check against a DC of 5+ the Maintenance DC of the device. A success means that the next time the device is used it will automatically cause a roll on the Malfunction table. A character attempting to sabotage a device without saboteurs tools (see Tools of the Trade, below) suffers a 2 circumstance penalty. A character with at least 5 ranks in Disable Device gains a +2 synergy bonus to sabotage attempts. Sabotage can be spotted by those with an eye for it. A spot check made against a DC of 10+ the saboteurs ranks in Craft (Steamworks) successfully notices that a device has been tampered with, whether or not
the attempt at sabotage was successful. A character needs to be looking closely at the device, for instance while maintaining it. Once noticed, sabotage can be countered by fixing the device as normal; however, the wilful damage caused by a sabotage attempt means that the period taken to fix it is increased to one hour rather than ten minutes. Example: A scout infiltrates an enemy army camp, and comes to the prize of the invading forces troops
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ome of the steamwork devices presented in this guide are magical items, implementing arcane or divine power into their functions and workings. These follow the usual rules for magical item creation, requiring an appropriate feat and spells, as well as usually also having a prerequisite of a certain number of ranks in Craft (Steamworks) on the part of the creator. Items that are both steamwork and magical still require the usual maintenance and fuelling as appropriate to the engine type. It is also possible for a character to make steamwork arcana versions of existing magical items taken from other sources. Using a cunning blend of technology and magic, these items are less draining and less expensive to make, but also suffer all the shortfalls of steamwork devices, includ-
Feats
etailed here are a number of different feats related to the creation, use and sabotaging of steam technology. It is important to note that the engine creation feats here do not all have to be made available in a fantasy set-
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Halflings
Lacking any real scientific knack for machinery, halflings tend not to invent steamworks by themselves. They will, however, quite happily make use of such devices that others have made. Steamwork devices often end up in the hands of light-fingered halflings who have 'appropriated' them. In situations where one or two organisations control the entire flow of steamworks, and heavily restrict their distribution, it may be halflings who can acquire a device for a character outside the normal legal channels
Saboteur [General] Your knowledge of how to sabotage and damage machinery and steamworks is such that even in battle you can pick out the weak points on a hostile construct. Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +3, Sneak Attack class ability, Craft (Steamworks) 4 ranks Benefit: A character with this feat can make both sneak attacks and critical hits on steamwork constructs in melee combat. Normal: Constructs are immune to sneak attacks and critical hits. Steam Surgeon [General] Youre a skilled healer and experienced surgeon when it comes to implanting prosthetics and understand the need to keep a clean and hygienic
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Size Fine Diminutive Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal
Constructing an Engine o construct an engine requires the appropriate feat, as well as a forge and tools in the same manner as crafting other steamwork devices. Building the engine is effectively a sub-process of building an overall machine, and can be done quite separately (and often is) to constructing the other parts of a device. The average industry labourer or apprentice mechanic can build the metal cogs, gears and struts needed to put together most of a device. It needs the careful skill of a talented engineer to assemble the complexities of the engine and connect it into the machinery, systems and controls of the item and to ensure it works as it should. The cost of an engine depends on the size of the device it is supposed to be powering, and thus engines for larger devices like constructs cost more. To find the cost of an engine, multiply the cost supplied in the engine's entry by for each increasing size category the device it powers has. The table below lays out the price increase.
Some engines also have added costs in forms other than gold; for example an arcane source engine drains experience points from the creator, as the process of building it is similar to crafting any other magical item. The type of engine in a device does not affect its weight or size, since that is already included in the device's entry. Certain types of engine may affect the Maintenance DC of a device. Example: A dwarven engineer is making a steam sentinel to help guard his clan's mines from marauding orcs. He has the Master Mechanic feat and decides to construct it with a coal burner engine, since his clan's mines produce a lot of coal. Coal burner engines are simple and cheap, only costing 10gp per size category, so for the Large construct it costs 60gp to build the engine. This minor cost pales in comparison to the 12,000gp needed to craft the sentinel in the first place. Example: A wizard wishes to craft a steamwork arm for one of his fighter companions, who had theirs bitten off by a voracious troll. He possesses the arcanomech feat, and decides to build an arcane source engine so that his friend won't need to bother constantly refuelling the prosthetic. A steamwork arm is a Small item, and so it costs a total of 1,000gp and 40xp for the magical engine, on top of the 2,000gp cost of the arm itself.
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Fuelling an Engine
ach engine entry also includes the cost to fuel a Medium-sized device for one day. Some engines have special fuel requirements that are noted in their details, while others do not require any fuel due to their nature. To find the fuel cost for a device that is larger than Medium size, simply double the fuel cost with each increasing size category. To find the fuel cost for a device that is smaller, halve the fuel cost with each diminishing size category. As mentioned above, it is important to note that the list below is not necessarily a comprehensive collection of every single engine type that should be included in a single campaign. Rather, it is intended to provide a broad spectrum of different possibilities that the DM can put to use, picking and choosing which engines he feels are appropriate.
Conventional Furnace
Size Fine Diminutive Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal
team engines with a conventional furnace rely on the heat generated by the combustion of some sort of fuel to power them. Device design usually features an accessible firebox where the fuel combusts, as well as vents or smokestacks to allow the smoke and fumes created by the process to escape. Engines of this type are notorious for creating large amounts of pollution through burning fossil fuels. They also generate a lot of heat and working in an environment full of heavy steamwork machinery powered by conventional furnaces can be hot and tiring. Creating a conventional furnace engine requires the Master Mechanic feat. Coal Burner: This type of engine depends on a feed of normal coal into its furnace to keep the fire burning and the boiler heated. Burning coal creates large amounts of waste ash that needs to be disposed of, but it does tend to be a fairly
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*Indicates non-standard form of fuel. **Can benefit from cost reductions through the use of sacrifices ***Indicates additional creation costs
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Alchemical Engine
his type of engine does not rely on combustion at all. Instead it uses chemical reactions to create the heat needed to keep the boiler running. Alchemical engines are usually very complex and filled with delicate glass components, and make strange sloshing noises when moved as the substances within swirl around. Since the chemical processes create noxious fumes and gases, alchemical engines are often riddled with vents and exhausts to allow it all to escape, meaning they are usually accompanied by a pungent smell on the air. Those who work around alchemical engines for too long tend to get headaches, while individuals who spend years around them often develop coughs or respiratory problems, sometimes their brain also suffering from the chemicals. Creating an alchemical furnace requires the Alchemechanic feat.
Alchemical Mixer: Alchemical engines have a number of benefits. When a vent is opened the various chemical agents instantly mix and create heat, and the reaction can be switched off just as fast. Firing up an alchemical engine does not result in the usual three rounds of warm-up time, although it can still be affected by the Slow Warm-up result on the Malfunction table. Additionally, alchemical mixer engines are immune to the Smouldering Embers result on the Malfunction table, as they lack a firebox or indeed a fire. Although several different substances are needed in the engine, the volume they are required in is quite small because only a little is used up in each reaction, meaning that the problem of transporting fuel is almost negligible. In the case of a Catastrophic Breakdown an alchemical engine gouts gas and steam as chemical reactions go wild, spraying corrosive chemicals
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Arcane Engine
rcane engines do not rely on a conventional furnace to heat up the boiler, instead utilising more eldritch means to do so. Unlike the practical mechanics and industrial appearance of more conventional engines, arcane creations are easy to recognise. They often sport mystic runes, crystal or glass tubes through which shimmering lights occasionally dance, and other pieces of arcane paraphernalia. Arcane engines also often generate and use electrical energy from the boiler to power the device in strange, pseudomagical ways through meshes of copper wiring and specially sculpted magical foci. Peering into the innards of an arcane steamwork device reveals the bizarre and weird structures within. Maintaining such engines often requires mystic rituals and the adjustment of strange valves and vents. Creating an arcane engine requires the Arcanomech feat.
Arcane Source: An arcane source engine relies on some form of magic bound into the machine to transmute the water into steam. This is usually done through the creation of a magical flame and heat, or by transmuting the water directly into its gaseous state, but there are a myriad of other different arcane methods by which the same end result is achieved. In any case, an arcane source engine has the advantage that it is usually permanent and does not require constant fuelling to keep it running, although equally the creation of such an
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Divine Source: This type of energy trap engine is designed to pick up the energy emitted by some nearby source of great power. This usually takes the form of something divine, whether it is an ancient and puissant artifact or the place where a deity perished, or even a still-living demigod. Steamwork engines designed to tap into the energy of the source can only operate while within a certain radius of where it is located, up to one hundred miles for
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In the case of a Catastrophic Breakdown malfunction, solar trap engines merely break down without any further special effects.
Essence Engine
ike arcane engines, an essence engine does not use conventional fuels to power steamwork devices. Instead it harnesses otherworldly energies, drawing them directly from the Inner or Outer planes. Both arcane and divine spellcasters are able to tap into the planes in this way, but essence engines generally remain the provinces of religions and faiths. Due to the religious nature of their creators, essence engines thus often bear prayers, sacred texts and other examples of religious panoply. All essence engines require that a deal has been made with some Inner or Outer planar being to give the creator access to the spiritual or elemental energies of the appropriate planes. This usually
has to be done through some form of divination or summoning spell, for instance lesser or greater planar binding. In the case of clerics in the service of a religion, they have the advantage that the deity of their faith will supply the link to that god's home plane. In the case of an essence engine powered in this way, a character who has Knowledge (Religion) of 4 ranks or more gains a +2 synergy bonus to Maintenance checks in relation to that device. For those forced to barter with planar beings for power for an essence engine, depending on the size of the device the demands of the being can vary wildly. Incorporating a spirit matrix (see Equipment) so that the being can send a minion to inhabit it is a common request. Creating an essence engine requires the Essence Engineer feat. Elemental Essence: This type of engine draws energy from an Inner plane. Exactly how it works depends on the element and the creator. Elemental Fire devices are usually pow-
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Necromantic Engine
s any student of the necromantic arts is aware, death is a powerful tool, possessing energies that can be harnessed by those who are wise to it. Some have applied this path of thought to the creation of steamwork devices, creating engines that derive their power from death and decay. Necromantic engines usually reflect the tastes of their creators, tending towards gothic design and horrific appearance, whether that is a skeletal, bone-like frame or vicious spikes and blades adorned with the remnants of enemies. Necromantic steamwork constructs often possess a malicious aura to them, eyes glowing with witchfire; those with furnace engines tend to have slender, sinister smokestacks and vents that puff out foul fumes. Creating a necromantic engine requires the Necromek feat.
Sacrifices: In the creation of any necromantic engine, the creation costs can be decreased by 10% by ritually sacrificing sentient creatures. The blood and death of a single sentient creature for every increasing size category of the
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teamwork devices are usually crafted with rivets and welding, ironshod conglomerations of gears and pistons that hiss and clank. Industrial in appearance, constructed from heavy metal and slicked with oil and grease within their moving machineries, this level of technological advancement and fabrication refinement is not the only possibility. Materials other than steel and iron can be employed to build constructs and engines, and more advanced cultures often hold the secrets to building more efficient and reliable devices. Equally, some more primitive and cruder sources of steamworks are possible, with poorly crafted assemblies of unrefined metal plates hammered together and gouting great vents of filth from their engines.
