Automaton Homebrew Rules

Automaton Type: Advancements in clockwork technologies have, over time, given rise to machines that move and function on their own, and in many ways are much like magically-crafted constructs. These automatons (more informally referred to as 'clanks') use difference engines and analytical engines on a micro-scale to operate, though all but the best usually require some kind of supervision. They are created with the expansions to the technological device rules given below.

Features: An automaton posseses the following features. -10-sided hit die -Base attack bonus equal to 1/2 hit dice as default (unless improved when created). -No good saving throws as default (unless improved when created). -Gains no skill points or feats, even if it has an Intelligence score, except where otherwise noted.

Traits: An automaton possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in the creature's entry) -No constitution score. -Darkvision 60ft. -Immunity to  all  mind-affecting  effects  (charms, compulsions,  phantasms,  patterns, and  morale effects). -Immunity to  poison,  sleep  effects,  paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects. -Cannot heal damage on their own, but can be repaired with a Craft (technological device) check made by a tinker. The check takes one day's worth of work and is made against a DC the same as what was originally needed to create the automaton. For every point the check result exceeds the DC, 1 point of damage is repaired, and requires expending 20 gp worth of materials per HP repaired. -Not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability  drain,  fatigue,  exhaustion,  or  energy drain. However, as automatons are complex machines filled with hydraulics, gears, and other delicate components, they are subject to critical hits. They are also subject to abilities like sneak attack and skirmish, but only if the attacker also has at least 5 ranks in Disable Device. -Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works specifically on objects, or if it is harmless). -Not at risk of death from massive damage. Immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or less. -Since it was never alive, an automaton cannot be raised or resurrected. -Because automatons are made up of metals and other nonliving materials, automatons are hard to destroy. They gain bonus hitpoints based on size as a construct does. -As a technological device rather than a true creature, an automaton gains hardness based on size: Size		Hardness Fine		0 Diminutive	1 Tiny		3 Small or larger	5 -As a technological device rather than a true creature, an automaton has some of the properties of objects. Automatons have the same default set of resistances to energy attacks as objects do, as described on page 165 of the Player's Handbook (acid and sonic attacks deal full damage, do not apply hardnesss; electricity and fire attacks deal half damage, apply hardness; cold attacks deal one quarter damage, apply hardness). The DM may modifiy the resistances as appropriate if the automaton is created out of different materials. -Proficient with  its  natural  weapons  only,  unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with any weapon mentioned in its entry. -Automatons do not eat, sleep, or breathe, but they usually consume fuel of some kind (typically incindigas) or must be regularly wound up, as determined at creation. -Automatons may be  modified  and  affected  like  any  other technological  device,  and  clever  characters  might  disable them  with  Disable  Device  or  Use  Technological  Device checks. (The specifics are up to the DM, but generally the automaton must be helpless, the character must have at least 1 full round of access to it, and the DC of the skill check is 15 + 1/2 the construct’s Hit Dice). -As technological devices, automatons have an MR and can malfunction, even catastrophically malfunction. The exact range and effects of a malfunction are determined at time of creation.

Creating an Automaton: The only common criteria of an automaton is that they that move on their own and perform tasks as commanded. While often built for combat, automatons could potentially fulfil any task if they are created to perform it. Because of this, automatons can come in many shapes and sizes, and have wildly varying abilities. Automatons, therefore, are composed of a combination of special features. For the most part, automatons follow the normal rules for creating technological devices, with the additions and modifications presented below:

Do not determine the automaton's Function Difficulty at the beginning, it is determined later.

The obvious first component of any automaton is the body itself. Automatons use the following table to determine Technology Score and Features. Unlike a normal technological device, which normally have fixed hitpoints based on size, an automaton in most respects counts as a creature and instead has Hit Dice (as stated in the automaton traits, they still gain bonus hitpoints based on size like a construct). Automatons are tyically given a type of movement next (land, climb, burrow, swim, fly), can have more than one form of movement, and the method of locomotion could be anything from legs to wheels to a cushion of air. However, an automaton need not necessarily have movement, some automatons indeed could be stationary, like a gun that aims and fires itself. If an automaton has no form of movement, then it has no Dexterity score (and all that entails), with the addition that if it has a ranged attack, it uses its Wisdom modifier instead of a Dexterity modifier (if the automaton also has no Intelligence, it likewise uses Wisdom modifier instead of Intelligence or Dexterity for initiative checks). An automaton then may have appendages; any limb through which it can exert force. A single appendage has a natural slam attack based on size (but could be given something different, like a claw), and it can also have a weapon or equipment integrated into it (Much like steam armor). Any integrated weapon or equipment is crafted or bought separately as an add-on and attached as part of the creation process for the automaton. An appendage may or may not have a hand with which it can grasp things (but cannot have more hands than it has appendages). If an automaton has no appendages, it has no Strength score. Assuming an automaton has a Strength or Dexterity score, both start at 10. They can be increased from this baseline.

