Classy Characters: Robomancer
This pdf clocks in at 6 pages, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 4 pages – so what is the robomancer?
In short, the robomancer is a summoner archetype that gets a mechrilon, a variant eidolon that obviously can be affected by spells that otherwise would only influence constructs and treats natural attacks as either that or manufactured weapons, whichever is more beneficent. It also takes half damage from rust effects, but otherwise counts as a creature that is alive and as an eidolon for the purpose of spells and effects.
Instead of the summon monster class ability, the robomancer gets an expanded spell-list and eidolons/mechrilons may take a 2-point darkvision evolution.
The mechrilons receive access to a total of 6 exclusive evolutions that include increased base speed, fortification (with increased point costs to scale the benefits up), limited DR (again, with scaling), construct body and mind-apotheosis-style evolutions and a poison gas breath weapon.
The pdf comes with 3 sample kits to base mechrilon base forms on and a sample NPC at level 5 and 10 alongside the respective mechrilon.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no formal or rules-language glitches to speak of. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly 2-column standard with one piece of nice full-color artwork. The pdf comes without bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
Sean K. Reynolds knows what he’s doing and this pdf shows – the robomancer is a nice little archetype and since it predates the Technology Guide, I won’t begrudge it the lack of synergy with said book. The archetype itself is solid – essentially, a summoner with a mechanized eidolon that has more staying power at the cost of summon monster-tricks. There is nothing to be complained about the frame or the execution.
But if I’m honest, I did not enjoy it. Why?
Because in my book, LPJr Design’s Machinesmith and Interjection Games’ Tinker do the pet-class trickery with a mechanical theme better, while personal apotheosis as per Amor Game’s Metamorph or Rite Publishing’s Iron Titan provides a more immediate experience, leaving this archetype without a niche in my games.
It’s solid, especially for the brevity of the pdf, but when compared to the competition, it does not really sport that many unique mechanical tricks (essentially only the gas cloud is truly distinct) and boils down to a summoner with some very minor modifications to the mechanics. If that’s what you’re looking for, go for it – if not, you may want to take a look at the more complex versions. Unless you really want a summoner framework that works with robot-eidolon, I consider the other options cooler – much like many paizo archetypes, this does not feel particularly unique to me. This is not bad, mind you – but neither is it really good or captivating. hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.
You can get this archetype here on OBS!
Endzeitgeist out.
