Tinkers’ Construct 1.8+
A Tinker is a person who tinkers. Multiple Tinkers can be found in a workshop.
The most expansive and intricate workshop is full of Tinkers and Constructs working as one.
This document is a recreation of what a design document for Tinkers' Construct 1 would have been had it made it past the 1.7 -> 1.8 Minecraft update. It has been remade from memory to the best of my ability. My design documents were full of extraneous thoughts and reasoning behind changes, and they are best paired with a "tech document" laying out the expected progression path for gameplay and a spreadsheet full of stats on items called a "stat sheet".
The purpose of the document is to lay out the multiple cores that this mod was supposed to have. There are a few additions here or there to make a coherent design, and a few ideas were merely "combine X and Y mods, add Z, and presto!" that I wanted to expand on.
Anything marked with [U] is unfinished and likely will not be done. Those are mostly a collection of notes and ideas for moving forward. Some of the things in my head tend to translate fairly well to game mechanics but are hard to describe with words; they're experiences, not language.
It was a different time. If you're interested in the ramblings of a bygone era, read on.
Design Philosophy
Through some means or another, I have inherited the platform of a game that is Minecraft. I am going to create an expansion to the game that replaces entirely the worst part of the game that everyone uses near constantly: Tools.
Any expansion worth its salt needs to have a variety of things added to it. Expansions that completely remove content and changes it into something else needs to justify it with a system so robust that no one will ever complain about it.
Every single person who makes a mod seems to make "noob tools". Redstone, obsidian, and emerald tools are the most common. Emeralds weren't even an item in the game when the first emerald tool mod came around in early beta days. How about... we just take everyone's beginner tool mod and make something so good they make something else instead?
Testificates are almost as bad as tools. Let's redo those too.
Every single mechanic, block, and item added to the game must have three uses. More is fine. Justifications are also fine, like decoration or sacrifice fodder.
The Tinker's Worksong
We work all day and we work all night
Zombies scare our neighbors quite a fright
We toil, trouble, until there's rubble
And then we build the road
Heyo, redwood trees! Chop them all day long~
Heyo, redwood trees! Chop them all day long~
We take our tools apart again
Grind fire and fury among our friends
Once we all can see our beloved dreams
We'll build into the world's very seams
Heyo, fields of ore! Smelt them all day long~
Heyo, fields of ore! Smelt them all day long~
Grow once grow twice grow evermore
We toil again to make the floor
With our smeltery we can finally see
What the world can offer here
Heyo, barley wheat! Breed them all day long~
Heyo, barley wheat! Breed them all day long~
A relaxing day is the one to be
Resources as far as the eye can see
The fire grows hot, the embers grow cold
With our pickaxe made out of GOLD
Heyo, slimes are here! Hunt them all day long~
Heyo, slimes are here! Hunt them all day long~
When the day is done we can have some fun
When the world comes alive in the evening sun
When the tools break then the ocean quakes
When the world is spun we become undone
And the last of us holds a broken tongue
Saved only by rising morn
Heyo, Tinker Friends! Eat and drink all morn~
Heyo, Tinker Friends! Eat and drink all morn~
When the world is saved we raise our shoe bray
Walk and run across cement in the sun
Write everything into one last dream
And repeat the song once more!
Heyo, everyone! Celebrate once more~
Heyo, everyone! Celebrate once more~
Definitions
Tinker: The player. That's you!
Construct: Any tool made in a place that is meant to perform work in making that place to a higher standard than it was before.
Construct: Any artificial animated creature or object that can be harnessed to perform work. Preferrably something that the player made, but slimes are weird.
Construct: Any system or machine that automatically performs work. All systems need an input, an output, at least three uses Workshop: A structure and its place of residence. This includes any blocks or items that are related to the place and would reasonably end up in there, like crafting tables.
Tool: An object the player uses to perform some kind of work. This can range from working tables to "working" slimes
Block: The entire world is built out of these.
Item: The foundation of tools. Generally simple.
Core: Tools
Modify all the things, then do it again!
Reason for Existing: Tools in Minecraft are horrible. Default tools are slow, the only tool type worth using is diamond, and enchantments are a random waste of time. I want to take the experience around tools to be one that is managed, progressive, and above all predictable.
