Tinman Custom Classes

Tinman Designer's Notes

Many fantasy role-playing gamers don't care for intelligent constructs that mimic humans. That's fine. I do like them, and perhaps oddly enough, I see them as "old school". Old school, as in when the fantasy and weird horror books were in the science fiction section of the bookstore. As in when authors of fantasy, science fiction and weird horror didn't hesitate to mix and match those genres for a good story, not to mention the long history of doing so that they could draw upon, going back to the pulp era. More so than dwarves or elves or even humans, intelligent constructs that mimic humans are about what it means to be human. To be sentient, to have emotions, and that's fertile ground for the imagination.

My tinman race for the Adventurer Conqueror King system is my effort to create simple, playable intelligent constructs for this system. Intentionally, I have not provided a lot of detail on the fundamental makeup of the tinmen, or exactly how they were created (beyond lost powerful magics). These details are left for Judges to do with what they will for their games, because the details that make perfect sense in my game, may be inconceivable in your game.

I hope you will look at the tinmen in light of how they might fit into your game, and what roles they might play, from unique relic of the ancients, to mistrusted minority, to implacable foes bent on conquest.

Tinman Custom Classes

Tinmen are a race of intelligent constructs, sentient, living beings created by the most powerful of magics. The name “tinmen” refers both to the original tinmen, plated in tin, and to the collective of all varieties of tinmen, including the later varieties plated in metals other than tin. There may be as many creation stories for the tinmen as there are tinmen, and certainly the tinmen have their own creation stories. However, the following creation story is at least a popular one.

The tinmen were created by an idealistic yet powerful human wizard. This wizard sought to save and enrich human lives by creating constructs that could learn to do dangerous or repetitive work.  In addition to being able to learn, these constructs would be capable of some degree of self-repair, and would be able to convert healing magic into repairing heavier damage. Most importantly, the method of creating these constructs would allow large numbers of them to be created efficiently.

After a lifetime of effort, the wizard succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. His creations mimicked humans in every superficial way, and they were intelligent. The wizard was working with an advanced tinman, a brass tinman designed to be a friend and entertainer to humans, when the wizard realized that all of the tinmen were becoming self-aware. Too late, the wizard with the best of intentions realized he had created a race of slaves. He sought to free the thousands of slaves he had already created. However, the owners of these tinmen opposed him. They stole the secret of the creation of the tinmen. They used that secret to create new varieties of tinmen, tinmen that could control and lead other tinmen, tinmen that could destroy and enslave, the bronze, iron and steel tinmen. The tinmen of war.

What became of the idealistic wizard is unknown, but his creations continue on: tin, brass, bronze, iron and steel.

(See the Tin Philosopher, Tin Soldier, Brass Jongleur, Bronze Captain, Iron Chaplain and Steel Charger.)

The following rules apply to all tinmen.

Unless otherwise stated, tinmen are effectively humanoid creatures, or “persons”, for all purposes, such as being affected by charm person or hold person spells.

For each full day of complete rest, including eight hours of sleep, in reasonably clean conditions, tinmen self-repair 1d3 hit points. Tinmen are able to benefit from magical healing effects and spells. However, the Healing proficiency and the related healing herbs have no effect on tinmen. Instead, see the new Repair proficiency and the related ingredients, body putty, lubricating oil and sealant, below.

Repair: The character has the ability to repair damage and diagnose disease in tinmen. A proficiency throw of 11+ enables the character to identify whether a disease is magical or mundane, and if mundane, diagnose it. With reasonably clean conditions and rest, a tinman under treatment of the character automatically regains an extra 1d3 hit points per day. If the character selects Repair twice, he can cure disease, or cure light wounds with a proficiency throw of 18+, attempting once per day per tinman. If the character selects Repair three times, he can cure disease, or cure serious wounds with a proficiency throw of 14+. At any one time, a character can treat three tinmen, plus an additional one each time Repair is selected. Repair is added to the general proficiency list for all tinmen.

Body Putty (1 lb, 10 gp): A character with the Repair proficiency can use body putty to repair a damaged tinman. Used in this manner, it provides a +2 bonus on proficiency throws to cure light wounds and cure serious wounds.

Lubricating Oil (1 pint, 10 gp): A character with the Repair proficiency can use lubricating oil to repair a damaged tinman immediately after a battle. This restores 1d3 hit points of damage. A tinman cannot be treated with lubricating oil more than once per day.

Sealant (1 pint, 10 gp): A character with the Repair proficiency can use sealant to treat sick tinmen. Used in this manner, it provides a +2 bonus on the Repair proficiency throw to cure disease.

Tinman character classes are created using the Tinman racial category and experience points. Requirements, class category values, hit points per level after 9^th, and experience point progressions are modified as noted below. 

Requirements

All Tinman classes require a minimum of 9 or better in one ability per build point above 0 allocated to the Tinman Value. Tinmen are purpose-built for their intended function and vary in abilities.

Class Category Values

Fighting:  The build points allocated to the class’s Fighting Value may be increased by 1 or 2 points by the Tinman Value (see below). Use the effective values to find the class’s fighting abilities, up to a maximum of 4 points.

Divine: Tinmen who reach the 9^th level of Divine spellcasting are eligible to create Constructs, as if they were 11^th level clerics.

Arcane: Tinmen may not have an Arcane Value higher than 0, unless they have a Tinman Value of 0.

Tinman Value

When building a Tinman custom class, assign between 0 and 4 build points to the class’s Tinman Value. These points represent the base chassis type of Tinman: tin, brass, bronze, iron and steel.

