Expanded Options: Magic of the Machinist (Patreon)

This article further expands on the "Machinist" line of veils begun last month with the Machinist's Pile Bunker, adding a new veil, a new sorcerer bloodline, and a new PRC.

Machinist (Sorcerer Bloodline)

You have a deep connection to the mechanical devices around you, your physical form changing dramatically over time until you are a magnificent fusion of flesh, metal, and magic.

Class Skills: Knowledge (engineering) and Disable Device.

Bonus Spells: analyze device (1st), shocking grasp (3rd), bullet shield (5th), arcane sight (7th), detonate (9th), rapid repair (11th), repulsion (13th), control construct (15th), iron body (17th), ride the lightning(19th).

Bonus Feats: Diehard, Endurance, Extra Essence, Iron Guts, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Craft), Skill Focus [Knowledge (engineering)], Toughness.

Bloodline Arcana: You gain 1 point of essence. At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain 1 additional point of essence.

Bloodline Powers: Your bizarre abilities come from the various--and usually quite powerful--mechanical devices around you. At the pinnacle of your power, you become one with the very machinery you revere so deeply.

Machinist’s Toolkit (Ex): Starting at 1st level, you have learned to utilize a combination of magic and machinery to outfit yourselves in a wondrous invention. Each day you gain the ability to shape either the Machinist’s Pile Bunker or Machinist’s Powered Armor veil. This veil does not count against your normal veils shaped for the day or whichever chakra slot you shape it in. These veils are considered extraordinary effects once shaped. They cannot be dispelled or suppressed by effects that affect magical effects. They can still be sundered as normal for a veil. These veils otherwise follow all other rules for veils.

In addition, when using the Machinist’s Pile Bunker veil you may treat your base attack bonus gained from sorcerer levels as equal to your sorcerer level, and when using the Machinist’s Powered Armor veil the arcane spell failure chance imposed by the armor it provides is reduced to 0%.

Mechanical Empathy (Sp): At 3rd level, you gain the ability to speak to mechanical objects and constructs as the stone tell spell. You may use this ability for 1 minute per sorcerer level each day, in a minimum of 1 minute increments.

Additionally, you treat your Machinist’s Pile Bunker as if it were bound to your Hands chakra, and the essence capacity of your veils granted by this bloodline are increased by +1. This does not stack with other similar abilities, such as the improved essence capacity class feature, but does stack with akashic catalysts or the Enhanced Capacity feat.

The Rebuild (Ex): At 9th level, you gain the ability to shape both the Machinist’s Pile Bunker and Machinist’s Powered Armor veils each day using your machinist’s toolkit ability, rather than having to choose only one.

While you have both veils shaped and neither are suppressed they dramatically improve your physical abilities, granting you a +2 bonus to your Strength score, a +10 competence bonus on Acrobatics checks made to jump, and a +20 foot bonus to your base movement speed.

Additionally, you treat your Machinist’s Pile Bunker as if it were bound to your Wrists chakra, and the essence capacity of your veils granted by this bloodline are increased by +1. This does not stack with other similar abilities, such as the improved essence capacity class feature, but does stack with akashic catalysts or the Enhanced Capacity feat.

War Machine (Su): At 15th level, you can infuse your mechanical equipment with your magical power to dramatically increase your physical attributes. As a swift action once per day you can use this ability to grant yourself a +4 bonus to your natural armor, a +4 bonus to your Strength, immunity to mind-affecting effects, immunity to death effects, paralysis, sleep, and stunning, and the damage dealt by your Machinist's Pile Bunker is treated as if you were 2 size category larger (2d6 damage for a medium creature) for a number of rounds equal to your sorcerer level. You may only use this ability only if both your veils granted by this bloodline are shaped and not suppressed. If either are suppressed or unshaped while this ability is activated, this ability immediately ends.

Additionally, you treat your Machinist’s Powered Armor as if it were bound to your Shoulders chakra, and the essence capacity of your veils granted by this bloodline are increased by +1. This does not stack with other similar abilities, such as the improved essence capacity class feature, but does stack with akashic catalysts or the Enhanced Capacity feat.

Mechanical Masterpiece (Su): At 20th level, your ability to improve your mechanical tools becomes permanent, granting the benefits of the war machine ability as a permanent effect as long as both of the veils granted by this veil are shaped and not suppressed. If either are suppressed or unshaped, you lose the benefits of that ability until the veils are reshaped, or their suppression ends.

