Pinnochio's Workshop, by Claude Coats (©Disney)
In the fair hollows where Winters goes to rest,
You can hear the hammers pounding out a wicked winter-fest.
All his toy men draw up their tools and let out with a free,
With a song and with a merriment they celebrate in glee.
They take pride in all their craftsmanship but ne’er a shade too far,
They craft such pretty toys as to rival pretty stars.
And the craftiest and cleverest, the strongest and the wise,
Is rewarded each winter’s end with real hair and hands and eyes!
The Toy Men
The toy men were the first creations of Father Winters after his heart was stolen by Garivela. Finding himself in need of company and much weaker than he once was, Father Winters took up a hammer and crafted himself the hundreds of toy men to help him in his duties as gift-giver.
Using a different ritual altogether, he rewards the hardest working toy man with true flesh and blood life once a year as winter ends.
Heavies
Heavies are burly, lifting types crafted of dark woods and heavy metal skeletons. They are craftsmen through to their cores, and due to their great strength, work on heavier and bigger projects. The Heavies are those that keep the Workshop machines and the Hollows itself functioning. They tend to have hearty, simple personalities and gruff attitudes. Although some may wax poetic about architecture and long for the chance to work in stone, few ever do.
Heavy Toy-Man (Level 13 Minion soldier)
Medium Natural Animate (Living Construct) XP 200
Initiative +10
Senses Perception +5
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
AC 25; Fortitude 27; Reflex 25; Will 24
Speed 6
Immune disease, poison, sleep
Standard Actions
[MBA] Slam ♦ At-Will
+16 vs AC; 8 damage and the target is grabbed. A grabbed target takes 8 damage at the start of each of the Heavy’s turns.
Minor Actions
[M] Toss the Trash ♦ At-Will
(targets a creature grabbed by the Heavy) +17 vs. Fort; 5 damage. You may slide the target 3 squares and it is knocked prone. The target is no longer grabbed. You may use this power only once per round.
Alignment Unaligned
Languages Common
Str 22 (+7) Dex 17 (+9) Wis 16 (+9)
Con 18 (+10) Int 9 (+5) Cha 9 (+5)
Lights
Lights are made of gentle, bending woods and look woven together as if from wicker reeds. They tend to be quieter than their Heavy cousins and do most of the smaller toy-making and mechanical chores. They often paint themselves in garish, clashing colors with somewhat modernist leanings, and tend to be academically artsy and sarcastic.
Light Toy-Man (Level 10 Minion soldier)
Medium Natural Animate (Living Construct) XP 125
Initiative +7
Senses: Perception +8
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
AC 26; Fortitude 24; Reflex 21; Will 20
Speed 6
Immune disease, poison, sleep
Standard Actions
[MBA] Hammer (weapon) ♦ At-Will
+15 vs AC; 9 damage
[M] Wicker Binding ♦ Encounter
(melee 1) +15 vs. AC; 2 damage. The target is immobilized and takes ongoing 5 damage (save ends both).
Alignment Unaligned
Languages Common
Str 14 (+7) Dex 23 (+11) Wis 16 (+8)
Con 18 (+9) Int 9 (+4) Cha 9 (+4)
The Hollows Workshop
The Hollows was the first thing ever made by toy men, with the full power of Father Winters and his rituals behind them. The workshop travels with him, and it’s never more than a mile away and moves in lurching, bounding, gear-wrought leaps.
The Winters Hollows Workshop appears to be a great cavern complex with walls of diamond, coal, and steel gearworks. The walls shudder, shift and crack, rearranging themselves with each lurching movement as they follow Father Winters about his works. Inside, if one can navigate the passageways, are great store rooms of ore, toy men, and gifts, as well as the crafting halls themselves. Somewhere deep within the shifting hallways lies the bedroom of Father Winters and his own personal workshop.
Adventurers may find many wondrous things within the workshop. Below are a few of the most common items.
Toy Man’s Hammer (Rare)
A brightly painted child’s tool of soft wood, a toy man’s hammer buzzes lightly when held close to a work table or another item of power.
Level 8
Price 3,500 gp
Wondrous Item
Property: When you use this hammer to create a magic item, you can create items of a level equal to or less than your level +2. Using the hammer, you may create magic items as if you had the rituals to do so (even if you do not) as long as you study an item of the type you are creating for at least one hour before doing so.
Gearwork Toy (Uncommon)
A collection of little clockwork and gearwork men and creatures, each the size of a fist. While sweet music plays, these men and creatures dance, tossing up tiny balls of colored light.
Level 5
Price1,000 gp
Wondrous Item
Property: As a standard action, once per encounter you may wind up the toy. Until the end of the encounter, you may command the toy to perform small wonders as per the Prestidigitation spell. The toy can also be commanded to perform any action that could be done using Mage Hand.
The Little Gifts (Uncommon)
Coming in all shapes and sizes, these little wrapped presents provide a bolstering effect, bringing a smile to the face of anyone who holds one.
Level 7
Price 100 gp
Consumable
Property: As a minor action, you either play with or break the toy. Until the end of the encounter, you become immune to fear and gain a +2 to Will against psychic attacks.
Adventure Hooks
- Toy men, as described in the myths about Father Winters, have been seen ransacking the countryside with no visible intent. What’s causing their chaotic frenzy? Where is Father Winters and what is he doing without his toy men?
- As the PCs travel through the mountains they find themselves at the entrance to a coal and gearwork cavern. Several constructs made like toys are hammering away at gears that seem to be stuck, and all about them lie dwarven corpses and several chopped and burned toy men bodies. One of the toy men approaches and asks the PCs for help; apparently the dwarves raided the workshop and ran off with one of its vital gears. The toy men aren’t sure how the dwarves got it but they need to repair the workshop before Father Winters gets too far away.
- A toy man comes to the PCs in the night and asks for their help; he wishes to rebel against Father Winters and force the old man to make all the toy men real. Will the PCs help the poor construct or go to Father Winters with the tale?
Edited by Charles Dickey
