(Image by Mitch Mohrhauser – http://www.artofmitch.com/)
The ace pilot is to vehicle combat what the elite trooper is to personal weapons combat. Her arms and armor are the weapons and shields of a sleek starship soaring through space or an airspeeder shrieking through the atmosphere. A veteran of countless engagements, the ace pilot has proven her skill again and again by virtue of facing the enemy and surviving—and making sure the enemy did not. She has several kills to her credit, and her combat maneuvers are occasionally studied and discussed in training academies for their ingenuity and effectiveness.
For her part, the ace pilot only feels truly alive in the cockpit, where she can pit herself against her peers in a life-and-death contest to see who is the better pilot. For some ace pilots, the contest is enough, and they don’t care whether they win or simply get away with their lives. For others, the important thing is the kill. The adrenaline surge they feel when finishing off an enemy brings them back again and again. The best ace pilots learn to stop enemies without destroying them, but those aces are rare, and their exploits are legendary.
Ace pilots define themselves by the vehicles they fly. Some are starfighter aces, while others fly space transports. Ace pilots can also be found at the controls of an aircraft, courier ship, or even a large assault vehicle such as an ATVU.
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a ace pilot, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
- Minimum Level: 7th
- Trained Skills: Pilot
- Feats: Vehicular Combat
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Ace pilots have the following game statistics.
HIT POINTS
At each level, ace pilots gain 1d8 hit points + their Constitution modifier.
HERO POINTS
Ace pilots gain a number of Hero Points equal to 6 + one-half their character level, rounded down, every time they gain a new level in this class.
| LEVEL | BASE ATTACK BONUS | CLASS FEATURES |
| 1st | +0 | Defense bonuses, talent |
| 2nd | +1 | Vehicle dodge +1 |
| 3rd | +2 | Talent |
| 4th | +3 | Vehicle dodge +2 |
| 5th | +3 | Talent |
| 6th | +4 | Vehicle dodge +3 |
| 7th | +5 | Talent |
| 8th | +6 | Vehicle dodge +4 |
| 9th | +6 | Talent |
| 10th | +7 | Vehicle dodge +5 |
CLASS FEATURES
The following are features of the ace pilot prestige class.
DEFENSE BONUSES
At 1st level, you gain a +4 class bonus to your Reflex Defense and a +2 class bonus to your Will Defense.
TALENTS
At every odd-numbered level (1st, 3rd, 5th, and so on), you select a talent. The talent can be selected from the Spacer talent trees from the Scoundrel base class, or from the Expert Pilot, Gunner, Squadron Leader, or Wingman talent trees, below. You must meet the prerequisites (if any) of the chosen talent. No talent can be selected more than once unless expressly indicated.
EXPERT PILOT TALENT TREE
The ace pilot relies on finely honed instincts and years pilot training to outmaneuver and destroy enemy starships.
Blind Spot: You can fly a vehicle you pilot so close to a target at least two sizes larger than your vehicle that it is difficult for the target to avoid or attack you. You must be adjacent to the target (at starship scale) to use this talent. As a swift action, make an opposed Pilot check against the target. If you succeed, you move into the same space as your target. You move with your target if it moves (assuming your vehicle has sufficient speed to keep up), and you must make another opposed Pilot check each round as a swift action to stay in its blind spot. As long as you stay in the target’s blind spot, any attack you make against the target gains a +2 bonus, and the target takes a -2 penalty on attacks made against you.
Clip: When you use the ram action, you reduce the size of your ship by two categories for the purposes of taking collision damage. The rammed ship takes damage appropriate to the actual size of your ship.
Close Scrape: Whenever you are piloting a vehicle of Colossal size or smaller, you may make a Pilot check as a reaction to turn a critical hit into a normal hit. The DC for the Pilot check is equal to the attack roll total of the critical hit. If you are successful, the damage from the attack is not doubled (though it is still considered an automatic hit).
Dogfighter: When engaged a dogfight, any enemy pilot engaged in the same dogfight takes a -10 penalty on attack rolls when you succeed on the opposed Pilot check.
Full Throttle: You can take 10 on Pilot checks made to increase your vehicle’s speed. In addition, when you use the all-out movement action while piloting a vehicle, your vehicle moves up to five times its normal speed (instead of the normal x4).
