Clockwork
Clockwork are sentient constructs built by magical craftsmen using a combination of magic, machinery, and rare materials.
Clockwork are built fully-formed and gain sentience the moment they are activated. A Clockwork's creator programs each Clockwork with all the knowledge and as much or as little personality required to fulfill the Clockwork's purpose.
After activation, a Clockwork's personality grows organically. Even if multiple copies of a Clockwork are commissioned, each will have a unique personality mere hours after activation. Clockwork learn new skills, find hobbies, and pursue their own ambitions just like their organic contemporaries.
Despite their short lifespans, Clockwork are highly valued for the products of their labor. They excel at the tasks they are built to perform - usually ones that require precise, repeatable movements - and are often commissioned as laborers, soldiers, and artists.
Most Clockwork are built with a specific purpose in mind, although others are given more general abilities and can adapt to a variety of roles. Some are imbued with magical abilities or have special attachments, such as weapons or tools, built into their bodies.
Clockwork are often viewed with a mix of admiration, discrimination, and caution by most cultures. Their artificial nature can be intimidating, and some cultures reject Clockwork as unnatural abominations while others may consider them lower class or lesser beings - servants, slaves, draft animals, or tools. However, they are generally accepted and valued members of most magical societies, and their contributions are widely recognized in most industrialized cultures.
Ancestral Traits
Age
Clockwork are considered mature the moment they gain sentience. Like any intricate machine, their complex innerworkings are susceptible to the ravages of time and require constant maintenance. The most well-maintained Clockwork can last over 100 years, but most break down before 50.
Speed
Clockwork have the same speed as their Given Form.Size
Clockwork are the same size as their Given Form.
Random Height and Weight
You may roll for your character's height and weight on the Random Height and Weight table. The roll in the Height Modifier column adds a number (in inches) to the character's base height. To get a weight, multiply the number you rolled for height by the roll in the Weight Modifier column and add the result (in pounds) to the base weight.
| Base Height | Base Weight | Height Modifier | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
as given form |
as given form |
as given form |
as given form × 2 |
Given Ability
You were created with a special purpose in mind. You may replace the Ability Score Modifiers granted by your Culture with one of the following options:
Choose any combination of +2/+1
Choose any combination of +1/+1/+1
Choose any two unique +1 and one feat
Given Form
You were made in the likeness of other playable Ancestries. Choose one, and apply its size and speed. If the chosen Ancestry has a variable size, choose one. If the chosen Ancestry has multiple speeds or movement types, you may only inherit those that are always active.
For example, a Branchborn Given Form can be Tiny with a speed of 20 ft., but it will always be Tiny with a speed of 20 ft., regardless of age. A Simian Given Form would inherit the Simian's climb speed, but a Selkie Given Form would not inherit the Selkie's swim speed.
Clockwork Proficiency
You were created with a purpose. You gain proficiency in any one skill. You are proficient with tinker's tools and one other tool or artisan's tool.
Integrated Components
Your body has two small built-in compartments which can be used for storage, fitted for weapons, or augmented with certain items. These compartments are typically located in the forearms, abdomen, or thighs, but can be placed anywhere the creator desires. It takes one short rest to install, remove, or refit two integrated components. It takes one week to change the location of one integrated component.
Storage Compartment. When used for storage, an integrated component can hold approximately three pounds of equipment. While incapacitated or restrained, your storage compartment can be opened against your will with an opposing Strength check or coerced with Thieves' Tools at the DM's discretion. During combat, you may use your action to store or retrieve an object from storage.
Integrated Weapon. An integrated component can be fitted to conceal and deploy a single one-handed light or finesse weapon weighing three pounds or less.
When installing weapons as part of a short rest, you must choose whether or not to lock the weapon in place. A locked weapon cannot be disarmed, dropped, given to another character, or thrown. Locked weapons can only be placed in your forearm, and they replace your hand entirely.
You can draw two locked weapons when you would normally be able to draw only one weapon. You must use an action to stow a locked weapon.
If the fitted weapon is a ranged weapon, you may store additional ammunition in the compartment to meet the three pound limit. For example, the same compartment can fit a loaded hand crossbow with no extra ammunition, or 12 darts.
Augmentations. Clockwork constantly tinker with their Integrated Components. Work with your DM to determine what other gear you might augment yourself with. Some adventurous Clockwork have found that the following items can be fitted into your compartments and locked as you would a weapon:
Bullseye Lantern. When installed in your abdomen, your torso casts bright light in a 60-foot cone and dim light for an additional 60 feet in the direction you're facing. Once lit, it burns for 6 hours on a flask (1 pint) of oil. As a bonus action, you can close you aperture, reducing the light to dim light in a 5-foot radius.
Hammer. When installed in your forearm, you roll with advantage on all checks to repair metal objects using Smith's Tools.
Hooded Lantern. When installed in your skull, your head casts bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. Once lit, it burns for 6 hours on a flask (1 pint) of oil. As a bonus action, you can close your apertures, reducing the light to dim light in a 5-foot radius.
Piton. When installed in your forearm or shin, you can use a Climber's Kit as a bonus action.
Thieves' Tools. When installed in your forearm, they cannot be removed from your person without being destroyed.
Wands. When installed in your forearm, they cannot be removed from your person without being destroyed.
