Character Creation

How do robots get healed in this? Do Cleric spells apply?

As far as healing PCs, yes. Since part of what powers the robots is magic spells can still heal and repair as normal. Also for medical checks it will also be a bit of mixed mechanics, but I'll just rule most healing thing as working on robots.

Hrm. Ok. May dig into a cleric-based role then so we've got healing covered. i'll nose over the City Domain some more...

Love the concept. I'll take a look at the sheet in a bit. Love the backstory. If the robots want manufacturer names you can make them up and I can always make those companies based in cities other than San Waterdeep. Then matching tech can exist within the city. I still need a robotics and droid manufacturer.

This adds some great lore back store to those companies. :)

Since all the new techromancy doesn't include the Druid in its list of spells I may go through myself and homerule that some of the spells are available to Druids from that school, especially since you are a robot.

On/off appeals to me, but I haven't really read all of them, the cantrip makes sense at least as a fuction of machines that communicate worelessly

Yeah, that was the one that caught my notice in the issue. I think that cantrip, or at least it's effect should be part of your Druid cantrip.

Oh, sure...that'd be cool. Adding the On/Off as an extra thing that Druidcraft can do makes a lot of sense. I was going to make all of that appear as built in features of his mechanics anyway. Minor holographic projections for the weather app and the visual effects. The plant growth stuff will be a super-nutrient that he can make, and the source of the Goodberries when/if he casts that spell. And a built in flame projector so he can cook on the go or something...all features of Unit 9R-353-RV-3R

Kessel Nor
Half-Elven Criminal (Hacker) Technomancer Warlock

Trait: The best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it.
Ideal: People. I’m loyal to my friends, not to any ideals.
Bond: I’m trying to pay off an old debt I owe.
Flaw: An innocent person is in prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that.

---

Is my understanding correct: The On/Off cantrip is granted as a bonus in addition to the 2 warlock cantrips known at 1st level?

Leather armor = leather jacket (11+Dex)? Or Light Undercover Shirt (11+Dex, DR/2 ballistic)?

I'll double check that in a bit, probably won't be able to post till tonight.

I'll be working on my character tomorrow (saturday) am. I'll need to think of something that'll mesh nicely. As the druid has some healing spell capability in normal D&D, do we not have as extensive a need for someone with healing power? If not, I might head to some kind of gunmage or something.

The way spells work for druids/clerics/wizards in this edition is that the player picks a number of spells equal to the modifier of the spellcasting trait (Wis or Int for the three classes referenced) and adds their class level to get the number of spells the character can have prepared and ready to cast through their spell slots. They no longer lose the ability to cast the prepared spell just because they have cast it, they just lose the slot used. So you could use the same spell for every slot of the appropriate level.

Druids also have the benefit of being able to prepare any spell from their list when they prepare for the day. They have much less versatility compared to wizards, that is why wizards have a spell book and druids just use their whole list (and wizards can add to their spell book with effort and money...but I digress)

In the particular case of my druid character with an 18(+4) Wis, he prepares 5 1st level spells every day. I got a pretty good spread I think, but the list of 1st level spells is so limited that putting one of the three healing spells on the list is a no brainer. It really isn't a sacrifice to have those spells available to cast.

Later, as we level up it gets more complicated. I plan of going with the Circle of the Moon class feature which focuses on the Wildshape ability. A character cannot cast spells while in animal form, and switching back to humanoid form to cast a spell ends the wildshape, so its...suboptimal to take the role of healer when I plan to not be able to cast the spells in combat.

So the answer to your question is: No. In my opinion we don't "need" another healer right now with my character in play. Down the line, that could change. And I always say play what you want. A gunmage is a cool concept and I would like to see it in play.

I can always start out as a gunmage and multi-class in a city domain cleric down the road if the stats work out, I suppose.

That could be cool, just notice in the linked weapons article that most magic users don't gain proficiency in firearms unless you do techromancy. Then you gain it in sidearms and hacking tools. It's a little tricky like that.

Also proficiency with weapons functions different than standard 5e. It gives you the aim action. It's a whole thing. It's all in the article.

1. I forgot to mention, I tossed the rolled stats and went with a point buy array: 8, 13, 14, 10, 12, 15. Then applied Half-Elf racial adjustments to CHA, CON, and DEX.

2. Is there a rebellious hacker group for Kessel to belong to or at least associate with similar to Anonymous or F Society? Hey PhantomNimbus and CancerMan, how would Kessel have "acquired" Breecha? Bought it from Kraken Society? Or shall we say he just jacked it himself? While we're on the subject, how much control over Breecha do you want to give Kessel? I want him/it to be as autonomous as possible of course so you have more freedom to roleplay. As long as he protects me in combat. :-D

3. Does this sound about right? Dungeoneer’s pack: includes a tactical backpack, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, 10 flares, a butane lighter, 10 days MRE's, and a water bottle. The pack also has 50 feet of nylon kernmantle rope strapped to the side of it. Do climbers still use hammer & pitons?

4. I'm surprised the Remote Access spell isn't Concentration. But hey I'm not complaining! :-D

I've been thinking about how the two characters would meet, and I was first going to suggest that Kessel bought Breecha off the black market. A corrupt quartermaster or shady corporate VP "write off" a couple of old models for recycling, and constructs like Breecha find themselves sold to the highest bidder, or doled out as favors or repayment for services.

Or, barring Kessel having the necessary funds, he could have found Breecha in a shipping container that was destined for a different buyer. A few jacks into the mainframe and Breecha imprinted on Kessel and recognizes him as its new owner and commanding officer. PhantomNimbus might like this angle because it leaves open the possibility that the original buyer would track us down in the future.

As for control, I see the relationship as something akin to Robocop (the original, I've not seen the remake) and the Three Laws of Robotics. Breecha has several directives that govern its overall actions, but is free to carry them out as it sees fit. Kessel could add new directives and not worry about modifying anything else. Fresh out of the box, Directive 1 would be "Do not injure the commanding officer, or through inaction allow the commanding officer to be harmed" and Directive 2 might be "Obey orders from the commanding officer except where such orders would conflict with the First Directive." Then there's Directive 3, which is "Protect own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Directives."

Awesome! I like it! To increase the bond I copied Binary/Assembly Code from Breecha's character sheet and put that in one of Kessel's language slots. PhantomNimbus, can Kessel be proficient with Warforged Repair Kit? I'm can give up one of my tool proficiencies. Game set, maybe? :-D

Yeah is you want to drop one proficiency for the repair one that's cool. Totally makes sense given the background of the two characters.

I'm trying to think about how to do a gunmage. I think a gunmage would be someone whose arcane focus would be specially crafted/imbued guns. They'd be the way he or she cast their spells. Perhaps in this way, they wouldn't be "guns" per se. Similarly, it'd constrain which kinds of spells I'd pick into things that made sense to be shot out of a gun and the 'spell book' and preparation is more about choosing which special rounds to put into a bandolier. Perhaps these specially imbued rounds wouldn't last overly long (e.g interact with the long rest mechanic).

So -- in this way, it's not really embracing/using firearms, so much as using the firearms concept to craft/shape how the character creates and uses magic. Almost a little 'batman' but with out the awesome martial arts and more focus on lethal weaponry?