Catalog of Clockwork Creations: Cinder Spiders

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Cinder Spiders

Beneath the streets and sewers of the city of Shrapnel lies the Furnace, the red-hot heart of the city's industry. The Furnace houses all of the machinery that powers the city's infrastructure, as well as the forges and engines that enable Shrapnel's massive industrial production. The Furnace is gigantic, and requires near-constant maintenance. That's where the Cinder Spiders come in.

Created by one of Shrapnel's countless journeyman artificers, cinder spiders are single-minded clockwork creations whose primary concern is the stoking of the fires and upkeep of the Furnace's mechanisms. Their carapaces are treated with a fire-resistant resin to withstand the heat of the Furnace and their 'thorax' contains a canister of flammable fluid attached to a mouth spout that the spider uses to fire forges and boilers, or in worst case scenarios defend itself by spraying a gout of fire at anyone who would dare sabotage the Furnace.

Cinder Spider: HD 1d6; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 flame spout (1d6); Move 9; Save 17; CL/XP 1/15; Special: Immune to Fire, Sleep, Charm, Hold Person

Catalog of Clockwork Creations: Dwarven Tomb Guardian

Like James M, I have returned from the beach bearing gifts! Most of these bits I've been working on will be put up tomorrow, as driving 9 hours with a vicious sunburn on your back does little to encourage anything but unconsciousness, but here's a little taste before bedtime.

Dwarven Tomb Guardian

As a culture, dwarves have an unhealthy obsession with death. Not the concept, mind you, but the preparation. When a dwarf dies, the funeral preparation can take anywhere from a month to several years, depending on age, importance, success and piety. The greatest dwarves of a generation are entombed in massive mausoleums that resemble castles more than coffins, a symbol of their accomplishments and a guarantee of that consuming dwarven desire: to be remembered.

Usually, these tombs contain a fair share of the inhabitant's accumulated wealth and possessions. To ensure that they remain in their master's house, dwarven mausoleums are often booby-trapped in ingenious ways: swinging hammers, collapsing floors and the like. For those who hold particular reverence to dwarven culture, a magical guardian is carved of the same stone and iron from which the tomb was made. At the center of each newly created tomb guardian is a piece of its master, usually a fingerbone or tooth, but on some ocassions, an entire hand or skull could be embedded into the guardian. This relic attunes the golem-like creature to its duty; the larger the piece, the more stoic and cunning the construct becomes.

Dwarven tomb guardian: HD 6; AC 1 [18]; Atk 1 Fist (1d12); Move 6; Save 11; CL/XP 7/600; Special: Immune to non-magical weapons

Catalog of Clockwork Creations: The Arbalester

Arbalester

The arbalester is a magically animated siege weapon, designed to attack, reload and maneuver all without the aid of human operators. Originally conceived by Dwarven siege-priests and enchanted through ritual construction, arbalesters were used as mobile artillery in mass combat as well as ever-vigilant guardians for important locations and perimeters. Like all good ideas, it soon had its imitators, mainly from the alchemists of Shrapnel. Their boiler-driven facsimiles were never as sturdy or reliable as their magically-constructed counterparts, but made up for that seeming lack of durability with a faster firing mechanism and the tendency to explode when jostled.

Dwarven arbalester: HD 5; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 ballista bolt (1d10); Move 9; Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: immune to Sleep, Charm, Hold and non-magical piercing weapons
Shrapnel arbalester: HD 4; AC 6 [13]; Atk 2 crossbow bolts (1d6+1); Move 9; Save 13; CL/XP 5/240; Special: immune to Sleep, Charm, Hold and non-magical piercing weapons, explodes when destroyed (1d8 damage, 15 ft. radius, save takes half)

Inspired by the Arbalester from Monster Manual 2. Picture by Wayne England.