Thinker Base Class

The world of Ground Zero exists in the shadow of an age of wonders. Tribes creep through the twisted remains of buildings larger than mountains, and drink from lakes that well up from broken pipes. There are living machines buried deep in the ground, in the ruins of the cities, or roaming the plains. Any of the relics of the past could be a great blessing or terrible danger. The thinker is a technological shaman who attempts to contact and comprehend the secrets of the Ancients and harness their power.

Thinkers At-a-Glance:

Hit Points: 2 hit points per class level (×2 for starting characters).
Combat Ability: Poor Attack, poor Defense.
Saving Throws: Good Will, poor Fortitude and Reflex.
Skills: 8 skill points per class level (×2 for starting characters), unrestricted skill selection.
Weapons and Armour: Simple Weapons plus two additional proficiencies.
Class Talents: Thinker talents at 1st (×2), 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th levels.
Talent Trees: Insight, Leadership, Nanotech, Psionic, Strategy, Technology.
Special Abilities: Special Knowledge (at 1st), Jack of All Trades (at 3rd), Examine Items (at 3rd), Useful Trivia (at 5th, 7th, and 9th), Attribute Increase (at 5th and 10th).

Class Features:

Hit Points: Thinkers gain 2 hit points per class level. Starting thinkers gain double hit points (4 hp), plus the standard base for their genotype and Constitution.

Saving Throws: Thinkers have good Will saves but poor Fortitude and Reflex saves.

Skills: Skills are a thinker's bread and butter. At each class level, thinkers gain 8 + Int modifier skill points. A starting character gains double skill points (16 + 2 × Int modifier).

All skills are considered class skills for the thinker (see the Skill Summary page for the full list). Some skills, however, may be unavailable or of limited use to characters from low-tech backgrounds. Also, some skills (such as Craft and Knowledge) actually encompass a number of unrelated skills. Each time they are learned, a specific category must also be chosen.

Weapons and Armour: Thinkers begin play with the following weapon and armour proficiencies (or general talents):

Some proficiencies (indicated by italics) may be unavailable or of limited use to characters from low-tech backgrounds.

Talent Trees:

Thinker Talents: At character creation, the thinker selects two class talents. At every subsequent even-numbered level (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) he gains a new class talent. These are selected from the Nanotech, Psionic, Strategy, and Technology talent trees. The player may choose to substitute a general talent, if desired. The character's genotype can also provide additional talents to choose from.

Insight Talent Tree: {*** FOOBAR. ***}

Leadership Talent Tree: {*** FOOBAR. ***}

Nanotech Talent Tree: You gain nanotech powers or improve your existing nanotech capacity. Nanotech talents are detailed on the the Nanotechnology.

Psionic Talent Tree: You gain psionic powers or improve your existing psionic capacity. Psionic talents are detailed on the Psionics.

Strategy Talent Tree: The thinker has the brainpower to see solutions in most situations. These talents can be selected in any order.

Exploit Weakness: After 1 round of combat, the thinker can designate one opponent and try to find ways to gain an advantage by using brains over brawn. The thinker uses a move action and makes an Intelligence check (DC 15) with a bonus equal to his thinker level. If the check succeeds, for the rest of the combat the thinker uses his Intelligence bonus instead of either Strength or Dexterity bonus on attack rolls as the character finds ways to outthink his opponent and notices weaknesses in his opponent’s fighting style.
Cunning Plan: Prior to a dramatic situation, either combat- or skill-related, the thinker can develop a plan of action to handle the circumstances. Using this talent requires preparation; a thinker can’t use this talent when surprised or otherwise unprepared for a particular situation.
The thinker makes an Intelligence check (DC 10) with a bonus equal to his thinker level. The result of the check provides the thinker and allies with a circumstance bonus. A thinker can’t take 10 or 20 when making this check. On a successful result of 10-14, a +1 bonus is granted; on 15-24, the bonus is +2; and on a result of 25 or higher, the bonus is +3.
This bonus can be applied to all skill checks and attack rolls made by the thinker and his allies, but the bonus only lasts for the first 3 rounds. After that time, reduce the bonus by 1 point (to a minimum of +0) for every additional round the situation continues, as the vagaries of circumstance begin to unravel even the best-laid plans.
Trickery: The thinker has the ability to temporarily confuse a target (a GM character) through the use of ploy and deception. The target must have an Intelligence score of 3 or higher to be susceptible to a trick, must be within 30 feet of the character, and must be able to hear and understand the character.
To play a trick on a target, the character must use a full-round action and make an Intelligence check (DC 15), adding his thinker level as a bonus. If the Intelligence check succeeds, the target can try to think quickly and ignore the trick.
The target resists the trick by making a Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + thinker’s class level + thinker’s Int bonus). If the saving throw fails, the target becomes dazed (unable to act, but can defend normally) for a number of rounds equal to the thinker's Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1 round).
A trick can only be played on a particular target once per encounter. After the first trick in an encounter, whether the attempt succeeds or not, that target becomes wary and immune to such ploys.

