Inventor
Legacy Content
Uncommon Source Guns & Gears pg. 15 2.0Access: Characters from Absalom, New Thassilon, Alkenstar, Dongun Hold, or especially technological regions of Arcadia like the Deadshot Lands have access to the inventor class. Uomoto characters, characters from Eihlona, automatons with memories of Jistka, and Arcadians all have access to the inventor class. Characters from Ustalav have access to the inventor class.
PFS Note All Pathfinder Society agents have access to the Inventor class.
Any tinkerer can follow a diagram to make a device, but you invent the impossible! Every strange contraption you dream up is a unique experiment pushing the edge of possibility, a mysterious machine that seems to work for only you. You're always on the verge of the next great breakthrough, and every trial and tribulation is another opportunity to test and tune. If you can dream it, you can build it.Key Attribute: INTELLIGENCEAt 1st level, your class gives you an ability boost to Intelligence.
Hit Points: 8 plus your Constitution modifierYou increase your maximum number of HP by this number at 1st level and every level thereafter.
Roleplaying the Inventor
During Combat Encounters...
You rely on your inventions as much as possible, testing their functionalities under a variety of conditions. You don't set out to achieve anything as banal as simply winning a fight; you seek to collect valuable data that can be used to improve your creations!
During Social Encounters...
You provide useful context when discussing a variety of academic topics, particularly when speaking about those subjects related to crafting and invention. You might often look for opportunities to acquire patronage to fund some of your more expensive or unorthodox experiments. After all, the materials needed to assemble your inventions don't pay for themselves!
While Exploring...
You study the design and construction of the environments you explore ardently, making note of clever traps, ingenious mechanisms, or especially keen architecture you come across for later.
In Downtime...
You brainstorm new designs, bringing them to fruition through careful crafting and meticulous attention to detail. You might also modify previous inventions to adjust for data you've collected in the field. You might work as a local smith or tinker where your skills are needed, or you might keep a workshop on the edge of town where the clank and clatter of your experiments attracts less attention.
You Might...
- Enjoy creating new things the world has never seen before.
- Be willing to take a chance on a theory, testing to see if your hypothesis proves accurate. If not, you probably record the results to try again later.
- Wear clothes spattered with oil and grime, or venture off on excited and technical tangents when asked simple questions.
Others Probably...
- Marvel at your inventions and the variety of unbelievable wonder they can bring.
- Believe that you're a genius whose work is beyond understanding.
- Worry that your inventions might backfire or explode.
Initial Proficiencies
At 1st level, you gain the listed proficiency ranks in the following statistics. You are untrained in anything not listed unless you gain a better proficiency rank in some other way.
Perception
Trained in Perception
Saving Throws
Expert in Fortitude
Trained in Reflex
Expert in Will
Skills
Trained in
Crafting Trained in a number of additional skills equal to 3 plus your Intelligence modifier
Attacks
Trained in simple weapons
Trained in martial weapons
Trained in unarmed attacks
Defenses
Trained in light armor
Trained in medium armor
Trained in unarmored defense
Class DC
Trained in inventor class DC
Class Features
You gain these features as a Inventor. Abilities gained at higher levels list the levels at which you gain them next to the features' names.
| Your Level | Class Features |
| 1 | Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, overdrive, innovation, explode, peerless inventor, shield block, inventor feat |
| 2 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 3 | Expert overdrive, general feat, reconfigure, skill increase |
| 4 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 5 | Ability boosts, ancestry feat, inventor weapon expertise, skill increase |
| 6 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 7 | Breakthrough innovation, general feat, lightning reflexes, master overdrive, skill increase, weapon specialization |
| 8 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 9 | Ancestry feat, inventive expertise, offensive boost, skill increase |
| 10 | Ability boosts, inventor feat, skill feat |
| 11 | General feat, medium armor expertise, resolve, skill increase |
| 12 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 13 | Alertness, ancestry feat, complete reconfiguration, inventor weapon mastery, skill increase |
| 14 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 15 | Ability boosts, general feat, greater weapon specialization, legendary overdrive, revolutionary innovation, skill increase |
| 16 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 17 | Ancestry feat, inventive mastery, juggernaut, skill increase |
| 18 | Inventor feat, skill feat |
| 19 | General feat, infinite invention, medium armor mastery, skill increase |
| 20 | Ability boosts, inventor feat, skill feat |
Ancestry and Background
In addition to what you gain from your chosen class at 1st level, you have the benefits of your selected ancestry and background.
Initial Proficiencies
At 1st level, you gain a number of proficiencies that represent your basic training. These proficiencies are noted at the start of this class.
Overdrive
You have a bevy of smaller devices of your own invention, from muscle stimulants to concussive pistons. When it's necessary, you can throw them into overdrive to assist you in combat.
