Homebrew Clockwork Automaton Species Details

While made in the fashion of humanoids, Clockwork Automaton have much more liberty in the way they are designed. Some are designed with the utmost intricacy and delicacy, some resemble little more than oversized windup toys. Some walk on two legs, some have wheels for feet. Some are built for war, some are practitioners of art. Some have eight fingers, some have swords for hands. Some are made from rusted steel, some are made from fine gold. One thing is for certain; no two clockwork men, when designed by creators independent of one another, will be noticeably alike. This is not to say that clockwork men have common threads amongst them. As the name suggests, they all run through mechanical means, and unlike their golem cousins, they require little or no magic in order to function. Sometimes, an engineer may throw in a few magical bells and whistles, sometimes to improve its mental prowess, and other times to enhance its physical capabilities. 

Emulating life can only get you so far in society. Because of this, if an automaton is left to roam freely, they find it very hard to integrate into society. An automaton left to their own devices is not a common thing however. More often then not, an automaton is built for a purpose. If this is the case, they will not steer from this purpose. It is what they were made for it is what they will do until they are given a new purpose. Some arrogant scientists create automatons to flaunt their intellectual prowess. These automatons are they kind that are most life-like, created for the spectacle, rather than anything of much worth. automatons with the purpose of dazzling and amazing crowds are often seen as just that, a clever trick of an even cleverer man. And thus, is the life of an automaton, either loved or hated without cause, without care. Seen as either a spectacle or an atrocity. A wonderful creation of art and science, or an unsettling attempt at something not quite real. At times when an automatons creator dies, they must find a new purpose. A lone automaton will wonder the streets until it finds someone who will take them in, or work that they can do. Some automaton are gifted with the ability to understand and perform acts of arcane magic, some are given new skills and abilities to explore. Others are captured as slaves, forced to work, or fight. Learning nothing new, living a life as empty as before. These are in fact, the best case scenarios, since more often than not, an automaton left to roam, alone without a master, will succumb to the violence of fear and ignorance. Destroyed before they can become more than what they were made for.

 

 an automaton is a construct designed to emulate life. Gears and cogs turn within their carapaces. Thinking, processing, learning. Depending on the creator, an automaton may have a very life-like face or a single curved surface with holes where the optical sensors reside. Automatons can be modeled after any of the races, usually human or elf is the standard choice. However, if the creator wants a strong servant, they may be modeled after an orc, or a half-orc. If they want a nimble spy, the automaton may be modeled after a halfling.

Clockwork Automaton Traits

Mechincal in nature and possible powered by magic These Automatons are live less and yet full of life.

Alignment

However Malfunctions do occur from time to time changing alignments per manly or temporarily.

Metallic Skin

As you are covered by plates of metal, you do not see the need for armor. When unarmored, your Armor Class is equal to 11 + your Dexterity modifier.

Mechanical Body

You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned and are immune to poison damage and disease. However, your body is too heavy to swim and you do not possess a swimming speed. As well as this, when you are in very cold temperatures and environments your movement speed decreases to 20ft. The same is true when in conditions of extreme heat, E.G: At the entrance to a volcano.

Gears and Cogs

If you have been in a swamp, dessert, in salt-water, or any other environment that would cause dirt, grime or other particles to enter your body, the time required is doubled. You must spend this extra time to clean your gears and joints of the gunk, sand and/or salt, before lubricating them. When you finish this maintenance, you gain the benefits of a long rest. If you do not do this once every 24 hours, you gain one level of exhaustion.

Ability Score Increases

Being made of metal allows you to be sturdier and being made up of mechanical computers allows you more intelligence.

Age

as Clockwork Automatons don't technically age,  most worlds, carrying moisture in their atmosphere, cause their mechanical components to slowly rust. In most environments, clockwork men will live for around ten to twelve thousand years. In particularly dry environments, such as deserts or the Elemental Plane of Fire, clockwork men age at half their normal rate, and in very wet environments, such as oceans or the Elemental Plane of Water, they age at twice their normal rate. You may choose to replace your mechanical parts to set back your "age." Buying any single part has a cost determined by the DM (typically anywhere from 1 to 6 cp), takes 1d4 hours to insert and replace, and will give you an extra 2d10 years of "life."