Sniper Operative (Operative Alternate Class Feature)
(art by BobKehl on DeviantArt)
Perhaps no combat specialization is more well known for lethal precision than sniping. Using extreme range and hidden positions to stay out of a fight and pick off your foes with impressive marksmanship, there is a certain beauty to it, though most soldiers consider it the most cowardly combat art, avoiding most enemy fire while picking off targets that can barely fight back. A sniper on your side is a boon, an enemy sniper is a nightmare, and a sniper that loses the advantage of stealth is usually dead meat.
Regardless how you feel about the profession, it only makes sense that such precision weaponry would be among the proficiencies of the operative class in Starfinder, letting them unleash their deadly trick attacks at extreme long range like the deadly assassins they are.
…Hold on, I’m being handed a note…
Wait, you’re telling me that operatives can’t add trick attack damage to sniper weapons by default, and have to take a whole exploit just to use the debilitating tricks with them?
Ok, I get that as a balance thing, vanilla operatives are expected to only get trick attack damage with weapons at close range, be they pistols or agile melee weapons. This keeps them from doing too much damage with their weaponry that they might be able to do if they could use trick attack with, say, a heavy laser or something.
But it is kinda weird that they can’t with sniper weapons, right?
In any case, today’s subject seeks to correct that by giving characters a way to trick attack with their sniper weapons, albeit with a few drawbacks to balance it out. So if you want to play a deadly sniper that can actually end foes from extreme distance, this might be what you’re looking for.
These snipers get their own version of trick attack, which they can make with operative melee weapons, small arms, and yes, sniper weapons. However, there are two caveats. First, the distance they move as part of the action is much shorter (or not at all if it’s an unwieldy sniping weapon), though they do get the benefits of aiming, and secondly, the damage dice are overall smaller, somewhat limiting the max damage of the trick attack. However, they can use stealth, perception, as well as any specialization-granted skills for the trick attack itself, and it does function with any and all trick attack exploits.
While this alt option is simple enough, it’s a major boon to any operative character that actually wants to use sniper weapons for anything other than long-range debuffs. The only trick being that given the way most Starfinder encounters are designed, it can be hard to make use of all that range. Even still, they can be quite deadly as both back-line damage dealers and support, or extreme range damage if the party has time to set up an ambush.
Whether they’re cold and calculating, or jovial types, all of these operatives get quiet and sublimely focused when it comes to actually doing their job, the disconnect between the two being no doubt unnerving to others that are not familiar with them.
Travelling to a primitive world, the party has to balance the protocol of non-interference with the need to help to defeat a terrible evil that has arisen there. However, they are not alone. An assassin, also an offworlder, stalks them with a truly deadly sniper rifle, eager to end their lives and their quest.
While investigating an assassination attempt, the party discovers that the poison dart used was the signature toxin of the astriapi hitman Kuvikka. However, they normally prefer to deliver the venom up close. A sniper rifle isn’t their style. Did something force them to use such a weapon, or are we dealing with a copycat throwing suspicion off themselves?
The mercenary sniper known as Stoneheart earned that name for multiple reasons. First, she is an oread, infused with elemental earth. Second, she is absolutely ruthless on the field of battle, and thirdly, her signature weapon is a philosopher’s sting, a long-range technomagical weapon that remotely transmutes a chunk of the target’s body into a mass of nonliving matter, usually causing lethal internal damage. However, not much is known about her other than that, but the party has a chance to learn more when a fluke accident causes them to be stranded with her on an alien world.