So, my sister cracked open the book, and the first thing she saw was 'envoy'. This filled her with joy, because she wanted to make a social-fu character - someone who hob-nobbed with the upper crust, made allies and connections, and had a lot of pull in social circles.
Sadly... envoy isn't a social fu character.
I tried looking for a wireless hacker type - someone who connects to machines remotely (kind of like blutooth and wifi in this day and age). I either missed it, or it simply doesn't exist - anyone know where it might be?
The other idea was a 'rigger' (ala Shadowrun) someone who builds and buys drones, gives them a Smart AI that can do some limited thinking, and then runs them remotely. I don't think I found anything about buying and programming drones, though.
Am I missing something?
Theme: Icon
Class: Mechanic
Type: Exocortex for the hacker type.
Drone would work for the other part.
Theme: Icon
Class: Mechanic - Drone
Yeah, I saw the Mechanic, but the thing is - what if you're not a mechanic? For example, you might be am ambassador, who just happens to know how to tinker with store-bought drone kits. Also, of course, what if you want a handful of drones?
For example, in Shadowrun, I had a private investigator - he used magic, but he had a few drones on hand and AR contacts to see what they could see. They were smart enough to get the job done, but he could pilot them remotely.
I was thinking of something along those lines. Go to the tech shop, get a few drones, download a few programs, install some basic AI, connect them wireless to a headset, and away I go.
The private eye concept would most likely, at least for now, be covered by being a multi-class Mystic/Technomancer Mechanic.
Basically, a lot of options for more specific things (like owner of your own drone that isn't like the Mechanic) are either "Up to the GM" or possible content for a future book.
Social Hob-Knobs would be the Icon theme as Wraithguard covered, most likely. You even get to theme it a bit. Maybe a famous actor, vidgame player, and so on.
Was there anything specific that felt off about the Envoy? We might be able to find something that works for the concept other than just the Theme if you have more details.
Icon works well, but it was more a class option. Rather than creating combat advantages and having combat abilities, my sister was more looking for non-combat traits - abilities which could influence people, create allies, adjust attitudes, turn people against one another or create alliances. If you remember 3.5, they had the 'courtier' class in some of the books.
Then of course, you could do psychic / magic variants, which could have spells which help do that kind of stuff.
The private eye concept would most likely, at least for now, be covered by being a multi-class Mystic/Technomancer Mechanic.
Basically, a lot of options for more specific things (like owner of your own drone that isn't like the Mechanic) are either "Up to the GM" or possible content for a future book.
Social Hob-Knobs would be the Icon theme as Wraithguard covered, most likely. You even get to theme it a bit. Maybe a famous actor, vidgame player, and so on.
Was there anything specific that felt off about the Envoy? We might be able to find something that works for the concept other than just the Theme if you have more details.
Icon works well, but it was more a class option. Rather than creating combat advantages and having combat abilities, my sister was more looking for non-combat traits - abilities which could influence people, create allies, adjust attitudes, turn people against one another or create alliances. If you remember 3.5, they had the 'courtier' class in some of the books.
Then of course, you could do psychic / magic variants, which could have spells which help do that kind of stuff.
What about the envoy class doesn't fulfill those concepts, out of curiosity?
Envoy is essentially a bard. While there's some light social-fu, there's a lot of combat stuff associated with it.
Feint, Don't Quit, Get 'Em, Inspiring Boost, Not in the Face, etc, those are all combat applications. If they had a social-fu equivalent, which didn't have to deal with physical combat, that would be cool.
But so much of what the Envoy does seems to be leadership/combat related material, as opposed to... I don't know, being an actual envoy.
The Envoy improvisations are most about combat, yes. A lot of their out-of-combat utility is found in their expertise talents.
So, my sister cracked open the book, and the first thing she saw was 'envoy'. This filled her with joy, because she wanted to make a social-fu character - someone who hob-nobbed with the upper crust, made allies and connections, and had a lot of pull in social circles.
Sadly... envoy isn't a social fu character.
The envoy or the operative can both work as a "social" character. As mentioned, the envoy has some nice abilities in their expertise talents: Analyst, Convincing Liar, Menacing Gaze, Slick Customer, Well Informed. The detective specialization for an operative has fewer abilities specifically focused around social interaction, but Alien Archive, Inoculation (maybe they hung out at those types of "A-list" parties), Jack of All Trades, Certainty, Stalwart (no hangovers for you), and Glimpse the Truth can be useful in social situations as well as combat.
I tried looking for a wireless hacker type - someone who connects to machines remotely (kind of like blutooth and wifi in this day and age). I either missed it, or it simply doesn't exist - anyone know where it might be?
The other idea was a 'rigger' (ala Shadowrun) someone who builds and buys drones, gives them a Smart AI that can do some limited thinking, and then runs them remotely. I don't think I found anything about buying and programming drones, though.
Am I missing something?
Both of these are the mechanic class. At 5th level the mechanic gains the Remote Hack class feature, allowing them to make hacking attempts within 20 ft. They can also gain a drone as a class feature; one of the "mods" that can be selected for a drone (Camera) allows the mechanic to view from the drone's perspective (the Master Control ability already lets you directly control the drone).
From a game-balance perspective, allowing multiple drones at once is probably not a good idea.
The technomancer has some spells to magically create temporary "drones," as well (microbot assault, handy junkbot, healing junkbot, and battle junkbot). Plus, they can select the magic hack Fabricate Tech and use it to create a temporary Spy Drone; unfortunately, they have to wait until 6th level to do so.