Building automatons to plan

For magic research high experimentation and failure can seem reasonable to most players. But when building machines from established blueprints we tend to think of a linear process that ends in a finished product. Given the mechanist rules mirror the construct rules they have failure and experimentation baked in. What if instead you could also do a more linear and slower build from plan? 

This rule is quite simple: 

A mechanist may choose to build from plan instead of using the normal build rules. To build from plan the mechanist must meet the level requirements for the automaton they wish to build and posess a blueprint. The automaton is completed without a throw after ten times the standard build time in days. The tinkerer proficiency impacts both the level requirement and the build time. The amount spent on previous materials reduce the build time by 5% per 10,000 gp spent. The gold value for experience point gains is divided by ten prior to being divided by months or compared to the XP threshold. The builder may stop work and return to the project at any time, simply picking up where they left off with the remaining days in the build. 

While guaranteeing success this reduces the risk and XP earned, significantly in most cases.

A quick note on builds and XP

The Dwarven mechanist class does not specifically say it does or does not get XP from building automatons, but then neither does the cleric, mage or craft priest. Given the automaton rules descend from the construct rules I assume the experience from magical research rule from ACKS p.147 apply. Given mechanists can build from day one my experiences show that available gold limits them from building their way to leveling. But if a party of six level 2 players that each had 1,000 gp donated it to a mechanist they could turbo charge the machinist leveling somewhat.

My main concern here is high level players XP dumping on low level henchmen and assistants. Under normal rules, failures would increase the cost to XP gain, something that this would prevent if not unchecked. It is for this reason I put in the reduction to XP, this combined with the high investment cost should bring this under control.

Also personal automaton is not actual gold spent, so no XP for you! 

Examples 

The following shows the differences between the two build approaches. They assume an existing blueprint and a workshop that provides no bonus, but discuss its impact. The machines themselves come from the machinery to the max article on Alex’s Patreon.

Sparrow Gyrocopter example 

I am deliberately doing this one as it is a very expensive level 2 item that is hard to build. The problem here is no second level character will have this kind of gold or workshop (maybe they could use an NPC mentors workshop similar to a mage and guild library), but a second level henchman or retainer might have access to a players.

The Sparrow gyrocopter can be built by a 2nd level machinist with a penalty of +3 with a base construction cost of 14,000gp taking 21 days to build from blueprint.

Let's assume a 2nd level machinist without mechanical engineering, dwarf bonuses or the tinkerer proficiency.

That gives us a skill of 16+ with a +3 modifier for a throw of 19+ under a standard build. That’s a 10% base build chance using a standard build. We can spend 10,000 gp on precious materials to lower the cost, but the limit here restricts you to halving the modifier. So at best here you can get +1 taking it to 15% chance of success. A good workshop would help, it needs a total of 134,000 gp to get a safer 75% success chance, or 5+, but that’s a really expensive workshop… Fate points can help too.

The XP earned is a whopping 23,925. But then where does a second level character even get that kind of money. It’s more likely this is an NPC with a patron, getting only half at 11,962 XP.

Under the build from plan rule let’s assume the same parameters. The build takes 210 days minus 10.5 for materials taking 199 days to build. This takes around seven months (divide by 30 for 6.6 months).

The xp earned from a slow build here is significantly reduced by first dividing by ten, dividing by seven months, reducing by threshold then multiplying back out to a total of 1,876. This is still a decent chunk, but far off the high risk normal build.

Overall the build times and XP seem reasonable. That said mechanists with patrons who have vast workshops and money can have success and its benefits already in game. Build from plan actually reduces the impact.

I suppose this is why mages can’t research until later levels and just be assistants. But mechanists are designed to make machines out of the gate. The big restriction here is access to the funds.

Clockwork Titan example

Here I am going to explore the impact of the tinkerer proficiency, starting with an unmodified generic skill of 11+ at seventh level.

A clockwork war titan can be built by a 9th level machinist at a +8 build penalty taking 48 days with a base construction cost of 41,000gp.

So, a 7th level tinkerer spending 40,000 extra would throw on 15+ (11+ +8 -4) so 25% chance of success. A workshop of 141,000 is required to get the success rate up to 75% or 5+.

At over 2 months that’s 40,500 per month with a threshold of 2,500. Giving 38,000 per month and 76,000 in total, half if it’s a henchman. That’s going to level up a level seven character assuming they succeed.