The weight modifier indicates the modifier that should be applied to the base weight of a device. The cost indicates the increase in cost of a steamwork device, calculated by a percentage increase to the base price of the object, except in the case of adamantine and dragonscale plating. Adamantine: This rare and incredibly hard metal can be used to build a steamwork device to create an amazingly resilient structure, as well as an obvious display of the wealth of the creator. Although it is expensive to acquire so much of the metal, adamantine is sometimes used to create steamwork war constructs, their armour very difficult to penetrate. A device created from adamantine gains a +3 non-magical enhancement bonus to its AC. Adamantine Plating: Although still expensive, adamantine plating is considerably less costly than creating an entire device from adamantine, while still reaping some of the benefits of the metal. Adamantine plating covers the armour of the device usually constructs with a layer of the metal that helps turn aside strikes and missiles. A device with adamantine plating gains a +1 non-magical enhancement bonus to AC. Bone: Sometimes used by necromancers to construct their steamwork devices and constructs, as well as by societies with an Cost advanced capacity for scientific +150% thought but lacking the metal +2,000gp resources needed to built steel +0% devices, bone can be used for +50% parts, structure and framework. -10% Smaller bones are carefully +150% chipped and shaped with +15,000gp tools and larger ones +100% bound or riveted +150% together, creating +100% a somewhat
Special Materials
s well as the usual forms of iron and steel used for the bulk of the parts of a steamwork device, plenty of other possibilities are available, from elaborate and ornamental metals to crude and primitive materials such as bone or coral. Note that many steamwork devices might have decorations in the forms of precious metals or odd substances inlaid or plated onto them, but the entries here represent the use of non-standard materials for the construction of the main part of the machinery (except in the case of adamantine plating).
Metal Adamantine Adamantine Plating Bone Copper Coral Crystal Dragonscale Plating Gold Mithril Obsidian
Weight Modifier None +10% -50% None -25% +25% +10% +50% -50% +50%
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rom the crudely riveted and muck-stained constructs of a goblin artificer to the beautiful and masterfully crafted implements constructed by an elven artisan, the quality and sophistication of different examples of steamwork technology is apparent as being widely variable. The levels of technology and workmanship here can be used to represent both exceptional and exceptionally bad examples of craftsmanship within a single culture, or to differentiate the advancement and skill of different cultures from one another. The DC modifier indicates the adjustment made to the Maintenance DC of any steamwork device that is made at that level of advancement. The cost modifier designates the adjustment to the price of such a device in a culture with standard levels of steam technology. The shoddy work of a goblin mechanic, less reliable and poorly constructed, would be worth less to a human culture undergoing industrialization, while the sophisticated devices crafted by an advanced elven society would be worth more. However, within the goblin or elfs own culture, their devices would be worth the standard amount. Level DC mod Cost Mod Crude +2 -25% Poor +1 -10% Standard +0 None Advanced -1 +50% High Steam-power -2 +100% Crude: This is the most basic level of steam technology, consisting of metal crudely welded or hammered together, poorly connected machinery and pipes, and leaky boilers. Fuel burns ineffi-
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Equipment
number of items here are alchemical in nature, and have the following DCs for the purposes of creating them with the Craft (Alchemy) skill.
The items here are defined as being either steamwork items, magical items or mundane. Steamwork items have the [Steamwork] tag, and are operated in the manner laid out in previous sections of this guide. Each entry for a steamwork item includes the creation requirements to be able to build it, which include a minimum number of ranks in Craft (Steamworks) and possibly other skills as well. If a character does not meet these prerequisites then he does not have the needed knowledge to understand how to construct it and cannot craft one with his Craft skill. In the case of magical items, which have the [Arcana] tag, the entry contains the usual prerequisites and caster level for such an item. Some magical items are also steamwork items. Note that a number of steamwork items contain magical pieces or parts or operate in a magical way, but not are not necessarily magical enough to deem them as needing an item creation feat to build.
Item Dragon Spittle Fogger chemicals Kobolds Fire Metalmist Re-igniter Cartridge Rust-Bile Saboteurs Elixir
DC 20 25 25 20 20 25 20
Aether Oil This swirling, milky liquid is sometimes used as a fuel in oil burner engines. A magical substance extracted from a type of ore called aetherstone, found only in seams amidst the high reaches of tall mountains, aether oil burns with a wispy smoke that smells strangely pleasant. However, it has malign effects on those of a magical nature, as well as those travelling the Ethereal plane. Anyone within 10ft of an engine burning aether oil who can cast spells or who has supernatural abilities must make a Fortitude save each round (DC 16) or suffer 2d6 damage, feeling as if their minds are on fire. Any ethereal characters within 20ft of such an engine sees the smoke as pulsing, white tendrils of mist that scald to the touch, and suffer 4d6 fire damage each round they remain within 20ft of the device. The exact causes for the formation of aetherstone on high mountains, and for its unpleasant effects on ethereal travellers and magical beings, are unknown. The entry in the equipment table represents enough aether oil to fuel a Medium-size device for one day.
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Alchemechanical Alarm The alchemechanical alarm is an alchemical device designed to act as a wake-up call to an alchemechanical steamwork device if tripped. It is a small device of metal and glass that holds reservoirs of the same chemicals used in an alchemical mixer engine, attached to a detection device such as pressure plates or integrated into a trap. When activated, the alarm pours the reserves of chemicals directly into the engine of the steamwork object (usually a construct), powering it up immediately as the chemicals mix and heat the boiler. The alarm itself is not a steamwork device and needs to have its reservoirs refilled regularly. Alchemechanical Brewery [Steamwork] A large steamwork device consisting of a tangle of pipes, vents, tubes and vats, an alchemechanical brewery is capable of various different purposes. It can be used in an actual brewery to vastly improve the creation of alcoholic beverages, pumps and suchlike moving liquids around within the system. Alchemechanical breweries are also often used by alchemists to create large
amounts of chemicals quickly and to conduct very complex experiments. When used in this way an alchemechanical brewery grants a +10 machine bonus to Craft (Alchemy) skill checks. An alchemechanical brewery can also be set up for the delicate processes of creating potions, its complex innards turned to the task of filtering, distillation and mixing exotic substances. An alchemechanical brewery used in this way greatly speeds up the production of potions, and a character using it for such may create not one but two potions per day. The character still has to pay the normal gold and experience costs for the potions he creates. Creation: Craft (Alchemy) 15 ranks, Craft (Steamworks) 12 ranks Alchemechanical Sniffer [Steamwork] This steamwork device is a bulky foot-long box full of glass pipes and perforated alchemechanical sensors along with reservoirs of dozens of different chemicals. When fired up and activated, the sniffer picks up traces of substances in the
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air with its chemical array and a clever character can use it to pick up scents and trails in the air; as a result its also often nicknamed the bloodhound. A character using an alchemical sniffer gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Survival checks that involve tracking. Prerequisites: Craft (Alchemy) 10 ranks, Craft (Steamworks) 5 ranks Alchemy Engine [Steamwork] An alchemy engine is a solid metal steamwork device with an input board of metal keys and small vents, sprouting glass vials and tubes and chemical indicators. Used by alchemists and scientists for the purpose of distilling new compounds as well as identifying unknown substances, an alchemy engine can provide a fairly sophisticated breakdown analysis with its little engine and complex mesh of alchemical gear. An alchemy engine improves the bonus to Craft (Alchemy) checks provided by an alchemists lab by an additional +2. Prerequisites: Craft (Alchemy)
10 ranks, Craft (Steamworks) 5 ranks Arcanomech Eye [Arcana, Steamwork] An arcanomech eye is a steam-powered surveillance system. Usually placed high on walls or ceilings, arcanomech eyes can take many forms; a golden, impassive face with eyes of glowing blue crystal and the machinery hidden within, a gothic dragon or gargoyle head in scarlet- or blackpainted metal, or a complex array of cogs and glass lenses in a gyroscopic cradle of steel. Arcanomech eyes slowly swivel to gaze over the area they are assigned to guard; each is programmed to recognise intruders, and possesses a Spot skill modifier of +12. If an eye spots an intruder it focuses its gaze on the target and activates a klaxon alarm that usually brings reinforcements running. An eye has 5 hit points, hardness 5 and AC 14. Despite the name, an arcanomech eye does not need to have an arcane engine; the workings of the device are highly magical though, and magic-
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wielding intruders often attempt to temporarily knock them out with targeted dispel spells. Caster Level: 10th Creation: Create Wondrous Item, scrying, Craft (Steamworks) 8 ranks Arcanomech Eye, All-Seeing [Arcana, Steamwork] This superior version of the normal arcanomech eye also sees invisible creatures, preventing thieves and intruders from cloaking their presence with magical spells. It also has enhanced components that need less maintenance. Caster Level: 12th Creation: Create Wondrous Item, see invisibility, scrying, Craft (Steamworks) 15 ranks Arcanomech Familiar In a society where steam technology is available, some mechanically minded wizards and sorcerers create their own arcanomech construct as a familiar. To create the familiar, choose an animal from the list of familiars and apply the Steamwork Creature template to it (see Beasts of Steel). Arcanomech familiars are sentient and bound to their owner in exactly the same way and with the same rules as normal familiars, but do
not grant the usual special benefit of the creature. Instead their mechanical nature grants the wizard a +2 bonus on all Craft (Steamworks) and Knowledge (Mathematics) skill checks. The process of constructing an arcanomech familiar costs 500gp and, as with normal familiars, if a familiar is destroyed another cannot be created for a year and a day. The familiar draws its power and strength from its creator, and thus needs neither fuel nor maintenance. Arcanomech Lamp [Arcana, Steamwork] Another magical steamwork device, an arcanomech lamp can appear in a variety of elaborate and eldritch forms. Any form of engine can drive it; the internal workings of the lamp harness the steam power to create heatless magical light. The light can be any colour or even multicoloured, and usually performs strange but alluring patterns and movements within the glass chamber of the device. Caster Level: 6th Creation: Craft Wondrous Device, (Steamworks) 5 ranks Craft
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Volcano Crystals These rare forms of the crystalline substance used to power crystalburner engines are found only occasionally, and even then the fact their formations always lie very close to active volcanoes mean they are exceptionally hard to get at. A crystalburner using volcano crystals as its fuel benefits from a number of marvellous properties. It gains a +5 fuel bonus against fire-based and cold-based attacks, as well as becoming shrouded in a Fire Shield (Warm) that affects any attackers. These qualities mean that volcano crystals are usually only acquired in order to fuel war constructs. The entry in the equipment table is for enough fuel to power a Medium-sized device for 1 day. War-pack Matrix A war-pack matrix can be incorporated into any steamwork construct, and is keyed to up to 5 other matrices of the same type. A construct with the
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Weapons of War
non usually consists of a reservoir of ammunition n this section are presented a number of contained in a steamwork tank strapped to the entirely new types of weapons as well as operators back, attached by pipes and mechasteamwork upgrades to pre-existing ones. nisms to a nozzle-gun that ejects the flames, acid Some of the weapons here are steamwork in or steam out over the victims. The ammunition nature, or designed for use by steamwork con- fuel tank has hardness 5, 5 hit points and an AC of structs or steamwork armour. Others are the 15 + the wearers Dexterity bonus, and if ruptured result of the progress of science in paralleling sprays the fuel everywhere. In the case of acid this fields, such as alchemy and in particular firearms. deals 6d6 acid damage to the unfortunate as well The firearms presented here are designed to as 3d6 points of acid splash damage to everyone reflect a general level of development at which within 5 ft unless they succeed at a Reflex save for they are beginning to come into more wide-scale half damage. In the case of a fire-thrower it covuse but are not yet highly refined or advanced. ers the operator and anyone within 5 ft in volatile These guns can be used for a period in which chemicals; if the pilot light on the fire-thrower is flintlock, wheel-lock or breach-loading technolo- on or another flame is alight nearby the chemicals gy is utilised. Upgrade Cost Maintenance DC Chain-Tooth Blade +600gp 9 Alchemists Cannon Piston Fold-Up +75gp [Steamwork] Possessed Weapon +2 market price modifier An alchemists cannon is Silencer +1 market price modifier an ingenious weapon that Steamwork Targeter +50gp 6 relies on a steam engine Steamwork Targeter, Arcanomech +1,000gp 9 to force out a dangerSteamwork Targeter, Necromek +3,000gp 9 ous substance at Warded Weapon +1 market price modifier 6 high pressure. Weapon Plug-In +75gp Such a can-