References: Replaceable parts, hobby workshops, real-world tools
Workshop: Tool Workshop
The Tool Workshop is made of a crafting table, a place to make tools and their parts, a place to make reusable patterns, a place to store all of these objects, and a decent place to make them look nice. Everything should fit into a 5x5 cube. Any block that "upgrades" another need to be placed in a connected orthogonal path. All connected blocks in this workshop can be accessed via tabs on top of the UI.
Tool Station
A Tool Station is a table made specifically to manage the building and modifying of tools. Anything you do with a tool should be in here. The Tool Station can be upgraded with a Tool Anvil (part slot), a chest (inventory), an armor stand (inventory), a nearby slime (inventory), and a nearby crafting station (automatically pulls stacks of items for modifiers)
The tool station can be made out of any wooden material.
Part Builder
Tools are made out of parts. This is like a crafting table, but an item is changed into another shape instead of drawing out items as those shape. This should prevent conflicts of over-using the crafting table, and as a bonus we can use parts in any other table without causing a bunch of issues.
In previous versions, the part shaper and pattern builder were separate. Let's just put them together.
The part builder can be made out of any wooden material.
Tool Anvil
This block lets you change various things about tools rendering, like modifier order, display, and skins. The Tool Anvil can be further upgraded with a book and quill (memory) or chest (inventory)
The tool anvil can be made out of any alloyed material.
Crafting Station
The crafting station is a vanilla-style crafting table that holds its inventory. It can be upgraded with a forging hammer (autocrafting), a pattern (filter), and a hopper (removal of auto-crafted items)
The crating station can be made out of any enhanced material.
Armor Stand
Armor is a tool to protect your bum. Also your butt. This just lets you place a set in your home.
The armor stand can be made out of any golem and a stand.
Chest Slime
This is a chest, I swear. The fact that it has eyes and covered in a thick layer of gel means nothing
System: Tools
Minecraft's base tools have a number of flaws that make them unwieldy:
Basic tools are slow. The only tools with enough durability to be worthwhile are diamond
Enchanting tools are random. They take 30 levels, you don't know what you're getting, and if you're playing as a reasonable person without a mob farm it takes two hours to farm 30 levels
If you die, all your levels are gone. Good getting 30 levels back when death only drops 7
Tools can be shoved together to "repair" them, but that removes enchantments.
Tools can be repaired in an anvil. The limit on repairs is 5 times unless you rename the tool with a name tag.
When a tool's lifespan is expended it makes a crunch sound and poofs
The InfiTools mod has a number of flaws as well
There are over 6000 item IDs to deal with material combinations
Making everything out of wood is only a good idea in theory. In practice, it makes everything worthless
Tool variety does not fix underlying problems
Changes to enchanting in 1.8 invalidate some of the changes that I've made
It appears that you can see one enchantment that goes on a tool
Lapis is used as a catalyst so you only lose 1, 2, or 3 levels
The amount of experience you need per level has been increased dramatically
Arbitrary NBT data was added for maps some time ago. Something in the client-server merge has made it possible to add data, and experimentation has gone far enough that most minecraft-centric mechanics can be replicated by building a new tool.
I want to build a core for tools. Every tool can be built on top of this core, and the only thing that needs to change is some arbitrary data like material list or base mining speed.
Design: Tool Categories
Precise: Starter tools. Affects one block at a time.
Broad: Tools that can affect larger chunks of terrain, like a 3x3 area. Both precise and broad tools need to co-exist in the same space.
Custom: Tools made out of aspects of other tools. See Arcane Forge and Slot Types for more information.
Mechanic: Tool Parts
To justify why tools break instead of disappear when they are made, let's make them out of parts. A pickaxe head with a handle and a binding gives a lot more opportunity to make improvements to a tool than shoving three diamonds and two sticks into a rough pickaxe shape. Each precise tool should have three parts, and each broad tool should have four.
System: Modification
Instead of putting tools into a table and getting a random set of improvements, let's take the tool, put it in a table, add some items, and get a predictable result.
Every enchant needs to be replicated.
The way modifiers are being handled is causing some problems. Each modifier slot is worth roughly two vanilla enchanting slots, but that is very rough and doesn't account for Luck. I also want to have a tool with fortune 4 on it eventually, but even consuming a second slot just isn't working.
There's also a lot of weirdness around auto-smelt, fortune, silk touch, and other exclusive enchants. If I add even one more this is going to become unmanageable, so let's do something a bit different.
