Cog's Finest Gadgeteer

Cog • Stahlfeld • Twilight Meridian
⚙ Mechanical
✦ Rescue
⚒ Gadgeteer Workshop

Adventure Description

The Helical Archive has been expecting time-sensitive orders from Cog's finest gadgeteer - but recent deliveries have arrived late and at noticeably worse quality. Concerned, they've dispatched the party to find out why.

Starting the Adventure

"In the center of the junkyard island that is Stahlfeld lies Cog, the clockwork city of inventors. No inventor is better known here than the Rai-Neko Gadgeteer, Inner Working. It is said he can take any Gleysian scrap found in the junkyards and make it a functioning marvel again...for a hefty price, of course. His workshop, Working's Works, is a trusted partner of the Helical Archive. When deliveries stopped arriving on time - and those that did were noticeably worse - the Archive dispatched you to check in. Standing outside the workshop's rather humble storefront, nothing seems out of the ordinary."

The Adventure Site is confined to the workshop mainly, but there's plenty of ways to resolve it - from a cut-and-dry rescue to exposing or directly blackmailing Inner Working. Stealth and Negotiation work just as well as storming the storefront, so run with whichever way the party goes!

To extend the Adventure, consider including scenes at the Archive to track down and expose the shady researcher.

Quest Resolution

✦ Rescue

On a successful rescue, Working will let the party keep anything they looted during the rescue and provide a free Advanced Gadgeteering service to each PC. If Pinch's plans are exposed, Working will disown him but not press charges. Surviving Kidnappers' fates are left up to the party.

✦ Confronting the Gadgeteer

If the party learns the truth about Working's use of Cores, and cares about it, Working will try to cut a "hush-hush" deal with the party to not inform the Archive, offering his Sludge Wrench up.

Sludge Wrench [Standard Weapon]
Despite a hefty weight, whenever this wrench is dropped it simply floats a few inches off the floor. Looks constantly slicked with oil.
  • Magical weapon made of Sky Steel.
  • Imbued with Eldritch Ennui Sludge (Source, pg. 292): Imbued items can slow the operation of vehicles and other moving mechanical contraptions to a virtual stop. Any machine in physical contact with the imbued item will refuse to move.
1 Slot · 200 Coins
Autodrone working on a project
Autodrone working on a project. Art by: Ryo Yambe

Secrets & Clues

  1. Unlike the rebuilt Gleysian Drones of other workshops in Cog, the Autodrones of Working's Works seem unusually intelligent, capable of prolonged autonomous work.
  2. The secret of Working's craft is the direct use of Gleysian Bio-Mechanoid "soul cores" in his repairs, imbuing the devices with a level of awareness eerily close to the Bio-Mechanoids they came from, though lacking personality.
  3. Working doesn't really understand how the infusion works; he just knows it does and doesn't ask questions.
  4. If confronted about the secret, Working will become defensive, claiming he only uses irreparable cores and has an agreement with the Archive. This is a half-truth - it is through unofficial channels with a specific researcher.
  5. Working plans to pass on the craft only to his first-born son, Drop, and is careful not to share any secrets with his second, Pinch.
  6. Pinch, the second-born, won't inherit the forge or its knowledge. Jealous of Drop, he hired Kidnappers to take his "stolen" inheritance by force. He speaks to them via Hush Bands.
  7. The Kidnappers are a gang of unsuccessful Chib Junkers looking to steal Working's secrets and set up a competitor in Sprocket. With Working holding out so long, their patience is running thin and they're considering just robbing the workshop empty instead.
  8. Both Drop and Pinch were away at the time of Working's disappearance, at Pinch's behest.
  9. Concerned neighbors mention hearing strange cries coming from the top of the larger workshop recently.

The Workshop [Adventure Map]

Map of the Workshop
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Map of the Workshop. Art by 1pagedungeons. (Right-click + Open in new tab for full size)

Workshop Locations (1-4)

1 Storefront Entrance Guardian

No customers inside. Half-empty racks of minor arcane devices - a Techatiel Build-Kit and Hush Bands. A splatter of blood on the floor.
2 Kidnappers pretend to keep shop.

