Gearhead (4e Race)

Gearhead

From Yu-Gi-Oh by Kazuki Takahashi

A being made of clockwork set out to complete the task given by its master.

Racial Traits

Average Height: 4' to 5' for small, 5'6" to 7'6" for Medium

Average Weight: 200 lbs to 1000 lbs

Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 to any other

Size: Small

Speed: 5 Squares for small, 6 Squares for Medium squares

Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, Dwarven or Gnome

Skill Bonuses: +2 to any one skill

Living Construct: As a living construct, you have the following traits: You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage. You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe, but this doesn’t render you immune to any effect. You need only 4 hours to benefit from an extended rest. When you roll a death save, you can take the better of your die roll or 10 as the result. You still die at your negative hit point total.

Built for the Job: Each Gearhead was built for a specific job. Some jobs may require a smaller frame. Gearhead players may choose to be Medium or Small and must follow the respective rules for their choice.

Inner Workings: Each Gearhead is different, but they share similar systems. At 1st level, Gearhead players can choose from Steam Burst or Oil Leak. This choice cannot be changed once chosen.

Task Driven: All Gearheads are built for a reason. Gearhead players must choose a task that they were made for and must strive to complete that task. The DM may decide what is acceptable and what isn't. Generic tasks are the easiest, but more specific tasks are better for stronger character depth.

Unsleeping Watcher: You do not sleep and instead enter a state of inactivity for 4 hours to gain the benefits of an extended rest. While in this state, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.

Expansive Memory: After an extended rest, you can decide to recharge one encounter power that you know.

Steam Burst	Gearhead Racial Power
You open your steam vents and flood the immediate area with white-hot steam.
Encounter  Fire, Water
Standard Action	Close Burst 1
Target: All enemies in Burst
Attack: Constitution +2 (Medium), Dexterity +2 (Small) Vs. Reflex
Hit: Targets in burst take 1d6 fire damage.
Miss: Targets in burst take half damage.
Increase the damage: 2d6 at 11th level 3d6 at 21st level Increase the bonus for the attack: +4 at 11th level +6 at 21st level

Oil Leak	Gearhead Racial Power
You build pressure in your oil system, then spray it out, making the surfaces around you slick.
Encounter
Standard Action	Close Burst 1
Target: All squares in Burst
Attack: Constitution +2 (Medium), Dexterity +2 (Small) Vs. Reflex
Hit: Creatures caught in the Burst fall prone.
Miss: Creatures remain standing.
Effect: All squares in burst are sprayed with oil(including walls and objects), making them difficult terrain. Any creature walking in or out of the affected must make a save or fall prone. The oil remains in effect until the end of the encounter.
Increase the bonus for the attack: +4 at 11th level +6 at 21st level

Skinswap	Gearhead Racial Power
Your Knowledge of your own construction allows you to meld armor to your frame as if its your skin.
At-Will
Free Action	Personal
Trigger: Whenever you don armor
Effect: You may choose to connect armor to your frame and remove the movement penalty from your armor.

Play a Gearhead if you want...

• to be a construct that is not a Warforged or variation of
• to operate on the base logic the builder gives to you
• to fill a variety roles that are needed to be filled
• to be a member of a race that favors almost any class

Physical Qualities

A Gearhead is a clockwork of gears with steam, oil, and hydraulic systems fueling its movement plus giving it energy. Their appearance varies to best suit the task or work they were built for. A carpenter Gearhead might have to be tall to reach high and difficult places. A sewer runner Gearhead might be smaller to fit into tighter spaces. It all depends on the builder of the Gearhead and the purpose it is meant to fill. The most common builders of Gearheads are Dwarves and Gnomes due to their shorter stature. The creator themselves would have an effect upon the appearance of the Gearhead created.

Their exterior is usually Hardened leather to reduce cost or the exterior could be made of pure iron for the more wealthy/crafty builder. Their insides are visible through joints and areas that require more mobility. The interior gears and pipes are usually made of brass, copper, or more iron just like the exterior shell.

A Gearhead's face is very unusual and different compared to other races and unusual to the other races as well. They have a set expression or no expression at all with no moving parts. The face is usually an ornate face-plate mimicking living features such as eyes and a mouth. It's also common to have the head-shaped or decorated with a variety of hair like hair. Their eyes are no more, visually than holes in a mask. Or for more of a threatening purpose, holes in the mask with everlasting flames to ensure fear within the hearts of their foes.

Playing a Gearhead

Gearheads are very set on completing the original task they were built for. They will complete the said task at any cost to it or to anybody. The task can be as simple as "help others in need" or as specific as "Obtain the Doom Blade from the Forbidden Ruins". Either way, this is the meaning of life to a Gearhead. This, unfortunately, leads other races to believe they are cold, heartless creatures. Though for some, the exact opposite is true, however.

Although most Gearheads do not truly understand or fully grasp emotion, most are able to form bonds with others just as other races through self-programming. Although, it is hard to see any bond between companions as they cannot express emotion physically other than through words which are still hard due to the monotone voice that all Gearheads have.

A Gearhead's speech and thoughts are generally very literal and blunt. They are usually the first to ask any questions and ask them in the simplest manner. This directness can come off as harsh but keeps others from being confused or guessing, making them better servants, as intended to by their creator. This is, of course, subject to variation depending on the builder. Inquisition, Haggling, and even Deception are all skills a Gearhead can perform, all based on the builder's intentions for it.

Gearhead Characteristics: Blunt, axiomatic, forward, simple, efficient, practical

Gearheads are genderless but may have a manly or womanly appearance both based on the builder's preference.

Names vary even more than any other race. Names can be as mediocre as "machine" or "clockwork", names could be the most ridiculous complex in length/pronunciation, or they can have names of the people that their builder's race would.

Gearhead Adventurers

Three example gearhead adventurers are listed below:

Watson is a gearhead warden made by a fatherly artificer to protect his hometown. After an orc pillage reduced the place to rubble, Watson was left distraught and without meaning. He was resigned to let himself rust to death in the wilderness when a kindly druid convinces him to protect the land so it can heal. He bears a hatred in his being, which he does not recognize, for orcs.

Barya is a gearhead fighter made to compete in mechanical competitions where she fought in her creator's name to try and gain him fame. After he made a stronger model however, she was left to roam in the streets. Collected by the local mercenary guild, she now fights for her new masters, though she is beginning to be wary of her lack of will.

Ghislaine is a gearhead artificer fascinated with her own inner workings. Her creator made her to be a helper in her workshop. In hard times, however, she was sold tearfully by her maker. Her new owners adjusted her parts to make her more suited to be an object of pleasure, though she never lost her original purpose. Eventually, she ran away to join a traveling tinkering group.

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