Mechanik’s Union

(Reposted from the Privateer Press Forums.)

Arcane mechaniks and bodgers have so many cool gadgets to play with, but the weight of all that mechanika adds up. Why not make the gadgets carry themselves?

Item	Cost	Weight
Servitor, Strongbox
Small	200 gp	60 lb.
Medium	400 gp	120 lb.
Enhancement
Load-Bearing Suspension	25%	25% base weight

New Servitor Type:

Strongbox
These crablike servitors look like a cross between an overgrown mite and a steamer trunk. Indeed, that’s what they are. Strongbox servitors take the form of a rectangular, iron-bound chest with a mechanikal undercarriage from which protrude six to eight legs, as well as a quartet of ocular lenses, one pointing in each direction. Not especially helpful in a foundry, where a mechanik would lay out his own tools and a servitor would be of use in directly assisting with the work, strongboxes are designed to assist mechaniks working in the field by carrying equipment and tools for them. Strongboxes make popular mechanikal familiars for adventuring arcane mechaniks and mechanists in particular.

Strongboxes have no external manipulators, but they do have a single internal claw manipulator that one can use to keep its compartment’s contents from shifting about too much, and to open and close its own lid on command. They are usually trained to use the claw to hand out their internal contents as needed. In addition to internal storage space, it is common to see pouches or webbing affixed to a strongbox’s lid and sides to accomodate gear that won’t fit inside, either because the main compartment is full or an item’s dimensions are greater than the inside can handle.

The classic design features six legs, one to each corner and an extra on each long side, and a flat lid on the trunk, but the design varies by builder and foundry to include as many legs as ten or as few as four, and lids that curve or come up at odd angles. A rumor popular among mechaniks has it that the former director of the Cygnaran Armory in Caspia converted his trusty old strongbox into a reading chair that moves between windows throughout its master’s house to catch the best light.

Popular enhancements for strongbox servitors are ones that enhance their capabilities in their role as porters, notably load-bearing suspension (see below), physical augmentation, and the porter’s scabbard. Strongboxes with the porter’s scabbard enhancement have additional subcompartments built into the walls of their main trunk compartment and into their undercarriage, and someone searching a strongbox servitor so enhanced will need to make a Search check (DC 25) to find them.

Small strongbox servitors are also known as coffers, to distinguish them from larger models.

Small strongboxes have the following statistics:

Small Construct (Servitor): CR 1; HD 1d10+10, hp 15; Init –; Spd 20 ft.; AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 13; Base Atk +0, Grp -3; Atk claw +2 melee (1d2+1 piercing); Full Atk 1 claw +2 melee (1d2+1 piercing); SA –; SQ Darkvision 60 feet, Construct traits, Servitor traits; AL neutral; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 12, Dex 10, Con –, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 1.

Medium strongboxes have the following statistics:

Medium Construct (Servitor): CR 1; HD 1d10+20, hp 25; Init –; Spd 30 ft.; AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12; Base Atk +1, Grp +3; Atk claw +3 melee (1d3+2 piercing); Full Atk 1 claw +3 melee (1d2+1 piercing); SA –; SQ Darkvision 60 feet, Construct traits, Servitor traits; AL neutral; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 14, Dex 10, Con –, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 1.

Combat:

A strongbox that’s been taught the Fetch trick can be instructed to proffer any single item in its compartment to its handler or another designated friendly target. This occurs as a move-equivalent action on the strongbox’s turn. The Fetch trick also allows a strongbox to use its internal manipulator to pick an item up through a special hatch in its undercarriage. The strongbox must be in the same square as the item, and the item must be at least one size category smaller than the strongbox.

A strongbox that’s been ordered to Defend a target will interpose itself between the target and any apparent enemies and open its lid, providing cover.

Strongbox servitors can use their internal claw manipulator to hold their lid closed. Attempts to pry open a strongbox’s lid while the construct is active first require the servitor to be pinned, then a successful Strength check as a standard action against the trunk portion’s burst DC (25 plus the strongbox’s current Strength bonus).

A small strongbox can typically hold 12 cubic feet of equipment in its main compartment. A light load for a small strongbox is up to 33 pounds; a medium load, 34-66 pounds; and a heavy load, 67-100 pounds. A small strongbox can drag up to 500 pounds. A medium strongbox can typically hold 36 cubic feet of equipment in its main compartment. A light load for a medium strongbox is up to 87 pounds; a medium load, 88-174 pounds; and a heavy load, 175-263 pounds. A medium strongbox can drag up to 1315 pounds.

New Enhancement:
Load-Bearing Suspension
The load-bearing suspension enhancement was cooked up by a Rhulic mechanist who grew fed up with her servitors bucking under heavy loads in a most undwarvenlike manner. It’s a popular enhancement for strongboxes, as well as mannikins employed in the field as wrench squires. Dwarven mechaniks are prone to installing this enhancement on any kind of servitor, for the industrious Rhulfolk have little patience for so-called “mechanikal sloth.”

Servitors with the load-bearing suspension enhancement can move at their base speed even when carrying a medium or heavy load. This enhancement can only be installed on servitors that rely on legs for locomotion.

Build DC: 15

Install DC: 15

Base Cost: 25% base cost.

XP Cost: 1/25th base cost.

Weight: 25% base weight.