Madness Such As This - Clockwork Spacewhales

[unseenmage]

Middle of the night (earliest of morning?) brainstorming session wherein I try to find cool uses for the Clockwork Creature Template my DM okayed.
We're building all Constructs with prices based on CR, Spellcraft checks, and DCs based on the highest CL requirement in the entry of any involved creature or template. (My character's also an alchemist with Craft Construct so every spell involved adds another +5 to the craft DC period.)

Clockwork Template + Oma (space whale) = clockwork spaceship? Yeah! That's cool!

Clockwork Template + Amalgam Template + Oma + Lusca = clockwork assault spaceship? Even Better!
(Yes the Amalgam template is ridiculous; but tentacled clockwork space whale spaceships are worth some cheese right? Oh, and I've been giving it a flat CR +3 rather than up to +3 via comparisons.)

Clockwork Template + Amalgam Template + Oma + Mogaru (PF godzilla) = clockwork fortress? Wow! Even superer and even coolerer!!
(Nope those last two aren't words; my only excuse is that realizing I can turn godzilla into a spaceship has broken what's left of my thinky bits.)


Thoughts playground?



Additionally, the DM, other players and I have been considering some sort of CR bump for every template involved in a given clockwork's creation. Young Simple Template + Advanced Simple Template is currently our standard of measurement for strong template combos. We have been reviewing templates pretty thoroughly before letting them see gameplay. The War Machine and Advanced Bestiary Clockwork templates recently got the ban for being too strong and poorly written.

We were thinking maybe a +1 for every two templates after the first? Or should it even be +1 for every template after the first?

Edit:

Spoiler: Generic Construct Creation

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These are our generic Construct Creation rules as compiled from the Building and Modifying Constructs section of the PRD.

Price: CR * CR * 500gp
Cost to Create: ½ price plus cost of body
Cost of Body: Price * 0.1 (for a body that costs 10% base price)
(As per the Broken condition, “Items with the broken condition, regardless of type, are worth 75% of their normal value.” This can be assumed to be true for the corpses of constructs as well.)
Time to Create Body: depends on if using the normal laborious crafting rules or the Alternate Crafting Rules
Skill to Create Body: Spellcraft or other appropriate skill; DC equals 5 + CL (usually CL 5 for Craft Construct; or min CL for highest level spell listed in creature entry); plus 5 for each missing prerequisite (all spells and CL for a non-caster).
Can ‘Take 10’ but cannot ‘Take 20’. Failing this check means that the item (construct) does not function and the materials and time are wasted. Failing this check by 5 or more results in a cursed item (construct).
Prerequisite spells: Every spell mentioned in the statblock usually. Omitting spell lists for spellcasting creatures as the sheer volume of spells tends to make them uncraftable otherwise due to the DC being raised so high.
Days to Create: Not including creating the body; 1 day per 1,000gp in price (round up).

(Example Construction info entry at the bottom of a Construct stat block.)
Construction
A few words about the Construct's construction and a mention of the price and components to build the body.
Construct Name
CL 5 for Craft Construct; or min CL for highest level spell listed; Price CR*CR*500
Requirements Craft Construct, spells listed in creature's statistics block, creator must be caster level minimum required to have access to component spells.
Skill Spellcraft or appropriate Craft DC 5+CL.
Cost equals price * 0.1 (for a body that costs 10% base price)

[iceifur]

As the player of the bard in unseenmage's aforementioned campaign, I only have three things to say:

Mogaru.

Susceptible to Song.

Kukuku.

[unseenmage]

Was also looking at the CRs and prices for some other abominations.

Amalgam Tattoo Guardian and Granule Construct Swarm (A swarm of medium tattoos or a medium swarm of miniscule tattoos?).
Clockwork Gigantean Ebony Variant Gelatinous Cube (as G. Cube plus dissolves metals).
Clockwork Amalgam 12-Headed Hydra and Lusca (so many natural attacks!).
Amalgam Lusca and Tattoo Guardian (is it a wearable Lusca or is it a Tattoo Guardian with simply more hp?).

Just spitballing really. Wanted some prices written down for travel time crafting and downtime crafting when they happen.
Only thing holding these monstrosities back is funding at this point.

As the player of the bard in unseenmage's aforementioned campaign, I only have three things to say:

Mogaru.

Susceptible to Song.

Kukuku.

Oh look! It's the deciding factor for picking this kaiju over the other two. Hello deciding factor.

BTW, like your avatar pic. A perfectly normal half elf.
And nothing else.

[iceifur]

Oh look! It's the deciding factor for picking this kaiju over the other two. Hello deciding factor.

BTW, like your avatar pic. A perfectly normal half elf.
And nothing else.

Deciding factor is pleased. Also, a DC 54 Perception check is perfectly reasonable. Right?

[unseenmage]

An update for anyone interested.

When using the Amalgam Template if either of the base creatures is a Construct then the resultant amalgam is a Construct too (yeah, that includes Undead too!) So now I'm looking for a good well-rounded Construct to use as a base creature that will be combined with whatever other base creature I please.
Robots are excluded as I cannot make those until we finish the AP. I've been thinking that the generic base Construct should be a humanoid for weapon wielding and armor wearing and such (Terra-Cotta Soldier maybe?)
Still looking. There's cool factor to consider too as this is for a real life game.

Here's a list of other Constructs that caught my eye for whatever reason. Opinions on their versatilities as Amalgam Creature components are more than welcome.

Spoiler: Constructs for Potential Amalgamation

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Adamantine Golem
Animated Objects (especially Downtime rules Rooms and Buildings Amalgam-ed w/Tattoo Guardian or Behemoth Golem)
Behemoth Golem
Clockwork Spy
Dragonship
Gravitic Globe
Grey Goo
Living Effigy
Living Wall
Mirror Man
Mithral Golem
Sentinel Hut
Skinstitch
Slithering Pit
Steel Kraken
Tiberolith
Urannag
Wings of Protection

And here's a list of the non-Constuct creatures I'm eyeing for how mechanically interesting they are or for their delicious special abilities.

Spoiler: Non-Constructs for Potential Amalgamation

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Black Worm
Brethedan
Cameroceras (Amalgam w/Clockwork Oma for a front door. )
Chthonic Creature template
Giant Tortoise (Amalgam w/Behemoth Golem!)
Mutant Creature template
Necrocraft
Plasma Ooze
Possessor
Shantak
Star Monarch
Tyrannosaurus

We also had a chuckle at the idea of using Homunculi in all of my Amalgams so that every time one of them dies my character takes damage. Not to mention how crowded it would get.

[unseenmage]

Okay so Clockwork spacewhales are cool but Tattoo Guardian Clockwork spacewhales is even better.

The Tattoo Guardian's Worn Form ability is the best version of Golem Armor yet. Using the Amalgam template any Construct, potentially any creature, can become a tattoo ready to defend its wearer at a moment's notice.

Truly the best thing about combining the Tattoo Guardian with another creature is finding a higher HD creature to combine it with. The biggest weakness of the Tattoo Guardian is its low hp. Larger, higher HD creatures grant more hp to the resulting Amalgam.

I've also been comparing the Tattoo Guardian with the Grey Goo and the Granule Construct Swarm. An amalgamation of the swarms with the tattoo doesn't net us much. Though being able to functionally un-Infest oneself by making the amalgam switch to Worn Form could be nice. Otherwise the swarm can only leave a dying or dead host by RAW.

Eventually my Alchemist gets the Simulacrum ability with which he could potentially make Simulacrums of any creature. Even these abominable creations. An Amalgam Animated-Object-Robotics-Laboratory and Tattoo Guardian? Sure, wearable tech lab. The Simulacrum won't be super functional in combat but combat isn't where Tech labs come in most handy either.

[unseenmage]

Am looking at the Tattoo Guardian and wondering if I should be concerned about the whole party potentially getting a ton of extra hp by wearing either a) lots of these things or b) one each a great big Amalgam Templated, Tattoo Guardian, plus T-Rex.

[unseenmage]

An update.

Was working on a project involving the Downtime Rules when I realized that the downtime rooms and buildings occupy space calculated in 5 foot squares. These volumes are analogous to the Animated Object creature sizes. So I sat down and listed each downtime room and building by creature size by its smallest dimension. There are 9 mediums, 47 large, 42 huge, 26 gargantuan, and 19 colossal (for colossal I ignored the rooms whose volume would be technically over the colossal number of squares).

The premise is that an object is still what it is even after being animated. Rope can still be tied in knots, a knife is still sharp, etc. In PF Animated Objects that can still be used for their original purpose is even easier as PF has that one line of text about how 'a construct's creator can deactivate their construct with a touch and a command' or somesuch. Means an animated suit of armor can still be worn easily so long as its creator deactivates it. On the same token these rooms could still be used to generate downtime capitol, they just might need deactivated first. And it doesn't take much imagination to think up ways of making all the components of the rooms be integrated into their structure so that a room, its furnishings, and its decor are all bound together as a single, albeit complicated, object.

From what I can see the downtime rules do not care how a given building gets into a given settlement. The rules only care that you spend the appropriate amount of time, money, and personnel to generate capital. Especially with the ability to deactivate the animated object rooms/buildings. After they've walked into town they can settle in and just be locations.

Now the fun starts when I take these new Downtime Room/Building Animated Objects and use the Amalgam template to combine them with the Tattoo Guardian and the Behemoth Golem. The Behemoth Golem's 'castle' can hold up to 8 medium creatures. Similarly the downtime rules crafting rooms (alchemist lab, clockwork shop, forge, etc) can have up to 3 people working in them each.
Amalgam-ing one building made of three crafting rooms with the Behemoth Golem nets us one more person than would normally be allowed into the structure on its back, just for crafting. For combat one imagines that still only 8 creatures could benefit from the structure for defense.
And of course Amalgam-ing rooms/buildings with the Tattoo Guardian lets our alchemist wear his workshop, or our archer wear his high ground, or our fighter wear his defensive position. The possibilities aren't endless, but there are a lot of them.

My DM is onboard with these ideas since they're fun. And it hardly seems game breaking to expend loads and loads of time and gp to have your downtime investments follow you around. This is especially useful as we plan to take our adventures into space once the AP is complete and having businesses that can literally get up and follow us makes investing in them that much more appealing.
I can imagine my character herding buildings up a loading ramp onto a starship like some sort of bizarre herd of misshapen beasts.

Edit: Oh yeah! Almost forgot the best part. The actual room combinations that will be turned into creatures.

Spoiler: List of Rooms and Buildings by Animated Object Size

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List of Rooms and Buildings by Animated Object Size
The Rooms and Buildings listed below have been categorized by their smallest possible dimensions. For combining rooms into new buildings two medium rooms make a large building, two large rooms make a huge building, two huge rooms a gargantuan building, and two gargantuan rooms a colossal building.

