Ah, great idea on Wayback. I'm seeing this right after I gave some vague answers in the Q&A thread saying I need to wait to see the Wiki, I'll see if that works well enough that I can view the needed pages.

10 hours ago, PigLickJF said:

I have a concept in mind, but I have several questions about how well it might (or might not) fit into the game.

 

I'm thinking of a highly mobile/stealthy scout/outrider type.

 

So first off, is a character that's designed to not actually spend much time inside The Tank a good fit? Obviously the game sort of revolves around The Tank, so on one hand I'm thinking it may not be a good fit. On the other hand, tactically speaking, having a very fast, stealthy, and highly maneuverable scout unit would probably be very handy to have when your only other vehicle is a lugging, conspicuous behemoth.

 

Secondly, I just noticed that Hunter isn't on your list of allowed classes, and that's the class my initial idea was based on, so I figure I'll ask here just to double-check: would you consider allowing a Hunter with the SoM Beastmaster archetype? It removes spellcasting and all other supernatural/spell-like abilities. It's not on your available classes list, but does fit your criteria of "classes are limited to those that don't have magical powers or have archetypes available that allow them to operate without magic powers,  and Ranger (a clearly similar class) is on the approved list (with appropriate archetype). However, flavor-wise, this hearkens back to the first question - do you feel it would just be too against the feel/premise of the game to have a character who is based (at least in part) on riding around on an animal instead of riding around in The Tank?

 

I'm sure I can still accomplish the goal with another class, but my first question still stands, so depending on your answers to these questions, I'm sure I'll have more, lol.

I am definitely wary of that type of character for this game. The premise is built around a tank crew that is working together to serve the tank. Further a lot of that kind of action would end up being akin to a constant splitting of the party, where I'm handling the scouts POV and several actions, and then the tank crew in another POV. Your point is sound about a scout type being useful. I'm going to say I won't outright say no, but find a way to integrate really well with the tank and crew. You would need to spend a majority of the time in/on the tank, with outrider or riding flank sessions as tactical options, not the primary thing the character is doing. 

On Hunter, I'm pretty sure that the Beastmaster archetype will be allowed for the class. I'm going to have to take another look once the wikidot servers are back up to give you a definitive yes, but since there exists an SoM archetype, I'm betting it will work fine.

7 hours ago, Llyarden said:

Given that magic items don't exist in any meaningful fashion, do the Blacksmith's Reforge and Artisan Savant abilities get replaced with anything?

My inclination is to have the Reforge ability basically work with the additional Masterwork rules, so you'll be able to reforge masterwork items into other similarly appointed masterwork items. Similarly I'm going to need to give it another review once the server is back up to give you a definitive answer, but expect some version of that. I'm going to need to take another look at Artisan Savant as well to answer more intelligently. That feature gives you the ability to craft magic items, right?

(Side note, I really like how easy it is to quote multiple different posts on Baldr!)

These are all great questions, and most of them are simple misses on my part. I knew there were going to be holes this ruleset I didn't catch.

1 hour ago, Niblooey said:

Hm. How does the Firearm proficiency changes interact with Martial Traditions? The Simple, Martial, and Heavy weapons distinction is still good for characters using 1pp classes only, but it matters less for Spheres of Might characters who don't get broad Martial proficiencies, and that one Discipline talent granting wide-scale Firearm proficiency also gives you the Gunsmith feat, so does that get any changes or does it stay the same? Are Gunslingers automatically proficient in Heavy firearms too?

That one Firearm proficiency discipline (I'll make sure I have the name right when the Russian hack of the wiki is resolved 🤨 ) will give proficiency with Martial firearms for sure. I need to decide exactly where to wrap proficiency in the heavy weapons, it should be an exotic weapon proficiency, but I'd like to encompass them all within a talent for spheres use. I'll make sure I update this accordingly in the Firearms Rules thread, thanks for bringing it to my attention. The Gunslinger will not automatically have proficiency with Heavy Weapons, however they will be able to choose any simple firearm as the weapon they gain at 1st level. (Edit: I forgot the Gunsmith feature is removed, so ignore this remark.) I'll make sure to add these items to the firearms thread at my earliest opportunity.

1 hour ago, Niblooey said:

This doesn't have much to do with character creation, but ah, do abilities used by the Tank crew while operating the tank benefit from its size? Like getting a +4 intimidate bonus if it's larger than the target while using Straight Down the Barrel, or bonuses for Overrunning foes and stuff.

Yeah, I'm applying the size modifier on the tank, so that +4 intimidate bonus would apply, +4 CMB, -4 to AC, etc. I'm not going to apply to its attack roll to shoot, as that is a precision instrument. 

1 hour ago, Niblooey said:

In the Character Creation rules thread, I've got a small correction on the Dueling weapon property. You can perform Trip maneuvers with any weapon so long as they can perform melee attacks, the Trip property just lets you drop it in place of tripping yourself if you fail by a 5 or more. Similar case with any maneuver that can be done in place of melee attacks, they work with pretty much anything RAW, you just need to be able to justify using your weapon with it effectively without it being ridiculous enough that it prompts you to veto it as the GM (like if someone's using a rusty knife to dazzle someone via Dirty Trick). Drag or Overrun might be a better example of something that can't usually be done with a weapon. Pointing this out cause ah, I like using maneuvers a lot with martial characters, so wondered if this was just a mistake on your part or if you're unfamiliar with how the mechanics piece together here.

Also in that same thread, the Spoiler box detailing your Feat Tax Reduction rules cuts off around the "Improved Unarmed Combat: ..." mark. Not sure what's up with that, might be good to bring up in the bug thread.

You are correct, and that trip example snuck in from the place I copied it. I'll get rid of the example, it's inaccurate. 

And that Improved Unarmed Combat was another straight miss on my part. I was meaning to copy the correct text in there and missed. Correcting that shortly.

If you spot anything else amiss, don't hesitate to let me know.

1 hour ago, relekorlagunis said:

What a perfect time for the Spheres Wiki to be down due to Russian hacking!

Geez, I know right? I was a little afraid at first when half my links didn't work. Hope they get everything cleared up.

You can try formatting here. Or make another post. Go for it. 

