Identity
Plasma Specialists are the Gunslingers who came up through Halcyion armories, Echelon weapons-research divisions, or pirate refits salvaging Aurelion solar-rifle prototypes. They speak the vocabulary of heat dissipation, magnetic confinement, and dwell-time the way a Frontier Marksman speaks of caliber and grain. A round from their rifle is not a bullet; it is a contained sun, briefly. They tune their weapons by ear, they coax overheated cells back from venting, and they end fights by turning their own gun-barrel into a kill-zone.
Features
- L3 Energy Tuning
You gain proficiency in the Technology skill if you do not already have it. You spend an hour each day micro-tuning the magnetic coils and heat-sinks of any Tier III or higher energy / plasma firearm you wield; while tuned, the weapon deals +1 damage in your hands (the bonus is yours, not the weapon's, and lapses for any other wielder). Additionally, you have advantage on Technology checks made to identify, repair, or modify energy-class firearms, and you can scavenge usable parts from a damaged energy weapon in half the normal time.
- L7 Overcharge Shot
As a bonus action, you can deliberately overcharge the next firearm attack you make this turn with an energy / plasma weapon. The attack, on a hit, deals an additional 2d8 damage of the weapon's energy type (plasma, fire, lightning, or radiant — whichever the weapon already deals) and the target must succeed on a CON save against your Trick Shot DC or gain the **Overcharged** condition until the end of its next turn (creatures with the Overcharged condition take 1d6 ongoing energy damage at the start of their turn and have disadvantage on the first attack roll they make on their turn). After an Overcharge Shot, the weapon enters Overheated state and cannot be fired again until you spend an action venting it or you finish a short rest. You can use Overcharge Shot a number of times equal to your DEX modifier per long rest.
- L11 Heat Sink Mastery
You have learned to bleed heat through your gloves, your stance, and the carefully-positioned vents on your weapon. Your energy weapons do not enter Overheated state from your own normal fire (they still overheat from Overcharge Shot or external sabotage). You also halve the cooldown duration of any Overheated state caused by your Overcharge Shot — venting takes a bonus action instead of an action, or completes after one round of non-firing. Additionally, you have resistance to fire and plasma damage.
- L15 Phase Shot
Your tuned weapons fire at a magnetic frequency that briefly intermits with conventional armor. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an energy / plasma firearm attack, you can declare the shot a **Phase Shot**: the attack ignores all armor-derived AC bonuses (the target's base AC, DEX bonus, and shields-from-channel-effects still apply; physical armor bonuses, including Tier IV powered armor, do not) and ignores all cover that is not at least three feet of magnetically-shielded plating. You can use Phase Shot a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
- L18 Stellar Discharge
Once per long rest, as an action, you can vent your weapon's entire capacitor in a single shaped discharge. Choose a line up to Far range, 5 ft wide, originating from your weapon. Each creature in the line must make a DEX save against your Trick Shot DC, taking 12d8 plasma damage on a failure or half as much on a success. Solid cover within the line is reduced one cover step (full cover becomes three-quarters, three-quarters becomes half, half is destroyed). Your weapon is destroyed by the discharge unless it is a Tier V firearm or otherwise rated for stellar venting (GM's call); even a rated weapon is Overheated for the remainder of the encounter and requires a long rest to fully restore.