Medium | (</= 1 squares)
Attuned (Augmentation) | As original room
Cell (room) | 1–9 squares
Fortification (augmentation) | As original room
Furnishings (augmentation) | As original room
Lavatory (room) | 1–4 squares
Monument (building) | 1–9 squares
Pit (room) | 1–5 squares
Reliquary (room) | 1–4 squares
Sanctum (room) | 1–4 squares
Statue (room) | 1–9 squares
Tollbooth (room) | 1–5 squares
Trap (augmentation) | see the Trap (room)
Trap (room) | 1–4 squares

Large | (</= 8 squares)
Alchemy Lab (room) | 8–16 squares
Altar (room) | 2–8 squares
Animal Pen (room) | 4–16 squares
Armory (room) | 5–15 squares
Artisan's Workshop (room) | 8–16 squares
Bath (room) | 3–6 squares
Bedroom (room) | 4–8 squares
Blood Spa (room) | 4–8 squares
Book Repository (room) | 4–12 squares
Classroom (room) | 5–20 squares
Clockwork Shop (room) | 8–16 squares
Confessional (room) | 2–4 squares
Crypt (room) | 8–30 squares
Drawbridge (room) | 4–8 squares
Escape Route (room) | 6–12 squares
Forge (room) | 8–16 squares
Gatehouse (room) | 8–12 squares
Gauntlet (room) | 4–8 squares
Grotto (room) | 5–10 squares
Guard Post (room) | 6–10 squares
Hatchery (room) | 2–6 squares
Infirmary (room) | 4–12 squares
Kitchen (room) | 2–6 squares
Laundry (room) | 2–6 squares
Leather Workshop (room) | 4–10 squares
Magical Repository (room) | 4–12 squares
Nursery (room) | 8–16 squares
Office (room) | 2–5 squares
Printer (room) | 5–16 squares
Sauna (room) | 2–5 squares
Scriptorium (room) | 5–16 squares
Scrying Room (room) | 4–16 squares
Secret Room (room) | 6–10 squares
Sewer Access (room) | 4–6 squares
Sewing Room (room) | 6–12 squares
Shack (room) | 2–4 squares
Shrine (building) | 3–17 squares
Sitting Room (room) | 6–10 squares
Stall (room) | 6–16 squares
Storage (room) | 4–8 squares
Storefront (room) | 2–4 squares
Summoning Chamber (room) | 6–16 squares
Torture Chamber (room) | 6–16 squares
Trophy Room (room) | 4–20 squares
Vault (room) | 4–8 squares
War Room (room) | 4–12 squares
Workstation (room) | 8–16 squares

Huge | (</= 27 squares)
Arboreal (augmentation) | As original room +9 squares
Archery Range (room) | 20–50 squares
Bank (building) | 20–50 squares
Bar (room) | 10–20 squares
Bell Tower (room) | 9–25 squares
Blind (room) | 10–30 squares
Brewery (room) | 12–24 squares
Bunks (room) | 15–35 squares
Burial Ground (room) | 20–30 squares
Common Room (room) | 10–30 squares
Courthouse (building) | 26–80 squares
Courtyard (room) | 20–40 squares
Defensive Wall (room) | 20–40 squares
Dock (room) | 10–30 squares
Dojo (room) | 15–30 squares
Execution Yard (room) | 20–40 squares
Exotic Artisan (building) | 27–56 squares
False Front (room) | 10–20 squares
Game Room (room) | 10–20 squares
Garden (room) | 10–20 squares
Greenhouse (room) | 10–20 squares
House (building) | 21–42 squares
Jail (building) | 22–75 squares
Library (building) | 24–67 squares
Lodging (room) | 20–35 squares
Luxury Store (building) | 12–25 squares
Magic Shop (building) | 17–37 squares
Mill Room (room) | 20–30 squares
Mystic Greenhouse (room) | 10–20 squares
Observation Dome (room) | 10–20 squares
Observatory (building) | 26–65 squares
Pier (building) | 24–67 squares
Reservoir System (room) | 25–50 squares
Shop (building) | 9–21 squares
Smithy (building) | 14–29 squares
Tannery (building) | 14–38 squares
Tavern (building) | 27–67 squares
Temple (building) | 26–76 squares
Town Hall (building) | 22–63 squares
Trade Shop (building) | 15–32 squares
Watchtower (building) | 22–52 squares

Gargantuan | (</= 64 squares)
Alchemist (building) | 41–94 squares
Auditorium (room) | 40–100 squares
Ballroom (room) | 40–60 squares
Battle Ring (room) | 40–100 squares
Black Market (building) | 44–97 squares
Brewery (building) | 36–89 squares
Bureau (building) | 31–96 squares
Ceremonial Room (room) | 40–100 squares
Farmland (room) | 60–100 squares
Granary (building) | 40–80 squares
Guildhall (building) | 61–134
Habitat (room) | 40–60 squares
Herbalist (building) | 37–76 squares
Hospital (building) | 39–106 squares
Inn (building) | 58–129 squares
Labyrinth (room) | 40–100 squares
Mill (building) | 30–51 squares
Mint (building) | 29–59 squares
Museum (building) | 37–113 squares
Sports Field (room) | 40–100 squares
Stockyard (building) | 32–102 squares
Theater (building) | 59–139 squares
Throne Room (room) | 40–80 squares
Watering Hole (room) | 30–50 squares
Witch Hut (building) | 51–120 squares
Wood Shop (building) | 40–71 squares

Colossal | (</= 125 squares)
Academy (building) | 125–307 squares
Bardic College (building) | 101–360 squares
Barracks (building) | 88–213 squares
Caster's Tower (building) | 84–216 squares
Cathedral (building) | 115–296 squares
Dance Hall (building) | 73–137 squares
Farm (building) | 87–164 squares
Garrison (building) | 118–334 squares
Graveyard (building) | 69–129 squares
Magical Academy (building) | 125–313 squares
Mansion (building) | 91–182 squares
Monastery (building) | 75–192
Orphanage (building) | 81–198 squares
School (building) | 70–182 squares
Stable (building) | 77–149 squares
Tenement (building) | 69–163 squares
Treehouse (building) | 80–111 squares
University (building) | 95–248 squares
Waterfront (building) | 74–205 squares

Spoiler: Animated Object Buildings

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Cogworks of Brigh
(Brigh being the PF god of technology and scientific advancement.)
gargantuan
Rooms: Alchemy Lab, Forge, Clockwork Shop, 2 Statue, 5 Fortification, 5 Furnishing
CP 5: Faster, Metal, Trample

Cogworks of Brigh, lesser
huge
Rooms: Alchemy Lab, Clockwork Shop, 2 Fortification, 2 Furnishing
CP 4: 2 Metal

Mutagen Pools
(The AP has a mutagenic swamp, this is an animated section of such, trees included.)
gargantuan
Rooms: Reservoir System, Arboreal, Attuned, Fortified, Furnishing
CP 5: Clunky, Stone, Slower, Burrow, Faster, Resist Fire, Trample

Escape Serpent
(24 contiguous 5' squares arranged in a line.)
huge
Rooms: 2 Escape Route, 2 Fortified
CP 4: Burrow, Grab, Constrict, Stone

Pomenade
(A crawling courtyard full of statues.)
gargantuan
Rooms: Courtyard, 4 Statue, 5 Fortified, 5 Furnishing
CP 5: 5 Additional Attack

[unseenmage]

So I was comparing the prices of the Animated Object buildings and found that animating individual rooms and having them act as larger buildings is, of course, more expensive both in time and gp.

Animating several large rooms as a single gargantuan building feels cooler and more imposing. However, you even get more hp out of animating a greater number of objects of a smaller size.

In the end the deciding factor was that a) our Bard can give allies Fast Healing in a area and the more individual pools of hp there are the faster the total recuperates, and b)I can't carry a gargantuan construct in a Portable Hole but two large constructs CAN squeeze into a single Portable Hole just fine.

[unseenmage]

Update:

We didn't have quite enough downtime for building a clockwork lusca but i did manage to equip my character to be more effective and even managed to get three Animated Object Amalgam Tattoo Guardian Rooms finished.

My character is now wearing tattoos of a clockwork shop, an alchemy lab, and a forge. All three are large creatures and none are particularly combat oriented. They can all fly and burrow though.

[unseenmage]

Well this is cool. As a divine boon all of the characters who just saved the world got the equivalent of 6 wishes.

For my part I got a variant Latten Mechanism who'd traded out Cleave for Leadership.

Thing is it needs a designation, a name.

Thoughts?

[unseenmage]

Aaaaand, we've done it! We have defeated the vile AI who would be dog. ;)
The beast is dead and the ship is ours, a new pantheon of technology gods has arisen. Robots, constructs, and AIs everywhere are semirandomly awakening to true sentience/sapience. We are heroes to an entire nation. Now our saga shall continue into the vastness of the stars.
We have a bone to pick with the Dominion of Black. We have an alignment shifted Void Dragon whose horde needs found. We have pilgrims eager to start a new life in space or even on another world.
Plans are being drawn up for colonization, for a space station, for cheesey Alchemist Greater Simulacrum of Animated Object Technology laboratories, and more!

We have 1.5 years to fiddle about and play with the downtime rules while the ship repairs itself. Here in the real world we have like 3 or4 weeks to prepare. Now is the time. Now I will be able to enact some of the devious scheming which has so long smouldered, waiting, in this thread.

The Lusca, Oma, and Behemoth Golem will feature heavily in our future. As will the Gigantean, Miniature, Amalgam, and Clockwork templates. Also eager to warp use Animated Objects and the Robot-Subtype-as-a-pseudo-Template.

This is gonna be fun.

[Dazhbug]

I just wanted to drop by to thank you for giving me more material to wrap around my old Student of the Transfinite custom PrC.

[unseenmage]

I just wanted to drop by to thank you for giving me more material to wrap around my old Student of the Transfinite custom PrC.

Glad I could be of assistance.
Equally glad someone other than just little ol me enjoys my clockwork madnesses.

[Dazhbug]

I just wish I could have gotten a little more mileage out of the Craft Construct feat in the one campaign I playtested him in. I had ideal conditions and everything, just not enough downtime.

Ah well, at least I had the joy of summoning Clockwork Bison.

[unseenmage]

I just wish I could have gotten a little more mileage out of the Craft Construct feat in the one campaign I playtested him in. I had ideal conditions and everything, just not enough downtime.

Ah well, at least I had the joy of summoning Clockwork Bison.

Heh, that reminds me; in my sig there's a link to some lists of animals, vermin, and templates that don't change their type for 3.x. Created them to simulate a market so my necromancer could buy templated animals to corpse-ify then reanimate. Long story short the strongest most powerful creature I ever rolled up off those lists was the Half-Machine (Dungeon #91 pg106) Bison. Could've been great if that game had ever gotten off the ground.

[Dazhbug]

I will keep that in mind! I only ever go up to level... 10, total if I recall, and at that point we stopped a demon invasion of Riddleport and my guy sailed away in his personal demi-plane. Yay for Mythic campaigns!

Amalgam looks frighteningly complicated.

[unseenmage]

Yeah, it can be. Key things to remember are that the end result keeps the highest of both the creature's CR and HD. After that everything else is basically following the charts and size changes.

