Close
Close
Advanced Search

The Greasemonkey's Handbook: Rules for piloting Magitech, Steampunk and Sci Fi mechs in D&D 5th EditionClick to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/259520.xml&w=500&h=326
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.dmsguild.com/pdf_previews/259520-sample.pdf

The Greasemonkey's Handbook: Rules for piloting Magitech, Steampunk and Sci Fi mechs in D&D 5th Edition

ADD TO WISHLIST >
Selected Option:

logo1

What lies within this book?

The Greasemonkey's Handbook is a comprehensive guide to building, piloting and fighting alongside your very own mechanical constructs in the fantastic world of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
Designed from the ground up to be completely compatible with almost any campaign setting, this handbook brings the world of mechs, tanks, cars, carts, and any other mechanical, magitech or sci-fi vehicle or construct you can think of into your games. With step-by-step guides to building your own custom creations, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
Want to introduce your world to walking dieselpunk tanks? The Greasemonkey's has rules for that. 
You might have decided your spelljammer sci fi homebrew campaign now needs demon-possessed robots with laser eyes, or perhaps you've decided your Eberron or Ravnica games would benefit from magictech or steampunk mobile suits; complete with mech-sized greatswords, shields and ranged weapons? Well, the Greasemonkey's Handbook has rules for that too. 

However, with the sudden influx in gigantic killer constructs, your players might be growing a little concerned their spellcasters might not be as useful as they were before. Fear not! The Greasemonkey's Handbook also introduces a brand new school of Automation magic, alongside 51 construct-themed spells, 40+ magical items, 12 new class archetypes, including the tech-hunting ranger, spell-weaving wizard, college of metal bard, and a mech pilot prestige class!
Tear apart enemy mechs with the Deconstruct spell, or manifest a wall of rotating gears to shield your allies from harm. Or draw upon the divine power of Mechanus to summon a squadron of modrons to do your bidding, while quickly transforming the scrap of long-dead constructs into a fearsome mechanical dragon, taking the fight to your enemy's door. 

So what are you waiting for? Grab your spanners and roll up those sleeves - it's mech building time!


Want a Fantasy Grounds Version? - Click here to grab it!
Want to get even more use out of this supplement? Grab Adaptable NPCs today!



Like my stuff? Support me on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/VSPress

patreon



Contents:

  • Rules for piloting your own All Terrain Utility Machine (ATUM), both in and out of combat
  • An easy to use, step - by - step guide to constructing your ATUM, from chassis to weapon upgrades
  • New firearm equipment for players
  • A simple fuel and ammo management system, for those hardcore players wanting to track fuel or ammo consumption during travel and encounters
  • 3 Background mech clans you can integrate into Ravnica or your own homebrew settings
  • A mech pilot prestige class with 3 differing paths into the different clans - the Junker, Nomad or Grey Wolf
  • 47 new magical items, from uncommon all the way up to legendary
  • 12 construct themed class archetypes, including the Bard College of Metal, Druid Circle of Steel, Tech Hunter Ranger, and Paladin Oath of the Primus
  • A complete spell list for the Artificer class
  • A brand new type of construct magic, the School of Automation
  • 51 construct themed spells, from 1st - 9th level
  • 3 new feats - the Tinkerer, Hardware Savant and Mechanically Enhanced
  • A guide to introducing ATUMs to your current campaign, with plot hooks for sci fi, steampunk and magical settings
  • Variant rules for climbing large ATUMs and creatures, and mechanics for hacking constructs and objects
  • A step by step guide to balancing encounters with one or more ATUMs involved
  • Variant rules and examples for using 3 specialist engine and fuel types - magical lodestone crystals, sci fi plasma engines, and ritualistic soul cages
  • 4 NPC pilots, each with their own backstory, personality and ATUM you can use to help flesh out your world
  • Rules for salvaging destroyed ATUMs, turning construct hunting into a profitable and worthwhile venture for your players
  • Rules for building and earning gold from your own ATUM workshops during downtime or between adventures
  • 3 different ATUM chassis types, 4 different mobility types, and 3 different classes - civilian, industrial and military
  • 81 different ATUM weapons, each with their own special rules and uses; from light, pintle mounted machine guns to missile launchers and industrial wrecking balls
  • 36 different ATUM upgrades, including pressurized cockpits for space travel, storage trailers for wheeled vehicles and mobile workshop installations
  • 22 different player weapons, including revolvers, laser rifles, energy blades and tesla gloves
  • Rules for modifying ranged weapons with different scopes, frames, grips and barrels
  • 11 different firearm ammunition types, from high explosive to tranquilizer rounds
  • 100+ pages, filled with art from artists such as Dean Spencer, Patrick E. Pullen, Dean Spencer, Forge Studios, Aaron Lee and more
  • A form fillable ATUM character sheet PDF for tracking the development of both ATUM and player!

