You understand the inner working of complicated machinery, new burgeoning technologies, and repairing damaged objects. You have spent most of your time learning how to make and maintain complicated objects and technologies. You may have an eye for new technologies, learn quickly how they function and want to replicate them yourself. A renowned tinkerer might be willing to teach you a new thing or two if you show off one of your creations. Or you could be someone who covets their creations, only showing them to few or no one at all, for you don't wish your work replicated. Or perhaps you are an enigma in the world in which you live, and people don't understand or even perhaps shun you for your creations.
Work with your DM on how to come up with an appropriate way to make your tinkering work within the world in which you will play. The tinkering you could do can range in a variety of ways, from building and repairing small clockwork machinery or strange contraptions, creating and upgrading small robotic companions or even create and operate black powder explosives, even craft firearms. Your imagination determines the various things you can build and use at your Dungeon Master's discretion.
These details will help establish the limits of your tinkering and all the requirements to create your technologies.
- Skill Proficiencies: History, Investigation
- Tool Proficiencies: Tinker's Tools
- Equipment: An apron, a pair of leather crafting gloves, a pouch of crafting components (raw sodium, oil, tar, etc.), a pound of raw minerals (iron, sulfur, copper, etc.), and a 5-pound bag of black power (DM's discretion), and a pouch containing 10 gold pieces.
You have master being able to take apart or scavenge supplies from whatever kind of technology you can find. You can always scavenge 150 gold pieces worth of supplies to utilize in your own crafting or sell to the right buyer.
Suggested Characteristics
Tinkerers are usually prone to a realistic view of the world and have a trust in science. Their personalities are eccentric, willingly take risks, and driven by ambition. Tinkerers also may feel ostracized from most society for their new ideas and they have a certain feeling about sharing their inventions, whether freely or not at all.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Due to most of my life spent alone tinkering, I am awkward in social situations. |
| 2 | I can impress any stranger with a display of my inventions. |
| 3 | My intelligence shows in even my everyday conversations. |
| 4 | I have great respect for other tinkerers and willingly share ideas. |
| 5 | I get bored and uninterested in things that aren't scientific. |
| 6 | Money is important as it fuels my tinkering, making it a high priority to me. |
| 7 | I'm frustrated if people aren't impressed by my creations. |
| 8 | My ear is always open to rumors of new technologies; I hunt down anyone with something I have never heard of. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Innovation. When I create, it is for the benefit of society. (Good) |
| 2 | Conservation. Too much advanced technology will spread chaos, so I only make what I need (Lawful) |
| 3 | Experimentation. I make my inventions for my own use and gains. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Ambition. No one will stand in my way to further my research. (Evil) |
| 5 | Investigation. My travels are for the express purpose to learn. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Creation. I will always create, even for just the sake of it. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I will make my mark on the world, at any cost. |
| 2 | I will prove myself to all those who called me crazy or strange with my inventions. |
| 3 | I seek the newest technologies and strive to understand them. |
| 4 | In a world that tinkering is still new, I seek to bring the knowledge to the world. |
| 5 | A master inventor inspired me when I was young, and I seek to show him what I learned. |
| 6 | I promised my family that I would use my inventions to find fortunes. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I believe my intellect is superior to others. |
| 2 | An invention gone wrong made me loose someone I love, and it haunts me. |
| 3 | I despise magic for its uncontrollable nature and look down upon those whom study it. |
| 4 | No sacrifice is too great for new technologies. |
| 5 | I secretly enjoy being feared for my ideas. |
| 6 | If I encounter another tinkerer, I dare not exchange ideas for I don't want my inventions replicated. |
Contacts
Other Tinkerers
This tinkerer background assumes that renaissance era technologies are within your world and many tinkerers inhabit it. Though that is completely up to you and your Dungeon Master, whether you are the first or thousandth tinkerer, you must consider others learning the craft by you or other people that wish to follow in your footsteps, consider what impact your inventions will have on the world, good or ill.
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