Are you intending to play this as a character (pc) that is reoccurring?
Otherwise, I would just stick to the rules outlined in alien archive. And simply give them the abilities you want them to have.
NPc's don't really need character levels and most of the time don't necessitate ability scores.
For example the Drone could just as easily be a much lower CR npc minion that performs the basic functions you outlined.
Also if you're giving this NPC money for equipment while also intending them to survive, it's a little unnecessary in my opinion because nobody will get to loot them.
Moreover if you are the GM there are many other things besides equipment and abilities that could let this person survive.
My advice have environmental mechanisms in place to ensure their survival
Enemies stratagems that don't play for keeps or willingness to withdrawal from conflict.
I understand the desire to fully kit out an NPC that you want to be recurring I'm just trying to save you some work, so for simplicity sake give them armor weapons and
A boat ton of healing items that you use only when appropriate.
Here is my advice to make it.
Recovery Aegis lvl 3 Magic Item 1,350c
Auto-CPR Unit Armor Upgrade lvl 2 850c
Diehard Feat
Role playing as a person that doesn't want to get ambushed at all.
Do you have a race and theme in mind?
OK. I am a bit lost on the setup for this. Let me see if I have this right...
ghostunderasheet, you are creating the NPC, but you aren't the GM, so you won't be running the character in battle.
This NPC will be coming in conflict/battle against the players, including you ghostunderasheet.
Typically the GM throws away NPCs (as is rather normal for combat NPCs who fight against the players).
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If all of that is correct, then the biggest problem that I see is the motivations of the players. The GM has no real motivation to keep this NPC alive. And tactics and choices make a huge difference in survival.
It doesn't matter what feats, abilities, or equipment the NPC has if the character is being played as a throwaway.
Unless the NPC is created as part of an encounter that is high enough CR that the NPCs defeat the players, the NPCs are all going to lose. Fighting to the bitter end will result in NPC death. The player characters will eventually overwhelm any healing items, skills, feats, cover, concealment, stealth...
If this NPC is going to survive the encounter, he has to have a clear plan of what his goal is in the encounter, succeed at his objective quickly, have sacrificial minions to distract the player characters long enough, and then have at least one escape route that he uses at the earliest opportunity.
And all of that is tactics and motivation of the person playing that character - not the character build. So if the GM is playing the character and isn't invested in keeping him alive - he is going to die.
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Dm wants a sacrificial lamb
This makes it sound like it's already set in stone.
My advice is to talk to the DM about how you desperately want to keep them, otherwise there is no chance.
taking off the red shirt might be a start
Invest Max ranks in Bluff and play dead.
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Dm wants a sacrificial lambThis makes it sound like it's already set in stone.
My advice is to talk to the DM about how you desperately want to keep them, otherwise there is no chance.
Seconded.
If the GM wants the NPC to die it is still almost certainly going to die.
And being in direct conflict with your GM is not a good place to be in with the story.
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That aside: What is your best case scenario? How do you want the story to play out?
What is the objective of this NPC? You mentioned having a drone to grab something and take off with it. Once that is done, can the NPC also cut and run?
Or is the hope that the NPC will still be standing after the battle is over and can participate in the victory cheering afterwards? What happens after that?
Once you have determined what you want, it will make it easier to pitch to the GM.
OK. So your regular character is part of the extraction team, and the NPC is on the distraction team. The rest of the distraction team is also NPCs? Played by the other players at the table. Or are the rest of them also NPCs played by the GM?
In any case, the objective of the distraction team is to cause a ruckus and steal meaningless stuff - then hold out as long as possible while the extraction team goes and gets the good stuff unseen. I'm reading that right so far?
The other fiddly bit is that your NPC has the duty of drawing as much fire as possible for as long as possible to protect the other members of the distraction team.
Hmm...
If you can instead go Soldier 1 / Mechanic 2, then Energy Shield looks really tempting.
Shock and Awe fighting style would fit thematically with what the NPC is doing today. Not sure how good of a benefit the L1 ability is though.
But most importantly, tanking doesn't always mean taking hits. It also means drawing fire and mitigating damage.
Spellthrower fusion and Mirror Image would be nice if you can afford it.
Probably want plenty of grenades. Smoke grenades to provide concealment; flash grenades to cause blindness; Sticky grenades to hold enemies in place while you take cover somewhere and deal with fewer enemies at a time.
Also, if the rest of the distraction team isn't doing much actual attacking, they may be able to pull off some shots for Covering Fire. That can boost your AC a bit when you do get caught out in the open.
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But either way - live or die - it is likely to be an epic battle. I would love to hear how it went afterwards.
Hmm... PCs in both groups.
That isn't the way that I would have run it. I would have made the PCs doing mostly skill check encounters in the heist. But the faster that they pull it off, the fewer rounds of combat the NPCs have to suffer through. Run the groups alternating in increments of about 4 rounds. The tension would be through the roof since there is no plot reason to keep the distraction team alive at all. A secondary team TPK a very real threat looming over your heads.
Anyway... Obviously get the best armor that you can get your hands on. Even at the expense of better weapons if absolutely needed. Deflective Reinforcement would be really nice, but is probably too high of level for you to find - even though you could technically afford it. There is the Brown Force Field, but I'm not convinced that it is worth the cost. The purple one would be nice, but again may be out of reach.
If there is cover in the area that you are fighting in - use it. For both your NPC and the rest of the distraction team. Being Dragonkin you have 10 ft reach already. Maybe double down on that and bring a Pike. Nice 2-handed weapon for increased damage, plus that will extend your melee range out to 15 feet. You can hide behind cover and lock down the enemy movement for a large area of the room. Even the Barricade feat would help. If you set it up before the enemies arrive it won't hurt your action economy in the fight itself, and it can give you 1d4 rounds of partial cover.
Looking into it farther, the spellthrower with mirror image option will probably not work. You need a level 8 weapon in order to cast the level 2 spell. The fusion and spell gem don't cost all that much, but the weapon will. Maybe Opportunistic fusion instead. Especially with a 15 ft reach.
Yea 15 ft reach on a dragonkin i am taking a catpure pole.
Nice. With injection property you might also invest in some sedatives or something too. And the base Capture Pole is level 2, so there won't be any problems with item level with the Opportunistic fusion. That was something I noticed later with the Pike - it isn't high enough level for Opportunistic.
Neither would I you never split the party. I don't have ACA ny heist skills i am all bark and refuse to bite. Because i am cop i stop heists.
Yeah. I am getting the feeling that your GM isn't really interested in letting you play your character the way you want your character to play out. That is always hard.