Homebrew Clay man Species Details

The clay men were built to perform menial jobs. They were originally produced by Mycean alchemists but following the collapse of Mycea the knowledge of how has been lost. Now the clay men themselves closely guard the secret of their own construction. A clay man’s ‘soul’ is kept within the near-indestructible crystalline heart that lies in the torso of all clay men constructs. Despite their status as golems they are capable of higher order thinking and can experience pain, love, etc. While tending towards servile personalities clay men can be as varied as their inventors in personality.

Living Steel and Stone

 

Clay men are composed almost entirely of one homogeneous material, materials other than clay can be used in construction and can include Stone, earth, metal, etc. The lack of joints means that locomotion is entirely based around the fluid motion of the clay man’s body which can result in robotic movement and difficulty with fine motor skills. A clay man’s frame is generally rather stout and wide of shoulder. The worker forms are generally shorter and stout while warrior and guard forms are taller and more lithe. Each clay man has a unique brand on its body. The catalyst in a clay man’s construction is the addition of the crystalline ‘heart’ that contains the soul which is then able to control the vessel in which it is contained. They are capable of the same emotional and sensory range of most humanoid species but dulled in certain areas. Over a clay man’s lifetime one can reform and reshape their body, as well as repair damage, whether through natural regeneration or magical healing. Many clay men add onto their bodies forms of armour or decoration.

Clay men Personality

 

The clay men were originally built to serve and to fight. Following their independence from Mycea they have been able to develop more individual personalities. Even now, many clay men seek servitude as the natural inclination baked into them remains.

Emotion is not obviously visible as the fine motor control for facial movement is quite difficult for clay men to perform and their voices are often monotone and clipped. They can also tend to be quite single-minded. Despite lacking sexual characteristics, clay men can identify as male or female, or something entirely different.

Quirks

Whether due to some flaw in their creation or simple ignorance of how other creatures operate, clay men often acquire an odd personality trait or two. A clay man player can choose to roll or select a trait from the clay man Quirks table.

1d10	Quirk
1	You often follow given orders exactly, and have difficulty improvising or adapting strategies on your own.
2	You don’t understand emotions and often misread emotional cues.
3	You have great difficulty refusing a direct order.
4	You often forget to express your feelings verbally.
5	You do not have the ability to form facial expressions.
6	You don’t know how to filter your feelings and are prone to dramatic emotional outbursts.
7	You don’t understand clothing beyond its utility and assume that what a creature wears denotes its job and status.
8	You are obsessed with cleanliness and have difficulty focusing when dirtied.
9	You are deeply concerned with following proper procedures and protocols.
10	You have one topic of interest which you pursue with vigour, and have difficulty focusing on anything else.

 Clay men Names

 

Clay men names are traditionally types of stone or metal, but can be almost anything, names of foreign peoples or simply of common objects and words.

Clay man names:  Granite, Marble, Lime, Basalt, Quartz, Cobalt, Cobble, Rock, Stone, Peet, Soot, Ash, Bucket, Handle, Spear, Wall, Brick, Poem, Tooth, Gem

Clay man Traits

Your Clay man character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution increases by two and your Dexterity is reduced by 1. Or strength score increases by 2 and your Intelligence is reduced by 1.

Age

All known clay men cease to function exactly 50 years following construction. 

Alignment

Most clay men tend towards Lawful Neutral dispositions. There are a few 'defective' clay men who vary wildly.

Size

Your size is medium. Most clay men stand between 5 - 7 feet tall and are relatively broad of shoulder and heavy.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Clay man resilience

You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits.

• You cannot be poisoned, nor take poison damage.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
• You don’t need to sleep and don’t suffer the effects of exhaustion due to lack of rest, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
• You are vulnerable to bludgeoning damage but resistant to slashing and piercing.

Functional immortality

When your hit points reach 0 your physical body is considered inoperable, failing your death saves does not 'kill' you immediately. Instead your companions can retrieve your heart and bury it in the ground, after 6 hours (1 long rest) your body has fully regenerated from whatever material you were buried in. (only works for inorganic materials).

Integrated Protection

Your material of construction indicates your Armour class.. You gain no benefit from wearing armor (unless built onto you), but if you are using a shield, you apply its bonus as normal.

 

Mode	Counts as	Effect
Clay (soft material)	Light armour	11 + your Dexterity modifier (add proficiency bonus if proficient with light armor)
Fired clay (medium material)	Medium armour	13 + your Dexterity modifier (maximum of 2) + your proficiency bonus.
Stone (heavy material)	Heavy armor	16 + your proficiency bonus; disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common.