Last time we talked a bit about supporting characters. Today we are going to look at a specific support character I have used in a number of genres: the tinkerer. I love this type of character that can make things that other people can use because of the versatility. A good tinkerer should have a trick for every occasion.

What Is a Tinkerer?

Now depending on your genre, the Tinkerer may be called a number of different things. In a medieval fantasy setting, this might be an artificer, enchanter, or even an alchemist. Modern day tinkerers would be mechanics, mad scientists, and Macgyvers. In a future science fiction setting, they may look more like an engineer, nanobot-mancer, or technopath.

The job of the tinkerer is to create something that other people can use. A wizard scribes a scroll or crafts a wand. An inventor creates a rocket pack or grappling hook. A lab tech engineers a cybernetic arm or temporary force field. People take their inventions and put them to good use, hopefully for the benefit of the rest of the party.

In Fate Core, these characters tend to have high Crafts and Resources, two skills that normally do not see a lot of use in games. Which, to be honest, is one of the reasons I love playing a character.

Making an Effective Tinkerer

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