Inventor Manipulate Source Guns & Gears pg. 16 2.0Frequency once per round
Temporarily cranking the gizmos on your body into overdrive, you try to add greater power to your attacks. Attempt a
Crafting check that has a
standard DC for your level.
Critical Success Your gizmos go into a state of incredible efficiency called critical overdrive, adding great power to your attacks. Your Strikes deal additional damage equal to your Intelligence modifier for 1 minute. After the Overdrive ends, your gizmos become unusable as they cool down or reset, and you can't use Overdrive for 1 minute.
Success Your gizmos go into overdrive, adding power to your attacks. As critical success, except the additional damage is equal to half your Intelligence modifier.
Failure You make a miscalculation and nothing happens.
Critical Failure Whoops! Something explodes. You take fire damage equal to your level, and you can't use Overdrive again for 1 minute as your gizmos cool down and reset.
Special When under the effects of Overdrive, you can still use the Overdrive action. You can't extend your Overdrive's duration this way, but you can turn an overdrive into a critical overdrive if you critically succeed. A failure has no effect on your current Overdrive, and you end your Overdrive on a critical failure.
Innovation
While you're always creating inventions, there's one that represents your preeminent work, the one that you hope—with refinement—might change the world. Choose one innovation. Your innovation's level is equal to your level. If your innovation is destroyed, you can spend 1 day of downtime and attempt a
Crafting check with a
high DC for your level; on a success, you rebuild it. An innovation only works due to your constant maintenance and tinkering, and therefore has no market Price.
Innovations can be found
here.
Explode
Your innovation is a creation barely held together by your own engineering, always on the edge of completely falling apart. Though this adds risk, it also means you can coax it to perform far beyond its design specifications using special
unstable actions.
While inventors can learn various unstable actions over their career, all at least know how to make their innovation Explode.
Fire Inventor Manipulate Unstable Source Guns & Gears pg. 19 2.0
You intentionally take your
innovation beyond normal safety limits, making it explode and damage nearby creatures without damaging the innovation... hopefully. The explosion deals 2d6 fire damage with a
basic Reflex save to all creatures in a 5-foot emanation around you (if you're wearing or holding the innovation) or around your innovation (if your innovation is a
minion).
At 3rd level, and every level thereafter, increase your explosion's damage by 1d6.
If you have the breakthrough innovation class feature, you can choose either a 5-foot or 10-foot emanation for the area when you use Explode; if you have the revolutionary innovation class feature, you can choose a 5-foot, 10-foot, or 15-foot emanation.
Peerless Inventor
You are constantly inventing, and your skill at crafting is unimpeachable. You gain the
Inventor skill feat, even if you don't meet its prerequisites.
Shield Block
You gain the
Shield Block general feat, a reaction that lets you reduce damage with your shield.
Inventor Feats
At 1st level and every even-numbered level, you gain an inventor class feat. Some features and feats use an assortment of gizmos you keep on your person. For simplicity, these are left abstract, but if you are deprived of your gear for some reason, you might lose access to many feats and features, subject to GM discretion.
Skill FeatsLevel 2
At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill feat. You must be trained or better in the corresponding skill to select a skill feat.
Expert OverdriveLevel 3
You've increased your skill in crafting, and you can put your devices into a more powerful state of overdrive. You become an expert in
Crafting, and on a successful use of Overdrive, you increase the additional damage by 1.
General FeatsLevel 3
At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a general feat.
ReconfigureLevel 3
You've become an expert in all crafts and are always adjusting your inventions. You can attempt to change the modifications on your
innovation by spending 1 day of downtime tinkering with it and attempting a
Crafting check, with a high DC for your level. On a success, you can change one modification you've chosen for your innovation to a different modification of the same kind (initial, breakthrough, or revolutionary).
If you have any
modification feats, on a successful check you can choose to instead retrain a modification feat to a different modification feat. The new feat has to meet the standard restrictions for retraining.
Skill IncreasesLevel 3
At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill increase. You can use this increase to either become trained in one skill you're untrained in, or become an expert in one skill in which you're already trained.
At 7th level, you can use skill increases to become a master in a skill in which you're already an expert, and at 15th level, you can use them to become legendary in a skill in which you're already a master.
Ability BoostsLevel 5
At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, you boost four different ability scores. You can use these ability boosts to increase your ability scores above 18. Boosting an ability score increases it by 1 if it's already 18 or above, or by 2 if it starts out below 18.
Ancestry FeatsLevel 5
In addition to the ancestry feat you started with, you gain an ancestry feat at 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Inventor Weapon ExpertiseLevel 5
You develop tricks for using your weapons more effectively. Your proficiency ranks for simple and martial weapons and unarmed attacks increase to expert. If you have a
weapon innovation, you gain access to the critical specialization effect with your innovation.
