Engineer
Alpha Build 0.15; Undecided as to if the level 17 ability should be a primary class ability or a subclass ability. Also, in this revision, Shield Strength is toned down.
For Consideration
Engineer, as present is geared for right after the first orbital ring is finished. For play after the 3rd ring, or in a low magical healing setting, the GM and players should consider using the base number as the d# gained just like hitpoints per level. Average being half +1 + Int mod (for example 10 would be a d10 and be 6+int mod).
Timur stood in the main control room for the dam, studying the schematics while running his hand through his beard. The dwarf looked up briefly as his colleague’s fireball exploded outside the window. He frowned and cursed before he found the links he needed and pulled out the connections to solder back together with his harness’s arms to get the overflow gates to open. Disaster adverted, he could go outside and help his comrades deal with the dire rabbits that caused the problem to began with.
June’s icy blue eyes took in the lay of the bank before her on the security monitors. The police had the gunman cornered in the bank, but he had power armor and they were under equipped in armor to deal with him. She noted the flamethrower and activated a shield retune program to give her shield resistance to fire. She then pulled her white hair up behind her purple elf ears and put her helmet on. As she ran down the hallway to the vault room, the forge arms of her harness, now built into her heavy combat armor, quickly forged a greatsword that for the next minute, would be frosty, a tongue in cheek reference to her frozen elven homeland.
Engineers specialize in fieldwork with tech. In their engineer harnesses, they are able to activate programs to assist them in battle or in field work.
After ascending to godhood, Roman learned of how a massage solar flair had trapped Death and went to work studying in the multiverse on how to protect his new world. This lead to copying plans for orbital rings and modifying them for Audunis as well as devising the engineering harness. Leaps and bounds more advanced than the rest of the world, its power source was the very soul of the user, much like how magic worked in this universe.
Outside of Audunis, the engineering harness could be something that only a few figure out how to make, much like how some popular movies have that mad scientist or entrepreneur who builds their own special equipment.
Class Features
As an engineer, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per engineer level
Hit Points at 1st level: 6+ your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per engineer level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: Engineer field tools
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills: Chose two from Investigation, Medicine, Perception, Science and Survival
Multiclassing
INT 13
Engineer Harness
At first level, you gain an engineer harness. This can be worn over your clothes or grafted to an existing suit of armor. You have a small screen with keyboard on an arm or if the armor has a coms unit, controls are wired directly into that. Either way, you are able to quickly access and activate your programs you have loaded into memory. Your harness is powered and is used to activate your abilities.
You cannot use the harness with armor unless you spend 4 hours to graft it to the armor. It takes 4 hours to remove it from an armor and as apart of the same 4 hours, you can either graft it to a new set of armor or reattach it to its standalone field wear.
Your harness also provides you with a shield, the strength of which is determined by your subclass. You record these as Shield Points or SP. Your shield recharges upon a short rest.
If your harness ever gets destroyed or lost, it takes a days worth of work and 1,000 worth of tech materials to create a new one.
Lastly, you also have and use a storage device like a hard drive or thumb drive to which your programs are saved to much like a wizard scribes spells into a spellbook. One that is battle hardened and can withstand explosives, EMPs, lightning bolts, and fireballs cost 100 to replace.
Your GM might deem that its harder and more expensive to replace these items if you are in a lower technology setting or less so and easier if you are working for someone like Magnus, Roman, or Ex, so make sure you discuses this before choosing this class.
You start with 2 known apps which are very simple programs that are hard coded into your harness as well as 4 known programs.