Still not sure if the Greasemonkey's is for you? Check out what our reviewers have to say!

"One of the best magitech guides i've ever seen." - Eu C.

"What an impressive feat of world building and writing this book is. The authors outlined every detail required to build, maintain and fully immerse yourself in the "giant robot" genre for 5e. Player options (subclasses) are very well balanced and provide intriguing options for any game regardless of if you plan to include the ATUM." - Garin J. 

"If you want a magitech, steampunk, or sci-fi campaign, this is the supplement you need. You don't even need to include the mechs (but you should), this book has so many mechanics for how technology would work and could serve as a template for you to create your own mechanics and rules." - Fred T

"I highly recommend if you're interested in [the] concepts presented, you pick the supplement up. It's really well written and from the credits it's obviously thoroughly playtested and vetted." - Bryan H

"Fantastic supplement. If you are a fan of the Eberron setting, you will find a tonne of content in this product that will enhance your game. All of the player and dm options contained within are at the quality that you have come to expect from Vall does DnD." - Trevor A.

"Not only is this new supplement great for adding a new wrinkle to Eberron campaigns, it can also be utilized for campaigns set in the Magic: The Gathering world of Ravnica. Since D&D recently released The Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, this new guide even has some hooks and backgrounds that are made just for the Ravnica campaign setting." -  Comicbook.com

Check out the Greasemonkey's review over on the D&D Character Lab! - https://soundcloud.com/dndcharacterlab/couple-of-greasemonkeys

You can also find an in-depth content review from the Crit Academy Podcast! - http://critacademy.libsyn.com/episode-110-greasemonkeys-handbook

Here are a few page samples from the PDFs:

Monster1 magic items 1 classes 1 sample 4

sample 7 map 4

map 2 map 3 map 7

Find more best selling products from the Vall Does DnD team below! 

LH 100 MH Tier 1 Hunts T1MHR

 MH Halloween MH Avernus Theros Honk curious 

GMH anpc Dogfighters Handbook Monster Hunt Cover battlemap

Fantasy Grounds Modules

 FG1 FG2 Pinewood Curious 


LOGO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valldoesdnd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/valldoesdnd
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/valldoesdnd
Tumblr: https://valldoesdnd.tumblr.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/YKFTBww
Twitter: @Valldoesdnd




pixel_trans.gif
 
 More from this Title's Contributors
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (18)
Discussions (58)
Customer avatar
Rowan A February 11, 2024 6:36 am UTC
PURCHASER
I was wondering how long it was supposed to take to assemble a new ATUM from scratch. Is it supposed to be a set amount of time based on its size category, or is it supposed to take a certain amount of time based on how much the finished ATUM costs? The idea of building an ATUM using the basic crafting rule of 5gp worth of progress per day seems rather ridiculous.
Customer avatar
Joshua R December 24, 2022 2:28 am UTC
PURCHASER
this is awesome, would i be allowed to use these rules in a podcast that i'm working on?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S December 28, 2022 4:11 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi Joshua, you can absolutely use these rules for a podcast! Just be sure to advertise/let folks know where they can find the rules themselves and drop a link back here where possible to help support the book ^_^
Reply
Customer avatar
Joshua R April 06, 2023 10:38 am UTC
PURCHASER
of course! thank you so much!
Customer avatar
Damian F August 29, 2022 12:52 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I have a quick question about something that seems a bit strange to me -

Module splitter is incredibly expensive and drops the AC of the mech by 2. But its payoff is... +2 module slots.

The problem I have with this is that Module Splitter itself costs 1 module slot.

So that means you're spending a large sum of money, 1 module slot, and reducing your AC by 2... to get back 1 module slot. Which means you could have just used that original slot and not given yourself detriments.

I can see the intention here, it just isn't presented clearly. It should probably have its module cost reduced to 0 to work as I think it's intended to.

(I realise of course that an in-print book can't be updated, though an errata PDF or something might be appreciated)
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S December 28, 2022 4:09 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi Damian, the module splitter was intended to represent having to drop armor reinforcement from an ATUM in order to have space to add a new module slot for upgrades.

