Classes:
Marine:
The finest of the Malazan, to hear them tell it.
Master’s of infiltration, and of the Malazan Assault Crossbow.
"...apart from a central stylized crossbow signifying Malazan Marines." DG, UKmmpb, p.388
"...a combination of heavy infantry and shock troops - the old Emperor's invention and still unique to the Empire. They were armed with crossbows and short swords as well as long swords. They wore blackened chain beneath grey leathers." DG, UK MMPB, p.548|
That is; they hit hard and move fast.
"The marines are supposed to be fast, nimble - avoiding the toe-to-toe whenever possible or, if there's no choice, making it quick." - Fiddler HoC, UK MMPB, p.302
(Malazan)Assault Crossbow: (2H)Exotic
One hell of a crossbow. Large, heavy, normally kept oiled and tarred black.
Range increment: 120ft (Check this)
Armour –Piercing: at one range increment or less, will shoot right through any armour>
Opponent is denied armour bonus to AC, but not shield bonus.
Damage: 3d4
Crit: 18-20/x2
Reload: to reload is a Full-round action that provokes Attack of Opportunity
Weight: 7 kg
Feat:
Rapid Reload (Assault Crossbow)
You may reload the Assault Crossbow as a standard action, instead of as a full round action.
NB: someone experienced with the Malazan assault crossbow can reload in 4 seconds
Important Attributes for a marine:
Dex is the most important attribute for a marine. It determines the chance to hit with there signature weapon: the Malazan Assault Crossbow. They get Weapon finesse and Unusual weapon finesse as bonus feats.
Some Strength is valued in a marine: the Assualt Crossbow is heavier than all but the largest of swords.
Will is not really important to Marines: while they can use Mf to increase loading speed with the assault crossbow, because of their rigorous training they gain Mf relatively quickly anyway.
Weapon Proficiency: Marines are proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons.
as well as the (Malazan) Assault Crossbow (exotic) – their signature weapon.
They favour the short and longsword (often carrying both).
Armour Proficiency: Marines need to move fast, and often silently. They have proficiency only with Light Amour, and with light shields.
Hit Die: d10
Mf Gain: 7
Skill points: 6+INT mod
1 / +0 / +2 / +0 / +1 / Weapon & armour Prof, Trackless,
2 / +1 / +3 / +0 / +2 / Bonus feat: Rapid Reload(Assault Crossbow)
3 / +1 / +4 / +1 / +3 / Focused-loading (move)
4 / +2 / +4 / +1 / +4
5 / +2 / +5 / +1 / +5 / Deadly-Shot 4d4,
6 / +3 / +5 / +2 / +6/+1 / Focused-loading (Minor)
7 / +3 / +6 / +2 / +7/+2
8 / +4 / +6 / +3 / +8/+3
9 / +4 / +7 / +3 / +9/+4 / Focused-loading (Free), ______
10 / +5 / +7 / +4 / +10/+5 / Deadly-Shot 5d4,
Class skills: Care(wits), Survival(int), hide (dex), disguise(cha), move silently (dex), bluff (cha), Spot (wits), Listen (wits), Gather Information (cha), Sapping (int), Jump (srt), climb(str), swim(str), useRope(Dex);
Class Features:
Trackless: from lvl 1 marines get a +4 bonus on checks to avoid leaving tracks, or any other physical evidence that they passes through an area. Does not include checks made on living beings.
Rapid Reload(Assault Crossbow): at lvl 2, Marines are well practiced at loading the Assault Crossbow. They gain Rapid Reload(Assault Crossbow) as a bonus feat..
Focused-loading (Crossbow): by focusing on getting the bolt in, and the winch wound fast, marines can achieve truly phenomenal loading times with a crossbow.
Marines may expend Mf (See table below), to reduce the time taken to load a crossbow.
Note: Loading still provokes an Attack of Opportunity, no matter how fast you do it.
3 / Move / 1
6 / Minor / 3
9 / Free / 5
See the Basics rules for a full round action, and you will see that by using the 2 minor actions to reload Crossbow a Marine may make 2 attacks at lvl 6.
Deadly-Shot: with practice you learn where a crossbow bolt really hurts.
at lvl 5, the damage from an assault crossbow increases to 4d4
at lvl 10, this increases to 5d4