Mechanic: Slot Types
Modifier Points: A design construct to determine how powerful a particular slot type should be relative to others. Total points assigned are 60.
Upgrade (1): Base stat enhancements like mining speed or attack damage. Each upgrade slot is worth 1 mod point.
Slotless (0): Slotless modifiers make trades in other ways, like durability for damage or having a time or use limit.
Special: Catch-all for anything that doesn't use a slot, like repairs.
Trait (3): Generally tied to materials. If a tool has open trait slots, it can have more material added somehow.
Ability (5): Anything that affects how the tool interacts with the world. Loot drops or right-click are common
Armor (5): Increases defensive capabilities. Generally armor specific. Cleavers and battlesigns are notable exceptions
Essence (5): A variety slot that has predictable, positive results from the essence system.
Curse (-3): A variety slot that has unpredictable, negative results from the essence system.
Attribute (?): These are built-in abilities or traits on the tool. Tools may trade more attributes for less starting slots, like broad tools generally having larger range of motion and an extra trait to start with, but less essence slots.
As a baseline, all tools should reach a maximum of 5 trait, 10 upgrade, and 2 ability slots. Tools should also be able to trade essence slots for curse slots, though whether that is wise is questionable at best.
Precise tools tend to start with 3 upgrade, 1 ability, 1 trait slot unlocked and have a maximum of 5 essence slots.
Broad tools tend to start with 2 upgrade, 1 ability slot unlocked and have a maximum of 3 essence slots.
Custom tools start with no slots unlocked, no attributes assigned, and use modifier points directly.
Precise Tools
Pickaxe - A precise tool capable of mining stone and ores. Functions as the main progression method throughout the game. [ Pick Head, Handle, Variant Binding ]
Variant: Prospector's Pick - Comes with the ability to locate ores with right-click. -1 Ability Slot
Variant: Ice Axe - Naturally picks up ice and functions as a placeable hammer. -1 Ability Slot
Shovel - A precise tool for mining the ground. Low base potential, but comes with the pathing ability. [ Variant Shovel Head, Handle, Handle ]
Variant: Spade - The edge has been sharpened for battle. +Base Damage, +Bark Stripping, -Durabilty
Variant: Adze - The edge has been turned to allow for tilling. +Tilling
Hand Axe - A precise tool for mining trees. The hand axe also has high base damage, extra crit damage, can disable shields. [Axe Head, Variant Handle, Binding ]
Variant: Hatchet - The hatchet is more effective on logs and leaves, but less suitable for combat
Variant: Tomahawk - The axe does not have to stay in your hand. Be free, my friend, be free!
Cutter Mattock - A precise hybrid multitool for farming. Basically a hoe replacement that mines soil and wood at half speed. [ Variant Axe Head, Adze Head, Handle ]
Variant: Pick Mattock - +stone mining, -wood mining. Not suitable for mining ores.
Sword - A basic combat tool for a variety of situations. +Sweeping Edge, +Blocking [ Blade Head, Handle, Variant Sword Guard ]
Variant: Longsword - Something with a bit more... reach. +Reach, +Sprint Crit, +Jump
Variant: Rapier - A piercing weapon that is capable of bypassing armor. Each hit can bypass up to one heart of damage. +Piercing, +Backstep
Variant: Cutlass - A devious sword made for a pirate. +Backstab, +Sugar Rush, +Sweeping Edge
Sickle - A tool used to harvest crops. It performs the harvest on right click, but leaves a bit of the crop on the ground so it can regrow. It also works as shears for mobs and can silk touch leaves. [ Blade Head, Handle, Variant Binding ]
Variant: Kama - This variant has traded the ability to shear mobs for the ability to "shear" them. With damage. +Base Damage, -Entity Shear
Bow - An object capable of firing arrows from your inventory. Probably the strongest weapon in the game. [ Variant Grip, Limb, Binding ]
Variant: Crossbow - Instead of pulling back and firing, the tool can be loaded and launched separately.
