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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BlackJaw" data-source="post: 1448859" data-attributes="member: 888">New Core Class: The AviatorSome people were not born to walk, they were born to fly.  The minor detail of having legs instead of wings is not enough to stop them.  They take to the air through magic and invention.  Combat aces, barnstormers, stunt fliers, high paid couriers, and test pilots; Aviators are the elite of pilots.  They don’t just fly; they strive to fly higher and faster then anyone else.  They aren’t dogfighters, they the aces of air combat. They vary considerably in personality.  Some are inflated egos and swaggering, some are reckless and lucky, others are cold and calculating.  All are dangerous when in the air.    In some setting this class would be better called an astronaut, cosmonaut, aquanaut, etc depending on the medium of flight.  Space/ether/water/etc.  The class was not called a pilot because that term is a technical game term for a vessel or vehicle’s controller. Model: Aviators are uncommon in a Minor Flight Model, because there are few things to pilot.  In such a game this class would make a poor PC choice, although it may be useful for NPCs that do fly often, especially monsters with wings, or the rare captain of a magic flying ship.In Heavy Flight Model games the Aviator is much more common as NPCs and becomes a viable PC class choice, as the players are likely to be in the air regularly enough that the class will have a chance to shine often.    Adventures: Adventuring is a way of life for many Aviators.  Their nature is to fly, often to new destinations on a regular basis; everyday a new horizon.  Few aviators would be content to constantly take to the air but never fly anywhere.  Military Aviators are often transferred between various bases (if they don’t have a mobile “aircraft carrier” base instead) and fronts.  Many monsters have flight abilities and are aggressive enough to attack an aviator and his vessel.  Everything from Griffons and dragons to winged demons and devils present a danger to those that would use the sky for their own purposes.    Characteristics: The Aviator is most at home in the air.  When not in flight only a handful of the class’s powers come into play.  No other class is as at home in the sky as the Aviator, and not other class can pilot a vehicle as well as they can.  In air combat even fighters have a hard time keeping up with the Aviator.  When on the ground an aviator is left much like a rogue, dependent on wits and speed to keep alive.  Aviators have no inherent magic abilities or powers to depend on, and many take pride in being the best without need of arcane or divine augmentation.     Alignment: Aviators may be of any alignment.  Chaotic Aviators tend to fly by instinct and tend toward the unpredictable type that is always attempting to push the envelope.  These character prefer to fly the fastest and latest vehicles, often smaller personal vehicles like fighter crafts.  Lawful Aviators tend to fly predictably but with a refined skill and ease that makes their flight nearly perfect and look far simpler then it is.  These characters prefer to operate on larger vehicles that require a full crew.  They are likely to be a helmsman, but easily be a gunner, or the vehicle’s captain.    Religion: Aviators often worship gods or air, the sky, technology, invention, creativity or just as often no gods at all.  Military Aviators are equally likely to worship war gods as air or sky gods.  Pilots of especially unreliable crafts, or in routinely dangerous situations are more likely to take up a patron god in hopes of gaining favor and good luck.    Background: Aviators can be of nearly any background, depending on the setting.  If flight is common they could have a background as common as crop dusters in a farmland or just as possible they could be the favored son of a noble family who had the right connections to get him into the Imperial Flight Academy.  A certain romance is often associated with pilots and flight that could attract anyone.    An Aviator may be driven to constantly be on the move, flying from place to place, as a way to escape some emotional scar in the past.  They may be following in their footsteps of fallen hero, family member, or friend.  They may enjoy the breaking the laws of gravity and the freedom of flight, especially if other freedoms in their life or land are hard to come by.    Races: Dwarves are rarely at home in the skies, but a few clans that live in the high peaks of the mountains have found air travel useful.  Dwarves often prefer larger more stable crafts able to carry large amounts of gear, weapons, armor, and troops.  Elves are often excellent aviators thanks to their elvish reflexes.  Elves prefer light nimble crafts, some made from still living plants.  Elvish living ships are expensive and made like works of art.  Elvish noble families treasure them as the heirlooms and priceless works of art they are.  Gnome Aviators enjoy the act of overcoming gravity through invention. Gnomes enjoy making non-standard designs, the most successful of which is the Ornithoper, a flying machine with mechanical flapping wings.  Half-elves are often wanderers and air travel is an especially intriguing and effective way to wander.  Half-elves tend toward human crafts and few elves would entrust one of their favored living ships on a “half breed.”   Half-orcs are not the most dexterous or cunning of aviators, and few orc tribes or clans are able to make their own vehicles, but in a Flight Heavy Campaign they may have acquired some through piracy and raiding.  More often half-orc aviators are raise in human civilization and turn to flight as a way to prove themselves.  Much as a half-orc knight might hide his face in helmet’s visor, a half-orc aviator may hide within his cockpit.  Halfling aviators have an inherent grace and luck that often makes them great pilots.  Their racial wanderlust gives them a great appreciation for the freedom of flight.    Monstrous aviators are either form a technologically or magically advanced society, posses their technology through raiding and piracy, or of a species that naturally posses the ability to fly.    Other Classes: Aviators can relate well fighter and rogues because they are all dependent on training, skill, and luck.  They share a wanderlust that rangers and bards often share, and so often get along well with those classes.  Aviators, who are generally dependant on technology, have trouble dealing with druids.  And unless the vehicles of the setting are heavily dependant on magic, they may also have trouble relating to wizards, sorcerers, and clerics.    Roles:  An Aviator is the designated pilot for a group of adventurers.  Be it a beat up old trading ship or a high-powered space fighter, the Aviator can get the most out of it.  Depending on the vehicle(s) the available and the frequency of use in a game, the Aviator may style himself an ace dog-fighter, a smuggler, a guide, a stunt pilot, or an explorer.  Depending on the feats and skills the Aviator selects any of these options are possible.  In many cases a few of these skills and feats are useful outside a vehicle making the aviator something similar to a rogue, bard, or monk in value.    For many characters, multi-classing as a pilot may be a better option.  This is especially true for classes that might gain flight on their own, such as spellcaster that can fly via spell, or shape-changing.  Rogues with their Dexterity focus and plenty of skills may have the easiest time multi-classing into pilot.  Fighters with their common bonus feats can also become great pilots.</blockquote>

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