[2ed Update] Hedgespun Automatons

[GibberingEloquence]

Consult page 141 of Rites Of Spring for the original version of this system.

Spend 1 Glamour and roll [Highest Finesse Attribute] + Crafts + Wyrd as an Crafting Equipment Action [ChroD Page 100]. Changeling who use Dexterity approach this like typical crafting, those who use Wits approach it more like a puzzle, and those who use Manipulation engage in communication with the components to make them come together. This must be done inside the Hedge, and depending on your methods, you may use other Skills, such as Medicine or Occult. For each -1 you take to your dice pool, your robot counts as a Retainer worth 1 dot (up to 5 dots). The robots you create only last for one hour per Success, unless you also spend 1 Willpower to make them last indefinitely (which does not add dice). Each one has a battery of Glamour equal to your [Skill], can spend as many points of Glamour per turn as the Changeling, and starts with the 1 Glamour you spent upon rolling. Each one depletes 1 Glamour per day of functioning and goes dormant without Glamour, but this depletion is nullified if the robot is within the Hedge. Each robot must be refueled manually through your own points of Glamour. Each robot has access to one Common Arcadian Contract, which you must possess yourself. This Contract can very between robots, and the activation dice pool is [Retainer Rating X 2]. If targeted by a supernatural ability, the Hedgespun Automaton contests it with [Retainer Rating + Wyrd of the Changeling].

The creation roll takes one day. With a suitable Specialty, this is shortened to one hour, which is in addition to the +1 die of the Specialty. If your Specialty is also an Area Of Expertise, this is further reduced to one minute, which is in addition to the +2 dice of the Expert Specialty. Every robot possesses Durability equal to [Skill], but if struck with Cold Iron it is immediately destroyed. The Changeling can give the robot additional features by taking more penalties to his dice pool, on a 1 for 1 ratio. Use the features of Fae Mount Merit as guidelines. Incorporating components from the Hedge which match the design and intended function of the robot can give bonus dice. There is no hard limit for how many Hedgespun Automatons you can have. However, certain Huntsmen can capture and disassemble these robots to identify a thumbprint of the Changeling, and follow that clue through the ebb and flow of the Wyrd until they find their prey. Furthermore, even without applying the 5th Maneuver of the following Style, Hedgespun Automatons tend to become gradually stranger as time passes. The Changeling must not only fuel them, but inspect them to make sure they do not develop beyond their base programming.

Hodgepodge Blueprints Style (•-•••••)
Prerequisites: Changeling
You are exceptionally talented at building Hedgespun Automatons of various kinds, from golems made of sublime clockwork to homunculi stitched together from the organs of hobgoblins. Using this Style requires the Changeling to be inside a Hollow equipped with a suitable Workshop, but the Hollow need not belong to him.

(•): Gain bonus dice for creating Hedgespun Automatons equal to [Style Rating].
(••): The Hedgespun Automatons double their respective batteries of Glamour, and they become lasting without the need to spend 1 Willpower.
(•••): All rolls to create Hedgespun Automatons gain Rote Quality. Whenever you achieve an Exceptional Success to build a Hedgespun Automaton, it can operate within the Ironside for an additional number of days equal to [Skill] for each point of Glamour.
(••••): The Hedgespun Automatons have access to one Royal Arcadian Contract you possess, which is in addition to the Common Arcadian Contract.
(•••••): Once per Chapter, you may suffer 1 Severe Clarity Damage when building a Hedgespun Automaton. This imbues it with self-awareness, allowing it to subjectively interpret commands, make independent decisions and learn dynamically. This makes the creature stand out in the eyes of the Wyrd, which significantly increases the risk of it obtaining true agency and transforming into a full-fledged Hobgoblin.

[Korogra]

I rather like this. I was a little sad that Hedgespun Automatons weren’t really a thing anymore due to how Hedgespinning now works, so this idea is quite welcome.

Slightly off topic but still related, I actually have been working on an Entitlement that allows one to breathe life into hedge crafted puppets, turning them into hobgoblins who are bound to be loyal to the bearer for a year and a day before freeing them to live their lives in the Hedge. This merit style and these rules could benefit my homebrew Entitlement rather nicely.

[Pale_Crusader]

Consult page 141 of Rites Of Spring for the original version of this system.