Improved Attack Run: You do not have to move in a straight line when using the attack run action.
Juke: When you fight defensively as the pilot of a vehicle, you may negate a weapon hit on your vehicle using the Vehicular Combat feat one additional time per round.
Prerequisite: Vehicular Evasion.
Keep It Together: Once per encounter, when a vehicle you’re piloting takes damage that equals or exceeds its, damage threshold, your vehicle avoids moving down the condition track.
Master Defender: When you fight defensively, either your vehicle gains a +5 dodge bonus to Reflex Defense if you and your gunners take a -2 penalty to attack rolls, or it gains a +10 dodge bonus if you and your gunners take a -5 penalty to attack rolls.
Relentless Pursuit: You may roll twice for any opposed Pilot check made to initiate a dogfight, keeping the better result.
Renowned Pilot: Your reputation as a skilled pilot precedes you and bolsters the resolve of your allies. All allies within 6 squares of a vehicle you pilot can reroll one Pilot check, keeping the better result. Once an ally has used this ability, that same ally cannot gain this talent’s benefit during the same encounter.
Roll Out: You are an expert at escaping from dogfights. When making an opposed check to disengage from a dogfight, you can reroll your Pilot check, taking the better result. If you fail, you remain in the dogfight, but the gunners on your vehicle do not take penalties on their attack rolls.
Prerequisite: Elusive Dogfighter.
Shunt Damage: Once per encounter, if your ship takes damage, make a Pilot check and compare the result to the Reflex Defense of one adjacent allied ship. If your check result is higher, the allied ship takes the damage instead.
Vehicle Focus: Choose a single type of vehicle from the following list: airspeeder, capital ship, space transport, speeder, starfighter, walker, or wheeled vehicle. When you are the pilot or gunner of that type of vehicle, you gain a +2 to all attack rolls with a vehicle weapon, and may take 10 on any Pilot checks made while piloting that type of vehicle, even when you are otherwise unable to.
Prerequisite: WIS 13+.
Vehicular Evasion: If the vehicle you are piloting is hit by an area attack, it takes half damage if the attack hits. If the area attack misses your vehicle, it takes no damage. You cannot use this talent when your vehicle is stationary or disabled.
Wingman: As a swift action, you can make a DC 15 Pilot check to assist any allied starfighter or airspeeder within 2 squares at starship scale. If you succeed, the pilot of that vehicle gains a +5 bonus on all opposed Pilot checks relating to the dogfighting action until the start of your next turn.
Prerequisite: WIS 13+.
GUNNER TALENT TREE
Many starship gunners arc skilled both in and out of the cockpit and are deadly with ranged weapons of any kind.
Crippling Hit: Whenever you make an attack that causes a vehicle to move -1 or more steps down the condition track, you may also cause to lose one or more of the following systems: hyperdrive, one weapon or weapon battery, or communications. The system remains inoperative until the target regains all steps on the condition track.
Prerequisites: Expert Gunner, System Hit.
Dogfight Gunner: While your vehicle is engaged in a dogfight, you take no penalty on your attack rolls with vehicle weapons even if you are not the pilot.
Prerequisite: Expert Gunner.
Expert Gunner: You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls made using vehicle weapons.
Fast Attack Specialist: Once per encounter, when piloting a vehicle of Gargantuan size or smaller, you can make a full attack as a standard action. You can spend a Hero Point to use this action one additional time in an encounter.
Prerequisites: Expert Gunner, Quick Trigger.
Great Shot: When firing a vehicle weapon, you treat the distance to the target as though it were one range category less than it actually is. For example, when targeting an enemy at short range, you treat it as though it were point blank range for the purpose of determining bonuses or penalties.
Overcharged Shot: You know how to overcharge your vehicle’s weapon to produce additional damage. As a swift action, you can overcharge your vehicle’s energy weapon and deal 1 die of damage on your next attack in the same turn. However, your weapon loses 1 die of damage on its subsequent attacks and cannot be overcharged again, until a full round passes without the weapon firing.
Prerequisite: Expert Gunner.
Quick Trigger: Whenever an enemy vehicle moves out of your square or an adjacent square, you may make a single attack against that vehicle as an attack of opportunity.
Prerequisite: Expert Gunner.
