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NekoIncardine
2014-01-26, 02:32 PM
(Work still in progress.)

Reaper Pilot
"What do you mean we have to replace the right leg?!?!" - First Lieutenant Lette Calwell, Reaper Pilot

Reapers are one of the signature Magitech creations of the Empire - piloted mechanical-arcane monstrosities that can charge into the frontlines of great battles easily. Skilled soldiers of various stripes are brought into the Reaper program, and trained to become pilots. Those who do well with the training learn techniques for making better use of their personal Reaper, customizing it to better fit their needs.

Becoming a Reaper Pilot
Almost any class can become a Reaper Pilot - however, classes with Ride as a class skill are far more common in the role, as they have an easier time adapting their training to the role. Bow experts of all stripes are particularly commonly trained as Reaper Pilots - mechanics for controlling one entirely with the feet so that the pilot can focus on shooting with the bow are one of the most popular customizations in the field.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Skills: Ride 6 Ranks, Craft(Magitech) 5 Ranks
Feats: Mounted Combat.
Special: Must be able to get access to a setting-specific training program; normally, this means being a ranking official in a relevant military... Or being a rich enough noble to buy your way in.

Magitech Reaper
Hit Die: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+2|Basic Pilot Training, Maintenance Costs

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+3|Advanced Pilot Training

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+3|Summon Reaper, Reaper Customization[/table]
Class Skills (4 + Int mod per level):

Class Features
Basic Pilot Training: At 1st level, a Reaper Pilot's learned the principles of piloting a Magitech Reaper, but isn't precisely comfortable in the seat yet.

You are given the key to your specific Reaper - a magic item called a 'key glove', which allows you to pull the 'start' lever and activate it. The glove is a magic item, and will only work when you wear it. Without wearing the glove, you can't turn the Reaper on.

You can activate your Reaper and make it move, even using the on-board weapons, but you need to use both hands to control it actively, preventing you from taking actions that require a hand during any turn where you make the Reaper change speed or change direction. (You can make it stop one-handed, or keep it moving along its existing course one-handed.) While piloting in this fashion, you always count as having a hand on the needed control to activate weapon systems or other features of the Reaper.

Maintenance Costs: You are officially responsible for the cost of maintaining your Reaper once you've been granted it. It must be returned to a maintenance shop at least once per week in order to remain functional, unless you can maintain it yourself with the right tools (a Masterwork Artisan's Tools set purchased in a country where Magitech sees regular use is sufficient), a DC 20 Craft(Magitech) check, and eight hours of work. Weekly maintenance costs 50 gold pieces; repairing damage suffered by the mech costs 10 gold pieces per hit point of damage (or takes one hour of work and a DC 20 Craft(Magitech) check). No maintenance shop in the land will let a damaged Reaper out of their shop until it's fixed and paid for.

Repairing a destroyed Reaper costs 1,000 GP and takes one week. Repairing destroyed Reapers in the field is next to impossible.

Advanced Pilot Training: At 2nd level, a Reaper Pilot learns how to handle the device's leg-based controls, which can enable them to pilot and maneuver the Reaper hands-free. A DC 10 Ride check allows them to command the Reaper's movement while leaving both hands free. Using the Reaper's weapon systems or certain other features still requires one hand on the controls, regardless of check results.

Summon Reaper: At 3rd level, you are considered an expert Reaper Pilot who can be trusted to freely use the mech in the field. You can now upgrade any other glove or gauntlet to serve as your key glove by paying the maintenance shop 100 GP and giving them a day, allowing you to benefit from a hand-slot magic item while still being able to call in a Reaper.

Once per day, you can use a command word to summon your Reaper to any location within twenty feet of you that is on steady ground. This is a full-round action, which causes the Reaper to greater teleport (Reaper and attached equipment only) to the selected location.

Once per day, you can use another command word to dismiss your Reaper, returning it to a specified maintenance bay (as greater teleport, Reaper and attached equipment only). Non-military Reaper Pilots need to work out a maintenance bay location somehow or other before they can gain the ability. If you dismiss the Reaper while piloting it, you must pass a DC 15 Ride Check as if you had fallen off of it to avoid landing prone.

Reaper Customization: At 3rd level, your Reaper is truly considered your Reaper; you can now purchase customizations for it, starting with a free basic paintjob. For available customizations, see "The Reaper" column, below.

Reaper Pilots in the world

Adaptation: Any nation where Magitech makes sense could potentially produce Reapers as a military weapon - and thus have trained Pilots. You could also eliminate the Magitech fluff entirely in favor of making them a type of Golem instead.

Reaper Piloting Feats

Extra Reaper Summons
Prerequisite: Summon Reaper
Effect: You can Summon and Dismiss your Reaper two more times each per day.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time increases the number of times you may summon and dismiss your Reaper by two each.

The Reaper

A Magitech Reaper is a feared bipedal piloted weapon, and a signature display of the power of Magitech. "Reaper" is what just about everyone calls them, though the proper term is "Magitech Mobile Artillery/Utility Mount". They're regularly customized to suit specific pilots' needs, but also come with several basic capabilities.