Battlesign - The one and only tool capable of blocking, reflecting arrows and fireballs, hitting enemies in the face, and making sure they know you're laughing at them. Has a variety of designs to make your enemies cry while you're beating them with a smiley face. +Defense Slot, +Projectile Reflection
Variant: Frying Pan - Who needs a pointy sign when yours is round? +Knockback, +Campfire
Variant: Battle Standard - This is like a large banner that you're trying to hit enemies with. It's likely that you attract attention to yourself, but suffocating them might be worthwhile. -Base Damage, +Slowing, +Projectile Blocking
Broad Tools
Sledge Hammer - A larger pickaxe capable of mining a 3x3 area. It has potent anti-undead damaging properties. [ Hammer Head, Variant Plate, Variant Plate, Large Handle ]
Variant: Cross Hammer - A hammer that can mine up to two blocks away from the target point. Any attached blocks must match the origin, and
Variant: Tunnel Hammer - The hammer still mines in a 3x3 area, but the direction has been turned towards depth to allow for easy tunnelling.
Snow Shovel - If I'm being perfectly serious, these are just a carbon copy of sledge hammers. [ Large Plate, Binding, Variant Handle, Variant Handle ]
Variant: Excavator - Oh look, it's the Cross Hammer again. Mine that gravel! +Silk Touch
Variant: Plane Shovel - This tool always attempts to mine a horizontal plane of blocks in a 3x3 path. If it encounters sand or other gravity blocks, it does its best to leave those blocks in place.
Felling Axe - An axe capable of felling any tree or any foe. High base damage, only mines one line of a tree at a time. Redwood trees with their ridiculous size have to be chopped multiple times. [ Broad Axe Head, Variant Plate, Large Handle, Large Binding ]
Variant: Battle Axe - This variant can mine up to 8 blocks of any type upwards in a line, allowing for easy felling of small trees. It boasts the highest base damage in the mod.
Variant: Wedge Axe - This axe mines in a 3x3 area. Every time it attempts to mine a wood block, it checks for a single-item craft and gives the result. This will give you a lot of planks...
Spear: A reach weapon capable of striking foes at a long distance. [ Spike, Variant Head, Variant Head, Large Handle ]
Variant: Trident - A three pronged spear used for ocean adventures. Works very well underwater.
Variant: Halberd - An axe, a spike, and a hammer had a child. They wanted you to die.
Cleaver: Anyone who needs a sword the size of a surfboard is overcompensating for something. +Beheading, +Severing, +Blocking, +Defense Slot [ Large Blade, Variant Plate, Variant Handle, Handle ]
Variant: Katana - Would you believe this is what I wanted to make when I tried making Cleavers? +Sweeping Edge, +Sweeping Edge, +Sweeping Edge
Scythe: A tool for reaping crops. Functions as a larger version of the sickle. Attacks multiple enemies at the target point. [ Large Blade, Binding, Variant Handle, Variant Handle ]
Variant: War Scythe - Attacks enemies in a circle around the player. Great for getaways and mowing through crowds indiscrimanately.
Mechanic: Basic Traits
Materials fall into one of six categories: Wood, Stone, Metal, Slime, Essence, and Blank. For each of these categories, a default trait is assigned to the material on creation.
Wood: Wooden. +100% repair efficiency
Stone: Stonebound. More mining speed based on durability lost, but less damage.
Metal: Reinforced. Tools have 10% chance not to use durability
Slime: Slimy. Any time the tool interacts with slime, it gains durability.
Essence: Worldly. Increases the amount of experience orbs you gain from mining or farming by 50
Blank: Blank. +1 Trait Slot
Core: Smeltery
Melt down any metals you find. Be careful not to melt yourself.
Reason for Existing: Tool parts on their own is an incomplete idea. Putting materials into a table makes them easy to manage, but doesn't add much fun and makes the table itself a bit fiddly.
Reason for Progress: The mod starts by introducing you to new tools. The first natural place you would look to improve is the way those tools are made.
References: Catalan Forge, Skyrim, Lord of the Rings, Tower Furnacc
Workshop: Smeltery
The Smeltery is a combination of a variety of forge types. It acts as a multiblock structure that can hold and create multiple liquids, combine them, and convert them back into items.
Structure
The Smeltery structure is a large basin with a central controller, drains for input/output of fluids, ducts for input/output of items, and one or more fuel tanks that hold liquids. The rest of the structure is filled out with bricks or other blocks needed to fill out its size. For technical reasons, the controller is the part that stores information about everything the Smeltery can hold and for the construction of the structure. Drains and ducts act as proxies for the controller. The floor needs to be solid or have a heating element for my own sanity.
Currently the structure is limited to a 3x3 internal grid with an unlimited height. Experimentation is underway to determine a less rigid way of defining it. Fuel cost also needs adjustment as it's close to meaningless.