The Apocalypse

The world broke about a hundred years ago, and few who survive really know what happened (nor were they alive when it did). Few really think about it either. The time before is already something out of legend. Most folks just focus on surviving the brutal new world.

The world is different now in quite a few ways. When they say the world broke, that should be taken literally. New mountain ranges burst from the earth, great crevices swallowed communities, and the whole world shook. The only cities that made it through that relatively intact were those already built with earthquakes in mind. The tsunamis finished off many of those. And what still stood, well, those got to deal with the monsters.

Giant monsters now roam the land. Some could easily be dinosaurs with a few million years of more divergent evolution. Others are much stranger, resembling the hulking figures once only thought to reside in fiction. Some are so big they can rip cities apart with their claws and gnashing teeth. The people of the broken world mostly call the big ones Kaiju, the smaller ones monsters, and definitely stay the hell away from them (if they can).

Maybe the clever people of the world before even could have figured out how to deal with these monsters, but they were assailed on multiple other fronts by the sudden new reality. Some kind of virus swept through large swaths of the population, turning them into mindless, raging, walking corpses. Radiation and strange chemicals  covered huge expanses, degenerating or mutating the effected populations. An entirely different species of humanoid seemed to appear everywhere at once, with indecipherable language and inscrutable dispositions, except that they seemed to be highly violent. They most closely resembled the Neanderthals of ancient pre-history.

Big cities were complete disaster zones. Governments quickly collapsed. The only communities that survived were small ones, and they faced constant new dangers. Some were able to accumulate the resources left behind by the old world. Violent gangs, tribes, and legions proliferated under leaders who were willing to be the most vicious for power. Some pockets of actual civilization surface, ebb and flow, and try to avoid or be well-protected enough against the worst of the trouble.

Resources

Currency collapsed, the stock market doesn't exist, and industry is defunct. But as always, resources (and the means to refine them) are valuable. There are great distances to traverse across the wastes, and various fuel sources are in high demand to power vehicles. Ammunition isn't produced in massive factories anymore, but it is produced still, and used whenever possible. Though being able to defend yourself without a gun is a good idea. Food seems to always be in short supply. It is difficult to keep cultivate farmlands when you need to be on guard for monsters. The power grid doesn't exist at a wide scale, but smaller communities have leveraged abandoned power plants, wind, solar, and other electricity generation at the small scale. Power is often unreliable, doesn't exist many places, and even the bigger towns can do without.

While most currency is worthless, precious metals are still valued on their own. Coinage from old world governments is still traded, as the copper and nickel is worth a small amount to make up differences, and it can at least be melted down. There aren’t exactly mints around to make gold and silver coins though, so while those metals will often be accepted in trade, they aren't very common. Barter is used much more often. Trade of one good for another, trade in services or technical knowhow, these keep the small-scale economies going. Many times, small trinkets and valuables consisting of precious metals, useful technological parts, pieces of circuits, food, or ammunition is exchanged to make up any differences.

Kaiju, monsters, and other beasts now prominent after the breaking can be a great danger. They can also be a source of food, if the hunters know what they're doing and, in some cases, are willing to be adventurous with what they consume. Game has become a significant source of food, but many of the prey are also deadly predators. Still, bringing down a giant beast can feed a settlement for months, if it is edible in the first place.

People and Culture

The people of this post-apocalyptic land are survivors, first and foremost. They are willing to defend themselves and those important to them. Some don't go far beyond that, still scraping out an existence, scavenging and taking things from other when the opportunity arises. Others have gone about trying to build anew. Those who succeed create hope, but they need to be careful not to stick their collective heads out too far. Warlords will come to take any wealth that grows too large, and bigger more prominent settlements attract the attention of the biggest monsters.

Military bases and armed rural communities found the earliest success after the breaking. In more densely populated areas (those that survived at all), what once were gangs rose to power as the entities best able to take what they needed. If a group could project power, it had a better chance of survival.

Some of these devolved into vicious tribes concerned only with taking everything they could, a free-for-all of violence and might. Others sought to establish codes, to protect their flocks, to be a force for good and rebuilding. Most were somewhere in-between. Concerned with survival and accumulating what they needed for getting by.

While governments ceased to exist as they once were, quite a few placenames have stuck, one way or another. In the former United States, the actual states became less important, but towns, counties, and smaller geographical regions like mountain ranges and valleys retained some of their identity from before.

The average person knows how to defend themselves. They work more simple jobs, farming, scavenging, laboring, fighting. Being a trader can be lucrative, but dangerous. It is hard to trust other people in the wastes, but at the same time folks need to band together to stand much of a chance.

A few notable organizations near where the game will begin:

• Tinker Express: Slowly rolling along a loop of old and reconstructed railways, this train of traders, merchants, and tinkers represents a small bit of traveling commerce, bringing new useful devices and economy to the towns and waystations it passes by.

• Knights of Ford: Traveling in armed and armored trucks, this organization has tried to bring its own brand of chivalry to this part of the wastes. Some are glad for their protection, others think them no better than any other band of warmongers.

• Greenwood: A settlement that has achieved a good deal of success, with bountiful farms that have brought back several crops thought long lost.

• Jackson's Crack: The breaking of the world produced some completely new geography, and this is one such place. A long, deep crevice is carved out of the earth near a completely new mountain range. A river was diverted by this new landscape across a nearby plane. A community grows there, harnessing some geothermal energy and new mining opportunities from this geographic upheaval.

The Wastes

The wastes are full of dangers never seen before the breaking (and a few more human ones that have been seen many times in our past). The term "wastes" is used from much of the territory between settlements, so much of it consisting of unwelcome land, abandoned buildings, and stretches that are impossible to exist in and dangerous to traverse. A traveler though the wastes can expect to find:

Environmental Hazards

• Zones of radiation where massive weapons were deployed after the breaking, nuclear power plants suffered meltdowns, or other more mysterious sources were involved

• Chemical pollution, where the great factories or production plants were demolished in the breaking or left abandoned, spilling toxic substances onto the land or into nearby rivers and streams.

• Blight zones, where strange alien growths have started cropping up and spreading like an invasive species. They are not safe to consume, and can even be toxic to humans or straight up aggressive. Monsters often inhabit and emerge from these zones.