Preparing And Activating Programs
The engineer table shows how many Program slots you have to activate your programs of 1st level and higher. To activate one of these programs, you must expend a slot of the program’s level
or higher. You regain all expended program slots when you finish a long rest. You prepare the list of engineer programs that are available for you to activate. To do so, choose a number of engineer programs from your harness equal to your Intelligence modifier + your engineer level (minimum of one). The programs must be of a level for which you have program slots. For example, if you’re a 3th-level engineer, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level Engineer slots. With an Intelligence of 16, your list of prepared programs can include six programs of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination, chosen from your harness. Activating the program doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared programs. You can change your list of prepared programs when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of engineer programs requires time spent transferring the programs from your harness’s solid state storage to active memory. This also includes time spent practicing the quick typing to bring up a preloaded program and activate it as well as any special movements in the harness to use the program.
As you level up, your ability to preload more programs and cast more per day represents small incremental optimizations to your harness hardware and program codes to store more and make them more efficient to be able to active more per day.
Program Activation Ability
Intelligence is your programming activation ability for your engineer programs, since you learn your programs through dedicated analysis and troubleshooting. You use your Intelligence whenever a program refers to your programming activation ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an engineer ability or program you activate and when making an attack roll with one.
Program save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Program attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Programming Module Hard Point
Your harness has basic modules for everyday use.
Modules
- Plasma Driver (PD): Used for abilities that create fire, lightning, or cold damage.
- Coms and Analytical Unit (CAU): Used for hacking, analysis, and communication abilities.
- Forge Unit (FU): A module filled with reusable nanites and materials that can be recovered or refilled after battle for a negligible cost using appropriate materials. Also includes tool arms that include screwdrivers, cutting units, welding, and soldering tools to name a few. Nanites and the housed materials can be used to repair constructs and objects as well as quickly create small objects in the field, refereed to as field forging.
- Pinpoint Field Drive (PFD): Used for creating advanced pin point force fields, that while are small, are stronger. Used for creation of temporary armor or weapons.
- Biological Interference and Augmentation Unit (BIAU): Combination of directed strobe, audio, chemical, and sent, this unit is used for disrupting or enhancing targets. Also can be used for effects that deal thunder damage and includes medical scanning and poison synthesis equipment.
- Drone Control Unit (DCU): has built in cameras and sensors and controls for directing a drone crated by a program.
Advanced Options:
If you are playing with a group of engineers or want a more specialized experience, choose two modules to go along with the specialized unit your subclass gives. This limits the type of programs your engineer can activate and in a group makes it feel like each one is more of a specialist and less of a potential jack of all trades.
Learning programs of 1st Level and Higher
Each time you gain an engineer level, you can add two engineer programs of your choice to your storage device. Each of these programs must be of a level for which you have program slots, as shown on the engineer table. On your adventures, you might find other programs that you can add to your storage device. Engineers can learn programs from your storage device with time to study and adapt the code to their harness. Learning a new program costs 10 +10 x program level in materials to represent the trial, error, and debugging the new program to run on your harness correctly.
Background Process
Some programs are marked as a background process. These programs can be activated much like a spell caster can ritually cast a well. These programs can be run by connecting your storage device and running the program right from there. Programs run in this way take 10 minutes to run, but are run at lowest possible level and do not use a program slot.
Engineer Specialty
At first level, you gain your Engineer specialty. At 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 17th level, you gain additional specialty features.
Shield
All engineers automatically have a shield and their subclass dictates how strong the shield is. At every level after 1st, their shield strength goes up by their INT modifier.
Shield Recharge
At second level, you are able to use a bonus action to drain a program slot to restore energy to your shield. You restore a number of shield points equal to 1d6 per slot level + your Intelligence modifier.
Ability Score Improvement
Upon reaching level 4 you may increase an ability by 2 or two by 1. You also do so upon reaching 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level.
Engineering Specialties
Every Engineer specializes in a field of work. Some work with drones, some specialize in using advanced plasma drivers, but what these and other specialties share in common is that they have an Advanced Module that they are specialized in using.
BIAS: Biological Tech Specialist
Biological Tech Specialists are sometimes called BIAS after their biological interference and augmentation unit. When you use a program that consumes materials to create an acid, poison, or drug, you use half the materials due to your optimization and specialization with your unit. You can also use your BIAU to identify diseases, poisons, and medical ailments if proficient in medicine skill.
