Automaton

Intelligent constructs that house actual souls. Automatons combine technological ingenuity with magical power.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Automatons share a common construction—a blend of magically treated metals and stone. This design allows automatons to withstand the rigors of direct combat and makes them particularly hardy. Their heavy bodies can move just as quickly as other combatants, making automatons intimidating foes. The design of an automaton varies depending on the needs of its role. Most automatons have a basic humanoid shape, though some instead have shapes that closely resemble animals. The majority of automatons have a single eye that glows with a dim, magical light. Each also contains a powerful artifact that both houses its individual soul and uses a combination of life and planar energy for power. These automaton cores are marvels of magical engineering whose method of creation has been lost to time. As constructs, automatons typically don't need to breathe, eat, or sleep; however, the body of an automaton needs to vent an imperceivable magical exhaust at a constant rate. This venting process requires breathable air to prevent a buildup of exhaust that can clog the automaton's systems, sometimes to fatal effect. Thus, automatons can still suffocate much like living creatures. Though they don't sleep, automatons require a period of magical recalibration and restoration which stabilizes the energies within their core. Without this process, an automaton core is incapable of fully powering the automaton and they enter an inefficient state (similar to a humanoid who doesn't get 8 hours of sleep). Automatons don't age and the design of their cores grants them a seemingly endless power source. Many automatons that exist today are thousands of years old, their bodies as efficient as the day of their creation, even if their minds might have deteriorated with the strain of the ages. Automatons lost over time typically met violent ends. An automaton's body is just as vulnerable to destruction as any other construct, though destroying an automaton core is more difficult. As such, an automaton's soul might remain trapped within its core for years after the destruction of its body. This was the intent of the original creators, who hoped to provide functional immortality. However, in reality, the destruction of the body more often leads to a malfunction, requiring magical intervention such as resurrection magic to restore the automaton completely. In the case of the core's destruction, or if it malfunctions catastrophically enough that it can no longer hold the soul, the core releases the spirit to the River of Souls. In some cases, an automaton can learn how to consciously or subconsciously influence its core. These automatons eventually learn how to release their souls from their cores, allowing their souls to move on when they feel they have achieved a satisfying life. This act leaves the automaton as a mindless construct, typically still active but no longer capable of anything but aimless wandering and occasional acts of self-defense.

Behaviour

Most automatons are lawful neutral, or at least lawful in some capacity. Over the centuries, however, a fair number of automatons have drifted toward neutral alignments as their outlooks change without a primary society or set of ideals upon which to cling.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Due to the disparate fates of automatons, many of them lead solitary lives. There are a few cases of automatons originally designed to work together, such as groups of warriors, who remain as a team and dwell together in hideouts or travel together as wanderers. These groups are few and far between, however, and automaton settlements are even rarer. These groups can hold dozens of automatons, but any attempts to contact or visit them tend to be fruitless. Such gatherings are especially secretive, and the resident automatons will protect their homes at any cost. Automatons are far more likely to encounter other ancestries. Depending on the automaton's personality, this encounter could go a number of ways, ranging from extreme secrecy to open visitation. An automaton's unique appearance makes them stand out regardless of where they're found, but most others look upon them with awe or curiosity rather than fear. After making it past the initial shock of a thinking construct, it's often not difficult for most grasp how to engage with an automaton. Regardless of where they go, an automaton must remain on the lookout for those who would attempt to take their body for study or to access their core.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

An automaton typically keeps the name they had before their transformation into a construct, if they can remember it. Even when other memories fade, memory of their name often remains. Second most common are automatons who had to give themselves a new name, as they lost their memories of the old one at some point. Those automatons that particularly believed in the cause of the Artificer Conclave might instead take the name of one of the conclave's members in honor of the cause that they gave their body to support. Some automatons prefer to change their names over their lifetimes, either selecting a new name from a culture they encountered or adding a title to represent a significant moment in their lives. In some cases an automaton will use a particularly cherished title in place of any other name.