The most important part of an automaton, they key that defines them, is their Engine. An automaton must have an Engine of some type to qualify as an automaton, and are also what ultimately determines the automaton's Function Difficulty. Engines come in three general categories; calculating, difference, and analytical.

A calculating engine is the simplest of the three engines. It has a Function Difficulty of 30, and gives the automaton no Intelligence score, a Wisdom score of 5, and a Charisma score of 1. It cannot accept Intelligence upgrades, but can have Wisdom and Charisma upgrades. It gains no skills or feats based on hit dice, but may be built with them. These are the most basic of self-propulsion for technological devices; they can only follow one given command of ten words or less at a time, or must react to only specific stimuli in a preprogrammed way (such as following a beacon, automatically attacking something easily identifiable, etc.). Issuing a command requires being able to speak directly to the automaton, and takes a DC 20 Use Technological Device check.

A difference engine is an intermediate grade engine. It has a Function Difficulty of 40, and gives the automaton an Intelligence Score of 1, a Wisdom Score of 10, and a Charisma Score of 1. It can accept upgrades to Wisdom and Charisma, as well as upgrades to Intelligence, but it cannot increase its Intelligence score above 6 in this way. It gains no skills or feats based on Hit Dice, though it may be built with them. Like an animal, an automaton with a difference engine and and intelligence score of 1 or 2 automatically has Tricks (as described in Handle Animal) determined by the creator. Issuing an order to an automaton to perform a Trick requires being able to speak directly to the automaton, and takes a DC 10 Use Technological Device check. Commanding an automaton to perform a Trick or other action it hasn't been specifically programmed for takes a DC 20 Use technological Device check. If an automaton with a difference engine and an Intelligence score of 3 or above gains the ability to rudimentarily understand one language, and give short replies. It can understand most commands given to it that it is phsyically capable of performing, and more advanced modles can ask for clarification of parameters on orders, but they are still ultimately machines and cannot truly think or ponder abstract concepts, or be particularly creative. They can, however, conduct themselves well enough in a rapidly-changing battlefield with only objectives rather than commands, most military automatons use upgraded difference engines.

An analytical engine is the best type of engine that can be made. It has a Function Difficulty of 50, and gives the automaton an Intelligence Score of 8, a Wisdom Score of 12, and a Charisma Score of 6. It can accept upgrades to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. It gains no skills or feats based on Hit Dice, though it may be built with them. An automaton with an analytical engine, while still just a machine, is intelligent enough to hold coherant conversations with a person, can remember things that have happened before, and can even 'think' about abstract concepts and ponder hypothetical scenarios, like a person. Indeed, there is the occasional Mazian who makes the claim that analytical engine-driven automatons are as sentient as a living being, though such claims are usually dismissed as simply the result of clever tinkercraft. The automaton is still just a machine that follows the orders of the one that created it (though there have been the occasional reports of an automaton that creatively interprets orders in a negative way, as if it were dissatisfied with its creator, though this is traditionally always attributed to a freak malfunction). No Use Technological Device checks are necessary to converse with an automaton or give it orders (assuming the one giving the orders is authorized to do so), and despite their incredible complexity, such automatons are generally stable. By the same token, however, such automatons are rare and only within the capabilities of the grandest of tinkers.

-Technological Device Features: Feature			Technology Score Hit Dice		1 per Hit Die Land Speed		1 per 15 ft base speed Climb Speed		1 per 5 ft base speed Burrow Speed		1 per 5 ft base speed Swim speed		1 per 10 ft base speed Fly speed 		1 per 5 ft base speed Appendages		2 x number of appendages Hand			1 x number of hands Additional Strength	1 x value of addition Additional Dexterity	2 x value of addition Calculating Engine	3 Difference Engine	9 Analytical Engine	18 Additional Intelligence	3 x value of addition Additional Wisdom	3 x value of addition Additional Charisma	3 x value of addition Feat			3 (additional feats separate)* Skill Ranks		1 per rank in a single skill Armor Bonus		2 x bonus to AC	Medium BaB Progression	5 Fast BaB Progression	10 Fast Save Porgression	5 (additional saves separate)


 * The automaton must meet the prerequisites of the feat, including prerequisite feats