Bogey Roles

NPC Vehicles can have roles just like monsters, allowing a greater diversity of encounter types, and shaking things up from the traditional 1-on-1 (per character) combats.

Exactly like monsters, available vehicle roles are: Heavy, Killer, Leader, Minion, Shooter, Sneak, Tank, Threat, and Villain. The benefits granted to an NPC vehicle by these roles are slightly different, however, to account for the differences in the stat blocks between vehicles and monsters.

Heavy

Your typical "tough guy" in an encounter.

• Heavies have double durability.
• Heavies deal double siege damage.
• Heavies get 1 action point.
• Heavies are immune to the first instance of all conditions applied during an encounter. Note: All conditions means exactly that, all conditions. This is not limited to status conditions, it also applies to any condition that the referee rules will render the monster 'trivial'. Spell effects such as a grease spell cast upon a weapon, forced movement into a teleport square that removes the monster from play, any condition at all, is rendered null through this ability.
• When a Heavy is reduced to zero durability, it is not destroyed. Instead, it gains Immunity to all damage until the beginning of its next turn, any conditions it is currently suffering under are immediately cleared, all accumulated efforts to pierce their condition immunity are removed, and its durability is set to half its normal maximum. Its ability to take actions is not hampered in any way during this period of Immunity. At the beginning of its next turn, the Immunity expires. The Heavy is destroyed for good the second time its durability reaches zero.
• Heavies count as two vehicles for XP and loot.

Killer

The scary-dangerous one.

• Killers have double durability.
• Killers gain a +2 bonus to Speed, and can make any number of facing changes after a Move or Double Move action without performing a Focus Action.
• Killers add one third their CR to their initiative modifier, round up.
• Killers do triple damage or more.
• Killers count as two vehicles for xp and loot.

Leader

The ones calling the shots.

• Leader attacks caused forced movement once per round.
• Leaders can grant one ally a standard action, once per round, as an immediate action.
• Leaders have double durability.
• Leaders give all allied vehicles +2 to hit and damage per five hit dice of the allied vehicle (drop fractions, minimum 1). This buff ends when the leader mob is killed.
• Leaders buff all allied minion vehicles, granting them a +2 bonus to all AC numbers. (Minions can only ever gain one buff at a time, and it always grants +2 to all AC numbers, regardless of what the buff should normally do.) This benefit immediately goes away if the leader dies.
• Leaders count as two vehicles for xp and loot.

Minion

Cheap fodder? Not likely.

• When you apply the Minion role to a monster, it turns into four monsters.
• Minions only have 1 hit point, but it is special:
  • Killing a minion requires either the attacker to succeed on a to-hit roll, or the minion to fail on a saving throw roll. Even then, if the minion is able to successfully mitigate all of the damage with their defenses (such as DR or ER), they live anyway. Minions NEVER take damage from misses or from a successful saving throw against a spell or effect, even of that spell or effect would normally deal partial damage on a miss or successful save.
  • Always-hit spells (which have no to-hit roll and no save, such as Magic Missile or the Fog spells) are counted as spells which allow a save. If the save is failed, the minion dies. If successful, the minion lives. This saving throw is resolved against the minion's strongest saving throw.
  • Making a caster level check to overcome a Minion's SR is NOT counted as a successful roll against a minion and does not kill it.
• Minions never gain temp hit points or healing, although both count as a buff. If a minion receives any buff at all, it gains a +2 bonus to all types of Armor Class and a +2 bonus on all saving throws, instead of the normal effects of the buff. Buffs on minions never stack. The duration of any buff is equal to the normal duration of the buff. Minions can never start a combat with a preexisting buff.
• Minions are able to squeeze with no penalties. You can pack them into the battlefield like sardines.
• Four minion vehicles count as one vehicle for xp and loot.

Note: Minions are extremely deadly to inexperienced players and low-level characters. Minions effectively quadruple the amount of damage in a combat until they are reduced in numbers.

Shooter

Pew! Pew! Pew!