There's a line of text at the end of the template too that acts as a guiding principle to its application, basically to try to retain as many of the qualities of the two base creatures as possible. Is how my GM and I resolved applying it to Swarms and combining a normally commanded Construct with a normally uncommandable Construct.

Gigantean and Miniature are similarly complex. Havn't gotten around to Amalgam-ing together both a Miniature and a Gigantean version of the same creature... Hmmm...guess I'd have to do it twice to check the effects of each template being applied first/last.

[unseenmage]

Have been tinkering about with what to build first. Constructs that make more Constructs is an obvious choice. As are Constructs that can tirelessly perform mundane crafting. Am trying to steer clear of the PFSRD 3rd party content as much as possible for now too.

The Simple Class Template: Wizard grants a Caster Level which means the creature could take magic item creation feats; the base Construct will also get +2 CR and will be able to cast two 3rd level spells.
The base construct would need at least 9 HD to be able to have a high enough Caster Level and enough feat slots to take Craft Construct and Cooperative Crafting.
The Hit Dice Modification allows us to buy an up to 50% increase in HD so our base Construct can have 4-7 HD and still make a decent Construct crafter.
After some research it came down to a Huge Animated Object and a Scarecrow with 3 HD added.

At the end it winds up being cheaper to make the weaker Construct and add 2 HD than it is to make the higher CR Construct from the get-go. (Remember we're using the Build by CR variant where all Constructs are built with standard pricing based on their CRs) The Scarecrow thing even takes less time to build.

Spoiler: HugeAnimatedObject vs Scarecrow

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Simple Wizard Scarecrow
CR6 HD5+2
9,000gp to craft
900gp body
2,700gp +3HD
=12,600gp and 20 days (18 days +3 days adding HD)

Simple Wizard Huge Animated Object
CR9 HD7
20,250gp to craft
2,025gp body
= 22,225gp +40 days

Another consideration is that by RAW a Construct's creator does not get to change their feats and skills unless the Construct was unintelligent and the creator made it intelligent (and yes, normally the GM would still be in charge of feat/skill selection).
So putting the Simple Wizard Template on an uninteligent Construct becomes a must. Which makes things weird as increasing a non-ability score by +4 is, well, weird.
I'm pretty sure the game treats non-abilities as 10s for these purposes and the end result is a Simple Wizard Templated Construct with Int 14.
For our 3rd level spells caster Int 14 is sufficient but later when I'm applying this template to higher HD unintelligent creatures Int boosting items of Int boosting Construct Modifications will be a must.

Edit: Well crud. The Simple Wizard Template doesn't change the base Construct's class skills. That'll make a lot harder for these things to actually craft any Constructs. Hmm, how to boost their Spellcraft checks enough that they can craft past all those missing prerequisites...

---------------

So, one concern of mine about using the Amalgam template on stuff like the Latten Mechanism was figuring out if my resultant creature was under my control or not.
What happens when I use the Amalgam Template to combine a normally not-controllable Construct, like the Latten Mechanism, with a normally controllable Construct, like the Tattoo Guardian?

In re-reading the template the higher HD of the two base creature sets body shape and number of limbs.
With this as precedent we can ascertain that as long as I combine a normally not-controllable creature with a higher HD controllable creature the result should be controllable.
(As a bonus it resolves the question of how Swarms work in this template too.)

I kind of lucked out here because when I went and checked the HD of the commandable Constructs I was already planning on using they all wound up being higher than that of the Latten Mechanism (CR15 HD18).
Adamantine Golem CR19 HD30
Clockwork Dragon CR16 HD25
Clockwork Oma CR17 HD20
Clockwork Lusca CR18 HD20
They won't be cheap but for the kind of superpowers they'll be packing they really shouldn't be.

---------------------

Oh, an update: my original variant Latten Mechanism has a name and a minor revision. The GM was adamant that it could fly so the (rather OP) Advanced simple template was replaced with the Aerial simple template. Same CR so all's good; it is an Aerial Giant Latten Mechanism (with Leadership replacing Cleave) whose name is Isoptryx Cucharex, basically 'termite cockroach king'.
In quizzing the GM it is willing to die for me if need be but it is not under my direct control.

[unseenmage]

So using Fabricate to craft the body of a construct presents an issue; How much volume does a creature's body occupy?
For the longest time I've just used its combat space but that's inaccurate to the point of absurdity, especially with hollow creatures (an animated cage or room or hollowed out corpse).

Today it hit me, why not use the creature's combat space when it's Squeezed into a smaller space?
We have the Squeezing movement rules to limit how small a space a creature of a given size can occupy; why not employ them?

So, when using the Fabricate spell, or Marvelous Pigments magic item when applicable, to craft a constructs body the necessary volume is 2 sizes smaller than the resultant construct because that's how little space the Squeezing rules say a body of that size can possibly occupy. (Eg. a large body could be compressed into a small creatures space.)

--------------------------------------------------

Also figured out what base construct to build first. An Amalgam of a Simple Wizard templated Latten Mechanism and a +3 HD Reclamation Robot.
It has enough HD to get all the feats for both Craft Construct and Craft Robot and it has a CL.
It also gets to ignore crafting feat requirements for Technology Items as well as a host of other superpowers.

Am calling it a Reclamation Mechanism.

Sadly it doesn't get 9th level spells with just 3 HD. Might work up a max HD version later for just that purpose.
It also takes a high hit to Cha which makes its built in Lyre of Building less effective.

[unseenmage]

Two cheesey things in my last build that I'm questioning... Increasing the Hit Die of the Reclamation Robot just so it has more Hit Die than the Latten Mechanism so the resultant Amalgam can be controlled is a potential exploit. Implementing the Simple Wizard Template on a creature with increased HD then adding more HD is the other.

The Additional Hit Dice Construct Modification is intended for use by players on constructs they've made. Here I'm using it on a base creature then templating to create a new base creature. The weirdness is that a 4 HD creature can be given 2 HD, after the Amalgam template is applied the new creature is a new base creature whose HD could be increased even further.

I'm unsure if this is a true exploit or not as two creatures' worth of abilities should probably equate to more HD and the HD modification has language to adjust CR already. Hmm, typing it all out I doubt this is the exploit.

-----------------------------------------

The other thing I did was to utilize the Simple Wizard template. Now this template is a mess. Even if just for DM use its a mess. BY RAW the thing just casts spells. Not as a Wizard, no that requires specific language. This thing, like the Naga (which has no arms and no Still Spell feat) just casts the spells. Means it needs no spellbook, and no spell component pouch, and no prep time. The spells just get cast.
Again by RAW it also can only cast its spells during combat. So every non-combat spell is completely useless to it. As are spells I would want it to imbue in item/construct creation.

The trick is that adding HD to a Simple Wizard Template-ed creature, twice, is super effective. Especially as our group is crafting creatures with prices based on CR while the CL for the Simple Wizard is based on HD.
In short, can buy additional HD on the cheap which translates to additional CL, and all on a construct that is built by paying for its CR which is rarely as high as that HD/CL combo.

Alternatively I could use a base creature that has innate spellcasting of at least CL high enough to qualify them for Craft Construct. Am looking into which creatures have the best innate spellcasting compared to CR and HD now.

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Now I was only eying the Simple Wizard template a) to figure out if it was an abuse, and b) to give my creature a CL so it can take Item Creation feats.
Another player in our game reminded me of the Master Craftsman feat that allows any character/creature with enough skill ranks to use those ranks in place of a CL for creating Wondrous Items and Magic Arms&Armor. (Edit: I was wrong, it uses the skill ranks as the prerequisite CL for taking those two feats. My bad.)
My DM would gladly let us homebrew up another feat that does the same for Craft Construct and/or allow the original feat to just work for all magic crafting feats.

This route requires that I instead find the creature with the best bonus to Spellcraft (the only skill we use for crafting Constructs in our game). No clue which creature that might be but my search revealed to me the Mi-Go...

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The Mi-Go is a creature my Amalgam mad alchemist has encountered and had the opportunity to study in detail so using them in our game already has our DM's okay. Figuring out how to fluff a Prime Material native's take on a Dark Tapestry creature's insane creation method is what's stymieing me at this point. I mean sure he's already an alchemist who makes Simulacrum that dissolve into inert blobs of flesh when slain, even if the Simulacrum was of an Animated Object.
What's even more convenient, the Mi-Go have the Spaceflight ability so I don't even have to load my Amalgams of them onto a Clockwork Spacewhale to get them where I want them.

They definitely seem too good to be true. Though I guess they can't make Constructs with their special item making ability so that would need a workaround.

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Will continue chugging along with the Amalgamizing. Valentine's Day interrupted our normal games so we havn't played this game for a few weeks. In game we have 4 months out of the year and a half the ship needs to repair itself before an event or three happens. We'll be playing this coming Saturday. The suspicion is that we'll be spending the session dealing with the math for 4 months of downtime rather than get to any actual gameplay but we'll see.

In any case this is going to be a blast. And at the very least I'll finally get to see some Clockwork Spacewhales in action.

[unseenmage]

Fresh off the presses here's a Robotic Herald of Brigh that can make just about anything. Buildings, Golems, Robots, tech, magic items. You name it and this thing can make it. Almost.
(For more item crafting feats, like say Craft Staff, consider using the Additional Hit Dice Construct Modification from the Building and Modifying Constructs rules in the PRD.)

