Robots in Pathfinder: General Discussion Edition!


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


I wanted to discuss how one Approaches the issue of Robots in their Games, But I realized That there's probably a lot on that topic to go over...

So, without further Fuss, let the first General "Robots in Pathfinder" Thread Begin!

Possible Topics:
-Whether Constructs being non-resurrect-able is a bane to making them player characters.
-Various House Rules on Robots.
-What "Living Construct" would mean in a rules, Logic, and lore sense; if adopted into Pathfinder. (By home-rules or otherwise.)
-Do Robots have the ability to gain souls? (and what would that mean?)
-Can, or should, a robotic body be used as a mundane/Mechanical Version of the "Clone" Spell?
-Is the "Robot" subtype for Constructs Truly sufficient for our longings for Robots in a game?
-What about Robotic Outsiders? Do Inevitables have to be the only ones? Or can a Chaotic deity of Artifice:Constructs make their own version?
-Can "dead" robots go to Heaven? (assuming they were Lawful Good.)
-What happens if a Robot spends too much time on the Positive (or Negative) energy Planes without being destroyed?
-Same as above but with the Rest of the Planes other than the material.

...And that is the tip of the iceberg! I mean it, Go Crazy!


Make sure you're not mixing up robots, golems, and other constructs.

In my homebrew world, I have an azata lord frequently worshipped by gnomes. He's essentially a giant construct made of living plant matter with a huge seed cannon strapped to his back. His domains are Artifice (Construct), Plant (Growth), Chaos (Azata, Whimsy), and Good (Azata). He's a patron of innovation and technology in harmony with nature.

I wouldn't make a whole new outsider subtype of constructs other than the Inevitable, but I see no reason individual gods can't have construct connections and lie anywhere on the alignment spectrum.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

BlueStorm wrote:


-Whether Constructs being non-resurrect-able is a bane to making them player characters.

Depends on the lethality of the campaign and what benefits the constructs get in their place. (Certainly beats elves not being resurrectable...)

Were I to run a campaign with a "living construct" sort of playable race a la Eberron's Warforged, I would probably make a way a destroyed PC construct could be restored. It would not be via raise dead or resurrection but make it some other fashion. Say, the living construct's soul is housed in a near indestructible core (pretty sure that idea is not original, but it works). The body would have to be recrafted or repaired with normal craft construct rules, and then some kind of magic ritual performed (costing say, the same amount as the diamond in a raise dead or resurrection spell) to unite the core with its new body.

If the core were destroyed (disintegrate, etc.) then maybe nothing short of miracle or wish would fix it but I might be okay with that, especially if it would be extremely limited circumstances that would make that happen.

Quote:


-Various House Rules on Robots.

I have clockwork automata in my world that are not magical at all -- they work like, well, clockwork automata. They have to be wound up and crafting the discs that make up their "memory/processor" take an incredibly high Craft skill and costs.

Quote:


-What "Living Construct" would mean in a rules, Logic, and lore sense; if adopted into Pathfinder. (By home-rules or otherwise.)

I'd start with the Advanced Race Guide and go from there.

Quote:


-Do Robots have the ability to gain souls? (and what would that mean?)

I'd say you could pull souls from the afterlife and bind them to a construct.

And then of course you have construct-like Outsiders (which are essentially pure souls and bodies as one entity) from appropriate Lawful Neutral planes.

Where you can go crazy is determining whether sentience reflects souled-ness. Can you have a sentient AI type of creature that is soulless or is having a soul come with being self-aware?

Quote:


-Can, or should, a robotic body be used as a mundane/Mechanical Version of the "Clone" Spell?

I would say no, at least not literally from the original clone spell. While the spell description frustratingly does not specify what creature types can be the target, it requires flesh and thus in my games I'd rule the spell can target living creatures only (constructs, even "living" creatures would not count).

I'd say you could probably research a spell that fabricates/duplicates construct parts which you could then use to create golems and the like fairly quickly using the Craft Construct feat.

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-Is the "Robot" subtype for Constructs Truly sufficient for our longings for Robots in a game?

You would have to specify what a "robot" is, and what makes it different from other constructs, but sure.

I'd probably consider robots/automata to be non-magical, non-souled entities which move and act as creatures. They would be considered constructs for various reasons -- they are constructed creatures with 0 Con, etc. etc. but they would not have magic immunities like golems, etc.

