Engineers

The Engineers are obsessive experimenters, combining a keen creative intellect with a pragmatic need to provide techonology for Camp Hope. The original mandate of the Engineers was to provide solutions for public works projects (sewers, boilers, and roadways), but their increasingly experiments gnerally serve to satisfy only their insatiable curiosity. Sometimes their experiments yield useful technological advancements; other times they produce unintended gadgets or huge explosions — both of which can be useful in their own way.
The Engineers' most grandiose experiments typically concern public works projects and the restoration of Before Time techonology. These efforts use a methodology that relies on unexpected outcomes: all results are informative, even if they completely defy expectations. For example, an experiment that begins as the creation of a “laser focusing lens” might be renamed a “death beam” once the researchers discover more properties of what they have fashioned. Then, after a few tests, the apparatus gains the designation of “universal refuse disintegrator”. This sort of adjustment is par for the course in Engineer experiments; the “fiddle and find out” method is favored over any process of systematic scientific research. They value results over success, accepting and even anticipating that Engineer experiments will end in gloriously unpredictable ways.
The Engineers thirst for knowledge, cherish intellect, and speculate about the secrets of the universe. It brings to its scientific pursuits a flaming passion that turns its search for knowledge into an insatiable hunger, makes its cold intellect brilliantly fruitful, and widens its speculation into a search for connections between wildly disparate objects or concepts. It is manic in its expressions of creative energy, shifting from careful analysis to intuitive leap seemingly for no reason, always thinking outside the proverbial box. As the Engineers see it, unpredictable action, far from being antithetical to methodical research, has experimental value.

The only action worth taking is one with an unknown outcome. If you already know what will happen, you will learn nothing from doing it.

-Shawnee Randell Frith

Diplomacy They do their best to stay out of the politics and remain neutral with the other factions. Getting too involved with the politics just leads to making powerful people angry and detracts from the time that one could be spending on their projects.

Engineer Characters

• Alignment: Usually chaotic, often neutral
• Suggested Races: Human, Other, Awakened
• Suggested Classes: Civilian, Techie, Heavy
• Suggested Archtypes: Authority, Field Machinist, Driver, Selfless Protector
• Suggested Ladders: Savant

You might enjoy playing a character who belongs to the Izzet League for any of the following reasons:

• You like to make things happen and don’t care about the consequences.
• You’re drawn to technology and dangerous explosions.
• You want to be an innovative genius.
• You relish the idea of pushing that shiny red button.

Background: Engineer

Armed with an inventive intellect, a love of technology, and an unquenchable energy, you are an enthusiastic participant in the research work of the Engineers. Though you’re likely to begin your career as a mere assistant, you can aspire to become a skilled Field Machinist, a shop supervisor, or even a flamethrower-wielding guard tasked with defending Timeless Tune-ups. The Engineers are obsessive, brilliant, inspired, and an unpredictable force of chaos, and you epitomize all of those qualities.

• Skill Proficiencies: Engineering, Investigation
• Languages: Choose one Language
• Tool Proficiencies: Tinker's Tools
• Equipment: An Engineer insignia, one set of Tinker’s tools, a hammer, a block and tackle, a set of common clothes, and 5 credits.
• 1 Renown and Rank 1 with the Engineers.

Suggested Characteristics

Feature: Urban Infrastructure

The popular conception of the Enigneer is based on mad inventions, dangerous experiments, and explosive blasts. Much of that perception is accurate, but the Engineers are also involved with mundane tasks of construction and architecture — primarily in crafting the infrastructure that allows Camp Hope to enjoy running water, functioning computers, and technological wonders.
You have a basic knowledge of the structure of buildings, including the stuff behind the walls. You can also find blueprints of a specific building in order to learn the details of its construction. Such blueprints might provide knowledge of entry points, structural weaknesses, or secret spaces. Your access to such information isn’t unlimited. If obtaining or using the information gets you in trouble with the law, the faction can’t shield you from the repercussions.

Contacts

The shops of the Engineers are constantly starting up new projects and dissolving old ones, so it’s easy for even the lowliest assistant to make friends (and enemies) in various shops.
Roll twice on the Engineer Contacts table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Engineer Contacts table.

How Do I Fit In?

Whatever your role in the Engineers, you are expected to contribute to its research in some way. That contribution might involve participating in tests, whether as an assistant, a researcher, or a subject. You might be one of the guards who protects a shop, or a laborer responsible for lifting heavy pieces of equipment into place. Everyone’s contribution matters, even if the Engineers know that some matter more than others.

Rank and Renown

Renown within the Engineers brings with it more responsibility in your chosen field of study, as well as an increasing ability to choose the activities that interest you. This greater responsibility and independence is reflected in a progression of ranks, from that of a mere assistant to the coveted position of the Head Engineer.

Somebody's gotta fix it.

General Biases

These are the biases that are generally held by members of the Farmers Guild.

Positive Bias

Favors Engineers over others. This triggers if a character has renown 10 or more with the Engineers or if their Engineering skill is +10 or more.

Negative Biases

Dislikes those who are not Engineers. This triggers if a character has renown 9 or less with the Engineers or if their Engineering skill is +9 or less.

