Third and finally, I recently had a revelation that is going to open up the tinker to be able to mix with classes throughout the rest of Pathfinder. With this addition, which was surprisingly simple when I sat back and thought about it, it finally became possible to create archetypes of all other base classes that had a hand in the tinkering pot.
The secret was grafting. From a tinker who can experiment on his allies to a twisted druid who believes that the sterility of steel is the true balance that nature so needs, the ability to add inventions directly to humanoid characters is a gamechanger that cannot be ignored. What character class out there wouldn't benefit from some fun and unique mix of bionic enhancement and minion?
A monk with a backup metal buddy for double dragon punch action (and shared wholeness of body)!
Wizards dropping their favored school for limited grafting abilities!
A alpha-wizard archetype that mirrors the rogue alpha for people who want to play their tinker after death!
As this simple idea can readily expand to double the size of the tinker, I was thinking... rather than me going out and making another fifteen small addons over the next year or so, shall we make a book of it together?
This is a long-term project, I know, but please let me know if this is something you'd support.
I must admit, I only know your Tinker class from a spectator's point of view, that is - I know you've released it and it's been quite successful as far as I can understand. But I don't know how it works or anything.
I like what you propose above - not so much from a gameplay point of view or a player's point of view, but from a storytelling point of view (as a Game Master). I like the notion that a single, somewhat isolated culture could have developed in this direction. It would make encountering them fairly unique and a memorable experience.
I can easily see PC's defeating a foe with a biomechanic enhancement and then trying to figure out if it is possible (and safe) to use that item as they would any other magic item :-)
Lots of fun possibilities. For that reason alone, I'd be interested in hearing more about this project!
I think this is a great idea. It would be even greater if this proposed material was combined with all the existing tinker material in print! I'd pay cash money for that.
As a slight threadjack, I picked up the Holiday Class bundle, which was a great value btw, and though I've yet to see one of your classes in play (one of my players will play a tinker or a gadgeteer in my next campaign, henceforth dubbed Third Party Mayhem, as everyone will be playing a 3PP class in a 3PP setting)the writing is fun and engaging which is appreciated in crunch heavy documents. Thank you.
That would be the idea, sir. This book will contain everything that has already been published for the tinker. Most of that content will see slight modifications to make things more fun than they already are by being more clear and promoting even more customizability.
The mechromancer and the rogue alpha in particular have a couple issues that should be addressed, while the base class itself needs a good half dozen sidebars addressing various incredibly creative edgecases that the players have found and quizzed me on. (Honestly, using the product's Paizo discussion page as a source of errata is not optimal!)
In addition to the general cleanup and compilation of existing material, I would also like to add the following.
- ART! There have been quite a few people who bemoan the fact that they cannot see what various inventions look like. I'm with you!
- A tinker-style archetype for every class (except maybe barbarian)
- The grafter prestige class
- Automaton and alpha character sheets!
- More feats, innovations, greater innovations, and inventions
- Dramatis personae, or characters whose background is simply full of plot hooks for their use in a campaign. Have you ever wanted to run a game featuring a pirate ship crewed by the automatons of a half dozen tinkers, but really didn't want to sit there and write up over a dozen statblocks? I'll do it, and we might even have art for it!
Now, given I said art and art costs good money because the talent can find good work outside of this industry, it's fairly obvious that I intend to Kickstart this once the product backlog engine is big enough to pay my bills without me adding new product for a month. As I adore the idea of somebody putting down some cash to make their dream character concept a tool for the entire community, (You know who you are and you are awesome!) such a Kickstarter will include a sizable array of options for that sort of individual.
- Turn my idea into a dramatis persona!
- Turn my idea into a prestige class!
- Turn my idea into a selection of inventions or an innovation!
And so on.
Of course, we'll also take a shot at going print with it. Softcover or hardcover, as backers dictate.
Automaton and Alpha character sheets? Artwork of hook handed and peg legged automatons crewing a ship under a flapping jolly roger? Yes please! I will happily contribute to a Kickstarter for this project.