Master Gunner Prestige Class

About

Master Gunners are experts at operating the big guns of capital ships, and sometimes space transports. Such experts were once common throughout the galaxy. By the Rise of the Empire era, the massive Imperial space navy’s emphasis on standard training and victory through overwhelming numbers had made master gunners rare. Only a few families kept the tradition alive, and only a few expert officers and renegades managed to train themselves to this degree of expertise.

A master gunner is not normally a pilot. Instead, he concentrates on learning as much as possible about starship guns rather than engines. A captain who discovers a master gunner often treats him very well, making sure he is kept safe when off duty or on shore leave. Most master gunners crave the thrill of starship combat, but a few are quiet beings who secretly loathe their natural affinity for destruction. A single master gunner can give an entire crew a reputation for excellence, and may swing the course of an entire battle.

Many master gunners find themselves drawn to more personal instruments of destruction, and begin to study personal scale weapons. Some join groups of smugglers or Bounty Hunters, trading their skills for a share of the profit. Others decide to become captains of their own ships, taking up the study of other ship systems.

Requirements

To qualify to become a master gunner, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Pilot 10 ranks
Feats: Gunner

Game Rule Information

Vitality: Master Gunner’s gain 1d6 vitality points per level. The character’s Constitution modifier applies.

Class Skills

The master gunner’s class skills, and the key abilities for each, are as follows.
Astrogate (Int)
Computer Use (Int)
Knowledge* (Int)
Profession* (Wis)
Repair (Int)
Search (Int)
Treat Injury (Wis)
*This skill actually encompasses a number of unrelated skills. Each time this skill is learned, a specific category must also be chosen. Examples include Craft (Droids), Knowledge (Jedi Lore), and Profession (Droid Programmer).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features

Starting Feats

The master gunner begins play with the following feats:
Weapon Group Proficiency (Blaster Pistols)
Weapon Group Proficiency (Simple Weapons)

Bonus Feat

At 1st level, and again at 3rd and 5th level, the master gunner gets a bonus feat. This feat must be drawn from the following list, and the master gunner must meet any prerequisites.
Expert Gunner
Pinpoint Accuracy
Rapid Gunner
Starship Point Blank Shot
Weapon Focus (any starship weapon)

Gunnery Familiarity

At 2nd level, the master gunner must choose to specialize in either capital calls ships or space transports. After operating the weapons of a starship of the chosen class for at least thirty days, the gunner becomes familiar with them, gains a +1 bonus on all attack and damage rolls made with those weapons.

Disabling Shot

At 4th level, the master gunner gains the ability to make a disabling shot. This allows a master gunner to attempt to target a specific system on a starship, damaging it without harming any other part of the starship. To attempt this, the master gunner must choose one system to disable on a target ship (one battery of weapons or a set of fire-linked weapons are considered one system). The master gunner then makes a single attack roll at a -4 penalty. If the attack hits, the master gunner rolls damage, adding his base attack bonus to the total. This damage is not applied to the starship. Instead, the master gunner rolls on the Battle Damage table and adds his damage total to the roll. If the result is equal or greater than the result needed to disable the target system, the system has been disabled. A disabling shot never destroys a system$-$it can always be fixed with a Repair check (DC 20 if no other DC is given).

Making a disabling shot is a full-round action.

Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Defense Bonus Reputation Bonus
1 +1 +1 +2 +1 Bonus Feat +3 +0
2 +2 +1 +3 +1 Gunnery Familiarity +3 +1
3 +3 +2 +3 +2 Bonus Feat +4 +1
4 +4 +2 +4 +2 Disabling Shot +4 +2
5 +5 +3 +4 +3 Bonus Feat +5 +2
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