Bonus Proficiencies
At first level, you gain proficiency in two of the following: Medicine, Nature, Herbalism Kit, or Poisoner’s Kit.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 6+ your Intelligence modifier
Poison Master
At second level, you gain the ability to use your BIAU to deliver poisons you prepare a head of time. If you have the raw materials to make poisons loaded into your BIAU, you can use a bonus action and expend a dose of poison and a program slot to create a highly potent poison. A hypodermic injector has extended from your harness on your arm allowing you to attempt a melee program attack to attempt to inject (or spray in the mouth of) your target. The poison lasts until used or recycled back into your reserves. If you hit, the poison does 3d4 + your Intelligence modifier damage. At spell slots higher than first, it gains an additional 2d4 damage. If you take the time and 250 worth of materials, you can craft a needle you can use to inject with as a weapon that you are proficient with. This is a finesse weapon that does 1d8 damage.
In addition, you get to add your Intelligence modifier to all programs that deal poison damage.
Low pulse
Upon reaching 6th level, you are able to generate a low frequency pulse with your BIAU that can momentarily disrupt a target. When you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can use this ability to grant the next attack against the target advantage or to give the target disadvantage against its next saving throw. This lasts until the end of your next turn. You have a number of uses of this equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum of one) and regain all uses when you take a long rest.
Health Monitor
Upon reaching 10th level, you have tuned your harness to the point where its able to constantly monitor your health and grants you immunity to disease, poisons, magical/drug induced sleep, and being stunned.
Improved Health Monitor
At 14th level, your harness is further tuned to where it will actively try to revive you when you are reduced to zero hitpoints. If you are rolling death saving throws, you roll them with advantage. If you are at 0 HP and stable, roll a 20 at the start of your turn and on a 20, you wake up with 1 hit point.
Combat Medic
During the construction of the first orbital ring, accidents happened, facilitating the need to develop non-magical healing. After the initial orbital ring was completed, dire rabbits started mutating from normal rabbits leading to a higher need for magical healing. Without magic being strong enough yet for basic healing spells, Roman and Magnus developed a training regiment for combat medics to assist fighters and other combatants.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 10+ your Intelligence modifier
Bonus Proficiencies
At first level, you gain proficiency with all rifle weapons including shotguns.
Also, you approach medicine from a scientific approach, so you are able to use Intelligence for all Medicine checks instead of Wisdom.
Lastly, you gain the Painkiller app and the anti-poison app if you don’t already know them. These do not count against the total number of apps you can know.
Do no harm
At second level, you gain advantage on medical checks to stabilize a target when you don’t have a medkit. If you have a med kit, you also restore 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier when you expend a use of it to stabilize someone. This works with the healer feat and if you have it, you also gain a +5 bonus to stabilize a creature.
Also, you are able to use your field forge unit to create a small wall 5ft wide and 4ft high. This wall lasts until you move more than 5ft away or it takes 10 points of damage. You can create it up to 10 feet away from you.
Improved Drugs
Upon reaching 6th level, you have found out how to modify your harness to channel the wisps of divine power flowing through the world and your drugs that grant temporary hit points or restore status conditions (including those that grant advantage on saving throws) also restore 1d8 + Intelligence modifier hit points. The amount of hit points restored this way cannot take a target above half their maximum hit points.
Modified Rounds
Upon reaching 10th level, you have gained the ability to modify stun gun rounds to deliver the drugs made by your apps and programs. A number of times a short rest, equal to your intelligence modifier (Minimum once) you are able to activate a program or app with the drug tag and as part of activating it, modify a stun round and fire it from a weapon the round is for. Make an attack roll, if you hit, instead of doing the round’s damage, it instead does the effect of the program or app.
Expert Pharmacist
At 14th level, your skill with preparing drugs has improved to where all programs of first level and higher that have the drug tag can now restore 1d8 hit points per level its activated as well as its normal effect. You can chose to do this upon program activation.