GibberingEloquence wonderful job! Hope you don't mind that I took what you did and made this:

Hedge Topiaries
While the Hedge provide opportunities for miraculous craftmanship, it also is an environment which is often verdantly lush and can be cultivated as a source of Glamour. Using Hedgespinning and cultivation to alter the plants of the Hedge can result in hedge plants shaped like animals, people or fantastical beasts which grow Goblin Fruit which it may use as a supernatural fuel source to animate and obey their cultivator. Hedge Topiaries possess different strengths and weaknesses than Hedgespun Automatons and the creation methods also differs to be not solely a matter of finesse and requires either dedication to cultivation of the Hedge or equal mastery of both cultivation and occult practices.

Spend 1 Glamour and roll [Presence, Dexterity, or Resolve] + (lower of Occult or Survival) + Wyrd as an Crafting Equipment Action [ChroD Page 100]. Changeling who use Resolve approach it through fastidious researched and painstaking control of the metaphysical influences where the plant is cultivated. Those who use Dexterity approach this through clever grafting and pruning of appropriate vine or branch varieties. Finally, those who use Presence prick their thumb upon a hedge thorn to water a seedling with a drop of their blood while sincerely opening up their heart to the growing sprout, and over the growing time earnestly crooning regardless of talent to their darling little seedling surrogate baby. For each -1 you take to your dice pool, your animated hedge plant counts as a Retainer worth 1 dot (up to 5 dots). The field of the Retainer is chosen at the time of cultivation, such examples as acting as a sentry (perhaps it is a thorny stab-apple bush shaped like a giant lion), getting you money (perhaps it literally growing money like leaves or seed pods), making the Hollow pleasant (perhaps it is a juniper like bush shaped as a maid with wonderfully fragrant flowery vines) or acting as a covert scout (a small collection of bristly vines in the shape of an oriental dragon capable of maneuvering into hard to reach passages). The plants you magically nurture only last for one hour per Success, unless you also spend 1 Willpower to make them last indefinitely (which does not add dice). Each one grows a maximum number of Goblin fruits equal to the lower of your Occult or Survival, can willfully wither a fruit that is still attached as a way of spending Glamour {limited to as many points per turn as its cultivator). At the end of the initial Cultivation of its creation it has a single Goblin Fruit after it animates. Every day it spends any time animated depletes 1 Goblin Fruit and the plant involuntarily goes dormant when it is without its daily dose of Glamour from its own unpicked Goblin Fruit. Additionally these hedgespun creations have a very strong tie to the Hedge, essentially being an animated part of it, and universally have a Bane of being outside the Hedge, instantly withering all attached Goblin Fruits and suffering Aggravated damage each turn as it shrivels to unidentifiable dessicated mulch. These plants grow back a single Goblin Fruit each day it spends rooted at least an hour in a place within the Hollow whose conditions do not prohibit Goblin Fruit from potentially growing. The plant may remain dormant deliberately to build a reserve of Goblin Fruit, and while dormant it remains aware of its surroundings but may not animate until it depletes an attached Goblin Fruit (a reflexive action). Once a Hedgespun Topiary is at maximum capacity for Goblin Fruit they cease growing fruit even if suitable location until a Goblin Fruit is picked from it or it depletes a Goblin Fruit. If a Hollow has more Hedge Topiaries grow their daily Goblin Fruit than the Hollow's Rating it gains the Glamour Barren Environmental Tilt. Each plant has access to one Common Arcadian Contract, which you must possess yourself. This Contract can vary between plants, and the activation dice pool is [Retainer Rating X 2]. If targeted by a supernatural ability, the Hedgespun Topiary contests it with [Retainer Rating + Wyrd of the Changeling]. After the initial creation of the Hedgespun Topiary it no longer is able to a

The creation roll takes one day. With a suitable Specialty, this is shortened to one hour, which is in addition to the +1 die of the Specialty. If your Specialty is also an Area Of Expertise, this is further reduced to one minute, which is in addition to the +2 dice of the Expert Specialty. Every plant possesses Durability equal to the lower of your Occult or Survival, but if struck with Cold Iron it is immediately destroyed. The Changeling can give the plant additional features by taking more penalties to his dice pool, on a 1 for 1 ratio. Use the features of Fae Mount Merit as guidelines. Incorporating components from the Hedge which match the design and intended function of the plant can give bonus dice. There is no hard limit for how many Hedgespun Topiaries you can have, other than the toll they can take upon the Goblin Fruit growing capacities they have upon Hollows. However, certain Huntsmen can capture and compost these plants to grow a flowerbed which blooms as a portrait of the Changeling nurturer, and follow that clue through the ebb and flow of the Wyrd until they find their prey. Furthermore, even without applying the 5th Maneuver of the following Style, Hedgespun Topiaries tend to become gradually stranger as time passes. The Changeling must not only reap the harvest of their labor and fruit them, but inspect them to prune them so they don't grow to become unruly through lack of careful cultivation and make sure they do not develop behavior altering pests or parasites.