But as a slow build its 288 days (480 days -96 tinker -96 materials), almost a year… As a slow build the cost is divided by ten giving 8,100 then divided by ten months for 810 per month which is below the threshold of 2,500. Giving no XP. So tinker doesn’t help too much here, aside from giving the ability for a level 7 to build and shaving off 20% of the time, so may be better off not spending on materials and going for a thirteen month build.

Overall we can see that the benefit of slow build is certainty and low risk of loss of resources. For mid range or lower characters this can help establish some machinery but won’t advance them in levels. For players with a workshop of assistants this allows for some easy to track outputs with known delivery times.

The Sobral Kingdom and Barrier Peaks

Earlier I showed the world map, let's zoom in a level. But only one level.

My players selected the area in the upper left of the world map. This campaign map focuses in on that area. The hexes for this campaign maps are the standard 24 miles, with the larger gray hexes in the overlay showing the world maps 96 mile hexes. You can see the original red lines for the parallelogram from the world map shown here as smaller dotted lines.

Geography

First there is geography to contend with. After the war with the gods the visitor planet ship crashed near the northern hemisphere. It released a shockwave of destruction that was held at bay by a great and final ritual from the creators. This act raised a wall of earth and magic, ripping the very crust of the planet to divert the force and poisons of impact. This is shown through the barrier peaks to the north of the map, the lands over the peak are blighted lands.

Humans and gnomes who have entered the blighted lands never return, Endjinn who do so find little in these lands but return as carriers of blight sickness. Prolonged contact with this Endjinn causes a wasting illness in humans and gnome alike.

To the south of the map is the great world ocean that spans the tropical band of the planet. The lands in between are broken and mixed in nature given the upheaval from the barrier peaks giving a wide mix in terrain types.

Politics

The kingdom of Sobral forms the major political player in the region. This human kingdom is formed from the remnants of the great empire of Astia that was struck down by Genies over four centuries past. Sobral is renowned for the grand concourse, a well maintained and paved road spanning from one side of the empire to the other. It is also home to the Magi, who educate and tend to the wellbeing of its people while the lords focus on their conquests.

Sobral is a militant kingdom that only recently absorbed the Duchy of Iveles to its south east. Their conquest cut through Gnoll and Ogre territory alike before conquering this Duchy and extending the Grand Concourse (the extensions are not so grand yet, being in the main still under construction). The Elwin people inhabit Iveles, humans of tall and lithe stature know to be excellent craftsmen and sorcerers. The ancient city of Kiseh Jin, with its elegant white walls, is said to rest several older cities that hold their secrets to this day (where I plan to put the Secrets of the Nethercity kilodungeon).

Sobral also houses a significant Endjinn population, while a minority within the kingdom, they are respected and valued member of its social fabric. North of Sobral the kingdom of Landfall sits, a wholly Endjinn kingdom, its forges and traders are renowned throughout the realm, though it is not a major political player.

To the very north lies the Saronin Protectorate. An accidental kingdom based of an interesting symbiosis between ruler and peasant. Originally there was no kingdom at all, merely a loose collection of Sorcerers tapping the energies from over the barrier peaks with their mighty towers and energy collectors. This changed after the Genie wars as refugees flowed to these bastions of apparent safety. Some Sorcerers ignored these refugees, others exploited them, but in time something had to be done about them. Plalsa the magnanimous drew together a council of sorcerers to decide, they agreed to a pact, a magocracy, where the sorcerers had absolute power and governing councils of the people maintained the order of this new realm. This allowed the peasants to govern themselves, but placed the sorcerers as the ultimate authorities.

Several smaller kingdoms are present, three worthy of mention, but most not even rating a place on the map.

The Tribes of Canonii are a loose collection of nomadic human tribes that live in the central planes. Referring to them as a politically united people is generous at best. But they are a strong warrior people renowned for their ferocity and bravery, which has allowed them to keep Sobral at bay.

The Three kingdoms is the only substantial Gnomish kingdom in the region. While not technically one kingdom, debates over flags and rulership stymie any unification efforts, it tends to overall act as one.

Finally Guilderland to the south is a human kingdom made rich off trade along the great ocean.

Dangers

The Wastelands of Astia are said to house the ruins and treasures of this once great kingdom. From the list city of Atagra to the various tombs and catacombs of its once great cities many a ruin is available to plunder. Adventurers return from these places diminished in number but carrying boundless wealth making it and cities that boarder is prosperous off it lost treasures. To this day some even talk of powerful artefacts that triggered the Genie war being present in its tombs.