Founding Date

100SE

Demonym

Engineers

Leader

Shawnee Randell Frith

Location

Camp Hope

Controlled Territories

• Timeless Tune-ups

Manufactured Items

• Engineering Gadget
• Nature's Shield
• Research Tablet
• Scribner's Lens
• Watch Charm
• Watch Cruiser

Related Items

• Engineering Gadget

Related Species

• Human

Related Plots

• Play Testing 1

Related Historical Events

• 102 SE
  Founding of the Engineers

Engineer

Creating gadgets is how me make sure that this camp keeps running. We gotta keep the lights on and the toilets flushing!

-Shawnee Randell Frith

Independant Engineer

Figuring out how the technology from the Before Time is like cracking open a piece of who we were before. I can't imagine what it would have been like to live in a time when all of this was just... everywhere.

-Roger Frith

Scorchbringer

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives.

-Scott Adams

Neutral

Town Watch

0

Engineers

0

Neutral

The Solstice Syndicate

0

Engineers

0

Neutral

The Scribes

0

Engineers

0

Neutral

The Farmers Guild

0

Engineers

0

Neutral

The Doctors

0

Engineers

0

Neutral

Church of Hope

0

Engineers

0

Rank 1: Assistant

• Prerequisite: Renown 1 with the Engineers.

It is your job to assist the engineers in their work. You are often the one lifting the heavy objects, running to get supplies and holding on to something while the engineer whacks at it. While you are helping out in the shop, you are doing your best to learn how to build and fix things.

• Gain access to Timeless Tune-ups. You are given and Engineer Inginia.
• You now have access to the purchase on Engineering Kits of any TL.

Rank 2: Engineer

• Prerequisite: rank 1, Renown 3 with the Engineers.

You have advanced the faction’s interests and survived a few magical experiments, you have been promoted into a position where you can conduct experiments yourself. You run a small shop of your own now.

• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You can request equipment for use in your experiments and during adventures.
• You can secure the aid of 1d4 barely competent attendants to assist you. Use the following stat block for your assistants: .

Special Role: Scorchbringer

• Prerequisite: Rank 1, Renown 3 with the Engineers. If you choose this rank you cannot also be an Engineer.

Scorchbringers are soldiers assigned to protect Engineering Shops. You are sometimes also called upon to serve other factions to aid in defense of Camp Hope.

• You gain the ability to craft TL 0 Heavy Weapons. Creating one of these weapons follows the crafting rules under the engineering skill in the Ultra Modern 5 source book.
• You are proficient with Heavy Weapons.

Rank 3: Staff Engineer

• Prerequisite: Rank 2, Renown 10 with the Engineers. If you choose this rank you cannot also be a Independant Engineer or Scorchbringer Level 2.

Whether you’re an accomplished Engineer or a dedicated Scorchbringer, you are eligible for promotion to a supervisor position, the Staff Engineer. As a Staff Engineer, you oversee your former peers. Your role is primarily to translate the instructions of the Senior Engineer above you into concrete tasks that the people who report to you can accomplish.

• You can call upon 1d4 assistants, 1d4 Engineers or 1 Scorchbringer to assist you in completing your tasks. Use the following stat block for both the assistants and engineers: . The engineers have +5 to their engineering skill. Use the following stat block for the Scorchbringer:
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.

Special Role: Independant Engineer

• Prerequisite: Rank 2, Renown 10 with the Engineers. If you choose this rank, you cannot also be a Staff Engineer or Scorchbringer Level 2.

Not every Engineer chooses to advance through the ranks of management to become a supervisor. As an Independent Engineer, you can use the resources of your shop to conduct any kind of experiment you choose that is related to engineering.

• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You gain a TL 2 Engineering Kit.
• In most areas, you will be able to recover $20 worth during a short rest and $30 worth during a long rest for your widget bag.

Special Role: Scorchbringer Level 2

• Prerequisite: Rank 2, Renown 10 with the Engineers. If you choose this rank, you cannot also be a Staff Engineer or Independant Engineer.

You choose to let others experiment and focus instead on making sure that the things they are creating remain safe. They aren't making things that would be safe or appropriate for general use. Your job is to make sure that those items remain with the Engineers. The other factions sometimes call upon your services to help protect Camp Hope. What little tinkering you engage in is focused on making yourself better weapons.

• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You gain the ability to craft TL 1 Heavy Weapons. Creating one of these weapons follows the crafting rules under the engineering skill in the Ultra Modern 5 source book.

Rank 4: Senior Engineer

• Prerequisite: Rank 3 (Staff Engineer), Renown 15 with the Engineers.

You are put in charge of several shops and over see the projects of those shops. You generally don't cunduct any experiments yourself these days as you are now occupied with training new recruits and monitoring their performance.

• You can call upon 1d4 Staff Engineers (along with their underlings) to assist you in conducting research or performing an experiment. Use the following stat block for the Staff Engineers: . The staff engineers have +7 to their engineering skill.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You are able to make yourself an Engineering Gadget. Making this costs 50 credits and requires 10 days to complete.

