Street Mechanic

A Street Mechanic knows the value of scraps, the sound of gears, and the sting of hunger. Raised in a junkyard world, Diesel learned that creation is survival — and that a broken thing isn’t useless until you stop believing you can fix it.

Ability Scores: Investigation → Intelligence
(Represents analyzing, problem-solving, and understanding how things work.)

Sleight of Hand → Dexterity
(Represents quick, precise hand movements when repairing or manipulating tools.)

Feat: Feat: Scrap Savant

Prerequisite: Street Mechanic background or proficiency with Tinker’s Tools

You’ve learned how to turn junk, scrap, and discarded tech into working miracles. Years of survival in the slums have made you a master of improvisation and repair.

You gain the following benefits:

+1 Intelligence or Dexterity (your choice)

You gain proficiency with Smith’s Tools or Thieves’ Tools (your choice).

You can spend 10 minutes and a handful of scrap materials to temporarily repair or jury-rig a broken object, weapon, or simple machine. It functions for 1 hour before falling apart again.

You have advantage on Investigation checks made to identify how a mechanical or technological device functions.

When you roll a 1 on a damage die or ability check made with a tool you’re proficient in, you can reroll the die once (you must use the new roll).

Skill Proficiencies: Investigation (Int):
Growing up in the junkyards taught you how to see what others miss. You can quickly analyze how something’s built, spot flaws in design, and identify which parts are still useful. Whether it’s a lock, a circuit board, or a pile of scrap, you instinctively know how it works — and how to make it work again.

Sleight of Hand (Dex):
Years of working with fragile wiring and precision tools gave you steady, nimble hands. You can tinker with delicate mechanisms, rewire broken devices, and pull parts apart or back together without damaging them. Your quick fingers also help in tight spots — whether fixing, stealing, or salvaging.

These two are the core skill proficiencies of the Street Mechanic background and tie directly to:

Intelligence (Investigation) → his problem-solving, scavenger instinct.

Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) → his fine motor control from years of repairs.

Tool Proficiencies: Tinker’s Tools:
You can repair, modify, or assemble small mechanical devices using whatever materials you have on hand. You know how to improvise parts, bypass circuits, and breathe life back into broken machines. This toolkit represents your creativity — proof that nothing is truly junk if you know what you’re doing.

Smith’s Tools:
You’re skilled in forging, shaping, and repairing metal. Whether welding scrap into armor or hammering out makeshift parts, you can build functional equipment from what most would throw away. Your hands are steady, your eye for heat and pressure sharp — the mark of someone who’s lived in sparks and steel.

Languages: Gnomish:
You picked up Gnomish from scavenged manuals, repair guides, and old machine schematics written in the language of the best tinkerers. You can read technical shorthand, blueprints, and design notes that most people can’t make sense of. Even if you don’t speak it fluently, you understand its mechanical slang and engineering terms.

Equipment: A pair of worn mechanic’s gloves, a small pouch of assorted scrap metal and wires, a handmade wrench passed down from your father, a half-burned patch with the number “76,” and a pouch containing 5 gold pieces’ worth of salvaged parts.

These items aren’t fancy — they’re the tools of a survivor. Every piece tells a story: the wrench is your link to family, the “76” patch marks your rebirth, and the scraps are both your currency and your craft.