It should have really just cost 0 module slots to begin with and award 1 extra slot and a -1 or 2 to AC.
The intention was to have a detriment so the slot just wasn't an auto-take when building every ATUM, especially Light ATUMs, where module slots are much more valuable and their AC is usually higher to begin with.

If you'd like to try that option instead, be sure to let me know how it goes for you! I'll look at getting an update to this PDF in the future, or at least an errata pdf for POD.
Customer avatar
Hyko X April 24, 2022 3:46 pm UTC
Book 2 When?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S April 29, 2022 10:04 am UTC
CREATOR
We can't offer a date just yet, but we're working on it as we speak. Head over to the official Vall Does DnD discord to keep up to date with our release schedule and progress!

https://discord.gg/yCq5aGV
Customer avatar
Trygve B June 26, 2021 5:05 am UTC
Why does it seem like the damage is so low for some of the weapons. Many of the firearms feel like their damage is so low in comparison to the standard weapons in the player's handbook, some of the modern firearms presented in the DMG, or really any other homebrew I have seen relevant to firearms. A semi-auto pistol only does 1d4 damage while a hand crossbow can do 1d6? That just doesn't make sense to me.

I can understand if this was to balance things for Personal-scale and Mech-scale damage. If that is the case, any advice to scale currently existing weapons?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S June 26, 2021 4:31 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hiya Trygve, thanks for the questions!

At first glance, some of the weapons do appear to be lower in raw damage in comparison to the ones found in the Player's Handbook, but this is usually offset by the special rules governing them. I also didn't want to have the firearms completely replace conventional weapons - as our paladin still enjoyed running into gunfire and smacking things while the ranger kept him covered with assault rifle fire. Additionally, I wanted to ensure lighter ranged weapons didn't have the raw damage output to be able to go toe-to-toe with a mechsuit. Armor piercing heavy snipers? sure. revolvers and compact pistols? less so.

Regarding the semi-auto pistol, it actually has the potential to deal more damage that you'd think due to it's Rate of Fire (ROF) value of 2. Meaning whenever you would make a single attack with it, you fire two shots (ergo making two attacks instead).
So in the right hands, it can actually put out 2d4 + 6 (assuming a 17 Dexterity)...See more
Customer avatar
Stacey M April 21, 2021 9:35 pm UTC
I’m very curious about the actual mechanics of piloting one of these machines. A number of people have tried to put vehicle rules into 5e, including WoTC, but they all have fallen flat. As a veteran of StarWars Saga edition, I was pretty disappointed in how much one’s character actually had influence over the vehicle and its maneuvering. Does any part of the character factor in to the AC, damage, or other abilities of the machine? I really want to get into this but I’m gun shy about vehicle rules in 5e.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S April 26, 2021 4:41 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi Stacey, thanks for your interest!
We were aware going into this that there have been many different iterations of vehicles, so wanted to do our own take on it that got the character's abilities more involved. We wanted the ATUMs to feel like extensions of your character, instead of items that completely removed the unique feel of each class.

To that end, the ATUMs each have their own set AC and movement bonuses that aren't changed by the pilot, but can be interacted with differently depending on the character piloting, via a broad 'direct' and 'indirect' system that allows for class feature interaction where it would logically be able to be implemented.

For example, a direct ability, such as a barbarian's rage, wouldn't affect the ATUM, because it directly affect's the barbarian, specifically. But should that barbarian be piloting the ATUM when it needs to make a Dexterity saving throw? Then the Barbarian, as the pilot, could opt to use their Danger Sense feature to get advantage...See more
Customer avatar
Casey P April 03, 2021 9:40 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Cool stuff. I was holding out hope there would be some mech npcs to throw at my players, but alas.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S April 04, 2021 3:07 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for the support Casey!
You can find a selection of mechs and NPC pilots to challenge your players on pages 72 through to 85. We also added a selection of short adventures that use some of these creatures (called hunts) that are listed from page 86 onwards. I hope this helps!
Reply
Customer avatar
Casey P April 10, 2021 5:34 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Yay. I must have missed them.
Customer avatar
Kaleb J January 02, 2021 3:38 am UTC
PURCHASER
Quick note, I've been making a handout for my players with various options for making their own ATUM and when I was looking at the Hard points I noticed that both the Light Sniper Cannon and Sniper Cannon have almost the same stats aside from the Sniper Cannon having and extra shot before reloading and costing less, I addition both lack the armour piercing property that the smaller sniper rifles have.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S January 07, 2021 5:03 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hiya Kaleb, thanks for the note!