Special Role: Independant Engineer Level 2

• Prerequisite: Rank 3 (Independant Engineer), Renown 15 with the Engineers.

You have become known as a skilled Engineer within Camp Hope. Your shop has gained a reputation as being a place to go for engineering services. You have attracted more people to work with you while conducting your experiments.

• Your shop earns you 20 credits a month after paying for all your expenses.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You are able to make yourself an Engineering Gadget. Making this costs 50 credits and requires 10 days to complete.
• You gain a TL 3 Engineering Kit.
• In most areas, you will be able to recover $30 worth during a short rest and $40 worth during a long rest for your widget bag.

Special Role: Scorchbringer Level 3

• Prerequisite: Rank 3 (Scorchbringer Level 2), Renown 15 with the Engineers.

You continue in your efforts to protect the Engineers and their machines. What few expriments you do perform are focused on how to make more powerful weapons to assist you in your task.

• You gain the ability to craft TL 2 Heavy Weapons. Creating one of these weapons follows the crafting rules under the engineering skill in the Ultra Modern 5 source book.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.

Rank 5: Principal Engineer

• Prerequisite: Rank 4 (Senior Engineer), Renown 25 with the Engineers.

As one of the most famous members of the faction, you join the ranks of the Engineering Board. As a member of the Engineering board, you have the ear of the Head Engineer. You can never be fully aware of the scope of their plans, but you know more about them than anyone aside from the other members of the board. The Head Engineer listens to your opinion, even though you’re not as skilled an engineer with the years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom that they hold. Ultimately, Head Engineer tells you what to do — and you (along with your peers) tell the rest of the faction how to do it.

• As a member of the Engineering Board, you can maintain yourself at a wealthy lifestyle between adventures.
• You can call upon 1d4 Senior Engineers (along with their underlings) to complete research and experiments for you. Use the following stat block for the Senior Engineers: . The senior engineers have +10 to their engineering skill.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.

Special Role: Independant Engineer Level 3

• Prerequisite: Rank 4 (Independant Engineer Level 2), Renown 25 with the Engineers.

As one of the most famous members of the faction, you enjoy the use of a well stocked shop to conduct the research and experiments of your choice. You are viewed as being a genius, but also as being eccentirc.

• Your shop earns you 40 credits a month after paying for all your expenses.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You gain a TL 3 Engineering Kit.
• In most areas, you will be able to recover $40 worth during a short rest and $50 worth during a long rest for your widget bag.

Special Role: Scorchbringer Level 4

• Prerequisite: Rank 4 (Scorchbringer Level 3), Renown 25 with the Engineers.

You continue in your efforts to protect the Engineers and their machines. What few expriments you do perform are focused on how to make more powerful weapons to assist you in your task.

• You gain the ability to craft TL 3 Heavy Weapons. Creating one of these weapons follows the crafting rules under the engineering skill in the Ultra Modern 5 source book.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.

Rank 6: Head Engineer

• Prerequisite: Rank 4 (Principal Engineer), Renown 50 with the Engineers, must be human or passing as human.

A head engineer is the highest level of an engineer, and they hold the most power and responsibility within the faction. They coordinate and direct the shops, experiments and engineering servicse for the entire camp. They supervise staff and conduct hiring and performance reviews. They train and mentor staff and update and enforce engineering policies, which include regulations, technology and experiment laws.
In this role, you are advised — and ordered around — by the Board of Hope. You are in regular communication with the board members, who places you in charge of all major faction initiatives. You might be tasked with improving recruitment, developing a plan for improve infrastructure with in the camp, or collaborating with another faction to fashion needed equipement.

• You can maintain yourself at an Aristocratic lifestyle between adventures.
• You can call upon 1d4 Principal Engineers (along with their underlings) to complete research and experiments for you. Use the following stat block for the Senior Engineers: . The senior engineers have +12 to their engineering skill.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.

Special Role: Independant Engineer Level 4

• Prerequisite: Rank 5 (Independant Engineer Level 3), Renown 50 with the Engineers.

You are considered an elite engineer and your shop is envied by other engineers. However, you are also viewed as being an outsider due to your unwillingness to join the ranks of other shop owners. Your unconventional nature makes it more likely that you will have rivals rather than allies with in the faction.

• Your shop earns you 50 credits a month after paying for all your expenses.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. This contact is a rival.
• You gain a TL 4 Engineering Kit.
• In most areas, you will be able to recover $50 worth during a short rest and $60 worth during a long rest for your widget bag.

Special Role: Scorchbringer Level 5

• Prerequisite: Rank 5 (Scorchbringer Level 4), Renown 50 with the Engineers.

You are feared by the other engineers. You continue in your efforts to protect the Engineers and their machines. What few expriments you do perform are focused on how to make more powerful weapons to assist you in your task.

• You gain the ability to craft TL 4 Heavy Weapons. Creating one of these weapons follows the crafting rules under the engineering skill in the Ultra Modern 5 source book.
• You gain a contact from one of the tables in the background section. You choose if it is an ally or a rival.
• You gain a +10 to intimadate others within the Engineer faction.