New PrC: Steamsmith

[MagFlare]

Steamsmith


image from Steamboy totally used without anything even resembling permission
seriously not even from a long ways away under bad lighting conditions

The dwarves, long known for their skill at metalworking, have recently hit upon a new - and astonishingly unlikely - source of power: superheated water. Through a combination of steam and clockwork, craftsmen can accomplish many feats once thought to be the sole domain of magic, including mighty suits of armor, strange automatons, and, according to rumor, flying castles wrought of steel and brass. Although the dwarven steamsmiths, as they have come to be called, are reticent about allowing other races access to the finer points of their craft, these steam-powered devices (and the secrets of their creation) have begun to spread inexorably throughout the civilized world.

Requirements: BAB +5, Heavy Armor proficiency, Skill Focus (Craft), Craft (steamworks) 8 ranks
Hit Die: d6.
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Craft (any) (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (any) (Int), Open Lock (Dex), and Profession (any) (Wis).
Skill Points: 4 + Int mod.
BAB: 3/4.
Saves: Fort good, Ref and Will poor.

Class Features

Steamsmithed Armor: The hallmark of the steamsmith's craft, a basic suit of steamsmithed armor is the first step toward earning respect among the elite circle of inventors who've discovered the myriad uses of steam. At first level, the steamsmith must make a Craft (steamworks) check versus DC 20 to create a suit of armor. Each check costs 2,000 gp and takes one week to perform. If successful, the steamsmith has constructed his suit of armor.

Steamsmithed armor is considered Heavy Armor with an armor bonus of 6, a max Dex bonus of 0, an armor check penalty of -6, an arcane spell failure chance of 50%, and a weight of 60 lbs. Land speed is unaffected due to servomotors throughout the armor. In addition, the armor provides a nonmagical Str bonus of +1 and a nonmagical enhancement bonus of +1. This armor is tailor-made to its wearer, and cannot be worn by anyone but the steamsmith who crafted it. It can, however, be magically enhanced, and although the cost may be prohibitive, a steamsmith may have more than one suit of steamsmithed armor. The armor's water supply must be replensihed each day or its wearer will lose the Str bonus, the nonmagical enhancement bonus, and the use of all upgrades until its tank is refilled.

At 2nd, 4th, and 8th levels, the steamsmithed armor can be equipped with a Minor Upgrade. At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, the steamsmithed armor can be equipped with a Major Upgrade. At 10th level, the steamsmithed armor can be equipped with a Master Upgrade. Each upgrade can be taken only once, and it costs 500 gp x the character's steamsmith level to perform the upgrade.

Minor Upgrades
Magnification Goggles: Provide a +4 circumstance bonus to Search and Spot checks.
Gauntlet-Gadgets: Provide a +4 circumstance bonus to Disable Device and Open Lock checks.
Spring-Loaded Heels: Provide a +6 circumstance bonus to Jump checks.
Grappling Gun: A grappling hook with a 100-foot-long rope. Provides a +6 circumstance bonus to the Use Rope check to determine whether the grappling hook secures.
Gauntlet Blade: Can be extended or retracted as a free action. Deals 1d4 damage, x2 on a critical hit.
Flow Spectrometer: As detect magic cast by a 1st-level caster. Can be used 3/day.
Minor Dynamo: Causes any weapon held by the wearer to deal an additional 1d2 electrical damage.

Major Upgrades
Enhanced Servomotors: Grants a +2 nonmagical Str bonus.
Flamethrower: As burning hands cast by a 5th-level caster. Requires one flask of alchemists' fire per use and takes a round to manually reload.
Enhanced Armor: Grants an additional +1 nonmagical armor bonus to AC.
Wrist-Mounted Saw: Can be extended or retracted as a free action. Deals 2d4 damage, x3 on a critical hit.
Darkvision Goggles: Grant darkvision to 60'. If the wearer already possesses darkvision, adds another 60' to range.
Automatic Threat Assessment and Countermeasure System: Grants evasion. If the wearer already has evasion, grants improved evasion.
Magnetic Gauntlet: As mage hand cast by a 1st-level caster. Usable at will, but only affects ferrous objects.
Major Dynamo: Causes any weapon held by the wearer to deal an additional 1d6 electrical damage.
Gyroscopic Trajectory Adjustment System: Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to attack rolls.
Inertial Dampener: Grants damage reduction 2/piercing.

Master Upgrades
Boost Pack: Grants the wearer the ability to fly with perfect maneuverability for five minutes per day.
Energy Dissipation Grid: Grants the wearer immunity to fire and electrical damage.
Magnetic Resonance Field: Grants spell resistance 14.

Mechanical Minion: At 5th level, the steamsmith's craft has advanced to the point where he can create an automaton to assist him. Treat this Mechanical Minion as a large-sized, vaguely humanoid animated object with a hardness of 10. The steamsmith must make a Craft (steamworks) check versus DC 20 to create the Minion. Each check costs 5,000 gp and takes a week to perform. A steamsmith can have only one Mechanical Minion at a time; if he creates a second Mechanical Minion while the first is active, the two constructs will - for reasons unknown - seek each other out and fight until one has been destroyed. At 6th level and every subsequent level of the steamsmith class, an extra hit die can be added to the minion with a successful Craft (steamworks) check versus DC 20. Each check costs 250 gp x the Minion's new number of hit dice and takes one day.

Repairing a Mechanical Minion's damage costs 10 gp per hp of damage repaired and requires a successful Craft (steamworks) check versus DC 10. Each check takes one minute.

A Mechanical Minion's water supply must be replenished every day. If it runs out of water, it will cease to function until its tank is refilled.

Dragon Gun: At 7th level, the steamsmith has learned to transform the power of steam into a deadly offensive weapon. The Dragon Gun is capable of shooting a pressurized blast of superheated steam into a crowd of enemies, dealing 8d6 fire damage in a 30' cone (Ref DC 15 half). In addition, anyone struck by the blast must make a Ref save versus DC 15 or be knocked prone. Due to the enormous amount of pressure that must be built up in order for the Dragon Gun to work, the Gun can only be fired 3/day. It weighs 30 lbs, and its water supply must be replenished every day.

The steamsmith must make a Craft (steamworks) check versus DC 20 to create a Dragon Gun. Each check costs 1,000 gp and takes a day. Failure results in an explosion which deals 3d6 fire damage to everything within a 15' radius, including (especially) the steamsmith.

[hr]

All right. Done - for now, at least. What do you think? Balanced? Unbalanced? Should I add, change, or delete anything? Are the prices insanely high? Thanks for the input.

[Fizban]

Similar to the PrC in Magic and Mayhem for the Warcraft setting. That one was too ambiguous to use (is it a vehicle, armor, what?), but the core idea was that you crafted a suit of the battle armor, then every couple of levels you got to add an upgrade for a reduced cost, that also excedded normal upgrade limits (technological devices in that setting were limited to half the "tech score" of the base thing). Anyway, nice idea, hope you keep working on it.

[MagFlare]

Similar to the PrC in Magic and Mayhem for the Warcraft setting. That one was too ambiguous to use (is it a vehicle, armor, what?), but the core idea was that you crafted a suit of the battle armor, then every couple of levels you got to add an upgrade for a reduced cost, that also excedded normal upgrade limits (technological devices in that setting were limited to half the "tech score" of the base thing). Anyway, nice idea, hope you keep working on it.

Thanks for the compliment. :)

Do you have any suggestions for improving the PrC? Additional ideas for upgrades are definitely welcome.