Constructive Spells
It’s Construct Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest, which is a slightly misleading name, because up until now, most of the focus of the week has been on providing support for one very specific type of construct: the fabricant, introduced in Codex Mechanica: On the Creation of Fabricants. It may seem that upgrades are only good for fabricants (as there aren’t a lot of ways for other characters to get them), and there’s certainly some truth to this, but in a world with magic, there’s always another way. The following spells all manipulate or adjust upgrades in some way, and two of them grant upgrades to characters of any sort.
SABOTAGE UPGRADE
School transmutation; Level druid 2, magus 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a miniature silver hammer)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes
You tamper with the delicate inner workings of one of the target’s upgrades, causing it to fail temporarily. If you know what upgrades the target possesses, you may choose exactly which upgrade to affect. Otherwise, you can either select a category of upgrades (armor, miscellaneous, movement, sensory, or weapon) or have the spell affect one of the highest-level upgrades that the target possesses, chosen at random from among upgrades of that level.
Whichever upgrade is affected, for the spell’s duration, the target is treated as though he did not possess that upgrade, and cannot use it at all. If the target has other upgrades that require that upgrade in order to function, those upgrades fail to work, as well.
If you have this spell affect a weapon upgrade, the target gains a +4 bonus on its saving throw, as these upgrades are much more difficult to tamper with and sabotage. If the target has no upgrades of any kind, the spell has no effect.
For more information on upgrades, see Codex Mechanica: On the Creation of Fabricants.
XR-13’S TEMPORARY UPGRADE
School transmutation; Level alchemist 6, magus 5, sorcerer/wizard 5, summoner 6
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (an iron cog)
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration 1 min./level
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
Created by one of the rare wizard fabricants, XR-13’s temporary upgrade transforms the target’s body, forming a fully-functional upgrade that is fully-integrated with the target’s body, whether he is a fabricant, another construct, or even flesh and blood. The target gains a single upgrade of your choice for which he qualifies. For the purposes of this spell, the target’s modification level is treated as being equal to your caster level.
Alternatively, you can have the target gain three upgrades of your choice for which he qualifies, but if you do, his modification level is treated as being equal to your caster level – 10.
While alarming, the transformation process does not harm the target. All upgrades granted by this spell vanish at the end of the spell’s duration.
For more information on upgrades, see Codex Mechanica: On the Creation of Fabricants.
XR-13’S UPGRADED FORM
School transmutation; Level sorcerer/wizard 8
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a gold cog)
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 min./level
You gain a number of upgrades equal to 1/4 your caster level, rounded down. You do not need to meet the prerequisites of the upgrades that you gain, and can select any upgrade of 4th level or lower. The upgrades vanish at the end of the spell’s duration.
For more information on upgrades, see Codex Mechanica: On the Creation of Fabricants.