TW Clockwork Being (Race)

[Venatus Vinco]

TW Clockwork Being
Through a powerful variation of the resurrection ritual a human consciousness is fused with a magical clockwork frame in an attempt to save a life even when the body is beyond repair. Of course, being trapped in a magical clockwork body may or may not be considered truly living. As a mystical construct

Mystical Construct: +2 to recover from being Shaken, ignore one level of wound modifiers, don’t breathe, and is immune to disease and poison. Cannot heal naturally but must be Repaired (and ignore the “Golden Hour”). Repairs cannot be done by mundane means and must use the Technowizardy skill. (Construct, 8)

TW Modifications: As a TW construct the Clockwork being can take TW modifications the way a regular human can use Cybernetics. Each Major modification is 2 strain and minor mods are 1 strain. Has a base P.P.E. of 20 and 1 Major TW Modification. (Edge, Arcane Background: Super Powers, replace 1 power with 1 mod, 2)

Ley Line Powered: Must recharge on a ley line for one hour out of every 24. f they don’t have the required contact, they become automatically Fatigued each day until they’re Incapacitated. A day after that, they perish. Each hour spent recovering on a ley line restores a level of Fatigue. (Dependency -2)

Disconnected: Dead and raised, now housed inside of metal and wires, the clockwork being is somewhat out of touch with the human condition and can seem cold and unemotional at times suffering -2 Charisma when interacting with flesh and blood beings. (Minor Hindrance, -1)

Rust Check(-1): +4 Damage, -4 to resist damage from water and water-based effects.

Clockwork Gears: The new body doesn’t respond quite like the original is -1 to Parry and has a base pace of 4 and a d4 running die (Poor Parry -1, Slow -1)

Wanted (Not in a Good Way): The CS wants to kill them, Splugorth want to enslave them, and the Federation of Magic want to dissect them. Never a good idea to come back from the dead (Enemy Major, -2)

[Venatus Vinco]

To go with this I would allow MARS Techno Warrior swapping out cybernetics for TW mods.

VV

[KahlessNestor]

I like, but my idea is also a bit more like Alecto, where they can pass for human. Like maybe gems for eyes that they can keep covered by a visor, too, if needed, like Altarans. But maybe that's just trappings.

[Freemage]

Okay, if you're a magical clockwork construct? I wanna see you be very, very afraid of exalted dispel. To-wit: You resist with Spirit, but if the caster wins, you spend a 1d6 minutes in shut-down mode, just like any other magical artifact. Figure out what that vulnerability is worth, and balance it out with some other positive trait.

[Venatus Vinco]

Okay, if you're a magical clockwork construct? I wanna see you be very, very afraid of exalted dispel. To-wit: You resist with Spirit, but if the caster wins, you spend a 1d6 minutes in shut-down mode, just like any other magical artifact. Figure out what that vulnerability is worth, and balance it out with some other positive trait.

Man, that could almost balance construct all by itself.

VV

[Freemage]

What about a rule that Exalted Dispel affects you as Greater Slumber, then? So you have to make the roll, but shorter duration and you can be awakened by an ally?

[Venatus Vinco]

Oh,

I wasn't complaining. I can live with being treated like a device by Greater Dispel. Very fun.

An opposed roll would be nice though. So, Slumber works.

VV

[KahlessNestor]

Hm. So how much would that be worth?

[Ndreare]

What about a rule that Exalted Dispel affects you as Greater Slumber, then? So you have to make the roll, but shorter duration and you can be awakened by an ally?

I would treat it like I did for Echo.

[KahlessNestor]

Okay, looking at this further, I find I like most of it, but I think I would swap out Rust Check for Frail (I want skin on my construct!) Should still be acceptable. Did this ever get approved, or not? I am worried a bit about Dependency, though. I don't want her to just keel over and die...

How about swapping Dependency with this from Echo. It addresses Freemage's concerns:

Hindrance (Major): Vulnerability – You are a magic construct, arcane background magic casters can determine this with a raise using detect arcana, or a normal success with exalted detect arcana. If it is targeted by or within the effect of a banish, dispel, or drain power points spell it must make a Spirit roll or suffer a wound. Suffer -2 if a mega version is used and an additional -2 if a raise was rolled. (You and your powers are considered magic and can be disrupted as such including the by other arcane backgrounds at -2 as per the normal rules.)