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Alchemists Cannon Malfunction Table (d10): 1-6 6 - Minor Malfunction: The weapon fails to fire this round for some reason or another, with no other effects. 7 Pilot Light Out: The pilot light goes out, and needs to be re-lit. This result only affects the firethrower variant. 8 - Gunked Up: The cannons workings are thoroughly gunked up with oil, effluents and muck. The weapon will not fire until fixed. 9 - Nozzle Block: The nozzle is temporarily blocked up and the cannon sprays its ammunition fuel out through the workings of the device onto the operator instead of firing, who suffers damage as if they were hit by their weapon 10 - Kaboom: The pressure is just too much and the weapon explodes, with the same effects as if the fuel tank had been ruptured. A single tank of ammunition fuel provides for 8 uses of an alchemists cannon. Ammunition for a steam-thrower costs nothing, as it simply needs water. Creation: Alchemy 5 ranks, Craft (Steamworks) 8 ranks
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Chemical Rocket, Sunblaze A variant form of chemical rocket, a sunblaze rocket carries volatile and highly flammable alchemical liquids in its head that splash everywhere upon impact. Designed as an incendiary device for attacking vulnerable targets like buildings and dirigibles, a sunblaze rocket deals 5d6 fire damage to anything hit directly, and 3d6 fire splash damage to anyone within 5ft unless they make a successful Reflex save (DC 15) for half damage. In all other ways sunblaze rockets are identical to normal chemical rockets. Clockwork Torpedo Not actually a steamwork device, a clockwork torpedo is a metal cylinder powered by a wound up clockwork engine that is used against ships and seacraft. When launched into the water, the clockwork engine starts to unwind, powering a rotor that sends it cutting through the water in a straight line (hopefully towards the target). The torpedo moves 90ft per round through water, and upon impact detonates the explosive charge in its head, dealing 9d6 damage to any structure or vehicle such as a ship. Other targets, and anyone within 20ft of the explosion, suffers 4d6 damage, halved if they make a Reflex save (DC 15). After 6 rounds of movement the clockwork engine runs out of torque and the torpedo sinks. Crank Cannon [Steamwork] A complex melding of firearms and machinery, a crank cannon has a number of barrels held
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Steam & Steel its lesser counterpart it is limited by short range. Firearms Variants These superior pistols are usually used by officers,
royal or governmental officials and by gentry seeking to settle disputes of honour between them. Reloading a duelling pistol is a full-round action. Piston Fist [Steamwork] This weapon is a heavy metal gauntlet worn on one hand, filled with steamwork mechanisms that drive powerful pistons. A character hit by a piston fist must make a Reflex save (DC 14) or be knocked prone by the powerful punch of the pistons impact, as well as taking damage. A piston fist takes a full round before it can be used again as it resets itself, although the character wielding it can use it to make attacks as a normal gauntlet in the meantime. Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 8 ranks Piston Fold-up Based on the designs of pistons used in mobile steamworks, this is an upgrade that can be purchased for a weapon that does piercing damage like a spear or staff. The shaft of the weapon is made of metal segments that telescope down to the length for carrying purposes, and which can be returned to full length and locked into that mode as a free action. Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 3 ranks Piston Ram [Steamwork] This weapon consists of a steamwork engine that builds up pressure, releasing it when commanded to slam out a piston ram. It is usually found mounted in the gauntlets on suits of superheavy armour and steamwork constructs. A character hit by it must make a Reflex save (DC 16) or be knocked prone by the sheer impact of the pistons, as well as taking damage. A piston ram takes a full round to reset itself and cannot be used again until it has done so, though the character with the piston ram can use the piston gauntlet to make other attacks. Piston rams are largely designed for military use in assailing fortifications and buildings, and automatically inflict a critical hit on any structure they are used against. The damage of
You may feel that the rules for firearms presented here do not make them as powerful and destructive a weapon as they should be. Two variants are presented here. When hit by the sizeable and forceful ammunition fired from a firearm a character can suffer quiet badly, the impact sending them staggering and knocking the sense from them for a moment, if they even survive. Any character hit by a firearm must make a Fortitude save (DC 14) or be staggered for one round. When combatants who have never encountered firearms before are fired upon by muskets, rifles and suchlike, the terrible racket, flash of light and gouts of smoke can terrify, demoralise and confuse. Characters who are fired upon by firearms must make a Will save (DC 20) or be shaken for the rest of the combat. However, they do not need to take this test again. You may rule that primitive and exceptionally superstitious species always suffer this Will check when fired upon by firearms. a piston ram can be scaled up appropriately for larger versions. Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 8 ranks Possessed Weapon [Arcana] This magical enhancement can only be placed on ranged weapons with moving mechanical parts, such as firearms and steamwork weapons. Some small spirit, usually a little daemonic entity, inhabits the actual innards of the weapon and is bound into it; carved images and faces on the
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Breach-Loaders
lthough the rules here present firearms as the same whether they use flintlock, wheel-lock or breach-loading mechanisms, breach-loaders are generally faster and more advanced. If you wish to represent breachloaders as being superior to other forms of firearm, then as a variant rule, breach-loaders only take a standard action to reload, not a full round.
Steamwork Targeter, Arcanomech [Arcana, Steamwork] An arcanomech targeter incorporates magical enhancements to the machinery of a normal targeter; the arcanomech technology adjusts the weapon not just to take account of wind speed and direction but also altering it to actually track a target more efficiently. The slight movement of a musket barrel or crossbow stock as tiny machines whirr and shift it slightly to follow the path of an enemy can be unnerving, as if the weapon has its own sentience. As well as the normal benefits of a steamwork targeter, an arcanomech targeter also gives a +1 circumstance bonus to hit rolls. Caster Level: 5th Creation: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, true strike or divine favour, Craft (Steamworks) 6 ranks Steamwork Targeter, Necromek [Arcana, Steamwork] A necromek targeter usually incorporates a small magical scope to a weapon as well as the usual steamwork targeting machinery. The necromantic magic imbued into the device causes the targeter to automatically track living targets, giving a +1 circumstance bonus to hit rolls against such creatures. In addition, the scope picks up the life-signs of anyone viewed through it, showing them up as a warm red figure and effectively negating the penalties of attacking them in darkness. Caster Level: 5th Creation: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, deathwatch, Craft (Steamworks) 6 ranks
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the five types of elemental damage in a surge of energy channelled out by the device. Physical damage deals 2d6, while elemental damage deals 3d6 of the relevant type. Caster Level: 5th Creation: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, glyph (Steamworks) 6 ranks of warding, Craft
Weapon Plug-in A weapon plug-in is a weapon upgrade that links it to a suit of armour with an arcane array (see Personal Protection) by a pipe or bundle of wires. Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 5 ranks Wrecking Ball Wrecking balls are often employed as weapons on larger steamwork constructs designed for battle, large and heavy weights often studded with spines on the end of a thick, strong metal chain. They are effectively just very large flails, backed up by the machine strength of the construct and the speed of its gears and pistons. The damage can be scaled up appropriately for larger versions of the weapon.
Personal Protecti on
his section presents the impressive results that incorporating steam technology into the crafting of armour can give. Steamwork armour can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from highly refined and polished suits of gleaming armour with impassive visors of dark crystal, to clanking and lumbering construc-
tions sporting rivets and smoke spewing from vents. Steamwork armour is available in two forms. The first is augmented armour, a suit of normal heavy armour that has undergone one of three levels of steamwork modification light, medium and heavy. The second is super-heavy armour, which is presented as an entirely new category of
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Additional Augmentations
nce piston augmentation and an engine have been fitted, a number of other upgrades are also possible. These addiIntegrated Shield tional devices siphon energy and steam off from Many warriors carry a shield with them to batthe main engine system that powers the armour, tle to ward off the strikes of the enemy, and some and so do not need their own independent energy sources. Name Cost Arcane Array +1,500gp Arcane Array [Arcana] Blood Spines +100gp An arcane array is a simple magical Heat Buffer +350gp read-out added to a suit of steamwork Integrated Shield +50gp armour, usually relayed up onto the Powered Spikes +70gp inside of the helm or armour collar. It Sealed Environment +300gp details fuel levels remaining, a generSealed Environment, Enhanced +700gp al readout of which mechanisms Smoked Lenses +50gp are running and which are broSpeakers +60gp ken (adding a +1 circumStatic Generator +300gp stance bonus to any Weapons Gauntlet +75gp, + cost of weapon
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Edifices of Mi ght
team technology does more than just bring new devices and implements for scientists to further their craft with and adventurers to use in rooting out more gold and challenges it changes the very landscape and cities of the lands it touches. This section describes the use of largescale steamwork devices, along with the impact these kinds of devices have on the cities and lands that they are a part of. Steamwork devices are used in industries, factories and mines, and can form massive structures that rise above the buildings around them, constructions of science and magic melded together. Edifices of might are not just the dominating keeps of barons or the towering temples of the faithful. Grand steel factories and arrays of security devices are as much the symbols of power and the might of technological advancement as the fortifica- Name tions of a war- Arcanomech Eye Array Arcanomech Lamp Array lord. Arcanomech Suppresser Arcanists Tower Divine Amplifier Dockyard Crane Factory Homing Beacon Library Lift/Elevator Mine Borer Necromek Crypt Factory Observatory Oil Rig Printing Press Solar Array Spellcraft Engine Steamwork Bridge Steamwork Gate Steamwork Pump System Steamwork Sentry Array Steamwork Siege Weapon Weather Tower
A Note on Architecture
culture undergoing industrialisation brought about by steam technology often displays this state of affairs in its architecture. The fabricated metal parts churned out by steamwork factories become greatly used by builders and architects, causing metal to feature prominently in buildings and facades, often in the form of girders and struts. In cities where pollution and fumes are at their worst, metal tends to rust, corrode and stain, adding to the grime and decay. Glass might also find greater use in architecture, with factories able to create it in much larger amounts than was possible before. Mighty towers and structures of reinforced stone and iron rise above the skyline of houses and factories,
Size Huge Huge Large Colossal Large Large Huge Large Huge Large Large Huge Huge Colossal Huge Huge Large Colossal Huge Huge Huge Varies Colossal
Cost 5,000gp 5,000gp +40,000gp 150,000gp 75,000gp 2,000gp 15,000gp 60,000gp 20,000gp 1,500gp 750gp 25,000gp 75,000gp 350,000gp 4,500gp 10,000gp 20,000gp 80,000gp 5,000gp 2,000gp 5,000gp +800gp 100,000gp
Maintenance DC 10 9 11 10 8 8 9 10 9 8 10 12 8 10 8 9 8 8 9 10 9 12
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Arcanists Tower [Steamwork] Rising high above the surrounding roofs, an arcanists tower is a tall and imposing structure of metal and glass, smaller turrets sprouting off it at odd angles to thrust out arcane apparatus into the sky. These towers can appear as beautiful and graceful structures, carefully crafted and constructed in fantastic colours and design, or they can be massively looming fortresses of iron and steel with funnels and chimneys pouring out thick smoke. Towers of this type are normally the property of powerful wizards or sorcerers but may also be built by governments and kings who wish to provide facilities for their spellcasters to enact enhanced divinations. Within, the tower has many of the features of a normal fortified tower, with rooms and quarters and many floors. Usually large amounts are given over to arcane steamwork machinery and devices, and in the upper floors the density of these structures increases and becomes more complex. In the top chamber of the tower, a circle of engraved marble set on a raised platform is surrounded by great thrumming engines that, when active, amplify divinations to a great extent. An arcane spellcaster who casts any divination spell in the top chamber while the machinery is active has his caster level increased by 2, and it also inflicts a -5 machine penalty to Will saves for anyone targeted by such a spell, for instance the subject of a scrying spell. To set up the machinery for use takes two hours and it only functions for one casting before it needs to be reset again. From outside it is visible that a tower is building up energy for a casting because the machines and masts at the top of the tower begin to move and rotate with purposeful motion.