Hedge Cultivation Style (•-•••••)
Prerequisites: Changeling
You are exceptionally talented at building Hedgespun Topiaries of various kinds, from massive and sturdy treant-like Goblin Fruit trees to lithe and agile ambulatory collections of thorned vines in the shape as artistic a small oriental dragon. Using this Style requires the Changeling to be inside a Hollow equipped with a suitable Workshop, but the Hollow need not belong to him.

(•): Gain bonus dice for creating Hedgespun Topiaries equal to [Style Rating].
(••): When cultivating Hedgespun Topiaries all references to the lower of Occult or Survival of the cultivator instead become the higher of Occult or Survival of the Cultivator (including maximum Goblin Fruits per Hedge Topiary), and they become lasting without the need to spend 1 Willpower.
(•••): All rolls to create Hedgespun Topiaries gain Rote Quality. Whenever you achieve an Exceptional Success to build a Hedgespun Topiary, the Goblin Fruits it will bear are of a particular variety which have effects beyond merely granting Glamour to the consumer. The precise variety must be in the possession of the creator, and one piece of that type of Goblin Fruit is expended in the creation.
(••••): The Hedgespun Topiaries have access to one Royal Arcadian Contract you possess, which is in addition to the Common Arcadian Contract.
(•••••): Once per Chapter, you may suffer 1 Severe Clarity Damage when building a Hedgespun Topiary. This imbues it with self-awareness, allowing it to subjectively interpret commands, make independent decisions and learn dynamically. This makes the creature stand out in the eyes of the Wyrd, which significantly increases the risk of it obtaining true agency and transforming into a full-fledged Hobgoblin.

Tilt
Glamour Barren

Environmental (Hedge locations only)

Description: This particular area of the Hedge has be depleted of the supernatural energy needed for Goblin Fruits, or Hedge plants to grow.

Effect: Goblin Fruits will not grow in this area, nor will the plants which bear them sprout. Hedgespinning, cultivation and Contracts cannot cause plant sprouting, growth, rejuvenation, blooming, fruiting or ripening withing an area with this Condition. Effects including Hedgespinning and Contracts can still cause wilting, withering, rot of plants in the area, and for that purpose achieving three successes counts as an exceptional success. This does not prohibit the Hedge's ability to cause Thorns to inflict the area, merely means those Thorns will not be plant based and there will be no Goblin Fruit. Also if a being which are not manifestations of Thorns gives birth in the area, the offspring is either stillborn for beings without Souls, or born with the Soulless Condition if the being would normally have a soul.

Causing the Tilt: Over exploitation of Goblin Fruit cultivation or Hedgespinning Goblin Fruits into existence too often in the area, Interruptions to the cycle of Glamour renewal within the area, Effects with leech all ambient Glamour from the area

Ending the Tilt: If caused by over exploitation of Goblin Fruit then the area must be dutifully tended to for a year and a day as though it was fallow ground for cultivation as the first half of ending the Tilt. If caused by interruptions to Glamour renewal is the cause then those interruptions must be stopped, and the same goes for effects which leech all ambient Glamour from the area. After the first half of the resolution is completed fertilizing the affected with the ashes from a giant Wickerman which burns a living fae creature with a Soul trapped inside to death as a sacrifice finally ends this Tilt.

[GibberingEloquence]

Pale_Crusader I love this a whole lot. Though in my opinion there is no real need for a separate Merit and such. I would just let the player use Medicine instead of Crafts, and change the particulars of the system accordingly. I say Medicine because it gives technical and methodical knowledge of biology, while Survival is more about practical and immediate knowledge of various bits of geography, hunting and such. There is no tangible benefit for requiring an additional expenditure of 5 XP if you can simply reflavor the mechanics, you know? You definitely gave me ideas for a certain NPC of mine, though!