Eclipse (Dread Archetype)

There are few sights that chill the blood of mortal beings like the sudden darkening of the sky when an eclipse enters the battlefield. Commanding entire squadrons of fear-inducing mechs whose terrifying formations can spread horror across an entire battlefield, the eclipse can smother the hope in men’s hearts as surely as his mighty machines can fill the sky and block the sun’s light.

Bonded Mech (Ex)

Starting at 1st level, the eclipse gains a mech as described in the “Mech Rules and Body Types” section, treating his class level as his pilot level, though the only body type he may choose is agile. The eclipse may have more than one mech, but he must divide up his effective pilot level between his mechs to determine the abilities of each mech.

For example, an eclipse with an effective pilot level of 4 can have one 4th-level mech, two 2nd-level mechs, or one 1st-level and one 3rd-level mech.

Each time an eclipse’s effective pilot level increases, he must decide how to allocate the increase among his mechs (including the option of adding a new 1st-level mech). Once an effective pilot level is allocated to a particular mech, it cannot be redistributed while that mech is in the eclipse’s service (he must dismantle a mech or wait until a mech is destroyed to allocate its levels to another mech).

The eclipse shares a psionic bond with his mechs that allows him to see and hear as though he occupied their location, and can spend his own actions to command his mechs to take an equivalent action as long as they are within 100 feet + 10 feet per class level (for example, a dread could spend a move action to command his mech to move, and then expend a standard action to command it to make an attack against a target within its range).

Mechs controlled in this way use the eclipse’s base attack bonus, feats, and skill modifiers.

At 11th, 15th, and 19th level, the eclipse may issue commands to an additional one of his bonded mechs with the same action, though doing so causes the mechs to take a -1 penalty on attack rolls and skill checks per mech commanded in this way. Mechs commanded in this way must all take the same action (such as a charge, move, or attack action), but may have different targets or destinations.

This replaces the fearsome insight and shadow twin class features.

Wings of Devastation (Su)

At 1st level, the eclipse may, as a standard action, command a mech under his control to make a ranged touch attack against a living creature within 30 feet of the mech that deals 1d6 points of damage plus 1 point per class level. The eclipse cannot use this ability through multiple bonded mechs with the same action.

This ability replaces the devastating touch class feature but counts as it for feats and effects.

Channeled Terror (Su)

From 2nd level on, whenever the eclipse gains a terror that is normally channeled through the dread’s devastating touch class feature, he may instead deliver it via his wings of devastation ability through any of his bonded mechs. This alters, but in all other ways acts as, the dread’s terror class feature.

Spreading Eclipse (Su)

At 3rd level, the eclipse’s bonded mechs radiate an aura that causes all enemies within 10 feet to take a -4 penalty on saving throws against fear effects. Creatures that are normally immune to fear lose that immunity while adjacent to any of the eclipse’s bonded mechs. If two or more of the eclipse’s bonded mechs are within 10 feet of one another, the ambient light level in a 30-foot radius of each mech is lowered by one step.

This ability replaces but otherwise counts as the dread’s aura of fear.

Iron Nightmare (Su)

From 11th level on, whenever a bonded mech under the eclipse’s control is within 10 feet of a creature suffering from the shaken, frightened, or panicked conditions, the dread may use a free action to command it to take a single standard or move action. The eclipse may only take one such free action per bonded mech each round, and a bonded mech cannot take the action type twice in the same round as a result of this ability (for example, an eclipse could not have the same mech take two standard actions by spending a standard action to command it and then using this ability).

Spells, powers, and other effects that would allow the mech to take additional actions still function normally.

This ability replaces the twin fear class feature.

Armor of Night (Ex)

At 20th level, the eclipse gains the ability to instantly recall all of his bonded mechs to his side, regardless of distance or location, as a full round action (though the bonded mechs must have at least 1 hit point at the time this ability is activated). When using this ability, the mechs automatically form into a single mech around the eclipse as though the eclipse had a single bonded mech appropriate to his class level, and the eclipse is automatically considered to be piloting the new unified mech. The mech formed in this way has full hit points for a creature of its hit die, regardless of damage dealt to the component mechs when the ability was used. As long as the eclipse is piloting the unified mech, the aura of his spreading eclipse ability affects all creatures within 30 feet, and the ambient light level decreases by two steps in a 60-foot radius centered on the eclipse and his mech. The eclipse may dismiss this effect as a move action, causing the mechs to disassemble into their original individual bodies, splitting any remaining hit points possessed by the unified mech evenly between themselves and moving into the nearest unoccupied squares.

This ability replaces the fear incarnate class feature.