A clockwork army?

[PaigeXenon]

I am currently working on a new campaign and on of my nations is going to rely heavily on non-magical constructs like clockwork automatons and steam powered vehicles and whathaveyou. I guess my question is there any thing like this in any of the 3.5 books or am I going to have to homebrew all of it? If i have to homebrew do you have any ideas as to how and where i should start with that?

On an unrelated topic do any of you DMs out there have the issue of players complaining that your ideas aren't original and you stole your entire campaign from some book/movie/game if so what do you about it? the last campaign I ran one of my players wouldn't stop complaining that I stole the idea from the TES games because I started it with them being sold as slaves to a gladiator ring. The campaign ended up falling apart because the didn't want to play anything that wasn't 100% original and my group is so small to begin with no one else wanted to continue either.

[Gwazi Magnum]

You could look at warforged for a start.

For weapons you can look at fire arms in the dungeon masters guide.

Outside of that my knowledge in this field is very limited sadly.

Though as for your group of players, *gasp* You had slaves! Well you obviously aren't original then! :p

Your players should learn not get so angry because something isn't completely unique. Ideas are inspired by other sources all the time and there's nothing wrong with that, infact if often makes adventures better.

P.S Is it bad I imagine your group now as a bunch of people with hipster glasses yelling "We don't want it because someone else somewhere in the world did it before!"?

[Dr.Epic]

I think I saw some homebrew stuff like this once in a campaign. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Army)

It was way better than the first campaign.

[PaigeXenon]

I have looked at the warforged and even tho i love them dearly I don't think the automatons will be intelligent in any sense of the word although having a clockwork PC would be sorta amazing.

I was planing on not using firearms except maybe some extremely basic inefficient ones. I do have this plan for a self loading steam powered catapult tank thingy I may even try to mesh it out in blender this thing looks very impressive in my head.

+ your comment about my group being made of hipsters has made my day.

[Kazyan]

The "Effigy" template, from Complete Mage (I think), lets you make a mechanical version of most monsters, and will follow instructions. Use that for your constructs. Dig through the Monster Manuals for a creature you think would make a nice vehicle to ride on.

[Feralventas]

You can run a game 1dm to 1 player; small groups aren't impossible, just need to keep the CR down a little more than usual.

It's not my place to tell you how to handle the group, but the player you describe sounds like an obstinate fool, and one you could be well rid of. Maybe if they had a problem with TES in general rather than demanding originality from story-telling which is based by and large on concepts from our life which have been told and re-told and re-iterated to the point that almost any story or system has been done or has a similar predecessor.

That said, page 47 of the Monster Manual 2, Clockwork Horrors.
Most of the metalic golems.
Some of the non-metalic ones for more sophisticated versions (like Shadesteel or Prismatic).
War-forged have been mentioned but are worth being said twice.
Slaughterstone Behemoths and Slaughterstone Eviscerators in MM3.
Re-fluff Retriever demons as semi-arachnid machines, MM1.

Look into Pathfinder's Alchemist and Gunslinger for technology-based class levels to put to use, along with 3.5's Artificer, Effigy Master PrC, or Tome of Battle maneuvers as combat routines.

Renegade Mastermaker from Magic of Ebberon (PrC) turns the character into a construct over the course of 10 levels.

Edit: Nimblewrights in MM3 as well. Water-clocks powered by water-elementals inside.

[Gwazi Magnum]

I have looked at the warforged and even tho i love them dearly I don't think the automatons will be intelligent in any sense of the word although having a clockwork PC would be sorta amazing.

I was planing on not using firearms except maybe some extremely basic inefficient ones. I do have this plan for a self loading steam powered catapult tank thingy I may even try to mesh it out in blender this thing looks very impressive in my head.

+ your comment about my group being made of hipsters has made my day.

You could re-do the warforged history if you wanted.

Remember though the fire arms from the DMG are only slight improvements stat wise from longbows, and the improvment's normally aren't good enough to warrant the feat it takes to be proficient with them anyways.

+You're welcome :smallbiggrin:

[8wGremlin]

Have a look at Clockwork Horrors, House Canith.

I have a e6 Spell Sovereign Character that has a Living Summon Marked Homunculus Spell, (created when I had a Lesser Mark of Making)
every time it engulfs a target, or hits a target it summons a dedicated wright, expeditious messenger, or furtive filcher homunculus (ECS 284–286), arbalester homunculus (Magic of Eberron 152), true homunculus (MM154), an iron defender (ECS 287), a packmate (MoE 153), or a persistent harrier (MoE 153)

these last a while too!

[Gavinfoxx]

You're going to have to homebrew it because all of that stuff in D&D is inherently magical.

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=177

That's a guide to golems that there are actual rules out there for player characters to actually make.

[Unusual Muse]

The book you want is Clock and Steam (Zeitgeist Games), written by D&D co-founder Dave Arneson for his D20 Blackmoor setting.

[JoshuaZ]

The PrC contest here and the base class contest here have both had steampunk themed iteratiors, so you could look and see if anything from those looks useable at all.

[Inferno]

Secrets of Xen'drik has a Quorcraft Warforged template with no con or int scores. Could be useful.

[CIDE]

Didn't both Iron Kingdoms (D20 Version) have clockwork automotons that didn't involve magic? The 'jacks? I know they had cybernetics/grafts that were non-magical.

[ZippoMoon]

The book you want is Clock and Steam (Zeitgeist Games), written by D&D co-founder Dave Arneson for his D20 Blackmoor setting.

Actually that template was stolen from Green Ronin's "Advanced Bestiary" which was released 3 years before "Clock and Steam" the only differance between the two entry's were the examples ( AB used a Choker and CaS used a Gargole).

[Waspinator]

Dragonmech, a third party setting, has a lot of steam and clock powered stuff. So do the d20 Warcraft books.

[Equilibria]

Have you tried the book Sorcery & Steam from Sword & Sorcery?

It may not be exactly what you are looking for, but it might make a nice base line for your homebrew.

[PaigeXenon]

well now i have alot of books to find and read. Thanks alot for all your help