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Cool/unique science fiction classes

Strange Fellow

Peculiar
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
What the title says. What is your favourite unique sci-fi or futuristic character class? Could be from video games, tabletop, or your boundless and magical imagination. The emphasis should be on "unique" here, because "assault commando who's slightly better at picking locks than everyone else" isn't very interesting, nor are simple stat/skill presets. I think the coolest classes fill a role that no other class can, ideally with the weaknesses in other areas to match.

Video game land is rife with fantasy classes, but there aren't many sci-fi CRPGs, and even fewer with class-based systems. You have the Buck Rogers games, and... the Gadgeteer from Wizardry 8 kind of counts. The KOTORs are class-based, but you could probably play through both games failing to notice. There might be some really old and terrible ones I haven't considered as well. The future just seems to favour skill points somehow, but even so, there has to be at least a few cool class concepts. I'm hoping some tabletop players will chime in.

So feel free to pitch your coolest class. Or get into a massive argument about AD&D or whatever suits your fancy.
 

HarveyBirdman

Arbiter
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
1,044
If Arcanum counts, a mad bomber mage.

You need:
>spacial distortion
>mage lock
>dynamite

You do:
>open door
>immediately enter turn based combat
>spacial distortion next to enemy
>drop dynamite, maybe toss some around
>spacial distortion out of the room again
>mage lock the door
>wait
 

Harthwain

Magister
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Messages
4,689
I always liked technomage class as a concept.

Technomage is merely someone who knows a lot about technology (or at least enough to keep mechanical relicts of the past operational), but compared to your regular shmuck he is pretty much a mage (hence the term). The best part? Compared to mage, technomage has very logical explanation for what he's doing. One that follows the Third Law of Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". Magic rarely has good background explanations (although I have seen some interesting "magic systems" that at least tried to give magic a semblance of science by using various "laws of magic").
 

V_K

Arcane
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Speaking of Shadowrun, I think riggers are a pretty cool class that doesn't exactly have a fantasy analogue.
Mutants are arguably more of a race than class (if we are making that distinction), but e.g. Caves of Qud mutations were a very fun char dev mechanic. Similarly, robots can have a fun char dev/equipment system where your character gets better by acquiring better parts and updating software, maybe even through disassembling enemies (sorta like Battletech but more RPG). Would also make for some fun ship-of-Theseus related meta-jokes.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
Good sci-fi classes are almost required to interact with one of the fictional points of interest that differentiate the setting. For example, Jedi are much more interesting than smugglers or moisture farmers because they interact with the force.

That makes it harder to transfer ideas between settings. That said, here are some ideas:

-Galactic Diplomat
Someone imbued with broad discretion to make deals with the most alien cultures on behalf of billions of people.

-Genetic Molter
Alien species/tech that gives a short lifespan but the character is reborn. Through genetic memory, molters retain a good percentage of skills and abilities when their level is reset. Breaks some character building rules, but has non-linear power growth.

-Trust Broker
The galaxy is big. It is hard to know who to trust when buying and hiring. Trust brokers lubricate important transactions by putting their own reputations and livelihoods on the line. (Adventuring hooks: responsible for filling a contract they vouched for, trust as a currency, investigating how much trust to grant a new client.)

-Teleporter Technician
Gadget-based class that has a portable teleporter. Eventually capable of every teleporter shanaeinagan you've seen in fiction. (Moving through walls, teleporting bombs to enemies, teleporting an ally to filter toxins out of their body, etc.)
 
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V_K

Arcane
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at a Nowhere near you
Similarly, robots can have a fun char dev/equipment system where your character gets better by acquiring better parts and updating software, maybe even through disassembling enemies (sorta like Battletech but more RPG). Would also make for some fun ship-of-Theseus related meta-jokes.
And speaking of Shadowrun again, I just realized that it does kinda provide this sort of mechanics with its cyberware system. Not sure if it has a cyberware-focused class though. But cyborg as a class would definitely be an interesting concept. The cyberware arm throwing grenades back at the attacker was one of the few things that I really liked about SR: Hong Kong.
 

V_K

Arcane
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Speaking of Shadowrun, I think riggers are a pretty cool class that doesn't exactly have a fantasy analogue.
some sort of pokemon combat focused familiar would be close right?
Kinda, but I'm also thinking of PnP Shadowrun, where riggers could also control stuff like vehicles or a whole building's electronic systems.
im not prvy to shadowrun outside of games. Care to explain to me technical differences between deckers and riggers? I always felt like those two feel more like 2 subclasses of single technical class.
Games almost were pushing you to combine them in my opinion.

In real word it feels like software vs mechanical engineer which... Isnt a big gap and often combine
I don't have that much experience with PnP Shadowrun either, just read some novelizations as a teen. My understaing is that deckers are focused on software (Matrix) and hacking the systems. Riggers are no hackers, but if they plug into a piece of hardware, they can control it with their minds - kind of substituting the software. From the wiki:

In the sixth world, riggers are people who use datajacks and in most cases a special type of cyberware - called the "rigger control" - to interface with to interface with vehicles and drones. Often they also use a remote control deck. The term "rigger" may also be applied to others using these machines.