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-What about Robotic Outsiders? Do Inevitables have to be the only ones? Or can a Chaotic deity of Artifice:Constructs make their own version?

Inevitables are the most common IP-free version, but you might want to look up Modrons and their ilk in the Planescape setting. :)

And sure, I see no reason why there can't be construct-like Outsiders of a variety of designs and purposes.

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-Can "dead" robots go to Heaven? (assuming they were Lawful Good.)

Of course there's such a thing as Silicon Heaven! Otherwise, where would all the toasters go?

In seriousness, if it has a soul, it would go to the afterlife (if such a thing exists in your world); otherwise if it's an ordinary golem or automaton, no. If there's no soul, the non-soul doesn't need a place to go.

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-What happens if a Robot spends too much time on the Positive (or Negative) energy Planes without being destroyed?

1. Nothing.

2. Everything.

Great idea for a campaign or character idea right there.

Quote:


-Same as above but with the Rest of the Planes other than the material.

Nothing much, on its own. Although if we're talking a mechanical creature made of metal with no magical defenses, then the Elemental Plane of Fire would melt it down pretty quickly.

Liberty's Edge

I really started to like the warforged after reading some of the novels. Of course the books generally raise more questions than they answer. It was nice if you're a GM who wants to make up your own answers for the campaign.

Personally I'd look at running robots as a limited AI, able to follow limited instructions but not sentient or self-aware. I'd do this by creating a golem-focused artificer and adapting summoner eidolon rules for customizing the physical shapes and druid animal companion rules for tricks and handle animal checks (...handle android and programming).

I'd also look for a way to manufacture / sell / buy robots. I guess low CR semi-effective droids could be purchased like pets or mounts currently, and adapting leadership to allow the purchase of a robot that's more effective. In a really high-tech world I'd like to see archetypes for some of the mount/companion/familiar choices to open some robot construction for thematic ranger companions, cavaliers, etc.

Silver Crusade

DeathQuaker wrote:
Say, the living construct's soul is housed in a near indestructible core (pretty sure that idea is not original, but it works).

I've kind of rolled with the idea of a "black box" for some types of ensouled artificial beings, depending how they were made. As long as the black box was safe, it could be inserted into another body/shell. This also made such beings remarkably modular.

If the black box was ever destroyed though, it would take raise dead at the very least to restore the soul to the box after it had been repaired.

DeathQuaker wrote:
Where you can go crazy is determining whether sentience reflects souled-ness. Can you have a sentient AI type of creature that is soulless or is having a soul come with being self-aware?

Personally, I'd roll with sentience = ensouled, whether it was a natural soul pulled from elsewhere or one that found its way there naturally, or it's an artificial soul born from just the right divine spark of invention and a possible deific push(in the Golarionverse, this would be Brigh) resulting in a new soul just as divine and eternal as a natural one, though it may follow a different birth/death/afterlife cycle than natural souls.

Then again, the way I run the game's cosmology, literally everything has a soul


The first question I would ask YOU is "What is a 'robot'"?

If you mean a "construct", then it would philosophically pose the same question that Daniel in Prometheus did: What is a creation to its creators? What is its place in the world?

Does it have a soul? What is THAT? In the world of Golarion, I suppose mortals would have much more communication with their deities, and said deities would lay down the law concerning the actions and morality of making constructs, and the conduct of said creations. When we start to get THAT serious, we come to realize the shortcomings of a fantasy game like Pathfinder/D&D.

I have been known to bog-down my campaigns with such questions, BUT...it's a sign of maturity when these topics come up, so...learn to put them on the back burner and enjoy "high adventure" gaming. (that's my advice).


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THE IRONY!


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Korean spammer is correct, a construct is really, really easy to resurrect apparently.

In all seriousness, it is difficult to balance living constructs unless they were statistically equivalent to living humanoid PC races. From a mechanics perspective, you don't want a powerful race that is clearly advantaged compared to the PCs.

Philosophically speaking, it is an interesting question. The Inner Sea Android race are constructs with souls, and comparably as fragile as humans. Said androids are made with nanotechnology to mimic humans to a high degree. Would the same be true if the being was crafted to be more machine than human? If such mechanical robots lack a soul, would cyborgs run the risk of losing their soul if too much of their body became mechanical? These questions could go on and on.

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