Monsters

Creatures never before seen by human eyes emerged en masse during when the world broke. Some scientists at the time called the event the Collision, speculating that somehow several parallel universes collapsed into one another and our own. No serious study could be done on the phenomenon, given people were too busy dying. Either way, several new dangers face denizens of the wastes.

• Monsters is the catch-all term for new creatures who aren't like any animals, and are usually big and aggressive. They come in all shapes and sizes.

• Kaiju has stuck as a name for monsters of particularly massive size. They are big and powerful enough to demolish cities (given enough time), and nearly impossible to take down. If folks are smart, they get out of the way and hide when one is coming through. Their behaviors are mysterious, and many communities have their own speculations, but they don't automatically smash humans or their settlements on site.

• Dinos are monsters that actually resembled prehistoric dinosaurs, and are suddenly thriving again. It lends some credence to the theory that our world collapsed with a timeline in which many dinosaurs hadn't become extinct yet.

• Beasts is commonly used nomenclature for creatures a little more like you would have found before the Collision,  but also different. Maybe mutated, maybe evolved in some parallel way, these are creatures that are not always aggressive, but can still be quite dangerous.

Humanoid Dangers

• Infected: pretty much zombies. Some sort of viral infection that still persists and spreads like the plague through certain areas of the wastes, highly contagious and turning anyone infected into mindless rage machines that try to eat anything that moves.

• Primals: Also suddenly appearing when the world broke, these large, primitive-looking humanoids are cunning and dangerous. Their traditions vary, but they tend to be hostile towards humans and carve out their own hunting territories.

• Marauders and Scavengers: Smaller scale dangerous gangs that are on the lookout for vulnerable travelers or settlements, killing without compunction to steal whatever they can.

• Warbands: Larger clan-like groups who tend to conquer larger areas, or at least claim and threaten zones and pose a constant danger if not on the lookout. Violent, cruel, they have been known to completely destroy whole settlements if they don't otherwise get what they want. Warbands around the area the game starts include:

  • Boneshavers: degenerate and vicious, this group carves up their own bodies as much as their victims. They collect the bones of those they kill, and are rumored to eat their flesh as well.

  • The Iron Teeth: A more mechanized warband, they run raids in their cobbled-together vehicles which are often decorated with grinning, sharp metal mouths.

The Crew

Through an oral history and an old worn journal passed down from one generation of the crew to another, your group can trace its origins back to the time before the apocalypse. Tank 1A-X B3 was part of a prototype division building and testing a new battlefield superiority unit. When the world broke, these vehicles were quickly adapted to try to take on the new threats, monsters first and foremost. Success was mixed. By and large the military forces were either torn apart or collapsed from within. But the platoon of experimental tanks was able to bring down some of the great new foes.

Only seven made it through the first weeks of the apocalypse. From there, whatever base they were attached to disbanded and the government that made them collapsed. The platoon worked together for a time, before eventually each tank either met its demise or went its own way in the wastes.

Tank 1A-X B3, it's primary crew, and a small support contingent saw how much the world was devolving. They had some amount of firepower, but no more entity giving them orders. So they made their own creed. It has evolved over the decades, but its core tenets involve protecting each other, protecting the weak and vulnerable of the wastes, acting with honor, and attempting to bring some amount of civilization to an uncivilized world.

They used their dangerous and destructive machine to try and defend those that could not defend themselves. To fight marauders and warmongers. To bring down the monsters that threatened human lives. They got into trouble plenty, rubbed many the wrong way, but the group and the tank survived in some form.

The tank has undergone generations of repairs, modifications, wreckings, and rebuildings. It bears the marks of many battles, and the tokens of the many who have operated it. The crew has undergone much of the same. Many have served, many have died, a lucky few have retired to try to live a less combat-filled life in some settlement or another.

The crew takes on new apprentices, training them in their ways. Sometimes an orphaned youth, an eager brave soul, or other times a grizzled road warrior that slots in well. Anyone eager to learn, to fight, and to work for the good of the crew. When a new apprentice is taken on, they often must spend much of their time doing the low and dirty work. They learn how to operate the tank, and how to maintain it. They train on the various operations and positions, and train how to handle themselves fighting outside the tank. In order to become part of the crew officially, an apprentice must spend the requisite amount of time training. They must prove themselves in combat, operating the tank alongside the crew. And they must be voted in by the shareholders, becoming a shareholder and partner in their own right, entitled to a vote, a say, and an equal share of any spoils. 

The Tank

The Tank is a fearsome war machine, a stalwart survivor, and basically your home. Lore passed on through the generations of your crew is that it came from the before-times, and was poised to be the most advanced war machine ever created. Adapted even in the last days to slay the massive monsters that appeared almost without warning. Over the years, it has been heavily modified. Battle damaged repaired, fragile high-tech systems replaced with more robust ones, nearly every part replaced at some point. It has survived, and its crew has thrived. It has a name of course, and you will decide what it is.

The Tank is a Gargantuan vehicle. It has big tough treads on each side, and a massive main gun on its turret. It also features a number of secondary weapons, including several machine guns to defend all sides, and a pivoting launcher that lobs an array of explosive devices at medium ranges.

Capacity

• At optimal operation, it will be served by five crew,

• However it can be fought effectively with as few as two and even operated fully (albeit inefficiently) by just the commander.

• It has space for 8 people to fit inside, though that's a bit cramped (this includes the 5 crew). Passenger space can be used for equipment storage instead, at 200 lbs per seat.

• It also features an advanced mill and printing system which can synthesize its own ammunition if provided raw materials.

Cover and Getting Around

• The tank is Covered, and is designed to completely protect its passengers. All creatures inside of the Tank gain total cover, but cannot interact or make attacks against anything outside the vehicle, except by using the Tank weaponry.

• Any creature within the vehicle may create an opening as a move action, reducing this bonus to Improved Cover (+8 to AC, +4 to Reflex saves), to allow him to still make attacks and interact with targets outside the vehicle. When making an attack in this fashion, targets outside the vehicle gain partial cover against attacks originating from inside the vehicle (+2 AC, +1 Reflex saves). Attempting to make perception checks through a small opening comes with a -4 penalty.