Value	Tinman	XP Cost
4	Tinman 4	1450
3	Tinman 3	1050
2	Tinman 2	850
1	Tinman 1	325
0	Tinman 0	200

Tinman 0: At Tinman 0, the character is built upon a tin chassis. The tin chassis are the oldest and most varied. Many older tin chassis appear as articulated tin cylinders, with only a tin mask for a face. Only their scarecrow-like, sometimes comical appearance prevents them from being truly intimidating. Some later tin chassis incorporate the more human-like appearance of the later tinmen. At Tinman 0, the class will have the following four custom powers:

·     Inhumanity: The character suffers a -1 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans and demi-humans. The character gets a +1 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of intelligent constructs.

·      Intelligent Construct: The character is unaffected by poison. Note that as an intelligent construct, the character is affected by hold, charm, or sleep spells. However, the character gains a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Spells. The character doesn't need to breathe, eat, or sleep, but he may choose to do so, typically to gain a specific benefit.

·         Plating, Tin: The character’s base unarmored AC is 1 instead of 0.

·       Unarmed Fighting: When brawling (see ACKS p. 109), the character may deal lethal damage, 1d3 with a punch or 1d4 with a kick. He can punch or kick characters in metal armor without himself taking damage.

Tinman 1: At Tinman 1, the character is built upon a brass chassis. The brass chassis are the first of the later tinmen, with a more human-like shape and appearance. Brass chassis are the most likely of the tinmen to wear human clothing, with some being quite fashion-conscious. Brass chassis are typically purpose-built to advise, befriend and entertain humans. As such, they typically have at least one above average mental ability. At Tinman 1, the class will have the following four custom powers:

·     Inhumanity: The character suffers a -1 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans and demi-humans. The character gets a +1 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of intelligent constructs.

·      Intelligent Construct: The character is unaffected by poison. Note that as an intelligent construct, the character is affected by hold, charm, or sleep spells. However, the character gains a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Spells. The character doesn't need to breathe, eat, or sleep, but he may choose to do so, typically to gain a specific benefit.

·    Plating, Brass: The character’s base unarmored AC is 2 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 90’.

·       Unarmed Fighting: When brawling (see ACKS p. 109), the character may deal lethal damage, 1d3 with a punch or 1d4 with a kick. He can punch or kick characters in metal armor without himself taking damage.

Tinman 2: At Tinman 2, the character is built upon a bronze chassis. The bronze chassis are the first of the tinmen built for conflict. Bronze chassis straddle the divide between the human-focused tin and brass and the battle-ready iron and steel. Bronze chassis vary in mission, but they have at least two above average abilities. At Tinman 2, the class will have the following five custom powers:

·     Inhumanity: The character suffers a -2 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans and demi-humans. The character gets a +2 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of intelligent constructs.

·      Intelligent Construct: The character is unaffected by poison. Note that as an intelligent construct, the character is affected by hold, charm, or sleep spells. However, the character gains a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Spells. The character doesn't need to breathe, eat, or sleep, but he may choose to do so, typically to gain a specific benefit.

·    Plating, Bronze: The character’s base unarmored AC is 3 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 60’.

·         Superior Fighting: The class’s Fighting Value is effectively increased by 1 for all purposes.

·       Unarmed Fighting: When brawling (see ACKS p. 109), the character may deal lethal damage, 1d3 with a punch or 1d4 with a kick. He can punch or kick characters in metal armor without himself taking damage.

Tinman 3: At Tinman 3, the character is built upon an iron chassis. The iron chassis are built for war, able to operate in darkness, with reduced downtime. Their iron plating seems to attract oil and soot more readily, adding to their inhuman appearance. Iron chassis typically have all three physical abilities above average. At Tinman 3, the class will have the following seven custom powers:

·         Infravision: The character gains infravision to a range of 120’.

·    Inhumanity: The character suffers a -3 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans and demi-humans. The character gets a +3 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of intelligent constructs.

·       Intelligent Construct: The character is unaffected by poison. Note that as an intelligent construct, the character is affected by hold, charm, or sleep spells. However, the character gains a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Spells. The character doesn't need to breathe, eat, or sleep, but he may choose to do so, typically to gain a specific benefit.

·       Plating, Iron: The character’s base unarmored AC is 4 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 60’.

·         Superior Fighting: The class’s Fighting Value is effectively increased by 1 for all purposes.

·       Unarmed Fighting: When brawling (see ACKS p. 109), the character may deal lethal damage, 1d3 with a punch or 1d4 with a kick. He can punch or kick characters in metal armor without himself taking damage.

·      Wakefulness: The character requires only four hours of sleep to be rested each night, reducing downtime during days of self-repair.

Tinman 4: At Tinman 4, the character is built upon a steel chassis. The steel chassis are the final and most advanced of the common tinmen. Steel chassis have at least four above average abilities. At Tinman 4, the class will have the following five custom powers:

·     Inhumanity: The character suffers a -4 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans and demi-humans. The character gets a +4 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of intelligent constructs.

·       Intelligent Construct: The character is unaffected by poison. Note that as an intelligent construct, the character is affected by hold, charm, or sleep spells. However, the character gains a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Spells. The character doesn't need to breathe, eat, or sleep, but he may choose to do so, typically to gain a specific benefit.

·    Plating, Steel: The character’s base unarmored AC is 5 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 60’.

·         Superior Fighting: The class’s Fighting Value is effectively increased by 2 for all purposes.

·       Unarmed Fighting: When brawling (see ACKS p. 109), the character may deal lethal damage, 1d3 with a punch or 1d4 with a kick. He can punch or kick characters in metal armor without himself taking damage.

Experience Point Progression After 8^th level

Unlike the experience point progression for human and demi-human classes, the experience points progression required to advance in Tinman classes always continues to double, even after 8^th level.