A Magitech Reaper, when initially activated, only barely counts as a creature, having only the most basic self-awareness needed to make sure it can move properly. Customizations sometimes enhance this intelligence in various ways, improving its ability to act beyond simple user command.

A Reaper has no arms and cannot reasonably equip items made for other creatures; you'd have to modify it so much that the result would be a Customization anyways.



Magitech Reaper
Size/Type: Large Construct
Hit Dice: 5d10+30 (57 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft. (10 Squares)
Armor Class: 23, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (-1 size, +4 dex, +10 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple:+3/+12
Attack: Slam +7 (1d8+5)
Full Attack:Slam +7
Space/Reach:10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Magitech Cannon
Special Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 10/adamantine and bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 18, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills: —
Feats: —
Enviroment: Any
Organization: Solitary with Pilot
Challange Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always True Neutral
Advancement: 5-20 HD (Large)
Favored Class: —
Level Adjustment: —


Reaper Customizations

A Reaper can be customized by selecting one from an array of options and paying the gold cost to apply it. There are six customization 'slots', and only one customization may be added to each slot:


Two gunport slots in the Reaper's "Mouth"
The Reaper's armor
The Reaper's piloting chair/area
The Reaper's "brain"
The Reaper's legs


(Otherwise TBD)

The Cats
2014-01-26, 02:55 PM
Looks pretty cool. I'm interested in seeing the customizations.

The reaper is bipedal: Does that mean humanoid in shape? Can it wield weapons and be outfitted with armour, or is that limited by customizations? Will the customizations only cost money or is there some limit (like construction points) to how many you can have?
Is un-summoning your reaper also a full round action?
A suggestion: Since tech skills are pretty important for pilots, maybe have a craft(magitech) requirement as well as ride.
Also, the maintenance costs seem kind of low. It's a good idea to not make it too much for a character to actually afford but a skilled mechanic is going to charge more than 5gp for eight hours of work and a level 7 character can surely afford to pay more than that. 40gp at least, and that's low-balling with a mechanic who really likes you.

WhiteLycan
2014-01-26, 04:21 PM
I also like the idea. In fact I think it could easily be made into a full base class. You could have customizations come available at certain levels. Give the reaper pilot a "Max Load" stat that increases as he levels up and becomes better at piloting the reaper. Have a bunch of customizations and give each one a Load factor. This could also be done with a ten level prestige.

Like say there are four equipment slots for a reapers: Armament (weapons), Armor, Mobility, Point Defense. Also say your max load is 15. You want a magic missile cannon and a ballista as your two weapons (instead of arms). You also want to be able to run fast so you pick a speed increase customization. You also want decent armor so you choose a medium armor customization. We'll turns out that the magic missile cannon's load is 5, the medium armor is 5, the high speed is 5, and the ballista is 2, for a total of 17 load. Either you can give some penalties for going over your load (reduced initiative, speed, attack bonus, etc.) or you can outright say "no you can't go over your load".

A bunch of cool example weapons I can think of off the top of my head (right before going to bed): (All caster levels = half character level + reaper pilot level)
Magic Missile Cannon: Casts magic missile
Fireball Cannon: Casts fireball, takes X (thinking 5) rounds to recharge.
Lightning Cannon: Casts chain lightning, takes X rounds to recharge
Obscuring Mist: can't think of a better name, but it would go in your Point Defense slot and can cast Obscuring Mist as a swift action once every X rounds (maybe 10?)


This is what I do. I throw out ideas and hope one sticks or at the very least sparks an idea of the creator's own.

NekoIncardine
2014-01-26, 05:30 PM
The reason I went with a Prestige Class and a simpler limit was to make the Reaper a significant boost on a Paladin's mount, but emphasize the abilities of the pilot beyond just their mount. As a specific example, a Wizard/Reaper Pilot is still throwing spells on the battlefield - but when they want to conserve their spells, they've still got a cannon to fall back upon. A fuller base-class version, however, would definitely involve a more finely-customizable load stock system like you've proposed. I do think I'll go with the idea of customization 'slots' akin to the gear slots on other creatures, though.


The reaper is bipedal: Does that mean humanoid in shape? Can it wield weapons and be outfitted with armour, or is that limited by customizations? Will the customizations only cost money or is there some limit (like construction points) to how many you can have?
Is un-summoning your reaper also a full round action?
A suggestion: Since tech skills are pretty important for pilots, maybe have a craft(magitech) requirement as well as ride.
Also, the maintenance costs seem kind of low. It's a good idea to not make it too much for a character to actually afford but a skilled mechanic is going to charge more than 5gp for eight hours of work and a level 7 character can surely afford to pay more than that. 40gp at least, and that's low-balling with a mechanic who really likes you.

I should provide an image for the Reaper to get the idea across, since it's explicitly based on Final Fantasy 14's Reapers. I will specify it cannot equip weapons or armor made for other creatures (it has no arms).

Customizations will be dominantly gold-cost based, but as stated above, I will limit by equipment slots.

The maintenance costs... Hrm. Gotta think on that one more.