• Fully entering or exiting the tank is achieved through several securable hatches placed around the vehicle. There is one atop the turret, two atop the main tank body, and one in the rear.

• These hatches can be secured, or opened, as a swift action.

• Once open, a passenger/operator of the tank can partially expose themselves (the have Cover), and are able to attack/interact with targets outside the tank. When a hatch is open, passengers may move freely into and out of the tank. If someone is occupying the hatch, both must use a move action to allow someone to pass.

Stress (Nonlethal damage for constructs)

The Tank (and all other constructs and vehicles in world) are not subject to nonlethal damage, but they are subject to "stress". Which functions almost exactly the same way. A construct can accumulate stress from certain kinds of attacks or certain actions; when stress equals current HP, it is staggered, when stress exceeds current HP, a system fails and stops working. Each time it takes further damage, a new system fails. Stress is more-often-than-not self-inflicted. Constructs are still immune to nonlethal damage, and most sources of non-lethal damage do not affect them. There may be certain forms of attack that inflict stress on another construct.

Stress is not automatically removed when combat it over. Stress may be removed incrementally from the Tank by taking the Keep it Running engineer position action, or is completely removed when performing at least 1 hour of maintenance on the tank.

Repair and Maintenance

Repair works as per the Technician Independent Invention rule: "A technician can repair an independent invention for an amount of hp equal to his technician level with 1 hour of work and by spending money on raw materials equal to 1% of the invention’s cost (10gp), or heal them completely full with 8 hours of work and 10% of the invention’s raw materials cost. (100gp)"

The Tank needs plenty of maintenance by the crew in order to keep functioning. It needs at least an hour of maintenance in order to replenish its daily uses of gadgets, and grand gadget uses. This hour of maintenance is above and beyond hours used for repair, though may be performed concurrently with repair if multiple crew members engage in each task. It also removed any stress that hasn't been otherwise removed.

Tank Stats

Gargantuan Land Vehicle

15' wide, 25' long, 15' high

38 Strength, 8 Dexterity

-12 Stealth

DEFENSE

AC 32 (10 +3 Armor Bonus -4 size +13 Natural Armor +4 Natural Armor Bonus +6 Force Redirection Technique);

Hardness 15

HP 170

Saves +3 base all

CMD 28

OFFENSE

Speed: 40

Huge Masterwork Main Cannon: (PC attack mod +1); 8d6 b/p/s (14d6 vital strike); 300' range

Secondary Weapons: Mini-Guns and a Launcher

• Mini-Guns: There are 5 mini-guns on the tank, which behave as the Technician Machine Gun Grand Gadget
  • There is one on each side of the tank main body, covering a 90º arc. An additional one faces the same direction as the turret.
  • Standard action: 5d8 b/p damage to all creatures in 200' line, ref save (DC20) for half.
• Launcher: omni-directional, launches objects (including detonators) with 60' range increments. 4 uses, then it takes a gadget to use.

Ramming/crushing damage: 6d6+14 b

Base CMB +4 (Gargantuan)

Total Vehicular CMB: 4+(Operator BAB+Operator Drive modifier) (+specific maneuver bonuses)

Firearms Equipment Options

The following table shows new firearms options for this setting. All early firearms are also available, at 10% of their listed cost. Early firearms use spherical bullets as listed in base pathfinder. Advanced and Modern firearms use rounds as listed.

* HMG can only be fired mounted on a vehicle or emplacement

Ammunition

Grenade Launchers and Weapon Propelled Grenades

The Grenade Launcher and Multiple Grenade Launcher fire Weapon Propelled Grenades (WPG). You may target a square with a ranged touch attack, causing the grenade to explode up contact. Or you may target a creature with a ranged attack roll targeting normal AC. If you hit a creature directly, the attack does an additional 1d6 damage plus any other damage bonuses your character otherwise gets with firearms. With a successful DC20 reflex save, a creature in a grenade's blast radius only suffers half damage.

• Fragmentation: Deals 4d6 Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage in a 25' radius
• High Explosive: Explode in a 30' radius, and deals 3d6 half B/P/S damage and half Fire damage.
• Flash Bang: Deals 1d6 B damage in 15' radius, and any creature within radius must make a DC25 Ref save or become blinded and deafened for 1d4 rounds
• HEAT: High Explosive Anti-tank grenades only explode in a 5' radius dealing 4d6 B/P/S damage, but deal full damage to objects and ignore 5 DR/Hardness of anything they hit directly.
• Smoke: This grenade creates a cloud of smoke which lasts for 10 minutes and covers a 30′ radius. The smoke obscures all sight, including darkvision beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target.) The smoke can also be one of many colors including red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, grey and white. Smoke is used for both covering movement as well as a signal device.
• Tear Gas: This grenade contains chemicals that release a nauseating cloud that is exactly like the stinking cloud spell (but is non magical) and lasts for 4 rounds. Living creatures in the cloud become nauseated and continue to be so for 1d4+1 rounds after leaving it. Roll separately for each nauseated creature. Fortitude save 15.

Hand Grenades: Any of the above WPGs except HEAT can be purchased/crafted as hand grenades instead, for the same listed cost as WPGs. A hand grenade is a small balanced item with throwing range increments of 20'. It explodes 1 round after you throw it, at the end of your turn. Priming and throwing is a standard action. As a swift action, you may prime a grenade and hold onto it with a free hand. You may then throw it on your subsequent turn, and it will explode at the end of that turn.

Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs)

RPGs target touch AC within their first 5 range increments like other firearms. DC20 ref save to take half damage from being caught in the blast radius.

• High Explosive (HE): Explode in a 30' radius, and deals half B/P/S damage and half Fire damage.
• Anti-Armor: Deliver damage in a smaller area. Anti-armor ammo does B/P/S damage in a 5' radius, and deal full damage to objects + ignores 5 DR/Hardness against anything it hits directly.

Firearms Ruleset

This game is using the Guns Everywhere setting, but that doesn't really account for modern firearms. I'm not totally satisfied with Pathfinder options, and Starfinder weapons are a little too high tech and not quite balanced with PF. Nor am I 100% satisfied with other sets of modern firearms rules I've seen, though some do have facets I like. Therefor I'm synthesizing some of these rules into the post-apocalytpic/modern firearm rules below. (Credit to Wyrmworks Modern Combat and FFD20 for many of the individual bits and pieces of rules here).

