Soul Soldier

[oslecamo]

Soul Soldier

”For the souls in every life, undead and construct!”

-Alex Almer, Soul Soldier

As knowledge advanced, the divine propaganda that only a few beings have souls has been crushed. The piling of countless types of undead and constructs that blatantly had souls, and the constant failure of finding a single one that specifically did not have a soul (until the creation of the completely artificial androids and fast clones) eventually bested the lies and hate of the slaves of the divine.

And by using this simple truth, great new advances in the art of piloting and mechas could be attained.

Becoming an Soul Soldier
Either Real or Super pilots should have an easy time entering this path.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
-PL 4+.
-Either at least one level of Magitech Knight OR any Lawful alignment plus 8+ ranks in one of Knowledge (Religion, Planes, or Arcana).
-Must have a Soul (so anything besides Android or a sped up clone).
-Cannot have the Soul System feat.

Class Skills
Every skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier.
Skills Points at Each  Level: 8+ Int mod

Hit Dice: d12

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+2	+2	Soul Speech, Soul Science, Spiritual Soul
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+3	Soul Selenium
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+3	Soul Symphony
4th	+4	+4	+4	+4	Soul Synchro
5th	+5	+4	+4	+4	Soul Star

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies:

Soul Speech: To use any activated ability from any class (not just Soul Soldier), the Soul Soldier must have made a speech about souls of at least nine words in the previous 30 seconds.

Soul Science: Soul Soldier levels count as either super robot or real robot or a mix for purposes of mecha and maneuver advancement (including gaining PL, maneuvers known, upgrade points and/or higher tier real robots as appropriate). Those can be changed at every level up. Arsenal access however is not advanced as you're relying more on the soul of you and your machine.

Spiritual Soul: Every level of Soul Soldier grants 12 spirit points, plus they learn one spirit right away.

Soul Selenium: At 2nd level the Soul Soldier’s mecha gains one additional Hard Point, plus another at 11th and 16th pilot levels.

Soul Symphony: At 3rd level the Soul Soldier’s mecha gains Reactor II, stacking with any other Reactor mecha property it has.

Soul Synchro: At 4th level the Soul Soldier’s mecha gains  Regeneration II, stacking with any other Regen mecha property it has.

Soul Star: At 5th level the Soul Soldier learns another Spirit. If they have more super robot progression, they count as 3 levels higher for Arsenal access purposes. If they have more Real Robot progression, they gain 12 extra super robot upgrade points and also count as a Super Pilot 3 levels higher for upgrade point limits.

[Anomander]

Soul Science: Does it count for arsenal advancement as well?

The table shows that it gains Soul Selenium at first level as well while the text indicates it begins at second level.

[SorO_Lost]

Soul Science: Does it count for arsenal advancement as well?

Not yet, keep complaining it's useless for not progressing the campaign breaking Arsenal until the 5th level and it could...

Edit: I have the urge to quote this.

If they have more real robot progression, they gain 4 extra super robot upgrade points per tier their current real robot is above the minimum they need to use.

[oslecamo]

Soul Science: Does it count for arsenal advancement as well?

No.

The table shows that it gains Soul Selenium at first level as well while the text indicates it begins at second level.

Fixed, thanks.

[Fzzr]

Some edits needed:

• In the table, level 5 shows +3 BaB instead of +5
• The last sentence of Soul Speech should read "Additionally, the Soul Soldier can speak with and understand any being by directly communicating with their souls."

[oslecamo]

Fixed, thank you once more.

[Fzzr]

So... Soul Soldier. A very powerful class, and yet also so silly.

Questions:

• Soul Science is unclear to me whether it advances Super Robot upgrade points or only stats. Please clarify that and also that it explicitly doesn't advance Arsenal per answer above.
• For advancing maneuvers, does that mean advancing the number available, the PL to use/qualify, or both?
• What happens if they don't make the speech, specifically?
• Class Skills says: "The Soul Soldier's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are all". Does this mean all skills are class skills, or is that just an incomplete sentence?

Upsides:

• d12 HD
• Early entry by PrC standards.
• Doesn't lose core Real/Super advancement
• Top level SP growth
• Stacking Reactor III and Regeneration III in four levels. Compare Machinery Warrior, which gets there in five and doesn't stack.
• Fast save advancement on all
• 8 + Intmod skill points
• The final level is part of the benefit of three levels of cross-classing, plus a bonus feat.

