Rake, Sapper

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Overview & Creation

The sapper is a tunnel rat, equally at home underground as above. Their knowledge of geology and engineering as much use at bringing down a castle tower as breaking into an ancient vault. With a collection of crafts under their belt they are expert saboteurs and spelunkers. Many a sapper find their skills out of need during times of peace, and join an adventuring crew to keep perfecting their art of breaking and entering. Others are miners who have long had experience dealing with troglodyten horrors who now seek greater hazard pay for less risk.

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Class Features

Lv.3 Prospector

Sappers are resourceful miners and engineers, with a smattering of skills in carpentry and metallurgy and the principals of architecture and geology. They are speilunkers, masons and geometers able to apply themselves across a wide variety of disciplines. At this level and every third level (6th 9th and 12th) the sapper gains one of the following abilities;   Danger Sense - You gain an uncanny sense of when things aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, smell or hear, such as unstable earth, explosive gas, traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.   Diehard - It’s never quite your time. You refuse to die.

• You gain extra hit points equal to your character level
• You gain a +1 bonus to death saving throws.
• You do not suffer any of the negative conditions of being at 0 hit points and in mortal peril, and may continue to take actions and move normally.

Siege Operator - The sapper may apply their proficiency bonus to checks when controlling vehicles, or operating a piece of machinery or siege equipment. In addition the sapper may as part of an investigation check with a device learn if parts of the mechanism are nonfunctional or close to failure. When they know this they may take a 1min ritual to determine what is required to fix the mechanism and the value of any gold cost to acquire parts or labour to do so. GM discretion applies.   Roving Geologist - The sapper gains a +3 bonus to passive perception and investigation checks to notice unusual stonework, cave formations or mineral deposits. This bonus also applies spot secret or hidden mechanisms such as trap triggers, secret doors or hidden leavers when moving through an area due to their perceptive eye for detail.  

Lv.5 Saboteur

A sappers art is in precise destruction, be it breaking down a wall or doorway without causing the building to collapse or setting a fire to burn away just the evidence. The sapper gains the following abilities;   Set Mine - The sapper may take a 10min ritual to place a 100gp explosive charge or a minimum equivalent of other explosives. Such a charge deals 5d6 explosive damage and may move boulders and objects equal to medium-sized up to 10ft and break up large objects. When setting the mine the sapper may choose the fuse length giving the number of rounds before detonation from being lit.   Suppress Mechanism - When choosing to disable a mechanism the sapper may choose instead to temporarily disable the device instead, suppressing the mechanisms triggers or operations for a number of rounds. The sapper must maintain contact with the device while suppressing its activation, the trigger become reactivated at the end of the sappers turn after they choose to let the device operate again.   Practised Arsonist - When you take the use an object action to start a fire you can control the rate and pattern the fire spreads in for as many rounds as your wisdom bonus. When you spend a round to observe a fire you can predict its spread for as many rounds as your wisdom bonus (so long as the conditions surrounding the fire do not significantly change).   When you move more then 20ft in your turn you may ignore the first 5 points of damage from a source of fire that you move through or end your turn in and you have advantage on con saves to avoid the effects of thick smoke or gasses.   Precise Destruction - As a 10min ritual, the sapper may study a structure or mechanism to find its points of weakness. After doing so they learn of the weaknesses in the structure or mechanism. At any time after this, so long as the structure or mechanism has not been modified, the sapper may use an attack action to destroy a specified portion of the structure or mechanism causing a volume up to a 15ft cube of structure to fall, or the mechanism to fail.   Underminer - The sapper can move a 5ft cube of loose stone, dirt, dry stone masonry or simple wooden walls or brickwork every 5mins taking a level of exhaustion for every 5ft cube of material moved. Working at a slower pace, a sapper or other adventurer takes 1hr to move the equivalent 5ft cubed volume of material. Only taking a level of exhaustion if they fail a DC8 con save.   When a sapper directs this activity they can do this without risk of structural collapse, or to intentionally set up a 15ft cube of material to collapse when triggered. Such an artificial collapse can be set up ahead of time and triggered with an attack action. A 15ft cube of material is comprised of 27 5ft cubes of material.   Working hard stone, minerals, cemented stonework or reinforced masonry takes 4 times a long, and costs twice the effort in stamina with two con saves having to be made each hour.  

Lv.6 Tunnel Rat

Sappers are more likely than most to have experience navigating through tight spaces and fighting in confined spaces. Granting the following the benefits;  

• Confined spaces or being prone does not impose disadvantage on a sappers melee attacks
• When the sapper takes the attack action to make a melee attack, they may initiate a grapple as a reaction.
• When a hostile creature the size of the sapper or less attempts to pass through the sappers threatened area, the sapper may use a reaction to make an attack and block the movement. If this attack hits, then the creatures movement is reduced to zero until the beginning of the creatures next turn. This attack deals no damage.
• Whenever the sapper is required to make save or athletics check when climbing in a confined space they may have advantage on that check.
• The sapper may hold their breath for as many mins as twice their con bonus.
• The sapper has advantage on intelligence saves not to become lost underground or in complex cave systems.

 

Lv.8 Blindsight (15ft)

Your character is accustomed to working and moving in total darkness gaining blindsight up to 15ft around them, this 'vision' is audible and tactile only, but the sapper is able to distinguish sounds and touch, to a high precision around them, such as the crack of a secret door, sound of a weapon being slowly drawn, the moisture of wet rock, the smell of earth from stone, the sound of a heartbeat, or feint whispers of breath, or the ruffle of clothing before an attack. Blindsight requires a sappers concentration, and they may not use other abilities that require a high degree of concentration in conjunction with it.  

Lv.10 Power Monkey

At 10th level the sapper becomes proficient in the use of firearm weapons and other explosive devices, if they do not have this proficency already.   In addition whenever the sapper chooses to draw an ignitable object into hand, they may light the item and throw it as a ranged attack as part of the same action.  

Lv.12 Grand Engineer

A sapper that has survived the dangers of his craft to become a grand engineer carries with them a wealth of experience and demonstrated mark of competence. A sapper reaching Grand Engineer status immediately gains a one off 1d4 favour with every mortal patron they know and have met, and will meet from now on. All mortal lords wishing to woo grand engineers to their court to craft or deploy engines-of-war in their name, or advise on their fortifications weaknesses. In addition they may choose one of the following to be their trademark;
  Master Trapsmith - The sapper increases their ability to passively spot traps, hidden mechanisms unusual stonework and cave formation to a +6, which also applies to investigation checks for the same on top of any other proficiencies the character may have   In addition any trap, or hidden device crafted by the sapper gains a +3 bonus to being spotted and are considered masterwork.
  Master of Ballistics - The sapper may double their range increment with ranged weapons if they do not move that round and use 1 action point to take a moment to account for wind and loosing a missile on an arced trajectory. In addition they gain the ability to combine wyrmsmokes, potions, poisons, salves and other such items into special ammunition for a ranged weapon that they can craft. These projectiles are considered masterwork with a +3 bonus, decreasing by 1 craftskill for each additional property the projectile is given.