Clankmen

Mechanical men of fire and steel, clankmen represent the pinnacle of magic and technology.

    Personality: Clankmen are rather distant and aloof, though passionate and driven - as befits creatures borne of sentient fire elementals bound to mechanical frames. They have much of the elemental's alien mindset, lacking many concerns of flesh and blood creatures, but they can have their own form of empathy and compassion. A clankman might well be equally concerned about the poor treatment of a rusting suit of plate armor as a starving beggar, for example.
    Physical Description: Constructs of brass and steel, clankmen are powered by steam, gears, springs, and magic. They have elemental spirits bound to their frames, rather like golems, but rather than stolid spirits of earth they are spirits of fire. The elemental spirits provide both the clankman's intelligence and power the steam engine the clankman carries inside itself. Where a human has the dual nature of flesh and spirit, the clankman has the dual nature of machine and elemental. The appearance of individual clankmen varies widely, ranging from simple and featureless to ornate and grotesque or even an automaton barely indistinguishable from a human save for its fine brass skin. Most resemble armored skeletons with clockworks and pistons for muscles.
    Relations: Humans and dwarves tend to regard clankmen as objects, though their perceptions are subtly different; humans consider them property somewhat like slaves or pets, while dwarves consider them fine craftsmanship for something made by a human. Elves regard clankmen as unnatural creations, the worst perversion of technology polluting pure magic. Gnomes regard clankmen with glee.
    Alignment: As unliving constructs animated by elemental spirits, clankmen are generally morally neutral, and may be ethically lawful, neutral, or chaotic. While they have much of fire's destructive and chaotic bent, they also encompass its creative aspects as well.
    Clankman Lands: Clankmen are found almost exclusively in the Free City of Falikos, but they are exported throughout the Free Cities in small numbers.
    Religion: Clankmen worship either the gods of crafts and invention or the gods of fire, though their reverence for these deities is perhaps best described less as 'worship' and more as 'admiration and aspiration'.
    Language: Common is the language of trade and day-to-day life for most of human society, and thus the clankmen speak it.
    Names: Clankmen are generally given simple, descriptive names or common human names. They are typically masculine or gender-neutral, but feminine are not impossible.
        Names: Cog, Gadget, Gears, Jack, Torch.
    Adventurers: Every so often, a clankman goes rogue. While some of these rogue clanks go on killing sprees and destructive rampages, more simply seek to find meaning for their lives and perhaps pursue some twisted version of their programming.