Spoiler: Reclamation Mechanism of Brigh

Show

Reclamation Mechanism
Miniature Latten Mechanism --> Amalgam --> Simple Wizard Creature Reclamation Robot
This clockwork termite is the size of a horse and has an oversized head with a humanoid face on it. It moves about on a set of four legs and has a strange bell-shaped head. Multiple apertures along its body sprout tool-wielding limbs, and a human-sized hatch on its abdomen chitters and clicks like a menacing maw. This complex-looking automaton’s multiple arms end in gripping talons.
Miniature Latten Mechanism, Amalgam, Simple Wizard Creature Reclamation Robot
CR 15
Source Pathfinder #86: Lords of Rust pg. 84, Pathfinder #88: Valley of the Brain Collectors pg. 84, Advanced Bestiary
XP 51,200
N Large construct (extraplanar, herald, robot)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +22
Defense
AC 18, touch 5, flat-footed 12 (+6 Dex, +13 natural, –1 size)
hp 153 (19d10+30+19 force field); fast healing 10
Fort 6+0, Ref 6+6, Will 6+3+2(feat)
Defensive Abilities DR 2/adamantine and magic, hardness 10; Immune acid, construct traits; Resist cold 30, fire 30; SR 26
Weaknesses vulnerable to critical hits and electricity
Offense
Speed 40 ft., burrow 5 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee 5 claws +26 (1d6+7 plus grab); bite +26 (6d8+3 plus grab and 6d8 acid or electricity)
Ranged integrated laser rifle +25 touch (2d6 fire)
Space 10 ft., Reach 15 ft. (claws)
Special Attacks arcane bond†, arcane school abilities†, breath weapon (120-ft. line, 12d8 acid or electricity damage, Reflex DC 19 half, usable every 1d4 rounds), combined arms, constrict (6d8 plus 6d8 acid or electricity), efficient grappler, entrap (DC 19, 1d10 rounds, hardness 8, hp 20), lyre of building, wizard spells
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +20; save DCs are Intelligence-based)
At will—dimension door, make whole, move earth, rapid repairUM, soothe constructUM
3/day—control constructUM, fabricate, haste, lightning bolt (DC 17), major creation, slow (DC 17), unbreakable constructUM, wall of iron
Spells Prepared (CL 16th; concentration +20)
2x 6th (2/day)—disintegrate (DC 20), sabotage construct (DC 20)
2x 5th (2/day)—apparent master (DC 19), wall of stone (DC 19)
2x 4th (2/day)—malfunction (DC 18), greater invisibility
2x 3rd (2/day)—fireball (DC 17), haste
2x 2nd (2/day)— glitterdust (DC 16), invisibility
7x 1st (2/day)—animate rope (DC 15), magic missile
All 0th (2/day)—detect magic, read magic
Wizard Spells Known
2x 6th (2/day)— disintegrate, sabotage construct
2x 5th (2/day)—apparent master, wall of stone
2x 4th (2/day)—malfunction
2x 3rd (2/day)—fireball, haste
2x 2nd (2/day)—glitterdust, invisibility
7x 1st (2/day)—animate rope, magic missile
All 0th (2/day)—detect magic, read magic
Statistics
Str 25 (+7), Dex 22 (+6), Con — (--), Int 19 (+4), Wis 16 (+3), Cha 9 (-1)
Base Atk +19; CMB +25 (19+7-1); CMD 41 (10+19+7+6-1) (47 vs. trip)
Feats GunsmithingB, UC, Improved InitiativeB, Iron WillB, Lightning ReflexesB, TechnologistB, Craft ConstructB,1stScribe Scroll, 3rdCooperative Crafting, 5thCraft Wondrous Item, 7thCraft Magic Arms and Armor, 9th Additional Traits (Talented, Pragmatic Activator), 11thCraft Technological Item, 13thCraft Technological Arms and Armor, 15thCraft Robot
Skills Climb +22, Craft (any one) +22, Disable Device +19, Knowledge (engineering) +21, Knowledge (religion) +12, Perception +16, Perform +17, Spellcraft +22, Use Magic Device +22
Racial Modifiers +4 Climb (*+8 for having a racial climb speed), +4 Knowledge (engineering)
Languages Abyssal, Androffan, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal
SQ always armed, change size, create soldiers, double damage against objects, emissary, integrated masterwork tools, item creation, master of crafting, salvage, scaling
Combat Gear bonded item
Ecology
Environment any (Axis)
Organization solitary, duo, work gang (3–5), or team (plus 1d6 clockwork soldiers and 1d6 clockwork servants)
Treasure standard
Special Abilities
Always Armed (Su) Heralds can summon their signature weapon as a standard action. If its herald doesn’t have a signature weapon, it can summon any nonmagical weapon as a standard action (including adamantine, etc.); the weapon disappears if it leaves the herald’s grasp.

Arcane Bond (Ex or Sp)
At 1st level, wizards form a powerful bond with an object or a creature. This bond can take one of two forms: a familiar or a bonded object. A bonded object is an item a wizard can use to cast additional spells or to serve as a magical item. The Reclamation Mechanism can designate one item as its arcane bond and use that item to cast any one spell it knows once per day.

Wizards who select a bonded object begin play with one at no cost. Objects that are the subject of an arcane bond must fall into one of the following categories: amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon. These objects are always masterwork quality. Weapons acquired at 1st level are not made of any special material. If the object is an amulet or ring, it must be worn to have effect, while staves, wands, and weapons must be held in one hand. If a wizard attempts to cast a spell without his bonded object worn or in hand, he must make a concentration check or lose the spell. The DC for this check is equal to 20 + the spell's level. If the object is a ring or amulet, it occupies the ring or neck slot accordingly.
A bonded object can be used once per day to cast any one spell that the wizard has in his spellbook and is capable of casting, even if the spell is not prepared. This spell is treated like any other spell cast by the wizard, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the wizard's level. This spell cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities. The bonded object cannot be used to cast spells from the wizard's opposition schools (see arcane school below).
A wizard can add additional magic abilities to his bonded object as if he has the required Item Creation Feats and if he meets the level prerequisites of the feat. For example, a wizard with a bonded dagger must be at least 5th level to add magic abilities to the dagger (see Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat). If the bonded object is a wand, it loses its wand abilities when its last charge is consumed, but it is not destroyed and it retains all of its bonded object properties and can be used to craft a new wand. The magic properties of a bonded object, including any magic abilities added to the object, only function for the wizard who owns it. If a bonded object's owner dies, or the item is replaced, the object reverts to being an ordinary masterwork item of the appropriate type.
If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the wizard prepares his spells. If the object of an arcane bond is lost or destroyed, it can be replaced after 1 week in a special ritual that costs 200gp per wizard level plus the cost of the masterwork item. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete. Items replaced in this way do not possess any of the additional enchantments of the previous bonded item. A wizard can designate an existing magic item as his bonded item. This functions in the same way as replacing a lost or destroyed item except that the new magic item retains its abilities while gaining the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a bonded item.

Reclamation Mechanisms often have a Headband of Mental Prowess +6 for Charisma and Intelligence which they create.

Arcane School
(Uses its HD – 2 as its wizard level to determine the effect and DC [minimum 1].)
A wizard can choose to specialize in one school of magic, gaining additional spells and powers based on that school. This choice must be made at 1st level, and once made, it cannot be changed. A wizard that does not select a school receives the universalist school instead.
A wizard that chooses to specialize in one school of magic must select two other schools as his opposition schools, representing knowledge sacrificed in one area of arcane lore to gain mastery in another. A wizard who prepares spells from his opposition schools must use two spell slots of that level to prepare the spell. For example, a wizard with evocation as an opposition school must expend two of his available 3rd-level spell slots to prepare a fireball. In addition, a specialist takes a –4 penalty on any skill checks made when crafting a magic item that has a spell from one of his opposition schools as a prerequisite. A universalist wizard can prepare spells from any school without restriction.
Each arcane school gives the wizard a number of school powers. In addition, specialist wizards receive an additional spell slot of each spell level he can cast, from 1st on up. Each day, a wizard can prepare a spell from his specialty school in that slot. This spell must be in the wizard's spellbook. A wizard can select a spell modified by a metamagic feat to prepare in his school slot, but it uses up a higher-level spell slot. Wizards with the universalist school do not receive a school slot.
Universal Arcane School
Wizards who do not specialize (known as as universalists) have the most diversity of all arcane spellcasters.
Hand of the Apprentice (Su)
Replaced by Arcane Crafter, Metacharge.
Arcane Crafter
An Arcane crafter is one of the builders of the arcane world, assembling magic items with facility, skill, and power. He is intimately familiar with the craft and practice of imbuing items with arcane power, and works with precision even early in his career to help create some of the most powerful magic items.
Associated School: Universalist.
Replacement Power: The following school power replaces the hand of the apprentice power of the universalist school.
Metacharge (Ex)
As an Arcane crafter, you gain a bonus feat at 3rd level, which must be an item creation feat or metamagic feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. When using metamagic feats to create magic items, your skill and understanding of the principles involved in the item’s creation give you a +2 bonus on the skill check made to create the item.
Metamagic Mastery (Su)
At 8th level, you can apply any one metamagic feat that you know to a spell you are about to cast. This does not alter the level of the spell or the casting time. You can use this ability once per day at 8th level and one additional time per day for every two wizard levels you possess beyond 8th. Any time you use this ability to apply a metamagic feat that increases the spell level by more than 1, you must use an additional daily usage for each level above 1 that the feat adds to the spell. Even though this ability does not modify the spell's actual level, you cannot use this ability to cast a spell whose modified spell level would be above the level of the highest-level spell that you are capable of casting.

Change Size (Su) Reclamation Mechanism can change its size to Huge (+8 Str, -2 Dex, +3 Natural Armor, -1 AC and Attacks, +1 CMB and CMD), Large, or Medium (-8 Str, Dex +2, -2 Natural Armor, +1 AC and Attacks, -1 CMB and CMD) as a standard action, as if using enlarge person or reduce person. This change lasts until it changes size again or is killed.

Combined Arms (Ex) When taking a full-attack action, a Reclamation Mechanism can attack with its claws and its integrated laser rifle simultaneously. It does not provoke attacks of opportunity with its integrated laser rifle when using combined arms.

Create Soldiers (Ex) Once per day, Reclamation Mechanism can create up to four clockwork soldiers (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 57). These soldiers serve it for 1 hour, after which they break down into their component parts.

Double Damage Against Objects (Ex) If Reclamation Mechanism makes a full attack against an object or structure, it deals double damage.

Efficient Grappler (Ex) A Reclamation Mechanism takes only a –10 penalty on its combat maneuver check to make and maintain a grapple on a foe when using only its claw rather than its whole body to grapple. It receives a +8 bonus on combat maneuver checks to start and maintain a grapple rather than the normal +4 bonus granted by the grab ability. A Reclamation Mechanism can make an attack with its integrated laser rifle against one creature it is grappling as a swift action—when it attacks in this way, the robot has a threat range of 18–20 for critical hits with the laser rifle.

Emissary (Ex) Heralds can always be summoned by the faithful using greater planar ally or gate, regardless of limitations of that spell, even if it’s not an outsider.

Integrated Masterwork Tools (Ex) Reclamation Mechanism can extend additional limbs from its body that end in masterwork tools suitable for any Craft skill it has ranks in.

Item Creation (Ex) Reclamation Mechanisms are known for their startling creativity in repairing damaged technology. A Reclamation Mechanism ignores all of the item creation feat requirements for creating a technological item, but must have access to a sufficient amount of scrap metal and spare parts in order to create or repair an item (the robot must still expend materials equal to the item’s cost).

A Reclamation Mechanism can attempt a Knowledge (engineering) check to restore a timeworn technological item to full functionality—the DC of this check is equal to the item’s Craft DC +5, and requires an expenditure of technological components worth a total amount of money equal to the timeworn item’s cost (half the cost of the object in its pristine condition). Failure results in the destruction of the item. When a Reclamation Mechanism restores a technological item to full functionality in this manner, if the robot exceeds its DC by a result of 10 or more, it improves the item in some way—choose one of the following improvements or determine one randomly.
• The item’s capacity permanently increases by 50%.
• If the item is a weapon or armor, it becomes masterwork.
• The item becomes hardened (increase its hardness by 2).
• The item becomes fortified (increase its hit points by 50%).
• The item becomes lightweight (weight is divided in half).


Force Field (Ex) A Reclamation Mechanism is sheathed in a thin layer of shimmering energy that grants it 50 bonus hit points. All damage dealt to a Reclamation Mechanism with an active force field is deducted from these hit points first. As long as the force field is active, the Reclamation Mechanism is immune to critical hits. A Reclamation Mechanism’s force field has fast healing 10, but once these hit points are reduced to 0, the force field shuts down and does not reactivate for 24 hours.

