Engineers

When the Inundation began to flood the caverns of the Underdark and all the races of stone were doomed, the dwarves and gnomes hatched a desperate plan. Combining the metalworking skill of the dwarves with the gnomes’ talents with complex machinery, the two races collaborated to build a fleet of metal submarines before the waters engulfed the world.

Ever since then, the two races have lived in these claustrophobic submarine vessels, as well as a handful of dank cavern cities inside undersea mountains, building and breeding until the two races merged into one. Occasionally there are throwbacks to one race or the other, but for the most part the race has settled into a stable form.

When the Subsidence came, the engineers found some of their claimed territory was now above the waves. Unlike the purely aquatic races, the engineers immediately claimed this land, calling it the Surface Holdings.

In 22id, the Seaforged overthrew the Engineers and took their undersea holdings, leaving only the Surface Holdings and fleet of submarines.

Personality
Engineers love to tinker and build above all else. This is important, because only their machines separate them from drowning or starvation. Many Engineers worship Urmaggr.

Physical Description
Because bulk is a detriment in the narrow corridors and claustrophobic spaces of their submarines, engineers look a bit more like gnomes than like dwarves. Centuries of the murky depths of the ocean have paled the skin of the engineers, so their darkest skin tone is about the same as an average human. Their hair can be any shade from fair to black, and their eyes tend towards dark blue. They reach adulthood at the age of 40, and live to an average lifespan of 350, although some can live as long as 500 years. Males are slightly larger than females, and tend to prefer carefully-trimmed yet elaborately styled beards. Female engineers do not have facial hair.

Alignment
Engineers tend towards lawful neutral. The small spaces of the submarines require strict adherence to law and social mores, and the dangerous waters of the murky deep leave little room for moral considerations.

Religion
Engineers ostensibly worship Urmaggr, the composite deity that was once the deities of the gnomes and dwarves, as well as the lesser dwarf and gnome deities, but they largely leave the actual worship and prayer up to the templeforged machines, created expressly for that purpose. As such, most engineers are largely non-religious.

Language
The engineer language is a creole language combining dwarven, gnomish, and common. The word in this language that refers to both the engineers as a race and to the language itself is “dinlun”.

Names
Engineers have the gnomish predilection for multiple names, but these names are often traditional, passed down and reused through the generations. Often, two or more names will be combined, honoring two or more relatives, and of course combining gnomish and dwarven syllables in the manner of the dinlun language. An engineer’s clan name is usually either a traditional dwarf or gnome clan name. Nicknames are unique to each individual, and often prosaically descriptive. Each engineer will also identify himself with the submarine or city he is currently or was most recently affiliated with, which can change – there is extensive swapping and breeding between submarine crews, to stave off inbreeding.


 * Example Male Names: Boddyndd, Barenock, Broble, Dimttor, Ekin, Einble, Fonsark, Gimkil, Glim, Gerkar, Jeberik, Ruddo, Osbo, Nakbab, Narnlinn, Roondek, Seebon, Takfoodle, Tordar, Traubo, Ulfberk, Ûz, Veit, Zook.
 * Example Female Names: Arnottin, Audmip, Blimpgga, Caral, Dagmil, Debish, Diewick, Duvarasa, Ellyde, Ellyin, Gunnjobell, Hlmottin, Ilnab, Liftwyn, Looploda, Mardsa, Rîthol, Roynal, Sannmil, Shahild, Tor, Waytin.
 * Example Clan Names: Anildamor, Balderk, Beren, Dankil, Daergel, Folkor, Garrick, Gorunn, Holderhek, Lodert, Lutgehr, Murnig, Nackle, Ningel, Raulnor, Rumnaheim, Scheppen, Strakeln, Torunn, Turen, Ungart, Ùstazoth.
 * Example Nicknames: Alespiller, Deftfinger, Doc, Greataxe, Happy, Judge, Limper, Patchbeard, Purplethumb, Punchdivine, Sleepy, Turtle, Yeller.
 * Example Ship Names: Alseg, Ânkizbiz, Anpin, Arlydd, Baloaen, Baridin, Delgaer, Dolgal, Duerlond, Dwolun, Fallias, Glanydd, Gloriarum, Kilfaer, Marwed, Moribar, Nalarn, Norawynn, Othâshfashuk, Ovuran, Thoraim, Thrawann, Werabere, Whureaus.

Engineer Racial Traits

 * +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma: Engineers have the small size and attendant weakness of gnomes and the gruffness of dwarves, but they are tough like both races, and tend to be cleverer than either.
 * Small: As a Small creature, an engineer gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters those of a Medium character.
 * Type: Humanoid. Engineers have the Dwarf and Gnome subtypes.
 * Engineer base land speed is 20 feet.
 * Darkvision: Engineers can see in the dark up to 40 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight and engineers can function just fine with no light at all.
 * Weapon Familiarity: Engineers may treat dwarven waraxes, dwarven urgroshes, and gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
 * Stability: Engineers are exceptionally stable on their feet. An engineer gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
 * +1 racial bonus on saving throws against spells, spell-like effects, and poison. Engineers are hardy and resistant to toxins, and have an innate resistance to magic spells.
 * +2 racial bonus on Use Magic Device checks. Engineers are familiar with magical items of all kinds. (This stacks with the artificer favored class bonus)
 * +2 racial bonus to Craft and Appraise checks pertaining to complex machinery, fine metalwork, or alchemy. Engineers are especially capable in these areas.
 * Engineers qualify for anything gnomes or dwarves do.
 * Automatic Languages: Common and Dinlun. Bonus languages: dwarven, githzerai, gnome, aquan, terran, undercommon, draconic, elven. Engineers learn the languages of their ancestors and their allies and enemies under the sea and on the surface.
 * Favored Class: Artificer (from the Eberron Campaign Setting).
 * Level Adjustment +0.