Modified Guns Everywhere:

Guns are commonplace, but it isn't always easy to obtain them, or keep supplied with ammunition. Early firearms are seen as antiques (though some jury-rigged firearms resemble them), and advanced/modern firearms are widespread.

• Early and Advanced Firearms are simple weapons, and early firearms, advanced guns, and their ammunition are bought or crafted for 10% of the cost listed (unless noted in the table in this post).

• Modern pistols, rifles, and shotguns are also Simple weapons, while more advanced and automatic weapons are considered Martial weapons. See table in the next post for specifics.

• Heavy Weapon firearms require their own Exotic Weapons Proficiency, or are available with the Heavy Gunner Proficiency (discipline) talent.

• The gunslinger loses the gunsmith class feature and instead gains the gun training class feature at 1st level.

• Equipment Talent modifications:

  • Firearm Proficiency (discipline): Gives proficiency with all Martial firearms as well as Simple Modern and Advanced firearms. 

  • Gunsmithing Feat: The Crafting Firearms and Ammunition abilities also apply to Simple and Martial modern firearms (half cost, like advanced).

  • Heavy Gunner Proficiency (discipline): New. You gain proficiency with all Heavy Weapon firearms. If you have the Gunsmithing feat, you can also create Heavy Weapons and their ammunition under the same rules (half cost).

Advanced and Modern Firearms

• Advanced firearms resolve their attacks against touch AC when the target is within the first five range increments, but this type of attack is not considered a touch attack for the purposes of feats such as Deadly Aim. At higher range increments, the attack resolves normally, including taking the normal cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment. Advanced firearms have a maximum range of 10 range increments.

• It is a move action to reload a revolver or chamber rounds in a rifle. It only takes a swift action to reload an already filled box magazine (put in a new clip; this can also be done with a move action).

• Heavy Weapons take a full-round action to reload.

Rate of Fire

Modern firearms have various rates of fire, including single shot (SS), semi-automatic (SA), and automatic. Early and advanced firearms are all single shot.

Single Shot: Just like firearms have always worked in PF. One shot per attack. If you can reload as a free action, you can fire as many shots in a full attack or a barrage as you have available.

Semi-Auto: A semi-automatic weapon normally fires one shot as an attack. However, the user can take a special attack action to fire twice, as if using the Barrage sphere's barrage ability (including taking a -2 penalty on all attacks), except using this method does not allow the user to expend martial focus for additional attacks. If the wielder has the Barrage sphere's barrage ability, they can instead count their base attack bonus as five points higher exclusively for the purposes of qualifying for additional attacks when martial focus is expended. (Thus, a character with 6 BAB would be able to take 4 attacks when expending martial focus with an SA weapon, rather than 3).

The user can also take a full-attack action to fire an additional time this round at your highest bonus, as if using the Rapid Shot feat (including taking a -2 penalty on all attacks). If the wielder has the Rapid Shot feat, he ignores the -2 penalty on all attacks but does not gain any further attacks from the feat. Only a single firearm can benefit from semi-automatic fire per full-attack, like when two-weapon fighting with firearms you can only benefit from semi-automatic fire with one firearm.

Automatic: This weapon is capable of automatic fire, rapidly shooting bullets as long as the wielder holds down the trigger.

• Targeted burst: As a special attack action, fire a long burst of rounds targeting all creatures in a line starting from any corner of the wielder's space and extending to the limit of the weapon's range or until it strikes a barrier it cannot penetrate. When using an automatic weapon to attack all creatures in a line, the wielder makes a separate attack roll against each creature in the line. Each creature in the line can only be affected by one attack from each burst, and feats such as vital strike can only affect one of the damage rolls. Each attack roll takes a -2 penalty. Effects that grant concealment, such as fog or smoke, or the blur, invisibility, or mirror image spells, do not affect an automatic weapon's line attack. Roll to confirm each attack roll that threatens a critical hit separately. A single burst with an automatic weapon consumes 10 charges or uses of ammunition. When using automatic fire, creatures count their perception checks to hear the sound as if they had rolled a 20, even with suppressed firearms. You may not reload during Automatic Fire.

  • If the wielder of this weapon possesses the Barrage sphere, they can choose to spend their martial focus to make additional line attacks as if making a barrage attack. The same area can be targeted by the same burst twice, and apply (blitz) talents to every creature in said lines. 6 BABFrom Barrage:
    Beginning at 6 base attack bonus, you may expend your martial focus to make an additional extra attack, increasing the penalty to all your attacks from -2 to -4. For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess beyond 6, when expending your martial focus you may increase this penalty by an additional -2 to make an additional extra attack.
    
    (So at 6 BAB, expending martial focus gets you two total line attacks at -4).

  • When taking a full-attack action with an automatic weapon, the wielder can fire as many bursts in a round as he has attacks, provided his gun can hold enough ammo to make all of the attacks, otherwise it only fires what the current box contains (30 box can only have 3 attacks).

• Suppressing Fire: As a full-round action, you wildly spray an area hoping to hit anything that comes into it or to keep things from moving through that area. You can affect 2 areas: a cone in front of you 20 ft wide extending to the first range increment of the weapon, or a 30 ft diameter area that is below you and up to your weapon’s first range increment away from you. Make a single attack roll at a -4 penalty, and apply it to all enemies in the targeted area. If that number beats that creature’s or enemy’s AC, roll damage against that creature. If you roll a natural 20, you hit all enemies currently in the area, but do not do extra damage. Any enemy that enters this area or leaves a square in this area until the beginning of your next turn is considered a new target of your original attack roll, taking damage if they would be hit (once per movement, not once per square moved). Abilities that modify being targeted by an AOO also modify being targeted by this action. This action uses up 30 ammunition, or the remainder of your magazine (must have at least 25 round remaining).

  • If you posses the Cone of Death barrage talent, increase the size of the cone with this action to a medium range (100'+10' per BAB) cone.