Mechanic: Fluids
Fluids are a neat way of showing how a material can be changed from one form to another. They grow, they flow, they make excellent walls, and best of all it gives the player a way of relating to the material they're working with. Melting down iron bars from a stronghold can be a very personal experience, and figuring out how to melt a villager is absolutely hilarious.
Melting
Each block in-world corresponds to one inventory slot in the structure. Items placed in the GUI or tossed in the top may melt with a corresponding recipe, such as converting an iron ingot to iron liquid. Anything made out of iron will melt into iron liquid. This works as an "uncrafting" mechanic, but shouldn't cause loops with other mods unless they decide to add reverse furnace recipes as some kind of joke.
Melting isn't limited to items or blocks. Mobs can also be melted, giving a variety of liquids in the process. The default melting liquid for mobs is blood slime.
Tanks
Tanks are individual blocks that can hold four buckets of liquid. Liquids are retained when the block is picked up. Tanks with matching liquids can be stacked, allowing for very quick nether emptying with a bucket, a stack of tanks, and a dedicated player.
Faucets and Channels
A faucet attached to any liquid storage tank will take liquids from the tank and attempt to put it into a tank directly below it. Channels also distribute liquids, but they have no active method of pulling them. Instead they should prioritize downward movement and evenly split liquids across all downward ports.
I want to hook up a series of 10 channels across 10 tables and make 10 ingots without worrying about little bits of metal going everywhere.
Mechanic: Casting
Primary Purpose: Item Crafting
A cast can be created by pouring yellow metal around a tool part. These casts function as patterns and allow the player to create familiar tools
Casting Tables and Basins
The main way of converting a liquid into an item is by pouring it into one of these two blocks. A liquid with a recipe is poured into either casting device, and after a period of cooling the liquid disappears and the item is ready to grab. Tables generally cool liquids into items, and basins generally cool liquids into blocks.
Mechanic: Composites
Primary Purpose: Combined Progression Method
Composites are metals that have been poured on other things to enhance the base material. Imagine pouring slime on a wooden tool part to layer the two together and make something that's more than the sum of its parts.
Mechanic: Category Traits, Composite
Two materials that are combined using this method draw out both traits based on their category
Wood: Hardened. +25% base durability
Stone: Stonebore. Increases mining speed when the tool has durability higher than its base.
Metal: Metallic. The tool is heavy and may stun enemies Slime: Rubberized. The tool bounces around when tossed or thrown.
Essence: Suppressed. Decreases the amount of experience orbs dropped by 25%; increases ore experience by 100% instead.
Normally a material can only be turned into a composite once. A material that has five category traits and an alloy trait can be refined into Teryuji by melting and casting it again, allowing it to go through the process of adding all five category traits but without a limit on where it comes from.
Mechanic: Alloys
Primary Purpose: Capstone Progression Method
Two or more liquids in the structure will automatically combine into a new liquid. This process is called alloying. Alloying should follow a reasonable progression path and end up at the pinnacle of melded materials: Manyullyn
Mechanic: Alloy Traits
Materials that are alloyed together with at least one metal draw out their full potential. All alloy materials have unique traits.
Bronze [Iron + Copper] - Work Hardened. +20% chance to reduce the amount of durability used
Rose Gold [Gold + Copper] - Luster. Leaves an invisible glowing light if the light level would allow monster spawns
Cyanite [Diamond + Copper] - Brittle. The tool tends to break apart, leaving pieces in enemies that deal damage over time.
Deepstone [Obsidian + Copper] - The Deep. Mines better in the dark
Alumite [Cobalt + Mercury + Cyanite + Deepstone] - Bounty. Ores and mobs drop bonus nuggets when harvested or mined. Converts ore blocks into raw ores.
Hepatizon [Cobalt + Bloodwood + Bronze + Cyanite] - Momentum. Faster mining speed when mining in succession. Faster attack speed when killing in succession
Ardite [Cobalt + Ichor + Rose Gold + Deepstone] - Rust. Degrades armor and metal at an increased rate. Degradation tends to inflict extra damage.
Manyullyn [Hepatizon + Ardite + Alumite, Composite on Nether Star] - Star Cutter. The tool gains increased stats as it is used. Upper limit is double its base stats per trait level
Core: Crops, Trees, and Golems
Build the castle, grow the golems, and defend everything in sight!