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Printing Press [Steamworks] While a single steamwork press is a huge step onwards from the slow and laborious process of hand-copying books, a burgeoning printing company can put the monetary gains it reaps to good use in expanding and improving its capacities. A large-scale printing press can reduce the time made to create a single print run of a book or tract even further, or possibly print more than one thing at a time. Developing societies tend to quickly acquire a hunger for literature of any kind, so those in the printing business can become very rich very quickly. Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 11 ranks Solar Array [Steamwork] A solar array consists of a mass of solar panels and light absorbers, usually mounted all over the side of a tower or building. The panels are mounted on small steamwork pistons and adjusters, and during the day, with the occasional hiss of steam and whirr of gears, they move to follow the sun
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Dragons
The mighty race of dragons has little to do with steam technology in general. Immensely powerful, they often see little use in it for themselves, and view the expansion of industrialising nations into their territory as evidence that it is time to put the lesser species back in their place. On the other hand, canny dragons often make use of steamwork devices for their minions and servants, and it may well be possible to convince them of the potential of steam technology if shown how it can be used for their own comfort and power.
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Prosthetics
M el ding Man with Machine
his section deals with steam powered mechanical prosthetics, replacements for limbs and lost body parts crafted through clever artifice and scientific principles. Normally when a character suffers a grievous injury that shatters their body, or they lose a limb through accident or battle, they have two options. The first is to seek out a cleric for healing, and hope that there is one powerful enough to cast regenerate. However, such a cleric isnt always on hand, and in some settings with greater restrictions on healing a character has to take the second option, which is to live with the injuries they suffered.
Steamwork prosthetics sometimes called rivet surgery, bionics or machine medicine is another option, by which a character has their damaged or missing body part replaced by a new mechanical form. While most people are attached enough to their own body that the idea of having to have a steamwork replacement will never be superior to just having their old limb back, the enhanced strength and toughness afforded by a steamwork prosthetic can be superior to the old flesh and blood. Prosthetics often end up as a symbol of being a grizzled veteran, one who has seen many battles, and people generally find those who bear prosthetic parts quite intimidating. Of course, if it were as simple as prosthetics being superior to the original body parts then they might be more popular, perhaps even characters voluntarily undergoing surgery to have a perfectly fine arm replaced with a metal claw-limb. However, like with all steamwork devices, prosthetics may need fuelling depending on the engine type used, and need maintenance to keep them running. No warrior would want his swordarm to simply seize up (or worse) in the middle of a fight. Those who end up with prosthetics usually spend a lot of time and effort on the parts of them that are now mechanical and endeavour to become skilled in steamwork sciences. For some that are especially heavily modified, the penalty for failure in this field is death.
Getting a Prosthetic
f a character loses a limb or suffers crippling body damage they may wish to seek out a surgery that can fit a prosthetic. Assuming they can afford the cost, and find someone capable of giving the treatment, they then undergo an operation where the surgeon attempts to fix the prosthetic to them. This is usually the easy part.
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Prosthetics
escribed here is a list of different prosthetic parts that can be surgically grafted to a character. Some are more advanced than others and as such a culture might not have access to all of them, more likely just the cruder forms with more advanced prosthetics being created only by individual master craftsmen and found as relics of ancient civilisations. The category assigned in the Size entry is for a character of Medium size. Characters of larger or smaller size have to be fitted with prosthetics scaled accordingly, which may mean they need a larger or smaller engine to power them.
Bronze Hand [Steamwork] This form of prosthetic is designed in the fashion of a metal hand, pistons and gears replicating the manner in which real fingers move. The machinery within is easily accessible via a plate on the palm of the hand that swings open to allow refuelling of the tiny engine within. A bronze hand replicates a real hand with no bonuses or penalties; the machinery is well-crafted and delicate enough that its mimicry of real hand movements and reactions is excellent but the machin-
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Diseases
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Prosthetic Upgrades
Name Alchemists Breath Arcane Vision Arm Spikes Augmented Strength Blood-Feeder Engine Crystal Iris Injection System Name Integrated Weapon Poison Sensor Cost +500gp +2,000gp +20gp +4,000gp +250gp +1,000gp +500gp Cost +150gp +500gp
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The PCs Are Special: Although in the core rules there are no real rules for damage to specific locations that might result in the need for a pros-
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Beasts of S teel
Constructs
his section lays out rules for the beasts of steel that steam technology makes possible, from the small dangerous spider sentinels to the colossal behemoths, from armoured trains to steamwork dirigibles cruising high in the skies. Driven by the coursing heat of steam in their boilers, and armed with the crushing strength of metal and machinery, these constructs and vehicles can revolutionise travel, warfare, and the general lifestyle of those around them.
Alchemists Hound
Medium-Size Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 2d10+20 (31 hp) Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex) Speed: 30ft. AC: 15 (+1 Dex, +4 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 14 Attacks: Slam +3; or alchemists cannon Damage: 1d6+2; or by cannon type Space/Reach: 5ft./ 5ft. Special Attacks: Alchemists cannon Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance, Scent, Volatile Saves: Fort +0 Ref +1 Will +2 Abilities: Str 14 Dex 12 Con - Int - Wis 14 Cha 1 Feats: Scent* Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or pack (2-5) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 3-4 HD (Medium); 5-6 HD (Large) The alchemists hound is a veritable walking alchemy kit, a steamwork construct packed with as many bubbling glass flasks of chemicals as gears and pistons. It gets its name from its quadrupedal, hunched appearance and from the fact that creators with artistic pretensions often craft alchemists hounds to look like great wolves or guard dogs made of metal, wood and glass. Normally powered by an alchemechanical engine, hounds are employed as guard constructs. The myriad of alchemical devices mimics an advanced sense of smell as well as powering the constructs main weapon, an alchemical cannon, the barrel of which juts out of the hounds gaping maw. Alchemists hounds can understand and obey orders in one language. They cannot speak,
Constructs
teamwork constructs tend to be rather noisy beasts, their joints and pistons hissing with the built-up pressure of the steam flowing through their mechanical body and armour plating clamouring with every movement. They also tend to not be too bright, being driven by machine intelligence that stems from carefully crafted sentience systems, sometimes made from crystalline structures and other times made from amazingly complex arrays of tiny gears. As such, most steamwork constructs have no Intelligence score, although in some cases constructs do possess a more advanced degree of sentience programming. In general, constructs do not possess skills or feats. However, the specialist programming and constructing of some types of steamwork construct imbues them with the innate capability to perform certain tasks and feats, and they can also be upgraded with matrixes that endow them with such abilities. As with other steamwork devices, the steamwork constructs here require maintenance, an engine and fuelling. These constructs are signified with the Steamwork subtype.
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Automaton, Steamwork
Small Automaton Small Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 1d10+10 (16 hp) Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex) Speed: 20ft. AC: 17 (+1 Dex, +5 natural, +1 size), touch 12, flatfooted 16 Attacks: Slam +0 Damage: Slam d4 Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: None Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance Saves: Fort +0 Ref +1 Will +0 Abilities: Str 10 Dex 12 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 1 Medium-Sized Automaton Medium-Sized Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 2d10+20 (31 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 30ft. AC: 17 (+7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 17 Attacks: Slam +3 Damage: Slam 1d6+3 Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: None Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance Saves: Fort +0 Ref +0 Will +0 Abilities: Str 15 Dex 10 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 1 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Labourer (1 plus owner) or work gang (2-6 + foreman) Challenge Rating: Small ; Medium 1; Large 3; Huge 6; Gargantuan 9; Colossal 12 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Steamwork automatons or automata are constructs created to provide mechanised labour, and they come in a number of shapes and sizes. Small and especially larger automata might move by four or more legs, or tracks, but automatons are generally bipedal and roughly humanoid in shape, broad metal shoulders hinting at the
Craft
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Gargantuan Automaton
Gargantuan Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 16d10+60 (148 hp) Initiative: -1 (-1 Dex) Speed: 40ft. AC: 22 (-1 Dex, +17 natural, -4 size), touch 5, flatfooted 22 Attacks: Slam +18/+13/+8 Damage: Slam 2d8+15 Space/Reach: 20ft./15ft. Special Attacks: Trample Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 10, Maintenance Saves: Fort +5 Ref +4 Will +5 Abilities: Str 30 Dex 8 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 1
Huge Automaton
Huge Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 8d10+40 (84 hp) Initiative: -1 (-1 Dex) Speed: 40ft. AC: 22 (-1 Dex, +15 natural, -2 size), touch 7, flatfooted 22 Attacks: Slam +11/+6 Damage: Slam 2d6+10 Space/Reach: 15ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: None Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance Saves: Fort +2 Ref +1 Will +2 Abilities: Str 25 Dex 9 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 1
Colossal Automaton
Colossal Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 32d10+80 (252 hp) Initiative: -2 (-2 Dex) Speed: 50ft. AC: 22 (-2 Dex, + 22 natural, -8 size), touch 0, flatfooted 22 Attacks: Slam +28/+23/+18/+13 Damage: Slam 4d6+18 Space/Reach: 30ft./15ft. Special Attacks: Trample Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 10, Maintenance Saves: Fort +10 Ref +8 Will +10 Abilities: Str 35 Dex 7 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 1 for canals and moats, and other such heavy-duty tasks. Automatons can understand a single language and respond to commands from authorised operators, and can handle moderately complex tasks. They might be able to make a mechanical noise to signify they have received and understand an order, depending on their construction. Combat: These automatons are not designed specifically for combat. While they can be outfitted with weaponry they lack the heavy armour and tactical programming of combat steamworks. Normal automatons outfitted for construction
massive strength within and engine vents, grills and smokestacks revealing the source of motive power. Small automatons are normally employed for tasks in spaces that are cramped and confined for their operators to get to. Medium-, large- and huge-sized automata generally perform heavy labour jobs where their superior strength is best employed, moving goods around farms, docks and factories, and hauling raw materials around construction sites. The really massive automatons are used to haul huge stone blocks for the building of castles and fortresses, digging huge trenches