Downsides:

• Magitech Knight level required. This is actually odd to me, because the only thing Soul Soldier has in common with Magitech Knight is a strict requirement to use its abilities.
• The mandatory speech is just so weird. It requires the Soul Soldier to say the same 9 words every six seconds.

Suggestions:

• Raise entry level to PL 5 or 6.
• Remove Magitech Knight entry requirement in favor of some others. For example Kn (Religion, Planes, or Arcana) 8+, must be any Lawful.
• Make the speech less specific, like "In order to use spirits and activated abilities from any class (not just Soul Soldier), the Soul Soldier must make a brief speech about souls once per minute."
• Downtune Soul Symphony and Soul Synchro by either making them non-stacking or only going up to II.
• Weak suggestion: Ban the pilot from benefiting in any way from the Soul System feat, as it seems like the exact opposite of what this class stands for.
• Weak suggestion: Lose the level 5 bonus feat. That level is already great in absolute terms without being Just Better than a class level that gets a bonus feat.

[oslecamo]

So... Soul Soldier. A very powerful class, and yet also so silly.

Thank you, I indeed always say Axel as a pretty silly OG character yet quite powerful.

Questions:

• Soul Science is unclear to me whether it advances Super Robot upgrade points or only stats. Please clarify that and also that it explicitly doesn't advance Arsenal per answer above.
• For advancing maneuvers, does that mean advancing the number available, the PL to use/qualify, or both?
• What happens if they don't make the speech, specifically?
• Class Skills says: "The Soul Soldier's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are all". Does this mean all skills are class skills, or is that just an incomplete sentence?

-Upgrade points too, clarified.
-Yes, clarified too.
-Good point, made them unable to use any class abilities for 1d12 rounds.
-Replaced with "Every class skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier."

Upsides:

• d12 HD
• Early entry by PrC standards.
• Doesn't lose core Real/Super advancement
• Top level SP growth
• Stacking Reactor III and Regeneration III in four levels. Compare Machinery Warrior, which gets there in five and doesn't stack.
• Fast save advancement on all
• 8 + Intmod skill points
• The final level is part of the benefit of three levels of cross-classing, plus a bonus feat.

Downsides:

• Magitech Knight level required. This is actually odd to me, because the only thing Soul Soldier has in common with Magitech Knight is a strict requirement to use its abilities.
• The mandatory speech is just so weird. It requires the Soul Soldier to say the same 9 words every six seconds.

Well in the SRW games each turn is about 1 minute but that's seemingly enough time for repeating the same words a LOT of times considering every pilot says something from a short selection of lines when attacking/dodging/defending and it's not that rare for a pilot to be attacked a dozen times in a turn. And for bosses who get quite a bit of extra dialogue it gets even sillier the amount of talk they can cram in a single minute, I guess all those super-fast reflexes aren't good just for piloting.

As for the Magitech Knight requirement, it was more that they're supposed to be particularly in tune with their own soul.

Suggestions:

• Raise entry level to PL 5 or 6.
• Remove Magitech Knight entry requirement in favor of some others. For example Kn (Religion, Planes, or Arcana) 8+, must be any Lawful.
• Make the speech less specific, like "In order to use spirits and activated abilities from any class (not just Soul Soldier), the Soul Soldier must make a brief speech about souls once per minute."
• Downtune Soul Symphony and Soul Synchro by either making them non-stacking or only going up to II.
• Weak suggestion: Ban the pilot from benefiting in any way from the Soul System feat, as it seems like the exact opposite of what this class stands for.
• Weak suggestion: Lose the level 5 bonus feat. That level is already great in absolute terms without being Just Better than a class level that gets a bonus feat.

-Increasing the needed PL plus the skill ranks suggested next would just make it harder for multiclass characters to qualify.
-Added having the knowledge ranks and Lawful alignment as an alternative to Magitech Knight. So a pure Magitech Knight can qualify one level earlier but others won't be too behind.
-Made the Soul Speech anything soul-related with at least 9 words, still every round and small cha skill penalty if spamming the same line, but also added that they can say it even if silenced/sleeping or otherwise unable to say anything. Once per minute would mean you can go a whole battle of average length without saying anything about souls from start to finish even once and where's the fun in that? Plus hey, roleplay motivation!
-Soul Symphony and Soul Synchro now only grant II.
-Good point, added not having Soul System to the prerequisites so trying to pick it up later would make you lose the prc.
-Another good point, done too.

Also removed the need to know Soul spirit since that's a bit harder now with the new spirit tiering.

[Fzzr]

-Replaced with "Every class skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier."

