One-Hand Sam

One-Hand Sam is a hobgoblin tinker of the Hedge.

Biography
"Let me take a look at that."

Tinkers are some of the most highly sought after hobs by changelings that venture into the Hedge. A tinker can fix, break, invent or improve just about anything his customer’s desire; for a price. Some tinkers specialize in the arcane arts of Contracts, or labor to forge weapons and armor and a few tinkers work with both metal and magic to create unusual mechanical devices. One-Hand Sam is one of the latter kind.

Unsurprisingly, One-Hand Sam has only one hand. He claims it got caught in the gears of one of his inventions, but other hobs whisper he had it lopped off for theft. Whatever the truth may be, Sam has replaced his missing hand with one of his own invention that ticks, whirrs and creaks. Sam travels the Hedge in his steel-horse pulled wagon/ workshop looking for work and for bits and pieces of useful material to use in his creations. If he hears about a nearby Goblin Market, Sam will head for it and set up shop. There he buys, sells, trades and takes commissions for work. Soon enough, though, he pulls up roots and sets off again, his desire for company not nearly as strong as his compulsion to move on.

Sam is gruff and businesslike in his dealings with changelings. He sticks to the letter of an agreement and never welches on a deal. Like other tinkers, Sam asks for unique and often hard-to-find components for commissions he agrees to take on. Want an engine that runs on broken dreams and emits loss as exhaust? Sam can make it if you bring him the heart of a golem, the blood of a motorcycle spirit and the hooves of a demon. How about a press that prints out pictures of memories? No problem. Simply round up an Orphean harp, a foot-long leech and a gold-flecked, black marble pillar. Essentially, Sam creates mechanical tokens, similar to the manner of Triflesmiths.

Sam is also handy at fixing mundane machinery or complex tools. Muttering to himself as he peers at the broken object, Sam pokes and  prods  at  it  and  cocks  an  ear  as  though  listening  to  a patient. He then fits new bits onto his mechanical hand and pulls tools willy-nilly from his leather apron as he disassembles the machine, always knowing exactly where the problem lies. Mundane machines always seem to work better than they did before Sam’s ministrations (repaired objects gain a +1 equipment bonus or a +1 to Structure), even if some of the replacement parts are a tad unusual. Sam is far stronger than he appears. More than one changeling has been astonished to see him heft a machine nearly as large as the hob, with no more than a grunt to indicate the weight he carries.

Wandering along the paths of the Hedge can be hazardous, even for a hob minding his own business. Sam is well versed in swinging his  spanner  to  discourage  troublesome  Hedge  beasts from  disturbing  his  work  and  his  steamgun  is  always  close  to hand. Would-be thieves would be wise to reconsider stealing from Sam as he’s ornery and merciless with light-fingered folk. Similarly, Sam will not hesitate to track down a customer that has reneged on an agreement, even going so far as contacting the King or Queen of a local changeling court to vent his grievances.

Appearance
Short and wiry thin, Sam has a face only a mother could love. His brown skin is scarred and charred in places from experiments gone wrong or from his work at his forge. He has squinty red eyes and a short, scruffy beard the color and texture of steel wool. Sam’s long arms nearly drag on the ground as a result of his perpetual stoop. His remaining, natural hand has long, thin fingers that are incredibly dexterous and sport fire-blackened nails. The other hand is a clunkier instrument, made from metal plates and leather straps with gears poking out here and there. The fingers of this hand end in useful tools that he can customize for any job such as screwdriver heads, sharp cutting blades, drill bits and leather punches. Sam habitually dresses in an oil-stained smock (the original color might have been blue) and a leather apron bulging with pockets.

Character Sheet
One-Hand Sam

Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Resolve 3

Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 2

Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 2

Mental Skills: Crafts (Repair) 5, Occult 3

Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive 3, Firearms (Steamgun) 4, Weaponry (Spanner) 3

Social Skills: Persuasion 3, Subterfuge 3

Merits: Ambidextrous, Danger Sense, Fighting Finesse (Spanner), Strong Back

Willpower: 5

Virtue: Fortitude

Vice: Pride

Initiative: 7

Defense: 3

Speed: 13

Health: 7

Wyrd: 2

Contracts: Artifice 5, Stone 3

Glamour/per Turn: 11/2

Armor: None

Fae Aspects
• Steamgun: The steamgun is an unwieldy looking device that appears to combine a  potbellied  stove,  a  set  of  bellows and an extra-long bugle. Sam keeps the steamgun stoked  at  all  times  and  feeds it all manner of metal scraps to serve as ammunition. When fired,  the  steamgun emits  a  shrill  tea  kettle-like  whistle  and launches  a  blob  of  semi-molten  metal  at his target. The metal shot is hot enough to ignore up to Armor Rating 3 and has the 9-again quality. Of course, the steamgun does  have  some  drawbacks. If Sam ever rolls more ones than successes on an attack  roll,  the  steamgun  malfunctions and is useless until repaired. Additionally, because of the massive pressure required to power the weapon, the steamgun can only be fired every other turn.

• Mechanical Tongue: Sam understands and empathizes with machines far better than he does changelings or other hobs. People that hear him muttering as he works on a machine assume he’s simply talking to himself, when in fact he’s talking to the machine. Broken or worn machinery complain of their aches and injuries to Sam, allowing him to pinpoint a problem much more quickly than any human mechanic could ever hope to. Any time Sam inspects a broken machine he  rolls  Dexterity  +  Empathy  to  interact with  and  listen  to  the  machine. With success, Sam immediately knows exactly what the problem is and how best to repair it.