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Behemoth
Colossal Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 100d10+80 (630hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 80ft. AC: 52 (+50 natural, -8 size), touch 2, flat-footed 52 Attacks: 2 Slams +112/+107/+102/+97 Damage: 4d6+45 Space/Reach: 70ft./ 40ft. Special Attacks: Trail of Devastation Special Qualities: Challenge Rating, Construct, Crew, Earth-shaker, Hardness 15, Maintenance, Monolithic, Spell Resistance 25 Saves: Fort +33 Ref +33 Will +33 Abilities: Str 100 Dex 10 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 1 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or Apocalypse (2-3) Challenge Rating: Special* Treasure: None Quite possibly the largest beast to walk the earth, even if it is a beast of steel and gears and not of flesh and blood, a behemoth towers over
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mechanics of the appropriate type for instance arcanomech behemoths usually boast a number of wizards amongst their crew. As well as mechanics they need a commander and command staff to help guide the behemoth around the battlefield or even take direct control in some circumstances (more difficult if a behemoth has a spirit matrix with a wilful being bound to it). There is usually a garrison of guards in case enemies attempt to storm the construct. If no magical alternatives are available a behemoth needs semaphore crew to use flags for communication with generals and troops outside the behemoth. Crews usually number up to a dozen mechanics, half a dozen command crew and two dozen guards, all capable of moving around the construct by the myriad of tunnels, ladders and internal spaces. Some behemoths have their legs modified to become huge troop-carrying compartments, effectively turning a behemoth into a mobile fortress that can spill elite shock troops into the battle around it at a
moments notice. Many behemoths are also fitted with additional weapons to the fists, claws, rams or wrecking balls they use for pummelling each other and buildings, and crew are needed to man these devices which usually include siege ballistae and chemical rocket racks. Earth-shaker: As a behemoth moves, the ground shakes from its immense machine bulk. Anyone within 100 ft. of a moving behemoth suffers a 2 circumstance penalty on all skill checks unless they make a Concentration check (DC 18). Hardness: The immensely heavy armour plating, reinforcements and fortification that covers a behemoths hide grants it hardness 15. Maintenance: Behemoths have a Maintenance DC of 12. In addition to other causes of Maintenance checks, every round a behemoth is active, one randomly selected mechanic must make a Maintenance check; behemoths are immense beasts filled with potential to go wrong. A Maintenance check must also be made whenever a behemoth is hit by another behemoths slam
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Eviscerator
Medium-Size Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp) Initiative: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Speed: 30ft. AC: 23 (+3 Dex, +10 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 20 Attacks: 2 armblades +7 Damage: Armblade d8+4 Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: Razor-edged blades Special Qualities: Bodyguard, Combat Calculations, Construct, Evasion, Hardness 5, Maintenance Saves: Fort +1 Ref +4 Will +3 Abilities: Str 18 Dex 16 Con Int 14 Wis 14 Cha1 Skills: Tumble +8* Feats: Deflect Arrows, Improved Initiative* Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or bodyguard (2-4) Challenge Rating: 4 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 5-8 HD (Medium), 9-12 HD (Large)
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Living Steel
Medium-Size Construct Hit Dice: 6d10+20 (53 hp) Initiative: +8 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Speed: 30ft. AC: 20 (+4 Dex, +6 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 16 Attacks: Slam ++7 Damage: Slam 1d6+6 & tendrils Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: Tendrils Special Qualities: Construct, Fast Healing 3, Immunities, Liquid Form, Machine Command, Spell-like Abilities, Spell Resistance 15 Saves: Fort + 2 Ref +6 Will +4 Abilities: Str 18 Dex 18 Con Int 18 Wis 14 Cha 14 Skills: Craft (Steamworks) +13* Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary Challenge Rating: 8 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Usually Neutral Advancement: 7-12 HD (Medium) 13-18 HD (Large) The mysterious constructs called living steel seem to be the survivors of some past civilisation of awesome power and scientific progress. Living steel usually appears as a slim, roughly humanoid figure of rippling, shimmering metal that moves as if it were liquid; the face featureless. No one knows whether this is their true form or whether they mimic the forms of the races they encounter to put them at ease or unnerve them. In fact living steel is made up of hundreds of absolutely tiny machines, a collective being formed from minute components that flow round one another like water. The exact agenda of living steel never seems certain. They are definitely highly intelligent, and many sages believe they are still tirelessly working on orders given by their now long-dead mas-
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Iron Juggernaut
Huge Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 12d10+40 (106 hp) Initiative: -1 (-1 Dex) Speed: 40ft. AC: 25 (-1 Dex, +18 natural, -2 size), touch 7, flatfooted 25 Attacks: 2 slams +18/+13; or melee weapon +18/+13; or ranged weapon +8/+3 Damage: Slam 2d6+9; or by weapon Space/Reach: 15ft./10ft. Special Attacks: Roar, Terrifying Charge Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance Saves: Fort +4 Ref +3 Will +5 Abilities: Str 28 Dex 8 Con Int Wis 12 Cha 1 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or Detachment (2-6) Challenge Rating: 8 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 13-24 HD (Huge), 25-36 HD (Gargantuan) Iron juggernauts are large and dangerous constructs designed specifically for battle. Its structure is
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Iron Shroud
Large Undead Hit Dice: 7d12 (49 hp) Initiative: -1 (-1 Dex) Speed: 30ft. AC: 23 (-1 Dex, +15 natural, -1 size), touch 8, flatfooted 23 Attacks: 2 slams +9 Damage: Slam 1d8+6 Space/Reach: 10ft./10ft. Special Attacks: Fist of Entropy, Soul Scream, Spells Special Qualities: Aura of Rust, Hardness 5, Servitors, Undead Saves: Fort + 4 Ref +1 Will +10 Abilities: Str 22 Dex 8 Con Int 16 Wis 16 Cha 18 Skills: Concentration +10, Craft (Steamworks) +13, Knowledge (Arcana) +13, Listen +13, Spellcraft +13, Spot +13 Feats: Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Necromek, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Toughness Climate/Terrain: Any subterranean Organisation: Solitary (1 iron shroud + servitors) or mausoleum (2-12 + servitors) Challenge Rating: 7 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Usually Neutral Evil Advancement: 8-14 HD (Large), 15-21 HD(Huge)
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Manservant
Medium-Size Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 2d10+20 (31 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 30ft. AC: 15 (+5 natural armour), touch 10, flat-footed 15 Attacks: Slam +3 Damage: Slam 1d4+3 Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: None Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance, Programmed Skills Saves: Fort +0 Ref + Will +2 Abilities: Str 14 Dex 10 Con Int 16 Wis 14 Cha 1 Skills: * Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Servant (1 + master) or Secretariat (2-12 + master) Challenge Rating: Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 3-4 HD (Medium), 5-6 HD (Large) A manservant is a steamwork construct crafted to look as close to the humanoid race that made it as possible, its steel or bronze chassis usually formed to make it look like the attire of a clerk or accountant. Designed to be a mechanical secretary for the wealthy businessman or merchant, a manservant is something of a display of wealth and sophistication as well as a computational device.
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Scorpion Sentinel
Large Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 14d10+30 (113 hp) Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex) Speed: 40ft, climb 30ft. AC: 28 (+1 Dex, +18 natural, -1 size), touch 10, flat-footed 27 Attacks: 2 pincers +19/+14, stinger +14 Damage: Pincer 1d8+10, stinger 2d6+5 + poison Space/Reach: 10ft./ 10ft. Special Attacks: Barbed bolts, improved grab, lightning mandibles, poison reservoir Special Qualities: Construct, hardness 5, maintenance, Spell Resistance 18 Saves: Fort +4 Ref +5 Will +7 Abilities: Str 30 Dex 12 Con Int Wis 14 Cha 1 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or Pair Challenge Rating: 13 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 15-28 HD (Large), 29-42 HD (Huge)
Mechanised Creature
A mechanised creature is an experiment in melding machine and flesh beyond the use of a handful of minor prosthetics. About half of a mechanised creature now consists of machinery and prosthetic parts, creating a nightmarish appearance. Created to act as guards and servants, mechanised creatures tend to be monstrous humanoids and animals since no one else is likely to submit themselves to the treatment; the process of mechanisation is horrific and painful, and many subjects break and go insane. A mechanised animal that escapes a laboratory and runs wild through a city is dangerous indeed. Even those that undergo the process and remain mostly sane tend to be somewhat mentally unstable. Mechanised creature is a template that can be added to any creature. Its type remains the same, and it uses
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advanced form of static charge generator. It takes 3 rounds for a sentinel to build up enough charge to attack, the crackling of electricity becoming more and more evident in the constructs maw. Once charged up, it can unleash the energy as a lightning bolt cast by a 5th level sorcerer (DC 13), or alternatively discharge it throughout its metal shell, inflicting 2d6 electrical damage to anyone in base contact unless they make a Reflex save (DC 15). Anyone grappled by the scorpion is automatically hit. Poison Reservoir: A scorpion sentinels stinger holds a reservoir of poison that is injected to any creature hit by the stinger attack, enough for 3 doses. Once used up it needs to be either manually refilled, or the sentinel can top up the level of poison by feeding on noxious substances like mercury or other raw chemicals to manufacture a crude poison of some sort. Construct: A scorpion sentinel is a construct and has all the traits and immunities of that type. Hardness: Due to being mostly made of metal, a scorpion sentinel has hardness 5. Maintenance: A scorpion sentinel has a Maintenance DC of 9. Constructing a Scorpion Sentinel: Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 15 ranks Cost: 35,000gp
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Slaughterer
Large Construct [Construct] Hit Dice: 9d10+30 (81 hp) Initiative: +4 (+4 Dex) Speed: 40ft. AC: 28 (+4 Dex, +15 natural, -1 size), touch 13, flat-footed 24 Attacks: 4 claws + Damage: Claw d8+ Space/Reach: 10ft./10ft. Special Attacks: Poison, slicing blades, spell resistance 15, tear to pieces, terror gaze Special Qualities: Aura of fear, construct, hardness 5, maintenance Saves: Fort Ref Will Abilities: Str 24 Dex 18 Con Int 14 Wis 14 Cha 14 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or Pack (2-4) Challenge Rating: 9 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 10-18 HD(Large), 19-27HD(Huge) A slaughterer is a terror weapon, a fearsome construct that tears its foes apart in horrific manners. Sinuous and serpentine, a slaughterers body is supported by four slender metal legs, while four more limbs sprouting from its shoulders end in slicing bladed claws. The head is featureless except for two eyes that burn with blue balefire, while the vents that cough out exhaust fumes only add to the evil aura of the construct. In order to enhance their already sinister appearance, creators often bedeck slaughterers with spines and trophies, and paint them red or black. A slaughterer understands up to three languages, usually Common, Abyssal and Infernal. It cannot speak, though it can hiss and rattle ominously.