The dangers of the barrier peaks and the ruins a along its length attract both sorcerer and adventurer alike to tap is secrets. Several sorcerers draw on the arcane energies held at bay by the mountains and use it to fuel their magic, and some say immortality. Great ruins of the creators are also present, both magical and mechanical awaiting discovery.

Finally to the south east is a land of elemental energy and Dragons. It is said that rifts to other planes are common here and the Djinn are using this to plot there return to the world and dominance over its denizens.

Sylph Rotodyne

It sounds easy right? I will put machinery into my game… then come the interesting requests and builds that can reshape your view of the game, or so you think. 

Following is the answer to my player's request and build for a flying bus. It needed to be fast and carry the players along with a platoon of troops. Lucky for me the British had already invented a gyro plane that fit the bill so I drew heavily on the Fairey Rotodyne as a template.

Sylph Rotodyne

This gargantuan aircraft is over sixty foot long and is capable of lifting more than a platoon of troops and equipment over long distances at high speed. The design was commissioned by an Endjinn Soldat working with her Gnomish Artisan retainer to enable them to explore the far reaches of the Valed lands and uncover the secret origins of the Endjinn. Initial designs did not require armament, but it was later retrofitted to the chassis to allow the machine to defend itself from attack.

The airframe itself is built out of gnomium alloy, though between its metal ribs, the solid body is covered only in tight canvas sheet to keep out the wind but retain light weight. It has two forward facing propellers to drive its forward motion in addition to the free rotating rotor to maintain lift. Using an ingenious set of meteor powder (gnomish gunpowder in my setting) rockets the aircraft is actually able to obtain vertical takeoff. Once activated, these wing tip thrusters allow the aircraft to ascend or descend vertically. The effect is similar to a Catherine wheel or pinwheel but only lasts for a short period before they must be replaced.

It carries three light ballista turrets mounted in bubble like canopies on the fuselage. One is mounted at the front under the cockpit canopy with the other two are mounted either side of the passenger section towards the rear of the craft. These weapons deal 1d10 damage each as light ballistae but the rapid fire and turret mounts reduce the overall range to 150 ft. Given the speed of the vehicle, this limitation is easily overcome. It normally carries 60 ballista bolts for each weapon mount taking up 30 stone of its carrying capacity.

Its crew compartment requires a pilot and co-pilot to operate the craft, with seating for 40 additional passengers. The seating is far from luxurious, consisting mainly of wooden benches. Two main disembarkment doors on either side allows the passengers, often troops, to exit the craft rapidly. Rope lines above the doors allows troops to belay down from the cabin if the craft chooses to hover and not land. The rear storage cabin has space for 130 stone of cargo after accounting for the ammunition above.

The Rotodyne can be built by a level 5 mechanist at a +9 build penalty taking 50 days and a base construction cost of 42,500gp.

Sylph Rotodyne Skybus
Hit dice: 10 (40 HP, save F5)
Armor class: 5
Move: fly 480’ (160’)
Weight: 1,000 st.
Carry: 1,000 st. (42 passengers, 180 light ballista bolts, 130 stone cargo)
Attacks:
3 Rapid fire light ballista launchers (1d10 damage, range 150’)
Positive abilities (total): 
Automaton immunities *, Increased move (fly +420’) #### ***, Mechanical special ability (1 turn full Hover, replacement cost 800) -, Movement mode (flying, stationary hover, replaces ground) ##, Passengers (64 max, only using 42) #### ###, Ranged attack (15' multiplier) ###. (**** **)
Negative abilities (total): 
Requires ammunition ####, Requires operator (mechanist or learned) *. (* ####)
Cost (net abilities): 42,500 gp (**** ####)

Machinery and judge approval

Key to all mechanist items is judge approval. This probably needs to be emphasized heavily as not everyone want designs like the above in their game. I discuss this more below.

One specific thing I have noticed with vehicles that can avoid or stay out of combat is players are keen to save a buck and trade away the armor class, I generally don't allow this. If armor is traded away I would generally ask for a reason that goes into the design description text as was done with the aerostat in machinery to the max.

For this vehicle it was not requested, but maybe a flimsy wooden frame could be a reason, but I would still not allow it to go down to zero, generally the few thousand you save given such an expensive build has minimal effect outside simply optimising for cost.

