Bushranger

[Xornik]

Bushranger - Outlaws of the Outback.

With the races expanding across the Great Wheel at an ever-increasing rate, there are only so many brave pioneers putting their hands up to work on the hundreds of colonies popping up across various crystal spheres on the fringes of civilization. The solution as used by every great empire from history? Convict Labor. Effective near-slavery for those who have broken the law, sent halfway across the known universe to perform manual labor and menial tasks day-in day-out in tough conditions, while colonists and so-called pioneers sit back and enjoy the benefits. It doesn't take a genius to figure out this would cause some degree of hostility and dissent among the workers.

Instead of continuing to 'serve their sentence', often convicts will escape from the bounds of the colonies and seek refuge in the wilderness beyond the colony limits, ebbing out a living surviving, scavenging in the bushlands on the outskirts of the civilized Wheel. Known as Bushrangers, many embrace their newfound lives as outlaws and pillage, rob and raid those pioneers who leave the colony's safety. Others see themselves as avengers of their fellow downtrodden convicts, making it their personal vendetta to seek justice against their former oppressors.

Living the life of a Bushranger is no easy task, on an alien world far from home they must quickly learn how to survive, this means learning the native flora and fauna. Finding out what's edible and what's going to try and eat you is of paramount importance. Sometimes these skills learn this by making contact with the planets native inhabitants if there are any, who are happy to help an enemy of the invading settlers. Bushrangers are gruff, hardy individuals who roam the wilderness stealing, scavenging and crafting armor and weaponry from whatever they can find. The result is to be feared by colonists and travelers alike - an intimidating figure dressed in a mismatch of armor and weapons, emerging from seemingly nowhere pistols blazing and large knife glinting. If you are wise enough to surrender your goods survive the encounter, once the Bushranger has disappeared into the bush it is very unlikely that you'll see him - or your items again.

Homebrew Class - Bushranger
Characteristics:	Wisdom, Dexterity, Charisma
Skills:	Animal Ken, Athletics, Ballistics, Common Lore, Crafts, Deceive, Larceny, Perception, Stealth, Intimidation, Scrutiny, Weaponry
Sword Schools:	Shadow Hand, Diamond Mind
Gun Kata:	Tin Star, Point Blank
Completion Bonus:	+1 to Intimidation tests

Class Feats
Level	Title	Prerequisites	Class Feats
1	Convict	Intimidation 2, Weaponry 1, Ballistics 1	Danger Sense Improved Feint Bush Tucker Daunting Demand Weapon Prof(Basic OR Melee 2) *Weapon Prof(Basic OR Melee 2) *Armor Proficiency(Light)
2	Scav	Intimidation 3, Weaponry 2 OR Ballistics 2, Bush Tucker	Scrapyard Soldier Sneak Attack Combat Sense Two Weapon Fighting Stand and Deliver Crikey *Double Tap *Armor Proficiency(Medium)
3	Squatter	Intimidation 4, Weaponry 3 OR Ballistics 3, Craft 1, Stand and Deliver	Quick Draw Back Stab Nature Sense Gone Walkabout Bloody Slang *Weapon Focus(Any Pistol OR Melee 2) *Armor Proficiency(Heavy)
4	Swagman	Intimidation 5, Weaponry 4 OR Ballistics 4, Craft 2, Gone Walkabout	Improved Sneak Attack Hard Target Expert Tracker Salvage Expert That's Not A Knife Eureka Stockade *Headstrong *Armor Proficiency(Extreme)
5	Bushranger	Intimidation 5, Weaponry 5 OR Ballistics 5, Craft 3, Eureka Stockade	Step Aside Fearless Improved Back Stab Death Before Defeat Outback Jack Last Stand *Armor Specialization(Extreme) *Forgeless Forging *Iron Curtain

Feats

Bloody Slang - Living in the wilderness on the outskirts of the wheel have resulted in you speaking in a strange accent combined with crude slang and vulgar jargon, luckily it can be both endearing and threatening at the same time. Add your Bushranger Level as a flat bonus to Charm and Persuasion tests.

Bush Tucker - They say you can find Food and Water anywhere if you know where to look. You can spend 30 minutes searching the local area and always return with enough consumable food and drink to fill your tuckerbag.

Crikey - There's a lot of dangerous things out there, and from living on the outskirts you've encountered a lot of them and known how to handle them. You may use the Social Skill Intimidate against animals and gain +1k0 to Attack rolls against animals.

Daunting Demand - "Everybody on the ground!" Your threats can cause people to duck for cover, even in the midst of battle. As a Half-Action in Combat, you may a roll a Charisma + Intimidation skill test against the mental defense of all targets in a 45 degree arch in the direction you are facing. Any target who fails this test must make a Pinning Test or become Pinned.

Eureka Stockade - You can create improvised cover from materials in the near vicinity, you can spend an hour erecting a series of defenses and cover made from resources gathered in that time upon a chosen vantage point. Once a session you may roll a Wisdom + Craft test, the cover will have AP equal to half of the result, and count as high ground for those covered by it.

Gone Walkabout - Often on the wrong side of the law, you've gotten quite good at making yourself scarce and laying low when you need to. If someone is actively looking for you and you don't want to be found, gain +1k0 on your stealth check. Double this bonus if you are currently away from civilization.

Last Stand - You know how to grin and bear it when you really need to, enabling you to gain a second wind and make your final stand.
If you would burn a Hero Point to survive something that would kill you, you may heal a number of Hit Points equal to your Willpower + Constitution. Additionally, you gain a number of temporary Hit Points to bring you up to your maximum, these temporary Hit Points only last until the end of the encounter or scene, whichever comes first. Ignore the effects of Fatigue while you have at least one temporary Hit Point remaining

Outback Jack - You are at home on the fringes of civilization and the wilderness. Gain +1k1 to Basic skill tests performed outside of combat while at least an hour away from any type of permanent civilized settlement.

Stand and Deliver - Once per scene, if you would successfully pass an Intimidation test and that would make your target lose a point of resolve, you can force your opponent to instead roll on the Wealth Strain table, adding 1 for every two raises you made on the test. You gain the opposite effect of the table result. You cannot gain Wealth that exceeds the initial Wealth of your target this way.

That's Not A Knife - Carrying a bigger weapon is very reassuring. When performing an opposed check involving Scrutiny or an opposed Disarm roll, you may sum the penetration value and number of rolled and kept damage dice of a equipped melee weapon and add half the result as a flat bonus.

Feats from other Homebrew:

Scrapyard Soldier (Insurgent)
Even if it's rusty and missing a lot of parts, it's still serviceable on the battlefield. Penalties from using weapons and armor with Poor Quality do not apply to you.

Salvage Expert (Insurgent)
There's so much you can gain from scraps lying around. You may spend 3 hours recycling a broken weapon or armor to being Poor Quality with a Crafts test of TN (Item Availability+10). You can also spend 6 hours to create equipment from appropriate materials with a similar Crafts test, to a maximum rarity of Very Rare. Equipment built this way counts as improvised but is Poor Quality and falls apart at the end of the scene after it is used.

Forgeless Forging (Remodeler)
You can create items without your forge, or what you would substitute with it.