Integrated Laser Rifle (Ex) A Reclamation Mechanism has a built-in laser rifle in its chest. This weapon has a range of 150 feet and deals 2d6 points of fire damage on a hit. The weapon can fire once per round as a ranged touch attack. A laser attack can pass through force fields and force effects, such as a wall of force, to strike a foe beyond without damaging that field. Objects like glass or other transparent barriers don’t provide cover from lasers, but unlike force barriers, a transparent physical barrier still takes damage when a laser passes through it. Invisible creatures and objects are immune to damage from lasers. Fog, smoke, and other clouds provide cover in addition to concealment from laser attacks. Darkness (magical or otherwise) has no effect on lasers other than providing concealment.

Lyre of Building (Su) Reclamation Mechanism has all of the abilities of a lyre of building (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 522), with the same limitations as that item.

Master of Crafting (Ex) Reclamation Mechanism can spend 10 minutes reconfiguring itself to allocate its 19 ranks in the Craft skill to any specific Craft skills in any combination. For example, it can allocate 9 ranks in Craft (armor) and 9 ranks in Craft (clockwork). All Craft skills are class skills for Reclamation Mechanism.

Scaling (Ex) Reclamation Mechanisms are expected to work at great heights or while clinging to immense ships. They gain a +4 racial bonus on Climb checks. Once every 1d4 rounds, a Reclamation Mechanism can increase its climb speed to 40 feet as a swift action for 1 round.

Vulnerable to Critical Hits (Ex) Like all robots, Reclamation Mechanisms are vulnerable to critical hits. In addition, when a critical hit is confirmed against a Reclamation Mechanism, roll a d8. On a roll of 1, instead of suffering additional damage from the critical hit, the robot suffers damage to essential processing units and memory modules that it cannot itself repair (although another Reclamation Mechanism could repair this damage). While such damage is not readily apparent on the exterior—and the robot itself is essentially unaware of it—this kind of injury can have a number of different effects. When such an injury occurs, roll d% and consult the following chart to determine the nature of the damage.
d% Result
01–20 The robot takes a –4 penalty on all skill checks.
21–30 The robot’s integrated laser rifle now glitches each time it is fired as if it were timewornTG.
31–40 The robot loses its scaling ability (including its bonus on Climb checks).
41–60 When it attempts to repair damage to a robot via salvage, it only repairs 1d4 points of damage.
61–70 Movement is reduced by 10 feet.
71–95 One of the robot’s claw attacks becomes nonfunctional.
96–100 The robot goes berserk, functioning as if under the simultaneous effects of a confusion spell and a rage spell.

Wizard Spells wizard creatures can cast a small number of wizard spells (see Table: Cleric, Druid, and Wizard Spell Slots) using its HD as its CL.
Table: Cleric, Druid, and Wizard Spells Slots
HD 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1–3 2 1 — — — — — — — —
4–6 2 2 1 — — — — — — —
7–9 ‡ 2 2 1 — — — — — —
10–12 ‡ ‡ 2 2 1 — — — — —
13–15 ‡ ‡ ‡ 2 2 1 — — — —
16–18 ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ 2 2 1 — — —
19–21 ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ 2 2 1 — —
22–24 ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ 2 2 1 —
25+ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ 2 2 1

Spellcasting: Simple class templates that grant the ability to cast spells as a member of the class on which the template is based only grant spells for the three highest spell levels the creature has access to. If the creature casts all of the spells of its higher levels, you can keep the combat challenging by adding lower-level spells—denoted by a double dagger (‡)—but no more than two for any given spell level.



Reclamation Mechanisms, or “reclamechanators,” are masters of salvage and construction. These robots were originally designed to build structures and repair all manner of technology with speed and precision. Construction of these robots was difficult and time consuming, but they often repaid those spent resources swiftly with their ability to rebuild and repair other robots or technological items. Their truly remarkable programing surprised even those who originally developed them, as these machines can salvage items thought to be far beyond hope of repair.

Over time it’s not uncommon for a Reclamation Mechanism to develop a unique personality akin to that of an artist, with something that almost approaches pride in its work. On some occasions, Reclamation Mechanisms have even been known to make improvements to items and constructs that they repair.

Though a Reclamation Mechanism is generally quite adept at repairing damage to itself as well, injury to certain processors and memory modules deep within the robot can cause significant problems. Some of the resulting malfunctions can be quite noticeable (see the table above), while others are subtler, such as a tendency to add baroque and unnecessary embellishments to constructions and repairs. Reclamation Mechanisms with this type of damage are largely unaware of their condition and actively resist efforts to repair them, requiring intervention with a robojack or the like. There are even recorded incidents of damaged reclamechanators going rogue and setting off on their own to build whatever outlandish structures their flawed processors dictate. Though they were originally designed to create things for humanoids, such rogue robots typically design structures and devices of no apparent use to organic beings... which isn’t to say that these creations don’t have a place in some unknowable automaton agenda.

The Reclamation Mechanism is a defender of constructs and crafters, a living siege engine who prefers the solitude of research and invention to the distractions of battle. Given a massive insectile form to allow it to perform all of its necessary functions, Reclamation Mechanism’s only humanlike feature is the androgynous face built into the top of its insectile head. Able to tear open castle gates, create iron walls, scoop up enemies and crush them in its body, reshape the very earth it stands on, and form complex objects out of raw materials or thin air, Reclamation Mechanism is a versatile engine of creation and destruction guided by a mechanical conscience that values constructs as much as it does intelligent living creatures.

The herald sees itself as a protective parent of all constructs, especially intelligent ones, and never uses its powers to destroy artificial beings unless it has no other choice; it prefers to neutralize or sideline these opponents until it has the opportunity to reprogram or repurpose them. Much as a true champion of freedom loathes charm spells for temporarily enslaving a person’s free will, Reclamation Mechanism believes spells such as control construct are a violation of a sentient construct’s free will, and only uses them as a last resort to peacefully end a threat. When confronted by a dangerous construct in an enemy’s service, Reclamation Mechanism has been known to render the construct helpless and flee with it, returning to deal with the construct’s master at a later time. The herald is a legend among intelligent constructs, and many come to Brigh’s faith after witnessing or experiencing its generosity and leniency.

The herald doesn’t speak in battle, as it prefers to fool its opponents into mistaking it for a mindless clockwork foe. Outside of combat, it’s curious about its allies’ inventions and crafting projects, and it can provide many insights into how the ally might overcome various obstacles to achieve greater successes (although it sometimes needs a few minutes to update its mind with knowledge suitable for the conversation). It can speak equally well out of its termite or humanoid mouth, and sometimes uses both in the same conversation, adding deep emphasis to certain words with its inhuman vocal apparatus. Both voices have a metallic, echoing twang.

The herald’s proper name is Reclamation Mechanism, although it answers to either part of its name individually, or even if its name is used as a title (“the Reclamation Mechanism”). Its programming allows it to recognize flattery, insults, and threats, although it doesn’t really understand the motivations for such things. The easiest way to anger it is to treat it like an unfeeling, unthinking machine or suggest that it could be parceled into useful parts (in the same way that a dragon would object to a casual discussion of how its hide could be made into armor).
Ecology
The Reclamation Mechanism is a created being that has no need to eat or drink. Though it has a need for occasional maintenance to prevent its delicate mechanical parts from seizing up or breaking down, it’s effectively immortal. It has no need to reproduce, but it treats all constructs it builds (even the temporary ones) as beloved pets, and is saddened if they are damaged, destroyed, or otherwise compromised. It feels kinship toward mortals who create constructs, so long as those creators are respectful toward their inventions.

The herald has no particular attachment to any mortal race or country, although it has spent more time among humans and the people of Alkenstar than any other kind or place. It holds neither aversion nor affinity to undead creatures—it considers reusing dead body parts to create new entities essentially similar to reusing metal or wood from a destroyed construct to repair or build another.

Because it became self-aware only when a disciple of Brigh built it out of inanimate parts, it has no fear of death—for it, death is the same as the state of non-consciousness it existed in before its activation. If it was destroyed, but Brigh needed its abilities once more, the goddess would recreate and reawaken it; from the herald’s perspective, this wouldn’t even be an interruption of its consciousness.

The Reclamation Mechanism has a fondness for small clockwork objects and wind-up toys, such as rolling carts, hopping animals, and music boxes. It collects these treasures much the way noble’s child might collect elaborate dolls. A priest who offers such a thing as part of a payment when the herald is called is likely to gain the herald’s support, especially if the device features a clever mechanism, such as a dragon toy that utilizes a smokestick to create a miniature breath weapon, or a mechanical spider that utilizes a tanglefoot bag to catch bugs with tiny bursts of sticky webbing.

Habitat & Society
The herald spends most of its time on Axis mixing with Brigh’s other servitors and pursuing its own research projects. It enjoys the company of axiomites and inevitables, respecting their non-biological anatomies and ever curious about their devotion to law. It sometimes directly intervenes in the mortal world by soothing a rampaging construct that might accidentally kill a genius inventor, but otherwise limits its interactions to those commanded by Brigh.

Among the servitors of Brigh, the Reclamation Mechanism is admired for its crafting skills and devotion to all artificial creatures. Some servitors who become melancholy and long to become true flesh beings seek counsel from the herald, hoping to gain a better appreciation of their mechanical bodies and the uniqueness of their souls.

Construction: Price: 128,000gp; Create: 64,000gp; Body: 12,800gp; CL 17, Highest CL requirement: CL17 gate, Spellcraft DC: 42 (or 112 if spell list included)
Prerequisite spells: confusion, dimension door, enlarge person, fireball, make whole, move earth, rage, rapid repair, soothe construct, control construct, fabricate, gate, greater planar ally, haste, lightning bolt, major creation, reduce person, slow, unbreakable construct, wall of iron

Spoiler: Notes

Show

Notes:
As soon as there are four of these they can start making more of themselves without fail. And with five of them they can increase the DC by 5 to make more of themselves faster without fail.
(With spell list included, at Spellcraft DC 112: 24 of them just to make one; or for making faster at +5 DC: 25)

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Can use Fabricate SLA at CL16 3xday. This means it can make so much of a constructs body each day. Cost of the body divided by the number of days a given body takes to Fabricate equals the cost per day to construct that body this way.
Construct bodies can be squeezed into a smaller volume based on its size. So a large creature can be squeezed twice down into a small creature’s space.

Bodies per day CL16 version
Fine - Diminutive 384
Small 48
Medium 3.072
Large - Huge 0.384
Gargantuan 0.048
Colossal 0.01414

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The Create Soldiers ability creates four Clockwork Soldiers (CR 6) per day which break down into their component parts at the end of the day. Clockwork and robot corpses can be sold for half the price of building the body for that particular construct. That price is based on its CR; Price times 0.1 (for a body that costs 10% base price). The price of the body of a CR 6 Clockwork Soldier is 6*6*500*0.1 divided by 2 = 900 *4 bodies = 3,600gp per day. (Though much of the above is houseruled into our game it is also taken straight from the Building and Modifying Constructs page in the PRD.)
This is a lot of additional funds. Also it is a lot of additional clockwork parts that this creature can easily Fabricate into other types of Construct bodies or other crafting materials.
Just turning these bodies into profit and using that profit to make permanent Clockwork Soldiers nets quite the little army over time.
(Note: It could be strongly argued that the component parts and a completed body are not worth the same amount. Compare to the cost of buying the parts to build a sword or shield before enchanting it and the cost of buying a sword or shield outright before enchanting it.)

