Bitter Butler

An automatic butler is a magical construct shaped like a wooden humanoid mannequin, usually tailored in a simple black suit and tie. It has only the barest hint of a face on its round head, though its jaw opens on a hinge to simulate regular mouth movements when it speaks. Its voice is often calm and measured, and it speaks quite politely. It follows the orders given to it by its creator (or anyone whom the creator has given permission to issue commands), which usually involves fetching items, keeping a room tidy, or ushering out guests. If unwanted guests become belligerent, an automatic butler can defend itself by battering intruders or using its innate magic to hurl objects with deadly force. Once a fight has ended, an automatic butler usually spends the next hour or so cleaning up the mess left behind. Automatic butlers are built on designs similar to soulbound dolls. Like other soulbound constructs, an automatic butler is animated by a fragment of the soul of a deceased mortal. This fragment can come from either a willing donor or an unwilling victim, who can resist the process with a successful Will save against the creator's Crafting DC. While resisting ruins the construct, the soul extraction process is often fatal, and the person dies regardless. Unlike with other soulbound constructs, the personality of the soul used to create an automatic butler is wholly suppressed. Instead, the automatic butler comports itself in the way a stereotypical servant would. Some automatic butlers are created with slightly different skill sets. They can be created to speak more languages beyond that of their creator, making them passable family diplomats who might welcome foreign guests. Some are trained to take care of tasks that require specialization, such as tutoring the youth of the household or tailoring the family's clothes. The sidebar covers some other options for a whole domestic staff of constructed servants.

Automatic Cooks and Gardeners

Should the designs for creating automatic butlers reach the wider world, someone would likely end up creating variations of the magical construct. These creatures would use the same basic statistics as an automatic butler, with a few minor changes. An automatic cook might have cleanse cuisine as an innate spell, a knife Strike, and the ability to shoot a jet of boiling hot water. An automatic gardener might have scatter scree and other spells with the earth or plant traits as innate spells, a hoe or shovel Strike, and the ability to pelt foes at range with seeds.