• Sustained Fire: or more affectionately known as Rip-a-clip. You unload your weapon on a single target. The more consecutive rounds you do so, the more damage the target takes. As a 1-round action, roll an attack against a single target within the 1st range increment of your weapon (for each size larger the target is than you, it may be an additional range increment away). The attack is at a -4 penalty and targets normal AC. At the end of the round (before the beginning of your next turn. Functionally this will be after the enemy block turn in combats), if you weren't interrupted* apply max base weapon damage on a hit, otherwise roll normal weapon damage. If you take this action a second consecutive round, succeed on the attack, and aren't interrupted, apply max weapon damage x2. If you take this action a 3rd consecutive round or beyond, hit, and aren't interrupted, apply max weapon damage x4 on a hit. This action takes 30 rounds of ammunition each time, and you must be able to reload as a swift or free action to be able to reload your weapon between consecutive rounds (if reload is required). 

  • For each size larger a creature is than you, reduce the attack penalty by 1. If your weapon is mounted, there is no attack penalty.

  • *You are interrupted if you take damage or are directly targeted with a melee attack during the enemy turn.

Shotguns:

Shotguns are large bore weapons with devastating stopping power at close range. Shotguns target Normal AC, instead of Touch AC. If a slug is used when firing, a shotgun’s critical range is changed to 20/4x, and the attack is made against Touch AC within the weapon’s first range increment. Slugs can only target one individual. If a shotgun with pellets loaded is fired at a character within its first range increment, the attack receives a +2 to hit, and any character adjacent to, but not behind that character, receives the minimum damage of that attack, as if the attack were a Splash Weapon.

(this usage of shotguns applies to modern shotguns. Early and advanced guns with the scatter quality still use those as normal, and would represent a sawed-off shotgun or other modified pellet firearm with a very wide firing arc).

Sniper:

With a Sniper Rifle, you may apply sneak attack damage to eligible attacks made within the first range increment of the weapon. You must use Single Shot mode to apply sneak attack damage.

Rubber Bullets: Rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from standard firearms. They are intended to be a non-lethal or more specifically a less lethal alternative to metal projectiles, dealing only bludgeoning damage. A firearm user can use rubber bullets to deal nonlethal damage (at the normal –4 attack penalty for using a lethal weapon to deal nonlethal damage).

Beanbag Rounds (aka Flexible Baton rounds): Beanbag rounds consists of a small fabric "pillow" filled with #9 lead shot weighing about 40 grams.  They are intended to be a non-lethal or more specifically a less lethal alternative to metal projectiles, similar to rubber bullets.  Beanbags, however, are specifically intended to stun their target by causing intense and painful muscle spasms at the point of impact, that render the target momentarily immobile.  Targets hit by a beanbag round are Staggered for 1d3-1 rounds.  On a successful FORT save vs the attackers practitioner DC, they are instead Sickened.

Beanbag rounds count as Slugs for damage/attack purposes (20/x4 on a crit, Touch AC for the first range increment), but all damage is nonlethal.  They can be used to do lethal damage, at the normal -4 penalty.  Additionally they have a max range of 2 range increments.  Any target struck in the 2nd range increment by a beanbag ONLY takes the nonlethal damage and is not subject to the Stagger/Sickened effect. Creatures immune to nonlethal damage are also not affected by the additional effects.

Misfires

Modern firearms are created using highly machine precision instruments, yet they are made up of multi moving parts. That and other factors such as the weapon being dropped or hit, old or degraded shells, lack of or improper cleaning and handling, the elements and such can lead to a misfire.

When attacking with a modern ranged firearm a roll of a natural 1 causes a misfire. That in itself is no big deal, it just means the shot did not happen but it could also mean a jammed weapon. Like when you roll a second time on a critical to confirm the hit you do the same on a misfire. If your second roll would hit the target your gun simply failed to fire. No ammunition is expended on a standard misfire your attack just didn’t happen. However if your confirmation roll is a MISS, then the weapon has Jammed.

• Jammed Weapon: If your weapon has becoming jammed you must spend an attack action to unjam it and the ammunition from the attack is lost. Besides bullets this includes, grenades, rockets, missiles, etc.

• Broken Weapon: If you are so unlucky as to actually roll a natural one a second time on a misfire confirmation the weapon breaks gaining the broken condition until fixed.

Cover

If you are immediately adjacent to your source of cover, you may take shots at your opponents. This requires using a move action to lean and shoot (it takes no action to shoot past partial cover). If you are behind Total Cover and can lean out, using this move action has you peak out until the beginning of your next turn, reducing your source of cover to Improved Cover until you take an action to move back in.

Tech Sphere - Mechanical Ranged Weaponry:

If you select Mechanical Ranged Weaponry from the tech sphere, buying the talent once gets you access to all exotic crossbows, early firearms, and advanced firearms. Selecting it a second time expand your list of ranged weapons you can create to include all of the Simple and Martial weapons (pistols, rifles, shotguns) found in the list below. If you take it a third time, you gain access to all Heavy Weapons listed below. Superior Mechanical Weaponry is unavailable (and rendered mostly irrelevant).

Rapid Reload Feat

The Rapid Reload feat and the Expert Reloading talent are considered to have the same function: Whenever you reload a ranged weapon with which you are proficient, you may decrease the required time; hand and light crossbows become free actions, heavy crossbows and one-handed firearms become move actions, and two-handed firearms become standard actions. Modern and advanced firearms become free actions to reload. Heavy Weapons become standard actions to reload.

If you possess the Crossbow Mastery feat, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when reloading any crossbow. If you possess Firearm Proficiency (discipline) you know longer provoke AOOs when reloading Simple and Martial firearms. 

Ask your character creation related questions here, and you shall receive answers.

Submitting an Application

First, review this entire thread to get an idea of what is going on with the rules. You should probably also get familiar with The Tank (to be given an official name later by the crew) and how it operates, as it may inform how you make your character.

Once you are ready to get your information together, create a new thread in this Applications tab, with your character's name. A placeholder name is fine, we can change it later.

Characters should be built using the rules below. You should additionally include some flavor around your character. Include an image (art preferred), a description (beyond the image, how do they move, sound, smell, emote, what equipment are they never without, etc.), and a few paragraphs of background. Feel free to make stuff up in the background as far as places, factions, customs, and anything else that adds texture to the world. The setting is our world, or some version of it, but 100 years after an apocalyptic event tore it apart. It is familiar in some ways, and far different in others. The geographical location is the United States (though that political entity no longer exists. I will do my best to incorporate elements of your background, especially locations/events/NPCs, into the story in some way, so this stuff definitely matters.

