Class Feature Friday: Obliteration Faculty (Nanocyte Faculty)
(Render of the Service Weapon as it appears in its Grip form in the game Control by Remedy Studios)
There’s a lot of fun things about the nanocyte class, and there are just so many fun ways to use nanites in and out of combat.
Perhaps one of their most offensive abilities is the ability to create weapons from their symbiotic nanites, giving them powerful tools of destruction they can never truly be disarmed of.
For today’s entry, however, we’ll be looking at a variant of the nanocyte that specializes in destruction using such created weapons. They might provide advanced targeting to pinpoint the most lethal areas of a target’s body, or they might reshape the weapon on the micro-scale to be even more lethal , or even sacrifice droves of their components to enhance the damage in other ways.
No matter the exact method, not only do these nanocytes become especially lethal against their targets, but they can use their methodology to spread the harm to other targets as well, becoming nanomachine-enhanced engines of destruction.
The weapons these warriors create are built to let nothing stop them, penetrating hard materials and even altering to accept a little extra charge (or nanite surge) to become more damaging, the latter by imbuing nanites into the projectiles or striking area for extra damage.
The nanites can even sacrifice themselves to imbue the weapon with other types of damage, superheating themselves or chilling for fire or cold, or overloading for electricity.
Whether they are left behind by a melee weapon or are carried to the target at range, these nanocytes can discharge such nanites that they spray out from the wound, carrying the form of damage to a nearby target to spread destruction, though it is naturally lighter than the initial impact.
Additionally, the guidance of their nanites makes them more accurate when attacking repeatedly.
Later on, their sprays of nanites can spread further and with an expenditure of nanites can be used repeatedly in the same onslaught of attacks.
Naturally, a nanocyte with this faculty is going to primarily be using their gear array to create weapons, as all of their faculty abilities center around such weapons. They typically only would use their sheath array when out of combat for the protective benefits and the cloud when avoidance is more important than fighting. As such, their knacks are going to be mostly made up of those that enhance their weapons or otherwise make them more effective combatants, such as heavy armor edge, material alterations, split manifestation, eldritch upgrade, heavy weapon edge, and so on. In either case, you can build them as either melee or ranged attackers with ease, or perhaps split your focus.
With their destructive abilities, the nanites bonded to these nanocytes almost certainly had an origin in combat, meant to enhance the performance of both the host and their equipment. Of course, even if that is true, the character might not have been the intended recipient. In such a case, the nanites might simply be continuing their function, or they might have adapted such combat potential as a solution for keeping their host alive and safe in a hostile environment.
Seeking information about a former client, the party singles out a xulgath member of a mercenary company who is known for being a drunken partyer. Getting him to talk should be easy, but if he discovers the ruse he’ll prove to be a dangerous combatant, his intoxication doing nothing to hamper the nanites in his body.
Rumor has it that a magitech-focused corporation is developing a method of creating hybrid magitech nanites able to enhance the host with magically-empowered attacks. In order to do so, they’ve been studying stolen aeon stone network constructs to see how each component coordinates with the others. However, they don’t realize the risk when one collection gets free and attempts to merge with the others to create a powerful distress signal relay.
Valgoth the Arsenal is an infamous pirate, named for the vast array of heavy weapons his nanites can replicate and enhance. They say he was once a super soldier serving in some warlike nation’s military, but it appears that for some reason or another, he left, choosing to ply his skills in taking from merchant vessels.