The Xenobotanist is not a Xenobotanist. There are no nature gods in the Rim -- only biospheres, and the Xenobotanist is the person who reads them. The Xenobotanist chose the Jungle over the lab, the greenhouse over the library, the field over tenure. The Xenobotanist studies alien plant life: cataloguing species, extracting bioactive compounds, crafting field remedies from flora that has never been classified. The Xenobotanist knows which spore will kill and which leaf will save.
Asset Realisation books the Xenobotanist as "botanical survey asset -- field-deployed." The corps deploy Xenobotanists ahead of terraforming crews, mining operations, and colonial landings. The Xenobotanist surveys the local flora and determines: what can be eaten, what can be harvested, what must be burned, and what will fight back. Some worlds have flora that defends itself -- reactive vines, spore-clouds, plants that scream frequencies that attract predators. The Xenobotanist reads the flora the way a Scout reads terrain, and the party follows the Xenobotanist's path through the alien garden.
The Xenobotanist's most unusual trait is Flora Empathy: a quiet, possibly gene-linked resonance with semi-sentient plant-creatures. Hostile flora hesitates. Reactive flora calms. The Xenobotanist communicates basic intent -- threat, peace, hunger, shelter -- to any plant-creature with rudimentary intelligence. This is not psionics. It is not the Fold. It is something older, quieter, and the corps cannot explain it.
Operating on the Creed/Edge chassis (d6 HD, half BAB, Fort/Ref poor, Will good, 6 SP). Light armour -- the Xenobotanist needs to reach specimens. Pistol, knife, sample kit -- the Xenobotanist's real tools are knowledge and the field lab. Prime requisites: INT (taxonomy, analysis) and WIS (the instinct that reads a plant's intent before the plant acts).
Archetype Niche: Alien plant-life specialist and field remedy crafter. The Xenobotanist turns the Rim's hostile flora into the party's advantage -- identifying poisonous spores before the party walks into them, crafting emergency medicine from indigenous plants, and calming aggressive plant-creatures. Their niche is the intersection of science and survival on uncharted worlds.
Multiclass Notes: Xenobotanists can multiclass with Academic and Sawbones archetypes. Non-human xenobotanists use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Level Table
Field Assistant
Field
Value
bab
0
fortitude
0
level
1
reflex
0
skillPoints
24
title
Field Assistant
will
2
xp
0
Junior Botanist
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
0
level
2
reflex
0
skillPoints
6
title
Junior Botanist
will
3
xp
2500
Field Botanist
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
1
level
3
reflex
1
skillPoints
6
title
Field Botanist
will
3
xp
5000
Senior Xenobotanist
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
1
level
4
reflex
1
skillPoints
6
title
Senior Xenobotanist
will
4
xp
10000
Master Botanist
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
1
level
5
reflex
1
skillPoints
6
title
Master Botanist
will
4
xp
20000
Chief Xenobotanist
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
2
level
6
reflex
2
skillPoints
6
title
Chief Xenobotanist
will
5
xp
40000
Xeno-Botanical Authority
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
2
level
7
reflex
2
skillPoints
6
title
Xeno-Botanical Authority
will
5
xp
70000
Distinguished Xenobotanist
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
2
level
8
reflex
2
skillPoints
6
title
Distinguished Xenobotanist
will
6
xp
110000
First Botanist of the Rim
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
3
level
9
reflex
3
skillPoints
6
title
First Botanist of the Rim
will
6
xp
160000
Supreme Xenobotanist
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
3
level
10
reflex
3
skillPoints
6
title
Supreme Xenobotanist
will
7
xp
250000
Legendary Botanist
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
3
level
11
reflex
3
skillPoints
6
title
Legendary Botanist
will
7
xp
340000
Master of Flora
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
4
level
12
reflex
4
skillPoints
6
title
Master of Flora
will
8
xp
430000
Xeno Supreme
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
4
level
13
reflex
4
skillPoints
6
title
Xeno Supreme
will
8
xp
520000
Flora Sovereign
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
4
level
14
reflex
4
skillPoints
6
title
Flora Sovereign
will
9
xp
610000
Botanical Master
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
5
level
15
reflex
5
skillPoints
6
title
Botanical Master
will
9
xp
700000
Chief Xenobotanist
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
5
level
16
reflex
5
skillPoints
6
title
Chief Xenobotanist
will
10
xp
790000
Plant Captain
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
5
level
17
reflex
5
skillPoints
6
title
Plant Captain
will
10
xp
880000
High Botanist
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
6
level
18
reflex
6
skillPoints
6
title
High Botanist
will
11
xp
970000
Lord Xenobotanist
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
6
level
19
reflex
6
skillPoints
6
title
Lord Xenobotanist
will
11
xp
1060000
Flora Overlord
Field
Value
bab
10
fortitude
6
level
20
reflex
6
skillPoints
6
title
Flora Overlord
will
12
xp
1150000
Special Abilities
Xeno-Botanical Analysis
Field
Value
level
1
name
Xeno-Botanical Analysis
description: Gain +2 to Xenology checks relating to flora. Can identify alien plant species, determine edibility and toxicity, and predict defensive mechanisms with a DC 15 Xenology check. Extract one usable compound from a fresh plant sample (1 hour of work, field lab required).
Improvised Remedy
Field
Value
level
3
name
Improvised Remedy
description: Once per day per level, craft a temporary remedy from field samples: a healing salve (restores 1d4 HP), an antitoxin (+2 Fortitude vs. one specific poison for 1 hour), or a stimulant (removes fatigue for 10 minutes, then target is exhausted for 1 hour). Remedy potency degrades after 24 hours.
Flora Empathy
Field
Value
level
5
name
Flora Empathy
description: Semi-sentient and reactive xeno-flora responds to the Xenobotanist's presence. Hostile plant-creatures suffer -2 to attack rolls against the Xenobotanist. The Xenobotanist can communicate basic intent (threat, peace, hunger, shelter) with any plant-creature possessing rudimentary intelligence. Does not affect fully mindless flora.