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Maximizing Aid Another and Cooperative Crafting 26 of these things can surround a project on all sides (probably by suspending it via scaffolding or by reverse gravity spell or something) and work together to craft an item or construct at 54x normal speed. Meaning the normal 1,000gp per day rate becomes 54,000gp per day.
Mind too that they can Take 10 and that they will not fail their Aid Another checks all of which is added to the flat +2 for each of them that has the Cooperative Crafting feat.
IIRC they craft together at 32+(2*25)+(2*26)= Spellcraft +134 to craft Magic Items and Constructs. Whew!

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In other news the Mi-Go has perfect HD for Simple Wizard Creature templatification. It has just enough HD to snag the Craft Construct bonus feat for being a Universalist: Arcane Crafter wizard. Very cool.
Now I've just got to figure out what to combine it with that is a Construct, can be controlled, and has more HD than a Mi-Go... Clockwork Lusca maybe to up the creep factor...? I dunno. Is sleep time for me for now.

Edit: (and yeah I'm supposed to be sleeping) We decided that at our table the Latten Mechanism isn ot a singular creature but a multitude. Like many clockwork ants acting as cogs in a great device designed by their divine creator.
For our purposes anyone can make the things if they can get past all those prerequisite spells (any spell mentioned in a statblock is a prerequisite spell at our table) they just don't control it as it is a free-willed construct purely dedicated to Brigh.
For the Amalgam template as long as the creature with the highest HD is a controllabe creature so too is the resultant Amalgam. Thus the Miniature applied to the Latten Mechanism before Amalgamization.

[unseenmage]

We finally added up the gp the party gets for claiming and selling off the contents of the mighty spaceship and it is a lot. Like too much a lot.
Luckily our DM has brains of steel and has decided to scale challenges appropriate to our capabilities. Me and my constructs are bringing down the curve.

In other news a fellow player pointed out that the Amalgam template has language that allows for an Int of "--" when either of the component creatures has Int "--". Which means my Tattoo Guardian creations can all be mindless and controlled without HD modifying shenanigans. Which is nice.
To that end I present the...

Spoiler: Chthonic Lusca Amalgam Tattoo Guardian

Show

Chthonic Lusca Amalgam Tattoo Guardian
This behemoth has three huge, snapping sharklike heads on short, scaly necks, while its lower body appears to be that of a gigantic octopus with eight muscular tentacles.
Chthonic creatures are native denizens of the Elemental Planes of Earth; they produce acid, which they use to help them burrow quickly through the dense rock of their homes.
This beautiful, impossibly intricate tattoo appears to swirl and move along its wearer’s skin.
Chthonic Lusca Amalgam Tattoo Guardian CR 21
Source Isles of the Shackles pg. 53, Monster Summoner’s Handbook pg. 19, Occult Bestiary pg. 54
XP 153,600
CN Gargantuan construct (aquatic, earth)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +3
Defense
AC 25, touch 7, flat-footed 24 (+1 Dex, +18 natural, –4 size)
hp 170 (20d10+60)
Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +9
Defensive Abilities DR 5/—, fluid form, hypervigilant, resist acid 20, worn form; Immune construct traits, electricity
Offense
Speed 30 ft., burrow 100 ft., swim 40 ft., jet 200 ft., fly 10 ft.
Melee 3 bites +28 (2d8+12 +2d6 acid), 8 tentacles +23 (1d8+6 +2d6 acid plus grab), or 2 ink blades +23 (3d6+6 +2d6 acid)
Space 20 ft., Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (1d8+6 plus poisonous suckers), rend ship
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +20)
3/day—chain lightning (DC 18), geyser* (DC 17)
1/day—summon (level 8, 1d3 dire sharks 50%), vortex* (DC 19)
* See the Advanced Player’s Guide
Statistics
Str 35 (+12), Dex 12 (+1), Con – (--), Int – (--), Wis 16 (+3), Cha 15 (+2)
Base Atk +20; CMB +36 (+40 grapple); CMD 47
Feats Improved Initiative^B
Skills (no skill ranks) Perception +3, Fly -5 (-6 size), Stealth -11 (-12 size), Swim +20 (+8 racial)
Languages --
SQ bodyguard, tenacious grapple
Ecology
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Bodyguard (Su) Whenever the tattoo guardian’s wearer takes damage, half of the damage is transferred to the guardian (as shield other). Additionally, the tattoo guardian gains a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls against any creatures that damaged its wearer in the previous round.

Fluid Form (Su) A tattoo guardian does not provoke attacks of opportunity because of movement. It is immune to critical hits and sneak attacks, and it cannot be knocked prone or grappled.

Hypervigilant (Su) A tattoo guardian gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Reflex saves, and it always acts on the surprise round.

Poisonous Suckers (Ex) A creature constricted by a lusca’s tentacles is exposed to its deadly venom.
Lusca Venom: Constrict—injury; save Fort DC 20; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Rend Ship (Ex) As a full-round action, a lusca can attempt to use four of its tentacles to grapple a ship of its size or smaller by making a combat maneuver check opposed by the ship’s captain’s Profession (sailor) check; the lusca receives a cumulative +4 bonus on the check for each size category smaller than Gargantuan the ship is. If the lusca grapples the ship, it holds the ship motionless; it can attack targets anywhere on or within the ship with its tentacles, but can’t attack foes at all with its shark heads. Each round it maintains its hold on the ship, it automatically deals bite damage to the ship’s hull.

Tenacious Grapple (Ex) A lusca does not gain the grappled condition if it grapples a foe with its tentacles.

Luscas are among the most feared predators in the open ocean, their snapping shark heads and writhing tentacles spelling the end for many crews. A lusca’s presence can first be felt in the air, as its body naturally conducts electricity, and sailors who have encountered the being claim that thunderclouds seem to roll in alongside the creature. Ravenous and unpredictable, a lusca claims wide swaths of territory in order to maximize the number of ships it can sink and crews it can feast upon. While luscas prefer to make quick meals of the sailors onboard a ship, they will eat just about any aquatic creature, and even giant octopuses and whales know to steer clear of a hungry lusca.
Its tunnels always collapse behind it, and never leave behind a usable passage.
The average lusca is 90 feet from tentacle to snout and weighs 3,800 pounds.

Many cultures across Golarion employ tattoos as symbols of protection, but to those fortunate enough to be wearers of tattoo guardian, the protection is far more than symbolic. Fiercely loyal and protective of its ward, a tattoo guardian leaves its wearer’s skin to fight any who would harm her. Tattoo guardians are common in the courts of Tian Xia, where wealthy courtiers pay kings’ ransoms for protection against assassins hired by their rivals, and in Varisia, where the arts of tattooing and magic have long intertwined. Certain Garundi arcane universities are known to provide senior students of summoning and other dangerous fields of magic with vigilant tattoos to protect them from accidental harm. Temples of virtuous deities might also ink guardians upon the skins of high-level clergy such as healers or prophets who are not skilled in battle magic. Such tattoo guardians often use the iconography of the religion for their forms: a revered Sarenite healer might be adorned with a fiery phoenix that flares into life if she is threatened, while a Caydenite cleric especially skilled in brewing libations might bear a cayhound across his shoulders.

The ink used in the construction of a tattoo guardian is amorphous, able to change shape and harden to become as sharp and solid as steel. Should its wearer be threatened, the guardian withdraws its ink from the wearer’s flesh and hardens it into a thin blade, then rises from the wearer’s skin to interpose itself between her and her attackers. Even though a tattoo guardian can completely separate itself from its wearer, it rarely strays far from her, even in the midst of battle.

The guardian and its wearer share a magical bond; should it fail in its duty, a tattoo guardian typically self-destructs, the once-sentient ink melding with its former master’s blood. In rare cases, the guardian might gain some fragment of its dying master’s sentience and go out into the world instead. Sadly, most of these creatures are driven completely insane by the process, and are unable to pursue goals more complicated than revenge against their masters’ killers.

Construction
A chthonic lusca amalgam tattoo guardian must be inked by a skilled artist, with rare inks worth 22,050 gp derived from one of several esoteric formulae.
CL 13th; Price 220,500 gp
Requirements Craft Construct, animate objects, fly, geas/quest, parchment swarm^OA, shield other, creator must be caster level 9th; Skill Craft (calligraphy) or Craft (tattoo) DC 18; Cost 110,250 gp

Create by CR
Purchase Price: 220,500gp
Crafting Cost: 110,250gp
Cost to Create Body: 22,050gp
Spells: chain lightning, geyser, summon nature’s ally VII, vortex
Highest CL Requirement: vortex, min CL 13
Caster Level: CL 13
Skills: Spellcraft DC 43

A burrowing earth element, 3 headed shark-squid, tattoo golem monster thing.
It doesn't lose its SLAs but now has no mind to dictate when it would use them. Meaning it has to be commanded to.
It's number of natural attacks and its damage output would put it at a higher CR than the templates say but its lack of a mind and lack of any ability to overcome DR or magical defenses brings it's CR back down IMHO.

[Coidzor]

Definitely some pretty neat stuff.

[unseenmage]

Definitely some pretty neat stuff.

I thank you for the compliment!


And here it is folks, FINALLY! Some clockwork spacewhales have arrived in the thread. Technically more clockwork 3-headed shark-squid than spacewhale they are still very cool and include plenty of spacewhale goodness.
A fellow player, iceifur, was kind enough to assist me in compiling these beauties and the mythic version was all his idea. Terrorize your players with them at your peril.

The only truly custom part of both builds is the Undersized Natural Weapons turns out there was enough Lusca in the thing that upping the damage for its natural attacks for its new size would have shot its CR off the charts. While leaving the damage of a smaller creature in place kept its CR about right.
So we 'brewed up a special quality to reign it in. It's still more than strong enough to rend spaceships and rock the squamous socks off some Dominion of Black ships.

Without further ado I present to you the Luscoma and the Mythic Luscoma; combinations of a Clockwork Lusca and the Oma. (Alternatively making the Oma the clockwork side would have resulted in retaining the Lusca SLAs and could have still been mindless optionally and it would have gained either an evil or chaotic alignment element.)