I'm looking for you to get about 85% finished with your character before submitting your application. Your fluff should be like 99% there, with a few minor elements like how you might know/get along with the rest of the crew determined after I accept the players. Your mechanics should be a decent chunk figured out, but there will be a bit of room to finish those upon being accepted. You should have your classes figured out, and your primary feats and talents that determine the bulk of what you do. I should have an idea of how your character operates and what kind of roles they'll fill on the team. You should have a mythweaver character sheet filled out with the most important bits, but I am okay if your primary documentation of mechanics and build notes is in your thread. You do not have to get only 85% finished, you can completely finish every last detail if you want.

Once you are finished enough to submit, tag me in your character thread and let me know you are submitting your character.

What am I looking for in applications? I'll be building a relatively varied and balanced party, but am not afraid to load up in one area if the best applications are similar to each other. You will impress me much more with an interesting character and interesting story than an elite mechanical build. I want both characters and players who are team players: this is about a tank crew after all, and you and your character should be interested in working together to overcome larger challenges you can't complete on your own. No lone wolves.

Guidelines

Sources: Paizo and Spheres of Might. No other 3rd party sources allowed.

Casting: As noted above, no casting. Enemies will not have magic either.

Level: Create a level 6 gestalt character. Spheres gestalt rules can be found here. Advancement will happen through narrative milestones.

Ability Scores: 30 point buy

Hit Points: Max at all levels

Races: The races typically found in Pathfinder don't exist, instead use the Origin sphere. If you want to keep it really simple, you can just be a stock Human, which is similar to just selecting the Blank Slate origin tradition (+2 to an ability, 1 bonus feat, additional skill point per level).

• You may create your own Origin Tradition. You get 2 Potent talents, may trade a potent for 3 auxiliary and 1 utility. Auxiliary and Utility may be taken in place of Potent Talents.

• Any requirements to be a certain race are dropped from all feats, equipment, and other abilities.

• Per the overall rule, (su) and magic-related origin talents are disallowed. I may also veto origin talents that are a little too "out there" but I will leave some room for having mutations in the post-apocalypse world.

• I'm going to provisionally allow Phenomenal talents. If something gets out of hand, I might change my mind, so don't hinge your character on one.

• Looking to have the trope of a character with a prosthetic limb? Consider using the Assistive Device variation.

Nationality: The game will take place in what used to be the United States of America, but that political entity no longer exists. There are many different political and regional affiliations that have cropped up any its place, some of which may bear a slight resemblance to what came before, most others are completely different. Feel free to invent a region, town, protectorate, or something similar that your character hales from. It can also be from overseas, but travel between the continents is exceedingly rare in this time period.

Classes:  Available classes are limited to those that don't have magical powers or have archetypes available that allow them to operate without magic powers. Small customizations may be available. But please endeavor to just use classes/archetypes where not much needs to be done.

• Classes that may be taken as-is: Armiger, Barbarian (Unchained), Blacksmith, Brawler, Cavalier, Commander, Conscript, Fighter, Gunslinger, Rogue (Unchained), Samurai, Savant, Scholar, Sentinel, Slayer, Striker, Swashbuckler, Vigilante.

• Classes that may be taken if you take an archetype that trades out all supernatural powers: Investigator, Ranger, Hunter.

• Classes that may be taken with changes: Bard, Monk (Unchained), Ninja, Prodigy, Troubadour.

Prestige Classes: No

Spheres: All marital spheres, except LeadershipI may integrate some Leadership abilities into The Crew later on and PilotI thought this might work really well, but it just doesn't fit the setting or mechanics that well.. Tech is still allowed.

• Legendary Talents: must gain approval for any legendary talents, many aren't appropriate for setting.

• You are not required to use a spheres archetype for Paizo martial classes, you may use them as-is.

Traditions: Custom Martial Traditions are allowed, please use these guidelines.

Skills: Background skills are in effect. Several skills have also been customized for the setting, see below.

Feats: 1 feat per level. Feat tax reduction as below. Feats from Spheres of Power that do not use magic or spell points may be taken.

Feat Tax: We'll be using a modified version of the Elephant in the Room rules. Read the list below below carefully for details and changes.

Traits: 3 traits, plus 1 with a drawback.

Wealth: 5000 gp to spend. Must spend all down to 100gp or lose it.

• You may set aside up to 1000 gp as a miscellaneous adventuring gear fund. During the game, you may declare that you possess a non-alchemical item worth no more than 100gp that your character would reasonably own, deducting it from that fund. You may no spend money from this fund, it isn't liquid, it represents all the stuff you own. You may, at a settlement or trading opportunity, "sell" items from this fund at whatever value you could get for them, then spend that money. Functionally, this is usually using it at a 1:2 exchange. Don't abuse this. It is there so you don't have to shop for every single little thing your character would have, only to forget that you didn't buy any rope that of course your character would have. It is not to suddenly spawn the absolute perfect item at the perfect time to solve a problem, or have some kind of massive variable stock of ammunitions.

• Magic items are not available for initial purchase. Occasionally you may find magic items on your journey re-fluffed as ancient or jury-rigged tech.

• Given the barter-based nature of the post-apocalyptic economy and the relative rarity of actual coin currency, most of your liquid wealth is actually in the form of small valuable items. Jewelry, knicknacks, bits of technology, etc. To make it easier to carry and exchange, some wastelanders do melt down jewelry into approximations of coins. Your GP is in some variety of the above, and you can just roleplay it out when exchanges take place. I'm going to still use GP to valuate and to provide a useful abstraction for trades.

Equipment:

Without magic weapons and the benefits they provide (though you will still be able to give enhancement bonuses to weapons through oath boons), we will be using expanded rules for masterwork weapons. See below for details.

• The regular +1 bonus provided by masterwork weapons is now considered a circumstance bonus, as with other masterwork equipment. It therefore stacks with the enhancement bonuses provided by Oath Boons.

• There are now several ranks of masterwork armor, weapons and tools, including several special abilities. As with magic weapons, adding multiple abilities increases the total price.