Your hex crawl is too small and Flying saucers are too slow

So this blows the old several hexes a day thing for a hex map. It can clock up 32 six mile hexes, most of a region map, in a day. Plus it’s faster than most monsters you can encounter in the air. Here is a summary of the monster speeds you can generally encounter while flying, noting that at top speed only the upper category can even keep up with the Rotodyne above.

Fast flyers (over 200' exploration):

• 480' - Hawk, Pegasus, Roc, Rotodyne
• 450' - Giant Hawk
• 360' - Air elemental, Autogyro, Griffon, Hippogriff
• 300' - Flying saucer scout
• 240' - Aerostat, Djinni, Dragon, Efrreeti, Lammasu, Pterendon, Wraith, Wyvern
• 210' - Flying saucer abductor

So all monsters other than the fastest will get only a round at best in a head on joust before this thing rides off into the sunset.

Initially I was shocked by this, but then I went through all the stages of grief… and then I realised, a group with the spell summon winged steed can access this movement rate anyway (level 5 mage). And to resource this Rotodyne build the players need substantial wealth (mine built it at levels 7-8, but many a fortune point was used on rerolls).

So far the game has become less about the hex crawl and more about sites, rumours and clues. For levels 4 to 7 thoug,h my players favoured traveling by boat so they were already moving faster on the map limiting travel to waterways and sites near them.

So I think my players had a bit of a hex crawl phase but are growing out of it early, and I'm sort of ok with that. Time to move to the campaign map anyway I think.

Finally I realised I had a problem, and a solution. Flying saucers are too slow! Now I expect a fast interceptor to be able to catch an abductor, but not a scout. The solution is I give all alien vessels the following special ability for no cost:

Power to engines

All flying saucers have this ability. The flying saucer can double its movement rate by diverting power from its weapon systems to its engines. When this is active they double their movement but are unable to utilise weapon systems such as plasma weapons, tractor beams or bomb launchers.

The Magi

Art by Joyce Maureira from Godbound free art pack

Not content to remove divine magic from the game, I added it back in through a mechanist class. The Magi do not worship gods, instead they have a machine, the Source, which grants them powers.

These were one of the first classes I built for the settling, which is inspired by Omers Mechanist post. At the time I was looking for something different to the Dwarven Mechanist. Before I removed Dwarves from the game and replaced them with Gnomes. This has been a somewhat organic process.

THE MAGI

Prime Requisite: WIS and INT
Requirements: None
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 14

When the gods passed beyond the world after the Arrival the voices from the heavens fell silent. Their followers found themselves powerless in a world shattered from the great conflict, to this day any followers of the old faiths are known as the ‘speakers of the dead’. But from the destruction of the old arose ingenuity and creation combined with the arts of science to give birth to the mysterious source. Some from the old faiths worked with artisans and scientists to learn how to tap this source, divine power without divine influence, a man made god. Their practices and miracles spread throughout the land helping hold back the descent of civilisation and knowledge into total collapse.

Magi are trained to defend their missions from threats, though they lack the raw ability and focus in the martial arts of fighters. At first level, magi hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an attack throw of 10+. They advance in attack throws and saving throws by two points every four levels of experience (as clerics). They may fight wielding a weapon and shield or wielding a weapon two-handed, but cannot dual wield. Magi may wear chain mail or lighter armor, but are proficient in only a small group of weapons, including the arbalest, crossbow, club, mace, staff, and warhammer. They may use any magic item usable by clerics.

The most recognisable and honed skill of the magi is the ability to design, build, and repair automatons. Automatons are machines similar to magical constructs, but using clockwork, steam engines, gears, and valves in place of dweomercraft. Their training and focus on mechanical engineering grants them specialized knowledge of automatons. They gain a +1 to throws to design, repair and build automatons (factored into the table below). They can recognize common automatons after careful investigation with a proficiency throw of 11+, but are unable to recognize uncommon or unique automatons, to discern command words, or to assess the specific abilities of an item. This ability is the same as the proficiency of the same name and stacks with any additional selections of the mechanical engineering proficiency.

Starting at 2nd level (Aspirant), magi may manifest the power of the source in the form of divine spells, which are granted through ritual and servitude. The power and number of divine spells available to the character are determined by level according to the Magi Spell Progression table. See the Spells list below for the list of all spells available to Magi.

