Steametic

Steametics are a race of sapient steampunk robots from the Mists of Akuma setting for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Similarly to warforged, steametics were created to be expendable warrior-slaves by the dark artificers of Ceramia, but when their creators were defeated, the race was left to find its own path, stranded in the nation that had been conquered in part to have the raw materials to create the steametic legions. Unlike warforged, steametics are not quite as feared, since they were not actively used to wage war on the people of Soburin, and they can be directed towards peaceful tasks, such as heavy labor... which doesn't necessarily mean that they are liked, and, of course, there's always the "are they actually alive or not?" debate.

Life for a steametic begins in a birthing factor, which invariably forms the heart of a steametic ghetto in a city. These workshops are clean to the point of being sterile and precisely ordered; dozens if not hundreds of their kind are in one of these plants at any time, utilizing careful precision to assemble the next of their growing race. It requires hundreds of days worth of labor and as many pounds of precisely cut metal pieces to assemble a new steametic, given names and purpose within seconds of awakening.

Despite the sacredness that steametics have for the creation of their own kind they eagerly welcome any willing mind and able body into their factories to assist in the process. They call these outsiders inventor-cousins and provide them with as much detail as they are willing to absorb in the process. The collective hope is that each bright mind who learns how to build one of their kind might do so—or they might develop some new or useful variation that can improve the strength of all their race.

Oftentimes inventor-cousins do just that, offering their thoughts to the factory-fathers who oversee all work or taking copies of plans home to begin the process on their own. Rarely do these new designs bear fruit but as failed attempts can almost always be recycled (except for those who attack their inventors), nearly any innovation is experimented upon.

For obvious reasons, steametics are constructed for a purpose, which is reinforced verbally upon the "awakening" - the artificial birth when a steametic first changes from an inanimate mass of gears to a fully sentient construct. Exactly why steametics come to life as they do is a mystery lost alongside their original inventors. Even the most brilliant soburi scholars cannot determine precisely where the minds of these clockwork soldiers originate from—or how it is so easy to replicate regardless of the wide variety of form and function. Of even larger mystery is why some steametics do not awaken immediately despite being physically identical to their brethren. In rare cases a steametic waits minutes or even hours before springing to life once they have been completed. These steametic are called the twice-born by others of their kind and are often assumed to have a great destiny in store (for good or ill).

Unlike many races steametics are often physically identical to one another. Those built close together and in the same factory might be made of precisely the same pieces in precisely the same arrangement. Accordingly they have similar personalities—though more akin to that of twins than of truly perfect copies. Those who are not built identical can have dramatically different shapes and sizes—and all are part of the same steametic race. Though dramatic departures from the humanoid form are not unknown, the majority of steametics fall between two to five fingers, have a height from four and a half to seven feet, and weigh between one to three hundred pounds. Some steametics are built with highly specialized tools or more limbs, ranging from climbing treads and saw blades to tracked-wheels and jackhammers.

One of the few features all steametics share is their heads—distinct and boxy, with a crudely humanoid face made of lights, sensors, and a voice box. This head doesn’t contain their entire life-essence, however; while a steametic missing a head is likely in a fatally dangerous situation, the loss of a head is not itself immediately fatal. If the head is quickly and correctly reattached—a process roughly as complex as reattaching a living creature’s severed limb (an Intelligence check with a DC equal to 8 + the steametic’s Intelligence bonus + the steametic’s proficiency bonus)—a steametic can survive injuries fatal to most creatures.

Steametic psychology is clearly tied to their unique physical nature. Steametics are made of precisely ordered gears, springs, and pulleys, and they are obsessed with the order of all things. They will not always follow rules set forth by others, even legitimate authorities—instead they have their own set of strict beliefs governing their behavior. Often these rules and local laws align but not always, and those who find themselves disagreed with by a steametic discover an uphill battle to win the argument.

This obsession with order is reflected in all aspects of their lives and habits as well; steametic workplaces are orderly, packed neatly, and have detailed lists and logs. They distrust emotions—which they claim to have, though outsiders cannot be truly sure—and prefer a well-reasoned argument to any passionate plea. When a steametic becomes disordered, it is typically seen as the first sign of a slowly dying mind. What few robotic authorities exist feel that ending the life of a disordered among their kind is more akin to putting a dying animal out of its misery than outright murder.

Strangely, every steametic that has reached a century in age has suddenly vanished. Common belief, though unproven, is that these steametics somehow become tsukumogami.

PC Stats

Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength

Size: Medium

Speed: 30 feet

Darkvision 60 feet

Automated: You gain resistance to poison and bludgeoning damage, as well as immunity to the charmed, frightened, and poisoned conditions. You do not need to eat or breathe. You still need to drink, and you require a resting period that emulates sleep in order to recharge your inner workings.

Vulnerability: Lightning