The game premise is space pirates. It's a proper campaign, not just a one-shot. I'm playing the weird one of the group, a Nanocyte who "disguises" himself as a cartoon character. He has an unsavory reputation as a killer, and is known for sparing people who follow his enigmatic social media page. The only thing he posts on it is the text made-for-you default, "Hi, this is my first post on Space Twitter!", copied and re-posted every couple of days.
So, what do we need?
- Disguise. Not just good bonuses, but we need to clear out a lot of penalties for very weird disguise. We'll be living in the disguise. And if you are using Disguise, you need Bluff.
- Intimidate. He's an unsettling dude.
- We also need some mechanics to back us up on the "being scary" thing. We need to be able to actually kill somebody, and if possible, it should be in a scary way.
- Bonus points if we can be unnaturally cartoon-like.
Race: Verthani is creepy as heck and perfect for us. Two nice perks: skin that lets us hide and skill focus as a feat. Skill Focus is going to Intimidate, since Sheath can't boost that.
Background: We have three class skills we need to add: Disguise, Bluff, and Intimidate. Youch! We'll be able to add two with a feat, but we really want the third to come from our theme. That means Space Pirate (Bluff), Cultist (Disguise), or Gladiator (Intimidate). Space Pirate is pretty obvious, but Gladiator's mechanics actually work pretty well with a serial killer. Both of them eventually deal with weapons concealment and specific styles, so we'll need the GM to ask to fix it to something relevant for us if we get there.
Knacks, pt 1: We know we're going to be spending a knack on Versatile Nanites for bluff and disguise. We'll want sheath active a lot.
Now, the problem is, Nanocyte can't help me pull of such an ambitious disguise. We need a Doppelganger Mimic Skin for this, which does a better job of what I want than the 6th level knack and 10th level knack combined. (I want to disguise as a particular fictional individual- 6th doesn't remove anywhere near as many penalties and 10th wouldn't help and even if I'm imitating a real person, it gives much smaller bonuses.) So, I'll be low on cash. Another 500 credits, and I can get a holoskin for layering a quick disguise on top to cover the weakness of limited, slow changes.
Knacks, pt 2: Okay, so if we're going to be low on cash and planning on using Sheath, that means we go Swarm Strike to save on our weapon. Good, creepy way to fight!
Stats: I'm stretched very thin by wanting to have a decent Cha for skills. Okay, 11 Str, 14 Dex, 18 Con, 12 Int, 10 Wis, 16 Cha. We'll need good armor.
Armor: The only clear armor that works with our skin stuff (or pretty much any non-magical disguise ability) is level 3. Talked to the GM, because this is an annoying place to break. She is allowing clear armor for +10% and an upgrade slot.
Faculties:
- So, first of all, Discorporation is the body horror cartoon path! Unfortunately, the first ability is… it's useless. Cloud doesn't do anything if you don't spend a point, and if I spend a point I should just use my reaction to take less damage (which is likewise cartoon-ish). I get a free step if I'm crit? That would be okay if I were ranged, but "crit in melee as a ranged class" is rare. I'm sad, because the second ability is stylish, but no good in combat.
(As a minor complaint, level-8 for the effects of Secondary Faculty makes it feel irrelevant. Why would I spend a surge on something lagging eight levels behind? So it's just passive stuff.)
- Infestation. It's not cartoony, but it actually helps us in a fight while using Sheath. It makes us scary- fighting back hurts, and we can make a cloud to hit people if we need. Looks like we'll definitely need to keep Con at 18.
Equipment/gear array:
As I go to select my equipment and gear array, I notice that I can't use my gear array for any of the disguise stuff I want (because then I can't have my sheath array up). Not until 7th, at least. 7th level seems like a really big level for the class. That'll be an emergency Holoskin and a Vocal Modulator. Otherwise, my gear array selection breaks down similarly to before, but we grab a few light things that we couldn't afford otherwise (Library Chip for Culture to look stuff up easily, Thieves Tools for infiltration).
Skills:
Bluff, Disguise, and Intimidate because that's what we do. Good Computers and Engineering to get into places if we need. Perception and Stealth are important for general use. Steal a rank from Computers so we've got a token rank in Culture.
Feats:
We have obligated ourselves to Improved Unarmed Strike and Skill Synergy. We'll worry about the fifth-level feat later; there are plenty of great choices.
Thoughts:
- It's hard to do a more skills-oriented take on the class. Even getting your primary stat to accuracy doesn't free you from needing Dex for AC on a light-armor class. I'm glad that I have skill bonuses that let me be relevant even if there's an operative, but I've gotta spend a lot to keep up.
- Is this another character where the answer is just, "play an Operative"? I feel like disguise is supposed to be one of the things Nanocyte is supposed to do well.
- I'm spending one knack and one feat to get a slightly weaker version of Vanguard's free scaling melee weapon, and I'm spending one knack and one feat to get a much narrower version of Operative's skill bonus. I'm a little more skilled than the Vanguard, and I'm more durable than the Operative (plenty more hitpoints/damage blocking, but -2 AC). Is the "knack and a feat" necessary for the balance? It could be.
- I can do it! I have to grab a lot of stuff from outside of the class, but the class contributes a lot to pulling this off.
- I'm a going disguise, and next level's disguise knack takes a back-seat to the heavy armor ability because items accomplish what I need (a long-term disguise) better.
- Infestation feels a lot better when I'm paying for it only occasionally, and a failed save means triggering the DoT at least once.
Suggestions:
- Reactive Spray feels really close to a non-ability. Cloud does nothing on its own, and you never want to spend a surge on a cloud that only lasts one round.
- Versatile Nanites could grant class skills, even if it's only while Sheath is active with those skills. Or maybe some flexibility on the class skills.
- Maybe it's too complex or a balance issue, but getting a starting choice between a physical skill list for Sheath (Stealth, Acrobatics, Athletics, Sleight of Hand) and a mental skill list (Bluff, Disguise, Engineering, Medicine) would significantly improve my experience. It feels like I'm spending the knack to make up for the default being aimed at another concept. It would also free up Medicine builds from requiring both level 2 and 4 knacks.
- Hungry Nanites should work with Swarm Strike.
- Beef up Disguise. The only skills with knack chains are Medicine and Disguise; taking those chains should have some oomph to them.
Sorry I gripe a lot in these; I'm really enjoying the class flavor and just trying to get the mechanics to do what I want with less of a "locked in" feeling.
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Ran out of useful augmentations for my major forms on my limited budget for starting gear array investment. (I only need one backup ranged weapon.) Got GM approval for climbing suckers, since climbing with nanites seemed like a reasonable option.
I'd like to suggest the reverse of biochains. 10% extra, get the effect replicated with cybernetics.
I'd like to suggest the reverse of biochains. 10% extra, get the effect replicated with cybernetics.
This would definitely be helpful. SROs and Verthani both get a free upgrade slot for cybernetics, but they don't have a lot to choose from early on (I typically go with the voice enhancer for free Intimidate). Also it just makes sense that certain augs might be easier to do with biotech but not that they're impossible to replicate with chrome.
I was also considering, "If most of the disguise stuff is coming from his item, why don't I build him as an Operative with a knife?" Operative's got a lot going for it, getting a lot of what I'm building towards as part of its base kit or a selectable option.
What it comes down to is two things:
One, for this character, getting a bonus to lots of skills may make him better in out-of-combat situations (which the game will focus on), but it doesn't make him more like the character.
Two, Defensive Dispersal makes him an absolute juggernaut. If I save two surges for Malignant Mist and three RP for recovering stamina/stabilizing, that's seven surges/RP left to block damage. 9 * 7 = up to 63 damage prevented during a day. And unlike Vanguard, I can use it out of combat to shrug off any sort of injury. That's got a cartoon feel to it that Operative can't match.