Identity
Mech Pilots are the operators who do not ride their vessel so much as wear it. Halcyion frame-knights in articulated three-ton chassis; Aurelion Auric Sentinels in ornate ceremonial walkers; frontier salvagers in patched mining mechs that have been retrofitted with arc-welders and small-arms mounts. The iconic Mech Pilot is the one for whom the chassis has become an extension of proprioception — they no longer think about which limb fires the cannon; the cannon is a hand they have always had.
Features
- L3 Mech-Bond
Your Bonded Vessel is a piloted mech or powered-armor chassis (Tier III at character creation, scaling with downtime upgrades). While piloting your Mech-Bond, you treat the mech's STR score as your own for the purpose of carrying capacity, breaking objects, and Athletics checks made by the mech; you use the mech's chassis for AC and HP, and your reflexes for attack rolls and Piloting checks. Embarking and disembarking takes 1 minute outside combat or 1 action in combat. While inside your Mech-Bond, you cannot be targeted by attacks that bypass the mech's hull (the chassis hit pool absorbs them first), though area effects that engulf the mech still affect you.
- L7 Stomp
As an action while piloting your Mech-Bond, you can perform a stomp attack against a Large or smaller creature within reach: the target must make a Strength save (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your DEX or INT modifier, whichever is higher) or be knocked prone and take bludgeoning damage equal to 2d8 + your chassis's STR modifier. On a successful save, the target takes half damage and is not knocked prone. The stomp counts as a melee attack for the purpose of triggering Reflex Edge and other features.
- L11 Gyro-Stabilization
Your Mech-Bond ignores difficult terrain caused by rubble, debris, mud, low-gravity surfaces, or unstable footing. You have advantage on saving throws to avoid being knocked prone, shoved, grappled, or moved against your will while piloting your Mech-Bond. In zero-gravity environments, your Mech-Bond's thruster pack treats null-G as standard movement (no Piloting checks required for routine maneuvering).
- L15 Overcharge
Once per short rest, as a bonus action, you can overcharge your Mech-Bond's powerplant for 1 round. Until the start of your next turn: all weapon attacks made by the Mech-Bond deal +2d6 damage of the weapon's type, the mech's movement speed is doubled, and you gain advantage on all melee attacks made through the chassis. At the end of the round, your Mech-Bond takes 4d6 strain damage to its chassis HP (this damage cannot be reduced) and one randomly determined non-vital subsystem goes offline until repaired during downtime (GM rolls or chooses).
- L18 Living Machine
Your Mech-Bond can operate independently of your direct input for short bursts. Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can designate up to 1 minute of autonomous operation: your Mech-Bond continues to function under preset instructions even while you are disembarked, unconscious, or otherwise unable to pilot. During this minute, the Mech-Bond takes one action per round at your direction (or per the standing order you set, if you cannot communicate), using your statistics for its attacks. The mech defends itself if threatened and obeys its last clearly understood command. The crewmember-feel of the chassis lingers; many pilots speak to their Mech-Bond after this feature awakens.