Berserker Droid Prestige Class

About

Some droids just snap. An operational lifetime of servitude eventually becomes too much for the droid to bear, and it develops logic subroutines that tell it to circumvent its problems through violence. The droid acts out it violent urges against organic beings$-$frequently beginning with its erstwhile master$-$because, after all, it was the conflicting commands and requirements of organic beings that provoked the droid in the first place.

Berserker Droids are not necessarily homicidal maniacs. They can be quite rational and sometimes even caring. They are simply designated Berserker Droids because, when they feel threatened, they do not react according to factory presets$-$they react with focused and effective violence.

Droids do not turn into killers overnight. True, their first murder is usually a big surprise to everyone involved, but it usually takes quite a while for the droid to come to the conclusion that its programming priorities are most satisfied when it is terminating erroneous data streams$-$that it finds violence soothing. The droid often goes through a lengthy period of adjustment, frequently pursuing career options that weren’t formerly part of its factory specifications. Protocol droids, for example, sometimes become mercenaries and bounty hunters. Astromech droids might become diminutive stalkers. Worker drones turn into thieves and cutthroats. Power droids become walking fusion bombs, though fortunately, power droids virtually never succumb to this syndrome$-$and when they do, they only do so once.

Nearly any sort of droid can become a Berserker Droid. Protocol droids seem to be a common type, though this may have more to do with their ubiquitous nature and constant contact with living beings more than any inherent susceptibility.

Berserker Droids have been known to absorb lethal amounts of damage and still tenaciously tear their enemies apart$-$quite an advantage when they have allies who are willing to restore them back to operation condition afterward.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Berserker Droid, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Bluff 5 ranks
Intimidate 6 ranks
Move Silently 5 ranks
Species: Droid
Special: Only a droid who has become independent can become a Berserker Droid. A droid cannot become a Berserker Droid if it was not originally equipped with behavioral inhibitors that prevent it from killing.

Game Rule Information

Vitality: A Berserker Droid gain 1d8 vitality points per level. The character’s Constitution modifier applies.

Class Skills

The Berserker Droid’s Class skills, and the key abilities for each skill, are as follows.
Bluff (Cha)
Computer Use (Int)
Craft* (Int)
Disable Device (Int)
Disguise (Cha)
Gather Information (Cha)
Hide (Dex)
Intimidate (Cha)
Knowledge* (Int)
Move Silently (Dex)
Profession* (Wis)
Repair (Int)
Search (Int)
*This skill actually encompasses a number of unrelated skills. Each time this skill is learned, a specific category must also be chosen.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

Starting Feats

The Berserker Droid gains the following feats.
Weapon Group Proficiency (Blaster Pistols)
Weapon Group Proficiency (Blaster Rifels)
Weapon Group Proficiency (Simple Weapons)

Bonus Feat

At 2nd level, and again at 4th level, the Berserker Droid gets a bonus feat. This feat must be drawn from the following list, and the Berserker Droid must meet any prerequisites.
Advanced Martial Programming
Combat Veteran
Improved Bantha Rush
Improve Critical
Improved Disarm
Improved Grapple
Improved Martial Programming
Improved Overrun
Martial Programming

Target Focus

Once the Berserker Droid has designated a target it intends to kill, it does not readily modify its intentions. While its target is still alive, the Berserker Droid does not let up.

The player of the Berserker Droid may designate one opponent per combat as its “primary target”. The Berserker Droid must designate its primary target before making its first attack. The Berserker Droid gains a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls against that target (or the target’s 2-meter-by-2-meter squire, in the case of grenadelike weapons) but takes a -2 to Defense for the rest of the encounter

The Berserker Droid may not designate a second primary target during the encounter, even if the primary target dies or otherwise leaves the combat.

Sneak Attack

At 3rd level, if a Berserker Droid faces an opponent who is unable to defend herself effectively from its attack, the droid can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Basically, any tiem the Berserker Droid’s target would be denied her Dexterity bonus to Defense (whether she actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the Berserker Droid flanks the target, the Berserker Droid’s attack deals an extra +2d6 points of damage.

Ranged attacks can only count as sneak attacks if the target is within 10 meters; the Berserker Droid can’t strike with deadly accuracy beyond that range.

A Berserker Droid can only sneak attack creatures with discernible anatomies. Additionally, any creature immune to critical hits is invulnerable to sneak attacks.

Also, the Berserker Droid must also be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot, and must be able to reach it. The Berserker Droid cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.

If a Berserker Droid gets a sneak attack bonus from another source (such as the bounty hunter prestige class), the bonus damage stacks.

Killing Machine

The Berserker Droid eventually reaches the point where destroying its enemies is more important than survival. At 5th level, whenever the Berserker Droid is dying (that is, when its wound point total is between -1 and -9), it may take one attack action on its turn every round until it reaches -10 wound points. (Ordinarily, a dying creature or droid falls unconscious when its wound point total reaches -1 or lower, and can take no actions at all.)

Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Defense Bonus Reputation Bonus
1 +0 +1 +2 +1 Target Focus +2 +0
2 +1 +2 +3 +2 Bonus Feat +3 +1
3 +2 +2 +3 +2 Sneak Attack +2d6 +3 +1
4 +3 +2 +4 +2 Bonus Feat +4 +1
5 +3 +3 +4 +3 Killing Machine +4 +2
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