In order to use spells and draw on the mysterious source a magi must uphold the doctrines of their order. These doctrines include the doctrine of ritual, the doctrine of advancement, and the doctrine of practice. In the doctrine of ritual the magi must perform a personalised daily ritual to show their worthiness to receive the gifts of the source. For the doctrine of advancement the magi must seek to expand and spread the influence of the source. Finally the doctrine of practice calls on the magi to practice their art for the betterment of their society, for without people it is said the source will wither and die. If a magi ever fails to uphold the doctrine they can fall out of favour with the source, this often manifests as penalties that are applied to the magi by the source. These penalties are entirely up to the Judge, but might include penalties to attack or a reduction in spells available. The source itself is unaligned and without will and while magi tend to be lawful and rule abiding in nature some have been known to warp the doctrine and follow a chaotic path. More information on casting spells and individual spell descriptions can be found in the Spells chapter.

When a magi reaches 5th level (Professor), he may begin to research spells, scribe scrolls, and brew potions. At 9th level (Principal), he is able to create more powerful magic items such as weapons, rings, and staffs. At 11th level, a cleric may learn and cast ritual divine spells of great power (6th and 7th level). These activities are explained in the Campaign chapter.

Upon attaining 9th level (Principal), a magi may establish or build a mission. So long as the magi is currently in favor with the source, he may buy or build his mission at half the normal price due to engineered providence. Once a mission is established, the magi’s reputation will spread and he will attract 5d6x10 0th level soldiers armed with various weapons, plus another 1d6 magi of 1st-3rd level to serve the mission. They are completely loyal (morale +4). While in the magi’s service, his followers must be provided food and lodging, but need not be paid wages. The Judge determines which proportions of followers are archers, infantry, etc. Missions follow the rules for fortified churches as detailed in the Campaign chapter.

Magi Proficiency List (28): Alchemy, Apostasy, Armor Training*, Battle Magic, Command, Contemplation, Craft, Divine Blessing, Divine Health, Engineering, Fighting Style, Healing, Inventing*, Jury-Rigging*, Knowledge, Laying on Hands, Loremastery, Magical Engineering, Martial Training, Mechanical Engineering*, Personal Automaton*, Precise Shooting, Quiet Magic, Scavenging*, Theology, Tinkering*, Unflappable Casting, Weapon Focus.
(* from players companion)
Class proficiencies at: 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th.
General proficiencies at: 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th.

Reclaimer Template: This pre-generated template represents a magi seeking to reclaim knowledge and artifacts from the age of enlightenment. The template is ready for adventure. However, if your reclaimer's INT is 13 or greater, you may pick one or more additional general proficiencies before play if you’d like (see Starting Proficiencies in Chapter 4 of ACKS). Additionally an advanced template ready for play at adventurer level play (6,000XP and 4,000gp) is listed below it.

Template: Reclaimer
Proficiencies: Magical Engineering, Knowledge (history)
Starting Equipment: Crossbow, case with 20 bolts, war hammer, chain mail armor, purple magi's cassock, leather belt, low boots, waterskin with fresh water, backpack, small sack, machinist’s tools, 1 week’s iron rations, 4gp. (6 ⅚ st., Move 90’/30’)

Template: Veteran Reclaimer
Proficiencies: Magical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Knowledge (history)
Starting Equipment: Masterwork crossbow (+1 to hit), case with 20 bolts, masterwork war hammer (+1 to damage), masterwork chain mail armor (+1 AC), purple magi's cassock, leather belt, low boots, waterskin with fresh water, backpack, small sack, machinist’s tools, 1 week’s iron rations, 194gp, 3,000 gp magic item chance (p.259 of ACKS). (6 ⅚ st., Move 90’/30’)