In addition, whenever a program of first level or higher restores hit points, you are no longer constrained to restoring up to half the maximum hit points.
CAS: Communications and Analytical Specialist
You are a specialist in studying things in the field and communications and have modified a Coms and Analytical Unit to a higher degree of power. In addition the following abilities when you reach the appropriate level, you also extend your coms range to 20 miles and double the range of all Programs.
Bonus Proficiencies
At first level, you gain proficiency in two of the following: Science, Investigation, Insight, Perception, or Survival. If you already have proficiency in what you chose, you gain expertise.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 4+ your Intelligence modifier
Analysis Subroutine
At Second level, you gain the ability to analyze creatures and objects. You can use your bonus action to analyze a creature, object, or assess a task (if your GM allows) before you take an action involving the target of this ability. When you do this, you add a d6 to following action.
For instance, you might ask your GM if you can use the Analysis Subroutine to scan a wall for suitable spots to climb, gaining a 1d6 to your athletics check to climb the wall. You could also use this to assess the weak points of a target to add the 1d6 to either the attack roll or damage roll if you hit. This bonus can only be used on the following action involving the target on the same turn and must be taken before you decide to take the action and roll.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Your Analysis Subroutine gets stronger as you reach certain levels in this class. At 5th level, it becomes a d8, a d10 at 10th level, and a d12 at 15th level.
Wide-range sensor array
Upon reaching 6th level, you have fashioned a set of goggles or a visor into your helmet tied into your CAU and harness’s sensors, bringing ultraviolet and infrared into your range of sight. This gives you dark vision out to 60ft. If you already have dark vision, you extend your dark vision sight range by 60 feet.
Advanced Analysis Subroutine
At 10th level, you get alerted to danger and gain advantage on your initiative check as well as can no longer be surprised while in or within 10 feet of your harness. You also gain a +5 bonus to passive perception and investigation checks when wearing your harness. When you scan a target using the analysis subroutine, you can also roll a science check (that does not gain your analysis subroutine bonus dice) if against a creature to find out the immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities if any exist. The DC is equal to the CR of the creature. The GM may decide to give you additional information, if she feels its important. The GM might also allow you to do a science check against an object for more advanced information with a DC related to how hard it is to deduce.
Advanced Wide-range Sensor Array
At 14th level, your sensor array has advanced to where you have blind sight out to 10 feet and can see targets that are invisible
DCS: Drone Control Specialist
Drone Control Specialists have adjusted their DCUs for optimum performance and ingratiation to where they can use simple motion controls to control their drones. While DCUs can field forge drones, your optimization allows you to recover materials used if you retrieve the drones.
Bonus Proficiencies
You gain proficiency with martial firearms and weapons with the heavy property.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 6+ your Intelligence modifier
Power Drone
At second level, you have constructed your own permanent drone from cobbling together parts. You are able to mount a weapon on it in which you are proficient as restricted by the size. See drone section at the end for types and sizes of weapons they can mount. You control your drone with your bonus action. As long as the drone is within 100 feet of you, it has power to operate, but will go dormant if it leaves that range. As soon as its back within that range, it will power up and seek you in the shortest possible rout.
Attack Subroutine
At 6th level, you can use your action to take full control of your drone and make two attacks with it. You can use your bonus action to give commands to any drones crated by a program while you use your main drone. During this time, you use your harness controls to see what your drone sees and can even modify armor mounted with your harness to show the display in the helmet visor. You may use your intelligence modifier instead of your drone’s dexterity or strength modifier if its higher for attack rolls, damage, and save DCs when you control them directly.
Improved Drone
At 10th level, your drones you create by field forging now last twice as long and have twice the hitpoints. You are now able to mount a second weapon to your main drone to switch between.
Improved Attack Subroutine
At 14th level, you may attack three times when you use your action to control your drone.