Kidnappers [Peacekeeper]
Chibs. Junkers. Impatient.
  • Pretend they help Working run the shop in his absence.
  • Communicate via Hush Bands.
Techatiel Build-Kit
Often eerily seen staring at you off on some distant ledge or tree, these dark button-eyed birds are actually man-made contraptions, acting as mobile scouts for anyone looking to protect their territory.
A Gadgeteer can use these kits to Craft a Techatiel of their own.
1 Slot · 50 Coins
Hush Bands
After an academic discovered that folks' vocal cords ever so slightly vibrate when they simply think up a sentence, crafty Gadgeteers made fashionable chokers allowing for, essentially, short-range telepathy.
  • Anyone wearing a matching choker may telepathically speak to each other, not requiring vocal components at all.
  • This has an effective range of 100ft or 3 Areas.
  • Technically speaking, it works up to 200ft or 6 Areas. This requires an Aura Check or the intended message becomes altered against the user's intent.
0.5 Slots · 75 Coins
2 Sleeping Quarters Guardian

Messy beds, as if recently searched. 2 Kidnappers whisper about the state of plans with Pinch. The closet holds a secret door.
2 Extreme Heat Outfits (Source, pg. 172) within the room.

Penny Drop & Penny Pinch [Custrel]
Young Rai-Neko adults. Twins. Working's sons.
  • Indistinguishable from each other.
3 Foundry

Hot. Constant buzzing and puffing. Low Pipes hinder movement for anyone but Small Species - all Areas here are Cramped and Isolated. 3 Autodrones move about, performing delicate repair work. The Room is protected by 4 Scout Drones hovering in the corners.

Autodrones [Drone]
Gleysian, remade. Surprisingly intelligent.
  • Uncaring about who runs the smithy, focused on their work.
  • Hostile to anyone messing with the machinery or projects.
Scout Drones [Scout Drone]
Buzzing. Refined. Laser Pointers.
  • Perceive intentions of anyone around.
  • Attack anyone wishing others harm.
4 Compactor Harmful Terrain

15ft across. LOUD. Powered by the Waterwheel. Crushes everything.

  • Falling into the Compactor results in escalating Injuries per Turn, starting from a Light Injury. Requires use of an appropriate Item/Ability or a successful Might Check to escape.

The Workshop [Locations 5-7]

Map of the Workshop
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Map of the Workshop. Art by 1pagedungeons. (Right-click + Open in new tab for full size)

Workshop Locations (5-7)

5 Hearth Harmful Terrain

Zone full of flames, heating the Pipes and the Cores within. The Cores must be kept hot and circulating through the system to maintain their charge before infusion. There's a door behind the flames to Working's Secret Office.

  • Direct exposure to the flames results in a Burning Injury
    (Source, pg. 267) per Turn.
6 Waterwheel Entrance Guardian

Gadgeteer Working is bound to the waterwheel itself - a stream of water constantly turning him. 3 bored Kidnappers hold guard, playing games. A door hides behind the water-powered gears, leading to Working's Secret Office.

  • The waterway that powers the Waterwheel can be accessed via the roof - though it's a bit slippery!
Gadgeteer Inner Working [Custrel]
Rai-Neko. Drowsy. Soft-spoken. Full prosthetic torso and arms.
  • Knows how to build/fix Autodrones.
  • Knows how to repair very complex Gleysian relics.
  • Unwilling to share this knowledge.
7 Secret Office Loot

2 Autodrones protect schematics on a desk. These papers hold
the secrets to the use of Bio-Mechanoid Cores in Working's work.

  • A hatch can open a Pipe ending here. Just inside the Pipe is an inert Soul Core, which functions as a Small Spell Engine.

Random Encounters [D20]

1-4: The Kidnappers in the room become Hostile, and Ambush!
5-9: 2 Autodrones short-circuit, making them attack the party.
10-13: Drop & Pinch argue about the disappearance of Working, forcing the party to take a side.
14-16: A faint trail of bloodsplatter points towards the Waterwheel.
17-18: Pinch assures everyone his dad has gone on a spontaneous vacation and not to worry.
19-20: Drop is asking around if anyone has seen his dad.
Rank 1-2 Adventure
Decrease: Consider changing the Kidnappers to Mundymutts.
Increase: For a much higher adventure, change the Kidnappers to Hopper Majo and the Drones to War Drones.
Starting Coin: 200C

Sources & Adversaries

This is an adaptation of the one-page dungeon Secrets of the Smith by 1PageDungeons, licensed under CC-by-SA.

  • Custrel: Source, pg. 184
  • Drone: Source, pg. 376
  • Peacekeepers/Scout Drones/Techatiel: by Quagg (Homebrew)