Riggers who jack to a building security system in order to control the complete electronic building security are called spiders.

Riggers jump in to machines to control them with their mind. While jumped in they feel like they are the machine, using the vehicle or drone's sensors to replace their own. This allows the rigger to control the machine at Matrix speeds and with greater precision. The downside is if the machine takes damage the rigger will have to deal with dangerous levels of biofeedback. Likewise the rigger may have to engage in cybercombat with other hackers that are attempting to hijack their devices.
So yeah, similar to deckers, but a different specialization. I'm not sure about technomancers, I think they largely do the same, just via magic rather than cyberware.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
A few more:

-Artificial Intelligence
An artificial lifeform with no body. Capable of piloting various mechanical vehicles/droids and interfacing with alien computer systems. Sometimes rides along in the wearable computer of another character, providing tactical/information advantages. Grows in experience and capabilities by processing large data sets with machine learning.

-Memorist
Unlike wealth from compound interest, perfect memory is not a side-effect of exceptionally long life. When a person or alien who has lived for thousands of years wishes to retrieve an ancient memory they hire a memorist to help them locate, reconstruct, and re-experience it. Advanced memorists witness the memory as well and with increasing fidelity. Other applications of these skills include combat and interrogation.

-Declinologist
Experts on entropy, declinologists are drawn to investigate and chronicle the destruction of culture and civilization. Possessing a ship for interstellar travel and a wide range of skills, these resourceful individuals are sometimes criticized as fetishizing ruin. Most seek to use the patterns they have pieced together to help stave off the decline of their own people.
 
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Unwanted

Kalin

Unwanted
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Torment: Tides of NumaNuma - It has three totally new and unique classes called glaive, jack and nano! Groundbreaking and innovative, might be too hardcore for casuals though.
 

Falksi

Arcane
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Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,538
Location
Nottingham
Technoslag. Like all the Technomancers mentions above, but with cyber-cunts.

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Divine Blessing

Scholar
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Jan 6, 2017
Messages
107
Location
beyond
Wildstars (RIP) Gunslinger being one of my favorites - highly mobile, semi-burst, semi-stealth, named Marshall Ravestarr
Uzi/Katana build The Second World got the Look, although AR/Katana was the OP build to go, cant beat the SWAG factor of double UZI
Sith Marauder SWOTR - Force Choke is simply sexy, but overall awful PvP class (mobility), gotta love the option to almost force choke any dialogue NPC, y not my wifes (married both, one bugged out later)
Silent Hunter/First Love Spy Neocron - gotta keep ur Distance or Obliterator ready, already APUs have been the most interesting take on Sci-Fi magic user
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
A few more:

-Star Child
Exposed in utero to mysterious cosmic radiation, the presence of these individuals nullify the effects of the setting's macguffin. (Some examples: unable to be teleported, immune to jedi force powers, invisible to electronic surveillance, able to emit mysterious radiation, immune to energy weapons, touching machines causes them to shut down, etc.)

-Temporal Scavenger
Unlike other scrappers, these ones hunt for salvage left by time travelers. They cobble together future technology and materials that are too advanced to reverse engineer. This tech gives some scavengers short-term insight into the future, giving them near-perfect accuracy in a fire-fight. Their motivations are varied. Some seek advanced future technology to halt the effects of aging, others for knowledge of future events that they can profit from, but they all agree that the ultimate score would be locating a functional time machine.

-Terraforming Expert
Sometimes to build a new colony other creatures need to die. A sentient village is something the Space Marines can handle. When you need to surgically eliminate every member of a specific species from a planet you call in the experts. The unfeeling precision that they approach their work with makes others distrust them. Masters of xenochemistry and xenobiology, these men (gender-restricted class :obviously:) think on a scale that would give Oppenheimer nightmares.
 
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Tweed

Professional Kobold
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harsh circumstances
Pathfinder: Wrath
The O.S.A. spook, forget loser marines and navy skags this guy can hulk the fuck out with his brain and kill huge monsters with one wrench blow! Heals deadly injury and protects himself from deadly disease by pure will alone! He hacks machines with his mind and to top it all off he can teleport, duplicate items, become invisible, and set stuff on fire by concentrating too hard like that girl in the one movie.
 
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
2,930
Speaking of Shadowrun, I think riggers are a pretty cool class that doesn't exactly have a fantasy analogue.
Mutants are arguably more of a race than class (if we are making that distinction), but e.g. Caves of Qud mutations were a very fun char dev mechanic. Similarly, robots can have a fun char dev/equipment system where your character gets better by acquiring better parts and updating software, maybe even through disassembling enemies (sorta like Battletech but more RPG). Would also make for some fun ship-of-Theseus related meta-jokes.
niggers?
 

Ysaye

Arbiter
Joined
May 27, 2018
Messages
771
Location
Australia
Hunter class - Uses light armor and generally light hand to hand weaponry, they generally hunt monsters, mercenary-like.
Wizar (Wizardry Generation Xth) - just looks cool, an armoured humanoid (looks sort of like Scott Benards armor in Robotech) which uses claw weapons
 

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