In the above mentioned review, the reviewer (who I believe was more than fair) mentioned a few things he didn’t feel balanced about the Automata. While I don’t agree with all of his comments (and I won’t discuss all of his points), he did mention one that, now that I look at it, is very poignant. He points out something that is in dire need of correction and that was, at the time, worded very, very poorly. He wrote:
“However, as presented, the pdf lacks crucial information on the race and its design-decisions did not convince me – the untrained skill-restriction, the customization-magic item-overlap, the penalization of arcane casters and the lack of healing-skill-clarification all conspire to drag down what could have easily been a stellar pdf, as the basic premise and balancing seem sound.”
In the product, the Skill Restrictions paragraph says:
“• SKILL RESTRICTION: Unlike most living races, the automata learn and memorize skills in a very specific manner that makes using skills they were not programmed with very difficult. As a result, automata may only use the following skills untrained: Bluff, Climb, Diplomacy,Intimidate, and Perception.”
In hindsight, this was a bad design call. When the automata are incorporated into the next Rhune: Dawn of Twilight Stormpunk Character Primer (which will incorporate Paizo Publishing’s Advanced Races Guide, Ultimate Magic, and Advanced Player’s Guide), we’ll fix this.
Until then, feel free to following errata:
“• SKILL RESTRICTION: Unlike most living races, the automata learn and memorize skills in a very specific manner that makes using skills they were not programmed with very difficult. As a result, automata only receive ability modifier bonuses on the following untrained skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Diplomacy,Intimidate, and Perception. They still receive ability modifier bonuses on all trained skills. Because of their design and weight, automata cannot swim.”
Of course, fully expect to see a height-weight chart, as well as more information on healing the automata at that time, as well!
Cheers, Jaye