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Spider Sentinel
Small Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 1d10+10 (16hp) Initiative: +2 (+2 Dex) Speed: 30ft, climb 20ft. AC: 17 (+2 Dex, +4 natural, +1 size), touch 13, flat-footed 15 Attacks: 2 Forelegs +0 Damage: Foreleg d4 + poison Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: Poison Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance Saves: Fort +0 Ref +2 Will +1 Abilities: Str 10 Dex 14 Con Int Wis 12 Cha 1 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or Pack (2-12) Challenge Rating: 1 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 2 HD (Small), 3 HD (MediumSize) A spider sentinel is a small steamwork construct that appears like a metal spider, with spindly legs and a mechanical central body shielded with armour plating. Useful due to their small size, spider sentinels are found acting as guard constructs for those who can afford them. Those created by ancient civilisations still prowl the ruins of their masters lands, often with other sentinel constructs. A spider sentinel can understand a single language, usually that of its creator. Combat: The two forelegs of a spider sentinel are elongated and sharpened, more like blades than limbs. A spider sentinel will simply move into melee and attempt to stab the opponent to death with these forelegs. They usually rove in packs, scuttling forwards in numbers over floor, wall and ceiling to overwhelm enemies. Poison: The forelegs each contain a small reservoir of poison, enough for 1 dose in each. Once the poison has been used it needs to be refilled manually. Some ancient ruins that sentinels still guard seem to have working machines that refill
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Steel Sentinel
Large Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 7d10+30 (69 hp) Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex) Speed: 30ft. AC: 22 (+1 Dex, +12 natural, -1 size), touch 10, flat-footed 21 Attacks: 2 slams +12; or weapon +12 Damage: Slam d8+7; or by weapon Space/Reach: 10ft./ 10ft. Special Attacks: None Special Qualities: Construct, Hardness 5, Maintenance, See Invisible, Warrior Construct Saves: Fort +2 Ref +3 Will +3 Abilities: Str 24 Dex 12 Con Int Wis 12 Cha 1 Feats: Cleave, Power Attack* Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary or squad (2-8) Challenge Rating: 5 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 8-14 HD (Large) 15-21HD (Huge) A steel sentinel is a basic form of warrior-construct, a hulking, armour-plated humanoid often crafted to resemble a knight or similar type of soldier. Broad-shouldered and with strong arms, steel sentinels can pummel opponents with their fists but are usually equipped with large weapons to attack with instead, in which case they are also given a large steel shield. A steel sentinel can understand one language but cannot speak, although it is capable of making metallic roars
Stalker
Medium-Sized Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp) Initiative: +9 (+5 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Speed: 40ft. AC: 21 (+5 Dex, +6 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 16 Attacks: 2 claws + 6; or weapon +6 Damage: Claw d4+3; or by weapon Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: Poison Special Qualities: Assassin construct, construct, hardness 5, maintenance, sneak attack +2d6, spell-like abilities Saves: Fort +1 Ref +6 Will +3 Abilities: Str 16 Dex 20 Con Int 14 Wis 18 Cha 14 Skills: Hide +12, Listen +11, Move Silently +12, Spot +11* Feats: Improved Initiative, Dodge* Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary Challenge Rating: 5 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 5-8HD(Medium), 9-12 HD(Large)
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Steam Wurm
Huge Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 13d10+40 (112hp) Initiative: -1 (-1 Dex) Speed: 40ft. AC: 27 (-1 Dex, +20 natural, -2 size), touch 7, flat-footed 27 Attacks: 2 claws +18/13, bite +13 Damage: Claw 2d4+11, bite 2d8+6 Space/Reach: 15ft./10ft. Special Attacks: Improved grab, steam blast Special Qualities: Arcane senses, construct, devour metal, fire resistance 20, hardness 5, jewel eyes, maintenance Saves: Fort +4 Ref +3 Will +4 Abilities: Str 32 Dex 9 Con Int Wis 10 Cha 17 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary Challenge Rating: 13 Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 13-24 HD (Huge), 25-36 HD (Gargantuan) Also known as dragon engines, these huge constructs are crafted to appear like massive metal dragons, fangs made from glittering crystal and great wings of sheet steel. In fact the wings are merely for show, since they lack the strength to get the huge machine off of the ground. Hissing and venting steam with every movement, a steam wurm is a fearsome sight, usually used to guard important treasures or items since their intimidating appearance and reputation tends to keep thieves away. A steam wurm has five polished gems a ruby, emerald, sapphire, diamond and topaz set across its head in place of any eyes, each one imbued with powerful magic that the construct can call upon to aid it in defending its charge. Not only that, but the wurm can devour metals to heal itself, the powerful processes going on within its mechanical gut using the material to repair damage. A steam wurm can understand commands in one language.
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Steamwork Creature
As well as the various other steamwork constructs described in this guide, engineers also often model their creations on creatures they have seen or heard about, either because its form and powers suit their needs or because they simply admire or respect the creature in question. Using this template it is quick and easy to create all sorts of steamworks, from huge and fierce iron wolf constructs that breath super-heated steam (winter wolves as the base creature), to hulking and strong but crude automatons (ogre as the base creature), and a myriad of other possibilities. This is also the template used to create steamwork familiars. Steamwork Creature is a template that can be applied to any base creature apart from constructs with fantastical and bizarre sciences just about any type of being can be replicated in metal and steam. The creatures type changes to Construct, and it gains the [Steamwork] subtype. Hit Dice: Changes to d10s. The creature loses any modifiers to hit
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Steamwork Lich
Many people fear death and wish they could extend their lives beyond their natural life span; for powerful necromancers this is not in the realms of wishful thinking but a very real option, infusing themselves with negative energy in the unspeakably evil ritual of becoming a lich, an undead being. In lands where steam power is well known and science a discipline in which spellcasters often dabble, some necromancers see the advantage in harnessing the strength and power of steam engines to make themselves truly transcend mortal beings and even other undead. A steamwork lich is a clattering, hissing construct about a foot taller than the norm for its race, an imposing figure of metal that is usually clad in the finery of the trappings it wore in life. The machinery is crafted to make the lich look like as skeletal as possible, the head a grinning iron skull with its eye-sockets filled by gleaming sapphire lenses. Most of its torso is full with the machinery that drives it, vents and smokestacks rising out of the lichs back like stunted wings, and it is in the skull itself that the necromantic phylactery is secured from harm. Creating a Steamwork Lich: Steamwork Lich is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature, provided it has the Necromek feat and can create the required phylactery (see The Phylactery below). The creatures type changes to Undead. It uses all the characters statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Hit Dice: The characters hit dice changes to d12 Armour Class: The character gains a +10 natural armour bonus. This replaces any natural armour bonus the character may have had beforehand. Attacks: The character retains all of its attacks and characters without natural weapons gain a touch attack that deals 1d8+5 points of negative energy. Creatures with natural weapons can use
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Holy Devices
ealots, templars, and other steamwork devices created specifically by a particular religion or faith tend to have a particular appearance depending on the domains with which they are associated. Below are some suggestions for how a construct or machine with an affinity to a particular domain might appear: Air: Often slender and graceful, these machines tend to be brightly polished and plated with silver and copper, as well as being decorated with silk banners, elaborate engravings and tinkling wind chimes. Animal: These machines are often covered with totems and animal charms, from wolf pelts and tails to the hides of beers or bulls, and the skulls of such powerful beasts as well. They are often also decorated with crude sigils and runes. Chaos: Put together with little care for solidity or reliability, these are often constructed from many different materials put together to form one machine. Their appearance is cluttered and random. Death: Usually made from blackened metal, these are generally decorated with skulls, totems of bones and dark runes promising death and destruction. They are also often driven by necromantic engines. Destruction: Powerfully built and studded with blades and spikes, these devices are generally highly destructive in nature and built to cause damage. Earth: Often crafted to appear rocky and textured like stone, in hues of gray and brown, these machines are also often decorated with gems and precious stones. They tend to be of solid, hefty construction, built to last. Evil: Generally menacing in appearance, these machines often sprout long spikes and blades and are covered in sinister inscriptions and prayers. Fire: These machines are often brightly burnished, and plated with bronze and copper. They often bear red, orange and yellow-hued decorations and emblems upon them. Good: Often brightly polished and crafted in attractive hues, these machines tend to bear carefully written inscriptions and prayers on them. Healing: These machines tend to bear emblems of solace and comfort on them, crafted to appear impressive and confidence-inspiring defenders and aids. Knowledge: Such machines are often very well-crafted, using expert techniques and suchlike, and are sometimes decorated with parchment prayers and paper litanies. Law: Angular, precise and defined, these machines are structured and constructed to emphasise order, organisation, and reliability. Luck: These machines are often heavily inscribed and decorated with little charms and prayers for luck and good fortune, especially where it relates to the reliable functioning of the device. Magic: These machines tend to appear highly ornate and arcane, riddled with magical parts and devices and often powered by arcane engines. Runes, eldritch sigils and arcane rituals are often inscribed over them.
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Zealot
Large Construct [Steamwork] Hit Dice: 8d10+30 (74hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 30ft. AC: 20 (+11 natural, -1 size), touch 9, flat-footed 20 Attacks: 2 slams +12/+7; or weapon +12/+7 Damage: Slam 1d8+7; or by weapon Space/Reach: 10ft./10ft. Special Attacks: Domain abilities Special Qualities: Construct, hardness 5, maintenance, spell resistance 14 Saves: Fort +2 Ref +2 Will +4 Abilities: Str 24 Dex 10 Con Int Wis 14 Cha 1 Climate/Terrain: Any Organisation: Solitary, squad (2-12) or crusade (6-36) Challenge Rating: 6 (7 for templars) Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 9-16 HD(Large), 17-24 HD(Huge) A zealot is a large warrior construct created as a steamwork servant for a religion. The exact appearance depends on the nature of the faith, but zealots generally share a humanoid shape, head slung forwards from the broad metal shoulders and powerful arms usually bearing an integrated shield and a large weapon. What differentiates a zealot from normal constructs is that it has been enhanced by divine magic to be a channel for the energy of faith. A zealot can understand one language, usually the Common tongue, as well as an additional language used by its religion such as Aquan, Abyssal or Celestial. Combat: Zealots are essentially melee fighters although they might be equipped with alchemists cannons or suchlike. They attempt to close to melee rapidly, making use of their domain abilities to enhance themselves or allies and to weaken the enemy. Zealots fight to the death or until called off by a cleric. Domain Abilities: When a zealot is constructed it is keyed to the energy of one of its deitys domains. A zealot may cast each of the spells of levels 1 to
3 from that domain once per day. More powerful zealots called templars are sometimes created, which can cast spells from levels 1 to 6 each once per day. While zealots generally are outfitted with conventional engines a religion often goes to the expense of fitting templars with essence engines. The spells are cast as if by an 8th level cleric (DC 12 + spell level). Construct: Zealots are constructs and have the traits and immunities of that creature type. Hardness: Due to their metal structure, zealots have hardness 5. Maintenance: A zealot has a Maintenance DC of 9, while a templar has a Maintenance DC of 11. Constructing a Zealot: Creation: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, divine favour, Craft (Steamworks) 9 ranks (14 ranks for a templar), creator must have the same domain as the zealot he creates is attuned to Cost: 14,000gp (16,000gp for a templar)
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Beasts of S teel
Vehicles
team power is applicable to more ideas than just the construction of construct-servants designed to fight, labour or calculate. The more common use of this technology is to build vehicles for the transportation and protection of the creators and their kind, though these machines are as much beasts of steel as the construct-servant designs. The entries in this section are considered as constructs although in general they are not built to be able to independently fight and have no form of guiding consciousness, however basic and mechanical. The general purpose of these vehicles is travel, though some can be designed for warfare as well. As steamwork devices, they require fuelling and maintenance as normal. The first part of this section consists of a master list of upgrades available for steamwork vehicles, followed by the individual entries for specific vehicle types accompanied by lists of the upgrades available to those particular devices.
