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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Rocketeer

It takes a very specific personality to strap on a tank filled with a highly flammable alchemical substance and set it afire to launch oneself into the sky, so it is perhaps unsurprising that most rocketeers are reckless and bombastic individuals who delight in the theatrics inherent in their craft. While the unpredictability of rocketeering devices and the high casualty rate among those who use them make such devices generally unsuitable for military applications, a few courageous souls have used them to become dashing folk heroes or performing daredevils, many of whose most memorable performances culminate in their own dramatic demises.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 24
Unspecific Lore: DC 22
Specific Lore: DC 19

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

RocketeerCreature 6

Uncommon Medium Human Humanoid 
Source NPC Core pg. 47
Perception +14
Languages Common
Skills Acrobatics +13 ((+17 to Maneuver in Flight)), Crafting +14, Engineering Lore +14, Performance +12
Str +2, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +0
Items +1 slide pistol (20 rounds), flight suit (functions as leather armor), heavy wrench (functions as a mace), artisan's toolkit (rocketry), moderate alchemist's fire (4)
AC 23; Fort +12, Ref +16, Will +14
HP 85
Fuel Tank Vulnerability When the rocketeer is struck by a critical hit that deals piercing or fire damage, they must attempt a DC 5 flat check. On a failure, the rocketeer's fuel tank explodes, dealing 6d6 fire damage to the rocketeer and all creatures in a 20-foot emanation and knocking the rocketeer prone. The rocketeer loses their fly Speed and can't use Explosive Liftoff, Mid-air Collision, or Rocketing Strafe until they repair their jet pack, which requires an appropriate set of artisan's tools and takes 2 hours.
Speed 25 feet, fly 30 feet
Melee [one-action] heavy wrench +14 [+9/+4] (shove), Damage 1d6+8 bludgeoningMelee [one-action] fist +16 [+12/+8] (agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed), Damage 1d4+8 bludgeoningRanged [one-action] slide pistol +17 [+12/+7] (capacity 5, concussive, fatal d10, range increment 30 feet, reload 1), Damage 1d6+6 piercingExplosive Liftoff [two-actions] Frequency once per 10 minutes; Requirements The rocketeer is standing on a horizontal surface; Effect The rocketeer unleashes the full strength of their jets to launch themself into the air, dealing 7d6 fire and bludgeoning damage to all creatures in a 15-foot emanation with a DC 24 basic Reflex save. The rocketeer Flies twice, straight up into the air.Mid-air Collision [two-actions] The rocketeer Flies twice, then attempts to Trip or Shove another flying creature. If they roll a success on the Athletics check, they get a critical success instead.Rocketing Strafe [two-actions] The rocketeer Flies and makes two melee Strikes at any point during that movement. Each Strike must target a different creature. The rocketeer can forgo the melee Strikes to instead make one slide pistol Strike at any point during that movement and Interact to select the next loaded chamber of their slide pistol; they can do these in either order. Any Strike made as part of a Rocketing Strafe deals an additional 2d6 damage and takes the normal multiple attack penalty.

All Monsters in "Engineer"

NameLevel
Artillerist3
Demolitionist4
Driver2
Dynamo8
Gadgeteer6
Gunsmith1
Juggernaut13
Mechanic1
Rocketeer6
Toymaker3

Engineer

Source NPC Core pg. 42
Although relatively uncommon across much of Golarion, the frequently eccentric but undeniably brilliant minds who create elaborate devices of clockwork, gunpowder, and steam often loom much larger in the public eye than their numbers would suggest.

Engineering Device Malfunctions

When making an attack or activating an ability granted by a mechanical device that has been poorly maintained or is of shoddy construction, an engineer must attempt a DC 5 flat check after making the relevant attack roll or skill check. On a failure, the action is lost and the device misfires spectacularly (roll on the Device Malfunctions table). A device misfire doesn't affect the amount of time that must pass before some abilities can be used again.

Device Malfunctions

d6Effect
1Fizzle The device jams or short-circuits. If the triggering action was an attack, it retroactively becomes a critical failure. The engineer must use an Interact action to reset the device before it can be used again.
2 Backfire The device violently explodes, disabling it and dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 2 levels the engineer has in a 5-foot burst centered on the device. The device is broken until the engineer Repairs it.
3 Off-Target If the triggering action was a targeted attack, the attack instead targets another creature (other than the engineer) within 10 feet of the intended target, determined randomly by the GM. If no such target exists, the attack misses.
4 System Reset A burst of feedback momentarily shuts down all the engineer's devices. The engineer can't use attacks or abilities granted by any personal engineering device, potentially including movement speeds, until the start of their next turn.
5 Overheat The overstressed device generates a wave of intense heat. The device burns the engineer for 4d6 fire damage and 2d4 persistent fire damage, with a basic Reflex save. The DC is equal to the engineer's Fortitude DC. The engineer can Release the item before rolling to improve their degree of success on the save by one step.
6 Delayed Reaction The device fails to function, having no apparent effect. At the start of the engineer's next turn, the device automatically activates. The GM chooses any target or area at random.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Brigh

On Golarion, science and magic coexist, and many engineers worship Brigh, the deity of clockwork, invention, and time. She's often invoked when an inventor needs inspiration or is on the clock and needs the next few hours to go slower. Often, engineers engrave small icons of Brigh's religious symbol—a mask in her likeness.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Crossover Ancestry NPCs

Several of the NPCs elsewhere in NPC Core can fit well in this group: Goblin scavenger (level 4), kobold trapper (level 2)

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Firearms

Multiple engineers use firearms, technology that's present in relatively small numbers on Golarion. These are uncommon, simple, and martial weapons, so many player characters can use them. If you want to avoid putting the items in their hands, swap out the firearms with crossbow or similar weapons. More firearms and the gunslinger class appear in Pathfinder Guns & Gears.

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Gadgets For PCs

Since engineers often carry unique gadgets, your player characters will likely want to salvage and reuse those items. If you want to do this in your games, you can either let them use the items primarily as written or convert them into consumable gadgets. In any case, these items are typically unstable when salvaged, usable once to a few times or subject to misfires.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Mechanical Allies

Often, engineers are accompanied by mechanical creatures of their own creation, like clockwork hounds or mechanical birds. To build encounters including such creatures, you can either adapt an existing construct (such as an animated object) or change an animal's trait to construct and give it immunity to bleed, death effects, disease, doomed, drained, fatigued, healing, nonlethal attacks, paralyzed, poison, sickened, spirit, unconscious, vitality, and void. You might want to reduce its HP slightly to compensate.

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Misfires

Firearms that are improperly maintained or subjected to unusual strain can misfire. If a creature attempts to fire a firearm that was fired the previous day or earlier and hasn't been cleaned since, it rolls a DC 5 flat check before making its attack roll. If it fails this misfire check, the weapon misfires and jams. The attack is an automatic critical failure, and a creature must use an Interact action to clear the jam before the weapon can be reloaded and fired again. Once a creature has spent at least an hour cleaning a weapon, no one needs to roll for a misfire for that weapon until the next day unless an effect says otherwise.