The machine slayer is a warrior who specializes in fighting and destroying constructs. Some machine slayers devote themselves to this cause for personal reasons, to avenge themselves on the killer robots that took their families or communities. Others do so for more neutral reasons, seeing the potential for conflict with machines and training to protect themselves and their people from the threat. Fanatic machine slayers may reject all technology out of a need for purity, but many rely on powerful pre-Crash weapons.
Prerequisites: BAB +3, Disable Device (3 ranks), 4 Weapon Proficiencies, must have destroyed at least one sentient construct.
Hit Points: 4 hit points per class level.
Combat Ability: Good Attack, fair Defense.
Saving Throws: Good Fortitude, fair Reflex, and poor Will.
Skills: 4 skill points per class level, fair skill selection.
Armour and Weapons: One new Weapon Proficiency at 1st.
Class Talents: Machine Slayer talent at 3rd level.
Talent Trees: Defensive, Ranged Combat, Sneak Attack, Weapon Focus.
Special Abilities: Machine Slayer (at 1st, 3rd, and 5th), Resist Technology (at 2nd), Find the Flaw (at 4th).
To be eligible for the machine slayer advanced class, a character must meet the following prerequisites:
Hit Points: Machine slayers gain 4 hit points per class level.
Combat Ability: Machine slayers have a good attack progression and a fair defense progression.
Saving Throws: Machine slayers have good Fortitude saves, fair Reflex saves, and poor Will saves.
Skills: Machine slayers have a fair selection of both physical and technical skills, and gain 4 + Int modifier skill points at each class level. Class skills include: Acrobatics, Athletics, Craft (Electronic, Mechanical, Metalworking), Disable Device, Endurance, Knowledge (Science, Tactics), Operate Computer, Operate Vehicle, Repair, and Use Technology.
The character's background can provide additional class skills to choose from. Some skills (indicated by italics) may be unavailable or of limited use to characters from low-tech backgrounds.
Armour and Weapons: To aid in their fight against constructs, machine slayers select a new talent at 1st level chosen from Weapon Proficiency (Basic Archaic Weapons, Advanced Archaic Weapons, Exotic Archaic Weapons, Basic Firearms, Advanced Firearms, Exotic Firearms, Basic Blasters, Advanced Blasters, Exotic Blasters).
Because they battle high-tech foes, machine slayers often train with advanced weapons, and are treated as being one tech level higher when selecting their additional weapon proficiency. A retro-tech machine slayer, for example, could select Weapon Proficiency (Basic Blasters), even though this talent has Advanced Tech as a prerequisite.
Machine Slayer Talents: At 3rd level, the machine selects a class talent from the Defensive, Ranged Combat, Sneak Attack, and Weapon Focus talent trees. (These talents are detailed in the enforcer and scavenger class descriptions.) The player may choose to substitute a general talent, if desired. The character's genotype can also provide additional talents to choose from.
Machine Slayer: The machine slayer knows the ways of constructs, and is skilled at both finding and fighting them. At 1st level, the machine slayer gains a +1 competence bonus on all skill checks made when interacting with or hunting constructs, such as Investigate checks to find a warbot or Sneak checks to avoid a pack of killer drones. He also gains a +1 competence bonus on attack and damage rolls and to Defense when fighting constructs and robots. This bonus increases to +2 at 3rd level and +3 at 5th level.
Resist Technology: At 2nd level, the machine slayer gains a +2 bonus on all saving throws made against effects caused by technological devices (any advanced-tech or greater items). This bonus applies regardless of source - such as dodging automatic fire from a robot, resisting the effects a stun ray wielded by a primitive mutant, or saving against poison from a biotech implant.
Find the Flaw: At 4th level, the machine slayer is able to target weak spots on a robot's body. When attacking constructs which are normally immune to criticals, he is able to make critical hits normally. Against machines which already susceptible to criticals, his critical range increases by 1 (from 20 to 19-20 or 19-20 to 18-20, for example).
Attribute Increase: At 5th level, the machien slayer increases his Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity score by 1 point. These attribute increases stack with the benefits provided by the Increased Strength, Increased Constitution, and Increased Dexterity talents.
| Level | Att | Def | Fort | Ref | Will | Special Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 | +0 | +2 | +1 | 0 | Weapon Proficiency, Machine Slayer (+1) |
| 2 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +2 | 0 | Resist Technology |
| 3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | +2 | +1 | Machine Slayer (+2), Machine Slayer Talent |
| 4 | +4 | +2 | +4 | +2 | +1 | Find the Flaw |
| 5 | +5 | +2 | +4 | +3 | +1 | Machine Slayer (+3), Attribute Increase (+1 Str, Con, or Dex) |
Machine slayers gain 4 hit points and 4 skill points per level.