only found in exotic aircraft such as dragonfly copters, aiding the pilots to scan ground and air while moving at high speed. A pilot in a vehicle with an advanced sensor array benefits from having darkvision up to 150 feet and gaining a +4 machine bonus to Spot checks. Arcane Warding A vehicle with this upgrade benefits from limited protection against hostile spells, gaining Spell Resistance 10. A vehicle with arcane warding usually appears to have been heavily encrusted with spell runes, sigils and suchlike, and may have written prayers or powerful runic scripts stuck to it in various places. IT may also be constructed from slightly unusual materials in places, featuring crystal conductors or blued steel surfaces. Arcane Warding, Heavy A vehicle with this upgrade benefits from more potent magical protections, gaining Spell Resistance 15. Arcane Warding, Unyielding The most powerful form of arcane warding, this upgrade gives a vehicle Spell Resistance 20. Arcanomech Lights This upgrade is designed for use on submersibles that intend to travel deep beneath the surface of the ocean, delving down into murky trenches and far waters. The vehicle has arcane lights able to penetrate the gloom out to 60 feet around the submersible. Drop Cords Military dirigibles that are to be used to carry troops often have this upgrade. By using harnesses and drop cords that can be dangled down beneath the bulk of the vehicle, troops can disembark from a maximum height of 120 feet in one
Vehicle Upgrades
+1 Extra AC A vehicle with this upgrade has its AC increased by one. A vehicle can have this upgrade multiple times, with the limit to which its AC can be increased being indicated in its entry. +1 Extra Hit Die A vehicle with this upgrade has its number of hit dice increased by 1. A vehicle can have this upgrade multiple times, with the limit to which its total Hit Dice can be increased being indicated in its entry. Advanced Sensor Array This upgrade installs the vehicle with an advanced array of arcane sensors and distant perception devices. It is highly advanced and usually
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Copter [Steamwork]
A copter is a flying steamwork vehicle that propels itself by the action of rotary blades. Usually relatively small when compared to the mass of some of the larger aerial dirigibles, a copter is created from a light framework of metal and wood that holds together a complex array of gears and machinery that turns the rotors, driven by a steamwork engine. With the engine doing the work of getting the copter up in the air, the pilot merely has to fly the thing without crashing. Copters are fragile and not particularly well designed for purposes of warfare, and are usually employed instead for scouting or exploration. They do have the advantage of being very fast and agile in the skies, and this is put to good use when trying to escape from airborne crews. A copters frame does not have the strength necessary to mount particularly heavy weaponry though it is common for the pilot to carry a loaded crossbow or firearm by his side. Since he needs at least one hand for the controls, usually in the form of an array of sticks and dials, a shortbow or longbow is not really a viable choice. A copter has the following base statistics: Copter Medium-Size Construct Hit Dice: 6d10+20 (53hp) Speed: Fly 70ft (Average) AC: 14 (+4 natural) Special Qualities: Maintenance DC 8 Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 14 ranks Cost: 6,000gp It can be upgraded with the following: +1 Extra Hit Die - To a maximum of 10d10. +250gp +1 Extra AC - To a maximum of +6 natural armour. +150gp Arcane Warding +1,000gp Improved Manoeuvrability - Increasing the flight category to Good. +1,000gp Light Armouring +1,000gp
Sample Copter - Skyrunner Scout This simple flyer designed from a light wood and steel framework contains a mesh of gears powered by a steamwork engine that rotate the blades above the craft to give it lift. Designed purely as a non-combat scout for the Skyrunner mercenaries, the outer cladding has been carefully refined and shaped to give it the best possible aerial manoeuvrability to enable it to evade hostile craft. Copter with Improved Manoeuvrability 7,000gp
ranks,
It can be upgraded with the following: +1 Extra Hit Die - To a maximum of 9d10. +250gp +1 Extra AC - To a maximum of +6 natural armour. +150gp Advanced Sensor Array +2,500gp Arcane Warding +1,000gp Arcane Warding, Heavy +2,000gp
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Dirigible [Steamwork]
One of the more exotic uses for a steam engine is to power a dirigible, an aircraft held aloft high in the skies by captured gas. Many people think that a single large balloon holds aloft an airship, but this is not the case. Literally hundreds of small cells, each filled with either heated air or gases that are lighter than air, are packed together to keep the craft up. This means that even if one, or even several, cells are damaged there will still be plenty of lift. For further protection, larger dirigibles may have light armour plating over the entire structure. Among the cells run various ladders and walkways to allow people to check them for problems and pressure levels. The view from the very top is often quite impressive. Below the cells hangs the carriage of the dirigible, which can vary from an enclosed and heavily armoured gun-ship to little more than a large basket. The steamwork machinery gives the whole thing the motive power to cruise through the skies by large turbines or other stranger forms of locomotion. Needless to say a dirigible is an impressive sight to see moving across the sky. Although it is not very suitable for moving goods and raw materials in the same way that a train can, it is only bad weather that limits where a dirigible travels (although a sense of self-preservation may also
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Submersible [Steamwork]
There are few who are willing to put their lives in the hands of a shell of metal and a tank of oxygen to keep them alive in the depths of the ocean, but there are always some the scientists, the adventurers and the plain curious who will. Steamwork submersibles are risky ventures, far riskier than a sealed environment suit of steamwork armour simply because more things can go wrong. A submersible can take many forms, from aesthetically crafted like some mechanical, armour-plated fish to a simple spherical or oblong shape. Driven by a steamwork engine and supplied with an enclosed environment that can supply up to eight medium-sized characters with air for up to two days, a submersible is built to withstand deep-sea pressures and curious sea denizens. Of course, not all submersibles are designed for diving far below the waves, and some are created with the express purpose of lurking just below the surface to ambush and attack other sea craft, whether it is in the role of a military strike or simple banditry. These craft are often equipped with devices designed to hole and sink a ship and the crew is made up of tough shock troops. A submersible has the following base statistics: Submersible Huge Construct Hit Dice: 15d10+40 (128hp) Speed: Swim 60ft AC: 25(+17 natural, -2 size) Special Qualities: Hardness 10, Maintenance DC 9 Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 12 ranks Cost: 20,000 gp It can be upgraded with the following: +1 Extra Hit Die - To a maximum of 20d10.+400gp +1 Extra AC - To a maximum of +22 natural armour, +200gp Arcane Warding +2,000gp Arcane Warding, Heavy +5,000gp Arcanomech Lights +1,000gp Elemental Machinery +5,000gp Hull-B Breaker +2,000gp
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Tunneller [Steamwork]
A tunneller, or mole drill, is very similar to a large industrial mining drill, except that it is designed for travel rather than tearing ore from rock and has a pilot. The pilot sits behind the drilling mechanisms in a protected framework. As the drill tears up the rock ahead of it, it pushes the rubble around behind it, and tracks on the drills base and sides pull it along. Mole drills are often used to get saboteurs into place to attack fortifications, or to dig tunnels to breach subterranean locations. The base statistics for a tunneller are given below:
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Presti ge Cl asses
escribed in this section are a small number of prestige classes designed to go hand in hand with the concepts presented in this guide, and to add flavour and opportunities for the player characters in a campaign which features steam technology. Two of the classes, the Balloonist and Steel Knight, focus on the use of a particular piece of steamwork equipment. The Mechanist focuses on steamwork prosthetics as well as the philosophical idea of the superiority of metal over flesh. Meanwhile the Inspired Inventor and Metalworker work to spread the knowledge of steamworks and technology far and wide.
Balloonists are capable warriors, though they prefer to keep their distance from foes, especially those of the airborne variety. They are most often found on the edges of society, in amongst mercenaries, pirate bands and frontier towns, and other hostile climes where their scouting skills are invaluable. While fighters and rogues are the most common class to take the balloonist prestige class, rangers concerned with scouting wild areas and who want to be up in the sky with the creatures of the air also take this class. Hit Die: d8 Prerequisites: Craft (Steamworks): 7 ranks Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, proficiency with at least one martial or exotic ranged weapon. Special: The character must be the pilot of a personal dirigible, and must have at least 6 months experience as such. Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft (Any), Craft (Steamworks), Jump, Listen, Profession (Any), Spot, Survival and Use Rope. Skill Points per Level: 6+Int modifier Class Abilities: Weapons and Armour Proficiencies: A balloonist gains no new weapons or armour proficiencies. Combat Manoeuvre: Due to the stability of the harness and support, a personal dirigible provides the balloonist with a good firing platform to attack from, even while the device soars through the air. A balloonist flying with his dirigible can move as far as the base movement of the vehicle in a round where he takes a full attack action with a ranged weapon. Weather Sense: A balloonist gets to know the feel of air currents on his face, and what signifies a change
Balloonist
he balloonist is a sky warrior, a marksman who takes to the air with the buzzing of steamwork engines driving his personal dirigible. Agilely manoeuvring his craft through the air, the balloonist seeks to fight from a distance, making the most of his skill with ranged weapons and the flight of the dirigible. Eagle-eyed and with keen senses, he hunts like an eagle from above, acutely aware of the winds and skies around him. He needs to be, for a balloonists weakness is the very thing that gives him his advantages - his dirigible, vulnerable to hostile assault. The balloonist can fill all sorts of military roles, most often as a scout for a military force. Pirates might have a balloonist to locate their prey, and mercenaries pay well for an outrunner who can fly and report back with information. Balloonists also work more directly in combat by aiding from above, sniping and picking out important targets from above the chaos of melee. Balloonists also work as guards for mountain passes and dangerous roads, moving back and forth above them to check for any disturbances or signs of danger.
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in the weather. A balloonist can predict the weather up to four hours ahead with a 90% chance of accuracy. Defensive Manoeuvre: At 2nd level the balloonist may add his Wisdom bonus to both his AC and his dirigibles AC while in flight. Aerial Manoeuvre: At 3rd level the balloonists flight manoeuvrability while flying a personal dirigible is improved by one factor (e.g. Average to Good). Crack Shot: At 4th level the balloonist becomes a crack shot at firing from a fast-moving personal dirigible, and can ignore cover bonuses to AC of ground targets when firing. Evade: At 5th level the balloonist becomes an expert at dodging ranged attacks and destructive blasts aimed at his aircraft, and gains the evasion ability of the rogue class. The ability applies to both him and his dirigible, and only works when the balloonist is aerial in a personal dirigible.
