The Pilot is the interface between a ship and the void -- the hands on the stick, the feet on the thrust pedals, the gut that knows when a gravity well is too close. The corps do not trust machines to fly their ships. Machines cannot feel the fold. A Pilot can.
Asset Realisation books the Pilot as "operational capital -- vehicular." The Pilot flies a ship worth more than the habitat they grew up on, and the corp insures the ship. The Pilot is replaceable. Every flight hour logged is recorded on the Kadiss grid; every near-miss, every hull scrape, every insurance claim follows the Pilot from contract to contract. A Pilot with too many incidents is reclassified as "high-risk operational capital" -- assigned to the runs no one else will take, premiums deducted from pay, until one day the ship does not come back and the corp writes off both hull and asset in a single line item.
The Pilot operates sublight (orbital insertion, docking, combat manoeuvring) and Fold-adjacent flight (riding the fold-currents the Navigator reads, holding the ship steady in the deep). Without a Navigator aboard, the Pilot can feel the fold well enough to hold course through a plotted jump -- but cannot read new routes. With a Navigator, the Pilot is the body that executes what the Navigator's Fold-sight perceives.
Operating on the Tech chassis (d8 HD, 3/4 BAB, Ref good, Fort/Will poor, 6 SP). The Pilot wears light armour only -- bulk interferes with the stick. Prime requisites: DEX (stick precision) and INT (system knowledge). A Pilot's value is measured in flight hours survived, not enemies killed.
Rules Reference
Field
Value
Armor Allowance
Light
Bab Tier
three-quarters
Base Skill Points
6
Hd
d8
Hd Sides
8
Max Level
20
Multiclass Notes
Pilots can multiclass with Operative and Scout archetypes. Non-human pilots use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Primary Abilities
DEX, INT
Prime Requisites
DEX, INT
Save Tiers / Fortitude
poor
Save Tiers / Reflex
good
Save Tiers / Will
poor
Weapon Allowance
Pistol, Knife
Notes
Archetype Niche: The Pilot turns a ship from transport into a weapon. Their Evasion bonus shifts the core ship-combat math (Gunnery: d20 + ranks + DEX >= 10 + Evasion). Combat Manoeuvre gives the party a defensive trump. System Override is risk/reward power -- the Pilot can make the ship perform beyond spec, gambling on the Engineering check. A party without a Pilot can fly a ship. A party with a Pilot can fight with one. The Pilot is also the party's interface with ship-systems: sensors, comms, docking, atmospheric flight -- anything that touches the stick.
Level Table
Crewman
Field
Value
bab
0
fortitude
0
level
1
reflex
2
skillPoints
24
title
Crewman
will
0
xp
0
Helmsman
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
0
level
2
reflex
3
skillPoints
6
title
Helmsman
will
0
xp
1250
Stellar Navigator
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
1
level
3
reflex
3
skillPoints
6
title
Stellar Navigator
will
1
xp
2500
Flight Officer
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
1
level
4
reflex
4
skillPoints
6
title
Flight Officer
will
1
xp
5000
Master Pilot
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
1
level
5
reflex
4
skillPoints
6
title
Master Pilot
will
1
xp
10000
Ace
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
2
level
6
reflex
5
skillPoints
6
title
Ace
will
2
xp
20000
Squadron Leader
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
2
level
7
reflex
5
skillPoints
6
title
Squadron Leader
will
2
xp
40000
Wing Commander
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
2
level
8
reflex
6
skillPoints
6
title
Wing Commander
will
2
xp
70000
Legendary Pilot
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
3
level
9
reflex
6
skillPoints
6
title
Legendary Pilot
will
3
xp
110000
Supreme Pilot
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
3
level
10
reflex
7
skillPoints
6
title
Supreme Pilot
will
3
xp
160000
Legendary Aviator
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
3
level
11
reflex
7
skillPoints
6
title
Legendary Aviator
will
3
xp
210000
Master of the Void
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
4
level
12
reflex
8
skillPoints
6
title
Master of the Void
will
4
xp
260000
Pilot Supreme
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
4
level
13
reflex
8
skillPoints
6
title
Pilot Supreme
will
4
xp
310000
Fold Sovereign
Field
Value
bab
10
fortitude
4
level
14
reflex
9
skillPoints
6
title
Fold Sovereign
will
4
xp
360000
Helm Master
Field
Value
bab
11
fortitude
5
level
15
reflex
9
skillPoints
6
title
Helm Master
will
5
xp
410000
Chief Pilot
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
5
level
16
reflex
10
skillPoints
6
title
Chief Pilot
will
5
xp
460000
Flight Captain
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
5
level
17
reflex
10
skillPoints
6
title
Flight Captain
will
5
xp
510000
High Aviator
Field
Value
bab
13
fortitude
6
level
18
reflex
11
skillPoints
6
title
High Aviator
will
6
xp
560000
Lord Pilot
Field
Value
bab
14
fortitude
6
level
19
reflex
11
skillPoints
6
title
Lord Pilot
will
6
xp
610000
Fold Warden
Field
Value
bab
15
fortitude
6
level
20
reflex
12
skillPoints
6
title
Fold Warden
will
6
xp
660000
Special Abilities
Ace Pilot
Field
Value
level
1
name
Ace Pilot
description: Flight is not training. It is the gut knowing what the instruments cannot measure. +2 to Pilot checks. A ship the Pilot is actively flying gains +1 Evasion -- the Pilot reads incoming fire before the gunnery computer locks, nudging the ship just enough. Once per encounter, the Pilot may push the ship past its rated speed for 1 round (150% speed) by overriding the governor safeties. After, the engines require a DC 15 Engineering check to avoid strain penalties (-2 to all ship actions for 1d4 rounds). The corp would call this reckless. The Pilot calls it flying.
Combat Manoeuvre
Field
Value
level
3
name
Combat Manoeuvre
description: The Pilot has survived enough incoming fire to read the attacker, not just the attack. Once per encounter, force an enemy ship to re-roll a successful gunnery check against the Pilot's vessel -- a last-instant vector change, a debris-shadow duck, a thruster-feint the enemy's targeting computer cannot predict. +2 to Pilot checks for evasive patterns, docking under fire, or navigating debris fields. When the Pilot performs a feather-touch dock against a moving target, the DC is reduced by 5 -- the stick and the hull are the same thing, and the Pilot feels the contact before it happens.
System Override
Field
Value
level
5
name
System Override
description: The Pilot knows the ship better than the engineers who built it -- knows which safeties can be bypassed, which limiters lie. Once per encounter, redline one ship system (shields, weapons, engines, or sensors) for 1d4 rounds, gaining +2 to all related checks. The system screams warnings; the Pilot ignores them. When the override ends, the system is disabled for 1 round -- thermal cut-out, breaker trip, firmware panic. Multiple systems can be overridden in sequence, but each after the first imposes a cumulative -2 penalty to the Engineering check to prevent lasting damage. Override too many systems and the ship remembers. The Pilot walks away. The Pilot always walks away.