Spoiler: Luscoma and Mythic Luscoma

Show

Luscoma
This whale-like creature floats ponderously, arcs of brilliant energy filling its mouth and rolling down its body.
This behemoth has three huge, snapping sharklike heads on short, scaly necks, while its lower body appears to be that of a gigantic octopus with eight muscular tentacles.
Clockworks are constructs crafted when a spellcaster binds an elemental spirit into a container and transfers it to a finely constructed body or shell composed of iron, steel, bronze, or some other metal.
Clockwork Lusca Amalgam Oma CR 21
Source Bestiary 4 pg. 209 (Amazon), Distant Worlds pg. 62 (Amazon), Isles of the Shackles pg. 53 (Amazon), Tome of Horrors Complete
XP 409,600
N Colossal Construct
Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +23
Defense
AC 34, touch 2, flat-footed 23 (–1 Dex, +2 dodge, +31 natural, –8 size)
hp 190 (20d10+80)
Fort 6+0, Ref 6+1, Will 6+0
DR 10/adamantine; Immune cold, fire, poison
Offense
Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft., jet 200 ft., fly 200 ft. (average)
Melee 3 bites +33 (2d8+18 plus 2d6 electricity and grab), 8 tentacles +21 (1d8+18 plus grab), tail slap +18 (2d8+10)
Space 30 ft., Reach 30 ft.
Special Attacks capsize, constrict (1d8+18 plus poisonous suckers), rend ship, swallow whole (6d6 acid damage)
Statistics
Str 47 (+18), Dex 9 (-1), Con -- (--), Int – (--), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 3 (-4)
Base Atk +20; CMB +46 (+2 bull rush, +4 grapple); CMD 55 (+2 vs. bull rush, can’t be tripped)
Feats Improved InitiativeB, Lightning ReflexesB
Skills Fly –9, Perception +23, Stealth +10, Swim +18
Languages understands Common
SQ carrier, no breath, starflight, tenacious grapple
Ecology
Environment gas giants or vacuum or warm oceans
Organization solitary, pair, or pod (3–6)
Treasure double
Special Abilities
Capsize (Ex) A luscoma can attempt to capsize a ship or other vehicle by ramming it as a charge attack and attempting a combat maneuver check. The DC of this check is 25, or the result of the captain’s Profession (sailor) check, whichever is higher. For each size category the ship is larger than the luscoma, the luscoma takes a cumulative –10 penalty on this combat maneuver check.

Carrier (Ex) A creature swallowed whole by a luscoma can forgo attempts to cut itself out and instead attempt a DC 20 Reflex save on its turn. Success allows the creature to move into the creature’s larger second stomach, where it can ride safely for an indefinite period without taking damage. When a passenger wishes to leave, it can cut its way free using the normal rules, or attempt an additional DC 20 Reflex save to be safely excreted in a square adjacent to the luscoma. A luscoma’s carrier stomach can hold up to one Gargantuan creature (or twice as many creatures of the next smallest size: two Huge creatures, four Large, and so on). At its option, a luscoma can choose to forgo the normal bite damage of swallowing whole, but not the acid damage of the first stomach.

Difficult to Create (Ex) The time and gp cost required to create a clockwork is 150% of normal. Construction requirements in individual clockwork monster entries are already increased.

Poisonous Suckers (Ex) A creature constricted by a luscoma’s tentacles is exposed to its deadly venom.
Luscoma Venom: Constrict—injury; save Fort DC 28; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Rend Ship (Ex) As a full-round action, a luscoma can attempt to use four of its tentacles to grapple a ship of its size or smaller by making a combat maneuver check opposed by the ship’s captain’s Profession (sailor) check; the luscoma receives a cumulative +4 bonus on the check for each size category smaller than Gargantuan the ship is. If the luscoma grapples the ship, it holds the ship motionless; it can attack targets anywhere on or within the ship with its tentacles, but can’t attack foes at all with its shark heads. Each round it maintains its hold on the ship, it automatically deals bite damage to the ship’s hull.

Starflight (Ex) A luscoma can survive in the void of outer space, and soars through vacuum at incredible speed. Although exact travel times vary, a trip between two planets within a solar system should take 3d20 days, while one to another system should take 3d20 weeks (or more, at the GM’s discretion), provided the luscoma knows the way to its destination.

Swift Reactions (Ex) Clockwork constructs generally react much more swiftly than other constructs. They gain Improved Initiative and Lightning Reflexes as bonus feats, and gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC.

Tenacious Grapple (Ex) A luscoma does not gain the grappled condition if it grapples a foe with its tentacles.

Undersized Natural Weapons (Ex) The creature’s natural weapons deal damage as if it were one size category smaller than the creature’s actual size.

Winding (Ex) Clockwork constructs must be wound with special keys in order to function. As a general rule, a fully wound clockwork can remain active for 1 day per Hit Die, but shorter or longer durations are possible.

Luscoma soar through gas giants and the vast gulfs between planets on magical electromagnetic fields, feeding on cosmic materials strained from planetary rings and atmospheres with their energy baleen. Anything ingested by a luscoma is eventually sequestered in a surprisingly habitable second stomach before being excreted, and some alien creatures use luscoma as living starships, using telepathy to guide the colossi through the void.

Luscoma are among the most feared predators in open space, their snapping shark heads and writhing tentacles spelling the end for many crews. A luscoma’s presence can first be felt, as its body naturally conducts electricity, and crewmen who have encountered the being claim that static particle clouds seem to roll in alongside the creature. Ravenous and unpredictable, a luscoma claims wide swaths of territory in order to maximize the number of spaceships it can sink and crews it can feast upon. While luscoma prefer to make quick meals of the crewmen onboard a ship, they will eat just about any spacefaring creature, and even eldritch octopuses and space whales know to steer clear of a hungry luscoma.

Clockwork luscoma have no mind of their own and follow any commands and orders given by their creator. If their creator dies or is slain, the Clockwork luscoma continues to carry out its last given command to the best of its ability. If it cannot carry out its last order, it either becomes free–willed or simply ceases to function (50% chance of either).
A Clockwork luscoma does not speak any languages, but understands Common for the purposes of accepting orders from its creator.

A typical Clockwork luscoma is 150 feet long and weighs 250 tons.

 
Luscoma, Mythic
This whale-like creature floats ponderously, arcs of brilliant energy filling its mouth and rolling down its body.
This behemoth has three huge, snapping sharklike heads on short, scaly necks, while its lower body appears to be that of a gigantic octopus with eight muscular tentacles.
Clockworks are constructs crafted when a spellcaster binds an elemental spirit into a container and transfers it to a finely constructed body or shell composed of iron, steel, bronze, or some other metal.
Mythic Clockwork Lusca Amalgam Oma CR 22/MR 3
Source Bestiary 4 pg. 209 (Amazon), Distant Worlds pg. 62 (Amazon), Isles of the Shackles pg. 53 (Amazon), Tome of Horrors Complete, Mythic Adventures
XP 614,400
N Colossal Construct (aquatic, clockwork, mythic)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +23
Defense
AC 38, touch 2, flat-footed 27 (+0 Dex, +2 dodge, +34 natural, –8 size)
hp 220 (20d10+80+30M)
Fort 6+0, Ref 6+2, Will 6+0
DR 10/adamantine and epic; Immune cold, fire, poison
Offense
Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft., jet 200 ft., fly 200 ft. (average)
Melee 3 bites +30 (2d8+18 plus 2d6 electricity and grab), 8 tentacles +28 (1d8+9 plus grab), tail slap +25 (1d8+9)
Space 30 ft., Reach 30 ft.
Special Attacks capsize, constrict (1d8+9 plus poisonous suckers), destroyer, mythic power (3/day surge +1d6), rend ship, swallow whole (6d6 acid damage), uncanny grapple
Statistics
Str 47 (+18), Dex 11 (+0), Con -- (--), Int – (--), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 3 (-4)
Base Atk +20; CMB +46 (+2 bull rush, +4 grapple); CMD 56 (+2 vs. bull rush, can’t be tripped)
Feats Improved Initiative^B, Lightning Reflexes^B, Multiattack^M, Power Attack^M
Skills Fly –8, Perception +23, Stealth +11, Swim +18
Languages understands Common
SQ carrier, compression, no breath, starflight, tenacious grapple, undersized natural weapons
Ecology
Environment warm oceans or gas giants or vacuum
Organization solitary, pair, or pod (3–6)
Treasure double
Special Abilities
Always a Chance^M (Ex) A mythic luscoma doesn’t automatically miss when you roll a 1 on an attack roll.

Capsize (Ex) A luscoma can attempt to capsize a ship or other vehicle by ramming it as a charge attack and attempting a combat maneuver check. The DC of this check is 25, or the result of the captain’s Profession (sailor) check, whichever is higher. For each size category the ship is larger than the luscoma, the luscoma takes a cumulative –10 penalty on this combat maneuver check.

Carrier (Ex) A creature swallowed whole by a luscoma can forgo attempts to cut itself out and instead attempt a DC 20 Reflex save on its turn. Success allows the creature to move into the creature’s larger second stomach, where it can ride safely for an indefinite period without taking damage. When a passenger wishes to leave, it can cut its way free using the normal rules, or attempt an additional DC 20 Reflex save to be safely excreted in a square adjacent to the luscoma. A luscoma’s carrier stomach can hold up to one Gargantuan creature (or twice as many creatures of the next smallest size: two Huge creatures, four Large, and so on). At its option, a luscoma can choose to forgo the normal bite damage of swallowing whole, but not the acid damage of the first stomach.

Compression (Ex) The creature can move through an area as small as one-quarter its space (7-1/2 ft. sq.) without squeezing or one-eighth (3-3/4 ft.sq.) its space when squeezing.

Destroyer^M (Ex) Whenever the mythic luscoma attacks an object, including a held or worn item, it ignores any Hardness the object might possess. This includes spell effects such as wall of force, but not objects that are also creatures, such as animated objects.

Difficult to Create (Ex) The time and gp cost required to create a clockwork is 150% of normal. Construction requirements in individual clockwork monster entries are already increased.

Mythic Power^M (Su) A mythic luscoma can expend 3 uses of mythic power per day. A mythic luscoma can expend a use of mythic power to increase any d20 roll it just made by rolling 1d6 and adding it to the result as an immediate action after the result is revealed.

Poisonous Suckers (Ex) A creature constricted by a luscoma’s tentacles is exposed to its deadly venom.
Luscoma Venom: Constrict—injury; save Fort DC 28; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Rend Ship (Ex) As a full-round action, a luscoma can attempt to use four of its tentacles to grapple a ship of its size or smaller by making a combat maneuver check opposed by the ship’s captain’s Profession (sailor) check; the luscoma receives a cumulative +4 bonus on the check for each size category smaller than Gargantuan the ship is. If the luscoma grapples the ship, it holds the ship motionless; it can attack targets anywhere on or within the ship with its tentacles, but can’t attack foes at all with its shark heads. Each round it maintains its hold on the ship, it automatically deals bite damage to the ship’s hull.

Starflight (Ex) A luscoma can survive in the void of outer space, and soars through vacuum at incredible speed. Although exact travel times vary, a trip between two planets within a solar system should take 3d20 days, while one to another system should take 3d20 weeks (or more, at the GM’s discretion), provided the luscoma knows the way to its destination.

Swift Reactions (Ex) Clockwork constructs generally react much more swiftly than other constructs. They gain Improved Initiative and Lightning Reflexes as bonus feats, and gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC.

