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--- drone_mechanics [2025/09/26 12:13] – created admin
+++ drone_mechanics [2025/09/26 13:15] (current) – [Level 6 Options] admin
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-====== Drones ======
+====== Drones: Eyes in the Sky, Hands in the Shadows ======
+{{ :wiki:drones.jpg?nolink&400 |}}
+In a world where technology blurs the line between human and machine, drones hum through the air, crawl across ruins, and lurk in the depths of forgotten places. These versatile constructs are the silent partners of adventurers, mercenaries, and spies alike. Whether deployed for reconnaissance, combat, or sabotage, drones extend the reach of their operators, offering both unparalleled advantage and ethical dilemmas. But beware: in the wrong hands, they can turn the tide of battle, expose hidden secrets, or even become tools of oppression. Will your party harness their power, or will they become the next target of a swarm’s unblinking gaze?
 ==== Actions ====
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 | Void Hawk       | 2500 cr    | 5        | 25 ft (fly)     | 4                | 6       | 4 + level (5) + weapon prof     | 13 + level (5) + piloting/computers prof | 2 + level (5) + piloting/computers prof | 4 + level (5) + piloting/computers prof | 65   | 100 km   | Designed for deep space; operates in 0G.                                                      |
 | Pax             | 5000 cr    | 8        | 25 ft (fly)     | 4                | 4       | 4 + level (8) + weapon prof     | 13 + level (8) + piloting/computers prof | 2 + level (8) + piloting/computers prof | 4 + level (8) + piloting/computers prof | 135  | N/A      | Advanced combat drone.                                                                         |
+====== Drone Operator Archetype ======
+==== Drone Operator Dedication ====
+You have shown an interest in operating drones and see them as an extension of your capabilities: hacking computers from miles away, throwing cover fire over to your exposed allies, or using it as an extension of your magical abilities. Everything starts with understanding the basic capabilities of your drones.
+Gain proficiency in either **Computers** or **Piloting**. If you are already trained in both skills, become trained in a skill of your choice.
+**Overclock Drone (Exploration Activity)**
+Duration: 10 minutes\\
+The Drone Operator chooses one drone they have complete control over. Until the end of the day, the drone will use the drone operator's level instead of its own if it's higher for Attack/AC/Saves.You can have only one Overclocked drone active at one time.
+==== Drone Mechanic ====
+===== Level 4 Options =====
+**Remote Synergy**
+Your drone becomes a precision extension of your expertise, its fitting slots outfitted with specialized toolkits that let you repair, hack, research, or heal from a distance—as if your own hands were guiding each motion. The drone mimics your skill with eerie accuracy, but prolonged remote operation leaves your mind strained, the mental link between you and the machine demanding rest. Mastery of the system turns the drone into a versatile proxy, limited only by your own talent and endurance.
+The drone operator can install specialty kits in drones' fitting slots to conduct relevant actions remotely:\\
+- A repair toolkit to conduct repair operations remotely.\\
+- A field scientist's toolkit to conduct research operations remotely.\\
+- A hacking toolkit to conduct hacking activities remotely.\\
+- A thieves' toolkit to conduct lockpicking/device disabling activities remotely.\\
+- A medical toolkit to conduct medicine activities remotely.
+The drone will use the operator's skill modifier for these tasks.Operating the drone for more than one hour in such fashion, without a break, will make the operator fatigued until they spend 10 minutes resting.
+**Ordnance Overdrive**
+The drone's Bomber fitting hums with reinforced stability and propulsion. Explosions bloom at a distance that would leave most foes scrambling, turning the battlefield into your personal killing field. Overloaded and relentless, it rains destruction exactly where you command.
+The drone can now carry 2 more grenades using the Bomber fitting and throw them 50% farther.
+===== Level 6 Options =====
+**Improved Remote Synergy**
+Your drone evolves from a simple tool to an intuitive partner, its algorithms adapting to your methods until it anticipates your next move. Complex tasks flow smoother as the machine seamlessly augments your efforts, its responses sharpened by shared experience. The line between your skill and its assistance fades—like working with a second pair of hands that never tire.
