Level: Sor/Wiz 5, Rgr 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Targets: One or more piles of scrap metal
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell turns scrap metal into animated humanoid creatures that follow your commands. The moment you finish the incantation, the targeted scrap metal rises into the air, swirls about, and forms a roughly humanoid shape. Known as an iron shambler, this "undead construct" mindlessly obeys your instructions. It can follow you, or remain in an area and attack any creatures (or just a specific type of creature) entering the place. Iron shamblers remain animated until they are destroyed. A destroyed iron shambler can't be reanimated.
Each casting of animate gears creates a number of HD worth of iron shamblers equal to your caster level. It takes at least 200 pounds of scrap metal to create a normal 1 HD iron shambler. The scrap metal must be loose and not be attached or connected to any larger object, since the spell cannot break strong bonds. For example, animate gears cannot be cast on a functioning section of a mech--those gears are connected to the larger engine and can't be manipulated by the spell. Alternatively, the scrap metal could already be assembled into a humanoid shape, which the iron shambler will then assume.
The iron shamblers you create remain under your control indefinitely. No matter how many times you use this spell, however, you can control only 2 HD worth of iron shamblers per caster level. If you exceed this number, all the newly created creatures and any excess from previous casting become uncontrolled.