All snipers should have the armor piercing rule, and the Sniper Cannon should also cost 1500gp and deal an additional die of damage (3d12 total). That said, if you feel any of the weapons require modification, then feel free to do so - the book is designed to be easily tweaked to fit the campaign your running without needing to faff with core mechanics :)
Reply
Customer avatar
Kaleb J January 08, 2021 12:50 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks for the clarification!
Customer avatar
Austin H January 01, 2021 6:52 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Would it be fairly easy to adapt the system to airships? ATUM's seem to be ground only, based on the movement systems.

If not, how compatible is using the Dogfighter's Handbook?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S January 07, 2021 4:48 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hiya Austin, thanks for the question!

The Greasemonkey's Handbook is designed to work in conjunction with The Dogfighter's Handbook, with the main difference being that airships in Dogfighter's have a different armor plating rule to that of ATUMs in Greasemonkey's. The ROF rules, module slots, and general core mechanics, however, are utilized by both supplements.

I hope this helps!
Customer avatar
Brian L December 23, 2020 5:16 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hey Vall,
I'm just curious if there are any teases/updates for the Greasemonkey MM mentioned months ago?

Also, I remember having a conversation with you regarding magic users and ATUMs but can't find it anywhere. I believe it basically ended with me being told that a wizard with a 20 AC and hundreds of HP was game breaking (which would be true). But something crossed my mind that I don't know if I had brought up in that conversation. What it/did you try having some mechanic that cuts the AC and HP down with fluff to proclaim that they needed to be less armored or more fragile?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S December 23, 2020 3:56 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hey Brian!

We are hard at work getting the Greasemonkey's Volume II sorted for release - can't say when just yet, but we're putting a fairly big focus on factions and ATUM styles as well as monsters, so the book should have a nice variation for DMs to world-build or create encounters with.
Regarding spellcasters casting spells outside of ATUMs, we're looking at making a lighter, 'open topped' chassis variant or something akin to that which should help solve the problem. Mostly allowing wizards a little extra cover from the ATUM itself, but still being able to be targeted directly or have their spells counterspelled (as that was the major hurdle we've been trying to balance).

Feel free to jump on the Vall Does DnD Discord if you want to hash out ideas, share stories, or just check out wip samples of stuff!

https://discord.gg/faGMsmV


Customer avatar
Jeff I October 08, 2020 10:17 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hello! One of my friends showed me this and we've been going over it now and again, but we're a little stuck on the missile weapons. Best example is with the MT-02 Missile Launcher. On a successful attack with it, or any other missile launcher, do we add the missile type's explosion radius and damage as secondary/extra damage to the base attack damage? Is it an optional damage and radius swap?
Reply
Customer avatar
Jeff I October 08, 2020 10:33 am UTC
PURCHASER
I think we got it... It's for the Saturation attacks, yes?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S October 08, 2020 10:47 am UTC
CREATOR
Hiya!
So missiles have 2 firing modes. The 'targeted' mode uses the damage marked on the weapon itself (so for the MT-02 it would be 3d10), and follows the reload value - thus you can fire the weapon 3 times before needing to reload it. Once locked, you can shoot your target from behind walls/without needing line of sight, so it works best for characters that have a high to hit modifier, or against Dex-Heavy opponents.

The 'saturation' mode forgos the lock on (so you can't target things behind cover) and attack roll to unload all available ammunition at once at a point within range with a save, much like a fireball. This mode uses the damage detailed on page 41 instead of the weapon's normal damage, and afterwards you must reload the weapon before you can fire it again.
Perks of this is more damage over a wider area, but the negatives is that most of the time, the save DC tends to be fairly low/less easily modified, so not great against single targets or enemies with evasion.
...See more
Customer avatar
Kaleb J July 09, 2020 11:18 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Quick question is the is one of the possible buffs of the Rush spell the ability to doge as a bound action? It seems a little strong and makes the +1 ac buff that you can get instead a little redundant.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S July 16, 2020 10:26 am UTC
CREATOR
It is, yes. It initially comes off a little strong but it's dependant on who the spell is cast on. A paladin, for example, has smite spells they can cast as a bonus action, so might opt for the +1 bonus to ac to keep the bonus action free. Likewise the rogue, while being a dodge-tank, also uses its bonus action to disengage and hide, so it makes it very situational and adds more competition to the slot use. I believe the only classes that would benefit wholly from the dodge action as a bonus are the barbarian and fighter, unless they're two-weapon fighting.

