Drone Operator
A Pilot Specialty that runs a swarm of small drones, shares initiative with them, hijacks hostile machines, seizes remote control of vehicles and perceives through any drone.
Identity
The Drone Operator is the Pilot Specialty for pilots who fly from outside the vehicle. Drone-clerics treat their swarm as a congregation, corporate operatives run surveillance flights that triangulate a target across an arcology, and frontier prospectors send mining drones into the dangerous work while they sit at a folding table with a kettle on. Every feature the Specialty grants applies to the drones, and the Operator's own body stays at the table.
Features
- L3 Drone Swarm
You operate a small drone swarm: three Tiny remote-controlled drones tethered to your Bonded Vessel, which serves as their carrier and recharging cradle. Each drone has 5 hit points, AC 14, and a flight speed of 40 feet, and operates within 500 feet of you. As a bonus action on your turn, you can issue commands to your drones. Each drone can take one action per round: Attack with an integrated light weapon for 1d6 damage of a chosen type, Scout for surveillance, Help an ally, Dash, or Disengage. If a drone is destroyed, you can rebuild it during downtime at little cost, and lost drones do not disable the feature. You can add drones beyond the starting three through downtime fabrication, up to a maximum equal to your Intelligence or Dexterity modifier (whichever is higher) + 2.
- L7 Drone-Jack
Once per short rest, you can attempt to hijack a hostile drone, automated turret, or other small autonomous machine within 500 feet of you. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier) or fall under your control for 1 minute. The hijacked unit acts on your initiative count and obeys your commands. Constructs, awakened or Riftbound machines, and Tier V autonomous units have advantage on this save and cannot be hijacked for longer than 1 round. You can control only one hijacked unit at a time, and hijacking a second releases the first.
- L11 Swarm Tactics
When a drone of yours is within 5 feet of a target, allies attacking that target gain the benefit of the Help action automatically, with no drone action required. You and your drones also share one initiative count. On your turn, you can take your action, your bonus action, and one action per drone, in any order.
- L15 Remote Seizure
Once per long rest, you can attempt a remote takeover of a vehicle, mech, or non-sentient craft within 1 mile of you. The target's pilot, if any, makes a contested Intelligence check against your Intelligence + proficiency bonus. If the vehicle is empty or autonomous, you take the controls for up to 10 minutes. If you succeed against a piloted vehicle, you override its controls for 1 round, and on later rounds the original pilot can use an action to retake control with an opposed Intelligence check. The takeover does not work against Riftbound, sentient, or sacrosanct vessels (for example, Aurelion ceremonial craft warded by the High Magisterium).
- L18 Swarm Senses Capstone
You can perceive (sight, sound, and other senses) through any of your drones as if you were physically present at its location, and you can shift your active perception between drones as a free action on your turn. While your swarm is deployed, you can speak through the drones, which have small speaker units. If you can cast spells, you can cast spells that are not Touch range with a drone as the point of origin, using your normal range and line-of-sight rules from the drone's position. You can use class features that target enemies you can see, using the drone's perception. Your own body remains where it is and remains vulnerable.