[U] [Natura blooms]
Stone Golems
Garden Golems
Crystal Golems
Elemental Golems
Core: The Tinkers
A Tinker's Heart is precious. A Tinker's Crystal is forever.
[U] [Mechworks beckons]
These replace villagers. They should send you on quests, build their village larger, and eventually make a place that feels alive.
Core: The World
Tinkers know what you want. Tinkers know what you need.
Slimes beckon you forward. Power the world with spinning wind!
Reason for Existing: Minecraft lets you play the game in a variety of ways. The two most disparate ways to play the game are wandering around endlessly and building a base out of only what you can get from a small plot of dirt, a bucket of water and lava, and a sapling. I want something that supports both of these playstyles.
Reason for Progress: Sometimes you don't want to start with mods. Sometimes you just want to start a world and wander around for awhile. The prevalence of tech-style mods that only cater to staying in one spot bothers me so much that I'd like to pick everything up, move to a new spot, and still progress along the way.
References: Chao Garden, Dungeons and Dragons, Mechanical Systems, Breadmaking
[U] System: Slime-Covered World
Slime Islands
Ruined Dungeons
Lost Tools and Parts
System: Slime Combinatorics
Primary Purpose: Combined Progression Method
Each type of slime has an underlying ability that can be exploited immediately
Green: Crop Slimes. Each one serves as a mobile garden and a way to keep your crops growing while exploring a dungeon, or perhaps just as a way to take a food supply with you.
Blue: Structure Slimes. These hold miscellaneous structures like chests or beacons. They should also hold small copies of larger structures like the Smeltery or a Wind Farm
Gray: Metal Slimes. These slimes are made of a particular material and gain its properties.
Yellow: Tinker Slimes. The Tinkers have specifically bred these creatures to perform tasks, like hold pickaxes or pull carts full of equipment. They aren't capable of complex tasks like mining, but are excellent at interacting with other slimes.
Red: Blood Slimes. Artificial slimes that can be attached to the player or golems and enhance their host with any built-in abilities. Large enough blood slimes can be stepped into and ridden around. Such riders are called Slime Knights.
Violet: Magic Slimes. This type has been supercharged with essence and will deal elemental damage every time they encounter someone. They make excellent combat partners if you manage to tame one. Highly dangerous, tread with caution.
Orange: Ichor Slimes. These are slimes that have been combined with all six primary types, grown to full potential, and fed bloodwood. They have the additional property of being able to fly around. Please don't overburden them or they won't be able to move.
Any two slimes can be mixed by pushing them together and waiting for them to combine. Players can determine which types have been mixed by the color of parts or additional traits that the slime currently has. Slimes that haven't been improved much may be hard to tell what types they hold at a glance, but over time they should be revealed.
Green: Mottled Pattern, Dark Green Eyes, Eight Feet
Blue: Clouds, Bright Blue Eye Shine, Round Body
Gray: Metallic Sheen, Dark Shell, Corner Nubs
Yellow: Floating Bobs, Thicker Shell
Red: Small cubes that occasionally fall offViolet: Foot Size, Essence Bobs
Slimes have a number of base stats that are improved by feeding them items. The slime gains attributes and "grows" from a cube into a different shape based on how much they've been fed.
Health: Food
Attack: Metal
Defense: Stone
Movement Speed, Jump Height: Gizmos
Intelligence: Essence
[U] System:
Primary Purpose: Capstone Progression Method
Core: Arcane Forge
A golem, a tree, a pickaxe, a slime, and a crystal are merely separate tools. You know what you must do.
[U] [Completely Unfinished]
End goal: Skyla, the winged Construct. Wielder of Thunder and Rider of Dragons!
- Combination of every other core into one object. These are the same creatures that exist in Tinker villages. The default name is Skyla and they can be customized to your liking.
End goal: Excalibur, the Sentient Tool
- Any tool can be made into an excalibur version. This tool should behave in the same manner as you do, such as a pickaxe mining a tunnel or a sword attacking nearby creepers
End goal: Custom Tools
- Each tool is made of 5-7 different aspects.
- Example: Hammers are made of "holds tool traits, mines rock, mines ores, four parts, large durability, expanded range, expanded range"
- A tool can be broken down into its aspects, leaving a "Blank". Blanks can have any aspect inserted into them up to the limit of 6 slots