Should that be "Every skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier"? Otherwise it's a bit tautological. Just to clarify (and I think the answer is "no") do skill checks count as activated abilities from a class for the purpose of Soul Speech?

-Made the Soul Speech anything soul-related with at least 9 words

It just says "9 words" in the description, please add the "at least".

I still feel like once a round is a bit too often on the soul speech thing, and since I've been known to use two unique Unlimited Blade Works chants in three rounds in the past that's really saying something . A SRW "round" can be anywhere from a minute to an hour depending on the scenario, after all, and a D&D round is 1/10th that. Maybe something like "To use any activated ability from any class (not just Soul Soldier), the Soul Soldier must have made a speech about souls of at least nine words in the previous 30 seconds." That's a reasonably long time in roleplaying but not so long that it gets forgotten, plus it mandates making such a speech at the beginning of an encounter regardless.

Good compromises and changes on the rest. The class is still very powerful, but now at least it's no longer too onerous to use for roleplaying purposes and too OP to not use for minmaxing.

[oslecamo]

-Replaced with "Every class skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier."

Should that be "Every skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier"? Otherwise it's a bit tautological. Just to clarify (and I think the answer is "no") do skill checks count as activated abilities from a class for the purpose of Soul Speech?

Ups, fixed.

And basic skill checks wouldn't count as class abilities.

-Made the Soul Speech anything soul-related with at least 9 words

It just says "9 words" in the description, please add the "at least".

Done.

I still feel like once a round is a bit too often on the soul speech thing, and since I've been known to use two unique Unlimited Blade Works chants in three rounds in the past that's really saying something . A SRW "round" can be anywhere from a minute to an hour depending on the scenario, after all, and a D&D round is 1/10th that.

Hmmm, do you have any specific examples for hour-long turns? Because literally every time I remember the game saying "you have X turns to do this" the characters will say "we need to do this in X minutes".

Maybe something like "To use any activated ability from any class (not just Soul Soldier), the Soul Soldier must have made a speech about souls of at least nine words in the previous 30 seconds." That's a reasonably long time in roleplaying but not so long that it gets forgotten, plus it mandates making such a speech at the beginning of an encounter regardless.

Well 30 seconds sounds like a good middlepoint, so going with that (still interested in hearing when did exactly a SRW game went with hour-long turns).

Good compromises and changes on the rest. The class is still very powerful, but now at least it's no longer too onerous to use for roleplaying purposes and too OP to not use for minmaxing.

Yay, thank you for more of your help!

[CKirk]

-Replaced with "Every class skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier."

Should that be "Every skill is a class skill for the Soul Soldier"? Otherwise it's a bit tautological. Just to clarify (and I think the answer is "no") do skill checks count as activated abilities from a class for the purpose of Soul Speech?

Ups, fixed.

And basic skill checks wouldn't count as class abilities.

-Made the Soul Speech anything soul-related with at least 9 words

It just says "9 words" in the description, please add the "at least".

Done.

I still feel like once a round is a bit too often on the soul speech thing, and since I've been known to use two unique Unlimited Blade Works chants in three rounds in the past that's really saying something . A SRW "round" can be anywhere from a minute to an hour depending on the scenario, after all, and a D&D round is 1/10th that.

Hmmm, do you have any specific examples for hour-long turns? Because literally every time I remember the game saying "you have X turns to do this" the characters will say "we need to do this in X minutes".

Maybe something like "To use any activated ability from any class (not just Soul Soldier), the Soul Soldier must have made a speech about souls of at least nine words in the previous 30 seconds." That's a reasonably long time in roleplaying but not so long that it gets forgotten, plus it mandates making such a speech at the beginning of an encounter regardless.

Well 30 seconds sounds like a good middlepoint, so going with that (still interested in hearing when did exactly a SRW game went with hour-long turns).

Good compromises and changes on the rest. The class is still very powerful, but now at least it's no longer too onerous to use for roleplaying purposes and too OP to not use for minmaxing.

Yay, thank you for more of your help!

With regards to hour long turns, there's a few events in SRW V that talk about it like that.

[oslecamo]

Ah thanks, that's what I get for still being catching up with old games (plus have neither a PS4 nor Vita, PC release when ???). I would take a nice youtube LP too if you know of one.

[Fzzr]

Great!

Also, did you mean to remove the thing about not spamming the same speech? Not requesting adding/removing it, just making sure you did that on purpose.

[oslecamo]

Yes, if it's being repeated only every 30 seconds is more acceptable as a catchprase.