• You do not need to add the basic to-hit bonus if you don't want to (that is, you can buy a Serrated (+1) weapon for 300 gp without making it Balanced first).

• In all cases, the masterwork value is the amount that you paid for that specific ability, not the total amount of the weapon. So a sword that is Balanced +2/Serrated +1 adds 2 to attack and 1 to damage, not 3 to each. It would still be priced as a +3 weapon, however.

• The cost for ammunition is 1/5th the base price for 10 plus the cost of the ammo itself, i.e. 61 gp for 10 Keen (+1) arrows. You can't buy less than 10 of a given masterwork quality.

  • Or +6gp per single masterwork ammo, +24gp per single piece of grand master ammo, +54gp per piece of exquisite ammo. 

  • Grenade ammo (WPG/RPG) and hand grenades should be treated as ammunition for masterwork purposes, however the requirement to buy at least 10 is waived.

• Legendary weapons and armor are not available to start with; the forging techniques necessary have been lost to history and can only be discovered during play. I'm including them here for completeness. Legendary tools are available at the price listed.

 Special Materials

Armor and weapons may be made of any of the following special materials: adamantine, alchemical silver, bone, bronze, cold iron, darkleaf cloth, darkwood, fire-forged steel, frost-forged steel, glass, gold, horacalcum, mithral, obsidian, silversheen, stone, sunsilk. Much of it would be re-fluffed to fit the setting accordingly.

Firearms: Guns Everywhere with modifications to accommodate modern weapons. See the Firearms Rules thread for details.

Oaths:

Characters gain 2 points plus 1 point per level (so 8 to begin with) to spend on Oath Boons. Characters may swear Oaths beyond this to gain additional oath points, up to usual 10 additional points worth.

• Unavailable Oaths: Oath of Poverty, Oath Against Magic, Oath of Wardenship.

• Changed Oaths

  • Oath Against Artifice is a now a 2 point oath. In addition to its effects, you may not use any of the tank's weaponry, though may ride on it or maintain it. You must always occupy an open hatch if possible, staying inside the tank for more than 1 minute without an opening violates this oath.

  • Oath of Offerings is a now a 2 point oath. It now reads as follows: "You have sworn to dedicate your wealth to those more needy than yourself. You begin with half of your allotted starting wealth. You must donate half of the value of all income or loot you gain to someone in need, or an organization of your choosing. This cannot include the tank, anyone in the crew, or someone the crew is contracted with. If making an offering immediately is not possible, this Oath allows the Oathbearer to hold onto (but not to use) excess belongings until an offering can be made, without breaking this or other Oaths. Equipment gained from class features and without other associated costs does not count is income." (You start with 2500gp of equipment, donate half your income or item value instead of possess less than half your wealth by level, and can donate to anyone on your travels within reason)

• Unavailable Oath Boons: Accelerated Recovery, Drawbacks, Improved Aristeia, Immortality, Magical Gleaning, Renewal, Spell Resistance, Imbued Spell

• Oath Boon Changes:

  • Damage Reduction Oath Boon: You gain damage reduction equal to one-half your character level. This damage reduction is bypassed by bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (your choice when you take the boon) and does not stack with any other form of damage reduction.

  • Enhanced Armaments/Armor: Your weapons/armor may only gain qualities as listed in the expanded masterwork rules, but may gain these qualities.

• New Oath Boons

   

  Fated Birth (1 point): Your birth held astrological significance and has influenced your life in subtle ways ever since. Choose one basic (non-advanced) motif from the Fate magical sphere. You are under the effects of that motif permanently as an Extraordinary effect, using your character level as your caster level. You cannot discharge this effect. If the chosen motif has an effect that changes or replenishes when cast, consider it to be cast again whenever you rest for 8 hours or more.

   

  One with the Machine (1 point): You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Drive checks, and any vehicle you are operating gains a +1 resistance bonus to its saving throws and +1 enhancement bonus to its natural armor at 3rd level, both increasing by +1 every 3 levels thereafter (to a maximum of +5 at 15th level).

   

  Incredible Metabolism (1 point): You gain the Endurance feat as a bonus feat. You may add your Endurance bonus to saving throws against poison and disease. You require only half as much food or water as normal for your size, and can be fully rested with only 4 hours of sleep.

   

  Keen Senses (1 point): You gain low-light vision. You double the distance you are able to see in fog, mist, smoke, etc. (usually from 5 ft. to 10 ft.). You gain Perception as a class skill, and if you have 5 or more ranks in it, you gain its skill unlock.

   

  Quick Recovery (2 points): You remove nonlethal damage equal to your character level each round. Whenever you are healed hit points by an alchemical item or an application of the Heal skill, you regain additional hit points equal to your character level, up to a maximum of twice the amount healed.

   

Favored Class: You may choose any one race-specific favored class option for your chosen class, regardless of your actual race. Whenever you gain a level, you may choose that option or the standard +1 hit point or +1 skill point.

Religion: There are many religions that survived the apocalypse and some that have even thrived. Cults worshipping various concepts, deities, and Kaiju have sprung up everywhere. None of these matter for mechanics. Any abilities having to do with deities are removed, and any prerequisites to worship a certain deity are dropped from feats and traits.

Alignment: Alignments are removed, and any ability that depended on alignment is no longer relevant.

Optional Rules

• Combat Stamina and Combat Tricks are available. Link. You must select the Combat Stamina feat to be able to use stamina.

• Called Shots are available. Link

  • You may make called shots on opposing vehicles or other constructs, targeting hull, wheels/treads, engine, turrets, etc. We'll use common sense to determine what part on a given vehicle corresponds to which parts on a living creature. For instance, Leg=wheels/treads, head=cockpit/driver, heart/vitals=engine, eyes=windshield/sensors, hand=weapons/turret, etc.

A place for general OOC conversation. If you want to ask questions about character creation, please use the dedicated Character Creation Q&A Thread.

There is also a Discord Server for this game: (to be created)

Another big thumbs up to the Gentlemen Bastards series from me.

Just finished reading the third installment of Joe Abercromie's newest trilogy, Age of Madness. Straight up gritty low magic fantasy, this one moving his world into an industrialization time period. Very much enjoy his writing. 

No about to start The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter