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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Driver

With daring and charm, a driver is a professional operator of mechanical vehicles. Their skill and recklessness give them a reputation that puts even the quickest horse riders to shame. A driver's vehicle becomes an extension of themselves, allowing the driver to perform near-impossible feats of maneuverability. Drivers have other tricks up their sleeve, as their charm is undeniable. When needed, they can talk, lie, or frighten their way out of a bumpy situation in and out of a vehicle.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 16
Unspecific Lore: DC 14
Specific Lore: DC 11

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

DriverCreature 2

Medium Human Humanoid 
Source NPC Core pg. 43
Perception +8
Languages Common
Skills Acrobatics +8, Athletics +7, Deception +7, Driving Lore +8, Engineering Lore +8, Intimidation +7, Piloting Lore +8, Stealth +8
Str +1, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +1
Driving Specialist For encounters involving driving, the driver is an 8th-level challenge. Rules for vehicles appear here.
Express Driver A driver can attempt a Driving Lore check to increase a vehicle's travel Speed when calculating the value for a day. The DC is determined by the GM but is typically based on the vehicle's piloting DC or the difficulty of traversing the environment, whichever is harder. On a success, increase the vehicle's travel Speed by half.
Skilled Driver The driver gains a +10 circumstance bonus to any skill check involved in driving a vehicle, and is considered a master in the skill for such checks. This bonus also applies to any initiative roll while the driver is piloting a vehicle.
Items crowbar (functions as a pick), hand crossbow (10 bolts), leather armor
AC 18; Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +6; +6 status to all defenses while driving
HP 28
Vehicle Block [reaction] Requirements The driver is driving a vehicle; Trigger The driver would take damage from an attack or from a damaging effect that requires a Reflex save; Effect With swift steering, the driver puts the bulk of the vehicle in between themself and the problem, causing the vehicle to take the damage instead of the driver.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] crowbar +7 [+2/-3] (fatal d10), Damage 1d6+3 piercingMelee [one-action] fist +10 [+6/+2] (agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed), Damage 1d4+3 bludgeoningRanged [one-action] hand crossbow +10 [+5/+0] (range increment 60 feet, reload 1), Damage 1d6+2 piercingSideswipe [reaction] Requirements The driver is taking a Drive action with a vehicle and moves the vehicle adjacent to a creature; Effect All creatures adjacent to the vehicle take the vehicle's collision damage with a basic Reflex save against the vehicle's collision DC. The vehicle continues to move normally after the Sideswipe.

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Aviator

Not all drivers limit themselves to the earth. Aviators are drivers who specialize in driving mechanical flying machines. Many see such drivers as being reckless, as they are often unsatisfied with simply flying from point A to point B. Instead, they take full advantage of the freedom of the sky to find the most exciting path available, which often involves dubiously named stunts.

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.