What class and subclass for this concept?

[jaappleton]

Ever played Outer Worlds? You should, its great. Fallout set in space, pretty much.

In that game, there's a party member.

SAM. Sanitation And Maintenance. A robotic party member who has no personality, only what they were pre-programmed to say.

SAM considers all enemies to be stains that must be cleaned. Most often with acid.

I'm not too concerned about the whole 'only utilize acid' part, because thats not feasible in 5E.

But the part about considering enemies to be stains or germs which must be sanitized, I'm all for. Along with having a pre-programmed personality.

"SAM, what should we do? Both sides are morally right in this conundrum."
"Don't forget, its not the best choice. Its Dungeon Incorporated's ONLY choice! Order the deluxe spray hose now to maximize productivity of your SAM unit, purchaser!"

So... what do you think?

[Kuulvheysoon]

I mean, Sorceror with enough sorcery points could Transmute Spell everything to acid damage. Toss it onto a Draconic Sorceror (Black/Copper), fluff the scales as the armor plating.

[chiefwaha]

Warforged Clockwork Soul Sorcerer maybe? Magic to sanitize things, with transmute spell metamagic to use the appropriate sanitizing energy(acid or fire alot I would imagine).

[Catullus64]

Clockwork Soul sorcerer jumps out to me as the obvious choice, but there are other choices.

There's a lot of fun potential behind a Warlock or Cleric who has been appointed as the oracular mouthpiece of their patron/deity. Having to speak in mysterious pronouncements or occult prophecies, no matter the mundanity of the subject.

A Bard cursed only to speak in fragments of other poets' verses maybe? That's admittedly a pretty hardcore roleplaying commitment, since you need to have lots of poetry quotes stored up, or have a knack for extemporaneous composition.

[jaappleton]

Surprised at the number of mage answers.

I was thinking more like a warforged whose armblade mop was replaced with an axe but they aren't aware of it.

[Mitchellnotes]

As an alternative to warforged - a kenku. Kenku lack creativity which could go into that idea of "use acid for all of the things." Additionally, the mimic feature would work well for non-sequitors - as an alternative to sorcerer, an alchemist could also work

[Joe the Rat]

Artificer might play in nicely - Alchemist gets some nice acid boons (and I am rather amused with the idea of casting restoration by hosing them down with cleaning products), but isn't totally nonmartial.

Battlesmith and Armorer would be less acid, more murder with weapons (integrated or otherwise). Warforged Armorer becomes something of a Do Anything Robot, with the integrated armor infusions.

[RickAsWritten]

Warforged Oath of the Watchers Paladin. You are protecting the mortal realms from dirty, nasty space germs.

[JonBeowulf]

As an alternative to warforged - a kenku. Kenku lack creativity which could go into that idea of "use acid for all of the things." Additionally, the mimic feature would work well for non-sequitors - as an alternative to sorcerer, an alchemist could also work

Yep, this is what I was picturing.

[Man_Over_Game]

Artificer might play in nicely - Alchemist gets some nice acid boons (and I am rather amused with the idea of casting restoration by hosing them down with cleaning products), but isn't totally nonmartial.

That's immediately what my head went to as the solution.

It's got acid, it cleans things, and most of its talents are rooted in the more physical elements of 5e. Knowing the options in 5e, I'd find it difficult for something thatcould even contest as a better fit for OP's description than an Alchemist Artificer.

[jaappleton]

That's immediately what my head went to as the solution.

It's got acid, it cleans things, and most of its talents are rooted in the more physical elements of 5e. Knowing the options in 5e, I'd find it difficult for something thatcould even contest as a better fit for OP's description than an Alchemist Artificer.

I do not disagree that this fits immensely well.

.....but of course the party has a Triton Alchemist Artificer of all things already in the group.

[Man_Over_Game]

I do not disagree that this fits immensely well.

.....but of course the party has a Triton Alchemist Artificer of all things already in the group.

lol, balls. I'm out of ideas, acid is tricky to work with in 5e.

[jaappleton]

lol, balls. I'm out of ideas, acid is tricky to work with in 5e.

I'm almost thinking Paladin. Smite is when those stains are extra tough and really need a good scrubbing. Gotta pull out the proverbial bleach to get that one out.

What's the God of cleanliness? I might hit up Ed Greenwood on Twitter for that one...

[Silly Name]

I'm almost thinking Paladin. Smite is when those stains are extra tough and really need a good scrubbing. Gotta pull out the proverbial bleach to get that one out.

What's the God of cleanliness? I might hit up Ed Greenwood on Twitter for that one...

Primus may fit, being obsessed with perfection and order.

I could also see a follower of Pholtus (Greyhawk deity) being absolutely obsessed with cleanliness and everything being as it should. Pholtusians are scary.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm almost thinking Paladin. Smite is when those stains are extra tough and really need a good scrubbing. Gotta pull out the proverbial bleach to get that one out.

What's the God of cleanliness? I might hit up Ed Greenwood on Twitter for that one...


If you're looking for something more physical, you could try theming the bot as having all of his normal functions replaced with blades, as some kind of prank or something.

For instance, his Portable Wash Cycle device is now a Cloud of Daggers, and he gets really upset when dirty orcs don't want to take a bath.

[Gtdead]

Poor SAM, it's only role was to max my hack and science checks when stacked with Vicar. Good thing it doesn't complain. 150 Determination is overpowered.

Warforged is an obvious choice. For classes, I'm thinking of Artificer for the high tech stuff (armorer sounds like a good one) and Ranger for Favored Enemy. SAM has bonus damage against other robots (favored enemy: creatures) and his skills are intimidation, hacking and science (tool proficiencies and knowledge arcana/history?). However this multiclass will suck, so single classed Artificer would do.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Fathomless Warlock, your tentacle is a wet sponge, take the Tasha’s acid line spell at 1st and use your “sanitation rays” as Eblast.

Also, Mr. Clean as a Marid Genie patron. Have your lamp be a spray cleaner bottle.

Warforged or Reborn (lineage).

[Saelethil]

I think a Warforged Paladin with the sorcerer magic initiate feature might work. Prestidigitation and Acid Splash for small messes, Tasha’s Caustic Brew for slightly larger “messes,” and smite for when something just really needs a heavy scrub with concentrated bleach.