Magi Level Progression & Spell progression

Experience	Title	Lvl.	Hit Dice	Spell Lvl.1	Spell Lvl.2	Spell Lvl.3	Spell Lvl.4	Spell Lvl.5	Design/ Build/ Repair Automaton
0	Assistant	1	1d6	-	-	-	-	-	16+
1,500	Aspirant	2	2d6	1	-	-	-	-	15+
3,000	Lecturer	3	3d6	2	-	-	-	-	14+
6,000	Docent	4	4d6	2	1	-	-	-	13+
12,000	Professor	5	5d6	2	2	-	-	-	12+
24,000	Dean	6	6d6	2	2	1	1	-	11+
50,000	Prorector	7	7d6	2	2	2	1	1	10+
100,000	Rector	8	8d6	3	3	2	2	1	9+
200,000	Principle	9	9d6	3	3	3	2	2	8+
300,000	Principle , 10th lvl	10	9d6+1*	4	4	3	3	2	7+
400,000	Principle , 11th lvl	11	9d6+2*	4	4	4	3	3	6+
500,000	Principle , 12th lvl	12	9d6+3*	5	5	4	4	3	5+
600,000	Principle , 13th lvl	13	9d6+4*	5	5	5	4	3	4+
700,000	Principle , 14th lvl	14	9d6+5*	6	5	5	5	4	3+

*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored

Magi (Cleric) Attack and Saving Throws

Level	Petrification & Paralysis	Poison & Death	Blast & Breath	Staffs & Wands	Spells	Attack Throw
1-2	13+	10+	16+	13+	15+	10+
3-4	12+	9+	15+	12+	14+	9+
5-6	11+	8+	14+	11+	13+	8+
7-8	10+	7+	13+	10+	12+	7+
9-10	9+	6+	12+	9+	11+	6+
11-12	8+	5+	11+	8+	10+	5+
13-14	7+	4+	10+	7+	9+	4+

Magi Divine Spell List

First Level	Second Level	Third Level	Forth Level	Fifth Level
1. Command Word	1 Augury	1. Animate Statue (b)	1. Control Machines (n)	1. Find Place of Power (a)
2. Cure Light Wounds*	2 Bless*	2. Continual Light*	2. Create Water	2. Create Food
3. Detect  Danger (c)	3 Delay Poison	3. Cure Blindness	3. Cure Serious Wounds*	3. Cure Critical Wounds* (c)
4. Detect Magic	4. Detect Technology (n)	4. Cure Disease*	4. Death Ward (c)	4. Flame Strike
5. Faerie Fire (c)	5. Find Traps	5. Disable  Machine (n)	5. Dispel Magic	5. Forgetfulness (a)
6. Light*	6. Hold Person	6. ESP (c)	6. Divination	6. Healing  Circle (a)
7. Purify Food  and Water	7. Locate Object (c)	7. Nova (b)	7. Neutralize Poison*	7. Quest*
8. Read  Languages (c)	8. Produce fire (c)	8. Remove Curse*	8. Smite Undead*	8. Restore Life and Limb*
9. Remove Fear*	9. Resist Fire	9. Speak with Dead	9. Tongues	9. Strength of  Mind*
10. Resist Cold	10. Silence  15' radius	10. Sphere of Visibility (c)	10. Vigor (c)	10. True Seeing

(c) spell from Players Companion; (b) spell from Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu; (a) Axioms 7; new spell earlier post (n)

Magi Notes

Allocations: HP 1, FTR 1a (1 tradeoffs), DVN 2 (2 tradeoffs)
Max level: 14
Tradeoff: Armor from Unrestricted to Broad for 1 power.
Tradeoff: Drop Turn Undead for 2 custom powers.
Powers: Add machinist abilities for a cost of 3, but reduce to 2 as they cannot create magical constructs at level 11. (technically at 11 they would gain the normal cleric ability so it’s cost addition is just bringing a version of the power forward, though this is a slight discount)
Powers: Mechanical engineering proficiency (I shoe horned this in to give them a different feel, more scientific, compared to other mechanist classes)
Weapons: Narrow, 6 choices; arbalest, crossbow, club, mace, staff, and warhammer.
Edit 17/11/19 - The need staffs, as a lot of staffs on the random table are staffs, replaced hand axe. I noticed swords had crept in, removed them and replaced dagger with club. Also fixed list above to include arbalest.
Save: cleric
Magic items: cleric
Spells: Close to cleric but focused around detection, illumination and mechanical. Similar to the chevalier in some ways, why so similar, the source, the tombeau, I wonder if they are related...
Prime requisites: WIS as a cleric, but adding INT for flavour and balance (It is generous on the cheaper powers)
Post 9 hp: as cleric = 1 per level
Experience: 500 + 500 + 500 = 1,500; Round 7 to 50,000; Post 8 = CLR 100,000 (effectively the same as a cleric)
Rank Names: Were based on academic/university ranks. Many have similarities to religious ranks given religion and teaching are historically intermixed. This helps make them feel slightly different to clerics.