Sarcesian Sniper

Source: Alien Archive

CR: 5 XP: 1,600

LN Large humanoid (sarcesian)

Init.: +5 Senses: low-light vision Perception: +17

Defense

HP: 64 RP: 4

EAC: 19 KAC: 20

Fort: +4 Ref: +9 Will: +8

Offense

Speed: 40 ft.

Melee: tactical dueling sword +10 (1d6+5 S)

Ranged: advanced Diasporan rifle +12 (2d8+5 F) or frag grenade II +12 (explode [15 ft., 2d6 P, DC 15])

Offensive Abilities: debilitating trick, trick attack +3d8

Statistics

Str: +0 Dex: +5 Con: +0 Wis: +0 Int: +3 Cha: +2

Skills: Acrobatics +17, Bluff +12, Computers +12, Stealth +17, Survival +12

Languages: Common, Sarcesian

Gear: estex suit II, advanced Diasporan rifle (see page 99) with 2 batteries (20 charges each), frag grenades II (4), tactical dueling sword

Ecology

Environment: any low-gravity (Diaspora)

Organization: solitary, pair, or squad (3–5)

Special Abilities

<p><b>Void Flyer (Su)</b> A sarcesian can go 1 hour without breathing and can exist in a vacuum without suffering the associated environmental effects. By spending 1 Resolve Point, a sarcesian can extend this duration to a number of hours equal to her CR, or she can double that by spending 2 Resolve Points. When in a vacuum, sarcesians automatically grow wings made from pure energy that grant them a supernatural fly speed of 120 feet (average maneuverability) but that work only in a vacuum.</p>

Description

Supposedly descended from the inhabitants of the two planets whose destruction long ago formed the Diaspora asteroid belt, sarcesians have adapted to low-gravity and thinair environments. Standing between 10 and 15 feet tall with bulbous eyes and spindly, elongated limbs, a sarcesian is able to adapt her physiology to survive in space by suspending her respiration and growing a pair of butterfly-like wings made of pure light. The wings act as solar sails, catching currents of radiation to propel her between the handful of inhabited asteroids and space platforms within the Diaspora.

Thanks to arcane engines left behind by the sarcesians’ ancestors, the race has long managed to maintain creche worlds—asteroids with enough magical atmosphere, gravity, and warmth for the inhabitants to live comfortably and raise offspring. Compared to some other planets in the Golarion system, sarcesian creche worlds are beautiful and idyllic. They contain fields, forests, hills, lakes, and bucolic towns whose populations number in the low thousands. Many of these sanctuaries are linked by the River Between, an unusual body of water that actually flows between and through the asteroids; the water is prevented from floating off into space by a tube-shaped force field crafted by unknown hands.

Sarcesians who leave the asteroid belt are sometimes hired as mercenaries specializing in surveillance and marksmanship, as they are accustomed to operating at vast distances from their targets. These sarcesians hone their innate patience even further in order to lie in wait for their marks for days atop bluffs, in dilapidated apartments, or even in the vacuum of space outside docking slips. Employers tend to pay well for this degree of dedication, making sarcesian snipers a highly sought-after commodity in certain areas of the galaxy.