If you try it with your party and feel like it's too much though, the spell works just as well if you remove that particular feature, so feel free to experiment with it to find the best balance for your campaign. :)

Customer avatar
Matthew L June 23, 2020 9:17 pm UTC
I purchased the package with Hardcover book and PDF. it's been over a month, when should I expect the Book to show up?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S June 23, 2020 10:22 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi Matthew,

It depends where you're based I believe. I have no control at all over the POD timeframes unfortunately. That's something you'll have to bring up with the DMsGuild support team and OneBookShelf (as they provided the POD service). They're usually rather fast to respond to queries though!
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S July 16, 2020 10:27 am UTC
CREATOR
Just an update for you regarding this - I ordered a paperback POD proof for Legendary Hunts (coming soon!) and was told it would take between 20-24 days to ship due to Covid. So I'm not sure where you're based but it's likely something similar.
I hope this helps!
Customer avatar
John M June 16, 2020 11:26 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I can't seem to find where it says how many Hit Dice a ATUM starts with. Can anyone tell me?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S June 17, 2020 9:08 am UTC
CREATOR
Hi John,

The ATUM's hit dice are noted under Chapter 5: Constructing Your ATUM, and are determined by chassis type.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vincent B February 08, 2022 8:39 am UTC
PURCHASER
Sorry If I'm missing it, but I'm in the same boat as John, I've poured over chapter 5 and even ctrl+f searched the whole pdf but I can not find where the number of hit dice per chassis is listed, its not on the same table with the other stats at the start of chapter 5.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S February 08, 2022 2:17 pm UTC
CREATOR
No worries Vincent - it's on page 23 of the PDF, in the 'Chassis Type' table, under the 'hit points' column in brackets. Light has 15 Hit Dice (15d10), Medium has 20 (20d12), and Heavy has 20 (20d20). Hopefully this clears things up!
Customer avatar
Vall S April 21, 2020 12:33 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hello everyone!

We are currently hard at work on pre-production of The Greasemonkey's Handbook Volume II - This is planned to be focused on NPCs, ATUMs and new creatures that live alongside them, acting as the Greasemonkey's Monster Manual to our Player's Handbook (though it will also feature some tasty new ATUM chassis designs!).

What would you like to see in this volume? Anything in particular? Reply with your comments below!
Reply
Customer avatar
Brian L May 03, 2020 3:34 pm UTC
PURCHASER
My biggest wish for Monster Manual type books is a big collection of "human" foes from level 1-20. Especially for this type of game, I personally would want a plethora of "human" opponents. Bandits with ATUMs, soldiers of various ranks, evil organizations forces, autonomous ATUMs and their masters, etc. With a variety of examples of all to allow dynamic diverse conflicts.

For example:
Bandits have bandit Cutters (fast ATUMs designed to swarm), Bruisers (to tank), Artillery (long range but weaker), Archanist (use magic to controlalter the battlefield), and more.

And I would like that concept applied to various styles of organizations with tons of choices between levels 1-20.

But that's just my wishlist...
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S May 03, 2020 7:36 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for commenting!
I'm definitely going to add this chunk of ideas to the production suggestion list... I already love the idea of bandit ATUMs ;)
Reply
Customer avatar
Sebastian V May 05, 2020 1:53 am UTC
PURCHASER
I would love to see some more subclasses which interact with ATUMS and atum combat in interesting ways, such as a rogue saboteur which does hacking and explosive related things.

I also agree with Brian, more enemies for running organisations involving atums. I think it would also be sweet to see some more interaction with the dogfighter's handbook.
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S July 16, 2020 10:28 am UTC
CREATOR
All great suggestions, thank you Sebastian! I'm adding this to the pipeline of ideas :)
Customer avatar
Mike M April 18, 2020 11:19 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Artificer update When?
Reply
Customer avatar
Vall S April 21, 2020 12:12 pm UTC
CREATOR
The handbook should already contain a spell list for the Artificer. If you mean a Greasemonkey's compatible subclass, I'm currently working on that as we speak, though due to the Greasemonkey being in print (and thus unable to be updated further), it'll likely be a separate PDF. I'll update on this page once it's out. You can also follow me on social media for more updates:

https://twitter.com/Valldoesdnd

https://valldoesdnd.tumblr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/valldoesdnd/

https://www.reddit.com/r/VallDoesDnD/
See 16 more
Narrow Results
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!















Product Information
Adamantine seller
Community Content
Rules Edition(s)
Pages
119
Format
Original electronic Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Last Updated:
May 23, 2019
This title was added to our catalog on November 23, 2018.