+Requirement: Remote Synergy\\
+The drone can attempt to Aid the operator as a free action during exploration using the operator's "Computers" modifier. The drone receives +2 circumstance bonus on this check.
+**Logic Bomb**\\
+Cost: 1 Action
+Attempt a Computers check to Hack a creature, hazard, or item with the tech trait within 30 ft of the drone. The DC is equal to the creature, item, or hazard's Fortitude DC, or the Fortitude DC of the creature attending the object. If the target is an unattended object, the GM sets the DC for the check based on the item's level. The target is temporarily immune to your attempts to Logic Bomb it for 10 minutes.
+Critical Success: The target becomes glitching 2 for 1 round.\\
+Success: The target becomes glitching 1 for 1 round.\\
+Critical Failure: If the target has the glitching condition, reduce the value of its glitching condition by 1.
+Based on installed drone equipment, the skill gains additional effects:\\
+- If the disguise from "HoloSkin" is still active or if the drone is undetected, gain a +2 circumstance modifier to the skill check.\\
+- If Observation Suite fitting is installed, if you gain a Critical Failure, it becomes a failure instead.\\
+- If the Environmental Power fitting is installed, the drone can draw additional power to overcharge the logic bomb. Increase the glitching values by 1 for Success and Critical Success.
+==== Drone Conduit ====
+===== Level 4 Options =====
+**Voidweave Reactor Expert**
+Your drone's core pulses with a hungry darkness, siphoning spells into its voidweave reactor like a thief stealing fire. With a thought, you unleash the stored magic through the drone, bending space to cast from its position—as if your will itself now originates from its cold, mechanical heart. Distance means nothing when the void bends to your command.
+The operator can now store any spell in a voidweave reactor and then cast it using the drone as the point of origin as long as they have line of sight on both the drone and the target(s) of the spell.
+**Spellmatrix Link**
+You weave a shimmering thread of arcane energy between your fingertips and the drone, bridging the gap between flesh and machine. For a fleeting moment, the drone becomes an extension of your touch—your spells leaping across the connection as if it stood right beside you. The air hums with the unnatural fusion of magic and metal, bending space to your command.
+Tags: Spellshape, Concentrate\\
+Cost: 1 Action\\
+You can cast touch spells on a drone as if it were adjacent to you as long as you have line of sight to it until the end of the turn.
+===== Level 6 Options =====
+**Hex Voltage**
+With a crackle of unstable energy, you redirect the lingering power of your spell into your drone's weapon, overcharging it with raw arcane force. The next shot hums with borrowed destruction, searing targets with the same damage type as your spell—or your chosen element—while the air thrums with the aftershock of magic repurposed. For an instant, the drone's attack becomes an extension of your will, crackling with the fury of your last incantation.
+Frequency: Once per turn\\
+Requirements: Your most recent action was to cast a non-cantrip spell\\
+Effect: You siphon spell energy into one drone weapon within line of sight. Until the end of your next turn, the weapon deals an extra 1d6 force damage and gains the arcane trait if it didn't have it already. If the spell dealt a different type of damage, the Strike deals this type of damage instead (or one type of your choice if the spell could deal multiple types of damage).
+**Thaumatic Mirror**
+As your spell fades, the drone's core flickers with stolen arcane light, casting a diminished but faithful copy of your magic. The air shimmers as the drone replicates your incantation, its energy a pale reflection—potent enough to sting, but never to rival the original. For a moment, the battlefield answers to two casters, not one.
+Tags: Spellshape, Concentrate\\
+Cost: 1 Action\\
+Effect: You fragment a ranged spell. If your next action is to Cast a Spell without a duration that requires an attack roll against a single target, you can choose a second target within range. You roll a single attack roll and compare the result to the AC of both targets. This counts as one attack for your multiple attack penalty. To the second target, the spell deals half the amount of damage it would normally deal and has no effects beyond the spell's initial damage (such as imposing conditions or penalties).