Synchronized Fire: Once per encounter, you may ready to fire a single weapon at the same target as an ally, and you coordinate with a single weapon of your ally. If both attacks hit, you add the damage of the two weapons together before applying the target’s SR or DR, and treat it as a single attack for the purposes of exceeding the target’s damage threshold.
Prerequisite: Expert Gunner.
System Hit: Whenever you deal damage to a vehicle that equals or exceeds its damage threshold, you move that vehicle an additional -1 step on the condition track.
Prerequisite: Expert Gunner.
SQUADRON LEADER TALENT TREE
You are an expert at leading a squadron of smaller vehicles into combat as a unit. All talents in the Squadron Leader talent tree apply to other airspeeders, starfighters, and space transports in a squad you command. A squadron includes any airspeeder, starfighter, or space transport you pilot, plus a maximum number of vehicles equal to your ace pilot class level plus your Charisma modifier (minimum one other ship). Vehicles must be able to communicate with you to gain the benefit of your Squadron Leader talents, and you designate which vehicles are in your squadron at the beginning of your first turn as a free action.
Each squadron can benefit from the talents of only a single squadron leader. A squadron leader is normally designated when an encounter begins, but vehicles without a squadron leader can join a squadron as long as both the vehicle and the squadron leader are willing, and the squadron leader has not reached his maximum squadron size.
Begin Attack Run: As a swift action, you designate a single target. When using the attack run action against that target, vehicles in your squadron gain a +5 bonus on their attack rolls (instead of the normal +2). You may have only one target designated at a time.
Prerequisite: CHA 13+.
Regroup: Once per encounter as a standard action, you can move all vehicles in your squadron +1 step on their condition tracks.
Prerequisite: CHA 13+.
Squadron Maneuvers: Choose one talent that you already possess. The talent you select must be from the Expert Pilot or Gunner talent trees. Once per encounter as a standard action, you can impart the benefits of the chosen talent to all members of your squadron. Once gained, its benefits last until the end of the encounter.
Prerequisites: CHA 13+, any other ace pilot talent.
Squadron Tactics: Once per encounter, when you use a starship maneuver, you grant all ships in your squadron the ability to use the same maneuver once on their next turn. The pilot of each ship that chooses to make the maneuver must make any Pilot checks or attack rolls the maneuver requires – your success or failure with the maneuver has no bearing on the success of other units of your squadron. This can only be used to confer non-attack pattern maneuvers on your squadron.
Prerequisites: CHA 13+, WIS 13+, any other ace pilot talent, Squadron Maneuvers, Starship Tactics.
WINGMAN TALENT TREE
You are adept at flying in tight formations with your allies, working together with them to achieve your goals and using your vehicle to shield theirs from harm. To use talents from this tree, you must be piloting a vehicle of Colossal size or smaller.
Concentrate All Fire: When you use the aid another action to aid an ally’s attack roll with a vehicle weapon, if the attack hits, it deals +1 die of damage. Any ally can only benefit from this talent once per attack roll, regardless of how many allies with this talent aid on the attack.
Escort Pilot: When a vehicle that you are piloting is adjacent to a vehicle of Colossal size or smaller that is piloted by an ally, both vehicles gain a +10 bonus to their damage thresholds.
Lose Pursuit: When a vehicle that you are piloting is adjacent to a vehicle of Colossal size or smaller that is piloted by an ally, both you and your ally gain a +5 circumstance bonus to Pilot checks to avoid being pulled into a dogfight as an attack of opportunity.
Run Interference: As a reaction, you can use the Vehicular Combat feat to negate an attack against an adjacent vehicle of Colossal size or smaller that is piloted by an ally. If you can use Vehicular Combat more than once per round, each use to negate an attack counts toward your limit of uses per round.
Prerequisite: Escort Pilot.
Wingman Retribution: When a vehicle of Colossal size or smaller that is piloted by an ally is damaged by an attack, once per round as a reaction you can make a vehicle weapon attack with a -5 penalty against your ally’s attacker.
Prerequisite: Escort Pilot.
VEHICLE DODGE
Beginning at 2nd level, you apply a dodge bonus to the Reflex Defense of any vehicle you pilot. The dodge bonus is equal to one-half your class level, rounded down. Any condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Reflex Defense also makes you lose dodge bonuses. Also, dodge bonuses stack with each other, unlike most other types of bonuses.