Technology Talent Tree: The thinker is well-versed in the lost technology of the Ancients.

Tech Familiarity: The penalty a thinker suffers for insufficient Tech Level is decreased from -4 to -2. (Prerequisite: Int 13+)
Tech Increase: The thinker increases his tech level, granting access to new skills and talents. See Tech Levels for more details. (Prerequisite: Int 15+, Tech Familiarity.)
Technology Craft: The thinker can select one craft discipline from the Technology Craft Talents list. He is able to recreate technological relics, lost since the Ancient age, from his chosen discipline. See Technology page for more details. (Prerequisites: Int 17+, Tech Familiarity, Advanced Technology, skill prerequisites.)

Special: The Craft Technology talent can be selected multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each additional time you take the talent, it applies to a new discipline.

Special Abilities:

Special Knowledge: Starting at 1st level, a thinker may make a special knowledge check with a bonus equal to his thinker class level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. This check will not reveal the powers of an unknown device but may give a hint as to its general function. The thinker may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. The GM will determine the Difficulty Class of the check.

Jack of All Trades: At 3rd level, a thinker can use any skill untrained, even those that normally require training.

Examine Items: Also at 3rd level, a thinker gains a +4 bonus on any Use Technology checks to figure out an unknown device without breaking it or even having heard of it before. A successful examination reveals an item's powers and methods of use. The thinker may not take 10 or take 20 on this check.

Useful Trivia: By 5th level, the thinker has accumulated a vast catalog of information in his brain. Every so often, a fact comes in extremely handy. Once per session, a thinker can 'remember' a bit of data which grants himself or an ally one of the following benefits:

The thinker may use this ability a once per day at 5th level, three times per day at 7th level, and five times per day at 9th level.

Attribute Increase: At 5th level and again at 10th level, the thinker increases his Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score by 1 point. These attribute increases stack with the benefits provided by the Increased Intelligence, Increased Wisdom, and Increased Charisma talents.

Thinker Progression:

Thinkers gain 2 hit points and 8 skill points per class level (×2 for starting characters).

Thinker:

Thinkers At-a-Glance:

Class Features:

Talent Trees:

Special Abilities:

Thinker Progression:

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Level	Att	Def	Fort	Ref	Will	Special Abilities
1	+0	+0	+0	+0	+2	Thinker Talents, Special Knowledge
2	+1	+1	+0	+0	+3	Thinker Talent
3	+1	+1	+1	+1	+3	Jack of All Trades, Examine Items
4	+2	+1	+1	+1	+4	Thinker Talent
5	+2	+2	+1	+1	+4	Useful Trivia (1/daily), Attribute Increase (+1 Int, Wis, or Cha)
6	+3	+2	+2	+2	+5	Thinker Talent
7	+3	+2	+2	+2	+5	Useful Trivia (3/daily)
8	+4	+3	+2	+2	+6	Thinker Talent
9	+4	+3	+3	+3	+6	Useful Trivia (5/daily)
10	+5	+3	+3	+3	+7	Thinker Talent, Attribute Increase (+1 Int, Wis, or Cha)