[Freemage]

So, after some conversation with Matthew regarding a character concept he has, I've come up with some tweaks that I think work. The big thing is that it removes the default Arcane Background, permitting Clockworks to take any AB they wish (or none at all, though this is a potentially risky decision).

TW Clockwork Being
Through a powerful variation of the resurrection ritual a human consciousness is fused with a magical clockwork frame in an attempt to save a life even when the body is beyond repair. Of course, being trapped in a magical clockwork body may or may not be considered truly living. As a mystical construct

Mystical Construct: +2 to recover from being Shaken, ignore one level of wound modifiers, don’t breathe, and is immune to disease and poison. Cannot heal naturally but must be Repaired (and ignore the “Golden Hour”). Repairs cannot be done by mundane means and must use the Technowizardy skill. (Construct, +8)

TW Modifications: As a TW construct the Clockwork being can take TW modifications the way a regular human can use Cybernetics. Each Major modification is 2 strain and minor mods are 1 strain. These Mods do not require PPE to remain charged. The Clockwork being cannot use normal Cybernetics at all. You have an internal Power Point supply of 5 pts that can only be used for powering yourself and your Mods (see Powered, below), and which can be added to with TW Mods, as normal. This supply regenerates 1 pt/hour, whether or not you are on a Ley Line; if you have an AB, you can also roll your Arcane Skill to refresh this supply from your own PPts with your Arcane Skill. An ally with an AB can also refresh your supply in the same fashion, provided they make direct contact. (5 PPE for specific purpose, +1)

Equipped: Clockwork Beings start out with the Rich Edge. In place of the normal HJ rolls or Vehicle, they receive either 1 Major or 2 Minor TW Mods of their choice. In addition, any starting funds may be spent purchasing additional Mods at their base price. If you take the Filthy Rich Edge, you may also use the HJ rolls from that in a similar manner. If a Mod would require an additional PPE Cost to remain active, you must pay that cost normally. LIkewise, if you take a MARS package that starts with Cybernetics, you can replace them with equivalent Strain of TW Mods (Edge: +2)

Powered: Like any TW item, you require 1 PPE/hr to remain active. During 'sleep mode', you do not have to pay this price. It is possible for Mods to increase this cost, so care is advised in selecting Mods, especially if you do not have Rapid Recharge Edges. If at some point you cannot pay this price, you will go into 'sleep mode' until you have regenerated at least enough PPE to pay your activation cost in your personal supply. (Priced as Dependency, -2)

Magical Entity: You are a magic construct inhabited by a non-native soul, and arcane background magic casters can determine this with a raise using detect arcana, or a normal success with exalted detect arcana. Certain other Powers affect you in unusual ways:
Banish/greater banish treat you as an any other Wild Card entity--you must resist or suffer a Wound. If you are Incapacitated by this, however, you can be killed (using the normal Incapacitation/Death & Defeat rules) rather than simply being sent to your home plane.
Dispel has no special effect on you (although it can affect Powers from Mods normally), but exalted dispel that catches you in its area of effect must be resisted by your Spirit, or you will shut down for 1d6 minutes, and must then repay your activation cost to begin moving again, as if coming out of 'sleep mode'. Your resistance roll is at +2 if the person using exalted dispel is not a TW or Weird Scientist.
Drain Point Points/PPE thief can be used to either target you in the normal fashion, OR can be used against your internal supply. This can leave you without enough PPE to pay your next activation cost, forcing you into 'sleep mode' to recharge.
(Priced as a Vulnerability, -2)

Disconnected: Dead and raised, now housed inside of metal and wires, the clockwork being is somewhat out of touch with the human condition and can seem cold and unemotional at times suffering -2 Charisma when interacting with flesh and blood beings. (Minor Hindrance, -1)

Delicate Parts(-1): The inner workings of the Clockwork Being are sturdier than a wristwatch, but they are a bit less resilient than flesh and blood; the Clockwork suffers -1 Toughness. (Frail, -1)

Clockwork Gears: The new body doesn’t respond quite like the original is -1 to Parry and has a base pace of 4 and a d4 running die (Poor Parry -1, Slow -1)

Wanted (Not in a Good Way): The CS wants to kill them, Splugorth want to enslave them, and the Federation of Magic want to dissect them. Never a good idea to come back from the dead (Enemy Major, -2)