An engineer achieves adulthood at 40 years of age. Add +3d6 years for a simple class like barbarian, rogue, or sorcerer; +5d6 for a moderate class like bard, fighter, paladin, or ranger; +8d6 for a complex class like cleric, druid, monk, or wizard. An engineer reaches middle age at 112 years; old age at 169 years; venerable age at 225 years; maximum age +2d% years later.

A male engineer has a base height of 3'4", a height modifier of +2d4, a base weight of 85 lb., and a weight modifier of x(1d6) lb. A female engineer has a base height of 3'3", a height modifier of +2d4, a base weight of 67 lb., and a weight modifier of x(1d6) lb.

Throwbacks
Every so often, engineer parents will birth a child who bears a stronger resemblance to one or the other of the ancestral races. These are known as throwbacks, and are treated just the same as any other engineer (though throwbacks are discouraged from breeding with other throwbacks).

Throwback Racial Traits
As Hill Dwarf (Player's Handbook/d20 SRD), Arctic Dwarf (Races of Faerun), Deep Dwarf (Player's Handbook/d20 SRD), Dream Dwarf (Races of Stone), Duergar (Monster Manual/d20 SRD), Fireblood Dwarf (Dragon Magic), Glacier Dwarf (Frostburn), Mountain Dwarf (Monster Manual/d20 SRD), Seacliff Dwarf (Stormwrack), Urdunnir Dwarf (Races of Faerun), Wild Dwarf (Races of Faerun), Gnome (Player's Handbook/d20 SRD), Chaos Gnome (Races of Stone), Forest Gnome (Monster Manual/d20 SRD), Ice Gnome (Frostburn), Stonehunter Gnome (Dragon Magic), Svirfneblin (Monster Manual/d20 SRD), Wavecrest Gnome (Races of Stone), or Whisper Gnome (Races of Stone), with the following exception:
 * Automatic Languages: Common and Dinlun. Bonus languages: dwarven, gnome, aquan, terran, undercommon, draconic, elven.

Politics
Engineer society runs like a well-oiled machine.

Engineers tend to keep to themselves. They occasionally trade with humans and elves on the surface and with merfolk, tritons, and locathah in the sea, but they tend to avoid sahuagin and kuo-toa, who in turn are generally content to let the heavily-armored engineer submarines go unmolested.

Garzak
In the deep of the ocean’s floor, only rumours to outsiders, lay an engineer city built inside a submerged mountain, known as Garzak, the First Anvil. A sophisticated ventilation system, possibly involving an actual portal to the Plane of Air, kept all the inhabitants breathing. There were great dry docks where submarines were built and refit, and massive forges where the ore gathered by the submarines was refined and processed. Few other than engineers had ever visited. After the Subsidence, Garzak wound up above the water but is in Heim, a continent away from Surface Holdings in Stepa.

Surface Holdings
The Surface Holdings are a continent settled by the engineers.

The engineers have largely exploited their surface empire by setting up massive, polluting factories that are unfeasible in the tight confines of their submarines and undersea cities, where clean air is a precious resource. The continent is managed from the city of Flanthen (population 40,000) by the Elders, from a building called the Facility.

In 48id, the Engineers were one of the last to join Unity.

Former Holdings
The undersea engineer territories were a vast tract of deep undersea desert and badlands abandoned by the merfolk and the locathah when the Inundation came, virtually worthless except for metal deposits below the seafloor.

The engineers tended to look on seaforged as property, which caused resentment and rebellion among the less well-programmed seaforged, but society was stable between the two groups until a seaforged revolution in 22id took all undersea holdings from the Engineers, gave some back to the Sahuagin and the Locathah, and formed the nation of Wyr with the rest.

Demographics
Scattered among the Surface Holdings and the submarines, total engineer population is approximately 125,000, in the following proportions:
 * 88% baseline engineer
 * 12% dwarf and gnome throwbacks

Current Engineer Elders

 * Tolis "Tormentclan" Usurmûthkat
 * Ïngiz "Cursedirect" Thanbabin
 * Thur "Volcanodumpling" Kastol
 * Duthtish "Furyweight" Mïkstal
 * Razmer "Twilight" Gébarkesh
 * Fashuk "Moldy" Olmulishlum
 * Elbost "Ivory" Taranïngiz
 * Vesh "Nastystab" Sharulmingkil
 * Gébar "Refreshingbeverage" Dugudavog
 * Ulfdek “Silver” Valmikk
 * Boket "Ceilingpeek" Mengib
 * Belal "Greedwasp" Ònuladek
 * Kashez "Axespoon" Shos, High Priest of Urmaggr - the High Priest of Urmaggr always serves on the Council of Elders, regardless of age