FFCS: Field Forge Combat Specialists
As a Field Forge Combat Specialist, you have upgraded, and optimized a Forge unit and installed forge arms into your harness. You may opt to not carry any weapons and instead use your reaction to field forge a weapon or change your existing field forged weapon into an other form you are proficient. You can also use this to craft tools you are proficient with.
Bonus Proficiency
At first level, you gain proficiency with heavy armor and martial weapons.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 8+ your Intelligence modifier
Power Reforge
Starting at 2nd level, when you use a program to reforge your weapon, it is now a bonus action instead of an action. As an added bonus, you can also add your ability modifier to your second weapon when two weapon fighting.
Masterwork
At 6th level, your skill and fine tuning of your forge unit has allowed weapons and tools you forge to gain an enhancement bonus of +1 and are considered magical for sake of damage resistance.
Reinforced Harness
Upon reaching 10th level, you have further improved your hardness’s hard points to where it converse a +1 bonus to your AC. You are now also able to mentally control your forge arms to a degree that they grant you also gain the ability to dual wield two normal sized weapons and add the appropriate ability modifier to the off hand attack. You can now create two weapons at once.
Multi Masterwork Forge
At 14th level, you have reached the optimum efficiency with your field forge to where you can crate and wield three normal weapons and make one attack with each when you take the attack action, no longer needing the bonus action for the offhand attack. Alternatively you could create two heavy weapons and wield them both at the same time using your attack action to make one attack with each, no longer needing to use your bonus action for the second weapon. Regardless of which set you chose to make, your bonus action can nolonger be used for an extra offhand attack. In addition, your field forge weapons, tools, and armor bonus now improves to a +2.
PDS: Plasma Driver Specialist
As a PDS, you have embraced the destruction that can be done with a fine tuned, over clocked, and over sized plasma driver. You might have your plasma driver as an arm mounted unit or as a larger unit wired into your harness that you use with two hands.
Bonus Proficiency
At first level, you gain proficiency with martial ranged weapons.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 4+ your Intelligence modifier
Ammo Reforge
At second level, you have modified your harness’s forge to work with and create ammo quickly. As long as you have material, you can use a free action to forge new ammo and programs to reforge ammo can now be used as a bonus action instead of as a standard action.
Plasmatic Instability
Upon reaching 6th level, you have increased the instability of the plasma driver so that when a creature passes it’s save against your apps, instead of no damage, it takes half damage.
Fine Tuned Emitters
At 10th level, you have fine tuned your plasma driver to where all programs and apps that use it add your intelligence modifier to their damage.
Overdrive Plasma
At 14th level, you’ve adjusted the driver to where the plasma is unstable down to the quantum level allowing you to treat all apps and programs that use the plasma driver as being able to ignore resistance and to treat immunity as resistance.
PFS: Pinpoint Field Specialists
Some PFS like to call them selves FPS, but aside from humor playing the acronyms, PFS all share having diverted more power to their PFDs and have upgraded them and their personal shields to great levels. As a PFS, you probably love getting up close and personal, taking your harness modifications and programs right into the middle of the battle.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 10+ your Intelligence modifier
Field Blade
In addition to the modifications to your harness’s PFD, you’ve also built either two small ones, one medium one, or one large one. Once you make this choice, you cannot change this unless you spend a day’s worth of time to modify this unit. Changing the shape of the field takes an hour worth of work. Either way, you are proficient with this weapon in any form you set up
- Two small units do d4 damage and can be worn on your arms allowing you to keep your hands free and do punching attacks. The fields can take a variety of forms from looking like some type of beam saber or a boxing glove like field wrapping over the fists. You can use your bonus action to make an attack with the second unit. These count as finesse weapons
- Medium unit could also be mounted to your arm, or held like a sword. It could be configured like a whip or spear in which it does 1d6 damage and counts as a reach weapon. Conversely, you could also configure this to be closer combat like a sword and it does 1d8 damage.
- Large units are typically a pole that can be used like a glaive, pike or other polearm doing 1d10 damage (and being compatible with feats that affect those weapons) or as a great weapon (and be affected by the relevant feats) and deal 2d6 damage.
- You can chose between using Strength, Dexterity if finesse, or Intelligence for bonus to attack and damage. The damage type of these weapons are Force.
Protective Field
At second level, you can chose to instead of using armor, use your harness’s PFD to project protective fields over your body. You gain the armor class calculation option of gaining an unarmored AC calculation of 10 + Dex Mod + Int Mod. Remember, unarmored AC calculations do not stack.
Extra Attack
At 6th level, when you take the attack action while using your field blade, you may take a second attack as apart of the same action.
Microwall
At 10th level, you are able to use your PFD to project a micro wall to help protect you when you roll a dexterity saving throw. When you pass, you take no damage; and if you fail, you only take half damage.
You also gain the ability to use your reaction to project a wall that grands you or a target within 15 feet of you 3/4ths cover
Field Overdrive
At 14th level, the damage done by your Field Blade increases by 1 die. In addition, on a hit with one of your Field Blade, you may sacrifice your shield and do its current value as additional force damage.
Specter Investigator
Sometimes the souls of the dead can’t pass through the cycle of life and Death has to intervene, but where Death can’t go, her clerics and other brave souls must. As a Specter Investigator, you are one of these brave souls who venture into the areas that trap souls.
Shield Strength
Shield Points at 1st level: 6+ your Intelligence modifier
Modified Harness
From studying the undead, you’ve done some modifications to your harness to combat the undead. You already have the modification needed to use the Plasma Whip app and have it installed. This app doesn’t count against the maximum number you can know.
In addition, your shield has resistance to damage from undead.
Lastly, when you enter an area where souls can get trapped, your harness lets you know. It could be an audible warning, a light that comes on, a vibration, a light shock, warming, or cold sensation.
Paranormal Triangulation
Upon reaching second level, you can use a drone or fire tracker rounds into the air to help you triangulate the center of an undead zone. The rounds cost 25 Dozen per pair to make and include parachutes to prevent them from harming someone on their way back down when fired nearly strait up into the air. Both rounds need to fall at least 300 feet away from you and each other. Conversely, using a drone, it needs to travel 200 feet in one direction, and then 200 feet in an other direction (or continue in the same direction it was moving) that is at least 200 feet away from you. Using the rounds takes 30 minutes to triangulate, where as the drone only needs 10 minutes in each spot. This sampling lets you do up to a 50 square yard radius.
If a zone is larger than what you are trying to triangulate, you will know as soon as you start getting data if you need to fire 2 more tracker rounds an additional 300ft from the previous set and from you. For example, second set needs to be 400 feet from you, third set 600 feet, etc. The Drone will have to move in multiples of 200 feet for each larger area.
Harmonic Resonance
When you reach 6th level, your experience with your plasma whip has lead you to modify its specialized harmonics to where you ignore fire and thunder resistance. Against undead, you can instead treat immunity to fire or lightning as resistance.
Smashing Good Time
At 10th level, your study of the paranormal has lead you to discovering how to have your Plasma Whip to be able to grapple any creature or object.
In addition, when you use your action to maintain grapple, you can now attempt to slam the target against the ground, wall, or an other creature within your reach. When you use this, your target must make a Strength saving throw against your program DC, or be moved to a different spot within the app’s reach and take 3d6 damage. If you hit a wall, object, or an other creature, they also take the damage. The other creature can make a Dex save for half damage.
Harmonic Modulation
Upon reaching 14th level, you’ve done more modifications to your harness and for each additional Plasma Whip grappling the same target you are, the target suffers a -1 to all checks and attack rolls. For example, if two others are using Plasma Whip against the same target, it suffers a -2.
This feature can be applied by more than one engineer. Using the above example, if one of the two additional Plasma Whip users also have this feature, the total penalty is -4.