Machine Scion (Prestige Class)

Scions of the art of machinery, these skilled users of futuristic machinery have learned to adapt it to and within their bodies to further enhance their abilities.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a machine scion, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills: Knowledge (engineering) 6 ranks, Heal 6 ranks

Feats: Skill Focus [Knowledge (engineering)] or Skill Focus [Heal]

Class Skills

The machine scion's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Disable Device (Dex), Escape Artist (Dex), Fly (Dex), Heal (Wis), Knowledge [all] (Int), Perception (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

The following are class features of the machine scion prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Machine scions gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Mastery of Machinery: At 1st level, the machine scion gains the benefits of the bloodline arcana and bloodline powers of the machinist bloodline, using their machine scion level as their sorcerer level when determining the benefits of these abilities and when they are gained. If the machine scion has levels of sorcerer with the machnisist bloodline, they add the two classes together when determining the bonuses provided by the bloodline instead.

Natural Armor Increase (Ex): Continued implementation of machinery within their body has granted the scion enhanced durability. At 1st, 4th, and 7th level, the machine scion gains an increase to their existing natural armor (if any), as indicated on Table: Machine Scion. These armor bonuses stack with themselves and other sources of natural armor.

Aligned Class (Ex): Machine scions come from many different backgrounds, and they show an unusual range of diversity. At 2nd level, the machine scion must choose a class they belonged to before adding the prestige class to be their aligned class. They gain all the class features for this class, essentially adding every machine scion level listed under aligned class on Table: Machine Scion to their aligned class to determine what class features they gain. They still retain the Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, and skill ranks of the prestige class, but gains all other class features of her aligned class as well as those of the evangelist prestige class. If the machine scion chooses sorcerer as their aligned class, if they have the machinist bloodline as their sorcerer bloodline they only increase their effective level with the bloodline by 1 level each time an aligned class level is gained.

Ability Boost (Ex): As a machine scion gains levels in this prestige class, they further enhance their body with mechanical components to enhance their physical  and mental attributes, as noted on Table: Machine Scion. These increases stack and are gained as if through level advancement.

Bloodline Feat: At 3nd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, a machine scion receives one bonus feat, chosen from the machinist bloodline's bonus feat list.

Blindsense (Ex): At 5th level, the machine scion has incorporated machinery into their body and mind that grants them the ability to sense nearby creatures and objects without using their sight, granting them blindsense out to a range of 30 feet. At 10th level, the range of this blindsense increases to 60 feet.

Machinist’s Powered Armor (New Veil)

Descriptors: Enhanced (full plate)
Class: Daevic, Eclipse, Helmsman, Soulforge
Slots: Shoulders
Saving Throw: none

Plates of interlocking metal shape themselves around your back and shoulders, folding out into an interlocking suit of gleaming futuristic armor at your command.

Shaping this veil allows you to call upon a suit of futuristic full plate armor seemingly designed by some far-off future inventor. This armor is stored within plates of metal that can easily be disguised underneath your clothing. While the armor is stored you do not suffer its armor check penalty nor its penalty to movement speed, and you gain a +10 bonus to Disguise checks made to disguise the veil. The armor’s weight still counts against your carrying capacity while stored.

You may unfold or fold the armor as a free action once per turn, or as an immediate action.

This armor is forged from a special alloy of akashic metal, and cannot be enhanced with a new material. It weighs half as much as normal armor of its size (25 lbs. for a medium humanoid creature), it is treated as medium armor for all purposes, its arcane spell failure chance is 25%, its maximum dexterity bonus is +3, and its armor check penalty is -3. These replace the normal bonuses granted by masterwork armor.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, the armor check penalty imposed by this armor is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0), and its maximum dexterity bonus is increased by 1. When four or more points of essence are invested in this veil it no longer penalizes your movement speed. For each point of essence invested beyond 4, the armor grants a +5 bonus to your base movement speed while it is unfolded.

Chakra Bind (Shoulders): Binding this veil to your Shoulders chakra unlocks futuristic technology within the armor, allowing you to hover and fly using propulsors that glow within the armor’s joints. While the armor is unfolded you gain a fly speed of 30 feet with perfect maneuverability. Whenever you use the withdraw or run action, you can choose to restrict your movement to a straight line to increase this speed to 90 feet for that action. When using this fly speed to run, you may use the higher of your Constitution or veilweaving ability score when determining the number of rounds you can run, and you may make a check using your veilweaving ability score in place of your Constitution score to continue running.