Tenacious Grapple (Ex) A luscoma does not gain the grappled condition if it grapples a foe with its tentacles.

Uncanny Grapple^M (Ex) Upon making a successful grapple combat maneuver check against a creature the mythic luscoma is grappling, it can perform one of the following actions: throw, crush, or swing. For a throw, the mythic luscoma can throw the target of its grapple up to 10 feet per tier; if the creature strikes a solid object before reaching this distance, it takes 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet of the remaining throwing distance and lands prone. For a crush, the mythic luscoma deals 1d6 points of non-lethal damage per tier.
For a swing, the mythic luscoma can use the target as a weapon against another creature, treating the grappled creature as a two-handed weapon. If the mythic luscoma succeeds at a melee attack against an opponent adjacent to the target, both that opponent and the grappled creature take 1d8 points of bludgeoning damage from this attack +1-1/2 * its Strength modifier.

Undersized Natural Weapons (Ex) The creature’s natural weapons deal damage as if it were one size category smaller than the creature’s actual size.

Winding (Ex) Clockwork constructs must be wound with special keys in order to function. As a general rule, a fully wound clockwork can remain active for 1 day per Hit Die, but shorter or longer durations are possible.

Luscoma soar through gas giants and the vast gulfs between planets on magical electromagnetic fields, feeding on cosmic materials strained from planetary rings and atmospheres with their energy baleen. Anything ingested by a luscoma is eventually sequestered in a surprisingly habitable second stomach before being excreted, and some alien creatures use luscoma as living starships, using telepathy to guide the colossi through the void.

Luscoma are among the most feared predators in open space, their snapping shark heads and writhing tentacles spelling the end for many crews. A luscoma’s presence can first be felt, as its body naturally conducts electricity, and crewmen who have encountered the being claim that static particle clouds seem to roll in alongside the creature. Ravenous and unpredictable, a luscoma claims wide swaths of territory in order to maximize the number of spaceships it can sink and crews it can feast upon. While luscoma prefer to make quick meals of the crewmen onboard a ship, they will eat just about any spacefaring creature, and even eldritch octopuses and space whales know to steer clear of a hungry luscoma.

Clockwork luscoma have no mind of their own and follow any commands and orders given by their creator. If their creator dies or is slain, the Clockwork luscoma continues to carry out its last given command to the best of its ability. If it cannot carry out its last order, it either becomes free–willed or simply ceases to function (50% chance of either).
A Clockwork luscoma does not speak any languages, but understands Common for the purposes of accepting orders from its creator.

A typical Clockwork luscoma is 150 feet long and weighs 250 tons.

[atemu1234]

Mildly unrelated, but I now want to make an Amalgam of an undead and a construct. Question is, which one.

[Forderz]

You're a monster that needs to be put down before organic life is wiped out by your careless creations.

Carry on.

[unseenmage]

Mildly unrelated, but I now want to make an Amalgam of an undead and a construct. Question is, which one.

Funny story, I just got done promising my IRL DM that I wouldn't do this very thing. Not, that is, unless it was some sort of fall-from-grace kind of situation for my character where they'd been corrupted by the Dominion of Black.

Clockwork Vampires, Tattoo Guardian Shadows, Gargantean Latten Mechanism Liches, and Robot Ghosts were just too delicious a set of options to choose from spring on a poor unsuspecting DM.

You're a monster that needs to be put down before organic life is wiped out by your careless creations.

Carry on.

1. I agree.
2. Who let you in on the plan?
And finally..
3. Oh I intend to.

[unseenmage]

Easter interrupted and I've had to move so my PC is in boxes but we should be playing this weekend and as such new inspirations will likely be hitting this thread.

Stay Tuned!!

Edit:
Q: Is PC 'player character' or 'personal computer'?
A: Yes.

[unseenmage]

So, I'm looking to 'solve' the Dominion of Black issue.
An ambitious desire to be sure.

To this end I'm looking for monsters that can be construct-i-fied that make more of themselves via their enemies.
Basically I want to infect a Dominion ship with a clockwork analogue of a xenomorph and take down the whole lot of them with zombie apocalypse math.

(Oh and I promised my DM I wouldn't use undead so no clockwork-wight-pocalypse for me.)

Creatures that've caught my eye so far:
Aboleth (for its mucus ignoring immunity to disease)
Vargouille
Xill

Lycanthropy would seem too limited as most of the Dominion have been abberations.
Grey Goo are only infectious and replicating optionally in the flavor text.

Is there a mind controlling via spores or larvae creature out there?


In any case this weekend we play in this game. Will be one of the last sessions with these characters as we're just too strong and our DM isnt a fan of high level PF (with good reason).

We've decided to do a round robin wherein each player gets to rerun the campaign in their own style. One of them might even be running it with gurps.
There's even talk of each playthrough being, in reality, one of a multitude of simulations being run by the final boss monster AI's main computer.
We're all just holodeck dust in the simulated wind.


My next character in is going to be a 15 point Race Builder custom job. A half-android, half-robot made possible because nanites. (Backup idea is a Logiad, think tech based fey.)
She's going to be a Sorcerer Magus who makes minor constructs (badly) doesn't craft anything whose name is Error Doesnotcompute. First name from one parent second name from the other. She thinks her name is pretty.

Spoiler: Phaestian aka Half-Robot

Show

Phaestians
Phaestians, also known as Phaestori or Half-Robots, are superficially identical to androids in many ways, and to the uninformed it can be difficult to differentiate the two. Normally, though, Phaestian's robotic heritage is revealed by the glowing light in their eyes and the technological, organ-like mechanisms that riddle their skin. Their bodies, like their parents, are completely artificial, though made of materials that mimic the flexibility, shape, and density of human flesh and bone. Their organs mirror those of humans so well that only by examining the materials and makeup of these systems—which use sheeny oils and polymer alloys rather than blood and marrow—could one guess that their physiology is alien. Upon closer examination one notices that their flesh is dotted with odd hard protrusions akin to bone spurs as well as technological blemishes ranging from integrated circuits to blinking subdermal lights and pulsating cords or hoses. Phaestians are roughly the same size as humans; on average, they are 6 and a half feet tall and weigh 250 pounds.

Born of a fusion between robotic AI and android nanites, Phaestians are a miracle of technological reproduction. Whether born of an android parent, whose nanites generate reproductive faculties just for the event, or constructed be a robot parent, whose artificial intelligence generates unique schematics for the project, all Phaestians share similar traits regardless of a what sort of robot was involved in their parentage. The race calls themselves the Phaestians, but they are often called Phaesti informally or by outsiders. People who really don't like them call them Phaests (prononounced just like feast) to annoy them. Artificial lifeforms who know of them call them simply Half-Robots.

What separates androids from golems and other mindless constructs is that androids are living beings and as such possess souls so too it is for Phaestians. Similarly, Phaestians don't live forever, though barring violence or tragedy their bodies never deteriorate. Rather, a Phaestian's cybernetic mind eventually shuts down and self-restarts after about a century, leaving its body vacant for several weeks as the old soul departs for its final reward in the Great Beyond and a fresh, new soul finds its way into the shell.
Though unlike their android parent with Phaestians there is a fifty percent chance that this process malfunctions and only a dead robotic corpse remains.

Phaestians are defined by their class levels–they do not have racial Hit Dice. All Phaestians have the following racial traits.

Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Phaestians have swift reflexes and are very intelligent, but, are plagued by poor health, and have difficulty relating to others. As a result, Phaestians gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity and Intelligence, but suffer a –2 penalty Constitution, and a -4 penalty to Charisma. (-2 RP)

Type: Phaestians are humanoids with the half-construct and human subtypes. (7 RP)

Spoiler: Half-Construct traits

Show

Half-Construct
A half-construct race is a group of creatures that are artificially enhanced or have parts replaced by constructed mechanisms, be they magical or mechanical.

A half-construct race has the following features:
Half-constructs gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and effects that cause either exhaustion or fatigue.
Half-constructs cannot be raised or resurrected.
Half-constructs do not breathe, eat, or sleep, unless they want to gain some beneficial effect from one of these activities. This means that a half-construct can drink potions to benefit from their effects and can sleep in order to regain spells, but neither of these activities is required for the construct to survive or stay in good health.

Size: Phaestians are Medium creatures, and they have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Base Speed: Phaestians have a base speed of 20 feet. Due to their odd parentage causing their limbs to be ungainly and studded with miscellaneous technological protrusions. (-1 RP)

Languages: Phaestians begin play speaking Common and Androffan. Phaestians with high Intelligence can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages. (1 RP)

Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Bonus Feat: Phaestians have the Technologist feat as a bonus racial feat. (2 RP)

Dual-Minded: Phaestians gain a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws (1 RP)

Emotionless: Phaestians have problems processing emotions properly, and thus take a –4 penalty on Sense Motive checks (Note: this trait is called Logical in the Book of Heroic Races: Advanced Androids.) (-1 RP)

Senses Racial Traits
Exceptional Senses: Phaestians have darkvision and so can see perfectly in the dark to a range of 60 feet and in addition, they possess low-light vision. (3 RP)

Other Racial Traits
Android Alternate Racial Traits
Phaestians count as Androids for the purposes of Alternate Racial Traits and Favored Class Options. (0 RP)

Damage Reduction: Their robotic heritage grants Phaestians a tough exterior. Though not as strong as the metal exteriors of their progenitors, a Phaestians's skin is suffused with a microthin layer of the skymetal glaucite granting them Damage Reduction 2/adamantine. (2 RP)

Improved Cobbled Items: Phaests are masters at crafting things from other things. The category of “improved cobbled item” is a general catchall to describe any piece of equipment that has been repaired or modified by a Phaest. Such items are of an inferior quality—they last for only 24 hours. If crafted at +10 to their craft DC they break after an amount of time equivalent to how long it took to create them.
Improved cobbled items can never be masterwork items. An improved cobbled item is of much lesser quality than a normal item, and thus costs only 25% as much as the normal item, but is often much bulkier. Any cobbled item of 1 pound or more in weight actually weighs twice as much as a normal item of its type. Any item that normally costs more than 50gp per the level of the character crafting it can never be an improved cobbled item, nor can alchemical items be cobbled. At the GM’s discretion, other items may not be able to be improved cobbled items either. (1 RP; or if automatically proficient with improved cobbled items the character has made 2 RP)

Intermittent Force Field: Their robotic parentage has granted Phaestians a lesser version of a robot's force field. One time per day as a spell-like ability that can only affect themselves they can use the spell False Life. (2 RP)
Replaces Nanite Surge.

Nanite Surge: A Phaestians's body is infused with nanites. Once per day as an immediate action, a Phaestians can cause her nanites to surge, granting a bonus equal to 3 + the Phaestians's character level on any one d20 roll; this ability must be activated before the roll is made. When a Phaestians uses this power, her technological blemishes glow with light equivalent to that of a torch in illumination for 1 round (3 RP.)

Vulnerable to Electricity: Phaestians take 150% as much damage as normal from electricity attacks, unless they are immune to electricity via other special defenses. (-2 RP)