• Shooters may make all their attacks with a range increment of thirty.
• Shooters that already have a ranged attack may use that ranged attack with no range penalties.
• Shooters never take penalties for firing into melee.
• Shooters have double durability.
• Shooters add one half their CR to their initiative modifier, round up.
• Shooters do double damage.
• Shooters count as two vehicles for xp and loot.

Sneak

They're stealthy, man. Super stealthy.

• Sneaks gain a bonus to all Stealth rolls they make equal to their number of hit dice. If they do not have the Stealth skill, they gain it with a nudge value of +5.
• Sneaks may initiate stealth, even if they are being observed, once per encounter. This is an immediate action if performed outside of their turn, or a swift action if during their turn.
• Sneaks add one half their CR to their initiative modifier, round up.
• Sneaks add their CR to all attacks, both to-hit and damage, they make against a target who is unaware of them.
• Sneaks count as two vehicles for xp and loot.

Tank

The vehicle the other vehicles expect to take all the hits.

• Tanks have double durability.
• Tanks are immune to all conditions applied during an encounter. Note: All conditions means exactly that, all conditions. This is not limited to status conditions, it also applies to any condition that the referee rules will render the monster trivial. Spell effects such as a grease spell cast upon a weapon, forced movement into a teleport square that removes the monster from play, any condition at all, is rendered null through this ability. Tank-role mobs even immune to self-inflicted status conditions, such as voluntarily falling prone to halt forced movement. This means they are immune to forced movement as well.
• Each time a tank inflicts damage, it repairs itself for an equal amount of durability as a free action. This ability cannot be used to repair themselves above their maximum durability.
• Tanks may make a bonus attack against any character they can reach who does not include them in an attack. There is no limit to the number of these attacks they may make, though they can never make more than one attack per triggering action. Damage they deal with these attacks repairs them as well.
• Tanks are able to fight past death. When they are killed, they heal their durability back to half, clear all conditions, and fight on.
• Tanks count as two vehicles for xp and loot.

Threat

A boss, or a really tough heavy.

• Threats have triple durability.
• Threats do triple damage or more.
• Threats get 2 action points. These may not be spent on the same round.
• Threats are immune to the first five instances of all conditions applied during an encounter. Note: All conditions means exactly that, all conditions. This is not limited to status conditions, it also applies to any condition that the referee rules will render the monster 'trivial'. Spell effects such as a grease spell cast upon a weapon, forced movement into a teleport square that removes the monster from play, any condition at all, is rendered null through this ability.
• Threats are able to fight past death. When they are made dead, instead they repair back up to half their durability, all conditions are cleared, all accumulated efforts to pierce their condition immunity are removed, any expended powers are recharged, and they fight on.
• Threats count as four vehicles for xp and loot.

Villain

The one with the famous pilot you've been chasing for months. The one behind all the bad things that have happened so far.

• Villains have four times as much durability as a normal vehicle of their CR.
• Villains do triple damage.
• Villains get 2 action points. These may not be spent on the same round.
• Villains may summon four minions a round, every round as a free action. They may not use this action if they have eight or more minions in play already.
• Villains are immune to the first eight instances of each condition, even outside of an encounter. Note: All conditions means exactly that, all conditions. This is not limited to status conditions, it also applies to any condition that the referee rules will render the monster 'trivial'. Spell effects such as a grease spell cast upon a weapon, forced movement into a teleport square that removes the monster from play, any condition at all, is rendered null through this ability.
• Villains may make all their attacks with a range increment of thirty.
• Villains are not killed when they reach zero hit points. Instead, they summon four minions, have their hit points set to half their maximum, remove all conditions, all accumulated efforts to pierce their condition immunity are removed, and they fight on.
• Villains live to fight another day. The second time they are reduced to zero hit points or below, they mysteriously vanish in a puff of plot, to appear again later, evilly twirling their mustache.
• When finally defeated, villains count as four vehicles for XP and treasure purposes.