Inspired Inventor
he inspired inventor has a mind full of ideas and concepts, fantastical designs for machines and innovative ways of applying old theories. Its often so full that he has to scrawl down his ideas in sketchbooks and tomes to try and record them all, in shorthand and pictures that most others find hard to decipher but which he intuitively understands. For the inspired inventor the world is simply full of possibilities that have yet to be explored, and hes eager to do just that. In a world without steamworks, the inspired inventor may be the genius who creates them in the first place. In a world where steamworks are already established, the inspired inventor leads the cutting edge of science, pushing the boundaries and coming up with new ideas
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Finest Creation
(Steamworks), Decipher Script, Disable Device, Knowledge (Any), Open Lock, Profession (Any), and Spellcraft. Skill Points per Level: 6+ Int modifier Class Abilities: The following are class abilities of the Inspired Inventor. Weapons and Armour Proficiencies: An inspired inventor gains no new weapons or armour proficiencies, although this does not stop him from constructing weapons or armour. Spells per Day: When a new inspired inventor level is gained that grants the character a new spellcaster level, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning undead, extra metamagic feats, etc.) except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming an inspired inventor, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day. Bonus Feat: At 1st, 4th and 7th level, an inspired inventor gains a bonus feat that he meets the prerequisites for from the following list: Alchemechanic, Arcanomech, Essence Engineer, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, High Artificer, Master Mechanic, Necromek, Quick Fix, Skill Focus (Any), Steam Surgeon. Inspiration: Once per day per inspired inventor class level, the character may benefit from a flash of inspiration and ingenuity, gaining a +4 bonus
to any skill check. This can also be used when taking 10 or taking 20 with a skill. Personal Shorthand: At 2nd level the inspired inventor develops a personal style of shorthand writing. Any text written in the shorthand (usually designs, theories and development notes) cannot be understood by anyone else except by a Decipher Script check (DC 30). Personal shorthand keeps the ideas and sciences that the inventor wants secret kept that way when writing something for others to understand he of course uses normal text. Amazing Visions: The brilliant and ingenious designs and theories of the inventor attract the attention of a patron at 3rd level. The patron will contact the character and provide funds for him to develop and create new devices, but on the condition that all such designs are developed for the patron and it is he who controls the release of the information. Dismantle: At 6th level, the inspired inventor is so well-versed in the construction of devices, and so familiar with the concepts and theories used in putting together structures, that he can apply these principles to dismantling them as well. Constructs do not benefit to immunity from critical hits inflicted by an inspired inventor, and he gains a +2 bonus to any sabotage checks. Finest Creation: At 10th level an inspired inventor can construct his finest creation, a one-of-akind device or construct. A piece of equipment created with this ability is automatically masterwork, and has its masterwork benefit increased by 1 as well
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as any Maintenance DC reduced by 1. A construct gains a +1 competence bonus to attack rolls and checks and a +1 bonus to AC. With the agreement of the DM, an inspired inventor could instead invent an entirely new piece of machinery that is not detailed in this guide. An inventor can only have a single finest creation at any one time, but can create a new device if the first once is destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
Mechanist
or most people a steamwork prosthetic is something they wish they never need; few are eager to lose parts of their body to have them replaced by a mimicry in metal and gears, even if the prosthetic is superior to the old flesh and blood. Some are less adverse to prosthetics, seeing their practicality in certain lines of work, but even so they are not quick to have part of their body carved off and a steel prosthetic substituted. Yet a mechanist is not eager and quick to embrace the process of replacing flesh with metal, but indeed pursues it as a goal of enlightenment. The mechanist sees flesh and muscle, skin and bone, as more of an impediment than something to be too attached too, merely one stage in several towards a final enlightenment. To him, machines are superior to organic matter, and demonstrably so, since metal never tires and possesses a strength beyond that of a mortal man. A mechanist may see his path as one of harnessing the power of machinery for his own personal ends, or he may see it as a way by which he can achieve a higher state, reaching for divinity and true understanding
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gains proficiency in all simple weapons. Machine Affinity: Due to his affinity for machinery, a mechanist gains a +2 bonus to Craft (Steamworks) and Disable Device checks. Prosthetic: The mechanist undergoes a slow but steady process of altering his body with machines. At levels 1, 3 and 6 a mechanist can have a new prosthetic implanted into him, with no chance of contracting a disease or infection. Armour Plating: As well as prosthetics, mechanists implant smaller devices and machines into them, as well as attaching more practical armour plating. This results in a mechanist gaining a natural armour bonus at level 2, which increases at levels 5 and 8. Face of Steel: From level 3 onwards, the mechanists appearance has been changed so much that he gains a bonus to Intimidate checks equal to his mechanist level. Light Fortification: At level 4, a mechanist has been so changed by his augmentations that he begins to pick up some of the traits of a real construct. Any critical hit made against a mechanist has a 25% chance of hitting a metal part or prosthetic and allowing the character to ignore the additional damage caused by the critical. Mechanical System: At level 7 a mechanist gains damage reduction 3 to subdual damage only, as well as gaining an additional +2 bonus to his Fortitude save. Medium Fortification: At level 9 the chance of a mechanist being able to ignore the additional damage from a critical hit is increased to 50% Mechanical Enlightenment: At level 10 a mechanist is so augmented and modified that over half of his body is now mechanical. His machine sens-
es grant him a +2 insight bonus to Intelligence, as well as granting damage reduction 3/ - and increasing his natural armour bonus from armour plating to +4.
Metalworker
he metalworker is a divine spellcaster with power over metal and machines, a priest who preaches of the mechanical and the manufactured. A master of forging and crafting, the metalworker sees the souls of men as being akin to the metal he shapes with his hammer in the furnace, and he seeks to bring the words and wisdom of his deity to those around him. A metalworker walks amongst the factories and industries, spreading the word to those who labour at forge and furnace. Teaching both his faith and his skills at crafting to his flock and bringing his divine gifts to aid those injured in the sparking, hammering halls of industry, the metalworker can play an important part in the community of labourers and manual workers. He is often the first voice to demand better work and pay for the manual labourers and mechanics when they are repressed by the upper classes, and the first to advocate new technologies and methods. Metalworkers often form an important part of the religious structure that worships a deity of metal, forges, machines and hard work. They may represent the members of the priesthood who go out to spread the word amongst the workers while other clerics administrate the higher levels of the organisation, or metalworkers may be amongst the most powerful and influential individu-
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level. Master Craftsman: A metalworker gains a bonus to any Craft check to create a metal object equal to his metalworker class level. Heat Metal: A metalworker can cast heat metal as a spell-like ability once per day for every level in the metalworker prestige class he has. Smite Construct: Once per day a metalworker can make a smite attack against a construct, adding his charisma bonus (if any) to the attack roll and his metalworker class level to the damage roll. Command Construct: A 3rd level metalworker gains the ability to rebuke and command constructs as an evil cleric rebukes and commands undead. The character uses his metalworker level only for this ability, not any cleric levels he may already possess. Mastery of Slicing Steel: The metalworkers mastery over metals hones the edge of his weapons and makes them light and graceful in his hands, granting a +1 bonus to hit with metal weapons at 4th level. This increases at 8th level to a +2 bonus. Mastery of Shielding Steel: At 6th level the metalworkers mastery over metals reinforces any metal armour he wears, reinforcing it and making minute adjustments. It bestows a +1 bonus to the AC of any metal armour he wears, and at 10th level this bonus increases to +2 AC. Warp Metal: At 9th level the metalworker can cast warp metal as a spell-like ability 1/day.
Steel Knight
uper-heavy armour is bulky, slow and requires extensive training for anyone hoping to operate it, but in return it grants strength far beyond that of the muscle and bone of a normal man and protects the pilot with incredibly thick armour from outside assault. The very best of those who pilot this devastating form of armour become familiar with their armour and learn its strengths and weaknesses, in time wearing it almost like a second skin. These veterans of super-heavy armour, toughened and experienced warriors of great skill and competence, are known as steel knights, those who ride across the lands in suits of steel and steam. Intimately familiar with his suit of armour, a steel knight learns to recognise the warning signs of an impending malfunction and how to avoid it; he learns how to move with the suit more naturally, rather than fighting to push the augmented lump of steel around the battlefield. A steel knight can push his suit to its very maximum, getting the vital edge he needs out of it. A warrior who uses super-heavy armour but leaves it to a team of mechanics to keep it maintained and running will never achieve the skills of a steel knight, even if he is an excellent fighter; a steel knight can delve into the workings of his armour and get it working again from the most devastating of damage. A steel knight may well be a member of a knightly order or military organisation who deploy super-heavy armour on the battlefield and train their members in its use, representing the very best and most experienced kind of pilot that these groups can put on the battlefield. Whether a noble or religious knight, or a grizzled veteran mercenary, a steel knight knows how to get the very best out of the suit he pilots. A
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Spells
his section details a number of new spells designed around the steamwork system presented in this guide.
Awaken Machine Transmutation Level: Invention 9, Sor/Wiz 9 Components: V, S, XP Range: Touch Target: Machine touched Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: Will negates Spell Resistance: Yes This spell awakens the target machine to true sentience. To succeed, the caster must make a Will save (DC 10 + targets HD or in the case of non-constructs or non-vehicles 10 + Maintenance DC). The awakened machine is friendly towards the caster, though the caster has no special empathy or connection with it. The machine gains 3d6 Intelligence, +2d6 Charisma and +2 HD if it has hit dice. It can speak 1 language + 1 language per Intelligence ability score bonus it possesses. Machines are usually awoken in this manner to serve as superior war constructs that are more capable of fighting with tactics and strategy, as well as vehicles that are brought to sentience for various purposes. XP Cost: 750xp Dominate Steamwork Transmutation Level: Steamwork 9 Components: V, S, M Range: Close (25ft. +5ft./2 levels) Target: 1 steamwork device, vehicle or construct Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: Will negates Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell brings a steamwork device under the control of the caster. A steamwork affected by this spell will only respond to the command and activation of the caster, no-one else, and he can command and activate it with his voice only. A construct or vehicle dominated in this way will not attack the caster and will obey his commands, even if it is to attack the original owner. A construct with a spirit matrix is still dominated, and the spirit within loses control of its steamwork body unless the caster allows it any control. The effects of this spell are permanent. Material Component: A chunk of crystal wrapped in copper wire, costing 50gp. Genius Transmutation Level: Invention 7 Components: V, S Range: Personal Target: Self Duration: 1 hour/level Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: Yes (Harmless) This spell fills the characters brain with surging, inspirational flows of genius, propelling the intellect to new heights and bringing amazing clarity of perception. The character gains a +10 enhancement bonus to Craft (Steamworks), Knowledge (Mathematics), Sense Motive, Spot and Search checks as well as a +6 enhancement bonus to Initiative and Intelligence. He gains a +10 enhancement bonus to any other skill checks that involve solving a puzzle, riddle or other complex problem. The character can automatically solve such a problem if he wishes, but the spell ends immediately.
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Appendix
n this appendix are presented the summaries of two of the possible campaigns presented in the first part of this guide. These summaries are designed to show from a rules point of view how to integrate these concepts into a campaign world.
such steam engines that are powered by conventional oil or coal burners are the most common sight. Wizards do occasionally craft more complex designs that blend magic with machine but these are expensive and rare. As such, the only two engine creation feats available are the Arcanomech and Master Mechanic feats. Materials & Craftsmanship: In terms of materials, the empire of Hurdell makes use primarily of rion and steel, with more exotic metals being rare. The exception to this is the Imperial Guard, the constructs of which are made from specially treated gold. These constructs, however, are designed more for show than for battle. The Hurdellian level of craftsmanship is average, but has only just advanced from poor in recent years. As such, many devices and constructs of poor quality are still in circulation. Equipment: Any piece of steamwork equipment that is of Maintenance DC 8 or less, and is not arcana, is probably not that hard to obtain in Hurdell, and may even be a regular sight. Arcana and devices of a higher DC are less common, with any piece of arcana needing to be crafted specifically to order by a wizard. Only light or medium augmented steamwork armour is available at the moment, though the progress of science may make the cosntruction of heavier forms possible before too long. Edifices of Might: The more mundane structures are common throughout the empire, but those that bledn magic with science are either rare or unheard of. There are plans to build a magnificent weather tower in the empire's largest port, but this is a task of which the Imperial mechanic mages have yet to master the science for. Prosthetics: Only the simplest of prosthetics are available, and even then it is difficult to find a surgeon with more than 5 ranks in Heal to apply the device. In general, no prosthetic that requires more than 8 ranks in Craft (Steamworks) is available.
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Christopher Allen would like to offer thanks to Oliver Geddes, Maldur, Horacio, Arwink, Kaiyosama, Crothian, Sniktch, my old Planescape group (you'll recognise some Arcanatum stuff) and my Acrozatarim group (you'll know it when it hits you)
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! e r o M s e r e h T ! t i a But W
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Theres More!
Thats right. The author of Steam and Steel, Christopher Allen, has another book on the way. Keep your eyes out for The Biothaumaturgical Handbook, to be published by Enkwell Press in 2004.
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