Clankman Racial Traits
 - Ability Modifiers: +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma. As constructs, clankmen have no Constitution scores.
 - Medium-Sized: As Medium creatures, clankmen have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
 - Construct (Fire). As constructs, clankmen are immune to all mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects. They are not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. They are immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save, unless the effect also works on objects. They are not at risk of death due to massive damage, and are immediately destroyed upon reaching 0 hit points. However, as Medium-sized constructs, clankmen receive 20 bonus hit points at 1st level. Clankmen cannot be raised or resurrected, as they were never alive. Clankmen are immune to damage from fire, but are particularly vulnerable to cold and take half again normal damage from sources of cold.
    Clankmen are constructed largely of brass and iron. As such, certain spells and magical effects treat them differently than normal. Clankmen cannot be healed of damage, but instead must be repaired as constructs using the Craft (clockworks) skill and a toolkit. Repairing a clankman requires an hour of work and a DC 10 Craft (clockworks) check, repairing 1 point of damage for each rank the character has in the skill plus 1 point of damage per five points the skill check exceeds the DC. A clankman can repair itself, but takes a -2 penalty to the check. They also cannot benefit from potions and other consumables (such as a potion of haste), but they can benefit from magic oils applied to their frames (such as oil of repair or oil of magic weapon). A rusting grasp spell or a rust monster's antennae treat the clankman as a ferrous creature, dealing 3d6 points of damage +1 per caster level (maximum +15) with each successful attack. Clankmen are immune to fire damage, but when attacked with magical fire they recover 1 point of damage for every 3 points they would normally have taken (up to the maximum). The clankman gains a +4 bonus to Strength for 1 round per point over his maximum that this healing takes him. Though clankmen take normal damage from electricity, it also hastes them (as the spell) for 1 round per point of damage taken. Cold, in addition to the normal effects, slows the clankman for 1 round per point of damage taken.
    A clankman who is submerged underwater or buried must make a DC 10 Strength check as the steam engine that drives it requires constant air. The save must be repeated each round, with the DC increasing by +1 for each previous success. A clankman who succumbs to suffocation is immediately destroyed, but does not release a fire elemental (see below).
    A clankman who is destroyed releases a fire elemental with Hit Dice equal to the clankman's. The fire elemental is initially confused (as the spell) for 1d6 rounds, and afterwards it acts normally. The elemental shares the same alignment, mental ability scores, skills, and feats as the clankman and most of its memories, but not necessarily its loyalties or goals. The clankman can be restored to animation by a 9th-level caster with the Create Construct feat provided the fire elemental is captured and re-bound.
    Clankmen are proficient with their natural weapons, built-in armor (whether it be light, medium, or heavy) but not shields, and all simple weapons (including firearms).
 - Speed: Clankman base land speed is 30 feet. The clankman's speed does not reduce for wearing medium or heavy armor, nor for carrying a medium or heavy load.
 - Racial Hit Dice: A clankman has one construct Hit Dice. This grants them 1d10 hit points, a +0 base attack bonus, +0 on all saving throws, and (2 + Int modifier) x4 skill points. The clankman's class skills (and their requisite ability modifiers) are Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (Int), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), and Spot (Wis). The clankman's racial Hit Dice also grant it one feat.
 - Clankmen have darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision.
 - Natural Weapons: Clankmen have a slam attack that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage, usable on its own as a primary natural attack or with a weapon wielded in one hand (and no shield) as a secondary natural attack. When the clankman's base attack bonus increases to +6 or better, it gains a second slam attack identical to the first.
    The clankman is treated as having gauntlets installed on its hands. These gauntlets may be replaced or removed (see built-in armor, below), including replaced with spiked, masterwork, or even magic gauntlets. Though the damage remains the same, the slam attack gains the benefits of these improved gauntlets (including a bonus to attack, for masterwork gauntlets, and bonuses to attack and damage for magic gauntlets).
 - Built-In Armor: Clankmen have a built-in breastplate, which grants them a +5 armor bonus but imposes a -4 armor check penalty and has a maximum Dexterity bonus of +3. Because the armor is built-in, it does not hinder the clankman's speed nor does it impose an arcane spell failure chance. Clankman monks and other characters who are limited to wearing no armor or only light armor are not counted as wearing armor for purposes of their class abilities.
    The clankman can have this armor replaced with any plate-based armor (breastplate, banded mail, splint mail, half plate, full plate) or even removed entirely. Replacing the armor requires a suit of armor sized for the clankman and four hours of work with a DC 20 Craft (clockworks) check. Improper installation imposes a -10 ft. penalty to the clankman's speed and a -2 penalty to all attack rolls, armor class, and skill checks based on Strength and Dexterity. Removing the armor requires an hour of work and a DC 15 Craft (clockworks) check. A failed check means the armor was not removed and the check must be attempted again. An unarmored clankman loses its racial bonus to Strength, but regains it when it has armor installed once again. Replacement armor need not be masterwork or magic, but it can be.
 - Damage Reduction: Clankmen have damage reduction 3/adamantine. This improves to DR 5/adamantine at 6th level and DR 10/adamantine at 11th level.
 - Spell Resistance: Clankmen have spell resistance equal to 11 + class level. Thus, a 3rd-level clank fighter will have SR 14.
 - Ambidexterity: Clankmen treat both of their hands as primary hands, rather than having one primary and one off-hand. When a clankman dual-wields weapons, it does not take penalties if one of the weapons is not a light weapon and it applies its full Strength bonus to both weapons.
 - Mechanical Aptitude: Clankmen have a +2 racial bonus on Craft checks pertaining to metal and mechanical objects. They also have a +2 racial bonus on Open Lock and Disable Device checks.
 - Clankmen have a -4 penalty to Move Silently checks. Their steam-powered frames and metal bodies tend to produce a cacophony of clanking, hissing, and whistling sounds as they move.
 - Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). Clankmen, like their human creators, mingle with all kinds of other folk and thus can learn any language found in an area. Many clanks learn Dwarven and Gnome for their engineering and crafts expertise, and Draconic for the study of magic.
 - Favored Class: Artificer or Rogue, chosen at 1st level. A favored class's levels do not count when determining multiclass experience point penalties.
 - Level Adjustment: +1.