Scout

Rim pathfinder who works OFF the Kadiss grid.

The Scout is not a soldier who took a navigation course. The Scout is the person who walks into terrain the corps declared unsurvivable and walks out three weeks later with a route mapped, a water source located, and a dead enemy column the Scout led into a sinkhole. The Scout reads the land -- any land -- and finds the path that is not on any map, because maps are made by people who survived to draw them, and the Scout survives where mapmakers do not.

Asset Realisation has one entry for the Scout: "terrain asset -- unregistered." The corps would love to own a Scout. The Scout's knowledge of uncharted routes, dead-world navigation, and off-grid survival is worth more than any piece of hardware. But Scouts do not sign contracts. The Kadiss grid cannot track them because they know where the grid's blind spots are -- the canyons, the interference zones, the dead satellites. A Scout who appears on Kadiss is a Scout who wants to be found. The ones who do not want to be found simply disappear into terrain the grid does not cover.

The Scout operates on the Combat/Edge chassis (d10 HD, full BAB, Fort/Ref good, Will poor, 4 SP). Light and medium armour -- mobility is survival. Rifles, long-arms, melee weapons -- the Scout fights at range and up close, depending on terrain. Prime requisites: STR, DEX, WIS -- the body, the hands, the eyes that read what the instruments miss.

Rules Reference

Field	Value
Armor Allowance	Light, Medium
Bab Tier	full
Base Skill Points	4
Hd	d10
Hd Sides	10
Max Level	20
Multiclass Notes	Scouts can multiclass with Soldier and Operative archetypes. Non-human scouts use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Primary Abilities	STR, DEX, WIS
Prime Requisites	STR, DEX, WIS
Save Tiers / Fortitude	good
Save Tiers / Reflex	good
Save Tiers / Will	poor
Weapon Allowance	All rifles and long-arms, All pistols, All melee weapons, Grenades and thrown weapons

Notes

Archetype Niche: The Scout is the party's advance element. Master Tracker provides information dominance: the Scout knows what lies ahead before the party commits. Terrain Adaptation turns hostile environments into home ground, granting the entire party stealth and navigation advantages. Sniper's Patience gives the Scout a devastating alpha-strike capability -- one perfect shot from concealment that can end an encounter before it begins. The Scout's niche is control of the battlespace through superior information and positioning.

Level Table

Pathfinder

Field	Value
bab	1
fortitude	2
level	1
reflex	2
skillPoints	16
title	Pathfinder
will	0
xp	0

Tracker

Field	Value
bab	2
fortitude	3
level	2
reflex	3
skillPoints	4
title	Tracker
will	0
xp	2250

Wanderer

Field	Value
bab	3
fortitude	3
level	3
reflex	3
skillPoints	4
title	Wanderer
will	1
xp	4500

Guide

Field	Value
bab	4
fortitude	4
level	4
reflex	4
skillPoints	4
title	Guide
will	1
xp	9000

Explorer

Field	Value
bab	5
fortitude	4
level	5
reflex	4
skillPoints	4
title	Explorer
will	1
xp	18000

Ranger

Field	Value
bab	6
fortitude	5
level	6
reflex	5
skillPoints	4
title	Ranger
will	2
xp	36000

Warden

Field	Value
bab	7
fortitude	5
level	7
reflex	5
skillPoints	4
title	Warden
will	2
xp	75000

Scout Commander

Field	Value
bab	8
fortitude	6
level	8
reflex	6
skillPoints	4
title	Scout Commander
will	2
xp	150000

Master Scout

Field	Value
bab	9
fortitude	6
level	9
reflex	6
skillPoints	4
title	Master Scout
will	3
xp	300000

Legendary Pathfinder

Field	Value
bab	10
fortitude	7
level	10
reflex	7
skillPoints	4
title	Legendary Pathfinder
will	3
xp	600000

Void Walker

Field	Value
bab	11
fortitude	7
level	11
reflex	7
skillPoints	4
title	Void Walker
will	3
xp	900000

Deep Scout

Field	Value
bab	12
fortitude	8
level	12
reflex	8
skillPoints	4
title	Deep Scout
will	4
xp	1200000

Frontier Lord

Field	Value
bab	13
fortitude	8
level	13
reflex	8
skillPoints	4
title	Frontier Lord
will	4
xp	1500000

Frontier Master

Field	Value
bab	14
fortitude	9
level	14
reflex	9
skillPoints	4
title	Frontier Master
will	4
xp	1800000

World Walker

Field	Value
bab	15
fortitude	9
level	15
reflex	9
skillPoints	4
title	World Walker
will	5
xp	2100000

World Lord

Field	Value
bab	16
fortitude	10
level	16
reflex	10
skillPoints	4
title	World Lord
will	5
xp	2400000

Star Walker

Field	Value
bab	17
fortitude	10
level	17
reflex	10
skillPoints	4
title	Star Walker
will	5
xp	2700000

Star Lord

Field	Value
bab	18
fortitude	11
level	18
reflex	11
skillPoints	4
title	Star Lord
will	6
xp	3000000

Void Seer

Field	Value
bab	19
fortitude	11
level	19
reflex	11
skillPoints	4
title	Void Seer
will	6
xp	3300000

Supreme Pathfinder

Field	Value
bab	20
fortitude	12
level	20
reflex	12
skillPoints	4
title	Supreme Pathfinder
will	6
xp	3600000

Special Abilities

Master Tracker

Field	Value
level	1
name	Master Tracker

description: The Scout reads tracks the way a banker reads a balance sheet. Tracking as a class skill with +2 competence bonus. The Scout identifies species, number, direction, and approximate time since passage from tracks and spoor. At level 5, the Scout tracks across hard surfaces (metal decking, rock) at no penalty -- micro-abrasions, heat residue, displaced dust. At level 10, the Scout tracks targets that passed up to 7 days ago -- old trails, weathered sign, the faint traces others miss. At level 15, the Scout tracks across vacuum (trace atmosphere residue, micro-abrasions on hull plating, thermal ghosts on cold metal). The Scout also gains Survival as a class skill with +2 bonus -- tracking is only useful if you can live long enough to follow.

Terrain Adaptation

Field	Value
level	3
name	Terrain Adaptation

description: The Scout's body learns terrain the way others learn languages -- immersion, repetition, survival. Select one favoured terrain: vacuum/void, jungle/xeno-forest, desert/wastes, arctic/tundra, urban/hive, or swamp/mire. In that terrain, the Scout and up to 4 allies within 30 feet gain +2 to Stealth, Perception, and Survival checks, and cannot be tracked except by another Scout of equal or higher level. Movement is never impeded by difficult terrain -- the Scout finds the path the instruments cannot see. Select additional favoured terrains at levels 7, 11, 15, and 19. By level 19, the Scout has survived five environments that would kill anyone else.

Sniper's Patience

Field	Value
level	5
name	Sniper's Patience

description: The Scout has learned that one shot from the right position ends a fight before it starts. Full-round action to study a target: +2 to the next attack roll, double the weapon's range increment. If the Scout remains stationary and hidden for 2 consecutive rounds before firing: bonus increases to +4 and the attack automatically threatens a critical hit -- the Scout has found the gap in the armour, the unguarded moment, the angle no one checks. Usable once per encounter. At level 12, twice per encounter. The Scout does not need a second shot. The first one counted.