+==== Drone Pilot ====
+===== Level 4 Options =====
+**Cover Fire**
+Your drone sprays a hail of bullets or magic, turning the air into a storm of chaos. Enemies either dive for cover—leaving them rattled and shooting wild—or stand defiant, giving your drone a cleaner shot. Either way, the battlefield bends to your pressure, one panicked decision at a time.
+Frequency: Once per round\\
+Effect: You lay down suppressive fire to protect allies by forcing foes to take cover from your wild attacks. Make a drone Strike; the target must decide before you roll your attack whether it will duck out of the way. If the target ducks, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against your attack, or a +4 circumstance bonus to AC if it has cover. It also takes a -2 circumstance penalty to ranged attack rolls until the end of its next turn. If the target chooses not to duck, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your attack roll for that Strike.
+**Close-Range Targeting Protocols**
+Your drone locks onto nearby threats with ruthless efficiency, its systems humming as it calculates the fastest way to turn close quarters into a slaughterhouse. Every shot within point-blank range hits harder, its precision turning panic into punishment. Get in close, and watch it make every trigger pull count.
+Tags: Stance\\
+Cost: 1 Action\\
+Effect: You take aim to pick off nearby enemies quickly. When you are in this stance, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to damage rolls on attacks against targets within the weapon's first range increment.
+===== Level 6 Options =====
+**Drone Rapid Salvo**
+With a whir of servos and a hail of gunfire, your drone unleashes a double tap—two shots in the blink of an eye, each finding a different mark. Speed over precision, chaos over caution: the drone's rapid-fire assault leaves enemies scrambling before they even realize they're under siege. Double the trouble, half the time to react.
+Tags: Flourish\\
+Cost: 2 Actions\\
+Your drone must be wielding a weapon with a magazine that holds at least 2 pieces of ammo or a 1 ammo weapon with reload 0 and 2 full ammo boxes.
+Your drone shoots twice in blindingly fast succession. Make two Strikes, each against a separate target and with a -2 penalty. Both attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn't increase until after you've made both of them.
+**Chaos Vector**
+The drone's engines flare as it abruptly shifts direction, twisting through the air in a dizzying, unpredictable pattern.
+Cost: 1 Reaction\\
+Trigger: A creature targets the drone with an attack and you can see both the drone and the attacker.\\
+Effect: The drone gains +2 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack.
+===== Level 8 Options =====
+**Improved Drone Rapid Salvo**
+Your drone's targeting systems sync with lethal precision, allowing it to unleash a triplet of shots—either hammering a single foe or slicing through multiple targets. The barrage is swift, controlled, and devastating: three strikes in one fluid motion, each shot tighter than the last. Speed meets ruthless efficiency.
+Prereq: Rapid Salvo, enough ammo to take all shots\\
+Effect: You can quickly fire multiple shots with greater control. When you use Double Shot, you can make the attacks against the same target. You can add an additional action to Double Shot to make three ranged Strikes instead of two. If you do, the penalty is -4. All attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn't increase until after you've made all of them.
+**Dread Munitions Cycle**
+Your drone's weapons hum with overclocked menace, its ammo cycling like a countdown to doom. With a single, deliberate motion, it reloads and locks eyes with your foe, the cold whir of its mechanics speaking a universal language of terror. No words needed; the threat is written in the glow of its targeting systems.
+When you overclock a drone, you can optimize the ammo usage of its weapons. Your overclocked drone gets 2 free "Ammo Units" (they do not take a fitting slot) and gains the "Harbinger's Click" action.
+**Harbinger's Click**\\
+Cost: 1 Action\\
+Interact to reload and then attempt an Intimidation check to Demoralize using the operator's intimidation modifier. When you do, Demoralize loses the auditory trait and gains the visual trait, and you don't take a penalty if the creature doesn't understand your language.