Bringing Some Spark to the Game?

[Palanan]

This is a DM-privilege thread, so my players should do an Immelmann and fly off into the clouds.



I'm in the early stages of a seafaring campaign, and I've just found an opening to introduce a new competitor for the PCs: a stylish young gentleman with sparky tendencies, in the vein of Tarvek Sturmvoraus from GG.

I should note up front that I'm not trying to replicate Tarvek--a direct import would overwhelm my PCs in half a minute--but I like the notion of a gentleman scholar with a mechanical bent, and I'd like to know how to design a sparky schemer with a few clanks on call.

The first thing that came to mind was artificer...but that's a class I'm completely unfamiliar with, and I'd rather avoid the reliance on magic in any event. Is there anything else that would work here?
.
.

[Eonir]

A factotum or expert?

[TheifofZ]

Wizard(transmuter) /Effigy Master (Complete Arcane). Apply the Effigy template to a few monsters for generic clanks, make a Golem as a dedicated body guard and run around babbling about hyperconductive material, servos, and various other psuedo-technobabble. Also take a Clockwork Mender as a familiar, and maybe toss around various clockwork monsters when you feel like it as well.

Of course, this isn't very high end OP, and might have trouble in a fight without his beloved creations running around to do the fighting for him, but still.
I'd also suggest using portable holes and bags of holding to transport his army with him if it's on the ocean.

[Palanan]

Well, clockwork creatures could work, but having this fellow be a transmuter wizard doesn't really fit, since I'd like to do this non-magically. Is there any way to build and command clockwork creatures without being a spellcaster?

I'd like to do this in 3.5 if possible, but Pathfinder or even D20 Modern could be other options. I don't know two beans about D20 Modern, but I'm willing to take a look.

[docnessuno]

Artificer / Factotum seems about right for me. It's obviously not the more optimized mesh (unless it's gestalt, then it IS) but for NPC's i usually put flavor over crunch.

[BRC]

The nice thing about building Minion-based baddies is that you don't really need to worry about his stats provided he has a steady supply of clanks to hide behind. Pure Factotum would probably be the best, with plenty of lackeys, monsters, and clanks to hide behind. Refluff his spells as nifty tricks and gadgets he has on hand, and of course, give him some Smoke Knights to hide behind.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by BRC
Refluff his spells as nifty tricks and gadgets he has on hand, and of course, give him some Smoke Knights to hide behind.

Okay, thanks; good advice and funny to boot. Spells-to-gadgets is probably the simplest approach, and suddenly a transmuter wizard is on the menu again.


Originally Posted by docnessuno
Artificer / Factotum seems about right for me.

Ideally it probably would be...but unfortunately, I don't know much about artificers, and I've never been able to wrap my head around the factotum.

So, if I go the transmuter wizard route, what spells should he have in his triple-ciphered notebook? And what would be some good little clanks to have running around his private schooner?

[Asheram]

Ideally it probably would be...but unfortunately, I don't know much about artificers, and I've never been able to wrap my head around the factotum.


First of all, enjoying the Last Exile reference.
Second, I just wanted to promote the Artificier a bit since you say that you are unfamiliar with it.

An articifier is a class without any real offensive spells, they have a small assortment of "infusions" which he casts on items (Easily re-fluffed to creating a small protective device) but this is a secondary, the real shine of the class is its "Item creation" "Craft Reserve"

Item creation is basically that with a Use Magic Device check he can emulate the effect of a spell in order to craft an item so he doesn't actually need to cast the spell itself (and no need to know it)

Craft Reserve is a certain pool of points the Articifier spends instead of spending XP in order to craft items.

I would seriously recommend this class for what you are trying to do.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Asheram
First of all, enjoying the Last Exile reference.

Huh. Where? No idea what this is.


Originally Posted by Asheram
*artificer boosterism*

Well, I'll keep artificer in mind, but at this point it's probably easier for me to fake it with the transmuter wizard. Effigy creatures sound like they'd make reasonable clanks, especially for the Fun-sized Mobile Agony and Death Dispensers.

So, can anyone recommend some spells for a sparky transmuter?

[Asheram]

Huh. Where? No idea what this is.
Oh dear, thought you were making a reference to the anime Last Exile. My apologies.

[Palanan]

For some reason the idea of the transmuter wizard has really caught me here. I've never done much with arcane characters, and I don't know the first thing about transmuters, but I'd love to give it a try.

Looking through the PHB, I can see a few spells that might work for sparky devices and etc. These are probably pretty obvious:


Darkvision - starlight goggles
Knock - mechanized lockpick glove
Spider Climb - gecko pads on hands and feet
Whispering Wind - tiny mechanical messenger; firefly flashes in code?

From Spell Compendium, a few more choices:


Augment Familiar - supercharge your favorite clank
Fearsome Tentacles - it's Doctor Octopus!
Repair Moderate Damage - quality time in the clank lab
Whirling Blade - the Baterang!

Yeah, this could get silly. I'm also wiped out by a virus and not thinking too clearly. Can anyone suggest some other spells? And a non-silly way to go about this?

[Deadline]

Oh dear, thought you were making a reference to the anime Last Exile. My apologies.

An Immelmann Turn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immelmann_turn) is a real thing, they just reference it in that anime series.

[Asheram]

An Immelmann Turn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immelmann_turn) is a real thing, they just reference it in that anime series.

Oh, I'm quite aware. But since Prince Sturmvoraus, the character which the NPC is apparently based on, is a character from a comic... I figured birds of a feather but apparently I was mistaken. :smallbiggrin:

[Palanan]

One of the earliest Star Wars novels, perhaps the very first one, describes the Millennium Falcon pulling an Immelmann turn, and the term has been with me ever since. That said, I'll have to go look up Last Exile and see if there's any good aviation going on.

In the meanwhile...spells for my spark?

--If this works out, that is. I'm beginning to wonder about the concept, because the potential for silliness is starting to look a little too much. Or maybe I should just avoid spells with tentacles?

[TuggyNE]

I'm beginning to wonder about the concept, because the potential for silliness is starting to look a little too much. Or maybe I should just avoid spells with tentacles?

That's just good advice in general. :smalltongue: