By Peter van Hamme
The Special Op is a soulmech who´s taken to - or was built for a life as a warrior. Maybe some military organisation deliberatley created him this way to use him for their own ends. (In this case, the character would not have been a soulmech before, but becomes one upon taking this prestige class). Or maybe he´s been a soulmech for some time and decided it was time to use that new body´s possibillities to a real advantage. Whatever the case, he gradually builds himself into a deadly but elegant tool of destuction.
While simply putting the soul into a massive war machine would be to much of a mental strain, this gradual transformation can be handeld quite well. Especially since the changes to the body usually don´t show on the outside.
Though he´s a very able fighter, a Special Op´s speciality are covert and infiltration missions, that rely on stealth and cunning rather than brute force.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify to become a Operative, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
Race: Soulmech
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Repair 8 ranks, Craft robotics 8 ranks, any other craft skill 4 ranks, Move Silently 4 ranks, Hide 4 ranks
Feats: Technical proficiency, Gearhead
Special: Must have favored tech: robotics
Alignment: Any non-chaotic
Class skills
Balance (Dex), Craft (Int), Climb (Str), Cryptography (Int), Demolitions (Int), Disable Device (Int), Freefall (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move silently (Dex), Open lock (Dex), Pilot (Dex), Profession (Int), Repair (Int), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Device (Int),
Skill points at Each Level: 8 + Int modifier
Class features All the following are class features of the Soul-Ship prestige class:
Weapon and armor proficiency: you get no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Neural Net protection (Ex): Whenever your hit points drop below 0 you may make a repair check at DC 20 to see if you manage to stabilize yourself. If you roll a 1 on your check, you loose an additional hit point.
Robotic upgrades: Whenever you get a robotic upgrade you may choose one from the appropriate list or any two from the lower lists. You may choose each upgrade only once. Higher upgrades stack with lower ones. All robotic upgrades are extraordinary abilities.
Minor robotic upgrade:
Informatics upgrade: you gain a +2 bonus on cryptography and use device checks.
Stealth upgrade: you gain a +2 bonus on hide and move silently checks.
Acrobatics upgrade: you gain a +2 bonus on tumble and balance checks.
Targetting sensors: you gain a +1 bonus on ranged attack rolls (this stacks with a laser sight).
Blindsight: 10 ft.
Enhanced speed: Your speed increases by 10 ft.
Evasion: you gain the evasion ability
Moderate robotic upgrade:
Unbounded leap: The soulmech jumping distance is no longer limited by his height.
Fast balance: a succesful balance check allows you to move at your full speed rather than half your speed under such conditions.
Fast sneak: You can move your full speed without penalties to your hide and move silently checks.
Fast climb: with a succesful climb check you can move half your speed as move-equivalent action or your full speed as a full-round action. You do not loose your dex-bonus to AC while climbing.
Improved enhanced speed: your speed increases by 15 ft.
Blindsight: 20 ft.
Heat vision: this allows you to see the heat signatures of living creatures up to range of 60 ft. You can see through any max. 3ft thick barrier except lead, but it does not allow you to identify what your seeing only it's rough shape and aproximate height and width.
Major robotics upgrade:
Therm-optic camouflage: you can become invisible (as the spell cast by a 7th level sorcerer) a number of times per day equal to you operative level/2.
Enhanced natural armor: you gain a +2 (+1?) bonus to any natural armor you might have.
Burst of speed: you can run at 10 times your speed for a number of times per day as your operative level/2.
Enhanced reflexes: you gain a +2 bonus to initiative and reflex saves.
Enhanced targetting sensors: you gain a +2 to ranged attack rolls.
The Special Op is a soulmech who´s taken to - or was built for a life as a warrior. Maybe some military organisation deliberatley created him this way to use him for their own ends. (In this case, the character would not have been a soulmech before, but becomes one upon taking this prestige class). Or maybe he´s been a soulmech for some time and decided it was time to use that new body´s possibillities to a real advantage. Whatever the case, he gradually builds himself into a deadly but elegant tool of destuction.
While simply putting the soul into a massive war machine would be to much of a mental strain, this gradual transformation can be handeld quite well. Especially since the changes to the body usually don´t show on the outside.
Though he´s a very able fighter, a Special Op´s speciality are covert and infiltration missions, that rely on stealth and cunning rather than brute force.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify to become a Operative, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
Race: Soulmech
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Repair 8 ranks, Craft robotics 8 ranks, any other craft skill 4 ranks, Move Silently 4 ranks, Hide 4 ranks
Feats: Technical proficiency, Gearhead
Special: Must have favored tech: robotics
Alignment: Any non-chaotic
Class skills
Balance (Dex), Craft (Int), Climb (Str), Cryptography (Int), Demolitions (Int), Disable Device (Int), Freefall (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move silently (Dex), Open lock (Dex), Pilot (Dex), Profession (Int), Repair (Int), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Device (Int),
Skill points at Each Level: 8 + Int modifier
Class features All the following are class features of the Soul-Ship prestige class:
Weapon and armor proficiency: you get no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Neural Net protection (Ex): Whenever your hit points drop below 0 you may make a repair check at DC 20 to see if you manage to stabilize yourself. If you roll a 1 on your check, you loose an additional hit point.
Robotic upgrades: Whenever you get a robotic upgrade you may choose one from the appropriate list or any two from the lower lists. You may choose each upgrade only once. Higher upgrades stack with lower ones. All robotic upgrades are extraordinary abilities.
Minor robotic upgrade:
Informatics upgrade: you gain a +2 bonus on cryptography and use device checks.
Stealth upgrade: you gain a +2 bonus on hide and move silently checks.
Acrobatics upgrade: you gain a +2 bonus on tumble and balance checks.
Targetting sensors: you gain a +1 bonus on ranged attack rolls (this stacks with a laser sight).
Blindsight: 10 ft.
Enhanced speed: Your speed increases by 10 ft.
Evasion: you gain the evasion ability
Moderate robotic upgrade:
Unbounded leap: The soulmech jumping distance is no longer limited by his height.
Fast balance: a succesful balance check allows you to move at your full speed rather than half your speed under such conditions.
Fast sneak: You can move your full speed without penalties to your hide and move silently checks.
Fast climb: with a succesful climb check you can move half your speed as move-equivalent action or your full speed as a full-round action. You do not loose your dex-bonus to AC while climbing.
Improved enhanced speed: your speed increases by 15 ft.
Blindsight: 20 ft.
Heat vision: this allows you to see the heat signatures of living creatures up to range of 60 ft. You can see through any max. 3ft thick barrier except lead, but it does not allow you to identify what your seeing only it's rough shape and aproximate height and width.
Major robotics upgrade:
Therm-optic camouflage: you can become invisible (as the spell cast by a 7th level sorcerer) a number of times per day equal to you operative level/2.
Enhanced natural armor: you gain a +2 (+1?) bonus to any natural armor you might have.
Burst of speed: you can run at 10 times your speed for a number of times per day as your operative level/2.
Enhanced reflexes: you gain a +2 bonus to initiative and reflex saves.
Enhanced targetting sensors: you gain a +2 to ranged attack rolls.