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Corporations hold a huge amount of power in the Terran Alliance (not so much in the Proximan Suzerainty or among the Teuthidoids, however). Some corporations control entire colonies, in fact, such as Yang Enterprises and their Neptune Shipyard Facilities. However, most corporations are spread out across the colonies of the Alliance. Their presence varies, ranging from near dominance of a local market, to only a single office, store, or facility. Major corporations have agents of their own, looking after company interests. These agents might specialize in security, fraud, exploration, administration, or many other aspects of management and production. They operate in the open or covertly, normally restricting their activities to keeping an eye on their own company, but corporations can use agents for corporate espionage or even sabotaging competitors.
Corporate agents might wield as much or more power than government agents. Some agents find that the company is their life. Indeed, with each promotion they might find that the company demands more and more of their time in exchange for increased status, power, and pay.
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a corporate agent, a character must fulfill the following criteria.- Minimum Level: 7th
- Trained Skills: Gather Information, Knowledge (bureaucracy)
- Feats: Skill Focus (Knowledge (Bureaucracy)
- Special: Must be employed by a major corporation
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Corporate agents have the following game statistics.HIT POINTS
At each level, corporate agents gain 1d8 hit points + their Constitution modifier.HERO POINTS
Corporate agents 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 | Executive Leadership (1/encounter) |
| 3rd | +2 | Talent |
| 4th | +3 | Executive Leadership (2/encounter) |
| 5th | +3 | Talent |
| 6th | +4 | Executive Leadership (3/encounter) |
| 7th | +5 | Talent |
| 8th | +6 | Executive Leadership (4/encounter) |
| 9th | +6 | Talent |
| 10th | +7 | Executive Leadership (5/encounter) |
CLASS FEATURES
The following are features of the corporate agent prestige class.DEFENSE BONUSES
At 1st level, you gain a +2 class bonus to your Reflex Defense and a +4 class bonus to your Will Defense.EMPLOYMENT REQUIRED
You must retain employment by a major corporation to gain new levels of corporate agent. If you leave the company for any reason, you cannot take additional corporate agent levels until you join a new one.TALENTS
At every odd-numbered level (1st, 3rd, 5th, and so on), you select a talent. The talent can be selected from the Leadership or Lineage talent trees from the Expert base class, or from the Corporate Power talent tree, below. You must meet the prerequisites (if any) of the chosen talent. No talent can be selected more than once unless expressly indicated.CORPORATE POWER TALENT TREE
You are an extension of your corporation and wield their power as your own.Competitive Drive: You are driven to compete and succeed. Once per encounter, you can reroll any Wisdom-, Intelligence-, or Charisma-based skill check (except Magery, Nanite Control, or Psionics) and take the better result.
Competitive Edge: When you and your allies are not surprised, you and a number of allies equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) that you designate on your first turn gain the benefit of the Quick Draw feat for the remainder of the encounter.
Corporate Clout : You are adept at making deals that make enemies question which side they should be on. Once per encounter, as a standard action, you can make a Persuasion check against the Will Defense of an enemy within line of sight. If your check equals or exceeds the target’s Will Defense, the target cannot attack you for the remainder of the encounter; If your check exceeds the Will Defense by 5 or mort, the target will not attack you or your allies for the remainder of the encounter, and retreats from the encounter. If your check exceeds the Will Defense by 10 or more, the target’s attitude toward you is now Friendly, and the target becomes your ally for the remainder of the encounter, remaining under the control of the Gamemaster. If you or one of your allies attacks the target, the target once again becomes hostile. If the target is higher level than you, it gains a +5 bonus to its Will Defense. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Prerequisites: Impose Hesitation, Wrong Decision.
Impose Confusion: Increase the area of Impose Hesitation to a 12-square cone. Also, once per encounter, after making the Persuasion check for Impose Hesitation, you can instead choose to have the targets lose a standard action on their next turn.
Prerequisite: Impose Hesitation.
Impose Hesitation: As a standard action, make a Persuasion check targeting all opponents in a 6-square cone. If you equal or exceed the target’s Will Defense, the target loses a swift action on its next turn and cannot take full-round actions. This is a mind-affecting effect. Targets need to see, hear, and understand you to be affected by this attack.
Willful Resolve: Once per encounter, you can negate the effect of a single attack roll or skill check made against you that targets your Will Defense.
Wrong Decision: Each time you are attacked, the opponent that attacked you takes a -2 morale penalty to its Will Defense until the end of your next turn. This penalty is not cumulative, so if a target makes multiple attacks against you it only incurs the penalty once per turn.