Breakthrough InnovationLevel 7
You've made a breakthrough in your field of study and discovered a powerful new way to enhance your
innovation. Choose a breakthrough modification of your innovation's type to apply to your innovation. You can choose an initial modification of your innovation's type instead if you prefer.
Lightning ReflexesLevel 7
Your reflexes are lightning fast. Your proficiency rank for Reflex saves increases to expert.
Master OverdriveLevel 7
Your mastery of invention and crafting enhances your Overdrive even further. You become a master in
Crafting, and on a successful Overdrive, you increase the additional damage by a total of 2, replacing the increase from expert overdrive.
Weapon SpecializationLevel 7
You've learned how to inflict greater injuries with the weapons you know best. You deal 2 additional damage with weapons and unarmed attacks in which you are an expert. This damage increases to 3 if you're a master, and 4 if you're legendary.
Inventive ExpertiseLevel 9
Through innovation and experimentation, you've made your inventions more effective and reliable. Your proficiency rank for your inventor class DC increases to expert.
Offensive BoostLevel 9
You've made additions to your innovation to upgrade your offensive capabilities. Your improvements make any Strikes that rely on your innovation deal an additional 1d6 damage, with a type determined by the boost you choose. If your innovation is
armor, the boost applies to your melee unarmed Strikes and to your melee Strikes with one weapon you choose during daily preparations; if your innovation is a
construct, the boost applies to your construct companion's Strikes; and if your innovation is a
weapon, the boost applies to your Strikes with your innovation. You can spend downtime to switch to a different boost in the same way as switching your modification. Choose one of the following boosts, with the damage type in parentheses.
- Chill (Cold): Your innovation rapidly absorbs heat, creating an intense chill.
- Ignition (Fire): Your innovation shoots out jets of searing flame.
- Jolt (Electricity): Your innovation jolts foes with charges of electricity.
- Momentum (Bludgeoning): Your innovation slams into foes with added momentum.
- Saws (Slashing): Your innovation reveals spinning sawblades during your attacks.
- Spike (Piercing): Your innovation reveals wicked spikes during your attacks.
- Vitriol (Acid): Your innovation releases spurts of caustic acid.
Medium Armor ExpertiseLevel 11
You've learned to better defend yourself against attacks. Your proficiency ranks for light armor, medium armor, and unarmored defense increase to expert.
If you have a medium or heavy armor innovation, you gain access to the critical specialization effect with your armor innovation.
ResolveLevel 11
You've steeled your mind with resolve. Your proficiency rank for Will saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Will save, you get a critical success instead.
AlertnessLevel 13
Your attention to detail lets you remain alert to threats around you. Your proficiency rank for Perception increases to expert.
Complete ReconfigurationLevel 13
When it comes to crafting and tinkering, you've become incredibly adept at changing your modifications to adjust your
innovation's functionality. When you spend downtime to reconfigure your innovation and succeed at your
Crafting check, you can swap any number of modifications, swap your offensive boost, or retrain any number of
modification feats, rather than one. You still must swap a modification only with one of the same type (initial, breakthrough, or revolutionary).
Inventor Weapon MasteryLevel 13
You fully understand your weapons. Your proficiency ranks for simple and martial weapons and unarmed attacks increase to master.
Greater Weapon SpecializationLevel 15
Your damage from weapon specialization increases to 4 with weapons and unarmed attacks in which you're an expert, 6 if you're a master, and 8 if you're legendary.
Legendary OverdriveLevel 15
Your peerless inventing and
Crafting ability has supercharged your Overdrives. You become legendary in Crafting, and on a successful Overdrive, you increase the additional damage by a total of 3, replacing the increase from master overdrive.
Revolutionary InnovationLevel 15
You are an unparalleled genius and have discovered a technique that will revolutionize your chosen field—or at least for the time being, your
innovation! Choose a revolutionary modification to apply to your innovation. You can also choose an initial or breakthrough modification of the same type instead, if you prefer.
Inventive MasteryLevel 17
Your inventions are incredibly effective. Your proficiency rank for your inventor class DC increases to master.
JuggernautLevel 17
Your body is accustomed to physical hardship and resistant to ailments. Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Fortitude save, you get a critical success instead.
Infinite InventionLevel 19
Your ability to adjust your innovation has reached impossible heights, and you can use these skills to make major adjustments in your spare time. During your daily preparations, you automatically fix your innovation if it's destroyed or
broken, and you can change to a different innovation (
armor,
construct,
weapon, or other type you have access to) and change your modifications and offensive boost.
If you have any feats that had your previous innovation as a prerequisite, you can't use them until you retrain the feats as normal. However, it takes you only 1 day of downtime to retrain such a feat into a feat that has your new innovation as a prerequisite, instead of 1 week.
Medium Armor MasteryLevel 19
Your skill with armor improves, helping you avoid more blows. Your proficiency ranks for light and medium armor, as well as for unarmored defense, increase to master.