Note from the writer: Every Dark Matter campaign should have a robot gunslinger. Our take on that archetype starts with the Vect! Here they are for the 2024 ruleset. They’re headed to Kickstarter early next year; follow us there and be the first to know!
Very gradually, by degrees, pale blue hues invade the quiet of night, and Hammerer knows that only a few hours remain until dawn. Throughout the afternoon, evening, and night, he has meticulously inspected his tools, a wide array of mallets, sledges, and, of course, hammers, cleaning them, performing repairs, and organizing them by size and by color, only powering down for a few hours in the middle of the night.
Through the walls of his workshop, Hammerer can see the heat signatures of people waking up and preparing breakfast; he performs a similar ritual, polishing his chassis and running diagnostics for the day ahead. Mentally, he has a checklist of duties and chores before he begins the day’s work.
Finally, the clocks strike seven, and Hammerer leaves his home, a room barely ten feet square, and heads out into the town. Somewhere in the market, a child cries for his mother to buy him a toy, and Hammerer puzzles at this behavior; work, after all, is far more interesting than frivolity.
— A typical morning for Hammerer, a vect craftsman
Living Constructs designed as laborers, the vect are now free to search the ‘Verse for meaning.
Evolved Golems
The vect were preceded by unthinking golems of various designs; however, unlike their forerunners, vect are fully living beings. Underneath their armored exteriors lies an organically-influenced anatomy, with a circulatory system and a network of magical nerves. At the heart of each vect unit is an everlasting construct core, tinged with the influence of the Spark that awoke them. Vect are Humanoid in shape but unmistakably mechanical, with large air intakes, protective shoulder plates, toothless jaws, and glowing eyes. They share a general profile, and vary somewhat in proportions, but never so much that their components are incompatible with one another. In fact, many vect choose to install specially-designed upgrades to their bodies, replacing arms or legs with such tools. When a vect readies for a journey, their preparation may include purchasing spare limbs in case things go awry.
Vect work tirelessly and never require sleep, instead entering a dreamless period of inactivation each day. It isn’t uncommon to see a vect standing watch over their party, sharpening tools and repairing armor while the others sleep.
Mechanical Minds
Although vect experience fear, anger, pain, loss, and other emotions as other species do, their expression is muted. Their mechanical features leave little room for nuance, driving an emotional wedge between vect and other living things. Some vect embrace this mechanical nature and seek refuge in logical reasoning, whereas others plumb the philosophies of existence and consider what it means to be alive. These are the two extremes of vect personalities, but most exist between the two.
Vect are most comfortable existing within a small group of some kind, as long as it is dedicated to a purpose. Temples, adventuring parties, and voyages of exploration make for attractive prospects.
Search for Meaning
All vect are keenly aware that they were once unliving material imbued suddenly with life. And while there is no doubt that vect are alive, the philosophical implications are staggering: From whence do their souls originate? Where does a vect’s soul go when they die? These questions echo loudly inside some vect.
Though the Foundry ship that builds vect is intelligent beyond measure, it ascribes no grand meaning to its creations. The enigmatic ship simply creates vect and drops them, seemingly at random, into the ‘Verse.
Some vect find comfort in faith, worshiping gods of arcana, smiths, and machines. Others seek permanent distraction in quests and chores. Others still search the ‘Verse for answers in the hopes of finding some profound answer to life.
VECT TRAITS
Creature Type: Construct
Size: Medium (about 4-7 feet tall)
Speed: 30 feet
As a Vect, you have these special traits.
Construct Anatomy. You don’t need food, drink, or air. You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep. You can finish a Long Rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in a motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.
Inflexible Mind. Your mechanical mind is inherently logical and not easily swayed. You have Advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Charmed condition.
Reconfigurable Ability Scores. When you finish a Long Rest, you can swap two of your ability
scores. These ability scores revert when you use this feature again.
Thermalsight. You gain Thermalsight with a range of 60 feet. (See the Dark Matter Glossary.)
Construct Grafts. You can take the Utilize action to install a Construct graft on your body. Additionally, you don’t suffer any ill effects from attaching a graft in a body slot for the first time, and it takes you no time to recover after the attachment of a new graft. See the Equipment chapter of Dark Matter for Construct grafts.
You have the following graft installed in the External slot:
Embedded Armor. Your base Armor Class equals 13 plus your Dexterity modifier. You can wear armor on top of your Embedded Armor, and you can use either armor to determine your AC. You can use a Shield and still gain this benefit.
